Top Recipes of 2012

As we get ready to say goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013 (can you believe it!) I thought it would be fun to take a look at my most popular blog posts of 2012.

They are my Top Recipes of 2012 according to Google Analytics, which means they got the most page views during the year.

So here they are from number ten to number one!  Which one was your favorite?

Number Ten

Crock Pot Dulce de Leche

Make your own delicious dulce de leche easily in the crockpot!

 

Number Nine

Flavored Butters

Jazz up your bread or meats with flavored butters.

 

Number Eight

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dip

Number Seven

  In n Out Copycat Burger Recipe

  When you can’t have the real thing…

Number Six

Soda Pop Ice Cream

Choose your favorite flavor of soda pop

Number Five

 Peeps on a Stick

My Peep addiction continues with this fun treat!

Number Four

   60 Minute Cinnamon Rolls

  You really can have delicious homemade cinnamon rolls in 60 minutes!

 Number Three

 Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake

  My friend Sherra sent me this recipe with the message “MUST. MAKE”

Number Two

 Perfect Pie Crust Tutorial

 When you’ve got the right recipe pie crust is easier to make than you think!

 

Number One

Caramel Brownie Bites

 Thanks to my friend Marjean who was a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake Off for sharing her winning recipe with us!

I’ll be back later in the week to share with you my favorite posts of 2012!  Do you have a favorite post from the blog?

Enjoy!

Leigh Anne

You can also visit me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

 

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Merry Christmas from the Wilkes Family – 2012

From our home to yours…our 2012 Christmas card.

The back of the card…

Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family.

-Thomas S. Monson

Taking off some time this week to enjoy having 3 of my 5 kids home!  Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

To view past years Christmas cards :

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas 2010

 Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas 2008

Enjoy!

Leigh Anne

You can also visit me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

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The Wedding

Today I am excited to share with you some photos from my son’s wedding in Arizona last weekend.  It was a beautiful and magical weekend and a hot one.

I think the temperatures hit 115 degrees and as a result there weren’t many pictures taken outside!

Clark and Jessica were married for time and all eternity in this beautiful and sacred building – the LDS Mesa Temple.

Here are the bride and groom coming out of the temple! Mr. & Mrs. Wilkes!  Jessica made a gorgeous bride.  As pretty as any princess I know!!  And of course that groom was pretty darn handsome.

Because of the intense heat only the bride and groom hung around for a few formal photos.  I snuck this one in on the way to the air conditioned car!

The reception was held that evening at the lovely and beautiful Royal Palms Resort.  So elegant.

The room was beautiful and the flower arrangements were stunning.


We did family photos before the reception and I talked my family into going outside to a beautiful courtyard area for photos instead of inside.  This is my favorite photo – my four gorgeous kids.  I only wish Jessica had been in the photo but she was inside taking some photos with her family!  Can’t believe that they are now four adults.  I think I have looked at this photo a million times – it just makes my heart happy!
Of course I am kind of partial to this photo of me and my boy too!
The beautiful bride and groom!

The reception was not only beautiful but delicious too.  Loved the wedding cake and particularly the presentation for the bride and groom.

The bride and the groom started the night off with their special dance.

I got to dance to with two of my favorite men. For our mother/son dance we danced to My Wish by Rascal Flatts.

All the Wilkes kids (including their mother) had fun dancing the night away.

My feet were killing me by the end of the evening but we had so much fun.

All and all it was pretty much a picture perfect weekend. The bride and groom departed under a canopy of sparklers!

Next up – Wedding Carnival!!!

Special thanks to my niece Celeste for helping take photos for me.

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Christmas Decor 2012

Today I’m sharing my Christmas Decor for this year.

Well, my house is finally decorated.  Except for the banister.

Decorating the banister is my least favorite part of “decking the halls.”  I always leave it for last.  My girls always give me a hard time about not doing it so this year I have left it so they can help me.  We’ll see if it gets done!

But the rest of the house is ready.  I have given you a couple of peeks over the last few weeks of a couple of the spots of holiday decor but today you get the whole Christmas Decor 2012 tour.  Enjoy!

First the entryway.

This was a new vignette for me this year.  This piece of furniture is usually in the living room but in order to make room for the tree it gets moved out to the entryway.

I decided to put my collection of milk glass to good use and I loved how it turned out.

Also in my entry way –   I am loving my new estate sale $35.00 find that I painted white.  I usually do something more formal in my entryway but I kept it pretty simple this year.  I used a few of my new bottle brush trees from World Market that I love along with the poster I printed at Costco and hung on the wall.  The artwork is from Kiki and Company.  I purchased the download and then had it printed.

I think my father in law’s old vintage typewriter has taken up permanent residence in the entryway.  I love it.

If the banister were decorated I would show it to you next, but it’s not.

From there we go into the family room where I changed things up a bit this year too.  My new love and infatuation with bottle brush trees is clearly evident in this room.  I also have a thing for vintage inspired Santas.

The smaller, colorful bottle brush trees were a new purchase this year from World Market along with the white vintage Santa I love.

Also in the family room is the mantel.  This is where I put my little forest of bottle brush trees I bleached myself.  Check out my bottle brush tree bleaching tutorial.

I am especially loving the framed Joy I put together this year thanks to Pinterest.  The heart shaped wreath is from World Market.  They had a wonderful collection of holiday decor items this year.

My Joy tree also resides in the family room.

Also in the family room is one of our nativity sets.  This is one that we made years ago – probably almost 25 years now.  A similar nativity was on the cover of our church’s magazine for children and I fell in love with it.  I drew up a pattern and Jim cut it out of wood and I painted it.  We made several to give as gifts to family members too.  I especially love it because on the bottom of one of the wisemen there is a set of teeth marks.  Those belong to Clark who decided to teeth on the wise man!

Next we head into the dining room where there is a spot of holiday decor on the yellow sidetable.  Nothing fancy.

Last but not least is the living room.  You may recognize something from the Wedding Carnival!?

If you missed my tutorial on How to Decorate a Christmas Tree be sure and check it out for more details on how I do my tree.

We have another nativity set that my mother in law made that sits on top of our piano in the living room.

There you have it!  Hope you enjoyed the tour.

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Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

{Giveaway Closed}

I have a delicious recipe and a fun giveaway for you today.

I have shared with you my love for dulce de leche which  began several years ago when we had the privilege of traveling to Argentina to pick up our son Logan who was serving a mission for our church there.  We fell in love with the country and with dulce de leche.   Dulce de leche is a rich, thick caramel sauce made from sweetened condensed milk.   I have made a couple of different versions of dulce de leche here on the blog including crockpot dulce de leche and one is a version that is done on the stove top.

Today’s recipe for Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies uses dulce de leche that is made in the oven using Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk.  I found the recipe for the dulce de leche (caramel sauce) over on the Eagle Brand website. I just poured the sweetened condensed milk into a dish and then set that dish into a larger dish with water.  You want the water level to come up about 1/2″ on the pan.

Cover it tightly with foil and then put it in the oven at 425 degrees for 1 1/2 – 2 hours or until it is thick and caramel colored.  It will get gelatin like in texture.

If it gets a darker around the edges don’t worry.  Scoop it into a bowl and then whisk it until it is nice and smooth.

You now have a delicious, rich, thick dulce de leche caramel sauce.  You can use it for all kinds of things.  I especially love it over ice cream. I decided to use it in a cookie this time.

I found a recipe for dulce de leche cookie over at Joy the Baker.  The cookies give you a double hit of dulce de leche.  You use it in the cookie  batter and there is also dulce de leche sandwiched between two cookies to create an amazingly delicious sandwich cookie.

You will need a double batch of the dulce de leche for these cookies.  Just use two cans of sweetened condensed milk instead of one.  It may take a bit longer to cook so just watch it.

The batter for these cookies is a bit sticky.

With the double dulce de leche these cookies are pretty rich so don’t make them too big.  I used my smallest cookie scoop and think that next time I would even make them smaller.  Maybe just use a teaspoon of dough for each cookie.  I used about a tablespoon.

Bake the cookies on parchment paper and then allow them too cool before making your sandwich cookies.  Spread a nice layer of dulce de leche on half of your cookies.

Then pop another cookie on the top!

Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies are a fun flavor to add to your holiday baking or anytime of year.  Add a sprinkle of sea salt onto the caramel before adding the top cookie on or how about a layer of nutella???

Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker.

Now for the fun part of the post – the giveaway!

Eagle Brand wants you to try this recipe or a few of these other recipes below for your Holiday table!

Baked Pumpkin Custard
Homemade Caramel Sauce
Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Butter Pecan Ice Cream
Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake
Caramel Apple Streusel Squares

I can’t wait to try the Butter Pecan Ice Cream.

Eagle Brand is giving you some fun products to get started.

Here’s what is in it!

-Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk – Regular, Low Fat and Fat Free varieties -$100 Gift Card to Wal-Mart (Who couldn’t use!?!?) -Bakers Box Packaging Set – perfect for boxing up your new treats!  (Packaging always comes in handy for treat giving!) -Spice Measuring Spoons -Baking Scale (Every kitchen should have one of these!){Prize pack ARV: $250}

To enter to win just leave a comment letting me know which Eagle Brand recipe you’d like to try.  Giveaway is open through the weekend, Monday, December 17.  Hurry and enter!

{Giveaway Closed}

Enjoy!

Leigh Anne

Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

Servings18 cookies

Author Leigh Anne Wilkes

Ingredients

Dulce de Leche {Caramel Sauce}

• Double for the cookie recipe
• 1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookie

• 1 1/4 C flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 stick butter salted, at room temperature
• 1 C dulce de leche divided
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C white sugar
• 1 egg

Instructions

Dulce de Leche {Caramel Sauce}

• Heat oven to 425 degrees.
• Pour sweetened condensed milk into a pan. Cover with foil. Place that pan into a larger shallow pan. Fill larger pan with water to about 1/2 inch up the side of the pan.
• Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until caramel is thick and dark. Remove from oven. Remove from pan of water and allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving or using. Put caramel into a bowl and whisk until smooth.
• Extra caramel can be refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before using.

Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies was originally written by Leigh Anne Wilkes at https://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/dulce-de-leche-sandwich-cookies-and-eagle-brand-giveaway-including-100-walmart-gift-card/.

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Dr. Seuss Christmas Quote Subway Art Tutorial

Are you decorated for the holidays?  I’m not quite there yet.  I was on a roll than an emergency eye surgery for my husband this last week kind of slowed things down.  He had a torn retina and surgery had to be done immediately.  Fortunately all went well and his vision should return to normal in a month or two.  I have to keep reminding myself it is only December 2nd so I am really not that far behind.

I have also decided to change things up a bit with my holiday decor which has included a few new fun items made with my Silhouette Cameo.  Today I’m giving you a sneak peek at some of my decor along with a Dr. Seuss Christmas Quote Subway Art Tutorial I put together using my favorite Christmas quote.

I have loved this quote for years and wanted to have a print of it so decided this was the year to make it happen.  The quote is from The Grinch:

I am using it on the dresser in my hallway.  I created a new display this year using my milk glass collection.  I love being able to use everyday things I already have around my house for holiday decorating.  Just by filling them with some little trees I bought at Trader Joes, candy canes or paper white bulbs they become holiday decor.

To make the  Subway Art I had a piece of wood from Home Depot cut into two  pieces 15 x 24″  It was actually a remnant piece of wood.  The leftovers from what others have cut.  I got two pieces for $2.00.  It is the first place I check each time I go to Home Depot – the leftover wood pile!

I used up some leftover paint I had from the Wedding Carnival along with some wood stain.  It is all from Home Depot too.  The colors are Licorice Red and Powdered Snow.

I put a light coat of stain on the sides of the board and the back and then a coat of white paint on the top.  After it dried I put two coats of red paint.

After it was dry I used some sandpaper to distress the edges and several places on the face of the board.

I then applied the vinyl lettering I cut out with my Silhouette Cameo.  I cut the poem up into pieces so that I could stagger them on the board.

Use a ruler, a credit card or something with a hard edge to press the lettering down so that it sticks when you remove the backing.

Carefully pull back the backing making sure all the lettering is sticking as you go.  If it doesn’t just run over it with the ruler again.

I loved the way it turned out.  After I finished it I was reading a few of my favorite blogs and saw that Kristyn of Lil’Luna just posted her Joy to the World Subway Art Sign which I love!

She used a spray paint method for making hers so since I wanted to make several of these to give to friends I decided to use her method on the next one and it worked great.

She sprays the board with white spray paint and then lays down her vinyl lettering.  She then sprays red over the top.  When it is dry she carefully removes the vinyl lettering.  This method is a bit more work but gives a beautiful result. Be sure and check out her post for more details and a great step by step tutorial.

For the spray paint method I used some red and white spray paint that was also leftover from the Wedding Carnival!  She finished it off with two coats of polycrylic spray.

The first method gives you a bit more of a distressed look.  I love the way they both look.

I especially love how it looks as part of my holiday decor.  I used the salvage window frame I picked up for $2.00 at the dump as the backdrop for the scene.  I found these fun felt snowflakes at Target this week and hung them on the frame using push pins.  The little round felted balls also came from Target.  The snowman was a purchase several years ago from a place I can’t remember.

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Holiday Centerpiece with Strawberries

This past week I got my craft on with strawberries!  Yes, strawberries.

Normally strawberries may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of getting crafty.  But when Driscoll invited me to be part of their  Virtual Holiday Crafting event I couldn’t turn down the opportunity or the challenge.

I made a trip to Michaels to pick up a few craft supplies including a Styrofoam tree, some colored balls, ribbon and a metal pail.  I picked up my strawberries at the grocery store and grabbed some toothpicks too.

I decided to create a fun and edible holiday centerpiece with strawberries  for the dinner table.  How fun is that – you can eat the decorations!

I placed the Styrofoam into the metal bucket.  My Styrofoam measured about 5 x 18 inches.  I just pushed it down into the bucket until it was nice a snug.   I then used toothpicks to secure the strawberries to the foam.

Start with your largest berries and use those around the bottom.

Don’t worry about any spaces you may have – that is where those little colored foam balls will come in handy.  I just used toothpicks to secure them in between the berries to fill in the spaces.

As you know my word of the season is Joy so I cut out some vinyl letters with my Silhouette Cameo and put them on the metal container.

A little polka dot ribbon around the container was the finishing touch.

Totally loving it as a centerpiece for the dining room table.  Thinking a bowl of melted chocolate next to it and you have dessert already on the table.  Just pull the strawberries off and dip away!  Talk about multi-purpose!!

For another fun and fast holiday table decor idea check out my Four Steps To Quick & Easy Table Decor

Enjoy!

Leigh Anne

You can also visit me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

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