And the Winner is…Harmony!

Random.org selected #10 which means Harmony is the winner. Did you know that when The Pioneer Woman has a giveaway there are often over 40,000 comments! I like these odds better. Thanks to all 18 of my readers that commented!

Sewing Class

I took my second sewing class at Sauder Village last night. I was exhausted before I went and forgot the manual to my machine. Our teachers are so patient. I couldn’t even remember how to thread my machine, but they both helped me out all night long. I also purchased the wrong pattern size. Lesson #1 of the night…even though the back of patterns tell you how much fabric to get for 8 different sizes you need to look at the front of the pattern because it really only works for 3 sizes. So I bought fabric for a size 2, but bought the pattern for a size 6,7,8.  Hoping I can still make it work.
I’m making a little sundress dress with this Alexander Henry fabric.  I’ll be finishing it at the next class and will post a final picture.  Does anyone have a little girl that wears a size 6? If it turns out, it’s all yours!

See you back here on Monday when I’ll announce the Black Heels to Tractor Wheels winner! You can still enter by commenting here. Trust me, you want to enter this giveaway. It’s the best novel I’ve read in a long time.  

One Dress…for 6 months.

Photos from Amy’s blog.

Could you wear one dress…for 6 months?  Amy Seiffert, from BG, is doing just that for a good cause.  Check out her blog and find out why.

Bacon of the Month

photo from Zingermann’s

You’ve heard of the fruit of the month club or the cheese of the month club, right?  I just discovered the Bacon of the Month club at Zingermann’s.  Do you know a bacon snob? I do. This would be perfect for them.

I discovered this while reading a newly discover blog, Oh Joy. Check it out. They made bacon cookies. Mmmm….

Design Mom

Design Mom is another one of my long time favorite blogs.   She and her husband just packed up their 6 kids and moved to France for a year.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for The Pioneer Woman’s novel by commenting on this post. It is so good I can’t put it down. 

What blogs or books are you reading? Any recommendations?

The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond & a Giveaway

After a long week last week we drove to Columbus on Saturday to meet The Pioneer Woman! Ree is arguably the biggest and most successful blogger on the whole world wide web! She is one of my all time favorite bloggers that I’ve followed consistently since I began reading blogs three years ago. Ree writes about her life on the ranch, cooking, photography, home and garden, homeschooling and her family. She is on her book tour promoting her new romance novel Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.
We waited at Barnes and Nobles for 5 hours to meet her and it was worth the wait! Ree is so genuine and took her time talking to all her fans, signing books and taking pictures for hours. I don’t even think she ever took a break.  She is really approachable and so down to earth.  Hundreds of people came out to meet her. Special thanks to Kent and my sister Morgan for coming with me and to Kent for taking all these pictures.  I’m so lucky that he enjoys these little adventures as much as I do.

Of course, the second it was our turn to meet her I got super nervous for whatever reason and forgot to ask her the questions I wanted to. In my nervous groupie state, I blanked.  We did discuss that Morgan and I are sisters and twins, but not with each other and that Ree tweeted me once. Talk about making an itty bitty bloggers day! One tweet from THE PIONNEER WOMAN about naan made. my. day.

And…because I was missing last week and missed you all so much…Ree signed a book for one of you. I thought this would be a perfect Megasimple Giveaway! Leave a comment on this post and I will randomly select one reader to win Ree’s new book. Black Heels to Tractor Wheels!  Entries accepted until Sunday at 5:00PM.  The winner will be announced on Monday and must contact me by e-mail by Wednesday at 5:00PM.

White Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse Minis

Happy Valentine's day! For the occasion I attempted another mini: white chocolate mascarpone mousse. The chocolate seized when I mixed it with the cream as Helen of Tartlette cautioned that it might. The texture ended up a little gritty, but aren’t they pretty minis?

Minis are harder than I thought they might be, but then again this recipe was from a French pasty chef so I don’t know why I was expecting it to be simple.  I mean, for goodness sakes the only mini that has turned out so far for me was layered red and green jello. Now that’s wifetastic…and megasimple. Go here if you want this recipe and to see some really awesome pictures.

Mini Crème Brulee–part 2

I have some research to do.  This first attempt at crème brulee wasn’t bad, but it could be better.  The taste was pretty close, but I’ve got some work to do on the texture. 

As many commented in the reviews of the recipe I used, it didn’t set up well.  The recipe calls for baking at 275 degrees for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.  I baked mine at 275 for 60 minutes then turned it up to 325 for 20 more minutes.  The knife never was clean and they were jelly like when I took them out of the oven.  They did firm up more in the refrigerator, but not enough.
We also tried brown sugar for caramelizing and some super fine crème brulee sugar.  The super fine sugar caramelized much more evenly than the brown sugar.

So…definitely edible, but needs some tweeking. Surely, I’ll do a follow up crème brulee post sometime.  I of course would love any tips or tricks that any of you might have?!

Mini Crème Brulee–Part 1

This recipe will be in two parts basically because I’m super busy these days which makes blogging a little challenging.  Tonight I made mini versions of crème brulee.  They are in the oven as I type. We frequently eat egg whites for breakfast and I can’t think of a better way use the yolks than in this megasimple dessert. 
If they turn out they might possibly be the most megasimple dessert ever.  If they don’t turn out… well, this will likely be the last time I make one recipe cover two days of blogging. 

The Recipe
Wisk together the following ingredients until creamy.
2 cups of heavy cream
1.5 cups of sugar
1 T. vanilla
5 egg yolks

Put ramekins in a 9x13 baking pan. Fill ramekins with crème brulee mixture.  Fill baking dish with hot water to approximately half way up the ramekins. 

To be continued…

Sara Aschliman featured on Apartment Therapy

 
Sara Aschliman of dwellbeing was featured on Apartment Therapy for the unbelievable renovation of her Goethe home in Cincinnati! Sara is an architect, originally from my hometown, who has vision, style and design skills that I dream about. She has developed some amazing plans for major renovations to our house that we are still hoping to use someday. 

Check out her company dwellbeing here and the Apartment Therapy feature here.  I’ve been meaning to contact Sara for a while to find out where she got the chandelier in this photo and to if she liked the square white sinks in the master bathroom that sit above the countertop?

Stella Leona Valentine Chocolate

  
                                                                                                         Photo from www.stellaleona.com

What will you be giving or hoping to receive for Valentine’s Day this year? I received the gorgeous Stella Leona hand painted Heart Box for Valentine’s day last year and I’d be totally fine if it became tradition.

Stella Leona has some new Valentine creations that are really gorgeous and equally as delicious.  Go here and here to check them out!

Have a great weekend! I’ve got more Valentine ideas, desserts and treats planned for next we so I hope to see you here.

Snowshoeing

We tried snowshoeing last year and really liked it.  To make the most of the projected “blizzard” we made a quick trip to Toledo Tuesday evening to buy our own snowshoes.
 
We found two pair at Mountain Man Ski Shop and also found a pair for Sammy at
Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Snowshoeing is super easy to do. If you can walk, you can snowshoe, but I’d forgotten what a great workout it is.  We snowshoed in Goll Woods on a trail that had only been traveled by deer since the snow came.  It’s as beautiful of a workout as you can get which makes it really easy to enjoy.

Valentine’s Day Crayon Card

Kent made a Valentine’s Day card to go with the molded heart crayons and I’m sharing it with all of you! There is a black and white version here and a version with a little color here.  Print them on cardstock or just plain old white paper. Fold the card in half for a mini coloring book! 
       
Have your child fill out the To: and From: on the back. Drop them in a cellophane bag or sandwich baggie, tie with a bow and the Valentines are complete!
I had several questions about where I got the Wilton heart molds.  I found them at Kroger and also saw them at Target.  I think they were around 8.50 for a dozen.  You can find them on Amazon, but they are over 13.00 there.  As an alternative I tried the molded crayons in a mini muffin tin. 

I sprayed the pan with cooking spray.  These melted completely in only 7 minutes at 375 degrees. I put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes and they popped right out when I turned the pan upside down!

Valentine Crayons

Molded crayons seem to be all the craze these days and I’ve wanted to try making them for a while.  We had our nephew over two weeks ago to spend the night and we gave it it a try.  It was really fun and super megasimple.  

1. Remove the paper from old crayons.
2. Break crayons in to small pieces.
3. Fill molds with 3 shades of one color or 2-3 different colors of crayons bits.
4. Melt in oven at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and let them cool for 5-7 minutes.
6. Place whole mold in freezer for 12-15 minutes.
7. Pop crayons out of molds.