Smores Pie

Summer is long gone here in Portland.  But we have had a few days of sunshine this week and I was inspired to make one of my favorites, Smores Pie.  This recipe is from Hershey's.  I love their recipes, in fact their Deep Dark Chocolate Cake is one of my favorite cakes to make from scratch.  My mother-in-law actually uses it for wedding cakes.  But we are not talking about cake, we are talking about pie, and better yet...smores pie.  There is nothing better than chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers in a slice of oozy goozy pie.  And this recipe is easy and always a hit at my parties!

Look at that marshmallow peeping up to say hello through the crust!

Recipe

Smores Pie

Ingredients

4-6 HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Bars (about 1-1/2 cups), broken apart                                   

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 jar of marshmallow creme

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch pie plate. Unwrap chocolate bars; break into pieces. 

2. Beat butter and sugar until blended in medium bowl. Add egg; beat until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, graham cracker crumbs and baking powder; beat until well blended.

3. Press half of dough onto bottom and up sides of pie plate.  Spread marshmallow creme over bottom of crust.  Sprinkle the remaining pieces evenly over marshmallow creme.

4. Form remaining dough into ball; place between 2 sheets of waxed paper. With fingers, flatten and shape into 9-inch circle.  Peel off one side of waxed paper.  Pick-up waxed paper, supporting dough with hands. Flip dough onto pie surface; peel off waxed paper.   Pinch edges of dough together and form crust edge.

5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. 

To serve, microwave slices at HIGH (100%) 15 to 20 seconds or until slightly warm and marshmallow starts to melt. Top with ice cream, if your little heart desires.

Want some-more-s!

Peanut Butter Fudge

Do you ever make something and then just can't stop eating it?  This is it for me.  Yummy, soft, sweet, and a little salty is what this peanut butter fudge goodness is all about. The first time I made it, I was like "how come I didn't think of this?", it is soooooo spoon lickin' good!  I grew up with chocolate fudge.  My mom made it every year for Christmas.  But this fudge, no it's not just for Christmas, it should be celebrated year round.   I have been asked for this recipe a few times, I thought it would just be easier to post it online for those friends that have been waiting patiently for the secret, but really not so secret recipe.  My sister-in-law actually gave me the recipe and then I lost it...in a hurry to find it instead of asking her I went on allrecipes.com and found one very similar if not the one she gave me.

Recipe

Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients:

3/4 cup evaporated milk

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/8 cups peanut butter

2 cups marshmallow creme

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Grease an 8x8 inch dish.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, sugar and butter.  Bring to a rolling boil, and let boil 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, marshmallow cream and vanilla until well incorporated.  Spread into prepared dish.  Here is the spoon lickin' part!  Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!

Quiet Book Group--Page 1

Recently some friends of mine and I came up with the idea to start a Quiet Book Group.  When you look at quiet books online or on Pinterest, they can be so overwhelming.  So we got about 15 friends together and started a group, kind of like book club or like my craft nights.  It is designed that we do one page a month.  The group leaders come up with the page designs, although suggestions from the group are always welcome.  We also bought the supplies and put the page kits together. Then the girls come over with some yummy goodies and we all create one page that night.   Easy peasy!  The plus side is it's not overwhelming to do one page a month. The down side is they are usually so cute that you want to use it right away.  And so in however many months, our group decided on one year, you will have a finished quiet book!
This was a first page, and it was an enormous success!  Anyone up for a little game of Tic-Tac-Toe?

So you can see what was sewed on.  Really just the Velcro in the case.

You can see here that each X and O has a double layer of white felt for the base.

We assembled most of it with fabric glue.  But some was sewed on for better securing.  If you are interested in the pattern, just comment below and if there is enough interest I will post it. 

Items needed for this page:

(1) sheet of turquoise felt

(1) sheet of red felt

(1) sheet of white felt

Pattern or a good eye to just copy what you see here. 

Sewing machine (white or red thread)

Fabric glue

Stay tuned for more cute quiet book pages here!

Welcome Sign by Cameo

My Cameo is making a cameo today!  I am new to the world of owning a Silhouette.  I have always envied those that own one and get to enjoy creative freedom in the world of vinyl and paper-crafting and the million other things you can do with this little itty bitty machine.  I begged and begged and put on the top of my Christmas list...SILHOUETTE CAMEO.  And guess what I got Christmas morning!  Yep, you betcha my dream came true!  I am now the proud owner of a Cameo.  It's probably a little anti-climatic that I am just telling you about her now over a month after I received her.  But it took me a while to find, clean and create a suitable location for this special girl.  After all, she will be busy between monthly craft nights and my blog and just meeting my personal desires for cute crafts requiring her skills.  She needed her own desk....and she got one!

And this was one of my first projects...A simple little "Welcome" sign for my front door.  A have a few friends that have put these on their doors and I just fell in love.  I had to copy some of their brilliance.  Don't you feel so Welcome!

Blog Award!

I am so excited!  The other day I received a comment on my blog from Katie over at www.pincushioncreations.com.  She awarded Portobello Road the Most Versatile Blogger Award.  I am thrilled that my small little growing blog has been given this award! 
The funny thing is, I was actually awarded another one of the awards last October from Stephanie over at www.craftingintherain.blogspot.com.  I just did not realize that I was suppose to pass it on.  So THANK YOU to Stephanie and Katie!

I learned that in winning this award I need to show the love and pass it on to 7 other bloggers.  I also need to tell you 7 things about myself that you may not know. 

Let's spread some love first...because all we need is love!

I would like to pass along the Versatile Blogger Award to the following blogs:

A few of my favorite blogs are first, CeCe's Corner. I love her blog and sometime we post for each other.  She is a fabulous mom, crafter and cook.  Love this girl!  Head on over to her blog and become of follower.

One blog I recently discovered is Randee's Organized Chaos.  I found her blog very informational.  She has some great tips on how to make sense for the chaos in our lives.  Which I am all about!  And I love that she calls her recipe section "Nummys"  Love it!

To satisfy my painting furniture hobby, sometimes I check out fellow north westerner Tonya at Painting in Portland.  She moved to rainy Portland from Utah and been really good about finding something to do with her time indoors.  That is what we have to do here in Portland, find stuff to do inside...she has mastered it!  Love her furniture!

A girl that featured one of my crafts (heart wreath) recently has a fabulous blog called The Latest Finds!  Check out Ashley and her latest trends, which will be sure to keep you up to date in all your fashion, crafting, and other fun finds.

Turquoise!  Love it right, well Sara over at Sweet Little Gals has a super fun Turquoise Lovin' Linky party.  Her blog is just filled with cute crafts and and sweet things!  Check it out and become one of her many followers.

One of my favorite things to do, is making something beautiful out of someone else's junk.  Katie over at Thrifty Finds and Redesign has made a whole blog out of it.  She has lots of cute DIY projects and redesigns on her site.  Check out our east coast friend and become a thrifty finder!

Kacey over at Refreshed Decor just reinvented herself!  Formerly Life of Blue, same creator, same content, same very cool decor/furniture ideas.  I have been following this blog for a while and I think she is very talented and it does not hurt that she has two adorable little boys.  Check out this blog and be inspired! 

About Me
1. I love cake. All kinds, I don't discriminate against any cake except cake that is soaked in things like milk or coffee or rum because I think it strips the cake of its cakey texture, it becomes soggy cake...its not right.

2. I love that I have a job that allows me to travel. I love traveling because it gives me an excuse to buy things, not just for myself but for other people, any excuse to buy things is good. Although there are other reasons that I love traveling too...

3. I think I have a shopping problem, I mean seriously #2 ??? There are much better reasons to love traveling. But of course with the shopping addiction comes a buying and returning skill as well. I don't think there is anything wrong with shopping if you return it :)

4. I have virgin hair...never been dyed. Last year I cut off 10 inches and donated it to Locks of Love.

5. I wear earplugs at night. Sometimes just one, but since I have been married... two. Sometimes I fear this is doing damage to my brain or ears or something I am unaware of. Is this a habit I need to break????

6. I love the smell of Eucalyptus trees, it reminds me of the drive between San Jose and Monterey, California. It brings back many childhood memories.

7. When my husband brings me flowers, I usually cry. I think it is one of the most thoughtful things someone can do for another.

Happy Crafting,
Christie