Time Out

Now as a Mom and Grandma we all know what a time out is.  They came into be after my kids were school age, but I now use them.....for me . That is what I call 3:00 at our house...that is when The Nate Show comes on and I want to sit quietly if possible for that one hour. Is that really too much to ask? To sit and look at all I could accomplish shoule I set my mind to it. I am pretty darn creative, but with a lack in cooperation mnay of my dream projects have not come to be.  This spring I intend to make some big changes and on my own.... We are woman hear us roar.....who needs help. The other nice thing is every so often they have great recipes on there like this one

Spicy Smoky S’mores Bars

Ingredients

18 crackers or 2 packages plain graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted, plus more, softened, for pan
4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper powder
4 cups mini-marshmallows

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Line the bottom and sides your 9 by 13-inch baking pan with foil. You want to leave about 4 inches of overhang on the 2 opposite sides. These are going to serve as your handles to remove the bars from the pan in one piece, so make sure that there is enough of the overhang for you to have a solid grip. Grease the foil well.
In your food processor, grind the graham crackers into a fine meal (you need 2 cups). In a large bowl, combine your crumbs, sugar, sea salt, and melted butter. The mixture should look and feel like wet sand. Set aside 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping. Evenly press the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom the foil-lined pan. Pop your crust into the oven and bake until it is golden brown and your kitchen smells of graham crackers, about 12 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and allow it to cool on a rack or on a dishtowel on your counter.

Melt your milk chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring continuously until fully melted. Do not turn up the heat to hurry this process; you must keep it on low. Once the chocolate is fully melted, it's time to add your chipotle pepper powder and stir it in completely.
Preheat the broiler.
Pour the melted chocolate over the cooled graham cracker crust. Spread the chocolate evenly over the crust with the back of a butter knife. Then sprinkle your marshmallows over the chocolate, pressing them lightly, and then sprinkling the reserved crumb mixture over and in between the marshmallows so that you cannot see the chocolate peaking through the marshmallows. Broil the bars until the marshmallows are golden brown, it should only take 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Refrigerate the bars until the chocolate is hard, 2 hours or so. Grab the ends of the foil liner and lift the bars out of the pan in 1 piece. Move them to a cutting board and cut into 24 squares.

Yield: 24 servings
I omitted the chipolte powder and everyone just loved them.
http://www.thenateshow.com/tipsandtools/detail/dessert-flipping-with-anne-thornton

I have been busy getting some things together to post on etsy... here are a few

flower clip for hats etc.

lady bug hat with wing earflaps

frogette



owl bib...there is a matching hat on Etsy



A Quiet Cup of Coffee

  It is a bright sunny morning here in Wisconsin.  With the two little guys back at their moms for a few days, I have a minute or two to myslef this morning. With a house of teenagers there is not a chance one of them will be up at this time on their own.
     Yesterday was busy, we took Mom to her new Doctors visit, I made a stop at the Walmart in Berlin for buttons and yarn then I came home and did those everyday chores that just always need to be redone. With no kids home I set off to work on site photos and finish a few hats.

  Off ,to the computer I went, quiet time to crop photos and list some new items......maybe!  We have three dogs, a rescued bordie collie Trixie, a Bichon, Mandy and Liz got a lab puppy Daisy for Christmas. Well, it is like having a house of sugared up two year olds when they get started. There is running and barking, chasing and even some ottoman jumping before they finally tire out the puppy and I can hear myself think again. Was it too quiet here?  Is that even possible, to have too much quiet?

  I am working on some duck and chick hats along with diaper covers for the tiny ones. Today I can sew buttons on  because my littlest helper , Carsen is not here trying to taste each button. He does make a lovely model and is the perfect size 3-4, but it is much easier when I get some alone time. I have a couple of the ducks already done and Liz was nice enough to model the teen duck hat for me. She added her own touch with some sunglasses.

I did get some work done but so enjoyed the silence while all three dogs napped.  With teens off and busy, hubby out I had a chance to warm up some leftover chicken and dumplings from Pioneer Women Cooks site, amazing even as a leftover and so easy to make. This is a must try recipe.  There were even a few of the dinner rolls from her site so I treated myself to one of those.  JJ and I had alot of fun making the rolls the other day. He is my cooking buddy and we are really enjoying trying recipes from this site.  So far we have made amazing and easy white bread, cinnamon rolls that were to die for, chicken and dumplings, drip beef and a pasta.   All very easy and delicious.  Of course while I am typing this I am thinking what can I find there to try for this weekend!   Cinnamon rolls will get made tonight so I can pop them in the oven in the morning, with a few pans to keep in the freezer for another day. This is a must see site if you like to cook or bake. Now that I have made myself hungry I had better get to work on getting the house up and running, maybe some oatmeal to get us started then on tho my etsy pages and a busy Saturday, Keep warm and have a great day whereever you are!

Hibernation

Hibernation, need not be just for bears.  With all the recent snow and cold, I feel the need to curl up and just stay put.  This is not something new for me.  I find myself in this spot every winter.  Maybe not enough light, I am not sure, but one thing I do know is it makes me want to stay in and cook.  For this my family is very grateful. Recently after finding the Pioneer Womans blog I have baked bread, cinnamon rolls and now yesterday made what she calls drip beef. Being from Chicago and now in the middle of Wisconsin this recipe was the closest thing we have had to a good Italian Beef sandwich since moving. Easy and delicious. The diresctions were easy to follow and the end reseult got rave reviews.  So, today I am off to try her chicken and dumplings , now if this doesnt say warm and comfy, what does. We also have my two favorite little guys back and both are sick. Chicken and dumplings is just as good as chicken soup, I would think. Just the idea has had me wanting to hurry into the kitchen and get started. I will also mix up a batch of the white bread. The house will smell wonderful and be warm and just perfect for the bear in me and the guys. So let those flakes fly outdoors today, I am stocked up and ready to cook and bake. During nap time, ( theirs not mine ) I will finish a few new orders that came in over the weekend from the Etsy shop . I have a box ready for the trip to Josephines in Watertown, hopefully tommorrow. As I type this I am beginning to feel a little less like crawling back into bed and hiding until spring. Is it the second cup of coffee or.......the thought of chicken and dumplings? I will have to let you know how it comes out, if only we had smell on theseblogs