July Crafternoon

          For July's Crafternoon I hosted and planned on everyone getting their "wreck" on.  I recently discovered Wreck This Journal, it's such a fun way to bring out your creativity.  I got a journal for each of my guests, set out all kinds of crafting items, some traditional others not so much.  

Gaby getting her "wreck" on!

My friend, Gaby, brought her mother-in-law Donna.  

She had fun "wrecking" her journal too!

This is one of Donna's pages

Here are some of Gaby's

Gaby's hubby, Josh, even joined in the fun!

I got a little messy with my journal.

I used some paint and a fork to make these cool designs, 

which turned out to look like fireworks.

Pretty fitting since it was a 4th of July themed Crafternoon!

Kinley wanted to do a little "wrecking" herself

So did Liam, he made an awesome hat

As far as the food went, I did a play on hot dogs.

I found some different yummy sausages, 

then came up with some interesting toppings for each one.

This one was one of my favorites!

Pretty tasty!

Yum Yum!

This one was my second favorite!

I just had to taste them all!

As far as desserts go...I made these cute Cheeseburger Cupcakes 

and Crinkle Cut Cake Fries with a side of Plum Jelly as ketchup.

It was a good day, full of creativity, great friends, yummy food, and lots of fun!

Stars & Stripes Apple Pie

Pie crust from Barefoot Contessa and Pie filling from My Sister's Cafe

What you need:

Pie Crust (need 1 double pie crust)

12 Tbsp very cold unsalted butter

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1 TBsp sugar

1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening

6-8 Tbsp ice water (about 1/2 cup)

Pie Filling

1/2 cup sugar

1 TBsp flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp lemon juice

6 cups Granny Smith apples (peeled and sliced)

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

How to make it:

Pie crust

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture.

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.

Add the butter and shortening.

Pulse 8-12 times, until the butter is the size of peas.

With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.

Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half.

Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board.

Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to the fit the pan.

Roll out the second half of the dough then using a star cookie cutter, cut out some stars, set aside.

Then cut some strips to make the stripes, set aside.

Filling

Preheat oven to 425˚F.

Pour the lemon juice over the sliced apples.

In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon.

Coat the apples with the sugar mixture.

Put the apples in the unbaked pie shell.

In a separate bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar, and flour, cut with a pastry blender or rub with fingers.

Sprinkle over the apples.

Cover the apples with the stars and stripes dough pieces.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Serve warm or with ice cream then ENJOY!

Hard Apple Cider BBQ Ribs

Recipe modified from People.com

What you need:

2 racks of ribs (I used pork)

1/2 cup Hard Cider (I used Angry Orchard)

Dry rub

2 TBsp smoked paprika

2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 TBsp ginger powder

1 tsp allspice

BBQ Sauce

2 cups barbecue sauce

1 TBsp molasses

2 Tbsp hard cider (I used Angry Orchard)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

How to make them:

Combine paprika, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger powder, and allspice to create a dry rub.

Salt and pepper the ribs, rub the mixture all over the meat.

Wrap the rubbed ribs in aluminum foil and put in the refrigerator to marinate overnight.

The next day...preheat oven to 375˚F.

Place meat in a roasting pan and slather the ribs with the 1/2 cup hard cider.

Cover the pan with foil and bake for approximately 2 hours, until 1 inch of bone is showing.

Finish on the grill over medium heat for approximately 15 minutes and glaze with BBQ sauce.

Then ENJOY!

Baked Beans & Sausage

Recipe from Everyday Health

What you need:

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 cup water

2 TBsp tomato paste

1 TBsp molasses

1/8 tsp salt

pepper to taste

1 TBsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion (chopped)

4 cups collard greens (rinsed, chopped, stems removed)

9 oz chicken sausage (cooked, halved lengthwise and sliced)

30 oz Great Northern beans (rinsed)

How to make it:

Whisk barbecue sauce, water, tomato paste, molasses, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add onion and collard greens and cook, stirring occasionally until collards are wilted, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Add sausage and cook, stirring until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes more.

Reduce heat to medium-low, add beans and sauce mixture to the pan.

Gently stir to combine, cover and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Then ENJOY!

Tangy Coleslaw

Recipe from Billy Parisi

What you need: 

1/2 thinly sliced head of green cabbage

1 cup of thinly sliced red cabbage

2 whole shredded carrots

3 thinly sliced green onion

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp of grainy mustard

1 TBsp honey

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 1/2 tsp of celery see

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:

In a small bowl whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey, and olive oil; set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together cabbage, carrots, green onions, and celery see.

Next, pour small amount of the dressing on the cabbage mixture and mix together until combined and until desired amount of dressing is achieved.

Season with salt and pepper.

Chill before serving.

Then ENJOY!

Red, White, & Blue Potato Salad

Recipe from Cooking Light
What you need: 2 cups fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise (peeled or not peeled) 2 cups small red potatoes, quartered (peopled or not peeled) 2 cups small blue potatoes, halved lengthwise (peeled or not peeled) 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion 2 Tbsp fresh parsley 1 Tsp chopped fresh dill 1 TBsp chopped fresh chives 3 hard boiled eggs (finely chopped) 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 2 TBsp olive oil 1 1/14 tsp salt 2 tsp Dijon mustard 1/2 tsp ground pepper 1 garlic clove (minced) How to make it: Place fingerling and red potatoes in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until tender. Drain, cool slightly. Place potatoes in a large bowl Place blue potatoes in a sauce pan, cover with water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain, cool slightly. Add blue potatoes, onions, parsley, dill, chives, and eggs to bowl, toss gently. Combine vinegar and remaining ingredients. Pour over potato mixture, toss gently to combine. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled. Then ENJOY!

Summer Bucket List: Creative Craft

     We had a pretty busy day planned, so Liam chose a quick activity from the bucket.  We hadn't done our holiday cards, so this was the perfect time! Very quick, easy, and fun!

Here's what you need:

Red paint

White paint

Blue paint

Pipe cleaners

Card Stock paper

How to make them:

Attach a few pipe cleaners together, spreading them out to make a star/firework.
Pour the paint in a paper plate.
Dip the bundled part of the pipe cleaner into the paint.
Then stamp it on a piece of card stock.

Liam stamping his fireworks.

Beautiful!

Let them dry completely.

Then write "Happy 4th of July" on them. 

Seal them in an envelope and mail!

A Firecracker card just for you!

Our Fun Fourth of July

     This Fourth of July was pretty low key.  We just hung out most of the day till our friends came over for an early dinner around 4:30pm.

     I surprised Liam and Kinley with a little 4th of July goodie basket, filled with glow sticks, smoke balls, poppers, sparklers, red, white, and blue Twizzlers, candy sticks, some socks and a star headband for Kinley.

Hanging outside, me and my boy!

The guys

Liam and Daddy playing Transformers

I've got my red, white, and blue on!

Did you wear yours?

Even painted my toes!

If you are looking for a great 4th of July movie...may I suggest Little Miss Firecracker!

I made Liam a Rocket Hot Dog, Firework Ketchup, and 

some Start Spangled Banner Pasta Salad for dinner.

The hubby grilled some yummy ribs, chicken, and corn on the cob, while I fixed up some pasta salad, goat cheese stuffed peppers, and Red, White, & Blue Shortcakes for dessert.

After dinner we headed outside to do some fun firecrackers, 

poppers, sparklers, and smoke balls.

Liam loved them all, however for the other kiddos, 

it was their first time being so close to them.

Had to snap a picture of my littlest firecracker!

Later that night after Kinley went to bed, the hubby, 

Liam and I went outside for some fun!

We played with all the glow sticks I got for him.

Time for some sparklers!

FIRECRACKER TIME!!

We had a great 4th of July!  

Hope you did too!