Snickerdoodle Bread

In my post last week I mentioned I'd recently made Snickerdoodle Bread. I wasn't thinking about blogging when I baked it so I don't have any pictures of the process, but I do have this pic below....This bread is so tasty and the recipe is so easy, you need to bake a loaf (or 5) today!

Don't you wish you had a piece this waiting for your next coffee break?  Yum.

I was scrolling through Facebook one day and came upon this recipe. Bread was something I didn't tackle much during my year of baking. I attempted the rare muffin or scone but that was pretty much it. I have since perfected my go-to whole wheat pizza crust and I tackled the cinnamon roll recipe from Pioneer Woman last December, so I thought I could handle this little nugget of cinnamon sugar goodness.

According to my Grandmother, you also need to eat the crumbs that fall into the bottom of the pan so you don't waste a single bite!

I wrote the recipe on a scrap piece of paper, but didn't write down who it came from so I'm not able to give the well deserved credit to anyone. The recipe said it makes 4 mini loaves, but I had enough batter to fill 5 mini loaf pans. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 package Hershey Cinnamon Chips
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter, sugar, salt and 2 teaspoons cinnamon till fluffy. Add eggs and mix. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix well.

Gradually add flour and baking powder to wet ingredients and mix until combined. Add cinnamon chips and stir into batter. NOTE:  I tossed the cinnamon chips in flour before adding to the batter. The flour costing keeps the chips from sinking to the bottom of the pan during baking.

Spoon batter into mini loaf pans until 2/3 full.

Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle evenly over the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-38 minutes. NOTE:  The foil mini loaf pans I used seemed kind of flimsy so I placed all 5 pans on a large cookie sheet pan before placing them in the oven. An advantage to using the cookie sheet was that it could catch any overflow in case I filled the loaf pans too full. I mean, who wants to clean the oven. Nope, not me!

After removing from the oven, cool completely before removing from the loaf pan. I simply ran a knife around the edge and turned the loaf over onto a plate to cut and serve.

Thanks for stopping by and let me know if you try the recipe!
-Teddra

O Christmas Tree

Yes, I said it....Christmas!

Yes, it feels like 107 in the shade here this weekend. But I'm ready to start my holiday crafting. In past years I'm the strangely organized person making 5 Christmas cards each month starting in January so I'm all finished by December 1. This year, not a single card. So while this may seem early to most, I almost had a panic attack when I realized it's almost August.

I took Papertrey's Make It Monday challenge as an invitation to get started. This weeks challenge is to use die cuts and watercolors.  This card uses the Christmas Tree die and a few sequins as ornaments.

I also followed Lexi's example and made a birthday card using the Birthday Trio die and a variety of watercolors.

Thanks for stopping by

-Teddra

July Papertrey Blog Hop

The inspiration photo for this month's Papertrey blog hop is full of butterflies and vintage goodness. Take a look HERE and join in on the fun!

And here's my card

I finally found a way to use my PTI Crackled stamp!  I've had this little stamp since it was released but it's never been inked. And it's the perfect little bit to add to a background. I'll definitely be keeping this little stamp handy on my desk.  The minute I saw the inspiration photo I knew it would be perfect for the background behind the butterflies.  I cut the butterflies out of white card stock and colored the entire image with a Copics marker, then stamped the butterfly overlay image from Heart-2-heart with a darker ink.  I'm very happy with how the card turned out and hope you enjoy it as well!

Thanks for stopping by!
-Teddra

All Papertrey products used unless indicated:
Card stock: Vintage Cream, Stampers Select White, Autumn Rose
Ink:  Fine Linen, Autumn Rose, Aqua Mist, Momento Tuxedo Black
Stamps:  Crackled, Petite Places: Happy Camper, Heart-2-Heart #10
Die:  Heart-2-Heart #10
Other:  Copics BG11 and R83, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Modern Wallpaper

Doodlie-Do

Papertrey Ink has a new challenge called Create Along With Us.  I love release week. There are so many beautiful cards, tags and gifts created that my imagination overflows with inspiration.

The second I saw THIS card by Laurie Willison, I was in love.


Here's my take on Laurie's card:

Testing 1 2 3

Anyone there??

Wow. When I take a break from blogging I really go all out. January. 2013.  I really didn't intend to stay away so long, but you know how it is. Life happens.

So, a quick recap otherwise this post could go on for days.

* An opening occurred in my job that allowed me to transfer to the town where I grew up and quite a bit of my family still lives. Even though I have the same job responsibilities, it's still a new building with new people and learning how things work in this office. Even the little things like figuring out where to park and how to get in the building before it's open to the public can be a tad stressful till I find my groove.

* Along with the new job location comes the task of physically moving. Packing, labeling, sorting, purging and cleaning. To make matters even more chaotic, I was temporarily living with my parents while looking for a permanent residence. They were amazingly supportive and accommodating through this whole adventure.

* Which led to the purchase of my first home. I've always rented in the past due to multiple reasons, but if I was 'coming home to roost' as the saying goes, I wanted it to be in my own space. It took time, and a very patient and knowledgable realtor, but I finally found the right house for me.

* And as with most things, I wanted it to reflect who I am. And right now I am clean, colorful and uncluttered.  For this house to become my home, that meant a kitchen remodel, paint on the walls and everything in it's (useful) place.

* But there was still one thing missing to truly make this my home. I had the fence installed in the Spring and Riley was born on the 4th of July. It has been 9 long years since I had a dog (and 19 since having a puppy), but I was finally in a position to bring one into my life again.  And oh what an adventure this past year has been, LOL. Riley just had his 1st birthday and we've both survived a very trying year. To say we're both stubborn is an understatement.

So that's what's been happening around here in a nutshell. I'm hoping to get back on this blogging train. Probably not on any semblance of a schedule for a bit. I have so many ideas clogging up my brain right now I need to sort out first. I'm still baking, but not on a regular schedule. Just last week I made Snickerdoodle Mini Bread. Delish. And I've been making lots of homemade ice cream. The two most recent are Rocky Road and Lemonade. Both received 2 thumbs up.

And I'm still scrapbooking and card making.  In fact that's the plan for this afternoon since it's supposed to be in the upper 90's around here.

Thanks for hanging out with me for a few minutes and I hope to see you back again!  Here's a snapshot of Riley when he was 9 months old. I may be biased, but I think he's such a cutie!