For more amazing ideas from Rawforbeauty visit:   http://www.rawforbeauty.com/

Yay!! It's Spring!! Time to get ready for Mosquito invasions. ;-) Here's an easy, natural, pleasant repellent recipe you can make at home:

Combine in a 16 oz bottle:
15 drops lavender oil
10 drop of Citronella essential oil
3-4 Tbsp of vanilla extract
1/4 Cup lemon juice.
Fill bottle with water.
Shake & it's ready to use.
 
Spray on yourself. (& I guess whatever you wanna keep skeeters off of.)

Make some extra to gift to your neighbors, family & friends. (Trust me.. it'll be appreciated!)

Share this on your wall so you'll have it handy when it's needed.

HAPPY SPRING Y'ALL!! :-) --CG

Festive Bows

Handsome bows are easy to make yourself. To make each bow one-of-a-kind, add a jingle bell, button, silver bell, or other tie-on after completing the bow.

What You Need:

Bows add a special finishing touch.

• 1 block floral foam or Styrofoam, approximately 10 inches long, 3 inches wide, and at least 2 inches deep
• Two 6-inch lengths of 1/4-inch dowel (other diameters can also be used)
• Ribbon as desired
• Scissors

Instructions:

Step 1

1. Wrap loops. Push dowels into floral foam about 5 inches apart. Holding ribbon end on top of base, wrap dowels at least 3 times. For larger bows, wrap 4 to 6 times.

Step 2

2. Cut ribbon end. After wrapping dowels, cut the ribbon, leaving about an 8-inch tail. Slip tail of ribbon underneath loops, continuing to hold the starting end of the ribbon.

Step 3

3. Tie a center knot. Secure the loops by tying the ribbon ends firmly into a knot in the center of the loops. Carefully slide the bow loops off the dowels.

Step 4

4. Attach to package and arrange loops. Tie the bow atop intersecting ribbons that wrap around the package. Separate and fluff the bow loops. Fold ribbon ends in half and trim as desired.

http://www.bhg.com/christmas/gift-wrapping/festive-bows/

Homemade Red Velvet Cake Recipe from Scratch

Delicious, wow, wonderful, tasty, yummy – these are all the compliments that you are going to get if you follow this simple red velvet cake recipe from scratch. This red velvet cake recipe is easy to follow and uses simple ingredients. We have listed beet juice (which was the original source of red color in classic recipes) but you can easily substitute it for red food coloring.

Ingredients:
- 500 ml beet juice or 2 bottles red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (or you can also use 1 packet of instant hot chocolate)
- 115 grams softened butter at room temperature (you can substitute this for 1/2 cup Crisco)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Grease two 9-inch pans and dust the insides with a little flour. Pat the excess flour out.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks.
- Take the egg yolks in a bowl and add the sugar to them. Beat well to let the sugar dissolve a little.
- Add the cocoa powder and mix well.
- Beat in the butter to get a slightly fluffy mix.
- Now add the buttermilk and beet juice to the mix and whisk well to combine.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they double up in volume.
- Add vinegar, salt and vanilla to this and beat some more.
- Sift the cake flour and baking powder together.
- Add the flour mix to the butter mix, one tablespoon at a time, and blend well.
- In the end you will get a nice, uniform red color in the batter.
- Gently fold in the egg white and vinegar mix and stir by hand. Make sure that you scrape the sides of the bowl to get an even mix.
- Pour the batter in the greased pans and bake them at 350F for about 25-30 minutes.
- Cool for five minutes, invert on a wire rack and let the cake cool completely before applying frosting or cutting in slices to serve.
- You can also make red velvet cupcakes using this recipe. Pour the batter in cupcake molds (makes 24) and bake them at 350F for about 10-15 minutes.
Traditional cream cheese frosting goes best with red velvet cake, but you can use standard chocolate glaze or frosting over it, or simple fluffy white frosting.
Toasted coconut also tastes great with this cake.

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions:
- Line a baking sheet with foil and spread the shredded coconut on it in a fine layer.
- Bake at 350F for about 6-8 minutes, tossing in between for even cooking.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool.
- Sprinkle the coconut over the icing to cover from all sides.

http://www.cakerecipesecrets.com/red-velvet-cake-recipe/homemade-red-velvet-cake-recipe-scratch

Baked Doughnuts

Baked Doughnuts

I  love sweets.  Wait is it obvious?

I am sure you know by now that I love anything sweet.  Anything.  Anything.  I love the obvious sweets – Candy, Ice Cream, Cakes – but I also love the more non-obvious sweets.  Like fruit!  Fruit has a natural sweetness that I crave.  They say that fruit is natures dessert.  When I heard this I knew why I liked fruit so much :).

Ok, now back to the guilty, indulging kinds of sweets.  Not that fruit isn’t indulging, it’s just not the same.  You know what I mean...

I’m taking about the kinds that make you so happy while your eating.  You’re smiling when you’re eating them.  And then after you eat them you feel that little bit of guilt.  That guilt where the healthy side of you is saying, “Why did I eat that!”  But your indulging side is saying, “Thank you!” I listen to both sides pretty equally.  That’s how I get to live a fun and healthy lifestyle.  

A healthy and fun lifestyle is being able to say no and yes.   Does that make sense?  It does to me, but I know I say things sometimes and people have no clue what I’m saying.  So let me explain.  You can’t just always say yes to every food.  You have to control yourself and say no.  If you didn’t than that would be unhealthy for you.  But you can’t say no all the time.  You need to let yourself indulge sometimes.  Enjoy life!  Enjoy food!  Ok does that make sense now?  I think I might have confused you.  Ah, its ok… let’s continue!

A doughnut (or donut – however you want to spell it) is one of those indulging foods.  Very very very indulging.  You definitely can’t have a donut for breakfast every day and be healthy.  Eating a donut in the morning is not the healthiest way to start your day.  I mean come on.  Who ever thought of frying dough, topping it with sugar, and serving it for breakfast?  So random right!  You think it would be more of a dessert item.  Who ever invented donuts probably invented it to be a dessert.  But someone in America thought, “This would be an amazing breakfast!” and then it happened – a dessert item for breakfast.  Don’t quote me on this history, I’m just talking :). 

I have treated myself to a fair amount of donuts in my day.  I ate them much more when I was younger, but I still have one here and there.  With my love for sweets it’s natural for me to want to eat sweets for breakfast.  And I never said I opposed to that dessert for breakfast idea… I actually love that idea.  Just can’t do it often.  Even though I wish I could!

One thing that makes donuts not so good for you is that they are fried.  But this is what makes them incredibly delicious.  So I thought… can I make a baked donut that is just as good?  I searched the internet and found out that people have been doing this a lot lately.  When I found a recipe that I liked I got out my donut cutter (Yes I bought one from Williams and Sonoma because I couldn’t resist one day) and made baked donuts!

What a revelation!  They were doughy and soft and really flavorful.  And much healthier than fried donuts!  However, don’t think that these taste healthy.  They are just healthier.  They are just as indulging as normal donuts and definitely give you that sweet fix.  Make them for breakfast, a snack, or dessert, and you won’t be missing those fried donuts anymore!

I made 2 variations of these donuts – one that is topped with cinnamon-sugar, and the other that is dipped in a vanilla glaze.  Each way was equally delicious.  I couldn’t decide which one I liked more.  You can top your donuts whichever way you prefer.  Or you can do half and half like I did.   Either way, I know you will enjoy these yummy baked donuts!

 

Baked Doughnuts

For Printable Recipe, Click here!

Makes: About 15 doughnuts (& donut holes)

For the Dough

3/4 cups Warm Milk

1 packet Active Dry Yeast

1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter

1/3 cup Sugar

1 Egg

2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour

Pinch of Nutmeg

½ tsp. Salt

For the Glaze

* Enough to glaze all the doughnuts

¼ cup Milk

1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

2 cups Confectioners Sugar

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

*Enough to cover all of the doughnuts

½ cup Unsalted Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 tbsp. Cinnamon

To make the dough, place ¼ cups of the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Sprinkle the yeast over the milk.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar and butter.  Add it to the yeast mixture.  Stir to combine.  Add the egg and stir until incorporated.  Add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form.  Change to the dough hook and knead for until the dough starts to become smooth.  If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour until it is no longer sticky. 

Transfer to the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and has formed a ball.  Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.  Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size. 

Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until ½ thick.  Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 biscuit cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left.  If desired you can gather up the scraps into a ball and roll it out and cut out more doughnuts.  I prefer not too because I feel the dough becomes too tough.

Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 2 inches apart.  Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F. 

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown.  Be careful to not overbake these.  You want them to be light and doughy inside.  Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes until ready to top with either the glaze or cinnamon sugar topping

While the doughnuts are cooling make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar glaze.  Each recipe makes enough to cover all the doughnuts.  I made a half recipe of each and topped half of the doughnuts with each topping.  Or you can choose to just do one of topping for all the doughnuts. 

To make the glaze, combine the milk and the vanilla in a small saucepan.  Heat over low heat until just warmed.  Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Remove the glaze from the heat and place over a bowl of warm water.

To glaze the doughnuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and place on a draining/cooling rack set over a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.  Let set for about 10 minutes.

To make the cinnamon sugar topping, melt the butter in a saucepan or a microwave, and place in a small bowl.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl. 

To top the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, dip the halfway into the melted butter.  Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Set on a draining/cooling rack to set, about 5 minutes.

Serve and enjoy :)!

 

 

http://www.krissys-creations.com/2011/06/baked-doughnuts.html 

ROYAL ICING.

ROYAL ICING.

225g icing sugar
1 teasp lemon juice
1 egg white.

Mix all ingredients together in a free standing mixer using the beater on the lowest speed until it looks like italian meringue. 

Keep the bowl covered with a damp cloth while working.

It can be stored for 3 weeks with a damp piece of kitchen paper laying on the icing and in an airtight container


From Bake Me A Cake 

Vanilla Frosting

Makes 4 1/2 cups| Hands-On Time: 05m| Total Time: 10m

Ingredients

• 2  cups  (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1  pound  confectioners’ sugar (about 3 3/4 cups), sifted
• 1  teaspoon  pure vanilla extract
• pinch kosher salt

Directions

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on high until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add the sugar, then the vanilla and salt, and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. 

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/vanilla-frosting-00000000056611/