Carmel Popcorn

One thing that I have discovered about myself since I started blogging is that I spend a lot of time in the kitchen!   But, this was a fun recipe and my girls thought it was way cool!

Check out the recipe over at  Best Bites!   This is my new favorite cooking site.  The directions were VERY easy to follow and this is what our creation looked like:

Boiling hot carmel.  Yum

It makes a lot and I had my husband take the rest to work the next day to share so we did not over load on it.  (Or should I say I can't be left home alone with it!)

Pick your battles!

I walked into the living room to see the girls taking apart the couch.  My first thought was to tell them to hold the fort and put it back together-this is not how we treat furniture.  Then I thought, really what is it hurting and it seems to be keeping them busy and the couch was used anyway and it has been raining for 3 days now and we are all going a bit stir crazy...........  I love how the cat got into the action (he gets a blanket and a stuffed animal for bed too).   They were playing "nap time".

Just in time for Easter!

I almost fell out of my seat when I spied this wonderful craft over at Little Bunny Feet!   What a great idea for the girls Easter baskets-just what I was looking for.  Little Bunny Feet has great directions on how to make these easy hair bows and I stayed up way to late last night putting together a few!

Ribbon and buttons I had in my sewing/craft box

A HUGE bag of leftover fabric scraps my mother gave me- she enlisted all her

sewing pals to save leftovers for the girls craft projects.  This will be project # 2 used with this bag. 

See our other fabric craft here.

 Fabric I found that was wide enough and long enough.

My supplies which included the remote and TV watching!

Wow- these were so easy to put together!

Putting the ribbon on the hair clips was a bit more tricky.  Note:  hot glue is hot.  duh!

The end results with the buttons on.  There are so many ways you could make these hair clips/bows!

and more rain.......

Will the rain ever stop????????

Peach and Raspberry Crisp

Besides tasting good this looked so pretty before I added the topping-I just had to take a picture!

Peach and Raspberry Crisp by Ina Garten

Ingredients

4 to 5 pounds firm, ripe peaches (10 to 12 large peaches)

1 orange, zested

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cups plus 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 pint raspberries

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal

1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the inside of a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch oval baking dish.

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds, then place them in cold water. Peel the peaches and slice them into thick wedges and place them into a large bowl. Add the orange zest, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the raspberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. If there is a lot of liquid, add 1 more tablespoon of flour. Pour the peaches into the baking dish and gently smooth the top.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, and the cold, diced butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is pea-sized and the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of the peaches and raspberries. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator and reheat in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until warm.

Garden Post # 3

More progress this weekend on our garden.  We got the seeds planted that we are going to grow inside.   I think the girls just liked playing in the dirt and we might have a squash plant growing in the same pot as a cuke-but oh well. 

Abby made some great markers for the plants.

The plants are inside for now-it was so cold today!  My husband and I are making bets on how many days it will take for the cat to discover them and wreak havoc!

Garden Post # 2

Our plan is to plant the seeds in the sunroom and if they fail- we buy seedlings.  It does take up a bit of the kids play space, but if the plants are in the house they risk the attack of the Plumpy eating them all.   They will have to come in at night for a bit until it warms up, but I think we can just lock them in the bathroom.

We are going to plant our seeds two ways.  Check out how to make the newspaper starter pots.  You actually plant the whole thing into the ground!

My mom gave us this book to borrow.  It is dated from the 70's, but it should still work!