Easter Goodies - Pecan Pie Bars

Here's the first of the goodies I made to fill my easter baskets. Pecan Pie Bars. They are sooo good and easy to make. If you like pecan pie, you will love them! Give them a try!

Origami Easter Baskets

In my search for an inexpensive and cute easter gift idea, I came across these super cute origami paper easter baskets on Expert Village.

The directions were presented in a series of videos (which were a bit confusing because they were not listed in any particular order, so I have provided ordered links here)

Origami Easter Basket Video Instructions:

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5

And here's what you get! I will be filling them with homemade goodies for my family and friends.. more to come on that!

Choosy Moms Need to Think Again...

Homemade peanut butter! Yum!

So it has been a while. Being a grad student takes a lot of time. Ha ha. But for the sake of my sanity, I have taken a break for some food and blogging. Why peanut butter, you ask?

1. This giant jar of mixed nuts in my freezer (and let's face it...who eats the peanuts with all those yummy cashews and pecans and almonds to distract you?)

2. My overwhelming desire to use my "new" thrift store blender (1.98!) and its awesome ability to blend things in mason jars.. see this tip at Simply Recipes for more info.

3. This spaghetti jar...

So the peanut butter adventure begins. Here's what you will need:

• 2 cups peanuts (in my case, painsakingly picked from the mixed nuts jar)
• 1 - 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
• salt (if desired)
• blender or food processor
• jar for storage (or blending if you have one of these cool old blenders)
• spatula or spoon to scrape down jar if needed

From there, it's pretty simple...

First - fill jar, food processor, or blender with two cups of peanuts (the spaghetti jar had the ounces marked on the side of the jar making this task even easier) and 1 tablespoon oil.

Next - Blend! Add up to one more tablespoon of oil if the mixture is too thick. Keep in mind, though, that it will make the final product slightly thinner.

When it looks like peanut butter, stop blending. Pretty simple. At this point, I tasted it and added a little extra salt...probably about a quarter teaspoon with my salted peanuts.

Finally - Enjoy!!

Be sure to keep the peanut butter in the refrigerator. Unlike the commercial stuff, there are no preservatives!!