Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 65 ~

Hi there!  Remember me?  :)  I've been a very bad blogger and absent from blogland for awhile, but I've missed blogging and all my blogging friends! :)

I've had a really hard time balancing everything lately.  First the holidays, then Joy was in the hospital again right after Christmas.  But we were home in time to see the New Year in at home (getting home around 5:00 on New Years Eve.  Then Jason, Luke, Joy, and I all had strep throat. It seems like it's taken awhile to recover completely.  I really want to get back into the swing of blogging again though!


Anyway, I'm going ahead with Pinned it, Made it Monday this evening in the hopes someone may have something to link.

This week, I want to share the Pinterest-inspired gift that Joy gave me for Christmas.  It's a grater turned earring holder.  I love it!  And it works beautifully.  I use it to hold the earrings I wear most often.  Just give it a coat of paint and that's it!  :)

Oh, and she gave me the sweetest note to go along with it!  That made my gift all the more special!  :)

Have you tried something or made something that was Pinterest-inspired?  We'd love to see! Just link your project below!  :)

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I have really missed sharing family photos with you, so I want to come back with some of those in the next day or two.  And I really have missed joining Joy on her Faithful Friday posts, so I want to try to make those a priority......beginning this Friday!  :)

Oh, and one more thing....I'm trying to decide whether to continue with Pinned it, Made it Mondays.  Is it something you enjoy?  If so, I will continue.  :)  If not, then I will just put my time and energy into regular family, home, and decorating blogging.   I'd love to hear your thoughts on your favorite thing here!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥ 

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 64 ~

Pinned it, Made it! Monday during the Christmas season is definitely going to be my favorite!  I love fall, but I love Christmas best of all!  I love seeing all the homes decorated warm and cozy for Christmas.  And what better place than Pinterest to inspire us to create Christmas decor and gifts!


This week I'm showing you another primitive style candy cane I have been wanting to try out!  I found it on the internet somewhere and thought I pinned it, but can't find it now.  Anyway, it's easy to do and turned out cute!

Supplies needed:

plastic candy canes (found mine at Dollar Tree)
twine (or jute it's sometimes called)
pieces of faux greenery and berries (I cut mine off some larger sprigs)
raffia
glue gun

Directions:

With my glue gun, I started at the bottom of the candy cane, securing the twine and continued wrapping it tightly around making sure to cover all the candy cane, finishing up at the curved end by cutting the twine and gluing it in place.  I then hot glued my little pieces of greenery and berries and then tied a raffia bow around them (I also glued the bow down a bit as well).

That's it!  I want to make more! I love these!

Okay...now it's your turn to show me your lovely Pinterest Christmas creations!

Have a wonderful week!  I plan to be back with Christmas decor pictures on Wednesday or Thursday!

♥ Tammy ♥

Pinned it, Made it! Monday & More

Good morning everyone!

I'm so sorry that I failed to pop in here and let you know that I'm taking two weeks off from Pinned it, Made it! Monday, that being yesterday (November 25th) and next Monday as well (December 1st).  I will be back at it on Monday, December 8th.

I really appreciate my blogging friends!  Thanks for hanging with me and not giving up on me during my time away from regular blogging.  I have much to share and hope to get back at it after our vacation this week.  We're in Alabama for the week of Thanksgiving.

I hope you and your family have a Blessed Thanksgiving!  :)

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 63 ~

Good Monday morning! :)

I'm wondering how many folks out there in blogland have already decorated for Christmas? We put up our big tree the weekend after Halloween and the rest of my Christmas decor went up in the two weeks following! We love Christmas around here and because it takes awhile to get it all out and we want plenty of time to savor each moment and enjoy it all, we start early! I can now say that we are fully enjoying the coziness of the twinkling lights in the evenings. And I LOVE it! :) Christmas is my favorite!!!


Today for Pinned it, Made it! Monday, I'm going to share something that I probably shared at some point on my blog (awhile back) although I can't seem to find it. Since I haven't shared it at least on Pinned it, Made it! Monday before and I tried nothing else new this week from Pinterest, I'm going to share it with you today! :)

They are prim (or grungy if you prefer) candy canes.

I started with the candy canes you can pick up at Dollar tree like these:

First I tea stained my homespun and then cut them into strips (I think mine were about 1/4 to 1/2" wide.)   I used muslin and red striped/ticking homespun. First I covered the candy cane in the muslin fabric and then went back and added the red ticking fabric leaving a space in between each wrapping for the muslin to show through. Just add glue at the start and then at the finish.

I have them all on the Christmas tree in the Cedar Loft.  Jason and I  also made those twig stars...

They're really easy and they are so prim and cute for decorating around the house or hanging on the Christmas tree. I even bundled some together with greenery and berries and gave them away as gifts.

I just found another package of the unopened candy canes from Dollar Tree, so I'm going to try something a little different. I'll see how it turns out and maybe share it next time.

And now it's youur turn, my friend! I can't wait to see all the Christmas projects! Oh Pinterest is full of them right now! So link those projects up.... :)

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful week! :)

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 62 ~

Good morning friends!  It's already the beginning of another week.  We have a busy week planned but I'm expecting it to be a good one!  I hope yours is too!

It's getting to be that time of year when we are in the kitchen cooking and baking more so I can't wait to see some of those Pinterest projects.  :)

This week for Pinned it, Made it! Monday, I'm sharing a recipe I tried out and served to my family this past week.  It's called Crowd-Pleasing Taco Salad.

Here's the original pin:

Source

Crowd-Pleasing Taco Salad Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 medium head iceberg lettuce, torn
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 can (2-1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup taco sauce
1 package (10-1/2 ounces) corn chips

Directions

In a large saucepan, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the ketchup, oregano, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, olives and beef mixture.  Combine mayonnaise and taco sauce; pour over salad and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with corn chips.  Serve immediately.  Yield:  14-16 servings.

**Variation**  To adapt taco salad recipe (for camping, etc..), cook the ground beef at home until no longer pink.  Combine lettue, cheese and diced tomatoes in a resealable bag.  On site, I simmer the meat with a can of chili beans, then add a packet of taco seasoning with water.  Come time to eat, top tortilla chips with the meat/bean mixture and other fixings.

**Can also use salsa instead of the homemade taco sauce mixture.**

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I made ours with the taco seasoning pkg and chili beans with the meat.  So I didn't use the ketchup, oregano, chili powder, salt and pepper.  

For the dressing/sauce, I did mix the mayonnaise and the taco sauce, but I also put salsa on the table for anyone to use that wanted that extra spicy punch.

Oh, and I left out the tomatoes because Jason always picks them out and the rest of us are fine with or without them.  And make sure to add the fritos at the last minute so they won't get soggy.  :)

This recipe was really good!  Jason kept telling me it was good....so I think we have a winner.  I will definitely be making it again! 

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If you have a Pinterest project to share, you can link your project below.  And thank you, whether you're stopping by to read and enjoy, or whether you're linking your own project!

Have a wonderful week!  :)

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 61 ~

Hi there!  :)

It's so hard to believe yet another week has slipped by me.  I've had the best intentions of doing at least 3 posts a week, but so many things have kept me away and time flies!  Thanks for not giving up on me!  :)



Anyway.....I do have a Pinned it, Made it! Monday post to share.  :)

Just this evening, I made an apple crisp.  It's a combined Pinterest recipe with a little twist of my own.

The original pin:

Source

Ingredients

4 medium tart cooking apples sliced (4 cups)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup quick-cooking or old fashioned oats

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Serve with ice cream if desired.

Directions

• 1Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.
• 2Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
• 3Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.

We started with dried apples, and barely covered them with water.  Added 1 and 1/2 cup sugar and sprinkled in cinnamon, probably about 2- 3 Tbsp. 

Let this come to a boil.  Turn down heat to low-medium, keeping an eye on the apples and stirring them often. 

 Let them cook down until they are soft and most of the water has cooked off and they are thickened.  I didn't time this but it probably took at least 30 minutes.

Then I mixed the above recipe (minus the apples) in a bowl while the apples were cooking. 

When they were done, I sprayed an 8" square glass casserole dish with Pam, then spread the apples with the left over syrupy water in the dish.  

*I then added 1/4 cup of orange juice and mixed with the apples*.

  Then I crumbled the above mixture over the top and baked in the oven for 30 minutes (and topping was golden brown).

It was delicious served warm with ice cream.  

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If you have a Pinterest project you've tried out and would like to share, just link up below!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 60 ~

This week for Pinned it, Made it! Monday I'm sharing a favorite around our house.  I can't really say that I found it on Pinterest or even the internet, although there are recipes for homemade donuts all over the internet.  I make them the way my mama always did and they're easy!
Homemade Donuts
Ingredients:
Canned biscuits (or homemade) powdered sugar water cocoa (optional) Vegetable oil

Roll up your sleeves cause this is SO hard!  :) I always use canned biscuits (the jumbo ones)....the bigger the donut the better!  :) I just pull the biscuit apart in the middle with my fingers in a nice round shape while my oil is heating on medium heat in a pot on the stove.

When the oil is heated well, just drop the biscuits in and turn them over when they start to puff up and turn lightly brown.   It doesn't take long for them to lightly brown on each side, so keep a close watch.  When both sides are fluffy and lightly brown, remove and place on a paper towel lined plate.

If you have a helper, you can have them mixing up your icing.  Jason likes to help me with ours!  If not, I would probably have it mixed beforehand.

Icing
Start with about 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of water....not too much. It's best to just add by tablespoons because you want it to be a thick paste consistency.  Too much water makes it runny and it doesn't stick to the donut well.  You can always add more powdered sugar if you get too much water.  
If you want chocolate glazed donuts, just add about a level tablespoon of cocoa to the above mixture.  It doesn't take alot of cocoa either because it will be bitter with too much.
Glaze donuts while hot.

We like the plain glazed best, but Luke wanted a few chocolate so we had to make Little Emperor happy.  :)

ENJOY!   *********************************************************
Thanks to those that stop by weekly to check out the Pinterest projects and a big thank you to those that link up your awesome projects!  I can't wait to see what you've been up to....link up below!  :)
Have a great week!

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 59 ~

I know it's Tuesday, but I guess better a day late with Pinned it, Made it! Monday than to skip all together!  We spent 4 days out of town (in Alabama) and then Luke got sick when we got home and also had an allergic reaction to something.  He's on the mend, but I'm just getting the chance to sit down at my computer to do a post.  How's all my blogging friends?  Even if you don't see me around, I think about you!

This week for Pinned it, Made it! Monday, I'm sharing a pumpkin idea.  I'm pretty sure I came across this while browsing Pinterest and just didn't pin it at the time.  I saw it on the internet somewhere!  :)  When I saw it and showed Luke, he made up his mind right then and there that this year that was what he wanted to do with a pumpkin.  They used Mr. Potato Head parts to decorate a pumpkin!

 So we were both thrilled when we saw an adorable Mr. Potato Head pirate kit at the pumpkin patch we visited Saturday.  He picked out his pumpkin and the pirate kit came home with us!  He asked could we decorate it as soon as we got in from Alabama and I'm so glad we did because early Monday morning, he was sick, bless his heart! 

Anyway, here's the kit we used:

With a little help from daddy, he created his pirate pumpkin and gave him the name of  "Captain".  Captain now has a place of honor in our foyer.  He greets folks at the front door.  :)

If you would like to share something you've pinned and made from Pinterest, we'd love to see.  Just link up your project below!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great week!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 58 ~

Remember me?  :)  Gosh, it's been awhile!  We had a GREAT time on our vacation to Disney World.  It was truly magical just as they say! :) We went full force though so we have been trying to catch up on rest and get back to school! I can't wait to share some some photos from the trip with you!

But now it's time for Pinned it, Made it Monday! And this week, I'm not sharing something that I pinned and made but something that I've made and am pinning to my Sweet Treats board because I want to share it with Pinterest World! :)

All the years growing up that we spent going to my Aunt Jo's house every Thanksgiving and Christmas, she would make chocolate pies. Everyone always LOVED her chocolate pies and made sure to save room for a piece. Now she's always been an excellent cook too and we would ask about her pie recipe and she never told for years....always acted really secretive about it. Well, a few years ago, she laughed and shared her "secret recipe". And we couldn't believe it was actually this easy....all those years! Now she also made her own pie crusts and generally I buy store bought, but either way it's good!

Are you ready for it? :)

Aunt Jo's Chocolate Pie

Ingredients (for 1 pie):

1 large box of Chocolate Cook and Serve Pudding
1 can of Pet or Carnation Milk
Whole Milk
Cool Whip (taken out of the freezer so it can thaw a little)
Deep Dish Pie Crust (Homemade or Store Bought)


Yep, that's it! Her "trick" the entire time was adding the Pet or Carnation Milk.

So here's what you do:

Go ahead and bake your pie crusts (whether they are homemade or store bought). The ones I made today were store bought so I baked them according to the directions on the package. After they are done, let them a cool a bit while you're working on the filling for the pies.

In a mixing bowl, pour in your LARGE box of chocolate cook and serve pudding. Fill up a 1 cup measuring cup with the Pet Milk. Then pour what remains of the Pet Milk can in the 1 cup again filling it the rest of the way with whole milk, making it an entire cup again. That gives you two cups so far. Then add 1 cup of regular whole milk. This combination makes 3 cups of the Pet Milk/Whole Milk Combo. Stir well.

Now here's the hard part! Haha! You cook it in the microwave! :) Really!  In the microwave! 

Cook on high for 2 minutes. Stir.

Cook on high for 2 more minutes. Stir.

Cook on high for 2 more minutes. Stir.

Cook on high for 1 more minute. Stir.

And now it's ready to pour into your (somewhat) cooled pie shell. Now you will want to wait and add your cool whip closer to serving time. So after you pour the filling in the crust, tear off a piece of plastic wrap and place over the chocolate filling portion only, trying to push out as many bubbles as you can. This keeps it from getting a skim on top. You can turn the plastic wrap back on the edges so that it's not touching the pie crust at all, only on the filling part.

Then closer to time for serving, add your cool whip. This can be the night before, two hours before, or 30 minutes before. I've done it all of these ways but I seem to prefer the 2 hours or so before or even less if need be.

Refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Now you know my Aunt Jo's secret chocolate pie recipe! :)

If you would like to participate in Pinned it, Made it Monday, just link up your Pinterest project below! And thank you in advance!

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By the way, the pies I made today (I made two of them) were for Jason's birthday celebration. His birthday is tomorrow (Monday the 14th).  So I'd also like to wish my hubby a Happy Happy Birthday! He's turning 53!   I'm so blessed he's mine! Thank you, Jason, for everything you do!  I love you honey! :)

And thank YOU for stopping by today!  Have a wonderful week!  :)

 

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 56 ~

I have been telling myself that I will do better each week with updating my blog and before I know it, a week has passed again!  And my Faithful Fridays....no excuse!  I am going to try to do so much better!  Time truly flies!

First of all, I want to thank everyone that participated in Pinned it, Made it Monday last week.  We had a great party.  I thoroughly enjoyed all those projects!



This week I'm sharing a quick and easy project but a great idea......ice cream on a stick!

Here's the original pin:

Source

This was a last minute project as we were only trying a few (not for a party) and so I used what I had on hand.  I love the multicolored sprinkles, but all we had in our pantry was green sprinkles, so that's what we used.  :)  And I didn't have ice cream spoons, so we used craft sticks.  I can see where the ice cream spoons would be a little sturdier as they are wider at the base and shorter which adds more strength.  The craft sticks worked fine as long as we didn't stick them too far into the ice cream.  And I should have chilled mine longer so they were firmer before rolling them, but they still worked okay.

Ice Cream Scoop on a Stick

Make multiples of these scoops-on-a stick and you won't have to spoon ice cream, one serving at a time, in the middle of a party.  Using a small (1 1/2 inch) ice cream scoop, dole out balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Insert a craft spoon into each, and place in the freezer.  Chill until hardening.  Roll scoops in sprinkles, toasted coconut, or crushed nuts or candies, and store them in the freezer on a freshly lined baking sheet.

Here's ours:

It's your turn to link up a project......go ahead.....Inspire us!  :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!  

♥ Tammy ♥

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 55 ~

Monday means it's Pinned it, Made it! Monday time!



This week I have a yummy recipe to share.  This is most definitely one I will be making again and again and it will probably make its way to our Christmas dinner menu as well.  I make a corn casserole, but I like this one better!

Source

Now in one place on this pin, it mentioned eggs and no cheese, but I added the two eggs plus the one cup of cheese.  So I'm going to list the recipe exactly like I made it.

Corn Casserole 

1 box jiffy corn mix
1 can cream style corn
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
2 eggs
1 stick butter
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all together, adding the sour cream last.  Bake at 350 degrees about 45 to 55 minutes (depending on your oven).  I baked mine for 45 minutes and finished it up in the microwave for another 3 minutes or so.

Can double or triple if needed.

And I almost forgot to get a picture of mine, so please excuse the already dipped into corn casserole dish!

Yummy!  Loved this!

Your turn!  This is your personal invitation to link up your Pinterest project below!  And thank you in advance for linking up or just stopping by today!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

~ Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~

Hi friends!  I meant to let you know last week that I was taking this week off from Pinned it, Made it! Monday since it was Labor Day.  We have been out of town since last Thursday and just back home late this evening!


I'll be back on schedule with Pinned it, Made it Monday next Monday.  And I'll be back soon with another blog post!

Hope you all have a blessed week!  Thanks so much for stopping by on Mondays!  Sorry I forgot to let you know last week!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

 

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 54 ~

Gosh, has it been a week since I posted?  Sure doesn't seem like it.  I'll try to do better this week!  Here it is time already again for Pinned it Made it Monday!


Most of the time on my Pinterest pins, I just happen to run across something online or something someone else has pinned that looks good and I'll pin it.  But this time, I actually went looking for something in particular to pin.  I was looking for a good old-fashioned fried apple pie recipe.  And I found one!  :)

We worked this past week gathering apples from our apple tree, peeling, coring, cutting them up, and drying them in our deyhdrator.  After all that work, we wanted to reap the yummy benefits, so we set aside some time Saturday afternoon to make these old-fashioned fried apple pies from our dried apples.

I pinned Granny's Fried Apple Pies.  These looked like the real deal.  :)

Source

Granny’s Fried Apple Pies

Print

Prep time

1 hour 30 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

2 hours

Delicious, old-fashioned fried apple pies, made the way Granny used to make them.

Serves: About 30 pies

Ingredients

• 4 bags (6 oz) dried apples
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 heaping cups self-rising flour
• ¾ cup Crisco shortening
• 1½ – 2 cups ice water
• Additional flour for mixing dough
• 2 cups Crisco shortening

Instructions

For apples:

1. Put apples in a large pot or Dutch oven and add enough water to almost cover.
2. Stir in two cups sugar.
3. Turn heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
4. Turn heat down just a little so apples continue to simmer.
5. Break up apples with spoon as they cook.
6. Cook until apples are tender and juicy, stirring frequently. You may need to add more water as they cook. Do not allow the apples to get dry.
7. Remove apples from heat and allow to cool.

For dough:

1. Start with 4 heaping cups of self-rising flour and cut in ¾ cup Crisco shortening with a fork or your fingers. Mix well until shortening is fully incorporated into the flour.
2. Add 1½ cups of ice water to flour, and add additional ice water as needed to get all the dry flour mixed in. Mix with a fork until dough is sticky.
3. Dip hands in flour and sprinkle additional flour onto dough so that you can knead it. Use additional flour as needed to be able to knead the dough until smooth and non-sticky.
4. Pinch off pieces of dough to make balls slightly smaller than ping pong balls.
5. Roll each ball out until thin.
6. Add a heaping spoonful or two of apples to one side of rolled dough. After the first couple, you will learn exactly how much apples to place on the dough. If you put too much, the dough will not cover without tearing.
7. Dip your finger in water and rub around the edges of the dough where the apples are.
8. Carefully fold the dough over and press the edges together lightly to seal.
9. Using a fork, crimp the edges to fully seal.
10. Once all the pies are ready, add about ½ cup Crisco shortening to a large skillet and heat on medium-high.
11. Once the grease is hot enough to sizzle from a drop of water, carefully lay two or three pies in the skillet.
12. Cook about a minute to a minute and half on each side until they are golden brown.
13. Lay pies on a large platter lined with paper towels and serve immediately.
14. Pies will keep for a few days but are best eaten within two days.

And so we dove in.....Jason, Joy, Luke and me.  And we made a mess!  Working with flour and shortening and then frying in grease is never tidy, right?  And from start to finish, we worked almost 4 hours.  But then again, we didn't realize our recipe would make so many....we made 50 fried apple pies!  Next time, we'll cut that recipe, make less at a time, and cut our preparation/cooking time.

But was it worth it?  You bet!  They are D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.!

We started with 3 qt. bags of dried apples and followed this recipe.  Almost exactly.  First of all, we put too much water, so had to wait for them to cook down, which made ours really more like a thicker applesauce consistency rather than a little chunky.  Next time we'll make sure we barely cover the apples.  And then, of course, you need to keep tasting to make sure you get enough sugar.  We also added cinnamon to our liking as well as brown sugar.  Yummy!

Your turn! :) You can link your Pinterest project below! We'd love to see!

 Have a wonderful week!

 ♥ Tammy ♥