Oreo Fluff

Aunt Wilma's Oreo Fluff Dessert

This is my husbands all-time most requested family get together dessert! His Aunt Wilma made it when he was young, and he's asked his Mom to bring it to almost every holiday meal for as long as I can remember. I've been asking for the recipe for years, and I finally got it! 
I've had lots of other Oreo desserts that look the same, but none are quite as light and fluffy as this one. And, surprisingly it's not too sweet, it's just right. It is really good, I mean, like so good that it would be impossible to just take a bite. Impossible. Consider that a dare!

There are only 4 ingredients, pretty simple, but don't skip on using the real whipping cream, the extra step is worth it!

Oreo Fluff

Recipe by Christy Squyres

A light, fluffy, whipped, no-bake Oreo dessert.

Yield: 12 Servings
Ingredients

• 1 Bag Mini Marshmallows
• 1 Quart Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 Bag Crushed Oreo Cookies, Divided
• 2/3 Cup Milk

Cooking Directions

1. Heat marshmallows and milk in a double boiler (or in a sauce pan on low) until they melt. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Crush cookies.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream until it peaks.
4. Fold the cooled marshmallow mixture into the whipped cream.
5. Cover bottom of baking dish with 1/3 of the crushed cookies.
6. Top with 1/2 of the whipped cream mixture.
7. Add another layer of 1/3 of the crushed cookies.
8. Add a layer of the rest of the whipped cream mixture.
9. Top with the last of the crushed cookies.
10. Serve immediately or store covered in the refrigerator.

Cheers!

Christy

Baked Brie with Herbs and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Baked Brie Appetizer

You guys, this is AMAZING!!! Pin it now, save it for later!

My friend Rebecca Andrews brought this to a get together a while back, and the photo just surfaced while clearing out some images on my phone. I HAD TO SHARE. The sweet caramelized onions are what make this all come together, the flavor is incredibly rich.

Most of the recipes I blog are really for me, I don't want to lose them, but I love sharing them with you too! I'm not greedy :)

print recipe

Baked Brie with Herbs & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

by Christy Squyres March-22-2018

Ingredients

• 1 Small Brie, Peeled
• 1 Tablespoon Parsley, Chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Basil, Chopped
• 1 Large Sweet Onion
• 1/3 Jar Sun-dried Tomatoes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325. Caramelize the onion, add in parsley, basil, and sun-dried tomatoes. Remove brie casing with a cheese slicer (optional). Place brie in a small baking dish, place the mixture on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is spreadable. Serve with crackers or Melba toast.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 4-8 Servings

Deer Head Pillow Cover Tutorial

Christmas Pillow Cover Tutorial

Santa or Deer Head Silhouette

I'm giving away my Christmas Pillow Cover Tutorial for FREE! 
Merry Christmas!!!

Includes step by step instruction and photos to make an 16"x 16", flannel, zippered pillow cover with a felt applique. Includes deer head and Santa silhouette. 

Download the PDF here.

I would love to see or hear about your projects!

Merry Christmas!

Heart Shaped Cherry Pastries

Heart Shaped Puff Pastry Treats for your Valentine

Sharing my simple homemade cherry pastry treat on Moms of Tulsa today!

 

 

Find the recipe for these Valentine treats with step by step instructions here.

 

Happy Heart Day!

DIY Gingerbread Man Kits

Homemade Gingerbread Cookies Packaged with Icing, Ready to Decorate

Christmas Gifts for Neighbor Kids

My neighbor Kathy Rogers gave our girls gingerbread men and icing one year and it was the most adorable, and sweetest little gift.  The girls and I decided to make our first batch of gingerbread this year, and thought we would share this fun treat with our younger neighborhood friends!  Baking is a huge Christmas tradition in our family, we do lot's of cooking the entire month of December, and we buy pounds and pounds of butter, sugar, and flour, and this is great addition to our festivities.

You can do little gingerbread men or big ones. You can fit 8 or so small cookies or 2 of the extra large cookies in a standard size plastic treat bag.  Add a little bag of frosting, that can double as a piping bag, and you have an instant kid gift.  It's a craft and snack all in one!

For reference: The gingerbread recipe we used made 4 extra large cookies and 20 small cookies.

Supplies needed:

A gingerbread recipe, I used this one- Gingerbread Man Recipe 

Store bought frosting

Gingerbread boy/girl cookie cutter- Cookie Cutters

Any treat bags (mine are from Party City) - Treat Bags

Bakers Twine or ribbon

DIY Gift Tags or any gift tags

Mini bags for frosting - Snip off a corner and use it as a piping bag

Merry Christmas to our Littler Friends!

Christmas Wrapping Paper

Gold, Stripes, Plaid, and Ugly Sweater: Christmas Wrapping Paper

 

Almost everything I do happens organically, rarely is anything ever planned, because I'm too busy to plan!  I picked up my Christmas wrapping paper this year at three random place and it worked out beautifully!  Nothing is more trendy this year than plaid, & black/white/gold, &  I personally think the ugly sweaters are starting to get cute again.  Fashion faux pas gone cool.

Paper #1: The black and white stripe is from Hobby Lobby, I found it in the gift wrapping section, not with the Christmas papers.  It was priced $6.99 (use a 40% off coupon on their website), and the quality and quantity was great, their rolls are huge.  There are grids printed on the backs of their papers, which makes it so much easier to cut.  Plus, it's extra thick and doesn't rip when you are gliding your scissors across it.

Paper #2: The red plaid with glittery gold gift tape is from Dollar General.  The wrapping paper quality is mediocre but the gold tape quality was excellent.  The wrapping paper was a smaller roll, but still wrapped a handful of presents.  The cost- wrapping paper was $1 per roll, and glitter tape was $2 per roll.

Paper #3: The green ugly Christmas sweater paper is from the Dollar Tree.  The quality was extremely low, I wasn't able to run my scissors across it without it tearing.  But, the roll was wider than a standard roll so I was able to stretch it further.  I added a little extra tape to my packaging to make it a little stronger, and it looks cute, so it's still a win!

Gift Tag:  The chalkboard label sticker is from the scrap-booking section at Michaels.

Happy Wrapping!!!

In the Kitchen: Confetti Rock Candy

Confetti Rock Candy

My husband's sister Monica, use to make this for us every Christmas, and it was one of the things I looked forward to the most at his family gathering!  I was so happy when I found a rock candy recipe online, I COULD NOT wait to make it.  Hers always reminded me of confetti, it was tiny little pieces or shards of rock candy in different colors, and each color had a different flavor, packaged in a tiny little tub.  I think the tiny pieces was one of the things that made it different, and it was easier to eat than a normal sized piece of hard candy.  Probably because you could get more flavors in and didn't have to commit to one large hunk of any flavor.  Does that make sense?  

The flavors I remember her having for sure were peppermint, anise (licorice), butterscotch, cinnamon, and spearmint.  I want to say there was cherry and orange in there too, but I'm not positive.  I do not like black jelly beans or black licorice, but the anise flavored tiny rock candies were my favorite.  So, I was on a short mission to find some candy oil, which proved harder than I thought.  I found them online, but didn't want to wait for shipping.  I went to Michael's craft store and they did not have them, so I opted for a less potent version and got  the flavor extracts from the baking isle at the grocery store, these are not as potent as the pure oils (go with the oils if you can, the flavor is stronger).  Sometimes I have zero patience.

So... if you have never made candy before, I would highly recommend that you just start with one flavor, multiple flavors can be a little overwhelming (and a whole lot of work).  I broke mine up, and did one or two flavors a week, over a period of a few weeks.  You also need a candy thermometer for each batch, if you only have one, you can only make one batch at a time.  Be careful with the glass thermometers, the first time I ever used one, I broke it in my pot of toffee, insert sad face.  Find a quick tutorial on how to use a candy thermometer here: How to Use a Candy Thermometer

I this would make a cute teacher or neighbor gift, packaged in a fun Holiday mug, or a Christmas tin:

Step by step visual guide:

Confetti Rock Candy Recipe

Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients:

3-3/4 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon candy oil flavoring (or 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon flavor extract)
10 drops food coloring

Tools:
Candy thermometer
Sheet pan
Parchment paper
Large spoon
1 quart Ziploc bag
Hammer
Plastic wrap

Instructions:
Prepare sheet pan, with parchment paper and a coat of non-stick cooking spray.  In a medium sauce pan, bring water, corn syrup, and sugar to a boil, stirring frequently until sugar dissolves.  Continue to boil on medium high heat, when the temperature reaches 260 degrees, add in the food coloring (do not stir).  Continue boiling until the candy thermometer reaches hard crack, 302 degrees (this takes about 30 minutes), do not stir.  Remove from heat and stir in candy flavoring.  Carefully (because it's hot), pour onto prepared sheet pan.  Let it dry, (it takes about 30 minutes).  Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap and break candy up using the pry side of a hammer (the blunt side crushes too much and makes too much powder).  The smaller the pieces, the better.  Place candy pieces and powdered sugar in a quart Ziploc and shake to cover.  Combine multiple flavors in different colors for a confetti look.

Recipe adapted from: Serendipity Mommy and LorAnn

Where to purchase LorAnn candy oils: LorAnn Oils and Hobby Lobby, each dram holds 1 teaspoon of oil, therefore, each tiny bottle makes one batch of hard candy.

My favorite girls modeling candy (their favorite food group):

 Cheers!

DIY Gift Tags from Paint Samples

Paint Sample Gift Tags

Okay, I've seen a few things floating around out there using paint chips for art, and party decor, etc.  None of which I've ever actually done.  But, today  I ran out of all the cute gift tags I bought for Christmas gifts and decided to pull out my tag shaped hole punch and make a few out of some scraps of scrapbook paper and card stock.  As I was cleaning my counter off to make room for this simple task, I started to put some paint samples (that I picked up at Sherwin Williams this week), in my junk drawer, when I realized they were the perfect size to fit in the hole punch.  So I grabbed a handfull of paint samples out of that handy junk drawer... and, there was born, a stack of cute free gift tags!

While I got my hole punch at a garage sale (score!), you can find one here: Tag Hole Punch

Get one, you may never buy a gift tag again!

You will need a regular hole punch too, not all the tag punches have holes in them.  You will also need some twine, yarn, or ribbon to attach your little crafty tag.

  

Cheers!