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

Orange Bran Muffins

I always turn to healthier baked goods around this time of year - the holidays are over and vacation time is getting closer!  These bran muffins are stirred up in no time and have the interesting addition of orange and dates.  They smell incredible while baking and are scrumptious, especially if you like crispy edges and the flavour of dates.

 

 Orange Bran Muffins

1 cup flour

1 cup bran

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup buttermilk (or sour milk)

2 Tbsp orange juice

1 tsp grated orange rind

1 cup chopped dates

400 degrees F, greased muffin pan, 25 minutes

Pink Bind-It-All and Space Bar

The Bind-it-All is a great little tool for punching and binding albums.  I should know: I have two of them!  I started with the blue model and was sufficiently happy with it.  Then they came out with the pink model and I resisted for quite some time.  Even though those Zutter people made exciting upgrades, such as 35% greater accommodation of thicker material for punching (this was apparently the #1 requested upgrade - but the visual difference is minute!), a numbered guide bar for punching longer projects, an extension paper guide bar, and a stronger construction - and it's pink!, it wasn't until I saw it for a great Black Friday price that I ended deciding that all my future binding projects depended on having this machine (even though I've only actually made about 4 little mini-books).  I haven't figured out the punching of longer projects yet but I did buy the optional space bar to use with the small o-wires (3/8" and 1/2") and it really does improve the way the pages turn.  The bar adjusts the perforations closer to the edge of the paper to allow the pages to rotate freely around the binding.

So until I make those longer, thicker projects that are now so easy with the pink Bind-it-All, I will justify my obsession purchase with the fact that I cracked my original blue model...(I was trying to make a record album cover for a book, as shown in the BIA idea book, but used a vinyl record purchased at Goodwill which must've been from 1950 and about 1/4" thick...much thicker than a Madonna album (as used on a youtube tutorial I watched)...and that's how it cracked!

Stampin' Up Sale-a-Bration Order

Sale-a-Bration is a great time to pick up Stampin' Up products because for every CDN$60 (US$50) you spend, you can pick a stamp set or item from the sale catalogue, for FREE!.  I'm going to order anyway so it's really nice to get a free item!

This year, I finally decided to try their clear-mount stamp sets.  They are cheaper to purchase and easier to store.  I don't have the SU clear block set (...yet...I really want it though!) but the stamps I purchased are really small so I figure the blocks I already own will work just fine.  I'll let you know how I like them...

The Tiny Tags set is so cute and covers pretty much any occasion you'd need a little greeting for (baby, Halloween, wedding, Christmas, thanks, friends) as well as some general images, like flourishes, a heart, crown, and flower.  At first I thought I could just use my Cricut to cut out some little tags but then I relented and purchased the co-ordinating Medium Jewelry Tag punch - so much faster and easier to have a punch on hand, you can hold the punch upside down over the image to see exactly where to punch it out!  I'm excited to make some projects using these 2 items together.

I also bought the Eat Chocolate set.  Anyone who knows me understands why!  I can use this set for all kinds of cute cards and maybe I'll make the "so much chocolate, so little time!" my trademark stamp.  I think it was because that particular stamp looks like a Hershey Bar wrapper that I couldn't resist it.

Along with some Whisper White and Riding Hood Red card stock, and dimensionals (which I add to almost every order), I also got some more Shimmer Paint.  You know how much I love this stuff and this time I decided to try the Champagne colour (gold).  Beautiful!

For my free item, I selected the Punch Pals set.  I love stamps that have matching punches - it just makes it really easy to use them.  I'm not a very good cutter-outter so the punches have a lot of appeal.  This set has a tag image, circle, scalloped square, scalloped circle, and an owl.  I have all the punches except the owl...BUT, luckily I recently attended someone else's Stampin' Up party and just may have added to my collection!  Sale-a-bration runs until March 31st.

Toast Tongs

Even if it is unplugged, I hate seeing someone poking a metal fork into a toaster!  These plastic toast tongs are a much safer solution.  They are available almost anywhere kitchen gadgets are sold, at a minimal cost.  Grabbing stuck toast is so much easier with giant tweezers rather than trying to get fork tines to do the job.  Of course, I still insist everyone takes the plug out of the socket first!

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

This casserole is a great 'comfort-food' winter dish and is sure to appeal to the scalloped potatoes fan in your family.  The standard recipe is jazzed up with the addition of chopped ham and herbs, which makes for a truly hearty meal.  Scalloped Potatoes with Ham is very simple to prepare and you need only add some veggies to the plate to have a complete '4-food group' dinner. 

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

6 Tbsp butter, divided

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp pepper

3 cups milk

6 cups thinly sliced peeled potatoes

1-1/2 cups chopped fully cooked ham

1 small onion, grated

In saucepan, melt 4 Tbsp of butter.  Stir in flour, parley, salt, thyme and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk; bring to a boil over med. heat and cook and stir until thick.  Combine potatoes, ham, and onion; place half in a greased 2.5 qt. baking dish. Top with half of the sauce; repeat layers. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 65-75 mins. or until potatoes are almost ender. Dot with remaining butter. Bake uncovered 15-20 mins. more.

Wonderful Friend Card

The colours used on this card work perfectly with the stamped image and I love how it turned out.  I started with a Soft Suede card stock base and layered it with Dusty Durango - both together give a south-western feel to the card.  The image is from the Boho Backgrounds stamp set and it's so intricate and beautiful, one of my favourites.  I coloured it in with 2 Stampin' Write markers (the Soft Suede & Dusty Durango), and also inked the edges with the Soft Suede ink on a sponge.  The 'wonderful friend' is from the same set and since there are 5 lines of images on that one stamp, I simply used a Stampin' Write marker to colour in the portion I wanted to stamp.  I added 2 white brads on the corner of the card and distressed the edges with my hand-held distressing tool.

Inside the card, I added a piece of white card stock to write on, embellished with another strip of patterned paper and a repeat of the Boho image, this time I punched out just the centre of it with a 1-1/4" circle punch.

 

Reminisce Winter Scrapbook Page

I had one 5x7" photo from a Christmas concert we attended so I knew I could make a more decorative scrapbook page to showcase it.  I opened up the Reminisce Winter Additions pack (from Creative Memories) and used the designer paper for the background, photo mat, and tag.  I created the tag, and the star garland at the top, using the Joys of the Season Cricut cartridge.  I distressed the tag with Tim Holtz Distress ink and spritzed it with water after crinkling it up.  I will add the ticket from the event (which I also distressed) onto it.  The stickers in opposite corners are from the Additions pack, but I got the matching journal box from the original Reminisce Power Palette.  I also covered the garland, ticket, journal box, and side borders with the SU Shimmer Paint solution (you can see it better if you click on the photos to enlarge) - I am seriously addicted to that stuff!

Cranberry Banana Loaf

 
This is a fantastic loaf and a great way to use up leftover cranberries from the holidays.  I always throw a few bags of fresh cranberries into the freezer after they go on sale during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.  Cranberry Banana Loaf is very quick to stir up (no electric mixer necessary) and smells amazing while it bakes.  The flavour of simple banana bread is jazzed up by the tart cranberries - leave a few of them whole for a pretty, and tasty, addition!

 

 

Cranberry Banana Loaf

1/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 mashed bananas

1 cup fresh or frozen chopped cranberries

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

350 degrees, 9x5" greased loaf pan, 1 hour

Born to Shop Birthday Card

 
Today is my BF from high school's birthday and since she never received the card I sent her in the mail a couple birthdays ago, I wanted to keep this one really flat!  I took advantage of the adorable images on the glitter effects designer paper in the For Her pack (the same one I gave away for my anniversary blog candy).  I let the paper do all the work, and simply layered a couple different patterns on top of a white, square card base.  I cut the strip of flowers from the top of the paper and popped them up just a little with Stampin' Up dimensionals.  Inside, I added the trimmings from the design (one more cute and sparkly shopper girl) and the sentiment from the Whimsical Words stamp set (SU).  I have been trading birthday cards with this shopper for about 32 years so I'm sure she'll know which girls represent us on the card!

Measure Food Journal

I'm finding it a challenge to lay off the extra calories and since I don't like going outside for my walks in the winter, cutting back on the intake is going to be necessary!  They say a food diary is the best way to track so I made this dollar store notebook a little more enticing to use.

I used Sweet Always designer series paper to cover the front and back of the book.  I cut the 'measure' and oval using my Cricut and the From My Kitchen cartridge, and the strawberry is from the Hello Kitty Greetings cart.  I popped the strawberry up on a dimensional but it will probably fall off with all the handling - too much good food to write down!  Hmm...this might take more than a cute food journal, luckily I have a treadmill as well. :(