Great Appetizer for Your Entertaining

Spinach Artichoke Cups

from:  http://www.macheesmo.com

Quick and Delicious

I’m about to toss out a trick that caterers across the world don’t want you to know.
You ready? It’s this:
You can make stuff look classy by putting it in a baked cup.
It’s true that stuff is a lot easier to eat when it’s in an edible cup, but I’ve never really understood why restaurants and catering companies think they can charge MORE just because they are putting something in a silly baked cup.

Spinach Artichoke Cups

Yield: 18-24 cups

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of spinach, blanched and chopped (or one package of frozen spinach)
1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
1/3 Cup mayonnaise
1/4 Cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon hot sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, zest only
1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
Wonton Wrappers
Vegetable Oil
Helpful Equipment:
Muffin Tin
Microplane

The Filling

The thing to remember about this filling is that it’s a filling and not a dip. So I cut way down on the creamy stuff. You basically just want enough mayo and sour cream to keep the filling together.

Not Pictured: Parm cheese

When it comes to prepping the spinach, just toss it in some salted boiling water and let it cook for about 30 seconds. Then pull it out and let it cool briefly on some paper towels.

Once the spinach is cool enough to work with, press it with the paper towels to remove as much liquid as possible. Then just chop it up!

You could use frozen in a pinch.

The artichokes are just as easy to prepare. Just drain the can of artichoke hearts and roughly chop up the artichoke hearts.

Important Step: After you dice up the artichoke hearts, again press them with a few paper towels like you did with the spinach. The artichokes retain a lot of water and if you don’t press out most of it, your filling will be super-watery.

Once your spinach and artichoke are pressed, you can mix them all together!

Just good flavors.

There’s a lot of great flavors in this filling, but the two that really pop in my mind are the lemon zest and the garlic.

I used a microplane to zest my lemon and very finely grate my clove of garlic.

Remember when you’re zesting citrus that you just want the outside layer of rind. If you get into the white part, it becomes very bitter.

Just the zest!

Just grab a bowl and mix the spinach and artichoke with all the other filling ingredients.

It’ll probably need a good pinch of salt, but should be pretty much ready to go!

Are you feeling the filling?

Making the Cups

There’s no magic here unfortunately. It’s just ridiculously easy to make these.
All you need is some wonton wrappers, a muffin tin, and a bit of vegetable oil.

The multi purpose muffin tin.

Lightly oil each muffin tin with a bit of oil.

Then kind of just form a wonton wrapper into the tin. Don’t worry too much about making them pretty or uniform. All of the little folds end up getting really crispy and are fantastic.

Ready for a bake.

Bake these guys at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. You could go a bit longer if you like your more crispy. I baked mine for 15 minutes for a really crispy final product.

Nice and crispy.

The cups should pop right out of the tin without any problem and once they are cool enough to handle, you can fill them up! I recommend about a tablespoon and a half per cup.

CHOMP.

If you have any leftovers they both keep fine, but just store them separately. If you fill the cups and store them, then the filling will make the cups kind of soggy.
This is a really delicious appetizer that really takes only a few minutes to make.
Whether you want to start a catering company or just impress the friends and family, this is a winner.

Painted Popsicle Stick Bookmarks

My son Loves the Avengers, and to be honest, so do I.  I am partial to Thor, but my son loves the Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America.  So when I found this fun craft from Crafts by Amanda I had to share it!!  At first I thought it may be too complicated for me as I can't draw very well, but Amanda breaks down each step in a way that allows for you to easily make these fun bookmarks out of Popsicle sticks no less:

Ingredients

• 3 jumbo craft sticks
• White paint pen
• Black Sharpie
• Black ball point pen
• Clear paintable sealer or Mod Podge
• Paintbrushes
• Paint colors:
• Red
• Gold
• Blue
• Green
• Purple
• White
• Black
• Peach

Instructions

1. To get started grab a few jumbo craft sticks and a pencil. You can free hand the characters, or use the pattern provided here.
2. You’ll want to paint certain areas first on each super hero. For Iron Man, paint the gold sections, on The Hulk paint the green, and on Captain American paint the peach and the white section where the red & white stripes go.
3. After those have dried, paint the purple on The Hulk and the black for his hair. Paint the red stripes on Captain America, and paint the red section and the red helmet piece on Iron Man. When the stripes on Captain America have dried, paint the blue areas.
4. Once all of that dries, use a white paint pen to add the following:
5. The Hulk – mouth and eyes
6. Iron Man – Unibeam (circle) and eyes
7. Captain America – Star, “A” on helmet and eyes
8. Use a black Sharpie to add The Hulk’s eyebrows and pupils. A ball point pen works well for the mouth outline and the teeth. A black Sharpie can be used to add Iron Man’s mouth and Captain America’s pupils.
9. Let everything dry well. Add a coat of paintable sealer or Mod Podge to give them a protective coating. Let dry overnight before using in a book.

To get started grab a few jumbo craft sticks and a pencil. You can free hand the characters, or use the pattern provided down in the printable instructions.

I used Craft Smart paint, which is great for kid’s crafts and is available at Michael’s. The colors that I used are Bright Red, Gold, Grass Green, Purple, Bright Blue, Coral, White, Black.

You’ll want to paint certain areas first on each super hero. For Iron Man, paint the gold sections, on The Hulk paint the green, and on Captain American paint the peach and the white section where the red & white stripes go.

After those have dried, paint the purple on The Hulk and the black for his hair. Paint the red stripes on Captain America, and paint the red section and the red helmet piece on Iron Man. Once Captain America’s stripes have dried, paint the blue areas.

Once all of that dries, use a white paint pen to add the following:

The Hulk – mouth and eyes
Iron Man – Unibeam (circle) and eyes
Captain America – Star, “A” on helmet and eyes

Use a black Sharpie to add The Hulk’s eyebrows and pupils. A ball point pen works well for the mouth outline and the teeth. A black Sharpie can be used to add Iron Man’s mouth and Captain America’s pupils.

Let everything dry well. Add a coat of paintable sealer or Mod Podge to give them a protective coating. Let dry overnight before using in a book.

Nutella Hearts

Here is a fun thing to do either with your kiddos or as a nice surprise for them on Valentine's Day either as a snack after school or snuck in their lunches.  It's hearts filled with yummy Nutella.  It's super easy and the kids can even help cutting out the shapes, filling in the nutella and sprinkling on the sugar.  Here's the recipe from About a Mom:

Ingredients: (Makes 16 Nutella Ravioli Hearts)

Ravioli:
1 Package Refrigerated Pie Crust (2 Crusts)
Nutella (13 ounce jar is more than enough)
1 Egg white
1/2 teaspoon water
Sugar (for dusting the tops of ravioli)

Raspberry Sauce:
1 300 g package frozen raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Equipment Needed:
2 1/2 inch heart shaped cookie cutter
3 inch heart shaped cookie cutter
Rolling pin
Pastry brush
Cookie sheets
Parchment paper
Plastic sandwich bag

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Thaw both pie crusts according to package directions, and Unroll onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, gently roll the dough until it has increased approximately 1 inch, from 11 1/2 to 12/12 size. Cut 16 large hearts using the 3 inch cookie cutter, and 16 small hearts using the 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Re-roll the dough as needed.

3. Place the smaller hearts on the parchment lined cookie sheets. Spoon Nutella into a plastic sandwich bag and snip off one end with a pair of scissors. Squeeze Nutella onto each pastry heart, into the shape of a heart, leaving approximately 1/4 inch of dough around the edges.

4. Whisk egg white and water into a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the egg wash around the edge of the heart. This will help seal the hearts together. Do just a few at a time, otherwise the egg wash will dry. Place a large heart on top, and use a fork to seal and crimp the edges.

5. Brush the top of each ravioli with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 8 – 9 minutes until golden brown. Prepare Raspberry Sauce.

Raspberry Sauce
Thaw the frozen raspberries completely. Puree in a blender or food processor. Run the pureed raspberries through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Catch the puree in a bowl. Whisk in the sugar until dissolved. You can prepare this sauce in advance, and store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

Jewelry Spotlight - Kiawah Collection

I am so delighted to Spotlight this Awesome Mother - Daughter pair in this week's Jewelry Spotlight.  I have "met" some really fantastic people since becoming an Etsy seller and I have to say that these ladies are some of the very best.  Roberta and her daughter Leah make beautiful wire wrapped jewelry out of copper and aluminum wire.  Their work is beautifully crafted each piece by hand.  Some hammered and antiqued to give it a lovely rustic look.  They began their journey making jewelry for Leah's American Girl dolls and eventually Leah taught herself how to make all of the intricate and exquisite designs you see in their shop.


I have included a few of my absolute favorites here, but you have to see their shop, the Kiawah Collection to see all of their wonderful work.  They add new items often and just for reading their story, you could earn a coupon for their shop.  Also, don't forget to check out their Facebook Page where they often add new items.






 I can personally attest to how beautiful and well made these are because I own these gorgeous heart earrings and I absolutely LOVE them!!  Not only are they beautiful to look at - they are super light weight - you hardly even know you are wearing them - until you begin receiving all the compliments!

 

Interesting-Did You Know These?

Subject:Did You Know?



You can flip a toaster on its side and grill cheese in it.



Reynolds Wrap has lock in taps to hold the roll in place



The color on the bread tab indicates how fresh the bread is

And those colors are in alphabetical order: b, g, r, w, y.



You can divide and store ground meat in a zip loc bag. Just break off how much you need and keep the rest in the freezer for later.



If you place a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling water, it won't boil over.

bounce repell

Marshmallows can cure a soar throat. Perfect for kids who don't like medicine.



Stuffing a dryer sheet in your back pocket will repel mosquitoes.



You can freeze cupcake batter for later use.



You can paint upholstery



You can make your own laundry soap. .



You can dye plastic buttons.



You can run a paper bag through your printer.



You can print directly onto fabric.



A dry erase marker can be used on most desk tops.



You can mail anything that will take a stamp and weighs less than 13ounces without a box?



If you break your blender jar you can replace it with a mason jar.



Cereal canisters make the perfect trashcan for your car.



Medicine cabinets are NOT the safest place for medicine



Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster..



Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.It will stay fresh much longer and not mold! (but you can scrape off any mold and still eat the cheese without changes in flavor!



Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and stronger flavored.



Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.