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Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween Costumes

I pretty much always make my own Halloween costumes.   Here are some of the most recent. 

This is one of my best costumes.  It wasn't actually for Halloween though.  (It was for a Murder Mystery Party.)
Then there was last year.  I was a witch.  I'd say I've been a witch about 50% of Halloweens.  I like wearing all black without people thinking I'm all dark and goth.

I typically try to go un-sexy for Halloween.  Someone asked me if I was dressed as Sara Palin's pregnant teen in this picture below.  Um, no, I was dressed as a soccer player.
Ok, well this might have had something to do with it.  But still.

And you know I had to have dressed as a character from the Office at least one time; Pam and Michael (circa season 2).  I had white Keds and everything.

Anyways.  This year I decided to go as un-sexy as possible, again.  I purchased an XL orange T-shirt from Michaels and sewed on the Jack-O-Lantern Face.  (It was slightly more difficult than I thought it would be.)  That green thing on my head is supposed to be the top of the pumpkin.  I'm not a "French" pumpkin as my husband kept telling people.  And that pumpkin was my purse for the night.

My husband went as Harry Potter, the college years.  We assumed Harry had cooler glasses once he was in college and didn't wear his robes around all the time.  I drew that scar.

Did you dress up this year for Halloween?

PS-I was going to put up cute pictures of me as a kid in my Halloween costumes but I was too lazy to go get the pics.  My mom made me a wonderful Dorothy costume as well as a nice Minnie Mouse.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

2 for 1 Dinners-Mini Pizzas and Pasta Bake

I'm not a huge fan of leftovers.  However, I'm usually only cooking dinner for my husband and me (or just me as he goes out of town a lot for work) and most food items are not portioned for 2 people.  So instead of having leftovers, I like to find ways to create 2 different (but similar) meals out of some of the same items.

This week at Harris Teeter, I found some Italian style chicken sausage on sale.  One time for my birthday when I was younger, my mom made mini pizzas using refrigerated biscuit dough as the pizza crust.  I decided to try this with the sausage as a topping.  Then the next day I used to rest to make a pasta bake.  I bought a package of Italian style chicken sausage (4 Links), a jar of Spaghetti sauce, frozen mixed bell peppers and shredded mozzarella cheese to be used in both dishes.  Then I just needed a can of refrigerated biscuit dough and some type of pasta (which I typically already have at my house).

Mini Sausage and Peppers Pizzas-Makes 10 mini pizzas
1 small container of refrigerated flaky biscuit dough (5 biscuits)
1 link of Italian style chicken sausage chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup of frozen mixed bell peppers chopped in to smaller pieces
1.5 cups of tomato sauce (I used Prego Spaghetti Sauce)
3/4 cup of shredded Mozzarella cheese

1-Split biscuits in half to make 10 circles of pizza dough.  Cook these at 400 F for about 5-6 minutes.
2-While the biscuits are cooking, heat up the sausage and peppers in a pan on the stove.  Add one-two spoonfuls of tomato sauce to that and set aside.
3-Pull biscuits out of the oven and top each with some sauce, then the sausage and pepper mixture and then some cheese. 
4-Put back in the oven and back for 6 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Sausage and Pepper Pasta Bake-For 2 or 3
2 links of Italian style chicken sausage cut into small pieces
1 cup of frozen mixed bell peppers
1.5 cups of spaghetti sauce
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
1.5 cups of pasta

1-Cook the pasta
2-While you are cooking the pasta heat up the sausage and peppers.  Then add in the spaghetti sauce.  Let this simmer a little.
3-Mix pasta and sausage mixture in a baking pan and top with cheese.
4-Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Ok, yes I realize that these two meals are very similar (at least ingredient wise) but it's enough of a difference to make me feel like I made two different things.  And I still have a sausage left over.  What should I do with it?
How do you feel about leftovers?

Monday, October 25, 2010

Sewing Attempt #2-Zipper Pouch


Some people seemed pretty impressed with my bag that I made last week on my new sewing machine.  It definitely has a few issues with it and it took me foreves just so you know (I'm not quit an expert sewer).  I really think it's good that I signed up for a sewing class so I can learn how to do things the right way.  That doesn't start until November though.  So in the mean time I tried to make something easier.  I remember seeing how to make a small zipper bag on this blog awhile back and thought it would be great to try.  The zipper kind of scared me but I figured I would attempt it anyways.  Plus I accidentally bought about twice as much fabric as I needed for that first bag so I had a bunch left over.

I seriously could not figure out how to pin this correctly on the last sewing step to make it so the zipper looked perfect but I just kind of made it up as I went.  It didn't end up perfect but it's acceptable (to me).  I will do better next time.  These little bag are cool and I could use about 20 of them with all the junk I keep in my purse so I should get a lot of practice.  I'm currently using this one for coupons.
What do you think?
Anyone taken up sewing yet?
Is your purse a mess?

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Apparently it was Boss's Day sometime last week.  One of my co-workers found out and suggested we all bring in treats on Friday to celebrate.  It was kind of funny though because our bosses didn't even know it was Boss's Day.  I thought this would be a great time to make some pumpkin cupcakes.  I had been wanting to make some for awhile but did not want to have 30 cupcakes in my house.  Cause if they were in my house.  I would eat them.  All.  In like 3 days.  I have seen so many amazing looking pumpkin cake and cupcake recipes online recently but I finally narrowed it to the recipe I saw on this blog.  I think she got it from another blog.  Anywho.  The honey cinnamon cream cheese icing stood out to me.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes-(Recipe from Very Best Baking as seen adapted on Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life)
Makes about 24 mini cupcakes and 12 regular cupcakes  (sorry I used two different pans)

1 package (18.25 oz.) spice cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins.

-Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl for about 3 minutes with a mixer.

-Bake mini cupcakes for about 11-13 minutes or until they are done and bake the regular sized ones for 20-22 minutes.

Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. honey
2 cups powdered sugar
a splash of milk

Mix the butter until it's fluffy.  Then add in the cream cheese and mix those two together.  Add in the cinnamon and honey and mix together and then added in powdered sugar about a cup at a time until you get the consistency you want.  You can add some milk also to smooth it out. I put this into a plastic pastry bag and just squirted blobs on to my cupcakes.  It worked out pretty well.  If you hate pumpkin, this icing would probably still be good on a regular spice cake.  In other words, I loved this icing.

 
People at work loved these (ok well they ate them all).  If you want to impress people, make them mini cupcakes.  People are easily fascinated by miniature versions of normal things.

Did anyone else celebrate boss's day?
When is regular employee day?

Monday, October 18, 2010

Sewing Machine Review and My Greatest Crafting Achievement To Date

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to review another product from CSN Stores.  This time I decided to review a sewing machine.  I have wanted to learn to sew for a long time.  I feel like not knowing how to sew is really holding me back in my crafting and making stuff (you know, the title of this blog).  So I sorted all the sewing machines available on CSN by price and bought one of the cheapest ones which was this Brother Free-Arm Sewing Machine with 10 Stitches.

So far I am loving this machine.  You should know, I don't actually really know anything about sewing so I don't have anything to compare it to.  I was able to thread the bobbin and the needle and actually get started sewing in about 45 minutes.  I think that was pretty good because I'm not the best at following directions (hence why I like cooking better than baking-less important that you follow recipes exactly in cooking).  The instructions have pictures and are pretty easy to follow.

In comparison to every other machine, this machine was cheap.  I was not expecting anything amazing, just a basic beginner sewing machine.  I think this machine is going to work for me and help me achieve my dream of one day being able to sew my own apron.  I have actually signed up for a month long sewing class.  We'll see how that goes.  Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase.

Since I didn't really know anything about sewing, I decided to just jump in head first.  I bought this pattern I found online (it said it was a good bag for beginners).  It took me most of last week, but I finally finished my bag.  There were a few mishaps but overall I was extremely proud of myself (just don't look at the straps or top too closely).  It even has pockets.  Hopefully my sewing class will give me some tips on how to do things better and what some of these sewing words mean (I had to google a bunch while making this bag).



In other, unrelated news, the dining room table is back to craftland.
Who knows how to sew?
Who wants to know how to sew?

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Vegan Quinoa Salad

L-Fab decided that I should make some sort of salad with chickpeas in it.  So I went a head and decided to make a vegan recipe this week.  I went with my old standby vegetarian grain, quinoa.  This is similar to a salad I made before but I went ahead and took out the cheese and added some other healthy stuff.


Vegan Quinoa Salad-
1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth or water
2 roasted red peppers (I used the jarred kind)
cherry tomatoes (a handful)
1 medium sized cucumber
1 can chickpeas (or less, probably less)
1/2 of a medium sized red onion
4 teaspoon olive oil
4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 of a lemon
4 teaspoons honey mustard (I used Maille, I love that stuff)
2 teaspoons minced garlic

1-Cook the quinoa according to directions in the broth or water.  (My quinoa said to use 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa and to put them both in the pan at the same time and bring up to a boil.  Then turn down to a simmer, cover, and wait for the liquid to evaporate which was about 15 minutes)
2-Chop up all the veggies (ie-quarter or halve the tomatoes, chop the cucumber, red pepper and onion into small pieces) while you are waiting for the quinoa to cook.
3-Mix the olive oil, vinegar, juice from the lemon, honey mustard and garlic to make a dressing.
4-Then mix your quinoa, veggies, chick peas, and dressing together.

I chilled mine for about an hour before serving.  The only change I would make would be less chick peas.  Apparently I do not like chick peas that much.  I mean some are ok but a whole can was too much for me.  As far as the dressing goes, I just mixed the ingredients until I liked how it tastes.  If you don't like it sweet you can use regular mustard or change the ingredients based on your taste preferences.

OK, so this has to be healthy, right?
Do you ever make vegan dishes?
Does cheese really make everything better or is some stuff ok without it?

OMG and who is super excited for the LIVE 30 Rock episode tonight and the return of Jan on The Office?  I am!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Impromptu Dinner Party

Me: What should we do tonight?
B: I dunno, what do you want to do?
Me: I dunno, what do you want to do?
B: I dunno.
Me: Well I don't know either.  Give me some ideas. 

Somehow this convo lead to me and B deciding to have people over for an impromptu dinner party.  Our two guests confirmed at 5 that they would be over at 7 so we headed off to the store to pick out food.   When I saw that salmon was on sale at the Harris Teeter, I went ahead a put B in charge of the main dish.  He made me this salmon on like our 4th date and it's his signature dish (really his only dish).  Then I decided I wanted to try this "healthy" mac and cheese recipe that I found online.  So we gathered up our ingredients and some dip for appetizers and of course some wine and headed home.

B's signature salmon dish is actually a Rachael Ray recipe (Oven Poached Salmon with Dill, Onion and Cucumber Relish).  From what I can tell, it's pretty easy and pretty much always ends up being good.  Here is the recipe.  Since I've never made it myself I am assuming he just follows the recipe.  The cucumber, onion, radish relish actually makes the recipe in my opinion.  Everyone liked it last night.



The mac and cheese recipe I found was from Ellie Krieger.  The thing that makes it healthy is the addition of winter squash in to the cheese mixture.

Macaroni and 4 Cheeses (adapted from Ellie Krieger's recipe,  I made a couple of small changes)

Cooking spray
1 pound elbow macaroni
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen pureed winter squash
2 cups skim milk
4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (about 1 1/3 cups)
2 ounces Monterrey jack cheese, grated (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered mustard
pepper
2 tablespoons unseasoned bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon olive oil
another 1/2 cup of Cheddar or Monterrey jack cheese

-cook the pasta
-cook the milk and frozen squash in a separate pan
-mix all that together with the cheese, salt, pepper, and mustard
-grease the 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and then pour the pasta mixture into dish
-top with a mixture of the Parmesan, bread crumbs and olive oil
-cook for 20 minutes
-add the rest of the cheese to the top and cook for about 5 more minutes on a higher heat to brown the top

I just added more cheese at the end because I thought it tasted a little too squashy.  It was pretty good.  I think everyone liked it and it has to be a little healthier than the traditional kind of macaroni and cheese.  I thought it could use a little more flavor but I'm not sure what I would put in it.  B said he liked it how it was.

So that was my impromptu dinner party.
Did you do anything fun this weekend?
Is it wrong to sneak vegetables into a classic like Mac and Cheese?

PS-Happy 10/10/10 everyone!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Playing Quidditch, Fighting Dragons and Riding a Hippogriff aka The Rides of Harry Potter Land

from http://harrypotter.wikia.com/
I didn't just eat and drink Butterbeer while I was at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  I also rode the rides.  There are three rides in Harry Potter Land; The Dragon Challenge, Flight of the Hippogriff and The Forbidden Journey.

We got up bright and early so we could get to the park near opening time.  When we entered the magical land of Harry Potter we noticed that the Dragon Challenge Roller Coasters only had a wait time of 5 minutes so we decided to go ahead and jump on that.  So apparently I'm a little afraid of the roller coasters that go upside down but hey, I knew I had to power through.  The line for the ride takes your through things related to Book 4 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) which is about the Triwizard Tournament.  You also get to see the Ford Anglia.  (Side Note to Twilight fans, you do know that before he was a vampire, Robert Pattinson was Hogwart's student, Cedric Diggory?  You know that right?).  Anyways, you got to choose which roller coaster you went on.  Red or Blue?  We went with red the first time.  It's one of the ones where your feet hang off the bottom so I do not recommend wearing flip flops on this.  I noticed that some people took theirs off and sat on them.  During the ride you actually pass the other roller coaster and at times it looks like you are going to run into them.  When I got off the ride, I was dizzy.  I mean it was like 9:30 am and I'm a wuss.  But overall I would say it was fun and good for people who really like roller coasters.  We rode on the blue one the next day.  I thought that one was a little tamer.

We had a 30 minute wait for the Flight of the Hippogriff Ride.  I seriously think this was the worst line I had to wait in (even though it wasn't really long).  They had fans pointing at the line but they weren't turned on and you kept listening to Hagrid tell the same story over and over again.  I mean it was a good story but it got old.  The ride only lasted about 30 seconds (I think).  It was a family friendly roller coaster so it wasn't super exciting but it was decent for one ride.  I think the kids would like it.  You also got to see the outside of Hagrid's hut so that was cool.  Who doesn't love Hagger?

My favorite ride ever was The Forbidden Journey.  I loved it.  We went on in multiple times.  I won't say how many times but each time was a 40 minute wait.  It was just cool.  The waiting line goes through the castle, then back outside (where there is a beer purchasing station, just an FYI) through Herbology, and then back in to the castle.  You go through Dumbledore's office.  He comes out and welcomes you (well a digitalized version of him does).  Then you got to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where Harry, Ron and Hermione plot to sneak you out of the lecture so you can go to a quidditch match.  It might even briefly snow on your while you're in that room.  You also get to see many moving pictures, the Fat Lady, the Sorting Hat, etc.  Once you are on the actual ride, it seems like you are flying through the air.  You get to fly through a quidditch match, face the Whomping Willow, and see the Great Hall.  Watch out for the Dementors though and those acromantula.  Eek.

While I was not riding rides and eating, I was shopping.  Harry Potter Land (as I prefer to call it) features several stores from the books including; Dervish and Banges, Honeydukes, Zonkos, Owl Post and Filch's Emporium.  I loved perusing Filch's Emporium every time I got off the Forbidden Journey Ride.  I had a minor freak out when I was in Dervish and Banges because of the eleventy billion other people that were also in there.  I walked around briefly and then left.  When I tried to go back in there was a line.  I did buy some postcards and have them stamped with Hogsmeade from the Owl Post.  I think my favorite stores were Honeydukes and Zonkos which were actually connected.  It was so cool to see all the things from the books...Extendable Ears, U-No-Poo (Beezus5's fave), Chocolate Frogs (which I purchased, it featured a Salazar Slytherin Card), Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, etc.   I also bought a cauldron cake which was very tasty.  The pumpkin tarts looked good as well.  They were behind a counter, along with fudge and a bunch of really tasty looking caramel apples.  At one point I was very happy that I did not have a kid with me because I heard multiple kids trying to con their parents in to buying them sets of $100 robes.  Some of them succeed.  Some did not.  I also saw a lot of people who bought wands.  The wand shop was always extremely crowded and had a line so I didn't ever go in there.  But apparently you have the chance to see if a wand will "pick you" like they do in the books.
Random Observations/Comments-
-I think October is a pretty good time to go.  It was really crowded at times but I'm sure not near as crowded as it was in summer.  The longest we had to wait in line was 40 minutes for the Forbidden Journey but it wasn't bad since you were walking through the castle for half the time.  Also the weather was really nice while I was there.  It was a little hot at times but not too bad.
-If you have kids, they do have a thing called Child Swap where you can wait in line with your kids and then have one adult stay with the kid while the other adult rides and then switch.  All the rides recommended that you not ride though if you are pregnant.  The height requirement for most of the rides was 48 inches.
-The 3 Broomsticks restaurant is worth going to even if there is a line.  It is pretty efficient once you actually get inside. The food prices ranged from $5 for kid's food to $8-$14 for adult food and I thought the food was high quality.
-You are not allowed to take purses or any kind of bags on some of the rides but they have temporary lockers that are right by the rides that you can use for free for the duration of the ride.  They were pretty easy to use.
-Wear Tennis Shoes.  I wore my running shoes both days and I was really glad.
-Read up to the 4th Harry Potter book before you go if you haven't already.  I mean if you really don't have time or don't want to, you will probably still have a good time.  But you will understand everything that is there a lot better if you've read up to the 4th book.

PS-I'm sorry if I misspelled any Harry Potter words.  I tried my best but spellcheck is telling me that half the words in the post are not real words.  Weird eh?

So are you going to read Harry Potter now?
Do you want to go to Harry Potter land?
Have you been to HP land?  If so what was your favorite thing?

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice and The Three Broomsticks aka The Food and Drinks of Harry Potter Land


What did I do at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?  Apparently I drank.  And guess what?  None of those drinks above had any alcohol in them.  I found two new things that I love; Pumpkin Juice and Frozen Butter Beer.  And it's a good thing that those drinks are only available in Harry Potter land because I'm guessing that a drink that tastes like frozen candy is not super healthy for you.

Frozen Butter Beer-If you read Harry Potter, you know all about butter beer.  It's served in bottles or at Hogsmeade (the magical wizarding world near Hogwarts) in steaming hot mugs.  However I don't think anything that comes in a steaming mug would be purchased in 90 degree weather in Orlando so I think having frozen butter beer was a great idea.  It tastes like a butterscotch candy milkshake type thing.  And if that description sounds gross, it is not.  It is delicious.  I wasn't even really excited about trying it until I tasted the one B had ordered.  My associate, B, describes it as "Frozen slushy Root Beer/Cream Soda with a butterscotch cream added to the top.  Butterscotch cream consistency is like a thicker whipped cream."  See that mug up there I'm drinking out of?  It was $11.50.  A little steep.  But you can actually get it in regular cup for $4 (or $3 if not frozen) so that's not too bad (you know, for a theme park and all).  I will keep my mug forever though.


Pumpkin Juice-I was also a little suspicious about this beverage but it was also really tasty and refreshing.  B describes it as "Cool apple cider mixed with pumpkin pie.  Hints of cinnamon."  That is pretty accurate.  You know what I don't like though?  I don't like when I'm at a theme park, enjoying a delicious beverage and a woman comes up to me and demands to know how many grams of sugar are in the delicious drink I'm drinking.  I told her.  But still...Woman, I'm on vacation at a theme park, not a health spa.  When I was looking up the grams of sugar I also noticed that it does actually contain juices and pumpkin puree so I'm assuming it's not the worst thing for you (health wise).

The Three Broomsticks-This is a restaurant that is featured in the Harry Potter books.  I was not expecting much from this restaurant.  I mean, it's at a theme park.  I was assuming it would be crowded and just greasy fish and chips.  I was wrong and I realized this when I walked in the door and saw people below me eating.  At this point I was super mad that there were only 2 of us because apparently there was a meal called the "feast for 4" which featured roasted chicken, ribs, fresh veggies, corn, and salad.  And it looked delightful.  They did have other options though such as fish and chips, Shepperd's pie, turkey leg, rotisserie chicken, ribs, and salads plus kid's meal options like mac and cheese. 

Yes, this restaurant was crowded but they did have an amazing system that actually worked really well.  You waited in a line where you could see menus and some of the actual items, then went up to a register, ordered, picked up your food, and then someone would lead you to a table.  It was actually very efficient.
On the other side of the restaurant was a bar (The Hog's Head Pub) featuring all the above drinks plus actual real beer (you know, the kind with alcohol.)  They even have their own draft brew.  Unfortunately the keg was out when we were there.
Now maybe you are wondering, how was I able to drink dessert drinks and eat chicken and ribs all day long without gaining 30 pounds?  We did a lot of walking.  Our hotel was about a mile from the Parks so we walked back and forth each day (and back and forth and back and forth one of the days).  And then we pretty much walked around the parks non stop while we were there.  Here is a photo of me outside of Universal Studio with the hotel in the background.

Come back tomorrow so you can learn about the Harry Potter rides and stores and then later on for everything else we did at Universal Studios.

Have you ever tasted Butter Beer?
What about pumpkin juice?
What's the coolest beverage you've ever tasted?