Crafty Cakes

The next step. Recap #2.

2011-07-26T14:45:00.000-04:00

I mentioned yesterday that blogging may get a little difficult for awhile. I have some good news. We are getting a new home.

My family is in another state than I am and they need me, more specifically my great-grandmother needs me. Also, there's a certain someone I am eager to start the rest of our lives with, so when friends announced that they were moving from their house we jumped on the opportunity to live in this adorable little place.

I am very excited to say that in a little less than a week, the mutt, the man, and I will be in our new house. I have a lot of ideas as to which improvements I'd like to make to the place, but right now ours is a world of boxes and packing tape. I'm monumentally excited to make this house our home very soon though.

In the meantime, I can't guarantee when we will be getting internet set up, so therein the problem lies with blogging. I'll figure it out.

Wish us luck.

So it's been awhile. Recap #1.

2011-07-25T11:45:00.001-04:00

And what have I learned?

Well, I've learned that I suck a little at blogging on a regular basis, though I think about it pretty much daily.

From now on I am really going to try to be a little better, it might be a smidge more difficult soon but more on that later.

I've learned how to bake and ice a cake smoothly.

How to do a basket weave pattern.

How to do a bunch of different flowers.

How to do lumpy fondant

And even how to get it pretty smooth

How to make grateful (future) brothers and sisters in law.

And how to get people to hire you to do some work.

Its been a good few months.

Whatever Chili

2011-02-11T17:26:00.000-05:00

I woke to snow. So I figured Chili would be appropriate on this Chilly day, something hearty that will warm me from the inside out.

I make a lot of "Whatever" meals. A Whatever meal is one that consists of whatever is in your fridge or whatever is in your pantry, sometimes you may pick up an item or two at the store, but for the most part it is whatever you have already.

I grew up in Florida, and because of the simple fact that we get hurricanes and tornados there, my mother always kept a fairly good food storage. Enough food for us to live happily and enough water to get by for a few days in case we are stuck in the house or there is a shortage of anything. We didn't food storage shop once and put it all away, we just kept a big pantry and cycled things through as we used them that way nothing went bad in the back of the cupboard. So, for this reason we always had lots of canned goods and we used them a lot, especially beans and tomatoes. Her habit stuck, I might not always have bread and eggs but I always have tomatoes, beans, rice and pasta.

So I present you with Whatever Chili:

1 package of ground meat (can use turkey, beef or tofu crumbles)
1 Medium Onion
3-4 Cloves Minced Garlic
1 cn Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 cn Cannellini Beans
1 cn Chili Beans in Mild Sauce
1 cn Black Beans
1 cn Diced Tomatoes
1 cn Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilis
2 Envelopes, Mccormick Chili Seasoning, Mild
2 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flake
extra garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, to taste.

Brown the meat, add the onion and garlic.

Then add all ingredients to your pot, don't drain any of the cans (add in all of the juice), stirring well, put in crock pot on low for 8-9 hours, or cook all ingredients on stove for 1-1/2 hours. Even with the juice it won't look like theres enough liquid, but it'll cook down.

You can pretty much choose any kind of bean as you want, but I've tried garbanzos-- they aren't as good, different texture. When I make it, I go for color, but if you have pintos or something throw them in there.

Today I used ground beef and I didn't have the Rotel, so I subbed in a can of diced tomatoes and a small can of green chilis. I suppose you could do this starting from dried beans, too. Just cook them like you normally would then add in the cooked meat, onion, garlic and spices.

Its best with a little cheese and some tortilla chips or a cheese quesadilla.

So, I've noticed that after having this blog about a week, it isn't living up to its name. The DIY fortune cookies were crafty, but I haven't offered much up by means of cake yet. This whole thing is the journey of (hopefully) becoming a baker. I start my classes in two weeks, after that I'm sure there'll be a lot of cake. In the mean time little crafts and recipes will have to do, though I am thinking of trying Bakerella's cupcake bites and cake balls sometime soon...if I can find the time and energy to get around to them.

Really Easy DIY Crochet Fortune Cookie

2011-02-09T21:11:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for a cute Valentine's Day gift for my favorite special someone, this isn't "it" but it was such a fun quick project that I couldn't resist. I am REALLY slow with crocheting, but these only take me 20 minutes to a half hour a piece. I think they're a cute idea.

Ignore my messy desk backdrop.

Ok. I have a confession. I love to crochet, but I only know one stitch and I have no idea how to read crochet patterns. But I like to look at ideas for crocheting and make it up as I go. Today I came across these:

(Found here)

I think they are adorable, perhaps a little more pierogi than fortune cookie, but I digress.

I think the faces are cute, mine don't have faces, why? I don't have beads and its cold outside-- thus I am not going out to the craft store in the pursuit of the extra mile of cuteness. Anyhow, I like these, I dont know how to read the pattern so I made up my own version of the same idea. And, please excuse the photos, my new, awesome camera should be here in a few days. Maybe after I get it I will re-do the photos, I doubt it, but its a decent idea.

This pattern is really easy, all you need is to know how to do a chain stitch.

1. Make a slip knot.

2. Chain stitch 3.

3. Double back and catch the first chain stitch on your hook and make and pull through.

4. Keep crocheting around the circle. Your final dimensions depend on what kind of yarn you are using, you are done when you can take the circle, fold it in half and smush it into the general shape of a fortune cookie. I know that isn't exactly concise, but I've made two of these-- one with baby yarn, one medium, and I had to make the medium weight one significantly larger. Oh, and it doesn't have to be a prefect circle, you are going to manipulate it a few more times until you get to finished project, I have a hard time with perfect circles, especially with smaller stitches and darker yarn.

5. Don't knot or tie off or cut the yarn tail. You still need it. Fold your circle in half.

6. Leaving a gap from your fold on both sides, crochet the two sides around the outside of your half circle shape. (if that didn't make much sense, check the pictures.) Knot and cut off your yarn skein.

Note the gaps being left open at both ends, this is for fortunes when you are done.

Almost done.

7. Using a needle threaded with your yarn, make a quick running stitch along the base of the fold. Again, do not tie off the threads or cut anything yet.

8. Place your fortune cookie and "Pinch"the hem towards your running stitch. (It's starting to look right isn't it?)

9. Pull both ends of yarn, gathering the ends together.

10. Tie yarn off on ends of "cookie" and cut of tails. Fill with fortune of your choice, either on paper-- or you could be like me and write on some ribbon. Just be careful marker bleeds A LOT on ribbon.

Check it out. It overlaps a little like real cookies.

All you have to do is come up with something sweet and witty to pop into one of these babies. Mine reads, "You are my greatest fortune". I dare you to come up with your own stroke of genius fortune, I'm kind of proud of mine, but you're welcome to use it if you must. : )

Give it a try if there's any questions, let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to clarify.

Here's a rundown of what I used for this demo:

Aluminum Crochet Hook Set: Sizes D,E,F,G,H,I,J & K
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn: Blue (I like Red Heart because it's cheap, warm and can be manipulated and formed for this project.)
Susan Bates Crystalites Yarn Needles
Red Satin 7/8" thick x 25 yards Spool of Satin Ribbon

Rest In Peace Old Cannon, I will remember you fondly...New Toy!

2011-02-08T14:02:00.006-05:00

My dearly beloved, beaten, yet wonderful point-and-shoot camera has finally gone and died on me, so armed with money from my birthday (Yes, I still get money from my birthday, 20-something isn't too old for a little grandparent/godfather/friend financial birthday lovin'), I shopped around a bit and I am very excited to say that in 7-10 business days I will have this little beauty to play with.

Pentax Optio I10, isn't she a beaut?

12.1 Mega pixels, Retro design, Macro Lens, Panoramic feature, rechargeable battery and all this marked down $150, (making it less than $100!) what more could a girl ask for?

& I figure it'll make blogging a bit easier because the photo quality on my cell phone isn't so great and a craft/cooking blog kind of sucks without some pretty pictures.

So, in the next week I'm thinking a post on Bakerella's Cake balls and sewing a new apron, those posts will probably get cell pics, I do the best I can with what I have.

More to come, I just really wanted to be able to get something up today after I wasted a ton of time yesterday figuring out how to make everything look pretty.

In other news, heres a few things I think are particularly cool or interesting today:

You know how I said the other day that I adore Smitten Kitchen? I adore Pioneer Woman just as much, I've literally had dreams about cooking with her in her beautiful home. Here's the thing that I find a little cool, She likes Real Housewives. Real Housewives-- I don't care which one, I am guilty of watching them all in their horrible reality tv glory. Well-- Ree Drummond likes them too(!). She's traveling and she mentions them in her latest blog post. I'm a nerd. I admit it. A nerd who loves overdramatic rich women and cattle ranchers from Oklahoma.

Another thing that came across my google reader that struck my fancy was this bookmark as documented by Not Martha from her friend Karen's book, The Beauty of Being Different.

I liked this so much, I wrote it on the back of a letter to a really good friend that is interning in New York. I like to think of the smile she'll have, along with the smiles of postal workers when they are processing the card. If I was a postal worker I'd grin at something like this.

I think thats a good spot to leave today on, grinning postal workers.

And so we begin.

2011-02-05T19:54:00.001-05:00

"You should start a blog."

This comment was completely out of left field. My mind was everywhere else; it was my last day at a job I really didn't want but had to take and I was moving in 3 days. My only hope was that everything would fit into either our (probably too small) storage unit and our Uhaul trailer. Blogging? Where did that come from? Seriously, blogging, now?

(In my head.) "Maybe if you ignore him, he'll drop it."

"It would be a great way to remember everything in the next few months, and to help you figure things out. You can put your sewing and craft stuff on there, too."

(In my head, again.) "He didn't drop it."

A week later, after everything did fit into the storage unit (due to some impressive tetris skills), we had unpacked the trailer and cars, and I was able to finally feel like I wasn't living in a fort of cardboard boxes, I realized he's right, and it was a good idea. He's almost always right, but don't tell him, he'll get a big head, and the last thing I need on my hands is a man with a big head.

Well, here I am with hundreds, if not thousands of other people out in the world wide web thinking that someone else wants to hear about their daily comings and goings, but I really am hoping for the best.

So, here's the back story, I packed up my little world (and my little dog) and moved to a completely new place 428.5 miles (I'm a little homesick, bear with me) from the man and friends that I love to give us a better chance in the long run for a happy and prosperous lifestyle. I am here for "a few" months, and now 13 days into this "few months" it seems like an absolute eternity.

When I was back at home I was working a job that I didn't hate, but I didn't love-- with no direction, no plans, not really living, more like existing. Getting by. But I came here for one goal, to learn job skills in a field that makes me happy. More specifically to learn how to bake and design cakes.

For as long as I remember stress relief came in the form of cooking, baking, and crafting, that has always made me feel good. I get the instant gratification of seeing my work in a completed form and the more I work at something, the better it turns out, its perfection. It makes total sense to me, working towards something and carefully making sure that every detail is as it should be.

After a few really long days working two jobs I realized that what I was doing, how I was living wasn't worth it. I was making the money I needed but I was so unhappy that I dreaded going to work, and when you are working 16 + hours a day, thats a lot of dread.

Why not be happy? Why not love what you do?

So I made a plan, its not comfortable, its not easy. But its a little exciting, I have to admit. After a few years of working hard to simply get by its pretty thrilling to have a goal and to be working that goal.

So I guess thats what this blog is to be about. A few crafts, a little cake and hopefully figuring out who I am who I want to be along the way.

And oh yeah, probably a bunch of links on everything from coupons to sewing, recipes, other blogs and anything else that may pique my interest, but bear with me-- I'm new at this whole blogging thing, I need to figure out all of the buttons and such.

So today I leave you with an older home movie, the best soft pretzel recipe I've ever made, and hopes that someday soon I won't just be talking to myself on here.

The movie.

And the Recipe. Its from Smitten Kitchen. I adore Smitten Kitchen.