Crescent Rolls Galore

Tonight for dinner I decided to try something fun that I saw online.  Autumn of course wanted to be up on the counter (in her normal attire of just a diaper and t-shirt) to help.

We made these mummy hotdogs.  Ours didn’t turn out quite like the pictures I saw online, but that’s ok b/c we had fun making them together.  Autumn kept rolling the ball up in a dough and trying to cover them completely up.

They ended up looking just fine and tasting great.  Note to self: wait until they cool down a little bit to put the mustard eyes b/c otherwise it just melts right off.  EWW.

While those were in the oven we got our cream cheese sopapillas ready.  I was taking a picture of our mummy dogs when all of a sudden this can of crescent rolls that was sitting on the counter just exploded and scared the crap out of me!  I let out a scream and ended it scared Autumn.  Some of the dough went flying across the kitchen and landed on the cabinet!

After we made our cream cheese sopapillas and had them baking away in the oven, we put on some Christmas music and danced around the kitchen and living room.  Autumn was standing on the counter and was shaking her hips so cute.  But she got all shy when I got the camera out.  She’s a good little dancer and we had fun enjoying the good food we had made.  I think I had more crescent roll dough tonight (3 cans worth) than I’ve had in the past 3 years combined.  But both the mummy dogs and cream cheese sopapillas were extremely tasty.

2 (8oz) pkgs of cream cheese
2 pkg of cresent rolls
1 & 1/2 C sugar (divided into 1 c. and 1/2c.)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 stick margarine or butter
Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a sprayed 9x13 pan with one package of crescent rolls.
Mix cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla. Spread on top of rolls.
Cover that with the other pkg of crescent rolls.
Melt butter & mix with the other 1/2 C sugar. Pour on top and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers. This also tastes good cold (so the recipe says but I haven't tried it yet, lol). This recipe may also be halved and baked in an 8x8 pan. Enjoy!

New Puppy

This morning when I woke up Autumn said, “I missed you Mama.”  It completely melted my heart and even made me cry a little bit.  She’s such a love bug.  She loved being able to wear this dress and her cute red headband.  She kept twirling around like she was a princess.  Today was the Primary Program and I got teary eyed a few times thinking how Autumn will be up there before I know it.  And I can’t help but feel the Spirit when those sweet and innocent children say simple but powerful gospel truths and it really gets me when they sing.

They were short handed in nursery today, so I helped out for a little bit.  Autumn did not like sharing me w/ the other kids and stayed right on my lap or by my side.  But then when it was snack time I was able to sneak away b/c I had to go lead the music in Relief Society.  The lesson was on Joseph Smith so for the practice hymn I played Vocal Point’s accapela version of Praise To The Man.  It is amazing.

After church we came home and had lunch and then took a nap.  When we both woke up, we made cherry chip cake w/ cream cheese frosting.  Autumn is such a good little helper in the kitchen.  While it was baking we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the new one w/ Johnny Depp) b/c it was on TV.  During a commercial I flipped over to another channel and Autumn said, “Thank you, Mama.”  I guess she didn’t like it and Johnny Depp scared her.  She was all about watching Hannah Montana instead.  When I put it on “Nah Nah” as she calls it she looked up at me w/ the sweetest little face and said, “Dank do, Mama.”  She brings so much joy into my life.

Liz & Liberty came over to show us their new puppy they got yesterday.  She’s a little shizu named Lola.  She is absolutely adorable and liked playing w/ the tassels on the rug in the living room.  It made me want a cute little puppy, especially b/c Autumn loved Lola so much and was so excited to have her visit.

Aww…what a cute family picture.  Autumn was helping me take this picture and had her finger over part of the flash (that’s why it’s dark on Liz’s side of the pic).  I am so glad that Liz & Liberty live close and that they come over to visit us.

Chocolate Cookies & Surprise Visitors

Tonight Autumn & I spent the evening at home just watching TV and relaxing.  I was in the kitchen doing dishes and walked into the living room to se this…Autumn chillin’ on the couch watching TV while eating crackers out of this zip lock bag she found in the pantry.  What a kid.  She wanted me to make sure I got a picture of her red painted toe nails…she is so proud of them and was THRILLED when I painted them a few days ago.

Since we were just at home watching TV, I decided to be the Baking Babes and make some cookies.  It’s a recipe from Paula Dean.  The cookies were good, but not something I’ll make all the time.  They were really messy to roll into little balls.  While my hands were covered in dough and powdered sugar, the doorbell rang.  I thought it was Liz & Liberty b/c I had told them to come over if they wanted to.  Since I couldn’t move the blinds (b/c I had dough all over my hands) to peek out the window and see who it was, I just yelled out, “Who is it?”  It was the Bishopric and they stopped in just to say hi.  They said they would have called ahead but my phone number wasn’t in the ward directory.  It was so nice to have them here and Autumn acted all shy at first and wouldn’t even look at them.  They would ask her a question and every time the answer was, “No!”  But, she warmed up by the end of the visit and loved being able to put the cookies we had made on a plate to share w/ them.  It made me feel so special and important and loved to have them stop in and say hi and just check on us.

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Sweets & Sunglass Sistas

Tonight Autumn & I wanted to dust off our aprons and turn into Baking Babes.  We made some of Kristin’s pumpkin pie bars (I did them right this time and remembered to reserve one cup of the cake mix to put on top).  Autumn is the best helper ever when it comes to licking the batter off the whisk.

But that’s not her only baking talent.  She is also really good at stirring and smiling when I tell her to.  I love baking w/ her b/c she makes it so fun.  For example, when I brought out the eggs and broke them open she got so excited and kept yelling, “Wegs! Wegs!”

While we waited for the pumpkin pie bars to bake, we watched some TV and Autumn found some sunglasses that she insisted on wearing around.  I love this picture of her, b/c it’s like she’s thinking, “Dear me.  I seem to have misplaced my glasses.  I wonder where they could be?”  I love that she put them up on her head like I do all the time.

We are the Sunglass Sistas tonight along w/ the Baking Babes…an awesome combination.

Best Landlords & Baking Babes

I know I say this all the time, but I really do have the absolute best landlords in the whole world.  Last week I came home from work and all the wildflowers that were growing in the yard had been wedded out.  Then today when I got home from work, I had this LOVELY surprise in my backyard.  Mom & Dad had taken it out of the front yard (where the branches would hit the roof of the house in any kind of wind or storm) and transplanted it to the backyard.  Not only that, they put mulch around it and metal edging and also did some landscaping in the front yard flowerbeds.

I’ve decided that I want to start baking more w/ Autumn b/c we both enjoy it so much.  So, we’re going to start being the Baking Babes.  At homemaking a few weeks ago they gave us a cookbook of favorite recipes from ladies in the ward.  So, tonight I decided to try one of the recipes.  I made lemon bars (see recipe below).  They were really easy to make and tasted good.  I think next time I will put some lemon zest in it, b/c I like my lemon bars a little more lemony.  Also, I cooked them a little bit too long b/c when I took them out after 25 minutes, the filling was still jiggly, but I guess it’s supposed to be that way and it hardens as it cools.  I LOVE that Autumn is helping me bake wearing a T-shirt, diaper, and her pink cowboy boots, b/c she refused to wear pants.  What a cute girl!

LEMON BARS
(by Melissa Wilson)

Crust:
1 c butter
1 3/4 c flour
2/3 c powdered sugar (plus more for dusting)

Topping:
1 1/2 c plain sugar
1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan w/ cooking spray.

To make crust:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and powdered sugar
• Cut in butter until combined and crumbly
• Press mixture into bottom of pan
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden

To make topping:

• While crust is baking, prepare topping
• In a larger bowl add sugar, flour, and baking powder
• Then add slightly beaten eggs and lemon juice
• Mix well and pour on top of warm baked crust
• Bake for 20-25 minutes
• When cool, dust with powdered sugar and refrigerate
• Cut into bars and enjoy them cold