Sun Dried Tomato and Spinach Naan Pizza

Have you ever tried Naan pizza?  Naan is a traditional Indian bread that is served with most Indian dishes.  It's delicious and one of my favorite breads and you can do so many things with it, my favorite being pizza.  It's sturdy and crisps well in the oven, so it holds toppings perfectly.  We have Naan pizza night a few times a month and everyone loves it.

Right now, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Spinach are my favorite toppings to add to a Naan pizza.
I start by adding a half teaspoon of the oil that the tomatoes are soaking in to the Naan and I spread it around with a spoon.  Then I add a layer of spinach, some onion slices and the tomatoes.

 Then on goes some parmesan, mozzarella and a few dashes of pepper.  Be sure to grease your pan, or foil lined pan or even better yet, a pizza stone if you have one.  Bake at 375 until the cheese is melted and bubbly on top.

And when you're done, you have this deliciousness.  It's what's for lunch today.  :)  Goat cheese is also a heavenly topping on pizza.  It melts perfectly and adds a nice tang.

Take care.  oxox

Aunt Shirley's Angel Food Cake

I love cake, all kinds of cake, but Angel Food cake is hands down my favorite and I feel blessed to have inherited the best, at least I think it's the best, Angel Food cake recipe I've ever tasted.

My great Aunt Shirley loved to bake and everything she made was amazing, but this cake is my favorite recipe of hers and every time she made it for a family gathering it would disappear in a blink.
When my aunt Judy gave this recipe last year, I was thrilled and couldn't wait to try it. 

Here's the recipe:  Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1 cup of cake flour
3/4 cup of sugar
12 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons of cream of tarter
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
another 3/4 cup of sugar

Sift flour with 3/4 cup of sugar, four times.  It's important that the flour is fine and sifted well with the sugar.  Beat the egg whites, cream of tarter, salt and vanilla until the egg whites are stiff enough to hold a peak and glossy.  Add the other 3/4 cup of sugar to the egg white mixture 2 tablespoons at a time while beating slowly.  Begin adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, slowly folding the flour in with the egg white mixture until the flour is all incorporated.  Don't overmix.  Bake in an ungreased tube pan.  It's important that the pan is ungreased, Angel Food cake needs to climb up the pan while baking and won't do that if it's greased.  Bake for 35-40 minutes. Don't open the door during the baking process, if you need to look at the cake, turn on the oven light and peak through the oven door window.  Angel Food cake is delicate after all.  :)

Once it's done (it should look like the photo above and a knife inserted in the cake will come out clean) you want to flip the pan upside down onto a clean towel and leave it there for one hour.

Once cooled, lightly push on the center of the pan and it should separate easily from the outside of the pan.  Using a butter knife, gently scrape around the bottom of the pan and around the center to release the cake from the pan.  I store my cake in a plastic cake dish.

And here's how I like to serve it.

With a nice big dollop of real whipped cream.  If you try this and enjoy it, let me know.  I don't make it as often as I'd like because I would just eat it constantly.  It's mostly fat free (minus the cream of course.)   :)

Enjoy your weekend and take care.  oxox

Wearable Clay

Hello there.  Today I wanted to share with you some Polymer clay jewelry that I've been working on over the past week.  I am totally obsessed with this stuff, there's so much you can do with it! 

The heart on the top was the easiest of the three pendants.  I simply used a small cookie cutter to cut out a heart from some red clay that I rolled out, then I stamped the clay with a rubber stamped image of a swirl.  I baked the clay, then rubbed a little clear pigment ink over the raised portion of the heart once it was cooled, then brushed some gold pigment powder over the heart.  Lastly, I sprayed it with some clear spray to seal the powder. 

The black and white rose pendant is simply black and white clay that I rolled together then swirled around until I liked the way it looked, then I rolled it out and used a cutter to cut out the teardrop shape.  I created the rose with tiny cut out circles then attached it to the pendant along with some leaves.  Again I gave this one some shine with clear spray.

The last pendant, which is my fave of the three, consists of a circle cut from rolled out black clay and then I decorated it with strips of green and blue clay then added leaves and flowers.  This one I've worn a few times and every time I get a compliment on it.

I'm really enjoying working with the clay and can't wait to try new things.  I think I like jewelry better than animals, working in 3-D is a bit tough, but I'll keep at it.

Enjoy the rest of your week.  Take care.  :)

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi everyone.  I was in the mood for cookies over the weekend, so I made some and thought I would share this recipe with you.  These chocolate chip cookies are my favorite of all time.  They are huge, soft and so, so yummy. 

I was watching Tricia Yearwood's Food Network show one morning and she made these cookies and the recipe was a bit different from the traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe that is found on the back of bags of chocolate chips, so I thought I'd try these and I haven't gone back since.  They are that good.

Here's the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 1/3 sticks of butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups of sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda and salt.  Add these to the flour and sift all three together.
One cup or so of chocolate chips. (Depending on how much you like).

Cream the room temperature butter until creamy, then add your sugars, egg and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture last and then add the chocolate chips.  Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet.  I usually put six per a large cookie sheet because these cookies spread out and are big once baked.  Because they are big, they take a bit longer to bake, around 15 minutes.  Just watch them, when they turn slightly golden on top, they are done.  Once placed on a cooling rack, they tend to cook a bit more, so don't eat them until they are completely cooled.  A cookie doesn't reach it's full texture until cooled.  I know it's hard to wait, but it's worth it!

I hope you like these if you try them, they disappear in our house.   This recipe makes about 14 cookies, so double it if you need more.  :)

Take care. ox

CREATE

Hello everyone, I hope you're having a pleasant weekend.  It's gorgeous here and I should be outside but I'm not, I'm in my craft room, my favorite place to be.  This morning while at Walmart, I found myself in the craft section, which is typical, and found some wooden letters.  I thought they were the perfect size for a spot on the wall in my craft room that I'd been thinking of putting something, I wasn't sure what, but the blank wall was bugging me, so when I saw these letters, I immediately thought of a word I could put on the wall.  And that word was CREATE, because that is what I do in my craft room every single day, so it fit perfectly.

I simply traced the letters onto patterned papers (I used all My Mind's Eye papers on these letters) then glued the papers on using a heavy duty glue stick, then glued a few embellishments on each letter: buttons, flowers, etc.  Now my blank wall has a colorful and pretty decoration on it and I love it.  :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!  ox

LGS

Hi everyone, hope you've had a good week so far.  Been good here.  We had a nice Valentine's Day celebration.  I woke up to a purple orchid from my sweetie and then for dinner I set the table in red, pink and white and we had Chinese food, a tradition we all look forward too every year and then for dessert, brownies and chocolate cake.  Yes, I had to take a very long walk the next day to work off all the goodies, but it was worth it.

I really like the latest sketch over at LGS and decided to play along.  Here is the sketch:

 And here is my layout.

  I used my Silhouette Cameo to create the doily on the background, then layered it over some patterned paper.  My daughter got an Instax camera for Christmas and she shot this photo of us on Christmas morning.  Now her walls are covered in these adorable little pics, mostly of her and her boyfriend and friends.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the upcoming weekend!  ox

Happy Love Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful day with family and loved ones! ox

One Bowl Chocolate Cake

Hey there, hope your Saturday is going well.  I've been busy preparing for Zachary's 9th birthday party tomorrow and making cupcakes has been part of that preparation.

I've never been a huge fan of chocolate cake until I was given this recipe by my Aunt Judy.  A friend passed it on to her then she passed it on the me and it is hands down the BEST and MOISTEST chocolate cake I've ever had.  I'll never make any other chocolate cake recipe again.  This is my go to recipe from here on out.

As you can see, we have a Batman theme going here.  We're going to see the Lego Batman Movie after having pizza and cupcakes and when I spotted these gummy bat symbols in the baking aisle, I knew they'd be perfect.  I tinted the frosting with a bit of black food coloring then sprinkled silver sugar on top.  Ignore the Halloween cupcake liners, I thought I had some plain ones in my stash and when I discovered I didn't, was too lazy to go back to the store.  :)

Here's the cake recipe, it really is all done in one bowl and is super easy.

2 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of buttermilk
2 eggs
1 cup of hot water from the tap

In a large bowl (as large as you have, this makes a lot of batter) combine the dry ingredients.  Stir in oil, buttermilk and eggs, add hot water last.  Stir until smooth and combined, a whisk is easiest.

Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 35 minutes or so.  The timing depends on if you do two small pans or one large sheet pan.  Cupcakes take less time.  Either way, keep an eye on it.

Buttercream frosting:

1/2 cup shortening
1 stick of softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bag of confectioner's sugar

Or, my favorite way to frost this cake is with chocolate whipping cream. Whip heavy cream until stiff, be sure to add some sugar, usually a few tablespoons at least.  Then add some chocolate syrup.  If you choose to frost your cake this way, it will have to stay refrigerated once frosted.  It's delicious any way you frost it. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Take care, oxox

Cinnamon Goodness

Happy Friday everyone.  I'm looking forward to this weekend, I hope you are too.  We are celebrating my son's 9th birthday at the movie theater.  He and his friends wanted to see the Lego Batman movie, so that's our plan and then later in the day, me and my friends are going to see 50 Shades Darker.  I'm a huge fan of Jamie Dornan and love him in any movie he is in, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie. 

And here's a little eye candy for you.  ;)

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I always enjoy baking a sweet treat for the kids, but one of my kiddos won't be here because he's at college, so I like to send him a care package and this year I've decided to make Snickerdoodles, his favorite cookie.  The recipe I have is the best Snickerdoodle recipe I've ever come across.  They are so easy to make and turn out soft and super delicious.

Here are the cookies...

Don't they look delish?  It's seriously taking all my willpower right now not to eat every single one but I can't because Ben knows they are coming, so I'll have to refrain.  :)  He'd be pretty disappointed if he didn't get his cookies.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 teaspoons of cinnamon to roll the dough balls in

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix butter, sugar and eggs until combined
Combine flour, cream of tarter, salt and baking powder in a bowl, combine well, add to butter mixture.
Using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough into your hand and roll into a nice neat ball then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Place on the cookie sheet and press slightly with the palm of your hand so they are flattened but not completely flat.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, cool on a wire rack.

If you try these, I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.  I've tried a few other Snickerdoodle recipes but the cookies always dried out after a day or so, but these don't.  They are good for a few days in an airtight container so they are perfect for shipping to my boy. He's only two hours away, so it doesn't take long for him to get his mail.  He'll be mighty happy to see these!

Enjoy your weekend everyone and thanks for dropping by~!  ox

Mojo Monday Card Sketch

Hi there, hope your week is going well so far.  This morning I was hunting the internet for card sketch blogs and found Mojo Monday. I've been in the mood lately to make cards and was looking for a good starting point and I found it with this sketch, so I decided to play along.  

Here's the sketch...

And here's the card I made.  I dug out some of my rubber stamps and put them to use.  It's been awhile since I've stamped, it felt good to put rubber to ink.  I like how this came out and have decided to give it to my aunt for her upcoming birthday.

If you'd like to check out this fun blog and play along, go to www.mojomonday.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by! ox

A New Obession

Did you watch the Superbowl?  In my house, football is a pretty big deal and because we are from New England, the Patriots are a very big deal.  And last nights game was unreal.  So exciting, a real nail biter and how about Lady Gaga?  The woman is queen, what a voice.  I hope you all had a great weekend, we sure did.

While browsing Pinterest the other day, I came across some Polymer clay fairy houses and thought they were the cutest things I'd seen in a long time, so I decided to try making one.  I bought some clay and a toaster oven to bake the clay in and here are my results.

Aren't they cute!  I love them and had so much fun making them.  This mushroom house is about four inches tall and took the longest because it was the first one I've ever done and it took some trial and error to figure out how big or small to make the flowers, leaves, etc.  I love the bright colors and the texture of the orange and white clay I mixed to create the roof.  For the window, I initially painted on a window, but then decided I didn't like it so I created a window with felt and hot glued it on over my mistake.  I like the texture the felt adds.

This house is my second attempt.  I love the blue and brown together along with all the bright colors.  This house is about three inches tall.

 And lastly, a little Christmas Gnome.  I made quite a few Gnomes out of fabric over the holidays and wish I'd thought of making some with clay.  My tree would have been filled with these little guys. I painted this one because I got distracted with my dog (he ran off chasing a bird) and I left this little Gnome in the toaster oven for too long and his hat burned at the very tip, so I covered it with red paint and then decided he needed to sparkle, so I coated him with glitter paint, then when he was completely dry, I sprayed him with some sealer.  I didn't spray the houses with sealer, I like the matte look of the clay.

I have also been experimenting with animals.  These are for my niece and nephews.  My nephew Dominic has a pet snake, so of course I had to make him a snake.  I like the sea turtle best, I think he came out the cutest.

So I now have a new obsession and have found myself scouring the internet for clay ideas and clay tools.  Like I need another hobby??  Yes, as a matter of fact I do!  ;)

Take care,  oxox

Whoopee Pies

It's Friday and I couldn't be happier.  It's been a long week and I'm ready to chill out.  We have been invited to two parties this weekend which means I get to bake for both occasions.  Again, I couldn't be happier.

Last night my daughter asked me to make whoopee pies or Devil Dogs if you hail from New England.  My family have always called these sweet treats Devil Dogs.

Here's what I'm talking about:

Yep, they are good. 

Here is the recipe: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and because this batter is similar to a thick cake batter, a silicone mat is best or they will stick. 

1 cup of shortening
2 eggs
4 cups of flour
10 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream the shortening, butter and vanilla as shown below. Add eggs, combine well.

 Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder.

 Until it is well combined like this.

 Then alternatively add the buttermilk and the flour mixture to the shortening, sugar and egg mixture until it looks like this.  Yum.

 Drop onto mat using a rounded cookie scoop.  You can make these bigger or smaller, it depends on what you want.  I like to use the small cookie scoop. It ensures they all come out roughly the same size so you can sandwich them easily.

 Bake for ten minutes and they should look like this.  Slightly firm on top.

While they cool, make the frosting (the BEST part)!

Three sticks of room temperature margarine
Two pound bag of confectioner's sugar
One container of marshmallow fluff
Two teaspoons of vanilla (use clear if you want frosting to be bright white)
Mix using the whisk attachment until fluffy as shown below.

Then just sandwich this sweet goodness in between the cakes.  These don't last long in my house, my kids go nuts for them.  I love them too but try to refrain from eating too many.  Gotta keep my girlish figure.  ;)

Enjoy your weekend! ox

Stuck?! Sketches

Good morning everyone.  It's Thursday and the weekend is almost here! I've had my new blog for a week and so far I'm enjoying it.  And I've been busy posting and scrapbooking. 

I mentioned in the last post that I'd made many good friends through Let's Get Sketchy.  One of those friends is Laura and she owns Stuck?! Sketches, a sketch challenge blog.  I loved the sketch she created for February 1st and thought I would play along.

Here is the sketch:

 And here is my layout.  I used mostly My Mind's Eye products for this one.  I've always loved their colors and patterns.

If you want to play along with this sketch, check out www.stucksketches.blogspot.com.  Thanks for stopping by and ENJOY your weekend!

Let's Get Sketchy

Hi there.  It's been awhile since I've played along with a sketch challenge site because I haven't had a blog in a long time, but now that I am blogging again, it's time to get caught up and start playing along.

Let's Get Sketchy is a great challenge blog with amazing sketches.  A few years ago, I was on the LGS design team and because of that experience, I've made lifelong friends that I still connect with everyday on Facebook.  We've been through a lot together and I am very grateful for their friendships.

This week's sketch has a mood board to go with it.  Here's the sketch:

 And here is the mood board.  Lot's of pretty pinks, reds, whites and a touches of green. 

 And here is my layout.  This photo is one of my daughter's favorites from Homecoming this year.  She loves how patient her boyfriend is being while she tries to get that flower pinned on just right.  It took a few minutes but she finally got it. 

I'll admit this layout was a bit of a challenge because I don't usually work with the color pink, but I did have enough of it in my stash to complete the page and I really like how it turned out.  I may have changed my mind about pink.  :)

If you want to play along with LGS, just log onto www.letsgetsketchy.blogspot.com. 

Thanks for looking!  ox

A Few Fancy Touches

Good morning everyone, we're half way through the week and that's a good thing.  Today I wanted to share with you a project that took very little time and turned out, I think, pretty cute.

I found a small framed glittered heart in the Valentine's section of Walmart last week and because the colors were neutral, right away I thought of what I could do to jazz it up a bit.

So I added some Theresa Collins die cut flowers, a few small hearts and some arrows cut from Simple Stories paper and for some bling, a few gold rhinestones which I also found at Walmart in the craft section.  A few pearls, enamel dots and a tiny yellow rhinestone complete the project.

Here's the finished project.

I really like how it turned out and it's a nice addition to my craft room.  When you see something plain and want to dress it up, the sky is the limit!

Take care...oxox