St. Patty's Day Beer Bread

I'm not a beer drinker, but I do like baking with beer.  I've tried several different versions of beer bread, and I really liked this one.  I used Guinness in honor of St. Patty's Day, and it's not as sweet as other beers, so the recipe calls for brown sugar, which gives it just the right kick.  It could not get much easier than this.  And, a trick for a non-beer drinker-I grabbed an individual bottle of beer at a gas station rather than a whole six pack.  

All the recipe calls for is 11.5 oz Guinness Beer, 1/4 c. packed brown sugar, 1/4 c. melted butter, 3 c. bread flour.  Mix, put in 9x5 inch bread pan (greased).  Brush some butter on top, and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes (until toothpick come out clean).

Portable Fairy Garden

A few years ago I brought all the fixings to help my goddaughter build a fairy garden when I went to visit her.  She has since moved several times, and it got me to thinking about those fairy gardens and how cute they are in the summer, but winter comes, and moves come, and when I ran across the idea of creating little 'houses' out of pots at craftsunleashed, I loved this idea b/c they store well in the winter and can even travel with you.  It would also be fun to create a 'theme' out of each pot until you have a little town.  

 I bought most of the 'stuff' at Michael's, but I found some plastic flowers (more weather proof), a small door, and some self adhesive moss at Hobby Lobby.  I'm an equal opportunity crafter.

 The door actually had a tooth on it, so I glued a pink flower over the tooth.  I then glued pebbles and flowers around the door, and stuck moss between the rocks.

I added some pink rocks and a fairy to the trivet below and it's ready for planting....and magic.

St. Patrick's Day Shamrock

I have been obsessing over all the pink/brown/orange/cream things going around the net these days.  So, I had an extra Shamrock from a GMT segment and decided to use up some of the 'ends' of yarn I keep in storage for projects just like this.  

Joann's had several different options for shamrocks, some unfinished, and this chalkboard shamrock, but the point is, I just needed the shape.

 I was using six different yarns, and the board is 12 inches tall, so I measured and drew off 2 inch lines using a silver sharpie.

 I glued some yarn around the bottom since it would be hard to wrap it around this area.

 Then I started wrapping.  I added a little glue as I went to keep the yarn in place.

 For the weird edges, I laid piece of yarn down and glued it flat, then wrapped and glued it around the edge.

I started at the top of the next line for each color and worked my way down just to keep things even.  

 In progress.

 Again, as I reached weird edge, I'd start there and wrap and glue, and then cover that up as I continued to wrap.  The bag doesn't look as good as the front.  If I were hanging this on my door, I'd cover the back with one piece of fabric, but this is going flush against a wall, so I didn't worry about that for this project.

Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out and want to add some bunting etc.

St Patrick's Day Bubble Gum Necklace

I did a little something like this a few years ago for Valentine's Day and busted it out again for St Patrick's Day.  An edible rainbow necklace to celebrate all things Irish.  

 I love to explore the candy bins at Party City.  You can pick your own colors/candies and they are 10 or 15 pieces per dollars, so you don't have to buy a bunch of packages of one colored gum to make just a few necklaces.  This is not an add, just a tip if you haven't discovered this section.  I use it a lot of parties too when I want to use candy on tables for parties (instead of confetti).
To make a hole to string my gum I used a scrapbook pocker, but in the past I have used push pins and nails to do the trick as well, or a nice sharp skewer will do the trick.  Basically, something sharp, but not too thick or it will crack the gum.

I threaded a needle with some thin ribbon and pushed the ribbon through the holes.  I also tied a knot between each piece.  

 Ready to wear, but more importantly, ready to wear.  I think I'll make some Oreo cookie necklaces to take with me to work on Monday.

St Patrick's Day Wreath

I'm working on a few super easy St Patrick's Day crafts.   I'll post the video tomorrow on Facebook. I've seen a lot of door decorations covered in moss, and discovered sheets of self adhesive moss recently at the craft store (I've found it at both Joann and Hobby Lobby-use a coupon).  I also grabbed this unfinished shamrock at Joann.  They also had some chalkboard shamrocks I bought as well.  Basically, I just wanted the shape.  

 I painted the edges green, and then I just started tracking out the shamrock shape on the back of the moss.

 Peel and stick.

 I did it in sections to control it a bit as it stuck down.

 I sprayed a letter gold and added a bow and it's ready to welcome guest.

Football: Loaded Baked Potato Dip

I saw this recipe at myrecipes.com and I had to try it out.  It suggest eating this with waffle fries....I could see that being uber delicious, but for the purposes of laziness, I just scooped this up with some ruffled potato chips.  Basically, this is the innards to a baked potato, sans the potato...and really, who cares about the actual potato part of a baked potato anyway?  This just saves me the effort of having to pretend.  For me, this solves the potato to innard calorie o' goodness toppings.  Dips....they always get me in so much fun trouble, but it sooths the hurt when your team :cough Cowboys: aren't current superbowl chapions.  Maybe this year...and if not....there's always this dip. 

Loaded Baked Potato Dip Recipe

Mix 2 oz of cooked bacon (I cheated and used the precooked bits), 16 oz of sour cream, 2 c. (8 oz) of shredded cheddar cheese, 1/3 c. fresh chives (I used the larger green onions), 2 t. hot sauce.  Chill and serve with waffle friends or chips. 

New Potato Casserole

With St. Patrick's Day looming...potatoes seem like a good subject for a blog.  The problem with being single and buying 'bags of vegetables' is the dedication you are applying yourself to in order to get through said bag before the bag of 'whatever' goes bad, or your diet goes south.  In the process of applying these principals to this bag of new potatoes, one of those went south.  Whatever....this was a super easy recipe...and if I ever need to work through a bag of potatoes again (it'll be awhile) this is one of the items on the list. 

New Potato Casserole

1.  Dice, but don't peel 12 med new potatoes (I cut this recipe in half, starting here).  Steam potatoes until tender. 

2.  Place potatoes in a casserole dish. 

3.  Top with 16 slices of bacon (fried and crumbled), 1/2 c. butter (melted), 3 chopped green onions, 2 c. cheddar cheese. 

4.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes (until cheese is melted). 



I Don't Believe in Luck....

Never have, never will, BUT there is still something fun about St. Patrick's Day. I guess it's the green, the idea of being pinched, the pure strangeness of this holiday, and the traditions that have evolved....I dunno-I think someone invented the day for drinking beer. Anyway, at the risk of my little friend, Donovan, being pinched (though I'm pretty sure his Irish Mama will take care of the green)-I tried out this shoe pattern again (http://christyrobbins.blogspot.com/2009/12/someday-in-heaven.html) on some little green shoes-trying to make them look as 'boyish' as possible so my name won't ever make his therapy list. I had some technical difficulties due to a sewing machine that was done sewing....but at the risk of not 'finishing something' (says the task driven girl), I completed them anyway. The sides are so narrow, they may not stay on his little feet, but I didn't remake them b/c I figured he'd only be wearing them for one occasions b/c A) Shamrocks are only in style on March 17th, and B) I suspect his foot will be bigger than 3 months by this time next year. So...Shamrock shoes for Donovan-because it's always good to have someone that sends you strange gifts. I never had a strange gift giver in my life, and I felt really left out not getting blue jean vest with appliqued, dancing cows, and rhinestones decorating the pockets via the mail (another story, for another time).....