About my “about” page

Tags

blogging challenge, DIY jewelry, jewelry-making, Zero to Hero challenge, zerotohero

Today’s assignment for the Zero to Hero Blogging Challenge is to write an about page for our blog, or if we have one already in place, to revisit or refresh it. To improve it, in other words. Okay, a somewhat boring assignment but I could go with it. I only said boring because I’m not really learning anything new. I know that an about page is important, and I have already written several versions of it, before sticking with the current one. But to new bloggers, this may be an exciting assignment.

Or maybe if they had put a twist in this task, and pair up bloggers so each can write the other’s about page, it’d be more interesting. You’ll write my about page, and I’ll write yours. Just a thought, y’know. But, whatever, this isn’t social hour, I guess. Although, I would have loved to be able to add to my about page what someone else thinks about my blog. Hey, sometimes other people can explain you better than yourself.

I suppose I can add photos or maybe more links, but for now I’m quite satisfied with my about page. There are aspects of my life that are left out, obviously. I wouldn’t subject my readers to details only interesting to myself. I’m not that narcissistic. Well, maybe a little. That’s why I’m posting these:

Yup, I made them. Jewelry-making is another hobby of mine. I make jewelry when I don’t have anything else to do, something that hasn’t occurred since I started blogging. Some of these I wear, but mostly I make jewelry to give to friends as presents. I don’t sell them, even though the thought crossed my mind. Each piece is unique and takes so much time to make that I have a hard time pricing them.

One of these days, maybe I’ll do a tutorial on how to make some of these jewelry, if people are interested. Then, the deception will be complete. I will then truly become a full-fledged fraud. A gardener that cooks and crafts, but doesn’t garden! Didn’t I tell you I should rename my blog “The Novice Gardener, Or Not”?

Well, folks, that’s all for now. Thank you for reading and following me on this blogging challenge. It’s still not too late to join. I highly recommend it. In the meantime, enjoy this song, from me to you. I thought it’s an appropriate one. I may stray from gardening at the moment, probably because it’s too cold to do any growing. But when it warms up, once again I’ll be a gardener. I’ll come back home. I think.

By the way, I was told that it’s okay to embed YouTube videos. Hopefully, nobody is going to shut me down.

Happy New Year 2014!

Tags

appetizers, canapes, caramelized onions, DIY drink stirrers, DIY food picks, mushroom ragout, new year's recipes, polenta recipe

 
Hi there, awesome people! My apologies, but the story and recipes that come with this entry have been migrated to my other blog, FiestaFriday.net

If you’re looking for the recipe for the Polenta Mushroom Canapé or How To Make Polenta, please get the recipes here –>Polenta Mushroom Canapé

And I hope you’ll like what you see on my new blog and decide to stay and chat with me!

Angels and the food they eat

Tags

angel food cake, Christmas, Christmas baking, Christmas craft, David Lebovitz, dessert, DIY angel ornaments, recipe

Do angels really exist? Why, of course, they do! I live with at least a couple of them. The third one is yet to be determined. It’s not clear to me if he’s an angel or not at this point.

I called and called on him to come bring me a glass of water, as I was resting on the couch, completely pooped from all the shopping, decorating, cleaning, cooking, and yes, eating, but he wouldn’t come. He couldn’t be pried away from his game. Why did we keep buying him all these electronic games?

The other two are clearly angels. The daughter came to wrap a warm blanket around me while I was snoozing. The hubby followed up by building a fire. I ended up sleeping on the couch half the night, it was so warm and comfy there.

So, it’s only natural that I reciprocated and feed them the only food befitting angels, Angel Food Cake. I gave the angel-in-training a slice, too, even though it’s questionable whether he deserved it or not. After all, his mom is an angel herself. Hey, my name is Angie, isn’t it?

Angel Food Cake

• Difficulty: Moderate
• Print

There seems to be a consensus out there that this is hard to make, but I’m not sure what the fuss is. Angel Food Cake is not any harder to make than other cakes. Here are my thoughts on making this cake.

• Cream of tartar is a must-have ingredient.
• Cake flour creates a light cake, but is not necessary. Yes, I’ve made Angel Food Cake with all-purpose flour with very good results.
• Egg whites should be brought to room temperature before beating. It makes a difference in the amount of volume created.
• Don’t overbeat the egg whites. Overbeating creates a dry cake.
• Alton Brown is a genius. His method of grinding the sugar ahead of use is absolutely brilliant!

There are a couple of good recipes online for Angel Food Cake. Alton Brown and David Lebovitz both have good recipes. I sort of combined both to get to a happy medium.

1 cup cake flour (not self-rising) or 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups egg whites (about 12 eggs), at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. In a food processor, grind sugar until it is superfine. Combine half of the sugar with the flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, vanilla, and lemon juice until soft, droopy peaks form.
4. Gradually add the reserved sugar (the half without the flour), beating on high-speed. Do not overbeat; David Lebovitz explains “the egg whites should not be overly dry or stiff, but soft and cloud-like.”
5. Spoon flour-sugar mixture 1/4 cup at a time over egg whites, folding gently with a rubber spatula, just until blended.
6. Spoon the batter into ungreased 9 or 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top, and bake for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Immediately invert cake onto a funnel or a bottle, unless your tube pan has “feet”, in which case you wouldn’t need the funnel or bottle. Let cake cool completely before removing from pan.
7. Serve with lemon sauce or blueberry sauce.

Note:
I made smaller cakes, using mini 5-inch tube pans. The recipe makes 6 mini cakes, or 24 muffins.

***

Angel Ornaments
Now that we’ve decided angels do exist, the next question is, do they have wings? For the sole purpose of giving them that “cute” factor, I’m going against Father Renzo Lavatori on this one, and decided that they should. Otherwise, my angels would just look like triangles and circles hanging on a piece of ribbon!

And angels don’t have to be just for Christmas, by the way. They are perfect for everyday, and definitely a must for Valentine’s day. You know, Cupid! Isn’t he an angel? Anyway, I’m just giving you craft ideas. Come Valentine’s day, you might want to make a few angels or Cupids for decorations. I know I will.

Feliz Navidad, everyone! I don’t know what y’all are planning to do, but I’m going to sleep for the next three days straight. Angels need some rest and relaxation, too! 🙂

What color is your Santa?

Tags

Christmas, Christmas baking, Christmas craft, cupcakes, DIY, how-tos, Santa, Santa hat cupcakes, seashell Santa, strawberry, strawberry Santa

Unlike Megyn Kelly, I really don’t care much about the color of your Santa. Or for that matter, whether your Santa is a penguin or a polar bear. Heck, I’m making seashell Santa and strawberry Santa! You think I’m qualified to be judging other people’s Santa?

Besides, I’ve got more important issues to think about. First, I have a daughter to console. Someone stole her purse when we were in the mall. No, she didn’t lose it. It was stolen, as in swiped off her shoulder. Her entire life was pretty much in it, her cell phone, Nintendo DS, wallet, notebook, and other knickknacks that tweeners must have with them at all times.

Does that sound like a trivial problem to you? Ok, how about my other problem? I have to decide which cologne I should buy as a Christmas present for hubby. He’s always worn this certain cologne, and generally he smells pretty nice. But recently I came across a men’s cologne I really like and would love for him to wear.

Here’s the dilemma. What if he doesn’t like it, since it’s quite different from the one he’s used to wearing? The more important question is, who is a cologne for, anyway, the wearer or the smeller?

***

Last year I worked with a wonderful teacher and friend. She must be the teacher that defenders of teachers union speak about. Willing to spend personal time and money out of her own pocket so that her students get the most out of their education.

The humor she brought into her classroom made her teaching effective. She frequently enhanced her lessons with meaningful and appropriate craft projects. The seashell Santa was one of those crafts, and she wisely provided both light and dark flesh color paints.

Seashell Santa

• Difficulty: Moderate
• Print

Supplies needed:
Oyster shells
A drill with a small bit
Acrylic or craft paints (red, white, black and flesh tone)
Paint brushes
Nylon thread or ribbon

1. Clean the shells and drill a small hole on the top part of the shells (the pointy part) before painting. Mine came cleaned and drilled, courtesy of Miss B, the teacher I referenced above. Thank you, Miss B!

2. Paint the top/pointy part of the shells in red to make Santa’s hat. Let it dry completely.

3. Paint the rest of the shells white and add a small white ball on top of Santa’s hat. Let paint dry completely.

4. Paint an oval-shaped face in the middle of the white paint, using either light or dark flesh-colored paint.

5. Using a fine-tipped brush, paint the details of Santa’s face.

6. Add a hanger by looping a piece of ribbon or nylon thread through the small hole on top of the shells.

***

If you stay on pinterest long enough, you’re bound to find these. I can’t tell where the original recipe came from, it’s been repeated so many times. Whoever thought of these, you are a genius! So simple, easy, and yet so cute! Of course, you can tint your whipped cream with any color of your choice.

Strawberry Santa

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Ingredients:
Strawberries
Whipped cream
Chocolate sprinkles or mini morsels

1. Slice the bottom part of strawberries (the leafy part) evenly, so that they will be able to stand up. These will be Santa’s bodies.

2. Slice the pointy part of strawberries to make Santa’s hats.

3. Add a dollop of whipped cream on top of the bodies. Put the little hat on top of the cream. Add a small ball on top of the hats, two chocolate sprinkles/morsels for Santa’s eyes, and two small buttons down the front of the bodies.

By the way, my daughter took a look at all the Santas and started laughing hysterically. Somehow she found them highly amusing, even though she also said they looked creepy. Looks like I no longer have problem #1. If she can laugh like that, she must have forgotten about her stolen purse. Thank goodness!

We decided that Santa hat cupcakes were less creepy. These are just mini cupcakes with whipped cream frosting and topped with strawberries. Don’t they look adorable?