Spiceopolis’s recipe, Pecan Over-Night French Toast, called for ingredients that are all already in most cupboards. Add that to the fact that you can do all the hard parts of this breakfast the night before, and we’re all set. I used a hodge-podge of different breads… a wholesome wheat bread, a few Italian heels, even a chopped up sub roll. That’s another attribute of French toast that makes it even easier to love.

Granted, my whole “not sweet” tendency was quickly overridden by the heaps of brown sugar and dollops of Karo syrup called for in the recipe. But sometimes dessert breakfasts are a good thing. :)

My picture isn’t nearly as pretty as hers, but I think you can still tell… this stuff is amazing. I have a good feeling about this weekend, and the chorus of angels in my head is now very loudly proclaiming the glory of overnight French toast. We’re off to a good start.

pecans & butter is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Tart, tangy, a little bit sour with a little bit sweet… and the texture’s just right, too. The grapefruit marmalade has fulfilled all requirements of its name! I’m just thrilled I didn’t spend my two hours of grapefruit-watching for nothing. Now I’ve got 6 and a half cans of the stuff… all of which should last for at least a year! Hurray, canning!

Once again, I’ll link to the recipe. I also used this canning guide along with this orange marmalade recipe to figure out all the preservation business.

My advice? Buy jar tongs (like these) because they look like they’d make life a lot simpler around all that boiling water. And expect plenty of cleanup time… by the time my jars were out and cooling, the entire kitchen was covered in sticky grapefruit. Oh, and instead of chopping up all of the steaming hot grapefruit by hand, I sliced it then gave it a few pulses in the blender. Way easier, especially since I didn’t want big chunks of peel floating around.

I still can’t believe I made something that tastes like real marmalade. That was fun.

grapefruit marmalade: a delicious success is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

click the image to visit the blog entry and see the photo tutorial. so simple and cute!

button cookies is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

YUM.

Some cute boy and I decided it was necessary to make a cheesecake! Of course we couldn’t make an average cheesecake… we had to experiment! And I impulsively add coconut to everything I bake. So coconut chocolate it was.

After reading somewhere online that people have made crusts solely out of coconut and butter, I substituted half of the graham cracker crumbs of my recipe for coconut flakes. That was a good choice. Totally successful. I’m pretty sure I could use this crust for pretty much anything… or just eat it plain. (which i did, since i had extra.)

We used my dad’s super awesome cheesecake recipe for the basics, then split it in half for the layers. One half was the chocolate layer, and we mixed that up and stuck it in the fridge to firm up before adding the top layer. The top layer had extra vanilla and some – just enough – coconut. Then we topped it with a thin chocolate ganache and let it chill.

Then it was eating time! We topped it with homemade whipped cream, since there was whipping cream left over from the ganache, and toasted coconut. (a tip: toasting coconut is definitely easiest to do in a frying pan, not in the oven!) And I took terrible pictures, since I just wanted to eat the stuff. Can you blame me?

And I feel super awesome, because how many college kids do you know who can bake successful cheesecakes in their dorm kitchens? Not many. And I’d say it’s a very worthwhile and completely awesome use of time and procrastinatory skills.

coconut chocolate cheesecake is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Primarily, the completion of The Softest Shirt Ever. While I was not able to experience its softness for an extended period of time today (it’s longsleeved), it is indeed a winner. Light turquoise/aqua gauzy rib knit… it’s a sweater-looking scoopneck and I’m slightly in love.

Secondly, the skillful execution of The Best Blackberry Crisp Ever. Ever, ever, ever. I used this Triple Berry Crisp recipe, but used all blackberries (because we’ve got a few), but this oaty-buttery crumble could be used with any fruit possible. Peaches, add some cinnamon for apples, I’m just nibbling away at this goodness. And it was super easy!

I’ve only taken a sample bite so far, a sample bite that has been growing every time I walk by, but this stuff is good.

… and don’t forget about the super awesome sale!

best-ever day is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

One food that always makes me happy is the Perfect Banana. Freckled all over, a few days past ripe, sweet and slightly squishy… that is the best way to have a banana. Especially dipped in peanut butter.

But what do you do when they’ve gotten past the freckled stage and have moved on to almost solid brown? Can’t let a perfect banana go to waste… it’s banana baking time! There are few things I love more than oven fresh banana bread… and among those few things is this recipe for peanut butter banana muffins.

The recipe calls for egg white, to be healthy; I dislike using just egg whites because then what do you do with the yolk? Throw it away? Seems awfully wasteful.. but I didn’t want them to be too eggy, so I used an egg white substitute I found: 1/2 cup applesauce plus 1/4 tsp baking powder for every egg white. Apparently you can also substitute 1/2 of a mashed banana plus 1/4 tsp baking powder for a whole egg, as well, which would probably work nicely in this recipe. Without the egg, the muffins didn’t puff up like they normally might, but I liked that better since I was using my heart-shaped silicone pan.

I also didn’t have any plain yogurt on hand, so I used sour cream. And in a few of the muffins, I added dark chocolate chunks; in a few others, I sprinkled coconut. Mm-mm.

Banana Peanut Butter Muffins
1/2 c Peanut Butter
1/2 c Plain Yogurt or Sour Cream
1/2 c Mashed Banana (about 1 banana)
1 c Flour (i used 1/2 c oat flour and 1/2 cup white flour)
1/2 c Applesauce with 1/4 tsp Baking Powder mixed
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 c Brown Sugar

Preheat the oven to 350° and spray your pan with nonstick spray (i used Pam with Flour for baking) or line with paper muffin cups. Mash Banana to your liking (i prefer to still have some small banana chunks), and mix with Peanut Butter and Sugar until well blended. Add Yogurt (or Sour Cream) and Applesauce with Baking Powder, mix. In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining dry ingredients: Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt, Flour. Mix dry ingredients in until combined, then spoon into muffin cups until 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes (less for mini muffins, more for extra large muffins).

Optional: before baking, add dark chocolate chips or coconut (or both!) for prime deliciousness.

Yields 12 average sized muffins.

Make sure to eat one fresh out of the oven (but not burn-worthy) with a big glass of milk.

Not only are these Peanut Butter Banana Muffins incredibly delicious, they’re good for you too! A wonderful breakfast treat or a great snack to have with mid-morning coffee.

And I just stopped over to the Craft Hope website to see how the dolly project ended up… they received 405 Dollies. I am filled with joy at the goodness of the online crafty community… there’s just so much love. And can you find my dolly (click for larger image)? I found him! It’s like Where’s Waldo, and he resembles Waldo a bit too!

banana peanut butter coconut muffins is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

It’s wet outside and very cloudy, chilly inside and quite dark. It’s a day with a choice: Be A Sloth Day (just don’t get out of bed) or Baking and Sewing Day (once the lights are all turned on). I’m glad I chose the latter, because it’s been a fun morning.

I made myself breakfast and afterward, as I roamed around the kitchen, I noticed the abundance of bread bags each containing a heel or two. Our family (as i’m sure many are) is notorious for leaving the first and last pieces of bread entirely untouched. I didn’t want to eat five heel sandwiches, nor did I want to watch this bread mold over, so I googled bread pudding.

Got to this recipe, and it sounded perfect for this chilly day. It was easy to make, just mix it all up and throw it in the pan, and it was super delicious. My mom and I ate it warm with whipped cream, but I’m thinking cream cheese would be really good with it too. Hurray for baking success!

Then I was reading through my favorite crafty blogs and noted numerous mentions of Craft Hope‘s collection of little dolls to send to an orphanage in Nicaragua. With no set projects for the day, I figured this would be quick, easy, and would give my heart a nice happy feeling. They said they needed both boy and girl dolls, but I’m guessing most people so far have made little girl dollies… plus I don’t want to deal with yarn hair because it’s not very high on my skill list.

I found an old pattern I made up awhile ago, cut out pieces, stitched him together, stuffed him… I’ve just added his face, so he’s all done and ready to go! I’ll take pictures of him tomorrow, today is an awful day for photo lighting. He’s a super cute little dolly, and such a quick and easy project… perfect for this cloudy day. I can’t wait for him to be received and loved. :)

cloudy day projects is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Today I was supposed to start working on the dress I’m wearing to my brother Ben’s high school graduation, but I ended up sleeping way later than I meant to. For me, this means I woke up at like, 10, but that’s late for me. I worked out and made myself an awesome breakfast: recently I’ve just been slicing red and green pepper and onion and frying them in a very lightly oiled pan, then frying an egg and dumping the whole thing on a piece of toast. It’s super delicious and way good for you!

After that successful experiment, today turned into a food-creativity day rather than a sewing day. Remembering that it’s Ben’s last day of high school (!!), I decided to mix up a batch of M&M cookies according to this recipe that google found for me. I just taste-tested one (with a glass of milk of course) and I must say.. they might be the best cookies I’ve ever made. I halved the recipe and it made about 18 good-size cookies… hopefully they’re all still here when Ben gets home! ;)

It’s almost time to head off to work, so nope, no dress-making today. I’ve still got over a week, right? I’m not too worried.. I made my prom dress in two weeks so this should be a breeze.

Be sure to take some time to check out the brand new Sewing Story page and my new-and-improved About Me!

mm mm cookies is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog