Wow! The sunshine just seems to energize me and I bet it does you also! I have been crafting, cooking and trying new tricks that I am excited to share with you. So, let’s not waste anymore time and get right to it.
Recipes
I just want to put it out there that I never share a recipe I have found without trying it myself. Tried, tested and Beckie approved!
Peanut Butter Frosting (recipegirl.com)
- 3/4 cup (1½ sticks) butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cups creamy peanut butter (do not use natural)
- 1/4 cup milk (or a little more, as needed)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter and peanut butter. Beat until smooth and well-combined. Mix in 1/4 cup milk, then add in the sugar a little at a time until it is all mixed in. Sprinkle in a little more milk, if needed, and continue to beat until the frosting is a good spreading consistency. It should be creamy and delicious!
- You can use this recipe to frost either a two-layer cake or 24 cupcakes.
Peanut butter frosting was my Mom’s favorite and she always requested it for her birthday cake. Unlike a lot of people who like PB frosting with chocolate cake she always wanted it with yellow cake as that is what her mother made for her when she was little.
Pineapple Angel Food Cake (ruthieskoziblogspot.com)
This cake is so simple, so refreshing! You will absolutely love it!
Ingredients:
- 1 box angel food cake mix
- 1 15 1/2 oz. can crushed pineapple (with juice)
Directions:
- Combine cake mix and canned pineapple, pour in ungreased 9×13 glass dish.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.
Cube Steak and Gravy in the Crockpot (thecountrycook.net)
- 1 packet of au jus gravy mix
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can French onion soup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 ½-2 pounds cube steak
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp cold water
- In the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker, combine cream of chicken soup, French Onion soup, packet of au jus and water.
- Stir well.
- Put cubed steak in slow cooker with gravy mixture.
- Cover slow cooker and cook steak on low for 6-8 hours.
- After cooking, it’s time to thicken gravy. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and cold water. Stir mixture into crock pot.
- Turn the setting to high and cook for 30 minutes (until gravy is thickened
Jazzing Up Your Canned Refried Beans
We all know that canned refried beans lack that certain deliciousness that you find in a Mexican restaurant. I stumbled on a way to make them more restaurantish! Just add some sour cream, a dash of hot sauce and some shredded cheddar! These add ons are to your taste so just give it a try!
Pecan Praline Monkey Bread (melissassouthernstylekitchen.com)
- 1 cup pecan pieces toasted & divided
- 20 frozen yeast rolls thawed & quartered [I used Rhodes]
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup butter
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 2 tsp pure vanilla or rum extract
- sea salt optional
- Prior to preparing: Place the frozen yeast rolls in a single layer on a platter, and thaw on the counter for 30 minutes. If the rolls are slightly frozen in the middle, they’re much easier to quarter. Use a sharp knife and quarter each roll.
- Toast the pecans: Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Spread the pecan pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast for 6-8 minutes. Cool completely
- To assemble: Spritz a tube pan with cooking spray. [The rolls will rise while baking. A Bundt pan is not quite deep enough for this monkey bread]
- Mix together ⅔ cup of granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp of ground cinnamon.
- Toss with the quartered rolls in a large plastic storage bag until evenly coated.
- Sprinkle ⅓ of the toasted pecans on the bottom of the tube pan.
- Layer half of the quartered rolls on top of the pecans in the pan.
- Sprinkle the first layer of rolls with ⅓ of the remaining pecan pieces.
- Layer the remaining quartered rolls on top.
- Sprinkle any leftover cinnamon and sugar over all.
- Top with the last ⅓ cup of toasted pecan pieces.
- On the stove top, melt the brown sugar, butter and heavy cream together over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla or rum extract. The mixture will be hot, handle carefully.
- Pour evenly over the rolls in the pan. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise for 45 minutes.
- Bake at 350 °F for 35-40 minutes until golden. Rest for 5-10 minutes before carefully inverting onto a platter.
- All of the gooey praline sauce will drizzle down the sides. Sprinkle the top with sea salt.
- Pull apart and enjoy!
DIY/ Crafts
This is just a simple little trick to jazz up a spot in a room. Just measure your light switch cover and find a photo frame that will fit around it. I bought mine at the Dollar Tree so not much of an investment for this project. The one I bought happened to have a little name plate so I put one of my Mom’s favorite quotes in there. Let me know what you think.
Many people are making vertical signs for their entrance on wood. I decided to give it a try. I sanded a plank and painted it with a green that I had on hand. I then used my Cricut to cut out letters spelling “HOME”. I measured the board and the letters and marked placement for the letters on the board. While I had my Cricut out I printed a border of coffee cups to use to embellish my sign. I placed the border below the letter “E”. I used jute rope I had and a hot glue gun to affix the rope inside the letter “O”. I added a piece of the rope at the top of the plank as well. My final touch was to use E6000 and a little hot glue to mount a plain white coffee cup at the bottom to which I had add some nice summery flowers. I kind of like my first attempt. What do you think? *Using the hot glue holds the item you’re gluing while the E6000 cures.
A couple of years ago I purchased a Singer treadle sewing machine stand from an antique shop. It came with a piece of wood attached to the top so you could use it as a table. I never cared for the wood as it looked like an open grid. I was trying to find some reclaimed wood I could use instead. I puzzled over this a long time until I had a thought and ran to my basement. Sure enough, some wood with numbers and symbols on it which came from a closed factory was there. I used my electric saw to cut 5 pieces the length I needed and then used screws to anchor them in a row on the base. I sanded the cut edges and applied some poly and viola!
I have been busy making decoupaged little cutting boards with cute napkins. I use a Dollar Tree square or round cutting board (only $1 of course), a cute napkin, waterproof decoupage, a paintbrush, plastic wrap and a brayer or other object (your hand) to smooth out the wet napkin. First you take the little plastic legs off the cutting board with a spatula or knife. Then you clean any sticky residue off. Using your paintbrush you spread the decoupage liquid evenly over the back side of the cutting board. You then need to separate the plies of the napkin. If you have a 3 ply napkin you will have to remove the back two plain layers. You want just the printed top ply by itself. Once you have that then you lay it printed side down carefully on the wet side of the cutting board and put a sheet of plastic wrap down over it as a barrier. Using your brayer or other item smooth out the napkin. Allow this to dry and then gently put another layer of the decoupage on top of your napkin as a sealer. Allow this to thoroughly dry. Then using a sanding block or small piece of sandpaper, over over just the very edge of the cutting board to clear off any excess napkin. *Here’s a little tip for separating the plies of a napkin. Use your finger nail or a credit card to gently over over the corner of the opened napkin several times. It flattens those little nubs out so that you can gently and easily pull apart the plies.
Dollar Tree (my preferred store! LOL) had some patriotic paper straws. My friend, Shelly, and I spotted them and immediately went to Pinterest to see what we could do with them. We found this sweet little flag that you can make with the straws, some jute or other cord and glue. We chose to put ours on a piece of poster board as a backing. Cute, right?
Finally, another little Beckie and Shelly thing. We cut strips of felt in red, white and blue. Then tied them to jute or other cord as a garland. The felt was only 33 cents a sheet and we used 6 sheets of each color. The cord/jute we each had on hand. It spices up my archway nicely.
Hackin’ Away
*Have you ever had cookies, brownies, etc. get hard on you even if they have been covered? My trick to freshen them up is to put them in a ziplock bag and sprinkle a small amount of water in. Then you zip the bag up and let it sit for a few hours. Soft again!
*In the evening I brew some tea. Quite often there is a little left in the pot that doesn’t get used. I put that into an ice cube tray and use them for my iced tea. It really makes a difference in the iced tea since it doesn’t get watered down with regular ice. You can do the same thing with leftover coffee and use it for your iced coffee.
* I recently put a little slit in a window screen. I was really bummed since they are new screens. However, I remembered the clear nail polish trick. Just brush a small amount of the clear polish on the screen to seal the area and it is hardly noticeable.
*Don’t put any other paper product but toilet paper down your toilet. Toilet paper is made to break down super easy and facial tissue, napkins, etc. are not and could cause you problems.
*I shared with you before how I use my lint roller to clean my lampshades of the dust they accumulate. I also have another use for the trusty lint roller. I always use a tablecloth and they can get crumbs on them very easily. Instead of unloading my table to shake the cloth I simply go over the areas with my lint roller. Quick fix!
*You know how you get those plastic straps around boxes for shipping? I had always ran for my scissors to cut them and then found out that they have a tab to just peel and open. If you just look you will find it.
Right here —
*In the summer I like to put my mayo in a squeeze bottle like I do my catsup and mustard. There is an easy way to fill it even with mayo! Just use a plastic storage bag. Put the mayo in the bag, seal it, cut off a little piece of one of the bottom corners. You can then use it like a pastry bag to fill the bottle.
I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Weekend and that you spend it with those you love. See you next time!
