Candy Wrapper Purses

I have been going nuts making these for the last 3 months as christmas gifts. Almost done! Mine are actually not made out of candy wrappers. That’s not true..there are  a few candy bags  in there, but mostly  potato chip bags. A bazillion  potato chip bags. An enormous amount of time washing, drying, tracing, cutting, taping, folding, weaving, and sewing potato chip bags.

How I amaze myself.

How excited I am to be done.

Oh, and I would like to add, that the handles were made by my dear husband. They are also recycled!  Pop tabs…can you believe it?! Awesome!

~Paw Print Bag is made from gift wrap paper, covered in packing tape.~

This one is mostly chip bags, and a few magazines, soup can labels, ramen packages, dog treat bags…etc. Whatever I could find!

These are not quite done yet, but made from gift wrap, and covered in packing tape. The one with the needle sticking out of it, is done entirely with chip bags.

Has anyone else out there in internet land made these? I would love to see them!

Roasted Garlic and Pepper Dip

4 oz. feta cheese, or goat cheese at room temperature
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cloves roasted garlic
2 roasted anaheim peppers
1/2 cup cooked, cooled and crumbled bacon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Take one third off the top of a whole head of garlic. Place  in a foil bowl, and drizzle with olive oil. put in a 425 degree fareneheit oven for about 25 minutes. Garlic will become fragrant and golden on top. Remove from oven and let cool.

The cloves will now be soft and easy to remove from the head. Put 3 of the cloves into a food processor. Save the other cloves for another use…like garlic mashed potatoes!

Roast 2 anaheim peppers. When cool remove skins and seeds. Chop up into manageable pieces to put in your food processor with the garlic. Whiz until combined.
Not familiar with roasting peppers? Check here for the ‘How To” of it all.

Add the feta cheese, cream cheese,  bacon, salt and pepper to the processor. Process until smooth.

Refridgerate for at least 30 minutes for flavors to blend,  and serve.

Chocolate Covered Rats

I wanted to make edible  rats for halloween, but the interwebs only showed me how to make them by dipping strawberries in chocolate. While i loved this idea, fresh  strawberries are not tasty in October. Or in my price range.
Then I came up with this.  I have a “cookie dough” truffle recipe, that is safe to eat “raw” because there are no eggs in it. I added a few things to that recipe, and came up with this:

Beautiful Beautiful Rats

Cookie Dough Bodies:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk!)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.
Add the flour, powdered sugar, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, and peanut butter.  Mix well.
Refrigerate covered  for one hour to make easy to handle.

Other Ingredients:
Slivered almonds
licorice strings (I think this would be cuter for rats, but I couldn’t find any,  so I resorted to sour spaghetti gummies)

sunflower seeds
Chocolate candy coating

Form your cookie dough into rat shapes. Um, think egg shaped. You can look at the picture below to get an idea.
Add slivered almonds to make the ears.

Make them as big or small as you want. My rats are perhaps a little on the large side, since I used my cookie scoop.  (you know, those cute little things that look like mini ice cream scoopers?)

Melt your chocolate candy coating according to the package directions.
Now put your rat body on a fork, and  spoon the chocolate over their little bodies to cover.

Tap the fork against the chocolate pan to get most of the drippies off the bottom, then set on waxed paper.
Before the chocolate dries, attempt to poke some sunflower seeds on the rats face for eyes.

Some of mine look like they are drunk..I need more practice!
Why not make some teeth? I didn’t obviously, but maybe next year!  use  slivered almonds?
After the rats are dry, poke a hole in his rear end (oh my!) with a toothpick, and insert the licorice tail.
Since I couldn’t find licorice strings, this didn’t work for me. The chocolate cracked, and my tails were too fat.  I layed the rats on a platter and stuck a tail underneath them.
Rodents never tasted so good.
I didn’t put on noses, but you certainly could. A tiny chocolate chip perhaps?

How many rats do you get? That depends on how big you make them. I got alot! 30 perhaps? (forgot to count)

Roasted Garlic & Chive Dip

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
5 cloves roasted garlic
2 T. chives, chopped
salt to pepper to taste

Unfamiliar with roasting garlic? Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and I have left you a brief tutorial

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Put all the ingredients except salt and pepper into a food processor, and pulse until smooth.

Taste, and salt and pepper to your liking.

Garnish with a few fresh chives, and refrigerate until ready to serve!

How to Roast Garlic

Take one third off the top of a whole head of garlic.

Place  in a foil “bowl,” and drizzle with olive oil.

Put in a 425 degree farenheit oven for about 25 minutes.

Garlic will become fragrant and golden on top.

Remove from oven and let cool.

The cloves will now be soft and easy to remove from the head. Squish out the cloves you want to use, and refrigerate the others to put into something else. Like garlic mashed potatoes!

Bubblegum Vodka

How can you not be intrigued about a childhood favorite infused with booze??

And that is why my son and I decided to spend some quality time together making some.

And really, who doesn’t love bubblegum?

First and foremost, I might as well state the obvious. This is for adults only.  Why do I have to state the obvious? Because I looked up this recipe on a couple different sites, and people were leaving nasty comments that you shouldn’t have bubblegum vodka in your house because kids like bubblegum.  Most of them don’t like broccoli, but I didn’t think it would taste good in vodka.

Now that we have that out of the way, can we continue on with the fun part? yay!

Bubblegum Vodka Ingredients:

one 750ml bottle of vodka of your choice.  (this equals about 24 fluid ounces)

24 pieces of bubblegum. Double Bubble works best from what I’ve read, but we could only find Super Bubble

A glass vessel with a lid, to hold your delicious concoction

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Start by unwrapping your bubblegum pieces, and plop them into your glass jar.

Pour in the vodka:

 

Show off your handywork. Great job!

 

Let me just say that using a bottle with a small neck, wasn’t the greatest idea. Don’t do it. The gum doesn’t disappear completely while it’s doing it’s thing. We had a brain looking glob stuck in there after 2 days, and had to use chopsticks to dig it out. Note to self: use something with a large lid!

Anyways. Let the bubblegum sit in the vodka for at least 24 hours. I couldn’t resist shaking it several times just to see why my gum wasn’t melting, but obviously that’s not necessary.

Take out the gum that didn’t melt away after the 24 hours, and it’s done!

Guess what? It tastes like bubblegum!

 

Here is a bubblegum cocktail you can try with your new tasty infused booze:

“The Bazooka”

2 oz. bubblegum vodka

1 oz. sour mix

Add ice to your shaker thingie..shake it up, pour it into a martini glass, and serve.

 

 

 

Guacamole

Fall reminds me of Guacamole. Let’s make some!

Don’t need step by step instructions? *click here*

Our Ingredients:

2 T. diced green chilies out of a can
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 med tomato, diced

1/2 cup chopped onion
4 ripe avacados, pitted and diced
1 lime

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Mince the garlic, and set aside.

Dice up the tomato. Roma tomatoes work really well, since they don’t have alot of juice or seeds. Otherwise, go ahead and deseed your tomato, so it won’t be too juicy.

Time for the avacados! Cut them in half around the giant seed inside. Give the seed a little tap with the sharp side of a knife, twist a bit, and pop it right out.

Dice the avacado’s and scoop into a bowl.

Squirt the juice of one lime over the top of the avacado, to keep it from turning brown.

Squash up the avacado’s until you have a nice chunky type of puree.  (I suppose you could use a food processor for this step, or a fork.)

Add  the 2 T. green chilies, onion, garlic and tomato to avacado, and mix thoroughly.
Add salt to taste.

Spoon into a serving dish and serve with your favorite tortilla chips!

(We sprinkled a little dry cilantro and arbol chili powder on top  to make it look pretty.)

 

 

Recipe without photo’s:

2 T. diced green chilies out of a can
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 med tomato, diced

1/2 cup chopped onion
4 ripe avacados, pitted and diced
1 lime

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Mince the garlic, and set aside.

Dice up the tomato. Roma tomatoes work really well, since they don’t have alot of juice or seeds. Otherwise, go ahead and deseed your tomato, so it won’t be too juicy.

Time for the avacados! Cut them in half around the giant seed inside. Give the seed a little tap with the sharp side of a knife, twist a bit, and pop it right out.

Dice the avacado’s and scoop into a bowl.

Squirt the juice of one lime over the top of the avacado, to keep it from turning brown.

Squash up the avacado’s until you have a nice chunky type of puree.  (I suppose you could use a food processor for this step, or a fork.)

Add  the 2 T. green chilies, onion, garlic and tomato to avacado, and mix thoroughly.
Add salt to taste.

Spoon into a serving dish and serve with your favorite tortilla chips!

(We sprinkled a little dry cilantro and arbol chili powder on top  to make it look pretty.)

 

 

Tuna Macaroni Salad

Everyone has a recipe for tuna macaroni salad, and I’m no exception. I think next time I’ll change it up a bit, and use smoked trout instead of tuna. Considering my freezer is crammed with trout, I think I’ll be making this tomorrow, next tuesday,  the next full moon, take your canine to coffee day…..

Dressing Ingredients:
1/8 cup white vinegar
1 T. sugar
1 cup salad type mayo (like Miracle Whip)
1/4 cup minced onion
1 to 2 tsp. dry dill
1/2 tsp. celery seed
black pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
dash red pepper flakes
Mix all dressing ingredients in a small bowl, and mix thoroughly. I use a whisk to get any lumps out.
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2 cans tuna, drained
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups small seashell macaroni, or elbow mac, cooked according to package directions, drained, rinsed under cold water, and drained again.
Put ingredients into a large bowl, pour the dressing over the top, and mix thoroughly. I like to chill this for a couple hours for the flavors to blend.
The Smoking Man likes this with crunched up potato chips over the top right before serving, which is a fantabulous addition!

BLT Chicken and Pasta Salad

I think I might have got this out of a Woman’s Day magazine back in the 80′s. Or maybe not. I changed all the ingredients around as usual, and came up with this!

Dressing ingredients:
1 cup salad dressing mayo (like Miracle Whip)
3 T. bbq sauce
3 tsp. white vinegar
2 green onions, tops and white part, sliced thinly
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
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1 or 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 cups dry rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions: drain; rinse in under cold water, drain again.
6 slices bacon (or more to taste)
3 cups of your favorite lettuce cut into  bite sized pieces
1 tomato, seeded and coursely chopped

Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl, and set aside.

For the chicken:
Put chicken breast halves in a pot, and add just enough water to cover. Bring bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until chicken is no longer pink. About 10 minutes.
Remove to a cutting board to cool.

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and put into a large bowl.

(This is also a fantastic way to use up leftover chicken. which I did!)

Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels and crumble.

Now it’s time to assemble!
To the cooked chicken in your large bowl, add the bacon, lettuce, tomato, and pasta.  Pour the dressing over the top, and toss gently to mix.
This is good at room temperature, or cold.
I wouldn’t recommend adding the lettuce until just before serving, as it can get kind of wimpy. Unless you like wimpy lettuce. I like wimpy lettuce.

Sticky Chicken on the BBQ

I love sticky foods. Well, I like sticky foods from the barbecue..somehow it just reminds me of summer.

Ingredients:

Rub:
T. salt
T. pepper
1 tsp. lemon pepper
1 tsp. dry cilantro
1 tsp. dry mexican oregano
Mix together in a small bowl.

Honey Mustard Sauce:
1/4 cup honey
1 T. dijon mustard
1 T. whole grain mustard
1 tsp. arbol chili powder
Mix together ingredients in a small bowl.

Take the backbone out of your chicken so it will lay flat. Unfamiliar with this technique? Here’s a nice tutorial on how to make it happen. Removing backbones from chicken.
Wash and pat dry with paper towels.

Use your fingers to to loosen the skin around the breast and thighs of your chicken and rub the rub
liberally under the skin  of the breast and the thighs.
Use remainder of spice rub to dust the outside of chicken, both front and back.

Barbecue  on indirect heat  until internal temp reaches 180 degrees fareneheit, brushing occasionally with the honey mustard sauce.
Remove from grill, tent loosely with foil for about 10 minutes, so juices redistribute through the meat. Brush again with the honey mustard sauce, cut into pieces, and serve.

Easy Not So Cheesy Cauliflower

I love cauliflower. My son tolerated it, until I made it this way, then the entire bowl is practically licked clean! So, if you have picky eaters, I would suggest giving this one a try.

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower (you can use frozen if you like)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup mayonnaise (not salad dressing)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Rinse, drain, and cut cauliflower into bite sized pieces, discarding the core.

In a medium saucepot, add 1/2 cup water, and the  cauliflower. Cook, covered just until tender, about 10 minutes. You want it firm, not mooshy. Keep poking it with a fork if you’re unsure about the consistancy towards the end of the cooking time.

(If you’re using frozen cauliflower, cook according to package directions)

Meanwhile,  in a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, and black pepper.

After the cauliflower is cooked, drain and put into a serving bowl. (or dump it back into your pan, less dishes!) Pour the dressing over the cauliflower, add the cheese; mix thoroughly.

Now, you can either pop it into the microwave to let the cheese melt, or turn your pan back onto a low temperature, then it’s time to serve.

Look! You don’t hate cauliflower anymore! yay!