Who Knew?!

Who knew you could make bread without kneading it?! Now, that I know it is possible to make bread without having to do much more than mix the ingredients, I will be making it more often!

I found this cookbook on Amazon.com, and I thought I would give it a try. The "No Kneading" method of making bread actually works! The name of the book is Kneadlessly Simple by Nancy Baggett, and it is full of a huge variety of bread recipes...all of which do not require kneading. I started with the most basic...white bread. Here is a picture of the dough after its "first rise." I then plopped it into two bread pans and let it rise a second time.




Here they are after baking, and I did it without a bread machine. :)

I believe that there is a sample recipe on Nancy Baggett's website. She also has a blog called Nancy Bagget's Kitchenlane, and I have it listed on my blogroll. Go bake some bread! You will love the way your house smells while it is baking!

Recipe Swap Thursday

I tried these cookies at a friends house, and it was all I could do to not eat every single cookie on the plate!!! She gave me this wonderful cookie recipe...

Butter Brickle Cookies

Butter Pecan cake mix

3/4 stick of butter, melted

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

3/4 cup chopped pecans

3/4 cup vanilla/white morsels

3/4 cup Heath "bits of brickle" (toffee bits)

Mix all well. Drop on cookie sheet with a melon ball or large tablespoon. Bake for 9-13 minutes on 350*. Cool slightly before removing from cookie sheet. YUM!!!

Yipppeeee!!! I Won!!!!

Last night before going to bed, I checked my email....and guess what?! My little strawberry outfit that I shared a few days ago was featured in the http://www.swakembroidery.com/ newsletter! It was chosen to be featured in the "I Made This" spotlight of the week, so I get a free design and a spot in the newsletter! Yippppeee!!!!

If you have an embroidery machine, you need to sign up for this newletter because they will give you a bunch of free designs. You will also get tons of ideas and free projects in each newsletter!

Why Do I Procrastinate?

I have no idea why I wait until the last minute to complete a project... Maybe I work better under pressure.



Teacher Appreciation Day is tomorrow, and this bag is for Hannah's 1st grade teacher. I have known what I was going to make for her for about a week now, but this was a new pattern ("The Reversible Tote Bag" from YCMT.com), and I had not tried it before. I guess that would have been all the more reason to start this project sooner! Oh well, I got it done! ...but it is now 12:38 a.m., and I better go to sleep while I still have the option!

Little Boy Blue

I love this romper pattern!!! I have made so many already, and when it was cold, I made the long pant version. They are so cute for church. I made this for Jack to wear in his pictures, but I can't ever get him to stop bruising his head so that I can take him to have them done!!! He fell off the couch the other night and hit the coffee table. OUCH! Thankfully, we are still using an old table (donated from my parents when Seth and I first got married), and it does not have sharp corners. It is made from bamboo, so it is not as hard on the head as it could be. I think that is why we are still using it. Every child I have seems to want to test it out on their head! Anyway, since I am still waiting on Jack's head to be "bruise-free," I thought he might as well go ahead and wear his new outfit to church.

It is almost impossible to take a good picture of a toddler! I was singing at this point, so Jack started dancing! At least he is happy... You will notice Aidan in the background wanting to be in the picure! I was trying to get Jack to look out the window (at nothing), so Aidan was saying, "I want to see!"

At this point, my sweet little boy was feeling left out. He started saying, "Hey, Mama...I'm four years old!" I couldn't resist a picture of that...Scooby Doo tattoo and all!

Then my oldest was even willing to show a little love toward her brother for a picture! Sibling Rivalry!!! Aidan looks a little unsure about the whole thing. They are all three soooooo different, but they each add something special and unique to our family.

A Girl Has to Have Something Special to Wear...

Last Sunday, Hannah informed me that she had nothing special to wear that would match her red "Sparks" vest for the Awana awards at our church. Hannah has a closet full of clothes, so I decided to take a look. Well, she was right! Everything was either mostly pink, or another soft pastel (her favorite colors). So, what is a mommy to do??? Make a new outfit of course! However, I only had a couple of hours, so it had to be pretty easy and quick. I decided to use a new tutorial pattern that I downloaded from "Oliver + S" called "The Lazy Day Skirt." It uses a ribbon trim for the hem and is simple but cute! It can be made in any length.

I wanted to dress it up a little, so I added the strawberry vine embroidery that I got from my favorite embroidery website, http://www.swakembroidery.com/. This added some more of the red that we needed, and "cutesied" it up for Hannah.

....a couple of berries appliqued to a t-shirt, and Voila! Hannah has something new, cute, and red to wear with her vest! Notice that I had to add just a touch of pink! She was very happy, and she looked very cute when she walked across the stage to receive her medal! ...a proud mama moment!