Wow! It has been quite a crazy week around here! It all started last Sunday when I attempted to decorate the Christmas tree. I turned on "Elf", made myself a cup of hot cocoa and happily started pulling out all the ornaments. You'd think that decorating a Christmas tree would be a safe and fun activity wouldn't you??? But nooooo.....not when the Queen of Clumsy is involved! I managed to smack myself right in the eye with a tree branch and scratched my cornea! Ouch! Don't worry - I'm o.k. now! And I didn't let the tree win! I eventually got all those ornaments on it and I won!
Then a few days later little Miss Don't I Look All Sweet And Cute And Innocent decided to jump ACROSS the coffee table and knock over a glass of RED wine. Yup. Red.
The glass shattered and red wine and broken glass ended up all over me, our white sofa, white chair and white ottoman, the carpet, the Christmas cards I was addressing, some paperwork, a silk and linen cross-stitch I was working on and my fluffy white bathrobe. And Emma also got covered in red wine, got scared, ran off and hopped onto our white bedding! And seriously.....the glass was only half full.....but it looked like a full bottle or two had been sprayed over the entire house!
After two days of doing laundry I put the freshly cleaned slipcovers back on the furniture. And Emma immediately jumped onto the ottoman with muddy paws. Shortly after that I locked my keys in the car. First time in my life I've ever done that! Serenity Now!!!
Well, I was trying to look at the bright side. John had been gone all week on a work trip in Oregon and was supposed to get home Saturday morning after catching a Red Eye flight on Friday night. Yay! I'd have my sweetie back home to comfort me! No such luck. Delays and bad weather and flight cancellations have kept him in Oregon ALL weekend. He finally got a flight out on Sunday and sent me this lovely picture of the plane he is taking from Klamath Falls, OR to Portland (the first of 3 flights he has to take to get from Oregon to Florida).....
Ummmmm......seriously dude.....you're gonna get on that plane??? John's a pilot so this didn't bother him in the least. I'm feeling lightheaded just looking at that!
So, after all the insanity of the week I decided to take the weekend OFF! I normally spend the weekends working and doing errands and chores. But instead I had my own little perfect Jenny "Staycation" this weekend. I worked on a quilt that I started a few years......
Yeah....I'm the type of person who starts a project, gets distracted by another project and then finishes the original project a few years later. But, eventually those bits of fabric that were cut into squares two years ago will look like this.....
And I had lots of help with my quilt in the form of Bailey sitting in the window over my sewing table acting as supervisor......
And my sweet puppers, Emma laying at my feet.....
Oh....and did you notice the perfect spot on top of Emma's head??? Yes, Emma is perfect. In every way.
And since my week definitely called for some chocolate and sugar therapy I made these to soothe my wearied soul.....
They're called Candy Bar Brownies and they taste like a fancy Snickers bar! I was gonna post the recipe but it's really long and complicated. If you want the recipe please send me an e-mail and I'm more than happy to send it to you! So many of you have asked for the recipe that I decided to put it at the bottom of this post. But be warned.....these aren't easy to make. Four layers.....and each layer involves slowly and carefully melting something.......and you need to let each layer cool/set before adding the next one. Ugh. A lotta work but they are SOOOOO worth it!
I think I'm gonna go have some Candy Bar Brownies for dinner with some red wine.....in a sippy cup! Here's to hoping that this coming week is a little less "eventful."
Happy Sewing,
Jenny
Candy
Bar Brownies
Ingredients for Brownies:
¾ cup butter
softened
2 Tablespoons water
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup semisweet
chocolate
chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose
flour
½ teaspoon baking
soda
Ingredients for Candy Bar
Topping:
1 cup sugar
¼ cup butter
¼ cup milk
1 cup marshmallow
crème
½ cup creamy peanut
butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups dry-roasted
peanuts
40 caramels
¼ cup water
1 cup semisweet
chocolate
chips
¼ cup butterscotch
chips
1 – Heat over to
350. Line bottom and sides of 13 x 9 pan
with foil. Spray foil with cooking
spray.
2 – Melt ¾ cup
butter, 2
Tablespoons water and 2/3 cup sugar over low heat. Stir in
1 cup chocolate chips until melted. Remove from heat.
Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla and the eggs
until well mixed. Stir in flour
and baking powder. Pour batter
into pan.
3 – Bake 18 – 23
minutes or
until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely (at least 30 minutes).
4 – In a saucepan
heat 1 cup
sugar, ¼ butter and the milk to boiling over medium heat, stirring
constantly. Boil 5 minutes while
stirring CONSTANTLY. Remove from
heat. Stir in marshmallow crème, ¼
cup of the peanut butter (not all the peanut butter, just ¼ cup of it!)
and ½ teaspoon
vanilla. Pour over cooled
brownies. After
that layer is firm
sprinkle peanuts over top.
5 – In a saucepan
heat
caramels and ¼ cup water over medium-low heat stirring constantly until
caramels are melted. Pour over
peanuts.
6 – In a saucepan
melt 1 cup
chocolate chips and the butterscotch chips over low heat until smooth.
Remove from heat. Stir in remaining ¼ cup peanut
butter. Spread over caramel layer.
7 – Refrigerate at
least one
hour before cutting. I refrigerate
it for one hour and then put it in the freezer for ½ hour before
cutting. Cut bars into 8 rows by 6 rows. Store
in the refrigerator.
Hey there, it's me Emma Jane! And I've completely flipped for this new Amy Butler Pink & Brown Fat Quarter Bundle that I created with my Mommy today. We put together a bunch of pink, brown and green fabrics from various Amy Butler collections (Midwest Modern 2, Love and Soul Blossom) and this is what we came up with up......
I love it so much that I've already claimed one for myself! Next I'm going to grab some of the Carmine Fuchsia Trees fabric from the brand new Soul Blossom Collection....
And then I'm going to grab some Cherry Laurel Dots because my motto is "hot pink is a neutral" and it goes with everything.....
And because you can never have enough pink in your life I'm also taking some Cerise Pink Passion Lily.....
I'm going to try and get into an upright position now and figure out what I'm going to do with all my new pink fabric.....
