Happy Fourth of July!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day today, maybe with some BBQing going on and fireworks tonight!! We will be making up a batch of homemade caramel popcorn (search post history for this recipe on my blog) and bringing it along to the bay for our town's big firework show.  Somehow it always seems to take longer than the year before to get it started up, so popcorn is a good waiting tool! :D 

For everyone without power- may you get it back soon!
For everyone in the scorching heat- may a cool day come your way!
And for everyone having a rough day- CHEER UP and look ahead to brighter days around the corner! :)

---Mr. Seahorse OH SO CUTE and cozy looking! :)

Sourdough Bagels (recipe)

Hello!  Tonight I am going to share a recipe for homemade bagels that I made yesterday (and are gone already!!).  I posted a photo to my instagram account (@belleandrew) and the recipe is below: 

SOURDOUGH BAGELS:
1 cup sourdough starter*** (see below)
2 eggs
3 tbsp oil
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar

In addition you will need a large boiling pan (like you would use for spaghetti noodles, say) filled 3/4 with water and 2 tbsp sugar.  

In a stand mixer bowl (with dough hook attached) combine the starter with eggs and oil.  Mix together flour, salt and sugar.  Add to starter mixture.  Mix on low speed for approx 8 minutes, adding enough additional flour for the dough to leave the sides of the bowl.  Cover with a cloth and place in a warm area until doubled in size.  (1 1/2 to 2 hours).  Turn out onto lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces.  Round into a ball and poke a hole in the center using your fingers and stretch/pull gently to create the bagel shape.  Cover again and let rest 20 minutes.  Meanwhile boil the pan of water with sugar in it.  Drop each bagel into the water one at a time.  Only boil a few at a time.  Cook 7 minutes, turning once. Drain; place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 375* for 25-35 minutes (depending on your oven...mine only took the 25 min), rotating pan halfway through baking.  Bagels should be golden brown.  

Makes 1 dozen bagels.

Once you get the hang of making them, you can add various extra ingredients for a variety of bagel  types!! Store in an air-tight container or large ziplock bag.  Enjoy!

***A quick note about the sourdough starter... I keep one on hand all the time in my kitchen, but many people don't.  You can look up a basic sourdough starter recipe online (try www.allrecipes.com) and use just about any you find to your liking.  Be sure to use it at its bubbly peak for this recipe to get the extra punch and tang of sourdough!  

Any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to drop a line! :)

End of May already! Plus Instagram!

I can hardly believe it is the end of May already.  Some schools in different areas of the country are getting out already for Summer break even!  Here they are making up for the snow days taken off in the Winter, so they still have another couple weeks.  I'm kinda glad (haha). :D

I continue to have difficulties with uploading photos onto my blog, which makes me sad.  I don't know if it's a blog thing, computer thing, user error, or what...?? I never had issues prior to the last couple months.  I'm going to keep working on it.  BUT...in the meantime, I finally made an account over at good ol' Instagram.   I mostly just post photos of my crafting goodies like I do on here, but much more frequently since it doesn't give me any issues like my blog does!  So if you'd like to be able to see pictures on a fairly regular basis of random crochet, clay, crafts, etc.... I am "Belleandrew" on there (as well as Twitter and Facebook).  Feel free to follow me on those! :)

I am in the middle of trying out the "plarn" idea with crochet.  Plarn being yarn made from plastic bags you get at grocery stores & such.  We'll see how that comes out and IF I can get photos to work on here, I'll post it.  :) :)  Hope you're all having a great week!

 

Bug-Eyed Owl and Rainbow Blanket (crochet)

 

Hello everybody :) How is your May starting off?  We are getting rain (as usual) but today was just sunny enough to be able to get a few quick photos taken in the back yard. 

This big bug-eyed owl toy was a pattern from a book by VooDoo Maggie. I don't have it on hand to put the exact title, but I'm fairly certain no one else has that name if you go look it up!  The book is full of unique crocheted toy patterns that don't look like everything else out there. (A plus!)  

 Second up-- a rainbow stripes blanket with fringe/tassels on each end.  This is crib-sized, or lap sized if you like.  One end has red tassels and the other has purple. I couldn't decide which color, so went with both. :D  I will be posting this one in my Etsy shop as soon as possible.  

For everyone enjoying sun right now.. LUCKY!! And for those of us in the rain.. at least we have an excuse to stay inside and crochet. :D 

 Heyyyy!!! My photos are actually uploading!  And this is after a few days of trying and giving up.  Ugh.  But now that I got it to work, I can show a couple of finished purses I've made in the last couple weeks.




Both of these granny square purses are crocheted and using up scrap yarn.  All in Red Heart brand.  The black one I used purchased handles (from Jo-Anns) and chose clear ones so they wouldn't distract from the colorful bag too much.  I didn't have a pattern, just made up squares and sewed it all together. 

This second one is with white outlining.  After I'd finished the black one above, my SO was looking at it and drew up an idea for a "lopsided" design for me to try.  So I did and this is how it turned out.  I love, love, love it!! It is big enough to hold something magazine-sized.  Even the handle (which is long enough for it to hang at your hip) is granny-square styled!  


Both of these bags are available for sale in my Etsy shop (they're already listed) if you're interested!  Pop on over and take a peek..there's also more photos. :)

Hmm...must try again later...

Well, I was all prepared to make a post but I'm having "technical difficulties" with uploading the pictures! lol...so, I think I am going to step away and come back this evening once I get that figured out. :(  Sorry about that!

Cream Cheese Banana Cake Bars (recipe!)

How many of us are really glad Spring has finally arrived?  Even though we still have the chilly morning temperatures and the occasional frost on the ground..Spring has definitely arrived.  The mid-day is sunny and almost-warm even!! Great time for making these bars as a special treat. :)

CREAM CHEESE BANANA CAKE BARS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup vanilla yogurt (or plain)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4  tsp salt
2 mashed bananas

for the cream cheese topping:
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
roughly 4 cups powdered sugar

In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, yogurt and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt; slowly add to the creamed mix.  Stir in bananas.
Spread into a greased 15x10" baking pan (OR use a couple of smaller cake pans). Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool completely on a wire rack in pan.

For the topping, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla.  Gradually add the powdered sugar and allow to beat until desired consistency.  Frost the banana bars. Store covered in the fridge any unused portion. :)