Wordless Wednesday: It's Electric. Boogie Woogie Woogie

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Gift card holders

I learned how to make these note card holders last year at a scrap weekend getaway.

~Cut cardstock to 4" X 9"
~Score at 3" from top and 2 " from bottom
~ Fasten a clip to the back for closure. I used cute little clips with the initials of the kids I gave these to.


And there you have a nice little festive gift card holder. I gave one to my mail lady with a coffee gift card....she left me a little thank you note that said "The card was neat"! It's nice to have your work appreciated!

Meatless Monday! Pickles and Beets!

So this really isn't a meatless meal, per se (although it could be). These are the homemade gifts I made for Christmas this year. This is the second year I've made the pickles and had many requests for more. It was my first attempt at the beets and they turned out really good.

Easy Refrigerator Pickles (from Cooking Light)

6 C. Thinly sliced cucumbers (Kerby)
2 C. Thinly sliced onion
1 1 /2 C. White vinegar
1 C. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. mustard seed
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric

Place half the cucumbers in a large bowl, and top with half the onion. Repeat procedure with remaining cukes and onions.

Combine vinegar and remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute. Pour over cucumber mixture; let cool. Cover and marinate in frig for 4 days.

Pickles can be stored in frig for up to 1 month.



Easy Pickled Beets (also from Cooking Light)

1 pound small beets (about 7 beets)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 bay leaves

Preparation

1. Leave root and 1-inch stem on beets; scrub with a brush. Place in a medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain. Cool slightly. Trim off beet roots; rub off skins. Thinly slice beets; place in a large bowl.

2. Combine vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Pour vinegar mixture over beets; cover and chill. Discard bay leaves.

I thought this made a lovely, festive, red and green, Christmas gift. I love having something homemade like this to give to those who "have everything" or to have on hand to pass to neighbors and teachers. No packaging or wrapping paper required! That's a plus.

I've been away from the blog for more than a week. I have some catching up to do. Stay tuned for some cute little gift card holders I made and also my sweater update.....pretty excited about that one!

Meatless Monday! Nacho Bread Pizza

Here's another one we have often, but I didn't take a picture...sorry! It's another Rachel Ray fave:

Nacho Bread Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 loaf baguette or semolina bread, day old is fine (whole wheat is great)
  
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped or 1 pickled hot pepper of any kind, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans(I use refried, vegetarian style)
  
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup prepared salsa, any variety
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar, smoked Cheddar, Monterey Jack or pepper Jack
• 1 heart romaine or 1/2 iceberg head, shredded
• 1/2 cup green olives with or without pimiento, chopped
• 1/4 red onion or 2 to 3 scallions, chopped
• 2 plum or vine tomatoes, seeded and diced

Directions

Split bread lengthwise. Hollow the bread out and cut each half in half across, making 4 boats.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil, 1 turn of the pan, garlic and hot peppers. Drain beans. Add half of the beans then mash the remainder of the beans in the can using a fork. Add mashed beans to the pan and combine with whole beans. Season beans with hot sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. When the spicy beans are hot through, spread them evenly across all of the bread. Top with salsa and liberally sprinkle with cheese, covering bread to all edges. The boats will only be half-full. Melt cheese in the oven until it bubbles and begins to brown.

Top Nacho Bread Pizzas with lettuce, olives, onions and tomatoes and serve. You can pick it up with your hands, but eat over the plate (or the kitchen sink, like me).

Want more Meatless Monday ideas and reasons for going meatless once a week? Visit Meatless Monday.com

Fibers on Friday on Saturday (night)!

I was reluctant to post my progress on this sweater last night because little progress had been made this week. But, on this snowy afternoon, I was able to squeeze in a couple hours of knitting and now I feel it's worthy of a progress report.

You'll remember last week I had completed the front, back, and one sleeve of the sweater.

Well, here's the progress on the second sleeve as of right now:

I think it's important to stress maybe not how much I've been able to finish, but instead what I've learned along the way. When we set out for our long drive to MA two weekends ago I found myself having four uninterrupted hours to work on the sleeves. To do this, I needed to know how to increase stitches. Well, the only increase I could remember at the time was *knit into the front and back* of the stitch. Fine. Good. Except this method leaves evidence that a you've increased a stitch...it's not very pretty or inconspicuous. But, at the time it's all I knew and I didn't have books or the internet to consult, so I rolled with it.

When I was finally able to look up other methods of increasing stitches I discovered a VERY easy way, which is virtually invisible. Take a look at my little tutorial, click to enlarge if needed, and ignore that I wrote "Viola" instead of "Voila'" in step 3. :

PS: Aforementioned tutorial....yes, just learned how to put that little beauty together...so, chalk up another learning experience.

PPS: My four year old took those pictures. Natural, I say it!

So, there you have my Fibers on Friday progress report for this first attempt at a sweater which is intended to go to Afghans for Afghans once it's finished.

Did you get to play in snow today? We did!

Meatless Monday!

This is what's for dinner tonight....so no picture yet! It's from Cooking Light. Visit Meatless Monday.com for other ideas.

Spaghetti with Caramelized Onion and Radicchio

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 cups thinly sliced yellow onion (about 1 3/4 pounds)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 pound uncooked spaghetti
• 3 1/2 cups thinly sliced radicchio (about 1 head)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 15 minutes or until almost tender, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until deep golden (about 20 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add red pepper and garlic. Cook 3 minutes; stir occasionally. Add wine; cook 4 minutes or until liquid evaporates.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Add reserved cooking liquid, pasta, radicchio, parsley, and oregano to onion mixture. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper; toss to combine. Top with cheese.

Are We There Yet?

I'm on it, dog'on'it! I worked on this week's CPS Challenge on this rainy day. I was in desperate need of a masculine "get well" card for a dear friend who, although only in his thirties, had to undergo full knee replacement surgery. Yikes! Poor guy! So, this week's sketch, coupled with the adorable Mr. Campy stamp set from Cosmo Cricket (thanks Steph...you da best!), made for the PERFECT card for our friend in Deutschland (keep it a surprise, Kati :-).

This may be my favorite card to date! I Love, Love, Love the sketch first of all. I love all the layers of paper. I Adore, Adore, Adore this paper from Cosmo Cricket. And I'm Proud, Proud, Proud that I had the vision to create the hill by ripping paper and chalking the edges (click image to enlarge for detail). The other day Elise created chimney smoke from using vellum! I shook my head in admiration of her creativity and vision. Now, I'm no Mamacow, but I love my hill! Thanks for the inspiration, Elise! You're outta this world!

So, it may be an uphill climb right now for our friend's recovery, but hopefully he'll be on the downhill slide real soon! He needs to be ready for some bike rides when we visit Germany :-)

***The Kraft cardstock is from PTI
All patterned Paper is Cosmo Cricket (Mr. Campy)
Stamp is also Cosmo Cricket (Mr. Campy)