Ladies, I'm finally done!

So, only 4+ months later and I'm finally done my Snow Mum Pillow! Even with my less than great sewing skills it turned out pretty good. I'm ready for our next project!

Bisquick Sausage Cheese Balls (recipe)

A bit preemptive, I know (seeing as how we haven't even eaten this yet)... but you're going to want this recipe!

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. mild Italian sausage (bulk)
1 1/2 cups Bisquick
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. dried Parsley flakes
1/4 tsp. dried Rosemary leaves (crumbled)

Directions:
1) Mix all ingredients by hand until everything is combined.
2) Make 1" balls and put them on a greased baking pan.
3) Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Yields approximately 30 balls.

Recipe can be doubled!

Hot, hot, hot!

Well, I've been a bit slow in posting this (sorry ladies!) but in April, we all got together at C's house to try our hands at piecing together "quilted" pot holders. They turned out absolutely amazing!  Meanwhile, the boys had a bbq at L's house--isn't that cute?!

First we dug through piles of scraps (donated by an anonymous freecycle.com friend):

We stopped to sip some yummy drinks: Sprite + frozen pomegranate swizzle sticks:

And before we knew it, our pot holders were ready for use:

Balls Balls Balls

The ball jokes never did get old..

So for our most recent meeting we made cookie dough flavored cake balls. And yes, they tasted exactly like cookie dough - minus the raw egg. Delicious!

Here's the recipe courtesy of my sister-in-law (who came up with the recipe herself):

"Butter recipe" cake mix (it's yellow cake but called Butter recipe)
8 oz Package of Cream Cheese - softened (I used the reduced fat kind)
1 c Brown Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Chocolate Melts
Mini Chocolate Chips

1. Bake your cake, let it cool. Crumble it up - I think the best/easiest way is just by hand and if you have harder or crusty pieces throw them in the food processor.

2. Mix cream cheese with brown sugar and vanilla until smooth.

3. Add cream cheese mixture to cake - I think its best (and fun) to just use your hands. Mix well until its the consistency of Play Dough throughout.

4. Roll into balls (or whatever shape you come up with...) - should make about 50 give or take. Then freeze for a little bit to harden them up. I froze mine for about an hour, but even just 15 minutes should do the trick.

5. Melt your chocolate melts in a narrow container - mugs work well - and dip your balls in the chocolate. If you want to dye white chocolate, add the drops of dye in before you melt them.

6. Allow chocolate to harden and enjoy!

B.I.G. SALE!

I just got a mailer from Joann's, and they're having a HUGE sale. Apparently March is craft-month, and they're celebrating in style. We should definitely take advantage of this chance to buy lots of fabrics on sale.  So, I'll figure out my craft for April asap so that if you're so inclined, you can go shopping while the sales are hot, hot, hot!

Yummy Goat Cheese Dip?

So where's the recipe? I'm on the internet trying to google it to get exact herbs/proportions... help!

Snow Mumday

Our second meeting finally happened after being postponed for the Snowpocalypse.

I coerced everyone into making an Amy Butler Snow Mum pillow, but only the strong survived it seems. We lost two pillow-makers along the way--their husbands insisted they not drive home in the snow. Hmmf.

Before we got started, we had some homemade goodies: banana bread, herbed cheese spread, cake balls, red velvet cupcakes, brownies, peanut butter cookies, & margaritas. I'll bring the veggies next time!

One of the hardest parts of pillow-making was measuring, figuring, & cutting....

Then there was a lot of cutting. Some even called preparing all those petals "tedious."

 Wait. Where did that beer come from?

New husbands?

They serenaded us. And acted silly. And prevented us from talking wife-talk.

 After lots of cheering & encouragement & getting green felt on the iron, A finishes! I knew she was almost there!

Some call her Crafty C. But while it's not alliterative, Thrifty C is also an accurate eponym--she bought her pillow for $2.50, half off at the thrift store.

Here are the three finishers.  We were sad the other two girls had to go home because of the snow.

Molly finished hers later and sent a picture to prove it....

Food! Fun! Crafts!

The first night was a success. Here are the highlights:

The founding members enjoyed "the story teller," and some crafts.

Caprese sandwiches, 'the story teller,' and some awesome strawberry-lemon cup cakes!

Sara enjoyed some short lived Meatball cuddles.

We've already planned our next meeting and S is going to pick a crafty project for us all to do together. Hopefully we'll all go home with something cool and home-made :-)

Inaugural Meeting

Location: L's Place

Time: 7pm-ish (except for poor, poor S who took 1 hour and 20 minutes to go 20 miles! Route 1 is scary)

Menu:
-chili cheese dip
-caprese
-berry awesome champagne cocktail
-strawberry cupcakes with lemon frosting

Purpose:
Chatting, crafting, and other non-hubby-related stuff