More S'mores Recipe Round Up

S'mores go with summer like lemonade, checkered table clothes, and American flags. The only problem is it's not always convenient to light a big camp fire every time we want this delicious, gooey treat... and I want them often in the summer!

 

That's why I'm so excited for all the alternative s'more recipes showing up. Here's a few of my favorites all in one place.

 

 

S'mores Dip

 

I made this dip for a summer BBQ at our house a couple weeks ago and it was a big hit!

 

 

S'mores Cookies

 

I loved these cookies for how easy they made it to get that delicious cookie, chocolate, marshmallow combo.

 

 

 

Gourmet S'more Bar

 

These different flavored marshmallows are just so pretty together!

 

 

 

S'more Pie

 

I am definitely bringing this pie to our next family gathering.

 

 

S'more Pops

 

These s'mores pops would be perfect for the kids while they watch fireworks!

 

 

 

S'more Pintable

 

I had to share this one for the cute free printable. Now I'm inspired to throw a s'mores party!

 

 

Want even more s'more ideas and recipes? Check out my Pinterest board HERE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberries

I've noticed a trend in fabric lately that I can't get enough of... Strawberries. I love strawberries! I mean, absolutly crave them, always have, according to my mom and dad. I grew up in Southern California and remember often passing fields like this one around my home...



I don't know if it is because I am much larger than I used to be, but I distinctly remember strawberries being much bigger than they are now. I actually think it is due to my parents stopping at the little stands next to the fields and picking up the freshest, reddest, and largest strawberries California had to offer.

Lately I've been seeing a lot of strawberry prints in fabric. I, of course, have to buy up every bit I see! This new line from Fig Tree is the perfect example. So yummy, so pretty, I'm afraid to open my jelly roll!


Click here to check it out in more detail. Prepare to fall in love though!





You may remember seeing this quilt before. It didn't sell, which I am now grateful for, because it hangs in my sewing room. The little dress I made for C, and though it's not out of strawberry fabric, I think she looks like a little strawberry in it. It doesn't fit her anymore, but I love to have it hanging up where I can still see it.



I found this strawberry pin cusion on Heather Baileys blog. It's an older picture, not sure if she still has patterns, but it looked too sweet not to share with you.



And lastly, my favorite stawberry recipe comes from my mother in law. She is a fantastic cook and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing her Famous French Strawberry Pie recipe. I could seriously eat a whole pie myself!



French Strawberry Pie

2 baked pie shells or graham cracker crusts
6 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped stiff
2 pounds strawberries, cleaned, hulled and cut up
1 box danish dessert (found in the jello aisle)

Wash, clean, hull and cut up the strawberries. Prepare the danish dessert as directed on the back of the box for pie glaze and set aside to cool. Cream the cream cheese and then add the powdered sugar, cream together. Add vanilla and mix thoroughly. Carefully fold in the whipped cream. Pour the mixture in the two pie shells and spread evenly all around. Top with strawberries and then top with the danish dessert. Cool in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.

Enjoy! :)

Happy Valentines Day!

In celebration of Valentines day I thought I would post some things I am IN LOVE with right now. First up is cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Here is my favorite recipe for these simple and delicious cupcakes...

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
4 large eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cup MINI chocolate chips
2 (8 ounce) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3-4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the first 6 ingredients together with an electric beater. Add chocolate chips. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill with batter half way full (I always do half way full instead of 3/4 full and they turn out perfect) Cook in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool. For cream cheese frosting, in a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar (start with 2 cups then keep adding more until it is nice and thick).

I usually have plenty of frosting, which is good because quite a bit of it ends up getting eaten by me before they ever get on the cupcakes :)

"Free" and "cute" are 2 words that I LOVE. Here are some very cute and totally free printable Valentines. Click HERE to print them out.



I LOVE this adorable Valentines quilt by Pine Mountain Designs called Love Line. Look at the little undies hanging on the line! SO CUTE!



And lastly, I was so excited to find out last week that there is a new Jane Eyre movie coming out next month (March 11th). I LOVE this book! I can't count how many times I've read it. I think the book is quite dark and am excited to see the movie looks the same.




I hope you all find lots to FALL IN LOVE with this Valentines Day!

A Quilting Break

I'm not a great cook. I have a few go-to recipes that I really love and besides that, well, we eat a lot of take out. I don't really enjoy cooking. I think it's because my 2 oldest children are such incredibly picky eaters that what I make usually gets shunned for a frozen corn dog. And that just makes me feel bad. It's funny because I really tried hard with my first two children to get them to eat healthy food. It wasn't until my third came along, and I completely gave up hope of having a child who at least tasted their dinner before pretending to throw up, that I got a little girl who LOVES to eat. When she came along, I had already given up, didn't care anymore, and tried to give her the frozen corn dog. When she pushed that away and reached for the broccoli on my plate, I almost fell out of my chair!

The 3 of us (my husband, C, and I) really like this recipe. My mom asked for it the other day and I thought "why not share with everyone". It's super simple, but people hear I'm making Ham Fried Rice and are impressed for some reason. It totally hits the spot whenever I am craving Chinese take out, which is often. Not to sure if this is a "healthy meal", but it does have vegetables that my daughter (and husband) actually eat.

Ham Fried Rice
serves 6

4 eggs, lightly beaten
3 teaspoons oil
4 cups cold cooked rice
1 1/2 cup diced fully cooked ham
1 package frozen vegetables
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash of pepper
Dash of chili powder (I put a couple dashes!)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce

In a large skillet, cook and stir eggs in oil over medium heat, until eggs are completely set (just like making scrambled eggs). Remove eggs and set aside. In the same skillet, cook the rice, ham, garlic powder, ginger, pepper, and chili powder until heated through. Stir in the soy sauce and reserved eggs.




Our one vice (well maybe not the only one, but that's a diffrent story)... delicious Mountain Dew. So we aren't totally health conscious, but we don't drink alcohol so we have to replace that with something.

Easy Bake Oven Cake

I am still here! October is a very busy month at our house, at least this October was. The month started out with The Boys 9th birthday, in the middle of the month C had to have a minor surgery, and then there was Halloween. I actually have been sewing quite a bit. I have a quilt that is being quilted for me right now and I've been working on 5 Christmas surprises that I'll have to wait a few more days to tell you about :) But for now I thought I would share with you this fun little project that me and P worked on today.

It's snowing like crazy at our house right now and that always makes me feel like baking. Apparently my daughter feels it too, because she woke me up early this snowy morning begging to play with her Easy Bake Oven. Soon after she got her Easy Bake Oven for Christmas last year, we ran out of mixes. I went shopping for more and quickly left the store with a resolve to make a few of my own, less expensive, recipes. This is our favorite recipe...

Pretty Pink Baby Cake

7 Tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

1 or 2 drops pink food coloring

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

8 teaspoon milk

Mix all the ingredients together until the batter is smooth and evenly pink. Spray your Easy Bake Oven cake pan really well (the one that comes with the oven) with non stick cooking spray. If you have ever baked with an Easy Bake Oven before you know these little cake pans stick like mad. Pour about 3 Tablespoons of batter into cake pan (fill it out 3/4 of the way). Bake 15 minutes. This recipe makes a 2 layer cake, but we have never been able to wait for the second layer to cook before starting in on the first layer. It's actually pretty yummy, especially with this simple recipe for frosting...

Powdered Sugar Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon milk

I usually don't measure this actually. I put about a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and add a drop at a time of milk until I like the consistency. DON'T add to much milk, it gets running really fast, only a little milk is needed. If you do add to much milk, just add more sugar and eat the left over frosting right out of the bowl! :)

Here's a picture of a single layer of the cake. If you have the patience to wait, cook both layers and stack them with frosting in the middle. P ended up eating one cake herself and serving the other to her brother and his friends.

And just so you know I haven't abandoned my sewing machine, here is a picture of some adorable Christmas bibs I created this week for the Pine Needles. Patterns and kits will be available this weekend durning their Christmas open house.

P.S. My darling son broke my camera the other day :( So all these pictures were taken from my phone. I am asking Santa for a new camera for Christmas (secretly a little happy our old one broke because the one I'm asking for is much nicer) but until then my picture quality will be lacking.