Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Snickerdoodles

Hello!

Long time no blog! What can I say? Life is busy!!

I have been talking to some lovely Australian ladies a lot lately as we prepare to make the big move and I have discovered they do not have Crisco shortening! Tragic! I don't use Crisco a whole lot but I do have a few recipes that are better with Crisco. Anyway, one of these ladies was making snickerdoodle the other day and I found out it was a cake! Here we make snickerdoodles as cookies, so I started looking for a snickerdoodle recipe that used butter instead of shortening. So, in one of my trusty church cookbooks, I found one. So, I have posted it below. When I was learning how to make cookies when I was young, I was told that butter makes them flatter and shortening makes them puffier, so these may be a little less puffy but I hope they are good nonetheless. Enjoy!



Snickerdoodles cookies

Cooking time 12-15 minutes
Bake at 375 F

Ingredients:
1cup of butter
1 1/3 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Cream butter and sugar. Beat eggs and vanilla, add dry ingredients. Roll into balls and roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Moving to Australia

Hello all,

BIG HUGE changes have happened in my life in the last 2 weeks and it looks like we are moving to Australia! Wow, I know.

I have been offered a fellowship to get my Phd at the University of Wollongong, about an hour south of Sydney and so we are planning to sell the house and almost all the contents and move across the world.

There is a lot to do between now and then and I hope to keep you updated as I have free time...which lately has been nil but hey, I will give it the old college try!

Ta ta for now!

Heather

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Homemade Ingredient Recipes

Hello all,

I know, I know, it's been forever since I have been on my blog. Life got busy, what can I say? I start my masters in a month and I am really excited for that....who knows how it will effect my blog....probably adversely but we will see!

I have recently found some recipes for homemade ingredients, like chocolate milk mix, won ton wrappers, graham crackers, etc and I am going to give them a whirl and see how they turn out and I will let you know! I have made homemade pasta noodles before and they are very simple and easy, its just hard to get the noodle really thin without a pasta machine.

So, I am going to get back in the kitchen and get to cooking and share what I come up with on here! (Contain your excitement, please!)

So...stay tuned, I will be back! (I think!)

H

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Well, I fell off the face of the Earth....again

My how life takes turns just when you were getting comfy!

I have decided to go back to school and get my masters. So, this means that the last month or so have been spent studying for the GRE (Graduated Re-entrance Exam) which is required by most schools to apply for grad school. Wow, I had not studied things like Algebra, Geometry, and Standard Deviation in a while so my time was spent every night trying to unearth those things in my brain...some of which I wasn't very good at the first time I learned it.

I admit, it was difficult, in fact I can think of dozens of things I would rather do that take that exam again....things like go to the dentist, do 100 loads of laundry, etc. But hey, it is done and while I did not do stellar, I at least got into my graduate program and will probably begin this summer taking statistics....oh boy, doesn't that sound like fun??!! But truly, I am excited to get started and I figure I might as well get that class out of the way first before I get into the fun stuff.

In studying for the GRE, I was nervous. I prayed for help to take the test, I even got a special blessing from the priesthood at my church to help me think clearer and remember the things I had learned, etc. And while I think I did okay on the questions I answered, my problem was speed...I just wasn't fast enough. I could not get all the questions done in the amount of time given.....not to mention I had not taken a standardized test in 20 years. (20 years??? Is that possible??) However, as it usually works out, while I prayed for a good test score, what I got wasn't that (or at least not what I wanted to get). However, by talking to a different professor and changing my focus to a different area within my grad program that is a better fit, that professor accepted me into the program and said I did not have to take the test again. So, my prayers were answered with a better answer than a good test score, instead, I just got into the program I wanted.

So, remember that Heavenly Father is the big air traffic controller in the sky. He can see down our path farther than we can and he almost always blesses us with something better than we were even asking for or expected.

I will try to do better about posting....but its a SUPER BUSY YEAR and with my masters starting soon, I make no promises but to try to do better.

Be beautiful!

H

Friday, January 15, 2010

21 Days

Howdy all,

My friend Lori follows a special way of eating that has really changed her life. You would think that cutting out alcohol, animal products, gluten, etc would be hard and that the food would be bland but I have tasted her food and it is great! Truly it is!

She has started a blog about how to do it, you just follow the "diet" for 21 days and then you can gradually add back in those items you left out however she and her husband felt so much better that they have limited how much they eat of the those items you avoid for 21 days. They have both lost weight and feel great! So, I wanted to share with you her site, in case you might be interested.


http://lori-twentyone.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Recipe:Creme Brulee French Toast

This was what we had for Christmas morning this year. I love it because you make it the night before and then just pop it in the oven the next day. I have used both Texas toast for the bread and a loaf of sliced French bread. They both have positives. The Texas Toast is a little easier to cut but it didn't caramelize around the edges quite as well as the French bread. I hope you love it!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup of packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons of corn syrup
1 loaf of Texas toast or French bread cut into slices
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups of half and half (you can use the fat free with pretty decent results, it was still yummy.)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup over medium heat until smooth, storing occasionally. Pour mixture into large, greased jelly roll pan (18X13X1 it says but I would have had to use 2 for the 12 slices to fit, I could only get about 6 whole slices on the sheet and some half slices around the edge). Spread to cover surface. Place 12 slices bread in a single layer to cover pan. Mix together eggs, half and half, salt and vanilla. Spoon mixture over each slice of bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and serve. If not serving immediately, turn each slice of bread over to prevent them from sticking to the pan. It says to serve with syrup butter (1 1.2 cups of butter mixed with 3 cups of maple syrup) but I honestly did not need to add anything. A sprinkling of powdered sugar would look nice too. This would also be good with fruit on the side.

I hope you love it!

New Year's Word

Happy 2010 All!

This year, my brother gave us the idea to have a word that exemplifies our resolutions instead of a long list of resolutions. You just find one word and make that your word for the year. For instance, one of my sisters said her word would be MOVING.

She is planning on moving her body more and loosing weight.
There is a possibility she may move with a job relocation.
She also wants to move all the junk out of her house.
Hence, her word for the year if MOVING.

So, what is your word?

I have been working and thinking and have not quite come up with my word yet. These are some I have tossed around...

Less (eat less, weigh less, less clutter, spend less money, etc)
Beautify
Faith
Believe
Save (Save money, save time, etc)
Strength
Serve

So, I am still working on it....but I would love to hear a word that embodies what you want to accomplish this year!

Beautiful Basics

Life is about a journey, and you are the only one who can make yours... So, embrace life: the good, the bad, and the ugly...it is the only one you've got.

Here's to being Beautiful, inside and out!