My Mayo Jar

Two years ago this month I opened Her Kitchen and Crafts. I had high hopes for my little blog. I wanted to share my creativity and talents with the world.

However since writing my first blog post I have felt nothing but guilt for not putting my all into the blog. Too many times I have written about not posting. 

It has come to my attention that at this point my mayo jar is just too full.  The mayo jar story.
I need to take sometime to slow down and enjoy the little things. I am so busy with the golf balls in my life I have forgotten to have a few drinks with friends. 

At this point in my life I am:

Working 2 part time jobs which is more time consuming than one would think. 

Planning a wedding

Working on myself 

Spending 2 days a week and only 2 days a week with my fiance. (Nothing gets done on these days) 

I am involved in a youth service organization for girls, you can check it out here. 

Lastly I have realized I need to spend more time with my family. As my grandparents have gotten older my mom has spent more time taking care of them, and someone needs help. 

I  will still post the ocasional picture of my endeavors on facebook and I will still fill orders from my etsy shop. 

I will be back eventually. This is a temporary hiatus until I can make this blog amazing. 

-Courtney 

Thanksgiving centerpiece

Hey everyone,

I thought I would share a quick and easy centerpiece idea with you. This project was about $15.00 and only took me about 15 minutes.


You will need:

Spade bits as seen here.

Assorted small pumpkins and squash

Candles

An electric drill


Directions:

1) Prepare your work area. Lay down a towel or newspaper wo catch the flying pumpkin and squash.

2) Measure the base of your candle and choose your spade bit size. I used a 3/4 inch for the taper candles and a 1.5 inch for the tea lights.

3) Find a way to secure your pumpkin while you drill into it. I do not recommend holding it with your hand. We used two pieces of wood and out feet. Another option is a clamp if you have one.

4) Drill away!

Retro Recipe #2 Chocolate Cherry Cream Pie

This recipe was incredibly easy and equally delicious.  I actually made two versions of this pie so at the end I will tell you what NOT to do. 

We have had a rather warm fall here in California and my fiance and I were looking to spend some time in the kitchen. However we did not want to turn the oven on, this was the perfect solution. 

We ran to the local grocery store and picked up the few items we needed and got to work. 

We also totally cheated and bought an already made graham cracker pie crust and made a few changes to the recipe based on preference. So lets skip ahead to my slightly altered recipe. 

Crust:

1 package SUNSHINE Honey Grahams (obviously and graham cracker brand will do)

2 TBSP Sugar

6 TBSP butter melted

Crush graham crackers with a rolling pin. Combine with remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl. Press firmly into a 9inch pie pan. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Cool before filling.

Filling:

1package (the small 4 serving package) chocolate instant pudding and pie filling

1 envelope whipped topping mix

1 can cherry pie filling

Prepare the pudding as a pie filling according to the box’s directions. Pour into prepared piecrust and chill for 30minutes. Prepare topping mix as directed on package, carefully spread over chilled chocolate filling. Spoon cherry pie filling on top. Chill for 2 hours. 

 

In the above picture there are 2 things that are very very wrong. Do not just go buy what you see in this picture. 

Where we went all wrong. We could not find "whipped topping mix" which my research revealed to be a cool whip like mixture. I personally do not care for cool whip so I decided to substitute whip cream. Being lazy we decided to use a can instead of making my own. BAD idea. whip cream from a can does not set up very well. We also thought that we could use a 6 serving package of pudding for the pie filling. Again this was not the case, the filling never properly set up. Our first pie ended up looking something like this. 

So on my own I tried to make the pie again. this time I made my own whip cream and used a 4 serving package of pudding. 

Doesn't that look much better? It was absolutely delicious and I will for sure be making this again. 

Don't be afraid to try new things in the kitchen, if you fail try again. 

-Courtney 

Bath Bombs

Hey everyone! It seems that California weather can't make up its mind. We got a small taste of fall weather this week and I decided to try this craft in anticipation of cooler weather. 

Personally I love a good bath. I am so tired of spending money on bubble bath, bath salts, and bath bombs. 

So, after a little research I found out how to make my own bath bomb. They were very easy and would make great gifts. 

Here is what you will need:

-Cornstarch 1/2 cup

-Epsom Salt 1/4 cup

-Baking Soda 1 cup

-Citric Acid 1/2 cup

-3/4 tablespoon water

-Essential Oil {optional}

-Olive Oil 2 3/4 tablespoons

I needed these items in addition to the ingredients

The Epsom salt needs to be ground before any mixing can be done. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients separately. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. This will create some type if chemical reaction that makes the mixture fizz!  

Shape the mixture however you'd like, I used a small plastic container. 

Let them dry completely. 

Then enjoy! 

-Courtney

and the winner is......

Thanks everyone for commenting on my "who reads this post".

Today I randomly selected a winner.

Congratulations Tracie! 

I will be in contact with you. 

Thanks for the great idea's everyone! 

-Courtney 

Who reads this thing?

I always ask but never get much of a response. So I am going to ask one more time. Who reads Her Kitchen and Crafts?

To make this more exciting I will be holding a contest. In order to enter you need to like the Her Kitchen and crafts Facebook by clicking the like symbol under this post and leave a comment about what you'd like to see more of on the blog.

The winner will receive a $15 gift card to a location of their choice (within reason I'm not trying to drive 50 miles to get your gift card).

All entries must be submitted by 9pm Sunday October 7th and a winner will be announced Monday October 8th.

Good luck!

- Courtney

Retro Recipe #1 Butter Cake

Alright guys here it is, the first Retro Recipe. 

If you are wondering what a Retro Recipe is click HERE. 

In an effort to avoid spending money and the grocery store I chose this recipe. 

In my Big Bag O' Recipes there were two Butter Cake recipes.

I chose the Mel Huther recipes because if was easier to read. 

Here's the breakdown:

PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 350°

Here is everything you need. See why I didn't have to go to thew store? 

Mix the first four ingredients together, the batter was very thick. 

Spread the batter into a 9X13 in greased pan

Insert image that I forgot to take here.

Next combine the last four ingredients together, slowly adding the powdered sugar so that your kitchen does not look like a crack house. 

Spread this sticky mixture over the batter. 

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes. When the recipe said exactly 40 minutes they weren't kidding. 

Thinking about it I could check to make sure the edges aren't getting to crispy around 35 minutes. 

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and let cool. 

Cut into squares and serve. 

This cake was very rich and moist. However it was missing something. I think next time I would serve it with fresh berries and maybe even whip cream. 

Do you have a favorite old recipe? Share it's name in the comments below! 

-Courtney