Cheesy Garlic Rolls

The girls and I are making spaghetti for dinner. My family thinks that you can't have spaghetti without garlic. So, we are baking these:

 The recipe is from Our Best Bites which happens to be a favorite of mine! I even used white whole wheat and they still turned out great!

Cheesy Garlic Bread Swirls

Recipe by Our Best Bites

French Bread Dough:
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4-5 1/2 c. flour
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg yolk

Garlic Butter:
1/2 c. (1 stick) of real butter, no substitutions
1 1/2 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning (Recipe follows)

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine yeast, water, and sugar in large mixing bowl and allow to stand 10 minutes or until bubbly. Add salt, vegetable oil, and egg yolk (set white aside for later) and combine. Add 3 c. flour and mix well until combined. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that barely sticks to your finger. Knead, either by hand or in mixer (my personal and very lazy choice) for another 2-3 minutes. Cover and allow to rise 1 hour.

While dough is rising, combine butter and garlic bread seasoning. Set aside.

Now…here’s a little trick I’ve been using a lot lately. If you spray a little non-stick cooking spray on your work surface and your rolling pin, your dough won’t stick and clean-up is super easy!

Anyway, roll your rough into a rectangle that’s about 18-20 inches by 6 inches. Smear garlic butter over the entire surface of the dough and then sprinkle with cheese.

Roll up jelly-roll style and then use dental floss to cut into 12 equal slices. Place each slice in a muffin tin. Cover with a clean cloth. Preheat oven to 350 and allow rolls to rise while the oven is heating.

When the oven is ready, bake for 18-22 minutes.

You’re going to need to keep a CLOSE eye on these puppies during the last 10 minutes or so–once you notice the cheese getting brown, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the rolls (you don’t need to press it down or anything, just lay it on top). This will keep the cheese from burning, although it will get pretty brown on top. It’s okay, though, because the insides are still all ooey-gooey.

Garlic Bread Seasoning

Recipe from Our Best Bites

1/2 c. powdered Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. marjoram
2 tsp. parsley

Combine ingredients in a jar (preferably one with a sprinkle top) and shake. Sprinkle on top of breadsticks or combine 1 1/2 Tbsp. seasoning with 1/2 c. of softened real butter and spread on a loaf of French bread (cut in 1/2 lengthwise). Wrap in foil and bake at 375 until butter's melted. If you want, you could also pop it open-faced under the broiler for a few minutes so it gets brownish and crispy.

Online Crop

Trying to figure out what to do with yourself this weekend now that the harvest festivals are over, all your leaves are raked, and it's too early to start cooking for Thanksgiving? Come play at Crop Chocolate for a 48 hour online crop November 6 and 7, 2010!

All you need to participate in the Online Crop and to be eligible for the prizes is to have an active Crop Chocolate account with a valid e-mail address (if you're signing up for the first time, please let them know I sent you by leaving my e-mail address in the referral: jtaylorsmom at yahoo dot com). It will be part shopping, part crafting, part challenges, and completely fun! Come play to win some prizes, complete some projects (layouts, cards, altered items--you know, finally use up some of your stash, and have some fun! There will also be some fun mini-games and activities going on under the Sweet Talk section of the website throughout the weekend, so make sure to stop by Sweet Talk and check them out too.

Can't make it for the whole weekend? No worries! The main challenges will be posted beginning on Saturday November 6th at 10:00 AM on the main page and it will alternate a challenge, then a SWEET deal, then another challenge, etc. If you miss a challenge on the main page they are always accessible under the "past deals" section of the website. The deadline for the submission of projects to be considered for prizes for the challenges is MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8th, 2010 11:59 PM MST (Crop Chocolate local time) unless an earlier deadline is stated. That is approximately 24 hours after the crop ends. The challenges will be posted between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM on Saturday Nov 6th and 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM on Sunday Nov 7th.

Summer, Summer, Summer

Being a musical person, I relate my life to song lyrics. And, I tend to burst into song whenever those lyrics pop into my head. When I think about this summer, "Magic" by The Cars pops into my head....

     Summer, it turns me upside down
     Summer, summer, summer
     It's like a merry-go-round

So while I've been upside down on the merry-go-round, I've taken a little break from the blog world. As I see the end of summer break approaching, I'm itching to get back to some of the things I've set aside.

I thought I would start by posting my July card for a card exchange group that I'm in. I got the basic idea for this card from a magazine. I didn't purchase the magazine, and I don't remember which one it was in. I just stored the idea away in my mind. When my Tim Holtz embossing folders arrived in the mail, I knew exactly what I was going to do!

Prism cardstock, Ribbon FX and Ribbon Boutique ribbons, Decorative Trims ric rac, Colorbox and Close to my Heart Inks, Tim Holtz embossing folders

Enjoy this day!

Scenes from Texas

Just a few photos from my parent's place. Dad has donkeys to help keep coyotes and dogs away from their property. I don't know if the donkeys found a friend or if the deer adopted the donkeys. But, in the mornings and evenings you can usually find this deer with them.

Mom and Dad have a hummingbird feeder haging in their front yard. One evening when we were sitting outside, a hummingbird came to eat. There is actually a second hummingbird in the area, but the first one chases the other one away. I couldn't capture any of that on film, they are really quite quick!

If it's not raining tomorrow, maybe I'll be able to get some photos of the cards I made at craft night with Mom. If was difficult crafting without only limited supplies!

Signs of an Addicted Scrapper

I won't talk about more paper than I care to think about. I won't talk about embellishments that I don't even remember that I have. I especially won't talk about all the time I spend reading and perusing crafting blogs! I won't talk about all the photos waiting for a home in a scrapbook. I won't talk about using every inch of available storage for tools. I will remain in denial that those might be signs that I'm an addicted scrapper!

Instead of talking about those things, I'll tell you a story. I'll even go so far as to say, "It's the story of a lovely lady. (who didn't want to be bored all afternoon)" My son went to Adventuredome with his school. For those of you that don't know, Adventuredome is an indoor amusement park at Circus Circus. Since he had a friend with him, he didn't need Mom around to ride rides or hover. So, when I decided to plan a boredom-free afternoon...an afternoon in which I didn't care to leave any earlier than my son did. I thought about those long tables in the group area. I thought about how nice it would be to spend the afternoon scrapping on one of those long tables. It wasn't really feasible to drag a huge bag of supplies out to Adventuredome, so I decided to pack some card kits. I took some card kits, my paper trimmer, and some adhesive. I wish I had also taken an ink pad or two, but I'm still happy with the end result. These kits were quick and easy with easy-to-follow instructions. I must admit that I was surprised to see them at an LSS for $17 when Memory Works sells them for $10. Here is all that I completed in between checking on the boys, eating lunch, and getting a little exercise.

The next time you see waiting in your future, pack up a card kit and fight the boredom! If you're feeling really adventurous, you could make your own card kits! A few supplies and a little bit of space and boredom becomes productive!

Christmas in July Winner!

Thanks for all the kind comments and for sharing your handmade gift ideas!

That means the winner is Tracee! E-mail me jtaylorsmom at yahoo dot com with your info!

Edited to add: I tried to use the random number widget, but I couldn't get it working. I'm going to blame that on being on someone else's computer. But, the number that showed up was 22.

Christmas in July!

Welcome to the Memory Works Christmas in July blog hop! Be sure to visit each blog to have chances to win more goodies. If you arrived here from Noelle's blog, then you are on the right track. If you didn't or if you've gotten lost along the way, you can start at Sue's blog.

For my project, I decided to make a stationary box. I give card sets as Christmas presents, and I like the presentation of providing a box. This one even includes a small address book, a spot for a pen, and a pocket for stamps as well as cards and tags. If you are interested in making your own, check out the instructions here.

Basic Grey patterned papers, American Crafts and Prism cardstock,

Making Memories stickers, misc. stamps and embellishments.

If you would like a chance to win this project, please leave a comment telling me about a crafty item you've given as a gift. Be sure to check back Monday to see if you are a winner. This giveaway is open to U.S. participants only. Next, hop on over to Rosann's blog to see what she has in store for you! Don't miss out on any of the blogs and their giveaways!

Sue
Liz
Wendy
Lynn
Sharon
Noelle
Shelley (You are here.)
Rosann
Jenn
Maryann
Luisa
Lisa
Mariah

I hope you have a safe and happy Fourth of July!