Corn Dog Muffins

I made the most delicious "Corn Bread Muffins" the other night. I saw a couple different versions of these and went with the muffins. I did however have an idea on how to make these another way. So I will share those next week sometime! I think you'll laugh, but love them. LOL

...What you will need for these...

Muffin Pans

Non-Stick Spray

Corn Bread Mix

Water

Mixing Bowl and Spoon (Spatula)

Hot Dogs

Cutting Board and Knife

Ketchup and Mustard to taste

First...Set oven to temp suggested on corn bread mix. Then begin mixing up your corn bread mix. I used Marie Calendars original mix. Yum. All you need is water and the mix. Very quick. Add them to your muffin pans filling them only half full. Don't forget to spray your pans with non-stick spray first.

Using your knife and cutting board, cut up your hot dogs and place as many as you like into the corn bread mix. I cut my dogs in half, then sliced each half into about 7-8 pieces. Perfect for bite size. You could also use lil smokies if you don't want to cut anything. Just as 2 or more smokies to the mix. I used one regular package of hot dogs for 18 muffins. I made some muffins without  hot dogs by request of the hubs. ;D

Place those in the oven and cook em up. Watch them as the ones without hot dogs (if you cook them together) may cook faster. As you cook the cornbread mix will rise a little above the hot dogs. You can also push the hot dogs down towards the bottom if you want to add even more hot dogs to your muffins.

Let them cook just a bit then serve hot with ketchup and mustard to taste. My son turned his nose up at first. He is very picky. I told him they tasted just like a corn dog. So he decided to try it. He said, "wow it does taste like a corn dog!" he ate 3. ;D He even had some the next day for lunch. So YES, picky kids will love them!

You also might want to add a little extra ketchup and mustard to your plate for dipping. I did!

Don't they look tasty!?! They are very Tasty!!!

These would even be good to serve at a kids birthday party!

Art Case Birthday Gift

Well hello there old friends! It's been a while hey? Like over a month! Yikes! I never intended to be gone so long but life has just been going on and on and I've been enjoying the ride. We had a great and very relaxing Christmas and genuinely did not want to return home. January flew by in a flash and here it is the second weekend in February already.

Well, since Valentine's Day is next week I probably should be showing you the really cool craft that my daughter made for her little classmates but it really didn't turn out that well. We punched hearts into paint sample strips and then she wrote their name on the front and on a piece of construction paper of the same size she wrote her name for the back. The problem came when I laminated the bookmarks...the lamination didn't really stick and they just look a little chintzy. But I don't think the 4 and 5 year olds will be too concerned...plus, I added in a pencil and a box of conversation hearts just to make sure Naomi wasn't pegged as "the girl who gave lame valentines" (like they do that in 4K anyway). I'm so self conscious even as a mother that I want to make sure my kid gives cool valentines. Yikes. Maybe I need some therapy!

Well, onto the real post! My daughter got invited to a birthday party on Super Bowl Sunday at the local bounce house place. This was a party for a little girl in her class that I'd never met. She was so excited and I was feeling well, strapped for cash, self-conscious (was I going to have to stay at the party and mingle with people I didn't even know?), and just plain intimidated. I decided that her little friend would get a handmade gift and I would quit making excuses. Because dangit, it was gonna be cute and functional.

I was browsing my saved tutorials on my hard drive when I came across this art case. I knew I didn't have the quilted fabric that it called for so I improvised and just used regular cotton with a little fusible interfacing to make it a little more sturdy. Other than that, the only thing I did differently was sew it right sides together and turn it out. I had a hard time with attaching the handles and sewing the sides shut because my machine only likes to stitch through two layers of fabric at a time but four needles later the job was finished. And I think it came out pretty good and I think Naomi's little friend was happy with the gift, well, it didn't compare to the almost lifesize Rapunzel doll, but what does! (seriously, who gives that to a five year old that is not their own child?) Anyway, I think this will be a good go-to gift that I can easily (minus four needles) make that is a pretty neat and functional gift. Naomi kept telling her friend "You can even take it to church with you" -my little evangelist!

The party was great and yes I did mingle with some of the other mothers and actually had a good time. Little ol introvert, self-conscious me had a good time. yup!

And if you haven't checked out Carrie at This Mama Makes Stuff you REALLY need to. She has TONS of great tutorials and refashions and just great sewing advice and tips! go check her blog out...and tell her I sent you!

Princess Birthday Cake

I wanted to share a few details with you from my daughters 5th birthday! We had a great time but we didn't do the whole BIG party thing since she had one last year, but I think we did a good job of focusing on her and making her feel special.

The kids birthdays in our house usually start out with daddy taking them to breakfast. This year was no exception. So Greg and Naomi went to Perkins while I stayed home with the big kids (maybe I need to get in on this deal too and alternate years with Greg). We then went to a local farm with our neighbors for lots of fall fun! You can see some of the details from that here! Then we had lunch at home and of course cake! And not just any cake but princess cake. Naomi has been talking about having a princess cake since last year (when I didn't really let her decide the theme of her party). And she says that next year she's going to have a fairy party...we'll see!

So, today I wanted to show you how I made her princess cake!

Instead of just doing one princess we bought the multi pack of little barbie/princess bodies (head and torso) at JoAnns. I was trying to figure out what pan to use in order to get the curved dress form. I did a little research and found out there was a pan specifically for the little doll dresses (of course there is!) So, I ran to Hobby Lobby on Thursday morning with my 40% off coupon to get the Mini Mold pan. Micah and I baked the cakes on Thursday and he couldn't understand why he couldn't eat it as soon as he stirred the batter.

So, I baked the mini dresses, then I put the rest of the funfetti batter into a round cake pan but I knew it was going to be really small with the small amount of batter I had left so I mixed up a choclate cake real quick and added some to the round cake pan. I knew I needed something for the Princesses to stand on so I put some wax paper in the bottom of a 9x12 cake pan and added the rest of the chocolate cake batter.

I let the cakes cool and put them in the freezer overnight. Then I had to do quite a bit of cutting on the round cake to make it look the way I wanted it to. I frosted the 9x12 cake with a crumb coat then put the round cake flush with the back of the large cake and cut it to have a square corner. I then used my biscuit cutter and cut out two places for two of the princesses to stand in front of the "hill".

Then I frosted the whole thing with a crumb coat and put it back in the freezer.

I also crumb coated the dresses before putting them back in the freezer as well.

Personally I think the freezer is my best friend when making a cake that needs to be decorated...unless you're using fondant or something similar, then it's probably not necessary.

On Friday night I pulled all the frozen cakes out and started decorating. I mixed up a total of 8 colors. You can see here three of the skirts are "finished". To get the smooth bottom to Snow Whites dress I took a piece of paper and kind of curved it and ran it up the side of the dress.

Then came the fun part of making the princesses come to life. I tried to stay as true to their outfits as possible. Here's Snow White...

 Ariel...

 Belle...(I was trying to tame her crazy hair with the rubberband)

 Aurora...she could have used more time but I simply didn't have it in me anymore (it was REALLY late)

I decorated the main cake portion to look like grass, the beach and some water.

I crushed vanilla wafers for the sand.

Back into the freezer it all went.

Saturday morning when we got back from the farm I put the whole thing together. It was thawed enough for us to eat when we finally got around to that part. I did put a skewer into the cake where the princess dresses were just to make sure they stayed put. But I'm glad they were frozen or I would have totally messed up their dresses. I didn't have any extra frosting to fix anything so it just was what it was. But...

she LOVED it and that's all that matters to me!!!

Want to see what I made her for her birthday? Check it out on my other blog!

Powell's Sweet Shoppe | Review

Have you ever dreamed of the candies you enjoyed as a kid? Well you can still get it. At Powell's Sweet Shoppe!

Powell's Sweet Shoppe from Mike  Miller on Vimeo.

Everyone has an extremely vivid and pleasant memory of where they went as a child to get their favorite candy - whether it was the corner store or their Grandma's candy dish. Powell's Sweet Shoppes are a nostalgic re-creation of that classic and bygone era.

On the surface we sell ice cream and sweets, but you don't have to stand in the Shoppe too long before you realize that what we really offer are memories. "I feel like a kid in a candy store!" and "I haven't seen that since I was a kid!" are far and away the most common things we hear. And that is precisely our goal. We want to walk our customers down memory lane and remind them of good things and good times.Content taken from Powell's Website.

Look at how cute she is by her Candy Board! LOL All the kids were able to draw pictures and their names on the board too. They loved it!

I was fortunate enough to have a my daughters birthday at Powell's Sweet Shoppe in Chico, CA It was an amazing experience not only for my daughter and her friends, but for all the parents as well. We were truly kids in a candy store that day. It was so fun browsing through all the candy. Candies I have not seen since I was a child. Many candies that you can only get in specialty store. Mostly over the internet. Powell's Sweet Shoppe was one of the best places we have gone to for a birthday party.

The party events....each child is given a candy scavenger hung paper, bucket and pencil. They get to go through the store searching for all the candies on the list. This is not just a few candies, these kids go home with a bag full. We were amazed at what they brought home.

Here are a few pics of the kids having fun around the shop.

The kids were even able to take a moment to sit down and watch a little bit of the Willy Wonka movie

After the scavenger hunt the kids went to the Gelato counter. Each picked their own flavor and headed back to the party room. 

Here are a few more amazing pics we got that day...

 All in all, we loved the party we had at Powell's and definitely recommend that you have your next party there.

If you are in the Chico, CA area and would like to have a party there, you can reach them at....

Powell's Sweet Shoppe - Chico

121 W. Third St. Chico, CA 95928

(530) 332-YUMM (9866) | (530) 345-5661 fax

Store Hours: Mon-Friday: 10am-9pm Sun: 11am-8pm

If you are interested in contacting them to purchase your favorite candies, you can email them at...nancy.carlson@powellssweetshoppe.com

 All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by anyone.  Trendy Treehouse Disclaimer/Terms of use.