Thoughts of a Grasshopper

We went right from piano to pick up a cake and then on to church to set up for the Blue & Gold.  I finished setting up the games right just before people started arriving and didn't have the opportunity to take pictures.  I have to use what my son took to share this event. I started off my morning making several batches of popcorn.  You can see in this first picture a quart jar of popcorn below the balloons.  I don't recall the flavor of Jell-O I used just that it was berry and it would have been blue jello.  I used a recipe from Our Best Bites for the berry popcorn.  I didn't have time to dig through my book for my friend Sharon's recipe.  I had to make extra caramel popcorn because that is a favorite for one of my girls and she wanted to be sure there would be some for her.   Two jars went on each table. The jail and trading post on the wall took an insane amount of time to make between sketching the buildings, drawing the letters and then painting it.  O

This year I made a special little treat for Valentine's Day.  The recipe came from the Cooking with Paula Deen  magazine and is very similar to the fudge cake that has been popular for 20+ years with sour cream and a box of pudding.  The difference is flavors of the cake and pudding and no chocolate chips added to the mix. The recipe calls for 24 cupcakes from each mix.  I just did 12 and then put the rest of the batter in an 8" round cake pan and baked it.  I used the left-over filling between the 2 layers. Velvet Cake Stacks Filling: 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened 1 (7 oz.) jar fluff 1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip, thawed Pink Velvet Batter: 1 box white cake mix 1 (3.3 oz.) pkg white chocolate instant pudding 4 large eggs 1C sour cream 1/2C oil 1/2C water 6 drops red food coloring Red Velvet Batter: 1 box red velvet cake mix 1 (3.4 oz.) pkg. cheesecake instant pudding 4 large eggs 1C sour cream 1/2C oil 1/2C water

I learned a few things making this bouquet, which is lovely.  I have the stamp set that goes along with this and only used the dotted stamp for the pansy and the lined/woodgrain looking one for poppy.  I still need to attach leaves but I wanted them in the jar I was using before doing that so I would have a better idea of where to place the leaves. Let me tell you about the stamping first.  I made the poppy flower first because I put the black centers together first thing.  The precut petals have a smooth side and a rough side, ever so slightly matte looking side.  I stamped on the shiny smooth side.  The petals needed a lot of drying time.  After the first flower, I stamped off on paper and then onto the petal to make the drying time quicker if needed at all.  I didn't realize at this point that the drying time would be quicker if I had stamped the other side. Daisy - The directions are good enough that come with the bouquet, the pictures didn't help that much and

This is my favorite blueberry muffin recipe.  I like it because the batter is thick enough that the blueberries don't sink to the bottom before they are baked.  The other thing I like is that it isn't too sweet.  So many blueberry muffin recipes I've tried taste more like a dessert than something you would have at breakfast. Check out the berries in this muffin . . . Blueberry Streusel Muffins 1/4C butter, softened 1/3C sugar 1 egg 1t vanilla 2-1/3C flour 4t baking powder 1/2t salt 1C milk 1-1/2C blueberries Streusel 1/2C sugar 1/3C flour 1/2t cinnamon 1/4C butter In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Beat in egg and vanilla; mix well.   Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.  Fold in blueberries. Fill 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full.  In a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon; cut in butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle over muffins.  Bake at 375 f