clever girls posts Archives - A Sweet Spot Home

Cranberry Treats for Thanksgiving

November 1, 2012 By Carrie Leave a Comment

It’s time to start thinking about our Thanksgiving menus, and while we can always rely on the trusty turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie, it’s fun to try and mix in some different things from time to time, especially when it comes to dessert! Cranberry flavored treats are a great addition to your dessert buffet, and today, I’m excited to share a couple of cranberry recipes that you can share with your loved ones on this special day!

First up, is Cranberry Orange Biscotti…a treat that seems odd to serve for Thanksgiving, but for those of us that tend to overindulge on the meal a bit, a cup of tea and a biscotti is a great way to round out the meal without eating something as filling as a piece of pie.

Cranberry Orange Biscotti
{recipe inspired by}

1/2 cup Country Crock spread
2/3 cup sugar (I prefer organic)
2 eggs
zest of one orange
2 T orange liqueur or 1 tsp orange extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c chopped almonds
1/4 c white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, mix together Country Crock spread and sugar until incorporated. Add eggs, orange zest, and orange liqueur or extract.
3. Slowly mix in dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated.
4. Add cranberries, almonds, and white chocolate chips.
5. Divide dough in half and roll into 2 pieces that measure approximately 10 inches long and 2 inches wide.
6. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
7. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes and then slice on a diagonal, returning to the baking sheet and baking for an additional 10 minutes.
8. Enjoy!

Now, we’ll continue the cranberry flavor with these delicious Chocolate Pudding Brownies! With the flavor of cinnamon, cranberries, and almonds, this brings out the flavors of fall in a wonderfully delicious way!

Chocolate Pudding Brownies with Cranberry and Almonds
{recipe inspired by}

Ingredients:
6 T Country Crock spread
2/3 cup sugar (I prefer organic)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1 5.9 oz package of chocolate pudding mix
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I chose to mix white chocolate and milk chocolate)

Directions:
1. Sift together flour, pudding mix, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together Country Crock spread and sugar until well mixed.
3. Add eggs and milk.
4. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients.
5. Add dried cranberries, slivered almonds, and chocolate chips.
6. Place in a greased 9×9 baking dish (I used a pie plate, but I recommend the 9×9 for more even baking.) Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean, more time may be required.

Enjoy!

Thank you to Good to Know & Unilever Spreads for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Filed Under: Baking, Uncategorized Tagged With: baking, clever girls posts, dessert ideas, desserts, quick desserts, Thanksgiving

Preparing for Summer Guests

July 14, 2012 By Carrie 1 Comment

It’s summertime, and for many of us, that means we’ll have guests visiting. What’s the first thing we think of when preparing our homes to receive guests? I’d have to say most of us would agree that it’s the guest bathroom!

My in-laws recently came to visit and bless them for their patience in sharing a bathroom with two young kids! When guests come to stay, I always think it’s a good idea to make sure you make them feel welcome. By having a basket of goodies that they may have forgotten to pack, it means your guests won’t have to come running to you for things that they may need.

This welcome sign is a great way to personalize a little something special for your guests when they arrive. By keeping it in the bathroom, even last minute guests can have their own welcome sign, all you’ll need to do is sneak away for a moment! (Which we know we all do when unexpected guests arrive…we’ve got to check the status of the bathroom, don’t we??)

These cute little thrift store finds are great for holding odds and ends, and I even like the idea of leaving one empty as a sort of “catch all” for your guests. Rings and jewelry won’t get lost you have a special place to put them!

While the Kleenex Hand Towels containers are made to be fairly neutral in order to blend in with most color schemes, the steel grey color of this package was just a bit modern for the look of our bathroom, so my mother-in-law and I threw together this cute wrap to go around the container and “girly” it up a bit!

All we (and by we, I mean 95% my mother-in-law, 5% me…I’m still working on my sewing skills!) did was cut a piece of cute fabric and sew on three pieces of elastic in order to make the cute and ruffly wrap. The whole project took about 30 minutes and really added something special to the box of hand towels.

Here’s my mother-in-law sewing away. This was before I was brave enough to jump in and give it a try, but once I did, it actually wasn’t that difficult. If you can sew a straight line, you can do this!

When it was time to hang up the container, I used the easiest thing possible…sticky tack! Just four big pieces of sticky tack and that container isn’t going anywhere…and it’s not going to ruin your walls either! It’s a great way to mount your box of Kleenex Hand Towels in a nice, clean way.

So, the next time you have guests over, think about using Kleenex Hand Towels in your guest bathroom. If your home is similar to mine and your guest bathroom is also your kids’ bathroom, you NEVER know what you’ll find in your regular bathroom towels. These disposable hand towels are a much safer option!

Join the 14 million people who have already joined the Clean Hands campaign by using Kleenex Hand Towels, and click here for savings and more! I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective.

Filed Under: Around the House Tagged With: around the house, clever girls posts, guest bathroom, guests, houseguests, kleenex hand towels, summer

One of My Many Do Over Moments!

June 22, 2012 By Carrie Leave a Comment

OK, guys, I’m going to share with you MY do over moment. If I’m being honest, I have about 5,284 do over moments that I could share…I’m more than a little accident/mix-up prone. But, since it’s summertime, and I’m sure many of us will be doing some traveling, my do over moment could also serve as a bit of advice for you all!

Several years ago, we were visiting my husband’s family in western Pennsylvania. We planned on visiting for a few days, then driving across the state to Hershey for a few days of family fun with the kids. So, we loaded up the kids and drove the 3+ hours to Hershey. Upon arriving in Hershey, we went straight to our hotel to check in. After the long drive, (at least for a 3 and 7 year old!) our hotel room was just what we needed.

So, since I had taken care of the reservation, I headed to the front desk and told the clerk we were checking in. He typed our name into the computer…and waited… Then, he typed our name into the computer again, and again, he waited… Then, he asked me for our confirmation number, which I had, because I’m prepared like that. So, he entered our number into the system and it immediately pulled up our reservation…FOR THE NEXT DAY! I (as the family vacation coordinator) had brought our family across the large state of Pennsylvania, during the summertime, to the popular Hershey, Pennsylvania…ON THE WRONG DAY!

So, panic begins to set in. As the visions of us sleeping in our car cross my mind, my panic level skyrockets. I mean, seriously, what if this hotel had no where for us to stay? After a little finagling on the computer, the kind man was able to find a room for us and all was well; we went on to have a lovely family vacation.

I will admit that my vacation planner reputation with my family, has taken a BIG hit. Just a few weeks ago, we were discussing our family vacation for this summer, four years later, and my husband may or may not have insinuated that it might be a good idea if I double check the dates of our hotel stays…and so I did. (And yes, everything was correct…)

But can you imagine how terrible it would have been if my poor planning had caused my family to miss this…

Or this….

Or worst of ALL, this…

Yikes!! Always check your reservations, friends. Always. Check. Your. Reservations!

The Frigidaire Gallery™Dishwasher gets dishes fully cleaned the first time, so there are no dish do-overs. Nearly half of adults admit to re-washing and/or re-drying dishes after the dishwasher cycle has been completed. To prevent dishwasher do-overs, Frigidaire® is stepping in with its new Gallery® Dishwasher featuring the OrbitCleanTM Wash Arm, ensuring dishes are cleaned right the first time.

I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All the opinions expressed here are my own.