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Showing posts from March, 2013

Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

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Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a

Happy Easter!
Show and Tell ~ Homemade Chocolate Bunnies and Treasure Box Eggs

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Happy Easter, friends! I hope you're enjoying the day and are feeling blessed! I haven't been online much lately.  At this time of year, I get especially kid-centered, so I've been spending extra time reading to my girls, snuggling, having adventures, and devising sweet surprises for them for Easter day.  Even though I'm juggling work and school into the mix, I'm grateful to have found the time to create some whimsical treats:  Solid Chocolate Bunnies and Polka Dot Chocolate Treasure Eggs...   I posted a tutorial a few years ago. I'll be adding a few tips and new techniques shortly.   (You can find the DIY post by clicking HERE ) I started by molding the egg halves and bunnies. I use the Wilton Easter Egg Candy Mold Set and a vintage bunny mold.  Then I filled the eggs with jellybeans and fuzzy chicks.  The small eggs got chenille chicks and the big egg (for my girls) contained plush chick finger puppets from Fo

Easter Craft: How to Make a Pompom Sheep

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Inspired by my recent review of Adventures in Pompom Land I decided to take another crack at making some simple folk-art style sheep. Over the holidays I purchased a bundle of wool with the idea of transforming it into a flock for my table setting. I was less than pleased with the results (and ended up using the wool for another project). Working with homemade pompoms turned out to be so much easier! So quick and simple! In no time at all you can have your own precious flock of woolly little sheep and lambs!  Here's how: Easy Pompom Sheep Chunky yarn ( I used Homespun by Lion Brand , white) Piece of cardboard (3x5 for the sheep or 3x1.5 for the lamb) Packing tape Scissors Waxed twine Floral wire Black polymer clay tacky glue   Step 1:  Cut a cardboard rectangle to use as a form for making your pompom .  Laminate the c ardboard with packing tape so that it will slip easily out of the yarn . Step 2 :  Win

How to Make Adorable Pompom Easter Chicks from Adventures in Pompom Land (DIY, Review & Giveaway)

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I LOVE making cute things! Do you LOVE making cute things?   If you're a fan of the sweet, the fuzzy, the soft, the cuddly, the diminutive and the adorable, You're going to LOVE Adventures in Pompom Land by Myko Diann Bocek (new this March from Lark Crafts )   Later in the post I'm going to show you how to make this sweet little chick.  At the end, you can enter to win your own copy of Adventures in Pompom Land . But first, let me tempt you with some of the other incredible step-by-step projects from Adventures in Pompom Land : Squeee...k!  Pompom Mouse Don't ewe love it? Pompom Lamb A Pompom Pony and A Huggable Hedgehog! There's an Elephant, Snowy Owl, Fox, Bunny and many more! Where does the cuteness end? (The last page of the book, page 128)    Spring Chick (adapted from the Yellow Chick & Bluebird projects in Adventures in Pompom Land )   100% wool yarn (yellow)  5&

The Best Irish Soda Bread Recipe -- Revisited

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It's been a few year since I published my original Irish Soda Bread recipe and the long and rambling tale of how it came about.  In case you missed it ( be relieved ), the gist of the tale was that I worked for a short time during my late teens in an Irish Pub that was housed in an old sardine packing company in Cannery Row.  The pub had an enormous subterranean kitchen in which they baked the most humble-looking, yet incredible tasting Irish Soda bread.  I've been trying to recreate it ever since. Since that first post, I've made a few revisions to my recipe and am delighted to share this very simple and delicious recipe for Irish Soda bread.  Slather with a good Irish butter to experience happily breaded-bliss! Irish Soda Bread (Makes one 8" loaf) Prep time:  5 minutes Baking time:  50 minutes 2 cups whole wheat flour (I prefer Hodgson Mill brand) 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup wheat germ 2 teaspoons kosher salt 2 Tablespoons pa

St. Patrick's Day Craft: Wee Bottle of Leprechaun Gold Necklace DIY

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When I was a child, my parents took the family on a trip to California's Gold Country where we spent several days panning for gold (in earnest).  One of my brothers found a nice little nugget, but the rest of us ended up with tiny bottles of gold leaf suspended in water from the gift shop -- not that I'm complaining.  That little bottle of glittering golden goodness was one of my most treasured possessions as a child.  I still have it, and it has inspired the awe and amusement of both of my girls. So, when I saw a bag of gold leaf at my local Michael's crafts store, I new right away that I'd be putting together some magical little bottles of gold for St. Patrick's Day.  My girls are going to be so excited to get their own little bottles of real gold!    The necklaces cost less than $5 to make,  so you don't have to accost any Leprechauns in the process. It's a Leprechaun-friendly craft! Wee Bottle of Leprechaun Gold Necklaces (i