FRIED EGGS the YUMMY WAY

Well, it seems all I have time for amidst entertaining four kids (my teenager is living with his dad right now) and trying to clean up after the messes they make while they are all home is cooking.  I just can’t seem to get to any crafts.  But, we all have to eat so cooking seems to be happening regularly!

This morning my son asked for fried eggs so I thought I would photograph how I make them.  I know people can be very opinionated about the correct way to cook eggs.  I only like eggs that I cook or my husband cooks for me.  I do not eat eggs at restaurants.  “Why?” you ask.  Because I don’t like slimy eggs!!!

I had to chuckle when I saw a recipe for “Frizzled Eggs” in some magazine awhile back.  They acted like it was some new method of cooking eggs, and yet I have been cooking them this way since childhood!  For those who don’t like eggs, give these a try.  They are seriously so yummy!

STEP 1- Put your stove on HIGH!  That’s right people.  I know chefs say you should cook eggs over a gentle heat.  But doing that gives you slimy super soft eggs.  So crank up the heat girls!

STEP 2- Don’t be afraid of butter.  Butter is your friend.  Butter gives your eggs delicious flavor.  Put a good teaspoon in the pan for two eggs.  Let it got nice and hot and bubbly.

STEP 3- Crack your eggs into the pan.  I like to use this little frying pan for making one or two eggs.  Make sure you use a non-stick pan.  Use the corner of your spatula to break up the thick part of the white around the yolk and spread it out a bit.  The thinner the white is, the better.

STEP 4- Season your eggs with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Lots of pepper cause it is yummy!  AACHOO!

STEP 5- Cook your eggs till the white is no longer clear and you have some nice browning around the edges.

STEP 6- CAREFULLY turn your eggs over using a large spatula.  Cook them on the other side for just 5-10 seconds if you like a soft yolk, or longer if you like your yolk more well done.  See that brown stuff?  It is yummy!  Don’t listen to chefs who say eggs should never have brown on them.  I wholeheartedly disagree!

STEP 7- Remove the eggs from the pan onto a plate.  Serve with toast if desired.

STEP 8- ENJOY!

TRAMPOLINE FORT {Sewing}

A couple years ago I got a crazy idea to make a skirt for out trampoline that would transform the trampoline into a fort for my boys.  It is quite a simple thing to do and took me only one afternoon to complete. 

I simply measured the circumference of the trampoline to figure out how many yards of fabric I would need.  I added a few inches so that it would overlap at the door.  I then measured the distance from the ground to just under the bar to know how tall the skirt should be.  I think I had to trim the fabric down as it was too wide.  I hemmed the top and left the selvedge edge on the bottom.  I got this denim fabric at Walmart for pretty cheap.  It is perfect for being outdoors. 

I used cotton twill tape for the ties.  I just folded a piece in half and used my sewing machine to sew it to the skirt.  I put a tie about every 2 to 3 feet.  I sewed in a square with an x in it pattern to make sure the ties would not come loose. {see pictures}  I used extra pieces of fabric to sew on some big pockets inside so the kids could put their gear in them, i.e. snacks, papers, flashlights, whatever they take into the tent.

I made a pleat in this pocket so it would hold extra big things, if needed.

We will often squirt the tent with water to help it be a little cooler inside.  I also let the kids use sidewalk chalk to write on the inside or outside of the fort.  The white stitching you see is from one of the pockets.  I wasn’t too concerned about the appearance, but you could use matching thread if you didn’t want the stitching to show.

I would like to make a cover to go over the top so that it will feel even more enclosed.  It is so simple yet so fun!  If you live where you need to sprinkler your grass daily, make sure to lift the skirt up onto the trampoline at night so your grass will get watered.

If you don’t have a trampoline you could make a similar cover for an outdoor (or indoor) table.  Instead of ties just make a top panel that the sides are sewn to, like a fitted tablecloth.

LITTLE MAN STAMPED PAPER PLATES {Party}

I bought some white paper plates at the dollar store for my Little Man shower.  Today I saw much nicer plates at Wal-Mart for 97 cents.  So, I am MAD!  I can’t return them because I have already stamped mustaches onto the dinner plates and bowties onto the dessert plates.  I am pretty happy with how they turned out.

I traced a mustache onto a new foam sponge and then used an Xacto knife to cut around the shape.  Once I had cut down into the sponge around the mustache about 1/4”, I used some little trimming scissors to cut away the excess to create a raised stamp shape.

I mixed some of this black paste food coloring with a couple tablespoons or so of powdered sugar and a few drops of water.

I mixed mine on a dark brown plate since I was using black and didn’t want to risk dying one of my white plates.  I just experimented with the consistency until it seemed to work alright stamping it.  I originally tried to do just food coloring and water but it didn’t stick at all.  I also tried just some ink (not on this sponge) but it never got dry on the glossy surface of the plate.  The puddle of goo was about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch deep.

I simply pressed the sponge into the goo and then looked to make sure it all seemed well covered, then gently pressed it onto the plate.  Some of them turned out better than others.  But I think the effect if perfect!  Here is the bowtie.

Then I just set them aside to dry.  Once dry, I was able to stack them all up on each other again.  I am wondering how black people’s mouths are going to get from eating off these.  I will keep you posted on that!

EMBELLISHED STRAW HAT {Craft}

Well, after I finished the teacher appreciation gifts I decided to work on embellishing this straw hat.

One of my sisters was recently diagnosed with carcinoma skin cancer on her scalp.  She had to have a piece of her scalp removed to get the cancer.  The wound is healing nicely but the doctor has told her she has other pre-cancerous spots on her scalp.  She now has to wear a hat anytime she goes outside.  So, I wanted to find a hat for her to show her my love and support.  I picked this one up and thought I could embellish it and make it cuter for her.

I used THIS tutorial for fabric rosettes over on NatSprat.  It was pretty easy, but I think hers are cuter than mine!  I didn’t have any cute buttons, so I used some beads for the flower centers.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I gave it to my sister today and she seemed to like it.  Hopefully she will feel kinda fun and flirty when she wears it!

Now I need to find a hat that will fit my own big head so I can protect myself from the sun as much as possible!!!

Sea Shell Sand Molds {Craft}

I came across this fun idea on Red Heads Craft More Fun.  I knew I had to try it when we were at the beach this past week.  On Courtney’s post she said it was easy.  Maybe they have different sand out in North Carolina than they do in Del Mar, California!  It was fun but it was not so easy!  I also did not have a cute square frame like she did. What I did have was a square plastic box.  So, let me tell you how I finally figured out how to make it work.  It was quite a process.

First of all, my husband had to build me a sand fortress for my little project, because although the tide was supposed to be going out it never really did and the water kept coming to the wet sand where I needed to make my molds.  His wall saved the day more than once!  Thank you my cute husband who loves to use his big shovel at the beach!!

Then, I had him throw a few shovels full of sand into my fortress.  I needed some sand that was a bit looser if I was going to have any chance of pressing those shells into it.  BTW, I purchased the shells I used.  They were half price to they were pretty cheap!

I didn’t quite understand how Courtney did her molds.  It seemed to me that the part between the edge of the square and the shell would need to be lower than ground level so that you could have a decent amount of plaster in there.  Maybe hers are really thin in that area, but I wanted mine to be more like a plaque.  So, my smart husband told me to push my blue box down into the sand a little and then push sand up around the edges of the box.  It worked great!  After that I pulled the box out carefully and then put in some loose sand and spread it around evenly in my square.  This gave me some sand to push my shells down into.  I also found that if you put the shell in and then VERY CAREFULLY sprinkle little bits of water on the surrounding sand it helps to not cave in when you pull up your shell.  It would work A LOT better to mist it with a spray bottle, but I didn’t have one!

Once you get your mold looking good, you can mix up your plaster.  You CAN use sea water. Follow the directions for amounts on your Plaster of Paris package.

As soon as your plaster is mixed, start spooning it into your mold.  I tried to spoon it over the shell part very carefully so it would not disrupt the dirt and cause me to lose the details of the shell.  Once I spooned it over the whole shell impression I poured the rest on.  Be sure to work very quickly.

(In the above picture the plaster was setting up too quickly.  It shouldn’t look so thick and should fill in the square more easily.  I think I have learned that if you get too much water in it it goes from super liquidy to solid much faster.  It is weird!)

After you pour it in smooth out the top with your spoon.  Then give your husband or friend or whoever is with you the bucket and spoon to wash before it dries in there!  Once it starts to set up a little you will want to stick something in the back to make a hole so you can hang it up later.  I found that a piece of seaweed worked PERFECTLY because it was pliable enough to remove once the plaster was hard.

Now, just let it sit for 20 or 30 minutes.  Then get it out of the sand and rinse it off to remove the excess sand.  And here is what you will get:

(The last ones I did were of Coral and they didn’t turn out so great.  The biggest problem was that the impression was so delicate that after I spooned in the plaster I wanted to let it sit for a minute before I did the pour.  Well, doing that caused the plaster to have a division around the edge, as you can see in the one against the wall above.  SO, I tried again but I didn’t have quite enough plaster for the amount of water in my bucket so then the stupid plaster got hard too fast and I got the same problem.  So, I’m a little bummed that the coral one doesn’t quite “match” the other 3.  Also, I had a cool sand dollar but I broke it trying to push it into the sand!  So, maybe don’t use sand dollars)

It was a fun thing to do and the kids thought it was cool.  But really, they couldn’t really do it themselves.  It was hard to get the impression without disrupting the frame or surrounding areas.  Another idea would be to do hand or footprints. 

I am thinking of painting my plaques white.  What do you think???

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Dinner

We are vacationing at my parents’ beach condo in Del Mar, California.  It is super fun!  I wanted to be able to do more relaxing and less cooking, so I brought with me several meals I had in my freezer.  One of those was chicken enchiladas.  While my husband and I love them, my kids aren’t too hot on them.  Knowing I would be facing a battle to get them to eat at dinnertime, I decided a yummy kid-friendly dessert was in order.  Bribery is always helpful!

My parents rent this condo out, so it is not fully stocked with kitchen supplies or food staples.  So, I needed to think up something fairly easy to make.  I had brought a bag of Betty Crocker double chocolate chunk cookie mix with me.  My husband had bought a gallon of cookies and cream ice cream.  I decided to marry the two and make

Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches!!

Here is how to do it. 

Gather your ingredients. (I got out one too many eggs, but you get the idea)

Make the cookies according to package directions.

I didn’t have my trusty cookie scoop so I had to use the old fashioned 2 spoons method of dropping cookies.

Bake your cookies. 

While they are baking, place your Oreos in a big zipper top bag and crush them into crumbs. Dump them into a bowl.

Make sure the cookies are fully baked…even a TINY bit overbaked.  You don’t want them falling apart on you.

After a few minutes, loosen cookies from cookie sheet and allow to cool completely.

Once they are cool assemble your sandwiches.  Before you get started, lay our pieces of plastic wrap for each sandwich.

Then start to assemble your sandwiches.  Work quickly so the ice cream doesn’t melt too much.  Place a big scoop of ice cream on one cookie.  Put another cookie on top and press it down carefully.  If ice cream is hanging over the edge just use your finger or the back of a spoon to smooth it out.

Then, quickly roll the sides in the Oreo crumbs.

Wrap sandwich in plastic wrap and put in the freezer.  Repeat until you have used up all your cookies.

I’m VERY happy to say that knowing these were in the freezer for dessert convinced ALL of my kids to eat their enchiladas!  My plan worked!!

Stretch Bracelet Tutorial

I used to make and sell jewelry.  I enjoyed it for quite awhile, but then I grew tired of it.  I guess when I had my last baby I just was so overwhelmed I put jewelry making to the side and never really got back into it.  I still have all my supplies though.  I still enjoy it when I take the time to get my beads out and create something.  If you are one of those people who hates crafting because you somehow don’t get your projects finished and they end up hanging around your home for 20 years then jewelry making is for YOU!  It is so fun because it doesn’t take long to make something and then you have something you created that is finished!  AND you can wear it!

Stretch bracelets are the easiest thing in the world to make!  They take no time at all and no special tools.  They are a great thing for kids to make, too, because they help with fine motor skills.  Are you ready to learn how?

Here we go!!

You will need a couple things to make a stretch bracelet.  The first is the stringing material.  This is the one I like.  Stretch Magic.  It is pretty strong and doesn’t stretch out too much or too quickly.  It comes in different thicknesses.  I prefer .7mm because the .5mm is super fine and not very strong at all and the 1mm is too thick for the holes of many beads.  Some beads won’t fit on .7mm, especially things like pearls. 

You will also need some type of glue to secure your knot.  I just use clear nail polish.  I am sure there are jewelry glues you could use but most of you already have clear nail polish on hand and it works just great! (Don’t mind the teeth marks on the lid…You’d think a dentist’s daughter would know better!)

Now, you will need your beads.  Pick whatever suits your fancy.  There are millions of fun beads to choose from.  Place them on a piece of fabric or something so they don’t roll off your table.  Here are some of the ones I used in this bracelet.

OK, now you just thread them onto your Stretch Magic in whatever pattern you choose.  I had to re-do this one like 5 times because I was having trouble getting it to come out to the right length and still have a perfect repeat.  The average person wears a bracelet that is about 7'” to 7.5”.  If your beads are super fat, you will need to make your bracelet longer because when you make it into a circle the interior circumference will be smaller the bigger your beads are, and that is the measurement that needs to match up with your wrist.  This is the great thing about making your own jewelry…you can make it to fit you perfectly and fit the way you like it…looser or tighter, depending on your own preference.  So, here you see I have 7 inches of beads and I have a perfect repeat.

Now, you simply cut your Stretch magic so you have about 2” on each end.  Don’t cut it too short or you will have a heck of a time trying to get it tied.

Now, you are going to tie a knot around your finger like you would if you were tying a balloon.  See, you wrap both ends tightly around your finger cutting off your circulation, like so. (Please ignore my dry scaly skin)

Now, pull it through just like tying a balloon and pull it tight. Not too tight.  At this point you can make small adjustments to the placement of the knot by pulling your tails apart to shorten the length of the bracelet, or by pulling the bracelet on either side of the knot to lengthen your bracelet.  You can move it about 1/8” by doing this, sometimes a little more.  Once you get it so your bracelet lays nicely and the beads aren’t too tight against each other or too loose so that you can see plain cord it is in the right place.  Now, just pull gently to tighten the actual knot a little more. The knot below has not had the final tightening.

Now, you dab a bit of polish on either side of the knot to secure it.  You don’t have to wait for it to dry to proceed.

Now, trim the ends to between about 3/16”, that is right between 1/8” and 1/4”.  It is nice to end your bracelet with the bead with the largest hole.  This way, you can usually pull the knot inside the bead, if the hole is big enough.  Then you don’t have to see those little ends at all.

And here is the finished bracelet.  Isn’t it purdy??

I will be using this as one of the prizes in my next surprise giveaway for my followers!!

(PS.  Keep your metal beads in airtight containers or they will quickly tarnish.  Keep your jewelry in a tarnish free jewelry case or in airtight containers, like a little zip top baggie)