DIY Body Scrub

The employees at Essential Wholesale are encouraged to come up with recipes.  If approved, the recipe is made, blogged about ( http://essentialu.typepad.com/) and then distributed among any interested employees. (I used to work there.)  Here is the last employee recipe I was able to take home.  If I had been allowed to take more, I would have.  Even though I did not come up with this - it's very share-worthy.    If you decided to make body scrub, your skin will thank you.

Mediterranean Dream Scrub Creme

• 1/2 gallon Premium Concentrate Creme
• .25 lbs Walnut Shell Powder (1/2 c + 2 T)
• 1 Tbsp Orange Blossom (Neroli) Distillate (.45 oz)
• 1 tsp Multiple Fruit Blend Tincture (Organic) (.1 oz)
• 1 Tbsp Blood Orange Essential Oil (.3 oz)
• 1 tsp Rosewood-Bois De Rose Essential Oil (.1 oz)

*All oz measurements are by weight  

Directions:
Empty the Premium Concentrate Creme into a sterilized glass bowl.
Add walnut shell powder and mix thoroughly.
Add each of the next four ingredients.  Mix thoroughly.  
Transfer to the container(s) of your choice.

Yummy Website

If you like cooking and like reading cooking blogs then I would like to introduce: http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/.  This is an excellent cooking blog.  The recipe I most recently tried:  Mexican Hot Chocolate Corn Muffins.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 + 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

pinch of salt

2 eggs

1 + 1/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup Mexican chocolate, chopped (1/4 - 1/2 inch pieces) tossed with 1 teaspoon flour

topping:

1/3 cup Mexican chocolate, rough chopped

1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.

2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice and a pinch of salt. In a separate mixing bowl whisk together eggs, milk, butter, sugar, sour cream and vanilla extract. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined, add chopped chocolate and mix in.

3. Use an ice cream scoop to fill the cups 7/8 of the way full. Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center.

4. Remove pan to a wire rack to cool. After ten minutes remove muffins from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

5. For topping melt the chocolate with 1 tablespoon of milk or heavy cream, whisk together adding more heavy cream if needed to make a smooth frosting. Add the frosting to a small plastic bag, cut off the corner and pipe over top of each muffin.

Makes 10-11 muffins

The Amazing Knittermittent and Awesome Pixieaep

When the opportunity arose to be House-Elf Liason I thought "Wow!", "How fun!"  and  imagined putting together a fun sort of cookbook that included a contest and prizes.  I (and also LadyPinky) put out the call for recipes. It didn't really get off the ground.

As I was crocheting the other day, I was thinking about putting out another blogpost and not really wanting to at that moment.  In order to do that I would need to stop crocheting.

This was my A-HA! moment.

If I would rather crochet rather than recipe swap; then that is most likely also true for the other yarn crocheters and the knitters out there.  Doubly so for those in groups like HPKCHC which are composed of yarn manipulators that like to create in a competitive setting. 

So without further delay I will post the recipes that were sent in by other Hufflepuffs. I would like to add both recipes have been tested by me and tasted by my family.  The verdict: Delicious!  (And House-Elf Approved)

Recipes were printed in the order they were sent in:



from Knittermittent
sent in on 01/09/2011

This recipe came from allrecipes.com originally. I’ve tried it, and had bake sale success with it. The cookies are really large.
White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. This works better than greasing them.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth.
3. Add in the eggs and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture.
5. Finally, stir in the rolled oats, white chocolate chips, and pecans.
6. Drop by the tablespoonful onto prepared cookie sheets.
7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

from pixieaep
sent in on 01/11/2011

I saw in the ‘Puff common room that you were asking for recipes, and since the weather’s been so cold here in Kentucky, it’s the perfect time for comfort food. So I thought I’d share the super-easy potato soup recipe I tried out this weekend.

I based my soup on the recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Aaahh-Potato-Soup/Detail.aspx
but made lots of alterations, some from the comments there and some just because.
This is the recipe I ended up with. It tasted great, and it was perfect for a cold day. I can’t wait to make another batch!

Easy Creamy Potato Soup
Makes 5-6 servings
4-5 potatoes, cut into 1/2” cubes (I used 6 small Yukon Gold and 1 large Russet)
1 can condensed chicken broth
1 1/2 cups of water (or enough to just cover the potatoes in your soup pot, when added along with the chicken broth)
Onion, chopped (to taste; I used about 1/4 onion)
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup half and half
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Green onions, chopped (optional)
Bacon bits (optional)
1.) Add potatoes, chopped onions, chicken broth and enough water to just cover the potatoes to soup pot and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes.
2.) Process soup in blender until soup is the consistency you want. (You can omit this step for a chunkier soup.)
3.) Transfer soup back to pot and add cream, half and half and onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. I also added a little shredded cheese at this point because I LOVE cheese! Heat through.
4.) Top with cheese, green onions and bacon bits if desired, and enjoy!