Family Birthday Cards...... Part One - My Oldest Son!

This is the time of year when I really need to be looking ahead as I have three family birthdays in the span of a month.... my oldest son, my youngest granddaughter, and my daughter .  I am usually ahead of the curve, but not this year.  With my daughter and granddaughters visiting the week before Easter, it really threw off my timing, not to mention that Easter was SO late this year.

So last week I started on my granddaughter's card because let's face it - kids cards are SO much easier to do than adult cards.  And for me, female cards are TEN times easier than a card for a male. So poor Scott already had two strikes against him.  And it wasn't until I got about halfway through a card I needed for May, that the realization set in that I had not started my son's card yet and it needed to get in the mail.  Yikes! The panic was on!

He loves all things Disney (yes even at the age of 39, you don't outgrow Mickey Mouse and all of his friends), and is an avid golf player, but I felt like I had exhausted those topics in previous years!  So I looked and I looked and I looked. I went through all of my stamps, digi and rubber. I searched through my endless collection of card sketches and books with card ideas.  Nothing.  Even Pinterest failed me - so I knew I was in serious trouble at this point!  Finally after stepping away from it, I just decided that the greeting was the most important thing and keeping it simple was probably a good idea.

Before I go on to the card portion, I just have to say that I can hardly believe that 39 years have passed. I can remember the anticipation, fear, excitement, worry - all of those emotions that come tumbling in at once, as if it was yesterday.  The fear was because he was a big baby and he was losing oxygen fast, so they did an emergency c-section. I was terrified, but he was healthy and beautiful.  It was a tumultuous first month as the two grandmothers took care of him most of that time as I ended back in the hospital with an infection and it was touch and go for a while.  But we clearly had a happy ending.  There is nothing like your first born.  All of your children are special, but that first one is truly that first miracle - and there is nothing in the world like that experience.  He is all of my hopes and dreams wrapped into one wonderful person.  Thank God he has a sister and brother so all of the pressure is not on him!!  I love him dearly.

Now, onto the card....

You can see the detail of the letters cut with the Silver Bullet Professonal.

I had to do a closeup of the papers as they are so beautiful with the gold flecks running through them.  The red and blue are from the incandescent line from Paper Temptress.  

And the tone on tone white striped paper creating the lattice work is from the luster line.  

I love how these papers make everything look so special.

And here is the final product.  The file is from Birds Cards - it is her Card Cover series.  I altered it a little and added the greeting.  The buttons were made with the Epiphany Crafts Shape Punch (cuts the shape and attaches an adhesive dome to the paper shape). I have had that punch forever and realized it was time to use the tools I have!   The red and blue twine is American Crafts.

So here you have it - a very simple card, done in the colors of  his alma mater (University of Arizona). It isn't my best work, but it is full of love and I hope that is enough.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCOTT!!

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Low Sugar Mixed Berry Swirled Lemon Bread

I am still working on cards, but I have one more amazingly delicious bread recipe to post first.  This was so easy and so delicious that I will definitely make it again (and soon!).  I think it would be wonderful with an apricot jam filling instead of the mixed berry too.

Low Sugar Mixed Berry Swirled Lemon Bread

(adapted from Eat Cake for Dinner)

1/4 cup oil
3/8 cup Truvia Baking Blend
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. Fiori di Sicilia (King Arthur blend of citrus and vanilla - optional)
2 tsp. grated lemon peel
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 c. flour
1  tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup mixed berry jam (used my homemade jam from an earlier post!)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream the oil and Truvia Baking Blend together.  Mix in the egg, egg white, extracts and lemon peel until well blended.  In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the dry ingredients and Greek yogurt alternately to the oil mixture, ending with the dry ingredients.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan.  Top with the mixed berry jam (or jam of your choice), leaving a small border around the edges.  Do not swirl the jam - it will do so naturally!  Top with the remaining batter and gently spread over the jam, covering the mixture evenly.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.

You can dust with powdered sugar or cover in a glaze, but I left it plain for this version!

You can see how beautifully that bit of jam swirls through the bread

and adds an extra layer of wonderful flavor....

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Low Sugar Banana Zucchini Decadent Bread!

So when  I decided to bake last night, I was going to make some variation of banana bread and then zucchini bread as both of those main ingredients were in the refrigerator literally SCREAMING to be used.  In a few more days they would have been permanent residents in the trash can!!!

I know - you read the title and thought - how can low sugar and decadent be on the same line.  Have I lost it?  Well that is a different blog post!  LOL   But seriously - it makes perfect sense to me because the decadent and unexpected ingredient is dark chocolate.  If you have been reading my blog recipes, you know I am in love with the King Arthur burgundy chunk chocolate pieces. They are sooooo good - the flavor is the best; they melt better than any chocolate chip or chunk I have ever used, and they add just enough richness without overwhelming the recipe.

I would never have thought to combine bananas and zucchini, but I will definitely be using this combination in other creations. The inspiration was not mine.  I found the basic recipe at Brown Eyed Baker. And the dark chocolate chunks just put it over the top.  I have made chocolate zucchini cake and banana muffins with chocolate chips - so it was natural to add in the chocolate.  It's always better with chocolate, right?  Well in this case, it definitely is!

LOW SUGAR BANANA-ZUCCHINI SURPRISE BREAD!!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Penzey's baking spice (mixture of bread friendly spices)
1 tsp. King Arthur vanilla bean crush
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup Truvia Baking Blend
1 cup vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
2 cups shredded zucchini (used the large grate)
1 cup chopped dark chocolate (I used King Arthur Burgundy Chunks......SO GOOD!!)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   Grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans and set aside.

In a medium bowl, measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and whisk together and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the Truvia Baking Blend and oil and whisk until smooth and combined. Add the bananas and whisk until well blended.  Add the flour mixture and stir gently with a rubber spatula until blended. Gently fold in the zucchini and dark chocolate pieces.

Just had to capture the marriage of the zucchini and the chopped dark chocolate.

The flavors blended perfectly and fragrance was intoxicating!!

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. (mine were done in 40-45 minutes, but there is less volume with the Truvia Baking Blend).  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the pans and place on wire rack to cool completely before serving. Wrap in plastic wrap and enjoy every savory morsel.
Will keep about 5 days during cool weather.  Refrigerate if necessary.

This is truly as good as it looks!!  Another MUST TRY!!

Hope to be sharing some cards soon - working on a few in my head!!  Trying to get those creative juices flowing....... again!

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Jam - a gift for any occasion

Let's forget that this post was originally planned during the Christmas season.  But the concept works for any time of year, especially now if you are starting to think about all of the wonderful fresh fruits that will be beckoning you to buy them in the months ahead. I love spring and summer for that very reason - all of the glorious fruit. But if you are like me, it all looks and smells so good that you overbuy and then wonder what in the world you are going to do with ALL of that fruit before it gets too ripe to enjoy.

The answer??   Make jam!

Up until a few months ago, I had never made jam - no  - not EVER!   And I was never tempted to as it seemed like so much trouble with all of the sterilization of the jars and canning process and ugh -

The Ball Automatic Jam and Jelly Maker

Well the Ball Jam and Jelly Maker has clearly made a believer out of me -there is nothing like homemade jam and all you need is fresh fruit or good quality juice (for jelly).  Because you don't go through the canning process, the jam doesn't last forever - 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer. (However mine is lasting  MUCH longer than that in the refrigerator).

I know I am lucky living in southern CA because berries are in the stores just about year round. So when I was trying to think of something different to do for my neighbors this year, I quickly decided to make mixed berry jam.

How beautiful are those raspberries and blackberries?  YUM!

All crushed and ready to be made into jam.

With this special machine, it just doesn't get more gratifying.  Fresh jam in less than a half hour - love it!

Once you crush the fruit, you are ready to go. The pectin goes in the machine first and then the berries or juice (if making jelly). After a short amount of time, you add the sugar, cover it, and let it finish cooking.  I use the low sugar pectin so mine is not as sweet, but the fruit flavor is stronger.  It's a personal preference - they make a regular pectin which is used in the same quantity, but the sugar is increased. Equally easy to use.

The berries are cooking with the pectin.

Sugar has been added and the cooking finishes with the lid on.

Time to fill the jars with fruit goodness!

I had made it a few times and was pleasantly surprised at how good and easy it was!  And jam would be appreciated year round and so easy to package for any holiday or celebration.

The jam is cooling with the inner lids barely on.

Ready for the refrigerator - or delivery!

These were Christmas gifts, but they truly would make 

a welcome gift for any occasion.

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Teabag Folding Card - Learning Again!

It was time to go back to my roots again - well where I started making cards once I branched out from straight computer cards. I chuckle when I think about it now.  Remember when printing cards on the computer with all of those programs were all the rage and we were so proud of ourselves for "making cards"???  Don't get me wrong - those programs were great and I still use them on occasion for printing the inside of my cards.  But the transitions were interesting. I belonged to a cardmaking group in the mid 90s - and we shared things we were doing.  It started with using glitter glue on the cards and making bookmarks that were attached to the card with perforated scoring so it could be detached - so many fun things.  But when I tired of that, I turned to the Dutch papercrafting that still intrigues me. I loved learning different things and I still love returning to these very hands on crafts from years ago.

I haven't done any teabag folding in years - okay if the truth be known it it at least a DECADE!  So I had to
"re-teach" myself when I decided to try it again. I am not sure what got me thinking about it, but when I explored the internet I was amazed at how much was still out there. There is even a website that will take any image and turn it into a page of teabag tiles whatever size you want..  So there is no limit to what can be created.  For those who are not familiar with teabag folding, it is done by basically taking a square shape, folding it into a different configuration and then repeating that with other squares and interlocking them into a final shape, usually called a medallion.

One of the 2 1/2" squares  printed from the internet.

 Is that as confusing as it sounded??  If all of the squares have the same pattern then the design has a very defined look, like the image I used in the card below. But you can also use gift wrap, newspaper, random patterns and create an entirely different effect.  I plan to do more folding in the future and share some of the interesting options with you.

For this card, most of the papers used were from Paper Temptress.  The white backing and lacey leaf frame are from the luster canvas line - I love how textural it looks.  The frame is from Monica's lacey frames.  Most of her patterns are very detailed and they cut beautifully on the Silver Bullet Professional.  The teabag was printed from a jpg file I found and converted into a sheet of 12 tiles or squares. I only used 8 for this medallion.

This is the beginning of the folding.  The final pattern is determined

by how it is folded, so you want to be sure all are folded 

with the same pattern visible..

Spotlighting the center so you can see the intricacy of the lace frame and also 

some of the detail in the medallion.  If I flipped it over, it would have a different appearance.

It is really quite easy and fun to do.  I used a blue Spectrum Noir marker to color a clear crystal to complement the color of the card base and then put some Wink of Stella clear glitter over it for a bit of sparkle.  The purple striped iridescent ribbon is also from Paper Temptress.

I love the texture of the Luster paper...

I learned a lot while playing with this technique again and am eager to practice and share more.

This was made for a very special friend who has had quite a difficult month. I am hoping it will make her smile and bring a little cheer into her day.  She brings sunshine into all the lives of those she touches.

The final product. I hope it travels well!

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One More Sympathy Card...

Am back with one more sympathy card.

The next one is utilizing a file I really like (cannot remember where I got it )!  I have used it before with an acrylic and glitter background and it cuts like a dream. There is something so serene about  a gentle hummingbird flitting gracefully  from flower to flower.  I am highlighting a closeup of the hummingbird feathers because of the detailed cut I was able to get with the Silver Bullet Professional.  You can see how minute those feathers are and the machine just sped through those.  I always worry when I have it cutting so fast that it may not be able to handle the details if there are a lot and/or they are tiny, but it never disappoints.  The cardstock is from the incandescent line (candido and nero) from Paper Temptress - they both have what looks like thin gold threads woven through the paper.  It is so elegant and why I chose the gold pearl accents for the hummingbird eye and the flower.  I used a gold leaf pen to get that rich gold color.

I think this is one of my favorite cards.

Wanted to share this closeup so you can see the fine detail of the cut - 

so exact and 

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Sympathy Cards - Made with Love...

The ideas have been seeping into my head and I am trying to do a better job of writing them down as bits of creativity slip in and rapidly out of my brain.

It has been a sad couple of weeks.  I have spent the past few days making sympathy cards.  It is such a heart heavy reminder just how fleeting life is and how important it is to make the most of every day.  We all get hung up, it seems, with projects and meetings and just the demands of daily life. But I am acutely aware now (and hope I don't forget the lesson) that it should not be so hard to schedule lunch or coffee with a friend.  That time should be much more important than any other meeting or "thing to do". When it comes right down to it, it's about making the most of the time that has been gifted to us, and the older I get, the more I realize just what a gift it is, and how quickly it can be taken away.  So..... a renewed commitment to make time with friends a priority - the other "stuff" can wait.......

So here is a brief glimpse of what I have been working on - trying to make each different and personal to the recipient.....  and I am determined to make simpler cards.... my version of clean and simple.  I could accomplish much more if I simplified things.  Also on the list of things to do is to utilize the stamps I have.  Lots of goals , but that's a good thing.  It keeps me motivated.  But first things first...

The first card is a very nice cross from dear friend, Penny.(Penny Duncan Creations).   It is her Fancy Christian Cross.  I love her files and can always count on them to cut beautifully.   This paper is from Paper Temptress and is the incandescent paper - blumarino and candido.  They are elegant and make any card look more special!

Love the simplicity yet beauty of this cross.

A better look at the detail......

You can see the richness of the colors in the closeup.

And the next one I am choosing to share also utilizes a file from Penny.  I got  the idea from something I saw on Pinterest and I used Penny's file as the foundation to make a medallion.  This is a fleur de lis from Penny's embellishments - Deco Items.  I wanted it to look like ribbon was running along the side of the card and was anchored by these embellishments, so I took Penny's design and and a frame design in the shape library of SCAL, and welded them together - success.  It was very easy to do and I love the way it looks.
As you know, I almost always use papers from Paper Temptress as they are my all time favorites to use when creating cards, but I found a rather large stash of Coredination papers while reorganizing my craft room and liked the two tone colors of the paper.  It has a sort of tweedy look on one side and a smooth color on the other.  I shortened the width of the front so the inside would show when the card was closed and complement the embellishment.  I love how it looks and how simple it is.  I felt like this card needed more, but I held back and just "let it go" without adding clutter to it.  The stamp was an old one from my stash - I think it is the Clearly Inspired line....

Again, thanks to Penny for inspiring these two cards.  It really jump started my ideas.

Will be sharing one more in a few days.


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Surprisingly Good Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I realize the title of this post makes no sense.   There is absolutely nothing surprising about the fact that bananas and chocolate are good together.  It's like peanut butter and jelly, cinnamon and sugar, cheese and crackers....... it's a perfect pairing.

But the surprise to me, was what a difference a little change in a recipe can make.  I had very ripe bananas that were literally screaming to be used.  I wanted to try something different and found a relatively simple recipe on Real Life Dinner .  But I decided to tweak it a little.  I am a huge fan of the burgundy chocolate chunks from King Arthur, but decided just to put one on top of each muffin and stay with the mini chocolate chips in the batter so the chocolate would not be overwhelming. But what I did want to add was the flavor of brown sugar to the muffin, but not just any brown sugar.  I am a huge fan of muscovado sugar so I used a 3:1 ratio with that and the granulated sugar keeping the total sugar required the same.  The flavor ended up so rich and moist - and I am eager to incorporate it into more recipes when I want that added "wow"!

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

3 large ripe bananas
1 tsp. vanilla bean crush
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup muscovado sugar (can substitute with light or dark brown sugar)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2-3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
burgundy chunks for garnish (incredible dark chocolate chunks from King Arthur Flour)

Preheat the oven to 375.
Mash the bananas well and then add the vanilla, sugars, and egg and mix until well combined.  Add the slightly cooled melted butter.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk until blended.  Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently just until the dry ingredients are moist and mixed.  Fold in the mini chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into a prepared (lightly greased or paper lined) muffin pan. Place one burgundy chunk in the center of each muffin and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pan and finish cooling,.  Waiting for them to cool completely is the hard part!

Makes 12 muffins

This is definitely a comfort food.  It is great in the morning with a cup of coffee, as a snack in the middle of the day, or even a late night treat. And they stay moist for days.  I have clearly found a new favorite way to use my neglected bananas!  If you have not tried muscovado sugar, it is worth the search.  It adds such a depth to baked goods.  I think I have become a dark brown sugar snob!

Rich deliciousness... You have to try these....... NOW......

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Quilted Birthday Greetings...

The second card this week was a bit of a surprise, an embarrassing one for me to admit.  I have long been a fan of Technique Junkies and have all of the yearly cds along with the specialty ones that Pat Huntoon has produced.  But have I used any of them??  Nope... I go through the paper copy of the newsletter when it comes, but I rarely go back when I need ideas.  So on a fluke I put in her latest cd called Designer Paper Perfection and wow.....so many great ideas for making fun backgrounds with a variety of mediums. I was in awe of the creativity and then.. there it was..... the idea for my next card.  It is a quilting background and the birthday card I need to make is for a dear friend who loves to make quilts.  It was the perfect answer.

So.....for this one I used two complementary designs from Echo Park papers. The card base is linen from Paper Temptress that I embossed with Petite Dots from Embossalicious.  The quilt pieces were also embossed to make them look more like material with the Gun Metal folder, also from Embossalicious.  The quilt pattern is achieved by using a combination of circles and squares - so simple really,but it has made me want to look for more quilting patterns and see how many I can adapt to cards because this was really fun - and relatively easy too!  I love the added dimension of the embossing folders.

Look at the shimmer of the lunar blue card stock from Paper Temptress. It is so pretty.

Embossing the card base is something I rarely do, but I love the added texture.

So happy with the finished product - a fun quilt, no sewing required. 

I know I will be making more of these!

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An Oscar Worthy Evening!

So it's Sunday night in southern California and the stars are out - literally - as it's Academy Award night...that special time of year when celebrities don their best and show up in force to vie for that golden statue!  You may think that every good Southern CA born and bred girl celebrates Oscar night with a party, fun foods, fancy clothes -but not this girl! If the truth be known - there was a time when I did just that!  We had a local non profit organization that had an Oscar night fundraiser and everyone dressed up, entered on a red carpet, and helped raise money for a domestic violence shelter and program.  It was great fun and very festive.

But that was then and this is now.  I am in my pjs and slipper socks and baking in the kitchen.  So are you imagining delectable delights being prepared to munch on while I drool over the jewels and gowns parading across the TV screen???  Well, you are wrong.  I am baking dog treats.  Yes, you read that right -  homemade treats for my dogs.  Just one more glamorous evening in sunny (yes the sun did come out today) southern California!

I knew nothing about this clever contraption until a friend of mine visited me a couple of weeks ago and brought me a surprise.  Little did I know the gift was really for Roxy and Honey, my faithful companions. And if they had known the true value of what was in the box, they would not have let it sit on the kitchen table for even a day without whining at me until I put it to work!!

I am the first to admit that I am a sucker for kitchen gadgets. I love them.  But I doubt I would ever have bought this for myself.  It just didn't seem practical.  But getting it as a gift shed a totally different light on it and made it fun to play with and experiment.  And that I did!

So...let me introduce you to...... BAKE A BONE!!!  Yes - it does exactly what it says it does - it bakes bone shaped dog treats for the canine in your life!!

The only con I can find is that it only bakes 4 at a time. But the positives so outweigh that small negative.  The treats cook in 5-10 minutes.  They easily slip out of the best non stick surface I have ever seen.  They smell delicious.  It comes with 30, yes THIRTY assorted recipes and you can tailor them to your pets needs/allergies. Once done they cool for 30 minutes and have a biscuit like soft interior.  You can make them crunchy by putting them in a a preheated oven, turning off the heat, and leaving them in there for 4-6 hours.

We all know how much dogs love peanut butter, so that was what I decided to make first. Just 4 ingredients - flour, milk, peanut butter, and baking powder. Does it get any easier than that?? And because I have one dog with a lot of food sensitivities, I used all oat flour and coconut milk.  I love being able to choose what ingredients are in their treats.  You do have to follow the directions and overfill the mold.

 My first few batches were not as high so did not have the details that future batches did.  

Just a little learning curve!!

 I attempted to fill the molds with a spoon or spatula as suggested, but found that difficult.  So I made the batter a little thinner (about the consistency of thick pancake batter) and used a plastic dispenser to squeeze the batter into the molds.

This was a Wilton candy/frosting dispenser - just cut off the tip to make it larger for the batter!

So much easier.  You can see the "rows" of batter in the top picture but the fill out  

and puff up once baked!   Success!!

This recipe made about 34 treats and they were large - 3 inches each! 

I clearly have something they want.....

I had their FULL attention!

 Honey and Roxy were eager to taste test the soft treats and they loved them. They must have been good as  not a crumb of evidence remained!  The anticipation was almost better than the actual treat!  Love how eager they were to get those bites.

If you are interested, you can find it at the link above or on Amazon. The company also makes four different treat mixes for the machine, but honestly, it is so simple to make and provide your own fresh ingredients, that I don't find them necessary.

So.....this was my exciting Oscar evening.  The girls are now snoozing on the couch with tummies full of peanut butter treats and I am quite comfy in my pjs knowing that, in their eyes, I won the Oscar tonight for best culinary performance by a dog owner!  And that makes me quite happy and content......

Hope you had a wonderful Academy Award evening too!

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