Flakey Cookies!

I saw a picture of cookies on Pinterest.

I am not a big pinterest girl, shameful, I know.

I visit it about once a month or so.

Don't hate me...

Last week I saw the above mentioned cookie picture and thought,

"I can make those! And sugar free to boot!"

 

I really like having conversations with myself....I can be quite pleasant!

OK, back to the cookies.

I bought a package of rolled out pie crust (the bottom of the picture said they used pie crust with a very big exclamation point)

and I also bought a bag of sugar free Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

I left the pie dough out to get to room temp. I then cut it in strips and made 14 squares with opposite cuts.

 

Well, ok, 10 squares and 4 triangles.....blast those round pie shapes!

I next "squashed" the pie dough all around the naked PB cups.

I made them naked by taking off their little brown skirts.

Placed the balls on a parchment lined bake sheet and baked them at 350* until lightly browned on top.

After they cooled, I rolled them all in powdered "sugar" which was of course powdered xyltol which is an all natural sugar sub, a ground up plant.

The crispy crust on the bottom was wonderful!! I personally am not a peanut butter person but I liked these. I think it was that crisply crust!

This Is My Life

Right now, 

This

  Is

My

Life.

More about that tomorrow.

Today, a quick tutorial on a set of "blocks" I made along with a group of my favorite ladies.

I cut blocks from scrap wood laying in my garage

cause everyone has those, or is it just me? OK, it's just me right now.

Ranging in length from 7 inches down to 3 inches.

 

  The blocks were simply painted the desired color for the background. 

 

 
 
Then background paper of each of our choice were cut to fit within about 1/4 inch of all edges

and decoupaged (using modge podge) to the blocks. 

 

Another layer of modge podge was put over that and the cut out letters of each of our choices were pressed on and decoupaged over. 

 Dry time was given and then embellishing was done! I added a few snow flakes, many of us added sparkly tape around the blocks

and then I added some "snowy" glitter to mine.

 

 

 

 

 

Because girls can NEVER have enough glitter!!!

Age, Beauty

Getting older?

We all are!! After all, the alternative is death.

Not fun.

However, there are things that get better with age!

Me, of course, but let's not go there.

AND there are things that would be thrown away because they are just to old.

I should be thrown out sometimes, but remember,

we are NOT talking about me! 

ok, no one has threatened me with that in a long time. 

Back to what I was saying, when others see things as old, rusty, chipped, wrinkled, faded, torn, past it's prime, etc., 

Others see beauty.

What do you see today?

Baby Shoes and Other Ramblings

I took a bit of time from blogging due to the busyness of life.

We are moving along on the addition and working most of our spare moments on the construction.

In the mean time, I spent time (not enough) taking photos of a baby's first birthday, creating a trunk décor for the Autumn Adventure at our church....the theme for my jeep was "Mardi Gras" and all of the décor came from genuine time spent at Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Also taking my Mom to the Dr. for a routine echo of her heart and all is well.

I did a photo shoot for a sweet family of nearly five girls...number five is coming Nov. 26th!

And here is a picture of baby shoes....

I mean really, how cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love photography....I get to take these pictures and make myself and others feel joy in a very normal day. Joy. Nothing better!

I have plans of walking thru our house and taking photos tonight, and I will post as I can this week....when I am not laying hard wood floors or putting up trim...exciting life I live!

Just Some Thoughts

Yesterday was my youngest Daughter's birthday!
She is a beautiful young lady, a joy to our lives and we are so very proud of her!

Our time continues to be filled with construction, interrupted briefly with work, shopping trips and Dr. visits. 

We are getting ever closer to the dreaded drywall experience on the addition. We should be there by months end and then starts the painting, cabinet installation and flooring...lots and lots of flooring....ugh. 

But after flooring comes decorating and Mom's big move!! She is very excited to have closets (her first time ever for a bedroom closet!!), new everything and an apartment that she can physically take care of herself.

Speaking of Mom, I take her to the Dr. today for an Echo-Cardiogram....just routine, so we hope to find out all is still well!

I have, what I am convinced is, the worlds worst hang nail. I am certain that there has never been another human being with one that even comes close to this one....I mean, I am sure my finger will fall off very soon if this thing does not clear up...it is that bad!

OK, rant over.

I have been asked to place one of my photo's (my choice, I am leaning towards a couple that I took while on Canal Street in New Orleans) into an event at our Hospital. I am flattered and excited.

My fibromyalgia has escalated as of late. Dr. has taken blood tests (all are normal...yes, there is something normal about me!) and now he will begin trying something new, of which I am not sure just yet.

My paint sprayer decided to die on me yesterday....it worked for about 3 minutes and then stopped. I ran all the troubleshooting tests I could and then it proceeded to shoot paint from an orifice that it should not have across the room! Not happy was I! Good thing we bought the extended warranty with it...but I really do not want to try again, I would prefer just getting my money back. I am sure you really wanted to know that!

I have about 7 projects started apart from our construction and cannot seem to find the time or get-up-and-go to complete them.

Must be the weather

Really

Either to beautiful to be inside or to wet to be outside.....makes me crazy with want to either stroll through the country side oooooing at the beauty or stay cuddled up in front of the fire under a blanket.

I believe that I have covered all that is bugging my brain at this moment, so you are officially off the hook in trying to understand how my thought patterns work.

Have a blessed, wonderful Tuesday!

The Easiest Jar Cake Ever

This is an easy dessert to put together and yet your guest will think you are treating them to something extra special...which you are because they are!

Ingredients:
Cake of your choice from scratch or box mix baked in a large sheet pan
Whipped cream, cool whip, what ever you choose
Frosting of your choice...made from scratch or from a can!

How is that for ingredients!!! Go wild! Get crazy or keep it simple!

Simple is what I did, as I used what I had on hand in the pantry and freezer.

 Once your cake is baked and cooled, get out those jars! Mine are little as I am the "portion control queen" and my hubby can take the little jars in his lunch with ease.

I used two different sized biscuit cutters as the bottom of the jar is a bit smaller than the top.

Cut the circles of cake, lay the smallest in the bottom of the jar, dollop a spoonful of whipped cream on the top.

 

 

Lay the larger circle of cake on top of the whipped cream and press down gently.

 

Top that with a small amount of frosting and you are done!

 

Put the lid on top and store in the fridge until you are ready to eat!

They look adorable and are fun for your family or guests!