Grilled Goods and Home Decor

The girls got together this month for grilled goods and home decor. Mr.P and I are officially in our new place.

It was really hard to narrow down the choices, we all pinned so many yummy grilled foods. Two kabob/skewer ideas were used and I'm so glad we chose "skewed" food!  It rained all day Tuesday. I don't have a covered porch. Broke out the George Foreman. Super easy to make these kabobs on an electric grill. Not all was lost!

Apple Kielbasa Kabobs

These were awesome. I'm a big fan of kielbasa. Adding the apple was genius.

Grilled Ham and Pineapple Skewer

The basting sauce really soaks into this and is great to munch on. We added the cherries for color and even more sweetness.

Grilled Balsamic Honey Glazed Carrots

Here's some of the spread including the carrots. I would have liked the carrots more if made on a real grill. They were still really good though! We also made an oven version of some foil packet Grilled Garlic Potatoes. We loaded ours with extra cheese and smothered it in ranch afterwards instead of the recommended sour cream! I didn't get a picture since they took forever in the oven. We ate those long after the grilled food was demolished.

Banana Boats

We used peanut butter/chocolate chip mix, almonds, and coconut to ours. Popped in the oven instead and they still came out AWESOME. Seriously, I could have ate a whole bunch by myself! Really good idea. I've even thought of other "toppings" to add. I think a "Banana Split" boat; adding cherries, chocolate, pineapple, and butterscotch would be amazing.

Home Decor Projects!

Two of us decided to do this really cool idea involving vinyl letter "stickers", scrap book paper/paper in general, paint and mod podge. Click the link for the tutorial. I read her comments to find out that you can find these letters at any Wal-mart where the poster board/science fair supplies are. Found mine there too!

DIY Quotes on Canvas and Cardboard!

I used my favorite Vonnegut quote. I used an old paperback I was going to donate/give away. I felt like I was doing something incredibly wrong as I ripped the pages out!

She made hers using scrap cardboard and scrapbook paper. I liked how she made it two toned! The color of paint she used made it shimmer and almost look coppery.

Melted Bead Sun catcher

This is a great idea. I'll definitely be making some soon to hang from the trees in my yard since I don't have anywhere else to hang them! She used the cheap-o glow in the dark plastic beads that came in a plastic pack for like $2 from Wal-Mart. It looks awesome hanging from her porch!

Until next time! <3









Upcycled Pinboard

I work at a bakery/restaurant and many things get thrown out. The bakers were throwing away two large cake pans because they were starting to leak out the sides. Obviously, these can no longer be used for baking but I couldn't just sit there and watch them be thrown away. I decided to turn one into a pinboard for my new craft room! I'm still deciding what to do with the other one.

Everything I used I had on hand. If you already have a fully stocked craft room, then I would suggest you use stuffing or padding inside yours, otherwise just do what I did!

Upcycled Pinboard from Cake Pan

Supplies:

• 1 old cake pan
• 1 piece of cardboard ( I used a box leftover from moving.)
• Fabric, enough to fit your pan size
• Ribbon
• Leftover/extra yarn or padding/stuffing
• Elmer's Glue All
• Staple gun/stapler
• Scissors
• Measuring Tape
• Electric screwdriver or drill (if using electric screwdrive make sure to use a pointed tipped screw just so you won't damage your bit)
• Paint of your choice.

Directions:

1. Measure and cut cardboard to size of cake pan. (Mine was around 13X18)

Cecil cat had to play with the scraps!

      2. I glued yard haphazardly on mine so it would looks more "stuffy" and textured. If you want it to be completely smooth I would use actual padding/stuffing. I also have, no kidding, 5 bags of yarn. Most I know I will never use to actually crochet with, so I might as well find some kind of uses for it.

     3. Allow glue to dry. Measure fabric one inch more than board size all around. This allows you to tighten the fabric and attach it to the back. I think I gave myself more than one inch to be honest! Secure fabric with staple gun on corners ( do not do this throughout the center because your staples could show through the other side!) Also secure with glue all.

    
     4. Allow board to dry. Meanwhile, take the cake pan and decide where you want the board to hang from. (if you're using a rectangle, basically vertical or horizontal? If you're using a circle pan, I guess it doesn't matter! haha) Make sure to level and measure your marks for your holes! Using your drill or I used my trusty Black and Decker electric screwdriver and a pointed tipped screw and drilled it through! I live in a rental and don't want to make any large holes in my walls, so I'd rather not hang it up using nails etc. That's where the holes in the pan and ribbon come in. (If you're painting your whole pan, do your painting now to allow to dry before attaching the ribbon hanger.)

Ribbon knotted through pan.

     Push ribbon through a hole and knot it until it can't fit through. Decide how much slack of ribbon you want to hang the board, determining how low it hangs. I gave mine quite a bit! Push ribbon through other hole and knot again until it can't fit through.

     5. I only painted the sides of my pan with a gray because I liked the silver on the inside. I did a quick cover up on sides and allowed the pan to dry.

     6. Meanwhile, after the board is dry I attached ribbon around the corners to make "pockets' to slide things under as well. I used the stapler and again kept it stapled on the very edges out of sight. Once everything is dry, board should fit right into pan and even stay in place. For extra security, or if you're accidently off by a few mm; I glued it down into the pan. Let it sit with some weight on it to dry.

A nice addition to my new craft room. Super easy and can be made with the most minimal of materials.



Mango Cream Cheese Parfait with Blackberry Syrup

Summers in Florida are not what they are cracked up to be. It's mostly so humid and scorching outside that the heat absorbs any energy you might have left. Even baking can make your house 10 degrees hotter than you'd like. I needed a cool dessert that required minimal oven use. So, I just kind of whipped this up one afternoon. It was dee-licious and required very little effort. This is enough to make 4 ramekins/cups. I really had no idea what to call it, so I went with this...

Mango Cream Cheese Parfait with Blackberry Syrup

Ingredients:

• 4 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 ripe mango, cubed
• 2 cup crushed almonds

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F to toast crushed almonds. Toast for 10 minutes or until crisp.
2.  Using mixer, beat cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Beat 1/4th cup of cream until smooth with mixture, scraping sides. Continue to add 1 3/4 cup  cream until consistency of a whipped cream.
4. Fold in mango.
5. Place a layer of almonds in bottom of cup or ramekin.
6. Top with cream cheese mixture and add another layer of almonds to each.
7. With remaining heavy cream, whip in electric mixer to make unsweetened whipped cream.
8. Top parfaits with whipped cream and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

For Blackberry Syrup:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries ( I mushed mine up first because I don't mind seeds!)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients into saucepan. Stir over medium heat till sugar dissolves and begins to boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes until thick and syrupy.
3. Let cool 15 minutes (if you're not a fan of the seeds, push through a strainer to remove them)
4. Top the chilled parfaits with your syrup. Enjoy!

I enjoyed the lighter texture with the fruit mixture and crunch of the almonds. Hope you like it as much as I did.





Blueberry Peach Bundt for 4th!

Mr. P and I were invited to a fellow couple's 4th of July gathering. She if a fellow pinner (and suuupper friend! <3) who will be moving to Colorado very soon. :(

She's also a grilling queen. She listed off a Cajun themed feast like no other. I got to provide part of the dessert. Another baking goddess came who made the best most perfect sugar cookies on the planet. She totally told me where she found the recipe. (Maybe I'll share some other time! ;p )

On my search for a "Cajun" dessert I came to a screeching halt. Bananas were out, the hostess didn't like them and the baking goddess's hubby was allergic I found out later! (wosh, close call!) The hostess's hubby isn't a chocolate fan, and Mr. P doesn't like strawberries or cherries. What am I going to do?! Found a picture of a delicious looking Blueberry Peach Bundt cake on Pinterest. I get to the site and it's all in Spanish. I can only comprehend the most minimal of Spanish. The pictures of the cake are so enticing, I know I must, absolutely must, make this exact recipe. So, I translate each line and try to comprehend what a free translator spits out. I did a pretty damn good job. To lighten such a heavy bundt cake, I decided to slice it in half and make a yummy layer of my new favorite icing. It's my now "go to" whipped cream cheese frosting from the Pumpkin Praline Cake.

So, here's my version in English!

Blueberry Peach Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, smoothed out.
• 2 cups sugar 
•  6 eggs 
• 1 tsp Almond Extract
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• about 3 1/2 cups. of flour 
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.
• 1/2 cup of sour cream.
• 2 cups peach preserves
• 1 cup of blueberries

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar in electric mixer until light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Combine the extracts and beat well.
4. In a seperate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Mix well.
5. Alternate adding the flour mixture and sour cream to the creamed sugar/butter. Finishing with the flour.
6. Fold the blueberries and peach preserves into batter.
7. Pour into greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 F for 60-70 minutes. (It began to rain on the day I made mine, so I had to leave it in a little longer)
8. When toothpick inserted comes out clean remove and let cool 15 minutes.
9. Release from pan to cool completely.

I whipped up the frosting right before we left for the party, made a layer to the cake, and piled on the whipped goodness. I garnished the cake with about a peach and a half sliced and the remaining blueberries.

Muy Bueno!