Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

I just had to share this photo of the cinnamon rolls I made from Pioneer Woman's recipe!  They are the most glorious rolls - it takes a bit of effort to make them, but you are rewarded with this:

 
 
Soft, luscious cinnamon rolls with an amazing glaze...I didn't pour the glaze on as thick as she did, but they are still DELICIOUS!
 
FYI - The recipe says that it makes seven foil pans, but I ended up with six.  I think I'm going to share most of them with friends and family.  I also may have eaten a few of the rolls...cough cough...or maybe five or six.  I'll never tell!
 
- Sugar Baby
 
 

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Crafts - Make Your Own Play Doh!




I think I've mentioned that my family spent our summers in Maine when I was growing up, yes?  Well, one summer, when I was 5 or 6, it rained every day for over a month.  My mother was at her wits end with three children bored out of their minds!

She was very creative, and we painted rocks, dyed sand and filled bottles with it, baked everything under the sun, and eventually just sent my brothers and I to play out in the rain!  We loved splashing around, and our washer and dryer worked overtime to keep up.

One of the crafts my mother would make was homemade play-doh.  It's pretty simple, and doesn't require any cooking.  This is her recipe:


Thursday, June 20, 2013

Baking with Bella!

My friend's daughter, Bella, came over today to bake cupcakes with me, and we had such a great time!  She's almost seven, and is as sweet as can be.  She wanted to help at every step...she measured with me and had fun pouring everything into the stand mixture.

Here she is showing her favorite flower sprinkles:



Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Lemon Icebox Pie

I first tasted this lemon icebox pie at a friend's house in seventh grade...they had recently moved to DC from Arkansas, and opened me up to a whole new world of things like chicken 'n dumplings, quail and eggs for breakfast, and chicken fried steak.  I was in food heaven.

I know there are recipes for this pie that use real lemon juice, egg yolks, etc. but this is the super simple version - it's sweet and tart and is sooooo good on a hot summer day!


Thursday, June 13, 2013

Sweet Shortcuts - Sprite Cupcakes

I was chatting with a friend of mine who loves to bake, and she told me about something called Sprite Cupcakes.  She said that all you do is take a vanilla cake mix and add a 12 oz. can (or 1.5 cups) of Sprite, or any other lemon-lime soda. 

I was very skeptical...don't cake mixes need eggs and either oil or butter?

I decided to throw caution to the wind and try it.  Guess what?  It was DELICIOUS!


Monday, June 10, 2013

Jazz It Up - Ice Cream Sandwiches

I think we can all agree that ice cream sandwiches are scrumptious as they are, right?  BUT, this simple step puts them way over the top!


Sunday, June 2, 2013

Sweet Shortcuts - Strawberry Jam

I love jam, but making it is such a hassle when you have to sterilize the jars, do the canning, then put them in a water bath, etc.  Growing up, my family spent the summers in Maine, and we had a big raspberry patch in our garden.  We made raspberry jam quite often, but it was a day-long process, in a steamy hot kitchen.

This recipe is much simpler, because you refrigerate the jam, eliminating the need to do all the canning steps.  The only drawback is that it doesn't last as long - it will only be good for several weeks.  Please note that the final product is fairly thin and drippy - if you prefer thick jam, this is not the recipe for you.