A Little Pom Pom Bunny

I made this little bunny for my friend Molly. Isn't it so adorable? 

The original idea came from here.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!

Delicious Sugar Cookie Recipe

A friend posted a link about how good these cookies were so I figured I'd better give them a try. And...she was totally right. Delicious! And yes, that is the array of random cookie cutters that I own. A dinosaur, a cow, the state of Michigan, and a flower. Nothing says Christmas like a dinosaur!

Crockpot Vegetarian Lasagna

I really love my crock-pot. It makes cooking so easy. I saw this recipe here and figured I would give it a try. I liked it so much that I've now made it three more times in roughly a month. Mmm...maybe I'll make up a batch right now...

Here is what you need:

24 oz. jar tomato pasta sauce
9 long lasagna noodles, uncooked
2 1/2 cups chopped veggies
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
15 oz. container Ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1 egg

Here is what you need to do:

1. In a medium bowl, mix 1 1/4 cup shredded cheese, egg, and ricotta cheese. Reserve 1/4 cup of shredded cheese for the very top.

2. Saute veggies with olive oil and minced garlic for about 3-5 minutes. Add one jar pasta sauce with the veggies. Take off heat.

3. Spread about a fourth of the veggie sauce mixture on the bottom of crock-pot. Add a layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles, breaking them apart to fit if needed. Spoon on 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture. Layer more sauce, another layer of noodles, the remainder of the ricotta cheese mixture, more sauce, more noodles, and the last of the sauce. Top with the remaining shredded cheese.

4. Cook on LOW 4-5 hours or on HIGH 2-3 hours.

Enjoy!

Bob Marley Finger Puppet

As I've mentioned before, I really love making finger puppets. They are just so adorable. I usually stick to making animals or vegetables but recently I've been delving into making puppets based on people. I have a coworker who loves Bob Marley so I decided to try and make her a little Bob Marley puppet! Turned out pretty great, if I do say so myself!

Carmelized Pear Steel Oats

Let me just say that this recipe is amazing. I don't know why I don't caramelize fruit more often.

Here is what you need:

3/4 cup steel cut oats, dry

1.5 cups water

1.5 tbsp olive oil

2-3 tbsp brown sugar

2 pears (peeled and chopped)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Here is what you need to do:

1. For the oats: Bring 1.5 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Once boiling add a pinch of salt then your oats. Swirl to coat then cover and turn heat to low. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the oats are tender.
2. For the pears: Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once bubbling, add brown sugar and stir. Then immediately add in pears, cinnamon, and vinegar and stir to coat. Cover the pears and cook for 10 or so minutes. Once tender, remove the lid for several more minutes then remove from heat.
3. Divide oats between two bowls and top with equal servings of pears. 

Enjoy!

Christmas Wish List Under $50

I thought I'd share with you what is on my Christmas list this year!

1. Perk of Art Bag 2. Ain't Dutch Shirt 3. Abound With Beauty Top 4. Winsor & Newton Cotmon Water Colors 5. Muk Luks Slippers 6. Glitter Bomb: Poems

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

 I saw this recipe a couple weeks ago and was so intrigued. I am not actually the biggest fan of spicy food but I thought the chocolate and cayenne combination could be pretty tasty. And it was! The heat of the cayenne was just the perfect amount to give it a complex flavor. 

Here is what you need:

1 2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp almond milk

For the topping:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Here is what you need to do:
 
1. First off, preheat the oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, cayenne, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk oil, maple syrup, sugar, vanilla and milk. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wets and mix thoroughly until the batter is stiff.

3. Using the palm of your hands, roll about 3 tbsp worth of batter into a small ball. Press the ball into the sugar-cinnamon topping until slightly flattened. On a parchment lined cookie sheet, place each cookie about 2 inches apart.

4. Bake for about 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Men's Kitchen Apron

Awhile back, my brother asked me if I would make him a woodworking apron and also a kitchen apron. I love making things for people so I was super happy that he asked me! I shared the woodworking apron here and thought I'd share the kitchen apron today. 

I found this kitchen appliance fabric and then used some maroon fabric that I already had in my giant fabric stash. I made a pattern up by using a brown paper bag, my willing-to-be-a-model husband, and an apron that I had made previously.  I doubled up the fabric so it is sturdy and I even added in a little pocket. It came together nicely and I'm really happy with how it turned out!

Here is a close up: