Peanut Butter Chewies

When I worked at the IU bookstore in the student union, there was a bakery inside called "Sugar and Spice." They had the most delicious treat...a chewie, a peanut buttery crunchy snack. Kind of like a rice krispie treat but with peanut butter and cereal...to die for. I will have to try this recipe to see if it matches up.                         Peanut Butter Crunchy

Update: 3/25/15
I went down to the IU campus a couple of days ago and had a chewie. They tasted just the same as they did 25 years ago! I made this recipe and it is almost the same. Heavenly.

Faux Chocolate Easter Bunnies

(Update: March 2021  To my surprise looking on Pinterest, Martha Stewart is using this picture for her Easter Decoration pins!)

I was cleaning out my holiday decorations and came across some faux chocolate bunnies that I made a few years ago. I got the idea from Martha Stewart of course!

  Faux Chocolate Bunnies

Handmade Mittens from Old Sweaters

My co-worker Connie gave me this idea about making mittens from old wool sweaters. She has been so sweet and has found me many sweaters at resale shops with unique designs. First, the sweater is washed in the hottest temperature and put into the dryer. The sweaters are supposed to shrink so they become felted. They don't become unraveled and they are warmer too. Each mitten is lined with fleece. There are actually 8 parts to this mitten that need to be sewn.  As soon as I get enough made, I will be selling them for $20 per pair. They are wool and fleece lined. My husband says they are very warm as he has already worn his outdoors for a long period of time.#kristensmittens

Kristen's famous Challah recipe!

For the past 15 years, I've been making Challah that all of my friends and family rave about.  When making the bread, I add additional flour until I feel it is the right dough consistency, not sticky. I use my Kitchenaid Mixer. Add enough flour so that it doesn't stick to the bowl when being kneaded with the bread attachment. Make sense? Hope so!

Kristen's Challah Bread

5 1/2- 6 cups flour ( start out with 5 1/2 cups)

2/3 cups sugar

1 t. salt

2 packages of yeast

3 eggs - Put one aside for glaze

1/4 cup real butter

1-1/2 cups boiling water

Put water and butter into a saucepan and bring to boil. 

I use my KitchenAid Mixer. In the mixing bowl, place all dry ingredients PLUS 2 eggs. Turn on mixer to slowest speed and then slowly add boiling water/butter to dry mixture. Kneed for 5 minutes adding more flour if dough looks sticky.

Let rise for 1 hour.  Punch down to release air.

Separate into 2 balls.  Then separate each ball into 3 sections.

Roll each section into approx. 14" strands.

Put strands on greased (cooking spray) cookie sheet

Start in the middle and braid out. Do the same for other side

Let rise another hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat 1 egg an brush on top of each braided loaf

Bake 25-35 minutes or under golden brown. Enjoy! this bread is also good for French Toast!

Pumpkin Paver

This was a project that I did with my daughters' 4-H group. I got the idea from another pin on Pinterest, sorry, there was no one on link to give credit. I mixes two colors of orange using acrylic paint. I used wine corks for stems and glued on top with E6000 Glue.  The crescent pavers were .57 each at Menards.

Recycled Halloween Pumpkin Lightbulb ornament

  I recently came across my lightbulb pumpkin ornament I made. Take an old lightbulb and clean all of the dust off of it. I used acrylic paint and a small flat edged brush to paint on the orange color and small detail brush for eyes, nose and mouth. I brushed on a water based sealer at the end and tied with raffia.

Cake Walk Cake

 Looking for a nice design? This was a big hit at the cake walk at my girls school. It was taken right away! All I did was bake a chocolate cake from a box mix and frosted it with canned frosting. I decorated it with M and M's, made into flowers. I happened to have a plate to match too. Chocolate overload!