juju goods

Valentine's Day Mantel

2012-02-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

I use to HATE Valentine's Day! For the longest time, I thought it was silly! Even after I got married. Just until a few years ago...I think I really didn't like any holidays! But, now I am a a sucker for decorations and items that make a house feel warmer! It started with Halloween decorations, then Christmas now Valentine's day. I don't try and go crazy but a little red and pink to lighten up our little house helps!
Here is what I did on our mantel. I found this really cute printable that I printed out and stuck in a frame! Price: FREE. This print was found at Clean & Scentsible
Right now I am all about using my resources: items around the house. I really love doing flag banners, I think they are so cute and a great idea. Instead of printing out letters, I found some tags and wrote out "LOVE" and threw some heart stickers, put a string on each and was done with that banner. Of course, I thought I needed more! I did another banner with hearts that I cut out. For my last Valentine craft I made the door piece and had left over letters. So I put together the word KISS and painted with red and pink ink!
I did find this really large "paper clip" at Michael's Crafts that I had to have. That was my one splurge for this holiday mantel! If anyone has any other great ideas, please share, I have a week left to decorate!

Meat Pie

2012-01-28T15:09:00.000-08:00

MEAT PIE sounds weird. Doesn't it? I pretty much cook every night and it seems that I have the same recipes every few weeks. I have tons of cookbooks, search the web, and even have an app to help me find recipes. But, why do I go to the same ones over and over? I guess it's just comfortable. Here is a recipe that I found on Epicurious.com. Of course I changed a little and added what I had in the re-fridge. But it was nice to have another recipe to add to my rotation. I made it easier by already having pre made pastry dough in the freezer from Trader Joes...
My husband loved it and went back for seconds so I know it was good!

Here is my version:

1 lb of ground beef
half a onion, chopped
one parnip
corn
spinach
curry powder

Cook meat and add veggies put pastry dough on top and bake in oven for 25 minutes at 375. Done and add a salad.

Peanut Butter Clouds!

2012-01-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

Apparently Wednesday was National Peanut Butter Day! How did I miss that? Peanut butter has been in my life since I was probably 3? I love it, I eat peanut butter ALMOST EVERYDAY!! Not kidding....When I was looking through Alice Medrich's book I found this recipe. I was in heaven! Last year sometime I went to see her do a demo on some of her cookies from this book. It happened that these clouds were one of them, she made them much larger and sprinkled some peanuts on top. YUM! Here is my version of these pop in your mouth treats!

Ingredients:

3 egg whites, at room temperature

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

2/3 cup (4.625 ounces) sugar

1/3 cup (3 ounces) chunky or smooth natural peanut butter, well stirred before measuring

2/3 cup (3.3 ounces) toasted and skinned hazelnuts or toasted almonds, very coarsely chopped

3 ounces coarsely chopped milk chocolate (such as Scharffen Berger Rich Milk Chocolate), or 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

3 tablespoons finely chopped salted peanuts

Equipment:

Cookie sheets lined with parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven

Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean dry bowl. Beat at medium-high speed with a heavy-duty stand mixer (or high speed with a hand mixer) until the egg whites are creamy white (instead of translucent) and hold a soft shape when the beaters are lifted. Continue to beat on medium to high speed, adding the sugar a little at a time, taking 1 1/2 to 2 minutes in all, until the whites are very stiff. Scatter small spoonfuls of peanut butter over the meringue. With a large rubber spatula, fold about three strokes. Scatter the nuts and chocolate over the batter and continue to fold until they are dispersed and the peanut butter is mostly blended; a few uneven streaks of white meringue are okay.

Drop rounded tablespoons of meringue 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined cookie sheets. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Rotate the pans from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Remove a test meringue and let it cool completely before taking a bite (meringues are never crisp when hot.) If the test meringue is completely dry and crisp, turn off the oven and let the remaining meringues cool completely in the oven. If the test meringue is soft or chewy or sticks to your teeth, bake for another 15 to 20 minutes before testing another.

To prevent cookies from becoming moist and sticky, put them in an airtight container as soon as they are cool. Cookies may be stored in an airtight contain for at least 2 weeks (but usually a lot longer).

Stella and Dot

2012-01-17T17:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday! I am so excited about the Spring 2012 Stella and Dot line! It came out last week and tonight I get to preview it at the Stella and Dot Headquarters! To make room for the new line I have to get rid of all my samples I have of the Fall 2011 line. This means 50% off the samples I have!! This is a great opportunity for you! I am having a sample sale on Saturday, January 21st from 2:30-5:30. If you are in the San Mateo area, swing on by. If not and you want to see what I have email me! I would love to for a reader to host a show!! You would have to live in the San Francisco Bay area !

Pasta!

2012-01-16T21:58:00.000-08:00

How easy was that! Making pasta was so simple I don't know why I don't make it more often. Yes, it's easier to open a box of pasta but the taste is amazing with fresh made pasta. On Wednesday John came up with the fun suggestion to make dinner together. Which never happens, so I took him up on it and we made some delicious pasta and a quick home made tomato sauce.

Eggplant

2012-01-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

Last week my neigbhor and I were talking and she mentioned she had a ton of left over turkish food. Before I knew it, she was knocking on my door with three plates full of amazing turkish dishes. The next day when I was eating some, I thought that the eggplant dish tasted very simular to this restaurant from the area that I grew up in. It turns out it was from this restarant, they serve this yummy eggplant dish. It's just eggplant with tomato sauce, pinenuts, onions and other ingredients. I tried looking up this dish, asked my turkish neigbors what for the recipe and could not find it. So, I tried to make it up! I actually think I did a good job! If anyone knows what this is called let me know. Here is what I did....
With one perfect eggplant I cut it in half, salted it and let it sit for a few minutes. I feel I should of let it sit for more than I did, but I am very impatient. This process got some of the water content out of the veggie...
In a hot pan I poured about one tablespoon of olive oil on the bottom and placed the eggplant open side down in the hot pan. I added about 1/4-1/2 cup of water and placed the lid on the pan to let the eggplant steam for a bit(4-6 minutes).
In another pan (while eggplant was steaming) I added chopped onion, orange bellpepper, garlic, pine nuts, parsley and canned tomato and let it cook for 5 minutes.
When the tomato mixture was done, place eggplant skin side up in a baking dish and pour tomato mixture ontop. Let cook for 35 minutes in 350 oven.

I served as a side dish with chicken and brown rice. John really liked it, so it must of been good! I too, thought it was a keeper for my dinner rotations!

2012 Is Going to ROCK!!

2012-01-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2012! I am going to make 2012 a really good year. I feel 2011 was a year of transition, and I'm going to ROCK 2012!!! How about you? Here are a few things I want to accomplish in the current year, blog more, stick to an exercise plan, find my career, work on my Stella and Dot business and find more time for family and friends.
The week between Christmas and New Years, my work was closed. So I had a full week to do what ever! And of course it went by way too fast and I didn't really get to do the things I wanted. I had this grand plan to bake, cook, knit, workout, hang out with friends, organize, and loaf...Well, I did a lot of loafing around and some baking!
I was happy that I did get to bake rugelach from Alice Medrich's book Bittersweet.

Here is the recipe that I used for these delicious, flaky, sweet but not, incredible treats!

The recipe says it will make 48 but if you have a 7 month old puppy who finds dough in your fridge, the recipe will really only make about 30!!
For the pastry:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, each stick cut into 8 pieces One 8-ounce package cream cheese, chilled, cut into 8 pieces

For the filling:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown or golden brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup roasted cocoa nibs, finely chopped into small bits. (I actaully did not chop the nibs up)
1/2 cup dried currants

To make the pastry: Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are about the size of bread crumbs. Add the cream cheese and process until the dough begins to clump together, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide it into 4 pieces. Press each piece into a flat patty about 4 inches in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.

Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. LIne two cookie sheets with parchment or wax paper or aluminum foil.

To make the filling: Mix the sugars, cinnamon, nibs and currants together in a medium bowl.

Remove one piece of dough from the refrigerator. Roll it out between two pieces of wax paper into a 12-inch circle a scant 1/8 inch thick. Peel off the top sheet of wax paper and place the paper on a counter or cutting board. Flip the dough onto the paper and peel off the second sheet. Sprinkle a quarter of the filling over the dough. Gently roll over the filling with a rolling pin to press it into the dough. Cut the dough into 12 equal wedges like a pie. Starting at the wide end of one wedge, roll it up and place it, with the dough point underneath to prevent it from unrolling, on one of the cookie sheets. Repeat with the remaining wedges, placing them 1 1/2 inches apart.

Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. (If at any time the dough becomes too soft to roll, return it to the refrigerator to firm up.)

Bake, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time, for about 25 minutes, or until light golden brown at the edges. Set the sheets on racks to cool completely. (The rugelach are best on the day they are baked, but they can be stored, airtight, for about 5 days.)

Eli's Cupcakes

2011-12-29T19:31:00.000-08:00

We had some friends over for dinner. Here is what's left after Eli, our cat jumped up on the dinning room table and discovered them! I made a vanilla cupcake with manderine juice frosting! For cupcakes, they turned out a bit dry becuase I forgot to take them out of the oven....

TART!!!

2011-12-12T11:22:00.000-08:00

On Friday night we had a holiday get together for our new friends at the dog park. It was so much fun to be able to talk to these people without worrying about being on poop patrol! Here is what's left of this amazing tart. It was so easy to make! Check it out! I found the recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, but mine is a tiny bit different...
Ingredients
Crust:

1/2 stick unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for greasing pan
Eight 4 1/2-inch-long plain or almond biscotti cookies, coarsely broken (about 5 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup c jam ( I used Tayberry jam from Swanton Farms)

Filling:

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, such as Ghiradelli
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chopped shelled pistachio nuts
Salt flakes, such as Maldon

Directions

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Combine the biscotti, butter and sugar in a food processor. Blend until the mixture forms moist crumbs that stick together when pressed. Firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until golden and feels firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Spread the cherry preserves over the cooled crust leaving a 1/2 to 1-inch border.

For the filling: Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat to just below a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the cream over the chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour the chocolate filling over the jam and sprinkle the 1/4 cup pistachios on top. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours or preferably overnight.

Loosen the tart from the sides of the pan by running a thin metal spatula around the edge. Unmold the tart and transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt flakes, if using. Cut into wedges and serve.

BOO!

2011-10-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

A few days before Halloween I came home and there was a cute bag of Halloween stuff in it. It had some yummy candy, coffee and treats for our dog! On the bag had a little poem:
The air is cool, the season fall,
Soon Halloween will come to all.

Ghosts and goblins, spooks galore...
Tricky witches at your door.

The spooks are after things to do,
In fact a spook brought this "Boo" to you!

The excitement comes when friends like you,
Copy this note and make it two.

We'll all have smiles upon our faces,
No one will know who "BOO"ed who's places!

Just two short days to work your spell,
Keep it secret, hide it well.

Please join the fun, the seasons here .
Just spread these "BOO's" and Halloween cheer.

Since I have never been booed I really wanted to participate and boo my neighbors. I went to Target and got some fun things, Halloween themed soap, snack sized crackers and a bowl with skulls all over it, and of course I had to make some sort of treat. I decided to make pumpkin muffins with chocolate. They were really yummy! Can't wait to boo next year!

The dog park

2011-10-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we got a black lab. He is just about 4 months and his name is Sparkie. We started going to the dog park about a week ago, so he could socialize and run with other dogs. The thing that makes me laugh about the dog park is you meet the dogs first then after about two days of talking with the same people you finally introduce yourself...I met a women there who invited me to be part of a bunco group. I have never played but have been wanting to try. So, on Wednesday night we met a fellow dog owner's house to play bunco. It was so much fun and great to meet new people and finally know the dog owner's names! I didn't want to come empty handed so I made little nibbles, made with pasty dough, cheese, and pesto! So easy and yummy!

TRICK OR TREAT!!

2011-10-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

We moved to a very kid populated block. So I knew Halloween was going to be big this year. When I saw our neighbor down the street putting his decorations up at the end of September I knew Halloween was going to be HUGE! For about a month around 5:30 a large inflatable cat was blown up on the lawn of our neighbors and music would come on! I wanted to make some cute decorations for our house. So, I found this really cute banner at the Crafting Chicks blog. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
I got a lot of compliments on it and thought it was super cute!! Easy and did not cost much, because it was with paper I had already. I can't wait to put it up for next year!

My favorite!

2011-10-15T13:42:00.000-07:00

Do you have a item that you eat everyday? I do, peanut butter! Yes, I sound like a 6 year old but it's true! I usually will have a piece of toast with peanut butter for a snack when I get home from work before dinner. I go thru so much of it that I always have to have a second bottle of it in my cabinet. So I thought why am I not making this stuff? So, I went to the store and got about a pound of peanuts from the bulk section and made this treat for myself! First of all, it's so easy and it's basically one ingredient: peanuts!!! What is your favorite that you eat everyday?

Fabric to fix a rental

2011-10-01T17:20:00.001-07:00

Our shortsale to of our condo finally was approved and we are renters again. Which is not a bad thing. Since April we have been renting this really cute 2 bedroom house in San Mateo. Funny how we have more room for less rent. The plan is to save our money and hopefully be able to buy a house in a few years. This house is really cute but we did not want to put a ton of money into the place if we are not going to live there for a while, for example buy blinds that cost losts of money and we won't beable to take them to the new place when we decide to move. So I decided to buy $30 worth of fabric to cover up the windows in our bedroom, hopefully I can cover up the windows in the office in a few weeks. I just did a simple curtain that took me about 15 minutes to sew for each window. Really quick and cheap! The way I like it, I think it looks pretty cute and when I want to get more light into the room I can clip the fabric together.

Summer is in the freezer!

2011-09-28T18:21:00.001-07:00

Starberries are pretty much my favorite fruit. It makes me happy when its warm outside because that means its berry season! I walked to the Farmer's Market near my house and picked up 6 baskets of these wonderful berries. I placed them on a cookie sheet a put them in the freezer for a few hours until they were hard. Then pried them off and stored them in a freezer bag to make fruit drinks and add them to breakfast for the next few months. What could be better on a November morning with my oatmeal? YUM!