The Last Zucchini Bread Recipe You Will Ever Need

I found this gem of a recipe and had to share it. I got it from allrecipes.com. The link goes directly to the original recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Optional Crumb Topping:
Mix together: 1/2 c. regular oats, 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/4 c. flour, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 c. butter.
Let bread bake for 20 minutes. Pull it out and sprinkle on the crumb mixture. Then let it finish baking. This may add a few extra minutes to your total bake time. But it's worth it =)

Witch's Wreath

Halloween is almost here!!! To get the party started I made a witch-themed wreath. Here is a short tutorial if you feel inspired to create one of you own. (this is the link that gave me the idea: http://indiefixx.com/2010/10/19/yarn-it-up/: )

 

 These are the materials I started with. However, I later realized I needed a few extra things. So, what I would suggest starting with is:

-base for wreath (I used a foam pipe covering from the hardware store. I might suggest a regular foam wreath base.)

-yarn to cover wreath

-duct tape
-felt, ribbon, thread, glitter, fabric, or anything else you may need to decorate your wreath
-glue gun
-scissors

1. If you decided to use a foam pipe covering, you want to play with it to get a measurement of how big your wreath will be. Cut the tube to your preferred size. Then wrap your wreath base with the yarn. It is easiest to roll the base and hold the thread. This may not work if you use a real wreath base.
 

 2. When you get close to the end of the tube, tape the ends together with duct tape. Finish wrapping your wreath, then hot glue the end of the yarn to the wreath. Try to hide the end under the surrounding yarn.

3. Cut a paper design before cutting the felt. It will make your life a lot easier.

4. Hot glue the felt peices together and trim the edges. Add any other embellishments. I also cut out card board to glue on the back of the hat to help keep its form.

 5. Because I want to use this wreath for various holidays, I used Velcro to attach the witch hat. 

 6. Finally, I used a ribbon to hang the wreath. I just double-knotted each end of the ribbon instead of gluing it on, so I can switch out colors for different holidays. Good Luck!

A White Skirt

I just had to show off this skirt I made last week. This is the 4th piece of clothing I've made for myself. Most are dresses that I've hidden in my closet. SO this is my first independent project that included a zipper and POCKETS and A LINING!! My second try at zippers and my first attempt at pockets and a lining. Did I mention it is a fitted skirt . . . that actually fits! I proudly wore it Sunday and not one person asked if it was home made. This has been my goal for a while now. So thank you for stopping by!!

How Do I Love Thee

This Sunday, instead of looking for a short sitcom to watch I decided to look at lds.org. I found this sweet, uplifting video. It reminded me that love is much stronger than what is shown in the media today. It is an attitude of faith in others and forgiving each other when we falter. Love is an action word to show "care and sensitivity," to "think the best of each other. Assume the good. Doubt the bad."  It is a great reminder that true love "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." I hope that one day I show others the pure love of Christ, untainted, as I know Christ showed us all when He struggled in the garden of Gethsemane. As Elder Holland puts it, "Jesus Christ is the only lamp by which you can see the path of love and happiness for you and your sweetheart."

Fish Bed for Cats

Bruce's Creation

About a two months ago, Bruce discovered a clever idea for a cat bed. It's a 3D fish with an open mouth that leads to a comfy bed inside. After seeing a few dozen pics of these adorable cat beds, we just had to make it! Little did we know . . .

It was 7pm on a Saturday night when we decided to run down to the fabric store and pick up the pattern and materials needed for the project. Bruce picked the fabric for the body and I helped him match colors for the head and fin. It took us about an hour and a half to decide what we wanted! (The longest Bruce has ever lasted in a fabric store!)

It took a few weeks after that to get the pattern made by Simplicity. It was out of print, so we had to find it online. The first person we ordered it from canceled our order, so we ordered from someone else. Eventually, we got our pattern! Bruce carefully cut out each piece of the pattern, fabric and foam. Next was my turn to sew each piece of fabric to the foam. After sewing the first layer of the head, I was about to loose my cool with that foam! Let me tell you- Don't sew foam unless you have a super-heavy-duty machine! After the head and two fins I gave up! Lucky for Bruce, his sweet mom was much more willing to work on the fish as he directed it. Cheryl sewed the rest of the head, the body, the fins, and then sewed the whole thing together! Super Mom! And so, Plop the Fish was born!

*If you want to make this super cute cat bed, let me know and we will give you a pattern and a simplified version of instructions.

Chocolate Ice Cream Bowls

My wonderful friend Nikki showed me this recipe and then we tried making them together. Getting started was a little tricky. Here is the website to follow the tutorial: http://www.bakerella.com/pudding-cups/

Here are a few suggestions:
*chocolate cool as much as possible, otherwise, the balloons will pop and get chocolate everywhere!
*any kind of chocolate works. It doesn't have to be dipping chocolate.
*water balloons work just fine for this project.
*we sprayed half of the balloons with cooking spray but not the other half and they all came out the same.

Have FUN!!!

I'm Alive!

I know I kinda stopped posting very abruptly, but life has been a little hectic lately. School started - it's my first semester back after 2years and I'm taking 15 credit hours . . . I thought I could do it all. Homework, cook for a hungry husband, be social with friends, keep up posting on the blog, sew cute projects. I've come to conclusion that it's just a matter of time management. In other words, I can do it all! (insert eye roll here) Anyhow, I have a list of pictures (of the beach), recipes (involving chocolate) and fun ideas (more chocolate!) I want to post so be excited because there will be more to come. Meanwhile, enjoy these music videos from Bruce . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RTRWboz0OA

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTAr5dV1rYM