Thursday Thoughts 3-13-14

So....here it is Thursday, and I thought I would try a new feature here at The Cookie Puzzle.  I enjoy blogging, I really do, but if you have been here before, you know that I am NOT a full time Blogger.  I don't make my money blogging, never have, never will.  I decided a long time ago that blogging was a hobby, and a little bit of my online journal, that I share with the world.  I am a real person, I have a full time job that takes me out of the home from 8-6, I have a husband, a special needs son, a home, two dogs and an aquatic turtle and we are building a new house.  I have a life, outside of my blog, but I have "blog think" all the time, I will spend my entire commute each day mentally writing blog posts.  That is great, because when I sit down to write a blog post, I know exactly WHAT I am going to say.  

I know what you are thinking.  You are thinking "If you mentally write out blog posts five days a week, why are you only posting 2 times a week, and only one of those post are actually recipes or crafts?"  Well, I will tell you why, it is because I don't have time to bake or craft everyday.  I don't have time to take 8 gazillion photographs and edit them.  Sorry...if I COULD I WOULD!  I like baking, I am starting to enjoy taking photographs, I just can not do it every day.  Well, I am "free" on the weekends, but I like to spend a little time with my family on Saturdays, Sundays are filled with Church and house cleaning, then before you know it, it is Monday.  

So..since I like blogging, and wish I could do it more, I thought I would start a new feature here at The Cookie Puzzle.

Thursday Thoughts

What  are Thursday Thought?  Well...they are random thoughts that pop into my little mind throughout the week.  They could be comments on TV shows, life, books, people. Pins, Facebook, Questions...just whatever pops into my mind...and I feel compelled to share with you,  Right now there will be no rhyme or reason to them...totally random...no cute little graphics...no charts, or polls or giveaway...just me...talking....venting...sharing.

Ready?

1.  I am sooooo ready for Spring and Summer....I want to see GREEN. But what I am not looking forward to is having to mow the grass...yuck.  I secretly want a fake grass yard.  Is that possible?

2.  I am in desperate need of a hair color!  I normally get it done every 8 weeks, but have stretched it out, because I am planning a DRASTIC color change in April, in honor of Autism Awareness Month, BUT, Collin graduates in MAY, so I will have to re-color it in May to my normal color, so I need to let it rest a bit.

3.  I am NOT a cute dresser.  I want to be, I strive to be, but I am not.  I tend to pick the same color and style all the time.  I see people who dress cute, and want to be a Cute Cool Person, but I just don't have it in me.  I am not a girly girl, I don't own Statement Necklaces.  I don't own a pair of high heels, unless you count the 2 inch heel on my cowgirl boots.  I don't own a pair of skinny jeans, as they will not fit over my cowgirl boots, and I can not wear my jeans inside my boots, because I have abnormally skinny calves and it looks all kinds of weird. I tried it once at Old Navy...it was NOT pretty!

4.  I did not watch this season of The Bachelor, but I did watch the finale and the After the Finale Rose.  My thoughts?  Juan Pablo is a JERK....run little blond girl that he picked.....RUN!  There is no language problem, no cultural problem....he is a JERK!

5.  I HATE peanut butter!  Wish a passion!  I would starve before I ate a peanut butter sandwich or peanut butter and crackers.  It is just NASTY!  YUCK YUCK YUCK.  BUT...my favorite candy is mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  NOT the regular size ones....not the King Sized ones..the MINI ones...the ration of peanut butter to chocolate is perfect....and they have to be COLD!  If they are room temperature....I will not eat them...it just grosses me out.  Now...I love me some Nutella...but peanut butter...I will pass!

There you go...5 totally useless and random thoughts!  A little peak into the crazy brain behind The Cookie Puzzle!

Until next time.....

St. Patrick's Day Snack Cake

Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?  I don't really, but as a blogger, I pretty much HAVE to make something for each and every holiday, it is a rule or something.  I don't want the Blog Mafia to come get me, so I made a simple quick and easy snack cake.

This is one of those quick, I need something sweet type of desserts.  You know those time when you want a little something sweet.  This is perfect for my house, because my weirdo husband and son are not sweet eaters.  Makes me crazy!  I like me some sweets, and they don't, so when I make sweets, I am forced to eat them all by myself, this is a little cake, so my hips thank me.  For this cake, I cut it in half and froze the other half, so I can have a treat next week.

I baked this in a 7x10 baking dish, but you can use a 8x8 or 9x9, or even a 9x13, whatever floats your boat, you just might need to adjust the baking time.  I also like to line the baking pan with foil, for easy removal for cutting, of course, this is not a needed step, just a personal preference of mine.  You can skip this step and simply use baking spray on the pan.  Now, what I really like about this, is that it is totally customizible, you can use any type of sprinkles in the cake and on top you want.  Easter, Thanksgiving, Birthday's, Christmas, Fourth of July, the possibilities are endless.

Easy Snack Cake

by thecookiepuzzle

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Cook Time: 25-30

6061151

Ingredients 

For Cake

• 1 cake mix ( I used a white cake mix0
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sprinkles (I used shamrock sprinkles)

For Frosting

• 1/4 butter, softened
• 2-3 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

For Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking dish (I used a 7x10, you could use a 8x8 or 9x9 also) with foil, spray foil with non stick spray. Combine cake mix, melted butter, egg and milk, stir until combine. I stopped at 1/3 cup, but you could add up to 1/2 cup of milk. Gently fold in sprinkles. Spread in baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes until middle is set. Remove from oven, cool completely. Using the foil, remove cake from pan and frost. Cut into squares and serve.

For Frosting

In a medium bowl, combine, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar, stir in milk. Spread onto cake, sprinkle with additional sprinkles if desired.

*This is a very versatile recipe, you could use any flavor cake and any color or shape of sprinkles. For a chocolate frosting, add 1/4 cup cocoa powder and add an additional Tablespoon of milk.*

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Pieces of My Puzzle 3-9-14

So...last night, I we lost an hour of sleep.  We are now on Day Light Savings time.  How do I feel about that?  Well, it sucks.  Yesterday, I left the house at 8 am, and other then a few quick moments, I was gone from the house all day yesterday.  When I finally got home at 9 pm last night, I was tired, then I remembered that I was loosing an hour of sleep. I was not a happy camper.  I am posting this a little later today, sorry about that..a girl has gotta have some sort of life, right?

I have not watched much TV this week, so not much to say on the TV front.  Loving Grey's Anatomy still, and Scandal is REALLY bringing the scandal...lol.  The new cast of Dancing with the Stars was announced this week.  My girl Nene Leaks is on the cast this year....let the drama begin.  Ok...Charlie White and Meryl Davis are on the cast, you know the Olympic Gold medal winning Ice Dancing Couple, dude...why even do the show?  They are ice DANCERS!  I see them both going far.  I will be rooting for Candace Cameron and Dancia McKellar, love me some DJ Tanner and Winnie Cooper!  Then there are some other people that I am not even sure who they are, and DREW CAREY, who I can not see with out shouting "CLEVELAND ROCKS", I can not help it, I love the Drew Carey Show, is that on in rerun anywhere?

 I did not watch much TV this week because I did a lot of reading, I started and finished 204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber, and have started 311 Pelican Court.  I am LOVING these books so much!  Romance, mystery, family, community, these books have them all.  They are quick reads, that have me staying up way to late at night to see what happens next.  If you are looking for a good book series to wind you down at the end of the day and relax, I can not recommend these books enough.

Another slow week on the blog...just one post...and to tell you the truth, I think this "slow week" formula is going to be my new normal here.  Working full time, managing a home and family, building a new house, life and stuff...I think one post a week is what I am capable of.  I know there are blogs that post daily, but I just can not do that, sorry peeps...I got to keep it real.  I am toying with the idea of another post on Wednesdays, quick and simple filler post, but we will see how that goes.  

So, yeah...there it is, what I did to occupy my time this week....what I kinda sorta want to do next week and in the future...and all that jazz.

In case you missed it...I got my craft on.

Pony Bead Rainbow Suncatcher

One thing that I have been really loving is Link Parties.  You can see the ones that I follow and join Here.

Do you host or join Link Parties?  What are your favorite ones?  What makes a good party?  How do you decide which ones to join?  And...my number one question is...If a Link party is a Wednesday party, why does it go live on Tuesday night?  What is up with that?  If it goes live on Tuesday night, shouldn't it be a Tuesday link party?  Should I put it under Tuesday or Wednesday?  Help a girl out please.

Until next time...Hugs!

Pony Bead Rainbow Suncatcher

Who is ready for sunshine.  How about a nice spring rain that is followed by a beautiful sky and a colorful rainbow?  Doesn't that sound pretty?  It does to me, it really sounds good to me, because this weekend it was cold, and we had ice followed by snow.

Since it is the first of the month, it is also time for the monthly Inspiration Challenge hosted by Stephanie of Ellie's Bites Decorated Cookies and Melissa of Simply Sweets by Honeybee.  This month's theme is 
"The Sky".  The first thing that popped in my head when I heard the theme was Rainbow.

It was yucky outside, so I made a rainbow..and I can keep it forever!

You can have a suncatcher of your very own, and it is really simple.

I arranged pony beads in a 9 inch cake pan, don't spray it or line it with anything.  I just lined them up, starting with the red, then the orange, and so on, following the curve of the pan.  I used the translucent ones rather then the solid ones, but that is just because I wanted to have the light shine through it.  Do what you want, not judging you at all.

Now, I need to melt them.  Here is where I got a little creative.  This is not some new project that I created.  I can not take credit for it at all, there are 8 gazillion tutorials online to follow, just Google "melted bead suncatcher" or "bead suncatcher".  But, what concerned me about them all was the warning of a "melting plastic smell" that came from the oven when you melt the beads.  Now, I don't know about you, but that smell is GROSS..and it hangs out in your house for like a long time and as I mentioned, is is cold here, and snowing, so opening the windows is not an option that I had.  So..I moved to plan B.

Plan B for me was taking my 'craft only' toaster oven outside and doing the melting out there. Yep it was cold, and I got snow on my, but that was ok, my house did not smell like melted plastic when I was done.  So, I set my toaster oven to 450, and let it warm up, then I placed my pan of beads in it, and closed it up.  Within a few minutes, smoke was billowing out, and yucky smell too.  I was happy with my decision to take this project outside.  I just watched carefully, and within 5-7 minutes, the beads were all melted.  I then removed the pan, and set it on my deck table on a hot pad to cool.  I high tailed it back in the house to warm up.  I went back outside in 10 minutes and with very little effort, I had this!

Pretty, isn't?  I raided Collin's fishing kit, and stole borrowed some clear fishing line and tied it around the rainbow ( you can barely see it in the picture in the middle of the rainbow), hung it from my arbor, took a few pictures and ran back inside just as the snow was starting to fall.  I plan on making more of these, as they are so simple.  My next project will be a tray or cake stand I think.

Just a few notes

*If you plan on using a toaster oven like I did, make sure your pan will fit in the toaster oven before you lay your beads out.

*Once the beads are melted and cool, they come out of the pan pretty simply, but if needed you can GENTLY help it along with a sharp knife.

*When the melted bead are cooling, you might notice some "popping" sounds, that is ok, that is the beads releasing from the metal pan.

*You can drill a hole in the suncatcher with a drill, just make sure you don't do it too close to the edge, or it will crack.

*If you do crack it with a drill or dropping, it can be "repaired" by placing it back in the toaster oven for a few minutes.

There you so...simple easy and fun.  The kiddos would love this for sure, with a little adult supervision, you have a great project that can be used as a gift for anyone, because who doesn't love cute gifts from the kiddos?

Don't forget to head over to Simply Sweets by Honeybee to see all the other projects this month.  You are sure to see some amazing projects.

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Pieces of My Puzzle 3-2-14

Happy Sunday blog friends.  Another week has come and gone...not much as happened here, and I am OK with that.  It is early on a Sunday morning, and as I look out the window, I see snow...yep..SNOW...in March, and under that pretty snow, is a thick layer of ICE.  Our pastor just called and church had to be cancelled.  The department of transportation as issued  "No Travel" warning, so it looks like a lazy Sunday for us.  I have some cookies I need to bake for my mom's Historical Society Meeting, simple flowers, and maybe a recipe or two that I would like to try today, if I can move from the couch.

I was able to get a craft project done yesterday before the ice and yuck came, and even some good photos taken, hopefully I can share it with you tomorrow.

My two favorite shows started again this week.  Grey's Anatomy was back, I will not spoil it for you, in case you have not watched it yet...but I was very happy with how it came out.  Scandal was amazing as ever. I started watching it in the middle of last season, and I keep meaning to go back and watch the first seasons, but never have the time.

What really has me excited this week is the book that I started last Sunday and only have 50 more pages to read before it is done.  Last week on the blog, I asked for suggestions on what I should read.  Melissa of My Recent Favorite Books, suggested that I try the Cedar Cove Series by Debbie Macomber. I downloaded the first book 16 Lighthouse Road, and was HOOKED!  It is set in a little town in Washington, and is simply AMAZING.  Melissa described it as a "clean" romance with a little mystery.  OH WOW was she right!  It follows the lives of the people in this small town, it bounces from person to person, from house to house, from couple to couple, BUT, it is so easy to follow.  I am hooked.  With me being stuck at home today, I am sure I will finish this one, and start on the second one.  It has been nice reading along with Collin the last few years, but I think I have read enough young adult books for a bit.time to read for ME.  Thank you so much Melissa, your suggestion really was spot on.

Just one post this week here.

Pina Colada Muffins

Until next time...stay warm and stay safe.