Friday, May 3, 2013

More Baking.....mmmm

Well, I've been baking a little more. I experimented with some other recipes that I found on the internet. My most recent, and favorite, is homemade brownies. I've made these a couple times now and I must say, we like them better without the chocolate chips that it calls for. Also, I don't have expresso powder so I substituted instant coffee in the last batch. It did bump up the chocolate flavor - which is a good thing!! The recipe I use is from The King Arthur Flour website. You can check it out at: Brownie Recipe.
 
Another recently tried recipe is the Angel Food/Crushed Pineapple Cake. Talk about easy!!!! And the Fam loved it!!! Basically you need an Angel Food Cake box mix and a large can of crushed pineapple (juice and all). Preheat the oven to 350. Put the cake mix into a bowl and mix in the pineapple until everything is mixed. It will foam a bit, which I found interesting. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 cake pan and bake according to the box directions for that size pan. Make sure to test the cake before you pull it out of the oven. I found mine needed to go about 5 more minutes than what the box called for. The top will have kind of a brownish crust to it. I let mine cool completely and then I mixed confectioners sugar with a couple tablespoons of pineapple juice I had in the fridge to make a kind of drizzle for the top. I served pieces with a dollop of whipped cream. It was also nice with a few strawberries and bananas on top. Such an easy recipe and tastie too!!
 
And the last one I'll leave you with is a Lemon Bread. This recipe came to me in my email from Taste of Home. I subscribe to the magazine, which always has tons of wonderful recipes in it. Since my husband is a huge fan of Lemon I'm always on the lookout for something lemony for him to snack on. This fit the bill nicely!! For some reason I can't get the Taste of Home website to come up at this time, but if you go on their website and type "Lemon Bread" into their search bar you'll find the recipe. This was nice warm from the oven (hubby couldn't wait) as well as when it had cooled off the next day.
 
And for those who thought I'd forgot how to sew, I haven't. I've just been busy. I have been working on a few things. Most recently I discovered a pattern from I believe the All People Quilt website labeled the Pick-A-Pocket Purse. It's super easy to make. I whipped 2 up this past weekend in about 4 hours time. I varied mine a bit, putting more stitching on the bag handles to give it a better feel and more stability.
And don't you just love the fabrics?!!! The one on the right is fabic from the RJR Fabrics collection titled "Love & Liberty". I love this collection. I may have to get some of the other fabrics in the line to make a couple more of these cute little bags. The fabric on the left is fabric that I put together from my stash. Love it to, and I'm glad I found somewhere to use it. That bag will go to my Mother for Mother's Day - won't she be surprised!!!!
Well, I'm off again. I'll either be Quilting or Baking - or BOTH!!!! But I'll be back to share!!