lovin right now

A pictorial list of things I am "lovin right now."  Blue Diamond roasted salted almonds are salty enough to make me crave them at seven in the morning with my... dash of cinnamon in my early morning coffee that's already flavored with vanilla creamer.  I am on my third Skyline Fever tee.  I have Dylan, Sea Song and now Live by the Moon.  Unisex sizing is my favorite in a medium.  I wear them all day and sleep in them all night.  Currently craving the Janis and Fleetwood tees.  I pair them with my ebay ordered, used and slightly broken in American Eagle Artist fit jeans of which I am between sizes meaning the four is too small and the six is too big, both in a long cut, but loving them anyway.  I call the four sassy and the six comfortable.  My OPI Russian Navy is the color on my toes that I crave when any other color is painted there.  It may have been featured in a previous "loving right now" post but remains a favorite.  I am also lovin my hobby of browsing certain favorite blogs online, copying and pasting favorite pictures and then gluing and taping them into my journal.  I have begun my second modge podged, composition journal called "inspiration journal 2".  The pages are already filling with dreamy pics, recipes and thoughts.  I love to look back on what I was "lovin right now" at the time.  My current favorite blog is FromMoontoMoon. 

What are you "lovin right now"?

cinnamon popcorn

OK.  I know a lot of recipes found say "The Best" or Best Ever".  I am claiming this recipe to be "most addictive".  I seriously have a hard time leaving this alone.  This is a snack that we make at the day care and one that I promptly talked my sister into making to take on a road trip with friends!  When I made the first batch, while equally addictive, I didn't bake in the oven.  Which left the cinnamon kernels kind of soggy and some stuck in my teeth.  Not complaining... it was still wonderful.  But the second batch, not the same day, was baked in the oven which made each kernel crunchy again and delectably wonderful!  I strongly suggest the second method!  

Heating the popcorn in the oven reminded us of our neighbor Carol when we were kids.  She would heat up stale Cheetos in the oven and they would crunch up even more and made them last a lot longer!  I personally liked the more burnt ones but I am a little odd like that.   Funny memories!

Here is the fantastic recipe.  Please make this and try your very best to share it!  I will not be held responsible for any belly aches as a result of over gorging!  It reminds me of last year, coming home from Bellbuckle, TN, we ate and ate and ate the kettle corn that we bought on the way out.  So much that my tongue wasn't quite the same for a couple of days.  But somehow I couldn't stop.  There was just one more piece that was doused in sweet stuff.  Good Luck!

What?? What's Bellbuckle??? Only the best craft fair in the South!  See my posts about our trips 

HERE and HERE.  

And read a funny story about someone who stole some flower seeds.

And our favorite store, Phillips General Store.

P.S. Happy April Fool's Day!  Don't let anybody fool ya!

Another Brak-fast! Cinnamon Toast

Another one of my easy breakfast "go-to" sweet breads, because I don't feel right unless I almost overdose on sugar before I leave the house, is Cinnamon Toast.  This is so easy to do it's just pitiful. 

This recipe is for four pieces of sandwich bread.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a half of a stick of softened butter, that's 1/4 cup, in a small bowl.  To the butter add a small scoop of sugar, not quite 1/4 cup, a splash of vanilla and a shake or two of cinnamon.  Spread butter mixture on only one side of each slice of bread.  Place bread on ungreased cookie sheet, butter side up.  Place in preheated oven and cook for 7 minutes.  After seven minutes, turn the oven off and the broiler on.  Watch toast carefully.  After about three minutes the toast should be done, lightly browned on top.  Take out and enjoy with your eggs and bacon that you cooked while the toast was in the oven... wait.. did I forget to say that you should be multi-tasking during the cook time?  Make use of it Honey... there's only so long before you have to leave for work!  Have a great day!

 Don't be afraid!  Spread it on thick!  You won't be sorry.

 Don't forget... butter side up here.

 Perfectly tanned like Bahama Mamas!

 The bottom.  That butter just soaks to the bottom.  Oh my.

 The top.  Please refrain from licking your screen.  I know it's tempting.

It's Beginning To Smell A Lot Like Christmas!

Hiya All! Well we are now two days into December and I think some one told the weather to act like it's December! It's cold and rainy today. For the first day of December we had our first big, heavy frost up here on the hill. We have had a couple of light ones but this one put the quietus on some summer plants still trying to survive. I'm glad I remembered to bring my orchid in.

Today I have a continuation of homemade decorations for a kitchen Christmas tree. I should have said on Monday when I started this that one year I didn't have an actual tree in my kitchen so I made these ornaments and hung them on a wreath for my kitchen door. So the smells and cheer were still there although I didn't need many for the wreath.

This is a recipe for cinnamon ornaments. It's cheap, simple and smells deliciously of Christmas time. Although I am not a huge fan of cinnamon scented things like candles and brooms these ornaments aren't too strong once they are made but do put a hint of spice in the air. Here's what you need and what to do:

Cinnamon Ornaments

2 bottles cinnamon (fifty cents each at the dollar store)
1/2 cup applesauce (I worked up to about this amount, start small and get to what you can work with)
cookie cutters
a tad of flour

Mix cinnamon and applesauce together in a bowl. Spoon out onto a lightly floured surface. This can be a little messy on your hands so flour yourself. Roll dough out with a rolling pin to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. At this point you have two options. You can put your shapes onto wax paper and let them dry 24 hours or place them on a parchment paper* lined cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 200 for 20 minutes. Allow them to cool. However you choose to let them dry you need to make a hole for the hanger using a toothpick and going around in a circle before baking or drying. Make it far enough down into the shape so the ornament won't break. I made stars and had a couple of tips break off.

I hope you like them!

*Note: I wouldn't grease the pan. You can try baking them without parchment paper if you don't have it but only try a couple at first. I don't know if they will stick to the pan or not.