Cherry Lollipops

A blast from the past!

If you celebrate Valentine's Day and need a quick idea, these Cherry Lollipops take about 20 minutes from start to finish, taste great-and look good too!
Here's what you need:

• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c light corn syrup
• 1/4 c butter
• 3oz box of cherry jello
• 15-20 lollipop sticks (you can find these at craft stores or Wal-Mart in the baking aisle) 

Butter a cookie sheet or line with parchment  and lay out your sticks, make sure you leave room between them for the syrup to spread a little.

Stir butter, sugar, and corn syrup over low heat in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved and candy thermometer reaches 275 degrees.Remove from heat and stir in cherry jello until smooth.  Use a metal tablespoon or  a small metal cookie scoop and spoon syrup over the end of each lollipop stick, cool and store... or share with your favorite Valentine!
This recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com

 ~Simply Angie

Simply Cherry Lollipops

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

If you are looking for a simple, easy and delicious recipe especially for these cold winter days, this is your recipe! Last week in our Bountiful Baskets we received a huge head of cauliflower. I am not necessarily a raw cauliflower lover so I decided cauliflower soup would be a great option. I think living in the Midwest, you learn to love soup when the outside temperatures are hovering below the freezing level. The taste testers absolutely loved this soup, so I thought I'd pass it on. It's great for non-meat eaters and it is also gluten-free.
Ingredients:
1 large head of cauliflower, washed and trimmed into smaller pieces
1 medium size shallot (or small sweet onion), diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp butter
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/2 c plain yogurt
1 c Monterey Jack cheese or your favorite cheese, shredded
2 Tbsp parsley flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:

1. I used a large soup pot to melt the butter over low-medium heat.
2. Add the shallot and garlic, stir and cook about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the cauliflower pieces and stir until it's coated with the butter mixture.
4. Add the chicken stock, heat until it boils then lower the heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes.
5. This step is really about your preference. I removed most of the cauliflower and put it in the blender to puree it. Remember to remove the small piece on the top of your blender to allow the hot steam to escape. I placed a dish towel over the small hole so it wouldn't splatter. I'm sure you could use a mixer, immersion blender or potato masher if you don't have a blender. 
6. Place the puree back into the broth in the pan and stir.
7. Add the milk and yogurt (low heat) for about 10-20 minutes.
8. Stir in shredded cheese, dried parsley, salt and pepper. Heat until the cheese melts, about 10 minutes.

Cauliflower soup almost ready to eat!

Final reminders, remember to keep your heat low to prevent any curdling. For the meat lovers, you could add some bacon bits or small pieces of ham. For the cheese lovers in your family, sprinkle shredded cheese over the top before serving. Makes about 8-10 servings.
Enjoy and stay warm!
Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

DIY Valentine's Day Wreath

DIY Valentine's Day Wreath Project

Last year my DIY projects consisted of making holiday wreaths for the front door. Here is a refresher for the DIY Valentine's Day wreath. Now is a great time to find Christmas ornaments on clearance and who doesn't like to save a few dollars? The Christmas colors are perfect for a Valentine's Day wreath. For this project you will want to buy shatterproof ornaments rather than glass ornaments. This little wreath also makes a great gift!
After making all of those wreaths last year, I discovered a great way to store them. I use a clothes hanger for each wreath. Place your wreath over the top of a clothes hanger and hang them in my extra closet. It saves space and you don't have to find shelf space or worry that your wreath will be damaged in a box.
Supplies:
60-75 ornaments (depends on the size of your heart and the size of the ornaments)
1 wire hanger or heavy wire to shape in a heart
Hot glue gun and hot glue
Ribbon to use for a hanger

Directions:

• Some of my ornaments had secure tops so I did not hot glue them to the ornaments. However, some of them were not as secure so I used hot glue to glue the tops to the ornament base.

 

• Bend your wire or hanger into the shape of a heart. You don't have to be exact on this, just a general heart shape will work, it can be a little abstract if you like. My strong helper used a pliers to bend the hanger for this step :)

 

• Start by placing the one end of the wire through the tops of the ornaments. I placed mine on one at a time so I could arrange them by turning them. You can leave the other end of the wire open (the ornaments shouldn't fall off or you can bend it if you aren't using a hanger for your wire).
• Continue to add ornaments to the wire hanger and let them bunch together for a full look. It won't be perfect because the ornaments will move around, it'll still be beautiful.
• When you reach the end of your hanger, twist one end of the wire over the other end at the bottom of the heart. You  may need to use your pliers for this.
• I cut a piece of ribbon about 20 inches long and wrapped it between ornaments on the left and right side of the heart at the top and tied a bow at the top.
• The entire project took me about 2 hours including minor distractions, you know... phone calls, texts, taking the dog out, etc....
• Total project cost was $7.50. I love that part for this fun little project!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Decorating With Family Photos

DIY decorating with an old picture frame for border and family photos

Happy New Year everyone!
I made only one resolution for 2015, to do better. I know it may seem like a rather broad concept but I know myself and I don't do well with specific goals in my personal life. I decided that every day there is at least one thing I can do better. Some days it might be small things like taking out the garbage before it overflows and the coffee grounds spill all over the floor, hang up my coat, eat more veggies, read more books, make more homemade jam...you get it, right? Then there will be those days that I will have an opportunity to make a difference in a life. It may seem like a small gesture but all of us need more kindness in our day. Maybe smile at a stranger, share a Bible verse, share a meal, tell someone thank you. Who knows? So that's it...do better every day.
My new year starts with organizing, cleaning out and of course more DIY projects! I finished a project yesterday and I have to share it. It began 7 years ago when we moved into our new house. Since day one, I have had a vision of a family photo arrangement above the sofa. So my first project of the new year began two days ago and today my vision is on the wall!

The Family Photo Wall Journey:
My husband painted the living room, dining room and kitchen a light gray color a couple of months ago. I had some wildlife prints on my walls but I wasn't feeling it for this space. So for two months we have had bare walls so I could plan the journey to complete my vision.

I started with an old, chunky, somewhat warped frame that was headed for donation land when I had an idea to highlight the detail on the frame. It was so dusty that I needed to clean it with a damp rag first. Then I wanted to dry brush it with some white paint. I started with a cheap, sponge paint brush (about an inch wide) and poured some white acrylic paint on a piece of cardboard so I could lightly dip my dry paint brush into the paint. I used a paper towel to wipe off any excess paint from the brush and painted lightly over the top of the frame. Within 15 minutes I was done with that step. Depending on the effect you like, you can always apply more paint.

Large frame - before painting

Frame details before painting

Frame after the dry brush painting

My next step was to measure the inside of the frame. I needed to know the size of frames and how many frames would fit in my larger empty frame. I planned to use the empty frame to border my family photos. So I needed 6 frames (8x10). The actual frames measured 10x12 inches. I also knew that I wanted to use 5x7 photos and I wanted white, white, white. I bought 6 white frames with white matting at Michael's (buy one get one free sale).

I probably should have started with this step but I didn't pick my photos until the end. Seriously, I spent 3 hours of my life going through my digital pictures which almost sent me over the edge - ha ha!! I edited the pictures because I didn't want color, I used the black and white setting and printed them on glossy photo paper using my printer. They turned out beautifully and each special photo was now at home in it's own frame.

We centered and hung the large frame first. Of course I would have chosen to "eyeball" the placement of the framed pictures and started pounding the nails but my carpenter husband had to use the tape measure. So after many measurements (which I lost interest in after the first measurement), we eventually had our 6 beautiful family photos on the wall!

Family photo arrangement complete in living room

Enjoy today!
Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi