Mouthwatering muffins
1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 well-beaten egg
1/2 cup milk

Nut Filling

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Sift 1 1/2 cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt into mixing bowl; cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix egg and mill; add all at once to flour mixture; stir just til moistened.

Combine brown sugar, nuts, 1 tbsp. flour, cinnamon, and melted butter. Place half of batter in greased muffin pans. Sprinkle nut mixture over that, then top with remaining batter, filling pans 1/2 full. Bake at 350 degrees about 20 minutes.

Makes 12

This is a recipe that my grandmom clipped from the newspaper.

Sift and measure 1 cup of flour. Add 1 tsp. of baking powder, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg and 1/2 tsp of salt and sift again. Beat 1 egg and into it beat 1/4 cup of sugar. Where there is no more rough grain to the sugar stir in the flour mixture alternately with 1/2 cup of milk.

No beating is needed here, just stir it in and don’t mind if there are a few lumps. Next stir in a tbsp of shortening, first having melted it and finally stir in 1 cup of canned red cherries drains from their juice.

Fill 6 well-buttered individual pudding molds 2/3 full with the pudding mixture. cover tightly and steam continuously for 1 hour. Serve with this cherry sauce:

Measure 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch, a pinch of salt and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. Bring the juice of the cherries (and any remaining cherries) to a boil. Add all but the cornstarch to this.

Mix the cornstarch with just enough cold water to make it possible to pour and pour it into the boiling syrup. Stir constantly and cook until the mixture is clear and slightly thickened. Stir in a tbsp of butter. Be sure it is as sweet as you like it and serve hot with the pudding.

Here are some uses for those AOL CDs that come in the mail or other CDs that have become scratched and otherwise unusable.

Those formerly useless CDs are good to place in a backpack or daypack when hiking, or boat to use as a signal mirror to attract attention when in distress. They are cheaper and lighter than the square glass signal mirrors with the hole in the center found in outfitters stores.

Use as a candle coaster. With shiny side up place votive or small candle in the hole. Candle will burn and make a cool reflection.

Cut them up and make mosaics.

Use as party invitations, handmade labels giving details and directions.

Game - Draw a large target on the ground made up of several different size circles inside each other. Place scores in each circle, with the smallest inner circle being the largest score. Then roll the CDs on their edge towards the target. Where the CD comes to rest is the score earned. If it covers a line no score is given.

Cover an outfit with CD Roms and go as a “Software Pirate”. LOL

Use as a Frisbee.

Place Tags for dinner party place settings - use a sharpie to write the names on them.

Stack them together and make a lamp out of them.

String your knitting yarn through the hole in the middle of the disk to prevent yarn from tangling.

Edited on 2/25/2007 at 8:58 PM

Christine commented with another use.

In one of my crafting magazines, I saw a clock that was made from a CD. For this one, the artist took patterned scrapbook paper, cut it to the size of the CD, and glued it in place. You can add numbers in the form of stickers or die-cuts, or not have numbers at all…just pictures.

You could also print out a favorite photograph to a good size, cut it to size to glue to the CD, and go from there.

Or leave it shiny and just paint or stamp on it. If you are using rubber art stamps on a CD, be sure you use a solvent ink pad like Staz-On…this comes in many colors. Other types of stamp pad ink will just smear off the smooth surface of the CD.

Clock kits, which contain the hands and a battery-operated movement, can be bought on the cheap at craft stores like Michaels, A.C. Moore, and Hobby Lobby. Add this to your decorated CD clock face, and you’re done!

Almost Better Than Sex Cake

1 german chocolate cake mix
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
caramel topping
12 ounces Cool Whip
3 heath bars, crushed

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan. Prepare cake mix as directed on package; pour into prepared pan. After 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle with chocolate chips. Continue baking until cake is done. While cake is still hot, poke holes in it with handle of wooden spoon. Pour sweetened condensed milk over cake; let cool. Top with caramel sauce, then whipped topping. Sprinkle with candy bars.

Do you have tape residue on your walls? Left over bumper stickers on your car? I found something years ago and I love it! It’s called GooGone and it removes a lot of stuff. Buy some.. give it a try.

It removes gum, tar, crayon, fresh paint, tree sap, oil and grease, blood, ink and much more.

The Basics of Baking:

Read the entire recipe before you start to be sure you have all the necessary ingredients & utensils

Remove butter, margarine and cream cheese from the fridge to soften, if necessary.

Adjust oven racks and preheat the oven. Check oven temperature with an oven thermometer to make sure the temperature is right.

Toast and chop nuts and melt butter and chocolate before preparing batter or dough.

Always use the pan size suggested in the recipe. Prepare pans as directed.

Choose cookie sheets that fit in your oven with at least 1 inch on all sides between the edge of the sheet and the oven wall.

Grease cookie sheets only when the recipe recommends it otherwise the cookies may spread too much.

Measure the ingredients accurately and assemble them in the order they are listed in the recipe.

When baking more than one sheet of cookies at a time, it’s best to rotate them for even baking. Halfway through the baking time, rotate the cookie sheets from the front to back as well as from the top to the bottom rack.

Always check for doneness at the minimum baking time given in the recipe.

Melting Chocolate:

There are several ways to melt chocolate. You have to be sure the utensil you use is completely dry. Moisture, whether from utensils or an accidental drop of water will cause the chocolate to “seize” which means it becomes stiff and grainy. If that happens, try adding a 1/2 teaspoon of shortening (not butter or margarine) for each ounce of chocolate and stir until smooth. When melting chocolate do not use high heat because chocolate scorches easily and once it’s scorched it’s unusable.

Double Boiler is the safest way because it prevents scorching. Place the chocolate in the top of the double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over hot, not boiling water; stir until smooth. Be sure the water stays just below a simmer and is 1 inch below the bottom of the top pan or bowl. Be careful that no steam or water gets into the chocolate.

Direct Heat Place the chocolate in a heavy saucepan and melt over very low heat, stirring constantly. Remove the chocolate from the heat as soon as it is melted. Be sure to watch the chocolate carefully so it doesn’t scorch.

Microwave Place an unwrapped 1 ounce square or 1 cup of chocolate chips in a small microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute. Be sure to stir microwaved chocolate since it may retain its original shape even when melted. It will taste burnt if microwaved after it has melted. Chocolate can also be melted in a small heavy resealable plastic food storage bag, turning the bag over after microwaving 1 minute. When the chocolate is melted, knead the bag until chocolate is smooth. Cut off a tiny corner and gently squeeze the bag to drizzle the chocolate.

More to come in a later post

Does your house look like a tornado just blew through?
Do you look for something and can’t find it even though you know where you put it?
Do people confuse your house with the local recycling center?
When your kids are playing with their toys is it hard to tell the kid from the toys?

Well, it sounds like organization is in order.

1st thing you need to do is make 3 piles:

Go through all of the stuff and decide whether to keep, toss or give away each item. If you or the kids haven’t used it in say…. 6 months to a year.. toss or give it away/sell, depending on the condition of the item. Hopefully when you get done your keep pile will be much smaller than your give away or sell pile.

The next step is to have a place to store all you want to keep. You don’t want to end up in a mess again. Get some nice containers or shelving units with doors. If you don’t want door then get some nice decorative baskets to store the items in. You can use plastic containers marked with the items they contain.. use a label maker to make it nice and neat.

You can use Space Bags to store big, bulky items such as extra pillows, blankets, seasonal clothing, etc.

In closets, get closet shelving units to add more space. You can get them at any home improvement store.

For the garage they have all kinds of wall/shelving/storage solutions at the home improvement store too. Things for hanging bicycles, gardening tools, tools and all kinds of things.

When you have your yard/garage sale for all of the things you are getting rid of you should have money to help pay for all of your organizing needs
Remember… don’t let it get messy again. Go through everything at least once a year to keep your home clutter free.

4 medium potatoes, quartered (peeled or not peeled)
2 cups fresh or frozen baby carrots (I prefer fresh)
1 stalk celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 1/2 lb boneless beef chuck roast
1 can tomato soup
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water

Place potatoes, carrots, celery & garlic in a 3 1/2 qt slow cooker. Season roast with pepper and place on top.

Mix soup and water. Pour over roast and vegetables.

Cover and cook on LOW 10 to 12 hours or on high 5 to 6 hours.

Serves 4 - 6

If you want a thicker gravy, mix 1/4 cup of all purpose flour with 1/2 cup water. Remove beef and keep warm. Add flour mixture to slow cooker. Turn heat to HIGH. Cook until mixture boils & thickens, about 10 minutes.