Cynthia MADE
  • Home
  • Blog
  • DIY
  • Angel Pennies
  • Gallery
Find me

New Year's Greetings

1/28/2017

0 Comments

 
Gong Xi Fa Cai
Picture
The Year of the Rooster
0 Comments

Fortune Cookie Friday

1/27/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture

​"Common sense is not so common." Fortune Cookie

0 Comments

On an Unexpected Cake

1/25/2017

0 Comments

 
Life handed him a lemon,
As Life sometimes will do.
His friends looked on in pity,
Assuming he was through.
They came upon him later,
Reclining in the shade
In calm contentment, drinking
A glass of lemonade.

1940 The Rotarian
In my case, it was not a lemon but a can of guava nectar.  My daughter likes peach juice. When I was in the supermarket I grabbed a few cans but as it turns out one was guava nectar which no one wanted to try.  The can was hanging around for a while and so I finally  decided to do something with it.  

Now there were lots of yummy looking recipes on Pinterest for cocktails using guava nectar but I decided to steer  away from those.  I did find a lot of recipes for guava cake which apparently is traditional in Hawaii but they all looked very complicated and most required more guava nectar than my one little can.  I did learn that guava nectar pairs well with strawberries so I figured I would go from there.  This is what I came up with.
Picture
Picture
So here is how I made it:

For the cake:
  • Box of white cake mix - your favorite or if you are like me what's on sale
  • 3/4 cup of guava nectar - I used a  9.6 oz can of Goya Nectar so what was left over was used for the sauce 
  • box of strawberry Jello
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil - I used canola oil
  • 4 eggs
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.
  2. Grease or use cooking spray on a 9 x 13 cake pan.
  3. Combine all ingredients and mix until well blended. I use a hand mixer which works fine.  Pour batter into prepared pan.
  4. Bake 29 - 35 minutes.  Check the times listed on the cake mix box. Cake is done when tooth pick comes out clean. 
For the topping:
  • 4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
  • 8 oz container of Cool Whip defrosted
  • 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
  1. Beat cream cheese until fluffy,
  2. Add  sugar and vanilla and beat again.
  3. Mix in Cool Whip.
  4. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
For the sauce:
  • Guava nectar leftover from cake
  • Strawberries, sliced - about a cup (I didn't measure but a cup seems right) 
  • About a 1/4 cup granular sugar - again I didn't measure.
Directions:
  1. Put sliced strawberries, guava nectar and sugar in a small sauce pan.
  2. Cook until strawberries are very soft.
  3. I used an immersion blender to puree the sauce. You could use a regular blender or leave it chunky.
  4. Allow to cool before serving.

To serve the cake cut a slice and put a generous helping of the topping on.  Then pour some sauce over and enjoy.

Have a fun day!
​Cynthia

0 Comments

Fortune Cookie Friday

1/20/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
"What you desire is always possible. It will come to you." Fortune Cookie

0 Comments

Fortune Cookie Friday

1/13/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
"Trust is earned by many deeds" Fortune Cookie

0 Comments

On Bullet Journaling

1/10/2017

0 Comments

 
The Bullet Journal
"The Bullet Journal is a customizable and forgiving organization system. It can be your to-do list, sketchbook, notebook, and diary, but most likely, it will be all of the above. It will teach you to do more with less."
This year, I decided to try to be a little more productive since I feel that last year a lot of things seemed to have gotten away from me.  I started looking for a way to help me keep track of things better and motivate myself.

I have always loved the "idea" of journalling.  Over the years I have many times attempted to maintain a journal.  I was always very enthusiastic in the beginning but inevitably my enthusiasm would fade and the journal would languish forgotten somewhere.  

I started to see a lot of refrences to "Bullet Journaling" on Pinterest and in crafty magazines but I had no idea what it was.  The things I saw looked very elaborate and pretty but aslo very time consuming.  Eventually though my curiosity got the better of me. I decided to do a little research and found the bullitjournal.com website.  

The website is very helpful in explaing in the system. At first it seemed complicated but the video explains it all very well.  For some reason, it reminded me of this system of jurisprudence I studied a million years ago when I was in law school.  They sell journal books on the site but  also makes it clear that all you really need is a note book and a pen.  

I have decided to give it a try.  I repurposed one of the many marble notebooks leftover ​ from my kids grammer school days and set up my pages.  They recommend trying it for 2 months before making any judgements so that is what I am going to do. I hope!

Picture
Wish me luck!
​
Have a fun day!
Cynthia
0 Comments

Fortune Cookie Friday

1/6/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
"Having more money does not insure happiness." Fortune Cookie

0 Comments

On Starting Up Again

1/5/2017

0 Comments

 
“Wherever you are is the entry point.”  Kabir
In looking back over my blog for the last year, I have to admit that it has been neglected. I will admit that my bout with Lyme Disease over the summer kind of took away my momentum for doing stuff. Then of course, I had a busy show schedule in the fall, then it was the holidays plus we had some home imporvement projects going on and blah blah blah one excuse after the other. 

Well no more excuses! It's a new year and time  to get busy! I'm going to be working on some new projects that I hope to share this year so Happy New Year and I hope to be back soon.

Have a fun day!
​Cynthia

0 Comments


    

    I want to share with you some of the things I have learned and places I have been. 

    Archives

    February 2020
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Instagram

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Christmas
    Cooking
    Crafting
    Crochet
    Fortune Cookie Friday
    Gardening
    General Musing
    Good Books
    Good Ideas
    Halloween
    Parenting
    Recycling
    Sewing
    Vacation

    Friends and Fun Places

    ​Ann's Tag Sales
    Zan Crochet
    Autistic Hero Tee Shirts
    Creative Capes
    The Bacon Jams
    Acadia Antlers
    Alabama Chanin
    Missouri Botanical Gardens
     bybobi
    Gracie Green
    Santa Fe Blues
    JLynnL
    ​The Space Waraku
    Mud Lily Desigsns
    Demarest Nature Center
    ​Linda Sheehan
    Bubala's Gourmet Spreads
    Giggle Jewels
    Brownies & Ginger
    ​Hands for Peace
    ​ Janet R Design
    Wyckoff Family YMCA
    Operation Christmas Child
    Beaver Brook Tree Farm
    Salvati Designs
    ​Embroiderer's Guild of America
    Goodwill
    ​
    Grand Ole Opry
    ​​Lost River Cave
    ​GreenCraft Magazine
    The Maker Depot
    ​​​Eelmonkey Art
    Cherishables,NJ
    Jackie Stier
    ​
    Fresh Cut Cashmere
    ​Olde Good Things
    The Vreeland Store
    Vortex Creative Center
    Humor Me Farms
    Tara Dawn
    EVLK Designs
    Montclair MADE
    The Party Fox
    Radius Garden