born imaginative.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake (A Jackie Original)

Okay, so the recipe that makes my husband the happiest man in the whole entire planet (that's not an exaggeration) is my basic Chocolate Chips Cookies. He could (and does) devour them. I know he loves them, so I do try to make them somewhat regularly...you know, because I love him so.

But...the amount of time it takes to drop each cookie with two 'helpers' makes it a daunting task, sometimes. And entirely too time consuming too.

Thinking back to my college days, for some reason, Cookie Cakes were big in the area I went to school. Wegmans made a great one. (I miss Wegmans!). I also decided I miss cookie cakes.

Mind was a churning...recipes were reviewed...and the baker chemist in me developed what I thought would be a winner.

First time was a charm. Turned out oh-so-delicious. So delicious that this husband of mine nearly at the whole thing.

This husband of mine proposed to me only a month after our first date...when I gave him homemade whoopie pies. I wonder if he would have proposed sooner had I given him this recipe? He does love them so. Nearly as much as he loves me. Or maybe more?

Anyway....

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake (A Jackie Original)

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips

-Mix butter and sugars. Add eggs, mix. Add baking soda, salt, vanilla and cream of tarter and mix. Mix in flour. Add chocolate chips. Spread in a greased pie plate*. Bake at 350 for ~22 minutes. Devour.
* To spread quickly, I use cooking spray to spray the bottom of the measuring cup. I use that to spread the dough without it sticking. Quick and easy peasy.

I always think dessert under the dome makes a house a home. Perhaps you agree?

Stop. Savor. Smile.

It was another one of those stop/savor/smile moments. The last one found here and here and I'm sure there's more linked from other posts.

Quilt 83

Quilt 83-Twin Size-2004

Our Farmhouse Food Storage

Okay, so I've had a few requests about food storage. How do we store our bulk food items? I don't have this down to a science...so if you have any suggestions, feel free to give them.

I know certain family members are going to roll their eyes when they see I'm posting pictures of my pantry and root cellar....but if you (pretend) you really care, maybe that will shut them up. So, help me please...and tell me you are excited to see our food storage.

Anyway, on to the food storage piece.

This old door used to be a side entrance. Walk through the door, it appears it used to be a coat closet. At some point, they built this marvelous three seasoned porch and slapped some insulation behind the door. Now it's a door to no where that doesn't open. My husband mentioned something about using the space behind it for coats when we first moved in...but oh no...this wife of his had already secretly redirected the coats to another closet. You see, I was dreaming about a walk in pantry...squeeeee! Yes, our current coat closet is waaay out of the way, but I have a pantry. A walk in pantry, did I mention that?

So, onto storage. Free for your judging pleasure. It's not perfect, but it's a work in progress.Mason jars hold much of the smaller quantities I have bought in bulk. I need to figure out a better way to label so I don't have to rely on smelling everything for identification.

I have a couple plastic totes (Christmas ones) to hold the 50 pound bags of flour/oats. I moved some shelving in to organize the rest.

I have four glass pickle jars from my husband's restaurant days filled with rice.

It's a cold enough pantry to hold some produce and maple syrup.

And potatoes and sugar.

I guess the coat hooks are good for something....clearly not coats.

Now...the marvelous thing about this place is there's a root cellar too. Although old house basements give the heebie jeebies (I have no clue why), I spend little time organizing it down there.

I wish I would have taken some pictures when the shelves were fuller of my home canned stuff...but there is still a bunch left.

You can see how much space there is....plenty of room for 6 quart jars deep.

And I picture in the space below the cans to be some crates of squash, pumpkins potatoes and the like with this garden I'm dreaming of planting.

Behind that insulation is a window that opens for temperature control. Only I wish there weren't pipes right there too.

Also, there's a floor to ceiling storage area on the side....filled with canning jars they left for us. Must get busy!

So there you have it...storage in this farmhouse. Dried goods in the pantry. Canned goods and likely root cellar type veggies eventually in the basement? Suggestions for improvement, anyone? And remember...tell me you cared about my pantry. I said someone would care. Prove me right.

The Three Little Bears: Upcycled (FREE PATTERN/Tutorial)

Have an old pair of khakis hanging around? Have a two year old who is obsessed with the Three Little Bears? As in you have to read that story a dozen times a day and listen to his rendition in between?

Well, perhaps your scenario doesn't match mine exactly, but perhaps you still want your very own Three Little Bears.

Made from an old pair of pants, naturally.

Check out the free pattern here. Keep reading for the tutorial

And you tell me if you think they were a hit.

The nice thing about these three little bears is they don't always have to be the subject of the story. You can host your very own storyhour with them.

Anyway....Your pattern is HERE. Print both pages.

You'll need:

An old pair of pants.

A scrap of felt.

A scrap of your fabric of choice for the ears.

The outer edge is the pattern for Papa Bear. The middle edge of the pattern is for mama bear. The inner edge is for baby bear.

1/4 seam allowances included in the pattern.

Cut all pattern pieces.

This is what you need for each size:

2 head

4 ear

1 nose

2 bodies

8 piece total for appendages (arms/legs).

1) Applique a nose and a mouth on the felt circle. Attach it to the face. Applique eyes. I did this all on the machine, but you can hand embroider.

2) With right sides together put the half moon ear pieces together. Stitch the curved part, leave the straight part open. Clip notches around curve. Turn right side out. Press.

3) Fold edge of ear in. Pin to face of bear, basting edges in place as shown.

4) Put the two head pieces together, right sides. Stitch around edges, leaving bottom open. Clip notches around curve.

5) Turn right side out. Press.

6) Stuff the head with stuffing. Baste bottom edge shut.

7) Work on the bear arms/legs. Put two pieces right sides together. Stitch curve, leaving bottom open. Clip notches around curved edge. Turn right side out. Press. Add stuffing. Make four.

8) Place the arms/legs one piece of the bear body as shown. Baste in place.

9) Put the other bear body on top, right sides together.

10) Stitch all but the top edge.

11) Turn inside out. Press seams. Stuff with batting.

12) Pin the bear head to the bear body, folding over edges of body around the bear head.

13) Hand stitch in place.

14) Voila! And now show me what you came up with!

BOG MADE-Bunny Pull toy

How about a homemade bunny pull toy?

It joins these other homemade toys from the BOG:
trains,
trucks,
car,
airplane
barn,
dumptruck.

Received with much pleasure.

And everyone is a fan.

Thanks BOG!

Another Furniture Makeover...and Two Cute Kids

It was too big to move successfully from the other house, so we moved it in pieces. I told myself I could not have use of it until I finished it. Proud to say it's done.

This is the only shot of the 'before' I could find.

It's going to be used for fabric storage. I've already started to put a little away...although I highly doubt my whole fabric collection will fit here (I clearly have a problem with fabric hoarding). And the two drawers will house scraps. A whole cabinet just for fabric. Won't that be fun?! Okay, maybe I'm the only one who thinks so....