Quilling

Quilling or paper filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape. The paper is then glued at the tip and the coil shaped, these shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns similar to ironwork.

I want to do it. Why?

Check out this tutorial, and the finished product:

Reese Dixon Quilled snowflake ornament.


Is that not absolutely gorgeous?! I think I'll try my hand at these for next year. I'd love to have some on my tree this year, but with my busy schedule the next few weekends, I just don't see it happening. As someone who hates the commercialized red and green Christmas and all things tacky that come with it, I'm excited to put some of her gorgeous ideas to work on my tree.

Be sure to check out other crafts at ReeseDixon.com , she's amazing and totally inspiring.

Broccoli Beef

This is from Pioneer Womans Broccoli Beef post a few weeks ago. Amazingly easy and delicious! Head over to her blog for the recipe, it's definitely worth a try.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

This is kind of a no brainer, but these turned out so good I had to share.

2 Large Sweet Potatoes
2 tbs butter
2 tbs honey
half and half

Boil Sweet potatoes until soft. Toss into kitchenaid (or mash by hand) with butter and honey. Add Half and half until smooth and creamy.

TADAAA! Instant beautiful side dish to go with your honey pecan pork :)

Chicken Garlic Artichoke pizza

For our housewarming party we were given a gift card to Williams and Sonoma, which we finally used last week. We ended up getting a big gorgeous pizza stone. Anxious to use it, we made this pizza the same night.
oh.my.gah! If you don't have a pizza stone, I recommend getting one. It made the crust crispy and delicious, far better than any pizza we've ever cooked at home!

Chicken Garlic Artichoke Pizza

Preheat your oven to 500 to get your pizza stone nice and hot!

Pizza Dough (this is the best pizza dough recipe I've found so far)

3 cups flour (any will do. We used Wheat flour)
2 and 1/4 teas. yeast (or one package)
2 tbs veggie oil
1 teas salt
1 teas sugar
1 cup warm water

Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Mix in oil and water. Let rise. Bake at 375.

Now you can let it rise, but you can also cook it right away. It's a little more dense if you don't give it time to rise though. I also like to mix the yeast in with the warm water first, it activates a little better.

Topping

White garlic sauce (we cheat and buy this in the deli of our grocery store. SOOOOO good!)
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
bell pepper
mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper chicken, and fully cook on stove top. Spread sauce over rolled out pizza crust, top with mozz, chicken chunks, artichoke hearts and bell pepper. Sprinkle parm over top.

Turn oven down to 375. Sprinkle corn meal over pizza stone, and slide pizza on to stone. (I had some problems here, hence my wonky shaped pizza)
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until crust is browned.

Handmade Christmas

This post will be ever changing as I find ideas for a handmade Christmas. I started it on Oct. 19th, but am just getting ideas collected nearly a month later! The next four weekends are going to be busy ones!

Since beginning this post, I also found out that we are expecting a new niece or nephew next summer, so I will add one more to my list: fetus, due July 1. I'm calling niece as they just had a boy last summer :)

Looking at last years list, I have some gifts I never made, so I'll roll those over to this year. Also, I've found a wonderful new resource for handmade gifts called Givers Log that is filled with beautiful gift ideas.

Fetus
nephew P, 6 months - we purchased all of his presents. oops.
nephew PJ, 2 - crochet hat
niece A, 5 - Organza flower headband
nephew B, 11 - Duct Tape wallet with ants
niece C, 11 - Organza flower headband
niece M, 13 - Organza flower headband
niece J, 13 - Duct tape wallet


These Organza flowers will look adorable attached to headbands for the nieces. The only niece who I think might not like this is niece J, who isn't the headband type of girl. I'll make her one anyways, though, because maybe someday she'll want to wear it to church :)

Hot Chocolate on a Stick, for adults

Pecan Honey Pork

I made this for my husband when he returned from a long week of work. He said it was the best dinner I've ever made him, so I think it's a winner! Really, this could not be any easier and impressive tasting.

Awesome Honey Pecan Pork Chops from allrecipes.com


Ingredients

* 1 1/4 pounds boneless pork loin, pounded thin
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for coating
* salt and pepper to taste
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. In a shallow dish, mix together flour, salt and pepper. Dredge pork cutlets in the flour mixture.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add chops, and brown both sides. Transfer to a warm plate.
3. Mix honey and pecans into the pan drippings. Heat through, stirring constantly. Pour sauce over cutlets.

You want to be careful not to burn the pork when you're browning it, because then your sauce will come out dark and ugly.
mmmmm! enjoy!

Pumpkin-Chocolate cheescake pie

Oh Yes. My horrible photography does not do this pie justice!

I made this for a family dinner on Sunday, and it was incredible. I've never attempted a cheesecake before, so this was kind of a cheater version. It was very easy, though, and I highly recommend!

From the Better Homes and Gardens All Time Favorites 2010 Cookbook

Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

1 pie crust
12 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 C. granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 C finely chopped semi sweet chocolate
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
4 Eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 C. half and half

1. Preheat oven to 450. Transfer pastry shell to 9.5 or 10 inch deep dish pie pan (I used a regular one). Trim crust to 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate. Crimp edges high. Using fork, prick bottom and sides of pastry. Line pastry with double thickness of foil and bake 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 to 6 minutes more until golden. cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temp to 375.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, one egg and 1.4 C. sugar on low speed until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture in pastry shell. Sprinkle with finely chopped chocolate.
3. In bowl, combine pumpkin, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. stir in four eggs. Stir in half and half. Slowly pour pumpkin mixture over chocolate layer. To prevent over browning, cover pie edge with foil
4. Bake 60 to 65 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove foil and cool on wire rack. Refrigerate within 2 hours, top with extra chocolate for garnish if desired.

I'd recommend making this the day before, as it needs to be completely cold to taste good :)

mmmmm, pie!

Easy Halloween Craft.

So it's a little late for this year, but it's never too early to collect ideas for next year! I just have to share this super cute idea that I got from Thrifty Decor chick :

Mummy candle holders! I just hot glued the eyes on, wrapped it with some gauze (I stretched and pulled holes into the gauze to make it mummier) And lit the candles!

I LOVE them!

Then, after Halloween, all the embellishments popped right off so I can save them for next year, leaving the candle holders available for a new holiday craft.

Yay for Halloween crafts! I can't wait for next year to bust these mummies out again :)

Salsa Chicken

Being single during the week for the last month had me searching for simple meals. Most nights (I'm a little shamed to admit) dinner consisted of Pop Tarts or a Junior Mint milkshake.
So last night I decided to whip up something quick and easy for myself. I'd seen talk of this "Salsa chicken" and thought it sounded interesting.

1/2 c. Salsa
1 chicken breast
Taco seasoning

I sprinkled taco seasoning on the breast before tossing it in the crockpot on high and drowning it in salsa.

After it had reached the desirable temperature, I tossed it on a bed of buttery noodles. Really, not bad for a lonely Wednesday night!

Muffin pan tip

I hate when I run out of batter and can't fill up my muffin pan. If you only have half of the holes filled, there's a chance that your muffin pan will warp. To avoid this, you can fill the empty cups up with water, and Voila! No warpage.

Is warpage a word? Probably not. But my tip is still valid and that's all that matters!

TWO ingredient muffins? Yes please!

Yes, I am a cheater cheater pumpkin eater. I'm not ashamed, and I shouldn't be!
I have a wicked sweet tooth (surprise, surprise!) and my husband is out of town, so obviously I'm not going to make anything fancy.

Are you ready for the ingredients? Are you sure you can handle it? Okay.

One box spice cake mix
One can pumpkin puree (15 oz)

Yes, really! You combine the two together, and bake at 350 until the top springs back (15 minutes or so)

I whipped up some simple cream cheese frosting to top them. I know, muffins aren't supposed to have frosting. But I wanted frosting. Mmmmmmm. frosting.

Baked Brie

Yesterday was my FIL's 50th birthday party, happy birthday FIL! I was to bring an appetizer, and after many google searches and blog searches for "Fall like appetizers that might be good with barbecued foods but are also impressive and easy to make", I settled on Baked Brie.

Really, this could not be any simpler, and it was quite impressive! I was very pleased that it was well liked!

Baked Brie

Wedge or wheel of Brie (I couldn't find a big enough wheel, so I used a wedge)
Plum Jam (Fig would be marvelous!)
1 package of crescent rolls or 1 sheet of puff pastry
1 egg

Freeze brie for an hour, then remove from freezer and cut in half. Spread Jam on 1 half of brie, then put other half back on top. Set aside.
Remove crescent rolls from carton, unroll, and lay out side by side. pinch seams together with your fingers. Roll flat with rolling pin. Spread jam in center of pastry sheet.
Place brie in center of pastry, and wrap pastry around it. (I also used a cookie cutter to stamp a shape here, but it disappeared.) Brush with egg white.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, on a dish with sides. Serve immediately, or stick in oven at 350 for ten minutes before serving.

Blog changes

I've decided to remove the personal posts from my blog, and keep only the kitchen and crafty ones, since those are my most favorite hobbies. There just isn't a whole lot going on here for me to keep a personal blog.

Hope you'll stick around as I make some changes!

Etsy Love- Uncommonly Chic

Earlier this month I decided to treat myself to an early birthday present. (My birthday was on the 9th-if you missed it, that's okay! I accept late gifts)
I'd been watching Uncommonly Chic for awhile. She had posted a Necklace that I loved, but alas somebody was quicker on the draw than I. Finally one day in a posting frenzy she put up a new one, and I snatched it up before anyone noticed it was there. Muhahahaha!

Uncommonly Chic sold something like 30 necklaces that day, but I received my necklace 4 days later, in a cute little box tied up with raffia. I love it! It's not too flashy, but very cute. Just my style. I was very impressed with the quality (especially for the price!) and the quick shipping.

here are some other Uncommonly Chic necklaces that I love:

Sunny


Sarah II


Olive

Her photography is pretty great too. You know exactly what you're getting. (all photos credit Uncommonly Chic)


So if you feel like you need a treat, go visit. You wont be disappointed!

Homemade Spaghetti sauce

In addition to a plethora of zucchini, this has also been the summer of tomatoes. And what a summer to choose for that, due to my tooth problems, I couldn't EAT the tomatoes. Talk about torture, I love a good tomato!

Anyways, my boss told me that I needed to "get on board with this cooking thing" and make my own tomato sauce, so I did!

First, I took my gorgeous Parker bowl (Thank you hub!) full of red and yellow tomatoes and I pureed four of the tomatoes, and chopped the other four.

Then, I tossed some garlic in olive oil in a hot pan.

Then I tossed in both the pureed tomatoes and the chopped, along with some onions and red wine vinegar (and a wee bit of sugar, there was just a little too much bite), and cooked it for about an hour.

Then, I sauteed up some squash, cooked some noddles and poured my sauce over both. Then I drowned everything in way too much feta.



mmmmm. Still, my end review is "Meh, not worth it." I prefer store bought sauce, but IDK, maybe I did something wrong. It just could've been better.