Fast Blueberry Sauce

I just got back from spending a wonderful unexpected weekend in shaver lake. This past weekend I was very lucky to get the whole weekend off with out asking for it and even better Tomas got the whole weekend off also. Then we got even luckier when his friend Kendall and his girlfriend Amie invited us to go to his cabin in Shaver. It was so nice to be able to get away and relax. While there Amie and I made breakfast for the boys and I saw it as a great opportunity to make the fast blueberry sauce recipe I found on allrecipes.com. The original recipe called for honey and we didn't have any so I improvised and just used sugar in its place. This recipe was very easy to make and it tasted wonderful over waffles. I bet it will even taste great on ice cream. Well I hope you enjoy this fast blueberry sauce as much as we did. :)


Fast Blueberry Sauce

1 1/2 cups blueberries
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a saucepan over medium heat, mix 1 1/2 cups blueberries, sugar and 1/4 cup orange juice. Bring to a boil. Mix the remaining orange juice and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir into the blueberry mixture. Stir constantly until thickened. Enjoy :)

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Pearl Stitch Markers

I fell in love with knitting over these past few months. I love it so much that now I find myself knitting every chance I get. As I started to do more things with knitting I learned that I needed to buy things like stitch markers, which I did and all they were was solid color rings in different sizes. Well one day my mom gave me a couple of stitch markers that she made for me, they were so pretty that they got me to thinking that I should make more pretty stitch markers. So I pulled down my bead collection and got to brainstorming on how I wanted them to look. After I made 5 for myself I decided that this would be a cute gift idea for my mom and friends that knit. They all loved their stitch markers and they look so pretty on the knitting needles. Making stitch markers is so easy to do, I will definitely make some more really soon.

These are the supplies needed.

Beads, rings, head pins, pliers, and wire cutters.

Slide beads onto the head pin, making sure the hole of the first bead is not bigger then the end of the head pin or it will fall off. Next slide the ring onto the head pin leaving a little space in between the beads and the rings. Using the pliers bend the wire down under the ring and cross over the wire causing it to hold the ring in place so it doesn't slip off. Next take the wire cutters and snip off the extra wire. If necessary use the pliers to wrap the excess wire around the wire under the ring. Now you have yourself your own homemade stitch markers. Hopefully you can follow along with the directions I gave on how to make stitch markers. If needed feel free to ask any questions you may have.

To give these as a gift tie the markers onto a piece of scrap yarn and tie a nice bow.

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Cheddar Potato Soup

Yesterday, while on the phone with my mom, she was telling me how she was cleaning up her cupboards by making meals with whatever ingredients she had on hand. She ended up making peach cobbler and potato soup. So that got me to thinking, I should make dinner with what I had in the house. Unfortunately I did not have time to make peach cobbler like she did, but I did make potato soup. I made a different soup then my mom, which you can see hers on her blog, I found the original recipe on allrecipes.com but i did make some changes. When I made the cheddar potato soup I got carried with the cheese and added way more then it called for, but Tomas said he liked it that way. I will definitely be making this soup again, especially if I have potatoes that need to be used up.

Cheddar Potato Soup
6 medium potatoes, cubed
2 cube chicken bouillon
2 cup water
2 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Cooked chopped bacon , optional

In a large stock pot add potatoes, chicken bouillon, water and parsley flakes. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until potatoes become tender.In a separate bowl mix flour and milk. Once it is well blended, add to soup mixture and cook until soup becomes thick. Stir in cheese and simmer until cheese is melted. Top with bacon and cheese and enjoy :)

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Cilantro Pesto

Cilantro Pesto is now the most important ingredient in my Pesto Bean Soup. Tomas would always add cilantro to his pesto bean soup, so that gave me the idea to add cilantro pesto to the soup instead of basil pesto. It turned out to be the best thing to do to that soup because it taste even better. Also Tomas is extremely satisfied about the change to the soup. So now the soup will have cilantro pesto in it for now on.

I found the recipe for cilantro pesto from all recipes, but instead of following the recipe that someone posted on there I followed what one of the reviewers did instead. Well I hope you enjoy the cilantro pesto as much as we did.

Cilantro Pesto

1 bunch fresh cilantro
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
6 Tbsp olive oil

Place all ingredients into food processor or blender and blend.

PS: If you add this to the Pesto Bean soup, then add half of the pesto and then save the rest for the next time.

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My First Knitted Scarf

It has been way too long since my last post. There were a lot of thing going on in my life to the point I had no time to do any blogging. One of the reasons why I have not had any time was because of my recent obsession with knitting. I started knitting at the end of September, and since then I have made a lot of nice things for myself as well as for others. The red scarf above was the very first scarf that I ever made. It is just a basic garter stitch on a size 15 knitting needles. I can't remember what kind of yarn it was, but I can say it is thick and soft. This scarf took me no time at all to make and I was very proud of myself for being able to make it. Now I have made much nicer scarfs, but I was always be proud of the first one I ever made.

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Tiny Fudge Tarts

Any one who knows me knows that I graduated from college with a degree in history. I love learning about how some things came to be and lately I have taken a liking into antiques. Growing up I didn't really care for going to antique stores, in fact I thought they were quite boring. Now I find them very interesting and I love looking at all the items that they have in store. Well recently my co-worker Michelle has been giving me some very interesting antiques that I love. First she gave me a copper cookie press that has never been used with all of the attachments. Then she gave me an old cookbook called Betty Crocker's Cooky Book. In fact the cookie that I am posting today called Tiny Fudge Tarts came from that cook book. The other items she gave me was an old flour sifter and four issues of The Saturday Evening Post ranging from 1914 to 1920. Tomas and I have been enjoying reading the Evening Post. It is very interesting seeing the ads and what people were interested in during that time period. I really appreciate all the things Michelle has given me, so in return I am going to make her something nice. I would give her the cookies I just made from the book, but they didn't come out looking nice. They taste great, but because I didn't seal their edges well enough, they opened up and look kind of funny. I guess that means more cookies for us. I will think of something nice to make for her later. :)

The Saturday Evening Post

An up close look of the delicious but not so attractive Tiny Fudge Tarts.


Tiny Fudge Tarts

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Fudge Filling

1/4 cup butter
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Mix flour and salt; cut in the butter. Sprinkle with water and vanilla; mix well. Using 1/2 of the dough at a time, roll out to 1/16" thick on a board generously sprinkled with sugar. Cut into 2 1/2" squares. Spread 1 teaspoon of the fudge filling in center of each square. Bring the corners to the center and seal together. Place sealed side up on an ungreassed baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

To make the fudge filling combine all the filling ingredients until combined.

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Golden Snitch Peanut Butter Ball Candies.

On Thursday, Tomas and I were finally able to go see the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows movie. I was happy to finally go see it, but I was also sad that it was the last. I loved watching those movies over the years and I especially loved reading the books. Well since I had the day off yesterday I also watched the first three movies again. I would have loved to watch the others again, but I only have the first three. I am waiting for a boxed set to come out before I buy the movies again. With all this Harry Potter I have been watching, I decided that I should make a Harry Potter themed snack. That is why I decided to make Golden Snitch Peanut Butter Ball Candies. I found the peanut butter ball recipe on various websites, which were pretty much all the same recipe. The one I ended up following in the end was from joyofbaking.com. To make the wings I decided to melt some white chocolate in a piping bag and pipe out wing shapes on to a piece of parchment paper. In the end I thought the Golden Snitches came out cute and went perfect with my Harry Potter movie marathon. I think these will be especially great for a Harry Potter themed party. Enjoy :) And if you have not gone to see the movie yet you must go.

I caught the Golden Snitch :)

Golden Snitch Peanut Butter Ball Candies

2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 - 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

About 1/4 cup White dipping chocolate

Place the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and salt in a microwaveable bowl, and heat in the microwave for about one minute or until just soft (check and stir the ingredients every 20 seconds). Stir in the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and mix until it has the consistency of a dough (add more sugar if necessary). Roll into balls and refrigerate for about an hour. Melt some white chocolate in a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and make some wings with the chocolate. Let harden. once the peanut butter balls are cool, stick two wings into the balls and repeat for the others. You now have yourself a Golden Snitch. :)

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