Lame Reasons My Husband Gives Me For Why We Can't Make S'mores in the Fireplace...aka It Snowed In NC!

So I really like S'mores. And now I live in a house with two fireplaces. Not the gas kind. The real kind. That uses wood and stuff. And I knew it was supposed to snow this weekend. So I'm all like, fireplace means we can totally make s'mores in our house. But B tells me that we should probably not make them in the fireplace. And I'm all like "then why did we even get the fire places cleaned?" Eh?

But he claims......

1-Something like all the marshmallows are going to fall into the fireplace and then he will have to clean them out.

and

B-We use fuel fire logs to start the fire and apparently fuel and food don't go well together.

Then lastly he states, that we should just go camping. Yeah right. I'm not going camping just for s'mores. (remember tubing trip extravaganza 2008, Beezus5?)

But yeah so it totally snowed in NC. A lot. The most I've seen in a really long time. So we made a fire with our fuel logs and then I decided to go ahead with indoor s'mores. But I decided to go with the oven so I wouldn't have to eat fuel marshmallows.

Oven S'Mores

-Marshmallows

-Hershey Chocolate Bars
-Graham Crackers

1-Preheat oven to approximately 300 degrees

2-Layer half a graham cracker with a Hershey bar with a marshmallow (see pic)

3-Cook in oven for like 5-10 minutes. Watch it to make sure the marshmallows don't explode.

4-Once Marshmellow is melty, remove from oven and add top layer of graham cracker.

Now these are missing the marshmallow crunchiness of fire roasted marshmallows but hey, it's still melted marshmallow, melted chocolate and graham crackers. So yeah, they're still pretty tasty.

This fire is strictly for ambiance, not cookery.

Thursday Night Rehash and Fun Fact Friday...

Hello.
Did you watch reruns on NBC last night? Everything was reruns. Even Grey's Anatomy was a rerun. But it did give me a chance to relive some of my favorite lines and even see new ones that I missed the first time...
Specifically this Kenneth the Page line explaining why he is the only one whose teeth don't glow under a black light...........
KtP-You’ll have to ask the fella who whittled ‘em for me!

And then there was Dwight refusing to save a woman's place in line at the Shareholder meeting.
Dwight: Oh, I'm sorry. Were you raised in a household with no consequences?
Woman in line: It'll just be a second.
Dwight: Oh. If onlys and justs were candies and nuts then every day would be Erntedankfest.

Oh Erntedankfest

And I really like that Parks and Recreation Hunting Episode from last night but no specific lines are coming to mind right now so instead I offer you Audrey (of P&R fame) in this Twilight Video Spoof (b/c I'm currently reading the final Twilight book-don't tell me what happens). Plus Dwight wore that t-shirt the night before Jim and Pam's wedding. So it really relates well to many things.


UPDATE-ok so apparently my amazing internet skillz did not work when I tried to embed this video here so just follow this link if you want to see it..... http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/11/16/twilight-new-moon-wolf/

Oh and just because it's Friday and sometimes Fridays are hard to get through I bring you Fun Fact Friday. A few of my friends and I would have Fun Fact Friday email chains occasionally on a slow moving Friday afternoon. Essentially you just entertain each other with a random fun fact. So here is my fun fact of the day...
My 58 year old dad enjoys the Black Eyed Peas, he even has (as in he went to the store and purchased) their latest CD. I found this out on Tuesday and find this very weird. He typically only listens to Classic Rock. Ok that's all. I'm out.

Anyone got any Fun Facts?
Anyone enjoy any TV show reruns last night?
Is Twilight for teens or people in their late 20s?
Anyone know what Erntedankfest is?
Is the 100% chance of snow that weather.com is throwing at me for realz?

office picture from http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/11/20/the-office-recap-youre-not-the-boss-of-me/

Office Thursday-Revisiting Recyclops...

I'm feeling lazy today. I don't really have time to make something as complex as beet salad and apparently (sadly) no one really likes beets that much anyways except for me, my mom and Dwight. And The Office is a rerun tonight so I guess technically they are being a little lazy too. Tonight's Ep is Shareholder Meeting and featured Dwight's character Recylops. As a part of the online NBC Office game Dunder Mifflin Infinity, I created this poster as one of our tasks. Amazing isn't it?
But anyways this episode features some classic Michael Scott activity and I really like the shirt he wears to the Shareholder meeting. I also enjoy the part where Jim talks about apple picking day. Look out for it. So watch The Office tonight and of course my other fave Thursday night shows, Community, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock. And look out because next week The Office is back with a new episode. A real new episode. Not a clip show. Woohoo!

Special Shout out-Bangkok Dangerous and how to Throw Your Own Trivia Party

I would just like to send a special shout out to the Tuesday night trivia team Bangkok Dangerous on their amazing 3rd place finish in last nights LPFS Trivia Challenge. While we will be taking a few months off to watch Lost on Tuesday nights we finished on a high note. I mean 3rd place is decent. There were a bunch of teams last night too. So congrats to...........Beezus5, $hanzie, CurlyT, B, and DaveSIWTO for the win. I think Gene Hackman got us the prize.

And now, how to throw your own trivia party...................
Scour the Internet for days (literally, days) searching for obscure celebrity fun facts, old song lyrics (I suggest LFO's Summer Girls, seriously look up the lyrics, they are ridiculous) and trivia about such pop culture phenomenons as Saved By the Bell, Twilight, Harry Potter, and 90210 and then for the fellows find some random sports facts. Also print out photos of reality tv stars and old video game screen caps. (Zelda) Make charts and graphs and printouts and come up with a crazy point system that only you understand. Then invite your 12 closest friends over and divide them up in to two or three teams. Encourage trash talking. Ask questions. Yell at them if they don't turn their answers in fast enough. Play music. And help one team catch back up at halftime if things get too lop-sided by asking an obscure question that only one person would know. Have like 10 final, final rounds and then end on a hard question that no one should know (I mean really, do you know the exact date Michael Jackson died) and have the teams make wagers (jeopardy style). Tally up the scores and really make them wait it out to see who the winners are. Then announce the winner dramatically and give them prizes which should probably include lottery tickets, fun dip and jelly pens.

I did this for B's 30th bday party. His bday is on New Year's Day and people typically have a hard time binge drinking the day after New Year's Eve. So I went for a rousing game of trivia. It was quite fun (at least for me) but I should have made it a tad bit shorter. Those ten final rounds got to be a bit much. And just an FYI, Stacy Carosi was Zack's Summer Girlfriend on Saved By the Bell and Harry Potter's middle name is not Mortimer. Come on People.

ps-Bangkok Dangerous is apparently a Nicolas Cage movie but we just thought the title was hilarious for some reason. Bangkok Dangerous photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_Dangerous_(2008_film)

LOST OMG LOST guest starring Beezus5

OMG Lost, the Final Season starts in one week. ONE WEEK. From today! I'm insanely excited. I mean I have been waiting for like 7 months. 8 months. Not sure. B and I just finished re watching all the previous seasons which just made me even more excited. I was really going to delve into my whole theory about Desmond and the fail safe key and the hydrogen bomb but I'm short on time today so instead (and b/c this blog is called Making Stuff Is Fun) I'm going to let my dear friend Beezus5 explain to you how to make your very own Lost Halloween Costume...

Take it away B5......

This is probably too long, you can edit it. I tend to get wordy when i try to be funny. Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I tend to get overly enthusiastic about things, to put it mildly, so its an excellent opportunity to let the dorky side of me shine through (though I probably do that more on a weekly basis than just on holidays). This year I decided to celebrate one of the best shows on television by dressing up as a character from LOST. I immediately emailed all my good friends and fellow fans to tell them all about my excellent idea: I envisioned all of us descending on downtown Greensboro as the Dharma Initiative on a partying mission! I have to admit it was a disappointment when on one shared my enthusiasm, some people just want to be witches, vampires and slutty angels - their loss! To create my costume I went to Blumenthal's (my favorite place in middle school to find chucks, flannels and overalls) and got a blue Dickies work jump suit. At home I looked up the Dharma Initiative hexagon and drew it on a thick white paper. On another piece I wrote "Kate Motor Pool" and I sewed both of these on the front of my suit. Then I used an eyeliner pencil to put little dots all over my cheeks and nose - Freckles! Only two people recognized me that night as Kate, but it didn't matter because I had a great time and when it started to rain, I felt just like was running across the island in search of Others, Duh nu nu nuh! Also my jumpsuit held up much better than the slutty angel costume. It was a great success!

Alright so does everyone like Beezus5's Kate Costume? Got any crazy theories about Lost? Comment it up!

Ode to NYC-Part 2 aka Thanx B aka Crepes!

As I mentioned before, my friend Beezus5 and I travelled to NYC this past weekend to visit our friend Peach and her boyfriend. And like I mentioned, her boyfriend made us some awesome crepes for Sunday brunch. While Beezus5 and I were exhausted from our day of walking and our trip to the rooftop bar, Peach and her boyfriend were up at 3 in the morning making crepe and waffle batter. These crepes had smoked salmon and brie in them and were delicious. Now what I did not mention before was how Beezus5 and I got to NYC. My husband B gave us his hard earned flight vouchers that he had received for giving up his seat on 2 flights earlier in the year. I think he knew that Beezus5 and I needed a weekend out of town. So as my way of saying "thanks" to him (besides the $4 I Heart NY t-shirt I bought him off the street and the Bob and Jillian magnet I bought him at the NBC store) I have decided to make him crepes. But not the savory kind, the dessert kind! Woohoo.

After a little research I realized that to make fresh crepe batter I would need a sifter so that I could sift the flour. I do not have one of these. So I'm taking the easy way out and going all Williams and Sonoma on this. (Plus I still have a few wedding gift cards from there). So I bought this mix (see foto-I like to spell it like this sometimes) and then headed over to my mom's house to steal her crepe maker and some eggs.

When I was little my mom used her old school crepe maker to make my brother and I (and possibly my sister L-Fab if she was born yet-she is quite a bit younger than me) delicious crepes with butter and powdered sugar in them. It was a quite a treat. One summer we even had a French exchange student who made us authentic French Crepes in a regular pan (she called her mom at like 3 in the morning French time for the recipe). She flipped the crepes in the air. I'm not that good.

My mom's crepe maker is really easy. You just dip it in the batter, wait until the edges brown and remove easily with a spatula or your fingers. In NYC Peach's boyfriend made us savory crepes and then waffles with Nutella (mmmmm Nutella) and Bananas. So I decide to combo these and make crepes with Nutella and Bananas and then throw some fresh strawberries in there for good measure.

B ate about 10 of these. So I'm going to say they were a success and not as difficult as making batter from scratch and using a regular pan. These were way smaller and thinner than our NY crepes but I'm pretty sure that meant it was ok to eat like 7 times as many. So go Crepes!
Also, they still make those old school crepe makers. So if you want really thin small crepes you can buy one of those.

NBC Thursday Comedy Night Done Right - Favorite Line (or scene) Friday

I watched all four NBC comedies last night. And I thought they were awesome.

Community is seriously starting to become one of my favorite shows. So that is good for that sad day sometime in the future when the Office ends (I don't even want to think about it). I think my favorite lines came in the cold open with this exchange b/w Britta, Jeff, and Peirce after Britta finds a woman's hair on Jeff's coat.....
B-Who is the lucky lady?
J-Last name, Beeswax. First name, None-of-ya.
P-Oh, My 3rd wife was biracial.

Oh Chevy Chase, you make me laugh.
I also enjoyed Troy's Modern dancing and all his tear-away clothes. Britta's dancing was a bit more awkward.

Parks and Rec is also awesome. Ironically (based on yesterdays Office post) Parks and Rec featured their very own Dinner Party. This one may have been slightly more successful than Jan and Michael's but there were a few bumps in the road and some help from the teachers at the Rec Center. One of my favorite lines from the cold open. I'm pretty sure it's b/c she talks about biscuits and I just really like that word. Leslie on having to cancel some of the rec center classes due to budget cuts...
L-Nobody is more upset about this than me. I've been taking these rec center classes since high school. It's where I learned hair braiding and how to make biscuits, french kissing. The French Kissing was just from a boy in my biscuit class but either way, lesson learned. (parks and rec photo from ew.com)

The Office was a clip show ep but did feature some new scenes. I liked fake Stanley and Dwight as the Computron. But I think my favorite part was the flashbacks of Jim and Pam. It really made me want to watch the Office wedding episode again and dance on my coffee table (which I did the last time I watched it).

30 Rock-Sometimes while I'm watching this show I'm in awe of just how amazing almost every single line is. But alas. I enjoy everything that comes out of Kenneth's mouth....
K-(in his normal voice) Good Morning Mrs Lemon. (a second later) I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap at you. I've got winter madness.

Did anyone watch these shows? Does anyone else think they are all awesome? What was your favorite line/scene?

Office Thursday - New-ish Episode 2nite and Dinner Party Revisited.......

I was racking (wracking?) my brain trying to come up with a suitable topic for today's post. I'm not quite ready to share all my Office related Craftery yet so I thought I'd go with something food related. So I was thinking back to all my favorite food scenes in episodes of the Office when it hit me..............Dinner Party. An entire episode dedicated to food (well sort of, mostly the ill fated dinner party led to the dissolution of Jan and Michael's relationship but whatevs) seemed like a great inspiration for a blog post. So at this dinner party Jan served Osso Bucco (which Michael soaked in a glass of wine due to his soft teeth) and there is no way I would even know how to attempt to make Osso Bucco plus it has to braise for many hours (much to Jim and Pam's dismay). But I found something I could make and some of you are not going to like it (I'm looking at your Beezus5)..........

So here's a little set up from the episode. Dwight is not invited to this dinner party as it's "couples only" and at the time he's not in a couple. However he decides to show up anyways bringing with him a date (his much older former babysitter "it's purely carnal"), his own wine glasses, and his own food. And what would one of these food items happen to be? What else would a part time beet farmer bring with him to a dinner party?



BEET SALAD ...................holla.

So I realized I have had a can of beets in my pantry for a few months and I think it's time to put good use to it. I found this simple recipe online at Allrecipes.com and have decided to give it a go............



Beet Salad (from Allrecipes.com) (Beet Salad)


1 Can whole beets (16 oz)


1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup diced red onion


1. Drain the beets but reserve 1/4 cup of the beet juice. Slice the beets and mix with the onion.

2. On the stove heat beet juice, sugar, and mustard until dissolved. Then add vinegar and boil.

3. Remove sauce from heat and allow to cool. Then mix with the beets and onions.

4. Chill for four hours

I pretty much followed these instructions except I used white onions as that is what I had. My beets were already sliced. I just cut them in to smaller slices. And I only marinated for about 2 hours. Now I know beets are not for everyone but I actually enjoyed this salad. I'm pretty sure you have to like beets and vinegar and sweet stuff to like this dish though. So keep that in mind. I think Dwight would approve!

Anyways back to The Office. Dinner Party happens to be one of my favorite episodes ever and it is mostly due to this one scene. Jan dancing to her former lover Hunter's CD of the now infamous song "That One Night"......

So I will leave you with this image.....

And if you want to check out the video of her dancing you can see it here....
(Jan Dancing)

So I hear that tonight's episode is new but I also hear that its a clip show so we'll see what that's like. Watch the Office tonight and lets talk about it tomorrow. Right here.

I was a Frozen Dessert Professional for 3 Years....aka the Easiest Smoothie Ever

My first resume that I ever made included the following jobs; Smoothie Maker-Creative Juices, Ice Cream Scooper-Baskin Robbins, and Ice Cream Maker-Marble Slab Creamery. I also worked at a Salad Bar in college that had soft serve Ice cream if that counts. It took me quite some time to find a non frozen dessert related job after college.

So, we all know that ice cream is a good delicious treat that most people love, but in my opinion, the Smoothie is tops as far as frozen delicacies go. I worked at a place called Creative Juices when I was in high school. The ironic thing is that they were not creative at all. I'm pretty sure they just went in to the Juice Shop (the better smoothie place in my hometown) stole their menu and then renamed the smoothies. For example.....Strawberry Splash at the Juice Shop was essentially the same thing as Creative Juices's Banaberry Bash. Creative Juices is now a Ross Dress For Less (my friend Brayer or Curly J's favorite store).

So in honor of it being like 20 degrees warmer this week than last week we have the.........

200 Calorie, Really Easy, Really Good

Strawberry-Pineapple Smoothie......

-7-8 frozen strawberries (like 3/4 of a cup)
-1/2 cup of pineapple juice
-1 8oz carton of vanilla low fat yogurt (I like Dannon Light and Fit)

1. Put it all in the blender. Blend until smooth. 2. Enjoy.

(this makes one serving, which is very easy to make in that special dual wave blender I have)

Things that I do not like in Smoothies.......
A-Milk
B-Chocolate
C-A bunch of powder (protein, vitamin C, bees wax, etc...a little is ok, I don't like it when you can taste it)
D-Silken Tofu

I drink these smoothies for breakfast, lunch or dessert and I love them. You can substitute different juices or fruits (I use blueberries a lot) or add in a banana. All are very good!

I Had To Do That Thing Last Night That Proves..............

....I watch too much television. I had to Tivo two shows while watching another show on a different tv. I blame you 24 and your 4 hour season premiere. It was fairly action packed though and I always love a good Chloe line. (something along the lines of "yeah Bubba (of Forest Gump fame) you should thank Freddie Prinze jr. for saving your life, followed by Jack Bauer, and then if you have time maybe me). So what other shows were taping from the 8pm-9pm hour? Well one that I love, "How I Met Your Mother" (I love you Marshall Ericksen but only b/c you remind me of B) and then one that I'm mildly embarrassed to admit that I still watch, "One Tree Hill". But hey, it's filmed in NC so I gotta give it some love and sometimes it has cool new music. So I watched HIMYM directly after I finished 24 but One Tree Hill is going to have to wait until I'm making earrings or baking in front of the tv. Gotta multi-task when I watch that show.

Did you watch any of these shows?
Does anyone in the world other than my friend $hanzie watch One Tree Hill?
Do you still enjoy Chloe's witty remarks?
Does anyone read this blog?

New York City aka Beezus5 Gets a New Pair of Earrings

My bestie and I just got back from a weekend trip to NYC to visit our friend "Peach". So I thought I'd do a couple of NYC inspired posts. Peach and her awesome beau (who made us crepes AND waffles on Sunday) told us about a local bead shop to check out, Bruce Frank Beads. The weekend was packed with a concert, lots of great food and a lot of sightseeing (Beezus5 and I walked at least 20 miles on Saturday) but we did manage to squeeze in the bead store on our way to the airport.

Beezus was about to purchase a pair of earrings when we discovered that they had the beads used in the earrings for like $3. So we bought the beads and I told her I'd try to recreate a similar pair of earrings for her. These are made similar to the other recent custom order I made. Using a headpin I just strung the beads and then added an ear wire.







And here is the finished product! Let's hope Beezus likes them........

Aprons are Cool....

If you are going to make stuff (dinner for example) then you really need an apron. Apron's can range from not so flattering....................
my current one.....

To Super Cute.................
these.

Picture from....http://www.flirtyaprons.com/default.html (they have lots of awesome aprons)

So get an apron and if you want to look super cute, check out this blog where Salt is giving away a free apron today http://saltsays.com/2010/01/15/its-my-100th-post-party-giveaway-pants-optional/

Did you watch Community Last Night? aka Favorite Line Friday!

DID YOU WATCH COMMUNITY LAST NIGHT? What? You didn't? But I told you to (http://makingstuffisfun.blogspot.com/2010/01/office-thursdays-good-news-and-bad.html). Community is awesome. Who doesn't love Joel McHale? So after extensive thinking and a little research I've come up with my favorite line from last night's Community as well as my favorite line from last night's Parks and Recreation (Who doesn't love Amy Poehler? Did you see her pregnant Sarah Palin rap on SNL?) Now I know I don't have the same sense of humor as everyone in the world (I was the only person in the Theater to laugh every time Jacob took off his shirt in New Moon) but I find these shows very funny and think that you should too.

Community-
Jeff Winger after being kicked in the face by special guest star Jack Black-"No, no, it's fine, it's fine, just a little nosebleed. I get em when it's dry or when my face gets kicked"

Parks and Recreation-
Leslie Knope on her ideal man- "He has the brains of George Clooney and the body of Joe Biden"

So seriously these shows are funny. Go watch them. And if you did, what parts were your favorites? I enjoyed when Jeff posed for his impromptu photo after being named as editor of the Greendale Gazette Journal Mirror. And I'm excited about the Parks and Rec teaming of April as Ron's new assistant.

Holla. Sorry I did not make a craft or meal to go with this post but I ran out of time and I had to pack for my weekend trip to NYC!

Office Thursdays-Good News and Bad News...also Peeps!

Ok so if you know me at all then you know that I think The Office is an awesome show. So the good news is that I'm going to try to do Thursday Posts revolving around The Office, to really get you pumped up. The bad news is that a new episode of The Office is not coming until February (there is some clip show at the end of January sometime). In fact NBC is not even showing The Office tonight. I mean 2 new eps of 30 Rock is pretty solid but still. Also just an FYI, I love Community and Parks and Recreation (which I was not as in to last year but have now really gotten in to). So essentially NBC Thursday comedies are good. Tivo Grey's Anatomy and watch it on Saturday morning. You don't need that kind of drama on Thursday nights.

Ok so back to The Office. The Office and this website http://www.officetally.com/ have inspired me to make several Office themed meals, crafts and in one case a foray into thespian-ism (that's probably not a word, but we will get back to that at a later time). I know I'm a huge dork but anyways. Since there is no Office Episode tonight, lets take a moment to reflect back on a Classic Season 2 Episode of the Office, Office Olympics. Think back to the magical time when Ryan wasn't a complete jerk yet, when Jim was just a lowly paper salesman crushing on the office receptionist, when Jan still made an occasional appearance, and when Pam wore a button down shirt every day. And who can forget the magic moment when Michael Scott receives his gold medal from Jim "because he closed on his [gay friendly, in America] condo" and makes this heartwarming speech..........."I don't really know what to say. Um, I'm not one for making speeches, but ah, my heart is very full at this moment." It's way better live, go watch it. Now. I am........ seriously right now, from my bed.

Plus this ep features Flonkerton, Michael's Condo, the first mentions of Mose and Dwight's Beet Farm (I think) and the first appearance of Nancy Walls as Carol (Steve Carell's real wife, they always seem so cute together at awards shows). Plus it features the Olympic Medals made by Pam out of yogurt lids, which come back into play in a major way in my favorite episode ever later on in Season 3 (but again, we'll get to that later). Classic Episode. The Office: Office Olympics OfficeTally

So any who, when I saw this contest on Officetally...
The Office Peeps Contest OfficeTally
Posted using ShareThis
...I knew that I had to enter. And that I had to do the Closing Ceremony scene ("those are the doves") from Office Olympics. So off to Michael's and Harris Teeter to get my supplies which after many hours of perusing the aisles included............
Peeps in varying colors
a cardboard square box (to use as my background)
dove stickers
sequins
other random sized card board boxes
and then from home I already had....
string
paint
glue
markers

Anyways, I'm not going to go in to all of the details about this but I spent about 4 hours, cutting, gluing and trying to make peeps stand up. It also took quite awhile for me to make the mini yogurt lid medals out of sequins. But alas, I was done! And super proud. I thought it was amazing. I was sure to be a finalist. Then the finalists were posted. I saw the first two and I realized that there was no way I was going to be a finalist. Those things were amazing. I mean people claimed to have spent days working on these and I believed it. But my husband B said he liked it and that in no way was I crazy for spending that much time on a craft project, related to the Office, made out of Peeps, that didn't even make it in to the top 20. We kept it on our bookshelf until we moved.

So go watch old season 2 episodes of the Office tonight. I mean after you've watched Community and the rest of the NBC comedies. Community is Awesome! Don't watch that Grey's Anatomy-Private Practice special crossover event. It's just a ploy to get you to watch both shows. (Tivo it though. I mean, let's be honest, it's gonna be high drama.)

Here's one of the winners. The rest can be seen here...http://www.officetally.com/the-office-peeps-contest-finalists

***Side note-I hate the way Peeps taste. They should only be used in arts and crafts.***

Email From My Mom aka How to Roast Brussels Sprouts and a Bonus Recipe (family secret)....

Email exchange between my mom and I this week....

me-
please send me detailed instructions on how to make the brussels sprouts your made at christmas.thanx.

mom-
Look for fresh-looking b.s. Cut off the ends and pull off any yucky looking leaves so that you are left with a gorgeous, green sprout. Wash that off, then cut the sprouts in half. Season with a fine-quality olive oil, salt and pepper. I like to use sea salt or Kosher (the same) and cracked pepper. I especially like the Monini Fruttato O.O., but it is expensive-only buy when on sale. This week, the Colavita Fruttato(which I have never before seen in Fruttato) is an extraordinary buy at HT. $6 off the regular price. Keeping my fingers crossed that it is as good as Monini. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 min.-whenever you think they are browning a bit and done. I also add a little Balsamic or lemon juice or both during the cooking process. These are tasty morsels and packed with nutrional goodness. Love,Mom

mom again-
P.S. that little browning brings out the nutty flavor and goodness of the sprout.

OK, so lets roast some brussels sprouts. Oh and what's up with them being called BrusselS sprouts? I did not know about that S on the end until a couple of months ago. Too many s's if you ask me.

Fun Facts about BrusselS Sprouts stolen from wikipedia-Brussels sprouts belong to the same family that includes cabbage, collard greens, broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi: they are cruciferous. They contain good amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fibre. Moreover, they are believed to protect against colon cancer, due to their containing sinigrin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_sprout

So I essentially just followed her instructions above........

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Bag of fresh Brussels Sprouts from Harris Teeter
Sea Salt
Pepper (I wanted the kind you grind but we were out of it so I just used regular pepper)
Olive Oil (my good kind from Italy, thanks Mandy!-she hates being called that by the way)
Balsamic Vinegar

So I pretty much did what she said. I cut the ends off and halved all the brussels sprouts, then washed them. Then I lined a pizza pan (I'm not sure why I used that) with foil and put the sprouts, 1 tablespoon oil, a handful of salt and some pepper on it and mixed it around with my hands. Then I baked them for 35 minutes at 400 degrees. At the halfway point I drizzled some Balsamic Vinegar over them.

The Brussels sprouts browned nicely and tasted good. I think they might not even have needed balsamic. But I like it. Some of the leaves fell off and got crispy. Those were actually quite tasty. So overall I enjoyed these and my husband gave them a "mmmmmmmm Brussels sprouts" as soon as he was finished downing them.

And now for a bonus recipe. I made baby hamburgers to go with the sprouts. When I was little and my dad would go out of town, I would always request baby hamburgers from my mom. For some reason I guess he did not find them appealling. For years I thought they were a complex hamburger recipe served in a delicate tomato sauce. Then one day when I was older I asked for the recipe. Only 2 ingredients. Hamburger meat and a can of tomato soup. Make mini hamburger patties. Then cook them in a skillet over the stove and once they are cooked, add a can of tomato soup. Simmer for a few minutes and you're done. Delish and a great compliment to roasted brussels sprouts.

My Etsy Custom Order aka How to Make a Pair of Simple Dangle Earrings.....

So as I mentioned before, my sales on Etsy are pretty slow. I have several lovely friends and family members who have purchased things from me (my brother and sister had to be especially coerced to buy, but I know my mom loves the earrings they bought her for her birthday, plus I gave them free gift wrap and hand delivery since they were living out of town at the time). Over Christmas I received my first order from someone I didn't know for 2 sets of wine charms. Very exciting day. I freaked out a little.

At the beginning of January I got a request for a pair of customized earrings through the Etsy Alchemy which is where you make custom requests to vendors if you want something different than what they already had to sale. I was pretty excited. The requester (who at the time I assumed was my Mom or someone of that nature trying to boost my self esteem) wanted these earrings http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32844683 but in shades of purple. Well I do not have these beads in purple so I set out on a quest to find purple beads that look similar. So off I went to one of my favorite stores, Michael's, to check out their recently renovated bead aisle. I found one shade of purple round beads that I could use but the closest other purple was really a blue. But I decided I really wanted this person to be happy so I set off to the bead store (Indigo Beads....http://www.indigobeadstudio.com/). Plus purple is my favorite color and a bluish bead just really doesn't cut it. After much searching I found two beads in a light shade of purple that I thought would look great with the other beads. Those two beads cost pretty much the same price as a pack of 8 from Michael's but still. They had what I needed where Michael's did not.

So, now it was time to make the earrings. Making this type of earrings is pretty easy. I taught myself how to do it with a little help from the Internet. (I don't know why I'm sharing that as I like for people to think I'm super amazing because I can make a pair of earrings, but anyways). Here's how you do it......

First, get all your supplies.... for these earrings I used the 4 purple beads with 6 clear spacer beads. Then I needed the headpins to string them on as well as ear wires and my special jewelry making pliers. The two I used for this are round nose pliers and these other pliers, whose official name I'm not sure off. They grip stuff well and also cut wire.
Once you've got your supplies, you string the beads in the pattern that you want on to the headpin. Then you bend the headpin perpendicular. (See pictures below.) At that point you can trim the headpin, leaving enough pin to make a simple loop.

Now you make the loop using the round nose pliers. This is a simple loop and is about as simple as you can get. I've seen much more ornate ones where you wrap the wire or headpin back around the bottom to make it look cooler (I do this occasionally but I'm not a master at it yet).

Now you just need to add the beads to the ear wires. Depending on what kind you use, you pretty much just open the bottom with some pliers, add your headpins with beads on, and close it. And now you're done. Here's the final product.

Oh and the buyer was not my mom but a friend of a friend. So I still consider that a legitimate sale. Woot.

Button Earrings

Button Earrings are fun!

So after my wedding this past August, I got really in to jewelry making. Mostly earrings. I made so many that I started putting them for sale on Etsy. Sales have been a bit slow. One night over Thanksgiving break I had my sister, her friend, my brother, and my best friend all crammed in to my craft room (which was a huge mess by the way). They were all looking at my earrings and someone suddenly decided I should make earrings out of buttons. So, here they are.

These are pretty easy to make. You just glue 2 matching buttons to earring backs, which can be purchased at any craft store. I, however have been using super glue to glue the back on, which has been a little difficult. I always manage to glue a button to my finger, a button to the carpet or my fingers to each other. And super glue does not come off your fingers once it dries. At least not for a few days.

I also attempted to sell these earrings at the flea market a couple months ago. One woman came up to my table and shouted "no, you did not make earring out of buttons". I wasn't really sure how to respond so I just nervous laughed and said "yes I did." She did not buy any but one other woman did. So yay for button earrings. Also my friends and sister seem to like them. And if someone asks you why you are wearing a button in your ear you can always say "uh yeah, how do you think my ear is staying on my head." I said that once. The person looked confused. But anyways, I heart button earrings.

Oh and if you want to save yourself from gluing your fingers together, you can get some here....

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38263028