Baking Extravaganza!

If I've learned anything while working at a school, is that teachers love to feed people.  It feels like we have snackies / luncheons / treats all the time.   :)   The last luncheon we had was a pot-luck dessert luncheon; but several of us in our office were leery about the number of rich chocolate cakes we would be having, so we set out to find a "healthy-ish" dessert recipe to bring.  I volunteered to do the baking, but this turned out to be a really easy (and really yummy!) recipe, so I'd thought I'd share it.  It's an amalgamation of several similar recipes, so I'm not sure quite what to call it.  If you think of a catchy name, please let me know!

 Cream Cheese Fruit Dessert Pizza

• 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
• 4 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 pkg.(16.5 oz.) refrigerated sliceable sugar cookies, sliced   (**You can always make your own sugar cookies. I normally hate the ready-made cookie dough, but this time around I was short on time and used the "break and bake" cookies.)
• 4 cups assorted cut-up fruit (kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, drained canned mandarin oranges, bananas, raspberries, blackberries, etc.)
• 1 16-ounce can sliced light peaches, drained (reserve juice)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/3 cup sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut cookie dough into slices and arrange on a 12-inch pizza pan, coated with non-stick spray. Press slices together to form a solid crust. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden. Crust is done when edges begin to brown.

**You can also alter the "shape" of your pizza by how you make the cookies.  I was taking my recipe to a potluck, so I kept the individual cookies as single servings instead of forming a big pizza that would need to be cut apart.

Beat cream cheese until smooth; add sugar and whipped topping. Spread evenly over cooled crust. Top with fruit.

Combine 1/2 cup reserved peach juice, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Cook until thick. Drizzle over pizza and chill.  (**I didn't do this part due to time restrictions, and my fruit browned overnight.  I think the peach juice will help prevent that.)

Makes 8 servings of fruit dessert pizza.

I also tried a "savory" version of the recipe, using a tube of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (they come in a big sheet now, too) in case the sugar cookies were too sweet... I'm not fond of them.  I don't know if it was the dough (the sheet of Crescent Rolls was not equal to normal Crescent rolls, boooo!) or what exactly, but it seemed to get soggy and un-appealing fairly quickly.  It was still good, don't get me wrong, but the fruit on sugar cookies was SO GOOD that the rolls never stood a chance.

Overall, this recipe is super fast and easy -- the only real "cooking" you do is 15min of baking sugar cookies and cutting up a lot of fruit.  Of course, you all know me, the time-consuming part for me was arranging the fruit to me mathematically precise and pretty.    ^_^    Cut to my kitchen:  Me, humming happily, "Strawberry here, then a banana, then strawberry, then bana-- DARNIT! FIT BANANA! GET IN THERE! ... lalala,then another strawberry...."

Craftiness!

I finally got Mother to stand still long enough in her sweater so I could take a picture of it.  I made this about 2 years ago, as one of my first "garments that isn't a hat or scarf."  I was determined that it would fit her and be gorgeous... so needless to say, I was not happy at her losing weight while I was knitting!  I ripped this sweater apart so many times it was ridiculous.  So! I am happy to finally post a picture.

Blue Heron Yarns, Egyptian Mercerized Cotton (2,000yds / skein) Color: Canyon

Knitting Pure & Simple #257, Split Neck T-Shirt for Women
Raveled here.

And because they are so easy to make, I've churned out a few more 31 Skirt Purses!  I feel so good about myself that this is working as I envisioned it!  Normally, my craft projects don't go NEARLY so well.

Finished #2!

SQUEEEEEE!  I've finally finished a project!  I've got three others sitting on the coffee table, ranging from 60% to 90% done, but my "Finishing ADHD" is kicking in and I just can't seem to get anything completed!I even pulled out a skein of "gift yarn" the other day and have been staring at it, trying to convince myself to finish old projects before I begin new ones.  I'm such a mess... Though today I put on a determined face and started with the one that needed the least effort to complete it.  Even though I underestimated how much effort was needed to attach the brim and buttons (namely, re-knitting the brim to fit my new PVC insert), it only took me a little while to get everything attached as it needed to be.

This is only my second project finished this year, so I am admittedly behind on my "12 Projects in 12 Months" goal.  But!  Like I said, I have others that are very close to finished, so I am still optimistic about being able to catch up and get 12 projects done this year.

I'm particularly fond of the buttons.

Cabled Chapeau
Stitch Nation By Debbie Stoller

Bernat Satin (arcylic) 200yds per skein 

color #1101, Plum Mist Heather 

ARRRGGHH!

I was so mad yesterday I was not fit to talk to!  It all started Thursday at the optometrist's when my credit card was declined.  I was confused, but the lady said that their credit card machine doesn't always accept Credit Union cards.  Weird, but whatever.  Then, yesterday I was running errands and my card was declined again!  The cashier was very nice about it, but I was financially embarrassed and getting a little annoyed.  Once time is a freak accident, but twice is becoming a pattern.  So, I called the bank and the customer service lady politely explained that there was a fraudulent charge and they canceled my card.  Way to let me know, bank!!  Thanks a lot for your prompt communication... three weeks after the fraud, I have to call you to figure out why I have no more credit card.   >:(

I can only get so angry at the bank because she told me that the fraudulent charge was for the Tahiti Club (motel) in Indiana.... so someone did steal my card number and then tried to check into a sleazy motel with it.  Gah!  Now, I have to go to every Internet account where I have a credit card saved and change it, re-enter the bills that post to my credit card, and (worst of all) memorize a new number!  I've had my credit card number memorized for the longest time and it was so nice.  Now I have to change everything because of some schmuck who wanted a free stay at the Tahiti Club!  I'd really love to meet this guy and kick him hard right in the naughty bits!!

The plus side, I guess, is that I can't spend any money for the next 7-10 days while I wait for the new card to arrive.  That, and my bank was able to protect me from a fraudulent charge.  Not much of a consolation, but I'm trying to find the silver lining in all of this.

Going Underground!

For those of you that don't know, there has been a recent infectious fungus up & down the East Coast (from Canada to the Carolinas) that is decimating the bat populations.  Scientists are working very hard to figure out how White Nose Syndrome is killing the bats, how it is spreading, and how we can stop it.  This has been a major concern for the speleological society because WNS kills up to 100% of the bat population that it reaches.  Little Brown Bats (the most common species we see around here) have mortality rates over 90%.  :(   For several years now, entire cave systems have been shut down to prevent humans spreading WNS between caves to new bat populations.  However, regulations have been created that will allow cave entrance once again (YAY!), providing there is strict cleaning and disinfecting of gear between cave trips. 

(UPDATE:  WNS has been confirmed as far west as Ohio and Kentucky within the last few months!)

Obviously, the Girl Scout caving program has suffered because of WNS.  We have been shut down for about three years now, but the new cleaning regulations are allowing us to start trips once again.  Of course, we are essentially rebuilding the program from scratch:  we had to re-establish contact with the cave owners and see who was allowing visitors; our girl members have scattered to the winds (as well as some adults); and, as luck would have it, our main recruiting workshop event was canceled this year due to bad weather.  All this resulted in a trip this weekend with 12 girls and 25 adults.  Haha!!  All of us adults were so excited that we ALL signed up even though there were not enough girls.

First - The Bad News- My group of girls was supposed to be the "Junior Staff in Training" group.... the girls who are old enough & experienced enough to help the younger girls.  Usually, at full capacity, each group of cavers has 2 adults, 1 junior staff, and about 5 girls.  However, my girls are nowhere near responsible enough to help lead others.  There was little motivation, exploration, or personal responsibility seen all weekend.  That's not to say they didn't have fun; but they would have had probably as much fun in the mall back home.  It didn't matter to them that they were in a cave at all.  :( 

Now, The Good News:
1. Got to see the "second family" once again.  There were even some of the now-college girls that came back!  (That's Mom's favorite part about our caving program: you get to see the girls mature from bratty 12-year-olds to responsible junior staff & college ladies.)

We had a retroactive high school graduation ceremony for them since they missed it.  Each spring, the soon-to-be-graduates get caving mortarboards and a ceremony.

2.  In the adventures to get permission to enter caves again, we actually got some "new" caves opened up to us.  My group went into Norman on Friday.... and Norman has been closed to the public for about 10years!!  I haven't been in it since *I* was a girl in the program.  I even made the brave leap to take my camera in with me and got some good pictures.

The funny thing about the picture of the water dripping into a rimstone pool is that I have (somewhere) the exact same picture from 10years ago!  Haha!  Some things just stay the same I guess.

3.  On Saturday, my group went into Lost World Caverns, owned by friends of ours.  The front section of the cave is made into a commercial tour with lights and handrails and such, but the back part is open for "wild" tours.  Unfortunately, my camera pooped out on me and died that morning, so I have no pictures of that GORGEOUS cave. Seriously, if you are ever in Lewisburg, WV, go check out Lost World.  It is sooooooo pretty!

4.  I got new toys to try out this trip!  Now that I am a adult on these trips, I have to carry more supplies and emergency gear.  My old pack is still usable, but just not big enough, so I upgraded my pack.  I also got a hose to connect to my Platypus water packs to try a "hydration system" rather than just water bottles.  Then, I used the rainy weather as an excuse to wear my cute new rain boots!  Squee!  Overall, everything worked splendidly for me and I really liked all the changes!  (However, the downside to having a sippy-hose for your water is that you drink more and really stress your bladder by the end of the day!)