Valentines Day stackers

If you've been following this blog for awhile, you'll know I love to make stackers! I take a 2x2 piece of wood and cut it to different lengths of wood to stack on each other. Here's my Valentines Day stacker~

Hugs 'n' Kisses Block set

Isn't this a cute, little set? This is a set of four blocks that are painted in pink, white and red, with the same colors in vinyl lettering. They measure just under 10 inches wide and just under 7 inches tall.

Buttermilk Sheet Cake

Alright, here's the other recipe I tried today. It turned out really good! My pre-schooler even ate the cake part, and she usually just eats the frosting! I got this out of a ward cookbook from my home ward. This recipe was submitted by my parents neighbor, Lynette.

Buttermilk Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/2 shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine

3 tablespoons cocoa
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Set together in large bowl the sugar, flour, and salt. Mix water, shortening, butter, and cocoa in saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour over dry ingredients and mix. Add eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and baking soda. Mix well. Pour into greased 11x15 inch cookie sheet. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Frosting~
1/2 cup butter or margarine
4 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons milk

1 lb powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nut { optional}

Bring butter, cocoa, and milk to a boil. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Add nuts, if desired. Spread over cake while warm.
*I thought something tasted just a little off with the frosting. It was still very good, but I think I'll look for a different recipe for the frosting to try next time.

Whole- Wheat Quick Bread

This is another new recipe I tried today. It was....okay. I liked it, but I don't think it'll be a favorite. But that's just me and my family! Give this a try and see how your family likes it! One thing I did like was how easy this was to make. I make homemade wheat bread all the time that takes ALL afternoon to make. So I did like the quickness of this! And like I said, it wasn't bad. Just not really something I would make alot. I will make it once in awhile though. I got this recipe out of "The Essential Mormon Celebrations" cookbook.

Whole-Wheat Quick Bread

1 egg, beaten
2 cups Buttermilk
3 tablespoons molasses or honey {I used the honey}
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

In a bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, molasses or honey, and butter. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and baking power. Stir well; add to first mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45-50 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool slightly, then turn out of pan onto a wire rack. Slice while warm. Makes 1 loaf.
*I think the baking time was too long, I baked mine for about 42 minutes and it came out almost too dark on top. So next time I'll definitely shorten the baking time. Also, I had a slice of this while warm with Honey Butter. Soooooo good! You should try that! Here's a recipe for the butter out of the same cookbook~

Beehive Honey Butter

1 cup Honey
1 cup Butter, softened
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Combine honey, softened butter and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on high speed for about 3 minutes until thickened. Put into jars and refrigerate. Keeps up to 4 weeks in refrigerator.
*I loved this Honey Butter! I want to make corn bread now, and scones, and fry bread and just smear it all with this butter. Very good!

Stuffed Peppers

Okay, I realized that I hadn't shared any recipes for awhile. And one of my New Year's resolutions was to try out more new recipes. So, I've got a couple to share with you! This recipe I made last week. My sister-in-law made these last fall during one of her visits to good ole' Idaho. When I asked for the recipe, she couldn't find it. But she found one similar. So I used that as a basis and changed a few things. So, I don't have a very exact recipe for you to follow. I just kinda did things, but it turned out so good I wanted to share with you anyway! So just use this as a guideline and be creative when you make your own!

Stuffed Peppers

4 Red Bell Peppers,{ you can use green, but the red ones are a little sweeter}
1/2 lb. cooked ground beef
1 cup chopped onions
3 cups cooked rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
mushrooms
an 8 oz. bag of Montery Jack cheese

Cook peppers in boiling water for 3 minutes.
Oh, before you do this, wash and slice the top of your peppers. Scoop out the seeds. You can either leave as a whole pepper, or slice in half length wise, which is what I did. You can get more filling piled on them this way!
When peppers are done cooking, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

If using fresh mushrooms, cook in a pan in a leetle amount of oil. I have no idea how many mushrooms I used. I just used what I had left in my fridge.
Combine ground beef, rice, mushrooms, onions, salt and about 4-5 oz.of the cheese. Just however much you want!
Spoon into peppers and place peppers in a greased baking dish. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for about 30 min. Top with some more cheese and put back in oven until cheese melts. Enjoy! If you have picky eaters who don't want to try the peppers, the rice mixture is very good by itself!

"Come what may" quote block

Joseph B. Wirthlin was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Once he told a story of how his mother would always say to him," Joseph, Come what may. And love it."
What an inspiring thought!
So I made a block with that quote on it.

I mod podged some scrapbook paper onto the block. Then printed the quote off my computer and mod podged that on as well.