Autumn Tilda - 3 Challenges

I received this image from someone as a gift for a swap I hosted. Isn't she cute with the Fall leaves swirling around her! I am entering her into the following challenges:
Just Magnolia and Hangler and Stangler Challenge Blog - Fall or school theme
Paper Sundaes Challenge Blog - Anything Goes
The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog - A sketch which you can see below

Cardstock used is by Bazzill and Core'dinations. Designer paper is by Basic Grey. Image is Tilda by Magnolia Stamps and is colored with Prismacolor color pencils.

Thanks for stopping by!

"What's Mom Cooking"?

It's Sunday and that means it is time for another "What's Mom Cooking"? I'm still working my way through recipe cards that I made for swaps in the past. Today's recipe was for a Christmas cookie recipe swap. As far back as I can remember my mother made these every year for Christmas. We had a week in December that was dedicated to making all kinds of cookies for the holiday and this was always one of my favorites. When I was little my job was to do the rolling in powdered sugar part and to try not to eat them all while doing so!

My recipe page was made using designer paper from DCWV and cardstock by Wassau. Below is the recipe for easier copying and printing should you like to try it!

Honey Pecan Balls

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 to 3/4 tsp grated orange rind
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans
Powdered sugar

Cream butter and honey till smooth. Stir in salt, grated orange rind,vanilla and flour. Mix until well blended with mixer. Stir in pecans. Shape dough into one inch balls and place about one inch apart on buttered baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees until cookies are a pale golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cookies stand on sheet till cool enough to handle. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar to coat all over. Set cookies on rack to cool completely.

These look so pretty on a plate or in a Christmas tin and are nice to give as gifts too!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you consider trying my recipe!

Party Preparations / Gruffie - House Mouse

This must be a super Sunday because I'm posting twice today!

I am entering this card into the following two challenges:

House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge: The challenge is to make a birthday card with the option of adding flowers. I chose not to use that option as I just couldn't seem to get flowers to looking right for me on this card. House Mouse and Friends is celebrating their 3rd year as a challenge blog with not only this challenge but also with prizes and a blog hop! You can check out all the fun HERE.

CardMakers CardSwaps Forum Weekly Challenge: The current weekly challenge is being hosted by Linda Jo and she challenged us to make a multi panel card using a pattern by Dawn's Stamping Studio. You can check out the challenge and other participant's creations HERE. To view the how to tutorial and video to make this multi panel card, click HERE.

The image used is a Gruffie by Stampabilities called Party Preparations. I colored it with Prismacolor color pencils. Designer paper is the Lime Rickey collection by Basic Grey. Cardstock is DCWV. Sentiment is by Studio G clear stamps. Below is a side view of how the card is folded.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fabulous week!

"What's Mom Cooking?"

It's Sunday and time for another family favorite recipe! This week the recipe is baked french toast. Very rich, sweet and delicious. It also brings many happy memories to mind as we usually make this for breakfast on holidays and special occasions. It's super simple to make and can be made ahead of time as well. If your schedule is busy you can pop it in the refrigerator the night before or the freezer a few days ahead and it will be ready to pop in the oven for baking on the day you want to serve it.

Our favorite way is to make it the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator over night. For the last ten years my son has been helping me with preparing the french toast. As I'm making the egg and cream mixture he gets the pan ready with the brown sugar mixture. We then cut the bread, dip in the egg mixture. place on the brown sugar glaze and then my son sprinkles the cinnamon on top. I enjoy moments like this, cooking and sharing with my son. I know one day he will be making it with his kids.

My recipe card was simple and quick to make. My son drew the shape of a piece of bread for me. I printed the recipe directly on to it and inked the edges before applying it to the designer paper which is by DCWV.

Below is the recipe for easy copying and printing:

Baked French Toast

Ingredients:

· 2 cups light brown sugar

· 1 stick butter or margarine

· 4 tablespoons flavoring of choice: vanilla, hazelnut or almond

· 4 eggs

· 1 ¾ cups Half & Half or milk

· 1 loaf Italian or French bread cut into 1 inch thick slices

· Cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. Place brown sugar into 13x8 inch baking dish. Melt butter or margarine in microwave. Blend brown sugar, melted butter and 2 tablespoons flavoring until it makes a glaze in the bottom of the baking dish.

Whisk eggs, milk and remaining flavoring in a bowl until well blended. Dip each bread slice into egg mixture, soaking both sides.Set bread slices on top of brown sugar mixture in baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon to taste. (at this point you can refrigerate or freeze till ready to bake). Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Flip each slice of bread over so glazed side is up. Serve hot. Serves 6.

We usually enjoy the french toast with some warm maple syrup drizzled on top. One year though I had my entire family over for Christmas brunch and I made a couple big trays of baked french toast to pop in the oven when my family arrived. While it was baking we got some bacon, sausage, eggs and hash browns going. When all was ready to serve I had warm maple syrup, warm apple, blueberries and cherry fruit compote as choices to have on top of the french toast. The cherries and apples were a big hit with all the kids!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will give my recipe a try. I will be back next Sunday with another family favorite!

Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway!

Just wanted to give a quick post to let my crafty friends know about a digital scrapbooking software giveaway that Teresa is offering on her blog. For details you can check HERE. Pictured above is one of the Designer Packs that is offered. I just finished browsing through all of them and although I liked many...this is one of my favorites. I haven't done digital scrapbooking but with design packages like this, I just might have to look into it!

Be sure to check out Teresa's blog "Tickell Expressions" for details on a chance to win My Memories Digital Scrapbooking software.

"What's Mom Cooking?"

Recently I did some major closet cleaning and while doing so I ran across a big black 3 ring binder that was full of recipes from my mother. When I was a kid she would clip and collect recipes from newspapers, friends and family. She had a box full of favorite recipes. One really cold and snowy winter she handed me the big box of recipes and this big 3 ring binder and asked me to sort and organize all her recipes. So I did and that 3 ring binder became a treasured source of favorite recipes for years. Now my mom is gone and those pages are becoming yellow and brittle. On some the ink is fading but it is still as valuable to me now as it was back when I organized the book for my mom.

This got me to thinking that I really need to record and put together favorite recipes of mine for my kids. I have attempted this project before but never have got too far with it but this time I am making it my Fall / Winter project. It is my plan to also incorporate this into my paper crafting by making 6 x 6 pages displaying my recipes. I thought I would share my recipes and pages with you...my crafty friends! So every Sunday I will post "What's Mom Cooking?".

I'm going to start with some recipes that I already have made into pages from swaps that I participated in and made an extra copy for myself. This first recipe is simple, quick and easy to make. When my son left for the East coast two years ago for college he had me teach him how to make some of my dishes. This was one he asked for first. He told me that on Thursday night a big group of his friends would get together and cook dinner and have family night to help with being away from home and missing their families. He quite often made this recipe for the dessert.

Above is the picture of my recipe page and here is the recipe for easier reading:

Hawaiian Cobbler

The cake that looks and taste like a cobbler.

Ingredients:

> 1 can (21 ounce) cherry pie filling

> 1 can (20 ounce) crushed pineapple in juice – do not drain

> 1 box yellow cake mix

> 1 stick butter or margarine cut into pieces

> 1 stick butter or margarine, melted

> 1 cup flaked coconut

> 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Using a 9 x 13 pan, dump the ingredients into pan and spread or smooth in this order; cherry pie filling, undrained pineapple, dry cake mix. Arrange pieces of butter on top, evenly. Pour ½ cup melted butter over the top evenly. Top with the flaked coconut and chopped pecans. DO NOT MIX! Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Serve warm or cold. Great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

This recipe is also known as Dump Cake and I have seen it made with different variations such as substituting the fruit with peaches or apples. I plan on trying it with mix berries one day too! This has been a family favorite for years and I hope you will give it a try too. Would love to hear if you have any other variations of this recipe as well.

Another family favorite is coming up next week for "What's Mom Cooking?" Baked French Toast!

Simple, Quick and Easy!

Hello my crafty blogging friends! These are just some quick and simple cards that I have made for some recent challenges. They worked up fast and quick and won't require a bank loan for postage to mail them! Mailing those cards with all the lumpy embellies can be quite expensive at times!

This first card (above) was made for two challenges. The first for a challenge on CardMakers Card Swaps forum requiring us to use newsprint on our card. The second challenge was hosted on ISC and the challenge was to use the color golden yellow on your card.

The next three cards were made for three different challenges for the recent online crop, "Summers End" on the CardMakers Card Swap forum. The first card was for a challenge that required you to follow a sketch.


This next card was for a challenge that asked you to make a card showing something you would see on a beach.


My last card was for a challenge that was to make a card using all white. I love all white cards. They can be so elegant looking.


If you would like to see all the challenges that were in the crop and everyone's creations, you can check them out HERE. The next crop will be coming up in November but if you can't wait till then....there will be a mini one on October 1st for World Cardmaking Day! Hope you will check it out and join in on the fun.

Thanks for stopping by!