makelifesweet

We Need To Find Better Gifts

Remember that post my sister made about my mom's birthday?  It was really funny- you can read it here.  Anyway, here is the next "dud" gift my mom received.  This time from me.  Here's the story:

Last summer, my mom was looking through the Williams Sonoma catalog and loved these:

 

They are little pie molds that are in the shape of a star or heart. So cute.  She loves things like this, so I bought them for her for Christmas.  I was proud I had remembered these for at least 6 months.  And even more excited they still had them (I found out why later).  I also thought it would be a plus for me, because I knew she would be whipping these up and we would get to eat them.

So, true to my prediction, she decided that since it was real close to Valentine's Day, it was time to break out the cute little pie molds.  Mmmmmm.

Well after a few hours in the kitchen and a lot of frustration, she brought us the finished product:

I thought it looked pretty good. If pies are supposed to be about as thick as a pancake.

She was upset about the so-called "heart" cutout.  Take a closer look:

The heart is pretty much a blob.  She wasn't so upset about that.  She was upset that the molds were difficult to use- only allowing about 1/2 Tablespoon of filling in each.  So we called them cookies. 

Needless to say, she won't be using the molds anymore.  I don't think she is even going to try the star. Although she might forget her experience by the Fourth of July.

-posted by Lisa  

Day #8- Yummy!

We dedicate day #8 of the Twelve Days of Christmas to all things yummy.  Specifically, to yummy Christmas cookies.  This cute bag, sized 9.5" x 8" features one of our favorite recipes, Jingle Jammin' Bars", on the side.  The kit comes with the recipe label, but you can always tie your favorite recipe to the handle.  The outside of the bag is made of our heavy weight canvas.

This project is perfect for Christmas Cookie Exchanges, teacher gifts or your favorite neighbors.  The kit can be purchased here.

Thanks to all of you who entered our contest to win a copy of the latest Quiltmaker magazine.  Our winner is:   Karen Myers of Merced, California.  Congratulations!  You should be receiving your issue shortly.

See you tomorrow-

posted by Lisa
 

Poorman's Cookies

This morning when I got to work my mom had baked one of my all time favorite cookies ever - Poorman's Cookies.  We had these all the time when I was growing up and you had to hurry and get one, or two, or three, etc.  before they were all gone.  They were never placed on a plate like the picture below, there was no time for that we had some serious eating to do!

 

The recipe was actually from my Aunt Sandra.  All of the ladies of our church put together a cook book and that recipe was in there. Boy, do the ladies at church know how to cook!  That book was a staple at our house.   We still have the recipe book -

  

Notice the nice brown spots on it.  That is a sure sign of a good book.  Not to mention that it doesn't even have a front cover anymore -

Bake some for yourself - it will be a real treat!

 

or you can download it and print!

We have been working on something new and fun that we can't wait to share with you  - Look for our announcement sometime next week!!!

posted by Susan

Blueberry Salad.................Yum Yum

If you are going to a picnic on the 4th of July (or anytime) and need to take something to share, this salad will be a hit!  My sister-in-law shared this recipe with me and it is just simply scrumptious! 

Here it is looking nice and festive for the 4th -

 

and here is the recipe -

 

If you would like to download the recipe and print it out please click here

Speaking of strawberries - Have you ever had a strawberry from Cherry Moon Farms?  Every Mother's Day here comes the UPS man with a box of strawberries from Cherry Moon Farms.  No the box is not for me it is for my mom.  I can't even take credit for sending them to her.  My brother sends them and my mom graciously shares with me!  They are so good and even come with chocolate.  If you ever get a chance you just have to try them.

posted by Susan

What to make this weekend- your family will love you

Yummy, yummy, yummy.  Is there anything better than fresh peaches in the summertime?  The peak season for peaches in Colorado isn't until August, but we couldn't wait.  This could possibly be the easiest pie recipe ever, especially if you use a refrigerated crust.  My sister, Susan, would never use a refrigerated crust.  It is one of two things she refuses to eat.  The other being store bought frosting.  Oh well.  She would be horrified to know that is exactly what we used this morning.  More pie for us!

 

 

Click here to download and print the recipe.

You can also substitute strawberries and strawberry Jello for the peaches. 

Enjoy!

posted by Lisa

Snacks, Snacks, Snacks

We (me and my kids) just got done slaving away (not really) over this scrumptious treat called Puppy Chow People Food.  Here they are  -

Happily making the snack

Until the peanut butter wouldn't come out of the cup -

 

Then they started arguing about who could get it out!  I really think we needed the wonder cup from Pampered Chef - it is a really cool measuring cup.  Anyway, they got it made and it tastes just yummy!

Speaking of yummy - you have just got to try this snack.  Peanuts and gumdrops, that's it.  Just peanuts and gumdrops.  I usually like to use the spanish peanuts but I couldn't find any at the store this morning so I used the party peanuts.  Kind of a wierd combination but as a kid we always had these two mixed up together for a fun snack!

 

I am sure many of you have the recipe for Puppy Chow People Food but for those of you who don't here it is.  We are offering all of the recipes that we share on our blog as a downloadable PDF file.  To download the recipe click here. I know that you don't need the recipe for gumdrops and peanuts but I am including it so that you won't forget about it.

The kids think the snacks were great! They tended to lick their fingers when making this snack. Don't worry if any of you ever come over to eat, I will make sure they don't do that!

posted by Susan