Cookies! Easy Candy and Cake Rolo Cookies

Over the Christmas holiday I tried  making the Rolo Cookie recipe that apparently, most people knew about, but I only discovered back in December.  I kept stumbling across blog post after blog post, from college age people, to young moms, and so on and they were all making the Rolo cookies and had been making them for  years.  Well, okay, I am definitely not a member of the Cookie Clique.  If you are, skip this post and come back on the 10th, next Sunday at 10 am EST. Or before, too.

A few ingredients for this
chocolately good cookie.

For the rest of us newbies, here is the recipe, but my disclaimer is I didn't follow it- No Surprise.

ROLO COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 Box of Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 Eggs
1/3 cup of oil, usually Canola Oil
Rolos unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a baking sheet or use a non-stick sheet.

Put cake mix, eggs, and oil in a bowl and mix until well blended. It will be a dough consistency, not batter.

Take a piece of dough, flatten it then put a Rolo in the
center and close up the dough around the Rolo.

Place about 2 inches apart and Bake 8-10 minutes.


This is supposed to make 4 dozen.  It made 14, that's almost 3 dozen less than promised.  The dough was way too thick.  I even added water to try and thin it out.  Afterwards,  I checked various sites and they all had the same list of ingredients without water or other thinning liquids.  You can see the result on a cooling rack in this post about the Cranberry Sugar Cookies.

In the image you see the two toned candies.  I used mint chocolate candies in some and Rolos in others.  You must chop up the harder chocolates as they will not melt!  Delicious, but you need beaver teeth to gnaw away at a hunk of chocolate like that.  Funny and true!

Analysis:  I wouldn't make these again unless there was a way to make more than 15.  Maybe I'll try again and add more water to the mix.  I would definitely try a different candy, maybe some kind of softer mint, as I like the chocolate mint cookie rather than the chocolate caramel cookie.

Did you ever make these?   What was your result?  Do you see a liquid ingredient missing or not?

Coloring Jars Experiment

Here are my results of experimenting with coloring glass jars, or the horrible, the nasty, and the passable.

Most of the tutorials circulating are to use food dye, usually the gel type with a small amount of warm water and add these to Mod Podge.  I don't have any  Mod Podge, what I do have are other glues collected and unused, so I decided to go ahead and use some of them to see what would happen.  I used my liquid dyes, at one time I had the gel food dyes, which I liked, but didn't have right now.

In the jars in the image on the left I used clear Elmer's Glue, water, and dye in the smallest jar to get a red translucent/stained glass type of result- which is what I was aiming for.  For the two green jars and the dark jar where I was aiming for a look of a big jar of Yoo Hoo chocolate milk I used white Elmer's Glue, water,  and mixed the dyes. In this image the jars are upside down and draining off the excess mixture before putting them in the oven at 180 F for 25 minutes.

To view bigger, click on the image.

The only jar to retain the coating and color after baking them in the oven was the red jar.  In the second image from the left, you can see how the colors just disappeared after baking in the oven.  My chocolate milk look disappeared completely except for the ring at the bottom of the jar.  The dark green jar was a little streaky.  The other green jar came out a bit brown and with a big ring in the bottom, too.

After the jars were completely cooled, I washed out the interiors and thoroughly dried them in order to try another experiment.  In the next image I used Aleene's Collage Glue, water, and paint, not food dye.  This image shows the jars after they were drained, baked, and cooled.  I didn't put the red jar back in as I was satisfied with the result from the first baking.

Even though the chocolate milk jar, the bright orange jar, and the turquoise jar were well coated and drained before baking- they still came out of the oven not looking like they were done properly.  The orange jar was somewhat streaky and the turquoise jar was less streaky, but not as nice as I wanted it to be.  The chocolate jar was just not working.  I think there must have been something about that jar that did not adhere the liquid to the surface.  It also had angles which were harder to cover, but the jar just repelled the mixtures both times.

In the last image you can see the red jar with silk flowers in it.  The majority of the tutorials are to make the jars have a shabby chic look, but I was aiming for a translucent style.  I may try this experiment again, but I would rather just paint the outside of the jar, maybe use a stencil or design on it, too.  In this way, the inside could be used to store things or used in some other way and the paint would not be scratched off in the jar by the items put inside it.



Now, if I could just stop thinking about cold chocolate milk, I haven't had a  Yoo Hoo for years, have you ever had one?   Even though the jars experiment was kind of a flop, I'm glad I tried it to see what would develop.

Do you like to branch out and experiment or are you not a gambler in that way?

Easy Cherry Chip and Cola Cake Recipe

What's  your favorite soda?  Cream?  Birch beer?   Orange?Vanilla?  Black Cherry?  Coke? Pick one of your favorites or what  you have on hand and one package of cake mix.  That's the easy recipe for a two ingredient cake.

Make the cake this way and save putting in eggs, oil, and those calories.  You can use a diet soda if you like.

    TIPS:  

1. Use a room temperature can of soda. 
2. Empty the cake mix in a bowl and form a well to pour the soda into, then use your mixer or a wooden spoon to blend. 
3. Use a larger bowl than you might normally use as the soda will foam up and you don't want it to overflow the sides (forming the well should prevent that.)

I used to buy mixed cans of soda from Shop-Rite and Pathmark when I lived back East.  Any flavors they had, I could pick what I wanted.  There was none of the, "you are forced to buy a package already selected for you," as now.  Where you live are you able to pick and choose your flavors that way?   I have a soda about once a month, so it's not an issue, but I do like freedom of choice.

I used the "Betty Crocker Super Moist Cherry Chip" because I thought it would go nicely with Coca Cola. You can use a different type of cake mix.  The Hershey's, "Chocolate Lover's Frosting" was a recipe from the container of Hershey's Cocoa.  Chocolate and Cherries, I have to say, "YUMMM! ♥♥♥"

Hope you enjoy this easy recipe.  I like to be in and out of the kitchen when it's summery and hot and this cake allows that.  Thanks for stopping by and also for clicking on the poll.  I think I will link this post up at Katherine's Favorite Things and at Terry's Link it up Thursday.

We'll Get You My Pretties, at Celebrate Oz

Hey, I'm still playing around with PicMonkey and that led me to think of Flying Monkeys and the Celebrate Oz blog party that is scheduled for July 19.   I wanted to let you know about it and tell you to get off your broom or out of the bubble you're in and head over to sign up for the blog party.  

You don't have to be an artiste (note the "e") you just have to make something Wizard of Oz related.  If you write, paint, draw, make jewelry, bake, what have you- just add your blog link to the list in the sidebar, leave Linda a comment on the post that you're rsvping the party invite, make your stuff and show your creation(s) on July 19th!  That's it,  my pretties.  Oh, snag Linda's party button from her post when you go and put it somewhere on your blog too. 

I could show you what I'm working on, but then I'd have to drop a house on you.  And the jokes keep coming.  Seriously, I have to start whatever I'm going to make, as soon as I unstick the lollipop from my seat.  Ahh to be in Munchkin Land when the chocolate roses are in bloom.  If there weren't any chocolate roses, there should've been ♥

Have fun visiting the blogs participating in Celebrate Oz.  Where's my bucket of water? 

Freak Out and Throw Stuff (Not) Top Ten Tuesday Keep Calm List

Sleepless in Ohio, still recovering from the devil salad and here I am trying a new topic:  Top Ten Tuesday List.  Just for a change of pace and to read some silly sayings as well as some beautiful sentiments I wasted  enjoyed some time reading some of the nine thousand plus Keep Calm products on Etsy and elsewhere on the web.  From salad soup to nuts and champagne to chocolate for every occupation, dog breed, fantasy character and more there is a Keep Calm product.  Here are nine I liked and one I made up, along with its own image:

• Keep Calm and Free Mr. Bates                    (Downton Abbey fans, this one's for us.)  
• Keep Calm and Carry Chocolate                  (yummy)
• Keep Calm and Call the Doctor                    (Doctor Who, that is.)
• Keep Calm and Take a Nap                                                                                                     
• Keep Calm and Then Delete, Delete, Delete!
• Keep Calm and Love Unconditionally         (See this example)
• Keep Calm and Click Your Heels                (In needlework.)
• Keep Calm and Drink Tea                           (a personal favorite)
• Keep Calm and Get Your Craft On

 and the one I made.  I enjoy irony.

                                               
Did you enjoy this selection, do you have your own personal take on Keep Calm sayings?  Share, please, and to see more Top Ten Lists, go visit Many Little Blessings.

Chocolate Jumble, Candy Cane Bark, and More Easy Chocolate Treats to Make

Do you start a project when there's something on your mind and you need a distraction?  Well, the early morning found me making chocolates, that's a quiet time before the traffic starts, even before the birds get up and Lucy is watching me from the archway, waiting for the slightest gesture from me to give her a hug or something to eat.

On this morning I decided to tackle the candy making as I was getting short of time left to do so.  This is what I was making at 4am.

Gather your ingredients, this is incredibly easy to make.

I like to melt the chocolate in a small nonstick saucepan, slowly between the Low and #2 setting.  You could microwave it.  Check on it, stirring to blend and see how fast and thin the chocolate will drip.

Crushed candy canes added to some of the chocolate, stir and then pour the mixture on a waxed paper lined tray.  Spread with the back of the wooden spoon and then put the tray in the fridge to cool, or on the counter until it's firm.  Give it several hours, depending on the temp in the room, humidity, etc.    

Put as much or as little candy cane as you like.  I made the cane pieces very small, didn't want any broken teeth for anyone.  Once this tray of chocolate was broken, you could see the pieces of candy cane and it looked pretty good.

.  

With some of the plain melted chocolate, I spooned it over the pretzel rods, then I sprinkled crushed candy cane over them and put the rods on the waxed paper lined tray to set, putting it in the fridge to firm them up.

A second dipping would be nice after the first was set and cold, using a different chocolate and then the topping.  Today I was short on time and used one     thick chocolate layer and topping after it.




This is the Chocolate Jumble.  It's broken pretzels and Reese's Peanut Butter Chips  with melted chocolate poured over them in a bowl and mixed thoroughly.  Then the combo is spread on a waxed paper lined tray where I sprinkled ground walnuts and cinnamon sugar on top.

After this was thoroughly set and cooled I lifted it off the paper, turned it smooth side up and whacked it into pieces with a kitchen mallet.  A clean hammer or other strong tool would also work.  I break it up on the smooth side to keep the toppings side looking nice.

One regular size bag of Hershey's Special Dark chips made the tray of Candy Cane Bark and 30 Pretzel Dipping Sticks.  The tray size for the bark was the toaster oven tray.

A second bag of the Hershey's Special Dark chips and about 3/4 bag of Reese's Peanut Butter chips made the Chocolate Jumble.  I used about half a bag of pretzels for the Jumble. It's really good!  The tray size was the long cookie sheet, not the regular size.

With the teeny bits that were left after smashing, I gathered them to save for another use such as ice cream topping, put over frosting, put into cookie dough, etc.

Chocolate and pretzels- good.  Chocolate, peanut butter and pretzels- really good.  If you make it, I'd like to hear how you like it.

Santa's Cookie Tester

He's a big jolly guy, so he gets the big blue mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and a teeny sprinkle of cinnamon on top.  Cinnamon is good for blood sugar and with all of those cookies, Santa needs a little faux ho ho dieting here and there.

He won't notice the sugar free hot cocoa as long as there is some dreamily melting low fat whipped cream forming a hazy oasis on the top.  Too much milk will make him sleepy and he has to finish all those deliveries before daybreak!

I've tested the hot beverage and a small selection of cookies.  I think it passes Santa's dietary standard requirements.  The reindeer's carrots and apples are going to be fresh when Santa stops at my house.  Dee, there is a Santa stop for me!

What will  you put out for Santa and his reindeer?

Put the Scissors Down Ma'am

Oh, I hope I'm not guilty of true angelcide.  I don't think that's possible.  After all, the angels are superior beings.  Okay, after hearing Christmas music on the radio since before Thanksgiving  and seeing umpteen Christmas sales commercials a week before that, the frustrations of what Christmas is NOT ABOUT but is thrown in our faces everywhere in a chaotic swell of frenzy, well it just got to me. That, plus my backlog of things undone; especially that backlog.

So...I did it. I ripped the head off the angel.  Angelcide.

Confession:  I've never liked this angel.  Do you feel guilty for buying something that you don't really like?  I do.  It was a spur of the moment purchase a few years ago when I needed a little something, it was cheap and I used it until I could not look at it anymore. That's how my thoughts stood at the kitchen counter with the sentimental old wreath needing a little something to make it last another holiday.  Sacrifice one decoration for the life of another.

The Act: Donc j'ai tue' l'ange. So I killed the angel. I removed her wings, tore apart her edging and STILL she remained sweetly composed and took my abuse!  Cleaning up the counter I threw her head without a body onto my desk.  I tried to cover her up and ignore the pain, but she drilled her saintly silent witness in my vertigo laden neck until the sick puppy in me, said,  Ca suffit! Enough!

Days later she was picked up and tossed in the trash can.  I can still revive her, but I refuse.  Je refuse de vous sauver mon ange.  I refuse to save you, my angel.  Christmas is for the living.   Ceci est vraiment la fin pour l'ange.  This is really the end for the angel.  Repos dans paix.  R.I.P. 

The Verdict: Coupable de le meurtre avec l'intention de refaire les papier peints et le cycle ascendant.  Guilty of murder with intent to redecorate and upcycle. My scissors are safely put away and only two decorations were mutilated in that short span of time.  The sentence was considerate in that this was a lapse, a crime made in stressful times.

Punishment: Condamne' pour observer de vieux films, mangez le chocolat et le the' de boisson, confiez-vous a' Lucy et d'autres choses conformement a' la foi de Noel dans mon couer. Sentenced to watch old movies, eat chocolate and drink tea, confide in Lucy, and other things in keeping with Christmas faith in my heart.

(For some reason this overly dramatic post required a few French phrases.  Je parle un tout petit peu de francais.  I've forgotten most of the correct tenses and spelling since learning French years ago.  If you want to share the corrections, please do!  My keyboard doesn't have the punctuation marks for French.)

Joyeux Noel Mes Amis.

Fin

Knock Knock and Lucy's List Food Not to Feed Your Dog

Knock Knock!
Who's there?
Wayne.
Wayne, who?
Wayne can I eat my Halloween candy?

Page made with software from: My Memories Suite V2 .

Lucy's only asking for me, she does not get chocolate.  Just only a teeny niblet, and only once in a long while, as chocolate is one of those foods dogs must not eat.  Here's a list of items which are dangerous to dogs from this link at the Drs. Foster and Smith website: pet education .

Items to avoid	Reasons to avoid
Alcoholic beverages	Can cause intoxication, coma, and death.
Avocado	The leaves, seeds, fruit, and bark contain persin, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea.
Bones from fish, poultry, or other meat sources	Can cause obstruction or laceration of the digestive system.
Cat food	Generally too high in protein and fats.
Chocolate, coffee, tea, and other caffeine	Contain caffeine, theobromine, or theophylline, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea and be toxic to the heart and nervous systems.
Citrus oil extracts	Can cause vomiting.
Fat trimmings	Can cause pancreatitis.
Fish (raw, canned or cooked)	If fed exclusively or in high amounts can result in a thiamine (a B vitamin) deficiency leading to loss of appetite, seizures, and in severe cases, death.
Grapes, raisins and currants	Contain an unknown toxin, which can damage the kidneys. There have been no problems associated with grape seed extract.
Hops	Unknown compound causes panting, increased heart rate, elevated temperature, seizures, and death.
Human vitamin supplements containing iron	Can damage the lining of the digestive system and be toxic to the other organs including the liver and kidneys.
Macadamia nuts	Contain an unknown toxin, which can affect the digestive and nervous systems and muscle.
Marijuana	Can depress the nervous system, cause vomiting, and changes in the heart rate.
Milk and other dairy products	Some adult dogs and cats may develop diarrhea if given large amounts of dairy products.
Moldy or spoiled food, garbage	Can contain multiple toxins causing vomiting and diarrhea and can also affect other organs.
Mushrooms	Can contain toxins, which may affect multiple systems in the body, cause shock, and result in death.
Onions and garlic (raw, cooked, or powder)	Contain sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia. Cats are more susceptible than dogs. Garlic is less toxic than onions.
Persimmons	Seeds can cause intestinal obstruction and enteritis.
Pits from peaches and plums	Can cause obstruction of the digestive tract.
Raw eggs	Contain an enzyme called avidin, which decreases the absorption of biotin (a B vitamin). This can lead to skin and hair coat problems. Raw eggs may also contain Salmonella.
Raw meat	May contain bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea.
Rhubarb leaves	Contain oxalates, which can affect the digestive, nervous, and urinary systems.
Salt	If eaten in large quantities it may lead to electrolyte imbalances.
String	Can become trapped in the digestive system; called a "string foreign body."
Sugary foods	Can lead to obesity, dental problems, and possibly diabetes mellitus.
Table scraps (in large amounts)	Table scraps are not nutritionally balanced. They should never be more than 10% of the diet. Fat should be trimmed from meat; bones should not be fed.
Tobacco	Contains nicotine, which affects the digestive and nervous systems. Can result in rapid heart beat, collapse, coma, and death.
Yeast dough	Can expand and produce gas in the digestive system, causing pain and possible rupture of the stomach or intestines.
Xylitol (artificial sweetener)	Can cause very low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), which can result in vomiting, weakness and collapse. In high doses can cause liver failure.

Scary or Sweet? Your Halloween Costume

Vampire lady or Zombie some kind of combination that's me in the black dress, and a friend in gypsy costume some years back hamming it up before the Halloween party.  I was in exaggerated makeup, with painted moon and scar with toy spiders and worms.  Just faking an attitude on the phone and with my friend in her costume,  she's wearing a black wig.  I used My Memories Suite V2 to make this page.
 

When you were a kid, did you wear a  costume with a coat over it because it was so cold or rainy on Halloween?  We fussed about the coats because we  wouldn't get any candy if the people thought we didn't get dressed up!  Yes, some of the neighbors were sticklers costume=candy vs. no costume=empty pillowcase or treat bag.

I wanted to wear the coat open, but Mom said, no.  Once out of her sight I unbuttoned the coat, between all the layers and the mask, it was sweltering. Later at home, the tattletale told on me, so punished, no candy for 48  24 hours. (I've been corrected.) The agony of waiting for two days one day and the sisters waving their treats in front of me.

If you wear a costume for Halloween, do you go with store bought or something you put together?  Scary or Sweet?

Sunday Straphanger Cardiff, Wales

Everywhere we go, my husband makes friends.  Sometimes they speak a different language than we speak.  I don't know why they seem to single us out of crowd.  My husband says it's my fault, that somehow "they" know I'm a good friend.  They follow me and I can't get away!

Peacock at Cardiff Castle.

Climbing The Keep at Cardiff Castle.

Still following me and looking for more snacks! 

My friend was crying she was laughing so hard, because I thought if I gave the peacock a snack it would leave me alone.  Instead we had to disperse and move in different directions to confuse the bird so we could leave the castle grounds and get to the carpark.  My husband tried to deflect and protect me and he told me to make a run for it!  The peacock batted his wings and took a couple of flying leaps, he was not going to let me go!

In the end, I, or my snacks, a magnet to this magnificent bird who was refusing to take "No!" for an answer, at least not in English, finally made it safely out of his reach.

P.S.  The castle is a great place to visit, it's in the center of the city near parks, shopping, restaurants, hotels, museums, venues, etc. 

Bright Ideas Book Giveaway

Bright Ideas book is filled with recipes, crafts, and activity ideas. It's a full color hardback book with lots of photos and visual interest.

Activities and crafts for the next big holiday, July 4th, include:  Skipping Stones, Saving Good Bugs, The Perfect Knot, Thumb Puppets, Signalling with mirrors, etc.  The theme is, Summer at the Lake.

Recipes for Independence Day include, Patriot Cake, Caterpillar Ice cream Cake, Ladybug Cupcakes, Quilt Cake, Star Spangled Crispies, Pretzel Sticks (chocolate covered), Cookie Logs, and Kudos Beach Pails.

The giveaway is open to USA residents, 18 years of age and older, family members should enter as one person.  Entry is a piece of cake, pun intended!

Mandatory 1 entry for following me publicly on Google Friend Connect.
Then, 1 entry each per sharing this giveaway, for instance on your blog, twitter, facebook, etc.

Let me know in the comment what your following name is on GFC.  For each additional entry, please leave a comment with your sharing info.

I will post the winner's name on the blog and send an email.  The winner should respond within 48 hours, if no response, a new winner will be selected.  Good luck!

ETA:  The GFC Follow Blog button is newly added because the regular Follow link is not working or working only some of the time.  Click the GFC Follow Blog button to link up, thanks!  GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED, THANKS FOR STOPPING BY.

New Toy Mini Pans and Lemon Loaves

There was a reason for buying these:

but I'm not telling.  I decided to try them out, and it was like a little tea party cake, and I plan on using them more often than not.   Cute mini pans for petite cakes and slices.

I made some mini lemon cake loaves, adding fresh lemon juice to the batter and cocoa sprinkled on half of each finished loaf.  The icing was fresh lemon juice, a little lemon zest, and Confectioners Sugar.  Pucker up, it was lemony and good.  The cocoa was a nice try, it doesn't sound good, "Lemon and Cocoa," but it was.  Next time I think I will try blueberries with lemon.  Poppy seeds and lemon go well together, too.  I thought about using coconut, but I don't like it.  I was thinking Spring and made Lemon Cake right in the middle of winter.   

I'm going to make mini Pound Cakes, cherries and walnuts for me versus Marble or maybe Raisins for him. 

Chocolate and Irony Diet by Osmosis

One of these things is not like the others:

What's missing is most of the Peanut M and Ms, some of the Hershey Kisses, the new Snickers Peanut Butter Squares bar, a 3rd Snickers with Almonds, and a 2nd Toblerone.  I can't believe I bought most of this assortment at the same time as the new Weight Watchers magazine.  The scary thing is, I didn't see the irony at the time.  With blinders on, the conquest of chocolate over reason must be fulfilled.  I wonder if the cashier recognized the futility of this pairing.  HaHaHa, oh well.

Do I believe I will lose weight through osmosis, by reading the magazine and watching, "The Biggest Loser," "I Used to be Fat," and other weight loss programs?  As for the irony and the humor, I don't know which is truer.