Seriously?

You can find some great bargains on Craigslist as well as your local chapter of freecycle.

But you can also find a lot of junk.

Some of the ads I read just crack me up!

Recent ad on Freecycle:

I never chew gum, these packets have just appeared in my house after guests have been here. I've got one half-pack of Eclipse Breeze (Exotic Mint) and one nearly-full pack of Solstice 5 gum. Please email me to arrange a pick up!

Is someone going to even walk across the street to get these?

Recent ad on Craigslist:

Demolished 50' of sidewalk, so we have a bunch of "Urbanite". All shapes and sizes, colors and textures. Conveniently located next to the street, so easy to load on a trailer.

Translation:

I'm too lazy to haul off my broken up sidewalk, so if I make it sound

valuable enough, maybe you'll do it for me.

And last but not least,

found on Craigslist:

I have finally decided to go ahead and put my stuffed Opossum (possum) taxidermy up for sale. I have had this for quite a while and while I think it is one of the most awesome things ever, my wife is not the biggest fan. As you can see from the pictures that it is in its scary / attack pose. It is mounted on the branch and the branch has a metal loop to hang it on the wall. It is a bit older and while it is still in really good shape you can tell its age a bit in the ears. I would be willing to see about a deal for a different piece of taxidermy that maybe my wife might not be so freaked out by. Go ahead and email me with what you have and we will see what we can work out.

New in shop~

I'm getting a little work done tonight

in an attempt to avoid listening to the background noise

that is the State of the Union Address~

This adorable bunting was just listed in the shop:

I plan on making more in the near future.

Have a great night!

Carmel Toffee Cake

Easy to make? Check

Quick to assemble? Check

Delicious? Check

Healthy? Well, not so check

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home Magazine

and tweaked it only a little bit.

It's very easy to make and super dense and yummy.

The chocolate chip and toffee bar filling really makes this cake!

Happy eating~

Carmel Toffee Cake

8oz Heath or Skor bar, chopped

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

(combine all the above)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

(combine all the above)

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1 /4 cups buttermilk

Cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time beating well after each one.

Mix in vanilla.

Add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk beating well after each addition.

Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Pour 1/3 of the batter into pan and top with 1/3 of the toffee mixture.

Repeat 2x.

Bake 350 for 50-65 minutes.

(Use toothpick test)

Cool 10 minutes and then turn out of pan to cool completely.

For icing:

1/4 cup butter, cubed

2 tsp flour

1 can (5 oz) evaporated milk

1 cup brown sugar

In saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth.

Gradually add evaporated milk and brown sugar.

Bring to boil and then cook and stir for 4-5 minutes until thickened.

Cool slightly. Drizzle over cake.

(12 servings)

On another note,

we have a container full of delicious, homemade marshmallows!

Here is the recipe that I used.

New in shop~

Vintage bracelet in seafoam green~

In shop here

Kid Stuff~

What does a 4 year old buy with some of his Christmas money?????

A neck tie of course!

He basically hasn't taken it off.

The first 2 nights he slept in it and was upset at me

the next day when he discovered I had removed it in the night

for fear that he would choke himself.

Poor Zachary had a bad case of pink eye last week and missed school on Friday.

I know he's really sick when he literally lays on the couch all day

and doesn't even have the energy to play video games.

(well, that and the fact that his eye looked like a golf ball!)

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies~

So one of my New Years Resolutions is to eat healthier.

And since I usually have some form of dessert after dinner every night,

just cutting back to a few nights a week is eating healthier for me.

I've decided to make a nice dessert for the family on Friday nights

and skip dessert on almost all of the other nights.

You can't imagine all the cravings I've had this week, just thinking about

this upcoming Friday night event.

At the top of the list?

This:

Blows Starbucks out of the water.

For tonight's dessert, I decided to make a cookie that I found on the Food Network.

The recipe is from Giada De Laurentis and I only tweaked it a little.

Wow! These cookies are so, so delicious.

I was afraid that my zeal for them might be some kind of dessert withdrawl,

but Josh and Zachary loved them as well.

They're a bit more work than a standard Chocolate Chip Cookie and a bit more expensive to make as well but really, really worth it for a change.

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies ~

1/2 cup quick oats

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt (I used Kosher)

1 cup unsalted butter at room temp.

1 cup sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

4 oz chopped toffee bits

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup hazelnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 325. Toast nuts in oven and then chop into fine bits in food processor. Set aside. Run oats through food processor as well to a fine crumb. Combine oats with flour, powder, soda and salt. Beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture my hand until just combined. Add toffee, choc. chips and nuts and stir until just incorporated. Bake on parchment paper lined baking sheet until just starting to brown. The cookies will look and be underbaked. Allow to cool a few minutes on baking sheet until "set" enough to remove to plate to cool completely.

Scarf~

If you love fashion tutorials, I encourage you to visit this website.

Disney (the blogger's name....not the wonderland!)

is an expert and has one of the most creative minds!

I saw this tutorial for a t-shirt to scarf months ago

and finally got around to making one of my own last month.

I used 2 white, x-large men's t-shirts and dyed some of the white fabric gray.

Remember the necklace from yesterday's post?

That's what I made from the left over fabric.

Let me know if you try one of your own or anything else from Disney's blog.

By the way, how do you like my lovely pictures?

This is what was really going on~