Nursery Update - Name/Initials Wall Art

I've made some wall art with the baby's name/initials for above the crib.

For this wall art, I purchased 8 by 8 (inch that is) canvases.

I taped each one using Frogtape (which we had left over from painting the nursery) to create stripes.  The stripes are about an inch or so each.

I painted the open spaces with a really great shade of blue/green from Americana - Bahama Blue.  On the canvas it looks very close to the Tiffany's teal.  Do as many coats as necessary to get the coverage you want.

I removed the tape before the paint is fully dry.  But for one small spot, the tape did its job beautifully.

For the name/initials, I found really great wooden letters in the craft section of a local Walmart.  I didn't want anything too big, so they are about 3-4 inches in height.  I painted these with Mink Pearl, a metallic shade from Americana.

Once the canvas and letters were dry, I attached them with a little wood glue and hot glue on the backs of each letter.

This was a relatively cheap project and works great for short names or initials (especially if the name is long-ish).

I'm just showing the first initial (both potential names start with "E" - Elizabeth and Euan).  Once we can put the entire piece up, I will post additional pictures.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls (No Yeast)

I wanted cinnamon rolls this past weekend but didn't feel like going to the store.  More specifically, I didn't feel like getting changed out of my PJs on a Saturday morning.  Instead, I went through my recipes and found a recipe for yeast-free cinnamon rolls (again trying to avoid leaving the house).  How thrilled was I when I realized I had all of the necessary ingredients...as thrilled as a pregnant woman about to have sweets.

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 1/2 cups flour (sifted)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup half and half
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (I recommend using sticks of butter, as they generally have measuring lines to assist with cutting out the necessary amount of tablespoons - I find this easier when dealing with smaller quantities.)


Filling:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Icing:
2 oz cream cheese, softened (almost melted)
3 tablespoons 2% milk
3/4 cup icing sugar

Extra:
Couple of  tablespoons of flour for rolling dough
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Grease 13 by 9 inch pan (thoroughly).

To make the dough, mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, pour melted butter into combination of milk and half and half and whisk quickly.  Pour into well in centre of dry ingredients.

Stir just until combined and then make into a ball.  You can roll out in one piece but it is more manageable to cut the ball of dough into at least two pieces and roll out separately.

Next, to make the filling, combine the sugars, spices and salt.  Pour in melted butter and combine until all ingredients are moist and crumbly.

Roll out the dough into two rectangles.  Pour even amounts of filling onto each piece of dough and press in.  Roll each piece along the long side of the rectangle.  Cut into 8-10 pieces, depending on desired thickness.

Before placing in the oven, if you want you can drizzle or brush melted butter over the top of the rolls.

Arrange in 13 by 9 inch pan and bake for 16 minutes.

To make the icing, mix cream cheese and milk until smooth.  Add half of the icing sugar and combine until smooth.  Repeat with remaining icing sugar.

When rolls are removed from the oven, drizzle icing over top.

These are not supposed to be light and fluffy, they are closer to the type of mini rolls that you might buy from the grocery store.  They are great for a couple bites of intense sweetness and spice!

Nursery Update - Animal Wall Art DIY

Last month, I posted about the animal shape wall art I made for the nursery.  At the time, I hadn't decided how I was going to hang the pictures on the nursery wall.

In the end, I decided to attach a simple piece of ribbon on the back of each picture frame.  I also decided to use 3M wall hooks.  I did this because I figure if I want to move the pictures around (especially if I ever change the theme inside the frames), the 3M wall hooks are great because they don't leave marks and are easy to reapply.

Here's a few pictures of the wall art arranged above the change table:

The giraffe is definitely my favourite. 

Easter Sugar Cookies

I haven't been posting much lately because I'm usually too tired to do anything other than work.  But I did make some sugar cookies for Easter.  I used the same recipes as I did for St. Patty's Day, so rather than provide the whole recipe, here are some pictures.

 

Baked Pickles - First Attempt

No, it wasn't a pregnancy craving, but yes, I was in the mood for fried pickles recently.  I don't deep fry anything, so I looked for baked recipes that would make do.

This recipe from Shrinking Kitchen seemed quite good.

Ingredients

pickles, 1 jar (I used kosher dill pickles)

egg, 1

dill (I used dried dill)

panko crumbs, 1 cup (to which I added italian seasoning)

I followed Shrinking Kitchen's steps pretty closely except where noted.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a food processor, combine panko crumbs and dill until well-mixed. Pour bread crumbs onto a plate. (I didn't use my food processor, next time I will try this.)
3. Break the egg into a bowl and beat.
4. Remove a pickle and pat with paper towel to remove some sodium. DON'T SKIP THIS STEP. (I concur!!!)
5. Dip in egg and then coat in bread crumbs.
6. Place coated pickle on foil-lined cookie sheet.
7. Repeat.
8. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, flip, and bake for 5 more minutes. Broil for 1 minute until they brown, watching carefully.
9. Eat.

They tasted good, but I was disappointed by the coverage.  I will try using the food processor next time to see if that makes a difference.  But the key being, I will try them again.

Nursery Update

 
Since we finally painted the nursery, we moved on to assembling furniture.

We have put together the dresser, change table and crib.

I've also put up the mobile and the paint chip art.

Still more to do and I'll keep posting updates.

St. Patty's Day Bake-A-Thon

Because apparently having a bun in the oven isn't enough baking for my husband and because apparently he is having some sympathy cravings, my hubby thinks I haven't baked enough lately.  I reserved comment for a more appropriate time and kindly obliged this weekend (and I should note he has been very helpful throughout the pregnancy).  Since today is St. Patty's Day, I went with a theme and made Shamrock Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing and a Mint Chocolate Cake.

Shamrock Sugar Cookies
 
I've grown up using the Company's Coming series of cook books, which has a great recipe for sugar cookies and royal icing.

As always with sugar cookies, the dough is best for rolling and cutting cookies if first chilled for a while (I chilled this batch for roughly 45 minutes.)  One dozen turned out really well.  The next...well, not so much.  To fix these ones, I used one of the round cookie cutters to cut them down to size.

Its been a LONG while since I've iced cookies, but I tried my hand at it.  I went with Wilton Kelly Green colouring for the festive feel.

I couldn't find a squeeze bottle, so I had to use piping bags for both the edge piping and the flood icing.

Not my best work but they taste good and they are cute.  Turns out I could have thinned the flood icing a bit more, but I used a toothpick to spread it out.

Mint Chocolate Cake

For the cake, to save time, I used Betty Crocker's Chocolate Fudge cake and baked it per directions.

For the icing, I made a mint buttercream icing:

4 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp mint extract

Blend the icing sugar, butter and milk until smooth and blended.  Add the mint extract.  Add more to taste if necessary.  If the icing is not thick enough, add more icing sugar.  If too thick, add more milk.

Once it was the consistency I wanted, I added Kelly Green colouring.  It was really quite Irish. 

Once the cake was cooled, I just did all of my usual steps (frosting between cake layers, crumb coat, cool for 10-15 minutes, frost, cool for 10-15 minutes, use paper towel to smooth frosting).

To add some additional St. Patty's Day flair, I created a shamrock cut-out on a piece of foil and applied some icing sugar.

The hubby hasn't had any yet, but I thought it was a good mix of chocolate and a subtle mint flavour.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!