Best no chill Sugar Cookies....LOVE!

The quest for me is over...to find the perfect sugar cookie.  To be honest, it wasn't really much of a quest....my own mother had the secret to lifelong happiness.  Yeah, it wasn't even hidden away in a secret vault or written on ancient papyrus and tucked away in a chest under the enchanted oak trees in her backyard....it was in her recipe box.  A bit of a let down, you might think but, to be completely honest, that worn little box holds many family secrets and interesting and unique conjurings and spells...AKA the family recipes that have been handed down for generations....

These cookies, like nothing else, mean it is Valentine's Day.  I cannot have Valentine's Day ruined by store-bought sugar cookies when these are so easy and so good. Luckily I happen to have all the necessary ingredients on hand, pretty much all the time as they're pantry basics for me.  And, the best part about this recipe is you don't have to chill the dough! This is good because whenever the mood strikes, you can bake up a batch of these in no time.  I mean, you don't even have to make them just for V-Day!!

The other thing about them, is they're so easy, you make them by hand.  You don't  have to bust out your stand mixer...until frosting time.  Nope.  Cookies that are hand made.  So gourmet and old fashioned of you!

VALENTINE'S NO CHILL SUGAR COOKIES

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper

5 C. Flour (have more on hand for flouring your surface and I always need more to get my dough stiff enough and not be so sticky)

2 C. Sugar

3 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

Combine the above ingredients in a large bowl.

1 C. Shortening

Cut this into the above flour mix by hand. I just mush the shortening around in the dry ingredients until there are no more large chunks. (It'll look a bit like pie dough).  Make a well in the middle of your dough mixture.  This is part of the charm of my mother's recipe...a well, you say?  Just kind of dig out a bit of a dent in the middle.

3 Eggs, beaten

1 C. Milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

Combine the above ingredients together and then pour into the well in the dry ingredients

Gradually blend in flour mixture to the wet ingredients until all flour is incorporated. The dough is likely to be very sticky now, so this is the point where you have to make a judgement call and add additional flour until it is no longer sticky and won't stick to your floured surface when it is rolled out and cut.

Flour your kitchen counter liberally. Roll your dough to 1/8" - 1/4" thick. I err on the thin side, as they do puff up. Test if it is sticking at this point. If so, grab all the dough up and add more flour to the counter and knead the dough into it.  Re-flour your counter top and roll out again. If your dough sticks at all to your counter top, the shapes you've cut will not come off cleanly and will not be as beautiful...oh they'll be tasty, but we're after looks too with these cookies.

Use heart-shaped cookie cutters in all sizes. It was a tradition in my family growing up that everyone got a large cookie with their name on it. That was so special and is something I do for my family now. Plus dozens of little cookies just for munching. But the big cookie was the big deal, and oh how it was savored.

Place on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Don't place too close, but don't worry either, these cookies don't really spread much. So you can get away with an inch between each of them.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. I find that the first couple batches take 10 minutes and then the subsequent batches take around 9 minutes. They should not be brown at all, but remain lily white, but not be gooey in the center at the same time.  The bottoms should be lightly browned.

Allow to cool on paper towels or wire racks, completely.

Decorate with Frosting. YUM!

p.s.  Once you have cut out your shapes, grab up all the scraps that are left, mush them back together and roll it out again so you can cut out even more cookies.  This dough does not get tough. I cannot tell you how many times I have rolled and rolled again.  Use it all up!  The recipe does make...a lot of cookies!

I may have had some little hands helping make these...but that's perfect, the dough is so much fun to play with and so smooth,  the littles will be excited to help you make them...just don't expect perfectly shaped hearts as the end result.

VANILLA BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

3 C. Powder Sugar

3/4 C. Butter, softened

Combine the above ingredients in the mixer until well mixed

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

1-2 Tbl. Milk

Add to sugar mixture and beat until smooth and spreadable. Add red food coloring and mix well.  Add dye until you get your desired shade of pink. Pipe or spread this on your cooled sugar cookies.

Daddy is a big deal at our house.  Use a small tip and you can write out all the names of your family members...this is how they know which giant cookie is theirs!

Embellish as you like with dots and swirls...

You can also violate the sacred tradition of just sugar cookie and pink frosting and let the kids decorate with candy...I wouldn't recommend as...well, just because I'm a bit of a fuddy duddy and like it the way my Mommy did it.

This was my sister's idea...bad, bad sister!

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy these...delicious and easy sugar cookies!

Heather

Best Mini Pigs in a Blanket...AKA Perfect for the Super Bowl

There's not much to say about these mini pigs in a blanket except that...they are completely, 100% tasty goodness. If you are wondering what to make for the Super Bowl party you are going to this weekend...wonder no more.  They are salty and savory and bite-sized and a sure-fire hit.  I have never met anyone who hasn't loved these at first taste.  I make them quite often, kids birthday parties, get togethers, baby showers...Super Bowl Parties...

What makes them so good...and better than the ones you make...perhaps using store-bought croissants and hot dogs...is that, well, the dough is home-made. And as we all know, except with cakes and brownies, everything is better home-made. 

Too Sticky

The other thing that makes them better than your average pig in a blanket is...there's cheese in the dough and you are using Li'l Sausages to make them.  So they've got this smokey kick that gives it a grown-up flavor, but they're still kid friendly.  And they're so tiny.  So that means kids love them...if the kids can get to them before the adults have snatched them all up.

And...they can be made a bit in advance.  I'm not talking a day or anything, but a few hours.  And then when you get to your venue, pop them in the oven and a few minutes later you have a warm and amazing savory treat.

Best Pigs in a Blanket
adapted from the lovely Nigella Lawson
Quantity: about two baking sheets full....a lot!

2 1/4 C. Flour...plus more for dusting your work surface
1 heaping tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Baking Soda
A pile of shredded cheddar cheese...I know this is vague, but it's really how I do it.  I grate some and think...that looks like enough.  I would say around 1/2 C to 1 C
1 C. Milk
1 Beaten Egg
3 Tbl. Vegetable Oil
2 packages of petite sausages like, Li'l Smokies

Egg wash
1 egg, beaten
Splash of milk
1/2 tsp. Salt

Preheat your oven to 425 F.

Combine the flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.  Stir around with a fork.  Add in the cheese and mix it into the flour. 

Combine the milk, egg and oil in a measuring cup, stir to combine.  Pour into the dry ingredients, combining as you go.  I have found it is easiest to just get my hand in there and mix it.  (Notice the picture above of my hand...you'll see that the dough is too sticky to roll out.  This is where you need to use your judgement and add some more flour until the dough is of a consistency that can be rolled out without sticking all over the counter.  Also, if you feel your dough is too dry....that's never happened to me before...add some more milk.)

Flour your work surface liberally.  Roll out your dough fairly thin.  I would say around 1/8" to 1/4" thick.  Now you need to cut it into strips.  What works for me, is to put a sausage down and determine how long they are.  Cut your dough strips just a tad smaller than the sausages are long.

Now you need to section those strips into smaller pieces that can be wrapped around each sausage.  There should be a little bit of overlap so you can get a nice seal.

Place on cookie sheet with parchment, to avoid any sticking.  Using a pastry brush, brush your egg wash glaze over each little bundle of goodness.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until they are slightly puffed and golden brown.  Let cool a bit.

Devour and enjoy thoroughly!

Thanks for reading!

Love if you'd follow the Hearth on Facebook!

Heather



A Little Piece of My Heart...Valentine's Wallhanging

Big smiles today.  My Valentine's wall-hanging is finished and hanging on the wall as we speak.  It's always a relief when something you think in your mind is going to be pretty...actually is pretty once it's all said and done.  I used two old sheets when making this...The white background fabric was a percale sheet.  Let me tell you a little something about percale...it has the same number of threads going up and down as it does side to side...you know what this means...no stretch.  So, if your quilting needs a little....we'll call it...easing...once in a while, like mine might...then stretch is a big deal.

I will say that I am so happy with how the appearance of this turned out.  On every single one of those half square triangles I used a piece that was red or pink (mostly) and the other half was from another sheet that was a cream color with pretty roses on it (not percale).  This is the perfect meshing of patterns.  I love patterned fabric...but even I can admit that sometimes too many patterns can make your eyes go crazy...so a solid every now and again makes things so much nicer.  I was using the cream floral as my solid...what, it's totally a solid.  Look, if these fabrics are neutrals...then those are solids.  HAHA!  The reason this is good, is because it gives the eyes a place to rest for a minute to regroup from the madness of the other prints.  You do not become overwhelmed by just a ton of wild fabric.

It is hanging in my living room proclaiming for the entire world...Danni of Silo Hill Farm, that even I...have at least ONE Valentines piece for my house.  And yes...that is all I have..unless you count that pillow in the corner there...that is the first half of a Valentine's duo of pillows....the o's.  The x's are somewhere on a piece of paper getting envisioned...

But, my house is grateful.  It feels like it's almost one of the cool houses on the block...finally!  It's like when all the cool kids in school were wearing Guess and Girbaud Jeans...and you got Chic jeans from Shopco...and then...all of a sudden one Christmas, your Mom...I mean Santa...buys you some off-season, clearance item, white Girbaud shorts.  Oh yes...now who's the cool kid.

 Terrible shot of my binding here, but I chose to go with a light binding.  I didn't want to distract attention away from the fun heart.



The back.  I have always enjoyed putting a little whimsy on the back of my quilts.  Whether it's just pairing completely unexpected fabrics or if it's doing a little something like this with some of the scraps I have left over.  Make your backs fun...but cheap!  I do not believe in breaking the bank for the back.



Once Valentine's is over, this is going in My Youngest's bedroom...until next Valentine's when I will steal it from her again.  She loves pink and red.  Although, if you notice the very bottom half square triangle at the furthest tip...she told me I'd done it wrong...but she still liked it.  Gee...thanks.  I guess I could have put a solid square there...but chose not to.  Live and learn.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Shared at these beautiful blogs:
Feather's Flights
Sew Many Ways
Sew Chatty





Vanilla Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate & Peanut Butter Frosting...Heather's Inspiration Cafe

Hi everybody, it's my turn over at Inspiration Cafe and I have made these cookies...if you are looking for something that uses simple ingredients but is a show stopper..then these are for you.  Yummy buttery shortbread cookies topped with an elegant chocolate peanut butter frosting...Oh yes...you must make these.

So, come read my post, I think you will be extremely pleased you did.

If you would like to guest post at the Inspiration Cafe, we'd love for you to let one of us know, or go HERE to our submissions page.
If you've never written a guest post before, that's OK, we're happy to teach you how with this easy step-by-step tutorial HERE. It's easier than you might think and a great way to get exposure for you blog!

Indoor Activities for Kids....AKA...go away winter...NOW

If winter's icy grip has your kids bored to tears...you might just have to get a little bit creative...if you don't want to hear this...Mommmmm, I'm borrred.    Or...Mommmmm what can I play?  And if you're anything like me, what the tube has to offer isn't what you're looking for.  I don't mind my kids watching a bit of TV...but I want them to run and play and be creative.  So, if your life is anything like mine is and there's a pile of nasty snow outside and the kids are getting antsy for summer, then take heart...there is something for them to do and it's right in your pantry.

Grab all the paper and plastic cups you can find...and let them go at it.

It's amazing where they go when they play with a bunch of cups.  Their imagination takes flight.

My Youngest took it upon herself to build the Eiffel Tower...I love how she is like me and is a bit ambidextrous.  Go right hand and left hand!

Oh the agony when it comes tumbling down!

Oh wait...a new and ingenious idea on how to get her cups to stack better...stand on the step stool...

Nope...

When your cups won't stack, you can always practise your dance moves!

And then cut the cups into beautiful bracelets!

We are now approaching hour number two with zero complaints...I am down a few dozen cups...but it is worth it.

Good luck making it until spring and thanks for reading.

Heather

mitered baby blanket...AKA super cute

I have made my sister three mitered baby blankets now.  One for each of her children.  She has taken them to the hospital with her each time and each time she has gotten raves about them.  Where did you get that adorable blanket?  My Sister made it.  I must have one...where can I buy that?  You can't.  You have to make it.

So, you get the idea.  This little blanket is a big hit!  It is a bit complex though, so I would say if you are a beginning sewer, go for it...but be prepared to have to pay a lot of attention to the pattern...or you can do what I did, and take a class.  I am very happy with this blanket and best of all, there is a free tutorial where you can get all the details on how to make it.  Click here for the free pattern.

I will say this about the measurements...the bigger you make it, the longer you can swaddle your baby in it.  So, if you take a normal piece of fabric, the biggest square you can cut out of it without sewing anything is about a 40" X 40" square.  If you feel like making it a bit bigger, you can, you will just have to sew a panel on to make it bigger.  45" X 45" would be a nice size, because then you would only need 1 yard of your inner fabric.  Saving money on fabric is always a good thing.  Ummmm...I would like to point out, in case you might not have noticed in the upper left hand corner of this picture...is a nude Ken doll.  Dolls in this house never seem to wear clothes for very long...righty then.

Also, it is very important, you need to become aware of grain of fabric.  There's a Crosswise grain and a lengthwise grain.  Lengthwise grain doesn't stretch if you tug gently.  Crosswise grain does stretch.  So, if you are going to make it larger, make sure you sew lengthwise to lengthwise or crosswise to crosswise so that the stretch is the same across the entire piece.

I don't know what I was trying to tell you in this picture.  We'll just go with...PEACE!

I was probably trying to say that you have to line up two sides of the blanket to make that flap in the corner because you are going to sew a 45 degree angle on that flap then cut off the rest.  It's quite adventurous to chop a flap of fabric...it's thrilling really...because what if you cut wrong?!?!  OHHHHH the horror!

See, you draw on your line, then pin the fabric together so you don't get shifting and then...

That's right.  CHOP!  Better pray you had your angle correct!  Cause that piece of fabric ain't coming back.

Here it is in all it's glory.  You can see that you have the two fabrics with the larger of the two coming around from the back and making a cute border for the front.  My Youngest helped me choose the kitty cat fabric.  Choose something VERY VERY soft.

The two individual pieces of fabric can come apart in the wash, so I sew lines through the middle.  This one I went from corner to corner, across the middle and down the middle in the shape of a giant asterisk.  I think it turned out good.

My cute back fabric.


Thanks for reading!

Shared here:
Feather's Flights

Heather

Cook a bunch...Save it for later!

Remember this soup...I call it OMG Beef and Vegetable Soup and it really is amazing. It uses a bunch of veggies and heart healthy grains and beans and lentils and my entire family actually eats it...even My Youngest who isn't a very good eater.  The only problem, is that it is time consuming.  It's not hard, but you do have to chop a bunch of vegetables and you have to let it simmer for a couple of hours so...you are making a bit of a commitment when you make it.

So, the next time I made it...I made a big a big improvement on my method...I made a double batch.  One to eat that night and the other to freeze and eat at a later date.  I did have to wash two giant pots and had to chop twice the amount of veggies...but once you're going it really doesn't take very much more time than doing a single batch.

I actually did more than just cook a double batch of  soup, I also browned up a couple of pounds of ground beef with onion and salt and pepper to freeze as well.  The nice thing about having some already browned ground beef ready to go...is you can turn it into so many things on the quick.  Tacos.  Chili.  Spaghetti Sauce.  Loose Meat Sandwiches.  It is a great thing to have on hand.

Here's what I did.  To start, I bought a 4 lb. package of ground beef.  I got out my two giant pots, you see above, put a splash of oil in each, heated them up over medium high heat and placed two lbs of ground beef in each.  I let them brown up nicely, then added a diced onion to each pot and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Once the meat was browned, I took the meat from one of the pots, let it cool then placed it in a zip top bag and popped it in the freezer.  The other pot I split the cooked ground beef evenly between the two pans and then commenced making a double batch of soup.

So, in one evening I had dinner.  Soup for another time and two lbs of ground beef to use at a later time.  This is something I encourage everyone to do.  If you are cooking something that is easy to make multiples of...do it.  It will save you time another day and make you a happier homemaker.

Oh by the way...
Mrs. Hines is back at the Cafe to show us how to tackle those big home organizing projects. You don't want to miss this if your desk and crafting area look anything like mine!!!

Head on over to the Cafe...

This project shared Here:
Coastal Charm
Adventures of a DIY MOM
Nap-Time Creations
My Uncommon slice of suburbia
Sugar Bee Crafts
Crafty Confessions
Lady bug Blessings

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Blaming it on the head cold

It's not my fault.  I said so in the title.  I am blaming this on the head cold.  If you aren't a quilter...you might not know what I'm talking about...but this is a big fat mistake.  All...or at least mostly all of the triangle points up there should meet neatly in each corner.  If you look closely, you will see that my points aren't matching up.  Any of them.  This is bad...very, very bad.

&*%$#@

The real tragedy is...I didn't make the connection until after I'd cut a goodly amount of fabric and had mis-sewn a grundle of squares made up of half square triangles...right then.

That pile up there...all bad!  I was supposed to cut my half square triangle fabrics into 2.5" x 2.5" squares.  Did I do that?  NO!  I cut them into 2.25" x 2.25" squares.  In an alternate universe somewhere...I may have just said...ehh....what's the big deal with 1/4" anyway and would have kept sewing.

Uhhhh...it is a big deal.  My 18 year old self wouldn't have worried about it, but as I am a much more conscientious quilter now...my 34 year old self knows this is no good.  Clearly my points are nowhere near matching up.  As I was sewing the last two rows I kept thinking, huh, I must not be cutting very accurately because my seams sure aren't matching up very well.  

 But it didn't compute.  I went about my business, kept on sewing then cut up some more fabric pieces...and then I started matching up some of the fabric I'd cut....wrong...with the previous fabric I'd cut...correctly and I thought....huh, man, I see what I did...I cut all this fabric 1/4" too big!!  

And went about "fixing" some of the pieces that were too big...then after I'd cut a considerable amount of perfectly good squares into perfectly unusable smaller squares...realization hit...big time.   Ohhhhhhh man!  I was supposed to cut the half square triangles 2.5" not 2.25"  dangblastitall!

Yeah....that up there is what is known as myself having a conversation with myself...and it's not going very well for...myself. 

So, as it would be terribly difficult for me to find all the patchworks pieces that I cut incorrectly in the above piece, I have made a few measurements and decided what I will do is toss the last two rows.  Those seem to be mostly sewn with the wrong size half square triangles.  There may be some in the previous rows...but it's not as obvious.

Sigh.  It is very disheartening to make a mistake like that and realize all your time and all that fabric are now for naught.

I now have several 2.25" x 2.25" squares made of seriously pink half square triangles.  I will save them, of course, and hopefully find a use for them at some later time.  In the meantime...I will find my seam ripper and weep into my Valentine's quilt as I tear away yesterday's work.

Fear not dear friends, I will not be defeated...I will just pay better attention next time.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Get your mending on

My brother-in-law told me recently that even though I have girls, they play like boys.  It's true.  My daughters are the rough-housing, chase the dog around the house, wrestle things to the ground and crawl around like whatever animal they are playing today, kind of girls.  Quite often this involves shimmying around on their hands and knees...and wearing out the knees in their pants.  I am not completely opposed to my kids wearing holey jeans...I'm frugal...but it isn't my favorite either to have them running around like a bunch of ragamuffins.  So....patch time.  But not just any patches...oh no...we're giving their jeans an all new style.

That would be the pile of pants needing mending in my house...

So, you start with a rip.  Turn the article of clothing inside out.

Cut out a piece of fabric that extends past the rip a good inch on all sides.  Pin it in place.  It is probably a good choice to use a piece of fabric that has been pre-washed.  I know this is difficult as I rarely pre-wash my fabric before using it and so therefore rarely have scraps that have been pre-washed.  This is a piece of old sheeting that I am using to make my Valentine's quilt.  So, I actually did use pre-washed in this case.  I wouldn't say it was a complete necessity, but fabric does shrink a bit...so be forewarned.

Turn pants right-side-out now.  First step is to make a blanket stitch around the rip. I used 4 strands of regular embroidery thread. You can either use a contrasting color of thread or try and match it to the pants.  You can also choose to trim away the raggedy ends or as I did here, tack them down with some simple running stitches.

Using a running stitch, circle around and around the patch to help reinforce the weakened fabric..plus it looks cute.  When you are finished with your stitches, turn the garment inside out again and trim away the excess fabric.  I would say leave approximately 1/4" of fabric around your stitching.

Here's a sort of up close so you could see the stitches in the middle.  Obviously pale yellow thread doesn't really show up that great.  Oh well.

Here is an example of a patch that I decided I didn't like.  So I unpicked the red running stitches.  If you're not loving something...change it.

I mended leggings.  Gave these ones some cute little embroidered flowers using the daisy stitch.

Remember the one above that I didn't like...this is what I changed it too.  I used a lighter shade of embroidery floss for the running stitches than the blanket stitch around the rip and gave this one some flowers as well.  So cute!

Here's an example of matching my thread to the color of pants.  So, you don't see my stitches much, but the pattern on the patch fabric comes through.  Both my girls are thrilled with their "new" pants...and I'm thrilled that I am not buying new pants half-way through the school year.

Thanks for reading!!

Love if you'd follow the Hearth on Facebook!

Heather