I’m one of those knitters that never really progressed beyond scarf-making.  I love to buy yarn, however, and have an entire bin of the fuzzy stuff in storage that quietly waits to be used. Recently, I decided that my friends and family had been subjected to my scarves long enough, so it was time to move onto the dog.   I’m not sure he thinks he looks quite as fashionable as I think he does, but it is a great, festive accessory for winter. Just wait ’til you hear all the “Look, Mom, that dog is wearing a scarf!” comments.  It is pretty darn cute.

I fashioned this scarf from plain old, dirt cheap Red Heart acrylic yarn, in basic knit stitch. I casted on 18  for the proper width for my dog’s neck, but you can adjust your width accordingly.  The only fancy thing this scarf has is a keyhole built in so it won’t fall off.  All you do is after you’ve knitted enough to wrap around your dog’s neck (about 90 rows in my case), you begin your next row and at the halfway point, in my case after nine, you tie on a second skein.

Knit both sides at the same time, rejoining the sides with one skein only when you have about a 2.5 inch opening (or whatever is big enough for the width of your scarf.)  Continue for another 2.5 inches to finish and bind off.  Cut and add tassles to end opposite of keyhole for some extra pizazz. Try the scarf on your dog and sew on a button to secure keyhole end of scarf.  Personally, I think the button is what makes this scarf so darn cute!

Finished dimensions for my 20+ lb Jack Russell: 3.5 inches wide, 22 inches long (not including tassles), 2.5 inch keyhole, 2.5-3 inch tassles, 6 inch neck opening when buttoned.

If you need a good handbook for basic knitting, I like Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook.  The Windy City scarf on page 159 has a keyhole, if you need additional help.

Doesn’t he make the best doggie model?

I think everyone has had some version of the acclaimed Better-than-$&# cake.  In my family, we innocently call it Heath Bar Cake but the result is the same – decadent, moist, fudgy deliciousness with a pillow of whipped topping and covered in crunchy bits.  This is the Ultimate dessert, and for good reason, just check out the ingredients! Absolutely no health benefits here, this is pure indulgence.

I changed up the recipe slightly for some holiday festivity, using the Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge boxed cake (the original uses Devil’s Food) and some peppermint bark from Trader Joe’s (the original is crushed up Heath bars).  I might prefer the original just for nostalgia’s sake, but this is definitely a fun and festive variation!

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake mix
• 1 can sweetened, condensed milk
• 1 jar Mrs. Richardson’s hot fudge
• 1 tub Cool Whip
• 6-8 ounces Peppermint Bark, like Trader Joe’s, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Bake chocolate cake according to box instructions. Allow to cool, slightly.

Using back end of a wooden spoon, poke holes through the cake.

Pour consdensed milk over top of cake, making sure milk gets down into poked holes.  Wait a few minutes until condensed milk is absorbed.

Warm up your hot fudge to a spreadable consistency, then pour over top of cake.  I like to then tap the pan against a kitchen towel on the counter to encourage the fudge to run down into the holes.

Refrigerate fudge-topped cake overnight for best results.

The next day, top cake with Cool Whip (that you shave stored in the fridge, not the freezer, otherwise you have to thaw and final consistency can be too wet, just ask me how I know) and sprinkle chopped peppermint bark pieces on top.

Don’t be a grinch now, share!

This Christmas, I’ve decided to share with the blogging world the refreshingly minty, sweet joy of these cookies, which my mom has made at Christmas since we were kids.  Over the years, I’ve changed the recipe a bit and now use a brown sugar spiced cookie, which, combined with the minty buttercream frosting, makes for one delicious holiday bite.  I look forward to making them every year, and hope you will, too.

Ingredients:

Cookies (makes 64, 2-inch diameter cookies):

• 2 3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 packed light brown suagar
• 1 c unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

Frosting:

• 2 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted
• 7 1/2 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4-5 TB whole milk
• 1 3/4 tsp vanilla
• a generous pinch of salt (just under 1/4 tsp)
• 15 peppermint candy canes, pulverized

Directions:

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 375. In stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat brown sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, until just incorporated.  Stir in vanilla.

In seperate bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in 3 parts, beating until just incorporated.   Optional: chill dough for 30 minutes prior to rolling cookies

Use small scoop to portion out cookie dough, roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Use measuring cup (or bottom of a glass) lightly dusted in flour to gently flatten balls.  Brush off any excess flour.

Bake at 375 for 8 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove and let cool on racks.

Frosting:

Remove wrappers from candy canes and break each one into 4-5 pieces.

Place candy canes in a mini-chop and pulse on high until you have a good mixture of finely ground and some smaller pieces.

Add softened butter to bowl of stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment.  Sift powdered sugar into bowl and mix, adding 4 TB milk and vanilla until very smooth.  Stir in pulverized candy canes and salt, adding milk as necessary to achieve good spreading consistency.

Use teaspoon to place dollop of frosting on each cooled cookie, using a knife to spread it over the top.  Let dry, then package as you’d like.  This year, I used glassine treat bags from Michael’s that came with a foiled cardboard insert and tied them off with red and white butcher’s twine.  These make great, festive little gifts!

I found myself in a pinch this week, gifting wine without a wine bag to present it in.  Since presents are most fun when they need to be unwrapped, I scoured my house for something I could use and remembered I had some freezer paper laying around from a previous crafting project (heaven forbid I actually use freezer paper for wrapping things that go into the freezer!).

The nice thing about freezer paper is the width of it – 15 inches – as opposed to using my beloved parchment, which I use religiously for baking purposes, at a mere 12.  It was perfect to fully cover a bottle of champagne, which stands at almost 13 inches.

What you do: Unroll a length of freezer paper and place your bottle, upright, on top.  Take a corner and bring it to the top of the wine bottle to figure out where your ‘center’ is, then use the end still in the box and bring that to the top.  Cut.  Bring two opposite corners of your cut paper to meet at top of bottle, then fold over and tuck in the rest.  Tie off with your choice of string.  I added some red and white baker’s twine and a glittery gift tag that I found in the $1 spot at Target for some festive pizazz.  Once the bottle was wrapped and tied, I snipped the cut edges with scissors.  Inexpensive, cute, and classy.  Just the way I like my crafts. 

So, for a whopping $6, I turned my food table into a spooky serving place by layering the cheesecloth over the normally-tacky black plastic tablecloth, adding the rats for some extra creepiness.  I used the fake spiderwebs to add some festivity to the front door and the coffee table and used last year’s decor to top it off.

With the black scrapbook paper, I decided to make some bats to hang from the ceiling, after a summer road trip through Austin, TX where we watched the Congress Ave bats take flight at dusk.

To do this, I found a silhouette image of a bat on the internet, traced it onto a piece of paper (don’t yet have a printer in my new house), cut it out and copied it onto scrapbook paper. A trick for less tracing/cutting: fold your paper edge over and line the bat up so he is bisected lengthwise. This way, you don’t spend as much time cutting AND the crease makes the bat look like he’s in flight!

Use a needle and fishing line, or in my case, invisible thread which I had on hand, to hang from the ceiling with clear tape.  I love the way it turned out!

To continue with the bat theme, my husband has loved the idea of a conceptual costume ever since we donned chick magnet and deviled egg costumes a few years back. This year, we decided he would be a “dingbat”.  Easiest costume ever! Your base: black shirt, pants and shoes. Then, you need some scrap black fabric, about half a yard, for your wings, and a desk courtesy bell that you can find for cheap from your local office supply store.

All I did was cut wings from the scrap fabric by laying the shirt flat with arms stretched out at 90 degrees, lining up the corner of the fabric and scalloped the edge from wrist to hem to look like a bat wing.  When done, simply glue the wings onto the shirt seams, then hot glue the desk bell to the front of the shirt.  Hit the bell, and up go his arms! A hit with the kids, who couldn’t stop dinging him! We fashioned a quick set of bat ears with a headband and some leftover black felt, though my dear husband took the liberty of cutting them without consulting me first and he ended up looking more like a flying dingcat.  But you get the picture. And doesn’t my doggy make the cutest shark?

I never really understood the whole hype with Red Velvet cupcakes until I started baking a few years ago.  I always thought it was weird to eat something with such a strong artificial color to it, and was a bit averse to making them.  After some perusing, I found another baker with the same thought process, and discovered this recipe on Joy the Baker (a fabulous blog, if you haven’t yet stumbled upon it).  These Red Velvets have the delicious, lightly chocolate cake the type is known for, but are a subtle shade of rouge that won’t make you feel like you’ll be peeing red.

À la Martha, I tend to prefer Dutch processed cocoa for its milder flavor and use gel pastes for my food coloring, so those changes are reflected in the recipe below.  I finish it off with my trusty, pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting, adding a bit of cinnamon for a surprise and finally top it off with a cinnamon candy heart in honor of the holiday.  Enjoy and remember to share the love!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

makes 12 cupcakes

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 Tablespoons dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder (like Pernigotti)
• 1/4 tsp red gel paste food coloring
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 5/8 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Turn mixer to high and add  the egg.  Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
3. Add in cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring, mixing thoroughly until completely combined.  You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

   

4. Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk.  Add half of the flour and all of the salt and mix until combined.  Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour.  Beat on high until smooth.
5. Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar.  Turn to high and beat until well incorporated.
6. Scoop batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.

   

7. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

(makes 2 cups, more than enough for 12 cupcakes, maybe closer to 16)

• 8 ounces cream cheese, cold
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (measure, then sift into bowl)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Have the cream cheese cold and the butter at room temperature. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until blended. Add sugar one-third at a time and beat just until smooth and the desired consistency. If frosting is too stiff, beat for few seconds longer. Do not overbeat. Stir in cinnamon to taste.

   

2. To finish, use a piping bag to frost cupcakes. Garnish each with a cinnamon heart.

My final Christmas post…whew!  I don’t know how the craft bloggers of the world do one post a day, unless that is their primary job. As a practicing dentist, wife, and mom of a not-so-independent dog, 12 days in a row is certainly a commitment for me! But, I digress.  For our last Christmas-inspired project, I’ve created some napkin rings for your festive holiday spread using oversized buttons and silver jewelry cord.  Paired with bright red linen napkins and set against crisp white porcelain, these little sparklers certainly pop!

Here’s what you need:

• stretchy metallic beading cord, like Dritz
• oversized buttons (mine were found at Joann’s)
• hot glue gun and scissors

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut your jewelry cord into 12-inch pieces.
2. Feed one end of cord through button opening and tie ends together in a double knot.  Snip excess.  From end of loop to base of the knot, length should be around 5.25 inches.
3. Use hot glue gun to secure knot to backside of button, making sure to seal off the ends of the cord.
4. Use loop end to wrap around napkin and over button.

I was incredibly lucky to marry into a family who really celebrates tradition at Christmas.  Of our traditions, these delectable little bites of heaven are lovingly placed in our stockings by a Mrs. Claus who is so busy baking and wrapping gifts throughout the day, she often does not sleep on Christmas Eve. While the flavor and the crunch of these pretzels is divine, its the love that goes into making them that you can taste the most.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Ingredients:

• 1 c butter
• 2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp maple flavoring
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 24 oz mini pretzels

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Divide pretzels between two foil-lined rectangular pans.
2. Heat butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and maple flavoring in saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until bubbly around the edges.  Cook for ~5 minutes, then remove from heat.  Stir in baking soda.

   

3. Pour maple mixture over pretzels.  Mix until well coated.
4. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
5. Allow to cool, then package as you wish and spread the love!

Here’s an easy and inexpensive way to dress up your coffee table for the holidays.  Varying sizes and sheens of paper doilies are layered together in a seemingly haphazard fashion to create a simple, festive table runner.  The Dollar Tree carries paper doilies in white, silver and a bronze-y gold in 8, 10 and 12-inch diameters that work well for this project.

What you need:

• paper doilies in varying diameters and colors
• photo mounting squares

What you do:

1. Lay out your doilies in a pattern that is pleasing to your eye.  I wanted mine looking asymmetric and almost thrown together.
2. Use photo mounting squares to delicately adhere your doilies together in their final position.