I Spy Bag (Tutorial)

Materials Needed:
¼ yard woven material (I used twill)
Fusible interfacing
6 x 6-inch piece of heavy vinyl (bought at WalMart or Jo-Anns)
9-10 oz. Poly Pellets® weighted stuffing material (bought at Jo-Anns)
Miniature items to place in bag (around 28 or so)
Iron-On Quick Fuse™ fabric sheets (bought at Jo-Anns)
Thread
FrayCheck™ (available at WalMart, Jo-Anns or fabric store)
Invisible marking pen
Pins

1. Cut two pieces of 8 x 8-inch square fabric.

2. Cut two pieces of 8 x 8-inch square fusible interfacing and fuse to wrong side of each fabric piece. Since I decided to use twill, this made it more stable and less likely to fray. You can skip this step if your fabric seems sturdy enough to stand on its own.

3. On the right side of one piece of fabric mark a line with a disappearing marking pen 2 inches from each side, forming a 4 x 4-inch square. With a rotary cutter cut along the lines, being careful not to cut  too close to the corners. Finish cutting the corners with a sharp scissors. You can cut a smaller square if you want to make it harder to "spy" inside the bag or you can cut out a different shape such as a circle, heart, star, diamond, etc.

4. Center the vinyl under the fabric with the 4 x 4-inch cutout placed right side up and secure in place with pins or Scotch® tape. I preferred Scotch® tape placed underneath the fabric at two of the four corners of the vinyl so that the fabric would lie flat. Do not place tape on any of the vinyl that will show in the window as the residue will be difficult to remove.

5. Stitch close to the edges around all four sides of the window opening and secure stitching with backstitch at the end. Stitch again about ¼ inch away forming a double row of stitching. Treat innermost edge of fabric with FrayCheck™to stop the fabric from fraying and wipe the residue from vinyl with tissue before it dries. Trim away excess vinyl. If you prefer, you can stitch around the opening with a small zig-zag or appliqué type stitch that will finish the edge and skip the FrayCheck™.

6. Type a list of items to be included inside the bag and follow directions to prepare a Quick Fuse™ fabric sheet. I had 28 items, but you can have more or less. Just remember that the larger the items are and the more you have of them, the less pellets you will be able to fit into your bag and the easier it will be to "spy" and find them.

An 8½ x 11-inch Quick Fuse™fabric sheet will make several lists if you want to make more than one bag. After printing on the fabric sheet, allow it to dry 1-2 minutes. Trim around image, leaving a border for stitching the list to the back piece of fabric. Preheat iron to medium/high (cotton) setting. NO STEAM. Place image face UP on right side of back piece and press 10-15 seconds making sure all areas of the sheet are thoroughly fused.

7. Stitch around edge of the list with decorative or straight stitch to secure.

8. Pin front and back pieces of bag with right sides together and stitch ½-inch seams around three sides, leaving the fourth side open for turning.

9. Clip corners and turn inside out.

10. Fill with miniature items, checking with the list for accuracy. Fill the bag ⅔ full with Poly Pellets®. I used about 2 level cups which weighed about 9-9½ oz. The more pellets you use, the harder the items will be to find.

11. Fold down ½-inch seam allowance on open end and stitch close to the edge, being very careful not to sew over the pellets so you don't break a needle. Sew around the edges of the other three sides to secure the seams and help the bag lie flat.

Voila! You're done.

Make Your Own Dog Potty

If you have to have the best dog potty and often go over the top in getting just what you want then read on. If you want to do things the cheapest way possible, then skip this post and just go to Petco or Petsmart and buy one.

I have spent hours on the internet trying to find the very best dog potty for Zsa Zsa since I am trying to baby her after her bout with congestive heart failure. Most of the ones I found were too small for two dogs to use at the same time and since Zsa Zsa has a sister, Sasha, this was an important consideration. Since I now have to take Zsa Zsa out 7-8 times a day and must descend 16 stair steps down and outside to the potty and then back up again, I didn't want to take Sasha out an additional 4 times by herself. After all, my knees aren't in the greatest of shape and I need to baby them too.

On the internet I found a few larger dog potties that looked pretty nice but they were pretty pricey, over $100 and the grass on them didn't look that natural, and I never found one as large as what I ended up with. The solution was to spend a lot of time and research to build the perfect dog potty myself.

First, you need a base to hold a piece of sod or artificial turf where the pee is going to collect. Yes, that sounds a bit graphic but essential. I first bought a GE 30 x 32 x 2-inch washer pan from Home Depot for $22. It was o.k. but when I got it home and started looking at it, I couldn't picture two dogs doing their duty on it at the same time. It seemed a bit small. But I didn't have any other promising options at the time so I kept it while continuing to shop.

Next I needed a piece of good looking sod. Home Depot had some artificial turf that was unbelievably realistic and so nice I wouldn't mind having it in my family room as it was so soft but I had to buy a minimum of a 15-foot wide roll and I needed 3 feet wide so I would end up with 45 square feet at $3.99 per square foot. For a total of $179 resulting in enough sod for 5 dog potties, I couldn't justify the expense. I kept looking and took the chance on ordering this over the internet from Amazon, a piece of 36 x 36-inch Incase brand artificial turf. Yep, I know, $54 bucks. The doggies are worth it. But it actually turned out to be pretty nice, soft and fairly thick and realistic. It didn't have the thatch look like the Home Depot stuff but since I needed a smaller piece than a roll of 15-foot sod, I had to pay the price. The ideal thing would have been to find a remnant of a job done locally but I also tried that and couldn't get anyone to call me back.

So now I had a 36 x 36-inch piece of sod I liked but a 30 x 32-inch washer pan that would require me to trim the sod. Ouch, after I paid $6 a square foot for it, I couldn't do that so I later found this larger 38 x 38 x 2-inch Diversitech plastic condensate drain pan on the internet. Notice the white PVC drain at the right. We'll talk about that later.

It just happened that Grainger had a local store so I called them and they had one left in stock. Since I was the only woman in the store, the guy helping me at the counter wondered why I needed it and he seemed a bit bewildered when I told him I was making a dog potty. On the way home, I returned the 30 x 32-inch washer pan to Home Depot.

Next was finding some kind of layer of something that would hold the fake turf above the bottom of the pan so the grass wouldn't sit directly in the pee. After all, most dogs don't want to wade in sopping wet grass. I first considered these Pooch Pads for the base as you can wash and reuse them over and over again but they are quite expensive and although I will spare no expense for my dogs, this seemed a bit over doing it. I may, however, consider it in the future if the present configuraton results in rust and gets yucky. So back to Home Depot where I found this metal lath. It wasn't quite wide enough for my pan but the price was right at $7 and since it was 8 feet long I ended up cutting two pieces with my tin snips and overlapping them.

With the metal lath all nicely trimmed and laying in the pan, I put in the artificial turf and it was a perfect fit as the inside dimensions of the 38 x 38-inch pan were 36 x 36 inches. Voila!

Now about the white PVC drain that you see on the right. Notice that I have lined it up to the very edge of the deck. When the pee gets high enough to reach the drain, it will just spill over the edge to the grass below. To clean it, I can take a pitcher of water and rinse it out, tip it slightly and it will dump over as well. Hopefully no one will be walking under the deck at the same time.

If I become overly ambitious this summer, I may actually add a PVC pipe down to the lower patio and spare the possibility of anyone getting dumped on.

Hmm, Hmm, Good

These are really tasty. I've tweeked a few things but the original recipe is here at JustJenn Recipes.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1½ cups brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
3½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1¼ cups jelly or seedless jam

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter. Add both sugars. Add eggs, one a time. Stir in vanilla extract.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
4. Scoop out about a tablespoon of cookie dough and flatten in your palm. Place a teaspoon of jelly in the center and pinch the dough around the jelly to seal the cookie.
5. Bake about 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Don't over bake. Let cool slightly on cookie sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Revised March 13, 2013
This is my version of this recipe that I found on Java Cupcake. They are s-o-o-o-o-o good.  You'll definitely have to try them. I've changed the instructions and ingredients a bit.

Cookie Dough Filling
Mix together and set aside:

¾cup flour
⅛ tsp. baking soda
⅛ tsp. salt

In mixing bowl, cream together:

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
¼ brown sugar, packed
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

 ½ cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Blend dry ingredients with creamed mixture. Add the chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Divide into 14 balls. Refrigerate again until ready to use.

Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup flour
½ cup baking cocoa
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¾ cup hot water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Line muffin pans with 14 cupcake liners. Preheat the oven to 375°.

In mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add water, oil, egg and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Batter will be thin. Fill cupcake liners ⅔ full.

Gently place a cookie dough ball into center of each cupcake. Don't press down. The cookie dough ball will drop while baking.

Bake for 15-16 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake (not in cookie dough center) comes out clean.

Frosting
¾ cup unsalted butter (1½ cubes), room temperature
1¾ cups powdered sugar
⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup flour
1½ Tbsp. milk (1 Tbsp. + 1½ tsp.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
handful of miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

In mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add flour, milk and vanilla. Blend until well mixed and fluffy.

When cupcakes are cool, scoop prepared frosting into decorator bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip and pipe frosting in a circular motion, beginning with the outside and working inward toward the center. Sprinkle with miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips. Check out these great tutorials for frosting a cupcake at Our Best Bites.

Enjoy!

A Very Rich Dessert

Fat Man's Chocolate Cake

Actually that's not the original name for this cake; but after you taste it, you will see why I've named it that.

Chocolate Cake:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup baking cocoa
1½ cups sugar
1¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup milk
⅔ cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans. Then place parchment paper cut to size on the bottom of each pan and then grease paper. (I didn't have 9-inch pans so I used 8-inch pans. If you don't have parchment paper, you can grease and flour pans but make sure that the flour goes up sides a bit or you will have trouble getting the cake out without breaking it up. Parchment makes it a snap.) Mix dry ingredients together in large mixing bowl. Add eggs, oil, milk and vanilla and beat until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and add hot water and mix well. Divide batter between two prepared pans. Bake for 28-30 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in pan. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Buttercream Frosting:
1½ cups butter, room temperature (that's what makes this so rich)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 cups powdered sugar
4-5 Tbsp. milk
⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Beat together until fluffy.

Assembling Cake:
Trim tops off cake layers with long bread knife so the tops are flat. Discard or better yet, eat trimmings. Place one layer cut side down on platter. Crumb coat the outside of cake--take a small amount of frosting and put in separate bowl and spread very thinly around cake. Place in freezer for a few minutes to harden. This seals the chocolate crumbs so they don't pull through and show in the final layer of frosting.

Mix semi-sweet chips with 1 cup frosting. These are regular sized chips--mini might be easier to chew.

Spread frosting/chip mixture on top of bottom cake layer.

Place second previously crumb-coated layer on top.

Frost entire cake with remaining frosting, making sure to seal frosting to platter along the bottom.

Ganache:

¾ cup heavy cream

¼ cup butter

1¾ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat cream and butter in saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove before it gets to boiling point. Place chocolate chips in small bowl and pour cream-butter mixture over top. Mix until smooth.

Let cool until thickened but still pourable. Whisk occasionally to keep smooth consistency. Pour over cake, letting it drip down the sides.

 I added that little Snickers® football since it was Super Bowl Sunday.

The challenge is trying not to eat more than one piece.

Fleece Lap Blankets

30" x 40" Fleece Lap Blanket

(Cut 38" x 48" to allow for fringe.)

You will need:

1⅛ yards polar fleece

Olfa rotary cutter, ruler and mat

sharp scissors

marking pen

yardstick

seam ripper

Step #1:

Fold fleece in half lengthwise. Using ruler and rotary cutter, square off left and right edges, measuring length at 38". Mark width of fleece at 24" from fold of fabric and trim.

Step #2:

Cut a 4" square from each corner that is not on a folded edge. Cut ALMOST to the corner of the square, then use your scissors to finish the corner cut. This will give you a clean cut and you won't cut into the adjoining fringe.

Step #3:

Cut 1" wide x 4" deep strips around blanket being careful not to cut any strips along the folded edge. Cut ALMOST to the 4" mark, then finish cutting to the mark with a sharp scissors.

Step #4:

Using a seam ripper, make a tiny slit in the top of each piece of fringe.

Step #5:

Feed the end of the fringe through the back side of the slit you just cut and pull through to the front to create the fringed edge.

Notice that this makes a neat design on the back of the fringe.

These are quite addicting--making just one is not enough. You will find yourself hunting for additional fabric to make more. This is just a suggested size for a lap blanket. You can adjust the measurements to whatever size you want and make the fringe shorter or longer. Whatever length you decide to make your fringe, remember to adjust the size of the square you cut out of each corner. Have fun!

"Key" Lime Cupcakes

These are so-o-o-o-o good! They are moist and the combination of the cake, filling and frosting is heavenly.

Graham Cracker Crust

¾ cup graham cracker crumbs

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

4 Tbsp. butter, melted

Mix crumbs, sugar and melted butter in a small bowl until well blended and mixture starts to clump together. Divide evenly among 24 cupcake liners placed into muffin tins.

Press crumbs down firmly with a spoon. (It was hard to get a spoon down into the cupcake liner so I used the top of a honey container that I had saved. This helped me press the crumbs down compactly.)

Set aside prepared crusts. Preheat the oven to 350° and prepare the cake portion. 

Lime Cake

2¼ cups flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder (yes, tablespoon not teaspoon)

½ tsp. salt

½ cup butter (1 cube), room temperature

1½ cups granulated sugar

2 egg whites

2 eggs

1 Tbsp. lime zest

½ cup milk

½ cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Set aside.

In large bowl of electric mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add lime zest. Beat until blended. (I usually dump everything together when I bake but follow this method. They will be ever so light and worth it.)

Combine milk, buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Whisk until blended. With electric mixer at low speed, alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture, beating well after each addition until all mixtures are well blended.

Spoon batter evenly into prepared graham cracker crusts. An ice cream scoop works well to divide the batter evenly without much mess.

Bake 20-22 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans and allow to cool completely on wire rack. (This is important. They must be completely cooled before adding filling.)

Key Lime Filling

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

5 oz. Key lime juice (I used regular limes)

14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk (about 1¼ cups)

Place all ingredients in an electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds then increase to medium speed and blend for 2 minutes. Place in separate bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.

When ready to fill cupcakes, place mixture into a disposable decorating bag fitted with a Wilton #230 tip, also called a Bismarck tip. Hold the bag and tip straight up and down and insert the tip into the cupcake about one inch. Press filling into the cupcake until the top of the cupcake begins to rise up. Filling may ooze out of the cupcake. Simply scrape off with a knife and discard or save in a bowl to eat later.

You can also fill the cupcakes using the cone* method but if you're going to make more of these, I would suggest getting this tip. It comes in the Wilton Cupcake Decorating Set. Just the Bismarck tip alone costs about $3 and the kit includes 4 different tips plus 8 disposable decorating bags.

I tried to scrimp at first and just put the tip into the bag by itself. I would suggest that you attach the tip with a coupler pictured here, otherwise the filling will ooze out of the bag around the tip, creating a big mess. Any place that carries Wilton supplies such as WalMart, Michaels, Jo-ann Fabric & Crafts, etc. will also carry couplers.

There will be filling left over. I ended up eating all of it. Halving the recipe wouldn't give you enough and reducing all ingredients by 25% just makes odd amounts that are hard to measure. So either eat the leftovers or just save it in the refrigerator for another day.

*cone method: Using a small paring knife, cut out a good portion of the cupcake top in the shape of a cone. Carefully remove the cone. Fill the cavity with a teaspoon or so of the filling. Replace the cone top. Cover with frosting.

Key Lime Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter, room temperature

6 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. Key lime juice (I used regular limes)

Place all ingredients in mixer bowl at low speed until powdered sugar is incorporated. Then on medium speed beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes, scraping the bowl as necessary. Place frosting in disposable decorating bag fitted with a Wilton 1M star tip. Starting at the outside edge of the cupcake top, squeeze frosting in a circle around the cupcake while continuing another circle within that circle and ending up in the center.

This sounds like a lot of work but believe me, they are worth it. Once you get the hang of the filling, the rest is a piece of cake. Enjoy and don't eat too many!