January 30: National Croissant Day

National Croissant Day. YUMMM! I decided to challenge myself and make my own croissants. Even better, I decided to make them chocolate filled croissants! They turned out delicious. My dad not so subtly hinted that I could make these for the Superbowl coming up. I would say that qualifies them as a success!

I bought puff pastry sheets at a grocery store. I thawed them for about 40 minutes, or until they were no longer frozen. I rolled them into approximately a 16" by 16" inch square on a lightly floured surface. I cut the dough in half, and then into fourths so I had 8 rectangles. Those rectangles I cut in half so I had 16 triangles.

 

These are the 8 rectangles which will be cut into 16 triangles.

Next, I placed about 2 teaspoons of chocolate chips (or butterscotch chips as seen on the far left) and gently rolled up the croissants turning them into a crescent shape. My chocolate chips kept EXPLODING out so I gently pinched the sides closed. I imagine small peanut butter cups inside would be tasty as well. Even Nutella. Maybe crush up some candy canes and add chocolate chips during Christmas?

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

The recipe I briefly looked at said to eat two per person. I probably ate about 5. I mean, I needed to make sure they tasted okay, right?

Christopher Henry gave them two antlers up!

My parents and I loved them. I even gave some to some family friends. SHOUT OUT to Lynda and family if they read this :D

January 29: National Puzzle and Corn Chip Day

I have a confession. I'm a puzzleholic. I love puzzling. Something about it is so relaxing. 

Which is why today, which is National Puzzle (and Corn Chip) Day made me so excited! I'm currently working on a 1000 piece puzzle. I've done a 2000 piece puzzle before. That was challenging. I glue all my puzzles when I'm done. Someday, when I have my own house, it's going to be decorated with my puzzles.

Once again, Christopher Henry helped me out.

Christopher Henry determines his next move.

Notice how Christopher Henry got a little confused. He put a corn chip IN the puzzle, and a puzzle piece ON his snout.

Today was a good day to celebrate because I love puzzling and Christopher Henry loves corn chips, so it was a win-win situation.

This is the 2000 piece puzzle I completed. Notice how it's mostly scenery? Yeah, there was a lot of blue and green pieces.

Bonus questions: Can you name the castle in the picture? Can you figure out what the puzzle Christopher Henry is working on?

Make sure you check back tomorrow, I'm going to attempt to make home made croissants!

January 28: National Blueberry Pancake Day

So today is National Blueberry Pancake Day! I love brinner. What is brinner you may ask? It is breakfast for dinner. I love pancakes. And I love blueberries. And what makes this even better is that there is still cake from National Chocolate Cake Day left over so that means cake for dessert!

This is the blueberry pancake recipe that I used:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cups milk (I used almond milk and it was delicious)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup blueberries

 Mix the dry ingredients together and then add in the wet ingredients. Makes about 6 - 8 pancakes.

It's about time that I introduce you to Christopher Henry. He is my sidekick in quirky adventures and my confidant. He is a lover of all things that don't involve exercise, and all things that do involve food.

This is Christopher Henry!

Pancake batter!

On the griddle!

                                                                           

Before I knew it, Christopher Henry was scarfing down the blueberry pancakes like he had never had any before! To be fair, I don't think he has had any blueberry pancakes. I've never seen a blueberry pancake grow wild in the wilderness in moose territory.  He tucked his napkin into his apron, and he ate those blueberry pancakes for brinner!

January 27: National Chocolate Cake Day

I've never blogged before but I've always wanted to. The other day I came across a post saying it was National Chocolate Cake Day. Obviously I ran into the kitchen and declared I was making a cake. The only problem was, we only had a yellow cake mix. Do not fear! I simply added cocoa powder to the cake and it turned out delicious. What started out with a chocolate cake led to more.  I had an idea: What if I celebrated the national "whatever" of the day, every single day for a year! Wouldn't it be great to wake up each morning knowing that you were going to celebrate something? I decided to roll with this idea and  blog about it. Life's too short not to celebrate each day. Life's too short not to have another piece of chocolate cake!

 See? You can't even tell that once upon a time it was a yellow cake!

And this is the finished product! Beautiful! Yes, those are dinosaur, dolphin, and star sprinkles on top.








I'm declaring Day 1 a success!