Dessert Stands

Another pinterest-inspired craft project!

What I did with my library books after comps...

I loved the first two so much I had to make two more. :)

And this one's a perfect sewing caddy!

Cameo Silhouette

I've had cameos on the brain lately, so I decided to stitch one up.  I couldn't find any patterns that were exactly right, so I made my own template!

In process...

Adding a bit of lace...

Finish!  All in one night!  I love it!

Recycled Tshirt Scarf

I got a lot done today!  Went grocery shopping, ran to the post office to mail my graduate applications (eek!), took down my Christmas tree, and decluttered my apartment a little bit.

Plus, I made this scarf using three old tshirts and the braided scarf tutorial from Put Up Your Dukes that I found on pinterest!

love it!

Girls' Night In

I had another awesome craft night with my friend Anna last night.  We both had to take the Foreign Language Proficiency exam on campus at 3, so we carpooled to that, and then headed to her place to unwind.  (She's pretty sure she passed, and I HOPE I did!)  

It was so great to chill out and throw together an easy meal before vegging out on the couch and watching Project Runway (yes, I've finally gotten sucked in :).  We also watched an episode of Househunters International that was AMAZING.  An American couple with 6 kids looking for homes in Normandy.  I have a few new dream homes now.  :)

While we watched, we worked on our latest projects.  Sneak peek!

Anna had a recipe from Ina Garten for Orzo with Roasted Vegetables that was so delicious, and while we were waiting for the vegetables to roast we made Little Fellows (her great-grandmother's recipe for lemon tartlets).  I rolled out the pastry dough while she made the filling.  I don't know why, but there's something incredibly satisfying and relaxing about rolling out pastry dough.  (Not so for cookie dough, for some reason I find rolling out cookie dough to be so frustrating).  

I found the recipe for the Orzo here.  And I'll post it below.

I'll ask Anna if she'll do a blog post for her great-grandmother's Little Fellows and I'll link to it.

Orzo with Roasted Vegetables

• Ingredients:
• 1 small eggplant, peeled and 3/4 inch diced
• 1 red bell pepper, 1 inch diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 inch diced
• 1 red onion, peeled and 1 inch diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 lb orzo pasta or 1/2 lb rice-shaped pasta

For the dressing:

• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice  (2 lemons)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

To assemble:

• 4 scallions, minced (white and green parts)
• 1/4 cup pignolis, toasted (pine nuts)
• 3/4 lb good feta, 1/2 inch diced (not crumbled)
• 15 fresh basil leaves, cut into julienne

• Directions:

  1. 1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. 2.  Toss the eggplant, bell peppers, onion, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, and pepper on a large sheet pan.
  3. 3.  Roast for 40 minutes, until browned, turning once with a spatula.
  4. 4.  Meanwhile, cook the orzo in boiling salted water for 7 to 9 minutes, until tender.
  5. 5.  Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl.
  6. 6.  Add the roasted vegetables to the pasta, scraping all the liquid and seasonings from the roasting pan into the pasta bowl.
  7. 7.  For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and pour on the pasta and vegetables.
  8. 8.  Let cool to room temperature, then add the scallions, pignolis, feta, and basil.
  9. 9.  Check the seasonings, and serve at room temperature.
     
     
     Yum :)
     
     
  
  
  
  
  
  edited to add:  
  Anna's already posted about her lemon tartlets here!  Check out her blog too, I love the Marie Antoinette decor.  For last night, we actually used a sweet pastry crust recipe from joyofbaking.com.  It was fantastic.  Thanks, Anna!
  
  
  
  
  
  

Pictures!!!

Finally, I can post.   :)

First, my kanzashi!  I plan to make some more tonight, so much fun, and so fast!

I finally started working on my basket weave afghan again!

I tried a new Shortbread Brownie Bar recipe.  Sadly, they didn't wow me, but I do expect a lot out of my desserts.  I felt that they were too plain, but maybe this recipe from Picky Palate would be better.  I'll give it a try sometime around Halloween.  :)

I also tried Fettucine with Sausage and Sage from Our Life in the Kitchen.  I loved the recipe, but the recipe calls for one cup of white wine to deglaze the pan after cooking, and I used the whole cup where I think I was supposed to use only enough to deglaze the pan?  In any case, the wine taste was a bit too strong for me.  If I try it again I'll keep that in mind.  (Actually, as I was visiting their page to link it to my post, I found a recipe for Sausage, Red Pepper, and Cream Cheese Casserole that looks amazing!  I'll definitely be giving that a try next.)

I also tried Pioneer Woman's White Chicken Enchilada recipe!  Loved loved loved everything about it, except the tortillas got a little soggy and mushy in the casserole dish, maybe I didn't drain them well enough after frying them.  Still delicious though!

Look at that deliciousness!

And finally, the perfect summer dessert.  I picked up some fresh strawberries at the grocery store, and together with Cool Whip and some poundcake have been enjoying a delicious, cool dessert of strawberry shortcake.  Pretty much every night.  :)

See you next time!

Slow Starts

This picture is totally unrelated to the following post, but I had to start with that face.  One day, she's going to get married and I'm going to make sure that face is all over the slideshow that they always play during the rehearsal dinner.  You know, the slideshow that's supposed to commemorate/illustrate someone's life up to that point, but is in fact a weapon used to highlight every embarrassing moment the bride or groom has ever experienced.  Still, not as bad as the toast I heard a groomsman give once, telling the story of how the groom had previously dumped the bride but then changed his mind six months later.  Some things just aren't necessarily appropriate for a wedding toast.  

Anyway...

I'm definitely getting off to a slow start in 2011.  I got back from Arizona on the same day that classes started and haven't done a single thing since except attend one class, where all we had to do was read over the syllabus and introduce ourselves.  God bless grad school.  :)  My next class is on Thursday, so I do need to start reading for it, but aside from that all I've been doing is watching netflix instant and hanging out with my grad school friends that I didn't get to see over the break.  

I found a fantastic tv show from the 80's called 21 Jump Street with a young Johnny Depp.  TV, the 80's, and Johnny Depp... three of my favorite things.  Even better, Season 1 came out in 1987.  Have you ever noticed how many great things came from 1987?  Some Kind of Wonderful, Moonstruck, Baby Boom, The Big Easy, and, you know, me!  Those are all films I love, by the way.  Dennis Quaid, Diane Keaton, Cher.  And who isn't rooting for Watts over Amanda Jones? 

I'll leave you with that. :)

Sewing with Erin

Erin and I did a craft project today!  She wanted to make some cupcakes to play tea party with, so we sat down after dinner and got to work.  

Erin worked so hard on her cupcake and did a great job!  Here we are, both ready to start our cupcake.

We've both finished our cupcakes, so now it's time for Erin to serve tea!!!

Cupcake Delight!!!

I'm heading out to visit Erin and Everett in July, and since Erin and I will be playing a lot while I'm out there I thought I'd try to come up with a few activities for us to do.  As I was hopping from blog to blog the other day I came across a blog called Rose Hip that suggested the following book as a good source of crafts for young children just learning to sew.  This blogger had a sewing themed birthday party for one of her daughters and each attendee got to take home a cupcake that they made themselves.  

I thought it looked like so much fun, so I ordered the book Sewing for Children: 35 Step-by-Step Projects to Help Kids Aged 3 and Up Learn to Sew.

It came in the mail the other day, so I looked through the book and decided to start with the felt cupcakes.  

The directions were incredibly simple to follow, and I put together this cute cupcake in no time.  Plus, the sheets of felt were 4/$1 at Hobby Lobby, and that and the stuffing were the only things I had to buy! I had everything else at home.  

I really think that this simple running stitch will be so easy to teach Erin, and since you use an embroidery needle, no worries about little fingers getting pricked.  

All you do is sandwich the layers together, stuff with a little pillow stuffing...

put a cherry on top...

and tada!!!  A delicious cupcake, perfect for tea parties!

(I might also use mine as a pincushion, although I've got my eye on the cutest ladybug pincushion in the book that I think I'll have to make for myself as well.)

This might also be a good activity for my Knowledge Adventure Camp kids!!!  I'll let you know how that goes.  :)