TuTu with PomPom wand

Another TuTu off to a new home. This one is precious pink.

I also remembered seeing these pompom wands once before so I thought I would give it a try. I think next time I'll make it a little smaller. This one is kinda gigantic in comparison to the little person I was making it for.

If anyone is interested in purchasing any of my creations just e-mail me at
Sunkistmk@gmail.com

Bella Bites

Officially these are called "cake balls" but since I made them to celebrate the DVD release of Twilight I thought the other name fit better. I also like to call them "Cake Truffles".

I cant take credit for these either. They are actually from Bakerella but I followed the instructions from Pioneer Woman at this link.

I'll have to admit I'm almost sad to share this because any who have tasted these will now know my secret!

Its pretty simple really- just a boxed cake mix, baked as directed. Then I let it cool overnight, crumble it up in a bowl and mix in a container of cream cheese frosting. As you can tell already, this is not a light dessert!

Then I just rolled it into balls and dipped in chocolate to finish them off.

YUM!!!!

Chicken Crescent Rolls

As promised- I present the Chicken Crescent rolls.

I was actually quite proud of myself with this one because... dun dun dun... I DIDN'T follow the recipe. That's right, ME, the person who agonized over following instructions to the LETTER. I did not follow the recipe. I thought outside the box- HORRAY! I'm no longer a CYBORG!

OK- it really wasn't that big of a deal. I'm thinking this was kind of a fool proof meal to begin with. I couldn't have screwed it up if I had tried.

Here's the recipe as was given to me if anyone wants to try it:
Filling:
1 package Cream Cheese
2 diced green onions
2 cups cubed chicken
1 cup drained sliced mushroom.
Outside:
1/4 cup butter
Corn Flake Crumbs

Last time we made this (sans onions and mushroom per hubby request) it was a touch on the WAY TO RICH side for us. Though it may have been because it was missing half the ingredients. Anyhow! This time, I tried to think of something to tone it down so I used:

1/2 package of cream cheese
1/2 cup light mayo (we're trying to be somewhat healthy here)
1 can of cubed chicken
a bunch (that means I'm not sure how much) of finely chopped broccoli- I used my food processor. I LOVE that thing!
Oh- and just for fun I added some italian seasoning. Figured it couldn't hurt.

The outside was the same- Dip in Butter then roll in crunched up corn flakes.
Then

Ahhhh! Aren't they pretty? I'm not sure you can tell but I love cooking on my pizza stone. Everything seems to turn out perfect. It may seem unorthodox to cook on a round pan when one isn't cooking anything round but... I'm NO LONGER A CYBORG! Remember?

Besides- I'm too cheap to go out and by another stone pan if this one works just fine.

NOW- question for the bakers out there, how does one create crescent rols that actually still look like crescent rolls when you pull them out of the oven? Mine always puff up and look all funky. Especially with the corn flakes all skewompus.

For the gravy I used my Magic Mix from earlier but instead of water I used the broth from the can of chiken. Yum! It was so easy and perfect! Though if you are following the recipe:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

It's still really yummy I just was trying to be frugal and use only what I had on hand.

Now, I'm always looking for ways to improve and I actually found the crescents were a little limiting. I could only get a small amount of filling in them. Maybe I just don't know how to make crescents. Either way I though: you don't see filled crescent rolls at the grocery store in the frozen foods isle. They just have those big round things- so why not! This was great. I was able to get a ton of yummy filling in AND it didn't end up looking all funky after it was cooked. It's just a rectangle rolled up and instead of a triangle. So, unless I learn a new technique for Crescents I think I'll just do this from now on.

Question: since I'm using an entirely different filling AND rolling into a roundish something or other, I guess it's no longer the Chicken Crescent Rolls recipe I started with. What should I call this concoction?

Refrigerator Rolls- from Tami

I've been meaning to post this for a while (sorry Tami). Things have just been a bit crazy and I've not been the best at keeping up with my planned posts here.

This is a great recipe that my Grandma actually used to make for us. It's a great way to make a simple dinner seem fantastic. Especially if you have some really good gravy to soak up with your roll. Here's the rundown...

First we disolved 1 tablespoon of yeast in 2 tablespoons of warm water (top left in pic)

Then we have:
Yeast mixture
2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour (to begin with- 3 more for later)


After mixing the first ingredients add:
3 remaining cups of flour
3/4 cups melted butter.

I like to alternate the butter and the flour a little at a time so you don't get a big ::POOF!:: when you turn on the mixer.

You can use more or less flour to get the right consistency- so it's pulling from the sides of the mixer as shown here.

Last- cover and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. I didn't make it to that point though- if you do, back at 350 for 15-20 minutes. This can be used for all kinds of different rolls- crescent, orange, dinner, the favorite Cinnamon Roll- you can get really creative here. If I remember right, I think my grandma used to make crescent rolls and freeze them before she baked them. She put them in little plasic bags so we could just pull out a few at a time , let them raise and bake them up for hot fresh rolls whenever we wanted them. They were fantastic.

I only let it raise a few hours this time then used it in my dinner recipe: Chicken Crescent rolls, Coming SOON!

Fan-cy!

Since the in-laws were here I just had to take advantage of my mother-in-law's mad crafting skills. I had a baby shower on Saturday and I had some ideas of what to make for my friend but I thought this was so much cuter!

These are actually not the ones I gave away. I put together a pink and purple set instead but I still thought these were pretty fun.

Ahhh... I remember the days. Dancing around in my fancy socks. Listening to the beads clickety clicking away.

Isn't it just a little funny that all of my fun creations are for little girls and all I have is a boy? Poor kid- I made him model my last tutu. I'd better not push it by sticking these babies on him.

These will be for sale also. Once I figure out how I'm going to market myself. Any one have a little girl who might want to dance around in my creations? Someone I can live vicariously through? Pass them my name will ya?