The After After Party

This recipe is another one of my favorites.  Although, I don't make food or add recipes to the book that the guys don't like.


Stromboli Slices
by Taste of Home Recipes

Ingredients

Refrigerated crusty French loaf
Olive Oil
1 teaspoon of Minced Garlic (found in jars)
Dried Italian Seasoning
Sliced pepperoni
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Meatless spaghetti sauce, warmed

Directions
Unroll loaf of dough at the seam into a square; cut in half. Combine oil, garlic and basil; brush lengthwise down half of each rectangle to within 1/2 in. of edges. Layer brushed side with pepperoni and cheese. Fold plain dough over filling and pinch edges to seal. Place on greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into slices. Serve warm with spaghetti sauce. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.


The recipe is easy to make and depending on how thin you slice it will feed quite a few.  I always tend to cut thing big for the guys.  I think they appreciate the bigger bites.  My only problem is that the insides always tend to ooze out, but poking a few holes in the top helps.

* If you try any of the After Party recipes, I would love to know what you think. If you changed them up, I would love to know what you did. Email me or comment on this post.

Failed Butterfly Hairclip

While browsing the craft section at the store, I found some hair clip blanks.  Immediately my thoughts turned to the book "75 Birds, Butterflies & Little Beasts to Knit and Crochet by Leslie Stanfield".  A friend gave me this books months ago for my birthday, and up until two days ago I hadn't made anything from it.

A butterfly, or oak leaf, or mushroom hair clip, wouldn't that be adorable....I choose a butterfly to start with, should be simple enough, right?  The butterfly came out really well.  Although this pattern had so many ends to weave in, I am unsure if I will make it again.

The only problem is that it turned out to be 5" x 5.75", and the clips are not that big (or my hair)...

For now it is going to be a coaster for my coffee cup at work.  Maybe I should work on scale and gauge some more.

Pattern is also available for free, at LionBrand.com

The Saturday After Party...

The Saturday after party is back, formerly known as "Finger Food Fridays".  The following recipe is a huge hit with all the guys.

Today I give you...

The Taco Chicken Ring

I found the recipe at the Taste of Home website, direct link to recipe HERE

Ingredients:
2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls

Finely crushed tortilla chips, divided
Finely chopped rotisserie chicken
shredded Mexican cheese blend
Mayonnaise
Chopped green chilies, undrained
Chopped pitted ripe olives
Tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon taco seasoning


Directions:
Unroll crescent dough. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup tortilla chips; press down gently. Separate into 16 triangles.

Place wide end of one triangle, chip side down, 3 in. from edge of prepared pan, with point overhanging edge of pan. Repeat with remaining triangles, overlapping the wide ends (dough will look like a sun when complete). Lightly press wide ends together.

In a small bowl, combine the chicken, cheese, mayonnaise, chilies, olives, tomato, taco seasoning, and remaining tortilla chips. Spoon over wide ends of dough. Fold points of triangles over filling and tuck under wide ends (filling will be visible).

Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.


The only down fall to this recipe is that there is never enough.  The guys love this one and there is hardly ever leftovers.  I usually make two.

* If you try any of the Saturday After Party recipes, I would love to know what you think. If you changed them up, I would love to know what you did. Email me or comment on this post.

Hap-hap-happy Feet

"Happy feet! I've got those hap-hap-happy feet!

Give them a low-down beat

And they begin dancing!

I've got those ten little tip-tap-tapping toes,

When they hear a tune

I can't control the dancing, dear,

To save my soul!

(By Cab Calloway )

Crotcheted in a navy blue with yellow trim, in cotton yarn, my feet proudly wear a new pair of house shoes.  After testing a few other designs, and only finishing one shoe because I didn't like how they turned out, I almost give up on the idea of house shoes.  Then magic happened!  After completing the first shoe, I put it on, ready to laugh at how it looked on my feet, but to my surprise it looked great!  (and fit perfectly)

After completing the pair I slid them on my feet and propped them on my coffee table.  With a big smile on my face I turned to my husband, "Look honey, I have happy feet!".



I like everything about them, except the button.  I think I will replace those with some bigger ones.  I also think it might be nice to put a thin liner inside.  These cute house shoes will be great around the house, on the deck and yard.  Plus they are small and flexible enough to throw in my purse, so they can come with me.

Finished...only took nine hours...

Finished!  And I am extremely happy with the way it turned out.

Even has a gate.

Now to get working on the garden that will go behind it. 

This will be a piece of cake!

That is what I thought when I started a project this morning around noon.  Still not finished, but progress is good enough, and I am too excited not to share.

The weather was beautiful today so I wanted to be outside.  I decided to tackle my backyard, which is my dogs yard.  My husband and I have been using our archway from our wedding as a "fence".  We used a baby gate in the middle and just blocked the empty space between the archway and the house with some logs and rocks.  It worked well enough, but anytime it was really windy the archway would blow over.

Here is the arch.  Notice the broken lattice, that is from it falling over.

The first step was to tear it apart.  This step proved to be quite the project.  They used lots of screws and a lot of them were stripped, rusted, and would break off or not move.  I ended up with the sledge hammer!

Once apart, the fun began.  To put it back together.  I used the base as the main side and the rest of the wood for supports, rails and the gate.  I dug out from under the porch some fish netting to cover the whole thing.

Feeling a little sad about my archway getting torn apart, I decided to use some of the lattice to make a beautiful peace sign on the new fence.

I still have to make a gate on the left hand side and tack down the netting some more...but for now, 6 hours later, I am just going to enjoy my new fence.

June 28th? Are you kidding?

Last post June 28th, wow! 

Crafting has come to a slow crawl.  I have started several small projects that have just not come out the way I thought they would.  I am experimenting with creating patterns for adult slippers and fingerless gloves, but it is a slow process.

I also took a trip to the "mainland" last week to see family and friends, although I wasn't able to see very many friends.  It was alright though because I was able to spend lots of time with my nieces, who are 6 months and 2 1/2 years old.

Some exciting news....my Nana Hammock pattern was in the top 10-15 most active recently published designs on Raverly for almost 4 weeks!  I am so glad that everyone has enjoyed it.  I have to say, the one in my kitchen hasn't been empty since I made it.