a CASE of art

Take It To Heart

2012-03-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #22 (here). If you ever lose your stamping mojo this is the site to visit - it's amazing!
I {loved} this layout and although I could have created a simple card fairly quickly, I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and dig out those blender pens. Yes, I teach 5-year olds and yes, I color almost everyday but for some reason I hesitate to color on cards. When I'm with my kiddos I can make purple trees and a green sky and they don't care. But on a card it's different. A grown-up card should resemble reality. Somewhat.

In the end I'm happy with the final product. Even though the Take It To Heart set and DSP aren't sold as coordinating sets, I think this particular image works well with almost all of the sheets.
And speaking of DSP, The Everyday Enchantment DSP that I used is available for a limited time only as part of Stampin' Up!'s Sale-A-Bration. For every $50 you spend (before S&H) you can choose 1 item from the SAB catalog (here). But hurry, this wonderful event end March 31st!

Stamps: Take It To Heart, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Soft Suede, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Everyday Enchantment DSP
Tools & Accessories: Blender pen, Stampin' dimensionals

Pressure Cooker Chili

2012-02-28T06:12:00.001-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe is a new favorite at our house, Pressure Cooker Chili. It comes from PressureCookerDiaries.com, a great website I stumbled upon while looking for new pressure cooker recipes that didn't include chicken (have I mentioned how much I love my cooker?!). If you have a pressure cooker or are looking to invest in one I recommend checking out this site; most recipes have videos to help you prepare and readers are encouraged to submit your own pressure cooker recipes.
This recipe is incredibly easy to make and takes about 35 minutes from start to finish. It's hearty, yet not too spicy, and perfect for a cold winter day. For a healthier dish I used ground turkey rather than beef. Aaron and I prefer thicker chili so I reduced the amount of water to 1 cup.

Pressure Cooker Chili

1 lb ground beef or turkey
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded (optional)
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 cans diced tomatoes, un-drained
2 cans kidney beans, drained & rinsed
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup water

1. Brown ground beef/turkey in pressure cooker. Remove meat and drain fat.

2. Add onions, green peppers and jalapeno pepper to the cooker and cook on medium for about 8 minutes. Add garlic and stir.

3. Add remaining ingredients. Stir well and lock the lid. On high heat bring cooker up to pressure, then immediately reduce heat to maintain pressure. Cook for 8 minutes.

4. Remove cooker from heat and let pressure reduce naturally, about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Dying Baker's Twine

2012-02-26T06:30:00.000-05:00

Making a custom colored embellishment is easier than you might think. Watch this video to learn how to create coordinating bakers twine using exclusive Stampin' Up! colors.

124262 White Bakers Twine, $2.95

125412 Twitterpated Designer Fabric, $9.95

Blue Birthday

2012-02-24T06:50:00.000-05:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired, or rather CASE'd, from serelewis's card The Clear Block Sea over at SCS (here). I loved everything about her card so I changed very little, only the sentiment at the bottom. I should mention that The Open Sea stamp set was originally featured in the Summer Mini catalog and normally I would have changed the image to reflect a current set. However, I absolutely love this stamp set and I have my fingers crossed that it will make it into the 2012-13 Idea Book & Catalog (please, please, please!?)
The technique used to create the blue background is very simple: use the clear block as a stamp! Ink it up and stamp on paper just as you would with a traditional stamp.

This card was super simple to make and could easily be mass produced... hmmm. Maybe I've found my masculine birthday card for the year!

Stamps: The Open Sea, Occasional Quotes (retired)
Ink: Marina Mist, StazOn Black
Paper: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Basic Black
Tools & Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals

The {Best} Mac 'n Cheese, Ever!

2012-02-21T06:33:00.000-05:00

     Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe is all about comfort food. Three-Cheese Macaroni Casserole, came from The Pressure Cooker Cookbook and is incredibly easy to make.  But I must warn you, this is not a low-cal, low-fat dish; it's all about the cheese and carbs!
     For two years or so Aaron and I have wanted a pressure cooker and my parents were kind enough to give us a 6-qt cooker for Christmas. This is one of the best gifts ever. Eh-ver.
     Once I got over the initial fear of blowing the roof off our building (it is a pressure cooker, after all) I realized that this thing is beyond amazing.... This OMG-good dish took less than 15 to make from start to finish - no joke!   It's a wonder how we ever lived without this incredible invention, seriously! (Sorta like when we finally gave in and bought a wireless router for the internet... man, we used to live in the stone age!) Most pastas can be cooked in 6 minutes (without waiting for the water to boil), long-grain rice is done in 7, chicken in about 10 minutes and you can even make desserts in the cooker!
    Just a note: We added some leftover spiral ham with the onions and garlic but bacon would be great as well.

Three-Cheese Macaroni

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 cups elbow macaroni
3 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt
Pinch of black pepper
1 cup half-n-half
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated fontinella cheese
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter, melted

1. Heat oil in pressure cooker over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add macaroni, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Secure lid. Over high heat bring pressure up to high. Reduce heat to medium to maintain pressure and cook for 6 minutes.

2. Preheat broiler. Release pressure according to manufacturer's directions. Remove lid. Drain and place in an over proof baking dish.

3. Stir half-n-half into macaroni and mix well. Mix together 3 cheeses, reserving 2 tablespoons for topping, and add cheese mixture into macaroni. Mix well.

4. Toss bread crumbs with butter and sprinkle over top of casserole. Sprinkle reserved cheese over casserole. Broil until top is golden brown. Enjoy!

Create an Easel Card

2012-02-19T06:07:00.001-05:00

Learn how to create an easel card with Brian from Stampin' Up!'s home office.

Suede Birthday

2012-02-17T06:34:00.000-05:00

Hello! I am in constant need for masculine birthday cards and as soon as I saw Nancy Littrell's Field Flowers card over at SCS (here) I was inspired. I loved her layout (SC341) but changed the colors theme and used the Nature Silhouette stamp set. The background is one stamp so to make it multiple colors I used Stampin' Write markers to color directly on the stamp. A little time consuming but well worth it in the end.

Stamps: Nature Silhouettes
Ink: Old Olive, Soft Suede
Paper: Soft Suede CS and DSP, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

Sweet Pressed Sugar Cookies

2012-02-14T07:18:00.006-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for sugar cookies comes straight from the refrigerated section of my grocery store. I {love} to eat sugar cookies but I'm not a fan of making them; enter Pillsbury Refrigerated Sugar Cookie dough and the Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps from Stampin' Up!.
The cookie press is super simple to use: simply slip silicone stamp on bottom of wooden handle and press into dough! Silicone stamps are food-safe and dishwasher safe so clean up is a breeze. Both the Holiday and Occasions presses can be found in the Occasions Mini Catalog for $16.95 (here).

     The cookies were sliced directly from the dough roll, about 1/4" each (I like thin cookies) and baked according to package directions.
     I have seen several ways to use the cookie presses with cookies but I found the easiest to be pressing the cookies after they've been baked. Let cookies cool for about a minute on baking sheet and then gently press the stamp onto cookies. Decorate, if desired.
     If cutting thicker cookies, I recommend baking them for an additional minute letting them cool on the baking sheet for up to 3 minutes (the center of the cookie can be gooey) before pressing them.

Holiday Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps, $16.95

Occasions Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp, $16.95

Edgelits Dies and Coordinating Folders

2012-02-12T06:03:00.003-05:00

Cut unique edges with Stampin' Up!'s new Edgelits. They use the same thin wafer-like design as the Framelits, so you can see where you're placing the design before you cut. Add embossing to the cut with the coordinating Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing Folders. Also coordinates with the Bordering on Romance stamp set.

125595 Adorning Accents Edgelits die, $9.95

125601 Textured Impressions Embossing Folders, $8.95

125483 (C) Bordering on Romance, $21.95

Check out the Edgelits and stamp set on pages 7 & 11 of the Occasions Mini (here).

To place an order check out my Stampin' Up! website (here).

Fashionable Hearts

2012-02-10T06:06:00.002-05:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by Chat Wszelaki's Simply Simple 86 card on her blog, Me, My Stamps and I (here). I love everything about Chat's card and decided to CASE her card, using what I had in my stamping room.
This card was quick and simple to make and I didn't have to ink a single stamp! I chose to omit the sentiment so that this card could be used on other occasions besides Valentine's Day.

Paper: Whisper White, Neutrals DSP, Real Red
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Framelits Hearts Collection dies, Fashionable Hearts Embosslits die, 2 1/2" circle punch, grosgrain ribbon, pearl

Slow Cooked Sunday Dinner

2012-02-07T06:40:00.001-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and the main course for today's recipe for comes from Food.com (love that site!). Aaron and I picked up an eye of round roast at the food store for a super good price and he decided that it was my job to figure out how to cook it. So I did a little research and found this fantastic recipe from KittenCalsKitchen (here). It was incredibly easy to make and the best part is that you make the gravy along with the roast, no separate sauce pan and whisk needed! This delicious, low maintenance dish is perfect for a cold, wintry Sunday dinner.

For a side dish I chose to use the pressure cooker and whip up some long-grain white rice, potatoes and carrots. If you don't have a pressure cooker you can always cook the veggies in the slow cooker alongside the roast.

Slow Cooker Eye of Round Roast

1 (3-4 lb) eye of round roast
1 can cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)
1 can beef broth, (reserving 4.5 oz)
1 pkg dry onion soup/dip mix
1-2 tbsp pressed garlic
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
3 tbsp oil

1. In small bowl mix together flour, pepper and garlic powder. Dredge the round in the flour mixture.

2. Heat oil in skillet on medium heat; brown roast on all sides.

3. In large bowl mix together mushroom soup, broth (reserving 4.5 oz for later), dry soup/dip packet, Worcestershire sauce and pressed garlic. Transfer to 5-6 qt slow cooker.

4. Transfer roast to the slow cooker and generously spoon soup mixture over top of roast.

5. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or until roast is tender.

6. For thicker gravy, transfer gravy to saucepan and thicken with cornstarch and water.

Using the reserved broth from the roast gives this side dish a hint of beef flavor. If you don't have a pressure cooker you can still use the remaining broth in addition to water, just cook the rice according to package directions

Pressure Cooker Potatoes, Carrots and Rice

4 large carrots
10 small red potatoes
1 cup long-grain white rice
4oz beef broth (reserved from the roast)
2 cups water

1. Peel and cut potatoes and carrots into 2" pieces. Place in pressure cooker.

2. Add broth, water and rice. Secure lid.

3. Over high heat bring pressure to high. Reduce heat to medium and maintain pressure. Cook for 7 minutes.

4. Reduce pressure according to manufacturer's directions. Enjoy!

Designer Rosette

2012-02-05T06:46:00.002-05:00

Create the paper rosettes you love in no time! This die and your Big Shot do the cutting and scoring for you. Features two designer edges for different rosette styles. Cut rosettes up to 10" diameter. Spacing between each fold is 1/2".

Check out the Bigz XL Designer Rosette die on page 28 of the Occasions Mini (here).

To place an order check out my Stampin' Up! website (here).

Love You Much

2012-02-03T05:54:00.000-05:00

Hello! Today's Valentine's card is super simple and easy to make in large quantities, I think I made this in under 10 minutes. This can definitely be filed under CAS (clean and simple).

I have very few Valentine's stamp sets so in an effort to use what I have (as opposed to buying more sets), I dug deep and pulled out my Well Scripted set. I absolutely loved this set when it was available and wish Stampin' Up! hadn't retired it :-( I also wanted to use up some pearls that I've had for ages and thought this was the perfect opportunity.

Stamps: Wells Scripted (retired, but I don't know why!)
Ink: Real Red
Paper: Very Vanilla, Real Red
Tools & Accessories: Pearls, Stampin' dimensionals

Game Day Munchies - Part 2

2012-02-01T06:56:00.001-05:00

The second dish I'll be making for Super Bowl Sunday is also from my Pampered Chef cookbook, All the Best. The Taco Braid is by far one of my most favorite Pampered Chef recipes. The flaky pastry is filled with a delicious filling that can be prepared in less thean an hour and will be a hit with guests.

Beef Taco Braid

1 lb ground beef/ground turkey
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 1/2 cups shredded chddar cheese, divided
2 tbsp water
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 pkg redrigerated crescent rolls

Unroll crescent rolls and press seams together.

1. Preheat oven to 375. Cook ground beef/turkey until no long pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning mix, 1 1/2 cups cheese and water.

Cut sides of dough into 8 strips.

2. Scoop filling evenly over crescent rolls; twist dough to form braid. Brush with edd white. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with salsa, lettuce and sour cream. Enjoy!

Lift one strip; twist one turn and lay across top of filling. Repeat with remaining strips.

Serve warm.

Game Day Munchies - Part 1

2012-01-31T06:07:00.003-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and in case you haven't heard the Patriot's are on their way to the Super Bowl (woo hoo!). Since we're HUGE Pats fans there's no doubt that Aaron and I will be parked in front of the TV this Sunday watching the big game. And since I don't want to be tied up in the kitchen baking during this time, I found several recipes that are great for game-time munchies but can be prepared ahead of time and thrown in the oven when needed.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip came from my well-used All the Best Pampered Chef recipe book. It's a dish that's best served warm, although I'll warn you - it's so good it won't last long!

Hot Artichoke & Spinach Dip

1 jar (16oz) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 pkg (9-11 oz) frozen creamed spinach, thawed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 small garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Diced red pepper (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Coarsely chop artichokes, place in large bowl. Add spinach, mayo and sour cream

2. Press garlic into bowl, add cheese and mix well. Spoon into oven safe baking dish (I love the small oval baker from Pampered Chef)

3. Bake 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with red pepper and serve with baked pita chips (recipe below). Enjoy!

Bake Pita Chips

6 whole pita pocket bread rounds

1. Preheat oven to 400. Split each pita pocket in half horizontally; cut each round into 8 wedges. Arrange pita wedges on baking sheet.

2. Bake 8-10 minutes or until chips are lightly browned and crisp. Remove from baking sheet; cool completely. Repeat with remaining wedges.

Dresden Designs Die

2012-01-29T09:03:00.000-05:00

Stampin' Up!'s Designer Fabric and this new die are a perfect match! Easily create Dresden flower designs for quilts, throw pillows or other home decor projects. But it's more than quilting - use in papercrafting to frame photos on pages and more! Features two petal sizes - use together for endless possibilities. Ideal for cutting multiple layers of fabric or card stock at once.

125597 Dresden Designs Big L die, $32.95

Check out the Dresden Designs Bigz L Die on page 12 of the Occasions Mini (here).

To place an order check out my Stampin' Up! website (here).

"Espresso"-ing My Love

2012-01-27T06:46:00.002-05:00

Hello! I love that saying: "Nothing says I love you more than chocolate..." Or was it "Chocolate fixes anything"? Anyhoo, today's card was inspired by my favorite food group, chocolate, and krissiev's Birthday Cupcake card over at SCS (here).
I loved Krissie's layout but I wanted to make a Valentine's Day card that was more on the masculine side and immediately thought of neutral colors, especially Early Espresso. Doesn't the color combo make you think of a box of dark chocolate? Or those delicious little Lindt balls that are so addicting? Yum!

Stamps: Create a Cupcake
Ink: Real Red, Whisper White (craft)
Paper: Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: Build a Cupcake punch, button, linen thread, corner rounder punch, dimensionals

It's Sale-A-Bration!

2012-01-24T19:05:00.000-05:00

To download a copy of the Sale-A-Bration catalog click (here).

Remember, you don't have to wait for a workshop to place an order! Individual orders can be placed at anytime on my Stampin' Up! website (here).

Moroccan White Bean Turkey Chili

2012-01-24T06:46:00.001-05:00

It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for chili comes from the Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker Cookbook. This healthful, hearty chili is quick to pull together and has a unique taste that is sure to hit the spot on a cold winter day.
One of the essential ingredients in this recipe the Pampered Chef spice mix, Moroccan Rub. It can be made at home (I'll provide the recipe below) but I recommend purchasing a bottle from Pampered Chef for $4.50 (here). This is what gives the chili it's unique, exotic flavor and cannot be substituted. If you're interested in placing an order please visit my friend Danielle's Pampered Chef website (here), she's a wonderful consultant!

Moroccan White Bean Chili

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (optional)
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 lb lean ground turkey
3 tbsp Moroccan Rub (see below)
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp salt
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained

1. Preheat oven to 400. Combine onion and peppers in skillet and saute 5-8 minutes. Add ground turkey and Moroccan Rub and cook until turkey is no longer pink.

2. Add beans, tomato sauce and tomatoes; mix well. Pour mixture into deep covered baker and bake for 30-35 minutes. If you do not have a deep covered baker, this dish can be made in a large, covered skillet and simmered on the stove top for 30-35 minutes. Enjoy!

Moroccan Rub

1-1/2 tbsp paprika
1-1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp chili powder

Paper Doily Die

2012-01-22T06:22:00.002-05:00

One of the benefits of using Sizzlit dies is the delicate and intricate designs they cut. Now, with Stampin' Up!'s Paper Doily die you have the opportunity to create those beautiful detailed designs in a size that hasn't been an option before.

125592 Large Sizzlits Die Paper Doily, $21.95

Check out the Paper Doily die on page 7 of the Occasions Mini (here).

To place an order check out my Stampin' Up! website (here).

Got Love?

2012-01-20T06:40:00.000-05:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by label's Gingerbread Holiday Trio card over at SCS (here). I loved the layout but wanted to change the theme to reflect Valentine's Day.
The background was run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (love that!). The hearts were stamped and then cut out and adhered to 1 1/4" white squares. Those were then layered on corresponding CS that was cut out with the scallop square punch. To be honest, I had to dig out and dust off my scallop punch, couldn't tell you the last time I used that!

Stamps: Got Treats
Ink: Regal Rose, Pretty In Pink, Pink Pirouette
Paper: Whisper White, Regal Rose, Pretty In Pink, Pink Pirouette
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, scallop square punch, 1 1/4" square punch, grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' dimensionals

Hearty Chicken Stew

2012-01-17T06:15:00.001-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for chicken stew comes from the Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker cookbook. This hearty stew is easy to make and absolutely delicious; the medley of vegetables and seasonings make this the perfect stew for a cold winter day.
When preparing this dish I prefer to use meat from a rotisserie chicken rather than chicken thighs as recommended in the original recipe. I'm a fan of white meat and find the flavorful rotisserie chicken adds a bit more seasoning to the stew.

Hearty Chicken Stew

1 lb Yukon gold potatoes
1 large onion
3 carrots, peeled
8 oz whole mushrooms
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or meat from 1 rotisserie chicken)
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 lemon
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 375. Cut potatoes into chunks, dice onion and cut carrots into 1/2" pieces. Cut mushrooms into quarters. Cut chicken into 1" pieces. Combine potatoes, onion, carrots, mushrooms, chicken, rosemary, pressed garlic, salt and pepper in large bowl; mix well.

2. Whisk together broth, tomato paste and cornstarch in separate bowl until cornstarch is dissolved. Pour into chicken mixture; mix well. Pour chicken mixture into large oven-safe casserole dish.

3. Bake, covered, 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours or until potatoes are tender, stirring after 45 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, zest lemon. Remove stew from oven. Stir in zest and chopped parsley. Let stand, covered, 10 minutes or until stew has thickened. Enjoy!

Framelits Dies

2012-01-15T05:59:00.002-05:00

A little hesitant to try the Framelits Dies? Yes, they do look very different from other dies in the Stampin' Up! product line, but the opportunities are endless when you use them in your craft projects.

125599 Hearts Collection, $26.95

125598 Labels Collection, $26.95

Check them out on page 6 of the Occasions Mini (here).

To place an order visit my Stampin' Up! website (here).

Simple Hearts

2012-01-13T07:00:00.002-05:00

     Hello! It's so hard to believe that it's already time to think about Valentine's Day, it seems like I just finished making my Christmas cards last week! Can I tell you that I actually saw Valentine's candy at the store the day after Christmas?! AND I was able to purchase two bags of Cadbury Mini Eggs (the ones you see at EASTER) for my husbands stocking on Christmas Eve day. Geesh - talk about rushing the holidays...
     Anyhoo, today's card was inspired by ju012835's 3 Lucky Shamrocks card over at SCS (here). If you haven't checked out Julie's blog, Stamping Impressions, I highly recommend it - she does wonderful work!
     I loved Julie's layout and decided to change just the theme. I used the heart from Got Treats stamp set and the sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I'm not a fan of rik rak so I substituted a piece of Pretty In Pink CS. Thankfully I had a pink button but I've realized that I need to replenish my supply!

Stamps: Got Treats, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Pretty In Pink, StazOn Black
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Pretty In Pink
Tools & Accessories: Grosgrain ribbon, button, linen thread, corner rounder punch, Stampin' dimensionals

Pasta Carbonara

2012-01-10T06:33:00.000-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and Pasta Cabonara comes from the October issue of Woman's Day magazine. This is a much lighter version of the Italian favorite, it's definitely not as creamy as the dish that comes to mind when you think of Carbonara but still full of flavor.
Aaron was once again the chef and does have a few tips... He strongly recommends splurging for a small block of Parmesan cheese; the bagged cheese is no where near as good as freshly grated Parmesan and is well worth the extra 5 mintues of prep. A great addition to this dish? Fresh or frozen peas.

Pasta Carbonara

12 oz linguine
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
7 slices bacon cut in 1/4" pieces

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolks, Parmesan cheese and 1/4 tsp salt & pepper. Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup of the warm reserved cooking water.

3. Cook the bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp, 8-10 minutes. Add pasta to skillet and toss to coat.

4. Transfer pasta and bacon to the bowl with the egg mixture and toss until noodles are coated. If mixture seems dry, stir in additional reserved pasta water, 2 tbsp at a time. Serve immediately and sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese.

Fishy Thanks

2012-01-06T06:19:00.000-05:00

Hello! Today's card is version #2 of the November 25th Simply Grateful card. I kept the layout identical but changed the image and colors.
Super cute and super easy to make. I don't know about you but I'm always in need of a thank you card (especially as a teacher) so I now have a stack of these pre-made and ready to go.

Stamps: Summer Splash, Sunny Fun (both retired from Summer Mini)
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: Simply Scored scoring tool, square punch, dimensionals

The Occasions Mini Is Here!

2012-01-04T06:39:00.007-05:00

It's January 4th and the Occasions Mini officially goes live today!

Click (here) to download the mini.

Click (here) to download the Sale-A-Bration mini.

If you're reading this and thinking, "Hmmm... I haven't received my copy of the mini in the mail yet", you're right. I confess that I goofed - BIG TIME.

I got so wrapped up in the holidays that I completely forgot to submit my order for the Occasions Mini (demos have customer catalogs sent thru SU). So this means that NONE of my customers will be receiving their Occasions Mini or their Sale-A-Bration catalogs in the mail from Stampin' Up! before January 4th.

But not to worry! I have ordered several packets of catalogs and as soon as the man in brown drops them off at my door I'll pop them in the mail to you. In the meantime if you're not a member of my Portsmouth stamp club but would like a copy of both minis drop me an e-mail or post a comment at the end of this thread with your name and address and I'll get one in the mail to you ASAP.

Thank you for understanding!

Chicken & Roasted Garlic Risotto

2012-01-03T06:04:00.001-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for quick and easy creamy risotto comes from CampbellsKitchen.com. Now I know what you're thinking, "risotto that's quick and easy?" But it's true, this whole recipe takes only about 30 minutes from start to finish - and you don't have to stand at the stove stirring the risotto! And the best part is that because this comes from Campbell's the ingredients are ones that you most likely already have in your pantry!
This is one of the "staple" meals at our house (since it's super quick) and we've actually had a guest comment on how good it was. His exact words? "Joanna, this tastes restaurant quality risotto!"

When it's just Aaron and myself we cut the chicken by half and use 2 breasts. I also like to cube the chicken and then cook it, rather than cook the breasts whole. We top the dish with freshly grated Parmesan and a little parsley.

Chicken & Roasted Garlic Risotto

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb)
1 tbsp butter
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
2 cloves garlic, pressed (optional)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups water
2 cups uncooked instant white rice
1 cup frozen peas & carrots
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Parsley (optional)

1. Heat butter in skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned on both sides. Remove chicken from skillet.

2. Add onions to skillet and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until tender. Stir in soups and water and bring to a boil.

3. Stir in rice and vegetables. Return chicken to the skillet. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Remove the skillet from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Top with cheese and parsley. Enjoy!

Holiday Mini Coming to an End

2012-01-01T14:27:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that the Holiday Mini will expire at 11:50 (MST) on January 3rd. Bummer.

On the bright side, Stampin' Up! announced several items that will be carried over to the the next mini (although they won't be pictured). Items include glimmer paper, punches and dies as well as fabric and shaker frames.

Click (here) to view the flyer.

If you'd like to place an order be sure to check out my Stampin' Up! store (here), I'd love to be your demonstrator!

A Little Thank You...

2011-12-30T06:43:00.000-05:00

Hello! I decided to make a few 3x3 thank you cards for parents who donate items to my classroom. (You know you're a teacher when you get more excited about a container of bleach wipes than a bouquet of flowers... sad, but true).
I can't take 100% credit for this card but I can't find my original inspiration... I think it was in the Idea Book & Catalog somewhere. I've tried to look for it but it seems I never get too far in the book since I'm always sidetracked by all the wonderful sets and samples and I keep adding to my wish list.

Stamps: Thank You Kindly, School Lines
Ink: StazOn Black, Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Very Vanilla (smooth & textured), Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler
Tools & Accessories: Brads, Boho Blossoms punch, dimensionals

Fiesta Chicken & Rice Wraps

2011-12-27T05:12:00.001-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for chicken and rice wraps comes from Cambells Kitchen.com. If you use a rotisserie chicken this is a super quick and easy recipe that uses items you most likely already have in your pantry. We've also found that the filling, mixed with refried beans, makes a wonderful side dish for tacos or fajitas.

Fiesta Chicken & Rice Wraps

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa (I prefer mild)
1/2 cup water
1 cup uncooked instant rice
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
4 flour tortillas (10")
Cilantro
Shredded cheese

1. Heat soup, salsa and water in a 2-quart sauce pan over medium heat to a boil; stirring occasionally.

2. Stir in the rice and chicken in saucepan. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.

3. Spoon about 1 cup chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and cilantro. Fold tortillas around chicken mixture, place seam side down on plate and slice in half.

A Trio of Bingo Bits

2011-12-23T17:59:00.002-05:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by Mary Brown's card Jolly Bingo Bits (here) on her blog Stamper Camper's Corner. If you haven't checked out Mary's blog I highly recommend it - she's so talented and has an incredible collection of beautiful cards!
I instantly loved Mary's layout but wanted to change the theme and colors to reflect the Christmas season. To create the scalloped border I punched circles using the 3/4" and then adhered them to the back of the DSP. to make this card a quick and simple card, stamp the Bingo Bits images directly on the white CS rather than cutting them out like I did (if you're a follower of this blog you'll know that I don't mind cutting out images).

Stamps: Jolly Bingo Bits, Christmas Greetings
Ink: Old Olive, Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Old Olive DSP
Tools & Accessories: 3/4" circle punch, quilted ribbon, Stampin' dimensionals

Margherita Pizza

2011-12-20T05:17:00.001-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for margherita pizza was inspired by a recipe from the Pampered Chef "It's Good For You" cookbook. This is a super quick and easy recipe that uses many items you most likely already have in your pantry. Aaron and I make sure we always have a tube of pizza dough and tomatoes in the fridge so we can make this on a lazy evening when we don't feel like cooking a big dinner ;)

Margherita Pizza

Refridgerated pizza dough
3-4 tomatoes
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp basil (or 2 tbsp fresh basil)
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
Shredded mozeralla cheese

1. Unroll pizza dough on large cookie sheet pre-bake for 5 minutes according to package directions (usually 400 degrees).

2. Meantime, in small bowl wisk together vinegar, olive oil and spices; set aside. Chop tomatoes into 1/2" pieces.

3. Spread vinegar mixture over cooked pizza dough with pastry brush. Sprinkle cheese and tomatoes over pizza.

4. Bake pizza for 10-12 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown.

Rustic Christmas Greetings

2011-12-16T07:16:00.001-05:00

     Hello! Today's card was inspired by Debra Currier's Monochromatic Christmas card (here) on her blog ARTfelt Impressions. If you haven't had a chance to check out Debra's blog I highly recommend it - she's so talented!
     I'm not sure if it's the Crumb Cake CS or the linen thread but something about this card just says "rustic". Can't you just see this sitting on a fireplace mantel in a log cabin?
     Anyhoo, I loved Debra's layout and decided the only thing I was going to change was the color so I substituted Cherry Cobbler for Always Artichoke. This card was quick and simple to make and would be easy to make in large quantities.

Stamps: Four the Holidays, Tags 'til Christmas
Paper: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Tools & Accessories: Corner rounder punch, ornament punch, paper piercing tool, linen thread, pearls, Stampin' dimensionals

A Sparkly Twist on Lights

2011-12-16T05:46:00.002-05:00

Hello! Today's card is a case of myself, with a sparkly twist! I used the same layout, colors and stamp set that I used on the Faux Silk card but instead of stamping on a coffee filter I used glossy white CS. I then inked the CS with VersaMark ink, sprinkled with Iridescent Ice embossing powder and then used the heat tool to set the powder. The result is an incredibly sparkly card that any recipient is sure to love!

Stamps: Jolly Bingo Bits, Christmas Greetings
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler
Tools & Accessories: Paper piercing tool, Stampin' dimensionals

Clearance Rack Blitz!

2011-12-15T17:55:00.000-05:00

Nearly 200 new Clearance Rack items are being added to the Online Store at discounts up to 80% off retail--while supplies last!

Things to Remember:

Only online orders qualify for this promotion. Orders can include non-Clearance Rack items, as well.
The Clearance Rack Blitz includes old-body style punches.
There is no minimum purchase required to participate in this promotion.
Qualifying Clearance Rack orders are eligible for hostess benefits
Clearance Rack Blitz items are only available while supplies last. There are no refunds or exchanges on Clearance Rack items.
You may view Clearance Rack Blitz items in my online store (here)

Butternut Squash Soup

2011-12-13T05:33:00.001-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for butternut squash soup was adapted from from my favorite food blog, Sweet Pea's Kitchen (love her). In the words of Christina, this soup is so rich and creamy you'll be surprised to learn that it's actually healthful - there's no cream! The key is to use a great blender (like my Ninja) or food immersion blender to make the soup extra smooth and velvety. This was the appetizer I served on Thanksgiving (I made it the day before and just heated it up on the stove) and had rave reviews from the family.

Butternut Squash Soup

2 1/2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2" chunks
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1-2 cups water
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
pinch cayenne pepper
sour cream
chopped walnuts of hazelnuts

1. Place squash chunks in large microwave safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave 14-18 minutes, stirring halfway through, until a paring knife glides easily through. Transfer squash colander set in large bowl; let drain for 5 minutes; reserve liquid.

2. In large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat melt the butter. Add squash, onion and 1 teaspoon of salt; cook, stirring occasionally until a brown fond forms on bottom of pot and squash pieces break down, about 10-13 minutes.

3. Add 2 cups of vegetable or chicken broth and scrape bottom of pot to loosen fond. Add remaining 2 cups broth, reserved squash liquid, 1 cup water, thyme, bay leaf and cayenne pepper. Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for anther 6-7 minutes.

4. Remove pot from heat and remove and discard the thyme and bay leaf. Working in batches, process soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to clean pot and bring to a simmer, thinning with up to 1 cup of water to desired consistency (I prefer a thick soup so I chose not to add water). Season with salt and pepper and serve with toasted hazelnuts or walnuts and a dollop of sour cream.

Jolly Bingo Bits Holiday

2011-12-09T06:37:00.003-05:00

Hello! Today's card is my second take on dancerriley's card on SCS (here). I loved her layout but wanted to change the theme from Thanksgiving to Christmas. My new favorite stamp set, Jolly Bingo Bits, was perfect for this card.
I think the Old Olive and Soft Suede colors blend a little bit on the first panel. When I make this card again I'll use the Christmas tree image rather than the wreath and the poinsettia image rather than the candy cane. Hopefully, this will provide a bit more contrast.

Stamps: Jolly Bingo Bits
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Old Olive
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler
Tools & Accessories: Soft Suede taffeta ribbon, square punch, paper piercing tool, Stampin' dimensionals

Halloween Thank You

2011-12-09T05:25:00.000-05:00

Hello! I was looking through my cards and realized that I hadn't posted this one. There are several co-workers at my school that make my job so much easier. I love to surprise them with little gifts of appreciation on the holidays and what better way to say thank you than with chocolate?

For Halloween I made each of these ladies a little 3x3 card and added a bag of Lindt chocolate. We are lucky enough to have a Lindt outlet nearby and for some reason I can't leave that store without spending a small fortune. Shhh, don't tell Aaron.
To give the card a little sparkle I used Iridescent Ice on the pumpkin square.

Stamps: Got Treats?
Paper: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, VersaMark
Tools & Accessories: Square punches, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, heat tool, grosgrain ribbon

Cranberry Apple Pie

2011-12-06T06:37:00.001-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and this recipe for Cranberry Apple Pie comes from the October 2009 Redbook Magazine. This pie is the perfect way to capture fall flavors. The sweetness of the apples with the slight tartness of cranberries make this a delicious dessert for a fall get together or holiday celebration. And if you use refridgerated pie crusts this is quick and easy to put together!

Cranberry Apple Pie

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3lbs apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2" slices
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces

1. Preheat oven to 425. Unroll 1 pie crust into bottom of pan.

2. In large bowl, mix sugars, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add sliced apples and cranberries; toss well to coat with sugar mixture.

3. Turn filling into pie crust, arranging apples to minimize spaces between the slices and dot with butter.

4. Cut second pie crust into 1" strips with pizza slicer. Arrange strips on top of pie in a lattice design. Cover edges of pie with foil to avoid buring. Bake for 15 minutes.

5. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake 25 minutes. Check pie and slide a sheet of foil onto the rack under pie to catch any drips (at this time you may need to cover entire pie with foil to avoid buring the top crust). Bake an additional 25-30 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and juices bubble at edge.

Faux Silk Lights

2011-12-02T05:54:00.001-05:00

Hello! Today's card is another faux silk card - it's my new favorite technique.
I know the photo isn't the best but under the main image I used the paper piercing tool and stamped the "Merry Christmas" sentiment from the Christmas Greetings stamp set in Cherry Cobbler. When I demonstrated this card with the ladies from my stamping club they decided that stamping the sentiment in black StazOn ink looks much better - and I agree!

If you're not familiar with the Faux Silk technique it couldn't be easier! Check out Lyssa Griffin Zwolanek's photo tutorial on her blog here. This technique gives your card such a unique look and feel; once you try it you'll be hooked!

Stamps: Jolly Bingo Bits, Christmas Greetings
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight
Tools & Accessories: Paper piercing tool, Stampin' dimensionals

Thanksgiving Leftovers

2011-11-29T06:02:00.007-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for leftovers is one of Aaron's delicious creations! Stuffing Casserole is quick and easy to make and has almost all the tastes of a Thanksgiving dinner in one dish (minus the mashed potatoes). The casserole can easily be made with leftover turkey and items you have in your pantry but shouldn't be limited to the days after Thanksgiving... substitute a rotisserie chicken for turkey and make this dish any time during the year.

Stuffing Casserole

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can of water
2 cups dry stuffing
1 1/2 -2lbs leftover turkey, cubed
Cheese
3/4 cup craisins (optional)
1/2 chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large oven-safe casserole dish (we prefer to use the Pampered Chef baker) combine soup, water, stuffing, turkey, craisins, and walnuts; mix well. Top with cheese.

2. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and brown. Enjoy!

Simply Grateful

2011-11-25T06:55:00.025-05:00

     Hello! While I love the holidays I am so happy that Thanksgiving happens only once a year. I think I spent more time in the kitchen than I did with the family. But it was well worth in the end since lots of delicious food was eaten yesterday... maybe a bit too much good food!
     As you can see from the photo, yes, I picked up the Falling Leaves set AGAIN - I think I need help... This card was inspired by sweetnsassystamps' card (here) over at SCS. Her colors are absolutely GORGEOUS and the layout is so simple - I love it.
   The lines at the bottom of the card were created using the new Simply Scored Scoring Tool (pg 7 of Holiday Mini). This tool is amazing - I don't know how I managed without it!

Stamps: Falling Leaves
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive
Paper: Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: Simply Scored Scoring Tool, square punch, dimensionals

Faux Silk Leaves

2011-11-24T05:59:00.014-05:00

Hello and happy Thanksgiving! In addition to watching the parade and cooking (we're hosting dinner) I will be spending the day with my family and reflecting on all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for.
I was inspired to try the Faux Silk technique after seeing Lyssa Griffin Zwolanek's photo tutorial (here) on her blog, Song of My Heart. This technique is incredibly easy and will make any recipient ask "how did you do that?"

     Following Lyssa's tutorial, the leaves were stamped on a coffee filter and then adhered to white CS with SU Anywhere Glue Stick.
     Rather than trim the excess coffee filter I decided to adhere it to the back, ensuring that it would not peel off if I inadvertently missed any spots with the glue stick.
     And Lyssa's right: once you've made one card with this technique you'll be running back to your kitchen cabinet for more filters so you can make more cards! :)

Stamps: Falling Leaves, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede
Ink: Soft Suede, Pool Party, More Mustard
Tools & Accessories: Stampin' dimensionals

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

2011-11-22T05:59:00.002-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies comes from my FAVORITE cooking blog: Sweet Pea's Kitchen.
These cookies were easy to make and even easier to eat! They are loaded with apples, oatmeal and walnuts and incredibly moist. I took a some into school with me and had quite a few requests for the recipe! Christina did make an apple cider glaze to top off her cookies but I chose to leave them plain.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
Pinch nutmeg
1 medium apple, cored peeled, diced small
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

For Apple Cider Glaze

1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider

1. Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg; set aside.

2. In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Fold in apples and walnuts with a rubber spatula.

3. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-13 minutes or until the bottoms are light golden color.

4. Transfer cooked cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

5. To make the apple cider glaze: in small bowl combine confectioners' sugar and apple cider. Drizzle over cookies.

2011-11-20T13:25:00.000-05:00

Online Extravaganza, Stampin' Up's annual sale to kick off the holiday shopping season, will begin Monday, November 21, 2011, and run through Wednesday, November 30, 2011. While this promotion is perfect for online orders during an especially busy time of year, sale prices will be available on all order types.
To take advantage of great savings, like FREE digital downloads valued at $40 when you buy My Digital Studio Express, 60 percent off select Designer Fabrics, and 30 percent off an exclusive ribbon bundle, I encourage you to log onto my Online Store (here) on Monday, November 21st.

In addition, there will be two items on sale for 24 hours only (November 21, 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM [MT])-so make sure you don't miss the first 24 hours of Online Extravaganza!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-18T05:05:00.002-05:00

Hello! Today's card uses (wait for it....) the Falling Leaves stamp set, are you surprised? I just can't get enough of this set.
The color combination for the leaves came from the Spice Cake DSP in the Holiday Mini. Of course, as soon as my husband saw this card he said: "blue leaves, there are no blue leaves!" I then had to explain that this was a very popular color scheme and it's perfectly normal to see blue leaves on SplitCoast. Gotta love him!

And yes, I did cut out all those leaves, but that's my thing. I find it kinda relaxing to cut them out and I think it adds a little something to the card.

Stamps: Falling Leaves, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Pool Party, Soft Suede, More Mustard
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede
Tools & Accessories: Stampin' dimensionals

Pistachio Chicken

2011-11-15T06:02:00.000-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and Pistachio Chicken comes from the October issue of Woman's Day. You won't miss the deep fryer with this crispy and slightly tangy oven baked dish. Ok. it's confession time.... I have to be honest and say I didn't cook this dish - Aaron did. After a long day a school I came home to find this absolutely delicious dish waiting for me.. I know, I'm lucky :)
The original recipe is based on four servings. Since there's only the two of us we only cook two breasts at a time. To serve two we found 1/2 lb pistachio's in the shell should be enough for two chicken breasts, double this for 4 breasts. Aaron served this with a side of couscous and mixed vegetables.

Pistachio Chicken

1/2 cup pistachios, finely chopped
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
Olive oil
Chicken breasts
Salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. In shallow bowl combine pistachio's, panko and 1 tbsp oil.

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brush chicken with yogurt and coat with pistachio mixture, pressing gently to help it adhere.

3. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet and bake until golden brown and cooked through, 25-30 minutes.

I Love, Love {LOVE} This Card!

2011-11-12T06:41:00.002-05:00

Can I say that about my own card?! Well, it's not 100% my card, it was inspired by dancerriley's Happy Thanksgiving card (here) over at SCS. I instantly loved Riley's layout and since some of her supplies have retired I had to improvise and use what I have on hand.
I will admit that this card did take a bit to create and is certainly not a quick make. BUT, I think the time and effort is well worth it, especially if you are using it as a Thanksgiving card.

Stamps: Falling Leaves (what else?)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Old Olive
Paper: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Early Espresso
Tools & Accessories: Square punch, paper piercing tools, Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Best-Ever Apple Cake

2011-11-08T06:29:00.002-05:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and the best-ever apple cake recipe comes from the October 2009 issue of Redbook magazine (are you seeing an apple theme in my recipes lately?). I may have mentioned this a million times before but fall is my most favorite time of the year and while winter is just around the corner I'm hanging on to it for as long as I can - I'm so not ready for snow!

Aaron and I met up with my folks at Carter Hill Apple Orchard a few weeks ago and picked up a peck of freshly picked Cortland apples. When we got home I couldn't resist searching through my apple recipes to find something I hadn't made in a while; I finally settled on apple cake. The cake is dense yet moist with just a hint of orange flavor. Sprinkle it with a bit of powdered sugar and serve slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - yum!

Best-Ever Apple Cake

3 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus 1/4 cup
2 tsp cinnamon
4 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 10-inch removable-bottom tube pan with nostick spray.

Aaron helped slice the apples!

2. In large bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and apples until coated.

3. In mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, butter, orange juice and vanilla. Slowly add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until batter is smooth.

4. Pour half the batter (about 2 cups) into prepared pan. Top with half of apple mixture. Spoon remaining batter over apples and top with remaining apples, placing them 1/4" in from the tube and border of the cake.

5. Bake 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Run a paring knife around the sides and center and turn cake out onto wire rack. Invert cake onto another rack to cool, apple sides up.

** I no longer grease and flour my baking pan - I use Wilton's Cake Release. Simply spread Cake Release on bottom and sides of pan with pastry brush and fill with batter. Cakes release easily EVERY time! You can order this online at Wilton.com or pick it up at Michael's for around $4.

Grateful in Suede

2011-11-04T06:19:00.001-04:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by macmad2's Falling Leaves for Thanksgiving card (here) over at SCS. Yes, this is the "umpteenth" card I've made with the Falling Leaves set but there are just sooo many wonderful cards over at SCS for inspiration that I just can't put this set down!
To make the card more of my own I changed the color scheme just a bit and opted to use a piece of Soft Suede DSP as a background.

Stamps: Falling Leaves (LOVE this set!)
Ink: Old Olive, More Mustard, Bravo Burgundy, Soft Suede
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Patterns DSP (suede)
Tools & Accessories: Square punches, Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

The {Best} Apple Pie - Ever!

2011-11-01T06:24:00.000-04:00

     Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and this Apple Pie recipe comes from The Grand Central Baking cookbook. This pie is incredibly easy to make and absolutely delicious. It's perfect for a crisp autumn evening, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
     A few tips... I haven't perfected homemade pie crust so I prefer to use Merico brand refrigerated pie crust rather than Pillsbury (gasp); it tastes better and is less expensive. I've only recently started to see this at my local grocery store so I'm not sure if it's available in all areas.
     Definitely use firm, tart apples, like the recipe suggests. We picked up ours at the local apple orchard and they were a bit too soft, making the pie filling a little juicy. Not that this was a bad thing but if you're going for presentation it could be a problem.
   I sprinkle a packet of "Raw Sugar" (the little brown packets of sugar at the coffee shop) on the top of the pie. This gives the pie crust a bit of crunch and looks pretty too.

I have to admit that these are not the best photos of the pie... I forgot to take the foil off the crusts 10 minutes before it was finished so it looks a little unbaked around the edges and overcooked in the middle.

Apple Pie

2 pie crusts
2 lbs firm, tart apples (4-5 large apples)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Peel, core and slice apples into 1/2" slices. You should have about 8 cups. Toss apples with sugars, cinnamon and set aside for an hour or so, until they begin to release some of their juices. (This helps prevent the apple slices from shrinking in the oven as they lose their juices, which creates large gaps between the crust and fruit)

2. Preheat oven to 375. Place one pie crust in pan and pour apple filling onto crust. Cover with second crust and crimp edges. Cut several steam vents in top crust.

3. Bake for 30 minutes, then rotate pan and lower oven temp to 350. Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.

2011-10-30T08:21:00.000-04:00

I think the date says it all - yes, this really was taken on October 30th. It's a good thing I love living in New England!

Baja Leaves

2011-10-28T06:14:00.002-04:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by Minders card (here) over at SCS which is a CASE of Susie Nelson's card (here) also over at SCS. I absolutely LOVED the colors Mindy used on her card but since I don't have all the new In-Colors (gasp!), I used what I had on hand. I also added a bit of paper piercing under the sentiment rather than a Designer Printed Brad.

Choosing the coordinating colors for this card was quite easy - I used my Color Coach! I'll be honest and say that I have no idea how I functioned without this little tool - it's amazing! No more guessing if colors coordinate, just look them up on the Coach and you're an instant color expert!

Stamps: Falling Leaves
Ink: Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Wisteria Wonder
Paper: Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: 1-1/4" circle punch, paper piercing tool, dimensionals

Mini Apple Crisp

2011-10-25T07:15:00.000-04:00

     Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe for mini apple crisp actually came from a parent of one of my students. During our apple themed week back in September one of my little cherubs brought two of these in for me as a snack (what a sweetie) but as soon as I took a bite I knew I HAD to have this recipe. They taste just like an apple crisp, just smaller.
      I should note that the recipe claims you'll be able to make 48 mini crisps but I was only able to get 24. Of course, if Aaron and I hadn't "sampled" the batter as we were baking I may have been able to squeeze out a few more. It's also not a recipe for someone on a diet; there's a cup and a half of butter in the batter. Yes one whole cup and another half of butter.
     Little tip: let crisps cool completely before removing from pan and don't refrigerate them in the pan, you'll never be able to get them out (we found out the hard way).

Mini Apple Crisps

3 large McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp white sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups butter

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease mini muffin tin.

2. Mix apples, water, white sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon together in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer until apples are partially cooked, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon and nutmeg together in large bowl; cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

4. Place a heaping tablespoon of the crust mixture into a mini muffin cup, press it into the cup so that it covers the bottom and pushes up the sides of the cup. Make the crust go all the way to the top of the little muffin cup, and patch any holes with more crust mixture. Place about 2 teaspoons of apple filling in the crust. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of the remaining crust mixture on the filling.

5. Bake 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Beautiful Butterflies

2011-10-21T06:27:00.000-04:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by StamperJen0's Happy Day to You! card over at SCS. I absolutely loved her layout and to make the card more of my own I decided to break out my Wisteria Wonder card stock (I LOVE that color!). I used the Color Coach to help me choose colors that would coordinate with the purple (LOVE that tool!)

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Crumb Cake
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Wings embosslits die, paper piercer, modern label punch, grosgrain ribbon

Crisscross Apple Muffins

2011-10-18T07:21:00.000-04:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and Crisscross Apple Muffins comes from one of my many Pampered Chef recipe books (anyone else out there LOVE every recipe they make?). These muffins are loaded with fresh apples, raisins and walnuts..... perfect for a crisp autumn morning.
I made these for a family gathering back in September and got rave reviews from everyone. While the directions can be a bit tricky (I think it's harder to explain what you do than it is to actually DO it), once you get the hang of it it takes seconds to build each muffin.

The original recipe calls for 1 pkg of 8 flaky biscuits and 1 pkg of 5 flaky biscuits. I don't know where these test bakers do their food shopping, but I could not find a tube of Pillsbury Grands with anything less than 8 biscuits. But no need to worry, I was able to use all 16 biscuits and still had a bit of leftover filling (even though the recipe said I'd have extra rolls).

Apple Muffins

4 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
3 tbsp flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 pkg Pillsbury Grands biscuits (8 per tube)
1 tbsp butter
Ice cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Peel, core and cut apples in 1/2" pieces. Place apples, chopped walnuts, raisins, flour, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in mixing bowl and mix well. Microwave apple mixture for 3 minutes (I did not do this last step)

2. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Melt butter in separate bowl and set aside.

3. Separate 16 biscuits. Lightly flour rolling pin and surface and roll biscuit into 5" circle (I recommend rolling 1 biscuit at a time since they tend to shrink while your not working with them).

4. Sprinkle biscuit circle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Scoop 1/4 cup of apple mixture (I used a teensy bit less than 1/4 cup). Gather edges of biscuit over filling and pinch to seal.

5. Holding filled biscuits at sealed end, dip each biscuit in butter and then in cinnamon-sugar mixture.

6. Place biscuits, seam side down, into muffin pan. Cut an "X" pattern with knife through top of each biscuit. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and serve warm.

Sweet Pressed Cookies!

2011-10-16T07:44:00.005-04:00

Take your love of stamping into the kitchen! Create fun and tasty stamped cookies for any occasion. Fit a sillicone stamp over the wooden handle and press into dough - it's that easy! To order this set click (here) or contact me today.

{Grateful} for Falling Leaves

2011-10-14T06:03:00.002-04:00

     Hello! Today's card was inspired by HudsonHannah's {grateful} card (here) over at SCS. If you have a chance you should check out the Falling Leaves gallery... there are soooo many ~~great~~ amazing cards that I had a hard time deciding which one to CASE first! In the end I went with HudsonHannah's; I loved her layout decided to tweak the colors just a bit for my card.
     I must admit that love the Falling Leaves stamp set and can't believe I waited so long to order it! It's a great set to use during the fall season for thank you cards or you can use the Thanksgiving sentiment to create Thanksgiving cards.
     This card was super quick and easy to make and could easily be mass produced!

Stamps: Falling Leaves
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, More Mustard, Old Olive, Soft Suede
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Tools & Accessories: Circle punch, button, linen thread

Marie's Famous Zucchini Bread

2011-10-11T06:32:00.005-04:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe comes from my mom, Marie. For as long as I can remember I've had a severe dislike for vegetables. So imagine my surprise when I realized that the delicious bread she had made all through my childhood contained a VEGETABLE.

Now that I'm an adult I've started to look at veggie in a different light, especially if they're disguised in a sweet bread. last week's recipe came from a magazine but this recipe was inspired by a trip to the local Farmer's Market earlier in the summer and seeing some ginormous zucchini's. I remembered my mom's bread and decided to give it a try. It's super easy to make (especially if you have your husband grate the zucchini) and absolutely delicious. We're a fan of walnuts in our house and decided to add those to the mix but you could certainly add pecans if you prefer those.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cups grated zucchini

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 loaf pans.

2. Beat eggs for 2-4 minutes using stand mixer.

3. Grate zucchini and squeeze dry with paper towel. Slowly add zucchini and remaining ingredients; mix until well blended.

4. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from pan. Enjoy.

Marching Band Rocks LMFAO

2011-10-10T07:11:00.001-04:00

Hello! This video has absolutely nothing to do with stamping or cooking but it's one that I just had to share. My favorite song on the radio (for this week) is LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" and if you ever drive by me in my car and see me dancing it's because this song is on the radio (yes, I really dance in my car). Great job Ohio University!

<a href='http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/marching-band-performs-party-rock-anthem/1jrv0ydzt?videoId=1jrv0ydzt&from=&src=v5:embed::uuids' target='_new' title='Marching Band Performs 'Party Rock Anthem''>Video: Marching Band Performs 'Party Rock Anthem'</a>

Five Years Ago Today...

2011-10-07T06:21:00.004-04:00

I married my best friend. I can't believe it's been 5 years already; it seems like only yesterday that Aaron was leaving lilacs and love notes on my doorstep (true story). I can't wait for our next 50 years together - I love you!

Simple Butterflies

2011-10-07T05:44:00.000-04:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by Chat Wszelaki's Kindness Matters card over at her blog Me, My Stamps and I. I absolutely LOVE Chat's blog; her work is amazing and if you haven't checked her out I highly recommend it! To make this card more of my own I decided to use the Beautiful Wings embosslit die rather than the Kindness Matters stampset and omitted some of the layers. It's a quick and simple version of her card!

Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Ink: Crumb Cake
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Wings embosslit die, grosgrain ribbon

Zucchini Cake with Orange Glaze

2011-10-04T06:42:00.001-04:00

     Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe is one found in the August issue of Martha Stewart Living.
Originally, the Zucchini Cake recipe calls for a bundt pan but since that seems to be the one pan we don't own, I used my angel food cake pan instead. The recipe also called for anise seeds and cardamom (optional). I'll be honest and say that I'm not a fan of anise and I have no idea what cardamom is so I don't use either when making the cake. I haven't had any complaints that is was missing something so I'm thinking it's just fine to delete these two ingredients!
     And speaking of flavor, this cake is so moist and dense and yet the flavor is very light, you can hardly tell there's a vegetable in it! It's the perfect way to get your child to eat veggies!
     And then there's the glaze... it is absolutely amazing, just a light hint of orange. The original recipe calls for milk but I caution you about using this. Because milk needs to be refrigerated, if you make the glaze with this you will need to keep the cake in the fridge, especially during warm summer months. To avoid this need, I use water instead (there's no difference in taste); this allows you to store the cake in a covered container on the counter until it's gone (which was only two days at our house).

Zucchini Cake
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
2-1/2 cups flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp anise seeds
1/8 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
Salt
2 medium zucchini
3 large eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp grated orange zest
1 tbsp orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 325 and grease bundt pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, spices and 1 tsp salt.

2. Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater, then squeeze dry in a clean paper towel (you will need 2-1/2 cups).

3. Stir together eggs and sugar, then stir in melted butter, zucchini, orange zest and juice. Stir in flour mixture, transfer batter to pan.

4. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour (cake will rise quite a bit but should not run over). Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Loosen cake, turn out onto wire rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes.

Orange Glaze
1-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 pinches ground cardamom (optional)
1/4 tsp finely grated orange zest

3 tbsp fresh orange juice
Whole milk, as needed for thinning (I use water)

1. Whisk together sugar and cardamom. Whisk in orange zest and juice; combine until mixture has the consistency of thick honey. If mixture is too thick, use milk/water, 1 tsp at a time.

2. Brush or pour glaze evenly over cake.

OMG - I Can Stamp AND Bake at the Same Time

2011-10-03T05:32:00.008-04:00

YEEEEEEEEES! I can now combine my two favorite hobbies into one - all thanks to Stampin' Up! You can now order the Sweet Pressed Cookie stamp set. Yes, you read right - you can now stamp on cookies! (Is is wrong that I think this is one of the best days ever?).

With this easy to use set you create fun and tasty stamped cookies for any occasion. Fit a silicon stamp over the bottom of the wooden handle and press into dough - it's that easy. Food-safe, easy to clean and dishwasher safe.

For the incredibly low price of $16.95 you will receive a wooden handle, three silicone cookie stamps (snowflake, heart and jack-o-lantern face) and a recipe for sugar cookies.

I pre-ordered this last month (one of the perks of being a demo) but haven't had a chance to use them yet. As soon as I do I'll snap some photos and let you know how they turned out.

To place an order through my website click (here).

Free Stamp Set

2011-10-03T05:11:00.015-04:00

During the month of October if you purchase two Simply Sent card kits you'll receive a FREE coordinating stamp set. The Simply Sent kits are ideal for the beginning crafter or for those who a limited on time but want to give a handmade card. The card kits offer a variety of basic themes, so it's easy to create cards for any occasion.

The Simply Sent kits can be found on pages 192 & 193 of the Idea Book & Catalog and range in price from $11.95-$13.95. The FREE stamp sets can also be found on pages 192 & 193.

To place an order through my website click (here).

To download a flyer with info about the promo click (here)

{Grateful}

2011-09-30T06:23:00.001-04:00

Hello! Today's card required me to dig out Season of Friendship, a stamp set that I've had for a looooong time but just never use (which is a shame because it's a fantastic set). The color inspiration for this card came from Autumn Traditions DSP in the 2009-10 Idea Book & Catalog.
Yes, I did cut out all of those leaves and flowers but I think it's well worth it. It adds a tiny bit of dimension to the card.

Stamps: Season of Friendship, Falling Leaves
Ink: More Mustard, Elegant Eggplant, Soft Suede
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Circle #2 Bigz die, grosgrain ribbon, brads, dimensionals

Lemony Pasta

2011-09-27T06:04:00.001-04:00

Hello! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe comes from an issue of Family Circle magazine. Lemony Pasta is super easy to make and can feed a family of four or would make a great dish to take to a pot luck gathering. We make this as a side dish but you could easily add sliced chicken breast for some protein.

A few tips... The original recipe called for 5 tablespoons of lemon juice (juice from 2 lemons) but I love lemon flavor so I usually add 7 tablespoons (juice from 2 1/2 lemons) and then sprinkle a bit on top just before serving.
I'm not a fan of asparagus so I omitted that ingredient and replaced with another green veggie, peas. This dish is best served warm but does work well as a cold pasta salad.

Lemony Pasta
15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
5 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pound penne pasta
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Cook penne pasta according to package directions. Add asparagus to pot for final 7 minutes of cooking time. Set aside 1 cup pasta water, then drain pasta mixture and place in serving bowl.

2. In small bowl, whisk together ricotta, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper.

3. Add ricotta mixture and bacon to pasta and stir well to combine, adding reserved water by the 1/4 cupful is needed (I don't need to do this). Serve immediately.

Watercoloring & Heat Embossing

2011-09-23T06:49:00.002-04:00

Hello! Today's card is one that was inspired by a card I saw in the winter 2008 issue of Take Ten by Jennifer Meyer.
For this card, I stamped the flower and leaf images on glossy white with VersaMark and then embossed them with black embossing powder. I then spritzed the images with water, used an Aqua Painter and to pick up ink from a drop of ink refill (I created a palette in a plastic lid) and touched it to the image.. the ink spreads in the water creating a soft watercolored look. For my card I chose to use one color on each image but you can certainly mix colors.

This technique works best with line-art images that have compartments; that way the ink will tend to stay in the area you want it to (you can see the green started to run out of my leaves). Another tip I have is to let the ink flow where it wants; stirring or pushing the ink too much will muddy the color.
I recommend practicing this technique several times before committing to project, I scrapped several pieces before I created one that I liked.

Stamps: Flower Fest, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: StazOn Black, VersaMark, Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: Aqua painter, black embossing powder, heat tool, scallop border punch

S'mores On the Range

2011-09-20T06:44:00.001-04:00

... the range top oven that is! It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe was born out of a need to use up 24 Hershey bars (yes, 24), 2 bags of marshmallows and a box graham crackers. Ok, we really didn't need to "use" any of these ingredients up, but they just didn't stand a chance in our cabinets for long and I wasn't going camping anytime soon.
After eating several chocolate bars and a few marshmallows my genius husband said: "hey, let's make S'mores". Only problem was we didn't have a campfire... That's where the oven comes in. We figured out that if you carefully assemble the graham cracker, chocolate square and marshmallow, preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 5 minutes they came out PERFECTLY! I do prefer my marshmallows toasted to a crisp but these will definitely do in a pinch. The chocolate melts and even though it doesn't look like it, the marshmallow is gooey in the middle. Genius! I married a genius!

*Note: You WILL need to keep an eye on your S'mores in the oven, the chocolate may melt faster than expected.

Using the Block in a Whole New Way

2011-09-16T06:16:00.006-04:00

     Hello!  Today's card was inspired by Angie Juda's Flower Fest cards over at her blog Chic' n Scratch. I am someone who must have things neat and organized and cringe when I get ink somewhere it shouldn't be - like the clear blocks! So it took me a second or two to get used to the fact that I would need to ink up the entire clear block to make the background for this card (deep breath).
     If you've never seen this technique before it's very simple. Instead of using a stamp to create the orange background I inked up a clear block and used that as a stamp instead. I did press a little harder than I would have had there been a stamp on the block, just to make sure I got as much ink off the block as I could. I love the speckled look the block gives you. If you're more of a visual learner Angie does have a video tutorial available on her blog.
     Once I got over the initial shock the rest of the card was incredibly easy to make. The birds were stamped with black StazOn as was the sentiment.

Stamps: Dark & Dreary, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, StazOn Black
Paper: First Edition DSP, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
Tools & Accessories: Clear blocks (I used B), dimensionals

Perfect Peanut Noodles

2011-09-13T05:54:00.017-04:00

     It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe is not for those who are "so-so" about peanuts or for those who are on a diet - there's a full cup of peanut butter in this dish. I am a HUGE fan of anything related to peanuts: butter, cups, ice cream, PPJ's, crackers, pad thai... you name it - if it's got peanuts in it, I'll try it.  Definitely my weakness. I wouldn't last a day on Survivor if they offered me a jar of peanut butter and a spoon. Wait, who am I kidding, I wouldn't need a spoon... Anyhoo, I only had to make this recipe once to know that this would be be new favorite dish ;)
     The original Peanut Noodles recipe came from the Campbell's Soup website (here) but I changed it up a bit to make it more of my own. The original recipe has the noodles served over coleslaw mix (ewww) and included red pepper flakes. I'm not a fan of hot or spicy food so I chose to omit this last ingredient. Because I omitted the coleslaw I figured I had to add some type of veggie to the dish so I added green pepper, onion and garlic... we add those to everything we make so why stop now ;) As for the chicken, you can grill the breasts, cook them whole in a skillet or do what I do and cube the chicken before cooking.
     This dish is best served warm (the peanut sauce is sooo thick and creamy) but does work for a cold pasta salad.

Peanut Noodles
2-3 chicken breasts
Green pepper
Onion
Garlic
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb angel hair pasta, cooked and drained
Chopped peanuts (optional but recommended)
Cilantro

1. Cube chicken and saute in skillet until no longer pink. Remove from skillet and set aside.

2. Chop green pepper and onion and saute 5-10 minutes; add garlic

3. In small bowl, beat broth, soy sauce, olive oil with fork until smooth (this will take a few minutes). Set 1/3 cup of this mixture aside.

4. Add chicken to vegetables in skillet; chop peanuts and cilantro and add to skillet.

5. Add cooked pasta and peanut mixture to skillet and mix well.

6. Top each serving with drizzle of remaining peanut mixture.

On a Dark & Dreary Night...

2011-09-09T06:49:00.003-04:00

     Hello! Halloween is my favorite holiday but surprisingly I only own one Halloween stamp set (although Spooky Bingo Bits is super cute and I may have to order that soon!). I originally purchased Dark & Dreary when it was featured in the 2010 Holiday mini and was happy to see it carried over to the 2011 Idea Book & Catalog.
     Today's card was inspired by Patty B's Pretty in Paint card (here) over at SCS. I absolutely loved her layout and decided to change very little on for my card. I did want to add a bit of sparkle to one of the layers so I pulled out my Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss powder and VersaMark and applied it to the entire second layer. I should note that I stamped the sentiment in StazOn before applying the embossing powder.
     Even though the Iridescent Ice gives this card a great "wow" effect, it was very simple to make and could easily be mass produced. If you plan on making Halloween cards but need to stock up on paper or accessories (or perhaps a new Halloween stamp set!) there's still time to place an order!

Stamps: Dark & Dreary, Baroque Motifs, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: StazOn Black, VersaMark
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Old Olive, Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: Heat tool, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Bully Cat

2011-09-08T06:56:00.001-04:00

This video has nothing to do with stamping or cooking but is so cute that I just had to share it. I'm not sure what's funnier: the bully cat or the cat with the "lion" hair cut who struts in midway!

EMBED-Bully Cat Stuffs Cat In Box - Watch more free videos

Upside-Down Nachos

2011-09-06T07:40:00.004-04:00

It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe is not new, just different. We are HUGE fans of nachos but not a huge fan of soggy tortilla chips, which is what seems to happen when you layer the meat and beans on the chips before baking.
So we decided to turn the nachos upside down and melt the cheese on the nachos first; this melts the cheese and crisps up the chips too. We've also found a way to make this awesome dish lower in fat; we use ground turkey, baked tortilla chips and reduced fat cheese. And to make my half of the nachos even more low fat, I use Morning Star Farms Soy Crumbles in place of the ground turkey. Once you season the crumbles you'd never know they weren't real meat (although Aaron absolutely refuses to even try the crumbles... I think he's afraid it's not "manly" to eat soy).

Upside-Down Nachos
Green pepper
Onion
Garlic
Black beans (we love Goya)
1 lb Ground beef
Taco seasoning
Taco sauce/salsa
Nachos chips
Cheese
Tomato
Cilantro (optional but highly recommended)

1. Chop and sautee peppers, onions and garlic. Add black beans and cook 5-10 minutes or until beans are thoroughly cooked.

2. In separate skillet, brown ground beef/turkey and add taco seasoning (follow directions on seasoning packet)

3. Spread tortilla chips on baking sheet, layer with cheese and cook in 350 degree oven until cheese is brown and bubbly.

4. Layer chips with meat and bean mixture; top with tomatoes, taco sauce/salsa and cilantro and enjoy.

Joy to the World!

2011-09-02T06:48:00.004-04:00

Hello! My favorite Christmas carol is Joy To the World so I was tickled pink when I saw Stampin' Up! used this as an inspiration for The Sounding Joy stamp set. And of course, when I saw Renee Van Stralen's Follow the Recipe #18 card over at her blog Stamping for Sanity I knew I had to CASE it. I absolutely loved her card so I decided to change very little. This card was simple enough to create that I'm thinking I may just use this as my Christmas card this year!

Stamps: The Sounding Joy
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Lattice embossing folder, Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, scallop trim border punch

Ranch Chicken Casserole

2011-08-30T06:19:00.001-04:00

It's Recipe Tuesday! Today's recipe is one I found in the margins of a magazine as an ad for Daisy Sour Cream: Ranch Chicken Casserole. This is the first time I made this and it was really good; it got two thumbs up from my husband who requested that I make it again. It was super easy to make and the building of it reminds me more of a lasagna than a casserole.
To help speed prep time and add a bit more flavor I used the meat from a rotisserie chicken (I think we ate half of it as we were taking it off the bone!) rather than pull out the Foreman and grill a breast. Next time I make this I'll use more tomatoes, maybe another entire can, as well as some fresh corn. If you're serving this as a main dish for more than 2 people I would definitely use more than 1/2 pound of chicken, maybe 3 breasts.

Ranch Chicken Casserole
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 (10oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 pound chicken, cooked and cubed (we used a rotisserie)
Corn tortillas
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 sour cream
1 pkg ranch dressing
Monterrey jack cheese
Cilantro (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cover bottom of 8"x9" pan with corn tortillas. Sprinkle 1/3 of cheese, tomatoes, pepper, onion and chicken over tortillas. Repeat process, ending with a layer of tortillas.

2. Blend chicken broth, sour cream and ranch dip until smooth. Pour evenly over the casserole and set aside for 3 minutes.

3. Top casserole with remaining cheese and tomatoes. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes and sprinkle with cilantro (optional).

Fundraising Walk - Please Support Me!

2011-08-23T06:45:00.004-04:00

For those who know me it's no secret that I am an animal lover! On September 18th I will be participating in the 16th annual Concord-Merrimack SPCA Walk for the Animals. This is a 3-mile walk in Concord and all funds raised will go to support my local SPCA and the 1600 animals they take in each year. I participated in the 5k road race fundraiser back in June (here) and I'm excited to also participate in the walk.

My goal is to raise $1000, a hefty amount but one I know I can meet. If you would like to make a donation and sponsor me in the walk please check out my FirstGiving webpage (here). You can donate online with a credit card and all donations are secure and sent directly to Concord-Merrimack SPCA by FirstGiving, who will email you a printable record of your donation. Please feel free to send my page on to anyone who might like to donate! If you're in the New Hampshire area and are interested in participating just leave me a comment and I can give you all the info.

Thank you for your support!

Giving Thanks

2011-08-19T07:00:00.002-04:00

Hello! Today's card is my attempt to get Thanksgiving cards in the mail this year. Last year I ended up going to the local Hallmark store and purchasing cards to send to family and friends (gasp!). I thought if I start making them now, I should be able to get the dozen or so I need made by November 1st. I hope.
To create the non-embossed section on the Pumpkin Pie piece I used the Double Emboss technique. To see a printable tutorial or watch a video tutorial by Beate click (here). This technique embosses part of your card stock while leaving a section smooth to stamp on.

Stamps: Falling Leaves
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Whisper White

Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, dimensionals

Creamy Lemon-Pesto Chicken

2011-08-16T06:52:00.003-04:00

It's Recipe Tuesday! Today I thought I'd share with you our new favorite chicken recipe: Creamy Lemon-Pesto Chicken. I originally found this in a Pampered Chef recipe book but tweaked it just a bit after I realized it wasn't quiet as lemony as I'd like it!

My husband and I agree that baking chicken in the covered baker is the only way we're going to make chicken from now on (unless we want grilled chicken, then we'll use the Foreman!). The chicken is SO tender and juicy that there's no need for a knife!

I must confess that we were missing one important ingredient from the recipe when I made it. We didn't have a single vegetable in the house (seriously) so my dish isn't topped with tomato like it should be. Speaking of veggies, if you'd rather skip the noodles this dish would be great chilled and served over salad with toasted pine nuts.

Creamy Lemon-Pesto Chicken

1 lemon

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup 1% milk

1 garlic clove, pressed

1/2 cup basil pesto (I prefer Classico brand)

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp lemon-pepper seasoning

12 oz egg noodles (1 bag)

2 plum tomatoes

Basil leaves (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Over low heat, melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and 1 tsp lemon zest and whisk until smooth. Add milk, juice from 1/2 lemon and garlic to mixture. Turn heat up to medium and continue to whisk until thickened. Add pesto; mix well.

2. Season chicken with seasoning. Place chicken in covered baker, overlapping if necessary. Pour sauce over chicken. Bake, covered, for 30-35 minutes. Carefully remove from oven and let stand uncovered for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook egg noodles according to package directions; drain. Seed and dice tomatoes. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta; garnish with tomatoes, juice from lemon and basil. Enjoy!

Dots and Stripes...

2011-08-12T07:09:00.006-04:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by Alcojo94's card Friday Mashup Blossom (here) over at SplitCoast. I loved her colors but I wanted to tweak the layout just a bit. Ok, really I just wanted to pull out my Big Shot and use my new Stripes Embossing folder!
Stampin' Up must have read my mind last winter when I kept thinking that there really should be a striped embossing folder to compliment the abundance of polka dotted stamps, ribbons, paper and folders that are in the catalog. I was SO happy to see they heard my pleas :)

Stamps: Bold Blossoms
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Pear Pizazz, Early Espresso
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Pear Pizazz, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: Stripes & Perfect Polka Dots embossing folders, Big Shot, modern label punch, baker's twine, buttons (I believe the ones I used are retired)

Joanna's Fabulous Fajita Pizza

2011-08-09T05:51:00.000-04:00

My husband will tell you that I'm becoming quite the little chef and here's my latest creation for Recipe Tuesday- Fabulous Fajita Pizza. I love pizza and I love Mexican food and I thought why not combine the two?! The recipe is super simple and super quick if you use refrigerated pizza crust and a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. If you're more into the veggie pizza you could omit the chicken and go for a meatless version.

Fajita Pizza

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1 medium onion

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 large rotisserie chicken, meat removed from the bone

2-3 tsp taco or fajita seasoning

1/4 cup taco sauce or salsa (we prefer sauce)

2 cups Mexican blend cheese

2 tbsp cilantro

1 pkg refrigerated pizza crust

Sour cream, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425. Cut peppers and onions into thin strips and saute in olive oil.

2. Meanwhile, unroll pizza crust and pre-cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add taco/fajita seasoning mix, garlic, taco sauce and chicken to veggies; cook 2-3 minutes.

4. Arrange chicken mixture evenly over the pizza crust; sprinkle with cheese

5. Bake 10-12 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove pizza from oven, sprinkle with cilantro and let cool 10 minutes. Cut into slices and serve with sour cream, if desired.

So does my little creation taste good? I'll let the pictures answer that question!

Before... after...

That Was So Cool of You!

2011-08-05T06:43:00.003-04:00

Hello! Today's card is my husband's favorite. We needed several thank you cards this summer and each time we went to pick one Aaron said, "let's use this one!". But sadly each time I had to tell him no; I was saving this card to give to my Aunt Jane in appreciation of her hospitality during our stay at the family beach house. (get it, flip flops- the beach- summer?!)
I absolutely love the flip flops in the Sunny Fun stamp set and decided to separate them for the card. Each flip flop is colored with a blender pen, cut out and glued onto a white circle. I wanted to let the flip flops be the star of the card so I kept the rest very simple.

Stamps: Sunny Fun

Ink: StazOn black, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Whisper white, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight
Tools & Accessories: Circle punches, blender pens

FREE Designer Series Paper!

2011-08-02T19:15:00.001-04:00

Here's another reason why I {love} Stampin' Up! During the month August when you purchase 3 packages of Designer Series Paper you will receive an additional pack of Designer Series Paper for FREE.

Buy 3 get 1 FREE!

This is a great time for you to stock up on your favorite DSP, including all the exciting new colors and designs in the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog. And bet of all there is no limit to the number of free packs you can earn!

To place an order head on over to my SU website (here) and click on the "shop now" button (upper right corner).

To view a printable flyer click (here).

Sippin' Dirty Bananas

2011-08-02T07:07:00.003-04:00

The food pyramid suggests eating 2-4 servings of fruit each day and I've found my favorite way to meet that goal - Dirty Bananas! It's Recipe Tuesday and this week's recipe is an adult beverage that's perfect for cooling off on a hot summer day. Aaron and I originally discovered this drink at Nancy's Snack Bar on the Vineyard back in July. Thankfully, I had watched Donovan make the drink several times and remembered the ingredients so it was easy to replicate when we got home.
When making this drink at home we use the Ninja Master Prep blender (here). If you've ever been up at 3am watching tv then I'm sure you've seen the infomericals. This is THE BEST blender we've ever owned, it litterally turns ice into snow in seconds! It's just as powerful as the professional blenders you see at restaruants and we never have chunks of ice left at the bottom like you would with a traditional blender. Highly recommend it. Ok, on to the recipe...

You'll need an actual banana for this drink, not banana liqueur. Donovan explained to me the browner the banana the better because brown bananas have more flavor. Keep in mind that the following recipe is for one drink. If you don't want half a banana laying around for days you might as well just double the drink and use the whole banana! ;)

Dirty Banana
1/2 banana (the browner the better)
1 oz Vodka
1 oz Bailey's Irish Cream, plus a splash
1 oz Kahlua
Chocolate syrup
2 cups ice

Whipped cream (optional, but really - who doesn't love whipped cream?!)

1. Add banana, ice and liqour to blender and blend 10-15 seconds (or until smooth).
2. Drizzle inside of glass with chocolate syrup and add a splash of Bailey's to the bottom.
3. Pour drink in glass, top with whipped cream and more chocolate syrup. Enjoy!

Patriotic Birthday

2011-07-29T06:23:00.010-04:00

Hello! While my husband believes I own every stamp set in the Idea Book & Catalog I did find one that I don't own - a current star stamp! I wanted to make a patriotic birthday card and realized that the only star stamps I own are retired! Don't tell Aaron but I guess that means that I'll have to place another Stampin' Up order soon! ;)

This card was pretty simple to create and if it wasn't for the embossing I would consider it "quick and simple". I embossed the star from Stars & Swirls set with white embossing powder, went over the embossed image with a cotton ball and ink (emboss resist technique) and then punched the image out with a square punch.

Stamps: Stars & Swirls (retired), Short & Sweet

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy, Going Gray

Paper: Whisper White

Tools & Accessories: Heat tool, embossing powder, 1 3/4" square punch, dimensionals

Homemade Blueberry Pie

2011-07-26T06:08:00.000-04:00

Hello! Looking back through my blog I noticed that I seem to post recipes on Tuesdays. This got me thinking that maybe I should add a new segement to my blog, Recipe Tuesday! My goal is to post a new recipe, either a main dish or dessert, each Tuesday. I'll let you know what works well and what doesn't and add any little tips I've discovered along the way. Here's the first official recipe in my new segment - blueberry pie!

My husband and I are HUGE fans of blueberry pie and since this is blueberry season I thought I'd try my hand at baking one. I'm not a fan of making pie crust from scratch (although I am a fan of eating it!) so I prefer to use the Pillsbury crusts, it's just so much easier! Here's a super quick recipe that you can make anytime! Unfortunately, because it is so easy to make this summer I've found myself baking this pie at least once a week... and with my husband's help it's usually devoured within 48 hours ;)

Blueberry Pie
2 rolls of pre-made pie crust

2 pints (4 cups) fresh blueberries

1/2 -3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp butter

1. Preheat oven to 375. Toss berries with sugar and cornstarch (I like my pie a little on the sweeter side so I use 3/4 cup of sugar)
2. Unroll bottom crust into pie pan and fill with berries. Cut butter into cubes and place around filling.
3. Top pie with crust and crimp or flute the edges. Cut a few steam vents and sprinkle lightly with sugar (note: raw sugar, the little brown packets you get at coffee shops, looks fabulous on top of the pie).
* To keep the crust from burning I always cover crust with foil before baking and remove the foil during the last 5 minutes of baking.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, then rotate pan and lower oven temp to 350. Bake for an additional 30-35 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
5. Cool for 3-4 hours. Enjoy!

Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away...

2011-07-22T06:48:00.003-04:00

Hello! Have I mentioned that I {love} the new nautical themed stamps from the Summer Mini?! I can't put them down! I grew up minutes from the ocean and spent my summers at the family beach house so these sets remind me of my childhood.
This card was inspired by Christine Miller's card (here) and my constant need for more masculine birthday cards (man, we've got a lot of men in my family!). I loved her layout but to make this card more of my own I decided to make it a z-fold and change the main image.

For my main image I stamped the sail boat once on Sahara Sand in Night of Navy ink and once again on Whisper White. I cut the sails from the WW card stock and adhered them to the Sahara Sand image. To give the fold a little bit of interest I tore a piece of Sahara Sand and adhered it to the edge of the fold.

Stamps: Sail Away

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Night of Navy, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Nautical Expedition DSP

Tools & Accessories: Baker's twine, brads

THE Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies...

2011-07-19T05:29:00.004-04:00

EVER! Seriously, they're addicting. This recipe is from The Grand Central Baking Cookbook and it contains some of the most delicious recipes I've ever seen! A co-worker let me borrow the book back in May after he learned that I love to bake sweets; I returned it to him after I copied almost every recipe in it!

What makes these cookies so different is their texture when they're baked, it's almost a sugary-crispy shell that melts in your mouth. Of course, the cookie dough is pretty good as well, I would know because I ate a ton of it! Aaron was good enough to wait until after the cookies were baked before he started munching!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, room temp
2-3/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Measure dry ingredients in bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

2. Using a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, until lighter in color and fluffy. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl several times during the process.

3. While mixer is running, crack eggs into separate bowl and add vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly pour in eggs. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl during the process.

4. Gradually add dry ingredients (in 2 to 3 additions) with mixer on low speed. Combine oats and chocolate in same bowl used for dry ingredients, then add to dough with mixer on low speed, mixing just until everything is well distributed. Often, it's easier to finish the mixing by hand using a stiff rubber spatula.

5. Drop dough by tablespoonful onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking time. The edges of the cookies should be golden brown, while the centers will appear blond and slightly underdone. Let the cookies cool on wire rack. Makes approximately 3 dz cookies.

Blueberry Pie... coming soon!

Oh, Deer!

2011-07-15T06:02:00.007-04:00

Hello! Nothing is more masculine than a deer! Today's card was inspired by TrishG's card (here) over at SplitCoast and is the perfect card for quite a few men in my family. I loved how Trish used color rather than just black ink when stamping the image. Trish also used the "misting with markers" technique that I've never tried before but now that I've had the chance to experiment with it I love it!

To learn how to mist with markers check out this video tutorial by Beate or view the printable tutorial here at SCS. Of course, if you'd like me to personally teach you how to mist with markers you could always host a workshop.
Since the jumbo eyelets retired on July 1st (bummer, I loved those little guys!) I decided to skip the hardware and go for the hemp twine instead. I also opted to stamp the image on Very Vanilla rather than vellum.

Stamps: Nature Silhouettes
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi
Tools & Accessories: Hemp twine, spray bottle

Race Results!

2011-07-13T05:47:00.005-04:00

Hello! On the 4th of July my family celebrated America's birthday by running a 10k in Foxboro, MA. My husband is a HUGE fan of the New England Patriots and decided to walk the 6.2 miles (he's still recovering from surgery) so he could experience the thrill of running into Gillette Stadium and onto the field, cheered on by real-live Patriot cheerleaders of course!
Although I began the race with my father I picked up my pace a bit and ended up finishing with a time of 1:02 - that's 4 minutes faster than last year! Toot, toot! (that's me tooting my own horn!)

Coming up to the stadium and through the tunnel.

The finish line! Can you see the cheerleaders to the right of the helmet? Go runners, go! Go runners, go!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

2011-07-12T04:41:00.003-04:00

I think I've found a new hobby - cooking! I just can't resist trying every recipe in my new Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker cookbook. Although my husband isn't a fan of chicken pot pies I still wanted to give this recipe a try. Not to toot my own horn (toot, toot) but is probably the best tasting pot pie I've ever had - it's even better than the store brand that we usually buy!
There are a few things I'll do differently next time. First, I would use only half the amount of phyllo dough. The brand I purchased had 20 sheets per half pack and I think that's a bit too much. The last few layers on the bottom didn't really cook and were a bit rubbery.

Ten sheets would be perfect. Next I would definitely score the pastry sheets a lot better. This would allow you to cut the pastry easier after it's baked.
** Note: After a bit of research I found out that phyllo dough is NOT puff pastry. I repeat, do not use phyllo dough! I'm new to this whole cooking thing and phyllo dough is what I assumed was meant... they are not interchangable. Humph. If anyone wants an unopened pack of phyllo just let me know, I have no idea what I'll do with the rest of the box!
Rather than cook chicken breasts ahead of time I chose to use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from our local grocery store (Market Basket has the best chickens!). These are always delicious and saved me a lot of time.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
2 tsp finely chopped thyme leaves
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp salt1/2 tsp black pepper
3 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup 2% milk

2 cups frozen peas/carrots

1/2 pkg frozen puff pastry sheets
1 egg
1 tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter and flour on stove, whisking until smooth. Add chicken broth, whisking constantly until smooth. Add thyme, pressed garlic, salt and pepper. Simmer, 6-8 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken and milk.

2. Add finely chopped onion, frozen veggies and chicken mixture to Deep Covered Baker; mix well. Unfold pastry onto lightly floured surface, seal seams and score to make 8 rectangles. Lay pastry over filling; press edges against sides of baker and trim excess. Lightly brush pastry with egg and water mixture.

3. Bake, uncovered, 30-40 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Remove baker from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Pretty In Pink DSP

2011-07-08T06:47:00.000-04:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by my need for another anniversary card and Andrea Walford's Butterfly Card over at her blog Sunny Stampin', Inc. One of these days I'll remember to order the En Francais stamp (I've wanted it for 2 years now!) but until then I'll use what I've got.

To make this card more of my own I decided to change the color combo and use First Edition DSP for the background. First Edition is one of the most versatile DSP's I ever purchased - it can be used with almost any project and you can change the color with a brayer and an ink pad! Simply load the brayer with a light color and roll over the DSP. Try crumpling up the DSP and then smoothing it out for a great textured look.

The butterflies were cut out with the Beautiful Wings embosslit die and Big Shot. I added a tiny pearl to the center of each butterfly and adhered with Tombow Multipurpose glue.

Ink: Pretty In Pink

Paper: Basic Black, Pretty In Pink, Very Vanilla, First Edition DSP

Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Wings embosslits die, pears, dimensionals, brayer

It All Started With a Pampered Chef Party...

2011-07-06T06:49:00.002-04:00

Three months ago I hosted a Pampered Chef party through my friend/consultant Danielle. I've wanted a deep covered baker ever since my mother ordered one years ago and made a fall-off-the-bone Thanksgiving turkey in it. Of course, when your order the baker you have to order the cookbook that goes with it ensuring that you'll actually use your new purchase. And of course, being Pampered Chef, every single recipe looks absolutely delicious!

My amazing husband christened the baker and made a three-cheese mac & cheese as the first dish (uh...DE-licious!). Now that he's recuperating from shoulder surgery (a result of a work related injury) I'm in charge of meals - a daunting task when your husband is an excellent cook and has pretty high standards. One Saturday I decided I'd try my hand at making a pot roast. They make it look so good in the photo and there are just a few ingredients so how hard can it really be? Right?

Well, it's actually pretty easy! I think the hardest part was not lifting off the cover while it was cooking to take a peek. My husband absolutely loved the roast, says the gravy was savory and the cooked vegetables made the perfect side dish. I also served it with some homemade sour cream mashed potatoes.

All-American Post Roast

1 large onion

3 celery stalks

3 carrots

1 boneless beef chuck pot roast (3-3.5 lbs)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup dry red wine (I'm not a fan of red wine so I left this out)

1/4 cup tomato paste

4 garlic cloves, pressed

3 stems thyme

2 bay leaves (we didn't have any so I didn't use this)

3 tbsp water

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350. Dice onion, cut celery & carrots and season roast with salt and pepper; place in deep dish baker. Whisk together broth, wine, tomato paste and garlic then add broth mixture, thyme stems and bay leaves to baker. Bake covered 2/12 hours or until beef is tender. **I purchased a 3lb roast and found that 2 hours was more than enough cooking time.

2. Remove baker from oven, remove beef from baker to cutting board and tent with foil. Carefully strain vegetables and drippings. Allow fat to rise to the surface of the drippings and slowly pour off juices into a skillet. Discard fat.

3. Bring juices to simmer over medium heat. Combine water and flour in separate bowl and whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture to skillet, whisking to incorporate. Cook, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes or until gravy is thickened. Slice beef; serve with gravy and vegetables. Enjoy!

And then there's the Chicken Pot Pie... coming soon!

Happy Birthday America!

2011-07-04T06:08:00.005-04:00

We are the land of the free because of the brave so it goes without saying that I offer a big thank you to all the brave men and women who served our country and continue to put their lives in danger each and every day to keep our county safe! Happy 4th!

Patriotic Thank You

2011-07-03T07:39:00.041-04:00

Hello! When I saw Princessforj's card on SCS (here) I immediately ordered Engraved Greetings so I could CASE it (true story!).
To give this card a different twist I brayered the debossed side of a piece of Very Vanilla card stock. Let me explain... I ran a piece of CS thru the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. I then turned the CS over (so the bumps were down) and then brayered, oh so gently, with Night of Navy ink.

To adhere the ribbon I used a strip of Terrifically Tacky Tape and scrunched the ribbon where I wanted it. The sentiment is cut out with the 2 1/2" circle punch and popped up on dimensionals.

On a different note, wish me luck! Tomorrow my family and I are participating in the Harvard Pilgrim 10K road race (6.2miles) at Gillette Stadium (home of the New England Patriots). You may recall that my family participated last year (here) and we had so much fun we thought we'd do it again. I've

decided not to try and break my time of 1:06 from last year but instead keep pace with my Dad. It's so much more fun to cross the finish line with someone you can enjoy the experience with! I'll have photos to share on Tuesday!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Stamps: Engraved Greetings

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Very Vanilla

Tools & Accessories: Striped grosgrain ribbon (red is retired), 2 1/2" circle punch, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Tacky Tape, dimensionals

Simple Sailboat

2011-07-01T07:29:00.002-04:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by Mary Brown's Sail Away card over at her blog StamperCamper's Corner. To make her card more of my own I changed the card base to the traditional 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 and placed the image on the left rather than right side. Because I decreased the card size I didn't have room for a button, which was a bummer because I had a cute red button all picked out that would have looked perfect :(
To give the background behind the sailboat a little texture I used the Lattice Embossing folder and the Big Shot.

Stamps: Sail Away, Occasional Quotes (hostess)
Ink: Night of Navy
Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy
Tools & Accessories: Grosgrain ribbon, lattice embossing folder, Big Shot, dimensionals

The Best Wedding Video Ever?!

2011-06-28T06:00:00.009-04:00

Since we still have 3 whole days to wait before we can order items from the new (and absolutely fah-bulous) Idea Book & Catalog I thought I'd post this adorable video to help you pass the time.
Emre and Joya wanted to think "outside the box" for their wedding. The result: an amazing music video, featuring the entire wedding party, set to the Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)." With the groom in the role of will.i.am, and the bride standing in for Fergie, the party doubles as a dirty dancing chorus for the nuptials. Check out the video for the full wedding party, condensed into five minutes of music video.

And since there are only 3 days left to order any retiring stamp sets and accessories if you haven't yet ordered you may want to do that soon! After June 30th at 11:50pm they're gone forever!

For a list of retiring stamps click here.

For an up-to-date list of retiring accessories click here.

Retiring Stamps and a FREE Catalog!

2011-06-26T08:35:00.008-04:00

With the introduction of the 2011-12 Idea Book & Catalog it's time to say goodbye to hundreds of stamps and accessories!

Some things to remember:

Last chance accessories are available ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST
To place an order I encourage you to use my Stampin' Up website (click here), this will have the most up-to-date information on retiring items.
Order deadline is Thursday, June 30 at 11:50pm - after that they're gone for good!

Retiring Stamps (click here)

Retiring Accessories (click here)

On Wednesday I received 2 cases of the new (and absolutely fah-bulous) Idea Book & Catalog! Sometimes it takes me a while to warm up to new catties but I must admit that I had to wipe my drool off a few of the pages in the 2011-12 book - it's amazing! I've already got tons of Post-It stickies throughout the book and my list of new stamps/accessories ready to go for the crack of dawn on July 1st.

You can order your copy of the new Idea Book & Catalog directly from me absolutely FREE - all you pay is $4.95 to cover the cost of shipping! Just leave me a comment and I'll get your copy in the mail ASAP!

Summer Splash Birthday

2011-06-24T07:54:00.001-04:00

Hello! Today's card was inspired by the Fox & Friends card on page 96 of the 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalog. I absolutely LOVE Crumb Cake and Bashful Blue together and thought this would be a super cute stamp set to work with.

Stamps: Summer Splash, Afterthoughts (hostess)
Ink: Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake
Paper: Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Tool & Accessories: Scallop border punch, brads, grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals