Jammie Dodger/ Fruit Creme Knock Off

A long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away.... It feels like I've been gone for months from my little old blog but what really happened was Roger was laid off. That means in my world you get everything that you can possible get done before winter snow flies because you don't know when he'll be called back. It meant for us putting in a wood stove so finally my big old house can be warm and cozy. It also meant piling wood in the basement, going thru Christmas lights and hanging them up on one of our freakish warm days in November which now brings me to September. Isn't time travel great!!

Back in September while watching an episode of Doctor Who, the eleventh Doctor has in his hand a Jammie Dodger for a split second. From my view point it was a Peak Frean, Fruit Creme. Now I do watch these shows fairly fast so you may correct me if I'm wrong and maybe this cookie is one in the same. Either way it got my mind a thinking.

Isaac loves these boughten cookies but I don't buy them all that often. I really don't buy cookies in general so I wondered if I could knock these cookies off. 

Pinterest showed me sugar cookies with jam but not the creme filling I wanted to add like the Fruit Creme. Then I found one cookie that had lemon butter creme and jam and I felt like I was getting closer. What I wanted was a cookie that had icing like an oreo cookie that wouldn't ooze out when I bit into like a butter creme might. It also had to stand up to being made the day before, not make my cookie soggy and had to travel well.

From my Pinterest fail of the Oreo knock off I thought just maybe the icing from that would work and in the end I got exactly what I was looking for. Here's how to make your own.

Pick your favourite sugar cookie recipe (I think everyone has at least one favourite in their recipe box) and cut out your cookies. 

I cut out my cookies with a small biscuit cutter then took a large piping tip and cut out my centers, but pretty stars or hearts would be darn cute.

Here are the bottoms.

I did used the oreo icing using lemon juice as my liquid...

and added a dollop of raspberry jam. You most definitely could use any jam.

And ta-da!! Your own Fruit Creme Cookies.

These are going to make it onto the annual cookie Christmas list. :)

P.S. He's back to work.

Spooky Brazilian Times!

You know what's fun, watching a bunch of kids who've never done Halloween do Halloween. For some it was planned even before they arrived to Canada in August. Others checked out Halloween sections in stores after they got here. They went big I must say and had loads of fun.

The invisible man is Isaac which as a true Canadian kid was put together that morning. He's had the morph suit for a while but as for the rest, he tried it on that afternoon. He was the trick or treater host for the Brazilian kids.  Nathalia on the other hand knew what she was going to be way back when. I think the second day in our home Corpse Bride was mentioned. Luckily on my search I found an old white dress for a $1.50 along with some sheers for another $1.00 and with a bit of a revamp came up with this. 

It's been a while since there was this much hub bub at my house on Halloween and I think this night will long be remembered by them... at least I hope so. I know I will. :)

Pictures where take with just my ipad on this cold dreary night. 

Frankly my Dear...

Since I've been feeling better I've been playing catch up on so many things. Fall cleaning for one. Does anybody do a fall and spring cleaning anymore? Room by room I've been purging away, leaving my most dreaded craft room till last. It's actually my favourite room but it really needs a few days( ok truthfully make that a week) of my full out attention.

We've also welcomed a Brazilian student who will be staying with us till January. We've had some major laugh out loud moments as we try and understand each other. She's is improving in English but we are failing miserably at Portuguese. Ha

Most of my projects have been left on the back burner ( as usual it seems) but this past weekend being Canadian thanksgiving and autumn being in full swing I thought I'd channel my inner Scarlett O'hara. Finding some awesome fall looking drapes at the thrift store they seemed perfect for another easy circle skirt.

I've lost my picture taker to work right now so although I wore this just the other day it went on my dress form for pictures. A tri-pod and remote would be nice right about now!! and some not so rainy cloudy weather. 

Hello little leaf pin.

Do you think it's alright to wear  this outfit two weekends in a row? :)

Sweater- handmade by me

Blouse-handmade by me from a thrifted set of sheers that I've worn many times.

Skirt-handmade from thrifted drapes which I paid $3 for. 

What's my Style?

Over the summer I began thinking more about what type of clothing I really want to add to my wardrobe, what actually is my favourite era then I realized I don't have one. I end up going by what show or movie I'm watching at the time and it becomes my new favourite. Which is making for a fun wardrobe!!
So this past spring/ summer I watched
Land Girls / Agent Carter  for my 40's look.

Granite Flats  geared me to a 60's casual summer style.

Then I headed over to Miss Fisher and made myself a 20's inspired outfit.

( All the fabric for this was once again thrifted so it was an under $10 outfit. The hat was made from a pattern I got from Etsy)

Now I'm onto Doctor Who which has styles all over the place and worlds, hehe and I must say I am more partial when he travels to the past then the future. For the past couple of years my mind has been in and out of Steampunk. Mostly because it's a modern twist on the Victorian era (adore) which to me kind of suits the weird world of Doctor Who. 

When I was looking for a jacket pattern this one kept popping up in the Steampunk category on Pinterest. I just thought it would look great as a 50's style too so I'm seeing this pattern resurrect itself as Steampunk.  

I'm seeing a lot of plaids and ruffled skirts in my future but not the full blown corsets that is often associated with Steampunk. If I can get what I want in my head transfered to the sewing table I'm liking the results. Although my head and my hands sometimes disagree so we shall see!  I already have a chair though.  :)

On the Hunt for Lola

Meet Lola (or her look-a-like). This is Director Coulson's flying car in Agents of Shield. Yes I've said it before and I'll say it again I'm a Marvel geek.

                                           

                                                                                            (  source )

         This past weekend was our annual Beanfest and Car show so this year I was on the hunt for Lola.

We came close.(Sorry these were phone pictures)

Then there is my soft spot for the pick-up truck. It stems from growing up on a farm and never being without one.

I could take either one of these babies home.

This car show never disappoints with over the 1000 cars that show up throughout the day and I'm pretty sure we've never picked the same car twice as the "one". :)

How could I Forget??

Last weekend we went to visit the boys in their new digs. We've known for a while what home they finally decided upon and I could hardly wait to take pictures. Then I forgot my camera and had to rely on a few pictures that I took with my ipad. It's incredible hard to take pictures of 55 acres with just an ipad but here are a few. Sorry any indoor pictures didn't really turn out.

It was really hard to say good-bye to this. From walking literally miles of trails cut through the bush to hanging out in the hot tub it was for me a little slice of paradise complete with no bugs.  Next time I promise I won't forget my camera. :)

It's such a Peachy Day!

This past weekend I had just finished telling my daughter that I wasn't going to can any peaches. Just maybe make some jam and freeze a few. Then a friend of ours was offering peaches for sale so I order a bushel.
Feeling as I have been, I've been trying everything including changing my diet and one of those things is cutting out white sugar. I'd have to say after a couple of weeks I'm feeling a little better. It wasn't like I was eating a lot of sugary things but like I said I'm giving anything a whirl. Maple Syrup or honey has become my choice of sweetener for most things all ready but now the ban on white sugar has become hard core.
Canned fruit is usual laced with lots of sugar but ever since I started canning I've never followed the recommended sugar for the recipe. I've always cut way back but this time I wanted to cut it out all together.
So while checking out some wartime recipes for fun I noticed canning fruit in their own syrup. Then I surfed around the world wide web some more and found this holy grail of recipes.  Maple Vanilla Canned Peaches.

I've cut back on the maple syrup using only one cup to 5 cups of water and found it plenty sweet. I also used some really good pure vanilla instead of the bean. I gave this nectar around to all who entered my home for a taste and it passed the taste test with flying colours.

If you are looking to can up a couple of jars I highly recommend giving this recipe a try, I'm pretty sure I'm never going back to plain old sugary peaches again.:)