Tag Archives: cooking

Happy Geek Week!

Posted on February 22, 2013 by apieceoflifespie

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So late last night I randomly found out that this week has been National Engineers Week! Being married to a Mechanical Engineer, I had to have fun with this even though it is now Friday and the week is almost over. I tossed together some cupcake batter and popped them in the oven and grabbed some heavy cream, powder sugar and some gel food coloring and made a quick frosting.

While the cupcakes were baking, I whipped out some fun cupcake toppers totally on the fly using my Silhouette Cameo. I found the Pi image online and imported, printed, and cut them in less than 10 minutes. Then I made the argyle sentiment toppers using the tools and color patterns that came stock on my Silhouette software in about 10 minutes as well. I have to say I L-O-V-E my Silhouette! The cupcake toppers were done just as the cupcakes were ready to come out of the oven! PicMonkey Collage The hubs is pretty happy to have a fun little treat to bring to the rest of the “Nerd Herd”. I am super happy I could throw this together so quickly to close out a week that honors their genius innovation and brilliance and total logical approach they bring to the world. The funny thing is, I don’t think any of them have any idea that this week exists nor do they really care, but they will love the fact it is a reason to get cupcakes! 🙂

Thanks for sharing a piece of “honoring the Nerd Herd” pie with me.

Linking Up To:

Sarah Hamer Designs – Link Up Tuesdays

Everyday is an Occasion – Sunday Fundays

Gotta Create – Wildly Original Linking Party

Craft -O-Maniac

Sassy Little Lady Show and Tell Saturdays

Angels Homestead – Saturday Spotlight

Blackberry Vine – Tuesday To Do Party

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Posted in Pie's Recipes, Silhouette and tagged cooking, craft, cupcakes, cupcakes for engineers, dessert, DIY cupcake toppers, easy cupcake toppers, food, fun cupcake ideas to bring to work, gifts for engineers, making cupcake toppers with a Silhouette, mechanical engineer, National Engineers Week, nerd herd, powder sugar. Bookmark the permalink.

MONSTER COOKIES! A Mom’s Best Friend During the Dog Days of Summer!

Posted on July 15, 2011 by apieceoflifespie

Here it is summer and we are homebound do to our pooch hurt with stitches (thanks to a unforutnate run in with two large dogs) and the weather being to0 chilly and foggy to take off some steam in the pool. So what is the next best activity to do with two little girls? BAKE COOKIES! I found this recipe via the EVERYDAY HOME COOK and they turned out delish!

Card Making and Cooking; When Two Perfect Worlds Collide!

Posted on June 23, 2011 by apieceoflifespie

This week is VBS for my three-year old! While volunteering in the classrooms, I volunteered to bring a dish for one of the nights for the volunteers. Last night was my night and I made a recipe that I more or less made up with a little help from our local Trader Joe’s.

Since the dish would appear non- descript, I decided to make a fun “calling card” for the dish. Apparently the dish was a huge hit, and was gobbled up in no time flat. So if you are looking for a fun and yummy dish to take to your next potluck, here is an idea!

Chili Corndog Bake

Ingredients:

1 Box of cornbread mix (follow the directions of the box to make)
2 packages of hotdogs (16 dogs) * I used turkey dogs
1 cups of shredded mild cheddar cheese
2 cups of mozzarella cheese. You can substitute jack cheese. I like mine super cheesy that melts smooth and creamy so I use mozzarella.
3 cans of chili with beans of your choice. * I used turkey chili with beans.
Diced red onions (optional)
Diced jalapeno for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a large casserole dish or aluminum throw-away bake and serve dish with oil spray.
Empty contents of chili cans into the dish.
Cut hot dogs in threes length wise and dice into small pieces and place in dish.
Add 2 cups of shredded mozzarella or jack cheese to dish.
Combine all ingredients and spread evenly.
Sprinkle top with 1 1/2 cup of shredded mild cheddar cheese.
Follow the directions on cornbread box and make cornbread in a seperate bowl.
Spread cornbread evenly onto chili mixture.
Place in oven and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean.

Card:

Base: I cut a piece of white cardstock down to 12 inches wide and 8 inches long and scored it to fold in half (new measurements 6×4)
Paper: I cut down a piece of design paper from Die Cuts with a View, Summer Stacker to 6×2 2 1/2.
Cricut cartridges: Simply Charmed (Shadow setting on hotdog and hot dog bun and mustard set at 3 inches)
Cricut cartridges: Schoolbooks Plantain. Typed in the words “chili corndog bake” at 1 inch setting.
Stamps: Peachy Keen Big Eyes Boy
Stamp Ink: Stampin’ Up Classic Black
Ribbon: Used some scrap I had.
I attached the hot dog with dimensional.

“Domestic Engineering” Creature Comforts Challenge 101: Cast Iron Ceramic Cookware

Posted on May 19, 2011 by apieceoflifespie

Being a “home chef” or at least that is what Martha Stewart would call me, I find that there are essential tools of the trade that are not only a staple, but a MUST have to help set me up for success in mastering recipes.

Today I will be focusing on dutch ovens and ceramic coated iron cookware. If I had the lucky “money tree” growing in my backyard, I would own every piece there is out there. Currently, I have collected 3 pieces; a stock pot, a casserole dish and a small souffle/ roasting pot. All three are from different manufactures and even one of the pieces I got after my grandmother passed away that she used for 50 years!

Calphalon - Got at Bed, Bath and Beyond with 20% off coupon

Passed down from my Grandmother - Made in Belgium

Mario Batali - Got off of EBAY brand new!

What do I love about these pieces of cookware?

They cook, bake and roast evenly.
They go from stove to oven to fridge in one meal preparation, making clean-up and storage much more time friendly.
They hold temperature amazingly!
They are durable for my rough AND VERY heavy hand in the kitchen
They clean with ease.
They don’t need to be treated like traditional iron cookware.
The hold their appearance even for decades!

Yes, they can be expensive, but they can make a good “wish list” idea for those special occasions. You can also work coupons at Bed, Bath and Beyond, hit the sales at Williams Sonoma or even find good buys on EBAY. That is where I found my big stock pot. I got it on EBAY for a STEAL! It was $65 with free shipping brand new!