Cookie Disasters

I really wish I was posting pictures of beautifully baked cookies in very cute little hand made cookie boxes but I am not...  I can not get my cookies to turn out....  they are flat, crunchy and let's be honest they are ugly as sin.  I will not tell you how many pans of cookies have gone into the trash but there could be some raccoons running around with a major sugar high...  We  have searched the internet looking for suggestions and ideas, we have tried different brands of butter, we tried margerine, I tried drinking wine before baking... nothing has worked so now I sit here at 11:48 at night waiting for cookie dough to chill so that I can try yet another idea... 

On top of the cookie issue I have other issues.... (1) it will not stop raining!  I mean it really won't stop raining.  We are supposed to get another 5 inches tomorrow!  I am not used to this weather and I miss my dry desert.  (2) My truck is not used to this weather so it has decided it won't run...  this means I can not leave my house...  ummm.... that means I am stuck here listening to the rain and trying one cookie recipe after another. (Yea I know... whine, whine, whine... hmmm wine... :) )  Ok so I am trying very hard not to hear the rain which means I have 80's music going...  Life can't be all bad if you are listening to 80's music.  With any luck I will find a recipe that solves this issue, the rain will stop before I have serious need of an ark and my truck will decide that it doesn't hate the mountain and it wants to go out and about, either that or I will call my favorite mechanic and bribe him with enchiladas and cookies....  see that only works if I fix the cookies....  Cross your fingers for me!

Easy Candy Box

Here is a super easy candy gift box.  It holds 6 mini baking cups.  This box is for my dad and will be filled with Chocolate Truffles with Sea Salt.  Oh yum!

Items needed to create this

Solid cardstock 8 1/2x 6 1/2

Patterned cardstock 5 1/2 x 7 1/2

scoring tool

scissors or knife

adhesive

ruler

Acetate if you plan to have a window

Here is a sketch for the bottom of the box. 

The large piece is scored at 1 1/2 inches on all 4 sides. 

Cut in on each side 1 1/2 inches.

Here is the sketch for the lid to the box. 

This piece is scored at 1 inch on each side.

Cut in on each side 1 inch.

Here are my cut and scored pieces.

At this point I decided I wanted a window in the box top.  I used the cuttlebug and my nesties to cut a window.  You could very easily measure and cut with a knife or scissors as well. 

All you need to do is glue the tabs and you have your box!  I am going to cover my cut out with a sheet of acetate.  I hope you have fun with this little box.  It has huge possibilities.  Let me know what you think! 

Holiday Recipes

Are you like me?  Do you collect tons of new recipes each Christmas?  I always end up with a dozen or so new ones by the first of the year.  I decided I couldn't be alone in this dilema so I created these.

Of course these are not for me since I decided the sister and sister in law needed them too.  They are super easy to make and shhh... they are very inexpensive to make.  I will share directions later.

Chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter and more chocolate

Holidays always mean chocolate to me...  It is just one of those things... if there is no chocolate can it really be a holiday?  I say no.  So in that spirit here are some super easy recipes that are guaranteed to help you get in the holiday spirit.

Easy Rocky Road Fudge

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups of mini marshmallows
1 1/2 cups of chopped walnuts

Directions:  Line a 9 x 13 with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Microwave the chips and milk together on high for 1 minute.  Stir and then continue to heat at 30 second intervals until smooth.  Stir in vanilla extract and then fold in marshmallows and walnuts.  Press mixture into prepared pan and refrigerate until set.  Cut into small pieces and serve. 

Makes about 48 servings.  Yea right!  Who are they kidding?  Everyone knows you can't have just one tiny piece of fudge!

Crispy Bars

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of Karo syrup
1 cup of peanut butter
6 cups of crispy rice cereal
1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts

Heat sugar and corn syrup to boiling.  Remove from heat and add peanut butter; stir to melt.  Add crispy rice cereal.  Press into buttered 9 x 13.  Melt chips together and spread over rice bars and top with chopped peanuts.  Cool and cut into small squares.

Makes about... oh come on I don't know how many it makes I was eating them as I put them on the plate.  It makes a bunch though.

Enjoy! 

*** If you came by looking for paper crafts don't despair I am working on some boxes to hold all of these wonderful yummy goodies. 

Random Ramblings 1

I thought I would just share a couple more things about me and this blog....

  I will be posting recipes that I am thrilled to share however I have to warn you I don't really measure when I make up recipes unless I am baking so expect to see.

A handful of....
A bit of....
Some ....

It is just how I cook....  I can't help it maybe I have issues with being precise... who knows? 

I am usually much better with paper craft directions however I have been known to make mistakes...   If you see something that makes no sense please let me know. 

I am hoping this can be lots of fun as we explore many different avenues of creativity.  Look for posts such as Making Inexpensive Food Gifts Fun,  Crazy Kittens Run Amok,  The Desert Rats Move to the  Mountains,  A New Adventure in Driving,  Boxes, Boxes and more Boxes...  Chocolate is a Very Good Thing.  I hope you will join me in my new blogging adventure.  It is sure to be full of fun and surprises.

Adult stocking stuffer

Look how cute this is!  This is a stocking stuffer for my dad.  It has about 1/2 a lb of dark chocolate cherry coffee in it.  Let me tell you the smell is fantastic.  This is soo easy to make.  You can get 2 out of a sheet of card stock.  The possibilities for this are limitless.  You could use it for any holiday and you could get as fancy as you wanted.  I went fairly simple since I am pretty sure dad will take the coffee out and then quickly forget about it... 

Here is the template.  Enjoy!

 

**The post title may be misleading... this is a stocking stuffer for adults... not an adult stocking stuffer...