Tip-sy Tuesday: How to use a Shredding Disk

Since I had to get the manual out to figure out how to shred my giant zucchini, I took a bunch of pictures to save you the hassle of locating the manual and figuring out to use the shredding disk of your food processor! Not hard but (at least on mine) a little tricky to figure out on my own. You might want this info before the next two posts this week - you'll see why tomorrow.

Normally when using my food processor I use the blade shown in the bowl to chop or blend ingredients, to shred you need to remove that blade and will replace it with the shredding disk and adapter thing:

I put the adapter piece in the bowl so you can see where it's going to go - but first you need to attach it to the shredding disk:

It's a bit of a puzzle - the notches on the adapter align with notches on the back of the shredding disk:

 Place the adapter notches in the notches on the shredding disk as shown:

Twist the adapter to lock it in place (the adapter notches are under the metal tabs in the picture below:

 After it's locked on, slide the adapter into the center of the food processor bowl:

Put the top of the food processor in place and lock it on like normal. Cut the food you want shredded into pieces that will fit into the feeder tube as shown (I did wedges of zucchini):

Use the pusher thing to help get the zucchini down onto the shredding disk:

 In a few seconds you'll have a bowl full of shredded zucchini:

Stop back tomorrow for a recipe using shredded zucchini!

DIY No-Sew Tutu

Tell me if this has this ever happened to you - waking up remembering that you said you'd do something and then completely forgetting about it, only to realize that you now only have a couple days to make it happen when you had an entire year to do it? Good grief. Last year a bunch of us ran/walked a 5k together and joked that for the next year we should do something silly as a group like matching socks or wearing tutus...and naturally I volunteered to make the tutus. And even more naturally I completely forgot until 3 days before the race! 3 days! To make 10 tutus!! Yikes.

Fast forward to that same afternoon when I had 5 done in a couple hours. Probably not even that long actually - these came together so quick! (A few people had to back out of the race this year so ended up I only needed to make 5 - whew). I am very happy to report that making tutus is extremely easy, doesn't cost much, and guess what? They are adorable (but you already knew that because - hello - tutus!).

Granted I did not make amazingly professional tutus measured to fit each person - I made them adjustable by tying strips of tulle to a length of paracord so one size fits all. That's all there is to it! Seriously, so easy.

I bought tulle at Hobby Lobby on spools 6" wide by 25 yards long and used 3 spools per tutu (for a total of 75 yards), regularly priced 2.99 per roll but it was 1/2 off - so each tutu cost me less than $5. I debated making them on elastic bands or ribbon, I bought ribbon thinking it'd be easier to size them for everyone that way; but back home I saw that I had a full skein of paracord so I used that instead of the ribbon.

Cut the cord about 66" long, I attached both ends to closet handles so it stretched out and I could tie the tulle on easily.

To make the tulle strands I layered 3 rolls on top of each other - initially I cut individual pieces and stacked them together but that took too much time and it was hard to get them to stay together; by laying 3 rolls next to each other I could feed the tulle out together and then cut all three at once. Make sense? I took pictures to help with the directions:

Cut the layered tulle into 24" long strips; for each bundle you're tying on, fold in half the long way so it's 3" wide x 24" long, then fold in half so it's 3" wide x 12" long - feed the fold under the paracord, bring the ends up thru the fold and pull making a lark's head knot. That makes the tutu about 11" long. You can easily change the length by making the strips longer or shorter. Also, I used 3 different colors of tulle but it could be all the same color, or 3 shades of the same color - whatever!

Continue cutting, folding, and tying the tulle strips onto the cord until all of the 75 yards is used - I got about 40 strip bundles in all. I went thru each bundle and separated the layers making it much fuller and more colorful.

Then just tie around your waist and go run (or be a princess, whatever).

One note: the tulle stuck to our leggings while running - I doubt this will happen if you're wearing it as a costume hahaha. If that happens to you, just wear them higher around your waist - problem solved.

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 36)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a recap of what you might have missed at MMDC this week, the holiday weekend really messed with my mind and the week just flew by!

Posts ~
9/1: 🔥 (week 35)
9/2: Labor Day
9/3: Tip-sy Tuesday: clear vanilla
9/4: chocolate cupcakes with p.b. cream cheese frosting
9/5: Jen's insta-pot tortellini
9/6: Brooke shows how to make a gimp keychain
9/7: the most disgusting looking soup ever

What's Cooking ~

• bbq ribs, veggie tots, cole slaw
• grilled pork chops, baked summer squash, wedge salad
• chicken caesar salad
• steak, breaded eggplant (recipe to follow, so good!), arugula salad
• chicken sausage, pasta with red sauce, roasted asparagus
• dinner at Al and Cathy's - Al made pasta with meatballs, sausage, and hard boiled eggs (does anyone else make sauce with whole hard boiled eggs? I love it)

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy that isn't worth a blog post ~

• read 'Present over Perfect',  gave me really good things to think about and work on ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
• helped throw a surprise party for Brooke's 16th, she was not a fan of the whole 'surprise' part
• did a 5k run/walk with a bunch of friends (check back Monday to see what I made for us to wear)
• worked on getting the house ready for upcoming guests next week - I'm so excited they are visiting! 

We were super worried about 2 of our nieces that live in the path of hurricane Dorian - they chose to not evacuate, boarded up the windows, stocked up on provisions, spent time in the bathtub during tornado warnings...so scary. 100 MPH winds is just crazy to think about. But they are all good and their house held strong. Hope you had a great (short) week - check back to see lots more projects, crafts, recipes, and whatever else I think of to make!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and thankful relieved aunt

Wild Mushroom and Thyme Soup

Wild Mushroom and Thyme Soup, sounds delicious right? Well here's the scoop peeps - it's just about the nastiest, most un-appetizing thing I've ever made (or even seen, for that matter) but it does taste good. It tastes really good. IF you can get past how awful it looks it is definitely worth it flavor-wise. I might suggest not blending it up as much, it looked way better before I blended it - once blended it looks like mushroom soup, only replace the word mushroom with a word that rhymes with 'goop' but starts with a p - I'd use another word if I could think of one that rhymes with diarrhea other than maybe gonorrhea, so I'm going with "goop" if ya get my drift...

...and I can't believe I just wrote both diarrhea and gonorrhea in a post about soup. Sorry. I know I just lost everyone and no one is now going to continue reading this post and actually make the soup. My bad. However; for you die hards that still have an appetite, here's the recipe:

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1/3 cup minced shallots
1 1/2 pounds fresh wild mushrooms (such as stemmed shiitake, oyster and crimini), coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 cups (approx) canned low-salt chicken broth
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2 inch chunks
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms, brushed clean of any grit
5 tablespoons Madeira

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add shallots, saute 1 minute. Add fresh mushrooms, saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and garlic, saute until mushrooms are golden, about 8 minutes. Stir in 6 cups broth, potatoes and porcini. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes are very tender, about 25 minutes.

looks good before blending it!

but after blending - yuck. 

Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Return soup to pot. Mix in Madeira and enough chicken broth to thin soup to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Refrigerate.)

Bring soup to simmer before serving. Makes 12 servings.

*notes: I followed this recipe other than substituting white wine for the Madeira, and I didn't peel the potatoes.  I think substituting vegetable broth would be fine if you want to make this vegetarian.

For the record, I know I didn't do a good job selling this one, but it does taste really good - I wouldn't share an ugly dish that didn't at least taste good!

PS: backstory if you're still reading - I found this recipe in a brochure selling cabinets that I found when cleaning out some old files. Don't ask why I decided to make a recipe from a cabinet brochure instead of one I found online that has a million reviews. Possibly a life lesson right there.

9.7.18: tomato tart

9.7.17: first aid certification

9.7.16: brownie, oreo, reese's ice cream cake

Plastic Lacing Gimp Keychain

Brooke was hanging out in the craft room and came across a bunch of plastic lacing - she started making an old-school-classic-kid-camp-craft keychain before I could take pictures (you'd think she'd know better by now hahaha). I swear she has teenager a.d.d. (you know, the teenager kind of a.d.d. that is just boredom and moving from one thing to another and leaving a mess behind for her aunt to clean up after she's gone without actually finishing any of the things she starts hahahah!) and stopped making this before showing us how to end it! Good grief. Anyway, if you're interested, check out her short video showing how to make a box stitch using plastic lacing - I at least got her to demonstrate making the keychain after she started it - there's lots and lots of instructions online if you want to see how to start and finish the keychain.

Insta-Pot Tortellini...by Jenny

I guess 'my sis is hungry' enough to cook for herself this week - hmmmm...you'd think she would have made some for me and I could review her recipe this time hahaha! What a chicken - maybe I need to yell more á la Gordon Ramsey.  Here's what she made, in her words:

I DID IT!! I MADE UP SOMETHING MYSELF FROM SCRATCH AND IT WAS FANTASTIC!!
Maybe my sister is right and this whole cooking thing has merit? 

I am ashamed to say I watched a few episodes of Master Chef this season when someone we know was a contestant on it.  Since then I have been inspired thinking “how hard can this be?”  Don’t tell my sister it wasn’t her cooking that inspired me - it was Chef Gordon Ramsay and his yelling.  Anyway…. 

So I made a yummy instant pot tortellini and everyone in the family loved it.  There.. I reviewed it myself.  Done.  Whatever rating I would have given my sister you can jack that up a couple points. 😊

1 package fresh tortellini pasta

1 can Medium Enchilada Sauce

2 cups water

2 cups rotisserie chicken cut up in cubes

½ block light cream cheese

1 ½ cups cheddar cheese

Optional: 

1 ½ cups broccoli

1 cup fresh mushrooms

So easy.. 

Put the pasta, sauce, water, veggies, and chicken in the instant pot. Cook on manual pressure for 2 minutes.  When 2 minutes has went off quick release the steam. Don’t cook it longer or pasta and veggies will be mushy!

Stir in the cream cheese and cheddar cheese until melted. 

Honestly the family loved it and it was so easy and delicious.

Jill here - I questioned enchilada sauce over tortellini but she swears it was amazing! I don't have an insta-pot but don't see why you couldn't make this on the stovetop (it'll just take longer obviously!). 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Brooke had a very specific request for her birthday dessert - chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. I've never heard of peanut butter cream cheese frosting but figured I'd wing it - how bad could it be? Actually, it's very very good. Like delicious. Just about the perfect cupcake. I don't know if she thought the idea up herself or saw it somewhere, but turned out to be a great call.

I made 24 chocolate doctored cupcakes (add an additional egg, substitute melted butter for the oil and milk instead of water, add a teaspoon of vanilla, and a scoop of sour cream); for 12 of them I spooned 2 tablespoons of batter into cupcake liners, put a mini reese's peanut butter cup in the center, topped with another tablespoon of batter. For the other 12 I left out the reese's and went with straight chocolate cake.

For the frosting - the 12 plain chocolate cupcakes were frosted with a big scoop of vanilla buttercream frosting (side note: did you see yesterday's tip for clear vanilla? It's the way to go for white frosting); the 12 that have the reese's baked in got frosted with this peanut butter cream cheese frosting, garnished with another reese's mini cup and some chocolate sprinkles. Yum.


Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
2-3 tablespoons whip cream (or milk)
pinch of salt

Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together until smooth. Add the vanilla and salt. Alternate adding powdered sugar and whip cream (or milk) until you get the correct consistency for spreading.

Note: this frosting was firm when I frosted the cupcakes but after being out for a while in a warm room it got soft and wanted to slide off the cupcakes! Next time I'll keep them chilled until it's time to serve them - not the best choice for sitting out for hours.

Tip-sy Tuesday: Clear Vanilla

This is a super quick tip - those are the best tho, right? In case you haven't seen it, and I don't have a picture of the bottle to show you but you'll just have to trust me, clear vanilla is a thing and you want to get some. It keeps white frosting whiter, white cake whiter, use it for anything you're baking that you want to keep as white as possible.

Note: I have no idea if this is considered authentic proper vanilla and if it's frowned upon in the real baking world but I'm telling ya - it tastes the same to me and I've never made whiter frosting! Sweet.

cupcakes for Brooke's birthday - the ones on the right are made with clear vanilla
(I'll post the recipe for the terrific ones on the left tomorrow!)

Happy Labor Day '19

Summer isn't technically behind us for a couple weeks, but I am looking forward to fall so I'm posting this anyway :) Have a great last day of the holiday weekend - I'm off to celebrate Brooke's 16th birthday (will share what dessert she chose with you later this week, think peanut butter!) and then hopefully early to bed, I've been staying up waaaay too late and need to get some sleep hahah!! Bye!

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 35)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at camp this week:

Posts~
8/25: 🔥 (week 34)
8/26: giant crepe paper garland
8/27: Tip-sy Tuesday: wrapping paper holder
8/28: giant whoopie pie cake
8/29: spiral pull-apart pizza
8/30: card holder hack
8/31: braised short ribs

What's Cooking ~

• leftover beef wellington, veggie tots, beet and goat cheese salad
• Greek shrimp orzo bowls
• chicken sausage, pasta with Alfredo sauce, caesar salad
• antipasto pasta (recipe to follow)
• grilled chicken, arugula and mushroom salad, roasted green beans

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• read 'The Fallen', #4 of the Amos Decker series by Balducci ⭐️⭐️⭐️ not my favorite.
• made chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches for Brooke's birthday this weekend; I just baked Tollhouse cookie dough cookies, after they cooled filled with vanilla ice cream and froze. Then put them in individual baggies and tossed in a few sprinkles, taped closed. 

Hope you're having a nice Labor Day weekend - we are camping and the weather is gorgeous here at the lake! See you next week, stop by often to see what's happening at MMDC :)

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and lake lover