Summer is Nearly Here

Wednesday is June 21 and the Summer solstice and the longest day of the year. Right now I am listening to all the birds singing in my back yard and it certainly is a lovely time of year. I think I am going to create a summer bucket list. What about you? Do you have plans?

I have been trying a bunch of new recipes and crafting as per usual. Oh, and let’s not forget some little life hacks. I mean I have to justify the title of this blog somehow, right?

Recipes

One Minute Chocolate Frosting (recipesbycarina.com)

This is super easy and I highly recommend it.

1 cup powdered sugar 2 T. cocoa powder 1/2 t. salt 2 T. room temperature unsalted butter 1-2 T hot water

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Mix in the room temperature butter. Add the water a little at a time until you have the consistency you want.

*If you use salted butter, just eliminate the salt from the recipe.

Baked Italian Eggs (damndelicious.net)

These were a big hit at a brunch I had at my house. You will love them!

• 1 cup marinara sauce
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup fat free or lowfat milk
• 1/4 cup shredded gruyere cheese
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup basil leaves, chiffonade

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil two 10-ounce ramekins or coat with nonstick spray.
• Divide marinara sauce evenly into the ramekins. Top with eggs, milk, gruyere and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Place into oven and bake until egg whites are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
• Serve immediately, garnished with basil leaves, if desired.

*I don’t have ramekins so I used mini-loaf pans for mine. I baked mine a little too long because I was leery of having the egg whites not cooked. They were delicious but next time I will back off a 1 or 2 minutes cook time.

Cheesy Asparagus (melissassouthernstylekitchen.com)

It is asparagus season here and I found a great recipe!

• 2-3 lbs asparagus ends trimmed
• ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• ½ teaspoon black pepper adjust to taste
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• ⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese divided
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 cups low moisture mozzarella cheese or monterey jack or Gruyere
• ½ cup french fried onions

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• Arrange asparagus in dish. Some may overlap. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together cream, ⅓ cup Parmesan, onion powder and garlic. Pour evenly over asparagus.
• Sprinkle top with remaining ⅓ cup Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes, sprinkle the top with french fried onions. Continue to bake another 5 minutes or until crisp tender and bubbly. Bake longer for softer texture.
• Let stand for 5 minutes, then serve, drizzled with sauce.

*I don’t like anything spicy so I left out the red pepper flakes when I made this dish.

Cole Slaw Dressing (allthingsmamma.com)

It is the season for all cold salads.

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ▢1 tablespoon dijon or spicy mustard
• ▢1 teaspoon onion powder
• ▢2 teaspoons sugar
• ▢½ teaspoon celery seed
• ▢1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• ▢1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢Salt and pepper to taste

• n a medium bowl or wide mouth jar with a lid, add mayo
• Then add mustard and seasoning, stir to combine
• Add vinegar and lemon juice
• Place lid on jar and shake until well combined
• Add salt and pepper to taste, place on lid and shake again
• Chill until ready to serve with coleslaw
• Store in refrigerator

*This was super good and super easy. It is very much how my mom made hers. I just like the addition of the celery seed and spicy mustard.

Rhubarb Cookies (funcookierecipes.com)

It is rhubarb season too. I never thought I like rhubarb but then I tried it in a bread recipe and discovered that it really just takes on the flavor of what it is put in. So I went on to try cookies. I think you would like them.

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1¾ cups (200g) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup finely diced fresh rhubarb

• Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
• In a large mixing bowl, using a stand or a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and egg until smooth and creamy.
• Add flour, ground cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and slowly beat again until just combined.
• Fold in the diced rhubarb, then using a small 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough and place them onto the prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, or until set and lightly brown at the bottom.
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

• I added white chocolate chips to mine and it was a nice touch. Again if you use salted butter don’t add the extra salt.

Crafting My Life Away

This month I was working on my diamond paintings that I told you about last time but I did get some other projects done.

I made a little sign for a friend who has a thing for snails. I used my Cricut for this. I bought the metal sign from Dollar Tree and used the Cricut to cut the vinyl for the sign. I added a little touch of ribbon to the jute hanger to just spice it up a little.

I used a star wreath form and tulle from Dollar Tree to creat a patriotic wreath for my porch. I tied strips of the tulle to the wreath. When I was done with that I took a piece of jute and hot glued the little foam stars I had in my craft room leftover from anothe project and suspended that in the center of the star.

Dollar Tree also had a shell wreath form. It was kind of a mustard color so I painted it white. I used a little roll of fabric that I had bought a while ago to make a sort of backdrop for the shelf. I hot glued the fabric to the back of the form a section at a time and then used an exacto knife to trim the fabric as close as I could to the form. I added a bow, some floral pieces and a shell. it was as simple as that.

I had seen an idea on line that used old world globes for different things. I took that idea and elaborated a little. It made for some pretty neat serving pieces that are great conversation starters.

I had two globes of very different colors. I separated the two halves of each globe. To the northern hemispere I added a draw pull as a little handle and to the southern hemisphere I glued a little round tart pan the allows the 1/2 globe to sit without tipping on a table. Then I painted the inside of the bottom half of the globe a coordinating color so that it went with the outside of the globe. I bought a large plastic bowl and a plastic round serving plate from Dollar Tree. I put the bowl inside the bowl I made with the lower half of the globe and the tray underneath the food cloche I had made with the top half of the globe. Great for a picnic and like I mentioned, a real conversation starter.

Hacks for Your Life

*If you would like to get the most bang for your gas dollar experts recommend. Every time you apply the brake you waste the gas you used to accelerate. They recommend accelerating gently and coasting toward red lights and stop signs while trying to use the brake less.

*Out on a short or long road trip and want to find a good spot to eat. Look for a place with a lot of trucks outside. Most truckers have done their routes many times and know the best places to eat.

*Combing your dog’s or cat’s fur? Just leave the hair outside. It is perfect material to help birds make their nests extra fluffy and cozy.

*When going on a trip and tagging all your luggage with name and contact info, make sure to put a tag on the inside too. Tags on the outside can fall off and the airline will open the luggage to see if they can find a clue as to who it belongs to. You will be prepared.

*Try opening your bag of chips from the bottom next time. Most of the flavor sinks to the bottom during shipping and storage. This way you will start with the most delicious chips first, when you are the most hungry.

*When making pie crust or biscuits and the recipe calls fo youto use a dough cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until pea size pieces form you can do this instead. Use a box grated on the larger hole side for your butter and it will slim down the process and keep you from overworking your dough.

*When making scrambled eggs start cooking on medium high heat and then when your spatula leaves a trail through the eggs, reduce the heat and continue cooking for 30 to 60 seconds. This keeps your scrambled eggs from being loose with tiny curds or becoming dried out.

Have a wonderful month, hopefully with sunny, warm weather!