XO Baking Co Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

This zucchini bread mix by XO Baking Co. is absolutely DELICIOUS. Usually, when people say "gluten free", I automatically think "Oh, how bland". Wrong!  I do not have Celiac disease but it doesn't matter. This was super easy to make and I am very happy with the result. Not to mention, Boo, who does not typically care for breads and muffins, was wolfing it down like a pro. Double win for us!

I used almonds because I didn't have walnuts:

Just mix it all up and pour it into a prepared {lightly buttered and dusted with flour} loaf pan:

I baked it for an hour and the bread came right out of the pan after cooling for 10 minutes, per instructions:

Do yourself a favor and purchase some mixes...you will not regret it. =)
They are available at Whole Foods, Mother's, Amazon, Gelson's.

Transforming A Skirt

I transformed my old skirt into a "new" dress for Boo!

Find an existing dress with a cut and style you like, and lay it on top of your skirt. 

Draw or eyeball the sides of the dress. Pin along the line, with a 3/4 to 1 inch allowance:

 

Sew on along the lines that you just pinned with a straight stitch.  I used a 3.5 stitch length on my sewing machine.

Then cut the sides as close to the stitch as possible. Save the fabric to use for the straps of the dress!

Turn the dress inside out, and sew along the sides again, enclosing the raw edge inside. I believe this is called a French Seam, and I used this technique often. Click here for more photos and details.

Measure the length of the straps needed, add 3/4 to 1 inch allowance on the tops and bottoms, and cut. Turn each strap inside out, and decide whether to cut the straps into equal widths or leave them tapered as they are. 

Then sew or serge on the long sides:

Turn the straps right side out, sew or serge the ends of the straps. 

Then sew them to the top of the skirt with a straight stitch. Is it now a dress!

Good luck!

=)

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I was flipping through my Bon Appetit magazine and came across this easy pound cake recipe. I just had to try it, especially since it uses cream cheese, which is supposed to guarantee a moist cake. I am proud to say that it was a success, and the result actually looks like the photo in the magazine! The only difference I made was that I didn't use the citrus glaze because I thought the lemon syrup was enough for me, personally. I used a basic glaze; recipes below.

Ingredients

Cake

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup cream cheese (5 ounces), room temperature
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Citrus Glaze (I did not use this)

• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

• Special equipment:

  A 9x4x3-inch loaf pan

The basic glaze recipe that I used:

        

        2 tablespoons of butter, melted

        1 cup of powdered sugar, sifted

        1 tablespoon of milk

Beat all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

Drizzle on the cooled cake.

Preparation

cake

• Preheat oven to 350°. Coat loaf pan generously with nonstick spray; line bottom and long sides with parchment paper, leaving about 1 1/2-inch overhang. Coat paper with nonstick spray.
• Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside. Combine 1 1/4 cups sugar and all zest in another medium bowl; set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl until blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar mixture; beat on high speed until very light and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. (Make sure mixture is completely incorporated so flour won't clump when added.) With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients; mix just to blend (do not over mix or cake will become tough). Scrape batter into prepared pan; smooth top.
• Bake cake until top is golden brown and springs back when gently pressed with your fingertips and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60–70 minutes. (I baked for 1 hour 10 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stir lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved for lemon syrup.
• Using parchment-paper overhang as an aid, remove cake from pan; peel off and discard paper. Place cake top side up on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Using a skewer, pierce top of cake all over, inserting skewer about halfway through cake (this helps the lemon syrup to soak in).
• Using a pastry brush, baste with lemon syrup. Use all of syrup plus any that may have dripped onto baking sheet. Let cake cool completely.

Glaze

• Whisk all ingredients in a medium bowl; strain, if desired. Pour over cake. Scoop up any glaze that may have dripped into sheet and spread over top and sides of cake. Let cake stand at room tempera-ture until icing is set, about 30 minutes.  
  DO AHEAD: Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature. 
• Cut cake into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
  
  

  Deliciousness

   

  

  
  

  Good luck!

  =)

Elf on the Shelf, Day 15 to 24

Day 15: Christopher works out



Day 16: Card game with a wager



Day 17: Where's Christopher?



Day 18: Christopher snow angel:


Day 19: Sledding with Snoopy:



Day 20: Christopher "red nosed" photos of Boo


Day 21: Christopher got us a magic growing kit


That night, Christopher heard got her some magic sprinkles to help the magic seeds grow faster:



Day 22: Look what the magic seeds grew into!



Day 23: Elf 101 lesson from Christopher



Day 24: Christopher cleaned the fireplace in preparation for Santa



That night, Christopher came with a gift (Christmas pajamas and a Santa book), along with a letter, magic reindeer food, and a reminder to put cookies and milk out for Santa:


We went outside to sprinkle the magic reindeer food on our lawn to help Santa and his reindeer find their way to our home. Then we got the cookies and milk ready for Santa

We are all set!


Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
Thank you for reading.

Jumbo Craft Stick Puzzle

Boo loves puzzles. Obsessed might be a better word. ;)
My mommy group hosted a Busy Bag Swap and I decided to make these jumbo craft stick puzzles:

Materials:

Jumbo craft sticks (from Walmart ~$2.50)

4" x 6" of any photo (I used a snowman picture I found on Google and printed on regular white copy paper)
Foil (to protect surface)
 Pencil

Spray adhesive

Scissors 

Mod podge

 

On the back side of the picture, I used a craft stick as a guide and marked my lines where I will cut:

I glued each strip down on a stick and lay them on foil:

After they dried, I put a coat of mod podge on each stick and hopefully they will last for a while.
Ta da, all done!

Good luck!
p.s. I made these thumbprint reindeer ornaments! They were super easy to make and cute to boot.