Darcie Heater

White Chocolate Valentine Cookies

Hi Blog Friends,

I decided it was time for another recipe for the recipe book I featured previously in THIS post, THIS post, and THIS post.  Earlier this week I posted a FREE printable Valentine Heart Box, so I thought you might like the cookie recipe also.  In the past I have featured several free printable recipes here on the blog.  These recipes fit inside the recipe book project, so if you're interested in downloading them, the links are located in the red bar on the right hand side of this page.

To download the recipe you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.  If you don't have Reader, it's available as a free download at Adobe.

Here's the recipe:  (To open it just click on the picture)

I hope you enjoy the cookies and the Free printable heart box!  I'll be posting more info on the new CHA merchandise next week.... check back for more FREEBIES!

:) Darcie

 

Homemade Pretzels

Hi Blog Friends,

I have a friend who gets together with a group of friends each Fall to make homemade authentic German pretzels.  I've always been fascinated with the process, but didn't want to attempt the whole lye bath thing on my own.  I know it's probably not that difficult and that there are tons of places online to get info on the procedure.  However, I am a pretty big fan of the softer "Auntie Anne's" type of American pretzel.  Tonya and I have wanted to make these for about a year now, so we finally got together a couple of weekends ago (NO, not on her honeymoon, lol... after that!) to try them out.  Here's what we came up with:

They turned out to be delicious and we learned quite a bit in the process.  I thought I'd share the recipe with you, since I'm in "Recipe Mode" right now.  (Trying to fill up that Recipe Book I shared with you in a previous post.) It would make a great holiday gift for someone special!

The recipe is in a pdf format, you need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer in order to open it.  If you don't have Reader, it's available as a free download on Adobe's website.

Here's the recipe:

We took a few photos during the process so we could show you some of the steps:

After the dough has risen, divide it into 10 equal pieces.  Roll each piece to approximately 1/2" thick, the longer the better.  Ours ended up being about 18" to 26" long.  For the Auntie Anne style you need to roll the dough strips to about 1/2" thick and about 26" long.

After the dough is the desired length and thickness, overlap the ends to form a twist:

Then take the twist and flip it over onto the loop part of the pretzel:

The one above was made using an 18" length of dough.  Here's one that was made using a 26" length:

It was rolled thinner and longer.  Most of the "Auntie Anne" style recipes online called for dipping the pretzel in a baking soda bath.  Tonya and I experimented with the baking soda wash, with using an egg wash, and leaving them plain.

I wish we would have taken photos of each result.  The plain ones were not as pretty to look at and were not as tasty.  The egg wash one produced a much darker, more traditional looking pretzel, but it was a little tougher and chewier.  We were wanting the soft, bread type.  The best result was produced with the baking soda wash as explained in the recipe above.  It produced a really pretty pretzel that was soft and tasty.  One hint though:  Make sure you dip the ENTIRE pretzel in the water, as some of ours weren't dipped completely and they turned out spotted and not as visually appealing.

One other thing we experimented with was the toppings.  On some of them we sprinkled Kosher salt before baking them.  On some of the others, we brushed them with butter and sprinkled the salt on after baking.  And YUM! the best ones were the cinnamon sugar ones:

We dipped them in the baking soda wash, baked them, then brushed them with butter and dipped them in a cinnamon sugar mixture.  Mmmm, mmmm good!

OK, I'll be back from my trip soon and will have some freebies for you, so please check back!

:) Darcie

Owl Drops

Hi Blog Friends,

I decided our little Owl Gift Sack freebie in the last post needed some candy to go inside of it.  And I also decided you needed a few other sayings to go along with the projects. So here's what I came up with:

I have several recipes to share with you over the next couple of weeks or so, all yummy goodness. I'm wondering why I'm torturing myself, though... we're going to go visit our son (who recently returned from Iraq, yay!) in Hawaii soon and I've been trying to diet.  (Yup...still trying to work off the Chocolate Coconut Macadamia balls from the last trip, lol!).  So just so you know... you guys really are worth it!  

(Yep, that's Camille Roskelley's brand new fabric from the Bliss fabric line in the photo... I'm creating a little stuffed owl sewing pattern, I'll share it with you when I finish it.) 

The recipe is quick and easy, but I warn you.... very addicting!  You can click on the image below and the recipe will open as a pdf document, which you can print.  (In order to view a pdf document you need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer.  If you don't have Reader, it's available as a free download on Adobe's website.  Here's the recipe:

The recipe is meant to fit in the Recipe Book project I featured on the blog awhile back. Here's what the book looks like:

If you're interested in making the project, you can click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE for the posts that featured the book project tutorial, free patterns and recipe card.  For other recipes that fit inside the book click HERE, HERE and HERE.  I'll be adding many recipes between now and the holidays, so that you have a complete project you can hopefully use as a holiday gift. 

AND!  Here's the sheet of owl label cutouts you can use on the clear bag shown in the photo at the top of this post.  Just print the sheet on bright white card stock and cut out the images.  Layer with double sided foam mounting tape, then attach to the clear bag.  The clear bag will fit inside the printable gift sack, or you can use the clear bag of goodies separately as a quick and easy gift for someone special.


Same as above, the cutout file is a pdf.  You can click on it and it will open in a new window which you can print it from.

And speaking of Hawaii.... I'm still trying to decide whether or not to take Ted along again this time.... it was kind of hard to keep track of him at times last year, lol.  For his Hawaii escapades you can click HERE to see what I mean. What do you guys think... should I take him along?   Let me know!   hehehe.  :)

I'll be sharing some Owl Cookies with you in a few days, so be sure to check back!

:) Darcie

Sunday Morning Pancakes

Hi Blog Friends,

I think it's time for another recipe to put in the book we made in THIS post and in THIS post.  
 

This is my oldest grandson's favorite meal... homemade Sunday morning pancakes.  He used to spend the night with us every Saturday night and the pancakes were always a must on Sunday morning.  He and his family moved away recently, so I haven't made these in a few months.... but I thought maybe you'd enjoy them also.

You can download an easy to print pdf version of the recipe by clicking HERE.  You need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer in order to open pdf files.  If you don't have Reader, it's available from Adobe as a free download by clicking HERE.  Once the Adobe website opens, click on the tab that says "Get Adobe Reader". 

OR, you can click on the picture of the recipe above and it will open in a new window.  You can print the page from the new window.

I hope you enjoy the recipe and I hope you're enjoying some beautiful Spring weather!

:) Darcie

Freebie!

Hi Blog Friends,

Well, I figure you need a recipe card for that recipe book I've been sharing with you this week. :)

Here's a FREE recipe card that coordinates with the album:

You can click HERE to download a pdf "easy-to-print" version of the recipe card.  To open and print a pdf document you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.  If you don't have Reader and would like to download a free copy of the program, click HERE.  You can then click on the "Get Adobe Reader" tab to download it.

OR, if you prefer you can click on the image above and it will open in a new window...you can print it from the new window.

I would recommend printing it on white card stock.  Trim the card to the outer edges of the blue border, then punch holes in it where indicated by the brown dots on the left edge.

I hope you have an amazing, creative weekend!

Darcie

Recipe Book Patterns

Hi Friends,  

I shared a recipe book with you in the last few posts... I wanted to give you the patterns for the dividers and covers so that you could print them out and use them to make the album.  Here's another photo of that album:

And here are those dividers.  You can click HERE to download pdf "easy-to-print" versions of the patterns... or you can just click on the images below and they will open in a new window.  You can then print the image from the new window.  To open pdf documents, you need to have Adobe® Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.  If you don't have Reader, you can click HERE to download a free version of the program.  When the Adobe page opens, just click on the tab that says "Get Adobe Reader", and it will download for you.

Album Covers:

Album Dividers:




Print the patterns on card stock and cut out to use.

I'll be back later this week with another FREEBIE for you, check back!

:) Darcie

Cookin' up a Project

Hi Blog Friends,

How about some instructions for that recipe book I shared with you yesterday?  Tonya and I had fun making the book... but the most fun was the cookies. Yummy!

You can click HERE to download a pdf "easy-to-print" version of the instructions.  To open and view a pdf document you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.  If you don't have Reader, you can click HERE to download it for free (click on the "Get Adobe Reader" tab when the page opens.)

OR you can also click on the images below, and they will open in a separate window and you can print them from there.



I'll be back later this week with another Freebie.... so be sure to check back!

I hope your enjoying some Spring sunshine and mild weather in your neck of the woods.

:) Darcie

My Favorite Recipes

Hi Blog Friends,

Well, I finished that recipe book I've been wanting to share with you.  I'm working on project instructions and step-by-step photos, and will share those with you tomorrow. Here's a close-up of the front cover:

Oooh, I love those Tim Holtz's Ideaology metal corners (click on embellishments and it's the 14th item down the page).  And what's a recipe book without recipes?!  Below is another recipe that fits in this book.  You can print it on card stock and trim it to size.  I have to warn you though...everyone who has come in contact with these cookies in the last few days has become addicted.  In fact, Tonya urged me to make them again today...to photograph for the blog, of course, Lol!  You can make them as either a lime or a lemon cookie. I'm going to make the lemon version for Easter. I sprinkled coarse sanding sugar on the ones in the photo  (I dyed the sugar with lime green food coloring)...but I think I like them better without the sugar. Here's the recipe:

You can download a pdf version of the recipe by clicking HERE.  In order to view pdf files, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader loaded in your computer.  If you don't have Acrobat, you can download it by clicking HERE, then clicking on the tab that says "Get Adobe Reader".  Or you can click on the recipe card image above and it will open in a new window, then print as you would normally.

Mmmmm, yummy! 

OK, see you tomorrow with the instructions and project information!  

:) Darcie

Bad Little Chocolate Balls

Hi Blog Friends,

I LOVE Fall!!  It has cooled down here finally and the leaves are just starting to turn..and you know what that means.... it's BAKING time.  :D  Here's what I made:

There's a story behind these cookies:

I've never had an addictive personality (um.... art stuff, craft supplies, and fabric don't count because they're a "business expense", Lol) and I don't normally eat that much in the way of sweets.  But I have read that the first step to overcoming a problem is to admit you have a problem.  So here's the problem:

I made the mistake of buying some of these bad boys when we were in Hawaii (only they were the Milk Chocolate COCONUT Macadamias... waaaaayyyy better!).  I bought a LOT of them. (So much for the weight I managed to lose before we went there, shoot!) Anyway, I didn't realize they were such a hard commodity to come by. I guess it's good I didn't know that or I would have bought an extra suitcase, loaded it up and paid the extra fee to bring them home, Lol. Now that we're home, I find I'm having some major withdrawals.... maybe it's just Hawaii withdrawals.... but I find myself scanning store shelves looking for them everywhere I go. I was kind of glad I hadn't found them, but then someone told me Target carries them. (Augh, WHY did you tell me that Andrea, Lol...?!!) Well, Target carries the Chocolate covered Macadamias, but the highly addictive ones are the Chocolate COCONUT Macadamias.   Mmmm!!!!!!!!!  (Anyone know where you can get these... not that I'm going to buy any more, but just for future reference, of course ....). Fortunately for me, Target is 40 miles away from where I live.  I have, however, been coming up with excuses to go to that direction and decided to just pop into Target over the weekend. To get laundry soap, of course.  I wanted to develop a cookie recipe around these highly addictive balls of yumminess so I bought one bag.  Two would have been dangerous.  Only now I have a problem. Forty miles is a long time to be in a car alone with the bad little buggers.  Here's what arrived home:

Can you believe that?  I must have bought a defective bag ;).  So when I arrived home and didn't have the innards to my cookie recipe I wanted to create, I had to go back to the little grocery store closer to where I live and get these:

They look the same and they're good, but these will be safe in the house....they're not in the same league as the Mauna Loa ones.  

Here's a close up of the cookies shown above:  (I like this recipe because it holds it's shape well, I use it for sugar cookie cutouts.)

Here's what the inside looks like:

I used 2 stamps from my Clear Polymer Stamp Set #POL10 Flourish Pumpkin to make a tag.  (Another reason you need to enter the contest to WIN the FREE stamp set). I cut out the leaf, then punched a 1/4" round hole in it and slipped it on the pretzel stem.

Be sure to check the previous post for details on how you can win this FREE Clear Polymer Stamp Set.

Here's the recipe if you want to download it, it's in a printable pdf version.  You download it by clicking on the picture below or by clicking HERE.

Here are a few photos showing how to form the cookies, once the dough is prepared:

Place approximately 1 tablespoon of the dough in your palm.  Flatten it into a disc shape. 

Place a Chocolate Macadamia in the center of the dough disc.

Fold the dough around the Macadamia Nut.

Squeeze the dough tightly around the Chocolate Macadamia nut.  Gently roll into a ball shape, forming each cookie into a slightly different height and shape.

Use the back edge of a table knife to make lines in the side of the pumpkin cookie, rolling the knife along the edge of the cookie side.  Make 5 evenly spaced indentation lines around the sides of the cookie.

Press a piece of a stick pretzel into the top of the cookie.  Place the cookie on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 - 12 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool several minutes before moving them.  When they are firm and fairly cool, transfer them to a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

If you can't find the Chocolate Macadamias, you could also use Peanut M & M's.... I tried the recipe with those also and they tasted good too.

OK, I hope you enjoy the recipe and I hope you fare better than I did with the bad little chocolate sin balls........  

On Thursday I'm going to post a cute little way to package the cookies using the same stamp set...

:) Darcie

Wild Rogue Blackberry Cobbler

 Dan and our oldest grandson just got back from picking blackberries down by the river.  We live near the Rogue River in Southern Oregon and the blackberries are plentiful this time of year.  They picked so many I have enough for a cobbler and some to freeze.  Here's what I did with them:

 Mmmmm. Yummy! My good buddy Judith Kleinschmidt (of Stamps by Judith) comes all the way out to Oregon from Minnesota to pick berries and freezes them to take home.  She puts them on cookie sheets, sticks them in the freezer and when they're frozen, she transfers them to freezer containers.  That way they're frozen individually and not one huge blob when you want to make something with them. 

Here's the recipe if you want to download it... it's in a printable pdf format and you can download it by clicking HERE or by clicking on the photo below:

 I thought I'd give you a peek at what we normally do when we head down to the river:

That is Number Four of my "Big Four", (sons that is)... Darin and his dog Huey.  I'm excited because we get to go visit him soon!  We took a rafting trip on the Lower Rogue River (the Wilderness portion) earlier this summer, when he came for a visit.  Here's a photo of one of the Class V rapids, Blossom Bar:
  
You can't see it in this photo very well, but he's in the middle of the photo maneuvering around those boulders in the river... tricky!  Here's another one in Blossom Bar:
  
Made it!  All four of our sons row this river and have gotten pretty darn good at it over the years.  Here's what my dog Chaco thinks of the river:
 
Yeah, all he cares about is when he can get IN the river again.  True Lab!

And last but definitely not least, here's my BIG guy:

 On the river he's known as Danimal.... he only knows one speed when rowing...and usually that's too fast for everyone else, lol.  That's ok, Darin can handle it!  

There's still time to enter that drawing for the FREE CLEAR POLYMER STAMP SET!  It's shown on the "Darcie's Club" post, just prior to this post.  Be sure to enter by this Sunday, September 6 to be eligible for the stamp set.

See you soon!
:) Darcie