Thursday, August 5, 2010

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes...

I love blogging for many reasons...friendship and inspiration are the most important for me. I know many of you have experienced this too. I love all the friends I've made from every corner of the world. Every one of you has inspired me in some way...and I thank you!
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I've made a wonderful new friend in the UK...her name is Wendy from The Quiet Room. Hi Wendy!! Do you remember a few weeks ago I shared a recipe for chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese filling? (recipe here) They are so yummy you must try them if you haven't already. Well, Wendy emailed me and asked if she could substitute peanut butter for the cream cheese. I had never tried it, but it sounded delicious. She also said her favorite candy was Reese's peanut butter cups and maybe that would work too.
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See, this is why I...LOVE BLOGGING...friends and inspiration!
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So here you go!
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Chocolate cake mix (I used Devil's Food...there has to be a story why they call it Devil's Food Cake) and the ingredients on the box to make it. Then a package of mini Reese's cups.




Make cake mix according to the package and fill cupcake paper with the batter. Remove all the papers from the Reese's cups and place one in each cupcake, before baking.




Bake according to the directions on your box or recipe.


Here's a little something I thought of to add to the "peanuty" flavor. Peanut Butter Frosting!




Add 2 heaping spoonfuls of creamy peanut butter to a jar of vanilla frosting. Just stir until mixed.


It is ridiculously good and easy!




Cool cakes before frosting.








Frost and then EAT!




Sorry this picture is blurring. I must have been shaking from all the chocolate I just ate. This is a picture of one cut in half to see the Reese's cup that sank to the bottom. That was the only issue. I was thinking about trying this recipe again and dusting the Reese's cups with a little of the dry cake mix before I mixed it. They say if you dust an added ingredients (like blueberries in muffin mix) they stay suspended in the finished product.



For the betterment of the world, I will have to just make this recipe again and see if I can get that Reese's cup to stay in the middle of the cupcake!
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As a little side note about how delicious these were...I brought them to a family function and my father-in-law ate 3 of them and actually licked the cupcake paper!! Then he asked me how I made them.
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Thanks to Wendy and her love of Reese's Cups, we have a new family favorite dessert. Pop over to Wendy's blog. It's just wonderful, you'll love your visit there. Thanks Wendy...love ya!
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Happy Baking,
~Karen~

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Easier For Annie...Elevated Dog Dish

This is Annie! Most of you have seen Annie before. She is our 10 year old Labrador...cute as a button, but getting older. Remember I made the pvc gate for her, because she can't go upstairs anymore. Well, now I made something else for her, so it's easier for to eat.



I found this old picnic basket at a consignment shop for $2.00. It's held plants, old newspapers, toys etc. The top is a cheaper plywood and kind of crooked, so I didn't mind cutting it up.



I used 2 containers that I knew would hold her food and water.



Traced the containers on a cardboard template the shape of the top of the basket.


Cut and trace the shapes on the top.



Make sure you trace it straighter than I did!! lol



The tools you'll need are a drill with a larger bit...



a hand held jig saw, small hand saw or a man to do it for you.




Drill holes at the corner of each area you want to cut out.




The holes need to be big enough for the jig saw blade to fit it.




Carefully cut out the shapes. This top was a cheap plywood, so it splintered alot. I'll have to fill it in with wood glue and either paint or stain it.



Drop the bowls in to make sure they fit.



Inside the basket, I place a canvas bag and filled it up with Annie's dog food.



Just take out the dish and scoop out her dinner!!



and it's all set with her water too. (I really need to polyurethane the top to 1. make it look better and 2. to seal out the water she spills.



I took this picture in my sewing room, so she couldn't figure out why her food was in there.



Once I moved it to her spot, she was good to go. The bowls are much higher up now and easier on her neck. I saw an elevated dog dish that looked like a wooden stool for $125.00! Yikes. My $2.00 and some crooked cutting will do just fine!



Enjoy your day,
~Karen~

Monday, August 2, 2010

Tool Time Tuesday...Flower Power

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of TTT. This time it's a recycled Tool Time. My daughter Kelsie received flowers a few months ago for dance recitals and graduation. I started saving those little water vials on the stems of flowers and then the plastic picks that holds the cards. Did you know that those picks are called cardettes? I just learned that myself.
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Well, here are a few ideas I thought of to use these instead of throwing them away.




Here is the top of the vial. The cap is usually rubber and has a tiny hole for the flower stem to go into.



If we are going to be using these for anything else but flowers, we need to plug that hole.



The first way would be to squeeze a little hot glue in there and let it harden.



You can also trace the circle on card stock...



cut it out and glue the paper inside the cap.



and here you have it all stopped up. You could also glue a little piece of fabric too.



Now here are a few ideas to use the vials...
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How about for the larger needles that are hanging around your sewing room. You don't use them very often, but you still "Need" them. The vials are great for hand sewing needles too. Keeps them in their own special place.


Just pop the cap on and they are all contained. You can also put a little label on it, but it's clear enough to see inside.



They're also great for all your machine sewing needles...you know the ones that you haven't snapped off running over pins, but they aren't sharp enough for fabric. I keep mine for when I sew through paper for craft projects, like the paint chip napkin holders.



and don't forget your regular pins. These vials are great to take with you to a class or retreat.



They are also great for beads, pearls and little doo dads.



If you want to keep the little container close at hand, you can try this.
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Add a bead to a necklace or a ribbon...



Insert the clasp through the hole from the inside towards the top.



Pull until the bead is up against the inside of the cap.



Snap the cap on and the necklace is ready to wear. Keeps the needles or beads right there where you are working.



Here are a few ideas for the floral picks or cardettes.



Insert the index card into the tines of the fork of the pick.



Then insert the pick into a plant that you might have in your kitchen. If you don't have a plant, you can always insert it into a cup, can, vase or anything near by that will hold it.



It's just so handy to keep the recipe card up and off the counter. You can easily read it and it stays clean too!!



Close up of the tines. I'll share this recipes with you later this week!! It's a great one from my Portuguese grandmother.



Here's another great idea. The picks can hold your quilt patterns or cutting instructions. If you're like me, that pattern usually gets buried under a mountain of fabric.



Now it's up and out of the way and easy to read.



and don't forget the cutest pictures of your loved ones!! Who needs frames when we have free cardettes!!! That word is just too funny. I keep saying it over and over. I think my name should be Karen Cardette!! OMG if there really is a Karen Cardette out there, I apologize!




So the next time you receive flowers, make sure you save all the extras, because I know you throw them away. If you haven't received flowers in a while, go out and buy some for yourself...you deserve it!!!
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My favorite flower is a tulip...what's yours?
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Have a wonderful Tuesday,
~Karen~

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