Month: January 2011

Domesticity, Recipes

My Chocolate Earthquake Cookies :)

crazyblessedlife

Well I decided to post the only cookie recipe I can actually claim as “mine”.  Oh and they are an amazing chocolate fix if you ever need one 🙂

Chocolate Earthquake Cookies!

 

 

These cookies are pretty easy to make and they have a sweet powdered sugar-coating that gives them a pretty cracked look.  The inside is soft and not too sweet, just pure chocolate heaven!  OK, OK, OK…. here is the recipe:

 

Ingredients:

4 one ounce blocks semisweet chocolate

1 cup chocolate chips

6 Tablespoons butter

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First put the semi sweet chocolate blocks, chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Heat 30 seconds and then take out and stir, then heat 30 more seconds then take out and stir…. keep repeating until the chocolate is completely melted.  Set aside and let it cool while you do the rest.  Get another small bowl and put your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in it and stir with a wisk to mix well.  Set this bowl aside also.  Next put the eggs and sugar in a bowl ( I put mine in my kitchen aid mixer) then mix on high for 1 1/2 to 2 min until the egg and sugar mixture is a light yellowish color and looks well mixed.  Now check your bowl of chocolate and make sure it’s cooled to just warm and then mix it into the egg mixture well.  Slowly add your flour mixture until all ingredients are now mixed well.  I usually let it sit in the fridge for about an hour before using to help it harden so your balls of cookie dough don’t spread too much. 

Next, spray your cookie sheet, put a sheet of parchment on it or use a silpat mat.  Get a bowl and put some powdered sugar in it.  Now make small balls of dough (I just used a teaspoon and made it heaping then rolled it) and then roll in the powdered sugar, then place on the cookie sheet.  Make sure to place them far enough away from each other because they will double in size.  Place cookie sheet in oven and bake 9-11 min. 

 

This is what they will look like when they come out of the oven

 

 

Enjoy with a tall glass of milk!

 

 

 

I did!

 

 

I hope you and your family and friends enjoy these cookies as much as we do 🙂  Happy baking!

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Domesticity, Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Decor Kissing ball craft

crazyblessedlife

This is a tutorial of sorts on a kissing ball I’ve made to increase my Valentine’s Day decor which will be brought out soon!

I’m excited to share this because I’ve really enjoyed making it and was inspired by other crafty bloggers who have made similar kissing balls or wreaths made of crepe paper roses. This is a fairly inexpensive craft. All you need is crepe paper (I got 2 rolls for a dollar at the dollar tree), hot glue gun, glue sticks, a styrofoam ball (I’m guessing this is the most expensive part, but I had some left over from a craft a few years ago that I bought with a coupon at hobby lobby), and a ribbon.

To make the crepe paper roses I first ripped a piece of crepe paper of about 18-24 inches long.

 

Then I crumpled the piece and then straightened it back out and begin rolling on one end.

 

After about 4 or 5 turns I began twisting it around the top of the rose looser than I started just like a real rose.

 

The key is to loosely twist and turn the crepe paper around the top then hot glue a tiny dot to the end of the crepe paper to attach it and make sure it does not unravel on you.

 

I made a bunch, then cut the “stem” short on each for easier gluing to styrofoam ball.

 

It really helped me to set the stryofoam ball on a roll of masking tape to keep it still while I glued the roses on. Before I started gluing roses on I attached a ribbon with hot glue as a hanger but this is optional if you want to just set it on a mantel or in a decorative bowl. The hanging kissing ball is traditional like mistletoe and when you and your sweetie walk under it you kiss 🙂
To attach the roses just put a small dot of hot glue where you want to attach it and gently push the rose on and hold for a minute. Put the roses fairly close together so you cannot see the styrofoam ball. Its pretty simple and fun. I got pretty carried away just watching tv and making roses so I’m working on a wreath now of white, pink and red ones! I hope you enjoy, any questions I’d be glad to try and answer. Happy crafting!

stay-at-home-mom

adventures of Noah…. (insert the sound of a barking seal here)… with croup

crazyblessedlife

Well, after 3 1/2 years of motherhood I heard a sound on Thursday night I’ve never heard before while lying in bed.  It was so strange and scary when I realized that it was coming from my 7 month old son’s crib.  It sounded like a seal barking over and over.  I went and got my upset baby and soon he repeated the crazy “cough” and I knew instantly it would be a long night.  Then in the morning it felt like the Dr.’s office would never open.  Finally they did and gave me 20 min to dress, get him and the girls dressed in the car and over to the office (only 2 blocks away, but still have you ever put a 3 year-old, 2 year-old and 7 month old in a car and gotten them out?) .  Well thankfully my sweet hubby stayed home to help me and we got there with about 90 seconds to spare!  Fearing the worst like I tend to do I had been watching you tube videos of whooping-cough all morning and researching as many medical sites possible looking for similarities.  He had the exact same cough but no strange whistle-like gasp at the end.  The dr. (who is amazing and I trust very much) heard the “bark” as she called it and informed me that without the gasp at the end of his fits it was just the Croup.  Well being that I’ve never had another child with it, and done no research on this, I at first bombarded her with about 100 questions.  Thankfully she is patient and kind enough to sit and explain it all to me and help me know what to do to help my barking but otherwise happy baby. 

Well after “tenting” his crib with a humidifier (which I should have already thought to do that Thursday night, since Jeannie taught me this last year when Belle was coughing so much) he improved.  Then he started showing signs of what we call in our house velcro syndrome, when your child cries every time you put them down and the only time they seem half-way happy is tightly snuggled in your arms because they just feel yucky.  So I knew he was still not ok and had to cancel small groups on Saturday night and miss church on Sunday, since he was telling me he needed 100% of my attention indefinitely. 

Monday morning now and the barking is all but gone, his little scratchy voice seems to be the only reminder of the croup…  well now after all this my official review of the croup is that I am not a fan at all.  Glad my girls never went through this and found myself praying during my quiet time (a relative term in a house with 3 kids) this morning that Noah never does again either!  Thankful for our friends and family who prayed for him (and me).  Now after an adult-free weekend that Eric worked a total of 27 hours (fri-sun with a lock-in), I NEED some adult time.  Hoping to see some of that today or tomorrow 🙂  Happy Martin Luther King Day, especially for all you gov. workers, school workers/kids and phillips workers that don’t have work or school!

Domesticity

Christmas Homemade gifts: Child’s apron

crazyblessedlife

As promised I am posting about some of the homemade gifts I made this year for family and friends.  Today I am writing about the aprons I made for my girls who absolutely love cooking with me now.  I first saw some adorable ones in a specialty store for over 20 dollars each, well I knew this was way too much for us so I decided to make some on my own.   So off to Hobby Lobby I went and found adorable child’s aprons just waiting for personalization from me.   I bought two hot pink child’s aprons for 2.99 each and I used my 40% off coupon on one and the total cost was around 5 dollars for both.  Then I had some cute white iron on letters at home and picked out the girls names and ironed them on.  Next I went through my ribbon stash and found some cute zebra print ribbon I’d used some of for another craft a year ago and used permanent fabric glue to attach it to the aprons to embellish it further.  I could have done more, but I loved them just the way they were.  Simple easy, only took about 20 min start to finish and cost 5 dollars as opposed to buying them (without their names on them) for over 40 for both!   Hope this inspires you, happy crafting!