Last post of 2012!

Not only is this the final 2012 blog post for me- its Number 500!!!!

(it was a toss up between going out of 2012 with 500 or entering 2013 with 500 lol)

I hope everyone has a fun (and safe) New Year's Eve and a Terrific 2013!!


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All I can say is I will be glad to get this one into the record books and OVER, no doubt about that...

thankful to be here to blog for another day though!!! 

 

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Thanks to all of you for coming by and reading about my daily adventures!
Make sure to continue to come back and enjoy the fun with me in 2013 and beyond!
Tell you friends too! =) 

ETA 1/1/13:  

The Numbers per Statcounter

Est blog Fall 2009

October 2012 was the busiest blog month with 125 visits =)

Total for the year there were 1183 drop ins to the blog as well, this being the busiest year by far! 

2010-383 visits, 811 page views

2011- 679 visits, 1308 page views

2012- 1183!! =) , 2170 page views (July-Sept being busiest with 356 visits) 

The most popular page from Oct 7 2012- is 2011's Spiderman pull apart cake which after linking to I have discovered all the pictures are gone...hmmmmm...idk how long it was like that but it is now visiable 

Second is 2010's Snowglobe cookies

And 3rd, the Smurffette Cake of 2011

Now if you look at Blogger stats:

There has been 7088 total pageviews- not visits

The most popular page of all time is 4/7/11's Smurfette Cake Pan! , 486 views

2nd- 6/9/2011's Punch Cut and Decorate , 459 views

and 3rd- 6/11/2011's Punch Cut Decorate in use  , 303 views

Here's another fun fact, though majority of page views are from the USA (5271), Russia comes in with 2nd place (388 page views)

Enough numbers- go enjoy your day!! And thanks for stopping by!!!!!!

Cats December 2012

Mini hanging out by the space heater...evil much?

I downloaded a cat app to my Kindle- it's a mouse running around. 

Here are the videos of the cats chasing it LOL

Crazy Chet

Really?
Here I was going thru Christmas Presents and Chet jumps on to the bed, straight into a box...

If its not a box or my closet he want's nothing to do with it...

Apricot Cookie Stripes

Another recipe from Taste of Home! 

I had some filling left from the brie so I made this- couldn't let apricot go to waste!

Form 2 rectangles on your cookie sheets 12x3 inches.

(I only used one, but should have used 2) 

Make an indentation for the filling. 

I just used my finger, the recipe says use a spoon handle but it didn't work for me. 

You will bake at 3508 for 10 minutes, then fill, then bake an additional 12 minutes.

After they cool for 2-5 minutes on the tray, cut and put on a cooling rack.

But be careful they might be crumbly.

• Prep: 25 min. Bake: 20 min./batch + standing
• Yield: 34 Servings

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Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup Imperial Sugar® / Dixie Crystals® Granulated Sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 1/2 cup vanilla or white chips **didn't use**
• 1 teaspoon shortening **didn't use**

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extract. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; gradually add to creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a 12-in. x 2-1/2-in. rectangle on an ungreased baking sheet.
• Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make a 1/4-in.-deep indentation lengthwise down the center of each log. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.
• Spoon preserves into indentation. Bake 10-12 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes. Remove to a cutting board; cut into 3/4-in. slices. Place on a wire rack.
• In a microwave, melt vanilla chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over warm cookies. Let stand until set. Didn't do this part... didn't need to... =)
• Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen.

Nutritional Facts1 cookie equals 108 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 17 mg cholesterol, 88 mg sodium, 15 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 1 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 fat.

Spritz cookies 2012- with recipe

In the Taste of Home Best Loved Cookies and Candies 2012 book I tested out the recipe for Buttery Spritz Cookies.

Preheat oven to 375*

Using the Christmas Tree disk for the spritz maker I squirted some dough on the tray.

Then Decorate.

Bake at 375* for 6-8 minutes, until set DO NOT BROWN.

These came out so soft! They were a total hit at work too!

The Recipe =)

• Prep: 20 min. Bake: 10 min./batch
• Yield: 45 Servings

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Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract **I don't use almond**
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Food coloring, optional
• Colored sugar and decorating candies, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Combine flour and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture; mix well. Tint with food coloring if desired.
• Using a cookie press fitted with the disk of your choice, press dough 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Decorate as desired.
• Bake at 375° for 6-8 minutes or until set (do not brown). Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 7-1/2 dozen.

Nutritional Facts1 serving (2 each) equals 76 calories, 4 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 16 mg cholesterol, 69 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 1 g protein.

Awwe

isn't he the cutest thing ever. Awww :-)

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Mary Maxim

I placed an order with Mary Maxim~ they had a sale on a variety of Bernat Waverly yarn.

So I got a variety of greens and pinks to make a blanket~ using Lucy's neat ripple stitch.

Remember a few days ago I posted the ripple tester that became Spaz's blankie. =)

It is currently in process and is a bit wider then I originally planed, so I might have ordered more yarn...

What cracked me up was that it came with a Diabetes pamphlet and cat treats...

Like I am a crazy cat lady or something...I wonder if they are stalking me....

Look at all the fun yarn I ordered..ooooo

Stay Tuned =)

Christmas Special

One of my favorite Christmas Specials! I love Garfield =)

Merry Christmas!

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Charlie Brown Christmas

The Shepherds and the Angels
8	¶ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9	And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.
10	And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11	For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12	And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13	And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14	Glory to God in the highest,          and on earth peace, good will toward men

To be continued...

Mmmmmm tasty

Ornaments- From the Chew

On The Chew- Clinton's Holiday Craft Corner they made tons of fun things.

I think I want to get mints and make the tray still...

But until then, Q and I made the Ornaments with Sprinkles!

12/15/12

The directions say, fill bulb 1/2 way with sprinkles, then spray the inside with spray adhesive.

It worked ok, but as I shook the sprinkles they started clumping off...

Here was the excess...ewwwww LOL

Look at this fun mess!

What we ended up doing, other than raiding my entire cookie decoration collection, 

was spraying the bulb first, swirling the glue around and THEN added the sprinkles.

It seemed to work out better. We used nonpareils and regular sanding sugar.

And we didn't let anything go to waste either- Q crammed the excess glue gobs into a bulb at the end...lol

sew ritzy~titzy: I SPY: vintage granny square christmas tree

sew ritzy~titzy: I SPY: vintage granny square christmas tree: I just had to make this... ...after I spied this A vintage granny square Christmas tree. The dear 93yr. old woman that...

INSOMNIAC with a hook: Cute Tree pattern!

INSOMNIAC with a hook: Cute Tree pattern!: Did you see this pattern so vintage, I love it.. I dont think Im going to have time to make all the cute things I see this year!  I jus...

Vintage Christmas Tree - crochet

OH MY! I saw this on Insomniac with a hook's blog- who got it from  Sew Ritzy-titzy's blog

Coolest thing ever!

You make some different size Granny's - My FAV!

(I used a K Hook and Caron One Pound Yarn )

Slap them together

I did 6 because the example had 6...

Make some ornaments (or buy some)

and slap those on too

TA-DAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh I am in love...

I must make more....

Smaller ones...but more nonetheless....

I think this is the first time I saw something I wanted to make and made it-IMMEDIATELY.