Ravioli Bake

I got this recipe from a pin on Pinterest, of course. It comes from Tasty Kitchen.

This recipe is - by far - the most delicious easy recipe I have come across!!

Ingredients

• 1 bag (25 Oz. Bag) Frozen Ravioli
• 1 jar (26 Oz. Jar) Marinara Sauce (I used a 24oz and it was fine, but you can supplement the two missing ounces with tomato sauce if you wish.)
• 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese, For Sprinkling

   

Directions

• Heat oven to 400°F. Spray bottom and sides of a 9×13 rectangular baking dish with cooking spray.  
• Spread 3/4 cup of the pasta sauce in baking dish. Arrange half of the frozen ravioli in a single layer over the sauce; top with half of the remaining pasta sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat layers once, starting with ravioli. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot in the center. 
• Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.   
   

 For having such limited ingredients, it really was good! And not having to boil the ravioli first is an added bonus! Yum, people. Just yum.

Comfort Food Casserole

I have actually made this dish several times, but was nervous to blog it before now. Why would I be nervous to blog something? Well, because this dish is delicious. K loves it, I love it, the sister-in-law even loves it. But you see, there's this one ingredient in it that I thought if K found out about it, she wouldn't eat it anymore. LOL Assuming she reads my blog, I didn't want to share the recipe. I finally had to come clean the other day because she offered to make the dish. I wasn't about to turn down an offer for her to cook, so I came clean. We wont mention that she never got around to cooking it. Haha!

I got the recipe from Food.com

Ingredients:

• 3 cups idaho potatoes, peeled, boiled and cut into cubes when cool, approx. 1 lb
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 lb Velveeta cheese, diced <~ This is the ingredient I didn't want K to find out about. LOL
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 lb skinless smoked sausage (Eckrich is my favorite brand)
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika <~ I skip this part.

Directions:

1. Cut skinless smoked sausage in half, lengthwise, and then chop into 1/2 inch "half moon" cuts. Cook in a frying pan for about 15 minutes, turning frequently to SLIGHTLY brown.
2. Meanwhile, put cooked & diced potatoes in 2 quart casserole. Add cooked meat and give it a gentle 
3. Mix all remaining ingredients (except for shredded cheddar cheese & the paprika) in a saucepan over medium heat until warm, melted and smooth. (Use a whisk and stir constantly.).
4. Pour white/cheese sauce over potatoes and meat. Sprinkle shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top, and then sprinkle paprika evenly over the top.
5. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 35-45 minutes (watch, until golden brown on top).

NOTE: You can substitute: 1/2 lb. hot dogs, sliced into 1/2-inch slices OR 1/2 lb. ham diced into 1/2-inch dices OR 12 oz. can of Spam diced into 1/2-inch dices, instead of the smoked sausage.

Healthy? Not so much. Delicious? Abso-freaking-lutely! Good as leftovers and freezes well if you're into that sort of thing. 

Lemon Cake for Kamtastic!

The photos wont do this particular blog any justice because well, I didn't take any because I didn't think I'd be blogging it because it's not what I do these days. However, I am on vacation this week so I was feeling some blog motivation!

Here's the best picture I have:

I told you the pic wouldn't do the cupcakes justice. Don't worry, I'll get to the decorations!

I got the recipe from Martha Stewart's website. I know, I cringed too, but I wanted to make something special and from scratch so I gave her a shot. The recipe is for cake, but I made cupcakes since I thought they'd be easier to have at beach bonfire b-day party.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (I used a total of 4 lemons for the whole recipe.)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 3 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced and seeded
• Lemon Buttercream frosting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. (Or put cupcake liners in a cupcake pan) In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest.
   
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time. Beat in 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined.
   
3. Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. (Or fill cupcakes about 3/4 of the way full - I did still smooth the tops, but I'm not sure it was necessary.) Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32 to 35 minutes. (Or bake cupcakes for 20 minutes - until a tooth pick comes out clean.) Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack.
   
4. These next two steps pissed me off. Once again, I didn't fully read the recipe before committing to making it. It wasn't as big of a pain as I thought it was going to be, but it annoyed me none the less. While cakes are baking, bring remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan. Add lemon slices and simmer 25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer lemon slices to a waxed-paper-lined plate. Stir remaining 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice into syrup.
   
5. Using a toothpick, poke holes in warm cakes on rack. Brush with lemon syrup. Let cool completely. Frost cooled cupcakes and top with candied lemon slices. <~ I skipped this last part. 
   
   
   We tested them out before frosting them and they were lemony delicious!!! They were so lemony, I almost skipped the lemon frosting. Once they were frosted with the lemon buttercream frosting tho, you could barely tell the cupcake was lemon too! I do think if I were to make them again, I would skip the lemon frosting. The lemon cupcakes were too much work to not give them the spot light! 
   
   
   
   
   
   Ok, for the decorations. I saw a pin on Pinterest where someone put they're kid's pic on cupcakes for their 1st b-day and I thought it was hilarious. I had to do it! So I sent my friend's wife a text and asked her for a funny picture of her. She sent me one, I had 25 wallets printed out, I glued/Mod Podged the pics to scrap paper and I got to cutting them out. (You could skip the gluing to scrapbook paper part if you want, I just wanted them to have pretty backs.) Once they were all cut out, K glued tooth picks to the backs and we stuck them in the cupcakes. 
   
   
   They were a hit! Party guests thought they were hysterical and dubbed them the "Redneck Army". LOL! They seemed to enjoy the cupcake, as well! 
   
   

   

   Good times! Happy Birthday Kamtastic!

    
   
   
   
   

Breast Cancer Beanie

The other day, a friend of mine had asked me if I could crochet a beanie for a friend of hers (that I had never met.) She was going to be starting chemo treatments for breast cancer in the next couple weeks and inevitably would lose her hair. I had never made a beanie, but I was happy to try. Later that day, I met my friend's friend and thought she was such a joy to be around. I was even more happy to make the beanie for someone so sweet and funny! (Not to mention she had one of the cutest Charpet dog I had ever seen!)

Here's how it started:

I got the pattern from a blog called "Knit, Crochet, and Everything Else Fun..." She called it a Spring Spirals Beanie. The spiral pattern is pretty awesome. I will let you go to her blog for the pattern, but here's a couple tips:

1. Her directions confused me when I got down to the 3rd row. She said, "Row 3: *2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch; repeat from * around (24 sts)". You may understand this, but I threw a little temper tantrum trying to figure it out. Translation: 1 single crochet in next 2 stitches, then 2 single crochet in the next stitch - repeat. (I also learned that having to count while crocheting makes me angry. K can attest to it - I think she still has the other side of her face after biting her head off because she was trying to talk to my while I was counting. We wont mention that she didn't know I was counting.)
   
   
2. When doing the brim, she says, "Make sure you do not slip stitch tightly." This is muy importante! She suggested using a larger hook. I didn't listen. I thought, "I got this!" I didn't. I put it on (thankfully before tying it off) and it made me look like that angry cat that's been floating around on the internet. I was lucky and was able to just undo a few rows and it was fine.
3. Use a stitch marker. I have never used one before - don't even own one. I just used a safety pin. I'm not even sure I used it the right way, but it was definitely helpful when crocheting the hat/brim.

Wait! It's not done yet! I thought it would be cute to throw a pink "ribbon" on it. This is where the true battle came in. I did some test runs before I went out and bought pink yarn since I am not a huge fan of pink and this is likely the only project I would do using pink. The test runs were successful in that I could make them, but it was bigger than I wanted. (I didn't take a pic of this one.) So, I tried a thinner yarn. It improved it, but was still too big. (See pic below.) Next, I stuck with that same yarn and just tried a smaller needle, which made the size much better. I think I even left the third row off the one on the bottom.

I got the awesome ribbon pattern from "Little Orphan Skein". I am so grateful to bloggers that share their patterns. If I was creative enough to come up with them on my own, I would absolutely share! The author of this blog created this pattern all on her own while cooking dinner. Impressive! 

Again, I will let you go to her blog for the pattern. She deserves the traffic on her blog for coming up with something so rad!!

Here's the final product:

I am not completely excited about how the ribbon turned out, but it can be easily removed if she feels the same way about it as I do and I won't be offended if she opts to take it off!

Honestly, I feel honored to make this for such a great woman! I hope it helps her through the journey she is embarking on. I have not a doubt in my mind that she will kick cancer's ass!

Cable Stitch Ear Warmer

Last year, I posted this to Facebook, "Pay it forward 2012. I promise to make something hand made to the first 5 people that comment. Then post this to your status and do the same... It can be as simple as a coffee, hand written note, or something more. Just has to be done in 2012."

I failed. 

The last week in December, I was wracking my brain to remember who the five people were. I told myself I was going to get them something before the end of the year, even if it was just a handmade card. 

I failed again. 

So I told myself, better late than never and I promised myself to get them something ASAP in 2013 and if I am feeling inspired to keep going, I will repost that post for 2013 and procrastinate till next year again.

Well, with this project, I have one less failure. 1 down, 4 to go. (If you're one of the four left, yours is coming, I promise!)

It's called "Cable Stitch 'Jenna' Headband" from Sadie's Basket.
(Which made it really hard to not want to give this to my good friend Jenna over at Bows and Leopard.)

I think it is more than a headband - it's also an ear warmer so I thought it was the perfect gift for my friend that lives in cold-ass Colorado.

Supplies:

• Crochet hook ‘I’
• Simply Soft Yarn
• 1 or 2 buttons for closure
• Sewing needle

Abbreviations Used:

• ch: chain
• sts: stitches
• sc: single crochet
• hdc: half double crochet
• fptr: front post triple crochet
• bptr: back post triple crochet

Headband:

-chain 13 (or any number that leaves 4 cable stitches in the middle and an even number of stitches on both sides- So here I wanted 4,4,4 so the ch 13 will make 12 sts)

Row 1: sc in 2^nd chain and each remaining chain, turn

Row 2: ch 2 (counts as first hdc here and throughout), hdc in each of the remaining 11 sts, turn (12 sts total)

Row 3: ch 2, hdc in next 3 sts, fptr in post of each of the next 4 hdc, hdc in each of 4 remaining st, turn

Row 4: ch 2, hdc in next 3 sts, bptr in post of each of the 4 fptr, hdc in 4 remaining st, turn

Row 5: ch 2, hdc in next 3 sts, skip the next 2 stitches (sts 1 & 2) and fptr in post of 3^rd bptr and 4^th bptr, then go back to the 2 skipped sts and fptr in the post of the 1^st bptr and 2^nd bptr (in that order every time- 3, 4, 1, 2), hdc in remaining 4 sts, turn 
(*make sure when you do the fptr in the 1st bptr and 2nd bptr, you are doing these over top (or in front of) the 3rd and 4th stitches. This is what gives it the cross-over look*)

Row 6: repeat row 4

Row 7: repeat row 5

Row 8: repeat row 4

Row 9: repeat row 5

-Continue this pattern until the headband measures about 19”-20" long, finishing with row 4. (about 20 cross-overs)

-Row ? (however long your headband is): repeat row 3

-Hdc 2 rows as the ending edge. Tie off.

Sew in ends and attach button between the 2 hdc rows at the end. When buttoning the headband, I just slip the button through the middle of the 4 cable stitches- there should be a big enough gap.

 

I struggled a bit with the end. I am pretty sure that was the first time I have ever sewed a button in my life. Hopefully it doesn't fall apart after the first time she uses and. If I lived somewhere colder, I would definitely make one for myself!