Do-It-Yourself Dog Ear Fence Headboard

Truly, this was one of the easiest and cost efficient DIY projects we’ve done!  Who would have thought fencing would look so incredible on an interior wall?

Step by step:

One dog ear fence panel and disassemble the panels off the post.  Carry the boards into the house and start choosing what pattern you want to go with.  I chose to mix up the lighter boards and the darker ones.

Screw fence panels (use a level for the first one) onto wall and alternate directions of each panel to face opposite directions.

Results?  Awesome!

Woodsman’s Log Cake

My son is celebrating his 12th birthday and I made it a mission to make him the coolest cake he has ever seen!  He is getting too old for the traditional “cookie cutter” cakes and I wanted to continue to promote our lifestyle outdoors with something special.  This Woodsman Log Cake knocked it out of the park!! This recipe is for vanilla cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting as my son requested.

First:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 9″ round cake pans with greasing and flouring them

Beat 2 Cups sugar and 4 eggs with paddle attachment for about one minute or until thickened.  Add 2 1/2 C. flour, 1 C. Milk, 3/4 C. Vegetable Oil, 2 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder and 1 tsp. Vanilla  Blend until smooth and creamy without over beating the batter.  

Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake approximately 30 minutes.  Once done, turn them upside down onto a cooling rack.  (I ended up doing 5 layers for the log so, we made this recipe X’s 3)

Next, you’re going to start the frosting.  Sift together 3 Cups Powdered Sugar and 1/2 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder.  In a mixing bowl, combine one 8 oz. package Cream Cheese (at room temp) and one stick unsalted butter (1/2 Cup).  Beat until creamy and slowly add the powdered sugar mix you’ve previously sifted.  Add one tsp. Vanilla and beat until smooth.  Now you have Whipped Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting!

Melt:  1-2 Cups Chocolate Chips and put in a piping bag.  I used a tip that looked long and flat to resemble tree bark.  Pipe melted chocolate chips onto wax paper and set in fridge to harden.  It doesn’t have to be pretty, you’ll see why in just a bit.

Now, I chose my cake board to be a cut log we had.  Add a little frosting to the top of the board as it will help your layers stay in place a little easier.  Assemble 5-6 layers with frosting.

Once your layers are frosted, get your “bark strips” out of the fridge and place them all around the cake.

Melt more chocolate chips and use a brush to coat all around your bark. This step makes it really come to life! 

Now, you’re ready for the fire on top!  My daughter dipped pretzel sticks into melted chocolate and let them dry.  

Heat the oven to 300 degrees again and crush up 20 each of butterscotch hard candy and cinnamon hard candy.  Once crushed, I put the yellow candy in the center and cinnamon on the outside.  Bake it in the oven on parchment paper for approximately 8 minutes or until you can swirl the melted candy together.  Don’t let it burn or bubble!  Take the candy out of the oven, let it dry and smash it!

Assemble the campfire using pretzel sticks and candy:

I did some mini smores around the log just for aesthetics.  I added a little frosting to the chocolate to help hold the marshmallows in place better.  Ta-Da!!  What a cake!!  Happy Birthday Son!

 

 

Blueberry Velvet Jam

Holy Moses!  What a great jam this turned out to be!  The flavor is to die for and even though 4 pounds of blueberries equals 7 pints of jam?  I’d do this OVER and OVER again!  We also found a great recipe for the purple vintage jars!

Here it is!  We are calling this Blueberry Velvet Jam.

 

4 Pounds (or 64 Ounces) of frozen Blueberries divided into two pots (6 Cups for those who are using a measuring device)

1.75 – 2 Ounces Powdered Pectin – I always round up

Pulse frozen blueberries and add pectin to a pot.  Don’t turn the heat on yet, just incorporate the pectin.  Now add: 1 Cup (We used Cupcake Red Velvet Wine but, choose your own red)  1/4 tsp. Cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. Ground Cloves and 1/2 tsp butter.  Mix it in the pot you’re going to boil it in while cold.

Add heat.  Turn that stove on to med-high and bring to a rolling boil.

 

  Add 6 Cups sugar to each pot with 1 lemon rind zest each and bring to another rolling boil for just over one minute.

Ladle mixture into pint or 1/2 pint jars and wipe rims to ensure a great seal.

What you’re left with is 7 Pints of deliciousness in a jar and some HAPPY kids!  (Don’t worry parents; Alcohol burns off during the boil so your kids won’t be “punch drunk”. )

 

 

 

Spicy Dilly Carrot Sticks

December is that time of year when the kids and I congregate in the kitchen to come up with our annual “basket of goodies” for close friends and family.  It beats trying to shop for everyone on a budget plus, we get a nice yield of canned goods for our food storage as well!

Yesterday, we made something so simple and delicious.  The real bonus is the cost of making this recipe is next to nothing!  A win-win for our homestead!  Here’s what we did:

This recipe yields 24 each 1/2 Pint jars

My son peeled 3 each, 2 pound bags of carrots and sliced (with seeds) about 6 Jalapenos lengthwise.

I cut the carrots into sticks and stuffed them into the jars (leaving a little space at the top so we get a good seal). We also added 3-4 slices of the jalapenos to each jar. Once the jars are stocked, add 1 tsp. chopped garlic, 1 Tbl. Dill Weed, 1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes to each 1/2 pint.

Brine:

12 Cups White Distilled Vinegar

3 1/2 Cups white sugar

1/2 Cup Kosher or Sea Salt

Bring this to a boil and then simmer while adding the liquid brine to each jar.  Be sure to leave a space at the top of the jars!

Wipe each jar with a clean towel to ensure a good seal and add lids with tops.  Place each jar into a water bath and leave for 10 minutes. (I don’t leave them in the bath too long since I don’t want to over cook the carrots)

BAM! Spicy Dilly Carrot Sticks!  Total investment:  $21.00  This included the 24 canning jars!