Blueberry Sweet Rolls

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These would make a nice Christmas breakfast treat!  The girls on the Grocery Shrink group were so nice to help me find blueberry doughnut recipes for a special brunch last Saturday.  After all that, I decided sweet rolls would be less trouble.  This recipe is partly a Better Homes and Gardens Cinnamon Roll recipe with my own changes.  They are for a special Mary Kay training brunch tomorrow so I’ll have to let you know how they taste. If looks are any indication, they will be delicious!

Blueberry rolls 2

The dough recipe:

1 C milk

5T butter

1 T yeast

1/3 C sugar

3 eggs

1 t salt

5 cups flour (I used 2 Cups white and 3 cups whole wheat since this was for guests)

Combine milk and butter in a class measuring cup and microwave until butter is soft or melted (about 120 degrees.)  Pour mixture into an electric mixing bowl.  Add yeast and stir until softened.  Add rest of ingredients and stir until a soft dough forms.  Add more flour if necessary and knead for 8-10 minutes.  Let dough rise until double.

Combine 3/4 C sugar and 1/4 C flour.  Cut in 5T butter until you have coarse crumbs.  Fold in 1 C wild blueberries, thawed and drained (I got mine at COSTCO)

Divide dough into 2 balls.  Roll each ball into a 12 x 8 inch rectangle.  Spread half of the blueberry mixture on each rectangle.  Roll up lengthwise.  (Roll should be 12″ long.)  Use dental floss to cut into 1″ pieces.  Place in a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Let rise until double.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Frost with milk and powder sugar glaze.

P.S. They WERE delicious!

Peppermint Hair Clip Tutorial

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In time for Christmas, is a sweet little tutorial for your little sweetie!

You wil need:  1 Alligator clip (mine was double.); 3" of 1.5 inch wide white grograin ribbon; 7.5" of 3/8 inch wide red grograin ribbon; a 2.25" circle cut from red and white stripe fabric; white thread; red embroidery floss, a candle, and a glue gun.

1.  Start by preparing your alligator clip.  Hot glue the 3/8" ribbon all the way around the clip.  Lining the inside also helps it to stay put in the hair.

Hair clip 7

2.  Fold the white ribbon in fourths lengthwise.  Clip both ends at an angle and seal the cut ends with a lit candle.

Hair clip 1 

3.  Using 3 strands of red embroidery floss, stitch a running stitch 7/8" from the end of the white ribbon.

Hair clip 3 

4.  Pull the stithes tight, gathering up the end.  Wrap your floss around 3 times and push the needle through the center to the back and tie a knot.

Hair clip 4 

5.  Repeat for the other side:

Hair clip 5 

6. Make a yo-yo from the circle by folding under 1/4" all the way around and stitching a long running stitch close to the edge.  Pull the stitches tight and knot.

Hair clip 6

7.  Glue the yo-yo inside the ribon wrapper and then glue your candy to the hairbow.  Enjoy!  These would make cute package toppers.

Hair clip 8

Still time for the giveaway

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I have extended my giveaway to give time for everyone to get throught the long list at sew mama sew.  So keep those comments coming and I will draw a name tomorrow afternoon! Thanks for all the lovely things you've said :). 

Giveaway Day!

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I have been dreaming of all the great posts I would put up, and you can see they aren't here.  I've been so happily busy being a Mommy!  We've called winter recess on school for the month of December and now we are playing all the educational games I couldn't find time for when we had to do"school".  This is definitely giving me new perspective on how to organize our educational day and I'm so happy for the break.  This morning we are going to the Nutcracker ballet–what fun!

GiveawayGrocery-shrinksm  

But I digress.  The point of this post is to announce giveaway day!  I've tossed back and fort  h on what to giveaway and finally decided on a free Grocery Shrink E-book and Lifetime membership.  If you already have one, you can choose any pattern from Blessed Designs.net! The following pictures are just a few of what we have to choose from.

Sweetblossom_finalBd2300_final Bd2100_final Bd2400_final

To enter, please write a comment to this post and include your e-mail address.  I will draw a name from all the comments and e-mail the winner to get your mailing address. 

More Felt Fun

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I love felt!  It is inexpensive and perfect for the beginner crafter since it doesn't ravel.  You can sew it, glue it or needle felt it together. 

Remember colorforms?  A creative mom to five children translated this idea into felt! You can see her creations at her etsy site:  http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_8&listing_id=17408633  She said a do it yourself pattern was on her to do list, but could be awhile before it comes out.  As a fellow mom of 5, I can understand that!

Abstractfeltpicturepieces2

With a litle imagination–this (above) becomes this (below)!

Abstractfeltpicturepieces3

Homemade Vanilla

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Update 9/2010:  Rum is even  better than Vodka in this recipe and costs the same.

homemade vanilla extract

Vanilla Orchid photo Courtesy of www.natureproducts.net

Real Vanilla extract is one of those expensive things (like butter) that I won’t compromise on.  While store bought vanilla is outrageously expensive, real vanilla extract is easy to make and fairly inexpensive.  It only requires 2 ingredients , Vodka and vanilla beans, and 6 weeks of time.  I buy the cheapest vodka I can get from Wal-mart.  The largest bottle lasted me 5 years and I used it for everything from cleaning wounds to countertops.  It’s not for drinking!  I bought my vanilla beans for a steal off E-bay and was very happy.  Tip:  Don’t freeze them!  Vanilla beans are the expensive part of the recipe so shop around a lot before you buy.

10_Madagascar_Vanilla_Beans

Directions:  Cut 4 vanilla beans into 1″ lengths.  Split open to release the seeds.  Put all of the pieces and seeds into a glass quart jar.  Fill with vodka and seal tightly.  Shake well.  Place out of direct sunlight and shake several times a day.  6 weeks later strain and bottle into cute bottles.  Oil decanters from Old Time Pottery have caught my eye and look like they would work well.  Currently I’m using a recycled sparkling grape juice bottle.

This would make an excellent gift for Christmas, but you need to start NOW!

Mini Lunch Pizzas

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I’ve heard from a lot of FOX 4 viewers, requesting our mini pizza recipe.  So here it is!  You will love how fast and simple it is.

Spread leftover spaghetti sauce on day old hamburger buns.  (We get 100% whole wheat buns from our local day old bread outlet.)  Top with leftover hamburger, pepperoni and whatever you like (mushrooms, olives, onions, peppers, etc.) Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

These taste better when kids make them and it’s worth the extra mess caused by letting them help.

Tip:  You can make plain hamburger or ground turkey taste like Italian sausage by adding 1t garlic salt, 1 t whole fennel, 1 t Italian seasoning, and 1/8 t cayenne to 1 lb of meat as  you brown it.  Next time you are at the store compare the price of ground Turkey ($1 at Aldi) and Italian Sausage ($3) and save!  Not to mention that the ground Turkey is lower in fat and calories!

We are on TV!

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GroceryShrinkonTV

Heather Claybrook, anchor from Fox 4 news in K.C. came to our home last August to do a feature story on the Grocery Shrink!  It aired last night and I was so happy with the final product.  Heather did a great job and is a beautiful person, inside and out.  Here's a link to the story:  http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7884110&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1 

and a link to the video:  http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=7886607&version=1&locale=EN-US