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

DreamKuts

I have been interested in the DreamKuts tool by Zutter for a couple of years but could never really justify the expense.  Fortunately, gadgets like this make the perfect gift for me(!) and my mother offered to give it to me for my birthday.

I was very excited to try it out.  It cuts paper in a flash into either thirds or halves - and that means, depending on the size of paper you feed through, there are something like 120 different cuts you can make.  The front slot accepts a 12x12 sheet of paper and cuts it into thirds.  The back slot has a self-centering guide which accommodates 12x12" paper and under.  A guide sheet gives you the sequencing for producing various sizes of paper so you can quickly and easily make many pages for albums. It will be perfect for mass-producing cards as well!  It is recommended to only insert one sheet at a time, but by simply turning the handle, the cuts come out so effortlessly that it takes no time at all to cut multiple pages one by one.  I love this tool and it makes a great addition to my crafting supplies...and the perfect accompaniment to my Bind-It-All and Your Story Photo machine!

Self-Clean Oven

Self-clean ovens are the greatest invention!  I remember cleaning my oven in the old rental-apartment days, using Easy Off, rubber gloves, and a gas mask!  Now, I simply press the button, turn on the fan, and wipe up the dust at the end of the cycle.  I leave the racks in the oven (they will discolour slightly from their initial chrome finish) and I add the burner drip-pans into the oven as well.  If you are fortunate to have a self-clean cycle feature on your range, here is a great tip.  When the oven has cooled off and you are done wiping up the ashes, pour a small amount of vegetable oil on a paper towel and run it along the outside edges of each oven rack.  This allows the racks to glide along the tracks easily without the dry, scraping sound.  Don't worry: the oil will not burn or smoke.  If you cook as much as I do, the oven gets pretty dirty and having easy clean-up is a wonderful feature!

Concord Crush Thank You Card

 
My mother is so generous to us at Christmas I always like to make a special thank-you card especially for her.  Purple is her favourite colour so using Concord Crush card stock and dsp was an easy choice.  I made a 5-1/4" square card base and cut a piece of the designer paper in half.  Since the paper is 2-sided, I flipped one piece over and joined the 2 halves - they co-ordinate perfectly.  I stamped the images on the layered white square using the Circle Circus stamp set (SU) and stamped-off after each inking to tone it down a bit.  The thank-you is from the Curly Cute stamp set (very pretty, very versatile), and a piece of white satin ribbon finished off the front of the card.

Inside, I just added a strip of the dsp and a couple little stamps - you can see where I penciled in some guide-lines for the kids and hubby to write their thank-you notes, otherwise they take up all the room!  (I erased the pencil lines afterwards).

Bon Appetit Scrapbook Layout

 
I thought I was going to have a hard time using the purple paper from the Reminisce Power Palette but it actually worked really well as a backdrop for these neon yellow and orange food photos from our Washington trip.

I went to the Wall Decor and More Cricut cartridge first because I knew it had a great border Creative Function key and I found the stars border perfect for my
layout.  I used the negative cuts as accents on the opposite page's border.  I also realized the Bon Appetit phrase from page 28 would make an ideal title.  I didn't use a template for this 2-page spread, instead I layered and over-lapped the photos and journal box so I was able to get most of the great restaurant and food photos included on the pages.  I'm very pleased with the way it turned out and that I was able to make use of those violet patterned papers!

Country White Bread in the Bread Machine

I don't think you could ever get tired of fresh, warm bread from the oven and this easy Country White Bread recipe for the bread maker makes it super simple to have it more often. 

Country White Bread

1 cup + 2 Tbsp water

2-3/4 cups flour

2 Tbsp dry milk

2 Tbsp sugar

1-3/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp butter

1-1/2 tsp fast rise yeast

Peaceful Wishes Holiday Tag Pocket & Tag

I didn't get to show you this tag pocket and tag I made before Christmas.  I wanted to attach it to some shortbread I was giving to my niece for Christmas - and wanted it to be extra pretty and special for her.

I started by cutting the tag pocket from the Tags, Bags, Boxes & More cartridge, as well as the tag itself, using Earth Elements textured card stock by Stampin' Up.  I inked the edges in Poppy Parade and added a piece of striped Designer Series Paper in the same colour.

For the tag pocket, I created the wreath by layering branches punched out of 4 or 5 different colours of green card stock with the Martha Stewart branch punch .  I added a ribbon bow, and coloured some pearls with a red Copic marker for berries.  I love how it turned out!  I also added the Peaceful Wishes rub-on and punched it out with the Modern Label punch (SU).

For the tag itself, I stamped the poem from the Sweet Season stamp set, added glittered punched snowflakes, a piece of ribbon, and then sprayed the whole lot with shimmer paint.

The reverse side simply has the to/from stamp image from the same set.

They looked very pretty paired together on the tin of shortbread and made a tasty gift even sweeter. 
 

Wrap It Up Tie Box

Isn't this little tie box adorable?  It's on page 60 of the Wrap It Up Cricut cartridge handbook, along with a tie icon, card, and tag.

I cut the box at 6" on my Expression and kept the setting the same to cut the backing paper for the tie pattern using the Shift key.  I used 'To the Nines' specialty paper from Stampin' Up, which cuts so nicely on the Cricut and is the perfect weight for these 3-D projects (and is double-sided so you see a pretty pattern on the inside of the box too).  I cut the tag from the same cartridge (the football tag on page 70) and stamped the 'for you' from the Thankful Thinking stamp set (SU).  The face is stamped using the All in the Family set (I love that spikey hair) and I used Chocolate Chip ink for the stamping and sponging.

A piece of felt ribbon is a perfect closure for this masculine gift box - the ideal size to hold a gift card and some small treats for the guy in your life.

Epicure Selections Classic Vinaigrette

I like to make my own salad dressing using olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and herbs but sometimes I don't feel like whisking it up.  For those times I'm feeling lazy, I reach for the Classic Vinaigrette mix in the cupboard.  It is a blend of spices and herbs from Epicure Selections which you blend with oil and vinegar.  I always keep a clean, small canning jar in the drawer with a screw-on plastic lid.  I measure all the ingredients into the jar, put on the top, and shake.  It makes a really delicious salad dressing (my mouth is watering just typing this) in no time.  My DH and I prefer it to store-bought dressing because it doesn't have that harsh taste (we don't know what causes that flavour in prepared dressings - chemicals? preservatives? bad vinegar? - but we know we don't like it.)  A jar of this Classic Vinaigrette dressing only requires one tablespoon of the mix so the bottle lasts a long time and the $9.95 price point is not bad.  Epicure Selections has other great products and recipe ideas on their website.

Yourstory Photo

I was so excited to get my Yourstory Photo Personal Bookbinding Kit.  The machine heats and melts a glue strip down the spine of a book cover and binds the pages to it.  This is a smaller version of the Yourstory original machine, which accommodates larger projects and includes a laminator.

Even though I already have the Bind-It-All tool, I thought I would give this gadget a try since the price of $29.99 included the machine, 2-4x6" covers, 2-5x7" covers AND another bonus 24 covers (12-4x6", 12-5x7").  That works out to only $1.07 per book - and you still have the machine at the end!  Even if I never buy refill covers it was too good a deal to pass up.  (The bundle was purchased at HSN.)  I can't wait to try this out and I'll let you know how I like it.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

There's almost no reason to buy packaged coffee cake when making one in your own kitchen is so fast and easy.  This recipe has basic ingredients and basic techniques so you can mix it up and have it baking, and making your house smell amazing, in no time!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

½ cup butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 cup sour cream, 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1-1/2 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp salt, ½ cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ cup finely chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter, granulated sugar and 1 egg together.  Beat in 2^nd egg.  Add soda and sour cream. Mix.  In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to batter. Stir to mix. Put ½ batter in greased 9x9” pan.  Stir brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts together.  Sprinkle half over batter. Spoon 2^ndhalf of batter over top and smooth.  Sprinkle remainder of cinnamon mixture over. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 mins. or until tester comes out clean. Best served warm.