Pinterest Challenge: Death by Oreo Cupcakes

This Saturday I took a chance on a new dessert recipe to take to a dinner at my sister-in-law's place. The choice? Death by Oreo Cupcakes from Decor and the Dog. I almost never buy Oreo cookies, partly because they go so fast around here, so I thought this was a chance worth taking. 

These cupcakes start with an Oreo cookie in the bottom of the muffin liner. The Oreo gets topped with chocolate cake batter mixed with crushed up Oreo pieces. And eventually the whole thing is topped by homemade cream cheese frosting and more crushed up Oreos. 

This was my first time making cream cheese frosting. I'm not sure I'd do that again. Despite adding nearly 4 cups of powdered sugar, more than 1 table spoon of vanilla extract, and all remaining crushed Oreos, it still tasted very strongly of cream cheese. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't my favorite.

The cupcake itself was very good - but I didn't anticipate that I would get 30 cupcakes out of it! I had figured on 24, and kept out 24 whole Oreos to be my cupcake bases. When I'd finished topping all the cookies, I still had a lot of dough left. I wound up with six cookie-less cupcakes, but they were just as good as the cookie based version. I don't know if my cupcakes were a little skimpy (I tried to fill to just over half-way) or if that's just the difference the Oreo base makes in the amount of dough needed for each cupcake.

We wound up postponing the trip to the sister-in-law's. Fortunately there were a few people in town we could call on to come help us eat them up. It saved me from eating them all myself. Okay, I might have let my husband have a few.  If he could beat me to them. They were good - and all the more reason to avoid buying Oreos!

7 Photo Saturday: 3.11 - 3.17

3.11 "Someone You Talked to Today"

3.12 "Fork"

3.13 "A Sign"

It seems early, but this nest wasn't here through the winter.

3.14 "Clouds"

3.15 "Car"

Or lack of? This is my usual parking spot at home. Both our cars have been in the shop this week. One is still there. It's been a stressful week.

3.16 "Sunglasses"

3.17 "Green"

Can you tell we were a little more house-bound this week? I love living outside the city, but there are some drawbacks when it comes to alternative transportation...

Pinterest Challenge: Roast Beef Crescents

Pinterest is bad for my oversubscribed Google Reader. I followed a pin for buffalo chicken crescents (which have since become a weekly thing at my house) and almost immediately added Plain Chicken to my reader.

So a little bit later when the recipe for French Dip Crescents crossed my reader (and was immediately pinned), I knew I would be coming back to this one. What can I say, I have a weakness for anything rolled in a crescent.

The recipe is pretty simple - a can of crescent rolls, 4 slices provolone, roast beef deli slices, and some horseradish sauce. It took a few minutes for me to find horseradish sauce at my store, but other than that, this was painless.

Just popped into the oven. 

And the results? Delicious.

Just out of the oven. Mmm... crispy cheese... 

We aren't big on the actual dip part of a French Dip, so for us, these were just roast beef crescents. A couple of these with some vegetarian baked beans and we had a fast, yummy lunch.

These are definitely going into the usual rotation. The only thing I'll change next time? Stronger horseradish sauce!

Button Down Terry Cloth Back Bib

Bibs are one of my favorite things to make for Welcome Baby packages. With bibs, I can be a little creative while sticking with something that seems more practical than embellished onesies or tiny outfits.

One of my favorite combinations is a terry cloth back and a button down shirt front. Last year I made four from various button down shirts for our nephew.

The blue with the black buttons in my favorite.

It's a fun and easy project and a great way to use up supplies I tend to have on hand anyway. The towels tend to be slightly damaged (a corner has been accidentally bleached, or shredded by the cat), but still have a lot of use left in them. The shirts come from thrift stores or cleaning out closets. Everything gets a pre-wash (with soap) and a high heat dry. After I'm finished sewing, I try to give everything I make at least one post-wash. The final wash is always without any soaps, softeners, perfumes, etc.

For the particular baby I have in mind today, I wanted to try something a little bolder than stripes and plaids.

It's not a shirt I would ever have worn but in this small amount it works. And if the island print is a little loud for the future wearer (or the parents), the terry cloth can easily become the outfacing side.

I was somewhat hesitant about using part of the towel with the decorative weave but after seeing both sides together I'm really glad I went with it - especially if it ends up being used terry cloth side out.


Eventually I'll attach some kind of closure. I've used Velcro in the past, but I worry about it snagging on hair or being trouble when it comes to washing these. So this time I'm leaning toward snaps instead.

My First Quilt

I spent much of my life trying to get out of sewing. I petitioned my way out of home economics. I practically ran away when my mother (who sewed most of my wardrobe until I was 8 or 9) tried to teach me much more than threading a needle.

In college, I made a towel into a curtain. Then I put the machine away and figured I'd never touch it again.

Wrong.

A few years later, people I know started having babies.

And out of nowhere, I got the idea to make them quilts.

So, I jumped from next to zero sewing machine experience into quilting.

Thanks to tutorials on the internet, online quilting communities where I could lurk and read tips, and the assistance of my mother, I managed to successfully finish my first quilt without any major issues.

My first finish (and probably my favorite to date) was for our nephew

As much as I knew this was the perfect thing to finish off my Welcome Baby basket for our nephew, I had a hard time giving this one away. In addition to the sentimentality of it, I thought it was just about the perfect weight and size. This is one I intend to make again someday - for me.

7 Photo Saturday: 3.4 - 3.10

3.4 "Bedside"

3.5 "Smile" 

3.6 "5 pm" 

3.7 "Something I wore"

3.8 "Window" 

We 'installed' lattice in our windows so we could enjoy the breezes without worrying about the cat vs. the window screen.

3.9 "Red"

3.10 "Loud"

The loudest thing in my life. Especially when it's 6:30 on a Saturday morning and his bowl is empty.




This month's prompts came from the #marchphotoaday.

Update: 'Whoops' Giant Star Quilt

I thought I would try to make a square full quilt, therefore maintaining the square shape of the Giant Star Quilt.

Adding the side panels went well, though I struggled a bit on the top and bottom panel. It's amazing the difference a few inches can make. Finding the space to work with pieces that large took some creativity, and I wound up on my living room floor. That's far from ideal for a number of reasons, so I think after this I'd better stick with smaller quilts until I have more dedicated quilting space.

Undaunted, I made a back. With "help":

Working on the living room floor is not ideal, but the cat likes it.

And hit a snag when my full sized batting didn't match the full size quilt dimensions I'd been working from. So I got to cut it down. And now it is not quite square.

But that's okay. What is the motto with this quilt? Imperfections make it easier to use.

I finished my edges on the Giant Star my favorite (lazy) way. I think it's called a quick turn. So my front, batting, and back are all attached at the edge and just waiting for me to go around again to close my opening. That will be the easy part.

The hard part? Seeing if there's any way I can quilt this on my sewing machine or if I have to find the courage* to go to a local quilting shop in search of a rental machine.








*The first and last time I went to a quilt shop was for a class. I dropped out during the first break. What did I learn? I need something more beginner than their beginning level classes. So the idea of going into a shop again is more than a little intimidating.