Thursday, December 30, 2010

30 Minute Jacket

Another project for my to-do list for next year is this
30 Minute Jacket at Threads Magazine and the website indicated "Made from just a rectangle of fabric, this three-step jacket can be made in 30 minutes."

DENISE'S YUMMY PECAN CAKE


I love pecans, so of course when I spotted this recipe for Denise's Yummy Pecan Cake  by Denise at Shopper Strategy over at $5 Dinner Mom.   The best part of this is it sounds super easy as it uses Bisquick baking mix as the base with a tsp of vanilla and 4 cups of pecans.

For the complete recipe click here.

Picture:    $5 Dinner Mom

Monday, December 27, 2010

1951 Vintage Ripply Apron

As this apron takes less than a yard of fabric (although it take 3 1/2 yds of bias tape) and I love how it looks, this is one for sure I want to make this coming year. 

The style may be almost 60 years old, but it is so classic with fresh touches it will never truly be out of style.

This 1951 Vintage Ripply Apron is based an apron Woman’s Day, April 1951. 

The pattern and instructions are here over at Tipnut.


Picture:  Tipnut

Sunday, December 26, 2010

REINDEER FOOD AND PRINTABLE LABEL

Label from The Girl Creative - visit her site  here to download a copy.


This is one I probably won't use until I have Grandchildren in the future, but think it would be fun to sprinkle on a lawn on Christmas Eve.
 
When my son was little I made up "Reindeer Chow" which was somewhat of modified Chex Mix, but it was usually left indoors in a bowl (for Santa to take out) or a table on the patio.   It did add to the overall Christmas experience to make it a bit more magical and memorable.

I  like the idea of this recipe from over at The Girl Creative  for Reindeer Food  which is just 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 sugar and 1/4 decorative sugars that you put in a small baggie and attach the adorable, downloadable label (above) that she has on her site here.

Chic Steals: DIY: Super-Easy $5 Holiday Wreath (from Present Bows)


With the after Christmas sales starting tomorrow and I going to pick up some extra packages of bows to make version of  Chic Steals: DIY: Super-Easy $5 Holiday Wreath (from Present Bows) to make next Christmas as I love how it looks.

For a picture of the wreath and the how-to click here.


Image: nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Friday, December 24, 2010

354 EDIBLE GIFT MIXES

The gift to the right is from my new supervisor and although it is a commercial product from Blondies Cookies, the concept is a cool gift idea.

One thing my Mom used to give me every Christmas as an adult was a jar of homemade hot chocolate mix and unfortunately I came across this post at Craftstew link for 354 Edible Gift Mixes at Everything Your Mama Made and More on Christmas Eve after the stores closed or I would have whipped up some last minute Christmas gifts, although this does gives me a year to test and tweak recipes.

The list doesn't have just beverage mixes, there are also soups, cookies, bread, snack and cake mixes.

If you would put together something like candy topped cookies on the left, it would be a good idea to copy their idea of putting the candies in the bottom - it is the only thing that has kept by son from eating them.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Vegetarian Sausage

I love Morningstar Farms vegetarian sausages much better than actual sausage so have been on the prowl to try to find a good recipe. I didn't realize until I started searching that there were so many different options.

Suite 101 has an Easy Vegetarian Sausage using large mushrooms - I have had a portobello fajita before and it was hard to distinguish from steak, so it might have possibilities for faux sausage.




 Image: Sarah Topps / FreeDigitalPhotos.net




Annabel Karmel has a Vegetarian Sausage  recipe using breadcrumbs, onions and courgette.  I had never heard of  "courgette" so I had to look it up and per Wikipedia is Zucchini.







The Veggie Table has a recipe that is tofu based.







Cooks.com has a one that used one using texturized vegetable protein that seems like it would have more of the texture of sausage.









They all sound fairly easy to make - the hardest part will be figuring out which one to try first!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

PICKLED AND DEVILED EGGS

When I was young my Mom always made pickled and deviled eggs, but this creation form
Eye Candy - a Food Blog combines both.  Not only does it sound like it would have a interesting taste, it also makes for a lovely presentation with as the edges are ringed in purple giving it panache.

For the recipe visit click here.

Photo from  Eye Candy - a Food Blog