Wicked Good Wednesday #9

 Co-hosted by Rachel at {{{I Love}}} My Disorganized Life!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week's

Wicked Good Wednesdays Party
over at Rachel's site!
I wasn't feeling well and the post never went up, so I apologize.

For those of you who are here this week...
THANK YOU for joining us!!!

If you participated or will be participating this week, please grab our button!

WOW! Do you all ROCK or what?!?!?! This week was SO awesome and we had SO many incredible submissions  that it was really, really difficult to pick who to highlight!! I also have to say that all of your delicious recipes made me very hungry and your crafts and tips were so inspiring and very motivational! Way to go, everyone!!!
Now on to business...

Our Most Clicked Link of the Week goes to...

Cream Cheese Mints
from Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate

I've been wanting to make this mints since I saw them a few months ago on Pinterest.
Joan beat me to it, but this only means that I'm going to have to make them now!

My Wicked Pick of the Week goes out to...

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Profiteroles
from Jazzy Gourmet Cooking Studio

*singing* Oh, Sherry, Sherry baby!
These just made me M-E-L-T!!!!
The combination of pastry with cream filling, strawberries AND chocolate had me drooling!

Two of my Wicked Favorites were

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
from Real Housemoms

We have dinner for breakfast A LOT!
No, wait. I meant we have breakfast for dinner A LOT!
Yeah, dinner for breakfast doesn't sound appealing to me in any way shape or form. haha
Our dear friends, Aubrey and Stacey at Real Housemoms sent us these yummies and I can't wait to serve them to my girls when they come home from college for break!

and

DIY Darth Vader Stencil
from Occasionally Crafty

How adorable is this?!?
Too bad I don't know any kids (or adults for that matter) who I could make this cool shirt for. You'll also have to check out the really neat pillow Valerie made with it, too!
And the great thing, is she made it look so easy that even I think I could do it!

Thank you all again SO very much for participating!!

If yours was selected as a Wicked submission, please grab our Wicked Feature button.
 to let everyone know you were
WICKED!!

Also be sure to head on over to Rachel's site,  {{{I Love}}} My Disorganized Life  to see what she has picked as her favorites!! Now onto the PARTY!!!!

Blackberry Baked French Toast

Can I just tell you all how FREAKIN' excited I was to be back in the kitchen after starting my full-time job back in the middle of December?!?!?!
I mean I've been in the kitchen, making dinners when I get home from work, but this weekend I was FINALLY able to make a recipe I can post to the blog!! It was SO relaxing and awesome to be back in my element!!
Especially the taking pictures and editing part! I LOVED it!!

I had plans to do it last weekend after finally getting a routine down with the family and getting the work schedule in order after having time off with all those holidays, but as luck would have it - I came down with that nasty achy, stuffy head, fever, so you can't rest flu.
It STUNK!!!!
But now it's over. Well, pretty much, anyway. Just some sniffles to speak of.
We've had a great time enjoying life as a family of three this weekend since our two older daughters are now away at college and our 15 year old son is still at home.
It's a wonderful thing that he now gets some one on one mom and dad time.
And I have to say that it's been an adjustment cooking for three. Fortunately though, he is a growing teenage boy who is in the beginning of his track season, so his appetite will be up and consequently I can just pretend we're back to being a family of four.

Our boy LOVES his French Toast and I often joke that if he were only to have three foods for the rest of his life, they would be Chicken Picatta, Pasta and French Toast. Oh, and I forgot Tacos. That's four.

So, I told him last night that I would be making this for breakfast this morning and he turned his nose up at me because I was putting blackberries in it.
INAGINE! Here I am a former, but still REALLY wanna be food blogger and he turns his nose up, at the same time giving me the evil eye like his mother doesn't know what the heck she's doin'!
Seriously?!
Work with me here, kid.
But nobody messes with his plain ol' French Toast.
I told him there was always cereal if he didn't like it.
Needless to say, he didn't have a problem eating it.

Adapted from Lovin' From the Oven: Cinnamon French Toast.

Blackberry Baked French Toast - serves four or two plus one very hungry teenage boy

1/2 loaf French Bread, cut into one inch cubes
6 ounces fresh Blackberries, halved
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar (6 tablespoons total)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) cold butter

Spray an 8 X 8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Place the bread cubes and halved blackberries into a large bowl and lightly toss. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, sugar and vanilla. 

Evenly pour mixture over the bread and blackberries.

Cover with plastic wrap and place into refrigerator to sit overnight.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.

Cut butter into small pieces and with a pastry cutter or two forks, blend butter into mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

Place mixture into a plastic bag. Seal and refrigerate overnight. This step can also be done in the morning before placing baking dish into the oven.

Next morning...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Uncover the baking dish and sprinkle the butter mixture evenly around the top.

Bake uncovered for 45 - 50 minutes depending on the desired outcome of the French Toast: 45 minutes will yield a softer, soggier result, and an hour will be more firm. I cooked it for 52 minutes and it was still a bit jiggly, so I opted for 5 minutes more and it turned out perfectly.

Serve warm with butter and maple syrup if desired.

I rate everything I make on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and this Blackberry Baked French Toast earned 4 rolling pins! The boy LOVED it!! 

*snicker, snicker* I knew he would.

When the heck is that kid going to trust his momma?!

My camera battery ran out just as I was taking the last few pictures and I had wanted to take more, but alas, breakfast was G-O-N-E before my battery had finished charging.

hmph

I'm really glad I added the blackberries to it because it gave it some great flavor.It would be good plain, but it was quite delicious and will DEFINITELY be made again. And again. And again.

I'm sure when our daughters come home for break I'll have to make a 9 X 13-inch dish of it.

I also think it'd be really good with blueberries, too! 

It's great to be back with you all!

Thank you for continuing to visit in my absence, it means SO very much!!

I hope to get on a regular blogging schedule very soon!

I give you all BIG baking hugs and muffins!!

Wicked Good Wednesdays #8

 Co-hosted by Rachel at {{{I Love}}} My Disorganized Life!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week's

Wicked Good Wednesdays Party
over at Rachel's site!
I wasn't feeling well and the post never went up, so I apologize.

For those of you who are here this week...
THANK YOU for joining us!!!

If you participated or will be participating this week, please grab our button!

I'm SO very glad you have all stopped by!!
It's been a crazy week here at the 365 home.  Our youngest daughter came home from college for the three day weekend  to celebrate her birthday with us. We had plans to spend together as a family (minus our oldest daughter), take her out to dinner or breakfast to celebrate, and go to a movie. Yeah, but when mom's sick and she can't get off the couch to get out of her pajamas the entire weekend, nobody does much of anything. Sorry, kid.
I think I'll be sending a care package once I'm feeling better. 

Our Most Clicked Link of the Week goes to...

Vanilla Slice 
from FoodThoughtsofaChefWannaBe

Chris really has me drooling with this wonderful "iconic Australian dessert".
I can't wait to give it a try!

My Wicked Pick of the Week goes out to...

Hot Ham & Cheddar Sliders 
from The Two Bite Club

I've always had this "thing" for a hot ham and cheese sandwich.
There's just something about the flavors all hot and melted that makes me swoon. 

Three of my Wicked Favorites were

Shrimp Quesadillas with Spicy Mango Salsa 
from The Tasty Fork

To be honest, I really don't like seafood, especially shrimp,
 but these quesadillas sound just too good to pass up.
Meghan did a great job with these and that's why I can't ignore a seafood dish just because it isn't my favorite food.

and

Peanut Butter Fudge Dip 

from The Slow Roasted Italian

Donna always makes such yummy food.
Whether it's a main dish or a dessert, there's no doubt in my book that it's going to be good,
just like this dip!

Thank you all again SO very much for participating!!

If yours was selected as a Wicked submission, please grab our Wicked Feature button.
 to let everyone know you were
WICKED!!

Also be sure to head on over to Rachel's site,  {{{I Love}}} My Disorganized Life  to see what she has picked as her favorites!! Now onto the PARTY!!!!

Secret Recipe Club - Turkish Delight

After a month long hiatus, I give to you....

Boy is it GOOD to be back!!!

I admit it was nice to have the month of December off, but I really did miss participating in the Secret Recipe Club. It was just plain weird to have a month without it.

If you're new to this neck of the woods or haven't heard of the Secret Recipe Club, I'll fill you in.

This incredible club is based on Secret Santa where every month members are assigned a blog from which we are to choose a recipe to make. Each group has a particular reveal day and at that time we are finally able to let the author of the blog know we've been secretly stalking them.

It's SO much fun!!

April of Angels Homestead is the Secret Recipe Club's fearless leader and the lovely lady in charge of our group, Group C is Debbi of Debbi Does Dinner...Healthy and Low Calorie..  There are many ladies behind the scenes helping to make this wonderful event happen every month, so HUGE baking hugs go out to all of them!!

And now, I give to you my assigned blog for the month of January....

Lavender and Lime

I am somewhat familiar with Tandy's blog, but hadn't really taken the time to really explore it. This month I was given the chance to!

I saw quite a few recipes I wanted to try, like Tandy's Chocolate Marmalade Marble Cake or her Chili Cheese Maize Bread, but in the end I decided to go with her Turkish Delight.

This is something I've heard so much about, but have never tried it, so I decided it was time.

I did make some adjustments because I only had 3 of the 4 envelopes of gelatin that I needed, so I cut the recipe in half and used powdered sugar instead of superfine.
Tandy's blog was also my first experience in using the metric system in a recipe, but she's made it very easy for everyone by having a page devoted to Conversion Tables for those of us who can't do it in our heads. Thanks for that, Tandy! I'm going to combine both measurements though because it was easier to measure the water that way.

Turkish Delight

140 mls water, divided

2 packets of unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon rose water

few drops of desired food coloring

sifted powdered sugar for coating

Combine 40 mls of water and the packets of gelatin into a small bowl. Allow the gelatin to dissolve.

Into a small saucepan, combine the remaining water and powdered sugar and heat over low until sugar is dissolved.

Place bowl of gelatin into the microwave for 30 seconds to soften.

Add the softened gelatin and cream of tartar to the heated sugar water and simmer for a few minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the rose water and food coloring.

Pour into a well-greased 8 X 8-inch glass baking dish. (I used an 8-inch round cake pan, but should have opted for the glass because I think the final product tasted a little tinny in parts).

Allow to set.

Cut into squares and dredge in powdered sugar.

Serve.
Store in refrigerator.

I rate everything I make on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and this Turkish Delight earned 2 1/2 rolling pins. 

The last time I used rose water was in some frosting for cupcakes and I really didn't like the taste, but for some reason I really enjoyed it in this recipe.

It wasn't overpowering as I expected it would be.
They tasted sort of like gumdrops, but were much softer.

If the Secret Recipe Club is something you think you might be interested in, then go HERE  to learn more about it and join us!

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!

Wicked Good Wednesdays #7

Co-hosted by Rachel at {{{I Love}}} My Disorganized Life!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week's

Wicked Good Wednesdays Party
over at Rachel's site!
I wasn't feeling well and the post never went up, so I apologize.

For those of you who are here this week...
THANK YOU for joining us!!!

If you participated or will be participating this week, please grab new button!

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Our two girls are now away at college, so we have just our son at home.
It's a little strange just the three of us, but it's been good.
I'm now also getting into a set schedule at work, so hopefully very soon I'll be able to get my home and blog routine down, too!

Our Most Clicked Link of the Week goes to...
Chicken Rigatoni Lasagna Bake from
The Plaid & Paisley Kitchen

Chandra has me hooked on this, I tell ya! 
We LOVE chicken and eat pasta quite often, too, so this is sure to be a hit with my men!

My Wicked Pick of the Week goes out to...

Fried Lemon Pies
from Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate

Can I just tell you...although if you've been with me for a while then you already know that I'm a freak for anything lemon!
When I saw these from Joan, they instantly took me back to my childhood when I used to eat the Hostess Lemon Fruit Pies (sniffle - my grandkids will NEVER know what those things were...or Twinkies, or Ding Dongs, or Ho Ho's...just like my kids don't know what an 8-track is)! They also reminded me of the lemon filled doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts I love so much.
Sigh... 

Three of my Wicked Favorites were

Coffee Lover's Cookies 
from Food Babbles

LOVE coffee! Love coffee to drink, in ice cream, and now in a cookie!
Oh, man! Kate stole my heart with these babies!

Homemade Pancake Mix 

from Life After Laundry

I LOVE making pancakes for the family! Ok, I LOVE eating them just as much, too, so this wonderful mix from Brenna would be awesome if I'm in a bind for time over the weekend and they look delicious!

and

Baked Alaska from It's Yummilicious

I have been wanting to make one of these babies for a long, long time,
I've just been too intimidated. Becca's turned out beautifully and this was something she was able to cross of her culinary baking list! Mine's located under the croissants.
I'll get there. Thanks for the inspiration, Becca!

Thank you all again SO very much for participating!!

If yours was selected as a Wicked submission, please grab our Wicked Feature button.
 to let everyone know you were
WICKED!!

Also be sure to head on over to Rachel's site,  {{{I Love}}} My Disorganized Life  to see what she has picked as her favorites!! Now onto the PARTY!!!!

How to Unclog a Sink Drain - NATURALLY!

Now I KNOW this post has nothing to do with cooking,
BUT...
It has everything to do with the hygiene in your bathroom.
Ok, well maybe not everything, but quite a bit.
'Cause if your bathroom sink isn't draining well, it's just going to harbor germs and bacteria and everyone knows that's not a good thing, especially this time of year when it's flu season.

Since we moved into this house, I've had a problem with both of our master bath sinks draining slowly.
VERY. SLOWLY.
So slowly in fact, that I called a plumber.
It remedied the situation in my sink for a little while, but only took another few months for it to become clogged again.
Yes, it's probably my shoulder length hair that has a lot to do with it, but still.
I think the last people to live in the house clogged it up pretty darn well before we even moved in.

I wasn't interested in removing the u-pipe under the sink because that's just complete grossness and I'm not going there. I have absolutely NO desire to see the crud in that pipe.
I shudder just to think about it!
That gross black gook -  ICK!

I was disgusted enough just to remove the sink plug so that I could get a clear shot for pouring the necessary ingredients into the drain. My skin was crawling  and I was gagging just from that.
Yeah, I'm a wuss. 

So, instead of spending your well-earned money on those chemical sink unclogger thingies that smell bad and as I've found, don't always work, use three things that you probably already have in your home - baking soda, white distilled vinegar and plain ol' tap water.

TA DA!!!!

I have to say, it worked like a charm.
I can't wait to brush my teeth tonight and watch all of the water go DOWN the drain instead of seeing it accumulate in the basin.

AND the absolute BEST part of this whole thing (besides the working sink, of course) is that you're doing a good thing by the environmento!
You'll get good karma for that.  ;-)

I found this at Heavenly Homemakers.

Don't judge my filthy sink.
I thought it might be pointless to try and clean it before I started taking pictures.
You need to see real life and my real life is a very dirty sink and stains from me just coloring my hair.
It's life and I'm not going to fake it.

How to Unclog a Sink Drain - Naturally

1/2 cup baking soda
1 cup white distilled vinegar
large pot of boiling water

Place a bowl or container large enough to catch any drips under the u-pipe of the sink. You'll want to do this, trust me. There won't be a lot of water, but it will be enough for anything you don't remove to get wet and yucky-like.
Unscrew the bolt behind the pipe to release the sink stopper, if necessary and remove the stopper from the drain. Clean that while you're at it, too.

Place a rag into the sink hole to prevent the bubbles from coming up and spilling out into the sink. This will make sure that the enzymatic reaction takes place in the drain where it's supposed to.
Using a damp cloth, wipe around the drain to clean the area around the hole.
Pour the 1/2 cup baking soda into the drain.

Slowly pour the 1 cup of vinegar into the sink.

Allow the magic to happen for at least one half hour.

While you're waiting, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
At the end of 30 minutes, slowly pour the boiling water into the sink and listen to the wonderful sound of the water running all the way down the UNCLOGGED drain!!!

Gotta love Mother Nature and her natural ingredients!

Chemicals, shmemicals!

Anytime I can use natural ingredients in cleaning my home, I feel better about it.

There's enough garbage polluting our bodies, I don't need to add to it if I don't have to.

I'm interested to see how long this will hold up.

I suppose if it doesn't work for you the first time, then you could do a second application.

That would be one really clogged sink and I can't say that I envy you.

I'm off to go clean my bathroom now...

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins (and sparkly clean sinks with running water)!!!

Wicked Good Wednesdays #5

Co-hosted by Rachel at {{{I Love}}} My Disorganized Life!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week's

Wicked Good Wednesdays Party!

SO very grateful to those of you who joined us this past week as I know it's been a very busy holiday season.
THANK YOU for joining us!!!

Many people have taken time away from their blogs to spend time with family and friends.
GOOD for you, if you took that break!
Sometimes we need to step back and put our blogs on the back burner.

I hope your New Year's was awesome!
I wish you abundant blessings for the upcoming 2013!!
Geez. I really can't believe it's 2013.
That just sounds weird to me.
Remember way back when it was going to be the turn of the century and we were thinking about how incredible that was?
Seems like ages ago, doesn't it?

If you participated or will be participating this week, please grab our new button!

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We have a tie for the most clicked link this week between
Spaghetti Carbonara 
from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks 

Our family eats pasta like it's going out of style, so I'm sure this would be a hit!
This is something so easy that I think the family can make it while I'm at work
and I can come home to a yummy dinner!

and

One Pot Wonder 
from Tumbleweed Contessa

We eat chicken A LOT (in addition to the pasta) and looking at this recipe, I know the family can make this without me, too!
WOO HOO!
Somebody's got to take care of momma while she's working and make sure she's eating right!
;-)

My Wicked Pick of the Week goes out to...

New Year's Clock Cookies on a Stick 
from Pint Sized Baker

Aren't these cookies Karyn made for New Year's Eve the cutest things?
I love the idea!So easy and so cute!

Three of my Wicked Favorites were

Best of Breakfasts 2012 
from Cook with Sara

I eat, ok WE eat, breakfast for breakfast, but breakfast for dinner, too!
I just can't get enough of pancakes,
but everything Sara included in her post is something I  want to make!

 Holiday Confetti Cake Batter Cookies 
from Best of Long Island and Central Florida

Cookies are one of my favorite snacks
and snacks with cake batter have my name written ALL over them!
hee hee

and

Soul Warming Lentil Soup 
from Eastern Aroma

I have a "thing" for soups. And I don't make enough of them.
I've put this one from Nilanjana on my to-do list because I love lentils
and the flavors sound incredible.

Thank you all again SO very much for participating!!

If yours was selected as a Wicked submission, we are having some html difficulties with our button.
We'll get it fixed and let you know as soon as we do,
so you can grab it to let everyone know you were
WICKED!!

Also be sure to head on over to Rachel's site,  {{{I Love}}} My Disorganized Life  to see what she has picked as her favorites!! Now onto the PARTY!!!!