Holidays

Valentine Goodie Bags

I have been anxiously awaiting the day that I could finally make cute little treats and fun things to take to Lane’s class. I think that might be part of the reason I didn’t completely go into a full blown breakdown when he started Pre-K. Of course, I had the “Oh, my baby is growing up..” thoughts, but I was totally ready to be one of the Mom’s like my Mom was. I could always count on her to be there when classroom parties were going on, and to have something ‘homemade’ to bring along. 🙂

I found this idea on Pinterest.. yes, another one. Ok, so I’m not very original.. hush!

First we had to cut out the ‘From Lane’ strips his teacher sent home so we could attach them to the Valentine tags.

( This isn’t really a necessary step to the process, but he’s so dang cute that I had to include it. 🙂 )

Basically, all I did was order the shovels, buy some thin red ribbon, cellophane treat bags, and assorted ‘goodies’.

You can either write ‘I Dig You’ on the shovels themselves with paint pens, or do as I did (because we had to have something to attach the ‘From Lane’ labels to) and print tags using card stock.

Fill the bags adding 1 shovel and goodies, then tie with a strip of ribbon. I attached the tags by using a hole punch and running the ribbon through the hole before tying the bow. Pretty simple, and they are too cute!

Here is the PDF for the printable Valentine Tags I used.

Peanut Brittle (light, crispy, & oh so good)

Recipes

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Ingredients

2 Cups Raw Peanuts

2 Cups Sugar

1 Cup White Corn Syrup

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Vinegar

½ Cup Water

Add ½ cup water, 2 cups sugar and 1 cup white corn syrup in a large skillet (I used a 12” cast iron). Cook until sugar has completely dissolved, about four minutes. Then add the 2 cups of peanuts. This is the hard part. If you cook too long the peanuts will burn and if you do not cook long enough the peanut brittle will not have the correct flavor. Cook until the mixture starts to turn brown. Usually about 8 to 9 minutes. You can watch the peanuts to see when they start to turn brown. When it is done cooking add the teaspoon of salt, Baking soda, and vinegar. Stir the mixture. This will cause air bubbles to form in the brittle. The mixture will double in size this is why you need a large pan. Now pour the mixture into 3 disposable buttered pie pans and let if flow out do not spread the mixture out.

A lot of recipes call for the mixture to be spread.. to me that makes peanut brutal, not brittle. 🙂 It’s a matter of preference, by not spreading, the air bubbles stay in… giving it more of an airy crispy texture. When it is spread out, it removes all of the air bubbles, making it really hard.

Also, you can also use pecan pieces in place of peanuts for pecan brittle.. very good too! We’ve made almond brittle, cashew brittle, etc.

You will want to have you baking soda, salt, and vinegar ready to go so you can add it quickly to the mixture. Make sure your pie pans are buttered and ready before you start.

Pumpkin Roll

Recipes

It’s that time of year… pumpkin everything is hitting the shelves and coffee shops across the nation. I’m not much of a ‘Pumpkin Spiced Latte’ or ‘Pumpkin M&M’s’ kind of girl… but this Pumpkin Roll, um… yes, please!

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Ingredients:

3 Eggs

1 Cup Sugar

2/3 Cup Libby’s Packed Pumpkin

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

2/3 Cup Flour

Preheat oven to 350. Cover a jelly roll pan with wax paper and lightly cover with cooking spray. Beat eggs, sugar, and pumpkin. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into pan and spread to sides. Bake 10-15 minutes or until slightly browned. Lay a tea towel out flat and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar. Flip the pan onto the towel directly out of the oven. Carefully remove wax paper and roll into the towel, lengthwise. Cool in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Unroll and fill with pumpkin roll filling below, then re-roll and chill for 1 hour. When firm, slice into desired thickness.

Pumpkin Roll Filling:

8 Ounce Cream Cheese

2 Tbsp Butter or Margarine

1 Tsp Vanilla

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until nice and creamy, then add powdered sugar and beat well.

Boo-tiful Pumpkins…

Crafts

With Halloween being just around the corner I thought I would give this ‘being crafty’ thing a try. I must say, I love how these turned out. I am trying to get in touch with my inner crafter, and I plan on sharing my journey…. I’m sure along the way there will be some craft fails, and I may or may not decide to share those : )

I couldn’t believe how something so easy to make could turn out so cute! All you need are pumpkins, a few rolls of Halloweenie ribbon (I found mine on sale 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby) your favorite craft glue, and some wire for the bows on top. The ribbon I used had wire in the edges, which was a big help when it came to making the bows.. I tried using ribbon without the wire, and it just made a floppy sad looking bow… so my advice is, opt for the ‘sculptable’ wire ribbon. If a ‘newbie’ crafter wannabe like me can do this, so can you. Now go out… get a few pumpkins and give it a try!