Halloween wreath

This wreath was beyond easy to make and turned out so cute.  I love it.  I needed a new wreath since my cute new decided to eat my candy corn wreath.  I must thank him now since I love this one so much.  Make one today to put up tomorrow!

Halloween Wreath

wreath form
black yarn
white yarn
hot glue gun
orange ribbon
twine
brown paper bag
black sharpie

All you have to do is wrap the yarn around the wreath form as thick or as thin as you like.  I did mine a little thicker.  The hardest part is not burning your fingers every time you glue the yarn to the wreath form.  Always glue the yarn on the back of the wreath form.  The twine and brown paper bag banner was decided last minute but I love it.  Looks good without too.  Just glue the twine to the back on the yarn.  Cut out small triangles out of a brown paper bag and write whatever saying you would like.  Glue each triangle to the twine.  Then add a cute orange ribbon to hang it up.  So easy and so cute.

Hoisin Rice Noodles with Chicken

This was soooooo good and it came together really fast! Another bonus, my 4 year old ate his whole plate without complaint! If you are looking for something fast and yummy, make this for dinner tonight! P.S. I had never made anything with rice noodles before, they were located by the Ramen noodles in our grocery store.

Hoisin Rice Noodles with Chicken

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter or tahini
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken cut into 1 inch pieces
• 12 ounces rice noodles
• Grated carrots, chopped green onions, chopped peanuts, chopped cilantro, chopped red pepper for topping

Directions

1. Prepare the rice noodles according to package directions by soaking in hot water.
2. For the sauce, whisk together the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, honey, vinegar, lime juice, garlic, ginger, hoisin and peanut butter. Set aside.
3. Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray generously with nonstick cooking spray. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken with about 1/3 cup of the sauce until they are  cooked through. Scoop the chicken and sauce onto a plate and set aside.
4. Drain the noodles and add them to the hot skillet with the rest of the sauce. Cook over medium heat, tossing the noodles with the sauce, about 3-4 minutes until the noodles have soaked up a lot of the sauce and become even more tender.
5. Add the chicken and heat through.
6. Serve the noodles and chicken with the grated carrots, chopped green onions, chopped peanuts, chopped cilantro, and chopped red pepper. I let everyone at the table add their own toppings to the noodles. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Source: Adapted from www.melskitchencafe.com

Easy Yeast Rolls

I (Joni) made these rolls the other day and I could not believe how easy they were.  And they came out looking like rolls!  I am not a huge fan of baking breads because of all the steps, but I will defiantly be making these again.  Super easy to go with tonights dinner.  Enjoy!

Super Easy Rolls

1 Cup warm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 Cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp  softened butter
1 egg, beaten
3 1/2 - 4 Cups flour

1.  Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl except flour.  Once all combined slowly add flour.  Mix well so all is combined.  If the flour mixture is sticking to the sides, slowly add a little more flour.  Knead for 5 minutes.  Put in bowl, cover for 45 minutes until it has doubled in size.

2.  Punch down dough, and roll into 12 balls.  Place in greased 9x13 pan.  Cover and let raise for 30 minutes.

3.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Recipe Source: www.recipebinder.com

chocolate chip cookie graham cracker toffee bars

These bars are so good!  You cant go wrong with a name like that.  All the good stuff all in one bar.  I found this yummy recipe and changed it slightly and it came out perfect.  They did not last long and I already have requests for them to be made again.  Make some and then hide some so you can have some for later.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Graham Cracker Toffee Bars

2 1/2 Cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 Cup butter melted
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp butter
1 Cup milk chocolate chips
1 small package pre made cookie dough
1 bag toffee bits

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Combine 1/2 Cup melted butter, 2 Cups graham cracker crumbs.  Mix until well combined and press in greased 9x13 pan.  Place in fridge for 15 minutes.

3. Over medium heat combine sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and 2 Tbsp butter.  Mix until melted together and pour over graham cracker crust.

4. In another bowl combine cookie dough, 1/2 Cup graham cracker crumbs, and toffee bits.  Once combined sprinkle crumbled mixture over chocolate layer.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until top is golden brown.  Wait until cool to cut into squares.

golf cake

I (Joni) had a fun time making this birthday cake this last weekend.  A friend wanted to do something fun for her husband who is really into golf!  This was fun, simple, and made the perfect birthday cake for him.  Hope you all like it.  If you need a cake email me at twosweettreats@gmail.com

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok all, here you go, here is the much requested chocolate chip cookie recipe. Be sure to read all the steps before starting and follow the instructions exactly and you will have success! I love these cookies, and everywhere I take them I get requests for the recipe. I have emailed it out so many times, I finally decided just to put it on the blog, hope you all enjoy!

1 c. (2 sticks) salted butter, slightly softened 

1/2 c. sugar

    1 1/2 c. dark brown sugar 

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 c. flour (sometimes I need just a little more(like 2 tbps or lately 4 tbsp)

1 tsp. salt 

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 c. chocolate chips 

Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy, approx. 3 minutes on medium/high speed in a mixer, making sure to scrape down the sides at least twice, so that everything gets incorporated well.  

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes, again scrape down the sides to make sure everything is very well incorporated. 

Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour. Pulse mixer to mix these ingredients in, until there are large flour spots, then add chocolate chips, and continue to pulse mixer just until there are no longer flour spots, do not over mix! The cookie batter should be somewhat thick. Drop about 1/4-1/3 cup of dough on cookie sheet. Sprinkle tops of cookie dough with sea salt. 

Bake 12-14 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and leave the cookies for 2 minutes before removing from pan. Allow to cool for at least 3 minutes before serving.

a few tips:

- I only put 6 cookies on per baking sheet so they don't touch while baking

- The butter should not be to soft to start with, definitely not room temp, you should barley be able to make an indent when you squeeze the stick of butter, I put mine straight from the fridge into the microwave for 10 seconds, but I know every microwave it different!

- I usually leave them in the oven for 14 mins but you just need to check and make sure they are starting to crack a little, then they can come out

-I almost always use Ghirardelli chocolate chips, I think they are the best (however the picutured cookies do not have Ghirardelli chips)

recipe source: originally got the recipe from http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com, but this recipe has been heavily adapted!

Saylor's DIY Nursery

Kara is going to have a new little one in October and we are all so excited!  Babies are the best!  While in New York visiting her and her family we did a nursery for Saylor.  Kara knew she wanted something girly but also something Saylor could grow up with.  She decided on Mint, blush, and gold for the colors.  Kara also is going to use this as a guest room/ her room when the baby first comes home.  It turned out so cute and I am so glad Kara loved it.  She still has a few finishing touches but she is all ready for this new little arrival.

Found this night stand at a thrift store, haggled it down to a good price, painted it white, distressed it a little and we love it!  

We found this adorable bedding at Target, mirror is from Home Goods, pillows from Marshalls, sheets from Marshalls. 

This was a bright blue bookcase that had all of Mike's and Kara's old school books in it.  We took off the doors, painted it white, added the mint wallpaper to the back that we found at the thrift store!  Basket is form Target.  Kara was going to use it for baby books but it turned out to be the perfect spot for diapers, wipes, and some swaddle blankets.  The gold love sign is a canvas board we bought, taped off the heart and love in painters tape and spray painted gold.  We love it. 

Oh the love we have for this dresser!  It turned out better than we could have ever imagined.  Found it a thrift store.  It was a ugly brown color.  We painted it pink and kara had a great idea to paint the drawer fronts gold.  So adorable.  Kara has since put gold knobs on the drawers, and a changing pad on top that she says is the perfect finishing touch to that dresser.  The lamp is one Kara had already so we just painted it gold.  Tray is from Target, and Rug is from TJ Maxx.  

Super easy pom poms we made to fit nicely over the crib.

We had no clue what to do over the dresser with such a big wall.  This is what we came up with and love it!  Tons of fabric with coordinating colors cut into strips, tied to twine and hung with some cute hooks!  

salted toffee pretzel bark

We are back from New York and I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation.  We did lots of DIYing and lots of chasing two little ones!  And on Sunday at 7:00 P.M. when you start craving something sweet and want more than a handful of chocolate chips you make this delicious treat.  Salted Toffee Pretzel Bark.  Yum!  It was super fast and definitely satisfied our sweets craving.  I think it would be perfect for a holiday treat too!

Salted Toffee Pretzel Bark

1 bag pretzels
1 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup butter
1 bag milk chocolate chips
Sea Salt

1.  Line a sheet pan with foil and spray with non-stick spray.  Preheat oven to 375.

2. Lay pretzels on pan so there is a nice even layer covering the foil.

3. Over medium heat melt butter, sugar, and stir until it begins to boil.

4. Pour butter, sugar mixture over pretzels.  Its ok if there is some empty spaces in between the pretzels.

5. Place in oven and cook for five minutes.

6. Take out and pour chocolate chips on top.  Make sure to do this right after so the chocolate chips will melt and be easy to spread.

8. Sprinkle with sea salt.

7. Let set and break into pieces.  If you are not patient like us place in fridge and it will set up much faster.

Recipe Source: Melskitchencafe.com

Surprise baby shower

Surprise!!!  My mom, Gracie, and I have been back here in New York visiting Kara, Mike, and Stu for the past ten days! It's been way fun and Stu and Gracie are going to miss each other like crazy!!! But we are excited to get back to see Joe! Gracie misses daddy like crazy!!! And so do I!!!  Before we came out, my mom and I decided to throw Kara a surprise baby shower!!! It was a huge success and thanks to all of Kara's friends and neighbors who came to support her and their new little love that is soon to arrive!! Stu can't wait to have a sister and Gracie will be a great big girl cousin to show her all the fun things that come with being a girl!!!  Bring on the pink, and bows!!!