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Sunday, June 1, 2014

Crocheting in the Air Conditioning

I don't know if I mentioned this but, my husband installed central air conditioning in our house last Summer.  I love me some air conditioning!  I had been begging for it most of our marriage.  That is, after all, what hubby does for a living!  Anyway, he has been turning it on these past few weeks and freezing me out.  I don't dare complain!  So, I have been crocheting.  That is a cozy thing to do when you are chilly.

  
A dear friend recently sent me two adorable veggie tea towels.  I love them and decided I wanted to do something else with them other than using them as towels.  I was prowling around youtube and I found a wonderful tutorial on how to crochet a waistband and ties to turn a tea towel into an apron.  It was fairly easy, even for a newbie like me!  I love the apron I created.  The crochet pattern made it gently gather for a nice fit.  Here is a link if you want to check it out:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yVDJ9Dxx_Y&feature=share  .   The hardest part is poking the holes in the towel with your crochet hook for that first row.  I used a tiny "0" metal crochet hook and really took my time.  The rest of the project was quick.  I may do this with the other tea towel or I may do something else.  I haven't decided.  Speaking of crochet, I found this tshirt at Walmart a while ago and I forgot I had it.  It has two of my favorite things on it-crochet and a cat.



I made the yummiest bars recently and I want to share the recipe.


Is your mouth watering?  It would if you knew how amazing these were.  Take a 7x11 baking dish and line it with tin foil, overlapping the edges.  Spray with cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 400.  Crush up pretzels until you have 2 cups of crumbs.  Add 1/2 cup of melted butter and combine.  Pat in the pan and bake for 10 minutes.  Set off to the side to cool.  Now devote yourself to that amazing caramel filling.  Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup butter in a heavy saucepan.  Cook over medium high heat until it boils, stirring constantly.  Don't be alarmed if there are brown bits coming off the bottom, just keep stirring.  As soon as it boils, turn it down to low and cook 10 minutes, continuing to stir.  Pour over your pretzel crust and chill at least 30 minutes.  Don't burn your mouth licking the spoon or the pan!  I won't even tell you how it is that I thought to give you this warning!  After you have set the filling by chilling it for a bit, melt a small bag of semi sweet chocolate chips and drizzle over the top, spreading carefully to cover.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Lift the tinfoil and bars out of the pan and cut into squares.  Enjoy!

Now that June is here, the rest of my school year will fly by.  I am hoping to get through it without missing any more days due to illness.  It looks to be a warm week coming up so that will be nice.  My family had a huge bonfire this weekend and my sons had there friends over so we had a crowd with friends and family.  It was wonderful to be outside enjoying fresh air together.  I slept good last night! Have a great week ahead and take care.  Nancy