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Friday, November 26, 2010

Black Friday


Today I experienced my very first Black Friday. My Mom, Dad, Fletcher and I got up at 4 o' clock this morning and headed straight to our local Wal-Mart. The town that my parents live in has a population of about 3,000 people. So, needless to say, Black Friday isn't as much of a fight here. We got there about 4:30 and each got into different lines for different items. I grabbed a Canon Rebel, my Mom grabbed a laptop, Fletcher grabbed a tv and Fletcher's mom, who met us there, grabbed an Xbox 360 for Fletcher's Christmas present (shh...don't tell him). We got everything that we wanted! It was awesome! I'm very glad that I had a good first Black Friday experience. I heard a lot of horror stories of people who were in much larger towns and I don't think I could have fought the crowds. We also grabbed some little Christmas gifts and some dvds. The thing I'm excited about the most is my camera. I have been wanting a Canon for at least 3 years now.

Here are some of the first pictures I took with my new camera today...



My favorite part of Thanksgiving.


My pretty girl, Petey.


My Mom's puppy, Trucker.


View from my parent's back deck.

Friday, November 19, 2010

21



image sources unknown

Happy 21st birthday to me!!!

So far I've had a pretty good birthday weekend. I'm sure the rest of it will be absolutely amazing too thanks to my awesome friends and family!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Craft time!


Today was craft day. I made a trip to Hobby Lobby with my friend Brittany and got a bunch of supplies for Christmas crafts. Here are a few of the felt ornaments I made tonight.






I'm going to be selling some of these lovely little things. I'm making some more designs too. If you'd like to buy one or suggest a design feel free to email me!
More great news on the way soon!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Chocolate Donuts








I've been wanting to make donuts for months! I finally found a donut pan and immediately had to buy it! This is the recipe that I have been saving for a while and I couldn't wait to give it a try. They were so yummy! I'll definitely be making this recipe again and again!

I got the recipe from Dujour magazine. If you haven't checked it out yet then get to it!

Chocolate Glazed Doughnuts
via Dujour

makes 18 mini doughnuts

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup plain soymilk/milk
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 Tbs. butter or vegan margarine
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 egg (use egg substitute if making vegan)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
To make doughnuts:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat doughnut pan with cooking spray.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in large bowl.

3. Combine soymilk, chocolate chips, margarine, and vinegar in saucepan, and warm until chocolate and margarine are melted. Cool. Whisk egg substitute with 2 Tbs. water in small bowl; whisk this mixture and vanilla extract into soymilk mixture. Stir soymilk mixture into flour mixture.

4. Fill each doughnut mold half full with batter. Bake 12 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean and Doughnuts spring back when pressed. Transfer Doughnuts to wire rack to cool, and repeat with remaining batter.

For the chocolate glaze:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup whole milk, warmed
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions
Combine butter, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla in medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until butter is melted. Decrease the heat to low, add the chocolate, and whisk until melted. Turn off heat, add the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Place the mixture over a bowl of warm water and dip the doughnuts immediately. Allow glaze to set for 30 minutes before serving.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Pumpkin Spice Pumpkin Seeds






These were extremely tasty and super easy to make!

Pumpkin Spice Pumpkin Seeds

2 c. pumpkin seeds, cleaned and dried
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
Spread pumpkin seeds out on cookie sheet and roast in oven for 15 minutes. Stirring every 5 minutes. If the seeds are not golden brown after 15 minutes then continue baking for 5 minute increments until they are golden.
Once roasted, take out of oven and sprinkle the seeds with vegetable oil. Then add all of the spices to the seeds and toss until evenly coated.
The spices can be adjusted for personal taste and the recipe can be doubled or tripled as needed.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Paris

This past weekend we went to visit my brother down in Texas. On our way to his house we have to drive through Paris, Texas. I've always wondered if they had an Eiffel tower. This time as we were driving through town we noticed a new sign that said "Eiffel Tower" and pointed to the left down a road. We didn't have time to stop on the way down there so we decided to stop on the way home and check it out. It was awesome!







Yep, that's Mr. Rules don't apply to me. He's a goof.