southwest pillows for christmas

i made these pillow slips for a christmas present. they didn't take too long. just measured the pillow and added more length so the pillow opening in the back would overlap and keep the pillow covered. to keep the pillow covered it required more than 3 inches of overlap.

seed packet apron

i found this really neat fabric that looked like seed packets. i turned it into this quick little apron. it was my first time using bias tape and it worked out really well.

button bracelet

i made this for my secret santa at work. the instructions came from the book beads, buttons and bijoux.

time to use the dehydrator!

i made persimmon fruit leathers. i added a bit of pumpkin pie spice and they turned out really good. i cooked down about 10 persimmons that i had cut up and put in a pan with lemon juice from half a lemon. it took a while to cook down, 40 minutes? then i added 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. then i blended the mixture in the blender and poured some onto the non-stick dehydrator sheets. i found the best method is to pour a blob in the middle of the sheet then rotate the sheet around to evenly spread the mixture. i tried the spatula and failed.



mega dehydrator from montgomery ward back in the day

fuyu persimmons from a friend

all done after 6-7 hours in the dehydrator, wrapped and rolled in saran wrap

baby monster fleece vest

i made this fleece vest using simplicity pattern 5316. i adapted it a little, instead of using bias tape to hold down the edges, i either sewed it with a zigzag stitch or double stitched it. the part with the zipper was a little warped, probably because i cut the fabric the wrong way. but it fits great.

4 pointed paper stars

i made 4 pointed paper stars strung on a ribbon. i got the idea from the book holiday crafting and baking with kids. i tried making the star like it showed, but i used card stock and it cracked when i folded it too much. so i cut out the cracked star and used it as a stencil, then very carefully folded each section in half, then folded 2 tips towards each other to make another crease. it was fairly easy.

snowglobes without the water

anthropologie had these glass jar snowglobes minus the water. very cool, $38, which is crazy for a jar with glued tidbits. we all have jars that we put in the recycle and the tidbits can be had from any craft store for cheap. you just use a glue gun and glue things to the inside of the lid, make sure you keep a clearance so it can be screwed back on. i shook some glitter around inside the jar too, it sticks to the sides of the jar and makes it look snowy.

i learned that the neck of the jar can be pretty deep so it helps to put something under the trees and snowmen.

 the bird is glued to the inside of the jar. this jar had extra fluff added which you can shake around and looks pretty when it falls on the tree. i also glued a ribbon to the outside of the lid to cover up the writing.

for this one, i glued the bird to the tree. i also added extra glue to the tree and shook on more glitter.

dark chocolate toasted almond sea salt bark

we used a brick of dark chocolate, raw almonds we toasted and coarsely chopped, and chunky sea salt. melt your chocolate either in a double boiler or the microwave. if microwaving, use short periods of time, watch it constantly and stir at each interval. you don't want to over heat/cook it. in a parchment lined cookie sheet, lay down your nuts, pour and spread the chocolate and sprinkle salt on top. let cool either on the counter top or the refrigerator.

paper christmas ornaments

my friend and i made these ornaments using card stock, postcards, scrapbooking stuffs, pipe cleaners, glitter and scalloped scissors.

miette cookbook how i love you

my friend came over and we went crazy making stuff! we made cinnamon meringues and a complimentary recipe lemon curd (one uses egg whites and the other uses yolks,) recipes courtesy miette cookbook. and if you haven't been to miette in san francisco i highly recommend it.it is beautiful!

breakfast casserole

this recipe comes from the casserole queens cookbook. you take crescent rolls in the tube (the recipe called for one tube but i used one and half) and lay them down in your casserole dish. lay down some cheese and ham (recipe called for bacon, but i am too lazy to make bacon) and pour on your egg mixture and bake. it was really good. i used the extra crescent rolls for the vegetarian and put cheese in it and baked. the cookbook is good but it has some drawbacks. it uses cream and whole milk, so not so healthy. it also doesn't take shortcuts, like seasoning your own sausage rather than buying seasoned sausage, or making your sauce from scratch etc.

thanksgiving pies

so i made 2 pies, pecan pie (recipe from betty crocker cookbook, but i double and toast the nuts) and pumpkin pecan pie (recipe from Country Living the Little Book of Pies & Tarts: 50 Easy Homemade Favorites to Bake & Share) the pecan was great and the pumpkin one was more of a fancy pumpkin pie. it was nice and fluffy though. a lot of pumpkin pies are so heavy. it was good. one draw back to the pumpkin pecan pie is that you put in your crust, then the pumpkin filling and bake for a half hour. during the baking time the crust sort of melted down because there wasn't any filling to hold it up so i had to smush the crust back up and it still wasn't tall enough to hold all the filling.

.the pumpkin pecan pie is on the left and the regular pecan pie on the right.

real scones not that crap from starbucks

i have this adorable little book, biscuits and scones. my mom used to make scones from it when i was growing up. now that i'm grown up, i have a copy too. i made raisin scones, with a little bit of nutmeg. mmmmm, tasty. they were moist and didn't taste like sawdust at all.

giant cupcake cake

so i made a giant cupcake cake, but from the picture it just looks large. it is sitting on a regular size dinner plate. i used the yellow cake mix from trader joes and its great! i used butter to grease the pan. never again will i use spray oil. the crust/edge of the cake, which is not my favorite, had almost a fried salty crispyness because of the butter. i used the chocolate frosting mix from trader joe's too. i wanted to find some candies that looked like sprinkles, so i bought chocolate covered sunflower seeds, thinking that they looked right but probably tasted yucky. i was definately surprised. they sort of tasted like rice crispies and not like sunflower seeds at all. it was so good. i ate cake for breakfast, and i think i will eat more for dinner.

dirt cake trifle

for halloween i also made a dirt cake trifle. it reminded me of being a kid when my mom made this. i layered chocolate pudding, butterscotch pudding, chocolate cake, oreo cookies, gummy worms and gingersnaps. adding the butterscotch pudding and gingersnaps really made it taste great. my least favorite part were the gummy worms, i think next time i will just sprinkle a few gummy worms on top and thats it.

pumpkin whoopie pies with chocolate filling

made these for halloween, yum yum yum. got the recipe from whoopies. after i sandwiched them i rolled them in sprinkles. in the future, sprinkles start to bleed, so eat them within 2 days, or don't roll them. i packaged them up in cellophane and little boxes made of halloween scrapbook paper for gifts.

spooky brownies

i bought this spooky brownies mix from target. my brownies did not turn out like the picture. i gave up on making any sort of feature with the piped icing. i glazed the brownies and glued the eyes on. (with frosting) tasted ok, like lots of sugar.

super fancy grilled cheese

if french toast and grilled cheese had a baby, this would be it. made from a recipe from cheese, glorious cheese cookbook. you make an egg batter with lots of fresh herbs. you sandwich your cheese and dip your sandwich on each side so it absorbs the batter, then you cook it like french toast. it was soooooo rich. half a sandwich will do.

apple sauce turnovers

had some leftover applesauce that i didn't want to go bad so i made an applesauce crisp (yech) and applesauce turnovers. you just take a sheet of puff pastry cut a long strip, add the filling then fold in half. seal with a fork or water or whatever you can to make them stick together. if you add too much filling (is there such a thing?) they don't like to close. i froze mine to eat at a later time. then you cook them at 400degrees on a cookie sheet. i put down foil and sprayed it first so they wouldn't stick. then i brushed the tops with egg whites and sugar. bake for 15-20 minutes.

key lime pound cake

the recipe is from cook what you love. i don't think i would make it again, at least not from this recipe, it was not your typical pound cake (typical: very dense and moist and tastes like there is a pound of butter.) this was kind of dry. flavor was good. the recipe was written in my least favorite style where in the ingredient list it says you need a 1 1/2 cup of sugar but while reading the recipe it says add only 1 1/4 cup of sugar and you are supposed to save the sugar for some other part of the recipe. i hate that. i always add all of it then say oops i guess i wasn't supposed to. this recipe also had a syrup you were supposed to pour over the cake and glaze. the glaze recipe did not turn out at all. so i just sort of made it up until the consistency was correct. icing was delicious!

homemade gnocchi and sauce

potato gnocchi recipe from martha when i made the gnocchi i used a potato masher. i think next time i would whip it up in the kitchen aid. but i did not use a food mill or ricer.

tomato sauce recipe was from martha too, but i cannot find it online. it was something like:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
3 medium tomatoes cored
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
season with salt and pepper

it also called for bacon but i didn't use that. i also tripled the recipe and had lots of sauce. you cook the garlic for a minute or two in the olive oil. then add chopped up tomatoes and season. cook for 10 minutes or so.

peanutty noodles

peanutty noodles, yummy! with cilantro, carrots, cabbage, red bell pepper, and a bunch of seasoning. recipe is from the family dinner. i really liked this cookbook. lots of pictures, lists of jobs on how to assist in the kitchen, and activites on how to interact at dinner, it could for friends too not just kids, cause friends are family too.

tomato mozzarella and red pepper pizza pizza

fresh pizza dough from trader joe's. added some red peppers sauteed in a pan, tomatoes, and mozzarella. i think next time i would add some garlic and salt. and remember **oil your cookie sheet first** mine stuck terribly because i didn't remember to spray it before i put the dough down.

sugar cookies with butterbear (butterscotch) glaze

my friend brought over some refrigerated sugar cookie dough and the ingredients for the glaze. the recipe for the butterbeer glazed sugar cookies is from here. we doubled the glaze recipe because it was highly recommended and you can't go wrong with more glaze. these were delicious!

freezer tomato sauce

i don't know where the recipe came from, i roasted the tomatoes, let them cool, then peeled and crushed them with my bare hand! i mixed in my frozen basil, salt, pepper, garlic and red wine vinegar. then i put it in freezer bags. we shall see how it turns out.

delicious leek asparagus and gruyere quiche

made this from a martha recipe. it was good!

angel food cake tip

so your cake is out of the oven and you are scrambling to find the perfect bottle to turn you cake upside down on. (you realize too late you should have done this before) and it turns out you don't have any bottles that fit. use your potato masher! it turns out it not only fit perfectly but the base of the masher holds it up nicely.

lunch with a friend

ajvar and goat cheese toast, sliced nectarines and a spinach salad with tomatoes, goat cheese and a vinegarette.

baked apples

baked apple, vaguely followed the recipe from cooking with apples and pears by laura washburn. i just mix brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts and dried fruits. in this case i used dried cranberries and cherries. i core the apples then fill them with sugary goodness in a heaping mound. i top with a small pad of butter and some honey then bake.

pear sauce and waffles

 cute little pears from trader joes and they were actually ripe and tasty!

made some waffles from waffle mix and with warm pear sauce on top. yum!!!

chocolate peanut butter

i've been looking for a chocolate peanut butter but didn't want to spend a fortune buying it online. i found this at cost plus world market. the hubster likes it.

coconut cornflake encrusted french toast

recipe is from cook what you love: simple, flavorful recipes to make again and again by robert and melinda blanchard

blueberry maple syrup oatmeal

cook your oatmeal, when there is still a couple minutes of cooking time left, dump in a handfull of dried blueberries. when it is all done add maple syrup as a sweetner.

freeze your basil

i had extra basil and my plant was not looking too happy, so i figured i would try freezing it. they sell the cubes in the store so why not. i followed the instructions from kaylyn's kitchen. i used ice cube trays rather than plastic containers. when they are done freezing i will put them in a ziploc and label them. don't want to mix them up with the baby food cubes.

more squash

more warty squash!

sweet potato pie, mmmmm

i haven't had sweet potato pie and i have always wanted to, so i made some! i used the recipe from mrs. wilkes boarding house cookbook. i bought this cookbook when i went to savannah. since then she has come out with a newer book. i don't know if it has the sweet potato pie recipe in it, but i assume so. the only change i made to the recipe was it called for 1.5 cups of sweet potato and i used 2 cups. it was goooood!

stromboli and squash for dinner

used a martha recipe for the stromboli, but i made two different ones. veg-ajvar, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, marinated artichokes, roasted red peppers. meat-salami, mozzarella, marinated artichokes, roasted red peppers. i used the wheat pizza dough from trader joe's.

*put foil on your cookie sheet, or else you will be scrubbing for days.

cut up some fresh squash from the garden! added some onion, salt, pepper and olive oil and cooked it in a pan.

popovers

following martha's recipe from her baking book.

i poured half the batter in a muffin pan to make plain ones to eat with jam. (i don't need no stinkin' popover pan, silly martha) i also had some chives and cut those up for the second half of the batter. just a note-don't overcook the popovers, not as tasty.