Inspirations by D: Recipes/ Cooking

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Showing posts with label Recipes/ Cooking. Show all posts

Make Heart Shaped Sugar Cubes

Today I will be sharing with you how to make these cute sugar shaped hearts.

These are pretty easy to make and can be done in any shape.

All you need are the items above, but you may opt for a regular square-shaped
mold or other shapes. I also could have tinted the hearts to make them look extra cute,
but I don't like food dye in my coffee:-)

1.So you start with a cup of sugar.

2. Add three to four teaspoons of water.

3. Mix the sugar with the water to the consistency of wet snow, but not too moist.

4. Put the moist sugar into your mold pressing firmly so you don't leave air bubbles.

5. Place the mold with sugar in the microwave for about 40 seconds.

6. Then place it in the freezer for a few minutes to cool.

7. Once they are cooled, pop them out of the mold and you will have your sugar hearts.

This is truly a great way to impress your guests!

They will wonder where you got the lovely shaped sugar from.

Hope that you enjoy!

Homemade Tea with no Teabags

Hello friends, I hope that you enjoyed your weekend! We had a sleepless weekend.

My poor little boy caught a stomach virus from school and has been sick all weekend.

He was unable to hold down liquids and you know the danger with that is dehydration.

We took him to the ER and they only gave us medicine to help with the obvious symptoms.

Now he is feverish. This virus is contagious, so it gets passed around over & over in his school.

I was also a bit under the weather, but not with a stomach virus.

I made some homemade tea with natural dried herbs; chamomile and linden leaves.

1. It's pretty simple, all I do is add the herbs to two cups of water; a teaspoon of chamomile and

half a teaspoon of the linden leaves. You can also add ginger or anise to this if you like.

2.Simmer for a few of minutes until the water is hot & tinted.
3. Remove from heat, then strain it.

4. Add honey or sugar and even perhaps a teaspoonful of fresh squeezed lime juice if you like.

There you have it, simple and homemade and no teabags.
This is a soothing tea for colds, cramps, headaches and other ailments.
I hope that you enjoy & now I'm off to take care of my little guy.

Linking to:
Lowercase Letters
Sew Chatty

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix in a Bucket

I have a sweet gift idea recipe for you guys today. I have made this yummy

Hot Cocoa recipe, tried it and loved it! It's perfect for neighbors, teachers, co workers and more.

To make this Hot Cocoa Recipe Mix you will need the following:

4 cups of instant dry milk
1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar, if you like it super sweet you may add more to your mix.
1 cup powered creamer
2/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 package of instant store bought chocolate or vanilla mix pudding (optional)
chocolate chips (will melt and make the cocoa taste like melted candy bars)
(optional) add cinnamon to mix about a tablespoon or so, it makes it delicious

Steps 1 - 4. Mix all the ingredients into a dry large bowl; the dry milk, sugar, powdered creamer...

Step 5. This is optional, but I grinded my chocolate chips and added it to the mix.

You may keep your chips whole if you wish.

Step 7. This is also optional, add your pudding mix to the ingredients, I had vanilla on hand.

This just makes the cocoa creamier and rich in flavor.

Step 8. Add your cocoa powder.

Use a whisk to stir everything together, if the cocoa mix clumps, just smash the little balls with a fork.

When everything is evenly distributed, transfer into a clean mason jar, sealed canister or coffee can.

This recipe makes about 15 cups of Hot Cocoa.

Decorate your mason jar or coffee can as you wish and add marshmallows.

Add instructions on how to make the cocoa.

For this recipe the instructions should read:

Add 1/3 cup of mix to mug and add Hot water

or hot milk, top with marshmallows if desired. Enjoy!
Psst! For extra rich flavor, add brown sugar and enjoy.

You may add one or two mugs to your gift or place it in a basket for gift giving.
Get creative and use your imagination.

The way I love to make my cocoa is by warming up the milk in a sauce pan
and add my cocoa mix to the milk stirring it for a minute, then I pour it into my
mug and top it off with marshmallows, cinnamon and whip cream, oh how yummy!
I hope that you enjoy it.

Hot Apple Cider & a Case of the Sniffles

It's November and cold weather has set in, time for some delicious hot apple cider.

I grabbed what I had on hand for this recipe.

2 cups of apple cider
1 teaspoon of whole allspice
2 whole cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon of whole cloves
3 teaspoons of brown sugar
2 star-shaped anises optional (garnish)
apple optional (garnish)

As I poured the cider into a small saucepan, I turned on the heat to high.
I added the spices first, the whole allspice, cinnamon sticks,
whole cloves and then the brown sugar.

You do have the option to wrap the allspice and cloves in a cheesecloth and then
add it to the pot. I simply strained everything instead.
Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat and keep it warm.
Pour it into a cup and add garnish if you wish, then serve.
I added my anise star and cinnamon stick.
You can also add an apple slice as I did below to impress guests.

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Sauce

I tried this delicious Salted Caramel Sauce recipe, shared by my friend Sasha at LMM,
love this lady and she gave me the thumbs up to share it here with you guys.

Step 1. On medium heat, melt butter in a saucepan, when butter is completely

melted add the sugars, stir constantly,bring it to a boil and then add whipping cream,

stirring constantly. Bring it back to a boil for about 2 minutes, keep stirring.

Step 2. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract stir and add sea salt.

Let it cool completely, otherwise like this lovely lady said, it will be all over you and

your kitchen.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of butter

1/4 cup tightly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup of whipping cream

1/2 teaspoons sea salt

2 drops of vanilla extract

Yumminess!! Thank you Sasha this was so delicious!

Linking with:
I Should be Mopping the Floor
Tutus and Tea Parties 64
The 36th Avenue
Salt Tree 26
Sew Chatty
Create with Joy43

Best Pumpkin Cookies

Do you remember when I mentioned autumn spices in this post?

I finally baked some pumpkin cookies yesterday and their amazing fragrance

has been lingering in our home since. Ah, the warm scent of cinnamon and other
spices fills my mind with cozy images of flannel blankets, falling leaves and a warm
beverage at hand on a cool fall day. These cookies are so delicious!

While I removed the freshly baked cookies from the oven, Mr. M and little man followed
the autumn aroma to the kitchen, and let me just say a few cookies were already
missing from the batch on the baking sheet.
After the cookies were completely done, the boys enjoyed a few more, and so did I.
They were completely scrumptious!

I have added the recipe to the end of this post for those who wish to try it.
To make these delicious cookies, you need to do a few simple things.
First preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare two ungreased baking sheets.

Step 1. In a large mixing bowl add cream butter, white sugar, & brown sugar then mix it until fluffy.
Step 2. Add pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract and mix.

Step 3. In a separate bowl, stir in together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin spice and salt.
Step 4. Combine flour mixture & butter-sugar mixture together & mix well. Then, add tablespoons 3 inches apart on the ungreased baking sheets.

5. Bake cookies for 10-15 minutes until golden around the edges.
6. Remove warm cookies and transfer to racks.

7. Let the cookies cool completely for at least one half hour, then frost with glaze.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup can pumpkin puree (for those who prefer fresh pumpkin puree, click here for puree recipe)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Glaze

3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2- 2 cups confectioners' sugar

Direction for Glaze

In a medium saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar over medium heat until bubbly.

Cook, stirring constantly, for one minute or until slightly thickened.

Beat in the milk, blend in confectioners' sugar until the glaze is smooth and spreadable.

Using a brush or butter knife, spread the glaze on the cookies.

NOTE: The glaze will harden fairly quickly, it is recommended that you keep the saucepan

over the lowest setting heat possible to prevent it from hardening.

Another way to make this glaze is by mixing all the ingredients before heating.
Then pour your mix into a saucepan and heat.
This prevents it from getting too hard in your pan,

but make sure to rinse it immediately in very hot water to remove left over glaze.
Enjoy your cookies, I know I will.

Happy Baking!

Linked to:
Sew Chatty
I Should be Mopping the Floor 40
The 36th Avenue
I Gotta Create
Lil Luna100
The Trendy Tree House
Someday Crafts
Take it Form Me

Pumpkin Pie Frappe

Drink your pumpkin pie!

This morning I felt a cool, crisp breeze brush against my face.

It was Fall saying hello and I knew that it was time to whip up some pumpkin dishes.

I can already smell the distinctive scent that comes from an oven filled with autumn spices.

It was still early and I didn't have all the ingredients that I needed for some baked goods,

so I decided to make something else.

How would you like to drink your pumpkin pie?

This is truly a pumpkin pie in a cup, creamy and ice cold.

I love all things fall, especially this time of the year, so I whipped up this fun frappe.

What's neat is that you can share this beverage with other pumpkin pie lovers and make it presentable by adding a mini pie on the side or inside as a garnish, oh the possibilities!

Here is the recipe to make your own: