Apple Fritter With Raisins Bread - Monthly Challenge Blog Hop

Welcome friends to our Monthly Challenge Blog Hop! 

On the 2nd Monday of each month, a group of talented bloggers share their themed creations for the month, be it Upcycling, family Recipes or Dollar Store Crafts.  This month, we are sharing family Recipes, new or old!

Today, I'm sharing with you a new recipe that's becoming a family favorite!

My hubby loves apple fritters with raisins.  He doesn't find raisins in apple fritters too often, so when he does, he buys a lot! And that's notgood! From the time we were dating until now, I hear quite often, apple fritters, apple fritters, apple fritters!  Oh, and I forgot to tell you he loves baked bread, too! So when I saw a recipe and a easy to follow video for apple fritter bread, I knew this was a way for him to enjoy the best of all three, apple fritters, raisins and bread!   And it's so easy to make despite the many steps.  This recipe was adapted from TipHero.com, a very popular website.

APPLE FRITTER WITH RAISINS BREAD

INGREDIENTS

·         ⅓ cup brown sugar

·         2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

·         2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced

·         ⅔ cup raisins

·         ½ cup butter, room temperature

·         ⅔ cup granulated sugar

·         2 eggs

·         1-½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

·         1-½ cups all-purpose flour

·         1-¾ teaspoons baking soda

·         ½ cup + 1 tablespoon milk, divided

·         ½ cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS
1.   Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Spray a 9"x5" load pan with pan spray.  Set aside.
2.   In a small bowl, combine brown sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
3.   In another bowl, combine the diced apples with the remaining 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and stir to mix.  Set aside.

4.   In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the granulated sugar.  Beat the eggs in, one at a time until completely mixed.  Add the vanilla extract and mix.
5.   In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.
6.   Add the ½ cup of milk and mix until smooth.
7.   Add flour and baking soda mix to the butter mixture, and stir until well-blended.
8.   Pour half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan.   Layer half of the apple and raisin mixture on top of the batter, followed by half of the brown sugar mixture.  Gently press the apples and raisins into the batter.

9.   Add the remaining batter to the pan, followed by the remaining apples, raisins and brown sugar mixture. Lightly press the apples and raisins into the batter and swirl the brown sugar between the apple chunks  and raisins into the batter.
10. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack before removing from the pan.
11. While the bread cools, prepare the glaze.  In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar with the remaining 1 tablespoon of milk.  Mix until smooth, and then drizzle over the cooled bread.  Sorry, I didn't add the glaze to mine.

    "Tasty and yummy," is what hubby said, just like apple fritters!  This is a winner recipe for our family!

Be sure to visit all of the hostesses for their awesome family recipes, too!

Beverly@Across the Boulevard 

 Marci @Stone Cottage Adventures  

 Laurie @My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies

Donna @Two Chicks And a Mom
Gail @Purple Hues and Me  

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!

Repurpose a Shoebox Into a Keepsake Card Holder for Mother's Day

I've saved all of my Mother's Day cards since becoming a mother thirty seven years ago and I have quite a collection.  But unfortunately, I place them in a drawer that's become cluttered with other stuff.  So the crafter in me needed to make something adorable to hold my cards.

A shoebox can easily be repurposed to hold cards, or letters, photos, and other special items that we hold dear. The possibilities are almost unlimited on how to repurpose and decorate them. 

For this look, begin by finding a shoebox big enough to hold different size cards you want to keep.  I had an idea to decoupage a shoebox with paper doilies and  pretty flowers from paper napkins, but somehow it didn't exactly turn out how I hoped.  In fact, I call this my craft fail. It just doesn't look pretty and aged like I thought it would.  But I think my idea is still great .  .  .  to repurpose a shoebox to store my cherished Mother's Day cards.

Once you have your shoe box, cut out the  border from doilies,  adjusting the size to fit the top by cutting, and then decoupage onto the box top .  .  .

 gently smoothing out the border using the back of a plastic spoon or cling wrap.

Next, cut out decorative borders from round doilies and decoupage onto the corners of the top .  .  .

and decoupage a round cut out doily border to the center.

Once all the doilies are dry, cut off the excess corner edges. 

To age the look of the box, since the majority of the box was black, it was easier to paint the entire box black and then rub excess off with a soft cloth. In hindsight, I think this was the beginning of my mistake. Perhaps I should have used a lighter color for this.

 Anyway, it started to look messy and then, I applied a silver rub and metallic plum acrylic paint over that. Again, trying to get an aged look with plum accents. Continuing on, despite how this was looking .  .  .

I cut out flowers from paper napkins and then separated the plain ply layers from the flowers .  .  .

before adding them to the top using Mod Podge.

Next, I added a bit more metallic plum acrylic paint to the top and sides .  .  .

and glued on metal feet for a lovely antique look!

  I think this looks a whole lot better!

 And lovely enough to hold my most cherished Mother's Day cards!

What do you think? 

Thanks for stopping by

and take a little time to enjoy -

Happy Crafting!

Twisted Paper Napkin Flowers

Paper napkins just aren't for wiping your mouth and hands while eating  .  .  .  they make beautiful flowers, too!  While it might be a bit costly to decorate your home with fresh flowers, or give each guest a real flower at their place setting, flowers made from paper napkins can look just as nice, and at a fraction of the cost - especially if you get the napkins from the dollar store.  And the best part, you can make them to match your décor or party theme.

The possibilities are practically endless using a few folding techniques, scissors, floral wire, tape, tacky glue and an assortment of colorful or printed paper napkins!
To begin, starting at the corner of the paper napkin, carefully pull apart each ply, and then refold into original squares, following the folded lines.

Next, fold into a triangle .  .  .

then another triangle .  .  .

and finally, one more triangle.

Next, take the folded side and fold over, three quarters of the way.

Using scissors, cut a round ice cream cone shape just below the edge.

Next, open cut shape .  .  .

and holding the round area with one hand, twist one side of the top like you're screwing on something, tightly.  Then holding the opposite side, twist again, as tight as you can .  .  .

as pictured.

Then, gently open the folded piece .  .  .

carefully keeping .  .  .

the twisted edges together.  You can gently twist any edges that might have been separated when opening back together following the twist patterns. 

Repeat with more napkins, making as many layers for flower fullness and size.

For the stem, group three floral stems together and cover with floral tape, starting at one end and coiling tape around stems until reaching end and securing tape.

Then, make a hole in center of paper napkin and insert stem, stopping about 1.5 inches from top.

Add tacky glue to stem edge .  .  .

and grasp bottom of napkin around stem, forming flower layer.

Repeat for each layer of flower, adding tacky glue to base of previous layer.

Continue adding layers for flower fullness . .  .

until satisfied with fullness and look.

Have fun making these adorable paper napkin flowers!

They have the look of carnations with their twisted edges!

Thanks for stopping by

and take a little time to enjoy -

Happy Crafting!

Recycle Cardboard Into An Adorable Regrigerator Magnet Using Ribbon

Earth Day  is April 22 and to celebrate, I'm over on Bowdabrablog  showing you how easy it is to recycle cardboard into an adorable refrigerator magnet using ribbon. 

So, take a look here, and give it a try .  .  .  you'll find the tutorial amazingly easy with beautiful results.  And the best part, it's a great way to recycle cardboard - that's basically trash, into something cute and adorable on the fridge or just perfect for gift giving!

Thanks for stopping by

and take a little time to enjoy -

Happy Crafting!