Valentine Lunchboxes

Last year, I made my staff some cute little valentine mailboxes. This year I found these cute little valentine lunchboxes. I got them at the Dollar Tree of all places. I filled them with Twix, M&M's, Starburst, Skittles, Kit Kats, some erasers and bubbles. I also gave them a Russell Stover's heart shaped box fo chocolates. I hope they appreciate my holiday gifts. A couple of them seem to really like them. Then there are those that don't even bother saying "thank you". I don't know if they like them or not but I enjoy giving them. Maybe one day they will look back and say, what a neat thing my boss use to do.

Happy Valentine's Day !!

Debbie Osmond's Chicken Enchiladas

I have this AWESOME cookbook called "Dining with Donny", which is a collection of recipes from Debbie Osmond, some of her family and some of his fans. I would post a picture of the cookbook, but will have to that later since my co-workers all want to borrow it and one of them has it at the moment.

Since I've had this cookbook, I wanted to make Debbie's famous Chicken Enchiladas but have never made them. Donny says it is his absolute favorite dish !

So, I had all ingredients on hand and 3 hungry co-workers, one of which who loves Donny just as much as I do and I decided to make it and take it to work. I must say that it was SO GOOD and I mean really good !! It wasn't what I quite expected though. I thought it would be enchildas but it was more of an enchilada casserole - super easy to make and very tasty.

It got 8 thumbs up (2 from me and 2 from each of my 3 hungry co-workers) - then they all wanted to borrow the cookbook!

That Debbie Osmond is one good cook - how could she not be when she has 6 men/boys to feed !

Debbie Osmond's Chicken Enchiladas

4 or 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can 26 oz cream of chicken soup
1 16 oz container of sour cream
1 small can of mild diced green chiles
1 doz small (3-4") round soft corn tortillas
2-3 cups grated cheese (cheddar and jack)

Boil the chicken breast with cut up onions until done (or do what I do and cook in crockpot on low for 4-6 hours until done), then cut the chicken into cubes

Mix together soup, sour cream and chilis in a bowl and add chicken and set aside

In a skillet heat olive oil (just enough to cover bottom). Place one tortilla in oil and just as it starts to bubble, turn over and heat the other side (a few seconds on each side - you don't want them to harden or be crispy, just heat them up) and then lay on paper towel to soak up excess oil. Repeat for all tortillas.

(Make layers)

In 9x13 pan lay 3-4 tortillas in bottom of pan, sprinkle cheese on top of tortillas. Then put 2 cups of the chicken/mixture on top of cheese and repeat till it's gone. Top with cheese.
Bake 350 degrees for approx. 45 minutes.

Fingerless Gloves - 1st Completed Project 2010

I have a lot of craft projects I want to complete this year (and a lot of new ones I want to start and complete).

So... I started making these gloves for my sister last year and made one. Then realized the nature of the yarn would make the gloves 2 different colors. Although they would match in a way, they wouldn't match in a way. I needed her opionion before I made the 2nd one. She said it would be fine to continue with the same hank of Noro Silk Garden Lite (Colorway 2410), which was a good thing since this particular color had been discontinued.

I love the beautful colors of Noro Yarn, which is a Japanese yarn, and have wanted to make something with it for a long time. I found this particular hank at the NeedleNook and was told it was the last one they had but knew it would be enough for the gloves I wanted to make so I got it (not thinking about the gloves would be different colors). Many stores stopped (or are stopping) carrying the Noro Silk Garden Lite because it is so similar to the regular Noro Silk Garden.

But I digress...So I found this pattern designed by Nancy Ricci and knew that they would be perfect. Number 1 - didnt' require double pointed needles and Number 2 - would let me do a small project with cables (something I had been wanting to try).

This pattern was amazing well written, very easy to follow and worked up rather quickly (even though I'm a very slow knitter). I loved making cables - not near as difficult as I thought they would be.

Here is my work in progress (see how pretty the yarn is?):

Here are the completed gloves - the best news - sis loved them and wears them a lot ! I want to make myself a pair now but... must ... finish...projects...already...in...progress FIRST!

CVS Commercial with The Osmonds !

I usually have the TV on the background and don't half-way pay attention to it and found myself singing "Double Lovin" by the Osmond Brothers.

It took me a second to realize .... HEY - that isn't my CD player, that is the TV ! I then re-wind my TiVo to see and listen to this! The Osmonds singing on a CVS commercial - whoo hoo !

Clown Fear - Validated !

I've always had this weird un-natural fear of clowns (but I know I'm not alone out there in thinking this). They just have this kind of "creep" factor. Of course Steven King's "IT" didn't help matters one little bit.

That is why when I saw this USPS Priority Mail commercial - I laughed so hard. Guess I'm not the only one out there that thinks that clowns are just not a good thing.

North Avenue Presbyterian Church

Here is a wonderful video about my church - North Avenue Presbyterian Church. Please come visit us! I feel so blessed to be a part of this family. You can also see it at http://deepandwide.ning.com/video/the-holy-spirit-wants-us-to


Find more videos like this on Deep and Wide

National Blonde Brownie Day

My sis sends me a listing of Bizarre holidays at the beginning of each month. I usually don't share the whole calendar with the co-workers but sometimes will pick a day (such as national pie day, or national cookie day, etc.) and bring them a treat in for that day.

This month I decided to post the calendar in the break room - several of them were looking forward to National Blonde Brownie Day (today) and National Chocolate Cake Day (next week). Well... I'm not going to make them a chocolate cake (since I'm not overly crazy about it) and since I've never made blondies before, thought I would give my hand a try at that.

A while back, I saw a recipe for Snickerdoodle Blondies on My Baking Addiction's site (she had seen it on other sites) so I decided that would be one of the recipes.

Then I thought - let me seek out the World's Best Blondies - so I googled "world's best blondies" and of course several came up but the one at Simply Recipes caught my attention due to the addition of the butterscotch chips - which made these Blondies a bit different from the others.

Then I thought - well, let me try my favorite recipe site, so I went to Allrecipes.com and found this high rated Blonde Brownies I recipe and I liked that it had walnuts in it so picked it to try.

I tasted the batter of each one before I baked them and must say that I thought the batter of the Blonde Brownies I had the best taste. Then I tasted them all when they were baked and also thought that one was the best (I am sure the walnuts had a lot to do with that fact). My second fave was the Butterscotch Blondies and coming in a close third was the Snickerdoodle Blondies.

All three were great - my Snickerdoodle Blondies did not come out near as pretty as the ones on Simply Recipes and they were a tiny bit dry but I realized my mistake after re-reading the recipe. One, I melted the butter instead of letting it be room temperature and two, I attempted to mix all in one bowl instead of using two separate ones. They were still DELICIOUS but just not as pretty as moist as the original recipe.

My co-workers love them all but only one admitted to trying all 3 kinds - he liked the chocolate/walnut version the best too but admitted he was a huge fan of chocolate.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Adapted from My Baking Addiction.com

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups packed brown sugar (I used light)

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

a pinch nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and/or line a 9×13 inch pan. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and set aside.

2. In large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, and beat until smooth.

3. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish, so it’s best to spread it out with a greased spatula or your hands). Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool before cutting.

Makes 20-24 bars.

Butterscotch Blondies Recipe

Adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients
1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar (I used light)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of butterscotch chips

Directions:

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.

2 Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.

3 Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the butterscotch chips.

4 Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 9 blondies. (I actually cut them smaller into 16 servings)

Blonde Brownies I

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Measure 1 cup sifted flour. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift again. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Mix well and set aside.

Melt 1/3 cup butter. Add 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar and mix well. If shortening is used, add 1 tablespoon hot water. Cool slightly.

Add egg (beaten) and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.
Spread in 8 x 8 inch pan. Sprinkle 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool and cute into 16 squares.

(note: the directions never tell you when to add the walnuts and it says to put the choc chips on top. I didn't use chocolate chips but used chocolate chunks instead. I mixed both the chocolate chunks and the walnuts right into the batter - I didn't sprinkle anything on top)