Free. Seriously. Nada.

My latest project was sitting in the trash at work. I found these envelope boxes just waiting to be taken. Our accountant was a little bewildered by my happy dance, but he understood that I'd found something that at least I thought was cool, and he scrounged up another.

Awesome.

I had 4 boxes, eight pieces, so I pulled out 4 different tail end cans of blue and green spray paint. The colors for this project were Key Lime, Apple Green, Spa Blue, and Aqua. I had a spool and a half of the turquoise ribbon left over from the memo board, and some metal framed paper tags still hanging around from Christmas.

I did have to go and splurge on a new hole punch for $1. My daughter claims I don't own one. In 49 years, I have never once punched a hole in anything. EVER. No, there weren't previously 2 hole punches in the craft cabinet. That statement is punctuated by an innocent look and whistling. Uh huh.

Anyway, one top and one bottom was given 3 light 

 coats in each color and allowed to dry. Then, I punched a hole in the center of each lid, slightly below the middle. I cut ribbon to rim the lids and hot glued it into place, starting at the middle of the front above the punched hole. I then cut a 12 inch length of ribbon, tied a bow, and hot glued that over the seam. Add a paper tag to identify the contents, and you are DONE.

These were so simple to do, and I guarantee I'll do more as soon as we mail out this week's statements at the office.

Totally Cool Receipt: Zip. Unless you count the hole punch. Fine, be that way. $1.

Sweet Equations: Chocolate Strawberry Napoleons

Thom tackled one of my favorites this week. These Napoleans are company-impressive and super easy to make. You can vary the flavors; we've done raspberry cheesecake and white chocolate before!


You'll need:
One package of puffed pastry sheets
2 boxes of chocolate instant pudding
1 12 oz tub of whipped topping
2 pints of strawberries, washed hulled and thinly sliced. Reserve two pretty ones for garnish

First, line a baking sheet with foil. Lightly mist with cooking spray and bake the pastry sheets according to the instructions on the box.

















While those are turning golden brown, empty the pudding mix into a bowl and add HALF of the milk the recipe on the box calls for. If both boxes call for a combined 8 cups, add only 4 cups. Wisk until smooth.














Next, fold in the whipped topping gently until the mixture is a uniform color.

Remove the pastries from the oven and allow them to cool, about 15 minutes. Seperate each sheet into two layers. Set two on a platter side by side and spread with a spatula of the pudding mixture. Sprinkle with strawberry slices, then top with another sheet of pastry and repeat.


When the last sheets are stacked on top, sift a little confectioner's sugar on top. (I have also drizzled these with melted chocolate or simple chocolate syrup.)

Take the two reserved strawberries and make parallel slices from the tip to just below the hull, then fan them out and garnish the dessert.

Tell me that isn't pretty! One other thing...don't expect leftovers.


Chef Thom's Comments: I like this as well, but not as much as the first. My comments here might be bland and not detailed, but in future comments, I will talk about the future recipes in full depth.

I've Got You Covered

The light switch covers I fell in love with 3 years ago have been discontinued. This was probably a good thing since the brushed silver and porcelain model pictured ran me $8 apiece. I kid you not. I spent that. Do NOT tell Sam.

So with the house being remodeled, I need some new fixture covers. Gather your gear, this was simple and fun. How simple? It was my first decoupage project.













You will need:
Mod Podge
A sponge brush
Cheap plastic outlet covers
Decorative papers, like scrap booking or wrapping paper
A pencil
Scissors
A tape measure
An exacto knife

Cover your work surface with newspaper. Measure your covers and mark and cut the paper, leaving a 3/4 inch overlap all the way around. Spread a generous even coat of Mod Podge over the face of your cover, then smooth the paper over in, pressing out any air bubbles.









































Flip the cover over and apply Mod Podge to the edges of the back, then fold the paper over. Spread more Mod Podge over the top of the paper until it really becomes limp and easy to press down with your fingers.

Take the exacto knife and slice X's into the outlet openings. Fold the paper to the back, and working with Mod Podge on your fingers, open the holes completely, wetting the paper thoroughly.

Turn the cover face up and give it a coat Of Mod Podge on top of the paper. Let that dry and repeat.

I LOVE the way they turned out.

Totally Cool Receipt:

Mod Podge $5.75 (and I have a ton of it)
Switch Plates $.20
Scrapbooking paper $.50 per sheet, six covers to a sheet
Each cover? I averaged them out to $.40, since the larger ones were more. Go clean the change out of your couch and make some of these!

Sweet Equations: Chocolate Fudge Pie

As promised, we're going to share Sunday dessert with you, as prepared by my son Thom. This is Southern Living's Chocolate Fudge Pie, lightened up considerably using fat free sweetened condensed milk. It was simple, and amazingly delicious! In fact, it was so good no one thought to take pictures of the pie topped with whipped cream before it was devoured.

Photography by Savannah Helene.




Ingredients

* 1/2 (15-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts
* 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate baking squares, chopped
* 1 (14-oz.) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
* 1 (8-oz.) container fat-free frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
* Garnish: fresh raspberries

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Fit piecrust into a 9-inch pie plate according to package directions; fold edges under, and crimp. Line piecrust with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or oven safe plates, as we did.













2. Bake at 425° for 8 minutes. Remove weights and parchment paper, and bake 5 to 7 more minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 15 minutes).


3. Meanwhile, microwave chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals.





Whisk in milk until smooth; let stand 2 minutes. Fold half of whipped topping into chocolate mixture until combined; pour mixture into crust.







4. Cover and chill 4 to 8 hours. Spread remaining whipped topping over pie; garnish, if desired.








































Comments from the Chef: I did like the desert as well, I also have this recipe copied and pasted on my laptop just in case if I am doing this again.

Sweet Equations

My youngest son, Thom, has autism and OCD. He’ll be 17 in April.



I mention his autism only because you hear so many negative, heart-wrenching things about children growing up with this. We never skipped a beat after his diagnosis. We were actually relieved. We now knew what we were dealing with and could research it and find out how to accommodate it. We had a gorgeous, plump, blue eyed boy to raise. We were still determined to get him to the goal every parent should have: get him out of our house.



And I found that if we set out expectations, he rose to them.



He’s the rather handy, lanky guy pictured in a lot of the demolition pictures. He likes to sledge hammer walls, strip wallpaper, take up vinyl floors, pry up bad parquet floors, knock out drywall, and disassemble gazebos. I never have to remind him to put on safety gear first, it’s reflexive. He also designs websites, video games, computer art, and writes amazing fiction.



And he makes seriously killer desserts.



We sit down for dinner every night, but with me being a Southerner, Sunday is special. Dinner needs to be traditional, topped off with a fresh, homemade dessert. Since baking is essentially science and instructions, and Thom is a math and science whiz, I paired the task with the skills. I’d like to share the results with you each week, starting this Sunday, in a segment called Sweet Equations. I will include photos provided by my talented daughter, Savannah, full recipes, instructions, and a little commentary from the chef himself. I hope you’ll read it, enjoy it, and by all means make it. Because cooking is, as they say, a piece of cake.