May
28
2008
0

Butterflies and Mothers

At the beginning of April, CC Designs released some new stamp sets. As part of the release, Christine gave away some blog candy on her All That Scraps blog. I was fortunate enough to win one of the sets. Below is a picture of what I won.
Blog Candy

Blog Candy

I decided that this set would be perfect for Mother’s Day, so that is what I used. At first, I wasn’t completely sure that I liked using the chunky sprinkles on the butterfly, but after I came back to the card the next day I really liked it. Both my mother and my mother-in-law loved it. In fact, my Mom emailed me and said Very impressive. You are so creative.” It’s nice to have positive reinforcement even when it is from someone who is a bit biased.
Mothers Day Card

Mother's Day Card

Stamps: CC Designs Beautiful Butterflies; Stampin’ Up wheel Blossoms & Bugs; Stamabilities Sophie Alpha Upper
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, and Pale Plum
Ink: Stampin’ Up Elegant Eggplant and Pale Plum; Versamark
Accessories: Stampin’ Up chunky sprinkles, heat & stick powder and clear embossing powder; misc. petals and brads

May
14
2008
0

Strawberry Yogurt Loaf

Bookmarked Recipes

A while back, I came across a recipe for Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf at SmittenKitchen.com. and I bookmarked it, thinking it would be delicious. I also came across an event called Bookmarked Recipes at Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments, a blog I’ve since subscribed to on Google Reader (man, I love Google Reader). I changed SmittenKitchen’s recipe a bit since I wanted to use up some fresh strawberries I had sitting in my fridge yelling eat me. I also omitted the lemon zest since I didn’t have any lemons. To make up for the lack of lemon flavor, I added some almond extract. I had an Oops! Some of the dough was lost to the counter when I initially tried to remove from the pan. Nothing a little extra time in the oven couldn’t cure. It is a very moist loaf. The loaf didn’t turn out to be the prettiest loaf, but it was quite tasty. I took it to work and everyone enjoyed it. Although, I don’t think I’ve even taken anything that wasn’t loved by my co-workers.

Strawberry Yogurt Loaf

Strawberry Yogurt Loaf


Strawberry Yogurt Loaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (I omitted since I’m trying to reduce sodium in my diet)
  • 1 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
  • 3 extra-large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract, divided
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
  • 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (mine wasn’t freshly squeezed)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8.5 x 4.25 x 2.5 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and oil. Slowly, whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. In medium bowl, mix the strawberries with remaining flour and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the lemon juice, remaining sugar and remaining almond extract in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the loaf is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Place a sheet pan under cooling rack. While the loaf is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the loaf and allow it to soak in (a pastry brush works great for this, as does using a toothpick to make tiny holes that draw the syrup in better). Cool.

Yield: 1 loaf

Written by Jennifer in: Baking & Cooking | Tags:
May
09
2008
0

Shortbread Cookies

My friends Justin and Jessie recently bought their first home. On Sunday, they had an open house for their family and a few of their friends, around 20 people. I was kinda stoked that they included us. Justin, who happens to be a co-worker also, had told me that Jessie planned to have a chocolate fountain. I offered to bring a dessert that would be tasty to dip in the fountain. Right away, I thought of shortbread cookies. So I browsed my cookbook collection and came up with Chocolaty Shortbread Cookies from Pillsbury The Complete Book of Baking; however, since they were to be dipped in the chocolate fountain, I omitted the cocoa and added some flour. They turned out quite tasty. Next time, I’ll have to try the chocolaty version.
Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup sugar, plus some
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a large bowl, beat 3/4 cup sugar, butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; blend well. Stir in flour, and baking powder; mix well. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten slightly with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 325°F for 8 to 13 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

Yield: 4 dozen

Written by Jennifer in: Baking & Cooking | Tags:
May
06
2008
0

Two Way Open Card

A week ago, I was looking at SplitcoastStampers and came across this challenge to make a two way open card. It looked like a cute card idea and I needed an April bumper card and a birthday card for my husband’s Aunt Kay. So I created the following.
Closed Card

Closed Card

Open Card

Open Card

Stamps: Hero Arts ClearDesign April and Designer Butterflies
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Ballet Blue
Ink: Stazon Jet Black,
Accessories: Michael’s floral ribbon (which coordinated oh so well), and velcro

Card Variation

Card Variation

Everything same as above, but add Hero Arts ClearDesign Number FOUR

Written by Jennifer in: Crafty Goodness | Tags: ,
May
05
2008
3

Baby Shower Invitations

My sister, Sarah, had a baby boy in March and back in February, her sister-in-law Becky put together a baby shower for her. I offered to make the invitations. Here’s what I came up with.
Closed Invitation

Closed Invitation

Open Invitation

Open Invitation

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Jumbo Wheel Wash Day, Stampin’ Up All-Year Cheer II
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Ballet Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, VersaMark
Markers: Stampin’ Up misc. Spica clear and red glitter pens
Ribbon: Stampin’ Up double-stitched Wild Wasabi

Based on the invitations, Becky came up with this cute decorating idea.

Party Decorations

Party Decorations


Becky also had these fun games/activities for us to enjoy:

  1. As people arrived, they could spend time decorating a 6×6-in. square of paper with stickers and what we wanted to tell the baby.
  2. A fun game where you placed a piece of paper on your head and drew a baby. It was neat to see what the “babies” looked like.
  3. Two baby bottles. One filled with Q-tips and one filled with plastic safety pins. Guess how many are in the bottle.

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