Thursday, December 6, 2012

Easy Peasy Christmas Card

I love colored pencils, I am nearly obsessed with them in fact.  That was the basis of this card.  All you need to do is find a big stamp, put it on in black, and color in a little color near the middle. 

You can color the whole thing or you can color little bits like I did with this one.

I am not sure why, but I love the simplicity of this card.  There isn't a lot going on and it doesn't have a lot of bling or zing or aquamarine, this card is green and red.

Yes I lapsed a little into Alice in Wonderland there.

This is short sweet and to the point because I drove home tonight and this is all I have in me haha! Until tomorrow, craft on. Pin It Now!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Baked Crab Rangoons: Picture Overload

**Update: A lot of recipes call for garlic, which I originally intended to add a pinch of it.  I like these as they are, but you may choose to add that in.
For the sake of my sanity, I am not going to try to line up the details with each particular picture.  I was trying to add captions to each picture for your sake but it is acting just like Word does and messing up my formatting.  At least I tried.  Recipe now, discussion to follow:
-1/3 Block reduced fat cream cheese
-Onions and chives to taste, see pictures, go lightly
-Heaping 1/2 cup of finely chopped imitation crab, or the real stuff, the imitation was on sale for $1, so it won.
-1/2 container of greek yogurt (plain)
-3 Dashes of Soy Sauce (I refuse to metric this, everyone just shakes some in regardless of tsp amount)
-Wonton wrappers (about 20-30 depending on shape, details to follow)

Finely, finely, ever so finely chop the onions.  I mean mutilate them, seriously.  No crunchy chunk of onion is going to fly in a rangoon.  I had chives in my spice rack, and gave them a good chop as well.

As you can tell by the pictures, I use VERY little of each.  These are crab rangoons, not onion rangoons. 

Chop the crab and mix all of the filling ingredients together.

Place little dollops in the center of the wonton wrapper and fold to desired shape, brushing the edges with water and then folding to seal.  Bake at 350 (I did it at 375 but I would suggest a lower temperature, as I expected) for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown, which will vary by shape and amount of filling.

Other recipes call for other additions such as worchestire, lemon, etc etc, so feel free to add other things as you see fit.  I personally like how these taste.  With it being a reduced fat cream cheese and with the inclusion of greek yogurt, it gives it a tangy taste and so I did not add lemon into mine. I did brush a few of the tops with butter and this did not seem to overly change the results.

Shapes, with my own name designations:

-Commodore Hats.  These made me think of those goofy hats the sailors wear in Pirates of the Caribbean.  You probably just have to be in my crazy brain to see it.  Regardless, start with a dollop in the center.  Brush water on all edges of wrapper, and fold two corners into themselves as if you were going to fold it over into a triangle. Bring these two corners together toward the center to create a pouch, and stick the remaining two sides together.  This will make a LOT more sense in the pictures.

Only because it literally can't make any less sense writing it out.  But that, my friends, is WHY I took all of these pictures for you.

-Traditional looking crab rangoons.  These are similar to the hats, but you will want to bring the middle of each side in toward the center and stick them together.  You can pretty much do this one handed when you get used to it.

-Pocket Packets.  What can I say I like weird names.  Anyway, do the same thing you did for the traditional shaped ones, but wet the corners as well and bring them in to the center after you have the traditional shape.

-Triangles.  Boring name, easy shape, if you can't make your wonton be a triangle...bad news bears.


Here is what I learned from all of this.  First, the shape of your wonton and subsequently the amount of filling will affect your baking time.

How recipes like this bake at 425 is beyond me.  If you want to try that be my guest, I prefer to do this at 350.  Height and corners become your enemy at higher temperatures.  You can probably get away with a higher temperature with the triangles or with a folded in square type shape, but you need to test that theory before you use these for a party.

You should test all recipes before a party, by the way.  Solid advice from my mother.

You need to watch these like a hawk.  I facebooked for a few minutes when they were nearing completion and I got some brown corners.

That being said, don't be afraid of the darker corners.  They are delicious and crispy and this is coming from someone who hates everything that is even remotely "burnt".  Like char marks on grilled food, not a big fan.  I like barely there marks on my hot dogs.

These aren't fried, so they won't have the same crispyness as a deep fried rangoon would, but they still have plenty of merit.  Mostly in the form of not being so incredibly unhealthy.

You can use philly cream cheese that has onion and chive in it already.  They make that.  What would the conversion be? I have no idea.  Some? :)  It should not be hard to adjust.  I don't buy that particular thing and always have cream cheese on hand, so I just used what I had.


There are probably a zillion ways you could fold a wonton, so get creative and have fun with it.  Food should be fun.  Sharing food and meals with others is fun, and there is no reason the cooking can't be as well.  The dishes will never be fun, and that is a fact of life.


Now, time for me to ramble about my day.  Although I think there is a howler monkey or something in the hallway...or a very drunk sorority girl.  Maybe a very drunk sorority girl who owns a howler monkey.

Oh lord.  That would be quite the combination....

Regardless, my mom came to visit me today and it was such a pleasant sort of surprise.  She obviously called first to make sure I wasn't embroiled in some intense homework.  I technically had my paper I am working on open, but to say I was working on it would be a teeny bit of a ginormous stretch. 

When she got here, however, I was VERY surprised because she came armed with cupcakes.

Now, for anyone who doesn't know me if I ever truly had a weekness it would be cupcakes.  I love them.  I love everything about a cupcake.  I went to DC and I was fixating on the idea of getting Sprinkles cupcakes to the point of near insanity until we finally went over to Georgetown.  I would take a trip back to DC just to have that red velvet again.

And eat at the restaurant inside the Museum of the American Indian.  That was delicious.  Sweet potato cheesecake, for the win.

Anyway, the point is it was so nice to have company here in Muncie.  I was one of the few from my hometown that actually took off to school pretty far from home, just passed that distance that people are more willing to drive to come visit.  I go home every other weekend in most cases, and go to a friend's house some of the weekends that I am not here, but it is always such a pleasant change to have someone come here.

And I had just cleaned my apartment, how convenient!

That made the cupcakes like a reward for cleaning.  I sent most of them home with mom as I will be headed that way for break tomorrow (she was in this neck of the woods for business is how this started), but there is currently a red velvet cheesecake cupcake and a snickerdoodle cupcake sitting deliciously in my fridge.

I wish I had not been such a rudeling and had thought to make these while she was here.  I was, however, caught up in conversation and enjoying the moment.  I shall have to make it up in leftovers that I am bringing with me tomorrow.

You could fill these with anything.  Think of the insane amount of possibilities in the simplicity of a wonton shell.

Happy crafting.






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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Italian Medallions

I have said it before, I like to give things quirky names.  Can ya blame me?

Ingredients:
-Wonton Wrappers
-1/3 block reduced fat cream cheese
-1/2 container plain greek yogurt
-2 TB pesto
-A handful of mozz cheese (shredded)
-12 Cherry tomatoes, halved
-Handful of spinach leaves, shredded
-Optional Bacon Bits (the REAL Hormel kind, not that Baco junk, that is NOT optional)

You are going to mix the CC, yogurt, pesto, spinach, and cheese in a bowl. 

Next, grab a wonton wrapper and dab some water on the edge in the middle of each side.  Fold the middle into itself to make the little bowl shape shown in the picture. You can make them any shape you want, really.  This is just how I did mine.

Spoon in some filling, it will most likely be about the equivalent of a half of a TB, but I am not 100% sure on that.  I used the tip of a regular spoon to put the filling in.

Next, top the little buggers with a cherry tomato and the bacon.

Bake at 350 for ten minutes, or until golden.  If you don't have the spinach you can leave it out, the flavor mostly comes from the pesto regardless. 

You could also do these as ravioli and put them in sauce.  Or dip them in sauce.  I have not tried that yet, but you know I will. 

This recipe makes 12 cups in a regular cupcake tin.  The filling made just enough to do all 12, so if you are worried about running out fill them all first and then put the tomatoes on last in case you have to add more or correct.

These would make fantastic little appetizers!  Happy crafting. Pin It Now!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Orange Dream Pancakes

It has been a while since I made pancakes.  I am not sure exactly why, but I ended up taking a hiatus from them.  But now we are back on breakfast terms, and boy were they delicious this morning.

Dreamsicles used to be my favorite ice cream treat.  To this day I adore orange flavored ice cream with creamy swirls, orange cream flavored candy, etc.  I had purchased some navel oranges from Meijer, eaten one of them yesterday and was going to eat the other today.

Then, one thing led to another and it ended up in a pancake! I'll take it. 

You will need: The zest of an orange, as much as you can get off of it, the juice of that orange, mine came to between 1/3-1/2 of a cup, 1/4 cup of milk or orange juice (OJ if you have it, I did not so I used milk), 1 c of pancake mix (I use Krusteaz), and a good 3 second or so squirt of honey.  Optional inclusions are 1/2 tsp of orange extract (Did not use and do not have), and white chocolate chips (did use and have some leftover, yummy).

I put my mix into a bowl and started zesting my orange.  Once I had gotten the majority of the zest off it without getting down to the rind, I cut it in half and squeezed the juice into the bowl.  I added 1/4 c of milk and mixed it around, then added a dash more because it did not look liquid enough.  Next, I put in the honey after tasting it because it was a little tangy.  Next, I used a meat pounder and broke the white chocolate M&M's into smaller pieces.  I had these candy corn colored ones leftover from Halloween time, so that is what I used. 

Once that was all mixed, I buttered my griddle, put out 1/4 cup of batter to make 6 pancakes, and cooked them a couple minutes on each side.  I like to flip mine and then smoosh them down with my spatula.  I am not sure why.  Random factoid.

I put REAL MAPLE syrup on them (as it is the only thing I will use), and oh boy they were delicious!  You could add orange extract if you wanted a stronger flavor, or orange food coloring if you wanted them to look just so, but overall I was really happy with how these turned out without either of those.  If you took softened cream cheese, maybe a little bit of milk, some powdered sugar if need be, and made a cream cheese drizzle for these it would also be stellar.  I just really did not feel like doing that...it was still way too early.

They have put my Monday off to a great start! Pin It Now!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

From Art to Functional

So, many of us crafty types also can draw.  Alright, I don't know if it is many or not, but at least some of us can.  I would say that ALL of us crafty types can trace, at a minimum.

Something I have really enjoyed doing is turning my own drawings or similar into wearables.  This necklace was made with caps that have a picture I drew, originally intending to use it for a laptop skin. 

Yea laptop skins for 17.3 inch laptops are a bit pricey, so I ended that idea really quick.

So, how do you turn your own drawings into something like this, you ask?  SIMPLE!  Follow these steps:

1. Draw something, I would advise not coloring it. The original of this was just pencil sketch on computer paper.  However, I did use photoshop to add the color into it, so take that into consideration.  Different base pictures will add different effects.

2.  Let's say you are using photoshop.  You will want to sketch out your picture, I would recommend outlining it in black after you are done.  Go over it with a pen or something.  Heck, draw it with a pen in the first place if you are comfortable with it.  Scan it in, and open it in photoshop.  Use the magic eraser tool, on all of my versions I have to right click the eraser and select magic eraser, yours may be different.  Click somewhere on the white, and it should take out all of the white and leave only your linework.  Go to layer and create a new one, and pull it down below your linework layer in the hierarchy list.  With your new layer active, go in and add color.  This will keep your bold black lines on top, even if you color on them.  Different layers really make life simple.

3.  Edit the photo.  You can do this in photoshop by adding different filters, or you can do it in word by going through some of the effects and corrections.  Mess with the color, the brightness and contrast, and the artistic effects until you get what you like.

4.  Bring the photo into word and resize it so that you can get a 1 inch circle out of it for caps.  I always make a 1 inch circle shape and use that as a guide to know what will show and what won't be included in the cap from my picture. 

5.  Print it, cut it, cap it.  I always seal mine with resin, but feel free to use epoxy stickers if you prefer.  I use resin for multiple things, so that is just my personal preference. I just use a nail and hammer to put a hole in it to hang it off a necklace.

6.  Your other option is to put it on a coaster.  Get a 4inch tile from Lowe's, they are a whopping 16 cents.  Resize the picture and crop it to a 3.5 inch square.  Print it, mod podge it, mod podge over it two more times (I like to alter the direction to give it a canvas like texture) and then put AT LEAST 4 coats of spray polyurethane on it.  I don't like just using mod podge for sealing honestly.  I prefer the hardcore stuff.  Some people use felt on the back, I find this goofy.  Use shelf liner.  It is way better.  E6000 it down.

7.  Use the same idea, 86 the spray poly, and put your art on a mini tile for a magnet.  Staples and other places sell business card backs that are magnetic, I almost always use those on the back of the tile.

Those are a few ways to make something completely unique that literally no one else will have. Happy crafting! Pin It Now!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Ornament Again(ament)

Well I went traipsing off to Terre Haute today to visit my friend, and of course left with no idea on what kind of craft I was going to do.  It's not that I never plan ahead, but there is a good chance I woke up at the last minute possible because I might have stayed up watching Alias some more last night...but only until 3AM this time.

So I got some puffy paint, some red polyflake, and bummed an ornament off Gretchen. She was making a super cute wreath with ornaments that might inspire a craft session later this week.

Regardless, I whipped this guy out real quick.


I am super tired, so I am going to cut this short.  Happy crafting! Pin It Now!

Friday, November 30, 2012

No Knead Pizza

Quick recap as always:

-3C Flour
-1.5C Lukewarm water
-1.5tsp Salt (HAH I almost wrote cup)
-1/4tsp yeast

Mix all, let it rise overnight. Then let it sit in the fridge for a day or so. 

When you are ready to make some pizza yumminess, turn about half the dough onto a floured surface.  Knead a tad of flour in, and then roll and stretch it out to your desired thinness.

I put a little bit of cornmeal on my pizza pan with holes.  Then I plopped the dough on it. 

I let it sit there about 40 minutes to warm back up, it was really chilly from the fridge, obviously.  Next, I put tomato sauce and herbs and then added cheese, tomato, spinach, and some shrimp.  I then drizzled a little butter on the crust.  And finally added some garlic cheese topper.

I baked it at 400 for about 20 minutes. You want the crust to be yummy golden.

So I stayed up until 4:45 this morning watching the first season of Alias.  Idk what it is about amazon prime but every now and then I get super hooked on watching some new season of a show.  I have been watching it all day and doing work. And making pizza obviously. 

I am almost through season one.  I really do not need to stay up super late again....but I only have a feeeewww more episodes left....what will I do? We shall see.

Now go make some pizza. Pin It Now!