August 23rd, 2010 / 20 Comments » / by admin
Welcome to Tasty Tuesday at The little brown house!
I decided this week to make something that doesn’t require using the oven -
Of course, the Northwest is having a mild summer for some reason,
and it is only about 73 degree’s here today! But I know for some of you
it has been a very hot summer. Right now, however, I am rethinking my idea
to make an easy sweet irresistible snack. Because I am finding it, well, irresistible!
I decided I would just make up my own recipe – after all, how hard can
chocolate covered popcorn be to make….
You start by making some microwave popcorn. I thought I was being so
smart and bought some that had only 1 Weight Watchers point per serving.
Then when I opened the package I realized I had bought the mini bags,
then after I popped it I realized I had bought Kettle Corn! It all came together
fine, however. At least good enough for me to snack on until I was stuffed!
So, start by making about 10 cups of popped corn. I had intended to get the lightly salted kind,
and I do think that would work best for this recipe.
Put the popped corn into a large container, so that you can spread it out.
Put 2 Tablespoons of butter into medium saucepan on the stove.
Then add 1 cup of Butterscotch chips.
I then added 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 tablespoon of corn syrup
I forgot to wait and add the vanilla after I took it off the stove,
I would recommend doing this.
It looked a little strange, but I had high hopes!
After it had all melted, I poured it over the popcorn, which I had added some salted peanuts to.
Just to make sure we got in all the food groups…
Then I mixed it around – making sure everything was covered in
butterscotch goodness!
Yummy!
At this point I put the pan into the oven at 250 degrees as I made the chocolate.
I thought it would be good to keep it warm and malleable…. gosh I don’t get to use that word often!
100 meaningless points to anyone who can use it in a comment on this post…
Now it is time to make the chocolate. I put 3/4 cups chocolate chips and about
1 Tablespoon of butter into the microwave to melt together.
At this point I want to remind you that I am not a professional..
On the contrary – I am basically a bumbling idiot when it comes to cooking.
I am sorry if I have led any of you to believe otherwise…
I seem to be lacking the “melt chocolate in microwave without turning it to stone” gene.
So I added about 1 Tablespoon of Corn Syrup – which repairs all things.
Then I put a baggie into a glass and filled it with the chocolate mixture.
One of my readers ( thanks Patricia!) suggested I use the baggie, and it worked great!
I piped the chocolate on the popcorn, mixed it up a bit, then put it in the fridge to cool.
After about 30 minutes – I got it out, and I can only say that something magical happened!
It is not crispy like caramel corn, it is softer – yet somewhat crunchy.
The salt of the popcorn and peanuts , sweetness of the butterscotch, and tang of
the semi-sweet chocolate combined to make what tastes like a candy bar type treat.
I also found that it fits perfectly in the dollar store jars I redid in this post:
It would be a great Christmas treat for someone!
Dollar Store Gift Jars
And with it being cooler here today – I just had to add a little Fall
to my photo shoot!
Thanks again for stopping by the Little Brown House – I call all of my readers my brownies in my head
is that bad? I figure if Lady GaGa can have her little monsters, I can have my brownies!
I know – sometimes things in your head should not be verbalized!!
Posted in: Chocolate, Tasty Tuesday, Uncategorized, recipe
Tags: Chocolate, cooking, easy, food, recipe, Tasty Tuesday
August 19th, 2010 / 18 Comments » / by admin
Welcome to The little brown house! I have been thinking about
the holiday’s lately… I know, we are still in the midst of summer.
Don’t hate me! It is hard not to think ahead when the stores have
Halloween and Thanksgiving things out on the shelves already!
Anyway – I have been looking for some craft
idea’s for gift giving – and I came across these jars at
The Dollar Tree –
the store that lures you in with the thought
that “I will only spend a dollar or two” and then pops you out
an hour later with $25 worth of items in your bag!
Guess how much these jars were!!
I know – old joke..
But aren’t they so cute for one dollar? I don’t know what it
is about glass and jars, I am just drawn to them.
So I decided to buy some and figure out what kinds of
things I could do with them to make them into gifts.
I decided to spray paint one of them with a white semi-gloss.
It was a little breezy outside – but I insisted on doing it anyway -
It could have turned out better, but as usual, I was in a hurry!
I gathered up some supplies from my kraft things
and began to play around with them and the jars.
I had some Chinese wrapping paper, some vinyl number stickers
and letters, and some buttons..
You might remember from my Black and White Console Redo
that I love to combine paper, numbers, and jars!
I did not take step by step pictures of how I did everything,
So I will show you the pictures and explain as I go!
OK – the first one really requires some explanation.
My son is turning 19 in a couple months, and all he ever asks
for is money. Which is usually what we give him.. but I wanted
to find a more creative way to give it to him – so this is my thought
The jar has the numbers 1 – 4 on it, and here is what I plan on putting in it,
* A $20 bill
* 2 movie tickets
* A gift card to a restaurant
* A gas card
Here is what I will write on it -
1 for the money (cash for movie treats)
2 for the show (two tickets to movie)
3 to get ready (Restaurant gift card for dinner before movie)
and
4 to go! (gas to get to the theater)
I think he will like it, and I know I will enjoy putting it together!
This next one is for my granddaughter Kelsi
Her birthday is in November,
I just made her these two rings she is wearing
So I thought I could do a jewelry jar for her
This is the one I painted – I cut out a square of the wrapping paper
and sprayed adhesive on the back, then put it on the jar.
Then I put a vinyl K on it, and glued a button on the top and the front.
Cute huh!
The third one I was thinking I could
fill with tea bags or those individual Starbucks instant coffee’s
I put the word Tea on it with the vinyl letters, and then
put a strip of the wrapping paper inside.
I wasn’t sure if I would keep this one, so I didn’t use the
spray adhesive to stick it in there – but it would work like this
if you just wrapped the paper around the tea/coffee.
So – tell me what you think! And please share any ideas
you might have of how to make these dollar store jars
into a great gift idea -
Thanks so much for coming by! Be sure to check out the party links below!
Posted in: Dollar Store Decor, Frugal Friday, Home Decor, Uncategorized
Tags: Decor, diy, dollar store, Frugal Friday, Home Decor
August 16th, 2010 / 8 Comments » / by admin
Ok – I swear.. this.is.the.last.cupcake. post…
At least in this series. It is also my longest post title ever – which I believe
I will celebrate by having a cupcake and coffee..
So – just to bring everyone up to date. I made cupcakes for my daughters baby
shower last Saturday. I made yellow cake ones filled with lemon and frosted with buttercream.
Cupcakes – Part I
Cupcakes – Part II
Then I made these cupcake stands out of Dollar Store burner covers -
Cupcake Stands
Ok – now we are all up to date!
So, what would a cupcake be without frosting? Or icing as our Canadian friends call it – aye?
When looking for a recipe – I once again visited my good friend
Hoosier Homemade
She is known as the Cupcake Lady, and she is gifted in all things cupcakes!
I even watched her video tutorial on how to frost them – I highly recommend it!
Can you believe so few ingredients can make something so delectable?
You start by whipping 2 sticks of real butter till it is creamy
Then you sift 4 cups of powdered sugar – which I did – which is so unlike me..
Generally when I see the word “sift” in a recipe I replace it with dump, or drop, or pour…
But I decided to be a good girl and follow directions.. I will try not to make a habit of it.
Now add the powdered sugar alternately with milk and vanilla,
to the creamed butter.
She does not give precise measuerments for these – I used around 2-3 Tbl. of milk
and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
Since I was using lemon filling for my cupcakes, I decided to make the
frosting lemon flavored too.
So I added about 1 Tbl. lemon zest and 2 Tbl. fresh lemon juice to the frosting after
I had mixed in the milk and vanilla. Then I mixed it all together till blended well.
So – butter, sugar, lemon,vanilla – really not much can go wrong here..
Then I popped it into the fridge to chill, while I got ready to make
my first attempt at using a pastry bag.
I bought the bags and tip at Michaels. The tip was so cute and promised me a “star finish”
I have never in my, um, 30 some years, seen a star that looked like this..
It should have been named “frosting looks like spaghetti noodles tip”
but I guess truth in advertising didn’t win out in this case.
So – back to Michaels for a big ole round holed tip.. boy howdy..
You put the tip down into the plastic bag before you add the frosting -
Then you cut the tip of the bag off so that the metal tip pokes out.
The “Cupcake Lady”
suggests that you put the plastic frosting bag into a tall glass to fill it.
Once again – I followed her advice.
I spooned the frosting into the plastic bag
I twisted the end of the bag until the frosting came out of the tip -
Then I started making slow circles on the top of the cupcakes.
Oh – you are such discerning readers!
You have noticed that those are not my lemon cupcakes..
You are right – I also made chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling for the shower.
I was not as happy with those as I was with my lemon ones.
Therefore I am not sharing the recipe with you.
Yes, I am always looking out for you -
I was much happier with the finished product after I stopped using the
“coiled spaghetti strands” tip.
Although – this tip could be called “little pile of dog poop” tip…
Please erase that from your memory..
I did not even say it..
Here, let me distract you with a pretty cupcake picture..
They were such diva’s during the photo shoot.
“Powder my crumbs, I am so parched, those lights are making me melt”
Blah blah blah -
Those photo shoots are so grueling..
Thanks for coming by! You may have noticed some changes
to the blog – I have switched hosting sites and now have someone helping me
out with blog “housekeeping” if you are looking for a new web host here is his link!
Cloudul.us
Thanks so much for stopping by The House!
Posted in: Tasty Tuesday, Uncategorized, recipe
Tags: cooking, dessert, easy, recipe, Tasty Tuesday
August 15th, 2010 / 5 Comments » / by admin
If you want to – I mean if you really feel strongly about it…
You can go vote for my post in the Diy August contest.
But only if you have a deep burning desire to do so..
My post is Plate Wall Art – #27…
But you must feel it deeply…down in your heart…
goodbye forever…dying of embarrassment…oh the shame…
Diy August Contest Voting
Posted in: Uncategorized
August 12th, 2010 / 31 Comments » / by admin
Finally! After two posts about the baby shower cupcake event going on at the Little Brown House, I am going to debut
as promised, my dollar store cupcake stand! I know you have all been awaiting this moment with bated breath..
Whatever that is..
Last year I entered the Dollar Store Contest and came up with a few decor items made
with dollar store purchases. One of them was my burner cover cake stands – you can see them here:
Dollar Store Cake Stand
As I was planning my daughters baby shower – I came up with the idea of making cupcakes:
I decided to update the dollar store cake stands and use them as cupcake stands – total cost around $3.50
I found some scrapbook paper I loved at Michaels
I traced around the top of the plate-
When I placed the paper circle on the top, I decided that I needed
to paint the plate so that I would have a clean finish
on the sides and in case any showed through on the top.
So we went outside for a couple of coats of Heaven’s own paint – Heirloom White..
It makes everything better.. really..
Ah – much nicer!
Now I put spray adhesive on the top of the plate, and placed the round paper on top of it.
Then I repeated the process with the next plate
And here is the finished product!
Very pretty indeed!
And the day I made them I got the cupcake toppers and covers I had ordered -
They matched so well!
I may have squealed a little bit!
I have been working on the cupcakes all week, and just finished frosting and filling them today-
So of course I had to dress up the stands for their photo shoot!
I ordered the personalized cupcake toppers and matching wrappers from Julie at
www.etsy.com/shop/alittlelollipoptree
I am so happy with them – I especially love the Welcome Baby Lydia Grace toppers!
So I am about ready to go with the baby shower this Saturday!
If you would like to see the recipes for the cupcakes – you can find them here:
Baby Shower Cupcakes Part 1
Baby Shower Cupcakes Part 2
Thanks so much for coming by! I am linking up with a few fun parties – go check them out!
Updating to add picture of the actual Lydia Grace who arrived 8/31/10!
Isn’t she beautiful!
Posted in: Frugal Friday, Home Decor, Uncategorized, recipe
Tags: cooking, dessert, dollar store, easy, Frugal Friday, Home Decor, makeover, paint, redo
