The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!

Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!

Please visit ILovetoBakeCookies.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!

Needlework and Quilting Pros HOLIDAY Bake Along!

ILoveToBake.com BAKER’S MIX-EASY CHOCOLATE CAKE

This is a handy, quick, delicious recipe for the chocolate lover! It is perfect for the busy person at Christmas and any time. It can be made up quickly and easily with very little fuss and bother. You only need the ingredients, the pan, a fork, a measuring cup and a measuring spoon. It takes only 2 minutes to mix it up by hand and it is mixed up right in the pan! Maria finds this recipe perfect for whenever something home-baked is required and time is of the essence. Her children grew up loving this cake and looking forward to all the special times it was made. It was also the perfect recipe to use when teaching them to bake at a very early age. Now Maria takes great pleasure in helping her 3 year old granddaughter to mix it up. This is a quick, easy, delicious cake for when you are in a hurry. It is a chocolate lover’s delight. It makes up quickly and best of all, it is made right in the pan so there’s much less to wash up afterwards.

Ingredients

½ cup vegetable oil 2 squares (or 2 ounces) unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate or T. cocoa 3/4 cup milk 1 cup sugar 1egg 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla 1/ tsp. baking powder 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (or more if preferred) 1/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Step by Step

Preheat oven to 350 º F. 1)  Place the oil and the chocolate in an 8 inch square baking pan. 2) Put the pan in the oven for 4 minutes or until the chocolate is melted. (Watch it carefully.) 3) Add oil and cocoa to the remaining ingredients except for the chocolate chips (and nuts). 4) Beat with a fork until smooth – about 2 minutes. 5) Sprinkle the top of the cake with the chocolate chips (and nuts). 6) Bake for 40 minutes. 7) Use a cake tester in the center to test that it is done. Cool in pan on a rack. 9) Cut and serve. 10) Serve and Enjoy! Makes 8 servings.

Maria Michaels Designs

Maria Michaels Designs is made up of the team of Maria and Michael. Maria is the quilter who takes Michael’s original works of art and turns them into quilt patterns. Maria also designs in her own right. Maria Michaels Designs offers individual patterns and yearly pattern memberships along with beginner’s quilt lessons, mystery quilts, and a free bimonthly online quilt magazine/newsletter which includes draws for free patterns. Quilt and sewing stories are collected and gift certificates are offered as well. Maria also designs websites for quilters and others. http://www.mariamichaelsdesigns.com/

The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!

Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!

Please visit ILovetoBakeCookies.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!

Needlework and Quilting Pros HOLIDAY Bake Along!

ILoveToBake.com ORANGE CRESCENT ROLLS

The first time my father made these orange crescent rolls, I was disappointed. I was not a fan of orange. I didn’t like oranges, and I didn’t like orange juice. I drank Tang only because I was under the impression that an orange beverage was required at breakfast. Here it was Christmas and I thought Dad should make something that everyone would like, meaning me, of course—I was a kid! I helped him grate the orange, squish the dough, roll up the little wedges, and drizzle sugary glaze over them. They were awfully fun to make; too bad I hated them. And then I stuck my finger in a puddle of glaze. Mmmm. Maybe some orange things were okay after all, just not oranges and orange juice. Nowadays, I love oranges, but don’t ask me to drink a glass of orange juice. Still, if you ask me, the #1, all-time, best use of orange is in orange crescent rolls!

Ingredients

Crescent Roll Ingredients3 cups sifted flour 1 pkg active dry yeast 3/4 cup milk 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (or water) 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup shortening 1 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1 teaspoon grated orange peel

Glaze Ingredients11/2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel enough orange juice to obtain desired consistency (Do you prefer to spread or drizzle?)

Step by Step

Crescent Roll Instructions1) Combine 1¾ cups flour and yeast in mixing bowl. 2) Heat milk, orange juice (or water), sugar, shortening, and salt in saucepan just until warm, stirring to melt shortening. 3) Add to flour mixture in bowl. 4) Add egg and orange peel. 5) Beat at low speed on electric mixer for 1/2 minute, then 3 minutes at high speed. If mixing by hand, stir until smooth or until your arms feel weak or until you’re mind-numb from boredom—or about 200 strokes. I don’t own an electric mixer. 6) Knead in remaining flour by hand. 7) Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease surface of dough. Refrigerate 2-24 hours.  About 2 hours before serving: 1) Remove dough from fridge, divide in half. 2) Roll each half into a 9-inch circle and cut into 12 wedges. (That’s 24 total.) 3) Beginning at wide end, roll each wedge and place points down on baking sheet. 5) Let rise in warm place until double (about an hour) Preheat oven to 375 F 6) Bake at 375-degrees for 10-12 minutes. 7) Transfer to wire rack and drizzle with glaze while warm. Devour at will as soon as they are cool enough to handle. or as The Armchair Chef suggests, Serve and Enjoy! LOL

Glaze Instructions1) Mix powdered sugar, grated orange peel, and orange juice, for the desired consistency 2) Drizzle or spread over warm Crescent Rolls

Funk & Weber Designs

Colorful, clever, and unique needlework patterns and online classes. Playful designs and attention to detail provide surprises in the finished needlework that draw attention again and again. Creators of EmbroiderMe!â„¢ Bracelets: Personalized Needlework Accessories, and Tags for Bags, Clips for Zipsâ„¢. Identify your belongings and your sense of style! Both of which make excellent holiday gifts, by the way! http://www.funkandweber.com/

Holiday Bake Along – Needlework and Quilting!

The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!

Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!

Please visit ILovetoBakeCookies.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!

Needlework and Quilting Pros HOLIDAY Bake Along!

ILoveToBake.com CANDY CANE COOKIES

My sister Colleen use to make these for the Christmas Holidays. They were my very favorite. The cookies bring back so many fond memories for me of when the whole family would gather at mom and dad’s. That does not happen anymore so these candy cane cookies have a very special meaning to me.

Ingredients

1 cup soft shortening (half butter) 1 cup sifted confectioners sugar 1 egg 1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/2 cups sifted flour 1 teaspoon salt red food coloring crushed peppermint stick 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Step by Step

Pre heat oven to 375 F 1) Mix together thoroughly 1 cup shortening (half butter), 1 cup sifted confectioners sugar, 1 egg,1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla 2) Sift together 2 1/2 cups sifted flour, 1 teaspoon salt 3) Stir into the shortening mixture. 4) Divide dough into halves. Blend into one half 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring. 5) Roll 1 teaspoon of each color dough into strips about 4 inches long. 5) Place strips side by side and press lightly together and twist like rope. 6) Place on ungreased cookie sheet. 7) Bake 9 minutes at 375 degrees Sprinkle with mixture of crushed peppermint stick and 1/2 cup granulated sugar (do this while cookies are still warm) 9) Serve and Enjoy!

Creative Stitchery and Frame Richmond Texas.

Welcome to Creative Stitchery! We are your one-stop shop for cross stitch, counted cross stitch, embroidery and other stitching styles. Located in Richmond, Texas, we are an established needlework and cross stitch shop just waiting to fulfill your every stitching need. http://creativestitcheryandframe.com/

The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!

Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!

Please visit ILovetoBakeCookies.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!

The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!

Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!

Please visit ILovetoBakeCookies.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!

The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!

Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!

Please visit ILovetoBakeCookies.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!

Needlework and Quilting Pros HOLIDAY Bake Along!

ILoveToBake.com CHOCOLATE DIPPED ALMOND BISCOTTI

For the past 20 years, my best friends and I have gotten together during the first full weekend in December for our annual Great Cookie Bake! For 3 days solid, we eat, talk, laugh, and of course, BAKE *enormous* amounts of cookies. We bake so many cookies, in fact, that we now have a database containing our recipe ingredients and number of batches baked. We’re quite productive, considering there are only 4 of us baking! (To give you an idea, for the 2005 bake, we made 26 varieties, which required about 13 lbs. butter, 5 dozen eggs, and about 20 lbs. of flour!) About a month before the Bake, we get together and decide which cookies we feel like baking this time around, who will be bringing how much of what ingredients. Then we converge on the host’s house at the appointed time and the Games begin! For many years, we rotated between our three homes…then one of our group bought a new house with 2 wall ovens… talk about heaven for cookie baking! We have a great time getting together; the baking part is really just an excuse to do it! We give most of the finished product away as gifts. There are several types we simply *must* make every year, as people are disappointed if we don’t!We ALWAYS make a biscotti that gets rave reviews: Chocolate-Dipped Almond Biscotti!

Ingredients

Biscotti:3/4 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 4 eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons almond extract 3-3/4 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons lemon zest 2 teaspoons orange zest 1 cup almonds, toasted and finely chopped

Chocolate Dip:2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 tablespoons shortening finely chopped nuts of your choice for garnish

Step by Step

Preheat oven to 350 F Biscotti: 1) Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 2) In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar, 3) Add eggs, vanilla, almond extract, lemon and orange zests and beat until mixture is well-combined (It will be soupy and a bit lumpy) 4) Add half of the flour mixture, and beat until it is just combined. 5) Use a wooden spoon to stir in the rest of the flour mixture and the almonds. 6) Shape the dough into 2: 15″ X 3-1/2″ X 1/2″ logs. Place them on a cookie sheet about 3″ apart. 7) Bake logs for 32 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2 hours. 9) Using a long serrated knife, slice the logs diagonally into 1/2″ slices. 10) Arrange cut side down on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 7 minutes. 11) Flip the biscotti over and bake for another 5 minutes more. 12) Cool completely on a wire rack.

Make chocolate dip: 1) Melt together chocolate chips and shortening in microwave. 2) Dip biscotti in chocolate mixture and sprinkle with finely chopped nuts of your choice. 3) Store in an airtight container away from heat.

TW Designworks

TW Designworks: Specializing in fantasy-inspired counted cross stitch designs, sold through fine needlework retailers and via PatternsOnLine.com. Also now offering fine art prints and original artwork by Teresa Wentzler, sold consumer-direct via the TW Designworks website. Sign up for the TW Art Newsletter to stay updated about what’s new! Visit Artistic License, my blog, for glimpses into the life of the artist/designer. And visit the Teresa Wentzler Bulletin Board to network with other needlework enthusiasts. Stay tuned for some new developments as TW Designworks continues to grow! http://www.twdesignworks.com/ http://b33.ezboard.com/bteresawentzler

Holiday Bake Along – Needlework and Quilting!

The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!

Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!

Please visit ILovetoBakeCookies.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!

Needlework and Quilting Pros HOLIDAY Bake Along!

ILoveToBake.com PEANUT BUTTER CRUNCH BARS No Bake Recipe!

To this day, peanut butter is my favorite food group. Nobody ever told me I was supposed to outgrow peanut butter. It’s just as well; I wouldn’t have listened. As a kid, I’d wake up early Saturday morning to snuggle down with a jar of peanut butter, Cheerios, and a spoon, and laugh my head off at Bugs Bunny. That was everyday peanut butter. For special occasions, like Christmas, we all got fancied up–me, my family, the peanut butter. Instead of peanut butter on cereal, ice cream, pancakes, apples, or banana sandwiches, we dressed it up in cookies, potato candy, and my favorite: Peanut Butter Crunch Bars.

Ingredients

Bar Ingredients 1¼ cups creamy peanut butter ½ cup margarine or butter, softened 4 cups graham cracker cereal, crushed 2 cups powdered sugar

Icing Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon shortening 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Step by Step

Bar Instructions 1) Beat together peanut butter and margarine in a large mixing bowl. 2) Add cereal, then slowly add powdered sugar. The dough will be stiff. 3) Press mixture into ungreased 9×9x2 pan. Icing Instructions 4) Melt shortening and chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Assembly Instructions 5) Spread chocolate over peanut butter mixture in pan. 6) Refrigerate until chilled. 7) Remove from fridge 10 minutes before serving, and cut into 24 bars. Serve and Enjoy!

Funk & Weber Designs

Colorful, clever, and unique needlework patterns and online needlework classes. Playful designs and attention to detail provide surprises in the finished needlework that draw attention again and again. Creators of EmbroiderMe!â„¢ Bracelets: Personalized Needlework Accessories, and Tags for Bags, Clips for Zipsâ„¢. Identify your belongings and your sense of style! http://www.funkandweber.com/