Un Coffee Cake Break

I'm taking a bit of a breather this week.  So whatever you're up to, make it summer camp cool.  Although not really, because summer camp bites.  Better to bite into a cookie!  Here are some choice ones to try.  🍒🍪💖🎀😍

Yule Log Hog: Merry Christmas Eve

Maybe someday I'll read a cozy mystery without having to tell the world about it.  But that day is not today.

That said, I recently enjoyed a trio of yule log-themed whodunits: Yule Log Murder by Leslie Meier, Death by Yule Log by Lee Hollis, and Logged On by Barbara Ross.  Each featured a less-sinister-than-usual murder or alleged murder (it is, after all, Christmas), as well as yule log recipes.  One log was peppermint, one was chocolate, and one was raspberry chocolate.  I ignored them all, instead indulging in this vanilla strawberry version that the husband just happened to bring home from the grocery store:  

He saw it while getting the essentials, thought, should I?, then doubled back because of course the answer to all confection-related quandaries is "yes." 

That's us in a (chest)nut shell.  We never met a sweet story or treat we didn't like.

Speaking of which, I hope your Christmas Eve is as delicious as your favorite dessert.  For us, it's the beginning of a week of holiday activities, so we're hunkering down at home (it's frigid out there!) to feast on seafood and cookies.  

It's what Leslie Meier would've wanted.

20,000 Leagues Under the Twee: Here's Lookin' at You, Squid

I ordered this Nordic Ware octopus cake mold from Zulily years ago not because I like to bake but because it was cute.  What I didn't realize was that I could use it to make my beloved JELL-O, which the husband helpfully pointed out.  So when it came time to decide what to bring to my parents' Fourth of July BBQ, I thought, why not?  If nothing else, then at least the kids would get a kick out of it.

I decided to keep the mold intact until it was dessert time at the BBQ.  The plan was to unmold Mr. Octopus in the privacy of the kitchen, then bring him out once I knew that he wasn't missing a tentacle or, worse, just an amorphous heap of blue goo.  But that pipe dream went out the window when everyone gathered around, my five-year-old nephew and three-year-old niece front and center and eagerly waiting.  The husband made a valiant effort to shake the octopus from his cage, but that stubborn mollusk stayed put.  Time for a hot water bath!  While the husband sneaked off to the sink, I said, oh, he'll be coming out very soon!, fingers crossed that there'd be no mishaps followed by the inevitable crying.  But when the husband returned and flipped the mold, I heard the unmistakable glop signaling that all was well.   

"It's a sea monster!" exclaimed my niece.  "No, it's an octopus!" insisted my nephew.  Whatever it was, it made its wobbly way to the dessert table, where I garnished it with Swedish Fish.

Most of us sampled some topped with Reddi-Whip, along with my mom's flag cake and blueberry pie.    Even my mom herself, who hates anything artificial, gamely tried a spoonful or two.  Of course, she thought it tasted like bubble bath or little girls' perfume.  She wasn't entirely wrong.  

When it was time to schlep the leftovers into a bowl, I couldn't help but notice that the eyes were still eerily intact, haunting anyone who dared come back for seconds.

Cartoonish yet all-knowing, those pool blue peepers bring new meaning to seafood.

Pieces of April, A Thanksgiving Staple

A few months ago, I watched an old movie -- and by old I mean from 2003 -- called Pieces of April.  It's about a girl, April (Katie Holmes), who invites her estranged family for Thanksgiving.  April has partly pink hair and an overall punky appearance and lives in a seedy apartment in New York City with her boyfriend Bobby (Derek Luke), who is black.  April doesn't really know how to cook, and then her oven breaks.  Also, Bobby has gone on a secret mission to borrow a suit to impress April's family, and it's not going well.  The movie shifts between April's endeavors and her family's strained conversation as they drive from Pennsylvania to see her.  We watch April bang on one apartment door after another to beg to borrow an oven, then listen as her mother (Patricia Clarkson) laments about April's awful ways even as she pukes up her guts at a rest stop.  It's from her chemo because she has cancer.  But being sick hasn't softened her, nor has the intervention of April's well-meaning father (Oliver Platt).  

Having a front-row seat to April's plight is unsettling.  It's hard to watch her put herself out there only to meet one obstacle after another, her Katie Holmes girl-next-door-appeal seeping through her tough exterior.  One of her "helpers" is played by a withering Sean Hayes; another is more kindly but disabuses her of the notion that the best cranberry sauce comes from a can. (I'm with April on this one; it's just not Thanksgiving without that JELL-O-like substance for smothering otherwise tasteless turkey.)  As April struggles to put dinner on the table, her family struggles with its reservations, at one point going so far as to throw in the dish towel and stop at a diner.  

For me, the low point is when April tears down her carefully handmade decorations.  There's something so vulnerable about them in their crepe paper homeliness, the way they expose and then shatter the optimism that April clings to despite the odds.  Because this movie takes all the tension that percolates within families during the holidays and puts them in a pressure cooker -- pun intended.  April's poverty, her mother's death sentence, and the stereotypes that April's family unfairly and inaccurately ascribes to Bobby deepen the fault lines that spread between them.  But these are also the reasons why they need to break bread together.  Pieces of April may not be Planes, Trains, and Automobiles or A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  But in its own offbeat and, yes, dreary way, it tells us everything we need to know about this holiday.  

That said, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that I'm breaking my quarantine again to have Thanksgiving dinner with my parents.  It'll just be the four of us, including the husband, but it's kind of ironic that I'm busting out now that the pandemic is surging again.  As recently as just a few weeks ago, I stayed firmly put, even opting out of my sister's birthday.  Everyone, the husband included, was beginning to worry about me and my refusal to engage with the outside world, however safely.  Then fate did its thing, and my work laptop broke, forcing me to go to the office to get it fixed.  It was a nail biter of an experience.  But I got through it -- with some humor, I like to think -- and learned that I'm stronger than I know.  The truth is, being an introvert/loner/whatever who's afraid of stuff means that I depend on my family a lot, even when I think I don't need anyone.  They're more than my family; they're my friends.  So I'm extremely thankful for them, on Thanksgiving and always.  

Okay, now that the serious stuff's over, it's time to explain what's up with this pie crust.  As you know, I don't like to cook or bake.  I find it boring, tedious, and, on some level, out to get me.  So, I'm all about the pre-prepared everything, and Pillsbury pie crust is no different.  It also happens to taste great -- a little salty, a little sweet -- and, in my opinion, is even better than the homemade kind.  So, I smashed it down into my pie plates and fluted the edges and didn't balk (too much) when the KitchenAid mixer-made pumpkin goop sloshed over the sides and obscured the crust completely.  Because holidays aren't about presentation (although I do have a mask to match my dress).  They're about being together.  Laughing and talking and wearing our masks when we're not shoveling in cranberry shaped like a can.

Whatever your plans, I wish you a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving.  And all the misshapen food you can eat.                             

A Fancy Feast (but Not the Cat Kind) and a Fruitcake

Yesterday I was elated to find a Figi's Christmas catalog in the mail.  In this day of email blasts and virtual stores, there's something to be said for curling up on the sofa and thumbing through page after glossy page of beautiful things.  Figi's happens to be a gourmet food gift catalog and one of several I used to delight in perusing as a child.  I'd imagine all the glamorous people sending each other cheese tortes, baklava, sugared fruit slices, and whole hams.  This year I was particularly tempted by the chocolate-covered potato chips and the mint chocolate cake roll, even as I was put off (and downright flummoxed) by the build-your-own-Reuben kit and antelope sausage.  But, to each his or her own!

Of course, no Christmas food retailer is worth its salt without offering the ubiquitous fruitcake.  Seeing Figi's version reminded me of an especially choice item hibernating in my Etsy favorites:

Fruit Cake Cube Plushie, Cubeless

How cute is this?!  I can't tell you how much I want to carve a place for it in my cluttered cottage (which is saying something considering that I've yet to clear a space for my tree).  I love how the Christmas-bright colors and cute face light up a confection universally accepted to be cringe-worthy.  Such contrast! Such humor!  Such a statement for the season of letting bygones be bygones!      

Corny Cookies Take the Cake

I was standing in line at Target yesterday with my basket full of toiletries when I saw a display of candy corn-flavored Oreos.  I had heard about them from the fiance (who makes it his business to be in the know about such things) and was surprised to see that the display was nearly depleted despite it technically still being summer.  There was nothing for it but to toss a day-glo box in with my Skintimate shave gel and organic deodorant.  So far I'd tried the mint, peanut butter, berry blast, orange Creamsicle, and coconut varieties and felt honor-bound to keep the experimentation going.  So, how were they?  Like a super-concentrated shot of vanilla birthday cake icing.  Which is to say, delicious (although not nearly as good as the mint ones).  I can't wait to see what new flavor winter brings.  Eggnog, perhaps?  Or maybe cinnamon?  I'm game for anything so long as it's not fruitcake. 

Something New and Sparkly: Sugar High and Two Kinds of Pie

 Fabulous Felt Candy Barrette

Top: Kohl's

Skirt: Material Girl, Macy's

Shoes: Barefeet Shoes

Bag: Delia's

 Fabulous Felt Chocolates in a Heart Barrette

Top: Kohl's

Skirt: SugarPop Clothing, Etsy

Shoes: Dolce by Mojo Moxy, Kohl's

Bag: Glamour Damaged, Etsy

Belt: Wet Seal

Fabulous Felt Gumball Machine Barrette

Top: Marshalls

Skirt: Boscov's

Shoes: Barefeet Shoes

Bag: Marshalls

Scarf: Marshalls

Key Lime Pie 

Cool 'n Easy Strawberry Pie

Did you ever notice how many novelty items and fashion accessories are modeled after desserts?  Probably, as it's kind of a no brainer.  Still, I was never so aware of the treat trend until I started selling on Etsy.  There cheerful colors, playful shapes, and the promise of something delicious all add up to a buffet of irresistibly scrumptious style.  So, to keep the sugar fest going, I decided to top off my barrette pics with these two JELL-O pies I made this weekend.  They're so bright and plasticy that they look as if they should be part of a little girl's tea party set or maybe even dangling from a necklace.  I'm pretty sure I blogged about the key lime pie recipe before, but that was years ago, and goodness knows there's no easy way to find back posts on this blog, so here it is again along with the one for the strawberry pie:

Key Lime Pie (from I Could Go for Something JELL-O)    

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups boiling water

1 large pkg lime JELL-O

2 teaspoons grated lime peel

1/4 cup lime juice

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1 prepared graham cracker crust

Directions:

Stir boiling water into JELL-O in large bowl for at least 2 minutes or until completely dissolved.  Stir in lime peel and juice.  Stir in ice cream until melted and smooth.  Refrigerate 15 to 20 minutes or until mixture is very thick and will mound.  Spoon into crust.  Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm. Garnish as desired.

Cool 'n Easy Strawberry Pie (also from I Could Go for Something JELL-O)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup boiling water

1 small pkg strawberry JELL-O

1/2 cup cold red juice or water

Ice cubes

1 8-oz tub Cool Whip

1 prepared graham cracker crust

Directions:

Stir boiling water into JELL-O in large bowl for at least 2 minutes or until completely dissolved.  Mix juice or water and ice to make 1 cup.  Add to JELL-O, stirring until slightly thickened.  Remove any remaining ice.  Stir in whipped topping until smooth.  Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes or until mixture is very thick and will mound.  Spoon into crust.  Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.  Just before serving, garnish with fruit and additional whipped topped if desired. 

If there's anything I've learned about making JELL-O recipes over the years, it's to always go for the garnish.  Because without the aid of artfully squirted Reddi-Whip and well-placed fruit, everything pretty much looks like the same unappetizing mystery mess.  Here's to avoiding the mystery.     

Pudding for Pops

Holiday time means dessert time, so for Father's Day I went bananas.  With Banana Layered Pie, a recipe from one of my many JELL-O cookbooks, JELL-O: Fun and Fabulous Recipes (just $2.99 from the Book Cellar!).  As I always say, you can't beat a cool, no-bake treat for speed, ease, and taste.  And this time the end product actually ended up looking a little like the picture.  (Unlike the Memorial Day melba disaster.  But then, the root of that ruckus was the always-a-cause-for-chaos, do-it-yourself crust.  This time I stuck with Keebler's.)  We haven't dug in yet (as the day's festivities haven't started), but I remain optimistic.  Here are the how-to's:

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups milk
1 6-serving size pkg vanilla pudding
1 9" prepared graham cracker crust
2 bananas
1/2 cup Cool Whip
Lemon juice (In the name of laziness, I used that processed stuff in the plastic lemon.)

Directions 

Pour milk into bowl.  Add pudding mix.  With an electric mixer at low speed, beat until blended, about 1 minute.  Pour 1/2 cup of the pudding into pie shell.

Slice 1 banana and arrange the slices on top of the pudding.  Top with 3/4 cup of the pudding.

Blend Cool Whip into the remaining pudding.  Spread over the pudding in the pie shell.  Chill about 3 hours. Slice the remaining banana and brush the slices with lemon juice (to prevent them from turning brown).  Garnish the pie with the extra Cool Whip and arrange the bananas in the center.

Melba for Memorial Day

Instead of the usual patriotic strawberry and blueberry dessert, I went with this (albeit historically British) peach melba Creamy Layered Peach Squares concoction.  And in the making of it I came to terms with something: try as I might, I will never be one of those women who is truly at home in the kitchen (not even when working with my beloved JELL-O).  Around ten o'clock last night I was spreading the cream cheese/Cool Whip/sugar layer over the graham cracker crust layer only to have the buttery graham cracker crumbs refuse to stay put and get all caught up in the cream cheese like so many toast crumbs ruining perfectly good butter.  The harder I tried to prevent it from happening, the worse and more unappetizing-looking it got.  The bf heeded my calls of distress, coming to my rescue with a spatula and more patience than I could hope to muster.  He managed to achieve an at least even if somewhat crumby (pun intended, ha ha) cream cheese terrain upon which I could later layer the raspberry JELL-O and Cool Whip mixture. 

My culinary shortcomings aside, I have trouble believing that even the most careful of cooks could craft the perfect "square" (single serving size) specimen featured on the cook book cover.  JELL-O is just too, well, gelatinous a substance to assume the image of a plastic-perfect faux dessert worthy of a diner display case.

That said, I hope that the end result will be tasty enough to make up for its lack of plate appeal.  Here are the ingredients and the how-to's that gave me such grief:

Ingredients:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 stick melted butter
1 1/2 packages 8 oz cream cheese
1 8-oz tub Cool Whip
3 large fresh peaches peeled and sliced (I used 2 cans of peaches.  What's canned fruit for if not JELL-O recipes?)
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 cups ice cubes

Directions:

Mix the graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and the butter in a 13" x 9" pan and press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan.  Beat the cream cheese and remaining sugar in a medium bowl until well blended.  Whisk in 1 1/2  cups Cool Whip and spread over the graham cracker crust.  Top with peaches (in my case, 1 can).  Refrigerate until ready to use.  Dissolve raspberry JELL-O mix in boiling water.  Stir in ice cubes until melted.  Refrigerate for 5 minutes, or until thickened.  Whisk in remaining Cool Whip and spread over peach layer.  Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.  Garnish with fresh raspberries and peach slices (this is where can number 2 came in).

Time to Make the Donuts

I got this too-cute mini donut maker for Christmas and decided to put it through its paces for Easter.  Now, I feel the need to specify that there was no frying involved, which I suppose makes the end product more like donut-shaped pancakes than anything else.  But they were still tasty, not to mention pretty, easy to make, and relatively wholesome, so I didn't mind.  Should you ever find yourself in possession of a donut maker, here's the recipe (courtesy of the good people at Sunbeam):

Ingredients:

Batter

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
9 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Icing

2 cups confectioners sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons milk
2-3 drops food coloring

Directions:

Preheat donut machine.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.  Whisk in the butter, milk, and egg until mixture forms a smooth batter.  Transfer to a pitcher or fabric piping bag.  (I dispensed with this step but see how it could make things easier.)  Spray donut machine with cooking oil.  Fill bases of preheated donut rings with half of the batter.  Close lid and cook for 5 minutes or until donuts are golden and cooked.  Use a non-stick spatula to transfer donuts to a wire rack (if you happen to have such a fancy-schmancy apparatus.  I just used a plate.)  Repeat with remaining batter to make 10 donuts in total.

For the icing, sift the confectioners sugar into a medium bowl.  Stir in enough milk to make a soft, spreadable icing.  Divide icing evenly among 3 glass bowls.  Add a few drops of your choice of food coloring to each bowl.  Stir to combine, then drizzle or spread over cooled donuts.

Cranberry JELL-O Mold

I realize that this isn't a mold.  Oddly enough, an appropriately-shaped version of this Thanksgiving family favorite never featured in my childhood.  But I'm okay with that, just as I'm okay with posting this admittedly unappetizing picture.  Because I know that fruity refreshment resides within the confines of that homely Pyrex bowl.  If you too "crave the wave" of cranberry goodness (please don't sue, Ocean Spray), then here are the fixin's you'll need:

Ingredients:

1 small can crushed pineapple
1 small can mandarin oranges
1 3-oz package raspberry JELL-O
1/2 cup boiling water
1 16-oz can jellied cranberry sauce
1 cup whipped cream

Directions:

Drain pineapple juice and reserve.  Add 1/2 cup of boiling water to the pineapple juice.  Dissolve the JELL-O in 1 cup of pineapple juice and boiling water.  Add the cranberry sauce and let it gel for about half an hour, or until slightly thick.  Then fold in the oranges, pineapple, and whipped cream.  Let gel for at least 24 hours.

You can also garnish and/or serve with additional whipped cream, which I did (although it's not pictured). 

JELL-O Easy Patriotic Pie

 This is what this pie is supposed to look like.  Notice its smooth, perfect JELL-O and Cool Whip layers.

 And here's the delightful little dessert pamphlet from which this recipe came.  Notice the perfection of the JELL-O and Cool Whip layers in the cover dish also.

And here's what my pie looks like.  All messy and unsmooth.  Now, I realize you can't see the layers.  I considered waiting until it was hacked into to post this so you could have a look at them in all of their patriotic and misshapen glory.  But then I thought, who am I kidding?  I'm not going to remember to do that, and anyway, who wants to look at a picture of a half-eaten pie?

I made this pie because I'm going to a Labor Day BBQ today and wanted to bring something festive and easy.  So I turned to one of my many JELL-O cookbooks (which is something of a misnomer since none of these recipes actually involve cooking) and plucked out this seemingly impossible-to-mess-up selection.  I do hope it will be tasty but cannot make any promises at this early date.  Still, if you want to make it, here's how.

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups boiling water, divided
1 3-oz package Berry Blue JELL-O
1 3-oz package Strawberry (or any red flavor, as they all taste the same) JELL-O
1 cup ice cubes, divided
1 6-oz prepared graham cracker pie crust
1 cup Cool Whip

Directions:

Add 3/4 cup boiling water to blue JELL-O; stir 2 minutes or until completely dissolved.  Add 1/2 cup ice cubes; stir until melted.  Pour into crust; refrigerate 5 to 10 minutes, or until set but not firm.  Meanwhile, repeat to dissolve red JELL-O in a separate bowl.  Stir in remaining ice cubes.  Cool five minutes or until slightly thickened.  Spread Cool Whip over blue JELL-O layer, then cover with red JELL-O.  Refrigerate 2 hours or until set.

Fish Cakes

I made these cupcakes for my work BBQ because 1) they were easy, 2) they wouldn't wilt in the sun, and 3) they were fun!

I first attempted to make the "sand" by putting a bunch of Nilla wafers in a plastic baggie and smashing it against the wall. This turned out to be a not so good idea, as my violence created a hole in the bag, sending a shower of cookie crumbs all over the kitchen. "Try a rolling pin," the bf suggested. So I filled a second baggie with cookies and passed the rolling pin over it on the kitchen table. Wonder of wonders, it worked.

I Scream You Scream We All Scream for Ice Cream

Today is the first official day of summer, and as we all know, summer means . . . ice cream! When the bf and I moved to Brigantine, I vowed to keep at least one box of ice cream sandwiches, ice pops, frozen fruit bars, or what have you in the freezer year round. (Not because the bf is some kind of frozen-treat-obsessed ogre, but because I thought it would add that special something to domestic life. And, of course, because I've always hearted popsicles :) So, in honor of the beginning of the most sensational season of the year, I stopped off at the grocery store and picked up this selection of sun-slaking snacks.

What's your freezer case favorite?

Easter Treats

Fruit Ambrosia

Double Layer Chocolate Pie: Fancy cookbook version

Double Layer Chocolate Pie: Messy "slice of life" version

I prefer no-bake, refrigerate-only desserts. You know, the kind that are made of pudding, JELL-O, Cool Whip, cream cheese, prepared pie crusts, and/or canned fruit. Easy to make and nearly impossible to mess up, they're cool, colorful, and refreshing, and offer a kind of 1950s kitsch factor that just can't be beat. So, it should come as no surprise that I chose to make Double Layer Chocolate Pie and Fruit Ambrosia as my contributions to Easter dinner. If you're a fan of such things and want to give them a whirl, then here are the recipes:

Fruit Ambrosia

Ingredients:

1.5 cups heavy cream

1.5 cups sour cream

Half a 7-oz bag coconut

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 16-oz can pineapple

2 small cans mandarin oranges

1 jar maraschino cherries

Dash confectioners' sugar

1 cup slivered almonds (I never add these. Because I don't understand what some crunchy, tasteless nuts are doing in an otherwise creamy dessert. This thinking also explains why I hate nuts in brownies. Not to mention sundaes.)

Directions:

Whip heavy cream. Fold in sour cream, marshmallows, and coconut. Add drained fruit. Add almonds (or not).

Double Layer Chocolate Pie (from JELL-O: Celebrating 100 Years)

Ingredients:

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tbs whole milk

1 tbs sugar

8 oz Cool Whip

1 6-oz prepared chocolate crumb crust (I couldn't find chocolate, what with the Easter rush, and substituted graham cracker. It tasted just as good.)

2 cups cold whole milk

2 4-oz pkgs instant chocolate pudding

Directions:

Mix the cream cheese, 1 tbs milk, and sugar in a large bowl with a wire whisk (or beater) until smooth. Gently stir in 1.5 cups of the Cool Whip. Spread onto the bottom of the crust. Pour 2 cups of milk into a bowl. Add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk (or beater) until well mixed. (Mixture will be thick.) Immediately stir in the remaining Cool Whip. Spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Garnish as desired. Makes 8 servings.

Oh, and here's the "fun fact" from the bottom of the cookbook page:

"In addition to Bill Cosby, famous spokespeople for JELL-O have included Jack Benny, Andy Griffith, and Ethel Barrymore."

So, how did they turn out? The pie was delicious, really thick and creamy. The ambrosia was more of a miss, partly because I forgot the dash of confectioners' sugar. (The time I made it before that I forgot to drain the canned fruit enough and had a watery mess). Maybe fruit ambrosia isn't nearly impossible to mess up. Then again, maybe it's me.

Happy St. Patrick's Day: Confections and Confessions

Last night I made Irish potatoes, as I always do the night before St. Patrick's Day. The ordeal was far more dramatic and messy than usual, with the mixer flinging gobs of the butter-cream cheese-sugar concoction to far ends of the kitchen. Despite my best cleaning efforts, I'll probably be finding dried-up Irish potato goo in unlikely places until next St. Patrick's Day. Likewise, the finished potatoes looked less than picturesque (which is why, my friends, they're not pictured here). These factors and others explain the secret I'm about to crack open: I used to think of myself as a domestic diva, but as it turns out, I'm just a diva. When I told the bf this last night, clad in my Irish potato-bespattered robe, he just looked at me, laughed, and said, "That wasn't a secret." So, does this mean that I'm hanging up the apron for good? Not necessarily. (I still like to eat, after all.) It just means that I no longer feel the need to pretend that I'm one of those women who's good in the kitchen. That if I don't feel like attempting a new recipe I won't. That I'll stop looking down on women who buy stuff instead of making stuff to bring to parties -- heck, I'll join them.

Hope you have a lovely St. Patrick's Day.

We're at it Again

The bf came home from the hardware store with this rainbow of Girl Scout cookies (and not a moment too soon, as we'd already scarfed down the others he bought). I resolved not to eat any. Well, many. Either way, I thought they made a colorful picture.

Other People's Blogs

This lemon cheese pie doesn't have anything to do with today's post. I just didn't have a relevant picture and thought this one was as good as any. I should add that when the bf and I bought the pie, we didn't know about the cheese. The surprise made it all the more tasty.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm amazed by how many blogs there are out there. I follow 170 of them myself (I was quite staggered when I tallied them up), most of which center around fashion and/or arts and crafts. You may recall me citing favorites such as What Katie Wore and Style by Annie. Here are a few other interesting ones that you just may find interesting too:

Sparkle's Soup of the Day
For Jack Handey quotes and zany anecdotes
(Indeed, the author found my blog via my own Jack Handey section.)

What I Wore Today
For fashion inspiration

Style: A Work in Progress
For witty blurbs about clothes

Diary of an Indy Grrl
For eye-popping photos and all-around edginess

A Girl's Guide to Shoes
For a wish list of high-end kicks

Enjoy!

Something New and Sparkly: Felt With Valentine's Flair

Fabulous Felt Cherry Pie Necklace

Fabulous Felt Hearts Necklace

Fabulous Felt Chocolate Strawberries Necklace

There are felt remnants all over my house. Some of them are tiny, others not so tiny. I find them wedged between my sheets, floating in my bathtub, and ensnared in my lint trap. I know I should tidy my craft area more often to prevent such havoc, but I prefer to maintain (and grow) my remnant pile instead. Mostly because I think I'll end up working on a new necklace only to need a piece that I discarded (and I buy enough felt as it is), partly because I'm lazy. So, the siege continues.

In honor of my Fabulous Felt Cherry Pie Necklace, I thought I'd share my mom's Cherry Sweetie Pie recipe. Although I've never made it myself, I can vouch that it's full of decadent goodness.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz package cream cheese

1 cup milk

1/2 pint sour cream

1 package instant vanilla pudding

1 jar cherry pie filling

2 baked pie shells

Directions:

Blend cream cheese and milk, add sour cream slowly. Then sprinkle on pudding. Reserve 1/4 cup of cherries for decoration, then add the rest of the cherries to the mixture. Spoon into pre-baked pie shells and garnish with cherries. Chill 1 hour.