Fourth of July Fail

I love the Fourth of July. When I lived in Georgia, my family and I would go with my aunt, uncle and cousins (sometimes nearly the whole family) to Panama City Beach, FL for many years in a row. While PCB is beautiful, I was never sure what the initial attraction was for my family: they didn't drink or party, and weren't big on huge crowds, yet we went to the Redneck Riviera during it's busiest time of year (yes, even busier than Spring Break) and stayed right in the center of the Strip. Regardless, we still had a wonderful time each year and made great memories.

My favorite over the years!

PCB 2007

My family still tries to go to the beach for Independence Day each year, but I don't get to join them. I still always try to keep my spirits up when I'm so far away from my family on this particular holiday. This year I wanted to make a patriotic dessert for Jason's work cookout. I pulled from several pins, making this a very long entry. Sorry 'bout it!

Red, White and Blue seemed to easy to make edible. I started with converting my Devil's Food Cake into Red Velvet, which is suppose to be easy. You just add red food coloring and extra cocoa. Well I didn't have enough food coloring, but I DID have extra red icing.

+ = 

It didn't work. So I added all the red food coloring I had to cake mix. It wasn't pretty, but still tasted good. I poured it into a bag. 

    

Then I moved onto my blue...which was turning yellow mix. It turned out more teal than blue, even after all the food coloring was added. No need to waste though! I also poured this into a bag.

My idea for these originated from this: Marbled Red Velvet Cupcakes. Since I didn't have awesome baking gear, that's what the bags were for. 

I put my liners into my mini cupcake pan and prepared to combine. 

 Since I am rather unskilled, I decided to make layers instead of side-by-side color. So far, so good.

If I haven't told you before, I have a mini cupcake maker. I love it. I suggest you get one. It is a pain because you can only make 7 at a time, but I never have an issue with burning or uneven baking. Plus it's great for hot days because it doesn't warm up the entire kitchen. It kicks itself on and off, so all you do is put the filled liners in and wait eight minutes. 

I was pre-occupied with the mixing of colors, and didn't properly measure how much went into each liner. It doesn't affect how well it is cooked in my maker, but it does make the cupcakes appear more like mushrooms. Oops. 

I tried to alter the amount I filled later, but most of them were already filled by this time. Patriotic shrooms are in, right? 

Another downfall to my measuring: I ended up making over 100. After mixing more than 50, I started making some just red and just blue...and ran out of the white liners I had. So I layered the rest and made a small bundt cake. So much for not using the oven. 

My next venture was Firecracker Icing. Apparently, Southeastern CT-ers don't care much for them, so 1 grocery store, 3 gas stations and 2 specialty stores later I finally found strawberry and tropical punch (which looks more green instead instead of blue) Pop Rocks. I wasn't about to let them go to waste! However, it was so humid I didn't want to use up the 'pop' so I made the Funfetti icing and sprinkled the Pop Rocks on right before we left. It was still too humid, so the 'pop' ran out before we even got to the cookout. I was so disappointed, I didn't take another picture. 

<here's where it would have gone>

And now I know how to make teal and brownish mushrooms for a fairy themed party. I've still got some Pop Rocks left over, which are always fun. My cupcakes were eaten, so the flavors weren't destroyed. Overall though, it was a fail. I'll do it better next year (hopefully at our brand-new command)!

This is how my Fourth ended, with my new(er) family snuggling on the couch and Murphy trying to be brave through the fireworks...perhaps our new tradition??? We shall see. 

S'mores Treats

I've always loved Rice Krispies Treats, so when I saw this recipe I tried to find an excuse to make it...and with so many cookouts during the summer, I barely had to wait. 

I started my morning off with Pumpkin Cake Muffins. I made them last night, and didn't take pictures of the whole thing, but it's definitely worth sharing. I suggest you pin this and make these many times over with different cake mixes (I used Buttery Yellow). 

After forcing myself to stop eating muffins, I decided to start on the S'mores Treats. 

You can find the original pin here.

12 oz Golden Grahams (I used store brand) 

10 oz mini marshmallows 

6 TBS butter 

1 cup mini chocolate chips + 1 for topping

1/2 tsp vanilla 

Instead of chocolate chips, I chopped up a Hershey's bar I bought specifically for s'mores. I chopped up 1 cup into small blocks, then used about 4-5 bars to chop finely for the topping. I didn't measure how much those made. 

Spray a baking pan with cooking spray and set it to the side. I used a 13x9 but the original says 9x9. Eh, whatever. 

Melt butter over medium heat, then add marshmallows and mix until smooth. I was feeling good about this, and even found a mallow clover. It ain't a 4-leafer, but I still thought it might mean good luck. 

After all the marshmallows were melted, I folded in the grahams until it was all evenly coated. I turned the heat off then added my cup of chocolate. I spread the mix as evenly as possible into my pan, then topped it with the finely chopped chocolate. I put it in the fridge for 10 minutes, and voila! 

I was so excited for my win, until I realized...I forgot my vanilla. So much for following directions! Next time I'll remember it for after the marshmallows are smooth...and not to let it fall on its side to leak out all over the place. Gross.

They still taste yummy and are perfect for these hot summer days when I don't want to turn the oven on.

Wish I did these for the 4th of July! You'll see why soon...

Crockpot Caramel

I'd seen this pin many times over, so I finally gave in and pinned. It's a recipe for turning condensed milk into caramel overnight. The original pin comes from the blog Perfect Imperfections and her directions were very easy to follow. So here it goes:

My crockpot

My condensed milk 

I removed the label, filled the crockpot with water, placed the unopened can in the water (making sure it sat well under the waterline), and set it for 8 hours on low. 

When my husband got up the next morning, I got up to put the can in the fridge. I put the can inside a thick plastic cup because it was VERY hot. It had to stay there for at least 2 hours. I noticed rust on the bottom of the can that wasnt there before. I wiped it away as best I could. 

Four hours later, I began fighting the can trying to open it. 

My electric can opener didn't like the can, and my hand-held one just plain sucks. 

I chose a knife, it helped tremendously. 

I also popped a hole into the bottom to making pouring easier. You can see the rust on the bottom. 

Then I tipped the can onto the top of the jar that would be its new home, and let gravity do the rest. It took about 10 minutes to get all I could out of the can. 

My 14 oz. can made about 8 oz of caramel. 

Now...what would I do differently? Use one of these bad boys instead of fighting the can. It would work much better than the electric can opener, or hand operated one I have (that thing may not be with us much longer). 

The finished product lasts about a week in the fridge. As it gets closer to the 'best by' date, I noticed a slight grittiness in it (like sugar that isn't dissolved enough) but it in no way affected the awesomeness. It is by far the best caramel I've ever tasted. 

Kristen: 1 Pinterest: 0 

And so it begins...

Little Things That Did Not Work So Far

These are my fails from the past few months. Sometimes you just gotta know when to quit.

I had so much hope for this project. I had the idea to paint over the raised letters and remove them, so the white canvas would show. I also had the idea to use puff paint, hoping it would give a beveled look or the overcoat wouldn't stick, leaving it white. It did neither. 

Since I couldn't find flat alphabet stickers like the first link suggested, I used foam letter stickers I found at Michael's. They were very bright colors, so I decided to try them covered in white craft paint. You could see the colors bleeding through the white, so I carried on and painted it robin's egg blue, then a sage green over that. Not only did it get messy around the letters, the paint seeped below the stickers and built up around them, so when I removed them there wasn't a clean line. I tried to fill it in, which was a disaster. Then I remembered I had a chalkboard spray paint for another project and covered it with that, but to my dismay it peels off when I write on it with chalk. I have thrown in the towel on this project...but I did find the stickers I wanted at Hobby Lobby...and I still have another canvas...

Restoring this antique trunk hasn't even started yet. I got it about 7 months ago, and it smells musty still. I tried baking soda with no luck. I haven't given up on it yet, but I hope Pinterest will help. 

Jello Eggs never had a chance. I got the mold for a good deal thanks to Budget Savvy Diva but never got the hang of it. I read somewhere that spraying the mold with oil or butter spray would prevent this, but it didn't. I've got plenty of time for next year!

I made a pudding pie for my hubs, and tried to make a peanut butter whip for the middle of it. The pudding was stovetop, which was a long shot, and the combo of peanut butter and Cool Whip tasted great but melted INTO the pie even though it was cooled. I don't think I'll mess with stovetop until I get a double boiler. I don't know where this pin went.

I'm certain there are more in a bin somewhere, but I'll be adding new posts about my fails very soon. I've got a few things in the works...they can't all be winners!

Little Treats That Worked

I made these little sweets for parties, or just because. They are my favorite projects. :)

Monkey Bread, although I use cinnamon rolls and crescent rolls too. 

Brownie Cookies, just from a super fudge-y mix. Follow the box and just watch them closely. The link is from scratch.

Oreo Truffles, red and black icing, and bamboo forks made my eyeballs perfect for Halloween! 

Here is the original inspiration.

King Cakes for Fat Tuesday...they were simple, quick, and just the right kinda sweet for right after dinner. I used Grand's Biscuits and sprinkles because that's all I had at the time. 

Monkey Cupcakes for my nephew's first birthday. I loved these, and they were a huge hit! Making all the different faces was the fun part!

Others that worked, but I didn't take pictures of:

Texas Road House Cinnamon Honey Butter

Chocolate Frosting Shots 

Chocolate Chip Cookie In A Mug

Monkey Muffins

Little Decorative Things That Worked

These are minor decorative projects I've done. I got these ideas from various pins (sometimes more than one) and I'll do my best to properly attach them to each idea.

A glass vase from Goodwill, whole coffee beans and glass beads for my make up brushes.

It smells delicious every time I get ready.

Putting a adjustable shower rod in my small closet gave me room like a shelf without major work. 

Wooden letter covered in jute, both from Hobby Lobby. 

Wooden letter painted black, then glued into a frame. 

The background is scrapbook paper. 

Sea glass, coffee beans, and 'table scatter' (from Target) in vases with candles or flowers are always a hit and so easy. The coffee bean idea came from this pin.

Dollar Store frames, fall print ribbon, paper and dry erase markers...unfortunately, the frames easily broke so I have to get more. It will be very easy to change with the seasons/occasions. Here is the original idea. 

That was my Halloween costume, I was a housewitch. :)

Home decor may be my weakness, but I'm working on it. Here's to hoping Pinterest will inspire me to try more!