Quick Lockets for Valentine's Day

Last week I wrote a blog post for Creativebug on a little trip I took to French General in Los Angeles. While I was there, I picked up several treasures. It was so much fun looking at all of their lovely fabrics, ribbons and notions. I left with three spools of twine, a few brass lockets and brass wishbones, and a spool of red and white polka dot ribbon.

I wanted to make some quick necklaces for my loved ones, so I printed out special messages for each of them and used rubber cement to tack them inside the lockets. I strung up the heart lockets and wishbones on pieces of twine that measures about 24 inches long, then tied the ends with sliding knots. Finally, I stitched the ribbons in place with a needle and thread. 

The whole project took no more than 5 minutes per necklace, but I'm happy with the results and will be sending these quick lockets out with the mail today.

How are you spreading love to your friends and family this year?

Call them Dutch Babies, German Pancakes...

I don't remember the last time I slept through the night without waking up at 4am. Insomnia can be a major bummer, but it's given me a lot of time to research recipes. This morning, I stumbled upon Dutch Pancakes. 

Dutch pancakes might be known to you as Dutch Babies, or German pancakes. I also have a Viking cookbook that just calls them regular ol', pancakes. Anyway you slice it, these things are DEEEELISH. I used THIS recipe on Allrecipes.com which, even on my iPhone was quite handy because you can alter the serving size you want, and all of the quantities would automatically update. For the sake of ease, here's the recipe:

2 eggs


1/2 cup milk


1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour


1 pinch ground nutmeg


1 pinch salt


2 tablespoons butter


2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions:

Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 475 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with a whisk until light. Add milk and stir. Gradually whisk in flour, nutmeg and salt.

Remove skillet from oven and reduce oven heat to 425 degrees F. Melt the butter in hot skillet so that inside of skillet is completely coated with butter. Pour all the batter in the skillet and return skillet to oven.

Bake until puffed and lightly browned, (about 12 minutes). Remove promptly and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Notes:

I chopped up three Pink Lady apples and sautéed them in butter (you know, to be healthy) while keeping an eye on my rapidly rising pancake in the oven. The apples were served directly atop the pancake, drizzled with just a DASH of maple syrup, and then dusted with powdered sugar. But apples... that made it healthy. Remember the apples!

Also, I did use a cast iron pan to bake my pancake, but you can use a Pyrex container as well (from what I've read).

Annnnd lastly, (and maybe because I doubled the recipe but) I baked my Dutch Pancake for 20 minutes. 

Weekend Update: Full Plate, Happy Heart

Hope you had a lovely, long weekend! I made the most of everyday with a kid's craft party, two craft articles written, photographes and sent off, freshly-knitted mug cozies, AND my dear husband even helped me repot my carnivorous plants. We of course had to celebrate with the BEST cinnamon rolls in LA (at Primo's Bakery) Hope you enjoyed your weekend too!

xoxo

radmegan

Craft Wars Reunion at CHA

Earlier this week, I spent six days in Anaheim, California for the Craft & Hobby Association show. I was at CHA on behalf of Creativebug and their beautifully made online workshops... but it was hard not to feel like I was in a reunion episode of TLC's Craft Wars with all of the familiar faces I ran into on the show floor!

One of the fabulous judges, Jo Pearson, and Craft Wars producer, Cathie Filian

 

The lovely Margot Potter, Andrea Currie and Lisa Fulmer!

 
The ultimate in craft competitors, Angela Daniels and Pattye Duffner

and of course, the sassy Ashley J. Long!

The four-day long conference was such a phenomenal collective of creative minds. In fact, the above Craft Wars players have fast become some of my favorite people in the industry. Thanks for stopping by the Creativebug booth to say hello and flash your biggest smiles! I loved seeing you all!

 For a re-cap on the show from the Creativebug point of view- stand by for THEIR blog post re-cap on CHA, later today.

Hope to see you next year, CHA!

Making Pupusas & Curtido

On New Year's eve, a neighbor brought us a plate of authentic, homemade pupusas to try. We devoured the plate, and the next morning, I got up early and set out to make pupusas with curtido at home. Pupusas are an El Salvadorian dish. They resemble chubby corn tortillas stuffed with a variety of delicious fillings. Curtido, is the spicy, pickled cabbage "slaw" traditionally served with Pupusas. 

Making the pupusas is as easy as adding the appropriate amount of masa (corn flower) to water. The masa bag I had at home had clearly marked proportions on the back. I also referenced THIS video to get the technique down. My filling was some left-over pork tenderloin, jalapeño peppers, and feta cheese. On an oiled griddle over medium/high heat, I fried them for about 4 minutes on each side. (Or- until you get a little color on both sides.) Other delicious filling options  include mozzarella cheese, or feta cheese with Loroco flowers or (if you don't have a Hispanic market near you) green bell peppers.

The curtido really added pop to the pupusas. Here's how we made ours...

Ingredients:

1 head shredded green cabbage

2 cups grated carrot

1 red onion, thinly sliced 

4 cups boiling water

1/2 cup white vinegar 

1/2 cup water

1 Jalapeño chile pepper, minced (depending on how much heat you like)

1 tsp salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Place the cabbage and carrots in a large heat-proof bowl. 

 

Pour the boiling water into the bowl to cover the cabbage and carrots and set aside for about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, pressing out as much liquid as possible.

Return the cabbage and carrots to the bowl and toss with the remaining of the ingredients. 

(Note, we used apple cider vinegar AND white vinegar, since it was a spur of the moment recipe and we didn't have enough of just one type of vinegar!) 

We placed our curtido into a 1/2 gallon Ball Jar for easy fridge storage, and then let it set at room temperature. You can let it set up for a few hours, but we were impatience, and waited only a few minutes before dishing it up!

Store the curtido in the refrigerator, and serve chilled with hot, fresh pupusas! 
Note that since making our first batch on New Year's Eve, we've made them several times using a variety of fillings!