52 PINS IN 52 WEEKS - FEBRUARY 2017

JANUARY 2017

Last year Katherine from I WISH I LIVED IN A LIBRARY decided to challenge herself to doing one pin a week from her ever growing PINTEREST boards and post about them on the last Saturday of each month. The posts were a big hit with me and I am elated that she has decided to host a LINK-UP feature this year!

ORIGAMI

I had never folded an origami shape successfully in my life, so I decided to make it my first 52 Pins attempt. You remember my LUCKY STARS complete folding failure from last month, don't you? So how did I do this month with my HEART CORNER BOOKMARKS?

Not too shabby, but...

The backs with the exposed folds look atrocious and you have to navigate a small piece of tape into the pocket to keep the middle together. The tape process had me wanting to toss them in the trash because it kept adhering in the wrong places. Would I make these again? No, not unless I can think of a way to line the back and cover up the raw edges. At least I can say I finally successfully folded something!

You can substitute anything as a "mix-in" in place of the raisins for these, and I chose white chocolate chips. After the cookies were baked they tasted strongly of over ripe bananas, which I loathe, even though the fruit I used was almost green. I ended up mixing some of my expensive French hot chocolate flakes into the second half of the dough, but the old banana taste still prevailed. I won't make them again, but I think maybe young children might like them, plus they are healthy.

Healthy if you don't add chips and chocolate flakes, that is. Ha ha.

BOOKMARKS

There are templates for these PAPER FEATHERS, but I didn't have time to print them because I thought there were only three Saturdays in February and I was scrambling to find a fourth pin I could do quickly. I freehanded these and I think they turned out quite nicely. I am planning on doing more! I can do these while listening to audiobooks. The printer paper worked better than the scrapbook paper, but I think if I get nicer scissors that won't be an issue. I am going to have a giveaway for these bookmarks. Leave a comment, and the day before next month's 52 Pins I will have Baz give me a number and a count up or down to choose a winner. This will be international.

No slow cooker recipe this month. I kept forgetting to get evaporated milk and Baz even forgot it twice, so no crockpot mac n' cheese until next month.

I have been wanting to cut down on dairy products, and making a cheesy tasting VEGAN CHEESE SAUCE is difficult. I have not tried the soy and cashew vegan cheeses from the store, yet, because they are too pricey. I use NOOCH (nutritional yeast), but to me it tastes more roasty than cheesy.

 I used cannelini beans, nooch, rice milk, and Olivio in this recipe. It did not taste cheesy, but it was still good. I have a feeling the alternative ingredient of vegan cheese shreds, in place of the nooch, would have made it taste more like cheese. I mixed in peas and served it over fettuccine for dinner and Baz and I ended up grating romano cheese on top of it anyway. Heh heh.

After one cup of cannellini beans had been taken out of the can there were some left over, so I mixed them into the sauce whole with the peas. This sauce would make a wonderful bean soup with a little vegetable stock and some thyme added to it.

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I am also linking up with WEEKEND COOKING.

And don't forget about my hardcover cookbook giveaway: HERE.

Do you like handmade gifts?