Snowflake Scarf

Here's my first non-food post.  And it's about knitting.  I love to knit, and with having nothing but homework and quizzes and tests and papers due what seems like every day, it's nice to have something that's easy to do and will de-stress me when I'm working so much.
My newest project (out of several) is a snowflake scarf that is knit in the round.  It's a very intense pattern it seems to me.  Faire Isle knitting (knitting with two colors at once) has been the latest experience for me.  And it's been very interesting because I wasn't sure how to make it work at first, especially since adding a new color is hard at first since the string is very loose.  But after my friends in my knitting club helped me push through it, I fell in love with it, especially once I got passed the two colors section.  This is how far I've made it so far.  It's a really, really long process!  But I'm enjoying every second of it!  And it helps having a really awesome knitting reference website to help me out when I'm at a loss for what a term means or how I'm supposed to knit something.  My favorite reference site is: http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-glossary.  That is the glossary term page.  From there, you can get to any page you need to, it's just the page that I had bookmarked since I use it the most.  And if any of you readers haven't knitted before, and want to learn, here's a YouTube link to my favorite basic video (which is how I learned how to knit): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9hv44QwQ-A&list=UU_yKXUyN5NIN_D1DGwyZw0A&index=17&feature=plcp.

Happy knitting!

S'mores Krispy Treats

This is by far, one of my favorite desserts!!  I am a huge s'mores flavor fan and for my whole life, my mother never was.  This recipe was successful in converting her to liking s'mores, so it must be amazing! Haha.  This is my version of the recipe.
This recipe should take about 20 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (10 oz) bag regular marshmallows
• 1/2 box of Golden Graham cereal (I would say just eye it to your preference though, but don't get to the place that there's more cereal than marshmallow)
• 1 cups Chocolate Chips (about half a bag)

In a large sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add marshmallows and keep stirring until the marshmallows completely melt and you get a marshmallow sauce.  Remove from heat.

Add Golden Grahams and stir until they are all well coated.  You can chose to crush some up before adding them if you want some smaller pieces.  Next stir in chocolate chips.

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and press S'mores down into the pan.  Let sit until cool (I recommend that it sit covered overnight, it made for a better s'mores taste for me).

Enjoy!

This is my version of the original recipe.  Here's the link to the original:

http://www.chef-in-training.com/2011/09/smore-krispy-treats.html

I really hope you all try it and enjoy it!  Leave me a "mouthful" (comment) and let me know what you did different and/or how your attempt worked out.

Happy cooking :)

Mountain Dew Cupcakes

These cupcakes were a bit of a small challenge, but a lot of fun to make.  When I made these, it made about 24 cupcakes, but that could vary depending on how big or small your cupcakes are.

Mountain Dew Cupcakes

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3/4 cup Mountain Dew
1/4 cup of lemon and lime juice (juice from 1 lemon and 1 lime)
zest from 1 lemon and 2 limes (separate into 2 piles, one for buttercream)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Beat butter on medium for 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar gradually, and then add the lemon, lime zest. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, Scrape sides of bowl in between additions
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add to mixer bowl. Turn on low for 5 seconds.
5. Add the Mountain Dew, lemon/lime juice, and lemon extract . Mix to combine.
5. Scoop into cupcake papers about two-thirds full.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Mountain Dew Buttercream

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
4-5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Mountain Dew
Remaining lemon/lime juice from cupcake mixture (according to taste)
Lemon and lime zest (rest of zest from cupcake recipe. Or zest from half of 1 lemon and 1 whole lime)
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Neon green food coloring (yellow and blue if you don't have green)

1. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment
2. Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy
3. Add half of the sugar, turn mixer on low for 5 seconds.
4. Add the Mountain Dew, zest, and lemon extract . Beat until combined.
5. Add food coloring to the desired color.
6. Add remaining lemon/lime juice until the buttercream is at a desired taste.
7. Gradually add remaining sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.

This was the light and fluffy cupcake batter after adding the butter, sugar, and zests.

This was the cupcake batter after everything had been combined and it was ready to go into cupcake pans.

This was the buttercream cupcake frosting after it was done.

Here's the link to the original recipe:
http://www.allthingscupcake.com/2007/12/05/mountain-dew-cupcakes/ 



I hope you enjoy! :)

Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring Recipe

I'll start this out by saying that I love to cook!  And I decided that I would share a recipe from another blogger with my finishing photos and my changes to their recipe.

Ingredients:

1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits 

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/2 C. pancake syrup (any brand you like)

1/3 C. packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. chopped pecans, optional 

1/4 C. chopped almonds, optional (I wouldn't use 1/4 of a cup is using both unless a lot of nuts is desired, I would use half and half if using both.)

Instructions:

Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired). Place about a third of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle a third of the brown sugar mixture on top. Pull the biscuits in half and dunk each side in the brown sugar mixture. Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring. You may need to overlap on top of the first layer, that's okay.  Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter and enjoy!

This was my final product. 

And this was the inside of it.

It was so good!!  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  I really suggest you give it a try.  Here's the link to the original blog:

http://stamps4fun.blogspot.com/2011/10/traditions.html 

Have fun cooking! :)