SHS Book Club: How to Bake a Perfect Life

I needed a 'chick-lit' book for easy reading after that long Stephen King 11-22-63 book. How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal was a great choice.

When I think about how to describe this book, the word "cozy" comes to mind. The plot centers around Ramona Gallagher, a professional baker. I love how the author weaves in Ramona's love of bread and provides the reader such great background about the history of a precious dough. I read this book on a plane and never wanted to eat a nice, warm slice of sourdough more in my life. It took me back to a trip we took to Alaska and a wonderful bakery that had a sourdough starter that went back a hundred years. Mmmmmm!

Ok, so yumminess aside (did I mention that the book includes recipes?), the plot of the book was interesting and unique. Without giving too much away, you learn about how Ramona became a baker and follow her through as she tries to keep her bakery running. She has a daughter who is going through some strife. And she is caring for her step-granddaughter due to certain events. It is through her witnessing her step-granddaughter that you learn about Ramona's childhood. The book was certainly somewhat predictable but that didn't matter at all. The story is genuine and heartfelt. I love that is takes place in Colorado too.

If you are looking for a sweet book, an easy read, and just a downright enjoyable read then How to Bake a Perfect Life would suit you. It's a perfect summer read for sure.

After I read How to Bake a Perfect Life, the news about the Ohio women who were held captive broke. I was searching for another book to read so from chick-lit to biography I went. I had wanted to read the Jaycee Dugard book for some time but I knew it would be heavy and scary. I'm so glad I did though. I can't wait to share what God showed me through reading that book in a future post!

Are you on Goodreads.com? I love that site because based on books you have read and rated, it provides you recommendations--the Pandora for books I guess you could say. I'm http://www.goodreads.com/sillyhappysweet if you want to connect on Goodreads!

Chocolate Lasagna

Chocolate Lasagna from Olive Garden is sinful! Homemade chocolate lasagna is just as delicious. I kid you not. Be prepared to not want to step on the scale for a few days. I made this batch for some out-of-town friends we had over recently. It's a great summertime dessert--so cool and delicious.

CHOCOLATE LASAGNA

Package regular Oreo cookies

6 TBSP melted butter

1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 TBSP cold milk

12 ounce tub Cool Whip, divided

2 – 3.9 ounce packages Chocolate Instant Pudding

3 1/4 cups cold milk

1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

First, food process or crunch Oreos in a baggie with a wood roller until they are finely crushed. Melt butter and combine butter with the crushed Oreos. Spread the mixture on the bottom of a 9 x 13" dish.

Mix the cream cheese with a mixer fluffy. Add in 2 TBSP of milk, and sugar, and mix. Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups Cool Whip. Spread this mixture over the crust.

In a separate bowl, combine instant pudding with 3 and 1/4 cups cold milk. Whisk until the pudding starts to thicken. Use a spatula to spread the mixture over the previous cream cheese layer.

Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the top. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips evenly over the top. Place in the freezer for 1 hour, or the refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.

Peter Pan Collar Necklace--Back in Stock!

I have more Peter Pan collar necklaces in stock. They were recently featured in The Pleated Poppy's sponsor spotlight. Use the code MAY25OFF to get 25% off your total purchase (through May) at my shop.

Cute Crochet Coaster Pattern

Every single night (if we are home) I start up the burner on my stove and set my tea kettle with water upon it. Every night after about 5 minutes when the kettle whistles, every person in my household yells, "Mommy! Your tea!" As if I have no ability to hear. It happens Every. Single. Night. Without fail.

Are you a tea person? I gave up soda on New Year's Day and haven't looked back. I still miss it sometimes but I know I don't yet have the willpower to only have it "on occassion." So I love my chai tea. It's my ritual to drink my tea and take 10 minutes for myself either reading, playing a game of Suduko, or just watching a bit of a TV show.

My favorite coaster to use is my handmade crochet coaster. It's cute and girly. And it is easy to make. It literally takes about 10 minutes. I wanted to share the pattern with you. You can make a group of coasters for yourself or as a gift.

You can download the PDF of the pattern here.

SHS Book Club: Stephen King's 11/22/63

I've never read a Stephen King book before. Isn't that crazy? I know it. It's like telling people I don't know what Facebook is.

11/22/63 by Stephen King is an awesome book. I loved it! Be warned though, it is long. On my iPad Mini, it was 2000+ pages of reading. The typical book on my iPad is about 500 pages so it was long.

The date, 11/22/63, is the day that John F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald. The book centers around a character named Jake Epping, who is a time traveler that attempts to go back and prevent the assassination of JFK.

I won't give away anything so no spoilers here. The idea of time travel in itself is always intriguing and always brings up a million questions for me. I remember watching Back to the Future when Marty took the picture of his family from the present to the past and would look at the picture to see if his family members disappear to know whether he was doing the right things in the past so as not to change the future. Stephen King did a wonderful job of setting the scene for the late 50s and early 60s and made me nostalgic (I wasn't even born yet!) for those simpler times.

As most time travel books or movies go, I always have questions. I kept notes with questions as I read so that when Brian reads the book, I can ask him his thoughts about my questions. I think that King did an awesome job of not leaving any gaping holes in his time travel saga. For instance, the character Jake understood there would be huge repercussions to the future when he brought his cell phone back to the past. It's those little details throughout the book that King made sure to emphasize that bring to light just how profound "the butterfly effect" really is or could be.

Mixing the time travel idea with such a huge event in our nation's history made the book even more fun to read. As with other historical fiction that I've read lately, I found myself Googling the characters to see what they really looked like such as Marina Oswald (Lee's wife) and their daughter June. King did his homework. He really captured all of the details surrounding all the conspiracy theories as well as the details of Oswald leading up to the assassination. You definitely feel like you are right there in the middle of life-changing events.

The book doesn't only focus on Jake's quest to save the president. He arrives in the past in 1958 and has to wait five years for that key day. In those five years, he meets people, lives life, and even meets a woman. This then leads me to think about how in "real life," he isn't even born yet so in his real time, this woman is very old. Oh time travel. You do know how to mess with me!

I highly recommend this book. Apparently is not a typical Stephen King book so I'll have to go and read one his more typical books. If you have any interest in JFK's murder, if you find time travel mind-bending and fun, if you want a book that will keep you interested the entire way through, if you have a long vacation and want a great book, this is a good one! This book was on the best selling list for 17 weeks. It won Best Mystery/Thriller award from the L.A. Times in 2012.

If you have read this book, tell me what you thought about it!

After reading such a mind bender, I had to pick up a chick-lit book. I'm now reading How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal.

Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas

We are in the midst of Teacher Appreciation Week. Our school goes all out during the week to show our teacher's appreciation. We are so grateful for our teachers!

If you are looking for some cute ideas, I stole a few and I'll share them with you.

Jen at Tatertots and Jello has a fabulous bookmark printable that we are definitely going to use.

Isn't this Letter Crayon Monogram an awesome idea? Thank you Cheap & Chic Nursery for the incredible DIY tutorial!

You can always buy a Burt's Bees lip balm set with a little note to your teacher saying, "Thanks for bee-ing such a wonderful teacher!"

Angie created some beautiful Mason Jar lables that are so fun. Isn't everything cuter in a Mason jar?

My kids definitely want us to use this donut printable created by Confetti Sunshine. I'll be getting up early tomorrow to go get some fresh donuts for our teachers.

WE LOVE TEACHERS!!!!!

Fast Recipe: Southwestern Won Tons

I love yummy, quick recipes. This is one my family raves about! I try to tell myself it has healthy contents but you do have to fry the won tons so that probably cancels any healthiness out. Try not to focus on that and concentrate on the yummy factor. It's off the charts.

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. won tons

1 red bell pepper

1 can black beans, drained

1 pkg ranch dressing

1 chicken breast, cooked (I boiled mine then cut into cubes)

Shredded chedder cheese

Oil (for frying) Optional item--ranch dressing to dip won tons in

Prep work: Begin by chopping a red bell pepper, shredding cheese, draining can of beans, and chopping chicken. Set aside.

In a frying pan, add chopped bell pepper and cook on medium heat until tender. Add most of the can of beans, chicken, and a small handfull of cheese. Stir. Add half the package of ranch dressing. Stir.

Set the mixed items aside and start spreading out the won tons.

Fill half of each won ton with the chicken mixture.

Have a side glass of water ready. You will coat the sides of the opposite half of the won ton that doesn't have the mixture with some water.

You will then close the won ton by folding the angles over. The water will help you to seal them shut together.

You will then heat your oil and once it is pretty hot, you will submerge four won tons at a time in oil to fry. You won't keep the won tons in very long at all. Make sure you have some tongs and can turn them over quickly so as to cook both sides.

Once you have fried all of your won tons, serve them up with some ranch dressing. They're quite good alone. It's the only meal that my son eats the beans and doesn't complain. This recipe is really tasty. I think the powdered ranch dressing inside gives it a unique flavor. The melted cheese doesn't hurt either. I hope you like it as much as we do!