Thursday Life Moments "Joanne Fluke"

Red Velvet Cupcake Murder came out Tuesday

I ran to the bookstore Sunday asking for this book they proceeded to tell me that they have four in stock but can not sell them till Tuesday I was stomping my feet throwing a tantrum...WHY?? ...( Hello, I'm not just anyone :) you have to sell it to me)...It didn't work I had to wait till Tuesday... I love her books I run out and buy her next book the minute it is released, read it without putting it down and sit on the edge of my seat till the next release of her next book...I have not got the new cookbook she put out last year but that will be on my birthday list.. I also found out that she will be with in driving distance for her book tour I am going to try my darnedest to get to her book signing that would be an amazing life moment

This is a list of Joanne Fluke's Books

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (February 2000)

Strawberry Shortcake Murder (February 2001)

Blueberry Muffin Murder (February 2002)

Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (February 2003)

Fudge Cupcake Murder (February 2004)

Sugar Cookie Murder (October 2004)

Peach Cobbler Murder (February 2005)

Cherry Cheesecake Murder (March 2006)

Key Lime Pie Murder (February 2007)

Carrot Cake Murder (March 2008)

Cream Puff Murder (March 2009)

Plum Pudding Murder(October 2009)

Apple Turnover Murder(February 2010)

Gingerbread Cookie Murder (October 2010)

Devils Food Cake Murder (February 2011)

Cinnamon Roll Murder (February 2012)

Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (February 2013)

“If chocolate were a mandatory part of breakfast, people wouldn’t be so
grouchy in the morning.”
― Joanne Fluke, Strawberry Shortcake Murder

Her Love Of Coffee and Chocolate makes me fall in love with her everytime...
And Of Course My Dream of Having My Own Coffee Shop and Bakery has nothing to do with My Love For Theses Books Oh No Nothing What So Ever

Joanne Fluke's Website

http://www.murdershebaked.com/

Hump Day Hookerry

What to do? What to do?  I have had no time for crocheting its quite upseting... I am trying to focus on one thing right now I have a vision of a finished crochet project a perfect wonderful completely unique all my own design crochet project I have high hopes ...the blanket has been put on hold... the surprise project is sitting in a bag .... All in attempt to create a beautiful wonderful complete project that is inside my head now I just need to focus and yes put together, take apart, put together, take apart, till I get a complete project

                                                                    SNEEK PEEK

Tuesday Thinkers "Can You Guess"

YOU

You greet me every morning

 with all your piles forming

your at my feet

and on my seat

even on my couch

 you make me such a grouch

 by the sink

you start to stink

you always make me think

that one day I will wake 

without out a flake of you my ache

what a pain

you have more stains

It is not well

I want to yell

Will you please go in the basket  

you tease me to a casket

I put you away

you do not stay

you have won

I am done

Monday Recipes "BTS cookies"

BTS Cookies

So I was on a quest last year for soft moist fluffy sugar cookies to bring to a family gathering  it was a success when I found this blog
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/lofthouse-style-soft-sugar-cookies/
and this one
http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/05/soft-lofthouse-style-frosted-cookies/
and this one
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/12/07/lofthouse-cookies-easy-buttercream-frosting/
so as you can see no matter what LOFT HOUSE COOKIE recipe you use these are darn good cookies
So I call them BTS cookies when my sister-in-law first tried them she said these are BTS so she hooked me into asking what does BTS mean

BTS (Better Than Sex) Cookies

6 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups sour cream

Friday Foto " Tomato"

Home Grown Ripe Plump Tomatoes

Yes those are mine.. grown with my own hands completely organic ... canned fresh salsa...homemade ketchup..stewed tomatoes..whole tomatoes...tomato sauce... what am I going to do this year I actually have to buy this stuff I'm kind of heartbroken ...

Oh My Goodness!! Oh My Goodness!!

This time of year was when we started planning our garden what was going in what raised bed what will we plant in the spring what will we plant in the fall... planting seedlings and hoping we'd have something to plant soon.... now I'm just praying I can have one tomato plant on our patio in the apartments...(because 30 would probably be a violation)...

I saved some seeds cant wait to go back to the house and get those ..so I can start a little tomato seedling and fresh herbs that is definitely on my mind

Thursday Life Moments " A PUPPY"

Yesterday I kind of hinted about a BIG change..how can such a LITTLE thing be such a BIG change in my household

Isn't he just the cutest!!

Well little cuteness has taking over every one's life and has taking over all my ATTENTION he has definitely been a life changer here.... in everything we do we have to consider our little rambunctious pouncer ... PUPPY training is going better than expected.. he's a little stubborn... but it matches everyone else's personality in the household quite well so I'm used to it...I have no complaints...okay maybe one that hopefully he'll adjust to his bed time carrier soon because I'm tired...

DOG TIRED

Hump Day Hookerry ---Crocheting Something Unique

I am feeling quite unhappy over my hookerry this week  ..Crocheting has kind of been non existent this week we've had a big change come to our little apartment that has occupied much of my time ....The crochet cable blanket has hit a little hump I finished square 2 of pattern 2 last week and found the finished square to be the exact size needed ....the first square I finished I held the tension to tight and the square turned out to small I will have to redo the first square so unless I can squeeze some extra time out of somewhere I will be a week behind on my cable blanket...

I have started making 'Unique Hookerry" these and it will surprise everyone on what there for ...I just hope that my vision in my head "there is no pattern" will become a reality if not.... I will have a lot of little green hearts lying around

There is still the crochet surprise project on my hook I have not worked on it at all though ..hoping to find time for some hooky ..if only I wasn't so wiped out

Tuesday Thinkers

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face….You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

Monday Recipes -Homemade Granola

Granola is so easy to make and homemade is so much better than store bought ...My favorite thing about homemade is you can make it with the things you love and omit the pick out items of a store bought box you don't like ...I love a bowl of vanilla Greek yogurt with granola on top of course its great plain too and very versatile you can make it simple or complex the three main ingredients for mine is oats, honey, and olive oil
There are so many recipes out there and varieties google homemade granola recipes add a little this and a little that and fall in love with it too
I chose Barefoot Contessa "Ina Garten" she has quite a few different recipes to give y'all some ideas of what you could make http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-hazelnut-granola-recipe/index.html

The Granola above in the picture is

Almond Granola

2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of broken up almonds
1/3 cup olive oil ---I use olive oil because I feel its healthier you can use regular veg oil to Ive also used coconut oil which is really good
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ---I would of used 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract if I had some in the pantry

Throw everything in a bowl toss all ingredients till evenly distributed than put on a baking sheet with parchment paper in a even layer bake at 300 degrees about 15 min stir every now and then you want to make sure it doesn't burn around the edges just cook till golden brown

Yellow Makes It Pop Friday Foto

I admire, I love, Pure Joy Came To ME .....
Something YELLOW

Blog searching brings such unexpected things....
the original post with this picture came from these blogs
http://chocolatepompoms.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/crochet/
http://crochetlatte.com  

My Yellow

Black Eyed Susan

Not Sure if this was a Black-eyed Susan it was growing wild in the back of our lot, in the woods, I dug it up and incorporated the flower into my perennial flower bed now its taking over ..but that's the love of it

the house hasn't sold yet so I'm hoping to go back in March to see all the spring blooming I so miss my garden

Daisy's just scream spring don't they??

the YELLOW and WHITE are one of my favorite color combos

these are another flower that spreads like fire but I cant bare to split

Happy Valentine's Day

Hump Day Hookerry -Crochet Cable Two

Crochet Cables

The first "Crochet Cable Two Square Pattern" is complete the weather has been horrible for taking pictures, but I'll share a better one with y'all on a better day...I am positive that blocking 20 squares is in my near future

Five Strand Braided Scarf

The Five Strand Braided Scarf (This was a start, I plan on making a thicker, wider one using chunkier yarn later, that one I will try to take pics of the progress and make a tutorial)

I used size I hook

First you make 5 crochet strips

Each one Chain 220 (or desired length)

turn 2nd chain from hook start your hdc

make 2 rows of hdc's ---- all the way down turn all the way back

and bind off

you don't have to bind off  the last strip you make you can start the hdc strip to connect all strips together

 connect all five together with hdc across the tops (which would be the ends) make sure all the strips are lying flat--- not on top of each other

braid all 5 strands together "loosely"   and keep the strands flat well braiding it looks tricky and the strands get tangled but once you get used to it, it will go rather quickly than lay flat the other ends and connect with hdc just like the top... don't bind off...  turn the two ends of the braids to meet each other "make sure it's not twisted" and stitch together with a needle and yarn or chain stitch together with hook and bind off  weave in any ends and wah- lah you have a cool scarf

**watch a video on how to braid 5 strands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZbERIxwP7Y or you can look at this tutorial http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/06/repurposing-tshirts-into-5-strand-braided-headbands.html  don't worry about it if you don't like these ..do a google search and find a tutorial you like there is a million out there on how to braid 5 strands

Bones and Tuesday Thinkers

 Son, my oldest of my bunch has obsessively watched BONES for years now. Last Christmas I bought him seasons 4,5,and 6 on blue ray we have done a lot of BONES watching in this house since, besides Son putting in a disc of BONES every chance he gets, we found that one of the channels plays reruns of BONES on weekends, then there's always Mondays, we all stay up late and watch the next episode of BONES as you can see we have all developed a fondness for this show...

Last night's episode...had me thinking

Never Part Without Loving Words.

They Might Be Your Last.

In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, Ephesian 4:26

Monday-Monday Recipes ba-da-ba-da-da-da

Monday AHHHH!!

No, I did not know that today"MONDAY" that one of the Sky Rim add ons are coming out but why do we have to have a two hour conversation about it instead of doing school???? The boys are driving me bonkers,"no, I'm not taking you to Game Stop" "well how about Best Buy?" " no, I am not going to Best Buy!" I am not buying any games I don't want to know what is in the add ons or how many add ons there are or what would be cool if they did this or that PLEASE just be quiet open your books and do your work...

Mamas & The Papas Monday, Monday Lyrics

Songwriters: PHILLIPS, JOHN EDMUND ANDREW

Ba-da ba-da-da-da
Ba-da ba-da-da-da
Ba-daba-da-da-da

Monday, monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
So good to me (ba-daba-da-da-da)
Monday mornin, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh monday mornin, monday mornin couldnt guarantee (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
That monday evenin you would still be here with me

Monday, monday, can't trust that day
Monday, monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh monday mornin you gave me no warnin of what was to be
Oh monday, monday, how could you leave and not take me

Every other day (every other day), every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever monday comes, but whenever monday comes
A-you can find me cryin all of the time

Monday, monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
So good to me (ba-daba-da-da-da)
Monday mornin, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh monday mornin, monday mornin couldnt guarantee
That monday evenin you would still be here with me

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever monday comes, but whenever monday comes
You can find me cryin all of the time

Monday, monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
So good to me (ba-daba-da-da-da)
Monday mornin, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh monday mornin, monday mornin couldnt guarantee
That monday evenin you would still be here with me

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever monday comes, but whenever monday comes
You can find me cryin all of the time

Monday, monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
Cant trust that day (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
Monday, monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
It just turns out that way (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
Whoa, monday, monday, wont go away (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
Monday, monday, it's here to stay (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
Oh monday, monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)
Oh monday, monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)

Monday, Monday lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

I don't know what it is about Monday's of course Ox goes back to work and I don't ever know how long he'll be there and school has to start back and there is no guarantee of normalcy there ...When it says every other day of the week is fine ...I just have to remember that line

Do I have any recipes to post, yes I do, I'm sorry about my little rant

Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Ingredients:

¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit with paper muffin cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
2. Melt the butter and half the chopped chocolate together in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from the heat.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients and the melted butter and chocolate over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Do not over mix the batter. Stir in the remaining chopped chocolate. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold

**Things I changed because I didn't have all the correct ingredients I used salted butter so I omitted the salt



 recipe adapted from http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/01/14/chocolate-chocolate-chunk-muffins/

You will want to check her site out too she is having an awesome give away for her sixth anniversary... I am not participating for the reasons of I don't have facebook, don't have twitter, don't have pinterest, thinking I won't have much of a chance but that's okay I have big reasons why I don't have these things and have a much happier life without them granted pinterest would be fun but the last time I tried to join I found out I had to have facebook what's up with that?** UPDATE I can PIN through email that's a good thing**

Well I successfully made a crepe...One goal crossed off my list

I used a basic recipe from all recipes http://allrecipes.com/recipe/basic-crepes/

When I started making them and they were turning out I had that happy giddy moment of success and then there was the, now what?" crepes have to have a filling think, think what am I going to make then I remembered there were apples that needed to be used up so I made spiced apples

Here's my recipe for that

Spiced Apples

I used two apples sliced mediumish I like my apples a little chunky and not mushy when cooked

3 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon (you can use less I like cinnamon)

1 dash of all spice

Instructions:

put all ingredients in a frying pan over medium heat, give it a stir, cover for the first 10 minutes or so stir every now and then, turn the heat down if at any time the apples are sticking, the covering of the apples in the pan should steam the apples and keep all the yumminess inside, then uncover for about 5 minutes till the juices become syrupy

I filled the crepes with the spiced apples added a little syrup from the apples on top and dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon and served with cream ...these were so good my husband gave them the name "Apple Pie Crepes" he said they reminded him of a slice of warm apple pie

Friday Foto "Sunset"

The colors of this muted lake sunset taken well camping has become inspiration for my next crochet blanket

the pinks and blues and slight purple hues will be a perfect combination

Thursday Life Moment's" Deodorant"

Deodorant
 Let's have a little talk about deo, I can't ever find one that works or the smell throws me off, I like it for a few hours then it gets nasty. I don't like deo period, but I need deo it's very much a love hate relationship I've tried probably every single kind and smell out there... I've tried the just use rubbing alcohol method.. the all natural approach...Ive tried making homemade deo.. I just have not been happy with any deo ..last Friday I told my husband I needed deo 'that was a mistake' .. so we were at Sam's and he said, "go get some deo" ...the shock on my face did not show but I'm thinking no I need variety, I need time, this is a matter of smelling good or stinking this an important decision for me how can I get deo here... I moseyed over to the deo isle and there were FOUR only FOUR choices (how am I supposed to pick from only four)  I know if y'all have read some of my previous post my sweet hubby is impatient so four options to him is all the better he's thinking maybe this wont take long four options is not a hard decision ...well for me its a train wreck I sat and pulled each box out and looked at the brands and the prices and then the scratch and sniff test.. I was not happy I didn't want any of them the most expensive one would of probably worked but again my hubby is cheap so I would of got "why do you need that one"  I was stuck between a rock and hard place...I wanted hubby to scratch and sniff he rolled his eyes and said "its your deo?" well he's no help so I grab the mid grade deo and get on with it .. but then I get home and start wearing the deo for a few days and all my brain says is NO! NO! NO! So I spent way to much money on this package of deo and of course Sam's sells everything in bulk so now I have three ...NO! this wont do deo's ... will I tell my husband that I hate the deo and wasted money NO! I throw one in the travel bag and Ill try to use the other deos when I'm not leaving the house but I still have the dilemma of I don't have a deo for every day I grab my old travel bag deo out for the first couple days cause its not bad than yesterday we went out for yarn so thought might as well go pick out deo well I'm out and hubby is out of town.. We are always out of milk so that's where the deo will be bought the grocery store... Stitch runs in the grocery store with me...(not sure if that's a good thing) we walk to the milk isle and pick up the milk he starts heading towards the check out isles I tell him to, "hold up I need deo" he's not happy but I let Stitch get over it and head to the deo isle I start looking at all the different kinds the elimination process begins... and Stitch is complaining that the gallon of milk is freezing his numbies "fingers" off.. he's in his I need to make jokes mood ...I grab my first choice out and held on to it but I had to make sure so I start smelling different ones and pull out one that makes me gag Stitch says, "what?" I let him smell it and he looks at me and says "It smells like powdery baby crap" I look around thank goodness no one was around for his description I wanted to scold but busted out laughing instead and in all honesty he was right you know when your baby has diarrhea and you clean him up but it doesn't matter how clean you got his bum with the baby wipes he still has that smell so you try to mask it with baby powder but it's still there yup that was the smell of this deo ...So we get in the car with milk and a deo in hand... my other two kiddos didn't feel like coming in the store they looked at us and said, "What took you so long?" Stitch says, "Mom had to get deo", the two kiddos in the back rolled their eyes, Stitch looked at them and said "at least she doesn't smell like POWDERY BABY CRAP" After the brief explanation on the way home Stitch had everyone laughing..
All the while I was thinking of Monsters, Inc.

Mike: Can I borrow your odorant?
Sulley: Yeah, I got, uh, Smelly Garbage or Old Dumpster.
Mike: You got, uh, Low Tide?
Sulley: No.
Mike: How about Wet Dog?
Sulley: Yep. Stink it up.

"Crochet Washcloths" Hump Day Hookerry

Crochet Washcloths

All Crochet projects were put on hold last week when a certain Birthday came up out of the blue I ran through what to do and came up with crochet washcloths

I chose a spa color theme when it came to the patterns I got suckered into cyber world and spent hours probably days looking at crochet washcloths. Here's a picture of the designs that were chosen, my favorite one is on top, I wanted to do 3 different ones for my benefit just to play with stitches and patterns

All stacked up to have a ribbon tied around it and a sweet birthday card. I will have to say I'm a little hesitant to give them away I have the wan ties

So I have not done much else in the crochet corner, finally finished block four on the crochet cable blanket last night and started the new crochet cable pattern with block five....the first pattern project ....GUESS WHAT?? DID YOU GUESS?? YUP!!! I ran out of yarn I'll try to make it to the yarn store to get more before the weekend.. don't worry its made with a common brand yarn so I should not have a problem finding more  ...The Surprise project has not had any work done on it but I have a remedy for that 

Larksfoot crochet pattern I think will be added to my stitch to learn this year 

Tuesday Thinkers "Superhero or Villain"

Learning is wealth to the poor, an honor to the rich, an aid to the young, and a support and comfort to the aged
                                                      John Casper Lavater

John Casper was a physiognomiest what is that ???


http://www.thefreedictionary.com/physiognomy
phys·i·og·no·my  (fz-gn-m, -n-m)

n. pl. phys·i·og·no·mies

1.

a. The art of judging human character from facial features.

b. Divination based on facial features.

2.

a. Facial features, especially when regarded as revealing character.

b. Aspect and character of an inanimate or abstract entity

??Never knew it was an art to judge people by what they look like??

Makes you think?

When I look at pictures of physiognomy it reminds me of modern day comics finding human character and creating it in comical form don't we all have a little superhero or villain in us I wonder what character best describes us?

Recipe Monday

Sour Cream Pancakes

were my choice for Sunday Pancakes

I always use this recipe from Smitten Kitchen I love her blog you should have a looker well your at the recipe

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/01/edna-maes-sour-cream-pancakes/

Edna Mae’s Sour Cream Pancakes
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks 

7 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/ 2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter
Maple syrup

I'm not much of an instruction person I just mix the dry and the wet ingredients and add together cook like any other pancake, On Sundays I'm in a laid back mood so I just go with it

MUFFIN MONDAY

We were doing Muffin Mondays before we moved the kiddos enjoyed it but the move kind of threw my schedule out of whack this morning I actually got up and made muffins I went with a carrot cake type muffin (just for every one to know carrot cake is my first choice when it comes to any dessert bar) I had some carrots that needed to be used up in the fridge so pulled those out ran them through the food processor and than started combining recipes

this is the one I started with

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fluffy-carrot-muffins-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

I did not use the cream cheese frosting even though it would of been really good I didn't want all the extra sugar (there is already a full cup in the batter I might try substituting it with honey and applesauce next time) and fat from the cheese in a breakfast muffin... I did not have any veggie oil so I used half butter and half olive oil instead I added cardamon because I LOVE it and added raisins... these muffins were really really good but I will try to make them healthier next time

 

Carrot Muffin Recipe

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups shredded carrots

1/2 cup raisins

I just add the dry ingredients stir together than add the wet whisk together than fold in carrots and raisins  scoop into muffin pan bake at 350 for 20 min made 12 regular size muffins



Friday Foto Knockout

Knockout  Rose