T-Shirt Scarfs

After seeing this:

I knew that my daughter would love it. I had her watch it and she and her friend immediately started hounding me for a tee-shirt to use. We found two that had logos' on them but those were worked around and soon there were t-shirt scraps and girly vibes filling the room.

Here were her creations

They even used some scraps to make matching ones for their dolls

View from theTable

Today I woke up to snow.

I was expecting it, but not like this. 

A lot of our snow storms in this area tend to be in high wind.

That makes for a lot of high drifts but not so much left on the ground.

Yesterday and last night were windy so I expected more of that,

but, to my surprise the wind stopped in the night.

I miss the calm lightly falling snow that can be so peaceful.

Thankfully I had it all to myself this morning while I shoveled a path to the bus stop.

I knew it wasn't done snowing but I shoveled anyway for my kids and the few others that cross our path

and past the neighbors to the street.

When I finished there was another half inch on the ground.

It's snowing harder now, faster and bigger clumps.
already there is another 2 inches plus accumulated.

I measured it with my trusty ruler. 

The snow on the little table on the back porch is already past 7 inches.

But for a little while I had the pre-light soft and serene snow,

perfect, and all to myself.



Update:  What a Difference a (half) Day Makes.

the above picture was taken about 7:30 - 8:00 am.
I measured the snow on top of the little table at over 9 in.  
The picture below was taken at 1:30 pm.

French Bread

Today's recipe is a french bread recipe but I rarely use it as a traditional french bread.  I most often use it to make sub rolls for a better want of a term.  Usually when we have pulled pork or bbq etc.  I really like the flavor of the bread for this use.  When I make them for rolls I just bake it, I don't do a french bread water spritz or steam which forms the crust and glaze on the outside of a french bread.  I think I got this recipe from a roommate back in college, I don't remember, that was a long time ago.  I started using it for sandwich type meals because it was fairly quick to make and didn't require kneading.  Instead you do several short risings.  I have used 1/2 whole wheat in the recipe and it turned out fine also. 

When forming loafs I make two long loafs which fit on a baking sheet side by side.  For rolls I make them in whatever shape I care too.  This time they turned out quite like hot dog buns.  I don't take the time to really carefully make them all exactly the same size and shape as you can see but you certainly can do so.  I also usually add an extra rise time.  Make sure you let them cool before slicing or the inside sort of stays too moist. But it's hard to resist hot bread.

French Bread

1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbl yeast
1 tsp sugar

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water in traditional method.  **If using Instant yeast add water and sugar to next step and add yeast after the first mix

2 cups hot water
3 tsp salt
3 cups flour
3 Tbl sugar
5 Tbl shortening

Mix all above until well combined.     **Add instant yeast now and mix in well.

Mix in another 3 cups flour. 

Let rise 15 minutes, punch down.  Repeat 3 times.
Divide dough in half for loaves and form as desired.  Let rise until double.  Bake 375deg. for 20-25 min.  Remove from pan and cool.

(I usually spray pan with 'pam' and dust with cornmeal. )

Cheesecake Brownies

These are an old favorite of ours.  I made them for Valentine treats.  I always wish there were more middle pieces but it's impossible.  I really don't understand those "all edges" brownie pans.  Maybe I'm completely different but I would much rather have a nice middle than a crusty outside edge.   With the cheesecake layer it tends to run to the middle as the edges bake up so you get more in the middle and less on the edge, at least with my recipe

The beauty of these is that most brownie recipes will work for the base.  I'm not sure which ones wouldn't but I'm not sure they all would either.  I have used a few different recipes including a box mix and had it work out great always.  This time I used an old standby with extra cocoa.  I almost prefer them the next day but they are good right out of the oven too.  Something about letting them just settle and meld I guess, although make sure you cover them so the edges don't dry hard.   They are nice if you like to slightly marble the layers together and look good that way too.   The one thing I should have done is double my cheesecake part because the brownie recipe I made is for a larger pan thus the cheesecake layer was smaller.

I am warning you, this recipe is not correctly paired up.  The cheesecake part is for a 9 in pan and the brownies fit in a 9x13.  I just settle for the thinner layer of cheesecake but you can use a smaller brownie recipe.  These brownies are on page 2 of my most used recipes.  That tells you their importance in my life.  They are in the middle of cakey and fudgy.  They are of course great all on their own.  They are followed only by my fudge brownies with ganache and BYU mint brownies in my brownie repretoire.  The cheesecake layer only makes them better. 

Brownie layer

3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Combine first 4 ingredients and beat until smooth.  Add eggs, sugar and vanilla and mix well.  combine flour and salt and mix into batter until incorporated, do not over mix.

Cheesecake layer

1 8oz pkg. cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbl. butter, softened
2 eggs
2 Tbl. milk
1 Tbl. flour
1/2 tsp. almond extract


Combine cream cheese, sugar and butter until creamy.  Add eggs, milk, flour and almond extract, beat well.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Spread brownie mixture in 9x13 in. pan.  Pour cheesecake mixture over the top.  Bake for about 40-45 min. 


Edit:  I linked up with Lisa at http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweets-for-saturday-5.html this week.

The New Table

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, but it takes me a long time to get around to things. I love it. It has been well received and everyone likes exploring the map and learning new places and names, my daughter has already gone through one page of brain teasers. It's not fancy but it's fun and educational. I plan on switching out art and brain teasers but the map will stay.

Dixie Salad

One of my favorite things about having Thanksgiving with my Sister's family is that her daughter always brings traditional Southern Utah Dixie Salad.  I looked around for a recipe online and couldn't find one that sounded just like hers.  So I broke down and called her.  Horror, I know, what kind of family doesn't call each other?  Mine.  At least I don't.  Maybe it has to do with my not liking to call anybody in general.  As a secretary in PTA and Church I have to call people often, but I do not like it.  Maybe it's because I usually am calling to ask them something and have a fear of rejection.  Anyway I asked her and was pleased with her answer.  4 simple ingredients.  Some recipes I found had mayonnaise and pineapple and one or two other things, they just didn't sound as appealing.

Pecans
Pomegranate
Apples
Whipped Cream

Pecan trees are everywhere in my Sister's little town.  You can hardly walk down the street without crunching some under your feet.  And since it's warm pomegranates grow very well too.  Thus the 'Dixie', as southern Utah is often called, in the Dixie Salad.  I love the crunchy sweet combination and it feels like I'm eating healthy, although the whipped cream doesn't exactly help in that area.  You need a little dairy though, right?

You can combine the ingredients in any proportion you would like.  I made a small salad just for myself this time for lunch. So it only had 1 apple, 1 small pomegranate and a handful of nuts. I also used whipped table cream because that is what I had on hand, and not much of it to keep it healthier for me.  But I do like a lot of cream on it.   You can add some sugar to the cream or use cool-whip as well.