Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to each and every one of you!

Be safe as you celebrate tonight!

If you are like me and staying in tonight,

perhaps you would like to do some online shopping???

New in the shop:

New finds~

Went garage sale shopping this weekend

and found a few vintage treasures!

They are both in the shop~

Bloomin' Onion Bread

Well, guess who's been sick for a week now????

But the show must go on, so today I wanted to share a wonderful recipe with you. This may be just the thing you are looking for for a holiday appetizer.

I got the recipe from Your Home Based Mom.

It's super easy to make and taste really, really good.

I made it just like the original recipe, but it could be easily changed

to suit other taste. I think it would be great as well with some things like garlic, or rosemary

or different kinds of cheeses.

Be sure to use a good hearty and heavy sourdough so it won't fall

apart during the slicing stage.

Look at all this carb goodness ready to go into the oven!!!!

Bloomin' Onion Bread~

1 unsliced sourdough round loaf (use a good quality artesian bread)

1 lb Monterrey Jack cheese

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup finely diced green onion (include white part)

2-3 tsp. poppy seeds

Using sharp knife slice bread going both directions (think lattice pie crust). Place slices of cheese in between cuts. Mix together the butter, onion and poppy seeds and pour over bread. Wrap entire loaf in foil and place on baking sheet. Bake 350 for 15 minutes. Unwrap and bake 10 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

By the way, I spotted something as rare as a Sasquatch this week!

O Christmas Tree ~ In Pictures

Josh teaching the kids what to look for when picking out a tree.

Josh: What does this one look like?

Me: Like an EXACT replica of the last 43 we looked at.

My job is always to plunge my hands into the sap encrusted tree and slowly spin it around so all sides can be viewed.

A Texas sleigh ride.

Each year I attempt to get a picture of these 2 characters in front of the tree~

OK, I'll take it~

Love to see their excitement~

Scrabble Tiles~

Hey crafters~

If any of you do altered scrabble tile pendants (or anything else using scrabble tiles), I have some for sale in the shop. Check it out here. They are only about 10 cents each!

Easy and Unique Recipe Cards~

Wanted to share an easy and unique way

to make cute recipe cards for your personal file.

(By the way, the above recipe is my favorite apple pie recipe adapted

from Allrecipes.com. SO, SO good!!!)

*1st- Take photo for a background.

I like to use a photo of the baked good itself as a background.

It's a great reminder of what the finished product looks like. :)

You can also use cute kitchen items, retro aprons, landscapes,

your kids sweet faces, etc.

*Load photo on ipiccy.com. or photo editing site of your choice.

I love ipiccy.  It's very user friendly and it's free.

Once your photo is loaded, you can use various tools that the

website offers to edit the photo. You can choose to change

it to black and white, to soften it, to correct red eye, and on and on.

*Once photo is edited as you want it, add text 

to write your recipe on the photo.

Save the final photo recipe card when finished.

*Load the image on to a photo printing site.

I like to use Walgreens.com because it is convenient, user friendly

and you can almost always find a coupon for cheap prints.

*Order your cute recipe cards! (At Walgreens.com you

can have them printed at a store of your choice or have them

mailed.)

You can have them printed in various sizes to fit your own recipe box.

I have many recipes printed this way in my personal recipe card box.

I have also printed these out in the past to enclose in a card

for a new bride. You could also attach them to a baked good

that you are giving to a friend or loved one.

Happy creating!