Sara's Sweet Surprise

As long as I can remember...I've had a love for the autumnal colors of fall.  Burgundy's and gold's blended together producing jewel toned leaves, no two alike.  My favorite pastime is gathering bouquets of  fall leaves.  I spritz them with cinnamon oil and set them out in various places in my home.  What better way to celebrate the autumnal colors of Thanksgiving than by creating a fall cookie dessert for my family and  friends. Pumpkin Butter Cheesecake Cookies and Caramel Kiss Acorns. This called for the Williams Sonoma  fall pie crust cutters.    Along with my staple......Trader Joes  (frozen) ready made pie crust. Before rolling the pie crust,  I brushed dots of food coloring concentrate directly onto the pie crust dough. Various fall colors of yellow, green, orange, and red.  Then I gathered up the dough gently kneading and mixing the colors just until it produced a marbled effect.  ...

With the hustle and bustle of school activities there's always a need for a few DIY's to make it a little more convenient and fun.        Plastic Pocket Everyone can use an extra pocket. Stuck to the front of a book, these keep a class schedule in plain view. Look for self-adhesive plastic business-card holders or schedule holders in office-supply stores, and affix wherever you like on the cover. Pocket Fold Covering a book with two pieces of heavy construction paper gives you a pocket. The blue sheet should be as tall as the book plus 2 inches to fold down at the top of the book; the orange sheet should be half the book's height, plus 2 inches to fold up at the bottom. Utility Cords Roll http://www.brit.co/cord-roll/ Pencil Roll I may use this idea for a traveling  makeup brush roll. This chalkboard lunchbox lid is such a cute DIY. Just think of all the sweet notes you could send, especially...

Zucchini not so fried! When we're dinning out one of my go-to appetizers is fried zucchini. Whats there not to love about deep fried. Well...I took it as a challenge to revise the original recipe into a less carb and gluten free option. I thought it would be even better if I could omit the deep frying. Here's the final recipe that met with my family and friends approval.   The featured product is a new discovery, diffrent from it's original, Ian's Italian Panko. RECIPE: Cut approximately 3 cups of zucchini rounds. In a bowl crack 3-4 eggs and whip in 3-4 (heaping) tablespoons of mayonnaise. (If you're watching fat content...you can substitute with low-fat mayo) I found using mayo creates a thicker viscous batter which helps bind the Panko crumbs to the zucchini rounds.  Dip (raw) rounds in the egg/mayo batter followed with a dip into the Panko crumbs. Lightly pat off the excess crumbs.   Bake on a  greased cookie sheet at 350 ...

At the start of 2014 as in all fresh starts of the new year...I rededicated myself to healthier living.  Of course after the first few months the unhealthy (decadent) culprits gradually found their way back into my dietary line up.   But, I've found it only took a small adjustment to one of my favorite desserts to keep me on task.  I thought I'd share my latest revised low carb recipe for...  Brownies topped with chocolate mousse  and fresh berries! Baked~ sugar free brownies, (I prefer an organic sugar free box mix but Pillsbury's is great in a pinch!)  Chocolate mousse~  (organic) sugar free pudding or Jell-O instant sugar free chocolate pudding mix. Prepare with equal parts of heavy whipping cream to milk.   Beat till fluffy peaks form.  ( If the mousse seems too thick add extra milk to the mixture until it becomes smoother in consistency) Top with fresh berries.   This dessert will satisfy any swee...

                                         EXCESSORIES PEEKA-BOO EYE SEE YOU LOOSE CHANGE     SPEAK NO EVIL ARM-OR LEGO'S SUNNIES Gilded Chanel 2-hearts-bracelet   Sometimes less is best.