Crafts

Winter Wedding Flowers

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My best friend got married today. It was a perfect Alaska wedding — crisp, clear night, moon shining high in the starlit sky. Friends and family huddled closely as the couple exchanged their vows beneath a lit up arch draped with fresh evergreen garlands. The ceremony ended with the couple rubbing noses in the traditional Inupiaq way.

I got to make the flower arrangements for the reception. I made boutonnieres and corsages, but since the wedding party was all bundled up in sealskin parkas, most of them weren’t used. That’s fine by me because I love any chance I have to make boutonnieres.

The bride said her colors were white and red, but mostly white, so I bought two types of mums, some stock, white and red spray roses, some kind of white bushy filler (I don’t dig baby’s breath), and some sort of exotic budding flower that looked appealing to me. I also got 25 red roses and picked some spruce and birch branches from my yard.

Making corsages really isn’t tough. Simple materials:
Floral wire
Floral tape
Scissors
Pearl pins

I try to keep my designs simple. I don’t like big honking roses that end up sagging by the end of the night, so I used one or two mums and a spray rose with a background of spruce and whatever the bushy filler I got.

When wiring a flower, cut the bloom leaving about 1-2 inches of stem. Poke about 6 inches of wire through the base of the bloom and wrap the wire around the stem, leaving about 3 inches of bare wire. Then tightly wrap the base of the bloom all the way to the tip of the wire.

When wiring a twig or non-bloom piece, just look for crux in the branch and fold the wire around it, and follow the instructions above.

Above is an example of some corsage pieces. After this, I just arrange the pieces and then wrap all the sticky stems together, like so:

Then using floral tape I wrap the entire thing from top to bottom. I curl the end of the corsage around a pen so it looks pretty.

Usually I make a bow and wire it up the same way and include it in the corsage, but the bride didn’t want bows.

I made her a bouquet, which I think turned out lovely.

I also made a couple of arrangements. I put fresh cranberries in the vases and some glass marbles. I loved the effect, although after arranging I got a couple of cranberry floaters.

And then I decorated the base of the cake:

All in all, this was a great wedding and I’m so happy I had a part in it.

Cooking

Non-traditional beef stew

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No photo. Stew doesn’t look good in photos. I love a traditional beef stew with the carrots, potatoes, peas and whatnot. Several years ago I found a mediterranean lamb stew in a random cookbook and since lamb is extremely expensive up here I used beef instead. It has become a staple in our household and was adamantly requested for tonight’s meal.

Ingredients:
1 Tbs cooking oil
About 1 pound cubed stew meat
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup beef stock (or chicken stock)
3 Tbs Wondra flour, or regular flour
3 cloves garlic
6 anchovy filets
6 sprigs of fresh thyme, stems removed OR 2 Tbs dried thyme
salt and pepper

Coat a large frying pan with cooking oil and turn heat to med-high. Salt and pepper the meat and add to hot pan. Brown on all sides. Meanwhile, mince the anchovies and garlic together till they are somewhat of a paste. Include the fresh thyme in this step, if using. Mix together the stock, wine and flour.
When meat is browned, add the wine, stock, flour, thyme, garlic, and anchovies. Stir, cover, and turn down heat once simmering. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add frozen peas or beans to stew if desired and recover till veggies are cooked.
Serve with buttered egg noodles.

Crafts

Bow-quet

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We have way too many Christmas wrapping bows so I decided to make something out of them. Easiest craft of the day:

Just add some stuffing to flower pot. Add a couple of sheets of tissue paper to the top of stuffing and tuck in the sides of paper around the inside of the pot. Tape bows to the tissue. Voila!
Cooking, Italian

Pesto, Pesto, Pesto!!!

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My dad let me thin out his homegrown basil so naturally I had to make pesto sauce with homemade Italian sausage. The pesto recipe is as follows, but you’ve got to check out my dad’s Web site for his Italian sausage recipe.

I use Marcella Hazan’s blender pesto recipe, but tweak it depending on what ingredients I’m lacking. After several taste tests, my dad and I have concluded that if you can’t afford pine nuts at $30 a pound, subbing shelled pistachios does not drastically alter the flavor the way walnuts do. It’s actually quite tasty with pistachios. I can’t really tell the difference.

Pesto sauce — good for about 1.5 lbs. pasta

Ingredients:
4-6 cups fresh basil, stems removed
3/4 – 1 cup olive oil (I start with less and add more if necessary)
1/4 cup pine nuts or peeled pistachios
3 cloves garlic, lightly crushed with a chef’s knife
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup freshly graded Pecorino Romano cheese (sub more Parm if you don’t have this)
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled to room temp.

Directions:
With a blender or food processor, blend the olive oil, pine nuts and garlic till combined. Slowly add the basil till well blended. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the cheeses. When butter is cooled, add to sauce. If a little thick, add more olive oil.

Make the sauce while the pasta is cooking.
Yum!

Crafts

Christmas tags

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I love the holidays! It’s only halfway through the month and I’ve done all my Christmas shopping. Our tree is overflowing with gifts:

This year I decided to get a little creative with the gift tags. Usually I buy tags from the thrift store. I found some cute vintage ones this year, which I used, but I also made my own gift tags out of paint chips. I printed off some gift tag templates and traced them onto free paint samples from the hardware store. They turned out so well!

Last night I decided to embellish some gifts by making an initial out of a pipe cleaner.

Easy to make: I drew a large cursive letter on a piece of paper and then curved the pipe cleaner to match. Where the pipe cleaner intersects with itself I twisted it around so it would stay put.

Inexpensive and it makes the present that much more special.

Cooking, Italian

Chicken Parmesan

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No picture, but a good way to use chicken breasts in a tasty way. Serves 3-4
Use my Meatballs Recipe but substitute 2 chicken breasts. Roughly chop the chicken and put into the food processor till ground. Form into 3 or 4 big flat patties. Dredge in bread crumbs and fry in a large sautee pan with hot vegetable oil for a few minutes on both sides. If center isn’t quite cooked, microwave for a couple of minutes. Smother in marinara sauce!

Crochet, Knit & Crochet, Patterns

Crocheted Ornaments

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Never did I think crocheting would look attractive, especially in Christmas ornament form. I guess it all depends on the yarn, but I’ve been having fun making these. I’ve included my pattern below, but if you want a real pro’s pattern, visit my favorite crochet artist’s  Ornament Tutorial.
Here’s our little tree.

I don’t know what size hook I used, nor do I know how to write crochet patterns, but here’s sort of how I made them.

Make 2 of the following pattern:

Round 1: Chain 5 and form into a loop. Chain 2 and DC into loop 11 times (12 spokes). Join to 2nd stitch of first chain. Bind off.
Round 2: Between two of the spokes, bring in new color and Chain 2. DC once into the same space, DC twice in every other chain space (24 spokes). Join to 2nd stitch of first chain. Bind off.
Round 3: In a space between two sets of two spokes, bring in new color and chain 3. DC twice more into same space, skip 2 spokes and DC 3 times in the bigger space. Repeat till end of round. Join to 3rd stitch of first chain. Bind off. (If making a small size, skip to round 5).
Round 4: In space between two sets of three spokes, bring in new color. Chain 3 then DC three times into same space. Skip next 3 spokes and DC four times in the bigger space. Repeat till end of round. Join to 3rd stitch of first chain. Bind off.
Round 5: With wrong sides facing from both circles, join with new color by inserting hook into an outer stitch of both circles and pulling yarn through to the front. Single chain each stitch (not in between the spokes like the other rounds, but into the stitch on the outside of the round). Make sure to go through both circles with each single chain. Repeat SC till there’s about 2 inches of open space left between the two circles. Place a little bit of stuffing inside till it’s stuffed to your liking. Finish off the SC border. Join to first stitch of the round then chain for 4 inches to make a loop. Join to the beginning of the chain. Weave in ends.

Cooking

Big Batch of Chili

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I like it spicy!

Ingredients (all spices are eyeballed):
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, chopped
1 anaheim pepper, chopped
1-2 TBS cumin
2 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 14-oz. can chopped tomatoes with green chilies
1 can chili beans with flavored sauce
1 can white beans, drained but not rinsed
1/2 cup beef broth
1 zucchini, diced

Directions:
Brown the beef over medium high heat. Don’t drain the fat. Add the onion and peppers and saute till onions are soft. Add the garlic and spices and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes, broth and beans and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat and cook until you’re too starving to wait any longer. Add the zucchini ten minutes before serving. Zucchini is optional. Top with shredded sharp cheddar and a dollop of sour cream.

I think this is South Beach Diet friendly!

Cooking

Quinoa stir fry

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Liquid ingredients are approximate

Ingredients:
1 cup raw quinoa, cooked according to package
1 crown fresh broccoli, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 carrot, julienned
1 cup cooked edamame without the pods
1 brick of extra firm tofu
2 scallions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 TBS corn starch
2 TBS cooking oil
1 TBS sesame oil
2 tsp chili garlic paste
2 tsp seasoned rice vinegar

Directions:
Drain the tofu and slice it in half like a hamburger bun. Place in a pie pan lined with paper towels. Place a paper towel on top and weigh a heavy pan on top to press out the liquid. Let rest for 10 minutes. Drain off excess liquid and chop tofu into bite size pieces. Heat the broccoli in the microwave with a small amount of water in a plastic wrap-covered bowl for 1.5 minutes.
Heat cooking oil in a large saute pan over high heat. When oil starts to shimmer, add the tofu and brown on all sides. Drain the oil. Add the carrot, scallion, garlic, broccoli, edamame and sesame oil. Toss to coat. Add the cooked quinoa, soy sauce, corn starch, chili garlic paste and vinegar and toss till thoroughly coated. Add more soy sauce if necessary to create a good glazed sauce.

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