lemontreecreations.blogspot.com/2011/05/doormat-wall-art.html I made these awesome wall hangings last year and they are one of the few decorations in my house that I have never gotten sick of or moved around. I saw the idea in Lowes Creative Solutions and obsessed over it until I could make them for myself. I shared them on my family blog at the time, but I've received so many compliments on them recently that I thought I'd share them here as well. I started off with a few pieces of poplar board, 1 inch x 12 inches x 6 feet. I sanded and stained the boards a dark walnut color, lined the edges with painters tape, and covered the boards with this doormat that I picked up from Lowes. I then spray painted 4 light coats of Valspar's Ivory through the doormat - 2 straight down on the mat and 2 from different angles to try to fill in all of the gaps. I allowed the paint to dry for about 30 minutes after the last coat, and when I pulled the mat off I literally squealed with delight. I'll be linking to these parties this week, so stop by to say hi!!
makes » recipe: lemon meringue cupcakes Amazing idea last week: lemon meringue cupcakes. I could make a lemony cake part, then bake a meringue right on top! No need to frost, super easy recipe! I mean look at these. And to boot, these are 165 calories apiece. While the above does appear to be what I described, it is not. There are a few “specialty” tools required for this recipe. Start with the curd so it has time to chill while all that other stuff is going on. This isn’t a bad time to go over how to zest a lemon. Also, isn’t that lemon HUGE? Speaking of lemons, for both the curd and the batter, I recommend straining your fresh lemon juice. The batter has this subtle speckle of lemon rind yellow. While that’s in the oven, we make our way to the third part: meringue. Now we need a way for the meringues will fit the cupcakes. Then I spoon the meringue onto each dot and smooth it out to the circumference of the paper circle, then around in a spiral to make that nice swirly peak. And luscious too. Prologue Heat oven to 350o
Chocolate Cupcakes with Flaming Strawberries Call me easily amused, but these little torch-topped cupcakes delight me. Besides being a cute novelty item for a party, I think they would add a little drama to the end of a romantic meal. I've been looking for something different to serve for Valentine's dessert, and this is definitely different. The strawberries are hollowed out and filled with a bit of liquor, then ignited with a match. For the cake portion, I chose a One Bowl Chocolate Cupcake recipe because 1. it's quick 2. it is easy, and 3. it fits my prerequisite for a light ending on date night. I should say, a light ending provided you don't eat too many. The cakes are just sweet enough, and have a light, fluffy crumb - the perfect vehicle for rich chocolate buttercream. Notes for flaming strawberries:Any alcohol below 80 proof will not ignite well. Shaina made a margarita version of this on Babble Food. Chocolate Cupcakes with Flaming Strawberries Yield: About 20 cupcakes [click to print]Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
How To Make A Duck Call Lanyard A good waterfowl call lanyard has a purpose above and beyond keeping calls handy and organized. It's insurance against damage and loss—deep water and swamp mud aren't friendly to $60 duck calls. You can make a strong and comfortable lanyard in about two hours out of 100 feet of 550 parachute cord for less than $10. Braiding The Body [1] Cut a length of 550 cord twice as long as the intended finished length of your lanyard. Finishing The Lanyard And Droppers [2] Double the length of braid on itself. [3] Bind the two (loop and core) together with four to six additional square knots. [4] Snip one side of the loop where it emerges from the final knot and use that strand to bind the remaining four cords with a wrapped knot. Lastly, tie a slipknot on each of the four remaining tag ends; these are the droppers that will hold the calls.
Spooky Eats: Monster Pudding Cups Excitement over Halloween each year in these parts definitely centers around the food. Not the candy…the food. Shocking, I know. Each day this week, I’ll be sharing with you a simple, yummy “Spooky Eats” idea for some Halloween food fun. My kids have loved every minute of preparing for this week. Today the feature is Monster Pudding Cups! Note: You can sub your own vanilla pudding recipe or the boxed variety, although the amount of pudding you end up with will probably vary from the recipe below. Ingredients One batch homemade vanilla pudding, tinted green with a few drops of food coloring when adding the vanilla extract Crushed Oreo or other chocolate cookies, I used Trader Joe's Jo-Jo's See-through plastic cups, 8-12 ounce size Black permanent marker Large M&M's (like peanut M&M's) and black frosting (optional) Directions Make pudding according to recipe or package instructions.
Cupcake Ideas | My Sweet and Saucy Sorry for all of you who were waiting for the cupcake tutorial…I know I have been slow to post lately, but I really am going to try to get a couple good posts in this week. Definitely check back in soon to see the post on all of my Valentine’s cookies that my sister and I made. Anyways, down to business… To make cupcakes that have impressions on the fondant you need to either purchase impression mats/molds or scrapbooking stamps. So you need to roll your fondant or sugarpaste out to your desired thickness (1/8″-1/4″), rubbing a little Crisco on the fondant if it gets sticky or dry and then press it either into the mat or press the stamp onto the fondant. Just a hint: if you are making individual fondant cutouts to sit on top of your frosting don’t use cream cheese frosting since it has a property in it that makes the fondant melt. I also used another impression mold to make the buttons for the cupcakes. Here are some of the combined elements on the cupcakes. ShareThis
East Coast Creative: Pallet Possibilities {How to Build a Wooden Pallet Wall} This room makeover all started with a pallet and became the coolest pallet wall ever. This free project made a huge impact with its wooden walls and white wash technique. We’re so excited to share it with you today! ****************************************************************** When the hubs and I moved into our house 12 months ago (holy moly it’s been 1 year already!) Well, the crib is history and we were ready to make this tiny space small, but mighty! Here’s how we did it: (Shhh… don’t tell, but this was super easy and the wood was free!) We called around and found places that were okay with us taking their pallets. We separated out the keepers and made sure we had a good blend of various lengths and widths. Thankfully my hubs is pretty darn smart and helped me and Jess figure out the layout. (You might notice that between breaking apart the pallets and doing the wall that I moved from a blonde to a reddish brunette. 2 hair colors in one post… is that a blogger foul?) P.S.
How to Make a 3 Dollar Pizza Stone If you're not down with pizza stones, it's time. Bread-bakers and home pizza afficionados praise them for their heat-retaining, moisture-wicking ability to imitate the floor of a brick oven. You put it in your oven and it not only provides a rustic surface to bake the bread on, but it also keeps the heat of the oven steady. Especially when it comes to pizza, that ever-important underside char and blistering (sometimes known as the "upskirt") will only ever come with a stone, which you can get absolutely blazing hot over a long oven preheat. Awhile back, my pizza stone cracked in half, and I never got around to replacing it. This discovery was lost amidst the technical aspects of fermentation and gluten-development in my homemade square pizza post last week (even I was confused by the end). I'd read about people who were cool and did this, eschewing the overpriced piece of stone and visiting building-supply stores instead, where they bought unglazed tiles for pennies. That's it.
Kräuter-Cupcakes | Lecker Ohne ... Portionen: 12 Stück Zutaten: 200g Mehl 2 Tl Natron 1 Ei 150g Magerquark 2 El Olivenöl 2 El gehackte Petersilie Prise Salz 1 Zwiebel Für das Topping 200g Magerquark 1 El Schnittlauchröllchen 1 El gehackte Petersilie 100g Frischkäse, Doppelrahmstufe Salz, Pfeffer Zubereitung: Die Zwiebel fein hacken und in dem Olivenöl glasig dünsten .Abkühlen lassen. Quark mit Frischkäse, Kräutern und Gewürzen verrühren und auf die Muffins verteilen. Infos Autor: LeckerOhneRedaktion Geeignet bei: Abnehmen Diabetes Dialyse Niereninsuffizienz Rheuma Vegetarisch Nährwerte pro Portion Energie: 121kcal Energiedichte: 1 kcal/g Eiweiss: 6g Fett: 5g Kohlenhydrate: 13g Ballaststoffe: 1g Kalium: 75mg Calcium: 53mg Phosphat: 57mg Druckversion
June | 2011 | Practical Enrichment When you think of Farmer’s Markets, do you think fresh? Organic? Locally Grown? Holy Produce Batman! The Skinny on Markets: Farmers’ markets have been around for a LONG time. The state classifies a farmers’ market as a temporary food establishment, which is defined as a retail food establishment in conjunction with an event, operating for no more than 14 straight days, and with the approval of the organizers of the event. Vendors who cook any product at a farmers’ market must either make sure it qualifies as a sample or demonstration, or must obtain a temporary restaurant license. Cooked just like your local Diner does it. A permit is also needed to sell food at the Market. Baked goods, dairy products, jams, jellies, preserves, salsas, vinegars, oils, salad dressings, frozen berries and cherries, dried herbs, and dehydrated fruits and vegetables are examples of common farmers’ market products that must be processed in a licensed facility. Made in MANY great flavours! Like this: