Pinned it and Made it: Thanksgiving edition

Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of Pinned it and Made it! Last week I was able to make two more of the many things I've Pinned.

The first thing was this cute Thanksgiving Snack Mix. I've actually made something similar before, but I liked this one because it included a free printable tag to tie onto bags of the mix.

I didn't end up using the tag after all, because I made large bags instead of the individual-sized bags in the pin. I also wanted this to be a craft Maren and I could do together, using a set of cute little Thanksgiving stamps I got in my goodie bag at Spark No. 2 last year. I stamped the cute little pilgrims and Maren colored them in. I printed the meaning behind all of the snacks on the back of some kraft cardstock, and we mounted the pilgrim cards to the front side and tied the whole thing with brown felt ribbon from Stampin' Up! I made these to give to the other families we shared Thanksgiving dinner with.

The next pin was one I've had my eye on for a while. I originally bookmarked these cute acorn treats long ago, way before Pinterest. Then I saw these acorn treats on Pinterest, made using mini Nutter Butter cookies and a Hershey's Kiss, and fell in love with the way the pattern on the cookies resembles a real acorn cap! I wanted to make these to take to Thanksgiving dinner, but I had forgotten to buy a bag of Hershey's Kisses and I just couldn't bring myself to go to the store on the holiday.

So I saved them for the next day, which just happened to be a friend's birthday. For my girlfriends' birthdays this year, I've been making them cake stands out of vintage dishes and glass candlesticks. I needed a treat to fit on this stand, and the acorns were perfect, especially because of the leaf border on the plate!

To make it a little more fun (and to make sure that the recipient could tell that the treats were supposed to be acorns!), I cut out oak leaves from pretty colored cardstock and placed them around the plate. I also cut out a pair of leaves to act as gift tags, and tied them with pretty ribbon to the base of the plate. They turned out pretty cute and more importantly, they were YUMMY little treats to pop into your mouth!

You can see the rest of my Pinned it and Made it posts here. You can find the rest of my iins & boards here, or you can click on the red Pinterest link over to the left to follow me!

Pinned it and Made it: Caramel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip cookies

I woke up this morning dreaming of Pinterest. Do you think that means I spend too much time there? Nah!

This week's Pin is a recipe that originally comes from the blog Your Homebased Mom for Caramel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip cookies. I found this recipe at the perfect time, because I had just finished packing Maren's school snack of pretzel sticks and noticed that although it was time to buy a new bag, there were still lots of broken bits at the bottom. This recipe was the perfect use for all of those little broken pieces!

I followed Leigh Anne's recipe and used a bag of these handy little Caramel bits.

I had originally purchased them with this cookie recipe in mind, but then I ended up using half the bag in these Mars Bars Rice Krispie treats. They melted a bit, but mostly added a nice chewy component to the finished cookies.

You might notice if you click over to the original recipe source that my cookies spread a bit more than Leigh Anne's did. That's a problem I've been battling in my chocolate chip cookies lately, and I can't figure out the cause! I always use all butter in my cookies, and I'm careful to make sure it's not too soft when I cream it with the sugar. Any ideas what might be causing my cookie spread? I prefer them to be a little thicker.

In all, these cookies were good and I liked the combination of the salty, crunchy pretzels, the chewy caramel, and the sweet milk chocolate chips. The next time you get to the bottom of a bag of pretzels, hang onto them and whip up a batch of these cookies!

To see more Pinned it and Made it posts, click here!

Pinned it and Made it: Fishnet stocking pumpkins and 2011 Halloween decorations

Once I finally finished painting the china hutch black, I could hardly wait for the paint to dry so I could load it up with my Halloween decorations! They'd been sitting in my front room for two weeks and it was already the middle of the month so it was about time. I do wish I could have gotten it all done sooner, but it was worth the wait--I love how my Halloween goodies look in my new black cabinet!

I incorporated a Pinned it and Made it project into my decor: fishnet stocking pumpkins, pinned here. Last year I bought several pairs of black fishnet stockings when they were 75% off at Target, where they had a whole endcap full of them.  The pumpkins were leftover from an unsuccessful project a few years ago and were already painted silver.

I used a pair of ladies' one-size-fits-all stockings for the larger pumpkin

and a pair of kids' stockings for the smaller one. Was I really thinking of putting black fishnets on my 6-year-old daughter? Sheesh. This isn't Toddlers and Tiaras, for crying out loud. I do like that pair better, because they were black with silver threads running through and they look really great on the silver pumpkin! For both pumpkins, I simply stretched the leg over the pumpkin, with the toe hidden by the underside. I cut them off and used a small rubber band to attach the stocking around the stem, and poked in a couple of vintage foil leaves. A real pumpkin with a larger stem would have made that a bit easier. I do love how they look! Easiest pumpkin decorating EVER.

Here are the rest of my decorations. Since I had already taken everything out of my hutch to paint, I left it empty and filled it with only Halloween, which I like. Normally I have to decorate around the stuff that's already there.

It's a pain to load everything in and out and carry it up and down the basement steps, but I think I'm going to clear it out for Christmas decorating too. There's just so much more space.

I added a pair of orange and white polka-dotted melamine plates to either side of the big turquoise jack-o'-lantern plate and I LOVE how they look against the black and white checked background! I really wanted to emphasize the black and ORANGE with my decorating this year.

I kept things simple on the top of my aqua dresser. The Halloween lollies are another Pinned project that I may or may not get around to sharing this year. Those might have to be saved for 2012.

I added one of my big black sparkly flower pins to my orange and white striped pillow.

The display on my little ottoman is simple but again emphasizes the orange.

The family room got a little bit of decor, with a trio of estate sale vintage die cuts hung on Command hooks and a banner I made last year hung on the chalkboard. I have a display started on my sofa table but I got sidetracked so I'm not sure I'll get it finished at this point.

It took a little longer than usual this year, but I'm happy with how it all looks! Now my next task is to finish up our costumes...

Did you incorporate anything from Pinterest into your Halloween preparations this year?

Pinned it and Made it: Mars bars Rice Krispies

This week's Pinned it and Made it is from a recipe I pinned a couple of months ago for Rice Krispie treats made with Mars bars instead of the standard butter and marshmallows.

Did you know that it's nearly impossible to find Mars bars in the US anymore? I guess I never realized that they had disappeared. I looked at every store I visited that sold candy, and the only place I could find them was in a 6-pack at Wal-Mart.

What I failed to remember is that the author of the recipe is Canadian, and the Mars bars in Canada are different from the Mars bars sold here in the US! I should have known this, because I know from personal, delicious experience that the Mars bars sold in the UK are different from those in the US--they're better!

Irish Mars bars available on Amazo

The Mars bars I bought at Wal-Mart look like this in the middle:

Nougat, chopped almonds, and a little bit of caramel. Canadian Mars bars basically look like this:

Nougat, no almonds, and more caramel. The key factor in all of this is the amount (or lack thereof) of caramel in the candy bar, because that is largely what holds the Rice Krispie treats together in the absence of marshmallow glue. Because my Mars bars had less caramel to begin with, I knew I'd have a problem. Luckily, I happened to have a bag of these:

on my counter for a future Pinned it and Made it post. I took out the 1 cup of caramels that the other recipe required, and then dumped the rest of the bag into my melted Mars bars mixture. It still looked a bit dry, so I threw in a half dozen Stackermallows and a smidge more butter.

Even after all of that, once I poured the hot mixture onto the Rice Krispies and mixed it, there was not enough 'glue' to hold all of the cereal together. I grabbed my still-warm pot and melted about a dozen more StackerMallows and another tablespoon of butter and poured that into the cereal. That did the trick! I topped the treats with the melted milk chocolate chips as the original recipe suggested and put them in the fridge to set the chocolate.

They really were delicious! I took them to a gathering and they were a hit. One person commented that they taste like a candy bar, and I agree--they definitely reminded me of a 100 Grand Bar (one of my favorites!) because of the caramel, milk chocolate and Rice Krispies.

If I made these again, I'd forget the Mars Bars and use Milky Way bars instead, and I think I'd use 7-8 to make sure I have enough to glue the cereal together. These might be a fun treat to make if you're trying to use up leftover Halloween candy--you could throw in Milky Ways, Snickers and maybe even a 3 Musketeers or two!

Pinned it and Made it: Thick and Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes

Time for another installment of Pinned it and Made it! This week's scrumptious Pin is from the blog Baking Bites. When I saw that glorious stack of pancakes, I knew I would be making them ASAP!

Thick and Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes from Baking Bites, via Pinterest

The other morning I made them for my kids, and they were a big hit. They were indeed thick and fluffy and had a really great flavor from the pumpkin and the spices and maple syrup in the batter. I had to add a few extra tablespoons of buttermilk to my batter because it was just a bit too thick.

My un-expertly styled pumpkin pancakes

I have lots of respect for food bloggers that post beautifully styled photographs of the food they make. I stood in my kitchen, camera in one hand and plate of pancakes in the other trying desperately to find a clear spot on the counter where I could snap a quick photo. The butter kept sliding off and really, all I wanted to do was quit fiddling with the camera and EAT! I would definitely make these again.

A pancake recipe I will NOT be making again is this one for Sweet Potato Pancakes. We love Bruce's sweet potato pancake mix, but the commissary quit carrying it and it's pretty darn expensive everywhere else so I'd love to come up with my own version. I had a leftover baked sweet potato in the fridge and quickly Googled this recipe this morning. It looked great but did not taste at all like the Bruce's pancakes. Maren wouldn't eat hers, and I ended up throwing out the rest of the batter because I didn't like it either! The Bruce's pancakes are just sweet enough on their own that you don't even need syrup, but these pancakes were barely sweet at all and had a yucky flavor.

I may still be on the hunt for a sweet potato pancake recipe, but the pumpkin pancake recipe is a keeper for sure! Have you made anything this week from your Pins? Do tell!