It's a Steal! Heather "knocks off" Natalie

Hello!  It's Heather from The Beating Hearth here with you today and I can't wait to be share a little something I whipped up.  It's a project I've been wanting to make for a long time, but didn't really have a need and so I kept it simmering in the back of my mind for a long time.  Well, guess what, I have a need now and am so glad I did a little thieving.

 A couple of weeks ago we started a new series, "It's a Steal"...where we "steal" or 

"knock off" a fellow blogger's idea and show you what we come up with.

 Natalie kicked off the series, knocking off Mary from Sweet Little Bluebird

Then it was Mary's turn and she knocked off Danni from Silo Hill Farm.  

Now it's my turn and I got to steal an idea from Nat from NorthShore Days!

Well, to be fair, I stole two ideas.

Here's Nat's original post: Up-Cycled Painted Tin Cans 

"I love tin cans! I love painting them and storing bits and bobs in them...."

 Now, I cannot compete with her awesomeness.  Give me a pile of fabric and some thread, and I feel fairly competent...some paint, a bucket and embellishments? Completely out of my comfort zone.  So don't judge me too harshly compared to what Nat did, but, I really like what I ended up with.

This is my gardening bucket.  The Mister and I have a deal.  If I pull the weeds, he picks them up.  So typically what happens is, I go on a rampage and there are piles of weeds all over the yard, he comes home after a hard day's work and has to clean up after me.  This bucket may become his new best friend.

First it is going to store my gardening equipment.  I love having my digger, snipper and gloves all in one place, waiting for me to get the gardening urge.

 And second, I might...might think about putting my weeds in the bucket as I go about my gardening duties.

 

Ummmm...apparently I fancy myself Grounds Keeper of the estate.

I saw these keys at the craft store and thought they would be a fun touch.  So yeah.  Head gardener, and I am off to trim the hedgerows in the secret garden...Downton Abbey may have gone to my head.  At least in my imagination I am not conceited enough to think I'm the Countess or something. I mean, I could have gone out and made a beaded dress and over the top, be feathered head-band instead.

Using copious amounts of super glue, I placed on the twine trim...which I love, and these cute little brads on top of the twine.  I didn't know they were brads when I bought them.  This made gluing them slightly awkward, but I like the effect.  I also attempted to glue myself to...everything.

I love that I took this plain metal bucket, and painted it...yes, school bus yellow.  Look, when I saw the paint can, it looked much more like... warm spring day daffodil yellow....and I have to confess to having a hard time when picking paint colors.  They typically border on cornea searing.  We have learned to take whatever paint color I like...go to the next color down on the paint chip...and reduce it by 50%.

 So, take it from me, it's fun to step outside of your comfort zone and make something you've admired from afar.

I also made Nat's Condensed Milk Cookies 

I mean, who can resist a sweet treat?  Not me...and not my family.

 They were the perfect dunking cookie.  Simple and sweet and oh so yummy.

Thanks Nat for letting me steal your ideas and put my own spin on them.

And everybody, start thinking of who and what you want to knock off, for our next Link Party!   

But be sure to ask permission where necessary and always provide link backs.

Next week it's Danni's turn... 

we are so excited to see what she comes up with!

Thanks for reading!

shared here:

Make it Pretty Monday 

Mop it up Monday 

Heather

Vanilla Shortbread Cookies with Peanut Butter and Chocolate Frosting...Oh my!

Hi everybody, it's Heather from The Beating Hearth and I am so happy it's my turn here at the Cafe, today. We have had such amazing posts from our Guest Posters and our regular contributors lately that I want everyone to know how lucky I feel to be a part of this talented group of women. I feel a bit like Wayne and Garth...not worthy!!

As is probably clear from the title I am giving you a cookie recipe...but not just any cookie recipe. This recipe is seriously good...and not just good, it is so pretty.  More and more I am realizing we don't just eat with you mouths.  Our eyes take in the beauty of something and it adds to the pleasure of the experience.

The Mister loves anything that has chocolate and peanut butter in it. I love anything that has shortbread in it....what? Butter. Sugar. A touch of flour. What's not to love? My daughters...they love anything with frosting.  So this is clearly the dessert for us.

Valentines is approaching and they'd be a great dessert to make that day, but please understand....these aren't just for Valentine's Day...they are for whenever your sweet tooth needs a fix of buttery, chocolaty, peanut buttery goodness. There's a bit of time involved as you have to chill the dough before baking and you have to melt and then chill the frosting but...trust me, put a little effort in and you will be rewarded.

The frosting looks a bit like a chocolate rose sitting there on top of the shortbread and so I thought these would be a perfect Valentine's Day treat.  

You can dress them up and present them like you would a box of chocolates and I am thinking they would go over just as well to the recipient.

You can even give your kids a special surprise in their lunchboxes.  Take some tissue paper and tie them a sweet bundle of goodness. 

And, if the piping bag and tips are beyond you...just go ahead and spread the frosting with a knife.  It might not give you that visual punch...but it still gives you all the taste.

Vanilla Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting
makes 30 cookies

Vanilla Shortbread Ingredients
1 Cup butter, at room temperature
2/3 Cup Sugar
2 large egg yolks
Splash of Vanilla
2 Cups flour

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Cream butter and sugar in mixer until light and fluffy with paddle attachment.  You will notice the color gets lighter.  Add in the yolks, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.  Add a splash of vanilla...maybe 1 tsp. and mix well.  Add flour and blend until just combined.  It will look very crumbly, a lot like pie dough.  This is what you want.

Split the dough into two batches and place on plastic wrap.  You are going to compress these crumbles into a cohesive dough by pressing the plastic wrap around the dough and squeezing until it is a nice cylindrical shape and the dough is firmly compacted.  My dough was shaped more oblong, do what you like.

Place dough in freezer for 30 minutes.

Once chilled, remove dough and cut into approximately 1/4" slices.  Use a nice sharp knife for this.  Place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, spaced about an inch apart.  Bake for 20 to 22 minutes.  You do not want your shortbread to brown in any way, really.  You want it to be light blonde in color.

Place cookies on rack and let them cool completely.

Frosting time!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting Ingredients
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 Tbl. Creamy Peanut Butter
1.5 Tbl. softened butter

If you have a double boiler, you can use it.  Or just be like me and get a pot of simmering water going, then put a glass bowl large enough to fit on top of it. 

Finely chop your chocolate.  I used a large block of Callebaut chocolate, you can also use nice quality semi-sweet chocolate chips.  If you're using the block, I find a serrated knife is the best way to chop it.

Place your chocolate, peanut butter and butter in the bowl and then put the bowl on top of the simmering pot.  Let it melt.  Stir until nice and smooth.  Once completely melted, you need to let the frosting cool.  I put mine in the fridge and stirred it every few minutes.  This is where you need to pay attention if you're going to pipe it...As soon as it has thickened to frosting consistency, you need to get it in your piping bag and get to work FAST!  It will get too thick to pipe in just a few minutes.

The frosting tip I used is an Ateco 16.  It's how you get the petal appearance in your frosting.  Fold down the edges of your piping bag so you don't make a huge mess, dollop your frosting in. Unfold the bag, twist it tightly and get to decorating the cookies. I start in the middle of the cookie and make concentric circles around and around until you get the look you want.

Let sit.  The frosting will solidify a bit more.  It won't get rock hard, but it is solid enough that if you want to wrap the cookies up and place them in decorative tins, they'll be just fine and won't lose their good looks.

Also, this amount of frosting was just enough to frost this one batch of cookies...and that's probably only because I broke a couple of my cookies.  It might be wise to make a double batch of frosting.  The frosting is so good, you'll find ways to use what's left.

This is the perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate and it marries so nicely with the vanilla shortbread cookie.  Just wonderful!  Hope you enjoy!

Thank you so much for visiting the Cafe today.  We appreciate each and every visit. 

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Have a wonderful week!

Heather

Inspiration Cafe is looking for guest posters. If you would like to guest please let us know, we would love to have you. If you would prefer a feature instead, feel free to drop us a line. New or old posts welcome. Click here to submit!

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