Cat Can Cook

Tomorrow, I will be showing my jewelry at the Priceville Christmas Craft Show!  I am looking forward to this busy event and not sure what to expect.Then next weekend, is the local Taylor Evans Show and Sale!  A HUGE event that I am eagerly awaiting!

The Priceville Show tomorrow is near Flesherton Ontario, North-East of Guelph. Hopefully, there will be a good turn-out, good weather, and a fun time all around.  The only thing about showing at craft shows, is that you miss out on seeing everything else that is going on

On Sunday, Liam will celebrate his 4th birthday.  My, how time flies!  Happy Birthday little guy!  We love you so much, and are so proud of your creativity, your gentle nature, and your sense of humour.

This is a delicious salad, and a great way to get those greens into your diet, as they’re kind of *in disguise* in this recipe! It’s crunchy with broccoli, salty with sunflower seeds, has bacon for protein and has sweetness from the raisins! Perfect with grilled chicken or as a side dish with a casserole, or in a big serving all by itself!

Broccoli Salad

5 cups fresh broccoli florets

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup cooked, crumbled bacon

1/4 cup of red onion, chopped

1 cup of frozen peas, thawed.

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

Combine broccoli, raisins, sunflower seeds, crumbled bacon, chopped onion, and peas in a large serving bowl. In a separate bowl or large cup, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar. Add dressing to the salad and toss to mix well; chill thoroughly before serving.
Serves 4 to 6.

My Mom made us this yummy dish today, as we prepared our main floor for well, a new floor!  It sure was delicious! I love it when someone else cooks for me…doesn’t happen often enough!

I am not quite certain that I have the measurements exactly right, but I’ll just wing it here and I’m sure it will turn out great! This is an easy dish to use up leftover spaghetti noodles, and turn them into a nice looking meal to enjoy a couple days after spaghetti night. You could also use a cream sauce (mushroom soup or the like) and seafood to make a completely different dish.  The possibilities are endless.  Play around with it, add in different spices and cheeses and let me know what you come up with!

Layered Spaghetti Casserole

4 Cups Cooked Spaghetti Noodles (or other pasta)

1 Cup Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 Pound Ground Beef of Poultry, cooked

1 Onion minced and cooked

1 Cup Shredded Cheese (Mozzarella, Cheddar or other hard cheese)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Layer all pre-cooked ingredients “lasagna-style” in a shallow baking dish.  Cover with foil, and bake for 45 minutes until melted and bubbly.  Serve with a side salad!

One of the many dough creations I made the other day with Liam.  I honestly don’t know which of us had more fun!  I’m going through a real Ladybug *thing* these days, and am excitedly awaiting my lampwork class in December, where I am hoping to make a ladybug bead…til then, let there be dough!!!

Meat Muffins

A variation on meatloaf, use muffin tins to make “mini meat-loaves” These are quick, simple and yummy! This recipe makes about 8 muffins, and will serve 4-6 people.

1 Pkg. (1 pound or so) Ground Beef, Turkey or Chicken

1 Pkg. Stove Top Stuffing MIx

3/4 Cup Water

1 Onion Chopped Fine

3 Cloves Garlic, Minced

1/4 Cup Ketchup

Mix together all ingredients.  Spoon mixture into 8 muffin tins. Bake in oven at 350 for 45 minutes, or until tops are browned.

For the following variations, make a hole in the center of each muffin, and then:

For Italian Meat Muffins, put 1 tsp tomato sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese.

For Tex-Mex Meat Muffins, put 1 tsp salsa and top with shredded cheddar cheese.

For Zesty Meat Muffins, put 1 tsp barbeque sauce in the center of each

The weather was really cold, but it didn’t keep the crowds away!

The kids waiting patiently for the “Big Guy in Red”

Finally, the big moment!  It was worth the wait!

Image by CraftyGoat via Flickr

Kids just love to be front and center when it comes to Christmas decorating.  A great way to involve them in the process, is to have them make their very own clay ornaments to hang on the tree. Not only are they beautiful, but such a wonderful keepsake.  I think my Mom still has one that either my brother or I made in Kindergarten!

Clay Christmas Ornaments

1/3 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Salt

1 Cup Flour

Food Colouring

String for Hanging

Paint & Varnish

Mix water, salt and flour.  Divide into different sections in order to make different colours.  Add colouring.  Now the dough can be hand-shaped or rolled out with a rolling pin and cut with cookie cutters.

Once ornaments are made, use a pencil to poke a hole through the top of each one in order to thread a string to be hung.  Place the ornaments on a baking sheet, cover with foil, and bake at 275 for an hour.  Let them cool, then prepare to get creative with the paints! Once dry, varnish. Now your ornaments are ready to be hung on strings!

Tip #1 - These can easily transform into bird feeders.  Instead of painting them with paint, instead brush them with peanut butter, and then dip in bird seeds.  Omit the varnish.  The little feathered friends outside will thank you!

Tip #2 - To create special keepsake ornaments, why not have your children make cookie-cutter shapes with a hole in the center of each, large enough to put their recent picture in?  They can make their very own custom frames which make great gifts for Grandparents or other family members.

Tip #3 - Tis’ the season to be sparkly, so why not add in a good few shakes of glitter to the paints or even the dough itself?  This will give the ornaments a nice sparkle!

Tip #4 - Pets are such an important part of your family, and Fluffy and Fido can easily be incorporated into your Christmas decor too!  Shape ornaments into pet shapes (cat, dog and even fish and bird cookie cutters are relatively easy to find) Use your ornaments as frames, and insert a nice little picture of your animal companion.

Tip #5 - BEADS!  (You knew I would have to somehow add beads in here didn’t you?!?)  Once ornaments are baked, use a paint brush to paint on a thin layer of white glue, roll the ornament in seed beads, and voila!  A beautiful beaded ornament and keepsake! You may wish to varnish over the beads so that they will stay on the ornament for years to come.

If you have any great Christmas Traditions in your family, I’d love to hear from you!  Feel free to comment on my post and let me know about how you celebrate the festive season where you are!

I wanted to post a quick link to my new jewelry for you to have a look at some of my newest jewelry!  I have been busily importing beads from, well, all over the world actually!  It’s so neat to open a beautiful package that has been packed up and shipped by someone elses hands across the world in Hong Kong!

If you’d like to become a fan of my jewelry, I have a Facebook page set-up for just that!

I know it’s Monday and my usual routine is to post a “Muffin Monday” recipe, but I am just not feeling too “muffiny” today, so instead, I thought I would post the recipe for the quiche I made up for dinner tonight.  It was very tasty.  The great thing about quiche, is that you likely have all the ingredients already in your home to make one!  Of course, there are variations and different types, but it just so happened that I had both scallops and bacon on hand today, and plenty of eggs, so I decided to invent a quiche from them - it was delicious!

Scallop and Bacon Quiche

*makes 2 quiches*

6 Slices of Bacon, cut into small pieces

20-30 bay Scallops

1 Medium Onion, Chopped Fine

3 Cloves Garlic, Minced

8 Eggs

2 Frozen Pie Crusts

1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

In a medium skillet, fry bacon until fully cooked, but not crumbly.  Remove from skillet and set aside.  In the same skillet, lightly saute scallops, garlic and onion until scallops appear almost whitish in colour (but don’t over-cook them, as they will continue to cook in the oven!) Spread cooked bacon, scallops, garlic and onion mixture between each of the two pie crusts.  Beat eggs well, and divide in two, pouring into the pie crusts.  Top with shredded cheese. Bake in 325 degrees oven for about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for about 5 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.  Best served hot with a salad.