Yum. I tried these Homemade N(ot) O(reo)’s (because you can’t use that “O” name) and they are so good. Are you one of those who has to take the two chocolate sides off and eat the cream center first? Not me. I like them stuck together, along with a big glass of cold milk.

Homemade NO’s
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups sugar (plus 1/4 cup to flatten the cookies)
2 1/4 cups unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Vanilla Cream Filling (see below)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together dry ingredients.

In mixer, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and beat well. Slowly add in dry ingredient mix and continue beating until the dough is well mixed.

Scoop out 1 Tbl.-sized balls onto baking stone (or parchment-lined cookie sheet), about 2″ apart. Dip bottom of glass into sugar and press to flatten cookies to about 1/4″ thick. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let cool on pan/stone for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Vanilla Cream Filling
1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
7 cups confectioners sugar
2 Tbl. pure vanilla extract

Cream butter and shortening. Gradually add in sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix to combine.

Spread on flat side of one cookie, then top it with the flat side of a second cookie and press lightly.

Filled cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.  Makes approximately 3 dozen sandwiches.

*Note, you can also half the recipe and get just 16 sandwiches. But why would you want to do that?

So much to get done this weekend. I’m still trying to knock off some of the half-finished items from my “to knit” list, so that when I write about it in the blog next week, it won’t look quite so bad…

Sheri madetheselastweekandtookthemtoWebGuyinOhio
NowI’mwishingIhadonetogowithmycoffee.

I couldn’t help it. I needed cupcakes. Or cake and frosting. Or heck, just chocolate brownies and frosting. Reading through every single comment on Wednesday’s blog post made me hungry hungry hungry for it. I’d say the most common “favorite” was carrot or spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. (Mmmm, cream cheese frosting.) But many of you like plain ‘ol flavors, too. Nothing wrong with that! My favorite cupcake at The Cupcakery in St. Louis is the Peanut Butter one. (Chocolate cake, peanut butter frosting.) After reading all of your comments, I did a Google search for peanut butter frosting, used my favorite brownie mix, and whipped these up. Then I sent a batch of them to work with Paul and brought the rest of them in to Loopy Central this morning so that I wouldn’t eat them. (Of course I had one two last night. That took care of the craving.) Did anyone else find themselves baking or buying cupcakes this week?

Peanut Butter Frosting (from allrecipes.com, with modifications based on some of the reviews. This frosting is way too good.)

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temp
1 heaping cup of creamy peanut butter
2-4 Tbl. milk
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add powedered sugar gradually, beating the whole time. Add vanilla and then the milk as needed (1 Tbl. at a time.) When well mixed, turn up the speed and whip for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Thank you for all of your votes on Loopy’s Summer Vacation! Here are the winners:

Most creative: Crab Loopy from Linda

Farthest place that he traveled: Great Wall of China from Toria

Photo that made you wish you were there: Loopy Goes Canoeing from Liz

Each of the winners will receive a Loopy Ewe Gift Certificate. We also drew one name randomly from all entries to win a Gift Certificate and that one went to: Jennifer from CA for Loopy Goes Back in Tyme. Thank you to everyone for participating!

Some of you have asked when we’d have the stuffed Loopy sheep back again. The company we get them from discontinued them this summer. (With no warning. FPS.) However, we pleaded with them (and showed them the travels that Loopy has taken) and they agreed that we needed to have them again. Or rather, they agreed that if we purchased a whole BUNCH of them, they’d have them special-made for us. So they are being made as we speak, and we’ll get the batch in again in late Winter/early Spring, just in time for another round of summer travels and such. We miss seeing all of the Loopy guys hanging around here. It will be fun to have them back!

Found another pattern I want to make. It looks like a quick knit. It’s this, by Loopy Groupie Jess. (I can only find the pattern on Ravelry. Sorry about that.) And I’ll make it out of this yarn. I love that yarn. But first I need to finish the second Multnomah, so I’ll be spending time on that this weekend. What will you be spending time on?

Sheri weadded13moresetsofshelveshereatLoopyCentralthisweek.
Lotsofyarnonorder.

Thank you for all of your bug research and suggestions, from Wednesday’s post. I think that we have determined that it was a Wheel Bug (from the Assassin Bug family). The good news: it eats aphids and Japanese beetles. The bad news: it bites and the paralyzing enzyme that it injects makes it hurt “ten times worse than a hornet’s sting, and can take up to 6 months to heal.” The upshot of all that is that you can hope that you have them in your yard to control the pesky bugs, but steer clear of them yourself. (And use the zoom on your camera if you need to photo it.) I hope I never see another one.

I have two things to tempt your palate today. The first: THESE have got to be the very best caramels I have ever had in my entire life, bar none. (Yes, that’s quite a strong endorsement. And I mean every word of it.) The salted caramel flavor (Fleur De Sel) is unbelievable. I also ordered the English Tea flavor, and wondered how in the world “tea” and “caramel” could combine into something good. It does. Amazing. When you need a good caramel fix, try them out. 

A couple of weeks ago I tried a new recipe from The Pioneer Woman’s Blog. (Digression: Do any of you read her blog? How in the heck does she have the time and energy to blog that much?  I know that her blog is broken down into different sections, but holy cow. When I came home from the Sock Summit, I checked my Google Reader to see which of the blogs that I read regularly, had been updated while I was gone for a week. In that time, a couple of the blogs had been updated once, most had not been updated at all, and the Pioneer Women? 25 updates. TWENTY FIVE unread posts. In the 7 days that I was gone. The thing is, they’re all interesting and I do read them. She has a good thing going there.)

As with almost any recipe I make, I tweaked this. Not because it wasn’t good as is, but I’m a tweaker. I tweak. With this one, I added in cooked chicken breasts, a little more onion and cheese, and doubled the dressing. I also thought that it would be delicious (and colorful) to add in chunks of avocado. I might try that the next time. I hope you enjoy it!

Pioneer Woman’s Pita Chip Panzanella (tweaked by Loopy)

1 oz. bag Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips (or the pita chips that you like)
5 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into 1″ chunks
3/4 cup medium red onion, sliced thin and chopped
1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 Tbl. red wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
kosher salt 
(note to self: try adding in avocado chunks the next time)

Combine chips, tomato chunks, onions, Parmesan and chicken in a large bowl. Mix together oil and vinegar with a dash of salt, and pour over the ingredients. Add freshly ground pepper and toss to mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before serving. 

It has been fun to read all of your comments from Monday’s blog contest! (If you haven’t added one yet, there is still time. We’ll draw for the winners on Monday.) We do one prize for every 250 entries and we’re up to 7 drawings for prize packages, so far. How fun!

Sheri doyoufollowarecipesaswritten,orareyouatweaker,too?

Want to see what happens when Susan’s grandbaby (well yes, she IS too young to have a grandbaby, thanks for noticing) comes to visit Loopy Central? I think we’re training a new Loopy Elf, don’t you? I’m bummed that I missed her there yesterday, but Susan sent me photos of the occasion!

Isn’t she a cutie pie? And she has good taste, because you know by her smile that she likes visiting Loopy just as much as we like having here there.

Our time in the mountains is winding down, but it has been great! Lots of knitting done, movies seen, places visited, and time spent with my favorite people. I’ve had fun making some new recipes, too, which I’ll be sharing over time. Today’s was adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe and it’s delicious.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups sugar
1 cup shortening, melted & cooled
2 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in bowl.

In mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in melted shortening, and then eggs and vanilla. Mix until creamy. Add flour mixture slowly and mix until just combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 13-14 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes and finish cooling on wire racks.

Sheri HappyFourthofJulyweekendtoallofourLoopyStatesiders!

I’m still doing an excellent job of  “Be-ing”, and boy is it nice. Cool mountain breezes. Time for extra knitting.  And did I mention the cool breezes?  The flowers here are always so pretty, due to the cooler temperatures at night. I end up taking lots of flower photos while we’re here. It almost makes me think that I’d like to be a gardener, but then I get back to St. Louis and face the reality of weeding in the heat. The gardening thought goes right down the drain, pretty fast.

I tried a new recipe for Father’s Day. We had my parents and brother over for lunch that day and my dad likes Peanut Butter Pie. This one came from the Pioneer Woman blog, which I love.

Peanut Butter Pie

Crust:
25 Oreos
1/4 cup butter, melted.

Crush Oreos in blender or food processor until fine. Add melted butter, mix well, and press into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Let cool. (Need this recipe to be even easier? Buy one of the prepared Oreo Pie Crusts at the grocery store. That also saves you from having to eat the rest of the Oreos in the package you had to buy to make this.)

Filling:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Whip together peanut butter and cream cheese. Add in the powdered sugar and mix well. Add in the Cool Whip, mixing until light and fluffy. Spoon the filling into the cooled crust and refrigerate for a few hours or over night. (Lick the beaters – it’s delicious.)

Cut into 8 pieces and enjoy!

Sheri wholikesrecipesthatarethiseasy&thisgood

Sometimes we come across unusual street names as we’re packing orders. (No, I’m not going to mention any. You might live on one and think that there is absolutely nothing unusual at all about it.) We have fun seeing where everyone lives and seeing if your street name “goes with” your city and state. Some do, and some …. well, you just have to wonder. We have street names here at Loopy Central, too, complete with signs so that in-person shoppers can find the section they’re looking for. Here we have Lace Lane, Roving Row, Worsted Way, and Pattern Place.  Not only do the in-store shoppers use them, but they are useful to us, too. Before we expanded last summer, you pretty much knew where anyone was at any given time, because …. well, they were right there. Now, it’s not uncommon to hear someone say, “I’ll be back in Roving Row if you need me” because Roving Row is all the way back there by the Wall of Cascade.  And that’s a far bit away from the front room.  You’re welcome to come play in the streets here any time!

I tried a new crockpot recipe this week (adapted from a Betty Crocker slow cooker recipe) and it smelled great when I walked in the door after my day at Loopy. Better yet, it tastes wonderful, too.  I love crockpot recipes at all times of the year, but it’s especially nice in the summer when you really don’t want to heat up the whole kitchen. (I could not get a good photo of this to save my life. I took 12 and this was the “best” one. Sad, isn’t it? Sorry for the blur. But it does taste good!)

Hoisin Pork Roast

3 lbs. pork roast
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup Hoisin sauce
2/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tsp. ground ginger (or 2 Tbl. grated gingerroot)
4 tsp. sesame oil
fresh cilantro leaves, if desired

Place roast in slow cooker. Cover with onion slices.  Mix remaining ingredients except cilantro, and pour over roast and onions.

Cover and cook on low heat for 8-10 hours or until done.

Remove roast to serving platter. Skim fat from surface of juices in cooker. Serve ribs with sauce and sprinkle with cilantro.

Have a great weekend and I’ll be back with you on Monday. In the meantime, do you have any unusual street or city names that you have come across?

Sheri soridiculouslyHOTandHUMIDhereinSt.Louisrightnow