Etsy Shop is open for business!

Etsy shop is open for business so come take a look!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Caterwauled

So far lots of photo cards, they make great gifts!

Christmas gifts 2010

This year I decided to make presents. It started because of my tight budget but also because I enjoy doing it. This year I made a couple things. For my dad’s side of the family I made ornaments and garlands out of an old book my dad’s grandmother had given me years ago. The binding was broken and I thought it would be fun to share. I started by buying a circle cutter (about $15 and can be found in the scrap booking isle of your local Wal-Mart) and cutting 3” circles. I also mutilated one of my antrhopologie catalogs to give it a bit of color. I love their ads and use of color and patterns so I thought it was a good choice. After you have a stack of circles cut group them into stacks of about 4-6 circles each. Then begin to sew a strip together skipping about 2” in-between each. To make ornaments just sew one stack together. I think these came out well and slipped nicely into a card.

With the cards I included a stack of my homemade photo cards showcasing my trip to the UK this September… post to follow soon. I hope to start selling these on Etsy.

Also inside the cards was a cd with a .pdf of a book I put together of all the recipes I tried this year, with lessons learned for each. I will start posting them one at a time after the New Year, so keep checking back for updates.

On the baking front I made the white chocolate macadamia tart from thanksgiving, the spiced cake balls and homemade peppermint patties, see below

Peppermint Patties:

Ingredients

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

4 cups confectioners' sugar

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 teaspoons shortening

Directions

-In a large mixing bowl, combine condensed milk and peppermint extract.

-Beat in enough confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, to form a stiff dough that is no longer sticky.

-Form into 1 inch balls, then place on waxed paper and flatten with fingers to form patties. Let patties dry at room temperature two hours, turning once. Or put in freezer for about 15 min

-In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate with shortening, stirring often. (This also works in the microwave stirring every 30 sec.)

-Remove from heat. Dip patties, one at a time, into chocolate by laying them on the tines of a fork and lowering the fork into the liquid. Let cool on waxed paper until set. (Make sure to use fresh wax paper so you don’t get the excess sugar mixture stuck to the outside of the chocolates)

original recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peppermint-Patties/Detail.aspx

Holly Garland

So when I got home last night I was faced with the same internal confrontation I face every night. To go to the gym, or not to go to the gym. In my usual manner I change my mind about 3 to 4 times and finally decide that the best excuse I have is that if I don’t go to the gym I will at least do something productive. And being that I feel like I’m not quite in the Christmas spirit, I decided that we needed a Christmas garland for the mantel. So I lit my apple cider candle, put on my slippers, and went outside to proceed to rape our holly bush. I was careful not to take too much from one spot but simply gave it the “trimming“ it needed. I got a bunch of little branches and just started twisting thread around them, adding new branches as I went. So after about 20 min and another trip outside I was done. My hands were pretty cut up and sore but I thought it was worth it.

I began to tape it up to the mantel but felt it needed a little something extra. I remembered that I had some purple feathers I hadn’t used for my Halloween costume so I added them for effect. And Because I did not have any red ribbon for the center bow, I took off the necklace I had been wearing that day and placed it in the middle. All in all, I think it came out nicely, and now are house is just a little more festive.