Deb's Recipe of the Month Club: October (2010)

If you've been reading my blog for a while (over a year) you know that 2 years ago for Christmas, I gave my family and friends a membership to "Deb's Recipe of the Month Club". Each month I would re-do a family favorite and send it out.

And I was doing REALLY GOOD! Until I went back to work (after being unemployed for 3 months). And my new schedule threw my life into chaos.

I'm happy to say that I'm back on track (for the most part) even if it has been a year since the last installment!

Marli's Pea Soup is a new family favorite. I love rich pea soap when the snow is flying. Marli is one of my mom's good friends and she had a great recipe for pea soup. So the recipe in my head became....(grin).

This is pretty basic. I don't do CAS very well and struggled to leave it as is. The vine helped in the end (Hero Arts).


Stamps: PaperTrey Ink, Hero Arts
Inks: VersaColor Bamboo
Papers: green cardstock
Accessories: ribbon, pebble rhinestones

Apple Cheese Crisp

So my mom invited me over for dinner last night to celebrate my new job (it was the first chance we had, we've both been out of town so much).

And guess what she made for dessert! Yep - APPLE CHEESE CRISP!


YUM!! (thanks Mom!)

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club - September

Being unemployed takes a toll on your psyche. Everybody wishes for DAYS of crafty time but when it actually came for me...all I could think about was finding a job. And not being able to spend $$, I ended up staying away from blogs so I wasn't tempted. As a result, my creative UMPH disappeared. I never knew how many ideas I got from reading other peoples blogs. Not CASEing...just "Oh, I never thought of that". And putting my own spin on things.

So the September recipe is LATE! I knew what I wanted to do. And found great paper, but that last bit of "magic" just wasn't happening.

There are two recipes that my Mom makes that I will miss when she's gone. And that's not to say, I can't make them...but I think it's the LOVE inside that makes it taste different. I still miss my grandmother's banana bread and she's been gone for 29 years now. APPLE CHEESE CRISP is one of those recipes my mom makes better than anybody!! In fact, it's often my birthday "cake". (GRIN)

The trick is in the cheesey crust and until food processors became kitchen MUST HAVES....I couldn't come close. I do better now - but I'll eat Mom's!

Red Apple Copics

Pail Copics

Green Apple Copics

Stamps: Stampin Up! BASKET FULL OF FUN
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Imaginisce
Ink: Memento
Accessories: Copics, glitter pens, Scrappers Floss, brads, Marvy punches

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club - August

It may seem that I'm a bit late in the month (again) for the Recipe of the Month club. But I've been "working" on this for a while - at least in my head.

All the other recipes I've done have suggested the stamps and direction I needed to go - but this one. CALICO BEANS was hard! In my mind "calico" is for quilts and I toyed with sewing ideas. In the end I found this great Basic Grey paper that looked "calico" like and went for a very simple card. The ladybug came about because there are small ladybugs scattered on the paper.

Stamps: PaperTrey Ink LITTLE LADY
Paper: Basic Grey JUNEBUG, black cardstock
Ink: VersaMagic Aquatic Splash & Red Magic; Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: K&Company flowers, mini black rhinestones

I also added a library pocket on the back for the original recipe. Here mine is with my mom's handwritten recipe safely tucked away.

Deb's Recipe of the Month - July

Time again for the Recipe of the Month! This month (being half way thru the year) is BONUS month. In other words, I did two recipes.

My mom and I have dueling recipes for this slaw with Ramen Noodles. She uses red cabbage and chops it up like sand. And fries the noodles. ME? I like them soft and the cabbage shred (I don't care what color). Since I'm the one doing the recipe do-overs, I did MY version!

I always love using the Hero Arts FOUR DOLLS set. This one was colored with Copics to "match" the Basic Grey paper. I didn't really have the right markers but it worked. And I wasn't that crazy about the BG June Bug paper series, but I loved this soft purple/blue one. And it's very oriental looking. It's a pretty basic recipe card.

Stamps: Hero Arts FOUR DOLLS; Memory Box SONOMA PRINT
Paper: Basic Grey JUNE BUG
Ink: Memento, SU! Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Copics, Nestabilities, pink pearls

This recipe I saw this recipe posted on Michelle Wooderson's blog MISH MASH last year. I *LOVE* Fresca, it brings back many memories of my grandmother and hot summer afternoons. So EASY SQUEEZY CRANBERRY LIME COOLERS sounded great!

The glass was colored with Copics and then highlighted with glitter. I was worried that the Glossy Accents would make the Copic run or fade - but it didn't! You can see the glitter under the Glossy Accents. It's a cool look.

The colors I used for the drink recipe.

Stamps: Hero Arts LETS CHILL; Denami Designs SMALL CITRUS SPLASH
Paper: SU! Pink Passion, YoYo Yellow, Green Galore
Ink: Memento, Yo Yo Yellow
Accessories: Copics, glitter, Glossy Accents, EK Success border punch

Deb's Recipe of the Month - June

This is a breakfast favorite of my families. It's one of those breakfast casseroles that you can make the night before and just throw in the oven the next morning!!

I am *NOT* a morning person. So I can totally relate to "BUNNY". She's colored with Copics. But she's such a long stamp that I had to turn the recipe card up on it's side.

Stamps: Rubber Romance BUNNY; Amuse Sentiment
Paper: Bo Bunny
Ink: Memento black, SU! Pink Passion
Accessories: Copics and Nesties

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club - May

Just squeaking under the wire with the May issue of DEB'S RECIPE OF THE MONTH!! This is an old family favorite recipe. Something my mom made for my sister and I as a special treat - "RED HOT JELLO". We'd all fight over the last bite.

Why the "Valentine's Day" treatment? Simple - my mom always made/makes this recipe in a heart-shaped mold. I used a lot of Nesties and punches on this - the only thing that is stamped is the label. I love the concept of the Just Rite stamps - the ability to create custom word borders or tags. But I struggle every time to get a clean stamp. There's always a edge or incomplete stamp on the letters. And the miniature letter blocks are an exercise in patience and steady hands! But this small 1 5/8" size works well. maybe there's not as much surface area.

Stamps: Just Rite RECIPE BORDERS & CENTERS
Paper: Amuse check, SU! Real Red
Ink: SU! Real Red
Accessories: Stampin Up! Bird punch, Nesties

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club - April

Time again for Deb's Recipe of the Month Club! My grandmother made the best banana bread. It was moist, had an incredible crust, and I still crave it to this day. When I use her recipe, it comes out dry and nearly tasteless. I live at 9000 ft (more or less), so I expect that's the reason. My sister lives a sea level and her's comes out just like Grandma's. So instead of an old family favorite this time, I went searching for a Banana Bread that would work at 9000 ft (and sea level). And didn't find one. I did find this Martha Stewart recipe. The first time I made it, the top collapsed (but it tasted good). So I researched adjustments for high altitude baking (less baking soda and more flour). Honestly, it's the only recipe I've ever had to adjust. I don't even adjust box cake mixes (the few times I use one).

Stampendous monkey seemed like the way to go for Banana Bread. Colored with Copics. My bananas are slivers of circles. I clipped the ends of both sides and highlighted with a brown Copic marker.

I put the other version of the recipe (either regular or high altitude) on the back.

Stamps: Stampendous Changito
Paper: Basic Grey, Reminisce GOIN' BANANAS paper
Ink: Memento
Accessories: Copics, circle and leaf punches, glitter pen, and rhinestones

So, here's the 3rd batch of the high altitude version. Looks yummy! Tasted even better! :D

My High Altitude version of Martha's Banana Bread!

• 1/2c butter (1 stick) at room temp.
• 1c sugar minus 1T.
• 2 egg
• 1 3/4c flour
• 1/2t baking soda
• 1t salt
• 1c mashed bananas
• 1/2c sour cream
• 1t vanilla
• 1/2c chopped pecans (opt.)

Cream shortening, sugar & egg. Add remaining ingredients until well mixed.
Bake at 350 for 60 minutes.

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club - March

Wow! The end of the month is here and I haven't share the March edition of "Deb's Recipe of the Month Club". I had posted a card earlier that used the extra "Lemon & Bay" image that I had colored for this recipe. Luscious Lemon Bars is an old family favorite because the ingredients are staples in our house. We ALWAYS have the stuff to make them when the sweet tooth starts yelling!

Stamps: Lockhart Stamp Co LEMON AND BAY
Paper: Basic Grey
Ink: Memento
Accessories: Nesties, Scraper's Floss, and Copics

LUSCIOUS LEMON BARS

• 1c butter, softened
• dash of salt
• 1/2c powdered sugar
• 2c flour

Combine and press into 9x13 pan. Bake 350 for 15 minutes.

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2c sugar
• 1/4c flour
• 6T lemon juice

Mix together. Pour over base after slightly cooling. Bake 350 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cooled. Cut into bars.

Stamper' Sampler - Diary of a Desperate Housewife

WooHoo! I came home last night to my new copy of Stamper's Sampler and I had another card published!!

This was one of the "Tempting Template" challenges.

I printed Marie and the "eat cake" sentiment. She was framed with a rhinestone border. The roses are German Scrap. The "M" is Grungeboard covered with copper paint. Around the edges of the apron card I stamped pink flourishes.

Stamps: Stampin Up! COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF; Memory Box BAY FLOURISH
Paper: My Mind's Eye
Ink: Distress Ink, Colorbox Chalks, Brilliance
Accessories: Grungeboard letter, ribbon, rhinestone border, paper roses, primas, pearls, clipart image

Stamper's Sampler has a new look inside. I have mixed feelings about the new format, but there are some LOVELY cards in there this time.

And this is the template card that didn't make the cut!

I put a Carmel Pear Butter recipe under the flap.

Stamps: pear image & Magnolia sentiment (recipe)
Paper: Graphic 45
Ink: Colorbox Chalks
Accessories: button, Scrapper's Floss, gold pearls, ribbon

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club - February

My family should mostly have the FEBRUARY version of Deb's Recipe of the month club by now!

This month's recipe is a new family "favorite" - Baked Ziti. I wish I could say we've had this recipe passed down for generation after generation - but other than my new nephew-in-law - there's no Italian in us. We're mostly Norwegian based stock! (grin) No, this is straight from the Food Network recipe collection. It's pretty easy and really tasty! I creased my 6x6 paper at 4 inches and folded up the flap. The recipe was printed on a slight smaller paper and folded in half. The chef was stamped on white and his coat on another piece of Cosmo Cricket. LOTS of CUTTING!

Stamps: Stampin Up! VOILA and VOILA TO GO
Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Ink: memento
Accessories: copics, nesties, and gold dot rhinestones

I was also selected as a GINGER GEM this week on the GINGERSNAP CREATIONS blog for my ROMANCE card.
So maybe I did ok with the romance thing! (grin)

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club - January

Wow..January evaporated before my eyes! I think in part to my vacationing MOJO, I got a bit behind. If you recall, all the ladies in my life got a recipe box for Christmas with the promise of a recipe a month.
This is January's recipe. TEX MEX DIP is a staple at our house for the Super Bowl. I will say that I did get them done before the end of January - they just aren't all mailed out yet. (grin)

Stamps: Artful Inkables SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Paper: Lime green swiss dot, Hot pink swirl
Ink: Memento
Accessories: Copics, glitter pens, Martha Stewart Border punch

I'm posting a Pink Ribbon for my SCS sister, Jacque, who started treatment for breast cancer yesterday. Hugs to you Jacque!!! You can beat this! She's also got some great blog candy posted until Feb 22nd.

And a blog award from Lynn at Trash to Treasure Art. The rules of this award is to tell you 10 things that make me happy and then I am to pass it on to 5 more people that are my sweet friends.

Things that make me happy, in no particular order:
1. Hugging my dog
2. Stamping and getting grungy
3. Traveling
4. Reading
5. Spending time with my family
6. Working from home (in my sweats)
7. Seeing wildlife around my house
8. Knitting
9. My new iPhone
10. Reading blogs - it's so inspirational!!

Here are my picks!!

1. Jessica - always has a great project
2. Heather - because I aspire to be CAS
3. Jane - she's a little cute and grungy like me!
4. Risa - her coloring is always amazing
5. Imke - she's new to blogging but she's catching on fast!

THANKS LYNN!!

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club - Dec 09

I just realized that I didn't post the first entry of Deb's Recipe of the Month Club. These were inside the recipe boxes I did for Christmas presents!! I also did this recipe for my Circle Journal ladies. More on that below the recipe...

This is a old family favorite at Christmas time - ENGLISH TOFFEE. All the recipes I do for Deb's RoMC will be 4x6. I can get 6 bases out of one 12x12 sheet of DP, AND that size fits in the box. In fact, it's a bit small for the inside of the box. There's not much to this. I did color the lamp posts with Copics. The glass in the light was covered with Crystal Effects. In the end it's a pretty simple card but they don't all have to be ready for the Louvre, right?

Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous FESTIVE SOUNDS
Paper: Cosmo Cricket, Bazzill card stock, and Very Vanilla
Ink: Memento Black
Accessories: Martha Stewart branch punch (my best friend), silk ribbon, bells, Crystal Effects, and glitter pens

ENGLISH TOFFEE

• 2c sugar
• 1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter (real butter!!)
• 1/2c water
• 1 T Vanilla
• 1/2c pecans, finely chopped
• 4 milk chocolate bars or small bag of chocolate chips

Combine sugar, butter and water in heavy sauce pan. Bring to a boil and cook to the hard crack stage (around 310). Stir in vanilla and nuts (save a little bit for the top). Pour on a greased cookie sheet. Cool for 5 minutes. Lay chocolate bars on top and spread evenly when they melt. Sprinkle remaining nuts. Let it cool completely. Break into pieces.

So..What's a Circle Journal? A few years ago, invited 3 of my SCS friends to join me in passing a journal (book) around. One member has a month to add something special, news about the family or doings in her life, projects, etc before passing it onto the next person on the list. The last person on the list sends it back to the first person on the list, and it starts again with new stuff. We added 3 more ladies last year and it's a joy to see their work and families up close. This time around we decided to have a "Christmas Cookie Exchange". True, it will be July before I get it back but since we're only doing recipe cards it's fine! WARNING: If you start a Circle Journal, only do so with people you know are responsible and will keep it going. You don't want the CJ to fall into a black hole never to be seen again!!!

Recipe Box

With the wedding just after Christmas there wasn't a lot of emphasis placed ON Christmas. In fact, the gifts were small but perfect. If we spent this little every Christmas I think everybody would be just as happy and our pocket books would love us. This year with economy in mind, I decided to do handmade gifts for the ladies in my life. And to draw the Christmas cheer out by doing DEB'S RECIPE OF THE MONTH CLUB. Each month around the 15th, I will redo a family favorite (old or new) and send it to each member. But to house all these special recipes, I decided to do a recipe box and dividers as the wrapped gift.

These altered tins are about 5x7x4. I cut two strips of patterned paper from a 12x12. It overlaps a bit on the sides but nobody is looking at the sides! (wink). I also cut two lacy border swith my Nestablities die. The red super tape is a must for this...other wise the edges of the paper will pop-up.

The main image panel was also cut from Nesties. The white was then airbrushed with my Copic marker/airbrush system. Then stamped with a script stamp. Chef Tilda and the knife/fork were colored with Copics. I put a ribbon band around the lid of the tin.

Inside the tin I included recipe dividers that I failed to take a picture of. But they were in the same colors as the papers on the outside of the tin. And were decorated with strips and blocks of left over paper.

I will share the Dec 09 recipe tomorrow...

Stamps: Magnolia CHEF TILDA
Paper: Bazzill cardstock and patterned paper
Ink: Memento Black
Accessories: Tin with lid/handle, ribbon, Copics, Nesties, and nailhead brads.

Spritz Cookie Recipe

Since next Friday is Christmas, this is my last post as a KLSNS design team member. The new design team takes over on Jan 1st!

I've slowly (very slowly) been "scrappin" old family favorite recipes. Since I made spritz cookies this week I had the recipe out and felt it needed the "treatment". It's always been one of our family's favorite Christmas cookies!

First I printed the recipe on Neenah Cream. I use MS Publisher to format all my recipes. I selected the Basic Grey ESKIMO KISSES paper because the little motif reminded me of a bunch of spritz cookies all on a cookie sheet. Chef Tilda was stamped in Archival Ink and heat set. I then used my aqua painter and Distress Ink to watercolor her. I sprayed a little Glimmer Mist: Candy Apple Red on the poinsettia flowers just to give them some "bling". And after I put the branches down and Tilda on top, I had to giggle at the expression on her face. Her little eyebrows are up in her bangs - like it's kinda pokey sitting on those branches! (grin)

Since the original recipe was hand-written by my mother, I didn't want to loose that. I'm fortunate to still have her around to help me make spritz, but I know that won't always be the case. So I preserved this little bit of history by putting an old-fashion library card pocket on the back of the recipe and slip the original inside!!

Stamps: Magnolia CHEF TILDA
Paper: Basic Grey ESKIMO KISSES; Neenah Cream
Ink: Archival, Distress Ink
Accessories: Aqua painter, Glimmer Mist: Candy Apple Red, paper flowers, Martha Stewart branch punch and glitter pen.

Good Eats!

I'm a HUGE fan of Alton Brown. I watch Good Eat religiously. Alton's quirky mix of cooking, science (the WHY behind a cooking method - LOVE the puppets), and his crazy spoofs on movies is teaching me to cook! I've tried many of his recipes and they have been come favorites: Slower Cooker Pepper Pork Chops, Super Apple Pie, Ramen Shrimp Pouch, and Crepes to name a few.

So when I saw this recipe holder at Archivers I had to take the class!

The kit that came with the class included an acrylic base, the chipboard dividers, and Cosmo Cricket papers and chipboard stickers. I followed the general class instruction, but did change some of the pages (I can never follow the directions completely!) The only thing I have left to do is label the tabs (dinner, lunch, sides, cookies, etc) and then redo the Good Eats recipes I love!









Stay tuned!!

If you would like some Blog Candy, my friend Jacque, is celebrating her 6-month Blog-versary here: Jacque's Joie de Vivre

A Busy Weekend - Carmel Spice Pear Butter

I don't have any cards to share today. I did get a few things done but since they are submissions for a magazine (keep your fingers crossed) and for the VSN (Virtual Stamping Night) on SCS, I can't share them yet. I also had friends down this weekend. Carolyn brought some pear butter with her as a thank you. When I discovered pears were 2 lbs. for $1 at Safeway, I got her to help me make a batch. Unfortunately, they were very, very green (hard) so it took a long time to soften them up. And in the end this batch didn't turn out very well. But I have 10 more pears ripening. Yes, I did redo the recipe, but it is one of my magazine submissions. However, the recipe is below.

After the pears were pureed, I added the bulk of the sugar. This recipe isn't for those watching their weight!! (Yikes - 6 c. of sugar!!)

The carmel part is melted sugar. It takes a while for the sugar to melt but once it does, it turns brown quickly. WATCH it or it will burn on you!!

A close up of the melting.

After adding the carmel and spices the butter got really brown. I think I should have added more water at this point.

In the end I only got 4 pints of butter (and a bit extra). I think it was because the pears were too hard to be "juicy". And all my jars sealed (YIPPEE!!!) I love those little pops when the jar seals. Big grin!

A lot of dishes for four pints of pear butter....

My ever faithful companion, Jazz, slept through the process. But at least she wasn't under foot.

CARMEL SPICE PEAR BUTTER (from my friend Carolyn)

• 15 large, ripe pears
• 2 c. water

Wash and core, but not peel pears. Add water and cover. Cook on low 30 minutes or until tender. Puree and return to kettle.

• 1 1/2 c. sugar

Melt sugar in fry pan until melted and golden brown. Add to pears.

• 4 1/2 c. sugar
• 1Tbsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Bring to boil and then reduce heat. Simmer 45 minutes or until thick.

• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Add lemon juice just before pouring into jars. Can in the usual method.