just helen

New Rhodes Guest Blog Spot...and a Giveaway!

Yes, I know...it's that time again!  This is one of my favorite posts to do because making delicious recipes with Rhodes is as easy as 1...thaw, 2...cut and dip, and 3...top, rest (both the dough and me) and bake!  On a cold, rainy day, the aroma of bacon, cheese and bread filled the whole house as the boys bounded in, hungry from school and work!  Yet another delectable addiction...I mean addition...to our family's Rhodes repertoire!  You can read all the details over at the Official Rhodes Blog.

But before you go, I want you to know that I'm having a special cookbook give-away this post, courtesy of Rhodes. 

This is a really fun cookbook - either if you have kids or you want to wow your guests/co-workers/friends with your amazing artistic abilities.  (My sister-in-law made a bunny for the family Easter party and it was a hugh hit!  Here's what you need to do:

Visit the Rhodes Blog and leave a comment.  Next, come back here and leave a comment...that's two chances.  For a third chance, you can also go to the Rhodes Facebook page,  "Like" Rhodes and leave a comment.  Each comment will get your "name in the hat" for an extra chance to win - one comment per visitor per site, please.   The contest will go until noon (Pacific Time) on Saturday, April 21, 2012 and the winner will be announced later that Saturday evening. 

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Howdy Doody, Miss Caroline!

I brought home some of My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline, the Howdy Doody collection, from CHA a couple of months ago.  I have been dying to  play with the line, but have been distracted by other projects that, once completed, served another purpose...like the Technicolor Deviled Eggs (for the boy's Risk party), Jello Cookies (for a fireside) and the Cake Batter Krispie Treats (for a school bake sale).  I can always use cards, but I've gotten quite a stash right now, so I was putting it off.  Cards are about the only thing that I have room to make right now.  But when I realized that I had found one of the fonts that My Mind's Eye used on the packaging and for the embellishments, I couldn't resist playing any longer!  Don't worry...I'll share!

Again, I am revisiting the 6" X 6" patterned paper pad...my favorite for making cards!  I really loved the Howdy Doody line, partly because of the warm color, but mostly because of this...

 

 I do believe that this was my favorite patterned paper at the whole show!  Please, don't anyone take offense - there were dozens of collections that I will be more than happy to play with.  But this one was especially appealing.  Who can explain what makes you love a design?  I don't know for sure.  Maybe it's the flowers, maybe it's the colors...whatever it is, this is so visually appealing to me!

 So...if you've noticed that some of sentiments look familiar, it's because they are like the "miss caroline" on the packaging.  So I decided to make my own little sentiments using that font.  Isn't this a cute font?

I was so happy to recognize the font!

 

You can go to Type Depot to download Matilde for free!  Inside the file (that you have to unzip), there are the little bubbles/borders (EPS files) that you can also use.  I have both Illustrator and Photoshop, and I'm not sure how to do it without them...anyway, I made up a Matilde Sentiments and Bubbles 2  for you to download...free, of course!  I printed up the file and used some of the sentiments on the cards.  Here is what one looks like cut out:

The colors feel warm and summery! 

Some of my favorite cards are very simple in design...

This is what the Matilde Sentiments and Bubbles look like -

Another card with the sentiments...

You will notice that I haven't used much of my favorite paper...don't worry - I will!  Tomorrow I will post the other half of the cards I made.  It was fun to play with - definitely worth the wait!

Cake Batter Krispie Treats

I'll have to say that I don't usually try a recipe as soon as I find one, but I was baking things for the school play treat table and came across this recipe.  It sounded easy and yummy...and cute!  I found the recipe here.

Cake Batter Krispie Treats

3 Tablespoons butter

1 - 10 oz. bag miniature marshmallows

1/3 cup white cake mix - not prepared, just the dry mix

1 - 1.5 oz. container of sprinkles (Jimmies) - these are mixed colors, but you could use what ever kind you like

6 cups Rice Krispies

Put parchment paper inside a 9" x 13" pan; set aside.  Melt the butter in a 3 qt saucepan over medium heat; add marshmallows and stir, coating with the butter, until completely melted.  Add the cake mix, a spoonful at a time, mixing well.  Don't overheat.  Pour over the Krispies, and stir in about half the Jimmies; mix well.  Press into the pan, sprinkling the rest of the Jimmies over the top.  I butter my hands a little and then it won't stick on my hands as I press the treats into the pan. 

I wanted the Krispie Treats to be tall, so I pressed it into just half the pan...you could use a smaller pan, if you like.  When I'm doing something for a bake sale, I like to make the presentation nice.  Taste is important, but it's just as fun when I hear everyone talking about how cute something is.  Instead of cutting them into a square treat, I used a 2 1/8" round biscuit cutter, put them in a 2 1/2" unbleached baking cup and tied it up with some red and white baker's twine...too cute!

I like the round shape and the fact that these are cake batter (like cupcakes, get it?) in flavor, makes the baking cup papers quite appropriate.  Another side benefit of cutting these out like this?  There are the trimmings left behind for the cook (and her minions) to polish off!

These are really yummy.  I think I need to make more of these for the bake sale because these are apt to go fast - at the bake sale and before they ever get there!

Update:    I have officially died and gone to sprinkles heaven!

It's true...after I discovered the Cake Batter Krispie Treat recipe, I have been on the hunt for good deals on candy sprinkles so that I will always have them on hand.  Just this afternoon I found some pretty, springy sprinkles at the 99centsonly store - about 1.7 oz for just under a dollar.  Good deal, right?  I thought so, too...that is until Megan bought me a box of these...

Yep...a whole 10 pound box of the prettiest candy sprinkles EVER for just $15.99 for the whole box - Costco Business.  Aren't they beautiful?  I feel an urge to make some more Cake Batter Krispie Treats...and not share!

It could just be the beginning of a quest for desserts with sprinkles included.  Who needs a ticket for Mega Millions when you have a box of these!  I am the luckiest girl around!  Thanks, Megan!

Paradise, Little Yellow Bicycle Style

At CHA this January, I wandered into the Little Yellow Bicycle booth and caught a glimpse of their new line, Paradise...loved it!  Then I got my hands on some...love it even more!  

Love the colors, love the texture and I really love the flower.  It is always fun to have new product to play with, and I love the embellishments that are part of the Paradise line-up.  I know how to make a pleated flower from scratch, but it is so easy to make one using LYB Paper Flower Kit, like the one  on the above card.  I also really like the embossed stickers, especially the words that are great to use on cards and layouts.

Then of course, I needed to make my own flower that goes along with the line!

I really do love the flower!

There are some really cute chipboard die-cuts that I have around here somewhere, but I am getting ready for a scrapbooking garage sale and I seem to have misplaced them.  I have layouts that are almost done...will post those another day!

 

Jell-O Cookies

Jello Cookies...Lemon, Orange, Lime and Raspberry.  Rolled in sugar and then sprinkled with more chunky, colored sugar before baking.  These are the sugariest of sugar cookies.  Tangy, sweet, soft and yummy.  Beautifully colorful and delightfully different from my usual favorites...anything with chocolate chips. 

I got the recipe from a friend at least 30 years ago.  I don't know why I haven't made them (for years!), I  just haven't.  The kids got all opinionated about what they wanted and I got busy, so I started making less of the seasonal sorts and stuck with the stand-bys.  Plus, there are all those others sweets that have been discovered/developed in the last few years and I started infusing them into the time used for making sweets.  But sometimes it's good to revisit those old favorites.

Jell-O Cookies

1/2 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 - 3oz. pkg of Jell-O ( I used raspberry, orange, lemon and lime flavors...but my very favorites are raspberry and lime)

Cream the above ingredients.  Add:

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the eggs and vanilla into the sugar mixture.  Add:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Mix well.  The dough will be fairly soft, but not sticky.  You don't need to refrigerate the dough before rolling.  I like to use a scoop to make my cookies more uniform in size. 

Pre-heat oven to 400°.  Roll dough into 1" to 1 1/4" balls and then roll in a bowl with about 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in it, completely covering the exterior of the dough ball.  Place on the pan about 2" apart.  Using a flat-bottomed glass (or bowl) press the dough to about a 3/8" thickness. 

Sprinkle the top with colored, chunky sugar.  Mine all matched the different colors of dough, but you could contrast the colors if you like.  Take the bowl (or flat-bottomed glass) and very lightly tap the chunky sugar into the cookie.

Bake the cookies for 6 - 8 minutes.  Those 6 minutes are plenty long enough unless you like your cookies crisp!  Cool on a rack.  It takes about an hour, start to finish.  If you get one batch in and start rolling the next, it will go fast enough that you can start working on the next flavor/color before you finish the first.  Store in a air-tight container.

If you are feeling ambitious, you can shape these into more of an oval shape, then when you flatten them, they will look more like eggs.

Yummy!