Pictures in Time

The February/March calendar is ready!

We've got some great events planned for February and March!

 Download February March 2012 newsletter pdf

• Feb 7th-our CHA Preview night
• KidScrap classes start on Saturday, Feb 18th
• PINK Crop on Friday, February 24th
• PIT Garage/Scrapyard Sale on Saturday, Feb 25th
• SURPRISE GUEST the end of February-more details to come!
• Leap Day Special on Wednesday, Feb 29th
• and more fun stuff in March!

Check out the January/February calendar here!

The new calendar is ready! You can download it here! Make sure to call the store to make your reservation for classes and crops today! 213-7891

Download Pictures in Time Jan Feb 2012 newsletter 

CHA stuff

I thought  you guys might want to see some great ideas and products from CHA! I'll post some new stuff each day this week from CHA. Some products are in, some still coming! If you see something you love, make sure to call or stop by the store and pre-order so you are guaranteed to get what you want! If you attended our CHA Preview and added products to your list, we will be calling you FIRST when new arrivals come!

These are some photos Scrapbook Update published and I know you all love new stuff from Mr. Tim! Enjoy!

 

 

Almost the end!

Yes, we are almost to the end of our cookies and our cookie blog-so sad! But, it is time to start our holiday baking so the cookies at the store must end! But, for our last week we have White Chocolate-Cranberry Cookies! Kind of beginning some holiday spirit with those wonderful cranberries! Hope you enjoy and make sure to come by the store to pick yours up. Remember-all proceeds go to The Wounded Warriors Project to help our returning soldiers!

Cookies are $2.00 per bag this week.

White Chocolate-Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter softened        3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar            1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla                        1 3/4 c. flour

1 tsp baking powder           1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c. sweetened dried cranberries

1/2 c. white chocolate chips

Beat butter in a large bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating until combined. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.

Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to sugar mixture, beating well. Stir in cranberries and chocolate chips.

Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 14 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Chocolatey Yummies!!!!

Yep, we have figured out just how much our scrapbookers LOVE their chocolate so we have LOTS of chocolatey goodness for you this week! Don't forget-all proceeds from the sales of our yummy cookies go to The Wounded Warrior Project! We only have a few more weeks of cookies sales so make sure you get in to support our project while it lasts!

Oh-no nuts this week (at least in the cookies-we can't promise around the store!)

Ingredients:

1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® double chocolate chunk cookie mix
3	tablespoons vegetable oil
1	tablespoon water
1	egg
3/4	cup white chocolate chunks
1/2	cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1	cup semisweet chocolate chips
1	teaspoon vegetable oil

1 Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, 3 tablespoons oil, the water, egg, white chocolate and nuts until soft dough forms. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

2 Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.

 

3 In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon oil on High 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth. Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper until set, about 10 minutes.

Goodbye Summer, Hello yummy cookies!

OK, it is time to say goodbye to summer (at least since the kids head back to school this week and next!) so we wanted to close out summer with a fun, summery, fruity cookie recipe! I think you could bake these in the dead of winter and remember the fun you had this past summer! I found this one in Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade magazine this past May!

Fruit Slice Cookies (makes 3 dozen) Prep time: 30 minutes, Bake time: 30 minutes, Cool time: 30 minutes, Stand time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 (17.5 oz) package sugar cookie mix                1/2 c. butter

1 large egg                                                                1 T orange zest (ok, I used orange peel instead)

1 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar, sifted                    2 T heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 to 2 T fresh orange juice                            36 fruit slice candies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a medium bowl, stir together cookie mix, butter, egg and orange zest until dough forms. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake, in batches, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges are light golden brown. Let cool on pans for 1 minute. Remove to wire racks to cook completely (about 30 minutes)

4. In a medium bowl, combine cinfectioner's sugar, cream and enough orange juice to achieve a spreadable consistency. Spread about 1 1/2 teaspoons frosting onto each cooled cookie. Gently press a fruit slice candy into frosting. Let stand 1 hour or until set. Store in an airtight container!

Mississippi Mud Bars!!!

Oh, yes-another great recipe coming to you from the PIT cooks! We've got samples at the store that you can "try before you bake" or just eat and say "yum!" The samples in colored bags have no nuts (my fav) and the clear bags have the nuts!

Remember-all your donations for the samples go to The Wounded Warriors Project, helping our guys and gals returning from war get back on track and resume normal lives as much as possible! We appreciate all of them! You are our heroes! We're requesting a donation of at least $1 per bag this week. Thanks for your support!

Mississippi Mud Bars

 

1 Cup butter

1 cup milk

1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 C water

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 C sugar

2 C all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

3 C miniature marshmallows

1 1/2 C chopped and toasted pecan (optional)

Mississippi Mud Frosting (recipe to follow)

 

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Greae and flour a 15” x 11” jelly roll pan

2.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, whisking continually.  Remove from heat;  stir in vanilla.

3.  In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, and baking soda.  Pour butter mixture over sugar mixture, whisking to combine.  Pur into prepared pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Immediately sprinkle marshmallows and pecans evenly over hot cake.  Pour hot Mississippi Mud Frosting over cake, spreading with a knife if necessary.  Let cool in pan completely.  Cut into squares to serve.

 

Frosting

1/2 C butter                                                   1/2 c evaporated milk

1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder           1 tsp vanilla extract

4 1/2 C confectioners’ sugar

 

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over mediu heat.  Whisk in milk, cocoa, and vanilla.  Bring to a boil, whisking constantly,  Remove from heat.  Whisk in confectioners’ sugar until smooth.

Toffee Crackle Cookies are up this week!

Ingredients:

Yield:

48 48

 

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chocolate-covered toffee bits
• granulated sugar

 

Directions:

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 50 mins

1.  Preheat oven to 300.
2.  In large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with mixer and then combine the rest with a spoon. Stir in toffee pieces.
3.  Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar.
4.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with bottom of a glass.
5.  Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are firm, but not brown.

 Cool completely on wire rack.

OK, time for another great recipe! I'm so sorry I'm in Chicago and will miss these! Maybe there will be a couple leftover when I get back on Friday. Anyway, make sure to get by the store this week to check these tasty treats out!

Black and White Cookie S'mores

3/4 C butter
12 (1 oz) squares semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 C sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
3/4 C graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 C white chocolate morsels
7-oz jar marshmallow cream

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In medium bowl, combine butter and semi-sweet chocolate. MIcrowave on high at 30 second intervals, stirring between each until chocolate is melted and smooth (about 1 1/2 minutes total) Let cool slightly.
3. IN large bowl, combine sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat at medium speed with electric mixture until fluffy. Beat in butter mixture.
4. In medium bowl, combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until combined. Stir in white chocolat morsels. Wrap dough in heavy duty plastic wrap and chill for 1 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 325.
6. Roll dough into 1 1/2" balls. Place dough 3" apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edged of cookies are dry. Let cool on pans for 2 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Spread 2 tsp marshmallow creme on flat side of 1/2 of cookies. Cover with flat side of remaining cookies to make cookie sandwiches.

Cheesecake Brownies this week!

Oh, yummy! So many ladies loved these brownies that I served this weekend at the Patriotic Crop (I added red, white and blue sprinkles on top to make them patriotic) so I decided that this could be our recipe this week for "Treats for our Troops"! To be fair and keep your expectations where they belong, I didn't add the icing on these. It was just too messy! But, I promise, there are awesome (and your mid-section won't miss the calories from the icing anyway!)

Remember-all proceeds from these sales go straight to The Wounded Warrior Project! These will be bagged one per bag and be $1.00 per bag (but we're glad to accept more for our fundraiser if you think they're worth it!)

Cheesecake Brownies

1 package fudge brownie mix (for 13x9 inch pan) and ingredients call for on box

6 oz cream cheese, softened

6 T butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

2 T all purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 can chocolate frosting (remember, I didn't add that to those in the store this week!)

1. Prepare brownie mix batter according to package directions. Spread 2 cups into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish; set aside.

2. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, sugar, flour and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Spread evenly over brownie batter. Top with remaining brownie batter. Cut through batter with a knife to swirl.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool completely on a wire rack. Spread frosting over brownies!