Dessert Pizza

Our wonderful neighbors invited us over for pizza the other night and I was on for dessert, so I decided to make pizza for dessert as well! I combined a couple recipes I saw on Pinterest to make my own version. It was pretty good, quick and easy, and quite sweet, but that's the point right? When I made it the icing became a little runny after a while and the colour from the m&ms started to run, so I would recommend serving it immediately or maybe putting it in the fridge would help.

Ingredients
1 can Pilsbury pizza dough
1 package strawberries, washed and sliced
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 package cream cheese
1 tbsp milk
1/4 cup m&ms
Chocolate sauce

Roll out the pizza dough onto a pan and bake according to instructions (400F for 10-15 minutes) or until the crust is fully cooked. Beat together the icing sugar, cream cheese and milk to make the icing. Spread it onto the cooled crust. Put the strawberries and m&ms on the pizza, and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Serve immediately.

Knitted Baby Bow Hat

I love Pinterest for getting craft ideas, recipes, and patterns, but one of the frustrating things about it is that some of the pictures lead to listings on Etsy or other places that don't have the pattern. But that won't stop this crafty girl! I semi-made-up this pattern by modifying a simple hat pattern I have in my stash and copying the picture. This pattern is fairly simple, and really cute! Perfect for using up scraps too :) I'm not great at knowing sizes, but I think it would fit a 0-3 month infant. To make it bigger, add stitches in multiples of 4 before casting on. You could also use the basic hat pattern and add stripes, flowers, or make it look like an animal. See my Crochet Hat Round-Up post for ideas. Be creative!

Knitted Baby Bow Hat

Materials:

2 colours worsted weight yarn (size 4)

6 mm (US 10) knitting needles

Hat:

Using main colour, cast on 44 stitches. Work knit 1 purl 1 ribbing for 1". Work 4 rows stocking stitch (knit one row, purl one row). Switch to accent colour and work 4 rows stocking stitch. Switch back to main colour and continue in stocking stitch until it measures approx. 5" from beginning.

Decrease:

Row 1: [Knit 2, knit 2 together] to end of row
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: [Knit 1, knit 2 together] to end of row
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: [Knit 2 together] to end of row
Row 6: [Purl 2 together] to end of row.

Cut yarn and pull through loops.

Bow:

Cast on 16 stitches (using accent colour yarn)
Knit in garter stitch (knit every row) until the bow measures approx. 1".
Cast off and sew in ends.

Finishing:

Sew the bow onto the coloured stripe by looping around it several times. Make sure that you sew through the bow piece at least once so it can't get pulled out. Sew in all loose ends, and sew the middle seam.

Notes:

You can easily modify this pattern to be bigger by adding stitches in multiples of 4 (i.e. add 4, 8, 12, etc. stitches), and making it a bit longer. If you want it to be stretchier, use bigger size needles. To make it tighter, you can use smaller needles for the ribbing at the bottom, and bigger needles for the main part.

If you want to make this pattern with baby weight yarn, cast on 64 stitches and use 4mm knitting needles.  

A black and white one, made a bit bigger by adding stitches

A turquoise and white one, made tighter by using smaller sized needles for the ribbing at the bottom

Candy Cane Brownie Cheesecake

I was on for dessert with my family for Christmas dinner, so I wanted to make something festive, delicious, and less work than pies! I saw a few recipes for candy cane cheesecake on Pinterest, but they either didn't have a link or required crushed cookies, sour cream or heavy cream, which I didn't have. So I combined a few recipes to make this one my own!

The cheesecake part isn't very thick, so if you wanted to make it a bit bigger you could change the portions to 3 packages cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, and 3 eggs. It is quite sweet and rich, so you really only need a small piece.

Ingredients

Crust:
-1 package brownie mix

-1 egg

-2 tbsp water

Filling:

-2 packages (8oz/250g each) cream cheese

-½ cup white sugar

-1 tsp peppermint extract

-2 eggs

-1 cup crushed candy canes

-Chocolate sauce or whipped cream to top

Mix together brownie mix, egg, and water. Spread into a greased 9” springform pan and bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add in the sugar and peppermint extract and beat. Add the eggs one at a time and beat. Stir in ½ cup of the candy cane pieces. Pour over the brownie crust and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F. Top with chocolate sauce or whipped cream, and candy cane pieces. Enjoy!