Becka's blog

Not too much of note going on around here this week. I've been working on a quilt for the new baby girl and Rob is knitting her an afghan, but it's doubtful that either one of these projects will be completed before her expected arrival. Megan is scheduled for a C-section on Valentine's Day. She is having frequent doctor visits and tests and so far has been doing very well. Drew had already arrived by this point. We are thankful that this little one isn't following in her big brother's footsteps in that regard. We will appreciate your prayers for continued good health throughout the remainder of the pregnancy.

I have finished up a couple of little girly projects, including:

Two more pink blankets:

A mesh bag for all the little socks that tend to get lost in the wash. (When Megan was a baby Rob came home from work one afternoon and when he changed clothes he discovered he had worn a shirt with a baby sock in the armpit all day.) I saw the idea on Pinterest but there were no instructions so I just had to come up with my own spin-off.

This little "toy" is like one I made for Ryan that he has really enjoyed playing with. It's just two pieces of flannel with a piece of crinkly plastic cut from an empty baby wipe container sewn inside. Babies seem to love hearing the noise from crinkly things. Ryan kept wanting to play with the baby wipe container so I thought I'd make him a toy from an old one. The plastic is a little hard to stitch. I found that it helped to put strips of tissue paper on top of the plastic and then it was much easier to stitch.

My dear husband got me a big bag of shelled pistachios last week so I made a batch of these cookies. They are really tasty and are a pretty Christmas cookie with the red cranberries and the green from the pistachios.

I have a question for the quilters who read my blog. I am using a spray adhesive to "baste" the layers of my quilt together this time. Have any of you used this technique before? So far it seems to be working very well.

Becka

For several months now I have seen recipes on the internet for making English Muffins. In fact, my friend Carrie had a post about making English Muffins recently. I think her recipe is the same as mine. (I'm not the Mrs. L she mentions though.:) I remember making these many years ago using tuna cans for shaping the muffins. I found recipes on Pinterest using canning rings for shaping the muffins and also read about just cutting them out and not using any rings. I decided to go for the simpler route and try not using the rings. The muffins turned out surprisingly well and I was pleased that I didn't have to purchase or come up with some kind of rings! I actually combined several recipes that I have found. Here is what I used:

English Muffins

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp. honey
2 tsps. salt
3 1/2-4 cups flour (I used half bread flour and half white whole wheat)
2 tsps. yeast
3 Tbsps. soft butter
cornmeal

Mix together the water, milk, honey, and salt. Add 2 cups of flour and yeast. Stir together. Cover and let rise for an hour. Add the butter and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Roll or pat out dough about 1/2 inch thick onto a surface coated with cornmeal. Cut into circles with biscuit cutter or tin can. Let rise until doubled--about 20-30 mins. Cook on a hot (350 degrees) skillet or griddle until they are light brown. Turn just once. These freeze well. Cut or pry open with a fork before freezing for ease of use. These are delicious hot of the griddle or skillet!

Here is a picture of the risen muffins ready to go in the skillet:

Here is a picture of the finished muffins:

They turned out quite tasty. I have made them a couple of times now and we have really enjoyed eating them. They are a bit more tender than the store bought version. The only tricky part is getting the temp of the skillet correct--it's sort of like making pancakes. You have to fiddle with the heat to get the temperature of your skillet just right. The ones pictured above were a little dark, but still pretty tasty. If you have an electric skillet or griddle that might be a good solution.

Becka

Rob and I were busy this fall making a few items for Christmas gifts.

I made several people these sets of kitchen towels and dishcloths:

I also made some Christmas themed insulated mats that can be used under casserole dishes:

Rob knitted flower headbands for Nora and Megan:

He also knitted a couple of shawls that are going to be worn in a campus production of Fiddler on the Roof this spring. Here's one of them:

I made a jungle themed quilt for Ryan but unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the finished quilt. Here's a picture of the layout:

I made these little fleece sleep sacks for Ryan and the new baby girl:

I made another one of these wreaths from an old hymnal:

Jan, one of my faithful readers from Iowa sent me this delicious cookie recipe in a lovely Christmas card. I had some of the little Christmas cupcake liners which fit into the mini muffin tins and decided to use them even though I did make them after Christmas. These cookies are quite tasty and would also work for Valentine's Day or for a shower or tea.

Cherry Miniatures

1 3 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla (I used almond extract)
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
(plus more for decoration)
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used pecans) (almonds might be good too)

Glaze Ingredients:
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
approximately 1 Tbsp. cherry juice

Cream softened cream cheese and butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add combined dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir in cherries and nuts. Place rounded teaspoons of dough in miniature muffin pans that have been greased or lined with miniature cupcake papers. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 mins. or until lightly browned. Remove from pans and allow to cool. Make glaze and spread cupcake tops with it. Decorate with cherries. Makes 3 to 4 dozen.

To make glaze:
Combine sifted powdered sugar with enough of the cherry juice to make a glaze.

Keep this in mind for your next event when you need a pretty, dainty little cookie.

Becka

I've been taking down and putting away Christmas decorations this week and that made me think about a couple of candle tips that might be useful at this time of year. I have a pretty Christmas tea light burner that has a tea light underneath and you put a scented wax disk in the top and it melts. The first year I used it I was concerned about how to remove the wax. It would be very hot and possibly dangerous to remove it while it was melted and it seemed like a pretty messy job to chip out the wax after it hardened. I read somewhere that if you freeze candle wax it is easily removed. It truly is! I just stick the burner in the freezer for a bit and the wax pops right out very easily. This also works for taper candles which have wax melted down into the holders.

Another tip concerns old candles. I had a set of decorative candles on my fireplace mantel for a number of years and they got rather sticky on the outside. I thought I was going to have to throw them out when I read a tip about cleaning them with rubbing alcohol. I tried this using quite a few cotton balls to clean the candles and was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked.

So, if you are facing some candle clean up perhaps these tips will be helpful. I hope all of you are having a wonderfully blessed new year.

Becka

If you are tired of Christmas turkey or ham, I would recommend that you try this recipe. I found it on a delightful blog written by a woman and her daughters. The casserole is similar to lasagna, but easier to put together, in my opinion. I have made it a couple of times and we have really enjoyed it.

I have changed the recipe just slightly, so I will post my version here. Do go read Leila's original post to find out why she calls it Egyptian Lasagna.

Egyptian Lasagna

6 oz. medium egg noodles
2 cups cottage cheese
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
dash of garlic powder
dash of black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. ground beef

Cook noodles, drain, and place in greased 2 quart casserole dish. Brown and then drain ground beef. In food processor process cottage cheese, cornstarch, and about 1/2 cup of the cheese. Spread the cottage cheese mixture on the noodles. Add a layer of meat and the spaghetti sauce, seasonings and then top with the remaining cheddar.Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Let rest for 10-15 minutes and then serve. Can make ahead and refrigerate or freeze. Can add cooked spinach. This amount serves 5-6.

Here are a couple of pictures of the process:

Spreading the cheese mixture on the cooked noodles:

Adding the sauce:

Becka