Pocket Pillowcases

One of my goals for 2012 is to give mostly handmade Christmas gifts. I had this goal last year as well, but didn't start until October-ish....whoops! This year the plan is to complete one gift/week.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I saw these great pocket pillowcases over at Just Another Hang Up and knew they'd be perfect for the girlies for Christmas. Both of my girls keep a crazy amount of extra "stuff" in their beds with them, so the pocket on these pillowcases would be the perfect spot to store some of those things. 

I had the hardest time picking out a fabric to use for A's pillowcase. I needed something would work well for a bigger kid, because by Christmas she'll be 8! I'm having a really hard time coming to terms with that. :)

I found the fabric for C's in the remnant bin at JoAnn's. I totally fell in love with the little jellyfish and mermaids! It was slightly less than the yard that the tutorial calls for, but it was close enough (.9 something or another) and worked great. 

Seriously, how cute are those jellyfish?!?!? 

Linked at:
Made By You
Just Something I Whipped Up  <--best name ever!
A Round Tuit
House of Hepworths
Petals to Picots

2012 = no procrastination!

My BFF declared 2012 the year of no procrastination for us!

(Mom & A, go ahead...laugh...I'll wait.)

At any rate, I've started the year out right. 12 days in and I've completed over half of the bibs I need for the craft show I'm doing at the end of March and cut out all the pieces to get started on my first handmade Christmas gift for 2012!

Currently working on...

... a super sweet and extremely soft afghan for an upcoming baby shower!!

Yarn is Caron Simply Soft in Off-White and Soft Pink. It looks like this will take 3 skeins of each to finish. 

Pattern is Bubbles Baby Blanket from http://www.yarnsandmusings.com/2005/08/bubbles-baby-blanket-pattern-and-pics.html 

Peach Cake

This recipe was adapted from my favorite cake book ever - All Cakes Considered. There are so many fabulous cakes in this book! I'm looking forward to trying the Graham Cracker Cake next!


Cake Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sliced peaches (I used canned in juice - drained and rinsed.)

Frosting Ingredients
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Cake Directions
1. Prepare a 10-inch tube pan and preheat your oven to 375*.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and oil on medium speed until just blended.
3. In another bowl stir together with a whisk or fork the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add to egg mixture and mix until just combined. Do not over mix. The batter will be sticky.
4. Gently fold in peaches.
5. Pour into pan and bake for 50 minutes or until done.
6. Place on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on rack.

Frosting Directions
1. Combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract on medium speed until smooth.
2. Slowly add powdered sugar and ginger. Mix until smooth.
3. Apply frosting to cooled cake.

Dinner: Blue Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Buffalo Sauce

I served this with steamed broccoli and baked potatoes last night. It was the perfect combination!

Ingredients 
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese (or a mixture of Feta and blue cheese to equal 1/2 cup. I used this mixture to mellow the blue cheese, since it's such a strong flavor.)
1 TBSP reduced fat sour cream (or plain yogurt)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp freshly group black pepper
4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
2 TBSP milk
1 large egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 TBSP + 3 tsp butter
4 tsp water
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
2-3 tsp hot sauce (to taste)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest part of each chicken breast  to form a pocket. Stuff cheese mixture evenly into pockets.
3. Place flour in a shallow dish. Combine milk and egg in a shallow dish, beating egg, and combining well with a whisk. Place panko in a shallow dish. Using one chicken breast half at a time, dredge in flour, then dip in egg mixture, and dredge in panko.
4. Heat a large oven proof skillet over med-high heat. Add 1 TBSP butter to pan and swirl to melt. Arrange chicken in pan and cook for 4 minutes or until browned. Do not flip the chicken before it's time or you will lose the breading! Turn chicken over, place skillet in oven. Bake at 350* for 20 minutes or until done. (If you do not have a large oven proof skillet, you can place a large glass baking dish in the oven with a TBSP of butter to melt once you begin cooking the chicken in the skillet. When it's time to flip the chicken, place it in the baking dish instead. Cooked side up.)
5. While chicken bakes, combine remaining butter, water, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until butter melts. Remove from heat, and stir in the hot sauce. Serve with chicken. (If you really like the sauce, you might want to double this portion.)

Enjoy!