Nebraska is the place to be! Next year I am excited to be hosting not one but two retreats in my home state of NEBRASKA!
The first retreat will be held early 2020 at the Hot Shops Art Center in Downtown Omaha. This will be the third year of this retreat where you can come create, create + classes or just classes. I’m confirming dates and will be lining up instructors.
The second retreat will be an overnight RETREAT, similar to the Kansas retreat this year. A long weekend of creativity, eating, shopping and fellowship. I’m working on dates with my “partners in crime” and will post a save the date soon!
Part of my creative goal is to connect others and hosting RETREATS is one of favorite ways of bringing amazing women together! I hope you can join me at one of the retreats next year!
All weekend at RETREAT, Chef Lindsay was asked . . . “what’s the secret to your FABULOUS ranch dressing?”
It’s simple, it’s Hidden Valley Ranch, the original, from the packet! Have you heard of it? It’s old school and the way my mom used to make it as a kid. It’s the best stuff and my favorite way to make (and eat) ranch dressing.
It is truly amazing stuff and EASY to make!
Click here for the “official” instructions and if you’d like to add a little zest (just like Lindsay), add 1 teaspoon dried dill to the mix to “dill it up.”
Another yummy summer time salad recipe is Cucumber Salad. Here’s the recipe, sliced cubumbers + ranch dressing = delicious! Or another favorite that I love is Burp Salad which is chopped up broccoli, cauliflower, radish and . . . you guessed it, RANCH dressing!
And remember, tasty ranch equals smiling faces! Like these!
One of my mother-in-laws classic summer family desserts was jell-o poke cake. She usually made two flavors for our family summer gathering. My favorite was always the Lemon-Lime version. So of course, I “insisted” that it be on the menu for RETREAT.
The cool thing about this dessert, is how easy it is! And because it is chilled, it is light and refreshing!
Lemon-lime Jell-o Poke Cake
Ingredients – Lemon cake mix plus egg, oil and water
– Lime Jell-o (not sugar free) plus water
– Whipped topping
Instructions – Prepare lemon cake mix per instructions on box and bake in 9″ x 13″ cake pan. Allow to cool.
– Poke cake with fork every 1/2″.
– Prepare jell-o per instructions on box. Pour over cake & refrigerate for 3-4 hours
– Frost cake with whipped topping & you are ready to serve.
There are many other combinations for this cake – try a white cake with your favorite berry flavored jell-o!
Update NEWSFLASH: this suggestion came in via Facebook – white cake, strawberry Jell-O, topped with not only whipped topping, but FRESH strawberries!
This past weekend at our Hibernate & Create RETREAT in Newton, Kansas we crafted, laughed and ATE!
One of our favorite desserts was the Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake BROWNIES. And sadly, we didn’t get a picture of our dessert because we were so excited to dig in. So, I’ve borrowed the above photo from Dessertsfortwo.com
What we couldn’t figure out is why a dessert would have both cake and brownies in the title. Is it cake? Is it a brownie? Or is it cake-like brownies? A quick internet search didn’t help convince it should be one or the other. But all in all when you’re talking about a classic chocolate dessert, does it really matter?
– 1 stick butter – ¼ cup cocoa powder – 6 Tbsp milk – 1 tsp vanilla – 3 cups powdered sugar (3ish cups—sometimes more, sometimes less. You want the frosting to be smooth vs runny.)
*In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cocoa and milk.
*Bring to a boil and simmer 1 min.
*Remove from heat – add sugar and vanilla. Blend until smooth.
* Pour evenly over cake and spread where needed.
Cut and serve and voila – You have an amazing chocolate cake! We added some colorful sprinkles to ours, which made it perfect for dining at The Whatever Craft House.
And thanks to Lindsay for sharing your mom’s recipe and cooking talents!
This SWAP is open to the members of the Hibernate & Create Facebook group. Wanna join the group? Visit Hibernate and Create on Facebook and request to join (link can be found in the Connect section)
Timeline:
⁃Sign up by emailing hibernatecreate@gmail.com by June 13th. Please include your mailing address.
⁃SWAP partners announced by June 15th
⁃Mail pin cushions by June 30th
*Once you receive your pin cushion in the mail, post a picture in the Hibernate & Create Group and tag your partner. Add #pincushionswap2019. (Feel free to also post on Instagram and tag Hibernate_and_Create)
Basic pin cushion guidelines:
⁃ Pin cushions should be smaller than 6” on any one side (height, width, length)
⁃Nothing breakable! It will be so much easier to mail too!
Ideas:
Need some pin cushion ideas to sew, stitch, crochet and more? Head on over to the World Wide Web or Pinterest. You won’t be disappointed!
Note: Partners will be randomly assigned, feel free to reach out to your partners to find out interests!
