All That Scrap For Me

Hello! I'm behind {again} in posting this but better late than never right?! This was our last class in this series at  Charleston Cooks in Greenville, SC and we were sad to see it come to an end. I am certain that we will take more cooking classes in the future ... they have such a wide variety to choose from! The lesson this week was Baking Basics. We were both really excited about this class as we've never made any of these things. We made: Cinnamon Rolls with Cinnabon Frosting, Double Chocolate Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches, Pound Cake with Blueberry Balsamic Reduction, Parmesan Shrimp Quiche, and Turkey and Brie Sandwiches on Herbed Foccacia.   Here's how everything turned out this time:         Dan and I got to make the Cinnamon Rolls and boy did they turn out DELICIOUS!! Since we are really trying to improve on what we eat, I'm not certain when we'll actually get to use the skills we learned making these. Fortunately, the ha...

Hey y'all!! I realized tonight as we were leaving our last class, that I had not had time to blog about the class from last week! Boo on me! This is another one of our classes that we've been taking at  Charleston Cooks in Greenville, SC. Our "lesson" last week was Fish and Shellfish. I am a huge fan of shrimp and crab so I was really looking forward to this class. Dan was the complete opposite as he really isn't a fan at all and was worried about eating stuff he didn't think he'd like. In this class, we learned the following: Crab and Corn Fritters, Fried Oysters with Remoulade Sauce, Grilled Honey Glazed Salmon Over Broccoli Smashed Potatoes, Pecan Encrusted Fish over Grits and Greens, and Pickled Shrimp Salad.   This was yet another super fun class. Here's how everything turned out:       Dan and I had fun making the Crab and Corn Fritters. I really wanted to make something that I had never made before (but still something that I w...

Hey y'all! Back at ya today with a fun project that I did for AC Moore in Greenville, SC. This was for a demonstration today to show folks how Mod Podge can be used and to show the Lovely paper line from Authentique . I really like this paper as it is nice and thick and double sided too! It's perfect for this type of project. So, anyways, here's the completed box:     Here's a close up on the lid and the inside too:       I have altered a couple of items in the past so I had a general idea on how to do this. This would be a really great gift and is easy to customize! These are the supplies that you'll need to complete: unfinished wooden item, Mod Podge Matte finish (you can use other finishes too), foam Brushes (any brand will do), some type of squeegee type tool (like a ruler, putty knife, bone folder, etc.), tape measure or ruler to measure the box, paper to cover your box, acrylic paint to paint your box, fine grit sand paper a...

Hey y'all! Back at ya today with another one of the cooking classes Dan and I are taking at Charleston Cooks in Greenville, SC. Our "lesson" for tonight's class was Meat and Poultry in which we learned how to make the following: Fried Chicken with Pan Gravy, Smoked Pork Chops with Orange Barbeque Sauce, Oregano Steak and Mixed Pepper Fajitas, Chicken and Red Rice Stuffed Peppers, and Chile con Carne. Tonight was another fun night! The kitchen was HOT with all of the cooking going on. The food was a bit fancier this week but was still good. Here's how everything turned out:     While we were eating dinner, Mark (the  super awesome instructor) asked everyone to sing happy birthday to Dan which was really special. He blushed ;) (I don't often get to see him blush). He was also suprised by 2 ladies in our class with 2 cupcakes!   My favorite dish was the Fried Chicken with Pan Gravy. I've never made fried chicken (is that a surprise seeing as ...

Hello again! I was browsing some of my old blog posts and realized that I had stopped participating in this sketch blog challenge (gasp!). I lost my old email address a while back and just realized that Shannon's email was one of the ones that I had forgotten to update (tsk tsk). So, of course I emailed her right away to get back to this challenge. I have just a couple of cards to share with you using this month's sketch by Shannon White at http://scraplady324.blogspot.com/ . Shannon has created another wonderful sketch for us this month:   When I first saw this sketch, I immediately thought "Oh goodie, I get to scrap some of those Christmas pictures we took." Well, then I stepped into my craft room and quickly remembered that my room looks like it was hit by a tornado. I haven't been able to unpack from the recent retreat I went on so everything is still packed up and in chaos from when I was in a hurry packing. I'll get it cleaned one day but in the...

Hello again! No paper project for you today ... decided to mix things up a bit and show you my mosaic "skills". A while back, Groupon ran a special from Laura K. Aiken Studios  for a Mosaic Tile class. A group of my friends decided we should try our hands at this new craft (as we don't have enough already lol). Here's my creation and then a group shot of all of ours: I am definitely not a "pro" when it comes to working with little pieces of glass LOL. We had a really GREAT time together at least (isn't that the important part?!). These were really quite easy to make. We started with a 4x4 piece of foam board and using some type of glass glue (it looked like Elmer's glue), we simply glued these tiny pieces of broken glass down. The teacher gave us a ton of glass to choose from and we were only supposed to pick out squares and rectangles to keep it simple. She told us to glue down the pieces as we found them but my personality wouldn't al...

Hi ya!! It's Tuesday! Know what that means? It's time for another one of our cooking class at Charleston Cooks in Greenville, SC. Our "lesson" for tonight's class was Everyday Sauces in which we learned how to make the following: Tomato Bruschetta with Balsamic Vinaigrette, Grilled Steak with Basil Pesto, Lemon Caper Chicken Piccata, Classic Marinara Spaghetti and Meatballs and Chocolate Ganache Covered Peanut Butter Cakes.   Tonight was another really fun night! The food wasn't nearly as heavy this week as it was last week. Here's how everything turned out: The plating was a bit messy tonight. I think there were too many hands involved in trying to get everything on the plates so folks felt rushed and just started tossing stuff on them. The food itself still tasted pretty good. I think I'm spoiled by Dan's handmade marinara sauce as I didn't really think what was made tonight was all that great. The sauce needed a lot more seasonin...