Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Vineyard Photo Shoot

This is my new K.Nafziger favorite.  Tess and Meg look angelic as they stroll through their granparents’ vineyard.072110-131

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Using Pesto - Recipe {2} Post Edit

**One of my editors in Columbus caught a mistake in this post! I left out the mayo in step number 3. It’s a crucial ingredient!

I used the tomatoes I purchased at the Archbold Farmers Market to make a tomato-pesto last night.  It’s megasimple and you can’t mess it up.  Well…someone did find a hair in one piece. Nice.  Not my shining moment of the night, but luckily the finder was a hairdresser and it didn’t phase her one bit. Phew.
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IMG_2556  Ingredients: 1 frozen pie crust, 2 c. mozzarella cheese, 1/2 c. mayonnaise, 2 T. pesto, tomatoes, 1/4 t. pepper and 1/4 c. parmesan cheese. 

Steps

1. Roll out pie crust into a 12 inch circle.  Fold edges over or up or anyway you want to make a small edge.  Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

2. While the pie crust is pre-baking…slice (thin to med) enough tomatoes (any variety) to cover the crust. I tend to use romas and deseed them for the most part so they don’t make the crust soggy. A few seeds won’t hurt though.

3. Mix 1/2c. of mayonnaise 1 c. mozzarella cheese, 1/4 c. parmesan cheese, 2 T. pesto and 1/4/ t. salt.

4. When pie crust is finished prebaking, remove and cover with 1 c. of the mozzarella cheese.  Layer tomatoes then spread mixture over top of the tomatoes.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Cut like a pizza and serve.

Variations…Sometimes I think this recipe is almost to rich for me.  I want to try it with only 1.5 cups of cheese and I think a light mayo instead of real mayo would be great too.  Also…any white cheese you have on hand will work.  I’ve used an Italian blend before as well as asiago and swiss blend. 

PS…Find the Using Pesto – Recipe {1} here.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Outlet Event @ Olive Juice

Check out the $5, $10 and $15 sale at Olive Juice.  Super simple children’s clothing.  The sale ends today!

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Thursday, July 22, 2010

MadebyJoel.com

Joel Henriques is one rad Dad.  He’s a stay at home dad, artist, designer, crafter, blogger and is super genius. He designs and creates toys and crafts with his three year old twins. His ideas are often crafted from common household items and materials. He sews, paints, draws, saws, sands, embroiders and more. I love the megasimple nature of his crafts and toys.  He is currently working on a book about toy & craft making and I’m looking forward to its debut.  Click on pictures to take you to each project on his website.Made_By_Joel_Box_Aquarium_5JH_Doll_House_Furniture_1Made_by_Joel_Cereal_Box_Marble_Run_1

Joel’s art is featured on his art website found here.  He creates modern still lifes and abstracts.
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Check out this time elapsed video showcasing the creation of these three owl paintings.  I love time elapsed videos showing how things are done. Don’t you?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Pesto

IMG_5874We produced our first batch of pesto for the season! We grow our own basil and freeze pesto in large quantities because basil is too expensive to buy year round. I posted previously about pesto here. I’ve posted our recipe,but there are many great variations out there that you may want to experiment with.   I’ll be posting some of our favorite ways to use pesto in the future.

Basil Pesto

1/4 c. pine nuts

3 cloves of garlic

1 T. of salt (add gradually to taste, may not need full T.)

11.5 fluid ounces of olive oil

3.5 c. of basil leaves (tightly packed)

1/2 c. of parmesan cheese

Directions: Place nuts, garlic, half the olive oil and half the salt into the food processor.  Blend to a paste (about 1 minute).  Add basil leaves gradually.  Add additional oil until the paste is thoroughly combined.  Add parmesan cheese and adjust seasoning with more salt if needed.  Fill in containers and freeze immediately. 

Tips…#1 Don’t harvest basil until you are ready to make the pesto.  It tends to wilt quickly.  #2 The recipe originally called for 1 T. of salt, but we’ve found this to be too much so we just add salt according to taste.  #3 Add parmesan gradually and taste test as you go.  The parm adds salt too.

Bonus Multiple Batch Calculator

Kent made a spreadsheet that calculates the ingredient amounts for multiple batches.  You can access the spreadsheet here.

Do you have a pesto recipe? What is your favorite way to use pesto?

Thursday, July 1, 2010

My Little Bicklets

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I just read that My Little Bicklets  will have a booth at two upcoming art fairs! Don’t miss “Art in the Park” in Archbold on July 17th from 11-5 and the Ridgville Community Days Craft Show on August 7th from 12-4.  Rumor has it there will be some awesome new products. 

Congratulations to Laura on her first Etsy Store sale! I’ve looked at “The Andrea” bag a million times.  Love it!  Now I’ve got my eye on “The Meg”!

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