Amanda's Oven Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Amanda decided to come up with her own recipe for oven-baked jalapeño poppers today after we picked up a couple dozen jalapeños at the farmer's market this morning.  They were amazing.  The salty chewiness of the parmesan reminded me of bacon-wrapped poppers, but without all the grease!

 

 

 

Amanda’s oven-baked jalapeño poppers

 

10 jalapeño peppers
3 oz cream cheese (brought to room temp)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper

Cut jalapeños in half lengthwise, stems left on.  Remove the membrane and seeds (or not, if you like them extra spicy!).

 

Mix cream cheese, dash salt and pepper.  Spread on jalapeños.  Sprinkle parmesan over top, pressing slightly down to hold it on. 

 

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Arrange jalapeños on pan.  If they don’t lay upright, cut a thin slice off the bottom for stability. 

 

Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.
 

Spring 2011 Craft Fairs

Craft fair season is upon us. Where I'll be shopping in the coming weeks:


Handmade Heartfelt Artisans' Fair
Saturday, April 23, 2011 11am - 6pm
Ballentine VFW

Saint Paul Craftstravaganza
Saturday, April 30, 2011 9am - 5pm
MN State Fair Grounds, Fine Arts Builiding

Art-A-Whirl

May 20-22, 2011
Northeast Minneapolis

Johnstock
May 20-22, 2011
2800 Johnson Street NE, Minneapolis

Chemo Caps

Recently a friend asked if our craft group would be willing to knit hats for a chemo cap drive. We were all in the midst of other projects, and put it off until the last week. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get a hat done in a week. And then a craft miracle happened. I finished three. In one week! It helped that I took a day off from work to stay home and take care of my kidney stone-ridden girlfriend, who slept in a percocet induced haze the whole day.

Anyway, here are my hats. Fashion show!

Angela and Abby made hats, too. Here's Angela's.

The pink is so adorable it makes me want to do this.

And I'm such a jerk, I forgot to get a picture of Abby's. It was beautiful. The woman collecting the hats agreed.

Baby Henry's Blanket

Mollie, Sarah W., Sarah H. and I have been working on knitting a group baby blanket for Andy and Angela's new little guy, Henry. We decided each of us would knit three 10-inch squares, and then we'd sew them all together to make a blanket of love. I got a little excited and made five squares, but it worked out because Mollie had done extra too, and Sarah had lost one of her squares.

I thought this would be a good time to try out some new lace patterns, so I turned to the internet. But first I cranked this one out in no time, because I was starting to get anxious about how quickly the baby shower was coming up and I knew this one would be fast, since I had used this dropped-yarn-over pattern on a scarf before.

Also, in order to make faster progress, I used size 10 needles and worsted weight yarn for all of my squares. It was a welcome relief from the sweater I had been knitting for Baby Shae on size 3 needles. I drug my feet for too long on that one, and she has now grown too big for it. I guess I'll have to finish it up and find a doll that it fits and give it to her that way. What a disappointment.

Next I tried out this checkerboard lace pattern from The Purl Bee. I tried a couple of the suggested multiples of 10 plus 8 cast-on stitches, and ended up coming closest to 10 inches with 38 cast-on stitches.

Again, I was nervous about the amount of time I had left to do two more squares, so I threw this in my bag every morning and knat on the 15-minute train ride to and from work every day. This pattern required lots of counting and concentration, which can be hard on the train, so if you look close you'll see some imperfections.

My third square also came from a Purl Bee pattern. I found a pattern for Pretty Lace Handwarmers, and adapted the lace to a square. It took a bit of noodling to turn an in-the-round pattern into a flat pattern, but I ended up just starting and ending each row with two knit stitches to create an edge, and it worked out fine.

The fourth square came from Purl Bee again: April Showers lace. I guess I have become a fan! This one was a little harder than the last one, but not nearly as tough as the checkerboard lace. I found my row counter before I got started on this one, which helped a lot. I started with 39 cast-on stitches. The trickiest part here was the top of the little shells. It required knitting four together, which was a lot for me to get my needle through without accidentally dropping all the stitches.

Since I was on a roll, I kept going and decided to give the checkerboard pattern another try. This time I didn't screw it up.

The baby shower was today, so we all got together on Thursday night to lay out our squares and sew them together. We didn't get it finished in time, so we gave it to her unfinished and immediately asked for it back. Stay tuned for a picture of the final final project.

Sarah's Purse

Since I was reflecting on my birthday, here's a special birthday gift from Sarah. She knat me a purse, complete with an adorable lining, kiss clasp, and chain strap.

My friends clearly love it, and I get compliments on it everywhere I go!

The Handmaidens Spring Fling

Today I went to another craft show, the Handmaidens Spring Fling Craft Formal. Michelle had a booth for Falling Forward, and her stuff is as awesome as ever. There were a lot of impressive crafters showing their wares. Reminds me how amateur I am! I bought a super cute pill case from Pish Posh Paperworks.

Also among my favorites was Maybe You Should Die. I thought about getting this card for Sarah and Sean, but Sarah and I just had a conversation last night about how we're going to keep hanging out the same amount or more even after she's married and has kids.

Hope necklace

The craft/DIY blog has been hurting for some crafts lately, with all these renovation projects. Unfortunately, I've been tied up with the house. But I was recently given the loveliest of handmade necklaces. I'm madly in love with it! My friend Michelle is an incredibly talented jeweler. I am really looking forward to a show she's in next weekend: Make Out Goods, presented by Handmaiden Minneapolis.

Knitting Night, 12-11-2007

Tonight was knitting night. Angela, Sarah, and Mollie came over for some fun times. Sarah brought some homemade cookies that she warned us looked like Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo, but I'll let you be the judge. Regardless, they were tasty. She says they looked much more like Mr. Hanky when they were uncooked, and were all glistening moist.

She also showed us some lovely mittens she had made. She felted an old wool sweater from Old Navy, cut out mitten shapes from the felted sweater, and sewed them together. What a lovely project. I wonder if I have any old wool sweaters laying around... I'd love to have long mittens that cover my chilly wrists when I walk to the light rail each morning.

I FINALLY finished Reagan's sweater tonight. I hope he hasn't outgrown it. I sat on the unfinished project for weeks, waiting for a chance to get to JoAnn Fabrics to buy some buttons for it. I plan on mailing it to my little guy tomorrow.

After that, I picked up my knitting on Simon's coasters again. If you remember, I used this pattern for myself last winter. I'm pretty pleased with the product after all this time, so Simon is getting a set for Hanakah. Probably not one for each day, since eight is a lot, but I hope to do at least six.

Before they're felted and shrunk down to size, they also make good pasties.

Design Fiesta

I read about a craft/art show called the Design Fiesta on vita.mn.

"Modeled after Tokyo's Design Showcase, the 2nd Annual Design Fiesta is presented by Vita.mn. Sprawled throughout the Soap Factory, you'll find prints, posters, custom and vintage fashions, accesories, photographs, handmade paper and cards, illustrations, paintings, sculpture and more. Whether you want to buy, sell or just peruse, you won't find a more eclectic mix of artists anywhere. Sponsored by Sound Unseen and the Mpls College of Art and Design."

Kate and I went today, and found lots of cool stuff. Someone was selling onesies that look a lot like mine, but Kate insists mine are way better. I bought this super hot octopus necklace from Bombalurina. I can't wait for a fancy occasion to wear it!

Peep winners announced

Well, the winners have been announced. I'll try not to be too bitter about the judges completely ignoring all craft night entries. Check out the winners at http://photo.twincities.com/index.php/2007/04/07/peeps-diorama/#more-105. Oh, and the internal craft night entry winner, by a half a comment vote, is the Saint Paul Winter Peepival.

The Big Peep Show

After weeks of agonizing over peep diorama plans, the final projects are finished. And now, in no particular order...

Craft Night Presents

The Big Peep Show

three entries respectfully submitted for consideration in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest

The Saint Paul Winter Peepival

By Laura

The Mona Peepsa

By Monica and Windy, with special assistance from Jane and Sarah

New Peeps Eve in Times Square

By Becky and Vicki

Indicate your vote for best Craft Night contest entry by leaving a comment below!

To view more photos, visit http://picasaweb.google.com/unlevelseas.

Peep Peep!

Last night was craft night! We all made peep dioramas to enter into the Pioneer Press contest.

Here's a sneak preview, but you'll have to wait till Sunday for the full photo album, including the final finished products.

I'm not going to lie, our little friends were not only cute, but tasty!

And they make amazing s'mores. S'meeps, if you will.

Stay tuned, you're not going to want to miss the pictures of the finished projects.

The Return of Craft Night

It's been two months, but craft night is back! This time, we'll have a specific agenda: we'll be making Peep Dioramas for entry into the annual Saint Paul Pioneer Press contest. I've never made Peep art, but I sure can't wait to try my hand at it. Jane's already planning on a mini-Peep-Jane. Becky wants to do a Peep rights protest march, and Sarah just wants to eat Peeps. Tune in next week for our creations, but in the meantime, here's some inspiration!


Last year's winner, March of the Peeps, from http://peepscontest.blogspot.com/.


Peep My Ride from http://peepscontest.blogspot.com/.


Check out the entries from last year's Seattle Times Peep contest. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/photogalleries/living1179/1.html

And perhaps the most inspirational, check out Peep Haikus at http://www.raavensroost.org/peephaiku.html.

IPood

Oh. My. God. My mom emailed me the link to these onesies (thanks Mom!). I am completely enamored. I'm going to have a baby just so I can dress it in these. I wish I would have thought of this! Second place for best baby clothes I've ever seen: a onesie that said "I might puke." Can't remember where I saw it, but that is good stuff.