Banana Cream Pie

I'm all about the pies, no cakes.  I'm all about the pies, no cakes.  Thanksgiving is a time for pies, or so I hear so that's what I'm making.  Of course nothing will do but that I make a banana cream pie for my sister.  And if my dad was here I'd be making a lemon pie.  My mom isn't picky she loves pies, but I would probably need to make her a pumpkin pie.

As pies go Banana Cream Pie is easy to make, yeah!  Once again thank you Betty Crocker for your wonderful recipes.

Ingredients: (I used an 8-inch pie shell recipe for a 9-inch pie because I don't like it to overflow)

1/2 C Sugar
3 tbsp Corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
2 C milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1tbsp butter, softened
1 tbsp vanilla
9 or 8 inch graham cracker crust

First you mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a sauce pan.  Then slowly stir in the milk.  Next you cook it over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.

Or rather I tried to stir constantly as I gathered the ingredients for the next step which requires you to have the eggs yolks prepared, oops.  Anyway boil it for one minute then stir in half of the hot mixture gradually into the egg yolks (yeah didn't realize it was supposed to be just the yolks until I went to write this which might explain why it didn't come out as smooth as usual) then blend into mixture still left in the pan.  Boil for one minute.  Remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla then cover with a piece of saran wrap and let cool to room temperature.

While you let the mixture cool, slice up two ripe bananas and line pie crust with the banana slices.  Once mixture is cool, pour evenly into crust and refrigerate until needed.

Even though I forgot and used the whole egg it still came out tasting like a banana cream pie, but just in case I will have to make another one for my sister if she doesn't like this one.  Note to self:  don't try to cook multiple things at the same time.  Wish me luck.

Cherry Pie Sugar Cookies

Trolling Pinterest the other day I came across a recipe for mini cherry pies with a sugar cookie crust AKA cherry pie cookie cups.  Now I'm not much for pies myself, but my father-in-law loves cherry pie so I thought this would be a good idea to make for Thanksgiving this year.  I always worry though.  It just seems anytime I try to cook for anyone else it always turns out bad.  It's kind of my curse.  I should probably just stick to a regular old cherry pie, but what would be the fun in that, right?

Here goes nothing.

So I start by making a basic sugar cookie dough, thank you Betty Crocker.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C Powdered Sugar
1 C Butter, softened
1 Egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

I start by mixing together the flour, baking soda, and nonexistent cream of tartar (didn't have any so I just left it out??) in a small bowl and set it aside.  Next up I mixed the powdered sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, and almond extract (this stuff smells awesome, really, really awesome) by hand.  Yup you heard me, by hand.  Turns out I had forgotten my mixer at my sister's house the other day when we whipped up some shortbread for a christmas party.  Seams kinda weird having a christmas party before Thanksgiving, but her school is weird in general so I guess it works out.  Cue curse of the can't cook for others variety.

So back to mixing the ingredients by hand.  Just mix it by hand my sister says, no problem.  That's what great grandma always did.  Well she must have had arms of steal.  I mean it was hard.  My arms were killing me.  I called mercy and left the batter a little chunky.  Then I started adding the dry ingredients I previously set aside a little bit at a time and mixed it thoroughly.  After that the dough was divided into two lumps, put into a Ziploc and set in the fridge to firm up for a couple of hours whilst the oven preheated to 350 degrees.  Meantime back at the ranch I whipped up a batch of Banana Cream Pie for my lovely sister, you can find the link for that here.

Two hours later I pulled out the sugar cookie dough, rolled it into two logs and sliced'em up into ten to twelve sections.  Then I rolled the sections into little balls.

 I placed some leftover cupcake liners into a muffin tin and placed a dough ball into each liner. 

 Next up you put the pan into the oven and let it cook for 15 minutes.  Here's the scary part.  After the timer goes off you pull them out and use a spoon to squash the center of each cookie down to make room for the cherry filling.  Fill each cookie with about a tbsp of cherry filling and cook for another 3-5 minutes (it took another 6 minutes for me to make sure the dough was cooked all the way through in the center).

While it finishes cooking, heat up a tbsp of butter and mix it with 1 C of powdered sugar and 1-2 tbsps milk.  You will use this to top your cherry pies when they come out of the oven.  Remove from muffin tin and allow to cool.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Well folks, for better or worse they are done.  I hope they turn out okay.  Of course I tried one to see, but I honestly hate pie, it's too sweet.  These definitely tasted like cherry pie though so I think I'm good to go.  Wish me luck.

Choose Your Own Adventure: A Scarf Tutorial

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...a partridge in a pear tree, but what I really wished he'd given me was a scarf.  These Nebraska winters are COLD!!

Being from sunny California originally I've never had need of a scarf until I came face to face with my first Nebraska winter.  Talk about cold.  I never realized how cold my nose and ears could get.  Regrettably I was forced to purchase my first scarf and I find I actually quite like to wear them now.  I have several sarapis, or old lady wraps as my hubby calls them, in all different colors.  I don't care if I look like an old lady, they keep me warm.

With winter now in full swing I thought I would learn to make my own scarves and make one each for my nieces.

To learn how to make an infinity scarf proceed to Infinity Scarf.  To learn how to make a regular old scarf proceed to DIY Garden Variety Scarf.

Infinity Scarf

Dead End. :(  Unfortunately for me, but good news for you all the tutorials I could find were for making an infinity scarf.  However, I just wanted to make a regular old scarf.   Click here for one such tutorial.

DIY Garden Variety Scarf 

Step 1:  Choose a fabric, something with good pliability.  Unfortunately for monkey girl I picked a nice crisp cotton fabric for her scarf because I knew she would love the plaid pattern, but as it turns out it is not very pliable.  I'm hoping it will get softer with washing. 

Step 2:  Cut said fabric to the desired length and width, making sure to add seam allowance around the edges.  To save yourself time go to substep A.

• A:  Cut your fabric on the fold to save yourself the time of doing two side seams.

Step 3:  With right sides together sew the side seam or seams together.  

To create a fringe look at the ends of the scarf go to step A.  To make a tapered or squared off look to the ends go to step B.

• A:  Turn the tube of fabric right side out.  Iron the fabric and seams flat then sew each end closed three to four inches from the edge.  Then cut vertical slits in the end pieces up to your stitch line for fringe.
  
• B:  Sew one end closed and the other 2/3rds closed.  Turn right side out and either ladder stitch the opening closed or top stitch both sides to hide the closure.

This brings us to the end of our adventure.  Hopefully your scarf turned out as nicely as both of mine.  I hope the girls like them.  Wish me luck.

DIY Dream Catcher

A scream catches in my throat and I sit up in bed, heart racing, eyes wide open.  Beads of sweat drip down my forehead as I look back and forth trying to reconcile the images from my dream...no, nightmare... with the reality of my bedroom. 

If you are anything like me this was a common occurrence for you.  I would have given anything to be rid of those horrible dreams that seem so real while you are asleep.  Once I found out my beautiful nieces sometimes have  nightmares too I thought I would make them one of these, a dream catcher. 

According to Native American culture, dream catchers sort of filter your dreams letting the good ones slip through and catching the bad ones in the web which perish with the first rays of a new day. 

 DIY Dream Catcher

 

 

There are quite a few tutorials out there and not a few pins on this subject as well, but none of the ones I saw really spelled it out the way this you tube video did.  So for a really great video to follow click here.

Step 1:  You will need a metal or other type of hoop, some string or twine for the outside and also some yarn or thread for the inner design.  Optionally you will also need beads or tokens and some feathers.

This is a small metal bangle I bought at the dollar store.  I also found some larger ones at the craft store for really cheap.
 

 

Start off by tying your twine, thread, or in my case some ribbon I had lying about, to your hoop with a standard knot.  You should even double knot it to be sure it doesn't come undone.

 

Step 2:  Start winding your ribbon around and around the hoop, covering all the space with your ribbon.  Note:  it really helps to have your ribbon in a little ball like this so you can easily throw it through the hoop as you go.  As you can see I balled up the ribbon and held it with a hair tie.

 

Here I am half way through.  It took a long time with ribbon and even longer when I did the second one with embroidery floss.  Don't give up, the end result is totally worth it.

 

 

Step 3:  You should now have the hoop completely covered all around.  Once back to the beginning, you will tie both ends together with a knot and you can even create a loop for hanging as I did by tying a knot at the top of the ribbon as well. 

 

Now to start on the inner web design you will need to take your thread or yarn and tie a knot at the top part of the hoop.  This will be the light purple (looks pink) floss in the picture below.

Step 4:  Placing a finger width (or however much you want the space to be for the webbing) between the floss, wrap the floss over the hoop like so.

Bring the floss over and under the hoop and back up through your web.

Pull it tight and you should have a pseudo knot and the beginnings of your web like so.

Repeat, repeat, repeat all the way around back up to the top where you started.  If you can't quite grasp what I mean by my picture then please refer to the video above.  It really does have wonderful instructions.  This is what it should look like up to this point.

Step 5:  You will now repeat the process, but instead of going over and under the hoop you will be going over and under the threading for the outer ring of your web.  Note:  for added flare you can slip some beads or buttons, etc. on the thread as you go.  As a beginner I just wanted to see if I could do it before getting all fancy.

 

Hope that was clear.  This is what the second ring looks like.  The tighter you pull your thread the better.
 

Now keep repeating the process around and around creating ever more rings of webbing until you can't do anymore.  Then simply tie off the last bit with a knot in the center of your work.  Here is what it looks like.
 

 

Now that the basic dream catcher is made, it's time to attach some dangling feathers.  Simply use the thread to tie a knot around the top of the feather and then attach it with a knot to the dream catcher.  I hung two at different lengths.
 

Here is what the finished product looked like. 

Turned out pretty nice.  I hope it works.  Wish me luck.


 

Operation Make My Sister Feel Better

If there is one thing I'm good at, it's making people feel better.  And in my family there always seems to be someone in need of cheering up.  This time it was my sister.  So even though she hung up on me and told me not to come over, I did anyway.  

Commence operation Make My Sister Feel Better.  

The first thing to do when trying to cheer someone up is really think about the things that make them happy.  For my sister that often involves food or Blistex.  So I ran to the store first thing to pick up the ingredients for her favorite meal, steak and cheesy potatoes.  

For the steak you need the best, fillet Mignon which incidentally is hard to find here in Omaha.  I did indeed find some, but it was outrageously expensive and not of very good quality, but it did the trick.  While picking up some potatoes for the cheesy potatoes I passed by the flower section and noticed some uber cheep roses on sale.  What girl wouldn't want to come home and find roses on the kitchen table?  No brainer here, I picked them up and strolled on over to the check stand.

Now before I give you the recipe for this lovely steak marinade I will just say that I don't usually measure things I just pour this in, give it a dash of that, etc.  so bear with me as I try to be as precise as possible.

What you will need (guesstimated amounts):

Fillet Mignon (6oz steaks are a good size) butterflied

1-2 large bottles (16-24oz?) Kikiman's Teriyaki Marinade

2-3 Tbsp Season Salt

1-2 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1-2 Tbsp Onion Powder

2 Tbsp Peppercorns

2-3 Tbsp Honey (optional)

Step 1:  Remove the fat from your meat (keep in mind that a good marbling of the meat is what you want and is not to be cut off as fat), butterfly, and lightly score it to allow for better absorption of the marinade.

Step 2:  Prepare the marinade.  I usually use a marinader, but you could just as easily put the mix into a Ziploc bag.  Pour in enough of the Teriyaki Marinade to cover the steaks, I usually end up using one to two large bottles for four steaks.  Then add your seasonings.  Here is where I just pour away.  You want a good amount of seasoning but don't go overboard.  Throw in a good amount of peppercorns for spice and if you like your marinade sweet add a good amount of honey or brown sugar.  I use honey, probably about two to three tablespoons.

Step 3:  Put the meat into the marinade and marinate for at least 24hours, flipping the meat halfway through.  Note that if you like just a light flavor I would marinate for less time.  The stronger you want the flavor, the longer you would leave it in the marinade.

Step 4:  Pull the meat out of the marinade and grill for best flavor, or pan fry if need be.  Sister likes hers pan fried so that is what we did.  We fried it in some of the marinade for more flavor.

Step 5:  You can also make up some extra marinade to dip your steak if you like extra flavor.  Simply pour some of your marinade into a small saucepan and simmer until slightly thickened.  Serve alongside your meat.

We usually eat our steak with some cheesy potatoes, a family recipe that I will not be giving out today anyway, but you can serve it with any kind of vegetable or potato.  Have fun hope you enjoy the recipe.  Wish me luck in future operations.

DIY Purse From a Pair of Jeans

The Holidays are around the corner and it's time to start thinking about what to get your loved ones for Christmas. I've seen these cool pins on Pinterest on how to make a purse out of an old pair of jeans and I thought, what little girl wouldn't love a purse that looks like jeans. 

Lucky for me I just so happened to have an old pair of jeans and random fabric laying around for the lining. 

Let's get started. 

Here are the sites I used for inspiration:

Site 1, Site 2

DIY Purse From a Pair of Jeans

Step 1:  Line up the waistline front and back, then iron out all the creases. Pin the waistline together so it stays lined up. 

Step 2:  Cut across the jeans just above the crotch line. I whipped out the quilting ruler and marked a line across for better accuracy. 

It should look like this when you are done.

Now looking at this pic you might be thinking that this will make an awfully large purse. Of course those over large satchel purses are kind of in right now, but I decided to make two smaller purses instead. So yeah my butt is big enough to make two purses. Depressing. But on the bright side I get two purses for the price of one. Oh yeah. 

So here I deviated from the other tutorials and cut the jean in half right up the middle so that I could turn it into two purses. Like this.

Back side. 

Then front side. I cut on either side of the zipper on the front cuz I didn't know what to do with it.

Okay now that I have my pieces it's time to make a lining and sew it all together. 

Step 3:  Make a lining by placing your jeans cut-out on top of your lining fabric and cut it out. I left room all around for seam allowance. 

Not sure if you can tell but I lined it up on the fold so there was less to sew later. 

Step 4:  Next up with right sides together sew the sides and bottom of your jeans. Then repeat with the lining. 

You can make a turn by leaving the needle down in the fabric, lifting the pressed foot up then rotating the fabric. Make sure to lower the presser foot before you start sewing again. 

If you want to box the corners like I did, make a triangle in the bottom corners and stitch across.

Repeat on other side and also for the lining. Here they are both done. 

Step 5:  Turn your jean purse right side out and place the lining as is inside of the jeans purse. 

About here is where I realized I had made the lining too big, but as it turns out it looked super cute folded over the top of the bag so I went with it. Just to make it nice I took the lining back out and hemmed the top for a finished look. 

Then I reinserted it. 

Step 6:  Make a strap.  Using the pant leg of the jeans cut out two identical strips.  Yeah this took me awhile because let's face it, I tried to save some time and cut a few corners.  Long story short, take your time and do it right.  I also realized here that the jeans fabric is too tough to easily turn right side out for a strap so...just make finished edges anyway you know how or use another type of fabric.

 

Once you have your strap made it's time to sew the lining and strap to the bag.  With the lining wrong side out place it inside your bag and fold the top down over the bag as seen below.  Then place the strap ends under the lining wherever you want them and pin in place.  This way the raw edges will be concealed under the fold of the lining top.

 

 

As seen above one side of the strap has been placed under the lining fold.  This is where I started stitching around the bag following the hemline on the lining fold.  Stitch all the way around the bag, don't forget to insert the other end of the strap in its place if you didn't already do that. 

 

 

 

It should look like this when finished.  Not gonna lie, the first one took me about two hours and I made a few mistakes, but I was able to whip out the second one in like ten to fifteen minutes.

 

Here they are together.  One for each niece.  Now I just need to grab some accoutrements to decorate them with and let the girls have at it.

 

Next up I'm gonna make them some scarves for the cold weather.  Wish me luck.