Homemade Snowman, Cookies, and Creamy Tomato Soup

 This week after school, Cissy and I did a project before our cookies.  She was so excited to make the snowman.  I found directions on the internet, and we used some old white socks, rice to fill the snowman, the foot of another pair of old socks, some buttons, ribbon, and a permanent marker.

 Didn't her snowman turned out so cute??  She even used some pinkish eye shadow for rosy cheeks.  We just hot glued the buttons on the front and for the nose.    This is really an easy and fun project.

 Our Melting Snowman cookies were inspired by Mary.  You can find out how Mary did the cookies by clicking here.  Since Cissy and I didn't have a lot of time for baking, I bought Pepperidge Farm Brownie Cookies for our base.  You could use peanut butter cookies, or really whatever flat cookie you like.  You just melt the white almond bark, plop it on the cookie, spread it a little,   and then add your mini halved peanut butter cups, mini chocolate chips, and we used candy corn (yes, I still had some!) for the nose, that I pre-cut.  Aren't they adorable!?  I'm not sure who has more fun, me or Cissy!?

Here's my little snowman.  Save those old, mismatched socks for a cute project!

Yield: 6-8Author: Kitty and adapted from The Tupelo Honey Cookbook

Creamy Tomato Soup

My late beloved and I visited Asheville a year before he passed away. While there, we ate at The Tupelo Honey Cafe, and I enjoyed this soup, which is perfect with a grilled cheese sandwich.

ingredients:

• 1 (24-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream

instructions:

1. Combine the tomatoes, water, tomato paste, bay leaf, sugar, and salt in a heavy saucepan.  Bring to a boil., immediately decrease the heat to medium, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the mixture lightly coats the spoon.
2. Whisk in the pepper and the cream and continue to cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes. 

NOTES:

When I have extra tomato paste, I freeze the paste on parchment paper in 1 tablespoon increments.  When frozen, I then place into a freeze-proof container.

Created using The Recipes Generator

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Gentleman's Casserole for Father's Day

 

For Father's Day, I made a super- easy,  no-sew table runner out of some leftover chalk cloth.  It fits perfectly on my kitchen island.  I scalloped the edges by using a glass, marking the design and cutting it out.  Snack plates (Trade Days) are used, with the rooster mugs (Ross) and striped napkins bought years ago, on clearance,  at Sur la Table.  The heart basket was made back in 1985, when I lived in Michigan,  before moving to Texas. 

 

Of course my hubby is a Dad worth crowing about!  This runner would be great for a buffet in labeling food, cheese, and special messages for  family and friends.  The fabric can be ordered at www.fabric.com .  I marked one short side and long side, folded it in half, marked the opposite sides, and cut it out.  Make sure you rub the chalk cloth all over with chalk to season it, wipe it off and then it's ready for writing.

 

This recipe is aptly named and perfect for Father's Day, although, I must say,  women like it, too!! It's really a misnomer because it's actually NOT a casserole at all.  The recipe comes from my Southern Living Cooking for Christmas 2012. The cheese sauce is truly delicious!  You can bake the pastry shells the day before and then just reheat on a baking sheet at 350 for 5 minutes.  You could instead, hard cook the eggs, chop them up and add them to the sauce, which would be really easy.  Here's how it's made:

For 2 servings:  (You can easily double this recipe)

1 package of frozen puff pastry shells
1 T. butter
1/3 cup chopped cooked ham
1 T. chopped green onions
4 eggs

Cheddar Cheese Sauce (recipe follows)

1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (see NOTE)
Dash of paprika
Chopped green onion, for garnish

Bake 4 of the pastry shells and reserve the remainder for another use.

Melt butter in a nonstick skillet. Add ham and green onions. Sauté 2 minutes or until green onions are tender. Add eggs and cook gently, without stirring for 1-2 minutes or until they begin to set on the bottom. Draw cooked edges away from sides of pan to form large pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally, 1-2 minutes, or until eggs are thickened and are moist. Gently stir in cheddar cheese sauce.

Spoon egg mixture into prepared pastry shells. Sprinkle with cheese and paprika. Garnish with green onions.

Cheddar Cheese Sauce

3/4 cup milk
1 T. butter
1T. flour
1/2 cup extra sharp white cheddar cheese (see NOTE)
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper

Microwave milk for 1 minute in a 2-cup microwave- safe glass measuring cup.

Melt butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in warm milk, whisking constantly for 3-5 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat, whisk in cheese, salt and pepper.

NOTE:  Gruyere cheese can be substituted. 

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              Thank you for  your visit!  xo

Cherub Makeover for Valentine's Day

 

Here's one of the cherubs with a makeover, in the box that my sweet hubby made from old barn wood. 

 

 

 

When I visited Ross, several weeks after Christmas, these cherubs were on clearance. Here they are before their makeover. The shiny, silver finish just wasn't quite what I wanted.    However, I thought, why not paint them? 

Here they are after a spray paint of flat white.  I didn't want to buy anything for this project, but used what I had.  I put the little darlings in a box to cut down on spray residue and sprayed outside.

 

After the white dried, I used a small sponge brush and some leftover latex paint, in a dark sage color, and just dabbed it on in spots and wiped with a paper towel to blend.

For the final touch, I used some Rub 'n Buff in Spanish copper, because that's what I had. I used this sparingly and just rubbed it on here and there.  

I kind of like the way they turned out. 

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                     Thanks for your visit! xo

Fixing Nicks in Tile Floors

 Big gouge in floor (BEFORE)

Do any of you have nicks, gouges, etc. in your tile floor??  Working in a  kitchen, especially, things drop, for goodness sakes!!  I was frustrated by this and even went to my local Lowes to ask what to do.  No one seemed to  have an answer besides replacing the tile. Well, I decided to take things into my own hands.  Here's what I came up with....CRAYONS!!  I picked out two that I thought would work and boy, oh boy, they really did the trick!  In fact, the crayon kind of fills in the hole and STAYS there!  I actually had to dig out my worst hole in order to show you and I had fixed it months ago.  In that accident, I dropped a favorite rectangular platter that I won, years ago,  at a Taste of Home cooking show.


                                                                          AFTER

The nick is between the crayons, filled in and barely noticeable!!

Hooray, even if it washes out over time, I'll fill it in again.

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                                                                Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits

Goblets from Canning Jars

My Mom and sister are here visiting from Ohio to go to our youngest son's wedding.  I had made the darling bridal couple these wedding goblets and we decided to make some for my kitchen table.  You can check here for the directions on how to make them.  I want to join Kathleen's Let's Dish! on Wednesday night at 7 pm.  Check out all the other ideas at this fun party.







                                              Here's my Mom and Sister ready to toast !!

 

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Wedding Goblets

Ready for toasting!  I used raffia & ribbon to embellish.

I saw this cute idea at First Monday Trade Days, which is a huge shopping event in Canton, TX.  It is held on a weekend before the first Monday of every month.  The goblets sell for around $15.00 a piece.   Hmmmm, I thought, I think I'll try that!! Our youngest son & his bride-to-be are getting married soon at a ranch in the Texas Hill Country.  I thought that these goblets would fit in perfectly for their special theme.   I am so thrilled that they are going to use these for their wedding toast...so perfect for such a special couple!!!

Here's what you need to make these:

clean jelly jars
clean glass candle holders (Dollar Tree)
glass bond (Hobby Lobby)
re-usable stencils (Hobby Lobby)
Armour Etch glass etching cream (Hobby Lobby)
disposable gloves to protect hands
ribbon, etc. for embellishment

Follow the instructions for etching the stencil onto the glass jelly jar.  You could easily omit this step, if desired.

Attach the candle holder to the jelly jar & let dry 24 hours.  Embellish your goblet however you choose.  I've seen crystals glued on, also.  I would only hand wash these goblets.

Use your coupons at Hobby Lobby.

Use painters tape to secure stencil.

Finished goblet! 

You can also use pint-size canning jars, which would be nice for ice tea!

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Kid's Card Table Makeover

I bought one of those card table's for kids several years ago.  Having gone through 6 grandchildren, it was it need of an update.  I took off the legs & recovered the cheap, flimsy top with a chalkboard fabric. The whole project cost me zero dollars because I had leftover chalk cloth.  I would've used a staple gun but ours was broken, so I used  good, old duct tape underneath the table,  to hold down the new top.  I like the way it turned out & the kids like it, too!!  It's fun to leave messages or just to draw pictures.  A source for the chalk cloth is here at www.fabric.com.

The old, marked-up table

The old table, all made-over!

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