Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Best Brownies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs and 1 tsp vanilla.  Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt and baking powder.  Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.  Do not overcook.

To make frosting:


3 tbsp butter, softened
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Combine 3 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp cocoa, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup confectioners' sugar.  Frost brownies while they are still warm.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Sweet Rosette Treats

I am still finding recipes from my Christmas cookie swap 2 years ago.

In a large bowl, mix:
1/4 cup softened margarine
1 egg
1/3 cup Splenda for baking *
1/3 cup brown sugar

Blend well and then add:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Mix just until flour is mixed in.  Roll dough into small balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Press a chocolate rosette or Hershey's kiss or mint smoothie into centre (not all the way to the bottom) about 1/2 way.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or overnight (covered if overnight).  Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes.  Makes 2 dozen small cookies.

Enjoy.

* may substitute 8 packets Equal sweetener.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Crazy Night and Crazy Day . . . and its not even Christmas yet . . .

You may think that because I work from home, I have all the time in the world.  You would be wrong.  Somehow every minute of my day is full.  I can't remember the last time I was bored.  December 20th was just such a day.

These first 2 photos were taken just after midnight
at Victoria Hospital in London ON.  I don't even
remember what time we got home.


After a few hours sleep I was at Ladies' Day Out
to celebrate Connie's birthday.
And that evening I was at a basketball game.
On the other hand, working from home means that I can take a friend to the hospital, make it to another friend's birthday and watch my son coach and my grandson play basketball.

I'm grateful for that.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Pink Scrappers Relay for Life Scrapbooking Crop

Did you notice we have a special offer for those of you who can't come to the crop?
For $10.00 we will enter you into all the draws!!


Friday, April 13, 2012

It seems to happen at every party . . .

. . . the men end up congregating in  one room and the women in another . . . hmmmmmmm . . .



Looking for the Christmas Pickle 2011

Every year friend Deb hides pickle ornaments on her Christmas trees (yes trees) and awards prizes to anyone who finds them.




Thursday, April 12, 2012

Coach Greg

Greg discovered basketball in school and it has been a big part of his life ever since.  He enjoys sharing his knowledge and coaches two teams.  These photos were taken at Hoopdome December 10, 2011.










Austin was in a tournament at the Hoopdome in Toronto December 10.  Hal was coming home after a run on the 10th.  Tim actually had a weekend off.  We all met at the Holiday in Express near the Hoopdome.  I'd almost forgotten just how much fun my family is when they are all together.

We talked and laughed, played cribbage, ate all Hal's leftover groceries from his trip, watched TV, drank wine, picked up pizza and had a great time.


C'mon people . . . I'm old . . . I need sleep . . . LOL!!


Tim thinks he's the Hulk!?

I brought the wine and the cribbage board.  Hal brought in all his leftovers.

Cameron sure knows how to tell a story.

Where's Cameron?

Hal lookin' all cool in his jammies and shades . . . 

Krystel and Tim shared a room with us.

Bottling Wine

In December Mom, Debbie, Paula and I decided to make 3 different kinds of wine and then swap with each other.  We chose Green Apple, Strawberry Zinfandel and Blush Zinfandel.  The easy part was paying Mary at The Wine Station to make our wine.  The fun part was bottling our wine a few weeks later.

Cleaning the bottles


Filling the bottles




Corking the bottles


I'm not sure who Paula is yelling at . . . 

This is Mary who made our wine and kept us in line while bottling it.

Debbie feels the need to begin medication.

Cheers!


Picking labels and swapping out.
What a great adventure.  And we definitely enjoyed the wines over Christmas.  I still have a few bottles left.  I know, you are surprised.  We are planning on doing this again this spring.  We need to get ready for summer entertaining.  I wonder which wine I should chose this time . . . hmmmmmm . . .

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

I love cutting and pasting . . .

I spend a lot of time scrapbooking; a hobby which creates lots of scrap paper.  I have come up with a fun way to use up my scraps and make a little income so I can afford to scrapbook more, creating more scraps, and so on and so on.

Paper piecings require planning and can be quite time-consuming so I make several of the same at the same time.  It doesn't seem to take much extra time that way.

Paper piecings are individual.  No two ever come out totally the same.  Each piecing has its own personality.  And if you don't like a colour or pattern I've used you can always special order one.  The price doesn't change because I will just make several at the same time.  So please feel free to email me with your special orders.

Here is the paper piecing I made today.  Aren't they just adorable?  Would you like one?  Only $3 + $1 for shipping and handling (unless you are local and can pick up).

Stuffed Bunnies
5" x 6"
$3.00
If you would like to see more of my creations, just click on the Pam's Paper Piecings tab at the top of this blog or click on  http://pamspaperpiecings.blogspot.ca/

Thank you for supporting my scrapbooking addiction.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Scrapbooking in December 2011

I made an album for Hal's 50th birthday party.  It took 2 years to finish it.


I made quite a few paper piecings for Christmas layouts.
http://pamspaperpiecings.blogspot.ca/






I used all of the cards Hal received for his birthday to embellish the pages.








These pages are for my 2011 All About Me Album.





I loved being a Red Hatter . . . actually a Pink Hatter at the time.


Yes you can use flowers on a page about boys . . . carefully.


I'm not sure if this the second or third batch of these little cuties.
My little bookworms are very popular.