Halloween is only every day.

I have a project I am working on, It’s an activity booklet with a Halloween theme, don’t let me forget about it because it is awesome! I created approximately 10 spooky characters and a bunch of new games & cutouts. The book is 12 pages long and can be printed back to back on 8.5×11 sheets of paper with no borders. It started as a project for a local halloween party that needed a whole bunch of envelopes.  I designed a foldable coffin money envelope that also fits on 8.5×11. It will be available for sale on my etsy soon.. or another site.. i’ll get on that as soon as the brochure is complete, heck i might just offer it for free.

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Fluffy Cinnamon Pancakes!

I went on a little pancake binge this week, and found a great recipe. Then I messed with it. It’s much better now.

Were going to start by of course making sure you  have all the ingredients:

Gather them:

-1.5 cups flour

-3.5 tsp baking powder (magic)

– .5(half) tsp salt

-1 tbs white sugar

– 1 tbs cinnamon

-1 tsp vanilla

-1.25 cups milk

-1 egg

-3 tbs melted butter
We are going to sift all the dry together (flour, magic, salt, sugar, cinnamon)
make sure if you don’t have a sifter that its at least mixed and has very little lumps.
At this point,  crack and whisk your egg separately & melt your butter (15 seconds in the microwave should do it.)
Make a hole in your dry ingredients and pour in the milk, vanilla, whisked egg, & butter.
If you want you can save a bit of the butter to put in your pan, but I use a non-stick pan and they flip just fine. Mix it up.
With your pan on medium heat, measure each pancake with approximately 1/4 cup of batter, pour & wait until there are bubbles popping through the pancake & flip! This recipe should make about a dozen or so pancakes.
You should only use pure canadian maple syrup, anything else is gross. Except Nutella, that stuff is the bomb.

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Great Grandma’s Secret slush punch Recipe.

My mom told me the story of how she used to watch her grandma (Tota Ruby)  make punch for our entire family. At the time my mom was young and unaware of the alcohol content, and just thought cherries & ginger ale was a fancy adult drink she was not allowed to have.
But there is more to it than that young one! It was a crazy delicious punch!
This recipe is mostly a family secret, so I cannot divulge how much of each ingredient is added*. This recipe was passed down to me after a large family gathering and I can tell you, it stands the test of time!
You will need to taste as you go of course!
-Brandy
-94% proof vodka
-Spiced/dark rum
-1 frozen orange juice can
-Jar of maraschino cherries
-Ginger ale

You want to soak the cherries in the brandy for at least 3 hours in a glass container. When you ready to make the punch, get out your large bowl and mix it all up!

For the slush, pour all of this into a pitcher & put it into the freezer over night.

Tota Ruby’s secret punch

Thank you Tota ❤
*it’s usually an entire bottle, this stuff gets you rather smashed & it’s super sweet so you can’t taste the alcohol content.

Beginner Lasagna!

Now, just the word lasagna can be off putting for new cooks, but this recipe is great and can really get you in the mood for other cooking adventures!

Gather your ingredients:

 

-1 lbs of lean ground beef

-1 package of oven ready noodles!
-1 54ml can of Italian tomatoes

-1 can of tomato paste (the little ones)
– 475g tub of ricotta

– 1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese (about 1.5-2 cups)

-1 egg

– pinch of sugar
– 1 tbs of seasoning*

 

*before we get started my mother uses a commercial brand, Les Herbes Salees du bas du fleuve, by J.Y. Roy of St. Flavie, Quebec. It is herbs & vegetables preserved with salt. The ingredients listed are celery, onion, salt, carrot, parsley, parsnip, chervil, savory, leek, chives, and spinach. So I’m pretty sure you could use a sprinkling of whatever you have on hand, or some mrs dash!

 

You will need a 9×13 glass dish, a bowl & a stove pot.

 

In the stove pot on med-high heat, brown all the meat.

 

While that is browning, in a bowl mix the ricotta cheese in with one egg and the tbs of spices.
Then you will want to add the sugar, tomato paste & canned tomatoes to the meat & cook for a few minutes longer.

When that is done you want to take your 9×13 pan & layer in

Sauce, noodles, sauce, mozzarella, noodles, sauce, all of the ricotta mix, noodles, sauce, mozzarella, noodles, sauce & ¾ cup of mozzarella on top.

 

You will then want to cover with tin foil and cook for 45 minutes at 375

At 20 minutes remove the tin foil!

 

It should be yummy!

 

She shoots, she scones!

Hey everyone, hockey references aside, I have a great scone recipe, and if you have a few minutes after the game I’d like you to try it out. It’s a sweet one. Literally.

I also want to let my readers know (this is a warning?) that the recipes I use are super flexible and I usually do not use exact measurements, or I make everything using 1 measuring cup and eyeball it. But I don’t post it unless I’ve tried it and love it.

Start by preheating your oven to 400 F and putting some parchment paper down on your flat cookie tray. This recipe has a 15 min. bake time & makes 8.
Get out 2 bowls and in the big one put your dry ingredients:
-3 cups flour
-1/2 cup sugar
-5 teaspoons baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
-1 tsp cinnamon
Mix it evenly.
Add or “cut in”
– 3/4 cup margarine (maybe butter?)
– 5 tsp cream cheese
In a separate tiny bowl whisk up
-1 egg
-1cup milk
-1 tbs vanilla
Add to the flour mixture (I did it half at a time) & make dough!
This is where I added about
-1/2 cup dried cranberries (although lots of other fruits would work too)
Put out some flour on a cutting board or your table.
Knead the dough for a minute
Roll it into a tube
Then cut it into 8

Put the 8 pieces onto your parchment in the preheated oven for 15-16 minutes, ovens may vary so watch the bottoms for golden browness….

…and hey, if you over cook them put ‘em on the floor and pass ‘em around, free hockey pucks! C’est la but!

I want to also say that these go really well with some home made Apple Butter from my friend at Becsucre Butters! You can also reach her on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/LesBeurresBecsucreButters

Guitarded math?

So, If you read my blog, You know that I ordered a custom guitar from W.F Custom Guitars & I helped design my own guitar for my birthday. It was a big birthday, the BIG 3-0 .

This is the guitar!

I need to give her a name! https://www.facebook.com/WFCustoms

Now I’m going to try to learn this thing, The beginning of June I’m going to get myself the videogame “Rocksmith 2014” (unless you totally want to buy it for me) and try it that way, then take some advice I read, on how to Learn a new skill. And I’m going to post that here, because I think it’s helpful and might motivate someone else too!
” It takes 20 hours to learn a new skill – 10,000 hours to master a.k.a become an Olympian.

Deconstruct the skill: Break down the parts and find the most important things to practice first. If you were learning to play a musical instrument, for example, knowing just a few chords gives you access to tons of songs. If you want to learn a new language, learn the most common 2,000 words and you’ll have 80% text coverage.

Self-correct: Use reference materials to learn enough that you know when you make a mistake so you can correct yourself.

Remove barriers to learning: Identify and remove anything that distracts you from focusing on the skill you want to learn.

Practice at least 20 hours.”

I was also told at least 20 minutes per day would be the ideal time to practice guitar, so with that in mind, let’s do some math!
20 hours divided by 20 minutes..3 days for 1 hour 3×20 = 60 days. ortobemore mathematically mathlike or whatever  3(x) =20 : x=60

So it should take about 2 months…but probably longer because I’m a terrible student!
Wish me luck on my new adventure! (also if you want to correct me go ahead)

Mini Cheesecake Cupcakes!

Y’all love cheesecake amirite?

Well I have a recipe for like easy mini cheesecake cupcakes.

 

…

 

I’ll let you catch your breath.

 

…

 

(because of the awesomeness, not your health)

 

…

First I want you to prepare 6 cupcake wrappers/cups in your cupcake pan. ( I usually fill the empty cupcake holes with water… and I forget why, But it helps.)

 

In a medium bowl really, like really smush up the

– 1 package cream cheese

– 1/4 cup sugar

You don’t want lumps, you can use a beater but that’s more dishes & who wants that?

Add

– 1 egg & go crazy with your fork and make this whole thing creamy.

Then add

– 1 tsp vanilla

– ½ tsp cinnamon (optional)

(this can also be substituted for another flavor or spice, but I can’t be blamed for the taste if you want to add something ridiculous like bbq powder or curry)

 

I then want you to smash in a bowl about

– 8 cookies and some melty butter. (approximately 1tbs)

… you want about a cup of crumbs, OR! You can just put the cookie at the bottom of the cup if it fits!

Scoop out the crumb layer evenly to the 6 cups, and pour the cream cheese mix on it.

Bake at 350 for 20 mins

Then let cool & slap em in the fridge for 3 hours+.

Choose your own toppings! Be creative! I used jam, but fresh fruit also works!

Flowers & 6 Strings

Well, besides painting my nails a ton of fun colors, and designing a headstock shape for my guitar*, I’ve not done anything artsy in a while. Or updated this blog since December it seems!

 

What I HAVE done though, is create many, many hair flowers.
I deconstruct silk/fabric flowers then dye some of them and reconstruct. When I am happy with the new style and color I attach them to a hair clip, and glue in a cabochon button for the center. They look great! I am very happy with the results, and love having them in my shop. When I bring them out it really brightens my mood.

Take a look at them on facebook!

 

*For my 30^th birthday I bought a custom guitar, which I helped build, design & paint and will learn to play as a gift to myself.