all these great recipes and no where to go!

Oh blogging world, I have a love hate relationship with you.  I love reading all these blogs, and there's that whole pinterest addiction too.  But the recipes are coming out my ears!  I can't find a good way to save/organize/remember all this information!  I'm overloaded!  Look at all the exclamation points I'm using! That should be proof!  Someone help me stop the madness here.  Who has a good idea for keeping, storing, remembering that I have a recipe somewhere for (fill in the blank)?

I'm dieting, so I made whoopie pies to torture myself

 Chocolate peanut butter whoopie pies.

 I was in a baking mood, what can I say?
At least my family got to enjoy them.

The recipe came a from a whoopie pie book (who knew there was an entire book of whoopie pies?) my mom gave me for Christmas.  It's taken me this long to get to it, but oh, I'll be back, that's for sure! 

Best part?  pretty stinkin' east to make.  So here you go...

Chocolate Whoopie Pie

Oven: 375 degrees.  big cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

1 2/3 c. flour

2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 tblsp butter

4 tblsp shortening

1 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1tsp vanilla

1 c. milk

Beat the butter, shortening, and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and beat some more.  Add dry ingredients alternatingly with milk.  beat until smooth. drop tablespoon sized dolops of dough onto cookie sheet, allowing at least 2 inches in between.  cook about 10 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched.  cool on wire rack completely.  fill with peanut butter filling.  makes around 24 completed pies (if you stay out of the batter, which is hard!)

Salted Peanut Butter Filling

3/4 c. peanut butter

6 tblsp butter

3/4 c. confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp salt.

mix until smooth.  spoon into a ziploc bag, cut a corner off and squish out onto half the cookies.

Faking Our Way Through Easter Decor

Left over plastic eggs, check.

Spring-ish paper from Michael's, check

Willing girl child helper, check.

Vague idea of a plan from Pinterest, but can't find the tutorial because my boards are a mess, check.

So the Iz and I set out to make our spring time eggs.  

I cut the paper big enough to around the egg, then fringed all the edges so it would fold nicely--in theory.

We broke out the Modge Podge and went to town.  

45 minutes later we had covered the eggs, with paper, but mine were a whole lot more rumpled and slidey (it's a new word!).

Iz and I were completely covered in podge.

And drying them was kind of a challenge.  Newspaper is a bad idea, in case you were thinking of doing that; modge podge is indiscriminant in its willingness to stick paper to eggs.

But they finally dried, I found some moss and a cake plate and they look pretty good under glass.

And it's a project done. completed. finished. checked off.  And we can all move on with our lives, after we get this podge off our elbows.

Proof of Slacker Parenting Found in the Closet

Why is the American Girl doll in the closet?  Because the 11 year old owner watched Chuckie on Netflix while her mother was sewing.

Oops.

 But look at the cute bag I finished!

If that's not worth a doll spending a day or two in the closet, I don't know what is.

I'll pay for her therapy later (the daughter's, not the doll's).

Like when I sell the bag..

The Hen Has More Chicks

I mean really, who can resist these?  The boys in the family were against it, but we girls (including the other hens, I like to think) won.

This is one of the men who hates chickens.  For the record, I'm not the one who brought them in the house this morning...

So it's Freddy, Hazel, and Dorothy added to Blanca, Karen, and Azul.  Yes, the names all mean something, but it's ridiculous to get into.

Yeah for spring chickens and (if it stops snowing and blowing here) Spring!

Thank goodness the sun came out.  I was beginning to feel as though I'd never see blue sky again.  The crocuses (or is it crocusi?) came out in full force today in my flower beds.  Apparently they've had a busy winter spreading themselves willy-nilly; love it!

Now if the grape hyacinths would bloom before the elk find them, my spring will be nearly perfect!





And speaking of perfect (nice segway, no?), how about these new diaper bags?

New baby, new bag; it's Spring (well, nearly)!

enjoy the weather and the newness that is this time of year....


EclecticHen.etsy.com

rage cleaning

My first day off work this week saw me cleaning the house for SIX hours.  By the time I was done, I was ready to toss the rest of the family out to live in the camper indefinitely.  You would think no one else knew where the trash can was.  sheesh. 

But I'm better now.   
I'm finally getting to the diaper bags I've been promising people.  A friend ordered one with owls.  Here's what I was fiddling with today.  What do you think?  The inside of the bag is the same fabric as the owl's wings...

My beloved (who is still being allowed to live here, even after my cleaning rage) says it looks as though the owl has wrapped himself up in a blanket. But he's taking me out to dinner, so I let the comment slide (and I think he might be right, now that I'm looking at it).

I see a margarita in my future...