So Much To Make: TO

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Sugar and Spice Snack Mix

Orange spiced almonds, salted caramel pretzels, honey-kissed cereal and a melted cinnamon chip drizzle--This is not your average snack mix.

This mix came about because of a peanut allergy. I was helping out with a friend's baby shower this weekend, and after purchasing some peanut butter M&Ms to put in treat cups, I remembered the host has a child with a peanut allergy in her house. Oops--I needed to fill those little cups with something else. So I perused my pantry.

I had a full bag of Snyder's Salted Caramel Pretzel Pieces. These are pretty amazing on their own, but one bag wasn't enough for my needs, so I decided to make a mix.

I also had some raw almonds, Honey Nut Chex cereal, as well as a bag of cinnamon chips in my freezer. Eureka! I had a plan!

I micro-cooked the almonds with orange flavoring and zest, butter, spices and brown sugar. While those were cooling, I mixed everything else but the chips in a large bowl, then added the cooled almonds. I laid all this out on a Silpat-lined cookie sheet, then drizzled it with melted cinnamon chips. Perfect!

Sugar and Spice Snack Mix

Makes 8 cups

Ingredients:

2 cups Orange Spiced Almonds (recipe below)

1 (10 oz) bag Salted Caramel Pretzel Pieces

4 cups Honey Nut Chex (or generic)

1 cup cinnamon baking chips

1 tablespoon coconut oil (or shortening)

Directions:

1. Mix first three ingredients in a large bowl, then spread on wax-paper or a silicon mat. I put my mat on a baking sheet to contain it.

2. In a microwave safe dish, melt cinnamon chips on medium heat for 1 minute. Stir, then add coconut oil and heat in 30 sec intervals until smooth.

3. Using a spoon, drizzle melted cinnamon chips over dry mixture. Let cool, then break up to serve.

Orange Spiced Almonds

Ingredients:

2.5 cups raw almonds

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2-1 teaspoon grated orange peel

1 teaspoon orange extract (optional)

1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter just until mostly melted. Add rest of ingredients and microwave on high, uncovered 3-4 minutes, stirring after each minute.

2. Spread hot spiced nuts on wax paper to cool.

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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

"Hide-the-Clip" Ring Top Curtains

I FINALLY made curtains for our family room. I ordered swatches over a year ago and just couldn't decide, so I waited. And waited. Then, a few weeks ago I decided on a fabric and placed my order.

But my decision-making had only just begun. I had to choose my hardware.

My favorite curtain hardware for function is probably the ring-top. It consistently slides smoothly and is a cinch to put up and take down. Ring-top has NOT been my favorite for looks, though, because of the ugly little clips used to attach the rings to the curtains.

I used these on some curtains I hung in our old house. Overall I was happy with the curtains, but I hated seeing the clips. I would arrange the curtains carefully to try and hide them.

So, this time around I devised a way to keep those little buggers hidden. And it worked!

All you need in addition to your normal curtain-making supplies is some grosgrain ribbon.

First, attach the gross-grain ribbon to the top of the fabric, 1.5 inches down. You can put one big strip of ribbon all the way across, or you can measure out and evenly space pieces of the ribbon (as I did), so attaching the clips at even intervals later will be easy. I am using 7 clips, so I have 7 pieces evenly spaced. Both of my curtains are shown here, one with the top folded over because I used the first one I did as a guide for the second.

Sew the ribbon on three sides , leaving the bottom open. (Bottom of ribbon will become the top when you fold over and make the top tab of your curtain, as shown here.)