Crafts

Friday Flair Link Party // Heart Ice Cream Sandwich Edition

0 · Jan 25, 2013 · 24 Comments

Friday Flair Link Party // Morning!! Running late as always. My little guy was up with the croup all night last night, so I'm running a little slow. How was everyone's week this week? I've been having fun working on a new project for Valentines day that I can't wait to share next week. I'm using stain for the first time. Yep… Sorry Minwax, I'm a stain virgin. However, I'm kind of digging it. It's going to be a part of my Valentine's Day vignette that I will debut next week. If you follow me on Instagram, you can see a bit of my sneak peeks and follow along.

Now for this week's inspiration photo. It comes to you from one of my sweet friends and long time Friday Flair friend, Desiree from The 36th Avenue!! She is the most amazing lady out there. Seriously, she's one of those gals who you would LOVE to have as a next door neighbor. She's beautiful, hilarious, talented and a hoot at 3 o'clock in the morning!! She's one of those people who make you feel so good about yourself… she's a keeper! I wanted to show off her fun Heart Ice Cream Sandwiches on a stick. How fun is this for your favorite valentines this year?

img source // ice cream heart sandwiches on a stick from the 36th ave.

How clever is this? Head on over to The 36th Ave. to see how she makes these fun Valentine's Day treats. Love ya Desi… thanks for the inspiration!

Goat Cheese Puff Pastry with Raspberry Chili Chutney

3 · Jan 24, 2013 · 2 Comments

Goat Cheese Puffs with Raspberry Chili Chutney // Morning everyone!! I don't know if you happened to see yesterday's post about my Raspberry Chili Chutney? Today, I have the perfect appetizer made with puff pastry, goat cheese and topped with my chutney, and it's SUPER easy!!

This recipe couldn't be easier… It was inspired by Marcela Valladolid from Food Networks Mexican Made Easy show. I had been watching her show and this recipe caught my attention. Earlier in the month I had been invited to a cooking club here in Lincoln. The challenge for January was appetizers and decided I wanted to give this recipe a go. I loved that it was a little different, not your normal boring cheese and cracker type appetizer. It's light and classy with a lovely burst of flavor from the chutney. Frankly, it's divine!

Goat Cheese Puff Pastry with Raspberry Chili Chutney

1 package frozen Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry

11 oz. goat cheese

1 1/2 cups of Raspberry Chili Chutney

Agave

Directions

Thaw the puff pastry according to package directions. Flour your rolling and cutting surface. Gently unfold the pastry and roll it out a bit just to smooth out the dough. Using a round 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter cut the pastry dough into rounds.

I used a jumbo decorator tip from Sweet Baking Supply, generally used for decorating cakes as a round tool to score the tops of the rounds. You don't want to cut all the way through the dough when scoring. You just want to create a neat round that will make it easier to fill your pastry once baked. Place the pastry in the oven and bake according to package directions. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack to cool for a few minutes.

Once cool, gentle with your thumb push down on the scored round section of your little puff pastry bite. It will neatly push through and create a perfect little cup for you to add a bit of goat cheese. Take your goat cheese which has been sitting out at room temperature for about an hour and place little bite sized spoonfuls into the round center of the puff pastry. Top with a little dollop of the raspberry chili chutney and drizzle with a little bit of agave.

This recipe yields approx. 40 bite sized appetizers.

If you are a puff pastry lover like I am, here is another recipe that I know you are going to love… Nutella Marshmallow Puffs!

What are some of your favorite appetizers? Do you like to be adventurous or do you like to stick with the classics?

Raspberry Chili Chutney Recipe

26 · Jan 23, 2013 · 11 Comments

Raspberry Chili Chutney Recipe // I was recently invited to a cooking club here in Lincoln and it gave me the perfect opportunity to try out a recipe that I saw not too long ago on the Food Network… Raspberry Chili Chutney.

I have to admit, I am a totally Food Network foodie. I love to have the various shows on in the background when I'm working or getting ready for they day. I don't often have a chance to cook some of the recipes, but I feel like I learn so much just from listening to all the different chefs talk about their special recipes and techniques. The other day I had the show Mexican Made Easy on in the background and a recipe caught my attention. It's a recipe that's perfect for a cocktail party or a tasty hors d'oeuvre for a dinner party. The Goat Cheese Squares with Raspberry Chili Chutney recipe looked just divine, so I thought I would give it a go. Before you can make the tasty little bite you have to make the chutney first and that's what this post is about.

Ahhhhh the chutney, it's so amazing… I actually made another batch after my first go to keep in the fridge to use as a condiment for other meals. Yea, it's that good. Here is my version of the recipe. It has been inspired by Marcela's recipe, but with a few little tweaks for my taste.

Raspberry Chili Chutney Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup low-salt beef broth
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon ginger paste or fresh peeled and minced ginger
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, left whole
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from the chipoltle pepper can
1 cup frozen rasberries
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Add oil to large sauce pot and heat on med-high heat. Add chopped onions and cook for 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add broth, bell pepper, honey, ginger, vinegar and chipotle pepper with adobe sauce. You can leave the chipolte chili whole, It will break down durning the cooking process. Add salt & pepper to taste. Simmer on medium low until the sauce thickens, this can take up to 2 – 2 1/2 hours. Keep an eye on the sauce and stir occasionaly. Once the sauce has thickened and the chili pepper has broken down, add the raspberries and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Let the chutney cool and then store in an air tight container in the fridge. It should keep for up to a month in the fridge.
I'm actually thinking about making this my holiday gift this next Christmas. It tastes lovely with chicken, on crackers and I'm sure given a little more time, I will come up with a few more uses for it. It also looks amazing in a jar… I should work on some packaging for it and have it ready for the next holiday season… yep, it's that good! Tomorrow I'm going to post the recipe for my version of the Goat Cheese Puff with the Raspberry Chili Chutney, so stay tuned!

Groopdealz // GIVEAWAY

0 · Jan 21, 2013 · 147 Comments

Groopdealz $100 Target Giftcard GIVEAWAY // Who's ready for a fabulous giveaway? Have you heard of Groopdealz?

Groopdealz is a fun daily deal site that has some really cool finds at a dramatic discount everyday. Here are some examples of what you can find everyday…

How fun is that so far? You never know what you can find on Groopdealz everyday, but whatever it is, you know it's going to be good. The best part, the price! Each and every item is priced at a deep discount. There are many different ways to find out what's hot on their site everyday. You can sign-up to recieve their daily email, you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter and now, you can even follow them on Instagram!! Check this out…

Won't that be fun to see in your Instagram feed everyday? That way you won't EVER miss a great Groopdealz deal. Groopdealz would love for you to come and check out their site and join them on Instagram as well. They would even like to sweeten the deal with a…

$100 Target Gift Card Giveaway!!

All you need to do is follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bird Seed Winter Wreath // Tutorial

22 · Jan 21, 2013 · 12 Comments

Bird Seed Winter Wreath // One of my favorite things to do since moving to Nebraska is watching the colorful birds outside my window. Las Vegas isn't really known has a habitat for pretty birds so I've missed them for several years. Here in Lincoln we have Blue Jays and every once in a while we even have a red Cardinal or two and I adore them! Over the Christmas break my girls and I were thinking of fun things to do and Hannah thought it would be fun to make some type of bird feeder for the birds during these cold months. I thought it would be fun to make a bird seed winter wreath.

Supplies Needed

Foam wreath form
Fabric strips
2-3 push pins
1 jar peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
Parchment paper
Bird seed mixture of your choice

Instructions

I happened to have a foam wreath form on hand so we decided to us it, but I was worried about the birds pecking at the styrofoam. We decided that we would wrap the wreath with strips of fabric to protect the birds.

The girls and I cut some scrap fabric into 2 1/2 to 3 inch wide strips and wrapped the wreath with them and secured the fabric with some push pins. Next we made a peanut butter and honey concoction. We took one small jar of honey and mixed it with about 1/2 a cup of honey.

The girls and I then place our wreath form on several pieces of parchment paper and started to cover the wreath with the peanut butter spread…

… and then the bird seed.

We found the parchment paper quite helpful when we were placing the bird seed on the sides of the wreath. Once we were finished we place the wreath outside in the cold garage to let it set a bit. Then after a couple of days we added a burlap bow and placed it out in our yard so that the birds could enjoy a little winter treat!

What are some fun winter activites that you like to do with your kiddos? We're actually having a ball living in a place with a real winter so we would LOVE some new ideas!

Crafts

Goat Cheese Puff Pastry with Raspberry Chili Chutney

Directions

Raspberry Chili Chutney Recipe

Instructions

Supplies Needed

Instructions

Footer