Ice Cream Cone Cannoli

Thank God for Pinterest, I find all sorts of fun things and neat recipes to make. My latest that I just finished today: Ice Cream Cone Cannoli's! I call it the American Cannoli (Too lazy to make the real shell =P)

Thank God for Pinterest, I find all sorts of fun crafts and food recipes on there! I don't want to just Pin things and never do them! So I'm going to slowly do one at a time. I found these Ice Cream Cone Cannoli's, I call them American Cannoli's -- because we're too lazy to fry up the real things ;)

What you need:

• 24 oz whole milk ricotta
• 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 count sugar cones (CONE's not cups or bowls)

1. Place your ricotta in a strainer lined with a cheese cloth or paper towel. Let it sit for a few hours, or overnight, squeezing to help release the liquid.
2. When the ricotta is strained, stir in your sifted powdered sugar and chocolate chips until combined thoroughly.
3. Place in a piping bag or zip-lock until ready to use.
4. Melt some chocolate chips for the cones and dip the cones in it, using a spoon to spread it evenly around the cone.
5. Dip the cone with melted chocolate into chocolate chips. (I placed them on a pizza sheet and then into the freezer after this so they'd harden and stay in place.)
6. When you're ready, just fill your cones with your filling and wallah!

makes enough cream for 12-14 cannoli

* Optional ~ you can add a few tablespoons of granulated sugar (I did to mine so it'd be a bit sweeter and I also added another 3/4 cup of powered sugar to thicken the ricotta!)

^ My Cannoli's :-)

The other photos are from Cookiesandcups.com

Two Posts In One Day!

I've been busy working just about 9 days in a row - phew. I finally had a breather today! So as an update, I bought a car last week! Wahoo! A Hyundai Santa Fe, SE! It's used, a 2008, but I love it! It's bigger than the Honda CR-V I initially wanted. However, it's MUCH more quiet on the road, I'd say like 80% more quiet... that's how noisy the CR-V was!... it has a V6 so it has a lot more power, has more room for storage, AC vents in the back row for the kiddos, 300 XM Radio channels, radio controls on the steering wheel and a cool blue lighted interior at night..and I just like the look of it over-all, better than the CR-V. I decided I didn't want the Hyundai Elantra because I needed an SUV for my job, and for the future of course! I'm okay with sacrificing 10 MPG over space and more comfort. I wanted a white one, but I ended up liking this one better, with the the darker interior. The exterior color I was not 100% in love with, but it's growing on me!! It's called "Sage" but during the day it's a blueish green, and at night it's a blueish gray, haha. Oh well, here's to my first car payment years, and owning my first "real" vehicle.

DIY Glass Accents

Thanks to Pinterest, I found this cool & fool proof, project! I like to be creative and crafty, but sometimes my crafts don't turn out so well and I give up...but this was super easy and fun to do! Oh, and it's CHEAP! Such great Christmas presents if you're in a scramble, and created from your own imagination and heart! So perfect! :) And they're practical and cute!

First, you need to get your choice of glass wear..I got these different shaped glasses at the dollar store!

Buy assorted rubber bands - also at the dollar store.

Then, you take your glasswear and you make whatever pattern you want from your rubber bands. You can do so many creative looks...and even add in lace or sticker letters for writing, whatever you can think of!! These were my first run so I just stuck to simply rubber bands.

You need this spray paint - Glass Frosting - it's the most expensive part, but $6.99 at Hobby Lobby, not too bad. Plus a 20% off coupon...so it's like $5.00.

Then you spray paint your glasswear...up and down, up and down.

Then you let them all dry...Oh and I found those tall ones at the .99 cent store...I thought the pink glass would be awesome to do!

And the top photos of the post are the finished projects. I put flowers in the tall vases and then tea light candles in the round glasses! :) The photo quality is bad, they look much cuter in real life! :)

Happy Do-It-Your-Self-Ing!!

So hard to choose!

I went to two different dealerships to "play the game" of buying a new car. Got close, but no cigar. So while I rejected both dealerships offers, I'm reconsidering if I even would want an SUV right now. The Honda CRV is nice and practical, but it's not the most luxurious small SUV out there... especially for the money they want. I wanted a SUV because I wanted more room for my lifestyle, but when I think about it - I nanny 3 girls, and we all fit fine in my current 2000 Nissan Altima (even when Cooper's car-seat is in the middle of their car-seats in the back! With the nice trunk room, strollers fit fine, backpacks can be thrown in there, and also instruments (K plays the violin) and we have no problem finding room to be comfortable. I am not planning on having a family of my own soon, but even if I did, I'd be fine with having a car and saving gas money! If I were to get a car I think I'd go with the 2012 Hyundai Elantra. I love the way it looks similar to a BMW or Mercedes...and they start at only $16,500. If you want an automatic transmission, of course (I need one) you're going to be adding $1,000+ so I'll round it up to $18,000 total (and that's where you get to haggle the sales people to lower it as much as they will). It gets 40 mpg Highway and 29 City...which is awesome and way more than my car gets now, and I only fill up (usually) twice a month, averaging around $100 for gas, so I'd be saving that way as well. So stressful making up decisions but I plan on test driving this car soon to make up my mind.

Black or White, Black or White, Black or White?

Ok I need your opinions! I'm going to get a new car (hopefully within the month)...
A 2011 Honda CRV (also hoping I will be able to get this). But I am having trouble choosing a color! I've always wanted a black car. Black is my favorite color (even though, technically, it's the absence of color..but that doesn't matter) and I love the way it looks, but now I'm thinking that a white one looks better? And definitely going for a grey interior, because heck, I nanny 3 kids and stains are bound to happen and are less noticeable on grey than on nice tan seats. So....HELP. What color do you like? Black or White?

I love me some Caramel Apples!

I was browsing around on other blogs and I found this - I absolutely HAVE to do this, it seems super easy! I LOVE caramel apples! :)

Inside Out Caramel Apples

3 large Granny Smith apples

1 large lemon (or lemon juice)

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tbs butter

2 tbs light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Chocolate sauce (optional)

Cut your apples in half and use a melon baller to scoop out the insides, leaving the walls intact at about 1/2 to 1/4 inch thickness.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon onto the apples and allow to set. This will keep them from turning brown right away.

In a sauce pan over high heat, add the brown sugar, butter, heavy cream and corn syrup. Stir until the brown sugar has dissolved. Then leave it to boil, untouched (don’t stir), until it reaches 230 degrees, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla, stir until it stops bubbling. Allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes.

Using a paper towel, wipe your apples down, removing the lemon juice as much as possible. If the inside of your apple is too wet, the caramel wont stick.

Pour the caramel into the hollowed out apples until just below the top.

Sprinkle with pecans if you desire.

Chill in the refrigerator until the caramel has set, about 20 minutes.

Cut into slices and drizzle with chocolate sauce if desired.

The caramel in this post is easy to make, but it does have a bit of a maple flavor and isn’t a traditional caramel. The reason I used this, instead of a more traditional caramel, is because it’s so easy to make. Traditional caramel burns easy and has a small amber window of doneness before it’s ruined.

But you have other options, if you want to make these.

You can use a more traditional caramel, like easy melts from the store. But it makes the apples more tricky to cut when cooled.

If you buy caramel sauce or use the meltables, make sure it is really firm at room temperature or it will just run all over the place once you cut the apples into slices.

Fear of Flying...

I took this photo on our flight home from Chicago in 2008.

If you REALLY knew me...you'd know one thing for certain about me: I am terrified of flying!! Ok. Kind of. It's weird. I'm not afraid of planes themselves, I'm not afraid of heights or seeing the ground 40,000 feet below me, I'm not afraid of taking off or landing, and I am not even afraid of turbulence (because it makes me feel like I am in a car on the road, all the bumps)! I'm afraid of the plane leveling out once you've reached that magic altitude and hearing the engines roar slower and being turned down ever-so-slightly and not being able to feel the pressure of my body against the chair from ascending or descending any longer! I am also not afraid of the possibility of death in a crash or mishap, I'm not afraid to die, I am afraid of HOW my death would take place in a crash...I do not want to fall thousands of feet while in fear, I rather the plane just blow up instantaneously without a know in the world (wouldn't anyone?) ALSO, what irks me the most is trusting the pilots.

Mom and I in 2008, on a flight to Chicago. Making fun of me being scared.

I usually ALWAYS fly with Southwest Airlines. Number one reason, it has cheap flights and free baggage, number two reason, I am the Nanny of a Southwest Flight Attendant! And Ann (Girls' Mom) always tells me how late they get in on their 2 or 3 days of over-night trips to their hotels and how early they have to be back in the lobby in the morning, compared to the time zone at home! Or that the crew all goes out to dinner after and that the pilots always like to have their drinks and party....So I'm not sure I trust that my pilot is well-rested and hunky-dory to fly, always!

It's BOOT weather!

So, I'm stuck in Arizona and it's basically 100 degrees from March until the end of October. I get super stoked when it starts getting cooler, and want to wear my fall colors and clothes immediately. I travel to California to see Brandon every other month (give or take) and it is obviously cooler in the Bay Area....so I went on a mission to find boots, that were cute, but also affordable! I went to Target (after I had failed at Marshall's, Ross, Nordstrom and Famous Footwear)...and saw these! I tried them on and I thought they looked pretty decent with the jeans I was wearing and the price of them ONLY ;) $34.99!! That is seriously an awesome price for a pair of boots so I couldn't pass it down (also because I went to Nordstrom earlier and saw similar boots, for $149, super over-priced, not going to waste my money!) The only thing is though, my calves are really small. I have little to no muscle definition in that region, so they hover around my leg, like a hula-hoop, even with leggings or jeans under them.
Then I went onto Pinterest! Oh, the GLORY of that website.... and I saw a photo of boots similar but with leg warmers and boot socks on underneath and thought they looked awesome. So I journeyed on over to Kohl's (One of my favorite quick stop shopping stores, and bought leg warmers and also some thinner boot socks! I can't wait to wear them when I am in California next week because now they fit awesome! :)

Sweet Pumpkin Dip

Currently I am obsessed with Pinterest. Not just pinning things, but moreso looking at what everybody else has pinned! I found this SUPER easy* Sweet Pumpkin Dip and thought I'd try it out! I love my Pumpkin Creme Frappucino this time of year from Starbucks, so anything pumpkin I can cram into the few months it's out in stores I'll try!

Ingredients:
1 to 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (depending on how spiceful - I think I just made that word up - you want it!)
8 oz Light Cool Whip (thawed)
5 oz Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding (Jell-O Brand is best)
15 oz can of Pumpkin

You just simply throw in everything into a mixing bowl and walah, perfect (Low Calorie, by the way!) Pumpkin Dip!! I also like to throw a pinch or two of cinnamon or nutmeg on top of the finished product! Taste + Presentation!

You can eat it with a spoon, or my favorite, dip in Vanilla Wafers, Gingerbread Men, or Ginger Snaps!! For an even more low calorie snack, my Mom dipped in her banana and an apple and was delighted with the taste!

First Post

I've never had a blogger! I've always used Xanga and other blogging engines, but this seems neat and I want to write about things other than just "life stuff"! Like cooking, and ideas I've had, DIY crafts, photography (as in, photos I have taken, that are NOT professional, haha!) and things I am into these days! A little about me if you don't know me or do know me but want to catch up on my life!

• I'm 21, I turn 22 in January.
• I have a boyfriend, Brandon, who lives about 700 miles away from me, in Northern California. He is my best friend and my soul-mate and in 3 days we will have been dating for 2 years!
• I'm a nanny for 3 little girls. K is 9, M is 5 and E is 5. M&E are twins. They take most of the energy out of me!
• I watch my 6 month old nephew every Monday and Friday as well. He makes me happy!
• I am a student at Scottsdale Community College. I'm majoring in Psychology. I thought I wanted to be a therapist but now I am sure I do not want to be one... I'm unsure of what exactly I'd like to do, but something with children and maybe in the medical psych field.
• I love DIY projects and wish I had more time to do them!
• I'm currently into baking and learning to cook!

So that's a little about me! :) I'll publish my first "real" blog post in a little bit. I'm off to Starbucks and shopping with a friend!