The Savvy Crafter

Blueberry Fields Forever...

Things aren't slowing down around here.  Thankfully so because it makes the days go so fast.  I was supposed to get on a plane Monday back to China to visit Butch, but I decided to postpone.  Work is busy and I wasn't ready to leave Rocker.  On the other hand, it was a little sad because I miss hubs terribly.  Speaking of hubs, I didn't mean to go this long between posts, but I had some billing issues with Typepad saying my address didn't match the card on file.  Hmmmm?  After three days of trying to solve the mystery with emails to Typepad and phone calls to the bank, Butch called this morning and asked what I was doing.  I said, "being frustrated with our bank or Typepad or both." I explained the situation and then he said, "oh, I changed the address awhile back on-line."  Ah ha!  I'm glad I finally mentioned it to him.  Isn't it weird the telephone banker didn't have that in her records though? 

I promise, I'm going somewhere with this blueberry theme.  Things are coming along on my book.  I am so excited and nervous about this it.  Tomorrow, I'm shipping a box of my hand collected treasures down for the photo shoot.  It's neat to have the opportunity to add another personal element to the book besides the projects.

The past three weekends Grandpa and I have made our way to the Farmer's market.  I truly look forward to it every week.  The one thing I cannot leave behind is blueberries.  Lately I've been freezing them and eating them like popcorn.  So yummy.  Last weekend I made a batch of muffins to take to some folks, and that was fun.  I've missed doing that while living in China and I've got a lot of catching up to do.  You know, nothing says lovin' like fresh muffins straight from the oven...or so I've heard.

-Grandma's Summer Blueberry Muffins-

The thing I love about these muffins are A: they're grandma's homemade blueberry muffins and B: they are not ultra sweet, but more of a delicate sweet...like not steroid sweet.  Know what I'm sayin?

Makes 2 Dozen, Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Sift together: 3 C. flour, 1 C. sugar, 4 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp salt

Mix in: 1/2 C. shortening, 2 eggs, 1 C. milk

Gently fold in: 2 C. blueberries

Fill muffin cups at least 1/2 to 3/4 full and sprinkle with a bit of sugar.  Bake 20-25 minutes.

Yum.  That's all I can say.  Obviously because once those babies were pulled from the oven I was eating them...forgot all about taking a picture of a cute little muffin on a summery napkin like I'd planned. Ha! Next time.  Maybe.  ;-) 

Cinna-Love

Clone of a Cinnabon is the start to this story...  I don't know if you can tell, but we're a little deprived on the dessert front over here.  No cupcake bakeries, Amish bakeries (like near our old house back home) or even Cinnabon's in the mall.  We got nothin'!  I've been hungry for a cinnabon, so when I found this, I immediately sent it over to my friend with a note:  "do you want to make these?".  2 minutes later I got a response:  "Oh, yes! Oh,yes! Oh, yes!"  We're dangerous together, I said.

Kris, the neighborhood knitting teacher came over to pitch in and she ended up rolling out the dough and showing me this neat string trick.  We used thin fishing line or nylon filament.  Now, that's a good thing!

Love those spirals! 

 

Cream cheese frosting on golden brown cinnamon buns.....Sinful!  The best part of a cinnabon is the middle, don'tcha think? Super gooey, soft and still very warm.  Yes, yes, we enjoyed those very much.  And did you know the Cinnabon people have a whole list of recipe ideas for how to use their buns....as if they weren't fabulous enough on their own?!?!  Hope you're all gearing up for a fun weekend!  Happy Fourth!

Doin' the Mango Shuffle...

I've been curious about mango chutney ever since I tried some at the Indian restaurant.  Mangos are IN season here, so yesterday afternoon, my friends and I gave this recipe a go. 

After a lot of measuring, we got the pot going and discovered we were 7 cups shy on mangos---took 16 cups total!!  So I scurried down to the store and bought 10 more pounds and ended up adding all of them except 2.  2!  I wish you could have seen them all. This is our friendly, emergency mango chopping assembly line.  The recipe makes 240 servings by the way, but I think it was even more after we made it.

Everything simmering away here...bubbling in all it's glory.  I learned a lot yesterday, but the most valuable lesson is this:  It's not a good idea to stand over a pot stirring constantly with 5 chilies in it, taking the vapors in all the while.  911!  My nose was on fire.  My face was on fire.  Not to mention, I got chili oil under my thumb nail from chopping.  Though they are so small and cute and I love the color of them, chilies can be kind of vicious.  But, I'm pretty sure breathing in those spicy vapors warded off that sinus infection that's been lurking.

Now don't these jars look perfect and tidy, like we made just the right quantity to fill each one.  Ha! Yeah right! We had chutney coming out our ears!  Totally unprepared for this, we scrambled to find more jars and tubs---not a drop went to waste.  Does anyone want some?  I've got a load of it in the fridge and it is Yummy! 

Soup Sunday and Links...

Yesterday, we went to our friends house to cook---a fun Sunday lunch get together.  We made Cambodian Chicken Soup and Navajo Fry Bread.  More on the fry bread tomorrow.  We liked the soup----it was light so it's good for summer.  Always looking for new soups to try and this was a fun one because it had so many ingredients.  *It says to add the rice to the soup, but we served the soup over the rice which I liked better. 

For dessert, my friend baked me a birthday raspberry cream pie that was oozing with whipped cream and tartness.  Am I lucky or what?!?! It was DEEEEEEEEEE-Viiiiiiine!  I can't say as I've ever had raspberry cream pie, which now seems like a crime.  Two left over pieces await us in the fridge for a late afternoon treat with some coffee.  Lovely on this rainy day!  And now for some links from the bead bloggers...

Naughty Secretary Club
No need to wear a necklace when your T-shirt already has one built in!

Linda at BeadStyle Magazine
Check out the necklace that inspired Stacy to get creative.

Katie's Beading Blog
It's Ornament Thursday again and this month's theme is Insectica. Check out Katie's sweet little beaded dragonfly and butterfly.

Savvy Crafter
Candie puts her jewelry making skills to work, raising money for Earthquake relief in Sichuan. Read all about it on her blog.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean has a cute pair of earrings in BeadStyle magazine for July, and she promptly sent them off to Kim Miles, fab beadmaker!

About.com Jewelry Making
Chandelier earrings are still super popular, but sometimes they are just a little too much for every day wear, unless you scale them down like Tammy did in this chandelier earring project.

Art Bead Scene
Guest Editor Lynn Davis had a happy accident in clay one day - yummy bon bon beads to whet your beading appetite!

Jewelry & Beading
An easy way to create a base for building an assemblage-style necklace!

Oatmeal Love...

Here Gram, I made you some oatmeal!  Every time I'm home, Gram and I have this discussion about how we fix our oatmeal.  It all started because of this yummy porridge mix she sells in her store:  Three Bears Porridge.  I always bring a couple of bags home in my suitcase.  There are also some nice oatmeal recipe ideas on the internet.  Generally, I make mine with cinnamon, honey, raisins, and fruit be it mango, a baked apple or banana.  Sometimes I even slap a dollop of yogurt on top.  You can add dry instant oatmeal to plain yogurt--like muesli kind of.  Very tasty with mashed berries.  Now I'm starting to sound like Bubba Gump, berry and yogurt oatmeal, banana oatmeal, oatmeal with dried fruit and almonds....I could go on and on.  I've always been a "flavored instant packet" kinda gal, but I think I'm hooked on "from scratch."  Anyway, Gram,  I was thinking about you today. I hope you like your oatmeal, made with love.

This toast is Bananas!

B-A-N-A-N-A-S!  Yesterday, I was on the hunt for a fun breakfast idea.  Botch left Thursday for Nanjing and got home late Saturday night so I wanted to surprise him with something different.  And now for something completely different (for us anyway):  Banana French Toast from Mr. Breakfast!  We're big fans of banana pancakes so I thought this might be a nice variation.  It's a mixture of pureed bananas, eggs, milk and I added in some cinnamon instead of dusting it on after.  I was a little leary at first, but it was so simple and had no sugar.  I will admit that I took a picture of the prettiest corner of the batch, because I was having troubles getting them evenly browned.  Luckily, the hod podge look didn't affect the taste because they were yum-meee!  We stood in our cracker-box kitchen and ate them right off the skillet.  No soggy French toast for us!  Sliced strawberries on top might be nice, but that idea will have to wait until November which is when strawberry season starts here.  Mr. Breakfast is my new best friend---check out the DIY stuff like print your picture on a cereal box and gift jar mix recipes. 

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy was having some major deja vu while reviewing this mainly metal jewelry making book.

Art Bead Scene
Do you love stamping? Check out Art Bead Scene for a review of metal stamps and a link to a tutorial!

Jewelry & Beading
Get your "Mental Gears" working...and win a free pendant!

Naughty Secretary Club
Anyone headed out to BEA (Book Expo of America) in Los Angeles next weekend? Stop by the F&W booth (#1351) to keep Jen company and to score a free Naughty Secretary Club T-shirt. You are going to need one for a project in The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Jewelry.

Savvy Crafter
Burn Baby Burn! Thinking about trying soldering? Candie tells about a great torch option...

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean explains why she loves a certain necklace she made for summer, and looks forward to writing about jewelry in the upcoming month!

Happy Birthday....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick post before jetting off to Hong Kong.  It's my birthday today so instead of cake, I'm serving Raspberry Oatmeal Bars.  This is a recent recipe my friends and I tried.  Fabulous!

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

***Add raspberries to the jam layer for a little zing. 

Ingredients…

1/2 cup packed light brown

sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions…

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8 inch square pan, and line with greased foil.

Combine brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Rub in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender to form a crumbly mixture. Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top, and lightly press it into the jam.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.

Recipe from ALLRECIPES.COM

Soup's On...

The family made Cream of Celery soup today.  That's right, it took all of us.  Lots of chopping, stirring and more chopping.  I used this recipe, but I opted not to pour the soup through a sieve.  Lose the vegetables?  No way!  But, I learned that you have to boil the celery a loooooong time before it becomes tender.  After about a half hour at a high boil, it still wasn't quite there, but we were hungry so we pushed on.  Butch set to chopping up the veggies (this is where you would normally puree them).  There were more than a couple clumps of celery flying through the air.  All the while, Rocker in position at the base of the counter----that's his strategy for catching small bits of cheese that might fall off the grater or a sliver of chicken, today it was celery.  I wasn't really paying attention until we sat down to eat and the poor guy had three green spots where celery had splatted on his nose and head.  What a mess this soup was to make!  I have to admit fantasizing about my Kitchen Aid stainless blender (Ooooooo) that's in storage back home.  That thing would have put this celery in it's place.  Never the less, it was all worth it because the soup was fabulous, especially on this cloudy day.

Spring Chowder for Soup Sunday....

You know you've been looking at this scrap-booking paper too long when your food takes on the same color palette...  I love this recipe because I can get all the ingredients at our local grocery store across the street.  Only, I still buy imported skim milk, but not for long----with the exchange rate it's pushing $10 a gallon!!!  Yikes!  I know some of you can relate because I heard gas was up to nearly $4 a gallon in some parts of the States yesterday.  I'm thinking we need some comfort food.

Spring Chowder, Anyone?

Ok, I sort of made this up myself--it's not as thick as a chowder, but yummy none the less.

• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 head of cauli
• a handful of chopped onion
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
• chicken broth
• butter

(I'm not so precise on measurements---it's soup.)

In a large pot, saute onion in a bit of butter until lightly browned. Add chopped broc and cauli and cover with chicken broth.  Boil until veggies are tender.  Then I take the end of my wooden spatula and smash and chop the veggies until they get small.

Make the Cream Soup Base:

• 1/2 c. butter
• 6 tbsp. flour
• 2 c. milk
• 2 cubes chick bouillon (optional with broth)
• pinch o' pepper

Melt the butter, add flour to make a paste.  Add the milk, pepper, bouillon and heat---stir, stir, stir.  Add this base to the veggies.  Throw in the chicken and now comes my favorite part....fold in the shredded carrots.  Done, unless you want to toss in a couple of small cheese cubes...which I do on occasion.

You can add and modify this to your liking...I think there should be some herbs in it of some sort though.  Any suggestions?  Mrs. Eikenberry, thoughts?

  Wishing you all a cozy and relaxing weekend...

Bird-Snack.

Here's a sweet painting that caught my eye leaving school the other day.  Who can resist a Robin perched on a cherry blossom tree branch?  Signs of Spring all around us...

Ever since I made the granola bars, I've been hooked.  Those had a lot of sugar in them, but the recipe I'm about to give you doesn't.  It was recently passed along to me by my friend, Inger from Norway (quite possibly the most healthy person I know).

Inger's Bird Balls --- (affectionately named by Candie)

• Ground up your oats in a food processor-enough for 2 c.
• 1 browned banana (I used 2)
• add some dried fruit, coconut, nuts and so on (I'd say 2 handfuls at least)

Mix it all together.  Inger says "if the mixture is too dry, she grates up an apple or melon or anything she has on hand" and adds it to the mixture.  Roll into balls and bake for 15 minutes at 300F/150C.

Store the balls in the fridge.  Inger also says they freeze well.

Thanks everybody for reading my blog and checking in over here.  Thank you for the notes and thoughts.  I always love reading them.  I hope you're all have a good week.  I just got some new pictures of the workshop, so I'll post those tomorrow.  I know I said that yesterday, eek. I'm off to buy some materials...let's hope I find some good treasures.

Today's Lunch Menu:

West African Peanut Soup and homemade granola bars.  Last night it was just me and Rocker for dinner.  I've been in a soup rut and hungry for granola bars.  I went to buy drill bits and made a detour to Croissants de France to get a baguette.  Somewhere in the middle I bought some Manuka honey at the New Zealand store.  Which by the way, I indulged with a spoonful of that honey straight from the jar and had to grab the edge of the counter it was so good! Oh honey!  Let me tell you, a perfect blend it was!   

 

Now the price of a box of granola bars is going to set you back about 5 to 6 dollars here so I opted to make my own.  I used this recipe---skipping the chocolate and basically using a random mixture of dried fruit, lots o' nuts, cinnamon and a dollop of the honey.  "Why did I think granola bars were an ok healthy snack" ran through my brain as I dumped a can of sweetened condensed milk into the bowl.  Oh well.  They don't use ovens in these parts, so we have a toaster oven of which the top element is kaput...or nearly kaput.  As a result the tops of the bars are a tad anemic looking, but taste just dandy.  I opted for a more gooey granola so everything works out for a reason. ;-) 

The Chicken-Peanut soup recipe is from my pal, Krissy's mama, Gale.  A fusion of crunchy peanut butter, tomato paste, chicken broth and curry powder---it was awesome!  And surprisingly easy to make with a one pot stop.  Love a savvy soup almost as much as a savvy craft project.

Now I'm just wishing you were here to have lunch with us! 

AND THE BLANK BAG TAGs WINNER IS:  CYNTHIA~commenter #4!  Yay Cynthia!  Email me your address so I can mail these off Saturday when I go to Hong Kong!