Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

All I have to say about this recipe is WOW! This is one of the best desserts.  It is super easy and it has the best of so many things.  Toffee, chocolate chips and walnuts.  I found it on Brown Paper Packages.  You need to make this ASAP! So good! I did a couple of things different but it's basically the same.

Here is another picture close up.  Look at that yummy dessert!

Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars:
2 1/3 c. flour
2/3 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. butter, slightly softened
2 c. milk chocolate chips
1 c. coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 3/4 c. toffee bits (the bag I bought only had 1 1/3 c. and it was fine)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour and sugar together.  Cut in butter till it resembles coarse crumbs.  Add beaten egg.  Mix well.  Mix in 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips and nuts.  Reserve 1 1/2 c. of that mixture and press the rest of it in a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake 10 minutes.  Pour sweetened condensed milk on top.  Top with toffee bits.  Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top and then remaining chocolate chips.  Bake 25-30 minutes.

Birthday Party Candy Bar

My husband's birthday party was last weekend and we had a lot of fun.  One of the things that I thought would be cute was a candy bar where people could pack up a bag of candy as their little treat for coming to the party.  But I didn't want just any candy bar.  Since it was my husband's birthday party I picked out some of his favorites and then listed them on a chalkboard I had made.  I thought it was a big hit.  How can it not be when chocolate and sugar is involved!

White Painted Table

I got this table from a local DI for $15.  I loved the shape and style of it but it was a grimy, scuffed up, nasty mess.

Here is the before.  Not very pretty at all.  It needed some TLC!

Here is a photo while I was painting.  I did a couple coats of water based primer from KILZ and lots of coats of white semi-gloss paint (Olympic has a plain white paint for $13/can.  It worked just fine.  I would recommend it).

And the after.  This is in my front room where there really isn't much going on right now.  I am planning things for that room but this is really one of the first things I've done in there.  Gotta start somewhere!

Hubby's Birthday Breakfast

I made a special birthday breakfast for my hubby's birthday today.  It included Easy Potato and Bacon Breakfast Casserole from Our Best Bites, a revised version of homemade Clone of a Cinnabon cinnamon rolls from All Recipes, juice and strawberries.  The casserole is something I made before and loved and the cinnamon rolls were a recipe from my sister-in-law that were INCREDIBLE.  Thank you Chelsea!

Here's another picture of the cinnamon rolls.  Yummm....

And even more up close.  They are seriously the best.  I told my husband that this is my cinnamon roll recipe from here on out.  What's the point in trying any other recipe when you've already found the best? Here are the recipes for the casserole and cinnamon rolls.


Easy Potato and Bacon Breakfast Casserole:
4 c. Potato cubes, completely thawed (I used the potatoes with the peppers and onions)
1 12 oz. pkg. bacon (I used pre-cooked bacon from Costco)
1 1/2 c. pepper jack cheese
1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3 eggs
1 c milk
1/2 t. kosher salt
10 rounds of freshly ground pepper

Place the thawed potato cubes in a greased 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle with both cheeses.  Cook bacon in pan.  Set aside.  In same pan cook green onions for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.  Spread bacon and onions over cheese mixture.  Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper and whisk.  Pour over top and refrigerate 7-8 hours or overnight.  When ready to cook preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 40-45 minutes.


Revised recipe of Clone of a Cinnabon:
Dough:
1 c. 2% warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 c. butter, melted
4 1/2 c. bread flour (not regular flour)
1 t. salt
1/2 c. sugar
2 1/2 t. yeast

Filling:
1 c. brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 T. cinnamon
1/3 c. butter softened

Frosting:
1 3 ounce package cream cheese, softened (I used 4 ounces)
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. confectioners sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1/8 t. salt

Combine warm milk and yeast in mixer.  Let sit for a few minutes. Add sugar, melted butter, salt and eggs.  Mix well.  Add flour and knead for 7 minutes with dough hook. Put in bowl, cover and let rise in warm place for 1 hr or until doubled.  Roll out onto floured surface until it measures 16x21 inches.  Spread butter on.  Mix brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over dough.  Roll up dough starting on the long side and then cut into 12 pieces.  Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  Now at this point you can either let them rise again for an hour and then bake them or you can cover them and put them in the fridge overnight.  I wanted to make them the night before our breakfast to make it easy the next day so I covered them up, stuck them in the fridge and pulled them out in the morning.  If you want them to be in the fridge over night take them out the next morning, cover them with a dish towel and let them raise for another hour to give them a chance to raise a bit more and then bake at 400 degrees for 11 minutes.  While rolls are baking mix together frosting ingredients and spread over warm rolls.

Chocolate Cake in a Mug

I found this recipe for chocolate cake that you make in a mug in the microwave, so it takes about 10 minutes total to make and bake the cake.  I didn't have high hopes, but decided to try it anyways.  Super super yum.  It turned out like lava cake, but was very easy to make, and didn't take much time at all.  You should so try this, though it does say on the recipe that this is a dangerous cake because your now only minutes away from chocolate cake any time of the day or night.  It says to make it in a mug, but you would have to have a very large mug, so I made it in a medium large ramekin.  It made enough for Stephen and I to share.  So so good, and I'm not even that big of a fan of chocolate.

Chocolate Cake in a Mug

- 1/4 cup sugar                  - 1 egg

- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour      - 3 Tbsp. canola oil

- 2 Tbsp. baking cocoa           - 3 Tbsp. 2% milk

- 1/8 tsp. salt                  - 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract

- 3 Tbsp. semisweet chocolate chips

Optional topping: caramel

Combine sugar, flour, cocoa and salt in a small bowl. Whisk the egg, oil, milk and vanilla in another bowl. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.
Transfer to a 14-oz. microwave-safe mug coated with cooking spray. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 1/4 minutes to 1 1/2 minutes or until top appears dry. Cool for 1 minute. Serve with toppings of your choice.  (Caramel is very good on this, but it's also good by itself.)

Diaper Tricycle Cake

I saw this diaper tricycle cake a couple years ago online, and had wanted to try making it, but didn't have a reason.  One of my friends just had a baby boy, so for her baby shower I decided to make it.  I really liked how it turned out, and it was really easy to make.  The girl who did the youtube tutorial made it really easy to follow.  Fun!  If you want to try making it here is the link.

Slipcover Lamp Shade

I wanted to cover this not very cute, grey shade that I got for sale and I found just the tutorial for that job at the House of Smiths.

Here is the before. Blah! Looks like it belongs in a Best Western.

To ta-da! And I can switch it out to different covers as the room changes. The House of Smiths glued some twill tape at the top so you can't really see the top of the original shade but I didn't do that.