unsuccessfully doin' nothing

so jeffy the turtle and i are officially in hibernation mode.
i came out of hibernation 4 times saturday to go to an 8am soccer game-that's mine in pink in case you didn't recognize the blonde pony.
it's pretty hard for me to successfully pull off this hibernation gig when my demand to do things, make things and be places is so high. it's really messing with my success in the hibernate department. yes, imma little salty here.

then again at 11am. to make these-

uh, apple pie pockets are brilliant by the way. i stumbledupon (love that site) and found these but didn't bookmark or pin it so i had to go offa my memory-which recently got a year older. ouch. happy to announce that they worked and they were really good.

i will add that these are easy breezy UNTIL you get to that lattice top, but ya can't just rebel and skip the lattice, you could be hung in some states.
oh, wait, maybe i'm thinking of practicing witchcraft in the 1600's. they made a movie about, hocus pocus. anyway, don't skip the lattice regardless. but know, just know, the lattice is the hard part. well, that and not eating 6 in a row. i'll try to post these soon and hopefully find the source.

i came out of hibernation again at 2pm for a 2nd soccer game.
i think my fav pastime is watching my girl kill it on the field. she doesn't let up and she is fast, man that girl is like white lightening....ohh, i feel a new nickname coming on!! my littles all have about 6 or 7 nicknames each. they answer to them all without an eye roll or any hesitation. i don't even really use their given names much. huh, just realized that.

sorry this is blurry, lightening is hard to catch!

back out of hibernation again at 7 for a birthday party. you'll be happy to know that i not only curled my hair and put on gloss but i also wore deodorant. it was an event. sometimes i clean up.

i can't say the same for jeffy. he has not put on deodorant (i repeat, not put on deodorant) and he has only moved his neck a little here and there. he kinda has it made.

so basically, my version of hibernation is to not use a brush (until absolutely necessary), stay in your university of washington pajamas (go dawgs), once home again get back into university of washington p.j.'s, don't worry about a lil apple pie filling in your hair (or on your shirt) and remember that deodorant can do wonders for a girl in hibernation/go mode.

i hope y'all have a wonderful thanksgiving, where you eat like crazy, you go into an early hibernation nap mode (hope you have more success at it than i) and skip the deodorant all together. it's your family right? they'll understand....

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if it ain't broke

don't fix it for damn sure!

it's pumpkin baking time in case you haven't seen the mouth watering recipes and photos like all over the place!
i literally drool at times. no, it's certainly not my best trait but it happens....

anyway, i don't know why i made a detour on my pumpkin bread (because it's practically famous ya know) but i saw this recipe for pumpkin bread with a streusel top and after wiping up my drool i went for it.
my littlest little and her friend were my taste testers. they both had 2 pieces so i think it's worth sharing the streusel topping portion of it. 
the bread part? no. not as good as mine. 
i ain't shy about saying that.

me? no, i didn't try any. i recently got a letter from my back end that told me to slow down on my baked goods. i know, rude!

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here is my pumpkin bread-get the recipe here so you can be famous as well.

**tip- to make sure my bread stays soft on top and moist throughout, i wrap it in saran wrap after i pop it out of it's pan while it's still warm. don't do this if you like a harder baked crust on your bread. you can't do this with the topping version though-wahhh, wahhhhhhhhh.

if you wanna try the topping, just combine all the ingredients below. cut the butter in with a pastry cutter making a crumbly mixture. disperse evenly on your loaves. pat the topping down a little with your hand so it sticks better when it bakes.
***don't fill your loaves quite as much as you normally would so you have room to pat the streusel topping on while leaving room for the bread to rise as it bakes.

topping:

• ½ cup salted butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• pinch of cloves, ground nutmeg, cinnamon
• ¼ cup old fashioned oats

here is pumpkin bread on streusel:

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another don't fix it recipe?
snickerdoodles.

don't fall for those pinterest pics of pumpkin snickerdoodles. just do the good old original snickerdoodle cookie. 
as much as we all love pumpkin we gotta know when were pushin it ya know?!

bland and boring is all i can say. those reviews out there that tell you you're gonna fall all over the place and sink into deep love with pumpkin snickerdoodles are all lies! 
lies i tell ya! 

here is a picture of mine:

meh. i know they look really good but.....

i will save my calories for my pumpkin bread or maybe even a dry piece of toast since that's sorta what i'm gonna compare it to.

oh man, i'm gonna get pumpkin hate mail now aren't i?

**you can send hate mail to me via any of these places:
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linking up:

i gotta create 

 

pb chocolate shake. i don't share, but i'll give you the recipe.

if you ever want a semi-healthy shake then i'm your girl right about now.
bookmark this now. i'll wait.

the only bummer to this recipe is that when my middle little see's me making it he always asks for some. 
sigh. 
really kid?
can i just be left alone to drink my shake and shamelessly lick the glass clean on my own?

so annoying that i have to actually be a nice mom and share.
did i just type that out loud? shoot.

i'ts not a super pretty looking shake, unless brown is your fav color, and if it is i'd love to meet you because you would be like a first for me. 
seriously, have you ever met anyone who says brown is their fav color?

recipe:

*if you have a vita mixer this works best

add all ingredients and, you guessed it, mix!
-3/4 cup of almond milk
-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
-1 tsp. vanilla
-1 tablespoon of organic grade b maple syrup
-1/4 cup of organic peanut butter
-2 frozen bananas
-8 ice cubes

hide in the closet, attic, basement or wherever and suck this thing down before they find you and make you share.
cheers!

*** yo! check me out! my d.i.y. pumpkins are featured this week on "tell us tuesday"!!

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linkin up with these lovelies today!

apple of my pie

a friend shared a pin with me on pinterest a few weeks back of an apple pie in an apple. brilliant right?
well, it was kinda perfect timing coz guess whose papa turned 73 sunday AND loves apple pie and ice cream?!
happy birthday g.o.!! love you big!

5 simple ingredients make these cute mini's.
- your apple with the tops cut off and the insides cubes and saved
- 1 tbsp. flour (per apple)
- 1 tbsp. sugar (per apple)
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon (per apple)
- crust (store bought or homemade)
 
choose your apples, cut the tops off and with a small knife cut out the inside making into cubes. leave apple "shell" about 1/4" thick.
put your cubed apples in a bowl and mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in.
scoop mixture into apple shells, slightly overfilling.
lay the crust over the top and let it drape-make cutouts in crust to release the steam while it bakes.
*i brushed a lil melted butter over the crusts of mine and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top before baking.
put all apples on a foil covered pan and bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes or until crust is done and apples are cooked through.


partying with these lovelies today:
happy hour projects
frugalicious fridays
the weekend re-treat
a peek into my paradise

caramel oat bars with chocolate

i have so many pics to go through from my summer that i just can't seem to find the time to deal. instead, i baked.

i am gonna say 1 quick thing about unsalted butter. it's dumb. there is nothing more annoying than prepping a whole area to bake, knowing you have all the ingredients, and then reading "unsalted butter" on your recipe card. 
who the heck keeps unsalted butter in their fridge? why go use unsalted butter and then have to add a bunch of salt anyway? dumb. i refuse it. so if the recipe calls for unsalted butter, just know that if you are at my house eating that cookie, it has salted butter and salt. that's all.

ta-daaaa.

caramel oat bars with chocolate (and salted butter).


this is the longest i have ever taken in making a cookie bar. i spent the first 30 minutes with one foot out the door, keys in hand, contemplating trekking to the grocer to get unsalted damn butter. 
eventually once you decide your family is gonna have the salted (let's just call it 'regular' butter because i mean really) butter then it takes a whole whopping 10 minutes to make. i made these (and ate these) in less time than it took to get over the butter dilemma.
so basically what i am trying to say is make these. make them now. make them with regular butter. in 10 minutes. or go through your summer photos and save yourself 8000 calories.

i shoulda probably just gone through the summer photos. damn salted butter.

 caramel oat bars

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans 
30 caramels, unwrapped
3 tablespoons milk


preheat oven to 350 degrees.  line a 8x10 or 9x12 inch baking pan with foil, leaving about 1 inch extending over the edges of the pan. 

in a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. add brown sugar beating until combined. add eggs, vanilla, baking soda and salt; beat until combined. add your flour and mix until combined.  
stir in the oats.  
press 2/3 of the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.  sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts.

in a medium sauce pan heat and stir the caramels and milk over low heat until melted and smooth. (*you can substitute caramels for a 12 oz. jar of caramel ice cream topping if you wish, just mix in 3 tablespoons of flour with the caramel sauce.*)
drizzle caramel mixture over chocolate and nuts.  

take remaining dough and flatten small pieces with fingers placing evenly over the caramel layer.  bake for 20-25 minutes or until top is just barely light brown, careful not to over bake!.  
cool in pan and use foil to lift uncut bars out of pan.  
cut into bars.

pinata cookies and you know the drill, ALOHA FRIDAY yo!!

so i made these last year and thought i would re-post if ya wanna do something really wild and crazy this cinco de mayo!
well, not really crazy, although ya never know what may happen with a 'stache, a sombrero and a boy.....

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these are fun but beware-you gotta be committed coz this is lots and lots of work. i tried to keep it all real up in my kitchen but honestly mustaches are itchy and the sombrero kept slipping and covering my eyes. its really tough being all authentic and stuff.....

this is a basic sugar cookie recipe until all heck breaks loose....

recipe:

1 cup sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup vegetable oil (i know-this is alot of oil, this freaked me out too. i'd use less.)

2 eggs

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. baking soda

5 cups flour

1 tbsp. vanilla

mini m&m candies

Frosting:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. milk

mix:

cream sugars and butter. beat in eggs. add oil.

add your dry ingredients.

mix in vanilla and almond extract.

split and color:

split the dough into 5 even balls and 1 smaller ball (this small one will be the black)

add your food colorings. i wished i had some more vibrant colors like for the purple for instance but eh, whatcha gonna do?!

layer:

use a container that is about the size (width AND height) of your donkey cookie cutter and line it with plastic food wrap.split all of your colored dough balls in half except for the black. start to layer the colors starting with the black dough on the bottom. alternate the colors so that you end up with two layers of each color by the time you are done.

wait it out:

cover the layered dough and freeze for four hours or overnight. i suggest when you take the container out of the freezer wait a few minutes before slicing or use a very sharp knife because this can get hard to slice evenly or may crumble. cut slices approximately 1/4" thick. place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes.

cut the donkeys: (doesn't sound right, i am aware of this but, cut the donkeys)

immediately after you bake the cookies you have to take your donkey cutter and working in sets of 3 quickly cut out 2 donkeys in the same direction and one in the opposite direction.  this way when you go to assemble the finished cookie will be pretty on both sides because the baked bottom sides will be hidden.

create the pinatas:

for the middle cookies in each set cut off the ears and the legs and cut out the center where the m&m's will be. if you have a small round or square cutter this works well but you can use a knife too.
try to work quickly because as the cookies cool they will become more likely to crumble. let the cookies cool on the sheet completely once you have them prepared before you remove the excess outer cookie.

assemble:

take the first pinata cookie and lay it upside down so that the baked side is facing up. outline the center of the pinata body with the "frosting glue". put the middle cookie on top of the frosting glue, fill the pinata then place the opposite side cookie on top with more frosting glue.
let this sit and harden so they wont fall apart. i waited 30 minutes. well, i tried.

this is a lot of work but pretty darn cute-it only makes about 6-8 cookies but thankfully may 5th only comes once a year!

ta-da! 
your pinata!!
i do realize this looks a little morbid but its a pinata-how awesome!
*originally found on sheknows.com. she DOES know!

polka dot cupcakes-and my sugar coma

wasn't sure these would work.
when they did work i wasn't sure they would taste good.
when they did taste good i ate them.
then came the sugar coma......

 bake a cake that is colorful and crumble it into a bowl. add 1 large spoonful of frosting. i made green and blue, i was out of red food coloring. pink would be awesome!

 roll it into a compact ball-as if you are making a cake pop.

 place cake pop ball into the center of a cupcake liner.

 make a separate batch of white (mine is french vanilla) batter and pour over top about 2/3 full
bake for 12 minutes. let cool and frost.

i know.
try to sleep that off...

yup

we did.
my biggest little and i made these.
well, her mostly, i did do some slathering of peanut butter and a touch of sideline drooling.

i need to be benched. i have been eating way too much junk and that bestie sugar is not doin mama any favors of late.

truth: i didn't eat these. well, one bite. that's really more of a taste-test to see if they were poison.

oreo stuffed brownies

want to make 'em?

1. make your brownie batter according to box or your own recipe. set aside.

2. take oreo and slather the top with peanut butter, drop it in greased cupcake liner. peanut butter side up.

3. pour brownie batter over the top- fill liner 2/3 full.

4. bake at 350 for about 12 minutes or longer depending on your oven.

5. eat 1 or more first to ensure there is no poison in brownie before feeding to others.

6. now you can share (what's left)

*if you want to pour a touch of batter in bottom of liner first and then put the oreo in that is fine too. it's allowed.

oh, big p.s.- aloha friday blog hop is about to go live later today! check back, i will have my link up at the end of the day and there are 3 giveaways plus the hop. get ready!!

sugar, pie, aloha. it's a hop i'll have you know.

yesterday was pi day.
you didn't know? i mean, it's only a super non-important day!

that's okay. i had you covered.
i helped my biggest little make my famous mini lemon pie tarts. by help, i mean i bought it all and supa-vised.

i'm a really great supervisor by the way. you wondered, i know.
i'm great at licking the spoons and letting her know when the oven timer is going off, things of that nature.

because it is always good to balance your sugar with more sugar, i went ahead and made these while on break from my kitchen supervising position.

 

i'm not posting the recipe because i wouldn't make these again. 

they look all festive but they are fooling us with their colorful party sprinkles. 

whatever cookie!

i have something better anyway, 

it's aloha friday and you will never, NEVER trump aloha friday. not even with sprinkles on top...

|>|>|> since you're here, you should link up below. why not right? you've read my nonsense this far and since you're never gonna get that time back ya might as well make it all worth it.

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Can you believe this is our 47th Aloha Friday Blog Hop?!  Time flies when you're having fun!

The last Aloha Friday Blog Hop had 492 lovely participants.

THANK YOU!!!  It's really helping us all get more followers and more exposure!!  Make sure you link up because every single button in the last link up was clicked at least 8 times, some as many as 100 times.  It really helps get you followers!

If you're interested in co-hosting next month's Aloha Friday Blog Hop, please email jean@whatjeanlikes.com for more info.   

Here's the extra special addition to our lovely hop. It's an oh-so-easy opportunity for you lovely participants of the Aloha Friday Blog hop to get some exposure to your blogs!!  What do  you have to do to enter?  Just link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop Below!! It's that easy!!  No extra forms or hassle, just link up!  Each week we will pick a linker to featured at random and invite you all to say ...

Grab a button if you were featured this week!
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Aloha Hoapili translates as Hello Close Friend. So, without further ado let me introduce you to this week's featured friend ...

Mishky at  MishMreow.

Mishky blogs about all things beauty - hair, nails, makeup - you name it, she's blogged it! Want a little taste of her blog? Check out these posts to find out what you've been missing:

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