New Year's Resolutions

I love the beginning of every year.  Knowing that I get a fresh start brings a warm fuzzy feeling to my heart, as well as a bit of relief and excitement.  The previous year is now a memory, and I get a chance to create a new future.  I used to write down everything I wanted to accomplish that year...it was always a long list.  Now I realize that despite my good intentions, my to-do list should be kept short.  Let's be honest, with two kids I'm lucky to get dressed some days.  Here are my goals for the upcoming year.

Goals for 2011

1. Declutter the house

2. Organize the house
3. Finish renovating & decorating the house

Deceptively short.  The actual to-do list: freakishly long.  Perhaps my lists haven't changed as much as I thought.  I know I've teased you with promises of getting organized before, but this time I really mean it.  It's time to get my crap under control.  Today I started with putting away too-small baby clothes.  Oh how time flies!

Introducing...

Sadie Claire.  Born 8/24, measuring 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 21" long.  This girl is a gem.  Pretty sure she's the world's best baby.  At 6 weeks old she's already sleeping well at night, cries very little, and is happy to entertain herself.  Of course, the one constant about babies is that they constantly change.  But for now, I'm thoroughly enjoying her contentedness...and her beautiful smiles.  I love this little girl!

I'm Back...

So, I realize it's been a while since I've posted anything.  There's a good reason for that...I'm pregnant with child #2 & haven't been feeling the best (a.k.a. I spent the last few months on the couch or in the bathroom...unless I absolutely had to be somewhere).  But I'm feeling better now, at least for the most part, so I have lots of projects & fun recipes to share.  Well, I will once I actually work on them.  The nesting bug has already set in & I've got a long list of projects to do.  First on the list...FINISH MY BASEMENT!  Perhaps I should change that to 'motivate the hubs to finish the basement'.  I can try...

Rather than focusing on the impossible, I think I'll start with a few more doable projects (as in, I can do them myself).  First off: cleaning out & organizing my closets.  I'll even show you some before & after pictures.  Aren't you excited to see all the clutter I've got laying around? 

Little Clown

Imagine sending your child to the babysitter's in a normal shirt & jeans. Then imagine picking him up from the babysitter's in a clown costume.

All thanks to a little leaky diaper...and way too much milk.  Thanks for the laugh, Kyung Ai.

Mmmm...Monday: Pecan Roca

Confession: I've made this many times with the intention of putting it up for Mmmm...Monday, but I always end up eating it before I can get a good picture.  Lucky for you, I finally found some self-restraint.  Trust me...this one is delicious, and SO easy!  My recipe is an adapted version of this Almond Roca recipe.

Ingredients:
• 1/2 c pecans
• 1 c butter (no substitutions)
• 1 c sugar
• 3 T boiling water
• 2 T light corn syrup
• 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Spread pecans over 3/4 of a cookie sheet (you can toast them in a 300° oven for about 15 minutes if you like).  In a large saucepan over medium heat melt butter.  Add sugar & cook for 5 minutes.  Add water & corn syrup.  Bring to boil over medium high heat; cook stirring occasionally until a candy thermometer reads 300° F (hard crack stage).  Quickly pour over pecans (it will probably only cover about 3/4 of the cookie sheet).  Let cool for a few minutes, then sprinkle chocolate chips on top (you may want more than 1/2 c if you like a thicker layer of chocolate on top).  Wait for 1-2 minutes until chocolate melts, then spread over toffee with a spoon.  Cool completely (I like to put it in the fridge or freezer to make it go faster); break into pieces.  (If you like more uniform pieces, you can try scoring it with a pizza cutter after you've spread the chocolate.)

A few tricks & tips:

Boiling Water Trick: Just measure out the water you need & put it a non-glass bowl or measuring cup in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 min...or until it boils.  (A glass bowl or measuring cup will explode if you try to boil water in it in the microwave.)

Thicker Toffee:  Personally, I like my toffee, or pecan roca, nice & thick.  So, instead of using a cookie sheet I put mine in an 8x8 pan. 

Preventing Sticking: If you're using an 8x8 pan, but sure to spray it with Pam or oil.  If using a cookie sheet, put down a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper over the cookie sheet.  I usually use aluminum foil since it's cheaper.  I spray it as well, though I'm not sure if you need to.  Parchment paper definitely does NOT need to be sprayed.

Thermometer Tricks: A while ago I discovered a trick from Alton Brown...instead of using a candy thermometer just use a binder clip to hook a meat thermometer onto your pan (see picture below).  It's especially nice for candy that doesn't need to be stirred constantly.  My thermometer has a feature that sounds an alarm when it reaches the temperature I want.  So nice!  Although to make sure the thermometer doesn't touch the bottom of the pan I often have to prop it against my spoon.

Christmas Crafts

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Christmas is: decorating.  It excites me to put away the usual home decor and bring out the special trees, ornaments & such that help bring that Christmas feeling to my home.  However, when I brought up my Christmas decorations this year, I found that I was bored with a large majority of what I had.  (Seriously, are you surprised?)  So, I got to work on making a few new additions to the yuletide decor.  My only stipulation was that I had to spend as little $ as possible.  And I'm proud to say that I only spent $6 on the wreath.  Everything else was made using all the other 'craft crap' and wood I found around the house.

I've had so much fun I might need to make this an annual tradition (as if the Christmas season isn't busy enough already...)  I might also need to make a tradition of giving away a few of the things I'm tired with...I only have so much storage room, you know.  Here are some of the things I've made so far:

Ornaments
Every year I like to do a different tree, so this year I decided to do an alphabet tree for Jack.  Instead of a star I have a big letter 'A' at the top of my tree, and I have ornaments depicting each letter of the alphabet.  I needed something for 'H' and 'W', so I made these.

The wreath is similar to the rag wreath here, but I used a much smaller ring.

Tree

I LOVE those cone trees I see everywhere, but I'm way too cheap to actually buy them.  So, I decided to make one.  I formed cardstock into a cone using the method shown here.  Then I wrapped it in twine using a glue gun to make it all stick.  I got the idea here.  I have many plans for similar trees, but I probably won't get around to them this year. 

Wreath

I saw this tutorial long before Christmas and decided to try it myself.  It was lots of fun!  However, if you decide to do one for yourself to hang outside I would suggest using the cheap dollar store ornaments...the paint on the nice ones I used has started to peel due to the cold.

Christmas Countdown

I originally saw this idea here, and decided I needed to make one of my own.  I used paper rather than vinyl for the numbers.  If I were to do it again I would definitely borrow a Cricut from a friend...cutting all the numbers out by hand was a pain, and they didn't turn out as nice as I would have liked.  But, I'm still happy with the overall result. 

I still have a couple more projects that I hope to finish before Christmas.  I saw this technique & thought it was absolutely ingenious, then quickly came up with a way to use it.  However, since my printer is broken I'll have to wait to try it out.  But, I'll make sure to show them to you when if I finish.

Mmmm...Monday: The Ultimate Mac & Cheese

This mac & cheese recipe (courtesy of Ainsley Harriott) is so delicious, you'll never want to go back to the regular old boxed stuff...unless you're in a hurry.

Ingredients:
• 1 lb. noodles (if you prefer a more saucy mac & cheese use 12 oz)
• 6 T butter
• 1/4 c + 2 T flour
• 4 c milk, warmed
• 1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/3 c (4 oz) freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided (you can use the bottled stuff or even another cheese like mozzarella, depending on what flavor you prefer)
• 1 c fresh bread crumbs (this was about 2 pieces of bread for me...or you can use the store bought kind)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  Cook and drain noodles.  In a large saucepan melt butter, whisk in flour, and cook for 3 minutes.  Whisk in milk; continue whisking till boiling then add mustard, salt & peppers.  Reduce heat & simmer for 2 minutes.  Stir in noodles, cheddar, and 1 c parmesan.  (You may want to do this in a big bowl if your saucepan isn't big enough.)  Pour noodle mixture into 9x13 pan.  In a small bowl stir together bread crumbs & remaining parmesan cheese.  Spread over noodles.  (For a more crunchy topping dot top with 1 T butter.)  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown & bubbly. 

A little note: it's helpful to combine all the spices in a small bowl before the sauce comes to a boil...that way you can add them all at once so your sauce won't boil over while you're trying to measure out all the spices.