Homemade Dog Biscuits with Recipe

February 21, 2013 by
Homemade Dog Biscuits Recipe

For the first time in eight years... we celebrated our dog, Portland's, birthday.  For shame.  I know.  Better late than never though and now, we have kids who totally enjoy it as well.  We'd baked Portland homemade biscuits about six years ago.  The dough was very hard to work with and I hadn't made them since.  But this dough is w.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l.  I've written the recipe after the jump. It's rubbery, stretchy, goes far (makes about 36 average biscuits) and doesn't even need a floured surface for rolling. I used a piece of freezer paper for rolling and cutting; made clean-up a breeze.  The original biscuits Shawn and I baked those years ago had wheat flour and peanut butter among other things.  These had wheat flour too with the addition of canned pumpkin puree and a hit … [Read more...]

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Sugar Cookie Cake

February 16, 2013 by
Sugar Cookie Tube Cake

So, I brought this recipe back from the ashes. I haven't made it for years and I've only made it three times. I experimented with it for the first time on December 9, 2006. The last time I baked it was in 2007 with my cousin, Alisa, while still living in Florida and I noted this on the actual recipe in my book.  What fun we had that night.  The Sugar Cookie Cake recipe is very unique in that it replaces most of the flour normally added with crushed sugar cookie crumbs. I bought simple store-brand sugar cookies and whirled them through my food processor to finely crush them. Back when Alisa and I baked this cake, I put the cookies in a zip lock bag and beat them with a rolling pin... it was loud, but it worked! This cake is dense and moist and holds its shape well.  The outside has a … [Read more...]

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Little Yellow Butterfly Shirt {Pattern}

January 10, 2013 by

It's taken my some time to post this one.  And, truthfully, I'd been waiting for a photo of Madelyn IN the thing.  (smile)  I happened upon opportunity for that photo this autumn so here's to sharing.  Now, I've used the pattern many, many times and if you've read me you've seen it here and among other posts. However, this - by far - is my favorite version to date.  Madelyn adores this top.  She loves the butterflies, the key details, the velvet bow and the special tree button.  It's been worn quite often and will still fit her in the spring because I made it tunic length. I also added some extra ribbon around the sleeves.  This was actually a first attempt for me.  In all my years of sewing...I'd yet to stitch on some ribbon trim just so.  It was soft enough to keep the sleeve … [Read more...]

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Pretty Little Cash Envelopes (free download)

December 13, 2012 by

A penny saved is a penny earned.  It's true...but for most also incredibly hard to do.  For some of us, you know, it's not about lack of desire or inability to save but money management.  Now, I'm no expert but I've learned a thing or two over the years: having your cash IN HAND makes a difference - so does tithing regularly. I remember one time when Shawn had to cash his entire paycheck.  He came out of the bank, got in the car, opened the envelope about to designate cash here and cash there - and he stopped.  He sat there for about a minute and just looked at the money.  'Honey, I don't remember the last time I actually SAW my paycheck.' Here's to direct deposit and debit cards.  The experience changed how we handle our finances. Actually SEEING real money on payday was such a … [Read more...]

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White Hot Chocolate

December 11, 2012 by

Winter hasn't quite arrived here in Omaha though, it looks like winter today.  It's overcast yet bright and the sky resembles that of the last few moments before snow begins to fall.  It's thirty-seven degrees out... still pretty warm for us but stirs up those familiar hibernation feelings for me.  They give me pause, the first few days of the pre-winter season.  My girls were napping and I decided to try and hang up the Christmas stockings.  We have a fireplace in this house, a new twist for us.  It's non-working and was added when a turn-of-the-century hotel closed downtown.  They sold everything - even the ornamental fireplaces off the walls.  I went to hang the stockings under the mantle and realized it still needed a good cleaning from when it'd first been installed, perhaps … [Read more...]

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How to Keep Your Little Ones Busy While You Prepare for the Holidays

December 8, 2012 by

THIS is exactly what I do with it - and it's exactly how I manage to get any Christmas baking done after nap time.  Buy a few clearance rolls of gift wrap if you have kids around who like to color (I bought this one last year).  Ugly or nice paper, they won't care - that's lost in the fun of unrolling it.   This was an extra large roll of the kind that tears pretty easy.  I know you know what I mean.  The hellish paper your gift boxes poke every corner through - making you wish you'd spent a dollar more on the 'nicer' paper. Just a quick idea to save some holiday season sanity.  But, you may have to pause and trace a snow angel every now-and-then. @ The Heartland Due to the amount of content that is used without permission and proper credit, I am no longer allowing a … [Read more...]

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How to Make a Wreath with Christmas Tree Clippings

December 5, 2012 by

So, here's my dollar wreath. Yep, it was really a dollar. I wrote about the free greenery here and of course, the ribbon roll hailed from Dollar Tree. There's always just enough ribbon on the rolls they sell to make a nice-sized bow.  This was my first time working with fresh cuttings from a fir tree. It spanned two days, my effort; that is, to put a wreath together. It was easy...I just didn't think it would be. The first day, I went out on the front porch where the pile of cuttings sat, picked up a few limbs, tried to shape them for about a minute, gave up and went inside. On day two I went out to visit the branches again and was a little more social so, we got somewhere. I noticed there's a natural curve to Fraiser Fur boughs and if you bend the main stem of the bough in its natural … [Read more...]

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Coconut Joy Cookies {Holiday Sweet Treats Party}

November 30, 2012 by

I'm SO excited to participate in this Holiday Sweet Treats blogging event! So many amazing bloggers have teamed up to bring you the MOTHER of all Holiday Sweet Treats LISTS! We've all been hard at work creating holiday treats to share so we hope you sit back, grab a hot cocoa and feast your eyes on the delicious treats in the link list at the end of this post. BUT........before you do, check out this delicious recipe for Coconut Joy Cookies that my good friend, Dawn, from The Heartland is sharing! If you're going to bake, use recipes with ingredients that set your heart on fire. I believe in this to the very last character in the sentence...but don't relish coconut. Unless of course, it's presented to me within an Almond Joy wrapper. Otherwise, you won't find coconut crossing my … [Read more...]

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Garden Tomato Sauce

August 23, 2011 by

Yes, I'm still writing about tomatoes.  I'm also still picking them, canning them, cooking them and eating them as my garden's become a tomato factory.  Today, I thought to share a fantastic fresh tomato sauce recipe with you.  I've been on the hunt for a good one over the last month or so - I had to do something with all the tomatoes!  One of my cousins in Florida, Tommy, shares my passion for fresh tomatoes and fresh, homemade pasta sauce.  I'll tell you this; once you've gone fresh with tomato sauce you'll never go back to canned stuff.  I kid you not. Round #3 Ripening From the Garden, or is it Round #4...!? Normally, I don't do a full photo tutorial for recipes.  With Tommy in mind, I added more photos to this post - he likes a lot of pictures.  (smile)  You'll get to see … [Read more...]

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Brown Sugar Banana Bread

July 26, 2011 by

Banana bread first crossed my pallet when I was in my late teens.  We were visiting family in the hospital and had dinner in the cafeteria on the lower level.  Yikes, I know.  It was good though and over the years I was always in search of banana bread with good balance.  The sampling from the hospital as well as all the rest I've had were always either too dry, too moist, had too many nuts or screamed a violent death with too much of one spice.  So, I'm picky.  (smile) Since I stared baking for journaling, I've experimented with several recipes. A few fell like the Grand Canyon every single time, others had some of the problems I listed above.  Last month I decided to throw a few different recipes together and see what happened... I'll tell you what happened - I finally baked a … [Read more...]

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