Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

Elvis Presley's Favourite Pound Cake

I wanted to serve some authentic Elvis-inspired desserts at my Elvis birthday party and this pound cake fit the bill.

The recipe comes from Gourmet magazine and it's easy to see how this scrumptious cake, containing 7 large eggs, half a pound of butter, and a cup of heavy cream, would be right up Elvis' alley!  After actually tasting it, I know why it was apparently his favourite!  (However, no guarantees about your heart health after consumption if you decide to make it yourself!)

The reviews posted with this recipe are generally terrific and although there were many suggestions of altering it by reducing the number of eggs or the amount of sugar, I wanted to make it exactly as printed.  It definitely did not disappoint.  I truly think this is indeed the best pound cake I've ever tasted and it only got better over the following two days after baking.  I have never seen a more fine and perfect texture to a cake - no doubt the result of the prolonged sifting and mixing.  The only hitch I found (and comments had forewarned me of this problem), is that the top element in my oven came on which would have burned the top of the cake had I not covered the upper rack with some foil.  Putting a cake in a cold oven was a new concept to me and this problem was the result of that direction.  In the end, I followed the recipe exactly and the cake came out perfectly.  You can find the written recipe here.

Poppy Parade Thanks Card

I learned how to make this tri-fold card from Angie over at Chic' n Scratch.  I used Poppy Parade card stock and designer series paper from Stampin' Up and the stamp is from the Lexicon of Love set.  I followed Angie's instructions for folding the card, added my patterned paper panels and then mounted the stamped image.  (I used the rock and roll technique, with Poppy Parade and Chocolate Chip inks, to get the duel-coloured image.)  I lined the inside of the card with Very Vanilla card stock so I could write a message.  This type of card is a lot of fun to make and decorate and is fun for the recipient to open.

Elvis Gifts

I had some prizes to hand out at my Elvis party (based on the number of 'I'm all shook up' word window tabs found and earned) and of course I wanted to present them in an Elvis-y way.  I put the contents (in this case, all the makings for fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches) in a paper bag which I'd stamped with the Elvis face and saying stamps in Staz-On ink.  I colour-copied the post card recipe on heavy white card stock and added an eyelet in the corner so I could tie it to the bag.

I also made goody-bags for the guests containing official Elvis merch ordered directly from Graceland at ShopElvis.com.  I put the souvenir mint tin and '68 Special button, along with a thank you note and photos from the party, into a small cello bag (Stampin' Up) and then made a topper with patterned paper from the Rock Star stack, gold card stock, and my new TCB stamped image.  The topper co-ordinated with the original party invite I'd sent.  I think they turned out really cute and even though they arrived late (and the guests got them a week after the party) I was still excited to get a button and the stamp for myself! ;)

Cuttlebug Cut & Emboss

I love these combo sets for the Cuttlebug machine.  The set includes a die for cutting out the shape, and then one or more embossing folders to dry-emboss an image.  My set includes 4 embossing folders to decorate the die-cut gift.  There is a 'Happy Birthday', 'To/From', 'Snowflakes', and a 'Decorative Gift'.  All folders give a deeply embossed finish and the resulting image can be coloured, either sponged with inks or actually coloured in with markers.  It's a versatile set and makes the cutest embellishments for a card or scrapbook page, or these little presents make great gift tags!  I love my Cuttlebug and it's fun to pick up one of these cut/emboss sets every once in a while!

Your Story Photo Mini-Book

Here is the first project I made with the Your Story Photo Binding machine I showed you on January 13th.  The unit worked very well at binding pages into the cover and was very simple to use.  I used one of the  4x6" covers that came with the bundle and added 20 pages I cut myself using the DreamKuts.  I used fairly heavy-weight card stock for the pages from a Martha Stewart stack and I scored each one at 1/4" with the MS Scoring Board, as recommended in the Your Story Photo instructions.  I ran the cover through my Cuttlebug first to emboss it.  The 'Warm Winter Wishes' was cut using the Winter Woodland Cricut cartridge and my Expression.  The snowflakes were punched using the Creative Memories pocket punch and the satin ribbon is from Stampin' Up.  The pages feel quite secure in the binding, the only glitch I encountered was when I added a photo that filled the whole page.  When I went to turn the page, the un-scored photo forced the card stock to pop out of the binding.  (I simply eliminated that page and it didn't affect the binding of the others in any way.)

My mother-in-law goes south for the winter so I made this little album for her.  I added photos from the the holidays since she hates missing all the fun and I included plenty of journaling about the events of December.  I even glued in some jokes that came from the Christmas crackers!  (She loves telling humorous jokes she prints off the internet!)  I didn't get too fussy with the embellishments since I wanted it to feel like more like a letter with photos than a true scrapbook.  It was a lot of fun to make and I'm sure she'll almost feel like she was here for the festivities and will enjoy showing it to her friends! 

Peach Parfait Thanks Card

 
Just a simple 'thanks' card to share with you today.  I used Peach Parfait card stock and dsp, paired with some Pear Pizzazz for a fresh, vibrant look.  I stamped the 'thanks' definition (from the Lexicon of Love stamp set) using matching inks and the 'rock and roll' technique - I really like the two-tone result!  A string of faux pearls add a soft touch and some co-ordinating paper buttons (punched with my Marvy punch) finish off the inside of the card nicely.

Lucky Birthday Scrapbook Page

It's always a challenge to come up with new ways to scrapbook recurring events, like birthdays.  This page was fun to put together and there isn't a balloon, candle, or streamer sticker in sight!

The Cheerful Winter Additions paper pack (Creative Memories) was my starting point for this layout, even though I was scrapping a birthday page - only one sheet of the set has snowflakes on it while the reverse, and other papers, are all great blues and purples.  I used my Graphically Speaking Cricut cartridge to cut the mash-up of border numbers, the Creative Memories Tag Maker to showcase the title sticker, and the Custom Cutting System to cut the photo mat (and photo) in a circle.  A few more layers of patterned paper and a couple more stickers finished off the page and it looks great with the photos added.  I journaled around the border of the layout to add the story of the birthday celebration and I did include a couple of pop-up stickers to the upper right corner after I adhered my photos.

Valentine Brownies

 
I've shared quite a few brownie recipes with you: some contain unsweetened chocolate, some contain semi-sweet chocolate, and some just use pure cocoa powder.  The brownie recipe I'm demonstrating today has ALL THREE!  With 4 ounces of semi-sweet, 4 ounces of unsweetened, and a half-cup of cocoa, these scrumptious brownies bake up smelling sooo chocolaty - I may just have found the ultimate brownie recipe!  You can find the printed Good Housekeeping recipe here. 

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore is one of my DH's favourite meals and is actually the first dinner he made for me.  Basically, chicken pieces are browned and placed in a casserole dish, then covered with a homemade pasta sauce and baked in the oven.  Both are then served over cooked pasta - delish!  Hubby has always used the Wade Bogg's recipe (from his book, Fowl Tips) but I just make it my own way!  (There isn't really a need to be precise - pasta sauce is pretty forgiving!)

You can use any chicken pieces you'd like, but I prefer boneless, skinless thighs and breasts.  First shake the pieces in 1/3 of a cup of flour (with a bit of salt & pepper), then saute in 1/4 cup of olive oil until lightly browned.  Remove to a casserole dish and then make the sauce right in the same pan.  I make my sauce with sauteed onion, garlic, and sliced mushrooms, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes.  Red wine adds a fantastic flavour and chopped black kalamata olives really add a richness to the sauce.  Salt, pepper, oregano, and basil are the obvious seasonings but I also add a pinch of rosemary, chili powder, paprika, and thyme to the sauce (I picked up those additions from the Tony's Towne Square restaurant in Disney World!)  Simmer the sauce for 5-10 minutes then pour it over the chicken.  Cover and bake at 375 degrees for about 40-45 minutes (a bit longer if you are using bone-in chicken pieces) or until chicken is cooked.  Serve over hot spaghetti (my hubby likes rigatoni) and add grated Parmesan cheese at the table.

Blue Rodeo Scrapbook Page

 
I really had fun with this scrapbook page layout.  I started with a sheet of designer print paper from the Discover Power Palette (Creative Memories).  I cut the wooden frame from the Old West Cricut cartridge, where I also found the photo frame and 'rodeo' word.  I cut the 'blue' from the Graphically Speaking cartridge and the buttons came with the Power Palette.  The western theme was perfect for my photos and I love how the Cricut makes the paper look as if it has a wood-grain texture.  I was happy to find both words in my title so I didn't have to weld anything with my Gypsy.