End of Year Teacher Gift

We love our teachers - they deserve 

a lot (of candy and Cheesecake Factory)!

Baked Sandwiches

Baked Sandwiches

These little bundles are requested several times a week and taken to school the next day cold....

24 small dinner rolls - our favorite is Sweet Hawaiian

24 slices deli ham

12 slices provolone cheese

mayo or half mayo/half Miracle Whip

1/4 cup butter melted

1  T Poppy Seeds

1 1/2 T mustard

1 T honey

1/2 t. worscestershire sauce

Cut open the rolls, spread with mayo, fold one ham slice in half twice and 

add to the bottom half of rolls and put 1/2 slice provolone, folded in half on top of ham.

Put top half of roll on top of cheese.  Line on jelly roll pan (cookie sheet) in rows of four.

Add poppy seeds, mustard, honey and worcestershire sauce to melted butter

and whisk.  Let sit about 10 minutes to solidify a little.

Using a spoon, ladle sauce over the top of each sandwich.  It should be solid enough

to mostly stay on top, but runny enough to drip down slowly.

At this point you can cover and keep in the fridge until 20 minutes before eating or

bake immediately.

Bake, covered in foil, at 350^oF for 12 minutes.

Uncover and bake another 2 minutes.

Enjoy!

Nothing Plain About this White Cake

My kids think this is as good as SusieCakes - I kind of agree.

It's moist and classic and the frosting is the BEST homemade I've found.

Betty Crocker's Silver White Cake

2  1/4 cups flour

1  2/3 cups sugar

3  1/2 t. baking powder

 1 t. salt

1  1/4 cups milk

2/3 cups shortening

1 t. vanilla

5 egg whites

Heat oven to 350^oF. Grease and flour 2 round cake pans.

Beat all ingredients except egg white in large bowl on low speed 

for 30 seconds, then on high for 2 minutes.

Add egg whites and beat another 2 minutes on high.

Pour into pans.  Bake 30-35 minutes but use a toothpick to test doneness.

If using a 9X13 pan, bake 40-45 minutes.

Butter Cream Frosting

1/2 cup butter softened but not melted at all

1/2 cup shortening

1/8 t. salt

1  1/2 t. vanilla

5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

Cream butter and shortening until fluffy.

Add salt, vanilla, sugar and milk and beat until well mixed.

Manna from Heaven

So far, my favorite whole wheat bread recipe.

It uses white flour too, but is still fabulous!

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

3 cups warm water

2 packages active dry yeast

1/3 cup honey

5 cups white flour

Mix and let stand 30 minutes until big and bubbly.

Mix in:

3 T. melted butter

1/3 cup honey

1 T. salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

Knead, adding whole wheat flour until pulling away from counter or

side of bowl, but still a bit sticky to the touch.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat both sides of dough.

Let rise until doubled.

Punch down.  Divide into 3 loaves.  Roll, fold, roll (as demonstrated in

Grandma Van Doren's recipe) and place in greased bread pan.

Let rise until at least one inch above top of pan.

Bake at 350^oF for 25-30 minutes.  Do not overbake.

Yee Haw!

This is my favorite cornbread, ever!

And it's all done in one saucepan - easy clean up!

Buttermilk Cornbread

1/2 pound butter

1  1/3 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1 t. baking soda

2 cups cornmeal

2 cups flour

1t. salt

In a saucepan, melt butter on medium heat. 

When melted, remove from heat and add sugar and eggs.

Blend well with a wooden spoon.

Mix in buttermilk, baking soda, and salt.

Add cornmeal and flour.

Mix until all ingredients are moist but still lumpy.

Pour into a greased 9X13 pan.  Bake at 375^oF for 30-40 minutes.

Eclair Cake

My kids beg for this dessert.  It really is best if made

24-48 hours before serving.

ECLAIR CAKE

2  (3.5 oz) boxes instant vanilla pudding

3 cups milk

1 8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed

1 box Graham Crackers

1 tub chocolate frosting

In a bowl whisk pudding and milk.  Let thicken a few minutes.

Fold in Cool Whip until blended.

Line bottom of a 9X13 pan with a single layer of crackers.

I cut some so they fit perfectly.

Spread half of pudding mixture on top of crackers.

Top with another single layer of crackers to edge of pan.

Spread remaining pudding mixture on crackers.

Top with last single layer of crackers.

Melt frosting in microwave until pourable (like honey), but not runny.

Spread thin layer of frosting on top of last cracker layer.

cover tightly and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

Serve chilled.

Out With the Red!

About every 5 years I need change.

It has been 5 years.

I wanted to 

remove a lot of the red I have decorated with

and introduce newer colors and fabrics.

Here is the living room before:

And here it is now:

It only took about $100.

The red chair went upstairs and the two gold chairs came down.

I had leftover paint from Dunn Edwards called "Boat Anchor".

I found Dupioni Silk in a gold and grey buffalo check on

clearance for $9 a yard and made the drapes.  I used a new method

found HERE.  She uses about 4 posts to describe the process.

I bought a painters drop cloth at OSH for $10, sewed a

slip cover for my occasional chair and ottoman and it

changed the room instantly.  Slip covers are time-consuming

but worth it because they don't cost a lot and you end

up with a new piece of furniture.  Go HERE to learn how.

I spray painted some of my red accessories with 

cream and re-used most of what I already had.

I bought 1/2 yard of fabric and made the pillows re-using

the inserts from my old red pillows.  The zippers cost 

more than the fabric!  Next time I make pillows I will

post how to put in a zipper.  I make a pillow in 15 minutes,

zipper and all - it's easy once you "get it".

Next I re-used my frames but took transfer paper, clip art images,
a piece of paper,

and a nice artist charcoal pencil and created my own

$5 art that represents 

 the Salt Lake Temple

and the Nauvoo Temple

for more info on where to do this easy art,

go HERE

The family room isn't quite finished, and I still need to delete red

dining chairs, cover the ottoman and change the rug, but it's changing too....

Here are the windows before:

and after - sans valences.  Nice and clean.

Here is the family room before:

and after - new fabrics.

And the icing on the cake......

My new beautiful lantern.  I bought my own birthday

present and it was even hung before my birthday.  I 

love lanterns and this one completes my island.

The red bathroom is gone and now charcoal too!

A Little Lady is on Her Way!

We had a baby shower for Katelyn Miller Short

who is having a girl in May!

It was a lady bug theme - black and white polka dots

with pink and a touch of red.

I wish I had taken a picture of the food because

it was incredible and I had nothing to do with it!

We can't wait to meet little Sophie!

Valentine projects

This year the kids gave an easy Valentine cut from thin

craft foam.  I found patterns online and the boys

got a mustache and the girls got lips.

A new wreath- so easy to make!

2" squares of red fabric, wrap center around

a pencil, dip in glue and shove into a styrofoam

heart.  It took about 3 yards of 

fabric and about 3 hours.  

Baked Ziti

This has become a family favorite and all the credit goes to Stephanie!

Baked Ziti

1 pound dry ziti pasta ( I use Penne too!)

1/2 onion chopped

1 pound mild italian sausage

2 26 oz. jars of spaghetti sauce

6 ounces sliced provolone cheese

1 1/2 cups sour cream

6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

2 Tablespoons grated parmesean cheese

1. Cook pasta until al dente; drain.

2. In a large skillet brown sausage.  Add onion the last 5 minutes to brown.  Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350^oF.  Butter a 9X13 dish and layer the following:

1/2 pasta

provolone cheese

sour cream

1/2 sauce mixture

remaining pasta

mozzarella cheese

remaining sauce mixture

parmesean cheese

4.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until cheeses are melted and bubbling.

Games - UGH!

I have always just stacked the board games on a shelf.

The boxes on the bottom have always collapsed under the weight 

and it has always been a mess!

I decided to re-work the toyroom starting with the games.

I'm sorry I didn't take a before picture, but you can imagine stacks

of broken game boxes.

After some research online, I had two choices:

Game Savers at www.obhenterprises.com/GameSavers.html

and to be honest my organizing heart yearns for these nice, clean, blank

boxes that store board games but the price is too high.  About $11 per game.

Fix the boxes (mostly the corners) with clear packing tape, put all small pieces

in ziplocs, throw away games that had missing pieces and store them like books

on their sides.  Brilliant!  Why haven't I thought of doing that????

Each game can easily be pulled out without dumping five others on top of it.

Each box is only holding its own weight.

Each game can be seen.

Our toy toom will never be the same.  

The dread of getting a game and putting it back is over!

I love these colorful shelves now!  So organized....

Art Display Boards

I have always struggled with what to do with the continuous

stream of artwork my kids produce.  I've had a rotating collection

for 14 years and have always used bulletin boards.

This week, I tried a new approach - art that holds art.

I bought clipboards at Michael's that happen to be 12" wide

but any clipboard will do.  I painted the top 3 inches and Mod Podged

scrapbook paper onto the bottom.  They are cute enough on their own

to hang on the wall, or Ethan can display his Picasso's as he wishes.

Ethan had art going as the paint was drying.  He was excited to use them

and impatient about drying paint!