I know what boys like, I know what guys want . . .

    ...well, not really. But, I am dedicating the month of June on the blog to MEN! That's right....it's time for:

    Desserts for Dudes!

    We do a lot of cute around here and I thought the month of Fathers' Day was the perfect time to go macho and honor our dads, husbands, sons, brothers, uncles with sugar. On the blog and twitter, I asked what your dad's favorite dessert is. Turns out, dads have a lot of favorites. But, there was a winner.....PIE, and not just any pie, pecan pie!

    This recipe I cut out of a magazine years ago. There isn't a magazine name at the bottom, but just "October/November 2004." I knew I was hanging on to this baby for a reason!

    Caramel Pecan Pie
    {adapted from unknown magazine 2004 :)}

    crust:
    1 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
    1/2 c. cake flour
    1 TBSP sugar
    1/2 tsp. coarse salt
    6 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into pieces
    3 TBSP shortening, chilled
    3-4 TBSP ice water

    filling:
    1 c. heavy whipping cream
    2 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into pieces
    1 & 1/3 c. sugar
    1/2 c. water
    1 TBSP corn syrup
    2 & 1/2 c. pecan halves
    2 tsp. vanilla


    Line a baking sheet with parchment. Place pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake at 350 for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

    In a food processor, pulse the flours, sugar and salt until combined. Add the butter and cold shortening; pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized clumps. Add 3 TBSP water and pulse until a dough just begins to form. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time if needed.

    Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 12" circle. Place in a 10" (9" is ok) pie tin. Trim and flute the edges. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes, or until firm.

    Preheat the oven to 375. Line the crust with foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake in the lower half of the oven 15 minutes; remove foil and beans and bake an additional 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

    For the filling, heat the cream and 2 TBSP butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When butter melts and the mixture is hot, remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

    Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, without stirring, until sugar dissolves.

    Dip a pastry brush in water. Uncover the pan and brush the sides with the wet pastry brush to brush down any stray sugar crystals. Increase heat to med-high and boil until sugar becomes a golden brown (about 5 minutes).

    Remove from heat. Slowly add the cream, the mixture WILL bubble up, and stir until the boiling stops and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the pecans and vanilla.

    Let sit 15 minutes (I forgot to do this...oh, no! This may be why mine was a little runny.)

    Pour into baked crust and let sit at least 3 hours until cooled and set. (You can stick in the the fridge once cooled.)


    Now, *I* thought a brown sugar whipped cream would be delicious with this. Mr. E assured me that ice cream is much more manly, soooooooo, top this pie with ice cream.
    If you don't have time to (or interest in) making ice cream, let me suggest Haagen-Dazs 5-ingredient ice cream, Vanilla Bean. I am not a big fan of plain ol' vanilla ice cream. This ice cream, though, with its flecks of vanilla bean, I could eat in one sitting. It's creamy, vanilla-y and decadent! Trust me.


    The pie is delicious...the caramel with the pecans all tucked into a buttery crust...but I'll admit, it is a bit soupy. Now, Mr. E assures me this is not a problem...it tastes good and that's what counts. Hey, it's Desserts for Dudes, who am I to argue?

    Well, I hope during this month, you'll see one of your dude's favorite desserts! We'll be back to pink and sprinkles next month, not to worry. :)

    {Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a 2nd piece of pie to eat!}

    And, thank you, thank you to MutheringHeight who helped in the naming of this month! Duuude, you rock!
    Source URL: http://policfashion2011.blogspot.com/2010/05/
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BBTB2 Bless This Nest Door Hanger - 1st Video


    Happy Memorial Day!  And welcome to the BBTB2 blog hop.  I am not hopping today (I forgot to arrange a prize - oops!), but be sure to go by BBTB2 to begin the blog hop when you leave here.  We had to use the Sweethearts cartridge, specifically the Bless This Nest cut.  I used the phrase as well as the bird couple in the nest.



    For a really rough idea of how I made this card, I assembled the card in my first ever video.  This may not be the worst video ever made, but neither is it in the top ten!  You will have A LOT of views of my arm and hand - oops.  But the good news is I have finally figured out how to make a craft video.  All I need is to purchase a tripod.  That will happen this week!  I McGyver-ed a the camera for tonight only, hence all of the hand/arm shots!!  I will improve my video skills. 


    And finally here are a couple of more photos.  I hope you have a great day.



    Source URL: http://policfashion2011.blogspot.com/2010/05/
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Kiddo in the Kitchen: Chocolate Mint Icebox Cake


    I wanted to put this in the post title, but it was too long: "5-ingredient, no-bake, Chocolate Mint Icebox Cake!"

    Kiddo picked this recipe from my collection of Everyday Food magazines. Everyday Food is a wonderful little magazine from Martha Stewart. If you've never picked up a copy, you might want to. Unlike some of the more complicated ones in MS Living, Everyday Food is filled with EASY recipes. I had to stop subscribing after a few years because there were so many recipes I wanted to try...I couldn't take any more!


    This recipe seems too simple...and like it can't be all that good. Wafers, cream? That's it? Well, once assembled, the wafers soak up that cream and become cakey and soft. Plus, it looks really cool once you cut into it.

    Chocolate Mint Icebox Cake
    {adapted from Everyday Food}


    1 & 3/4 c. heavy cream
    3/4 tsp mint extract
    1/4 c. sugar
    1 (9 oz.) pkg. chocolate wafers
    1/3 c. mini chocolate chips


    Beat the heavy cream, extract & sugar until stiff peaks form.


    Spread about 1 teaspoon of cream on each wafer and form stacks on a plate.


    {This would have gone a lot quicker had 5/6ths of the wafers not been cracked. Ahem, chocolate wafer packagers.}



    Line a serving platter with two side-by-side sheets of wax paper. (You'll pull these out later.) Lay the stacks horizontally along the seam, pressing gently to form a log.


    With an offset spatula, cover the log with the remaining cream. Refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.


    Before serving, gently pull wax paper from under the cake. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Slice cake diagonally with a serrated knife.


    Kiddo gives this an 8.5....a perfect cold, minty treat for after tossing the football in the backyard.
    {You can still see ours in the background.} :)

    I'm linking this up to Tidymom's I'm Lovin' It Party. Have you been? Lots of great ideas and goodies are linked up every Friday!

    Source URL: http://policfashion2011.blogspot.com/2010/05/
    Visit Police Fashion for daily updated images of art collection

Wags 'n Whiskers Handcrafted with Love

    Woohoo!!! Happy Friday and it's a long weekend in the US! Right now, I've got my head buried in my paper and glue, creating away, and I'm happy as can be! It's time for a new challenge from Wag's 'n Whiskers, and this week, the challenge is from the awesome and extremely talented Melanie! Melanie is asking for us to use any handcrafted embellishment on our project. I used some of my crocheted lace along with this adorable image of Ansley and Princess called Ansley's Suprise. I colored it with Copic markers and cut it out with petite circle nestabilities.

    The papers are digital by Kay Miller and the flourishes were cut with my Cricut and I added some Stickles on them. Ribbon is May Arts silk and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. Please be sure and visit the rest of the Divas to see their fabulous creations with their handmade embellies! Then we'd completely love it if you'd join us in the challenge on the Wags 'n Whiskers blog. But remember, to have a chance to win a new Wags 'n Whiskers stamp of your choice, you must use a WnW image for your project!
    Thanks for stopping by to see me today, and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!

    Source URL: http://policfashion2011.blogspot.com/2010/05/
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Authority Always Wins

    It may seem commonplace to find a trunk, a bench, chairs or even a loveseat at the foot of a bed, and although it might seem like a trite formula, I believe it is a smart use of space.


    House Beautiful


    Lonny


    Elle Decor

    If a room can accommodate their placement, the addition of these pieces is a perfect way to add seating or extra storage. They can give you a place to slip on your shoes, to read, or to watch television.


    Elle Decor


    Southern Living


    Coastal Living

    I must admit, however, if you are at all like E or me, there can be a dark side to these pieces too-- they can become a staging point for my mortal enemy, clutter.


    L: Stylist- Rachel Roberts R: Elle Decor

    I am definitely a maximalist, so keeping clutter contained seems to require a constant effort on my part; all too easily an innocent chair becomes a place where a stack of folded laundry decides to rest after getting lost on the way to the dresser, where discarded clothing takes up temporary residence after being unable to decide between returning to the closet or going to the hamper, or where a bag housing a store return will often overstay its welcome.


    Anne Coyle Interiors


    Elle Decor


    Courtney Giles

    While I can't actually say authority always wins in my battle with clutter, I will continue to fight to keeping chairs free of such vagabonds items in the name of design. Tell me, do any of your belongings exhibit such a blatant disregard for the rules or do they always do as they should?
    Source URL: http://policfashion2011.blogspot.com/2010/05/
    Visit Police Fashion for daily updated images of art collection

It Was Totally Grand!


    This is the first of my Grand Canyon layouts - there will be many more.  No matter how large I print the photos, I just cannot do justice to the Canyon experience.  The photo on the left page was printed as an 8 x 10 and I used it full size.  The top photo on the right was printed as a 5 x 7 and again, I did not trim the photo.  The Grand Canyon was so completely.... GRAND.... and that is difficult to document.


    The left page contains only two Cricut cuts, the GRAND CANYON frame from Destinations and a photo mat.  The GC frame is supposed to have a canyon cut in the middle section, but I used Design Studio and resized the frame to hold my 8 x 10 photograph.  This photograph was taken by "My Friend Kathy" as dh and I took in the AWESOME view.


    The right page contains only one Cricut cut - I saved the negative cut from the middle of the left page frame and used it as a background mat on the right page.  Recycle, reduce, REUSE!  The cute little Bucket List was a purchased die cut from Scrap Your Trip, but I created one for My Friend Kathy's layout using the Destinations cartridge.  And speaking of MFKathy, she had the BRILLIANT idea to use the large background matting as a pocket to hold the brochures!!  How BRILLIANT is that?  I was VERY impressed and I am convinced that idea sharing is one of the big benefits of group scrapping!  Especially when your friends are as amazing scrappers as my friends!!! 

    Are you getting tired of my Vegas trip layouts?  I have more to share but I do not want to bore you.


    Source URL: http://policfashion2011.blogspot.com/2010/05/
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Tilda by Magnolia saying Happy Birthday!


    Hi everyone! Hope you're having a fabulous week! I don't know why I don't use lavenders and purples more often, cause I truly think the color lavender is gorgeous. So I truly don't understand my phobia for using this color, but I decided to give it a shot and this is what I came up with. This particular stamp, Tilda Holding Lamb, was from the new Easter Collection this spring. Sorry, she's not in stock right now. If you're interested in her, please email Diana at Magnolia-licious. I also used #521 Butterfly Background stamp (which is on sale right now) and the Magnolia paper pack A Little Yummy For Your Tummy collection.



    The images are colored with Copic markers. The panels are machine stitched and Tilda is cut out and popped up for dimension. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the silk ribbon from Stamp and Create. That's it for me today! Thanks for stopping by to see me today and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!
    Source URL: http://policfashion2011.blogspot.com/2010/05/
    Visit Police Fashion for daily updated images of art collection

Ttree Full Back Body Girl Tattoo Design

Tribal Unicorn Tattoo Design on Full Back Body

Dragon Tattoo Style on Back Girl

Tattoo Style on Back Girl

Big Bird Tattoo Style on Side Girl