Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!!!



Happy, Happy Halloween
Silver Shamrock!


Yes kids, you too can own one of the big Halloween three. 
That's right, THREE horrific masks to chose from. 
They're fun, they're frightening, and they GLOW in the dark. 
DONT FORGET TO WATCH THE BIG GIVEAWAY
It's almost time, kids. The clock is ticking. Be in front of your TV sets for the Horrorthon, followed by the Big Giveaway. Don't miss it. And don't forget to wear your masks.
The clock is ticking.
It's almost time. 




Saturday, October 27, 2012

Step by Step Recipe: Pork Stir Fry with Rice

Pork stir fry
step by step recipe

Use pork chops, thin sliced.

To start: take pork out of the refrigerator, salt and pepper both sides, sit aside about 5 minutes. At this time, prep the marinade. 


Marinade:
Soy Sauce (or Terriyaki sauce)
ground ginger
agave syrup or honey
1 star anise
minced garlic
onion powder
water
salt. pepper
red pepper flakes (I use so very little!)

Marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

That will give you time for the next steps.

Make your rice

1 cup beef broth and pinch of saffron (if ya got it!) to make your rice. Cook, set aside. 


Get your veggies 

Sugar snap peas, green beans, mushrooms, and carrot. Chop them alot smaller than pictured! I picked these because they are some of the veggies that do not bother my stomach.Stir fry mixes at the grocery store were gross. Ive seen an ok mix at Trader Joes but I cannot eat broccoli so I pass on it. I am sure you can get a better stir fry mix at another store, or just use the veggies you like.


Start frying

Cook both sides, I used cooking spray to coat my wok. You can use canola oil if you prefer. Halfway through cooking you will probably need more oil anyway to keep things from sticking. You dont have to use a wok, but I found it was very convenient for this recipe. 

Just keep frying

Cook pork on medium heat. You can use some of the marinade to pour over while cooking. Just remember to remove the star anise. Remove pork slices after cooked through until all pork from the marinade is cooked. Set it aside. Keep oil in pan. Keep hot, you are going to throw in veggies right away.

Add the veggies, cook for a few, then add the rice. In the meantime, I suggest cutting up the cooked pork pieces into smaller bites. (same with veggies) Watch the pan at this part, because food might start to stick and as long as you have your oil handy, add just a bit, and itll be good. 

I started to cut the pork slices but they were pretty hot so I just did what I could. Pinches of salt and pepper to finish. Serve.

All done!! 

Pink Donut Felt tutorial



Pink Donut Felt Tutorial

I created a step by step tutorial on how to make these. They are easy and fun, and everyone likes them! Please follow the pictures and steps below if you want to make your own felt donut.

<3

Step 1: Gather your materials

You will need 2 circles for your donut, 1 circle of a different color for your icing, matching embroidery floss and a needle to sew. Not pictured is the stuffing, which you will also need. You can use cotton balls if you do not have stuffing. If you skip the stuffing it will still look like a donut, just flat. :)

<3

Step 2: Sew the icing.




First, you will want to sew on sprinkles onto the icing. Then, use a running stitch to sew the icing to one of the circles you have cut out. Simply run the thread out and under the felt and leave a little stitch to view. You could skip this part entirely and use T-Shirt puffy paint or glue beads on for sprinkles. 

<3

Step 3: Sew the donut 


Change your floss and use the same type of stitch to go around the outer edge of the donut. Then insert your stuffing.

<3

Step 4: Sew the donut hole

Change your floss back to the icing floss. Tricky little guy, this part I ran the needle from the bottom circle through to the top, then I dropped the needle through the donut hole, stitched through the bottom and then back up again. Tie off your ends, and that's it! Not too difficult.



Some sweet treats, tutorial coming soon


Sweet treat assortment!

On a Halloween plate I bought last year after the holiday at CVS for a buck :)

(Free tutorial on felt donut coming soon)

I am also working on my first recipe for the blog, pork stir fry, complete with step by step photos. Stay tuned! 

Screenshot of the Week - Ocarina


One of my all time fave games ^^


It's fun to replay old titles, especially when they are revamped up in 3-D!!
I have been replaying Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the DS for a little while, and still in the Forest Temple. Look, here is Link running through the twisty room, my favorite part of the dungeon. It has an Alice in Wonderland quality.
You run through here a few times...wait. No I am not going to tell you what you do here because you either a) already know or b) can get a better walkthrough from gamefaqs.com




Ugh, out of arrows, gotta go back out and kill some baddies for items. Ahhh...Zelda...so much fun!

And look how helpful Navi is being. What would you do without her? Uhm not get pissed off when she tells you the same damn useless thing when you are clearly trying to do something else besides hit the little fairy button?

Anyway I might be able to take down the boss, but check back in a week when I post something else about games and I will include a little update. Most likely I will be in the same spot, since I have been busy with crafting. I hope to post some more of that and possibly my own tutorials. Anyway thanks for reading!





Saturday, October 20, 2012

New look


So I reformatted everything, changed the name, now that's all said and done...
I am showcasing art. Fine arts, graphic arts, culinary arts, arts & crafts, and all other arts now. Im not just going to show off food. But it wont be forgotten. However, felt food is the new rage in town!!
Hoping to sell very soon, also available through At Last Events & Crafts. So please take some time and check out the bunch of postings I just added and 'follow me' on here for more!

Back to felt, I will be making a variety of foods and fun felty type stuff and sharing with my audience. I am brushing up on my sewing skills with felt and having a good time doing so. I hope to share my work with you!


Tonight's Menu: Roasted Chicken a la Felt
with a veggie and potato side



Very fun to make, but it is a labor on the fingers. Will be posting real food hopefully shortly!

~On a more technical note, I am being told my blog does not display a 'follow' button. Please check to see if you can now see it on the right hand side. If not, please tell me so via FB, phone, carrier pigeon.

Throwback Pen & Ink

conch shell drawing ~ Pen & Ink

Grilled Apple Pie pic recipe


'Rest of' ingredients are typical apple pie spices: brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc, but I know people have food allergies and taste preferences, so the brown sugar and butter are most important. Cinnamon does not bother me but it affects my friends!

Who Wants Wontons?

Ahhh fried wontons, so yummy. I have 2 recipes for wontons now. The first is the cream cheese and crab wontons. Those are the ingredients. Maybe add a little chives or onion powder. Then fold up, use egg white to seal, fry em up in the oil until golden (few minutes) or bake for 10 min. The second is a low fat soy chicken wonton recipe in the Eat Well Lose Weight magazine Dec '11, very tasty and simple. Wonton wrappers are so versatile too. I have another recipe using the wonton wrappers as little cups for holding macaroni or chicken salad. I will post that recipe and photo on another day.
Everyone seems to love wontons, and I think making them at home is better than most local restaurants!

BIG Cookie Cake

Simple cakes look fancier with a mold. This Williams Sonoma cookie cake mold was a gift from my roommate a couple months ago, easy and it makes a big cake!!

I used 2 cake boxes and half a container of icing. I probably could have added more icing but it was already aLOT of sugar in my opinion!

Gamer Screenshot of the Week

Hey check it out, I finally beat Earthbound for SNES!! Yay!! I thought it would be fun to share some screenshots of games I like, have beaten, hate, want, played, etc once a week, maybe more. To start, here is a screenshot of the Sky Runner in Earthbound.
This is one of my all time fave games. It took me years to beat it, since it was extremely difficult to get this particular game, but I did and it's done and I would play it again one day. Its a fun RPG with a playful and humorous attitude. I love powering up by eating food, and your Dad is always putting money in some imaginary awesome back account and you can access it with your ATM card. Love it! Also, one of the characters in the game has my name, Paula.
Enjoy your Sky Runner pic! This part was fun to kick back and watch a short cut scene of the flight. Now back to TV...


I Heart Sushi

I heart sushi! I love all of the pieces I created here, in a little tribute to the fishy pieces of delight. I really love Illustrator too, for the ability to create this work in it. Tracing with the pen tool, grabbing and smoothing edges, zooming in and out to look at it...I love it all!

Here is one of my graphics in my Portfolio online at pmazzoli.carbonmade.com


I love sushi. I really really do. The best of the best sushi I have eaten so far is out here on the west coast. I have eaten at a couple kick ass places in Philly and the burbs, but the best is really out here, and a mile away from the house. Happy sigh!
~Love it love sushi so yum! ~
It is one of the only foods that is consistent with my stomach. Luckily, I have only gotten truly sick once, and it certainly did not stop me. It stopped me from eating at buffets in Las Vegas after 10 pm....ick. But overall, for someone with my kind of stomach troubles, fish is almost always a safety. Only problem is...I could never prepare it or make it at home. That's up to the pro's!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Harvest Pumpkin Spice cupcake

Harvest Pumpkin Spice Cupcake Time!
Everyone in my house is a big fan of pumpkin! One of my favorite cookbooks is the Cupcake Betty Crocker cookbook. It has a great variety with very yummy pictures. Pictured is the Pumpkin Spice Cupcake, complete with wrapper and orange sprinkles with a cream cheese frosting. It IS that time of year again! The recipe is included in the book as well.


I included the link here in case you want to make your own! 

Hey I'm hungry too!

A quick lunch that's easy on the stomach and pocket:

Tuna Noodle Salad with Agave Mustard dressing



Ingredients:
Tuna
Mayo
Arugula, salad, cucumber
Noodles, small ones preferred
Mustard (made with white wine i.e. Grey Poupon)
Agave or honey

Make:
1. Make noodles as directed on package, cool, put aside
2. mix salad greens in serving bowl
3. Mix tuna and mayo, then add noodles, put on top
4. Whisk agave and mustard together, drizzle on top
Enjoy!

This was my first blog entry with a recipe. Eat up!!




New look

So I reformatted everything, changed the name, now that's all said and done...
I am showcasing art. Fine arts, graphic arts, culinary arts, arts & crafts, and all other arts now. Im not just going to show off food. But it wont be forgotten. However, felt food is the new rage in town!!
Hoping to sell very soon, also available through At Last Events and possible Etsy store.

I will be making a variety and sharing with my audience. I am brushing up on my sewing skills with felt and having a good time doing so. I hope to share my work with you!


Tonight's Menu: Roasted Chicken a la Felt
with a veggie and potato side



Very fun to make, but it is a labor on the fingers. Will be posting real food hopefully shortly!