Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Crab Failure Results in Pizza Pull Apart Bread

Today the gang has been doing, what I like to call, southern fishin'.  That just means that when you stick your line in the water you’re never sure if you’re going to catch a fish, or something much more sinister; like a sting ray! YIPES!  :/ Thankfully we only caught fish.  Although, we attempted to catch some crab for dinner, but were extremely unsuccessful. That meant we were going to have Pizza Pull Apart Bread! Yum! AND lucky for you I was kind enough to take pictures; consequently, to show all of you. (Ok, to be fair I took pictures to show the 2 of you who read my blog. J No worries, if I reach only 2 people, my life is complete.)

 I’M LYING! SHARE THIS BLOG AND TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS…NOW!...please :)

Ok, now that you’ve been properly scolded I’ll move onto the recipe.   Again, there is a version of this floating around pinterest; however, I didn’t like their ingredients so I made this recipe my own! Yay!

Here is what you’re going to need:

1 loaf of Italian Bread from the bakery section of your grocery store
8oz of cheese
1 package pepperonis
2 TBS of Butter
1TSP of garlic powder
1 can of your favorite pizza sauce (for dipping)

(recipe serves 4.)

 
First cut your bread length wise (aka hot dog style) ^ like so.

 
Then cut your bread width wise (aka hamburger style) ^ like so.

When you're finished it will look like a checkerboard...kind of.

Now, get really excited, because here comes the fun part!!... :D

Stuffing your bread! Place the desired amount of pepperoni between the slices you've cut in your bread.

 Add the cheese in beside and around your pepperonis.


Before it all goes into the oven, you need to make your garlic butter. Melt together 2 Tbs of butter and 1 TEASPOON garlic powder.

Melt for about 10-15 seconds and grab something to brush it onto your bread.


 (or you can lightly pour it over your bread)


It's all ready to go into the oven. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes.


Anddd--YUMMY! There it is all finished. Heat up your sauce, tear pieces off of bread, dip it and enjoy!


Thanks for joining me for another post! :)
Until next time Friends.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Steaming Pile of Yappy Puppy Turd..Oh, and Play Doh

Let me start this blog post by saying, to those of you who have children, animals or other beings in your house while you're trying to blog...I SALUTE YOU, because I have just realized how difficult it is to blog while there are other things (animals, people...POOP!) that need your attention.  Let me tell you what is happening in this apartment, RIGHT THIS SECOND, as I'm trying to blog about this NIFTY Play Doh Recipe! (If you want to skip the dramatic story, because like I said, I can never do anything the socially acceptable way, just scroll down to the pictures. If you want to continue reading about the hilarity that is called my life as well as the NIFTY Play Doh Recipe, please continue to read.) 

For those who may not know: This is Cooper, look how sweet! :)

I have been spending many o' nights fretting about what I am going to do about college this fall.  So, to try and calm some of my fretting, I made a phone call to the admissions office at a local college. (and by local I mean 45 miles away) I also should mention that I decided to make this phone call during the week that my brother-in-law and 2 of my sisters, and one puppy have come to stay…IN OUR ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT!  So, here I am answering a phone call from Miss I Run Admissions, when Nissy (the yappy puppy) has decided to play hide and seek with Cooper by running her scrawny little body under the couch, which cause Cooper to growl and bark…LOUDLY! (Yes, Cooper, please get louder…I don’t think you’ve quite made Nissy’s ears bleed!!) Anyway, at this point I have to as Miss I Run Admissions to repeat herself so I can understand what it is that she needs from me (besides my money) to attend this fall. 



Right at that moment, Nissy has decided that playing hide and seek hasn’t been enough fun as she picks up someone’s ipod cord and RUNS like hell with it, Cooper following close behind barking INSANELY, then corals Nissy back under the couch. He's still barking, and proceeds to scare the living CRAP out of her. I mean this literally, because right at that moment, a TURD, a warm fresh TURD rolls out from under my couch!

 I am trying to keep my composure and continue to give the correctly cued “uh-huh”, “yes-mams” and “thank-yous” as I am FLAILING my arms frantically in the air trying to alert my 10 year old sister that she is about to plant her foot directly in a fresh steaming pile of yappy puppy turd as she is trying to get off the couch.  She continues to give me confused looks as the woman on the phone is saying “Ma’am…is it possible to send me your college transcript via e-mail” I DON’T KNOW WOMAN! RIGHT NOW I HAVE A STEAMING PILE OF YAPPY PUPPY TURD IN THE MIDDLE OF MY CARPET, PERHAPS WE CAN TALK ABOUT TRANSCRIPTS IN LIKE 2.5 SECONDS?!

 But I really say “Yes, I’m sure I can figure that out.” (More arm flailing to try to get little sister’s attention, as she FINALLY after what seemed like HOURS realized that she was about to stick her foot in a steaming pile of yappy puppy turd, and jumped up like a bat out of hell to grab a paper towel to clean up the mess. And just like that, the woman was saying,

“Thank-you for calling, I’ll see you on Wednesday.”  Click
 
HUH?!...WHAT?! I feel like I just started this conversation!

So, I have a meeting on Wednesday to start college in the fall. (That is the positive to this story) I am supposed to bring a transcript? No. I’m supposed to EMAIL the transcript, and bring something with me…except I don’t remember because of the STEAMING PILE OF YAPPY PUPPY TURD that was in the middle of my carpet.

Thus, again I must say, to those of you blogging with small children, animals or any other living breathing being, I salute you for continuing to produce awesome posts in such crazy working conditions.


Now, you should all be glad that I am such a good multi-tasker, because even as all of that was transpiring, I was able to produce this AWESOME post about how to create this NIFTY Play Doh Recipe!
 

This recipe comes from my brother-in-law, quote “the only self proclaimed man on pinterest”, and we used this site for reference. Please Enjoy!
 


Here's what you're going to need:
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar (optional for improved elasticity)

food coloring (liquid, powder, or unsweetened drink mix)
Now, I'm going to be honest with you. The recipe says that the cream of tartar is optional, but if you want your play doh to feel like the real stuff...USE IT!

First thing's first. Add all of your ingredients to your pan (except for the food coloring) off the stove.


Mix it all together and then place on the stove. You want to cook the mixture on low heat. (If you have a heat setting, we cooked it on #3 of 10 heat settings)

As it cooks, it will start to congeal and form lumps. Don't freak, it will look inconsistent for a few minutes.

You can see in this picture how the mixture is starting to clump together. From here there is only a few more minutes of stirring needed.

This is what it looks like when it is finished. When your mixture is in one big mass in the middle of the pan, and it is difficult to stir, remove it from the heat and let it cool for about 30 minutes.

After it's finished cooling roll the entire mixture into a giant ball to ensure everything is completely mixed.

Separate your big ball into balls of equal size. The number of balls depends on how many colors you want. (Or it could just be dictated by the number of children you have wanting to mix their own)


Poke a hole in the center of your dough and add 3 drops to start.  You can add as many as you need depending on how dark you want your color.


Squish it together to get the color throughout the dough ball.

And...WAH-LAH! There it is. Play Doh!

I have to say, regardless of all the drama that transpired while trying to get this post to you, this NIFTY Play Doh Recipe is AWESOME! It feels like the real stuff; it even SMELLS like the real stuff. It should bring you and your children buckets of smiles!

Thanks for joining me for another post! :)

Sunday, July 29, 2012

A Chronic Crafter Who Wants To Share The Love


             There comes a point in everyone’s life where they realize they have a knack for something.  I’ve always been creative and I enjoy cooking, baking and eating delicious food (lots & LOTS of delicious food); however, I never realized how much fun crocheting, crafting and creating could be.  I quickly discovered the latter when my husband and I moved 2 states away from our friends and family for him to accept a teaching job.  I will inform you, this isn’t just ANY teaching job.  Oh no, you will soon come to find out that I don’t ever do anything the normal or socially acceptable way, so why should this job be any different? This teaching job just happens to be in a county with 2 stop lights. 

                Ok, now, I want you to go back and read that last sentence and let that sink in. Do it. Read it again. That’s right everyone—one COUNTY, TWO stoplights. TWO! There is one grocery story in town, we live 30 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart, and 75 miles from any sort of recognizable mall OR shopping center OR movie theater. (Ok, so there is one movie theater that is about 40 miles away, but trust me…you don’t want to go there—unless of course you want some sort of unrecognizable rash from the itchy seats, and then by all means, please attend that movie theater.)

                Ok, back to the original task at hand, describing my crafting.  Being that my husband and I made the move that we have, I have had plenty of time for crafting, cooking, creating, baking, eating (way too much eating) and anything else that you can imagine that doesn’t include any sort of civilization. J  My serious crafting starting with my homemade Exfoliating Hand & Body Scrubs (which you can order from my etsy if you so wish.) and has since grown immensely.  When I originally thought about making exfoliating scrubs, I found several recipes floating around pinterest (aka crafters’ crack), but decided to edit some of the ingredients to keep the scrub from separating and so the recipe could be stored for a long time without expiring, as I was going to give it as a Christmas Gift.

                So I whipped up a batch, tried it out for myself and…HOLY CRAP! IT WORKED!! IT REALLY WORKED…and IT WORKED WELL!  It worked so well in fact, that Hubby took it to work to have his colleagues try it out and several people bought it for their friends and family for Christmas. (YAY ME!)  From there someone suggested I get into the local craft shows, which I did, and I’ve had extreme success! J 


                After my Exfoliating Scrubs came learning to crochet, where I then made several blankets, cute hats and scarves for Christmas, then I decided to dabble in a little jewelry making.  (People, let me tell you…a town with 2 stop lights leaves you with LOTS of time to learn new things!)  I’ve spent the past few months learning different techniques for jewelry making and have enjoyed every minute of it!
A slouchy hat I crocheted. (Oh look, for those of you who don't know me, this isn't one of those blogs where you have to spend your time wondering what the writer looks like...HERE I AM!)

A blanket made for my baby sister. (Ok, she isn't really a baby, but she's my baby sister)

Hat made for my mother-in-law

A baby hat that has no owner.


                Whew! I'm glad we got all that out of the way. All of that long windedness to explain that, this is my little corner of the internet and in this little corner I will be doing a little creating, a little crafting and a LOT of cooking! J I’ll provide some tutorials, share my success (and failure) stories and give recipes and link my etsy shop if you REALLY like my things.  So, if you aren’t bothered by EXCITED CAPS sentences, too many explanation points!! (and side tracked stories in parentheses), hang around and we can have some fun!