WARNING! addiction to soon follow

This weekend I was working on some recipes for my yearly Christmas goodie platters/food gifts.
One of my very favorite snacks in the whole world is Harry and David Moose Munch. AHHHH It is to Die for.
So I decided to make my own Generic Sarah Version of it. I searched for a great caramel Corn Recipe, which I found> This stuff is amazing just on its own. I made mine with Cashews, you can also use almonds, peanuts, pecans etc.

CARAMEL CORN:

1 cup popcorn Kernels, popped and set aside in very large bowl. (or two large bowls if  you dont have one big enough for it all) You can mix in a few cups of nut of your choice. The salty nuts really do go so well with the sweetness of the popcorn. I like nuts, so I added about 2 1/2 cups of cashews.

In a sauce pan, combine:
1 cup BUTTER (yes, butter. Margarine is the devil)
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt.

stir just enough to blend. Once it starts boiling, cook for exactly 5 minutes over med-hi heat. STIR CONSTANTLY.
Once it has boiled for 5 minutes, remove from heat and stir in
1tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla.
It will foam and bubble, it is supposed to. It is supposed to look like a fluffy shaving cream type consistence.

Drizzle this over your popcorn and toss well to coat.  Each piece does not have to be completely coated.
Spread out over greased cookie sheets or jelly roll pans etc. 
Bake at 250 degrees for about an hour, turning every 15 minutes or so.

After an hour, remove from oven and spread on wax paper to cool. Once cool, break into clusters and store in tupperware or ziplock baggies.

This is the best caramel corn I have ever had. It is so delicious. You do have to bake it. If you dont the caramel will get super sticky and hard.

You can eat it plain like this, or you can use some of it to make an extra special treat...
Now to make the Sarah's Moose Munch.

Go to Michaels or other craft store to their candy section. Get a package of the melt and pour chocolate caps and a package of the white chocolate caps.  Melt these in your microwave, according to the directions.
Drizzle each kind over the popcorn, as heavy or as light as you want.
THEN take HEATH CHIPS (you can find them in your baking section of the grocery store) and sprinkle over as well.  It will stick to the melted chocolates.

Let it dry and enjoy.

Just a warning. This is addictive. The caramel corn is just soooo good. Add a little chocolate and heath chips and voila.

ENJOY!

Thanksgiving Recipe- Corn Souffle

This is a FABULOUS and easy recipe. Prep time is 5 minutes. Honestly.
It is so delicious and will be a family favorite. It isnt just for Thanksgiving, you can make it any time. This is one of MY family favorites, and I hope everyone else can enjoy it as well.

5 ingredients. 1 stick of butter and a round casserole dish.  That is all it takes. But when you taste it, you will be amazed at how EASY it is. Yet people will think you slaved all day.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 box Jiffy corn muffin Mix
1 egg
8 oz Sour Cream
1 can creamed corn
2 TBSP sugar


You will also need a medium sized ROUND casserole baking dish.
.melt 1 stick of butter in the casserole dish.(And yes, it really works better with butter than with margerine. )

In a separate mixing bowl, mix together the sour cream, corn and egg. Add the jiffy mix and sugar. Mix well.
Pour this batter INTO the melted butter, but DO NOT STIR.  yes, it is supposed to look that messy.

Bake at 350 for 35-50 minutes, it will be done when it has puffed up, the edges are golden and a knife comes out clean.
ENJOY!!
If you try this recipe, please leave me a comment!!

EXTRA NOTES: **This doesnt work very well doubled. If you are feeding a large group, make two separate batches instead of putting it into One giant casserole.
**If you use a corn muffin mix other than jiffy, add an extra tablespoon of sugar.

I love her

I Love her...I truly do.

when I grow up(HAH) I want to be just like her.  she is amazing.
she has brains, tenacity(read:balls), business acumen, no nonsense attitude, and SERIOUS mad skills. Yet underneath it all she is a kind and caring person who wants to help people.

Tabatha Coffey, you are my Hero in the beauty Industry.  I have learned so much about salons and hair dressing, just from watching salon takeover. I feel I am a better student and stylist because of you.  You inspire me to work as hard and as smart as I can, because someday when i own my own salon, I dont want you coming through my door(unless it is to interview me for a job...)

YOU ARE THE WOMAN!

Insomnia Strikes again

My body and brain KNOW that I have appointments all day today PLUS I am staying late.
WHY oh WHY did my eyes fly open at 3am and refuse to close again?
I need all the sleep I can get.
It was as if all the forces in the universe converged at that moment in my bedroom to screw with me.

1. 3am. I wake up to my husband rolling over and taking blankets with him, leaving my butt exposed to the cold air.  So I pull some of the covers back, taking too  much blanket and immediately feel hot.

2. I start hearing "things" in the room.  I SWEAR I heard krinkling paper, like something was crawling on plastic.  I immediately think of blood sucking spiders and the giant big bad voodoo daddy of spiders from Arachnophobia.  I hear crinkle crinkle crinkle...then I PROMISE I heard something fall or jump or something. I yelled "What was that?" Poor Charles "huhhhhmppppphhhhhh".   WHAT WAS THAT!  He said "What? I explained what was going on and said "Turn on the light!"  so he did and asked :What am I looking for?"  Of course nothing was found. Just my over active imagination playing tricks on me again...or it is my insect arch enemy come back to haunt me from his watery cock-roachy grave.(We get these Palmetto Bugs, which are basically cockroaches. With winter coming they are looking for a way in and with a dog who likes to open doors by himself and leave them open sometimes we get some that sneak in.)(heebie jeebies)

3. The one lone cricket left alive in this cold weather starts playing his sad song right outside my window.

Not excessively loud, but just enough to be irritating and keep me from getting drowsy again.

4. The owls...yes we have Barred Owls and the one night I wake up it starts its crazy un-hoot that sounds like a chihuahua being strangled by a goat. I cant even explain the sound it makes, but it is NOT the calm and soothing who who you hear in the movies or on cartoons.

5. Husband.  I try to get comfortable and his shoulder is in the way of my arm. Or he is breathing in a way that it isnt QUITE a snore, but pretty darn close. I cant punch him and say "Hey roll over" since technically he isnt snoring...just breathing loudly. Annoyingly and Irritatingly Loud. (grammar?? eh it is 4am. deal with it)

6. Pillows.  I have a wierd habit. I have to sleep with like 4 pillows.  I have a feather pillow on the bottom. It is nice and smooshy and I can have the lumps and bumbs where I need them. On top of that, slightly towards the bottom of the feather pillow, I have one of those small memory foam pillows. THEN on top of that, aligned with the feather pillow, effectively making a memory pillow sandwich, I have a regular poly fill pillow, a little thinner, not too fluffy.  Then I have a giant King Size fluffy pillow that I "hug" or throw my leg over.

Well my pillows were being big fat jerks.  My feather pillow kept getting lumps and bumps in all the wrong places.  The memory Foam pillow was not in the right place so my should ger hurt and my arm kept falling asleep. The poly fill pillow kept shifting. I just couldnt get comfortable.

so I spent over an hour fixing blankets, pillows, forcing my hubby to look for ghost bugs, tossing and turning. I decided to get up to try and clear my mind, stumbling around in the dark, trying to find a sweatshirt or something. charles says "Are you up for good?"

I get out of bed for 10 seconds and he is trying to steal my spot.

OK 437am. Perhaps I can try and get back to sleep after clearing my mind a bit.

wish me luck.

Christmas Hair Bows

So I have discovered the joy of Bow Making.  I made a bunch for a girlfriend at school and she loved them so much. I have several more orders come in and am thinking about listing them on Etsy for Christmas.
I went to Michaels and their Christmas and Holiday ribbon was on sale for 50% off. I bought several kinds, all coordinating and went to town. Here are the ones I have made so far.

I really like the Loopy hair bows. I did make a few of the pinwheel type bows in various colors as well.

The backs are single prong clips:

All bows are made by stitching AND re-enforced with hot glue. I then sealed any visible ends with a flame, keeping it from fraying.
I have recently discovered Korker Bows:(I did not make this. This is from mybowlady.com)

I have a lot of grosgrain ribbon on the way to me. I will make the Korker ribbon, and if it is as easy at it sounds, I will make a tutorial. It SEEMS easy enough. I tried the redneck version using a candle, instead of a stove. It didnt work too well. The ribbon stayed Korkered, but there were scorch marks on it.

So I am thinking I will follow the correct directions and see how difficult it is.

Not that I have a ton of time on my hands, but I have lots of ideas swirling around. I have missed crafting and making these bows have been a fun thing for me to do while I watch TV at night when the boys go to bed.

 I can pull up my little table and just work away.

Happy Crafting!

My Crafty weekend

Whew I was a crafy gal this weekend.
At school I am in a group, making a window display for a competition. Our group is doing a Nightmare Before Christmas theme and I was in charge of making Jack. Here is our inspiration:

We have snowflakes that will be hanging down from the ceiling and one will be in Jacks fingers as he looks at it in wonderment.

So...how do you make a model using very little money? Like this:

Here is Jack in his Glory. (Obviously he is naked and will be dressed at a later date)

Once he gets dressed and in the scene he will look so good.

I am really proud of my little model.

Then a few months ago at school we had a going green/recycled fashion show.

I made some hairbows with recycled ribbon and next thing I know I had orders!

So, this week a woman in my class ordered 10 in various pinks and purples and reds for her granddaughter.

I sewed loops in various sizes and colors and secured them with thread and hot glue. Then for the center I took about 2 inches of ribbon, sewed a running stitch along the bottom edge and then pulled to make a rosette type thing and attached it to the middle.

If anyone is interested they are $3 each.

So that was my weekend.  Then of course Finn thought Jack was the COOLEST thing ever and wanted to have his picture taken with him.

So that was my crafty little weekend.  It was fun!

Its the Final Countdown...

I have about 5 weeks left of school...let the countdown begin.

HALLELUJAH!