What's cooking? - Easter brunch

I'm playing catch up again!

I've finally come to the conclusion that I'm not organized and/or energized enough to do a daily blog. Thousands do, but I'm not one of them.

And I've had to ask myself, why even do a blog?

Well, the answer is simple: I love what I do and I like to share what I'd love! (that should sound somewhat famaliar for those of you out there who are Stampin' Up! demonstrators, as it comes from our "Statement of the Heart")

But it fits, you know?

I love to stamp and I'd love to cook.

I want to share fabulous recipes that I found with all of you. I also like to make things with my Stampin' Up! products!

I am now starting my 19th year as a demonstrator! Can you believe it?

Over time, my dabbling in this direct sales company has waxed and waned ... completely evolving over time ... changing the way I do things to suit my needs, my life.  

I've made so many fantastic friends through this endeavor I never want to give it up- even if it means just doing the bare minimum and sales each quarter. 

Right now I know I'm not very active with my Stampin' Up! business, but I know I can pick up the pace when I'm able to and/or if I want to. That's the beauty of it!

But I digress...

I have been cooking and stamping but not blogging! 

So for those of you who subscribe to email notifications, I'm sorry for their irregularity, but it will probably always be that way.

A friend recently told me that she loves to read my blog because it sounds as if I'm saying it right then/ she can hear me say it. I feel that it helps to bridge the many miles between us. I hope you feel that way too!

You know when I am excited about something, (be it a recipe or something to do with stamping) I want to share it with you! It's a way to keep in touch with all of you even though I may not see you on a daily basis.

And, if I make some new friends/followers along the way… even better!

--------

Now… Where to begin.....

How about in the kitchen?

This past Sunday my husband had to work, so I opted to serve an Easter brunch instead of our traditional Easter Sunday dinner.

Here is a picture of our table and what I served (counterclockwise starting from the top right, behind the flowers):

(* recipe to follow...)

• Apricot-yogurt muffins*

• fresh fruit 

• potato-crusted quiche (see recipe at:

 http://dandyspandy.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-cookin-breakfast-for-dinner.html?m=1)

• crustless tomato-spinach quiche*

• deviled eggs

• mini cheesecakes decorated to look like nests

• mac and cheese "muffins"*

• sassy tailgate sandwiches*

• Cadberry egg crescent rolls*

And, yes, they were only five of us.

I've come to the conclusion that I know how to cook for the 4 of us ..... or 40 -there is no in between!  I always cook too much food on holidays even when we don't have company or it's just us (or like in this case, one of the boys' friends).

That's alright - we like leftovers!

For each food that has a star (*), I will either give you the recipe or the link to the recipe that I followed.

------

1) Apricot – yogurt muffins

(my favorite new recipe of the bunch!)

These muffins are not too sweet and very moist, bursting with the flavor of apricots! They would be perfect if you host a tea party!

Here's the link: http://www.iheartnaptime.net/apricot-yogurt-muffins/

2) Crustless Tomato – Spinach Quiche:

• In a large sauce pan sauté a bag of baby spinach, 1 cup grape tomatoes, and two cloves minced garlic in 2T olive oil. (spinach well wilt; tomatoes may pop)

• Pour mixture into a pie plate and top with 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.

• In a separate bowl, whisk together: 4 eggs, a dash of nutmeg, salt and pepper, and 1/4 cup half and half.

• Add to pie plate; sprinkle with more mozzarella (up to 1 cup).

• Bake at 375° for 30 to 35 minutes until top is golden brown.

• Let cool 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

3) What do teenage boys like? Macaroni and cheese that you can eat with your hands, of course!

These Mac and Cheese Muffins are individual servings cooked in a muffin pan. They feature a bottom crust made of Ritz crackers, butter and cheddar. Boursin cheese spreads adds a "not-your-run-of-the-mill-Mac n' Cheese" depth of flavor!

Here's the link: http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2011/08/18/mini-mac-and-cheese-pies-and-a-virtual-baby-shower/

4) "Sassy Tailgate Sandwiches"

Seriously, I can't believe that I don't have this on my blog already (and I do not know how to make the font larger again)! And, maybe I do I just can't seem to find it, so here it is again! 

I have made this recipe so many times and we love it!

The slider sandwiches are perfect for feeding the masses at a lunch or just watching a football (or hockey!) game.

• Start with a package of Kings Hawaiian rolls. Slice the whole "unit "in half, dividing the tops from the bottoms, and put in a 9 x 13" baking pan.

• Spread one half of each bun with chive & onion flavored cream cheese (you will use a whole 8 ounce tub).

• Layer 1 pound of deli ham slices on the bottom half of buns. Top with 1 pound of deli Swiss cheese slices. Put the tops of the buns on.

• Pour over the tops of the buns a mixture of: one stick melted butter, 1T Worchestershire sauce, 1/2 T dried minced onion, 1/4 c grated or Parmesan cheese.

• Cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

5) Cadbury Creme Egg crescent rolls

Yes, you read that correctly! The ultimate in brunch decadence!

• Freeze 8 Cadbury creme eggs for at least one hour.

• Using Pillsberry (or similar brand of) refrigerated crescent rolls, roll up one frozen egg per triangle, starting at the wide and and ending with the point.

(Since the chocolate eggs milk and burst during baking I found it helpful to do these two things: 1) USE PARCHMENT PAPER so as to avoid stuck on caramel 2) pinch each Crescent closed to "dam up" some of the leaking caramel while baking.

• Bake according to temp and time on crescent package; until crescent rolls begin to turn golden brown.

YUM! 

I hope you'll find opportunities to try a few of these new recipes- no need to wait until next Easter!

"Throwback Thursday" - Easter cards

Today I was getting ready, making sure I had enough Easter cards to send to family next week. I had some recent ones from stamp clubs but I was short two and I had to go into the cardbox (a.k.a. "the stash").

I came across these two beauties that we made at least two years ago in a spring punch class:

I think I will send the "bunny butt" card to our nephew Sam. He will get a kick out of the soft cotton tail!

The bunny butt itself is made from basic circle and oval shapes.

The sky is sponged using a cloud stencil. Stampin' Up! no longer sells that stencil, but you can do the same thing using a piece of paper punched with the scallop circle!

The fence is made from strips of white card stock, but the tops of the vertical posts are actually pieces punched with the jewelry tag punch. You can't see that they are just little pieces of paper - the horizontal fence post hides the fact that it is separate!

You'll see variations of this card still around on the Internet. In fact, I think we made a similar version last year ) or the year before) with the bunny hopping into what looks to be a hole in a tree.

Too cute!

The second card shows a flower native to Hawaii called Heleconia.

Believe it or not, this flower was made with the bird builder punch! 

Look closely... The bottom three sections of the flower are actually the bird without a head! The top section of the flower is made with the wings of the bird!

 Amazing what a little sponging around the edges can do, huh?

I hope you have enjoyed these "throwback" cards! Now they are finally being sent after collecting dust in my stash! It's about time! Isn't that why we make cards? To send them?

Jenn....?

April stamp club - Spring has sprung!

With Easter just around the corner, I couldn't resist taking a break from our normal creation of cards to make this cute little basket:

It was made with the Envelope Punch Board, and it's oh-so-easy!

All it really involves is a piece of card stock and a few folds, cuts and glue dots!

The best thing about this project is, not only did we use the punch board for the basket, but it's also used to make that adorable little bow! 

Two more uses for our favorite new tool! 

Bonus!

I found directions for both on a video by Deb Valder here:

http://stampladee.com/page/2

Make your basket, fill it, and brighten someone's day TODAY!

March stamp club cards

By now you've probably seen the post about our "masterpiece" card from March club. I referred to it as that because it took the longest amount of time to make!

We made two other awesome cards as well! Two that can easily be mass-produced!

This card was made using the Circle Thinlit die for the Big Shot, which creates a "flip" card.

Here is a link to an awesome video by Stampin' Up! which shows how to use that the Thinlit and all that comes with it:

http://youtu.be/CwdGSYeIn44

The sun was made with a large circle punch and the free banner punch from Sale-a-bration!

The clouds were cut using the Word Bubble framelits:

(shown with the matching Just Sayin' stamps, available in new Occasions catalog)

Finally, we embossed a sentiment from the Sale-a-bration set See Ya Later.

The colors this card are Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White.

The second card we did was a CASE of another demonstrator, Kay Kalthoff.

It's called a "tiled background", and it was so quick and easy!

First, I had cut out 10 squares of the Watercolor Wonder DSP (Occasions catalog)using my square 1 1/4" punch. Everybody had a different piece of DSP and they all looked terrific!

They were glued onto a card of Gumball Green starting with the outer-most corners so that you can judge even spacing. There are no squares in the middle of the card - only around the edges.

Next, on a piece of white card stock, we stamped the Blessed Easter single, wood stamp using black StazOn ink.

Not wanting to color in the tulips, we used the "wash" from the Happy Watercolor stamp set (Occasions) in Daffodil Delight, Crisp Cantaloupe and Gumball Green. We stamped "off" each time so that our card received a lighter version of the original ink color.

A piece of Gumball Green stitched ribbon and a few gold sequins were added to complete the look!

Once we glued that to the front of the card, we added a piece of white card stock trimmed with matching DSP to the inside so that we could easily write a message!

We have a great time at our monthly stamp clubs, - learning new techniques, using current Stampin' Up! products and enjoying each other's company! 

Clubs are made up of five participants and run for five consecutive months. Each participant has the one-time opportunity to receive the free hostess benefits of the workshop order placed at the club.

New clubs are forming all the time!

Contact me if interested!

Ready for spring!

It was such nice weather this weekend that when I went down to my stamp room to create, I couldn't help but play with flower stamps and bright colors - I am so ready for spring!

I decided to play with my new single, wood stamp - Blessed Easter - that is featured in the Occasions catalog.

I kept seeing and "pinning" cards that just stamped the image in black ink on top of the "wash" stamp from Happy Watercolor. I like that because you didn't have to color - it just added color instantly. So I set out to do that.... I didn't want to out right copy a card. There's no need -  there are so many endless possible color combinations. I reached for my handy-dandy Color Coach and there it was - the cover!

Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, and Not Quite Navy (retired) on a Sahara Sand background. I knew right away that's what I wanted to do, especially since I had some Rich Razzleberry taffeta ribbon!

I made my card but I didn't particularly care for the "flatness" of the colors on the Sahara Sand. So, I stamped the flowers again on Very Vanilla card stock and cut it out - using the paper piecing technique- to match the Vanilla card base. I made the tulips and the leaves stand out by using Dimensionals.

I used the Tulip Frame embossing folder  for the Big Shot on one of the layering pieces, and the card was finished!

For my second card of the day, I decided that I probably have enough Easter cards on hand, so I just wanted a spring-time card. Something I could use during the next few months, but not necessarily at Easter. The tulips on that stamp were just what I needed!

I stamped the tulips repeatedly, using a black ink pad, careful not to ink up the sentiment. I highly recommend using a black marker for this purpose but mine, right now, is MIA. I colored in the tulips using a variety of colors: Tangerine Tango, Calypso Coral, Strawberry Slus,h Pink Pirouette, Dafodill Delight and Wisteria Wonder. The leaves were done in Pear Pizzazz with Old Olive highlights.

The card base is a piece of Pink Pirouette textured card stock. 

The stamped piece was cut out with the Top Note die for the Big Shot and trimmed at the perforated line that borders the die cut. That made it just a tad smaller so was able to layer it on the Wisteria piece, with it "peeking" out from behind.

Pretty bows of Pear Pizzazz thin taffeta ribbon were added on each side of the Top Note. I also added a sentiment from Pretty Petites (from last year's Sale-a-Bration) and punched it out with the matching Petite Curly Label Punch.

I still wasn't satisfied with it. 

It needed to something... but what? 

Then I saw it....

The sign that I bought a couple of weeks ago-

I was in "doubt" so I added glitter!!

Here's a closer look:

Those really are words to live by!

Spread a little glitter wherever you go!

Have a sparkling day!