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11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Homemaker Monday
Welcome to the 111th weekly edition of...
Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs.
YOURS: This week's "YOURS" goes to "Simply Sweet Home"! When I saw the thumbnail of Jerri's chocolate truffles, I knew I would be looking no further! These delicacies are made with brownie mix, almond bark and other delectables, and they are absolutely lovely. Just take a look...
For Jerri's recipes, click HERE. You can bet I'll be making these at Christmas time!
MINE: Applebee's Copycat Blondies!
We love to bake on Sunday. I don't know why. Maybe it's because it's a lazy day, a day in which we avoid the usual media, abstain from regular housework, and just spend time together as a family. Usually we make something rich and chocolate-y, but because John abhors chocolate (Can you imagine such a thing?), sometimes we try to find something that is equally delicious sans chocolate.
As I racked my brain yesterday to come up with something, I remembered that Applebees has a rich dessert called a Blondie. It has the texture of a brownie, but without the chocolate. It is topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and steaming caramel sauce. So we found a blondie recipe at allrecipes.com, the 15-year-old girl whipped up a batch, I made the ice cream in our super-easy ice cream maker
, and the 10-year-old boy made the caramel sauce. We didn't like the sauce (it was a vegan recipe because we were out of cream), but I'm sure you can find a recipe that would be to your liking. Enjoy!
Ingredients
* 3 cups cake flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 pound unsalted butter
* 3 cups packed light brown sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position; heat to 325 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Fit a12-by-18-inch piece of heavy-duty foil into the pan so you can use the foil overhang as a handle to pull baked blondies from the pan; coat foil with cooking spray.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Then, heat butter and brown sugar in a large pan until bubbling hot. Whisk eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Slowly whisk hot sugar mixture, then dry ingredients, into eggs. Stir in optional add-ins (if using chocolate, let batter cool slightly first).
3. Scrape batter into prepared pan, then bake until blondies are just set, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes. Pull blondies from the pan using foil handles and set on a wire rack. Cool completely before cutting into 24 pieces.
OURS: Okay, let's see what great Homemaking tips you have for us today. Thanks so much for your link and visits and have a great Homemaker Monday!
Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs.
YOURS: This week's "YOURS" goes to "Simply Sweet Home"! When I saw the thumbnail of Jerri's chocolate truffles, I knew I would be looking no further! These delicacies are made with brownie mix, almond bark and other delectables, and they are absolutely lovely. Just take a look...
For Jerri's recipes, click HERE. You can bet I'll be making these at Christmas time!
MINE: Applebee's Copycat Blondies!
We love to bake on Sunday. I don't know why. Maybe it's because it's a lazy day, a day in which we avoid the usual media, abstain from regular housework, and just spend time together as a family. Usually we make something rich and chocolate-y, but because John abhors chocolate (Can you imagine such a thing?), sometimes we try to find something that is equally delicious sans chocolate.
As I racked my brain yesterday to come up with something, I remembered that Applebees has a rich dessert called a Blondie. It has the texture of a brownie, but without the chocolate. It is topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and steaming caramel sauce. So we found a blondie recipe at allrecipes.com, the 15-year-old girl whipped up a batch, I made the ice cream in our super-easy ice cream maker
, and the 10-year-old boy made the caramel sauce. We didn't like the sauce (it was a vegan recipe because we were out of cream), but I'm sure you can find a recipe that would be to your liking. Enjoy!Ingredients
* 3 cups cake flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 pound unsalted butter
* 3 cups packed light brown sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position; heat to 325 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Fit a12-by-18-inch piece of heavy-duty foil into the pan so you can use the foil overhang as a handle to pull baked blondies from the pan; coat foil with cooking spray.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Then, heat butter and brown sugar in a large pan until bubbling hot. Whisk eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Slowly whisk hot sugar mixture, then dry ingredients, into eggs. Stir in optional add-ins (if using chocolate, let batter cool slightly first).
3. Scrape batter into prepared pan, then bake until blondies are just set, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes. Pull blondies from the pan using foil handles and set on a wire rack. Cool completely before cutting into 24 pieces.
OURS: Okay, let's see what great Homemaking tips you have for us today. Thanks so much for your link and visits and have a great Homemaker Monday!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
A Conversation with My Sister in the Bathroom.....
...she being in the shower, me fixing my hair in front of the mirror...
Robyn: [mumbling something]
Me: What did you say?
Robyn: Nothing, I'm talking to myself.
Me: Well why are you talking to yourself? I'm right here! Why don't you talk to me?
Robyn: Well do you know about Quantum Physics?
Me: No.
Robyn: Okay then, that's why I'm talking to myself!
Robyn: [mumbling something]
Me: What did you say?
Robyn: Nothing, I'm talking to myself.
Me: Well why are you talking to yourself? I'm right here! Why don't you talk to me?
Robyn: Well do you know about Quantum Physics?
Me: No.
Robyn: Okay then, that's why I'm talking to myself!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The Merits of a Multi-Course Meal
We all know that we're supposed to eat like a trillion servings of leafy greens a day, right? Well, honestly, sometimes I go a whole day without feeding my kids some form of fresh greens. I know, it's horrible, right?
Well, I finally figured out how to get them to eat a salad at meal time without a huge fight. I've decided that from now on, I will serve our meals in courses, just like they do at restaurants. The first course will be the salad. The children must dish themselves up a bowl of leafy greens before they can eat anything else or even serve themselves anything else. And the salad doesn't have to be anything fancy. I usually just tear up some red and/or green leaf lettuce, sprinkle some croutons on top...
...then set it on the counter along with some ranch dressing and parmesan cheese. Look how well the youngsters are consuming their greens...
After they finish their bowl of salad, then they can proceed with the main dish, which, for today's menu, was baked macaroni and cheese....
The third course, dessert, is always something to look forward to, but this meal was made in a rush, so no sweet endings for today. Hopefully tomorrow, though!
So tell me. Have you tried this? If so, how does it work for you? I would really like to know. Thanks for listening!
Well, I finally figured out how to get them to eat a salad at meal time without a huge fight. I've decided that from now on, I will serve our meals in courses, just like they do at restaurants. The first course will be the salad. The children must dish themselves up a bowl of leafy greens before they can eat anything else or even serve themselves anything else. And the salad doesn't have to be anything fancy. I usually just tear up some red and/or green leaf lettuce, sprinkle some croutons on top...
...then set it on the counter along with some ranch dressing and parmesan cheese. Look how well the youngsters are consuming their greens...
After they finish their bowl of salad, then they can proceed with the main dish, which, for today's menu, was baked macaroni and cheese....
The third course, dessert, is always something to look forward to, but this meal was made in a rush, so no sweet endings for today. Hopefully tomorrow, though!
So tell me. Have you tried this? If so, how does it work for you? I would really like to know. Thanks for listening!
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