Why am I saddened by this?

So an old friend of mine just announced her engagement via Facebook and I should be happy for her.  I am and I'm not.  I miss her as a friend and I think I'm saddened by the loss of our friendship and the fact that I can't share her happiness with her.  Yeah we are FB friends but we used to be REAL friends from about 9th grade to even after I graduated college, about 6-7 years.   We had a falling out a few years ago and got "back in touch" via FB but it's not the same.  I miss her and our mutual friends, who inevitably went with her when the relationship ended.  

I'm happy she found someone, as this was one of her life fears, to never find someone to love.  For that I'm happy.  I'm deeply saddened by the loss of our friendship and that fact that my personal love life is not the greatest right now.  

I guess it makes me jealous to see all these people having what I want and should have at the moment.  My life is one big story right now and I'm not prepared to delve into that.  

I'm just sad.  I miss my friend and wish things could be like they were before. 

Baking and Murder: Nothing Better

Joanne Fluke is the author of "fluffy" murder mysteries. I discovered her series when I borrowed Zach's mom's library card to get some books on Cd for my many drives to and from Ohio. I got a book on Cd called CreamPuff Murders by Joanne Fluke. It had the picture of a cartoon drawing creampuff on the front and I thought "what the heck".

The best part, in my opinion, is that within each book are 10 recipes. The heroine owns a bake shop, that is about all I will divulge, and she is constantly baking something, when she's not stumbling upon dead bodies. They all sound so good, the recipes that is. There are 13 books in this series and approx 130 recipes.

You can contact Joanne through her website Murder She Baked. Love the title of the website since I used to watch Murder She Wrote all the time with my mom. I did contact Joanne actually, to ask her if there were any plans for a cookbook in the future. A place to put all of her recipes from her books. I did this out of pure laziness, I don't want to hunt down all 13 books and write the recipes down. LOL

I would get them online but she only puts up one full recipe a month on her website and the rest are in the books. Suprisingly she answered my email within 24 hours and told me that she actually has part 1 of the cookbook coming out in October of 2011. Of course there are too many recipes for only 1 cookbook. I can't wait. I'm sure though that I will have most of the recipes by then, b/c even though I am lazy I am determined. :)

She also told me that her husband is her main guinea pig for her recipes and graciously tries them all. I would gladly volunteer as taste tester, but you probably would have to roll me away like Veruca Salt at the end of the year. :)

I love to bake. I am not one for regular cooking, I hate making breakfast and pretty much suck at dinner; but baking is a hobby of mine. I would love to open a bakery based on these recipes, I think that would be fun.

I wanted to share my favorite recipes from her books: Happy reading and Happy Baking


Boggles

4 sticks butter, melted
2 c brown sugar
2 c white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
4 c flour
3 c sweetened dried cranberries
3 c rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350.

Add sugars to the melted butter, stir together and let cool.

Add eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla.

Add flour and mix well. Add cranberries and oats and mix together.

Dough will be very stiff. Drop by teaspoonful onto a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack.

Yield 10-12 dozen, depending on size.

Cream Puff Shells
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) UNSALTED butter
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup flour, packed down
4 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. On medium heat in a small pot or sauce pan, pour in water.

Chop butter into pieces and put into water. Let it melt.

Add salt and sugar. Bring to a boil.

In a bowl, mix flour and baking powder.

Once water mixture is boiling, turn heat down to low and dump in flour/baking powder mixture. Stir quickly for about 30 seconds–mixture will form a dough ball.

Remove from heat and let the dough cool for about 20 minutes on the counter. Once dough is cool, break one egg and mix it into the dough until smooth.
Repeat with remaining eggs, one at a time until mixture has a smooth, taffy-like consistency–about 3-5 minutes with mixer. Don’t over mix.

For mini-cream puffs: drop a teaspoon of batter per puff on to the parchment-lined cookie sheet. You can fit 12-15 per sheet–don’t crowd them. Cook them for about 25-40 minutes depending on size; when you take them out of the oven, pierce the sides with sharp knife to prevent collapses.

If you’d like to make large puffs, cook them for about 55 minutes.
Let the puff shells cool away from drafts.
Yield 25-50 mini puffs or 10-14 large ones.

When they are cool, cut the top 1/3 off and remove any stringy dough. Fill with filling of your choice. The creampuff shells you can fill with any filling you want: vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, pie filling (cherry, blueberry, apple)



Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 beaten eggs
2 cups corn flakes
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Melt butter, add the sugars, and mix.

Add soda, salt, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.

Crush the corn flakes with your fingers. (I measure mine, put them in a baggie, and squeeze them -- it's more fun than a stress ball.) Add the crushed corn flakes, flour, and chocolate chips, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

Place walnut-sized scoops of dough on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard-sized sheet. Flatten them slightly with a floured or greased fork in a crisscross pattern.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to complete cooling. (The rack makes them crunchy.)


Peanut Butter Melts

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method ------

1 cup melted butter
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tbs molasses - coat spoon with non stick cooking spray
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup peanut butter -- (either smooth or crunchy- your choice)
2 beaten eggs -- (just whip them up with a fork)
2 1/2 cups flour -- (no need to sift)

Preheat oven to 375°F, rack in the middle position

Microwave the butter in a microwave-safe mixing bowl to melt it.

Add the sugar, vanilla, and molasses.

Stir until it's blended, then add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.

Measure out the peanut butter. (I spray the inside of my measuring cup with Pam so it won't stick.) Add it to the bowl and mix it in.

Pour in the beaten eggs and stir. Then add the flour, and mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

Form the dough into walnut-sized balls and arrange them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. (If the dough is too sticky to form into balls, chill it for a few minutes and try again.)

Flatten the balls with a fork in a crisscross pattern. (If the fork sticks, either spray it with Pam or dip it in flour.)

Bake at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.



Mini Cheeseburger Cookies I don't have the recipe for this particular cookie but I know it's made with store bought cookies and you make homemade butter-cream icing that you color. I think these little cookies would be so much fun at a child's birthday part.

Updates: Colton's walking, his 1st Bday photos, we moved!!!!

I realize it has been a LONG time since I blogged. Has it been a ride or what? Colton had his 1st birthday party, Sept 21. It was dinosaur themed. I baked the cake all by myself, I think I did a wonderful job if I'm not bragging too much. :)

We have since moved to Pennsylvania from Florida to be closer to my fiance's family. I love it up here. The fall was beautiful and it already snowed (just flurries but still cool) on Nov 6. I can't wait for the first real snowfall that blankets everything. I have never experienced winter like this. Florida only has 2 seasons, warm and HOT! LOL

I am still working in the NICU, and love it. I have been battling some depression issues, but that is another post all it's own. I let the store lapse for a while, I feel bad about that, but I'm finally getting my excitement and gusto back enough to reopen it sometime in December. I am in the process of getting a few auctions up and running for my reopening.

Back to the task at hand, Colton's Bday photos. Gammy got him a puppy pillow pet, which he always carries around and barks at, it's so funny. Mam and Pap got him a mini 4 wheeler (his "nunn nunn" as he calls it) and he lost interest in ALL other toys at that point. Even the one mommy and daddy got him, a My Pal Scout dog. I love that thing more than he does, but I think he will like it at he gets older and can interact with it more. You program it to say the child's name, I was shocked Colton's was actually on the list of names it says, and you program their favorite color, food, animal (coyote for Colton).

He had his first real taste of cake, he was so hesitant at first, not sure what was going on, but he didn't really want to touch it. I had to give him a little taste before he would dig in. LOL
Uncle Ben was ready with a damp rag b/c he hates when Colton gets dirty. Just wait uncle Ben, children are messy!

We had a great time and I'm so glad we did a theme and had a real party instead of saying "he's too young, he wont remember anyway". We all remember and have pics for memories down the road.

More on Colton - he is walking now all by himself. He started taking 2-4 steps by himself about 2 weeks ago and now has progressed to toddling around the whole house multiple times a day. There are sometimes he still finds crawling faster, but man has he gotten so much better in such a short time. He talks up a storm. He can say at least 15 words and understands many more. His favorite right now is "Up". I hate the word "Up" now, he overuses it. Everything is UP. He's still cute though, even if he is trying sometimes. He can point to at least 10 body parts from his big toe to his eyes. I love it. The ped said he is very advanced for his age and is doing things (mentally) an 18 month old does. I think that is wonderful. I am so proud of my little guy.

Zach is painting vehicles again. Currently working on a Jeep for his cousin and has a few other jobs lined up as well. He really does love it, even if it's hard work. I will have to chronicle his work on this jeep in another post from beginning to end when he is finished.

Gotta go crochet and watch a movie. See ya later!!!!

Birthday Pics

My Plan

So the Grand Opening went off and did ok. I am thinking that less premade items and more customs is the way to go. So from now on, once the stock in the store dwindles (I hope), I will only be stocking about 2 premade items and 2-3 customs and some YYMH slots. I think the customs are a better idea since people can tailor them to the size and style they want. With the premade items you might like a colorway but it might not be the right style or size you want. So from now on customs are going to be the majority of stock in the store. I am moving the 2nd week in June from FL to OH so I hope to stock in June but I am unsure right now.
My plan is to stock at least once a month.

I have a few premade items up in the store right now. A beautiful small skirty, some soakers and a cute pair of medium shorties. You should def go check it out. I also have a YYMH slot available right now.

Grand Opening Tomorrow!!!

I am super excited that my Grand Opening is tomorrow. I have a couple finished products up for sale. I also have 2 semi custom slots on Norbert colorway, it's a mix of blue, green, brown, and cream, very boyish or gender neutral. I was going to dye some girly yarn for another custom but I just couldn't get it to turn out the way I wanted it so instead I have opted for a YYMH slot. If you have any yarn you need made into woolies, I am your woman. I also have a FFS lotto on a large soaker on Merino yarn dyed by me. It is a mix of blue and purple with silver trim. Go check out the store, enter my lotto and maybe I will see you tomorrow night for my Grand Opening at 9pm Est. See Ya!!!

Ewe Wool Love It, I hope so!

The store I mentioned in my last blog has become a reality and is set to open this coming Friday, May 14. I am super excited. I have been crocheting for 6 years now and decided to put that knowledge to good use. I absolutely love the layout of my store which was done by Dragon Fly Graphics on Hyena Cart. You should check out my store Here.

I have about 8 things up so far, some premade items and some semi customs items for sale this Friday. I also have a Free For Shipping (FFS) lottery going on. Enter and if you win you only pay shipping. Sounds good right? You should definitely enter.

I also have a Facebook page for my store, go become a Fan, or better yet "Like" me since they changed that. ;) Once I get 120 fans I will do another FFS giveaway, most likely a custom giveaway.

Why is wool so great as a diaper cover? Because:

• It is breathable and helps regulate temperature
• It's naturally antibacterial
• It's a natural product

Here are some pictures of my work and most of these items area available for purchase this coming Friday. Go check out my store, become a Facebook Fan, and maybe Ewe Wool Love It too!