Cream Cheese Pastries

I have a husband who likes to bring in treats to work. My husband works with people whose wives aren’t big bakers. I. LOVE. TO. BAKE. Pretty nice combo, huh? Well, the other day we decided to see how much people really wanted me to send something in. Jerem sent out an email that said: Micah will be sending something special in to work but she needs 2 packages of cream cheese a pound of butter and your favorite pie filling. Within 2 hours he had 4 pkg’s cream cheese, 2 lbs. butter, and 2 cans of raspberry pie filling on his desk. So I got to work on this recipe.

1/2 c. butter

4 oz. cream cheese

1/4 tsp. salt

1 TBS powder sugar

1 1/2 c flour

Mix butter and cream cheese until smooth, beat in salt. Add sugar and stir in the flour in 1/2 c increments until a stiff dough is formed.

I multiplied this x 6. After  a workable dough was formed I cut it into 48 chunks and patted each one into a little circle before wrapping it in plastic wrap.

Then I stuck them in the fridge overnight, really all you need is an hour. This morning I rolled them out into nice 6 inch circles.

Spoon about 1 TSB of filling on one side, fold over and seal with a fork. I made a pwd sugar glaze that I brushed on and then baked them at 350 for about 12-14 min.

Once these are made up, BEFORE baking you could freeze them for baking later. Works like a charm. I can just imagine all the fillings that could be made for these if I didn’t want to do pie filling from a can.

Quite the yummy breakfast. Pastry, Kiwi, Honey Vanilla yogurt with Homemade Granola. Mmm…good!!!

New Purse

My sil-to-be found this pattern for me and I couldn’t wait to make one. The first one was for a friend willing to have a practice purse, second was for myself. Aren’t I nice?

Kara’s purse. I decided I didn’t like the dividers, they were a pain.

This one is mine. But I have enough fabric for 2 more similar to it, so I’ll be making more!

Granola

I grew up on this granola recipe. I certainly didn’t appreciate it then the way I do now! I don’t make it as often as I like, but when I do it’s such a treat.

Of course, growing up in a family the size of mine the recipe is in lbs (4 lbs of oats, 1/2 lb of coconut…you get the idea). So I pared it down for a perfect, one large cookie sheet recipe. Here you go.

MamaJan’s Granola

Mix together:

4 1/2 c. Oats

1 c. Coconut

1 c. Sunflower seeds

1/2 c. Dry Milk Powder

1/4 c. Seseme seeds

3/4 c Wheat Germ

Bring to a Boil :

2/3 c Oil

1 c Honey

1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread on large greased cookie sheet covering bottom. Bake at 325 for 20 min stirring halfway through. Dump on newspaper to cool. Store in airtight container.

My favorite way to eat this since I was a little girl? With milk and a spoonful of peanut butter. YUM!

Instead of Cleaning…

like I SHOULD be doing. I decided to make this. I’m rather ADD at times. Anyway, I’ve been wanting to try one for awhile but have been intimidated by the idea. I finally decided just to give it a try and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be!

Yeah..ignore my messy house in the background. Remember..that’s what I was supposed to be doing.

I think it’s one Jerem won’t mind using either :)

Inside Out Stuffed Pork Chops

 

a.k.a Jerem’s Favorite Meal (so he says, I think he has many. but what do I know, I’m just the cook.)

Brown pork chops, not to cook through just to get some of that yummy browned butter flavor in. Do how ever many you need to make a meal out of. Depending on the amount choose the pan size. Sorry folks..I change this a little every time I make it. It’s just so easy though..you don’t really need  exact amounts. So. Pork chops have been browned. Put them in you pan so they are kind of squished in there. Prepare a box of instant stuffing mix. For a 9x13 use a full box, 8x8 or 9x9 a half a box. Spread over meat so it is completely covered and bake uncovered at 350 for about 30-45 minutes.

Results

Okay, so you’ve all been waiting to hear how Saturday went. Well, it didn’t really “go” at all. :) Turns out not too many people were interested in handmade baby items. Sold about half my breads and rolls which was fine with me. (I was kind of hoping I’d have some for the freezer). It was a fun way to spend the afternoon though. We came to the conclusion it was the wrong demographic. And really, there were only a handful of venders, most of them fundraisers or politicians or free-bees. We’re doing an honest to goodness craft fair in November and expect to do much better at that one. We didn’t have to pay a booth fee for this one though, so it was a good trial run to figure out our displays.

Jill did an awesome job on the signs. We had one in front of the table too.

My side.

Jill’s spread.

Martinson girls table. They really did awesome considering how poorly Jill and I did. They’re hair stuff is so cute! It was fun seeing little girls wandering around all day with clips they had just bought in their hair.

Prize for big spender of the day goes to Sarah! :)

Big Day!

Today is our big Potato day sale, and here is the baking I’ve done for it.  As much as I’ve enjoyed sewing lately my true passion is baking. I. LOVE. TO. BAKE.

I’ve run into problems with selling my baked goods relating to not having a commercially certified kitchen. Who wants they’re food tasting likes it’s coming from a commercial kitchen when it’s supposed to remind you of visiting grandma? Anyway, today I was told it didn’t matter by the people in charge. I took advantage of it.

Got up at 4:30 to bake these babies…yawn.

I love it that my kids’ appreciate my homemade bread. They walk in the door and say,  “oooh mom did you make bread? It smells so good in here. We LOVE your bread”.

Perfect for freezing and taking out for last minute meals.

My Mom always used to make these Sour Cream Twists. I decided to make them my own and added raisins to the dough. Super easy, recipe below.

Sour Cream Twists

Dissolve: 1 Tbs yeast into 1/4 c.  warm water

Stir in: 3/4 c. lukewarm sour cream

3 Tbs sugar

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 egg

2 Tbs soft shortening

3  c. flour

Turn dough on lightly floured counter and knead just a little. Roll into an oblong 24x6 inches. spread with butter, sprinkle half with brown sugar and cinnamon. Fold other half over. Cut into 24 strips 1 inch wide. Hold strips at end and twist in opposite directions. Place on greased pan 2 inches apart. Let rise for one hour and bake at 350 for 12-15 min. Drizzle with a vanilla or almond glaze.

Adorabibs!

“It’s not a Diego bib, its a-dora-bib!” At one time I wanted a name for the bibs. I thought of Adorabibs, but thought it sounded rather tacky. Then Derek O. came up with the slogan. Thanks Derek, but I think I’m giving up on the idea of “naming” the bibs. Anyway, here are a few of my finished ones. About halfway there, I have the rest appliquéd, waiting to be stitched around. Then the first attempt to sell will be Potato Days here in Williams. Not expecting many to go, but you never know, right?

Girl Bibs (above) Boy Bibs (below)

Welcome!

Hi there! Just wanted to put a quick welcome message out there. Hopefully I'll have my first "project" to share with you soon. Check back!