Freezing Pesto

I'm loving this idea - my mom makes homemade pesto and freezes it in ziplock baggies. Her method is to put a small amount in the baggie, smooth it flat and place in freezer so it will freeze into thin sheets. Once frozen, she stands them up in the door of her freezer. You can then either easily break off the amount of pesto you want from the frozen sheet and let it stand at room temp (or micro for a few seconds) or thaw the entire bag if you want more (to make pesto pasta for example). She gave me a salmon recipe that sounds so good using the pesto, I will make it soon and share the outcome with you - I'm very finicky about salmon (I never order it at a restaurant because so far there is only 2 ways I can eat it!) but her recipe sounds like something I'll like...

one year ago: make these boho earrings (I wear them ALL the time!)
two years ago: Al's baked beans are the best!

Girls Weekend Road Trip Bracelets

Not sure why our girls road trip needed bracelets to commemorate but I thought it did... they're just black beads, sparkly beads, and stretchy cord, and are so simple I whipped out 8 of these in less than an hour. They were actually a big hit - funny, we saw very similar ones in a store that sold for $9 a piece (the girls asked if I bought them - nope!)), I made all 8 for about the price of one the store sold.

Stretchy cord is tricky to knot (it unravels as fast as you tie it!) but I learned a trick on the Stretch Magic website to keep the knot tight - instead of tying a standard double knot (which doesn't work with stretchy cord), tie with a surgeon's knot. Cross the two ends of the cord, then wrap around two times (instead of once like a square knot), pull the cord pretty tight to push the beads together, then repeat and pull tight. Add a drop of glue and trim the ends.That puppy shouldn't go anywhere now.

Here's a diagram from the Stretch Magic site to give you a visual:

Shotgun Infinity

Since I'm on a road trip back from Tennessee today with my sissy and the girls, I decided to take a day off from blogging. Come back tomorrow and see the bracelets I made for everyone as a "souvenier" of our trip!

I own this sweatshirt and would have worn it if it wasn't 90' this weekend. LOL!! You ever see a car full of grownups yelling "Shottie" repeatedly for 4 days? That's my family.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives

LeDonna gave me this idea that she got from some friends of hers - as soon as she told me I immediately made them and pretty much ate the whole bowl before anyone else could have any. I'm a slow learner when it comes to blue cheese - I've always avoided it because it's so strong and I just didn't think I like it - but for whatever reason it's becoming one of those things I really really like. And I love green olives. Like, love love. So you could probably stuff all kinds of things in there that I don't really like and I might decide they're delicious hahaha.

These are simple - remove the pimento from big pitted queen olives and stuff in a piece of creamy blue cheese. Done. Eat them as fast as you make them; set out a bowl with an appetizer platter of crackers, meat and cheeses; or put them in a martini - just make them and tell me if I'm wrong about how yummy and addictive these are!

For the ones that I broke open while over-stuffing I just put them on a plate and topped with a small piece of pimento and voila - a new appetizer idea.

Japanese String Gardening

Cathy and I went to a fun Wine and Design class at our local nursery to learn about Japanese String Gardening ("kokedama")...side note: Candy was my wine and design buddy before she moved out of the state - so I talked Cathy into coming with me :) Miss you Candy!). I had no idea what this was or if I wanted to learn about it, but it was a short class and we thought what the heck, we'll do dinner right after so the night won't be a bust if the class isn't good. But it was fun, and I love how they turned out - and I will definitely be doing this project again. It's basically making holders for plants other than traditional pots - in this case we encased one plant in twine, and the other in moss.

There are different ways to do this, we learned two different methods and can vary it up with other materials now that we have the gist of it.

For the first one: Select a small plant that won't get too tall, trailing plants are exceptionally good for this type of gardening. Cut a one foot square of landscape material (it's sold in rolls, is black fabric that you lay down under soil to help keep the weeds down. I used it here when making my herb pallet garden), remove the plant from it's pot and place it along with a little more plant soil in the middle of the fabric. Bunch the fabric up around the plant, hold it in one hand and with the other start wrapping twine around and around the plant. Make sure to change direction when wrapping, the idea is to completely cover the dirt leaving the leaves sticking up out of the top - it looks like a ball of yard when done. Insert a long piece of wire and shape into a hanger if you plan to hang it up.

we tucked small pieces of moss around the top where there were any holes in the twine

an example hanging at the nursery

For the second one: you need a piece of thin chicken wire (about a foot), shape it into a circle (or other shape like a cone, egg shaped, oblong...up to you) and close the circle by bending the loose ends of chicken wire around the other end. I have a short video of the class instructor talking about shaping the wire below. Line the entire thing on the inside with sheet moss, add a little dirt to the bottom and then insert a plant (out of it's pot) and bend the top of the wire in to help hold the plant in. Do the same thing with a long piece of wire to make a hanger if you want.

To water: submerge either one into a bucket of water for a few minutes, let it drain and then hang it back up.

Chickpea and Cucumber Salad

Simple easy salad that I made up on the fly to go with chicken the other night (that's what happens when I don't get groceries - I have to make up new recipes LOL). This turned out so good tho that it will be added as a regular side dish, we both really liked it.

I mixed together thinly sliced cucumbers with a drained and rinsed can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) in a bowl. In a separate bowl make a dressing by combining mayo (or plain greek yogurt, or half mayo half yogurt) with a little white vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Combine with the cukes and chickpeas and then fold in crumbled feta.

Peanut Butter Granola

Going on a road trip with my sister and 4 nieces...gonna need snacks. I was originally going to make a snack mix recipe that has pretzels, cereal, cheez it's, and ramen noodles but when I told Dave I wanted to make it he "forbid" me from having anything with orange powdery cheese on it in the car! I said "excuse me, we are adults and aren't going to get cheez it's in the car, duh". Then he went on a minor rant about how there's already glitter embedded in the car that he can't get out and to please not add orange powdery cheese to the mess I've made LOL. I laughed, rolled my eyes, and found a different recipe just in case we actually do make an orange mess in the car hahahaha. So we have peanut butter granola instead - if we don't eat it all in the car it'll be great added to some plain greek yogurt for breakfast.

• 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey or pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup chopped toasted nuts (almonds, peanuts, etc.)
• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 325'
2. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In a glass bowl, combine peanut butter, honey or maple syrup, vanilla, coconut oil, and salt. Melt until the ingredients are smooth and well combined. (took me just a few seconds on high).
4. In a large bowl combine the oats and nuts. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon until evenly coated.
5. Spread the granola onto the prepared baking sheet, bake for 15-20 minutes stirring a couple times.
6. Let the granola cool completely before stirring in the chocolate chips if you are using.

Yields 4 1/2 cups of granola. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks. 

found the recipe at Mels Kitchen Cafe.

Candy's Shrimp Dip

Candy's recipe for her shrimp dip is not an exact science so every time I make it I'm sort of feeling around to get the actual measurements, and it turns out different every time! The good news is that it always tastes good and everyone loves it :). I made it for an appetizer the other night and this time measured everything I put in - I'll share her "recipe" followed by the amounts that I put in... I usually follow her instructions tho and just keep adding a few drops to tweak it until it tastes good and has the right consistency to dip crackers or veggies (or your finger) in. Make this ahead of time and give it time to chill for a few hours.

Combine 8 ounces softened cream cheese with enough mayo and lemon juice to make it spreadable. Add 3 cans of drained tiny shrimp, a few drops of tabasco and worcestershire to taste, season with salt and pepper. Chill 8 hours, serve with Ritz crackers.

I added 1/4 cup mayo and 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon tabasco (it was a little spicy this time), 1 teaspoon worcerstershire. Served it with Ritz, flatbread crackers, and crunchy pita chips. Yum.

It's A Real Treat - Paper Gift Holder

I assembled these cute paper gift holders for Ronda - only had to do 60 of them this time tho so finished them way faster than the time I made 120 pouches (click here for that post, coincidentally I posted those exactly one year ago tomorrow - I guess July is paper pouch month haha). They are made with Stampin' Up supplies, I'm loving the "it's a real treat" stamp and the purple ink she used.

One tip I've learned from helping Ronda is to stamp the image on paper before punching or cutting out - much easier than trying to stamp onto a precut shape (good luck getting the image centered, especially when the image is almost as big as the shape you're stamping it on!).

For each paper holder you need:

• white circle stamped with a saying or image of your choice
• punched out label shape in color to layer behind the circle
• one piece of colored cardstock 4.25" x 11" (half a sheet of standard size 8.5"x11" cardstock)
• approx 4" x 4.5" piece of coordinating patterned paper
• 2 small rhinestones, 1 larger rhinestone
• ribbon
• adhesive, foam dimensionals

Directions: 

Fold the 4.25"x11" cardstock in half (if you make the crease using a bone folder the fold will be nice and crisp). Then fold one end back on itself less than 1" and glue the coordinating patterned paper under the flap (see the photo below). Glue the flap down on top of the paper.

Stick the white circle that you have already stamped to the small rectangle/label shape using a foam dimensional, add a small rhinestone on either side of the circle and one larger one on the white circle; then attach the layered pieces on the front of the patterned paper using 2 foam dimensionals.

Wrap a piece of ribbon around the gift holder over the flap (it's the only thing holding the pouch together, if the gift recipient removes the ribbon the card will open) and tie in a small knot, trim the excess. 

you've created a pocket to hold the gift - a gift card or thin package will fit nicely!

one year ago: zucchini pie

Summer Squash Spiral Gratins

This takes a little time to put together but it isn't hard, so don't let that discourage you from making these! It's just thinly sliced zucchini and summer squash rolled into a big pinwheel layered on top of carmelized leeks (you could use onions instead), studded with sliced tomato and baked. The original recipe made one big spiral but I made individual ones by making small spirals and baking them in 5" springform pans - I think cupcake molds would also work. I like the presentation of the spirals this way instead of cutting the big one into wedges, but if you want to make one big one go for it and let me know how it turns out!

I don't love zucchini (I've probably mentioned this in the past - for me, just like bananas, zucchini is best baked into bread haha) but this is very pretty and flavorful; we had them for dinner with grilled steak, a green salad with mustard vinaigrette (click here for that recipe), and crusty bread. 

Click here for the original recipe found at foodandwine.com - I changed the recipe a bit by shaping them into small spirals; I substituted italian blend shredded cheese for the gruyere, sprinkled grated parmesan on the slices in addition to the italian cheese, and topped each spiral with panko breadcrumbs before baking. That made a nice crunchy topping - yum. Here's the original recipe with my notes added:

 Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 small leeks (1/2 pound), white and tender green parts thinly sliced into rounds
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 3 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices (it's easier to do this if you have a mandoline)
• 3 medium yellow summer squash, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices
• kosher salt
• pepper
• 1 cup finely shredded Gruyere (about 2 ounces) NOTE: I substituted an Italian blend instead.
• 1 plum tomato, very thinly sliced
• sea salt and crusty bread for serving
• panko breadcrumbs mixed with melted butter , optional for topping NOTE: that's my addition, original recipe doesn't call for that step

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425'. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over moderately high heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Spread in a 9" round baking dish (NOTE: I divided the leeks up evenly amongst 5 small springform pans.
2. Meanwhile, on 2 large baking sheets, spread the zucchini and yellow squash and brush with the 
3. remaining 3 tablespoons of oil; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the cheese (NOTE: I also sprinkled grated parmesan in addition to the shredded Italian blend I used) and let sit until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. 
4. Tightly roll 1 piece of zucchini and set in on the leeks in the center of the dish. Working outward from that center slice, continue rolling and coiling additional pieces of zucchini and yellow squash until you reach the edge of the baking dish. Season the tomato slices with salt and pepper, then tuck in intervals between the zucchini and squash. Scrape any cheese off of the baking sheets and sprinkle on top. (NOTE: because I made smaller individual spirals I just held the center rolled up zucchini in my hand and continued to wrap more slices around it while holding it - also I liked how alternating the squashes looked and didn't wrap too much of either color at the same time, try to vary it up - once it's large enough to fit in the individual pans, carefully set it down and add more to the spiral if it needs it to fill up the pan).
5. NOTE: this is where I added the panko topping. In a small saucepan I melted a little butter and added a big handful of panko to combine. Then sprinkle it only each spiral before baking. You can omit this step if you want!
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until the zucchini and squash are tender and browned in spots. Sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool slightly, then serve with crusty bread. 

we had leftovers the next night with grilled chicken sausage and it was just as good as the first night. 

one year ago: what's better than a mojito? a pitcher of mojitos

Organizing...the motorhome

This is probably uninteresting to most of you, and I don't have pictures, but I spent the whole day organizing the motorhome inside and out. When we first got it I just stuck things in all the big open drawers and shelves with no rhyme or reason, and now that we've been camping a few times and I have a better sense how we are using the space it was easy to come up with some storage solutions and better organization.

Outside I took everything out of all the different storage areas (we have 4 under the camper) and grouped things together - now one space holds all the folding chairs, tables, covers and bungees; another holds floats, bike stuff, outdoor games, the air compressor, etc; there's a large one in the back that now has the grill, extra propane bottles, tools, long term storage of sofa bed sheets, etc; and a small one holds extra drinks and cleaning tools like the swiffer and brooms. There - much better. Now we only have to open one storage area to access what we need (I'm tellin' ya, before it was all jumbled together and crammed in various places - not cool!).

Inside I took everything out of the kitchen and pantry cabinets; using small rubbermaid boxes I put everything back so it makes more sense and once again, everything is grouped together by type and how often it gets used. (and I may have labeled things even tho I'm the only one using the space, but whatever.). In the bedroom area I hung up removable command hooks for hats and other accessories, and hung a shoe holder (I had to cut it in half) to hold gloves, winter hats (not needed right now but I will eventually), hair bands, sunglasses; and put a 3 drawer plastic stand in the "closet" to hold our shoes...In the shower I put up an adjustable curtain rod across the back to hang wet clothes (when we can't put them outside on the drying rack). There are also removable command hooks now by the door holding keys, dog leashes, and a fly swatter (an unfortunate necessity while camping!).

It'll be nice to have things in places that make sense and is wayyyyyy more organized that it was before. Ahhhhhhhh...now I think I'll go get a float (I know right where they are!) and head to the lake Happy Saturday! :)


one year ago: the everything cheeseball

Kid Craft - "the Littles" Beach Jars

This is from my friend Lisa (I shared her button flag art for the Fourth of July, click here for that post), she does all kinds of fun stuff with her nieces ("the littles") every week and she shared these photos with me after I posted the beach terrarium I made last week (click here for that post). I like how these turned out so much I asked if I could share them with you - take inspiration wherever you find it and then make it your own!

from Lisa:

Here are the littles beach in a jar! I though you would like to see the project. The littles has a blast and thought it was so fun with all the shells. Thanks for idea.

PS: She also said "Hobby Lobby and Michaels love to see me walk in, goodness!" hahahaha. Ditto for me Lisa LOL.

And our sweet dog Brooke felt like she needed to craft and chewed up the star fish!

Baked Artichoke Dip

I have been making this dip for years. A lot of years. It is SO good and it's always a hit - there's never any leftover which is sort of a bummer for me, I'm usually playing hostess when appetizers are being devoured so I don't usually get my fill of this hot creamy dip!


1 can artichoke hearts, drained and mashed
1 cup mayo
1 cup grated parmesan
1 minced garlic clove
1 teaspoon thyme

Combine all the ingredients and spoon into a small baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika and bake 350' for 20 minutes until hot. Serve with crackers.

variation: omit garlic and thyme, add small can of chopped drained jalapeños. Bake 30 minutes, let sit 10 minutes before eating.

Cathy's Strawberry Pie

Cathy makes an incredible strawberry/pineapple layered pie that is SO good - she gave me the recipe a long time ago (because you know me, I'm not above begging for a fabulous recipe!) but until now I didn't have a picture to post with the recipe...and now I do. I'm not going to go on and on about how creamy, fruity, yummy, summery, and sweet this is - I don't have enough words. Just trust me, you want to make this pie.

Ingredients:

pre-baked pie crust (homemade or store bought, you decide)

8 oz. cream cheese
6 1/2 oz. crushed pineapple, drained but save the juice
3 T. sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups crushed strawberries
reserved pineapple juice
1 cup sugar
3-4 T. cornstarch

3-4 cups chopped strawberries

Cool whip, Reddi-Whip, or whipped cream if desired

Directions:

1. Mix together the cream cheese, crushed pineapple, 3 T. sugar, and vanilla, and pour into the piecrust.
2. In a saucepan combine crushed strawberries, pineapple juice, 1 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Cook until clear and thick. Cool.
3. Once it's cool add 3-4 cups chopped strawberries and pour over cream cheese layer. 
4. Refrigerate until it sets up. Top with whipped cream if using. 

Patching the Widowmaker

We have an inflatable boat that is named the "widowmaker" because Dave takes it out to fish in our little swamp (he calls it a "lake" but it isn't, it's a swamp) and it seems super sketchy to me. The water is gross and if the inflatable deflates for some reason he's gonna have to swim in the swamp and get sucked into the weeds and muck - yuck - hence the reason it's named the widowmaker haha. Anyway...we also have an inflatable canoe ("widowmaker2") that I've been using as a substitute kayak (praying to not tip over!) and sure enough, one side has a puncture in it and deflated - thankfully it was noticeable before I got out on the swamp/lake!

Couldn't find the repair patch of course so went to buy a new one. First had to research what kind of patch I needed tho - there is Type A and Type B depending on what material your inflatable is made out of. Our inflatable is PVC which is a type of vinyl. There are different kinds of repair kits but I bought what seemed the easiest - a patch that is clear and just sticks over the puncture. I had serious doubts this would hold with all the pressure of air inside the tube, but so far so good - I haven't had to swim in the swamp yet! Super easy, don't let this job intimidate you - just stick on the patch according to the instructions and wait 24 hours.

Type A repairs:

Canvas Rubber Neoprene Nylon Most fabrics Plastics Polyethylene Polypropylene Polyurethane

Non-oiled Leather Sumbrella Gore-tex Acrylics Fiberglass Aluminum Polyester Hypalon Dacron

Type B repairs:

Vinyl and Vinyl-coated ONLY

one year ago: Deanna's pretty garden dish flowers

two years ago: Jen's deviled eggs (the best!)

Golf Counter Pin

My sis lost the golf counter that I made her last year (click here for that post) and asked for another...the last one could be attached to a pin or worn as a bracelet, she had it on a pin and it fell off (not the pin, the counter!). So this time I made the counter right on a big safety pin so it'll stay on unless it comes unpinned - and really, it's golf, so why would it come unpinned?

I had these soccer ball beads left over from doing a kid craft (a long time ago! click here for that post) and since my sis is a soccer player I thought I'd combine golf and soccer in this counter - that and her initials so if she does lose it and someone finds it, she has a better chance of recovering it. LOL I'm picturing someone finding it (someone who doesn't have the initials "JF" that is) and using it, only to have Jen see it - kind of hard to not know it's hers this time hahah!

PS: this is a super quick thing to make - don't tell her tho...I made it sound like it was such a big thing hahahaha!