Ice Cream Bon Bons

I don't know if anyone else remembers the little ice cream Bon Bons that were around when I was a kid, but I remember them being very good, covered with lots of chocolate. After seeing a yummy recipe on the new Tasty Kitchen, which Pioneer Woman has so lovingly created for all of us ^_^, I started coming up with all sorts of ideas. The original recipe called for vanilla ice cream, banana slices, and chocolate. Then, I thought about nilla wafers, ice cream in a number of different flavors, and more chocolate coating. Then I started thinking about about a billion other possibilities.

The basic structure is the same. Something on the bottom, ice cream on the top, dip the whole thing in chocolate.


Oreo cookie
Oreo or vanilla ice cream
Dip it in chocolate

Nilla wafer
Any flavor of ice cream
Dip it in chocolate

Banana
Vanilla ice cream
Dip it in chocolate
Top it with nuts! Mmm!

Small chocolate chip cookie
Vanilla ice cream
Dip it in chocolate


The possiblities are really endless. Any combination of small cookies, covered in ice cream dipped in chocolate (even white chocolate might work), would taste soo good. I will have to experiment, and if you're lucky, you'll see the results :D

Oh, I had another one!

Nilla wafer
Raspberry ice cream
Dip it in either white or dark chocolate

Now I'm drooling :D

Yep, Another Giveaway!

Since I didn't hear back from me, Amanda is the next winner. If you could please contact me within 24 hours that would be great. Congratulations! However your profile is not available and you didn't leave an email, so I will need to hear from you for you to win.

******
And the winners are......

me **I don't have an email address for you, so if you could contact me with that, I would appreciate it. If I don't hear from you within 24 hours, I will pass the prize on to the next entrant.**
and
throuthehaze

I used random.org to choose the winners, and I will be contacting you shortly. Congratulations!

*********************************
I've been given one more opportunity to host a giveaway, this time for a nifty little prize pack from Pillsbury Simply Cookies. I have a package of those yummy looking cookies sitting in my fridge at this very moment, waiting to be cooked up.

And while my cookies are waiting to be cooked up, you can enter the contest for this nice little prize pack:

A coupon for a free package of simply... cookie dough

A tote bag

A small ceramic cookie jar



I've used the bag at the grocery store a few times already (it holds quite a bit!), and once I get the cookies baked up I"ll be putting them in the cute little cookie jar :)

Enter in the comments section, and make sure that I have a way of contacting you either through your profile or by leaving an email address. Once the contest is over, I will contact you for your address which I will forward to the host of the contest, and they will mail you your prize pack.

While you're commenting, here is a question for you:

What do you do to make your meals more simple?

Contest ends on August 2nd at 5pm.

Mmm... Tasty!

***Congratulations to Kelly and April, you have both won the Chex Mix Turtle Bars prize!!***

I have been given another opportunity for a giveaway here, and would like to share with you Chex Mix Turtle Bars. I don't normally care for the cereal bars like this, but these were very good, and my kids ate them up pretty quickly too.


So, if you want to sign up, just enter in the comments section with a way for me to contact you, and I will forward your information so that you can receive your free Chex Mix Bars too!

Deadline to enter is July 26th, 2009 at 5 pm.

Good luck!

How To Repair A Tear In Microfiber

I recently acquired a nice microfiber couch from a friend who was getting rid of one. It is in much better shape than our old couch, which ended up in the trash bin (it was un-salvadgeable). Anyway, the only flaw in the couch was that there were a few tiny little tears in the fabric of one cushion that needed a bit of repair.

So, I set out to find instructions on repairing microfiber or microsuede, and found very little information. A few sites suggested expensive kits, but they didn't seem right for the type of material I was working with. The rest of the sites were all asking the same question, with no answers.

I managed to stumble across a site suggesting using a Fray Check on the edges of the tear to prevent further tearing, and then sewing the hole shut, but didn't give good instructions for sewing the hole shut. So, I decided to make my own instructions, and created a way to sew the hole shut so that it not only blends, but should be very, very sturdy, even with 6 kids jumping on it.

How To Repair Microfiber

You will need:

Fray Check
Buttonhole or Button Craft thread to match your fabric (it's a sturdy thick thread that is good for tears like this)
A sharp needle
Scissors

Find the hole in your microsuede, and treat the edges with Fray Check or some sort of anti-fray treatment available in the sewing section of a store. Allow it to dry completely.



When your fabric is dry, take a length of buttonhole thread that will be just about the length of your arm (it's better to have too much than too little, and I am repairing a small hole). Tie a small knot on the end and trim off any excess thread. Thread your needle through the hole and down a little bit under where the hole starts.



You want to be able to start your sewing just a little before the actual hole.

Make a few straight stitches under the hole. You want it to be taut, but not tight enough to make the fabric pucker. I could have made mine a little tighter than I did.


When you get to the actual hole, you will want to begin a sort of weaving process with your needle. Come up through the fabric to one side of the hole, put your needle through the hole, and bring it up on the other side of the fabric. Pull it taut (not too tight), and repeat the process.




You can use the fabric itself as a guide here, following the weave of the fabric to make your stitches. Continue "weaving" until you reach the top, keeping it taut as you go.





When you reach the top, create a few more straight stitches. When you're ready to tie off, make a small knot using your needle (like a French knot), and pull your needle through about an inch of fabric, bringing it up and pulling it tight. If you can pop the knot under the fabric, that would be great. If not, just clip the tightly drawn thread and let the tail get sucked back under the fabric.



(my apologies on this one, blogger keeps turning it sideways on me, and I can't figure out why...but, you get the idea, don't you?)



And, you're done! A nicely repaired hole, that, unless you're sitting next to it staring at it, will blend in fairly well and stay repaired for a very long time.

Pillsbury You Be The Judge - And Win Prizes!

You have been invited to participate in the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest. For the first time, everyone gets a chance to vote on the final winning recipes. Every two weeks there will be a new pair of recipes to vote on. To help you decide who is worthy of your votes, please watch this short video.

On top of all the fun of drooling over new recipes, I have been given the opportunity of giving away not one, but TWO great little prize packs! In each prize pack you will find:

• A magazine featuring past Bake-Off recipes
• A Pillsbury Doughboy Giggle Doll (my kids would love that!)

So please, go watch the video, vote for the finalists, and enter the giveaway by answering one or both of these questions:

• What do you think makes a winning recipe
• If you've seen the Pillsbury Bake-Off before, what are some of your favorite past recipes?

Voting will close at midnight on Sunday, July 19th, central time. Winners will be chosen at random on Monday, July 20th, and announced later that day.

Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you, or I will pick another winner. Good luck!