Potpourri

Hello! We had an unseasonably warm few days and some sunshine in my neck of the woods but Winter has returned.

We had our monster birthday bash on Sunday. My oldest daughter’s birthday was January 3 and my twin sons had their special day on January 25. My compadre in crime, Linda, celebrated on January 26. We rolled all those birthdays into one and had a party.

As I mentioned in a previous post,  each celebrant picks their own treat. Therefore, it was a busy day for me in the kitchen. Melanie picked angel food cakes, as she always does, with the fluffy cooked frosting. I say cakes because she always expects at least 2 cakes. One year she request three!! She likes the leftovers. Josh selected baked New York style cheesecake. I chose an easier recipe than the one I usually use. He liked it but told me he likes the old recipe better. Although everyone enjoyed the cheesecake. Jacob wanted an ice cream cake. Linda wanted Rick Krispie treats. I will share recipes below. Well, except for the angel food cake. I buy mixes for those. I’m not nuts enough to make those homemade. Well, at least not yet! Oh, and everyone knows how to make Rice Krispie treats. The only thing I did differently was to cut the treats up and stack them like a layer cake.

Money Savers

1. Save your wrappers from butter and margarine in a container in the frig. Whenever you need to grease a pan just use the wrapper. Rub it around the pan using the side that was next to the butter or margarine. My Mom always did this and I started right off the bat when I had my own home!
2. I get many things in the mail that have an envelope enclosed that I don’t use. I save those envelopes and use them rather than purchasing envelopes.I use them to do night deposits at the bank and pay the in town bills that I just drop off. Basically anytime I need an envelope for something and it doesn’t matter what kind of envelope I use.
3. When you are making something that only requires egg whites save the yolks. Put them into a pan of boiling water and cook them until they are no longer runny. Cool. Crumble them for salads.
4. If you need a knife or pair of scissors sharpened and don’t own a knife sharpener you can still get the job done. Turn a ceramic mug upside down. There is almost always an un-glazed ring around the bottom. Hold your knife blade at a 45 degree angle against the ring and pull it firmly along the ceramic edge from base to tip a few times on each side.
5. Here’s another tip for eggs. You can freeze them! Of course you have to take them out of the shell first. Crack 2 eggs at a time in a bowl. Beat them until well blended. Freeze them in muffin tins. Once frozen, remove them from the tin and store in a freezer bag in the freezer. Each time a recipe calls for 2 eggs get your bag out and you will be able to select a perfect portion. If you have a recipe you use frequently for say 3 eggs, you can do those too.
6. Muffin tins can be used for many things. If you turn a muffin pan upside down you can use it to bake tortillas for tacos or edible bowls for salads.

Have you ever had or do you currently have a cupboard that is difficult to get to? I do! It is right beside my stove and I keep spices and other related things in there. It is just a little too high for me to be able to see things in it. I have tried those spice shelves made out of bamboo that have steps and that didn’t work for me to see into the cupboard. I tried long skinny plastic containers that would hold a row of spice jars. That didn’t work that well either. The other day I had an epiphany! I needed a tray or container that would hold many things from the cupboard so that I could simply pull it out and see everything. Luckily I collect tins from various products. My daughter gave me two Moon Pie tins filled with, what else?, Moon Pies! The Moon Pies are long gone but the tins were here.

My friend Linda decided she needed to make a lighted fabric garland for Valentine’s Day. She shared the thought with me and we were both off and running! I am a little obsessive so I must have one for each holiday that I am decorating my antique Hoosier cabinet with.

We cut fabric strips in the colors of whatever holiday we were working on. The strips of fabric were roughly 5 to 6 inches long and about and inch to an inch and a half wide. We both were able to find or collect fabric scraps that we could use for the project. However, when we did need certain colors we bought quilting squares for 94 cents at Walmart in the colors we needed.  I used pinking shearers for mine. Linda simply tore some of her strips. You can also use regular shearers. It is all up to you and the look you want to have. Then you simply tie the strips onto the a light cord. We used discounted 20 light strings that we bought after Christmas for 47 cents each!

Valentine’s Day    

St. Patty’s               

Easter                       

Summer                  

I will be doing one for Fall and of course Christmas. Also, I just realized I need one for Cinco de Mayo! I told you I was a little obsessive! That’s with the emphasis on obsessive, not on little!

Recipes

Cooked Frosting

• 5 Tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature 
• 1 cup granulated white sugar

• In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. This might take 5 minutes, give or take.  Keep stirring so as not to burn the mixture.  Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Add the vanilla.
• While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the cooled mixture from step 1 and beat until it all combines and looks like whipped cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl so that you are sure to incorporate everything.

Easy Baked Cheesecake

• 2 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, whisked
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• graham cracker crust

1. Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla with mixer until smooth.
2. Pour into a ready graham cracker pie crust.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes at 350F.
4. Remove cheesecake and cool for 5 minutes.
5. Cool and refrigerate.
6. Serve cold!

This recipe was saved from simple.net.

Notes: I had to leave it in the oven the full 25 minutes. I then turned the oven off and allowed it to cool in the oven and then refrigerated it. Allowing a cheesecake to cool in the oven is a normal practice. I used a spring form pan for the cheesecake and made my own grahan cracker crust using graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter.

Ice Cream Cake

1 brownie mix baked as directed

1 half gallon of ice cream (softened)

1 tub of pre-made frosting

8 oz. container of whipped topping

sprinkles

I baked the brownies in a 9 X 11 pan as per directions. Once the brownies cooled I spread the frosting on top. The next layer is the softened ice cream. To top it off you spread the whipped topping on and decorate with sprinkles. The ice cream and frosting flavor are up to you. I used chocolate frosting and fudge ripple ice cream. Cover with plastic wrap (I always use Press and Seal. It is the best!) and store in freezer until serving.

Have a great week! Hope you enjoyed this post. I love to hear from you!