Roll Review!

I made these rolls last night and they were DELICIOUS! It was like having 16 little loaves of french bread! Make them bigger for buns or small for dinner rolls. Either way, they are GOOD! I love french bread and will be making these again for sure!

French Bread Rolls to Die For

(allrecipes.com)

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour

Directions
In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

**Note: I brushed the rolls with an egg wash (1 egg white and 1T. water) before baking for a shiny crust.**

A Buzz Lightyear Party!

Aaron had his Buzz Lightyear party this afternoon! It was a success and the kids had a great time. I posted pictures on the family blog of the kids, but here are some of the creations for the party.I finally made a pinata that wasn't too thick! I remember one year having to take down the pinata and put it on the ground to let the kids beat the heck out of it to crack it! So here is a helpful hint....2 layers of paper mache is plenty for a homemade pinata. You'll thank me later! My friend Nina made one 4 years ago out of a regular balloon. It looked so easy! I've since made 3. Always with a balloon shape to keep it simple. For Dallin's 4th birthday I made a Spiderman head, for his 5th birthday I made a gold fish, and this year I made a rocket one for Aaron. My sister made a goldfish one for her daughter one year and that was the one I patterned my fish one out of. Yes, they are time consuming, but they aren't hard and I think I saved over $25 by making my own. I saved even more by filling it with the kid's Halloween candy that never would have been eaten.

Aaron was a good little helper with adding the tissue paper on the top. He worked diligently for about 20 minutes before saying, "Ok Mom, I'm done. You can finish the rest!" Thanks bud.

Another labor of love cake for my little guy. I looked at 5 different rocket cake pics and came up with this one. I had issues with my fondant being a little more dry than it usually is and so that wasn't fun, but over-all Aaron was happy so I was happy. The kids all wanted to eat the Buzz Lightyear. I had to let them in on the secret that it was just a toy and that I wasn't that talented when it came to making cakes like Duff on the "Ace of Cakes".

Along with the pinata treats, we handed out a Toy Story Pez dispenser to each child as they went home. My sister gave a couple of these to Aaron for his birthday. She found them at the Dollar Tree store, so while I was in California I asked Derrick to pick up some for Aaron's party. The kids loved them!
3 kid's birthdays in 3 months....I'm exhausted!

Personalized Fleece Blanket for Daddy

Derrick has been banned from my craft blog for the next week :) We don't want him to see his present from the kids! Aaron had SO MUCH FUN doing this project. He really got into it. It is his gift to Daddy, but we had Dallin and Kaylee contribute their handprints and quotes to it too.I bought 3 yards of fleece from Joann's (Aaron chose the bright color) and fringed the sides as you would for a no-sew fleece blanket. Then I traced the kids hands and wrote quotes from them about Daddy all over the blanket with puff paint.
Aaron used acrylic paint to make pictures of family members, a Christmas tree, and other designs and patterns. He told me "When you are an artist, you get messy. I am an artist, so I get messy". Yes, he really is an artist, and a very talented one too.

Once the acrylic paint dries, it will be permanent and stand up well in the washing machine.
We hope Daddy likes snuggling up with his new blanket to watch movies!

Holiday Pretzels

We make chocolate pretzels year-round, but are more creative at Christmas! My man has some major skills :) He made all of these for his co-workers. Tons of variations as well as English Toffee. I made chocolate covered marshmallows (again), baked cakes for Aaron's birthday and made buttercream icing and marshmallow fondant. There is always one day a year that is spent crazily baking treats for Christmas and today was that day! For your viewing pleasure there are white chocolate/Andes mints, chocolate/peppermint candy cane, chocolate/wintergreen candy cane, chocolate dipped peanut butter pretzels, chocolate/Andes mints/white chocolate drizzled, and chocolate with white chocolate drizzled pretzels. YUM.

To make your own you will need:

Pretzels (any shape)

Chocolate or white chocolate. Melting bars or chips work well. (You can get a block of Ghiradelli chocolate at Sam's Club and the chips at any craft store.)

toppings (optional)

waxed paper

Melt your chocolate in a 2 c. glass measuring cup for small pretzel rods or mini pretzels. For the large rods, a plastic cup works well. Microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each interval until melted. Dip pretzels, tap to get rid of excess chocolate and place on a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper. Sprinkle with toppings (sprinkles, nuts, candies), drizzle with a different kind of chocolate or leave plain!

For peanut butter pretzels: coat pretzel rod with a coat of peanut butter using a butter knife. Dip in chocolate and place on waxed paper. These are SOO good!

Dark Chocolate Cocoa Mix and Homemade Marshmallows!

I'm back! I had a nice visit with family in California, but now that I am back it's time to kick things into gear to make sure everything is ready for Christmas and Aaron's birthday!

Today I made homemade marshmallows dipped in chocolate and crushed candy canes. I also made homemade cocoa mix. These will be gifts for Dallin's teacher, bus driver, and the ladies that I visit teach at church. I also have a box of marshmallows to take to a cookie exchange tomorrow. I thought it would be a fun variation to share!

I also finished the second layer on Aaron's rocket pinata for his Buzz Lightyear birthday (I'll post pics this weekend).

Recipe for marshmallows found HERE. Yes, you could just buy marshmallows and dip them, but these are a novelty and taste sooo good! They were easy to make too. A little time consuming, but only because you have to wait a few hours to let them set up.

I LOVE dark chocolate! So I adapted a recipe for cocoa mix that I found on allrecipes.com and came up with this. It is to die for! My favorite hot cocoa is from Starbucks. This recipe is the closest thing I've come across that compares. So if you like dark chocolate, try this :)

Dark Cocoa

5 1/2 c. powdered milk
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 1/4 c. SPECIAL DARK baking cocoa (Hershey's)
1 c. dry non dairy creamer
Mix and store in an airtight container.

To serve mix 1 c. boiling water with 1/3 c. dry mix.
I packaged the cocoa mix in a pint jar and made a cellophane bag with some extra cellophane I had from a gift basket I made awhile ago.

Travel Neck Pillow

Here is Aaron's carry on bag. He packed it ever so carefully, making sure not to forget ANYTHING. He even made a little bag tag that I laminated for him. We leave for the airport in 2 hours. The house is clean, our bags are packed....and Aaron has a new neck pillow for the trip now. He and I sat down and sewed up a couple of these this morning. His is the orange one and was the first one we made. We didn't want Dallin to feel left out since he isn't flying to California with us so we made him one too. His turned out AWESOME. Obviously Aaron's was the trial run, but he loves it and won't let me make him another one. I added velcro so that it could close securely and cozy around their neck if they choose. These will be great in the truck too when we go on trips. I found the idea here.
We'll be back in a week and a half!