3 Ingredients + Bread Dough= Caramel Rolls

Recently, I made the commitment to start baking my own bread.  As a first-time bread baker, I've found the recipes and steps from the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, to be simple and delicious.  The simplicity of making bread based on the Five Minute method has inspired me to make a batch of dough every weekend for the past three weeks, and it really only takes five minutes a day to make a loaf!  

I modified the book's recipe for Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls and came up with a nut-free alternative to please my family.  I use the book's Master Recipe for my bread dough, but you can also use 1.5 lbs of your favorite white bread recipe to make these rolls. 

Caramel Topping Ingredients

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c brown sugar

Cream together these three ingredients and spread in the bottom of an 8" x 8" brownie pan (or an 9" cake pan). 

Filling Ingredients

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c sugar

Cream together these three ingredients.  Roll your bread dough out to 1/8" thick rectangle.  Be sure to use enough flour to prevent your dough from sticking to your rolling surface.  Spread the filling across the surface of the rectangle; then, roll it up into a log.  Using a serrated knife cut the log into 1-1 1/2" inch equal pieces (approx 12); place the rolls in a 3 by 4 design in your pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for one hour.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden brown. 

I baked these for the boys on Sunday morning; then, squirreled a few away for myself to enjoy on Monday too.

3 Valentine's Ideas: An Old Post Round-Up

Watch this link to see how I used doilies to adorn these holiday treats for last Valentine's day!

Got an old sweater lying around? Make a cozy for a wine bottle; check out the how-to here. 

All you need to make an easy treat for tomorrow is a sandwich bag, chocolate chips, and some lollipop sticks.  Click here to make these heart-shaped delights.

P.S. I made these for sweet treats this year.

13 Spacemen

 This little wind-up spaceman is too cute, don't you think? He even walks on carpet.  I picked up 13 of these little guys for Connor's preschool Valentine exchange cards.  One for him and his twelve classmates.

Check out what he will be giving away tomorrow. 

P.S. I created the card, but Connor helped unwrap the spacemen, punch holes and lace each little guy up.  It may seem like a lot of work, but it was a fun morning activity that also helped develop his fine motor skills.

Let's get carried away....Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope that you all had a lovely Valentine's Day.  My day started off with a surprise gift from my husband, a fun-filled trip to Grandma's and ended with a delectable dessert including mascarpone cheese, dark chocolate and whipped cream.  

Tomorrow my little man will be delivering these Valentine's, complete with attached red balloon, to his friends at school.  I think they turned out so cute...if I do say so myself! 

P.S. I apologize for the lack of posts as of late....I guess I've been in a bit of a funk.  Hopefully, the nice weather this week will snap me out of it!  

Great Day St. Louis: Valentine's Day Doily Crafts

Tomorrow morning I will be back on Great Day St. Louis (and if you are visiting from Great Day, "Welcome!") sharing doily crafts for Valentine's Day--"these are not your Grandmother's doilies!".  I'm sharing several fun ideas including this, this and this.  

 

 

 

Stenciled: Heart Doily Chalkboard

This simple craft continues the heart doily theme for this Valentine's season.  I used a small heart doily as a stencil, taped it to the chalkboard ($2.99 from Michael's), and used an extra fine Sharpie paint pen to trace around the heart and fill in the spaces.  The gold is subtle; so, it will not interfere with any potential chalk writing.  Then, I decoupaged a small piece of festive scrapbook paper at the top and attached a piece of twine in the back with a couple of staples.  That's it.  Quick, easy, and toned-down; yet, it's a sweet gift or decoration for Valentine's Day.

  

 P.S. You can find me tomorrow morning on Great Day St. Louis sharing this idea and more simple ideas for using doilies in your Valentine's Day crafts like this and this! 

Sharing with...

Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog

Coconut Raspberry Surprise Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

In an effort to get out of our snow comas today, the kiddo and I made these Coconut Raspberry Surprise Cupcakes.  It was great fun; after our cupcake indulgence, we ran around the house and bounced-off the walls!  While the kiddo would have loved to spend the day out in the snow, I just wasn't up for it today.  Mid-winter exhaustion has set in, I guess. 

Coconut Raspberry Surprise Cupcakes

They are a basic white cake with coconut and a raspberry or two in the middle for a sweet surprise.

2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c shortening or unsalted butter

1.5 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

5 egg whites

1 1/3 c buttermilk

1/3 c sweetened coconut flakes

24 frozen raspberries tossed in flour

1. Grease your muffin pan or line with cupcake liners; I used Baking Joy spray.  Sift dry ingredients together.

2. Mix shortening, sugar, and vanilla until well-combined into course crumbles.  Add egg whites one at a time. 

3. Mix in buttermilk.

4. Stir in coconut flakes. 

5. Fill cupcake pan; then, push two flour-dusted raspberries into the center of each cupcake. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes. 

For the icing, I actually used Pamela's Vanilla Frosting Mix and colored it pink in celebration of the upcoming romantic holiday.  Typically, I would make my own icing, but I had purchased this mix on a whim and it's actually pretty tasty and extremely easy to whip up.

Sharing with...
Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple
Sugar and Spice at 733-A Creative Blog
Free For All at Young and Crafty
Weekend Wrap Up at Tatertots and Jello

Happy February: A few faves from Pinterest

here

here

 

 

here

here

here

here

 

here

here

P.S. Do you belong to Pinterest?  If you don't, oh how you should.  Leave a comment with your email or just email me directly and I will send you an invite.

One Sydney Road

here

One Sydney Road is a lovely little boutique with a excellent selection of well-curated goods, both new and vintage, for you and your home.

As we are still in the throws of winter, head on over for some mood-lifting window shopping and pick something up to give you a little lift in your step.  

Here are a few of my picks... 

here

here

here

here

P.S. Piper, the shop owner, has a lovely little blog as well. Check it out here.

Valentine's Postcard Printable

Recently, I made these postcards to surprise my friends with in the mail for Valentine's Day.  It's no secret that real mail is a lost art anymore, am I right or am I right?  

I altered a stenciled heart doily in Photoshop to give it a pink mosaic look; I love how the doily looks like a face. It does right, I'm not just seeing things???

 *I've been secretly trying to discover new things to make with doilies...I'd really like to make some doily t-shirts like this fabulous one.* 

Then, I printed it out at 4"x6" on regular card stock, cut it out with a paper cutter, and rounded the edges.  It's a little bigger than standard postcard size, but it works.

Here's the postcard with "Happy Valentine's Day!" and without for your own sweet words.  Just click, print, and mail away!

Now that I've finished my simple Valentine's, I've got to get started on the kiddos.  I'm so excited because we are using balloons and glitter! I think I've figured out something that a 2.5-year-old can actually participate in!  We'll see how they turn out...don't worry, I'll be sure to share them here!

Sharing with...
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home
Tute {Yourself} Tuesday at Little Eme
We did it! Wednesday at Sew Much Ado

Matchbook Magazine

 Have you seen the new online read, Matchbook Magazine, yet? It just launched this month and it's lovely! I've already read through once and I'm working on my second glance.  I love the interviews, tid-bits, photos and ideas.  Mmmm...eye candy. 

Here's what they say...

"Launched in January 2011, Matchbook is an online lifestyle publication celebrating classics - shaken and stirred. Our monthly issues cover past and present fashion, decor, the arts, travel and culture. Brimming with intriguing interviews, stately homes, captivating memoirs and swoon-worthy fashion spreads, matchbook seeks to inspire women around the globe to design a life they adore. From lipstick to letterpress, gelato to grosgrain, and Paris to Peru, consider us your field guide to a charmed life."

There is a great article with on the talent behind Marais shoes.  I love Haley Boyd's style and mindset behind her business. 

Now, go kill some time and check it out!

P.S. If you need some more online magazines to read, check out this post.

Tortellini Soup

 It's been soup season here at Maison 30girl.

This is definitely one of my top 5 favorite soups.  It's belly-warming, satisfying, yet light.  Plus, it's quick and easy to make.  Here's my recipe.

Tortellini Soup

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2lb-1lb Italian Chicken Sausage (amount depends on your meat preference....I use about 3/4lb), de-cased

1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

5 c chicken broth

1/2 tsp dried oregano and basil

1/4 tsp powdered garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1 16 oz bag cheese tortellini

1/2 bag fresh spinach 

freshly grated Parmesan

1. Saute onion and sausage in 1tssp extra virgin olive oil on medium heat.  When meet is thoroughly browned, add garlic and saute one minute more. 

2. Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth and spices, bring to boil. 

3. Add tortellini and cook according to package directions. 

4. Reduce heat to low, stir in spinach until wilted.

6. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan and crusty bread.

Mmm...good.

Sharing with...

Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee-Craft Edition 

Tasty Tuesdays at 33 Shades of Green

A Birdhouse for Grandma

 What do you do with your toddler when it snows?  First play in the snow like crazy. Then, paint rocks, make a paint chip wreath, have dance parties and paint a bird house for Grandma.  Although we had approximately 10" of snow last night, the kiddo and I made this birdhouse in a previous mere 4" snowfall.  

We took a trip to the local Joann and I gave the kiddo free reign to pick out one $1 wooden "figure" to paint and decoupage for Grandma.  He picked the heart birdhouse...little does he know that Grandma does not like birds.  

We took it home and mixed some red and pearlized white paint to make a nice deep fuchsia.  Then, my little guy got right to town painting his bird house.  Honestly, I only pitched in to cover the "missed spots", but he tried to be very thorough.  After it dried, he picked out the striped paper for the roof and we used a little Mod Podge.  Then, he helped me trace the stencils for the XOXO (notice the pencil lines).  I ended up painting the letters; since, we have quite reached the ability to "stay inside the lines". 

  I'm so proud of my little crafter and his thoughtfulness. 

What do you do with the kiddos when the weather is less than stellar?