Apple Pie Cookies

Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving is a time for family, tradition, and food. Lots and lots of food! This year with my family traveling up to Massachusetts, my little brother on base in the Marines, and my boyfriend’s family hundreds of miles away in Maryland I needed a recipe that would travel and package well.  And cookies are a staple of the holiday care package. Keeping with the Thanksgiving theme I was inspired by Kitchen Simplicity’s latticework cookies and these Apple Pie Cookies were born.

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies

• 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Butter – Paula Deen Approved Recipe
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon 

Apple Pie Flavor Topping

• 1 Cup Apple Juice or 1/2 Cup Apple Juice Concentrate
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon 

• Directions

  1. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl.
  2. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.  Then add sifted flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Divide dough in two and refrigerate for an hour.
  3. Meanwhile, boil the Apple Juice in an uncovered saucepan until reduced to a light syrup (be careful not to burn because that’s a scary sticky mess) and allow to cool.
  4. Roll the two dough clumps out on a floured surface to 1/4th inch thickness.

Vegetarian Pot Pie

 

I LOVE Pot Pie

I have not had a good pot pie in the last 6 years since I have become vegetarian.
There are some ok premade pies you can buy but nothing that blew my mind like the chicken pot pies I had growing up.

So began the journey for some delicious and sexy vegetarian pot pie.

Ingredients

• 1 Pie Crust – Pillsbury is classic but there are some really easy, buttery, flakey recipes out there.
• Biscuit Dough
• Creamy Base – Cream of broccoli is a favorite but cream of mushroom will make a more savory pie
• 4-5 Cups of Assorted Vegetables – I used a combination of frozen and fresh vegetables. This is a good way to clean out the fridge
• 1 TB Butter – Paula Deen Approved Recipe
• Favorite Seasonings – Because the base is pre-seasoned and high in sodium I avoid adding more salt. However garlic power, pepper, and parsley were a delicious addition.
• (Optional) Fake Chicken – I used 3 MorningStar patties cut into bite size pieces

• Directions

  1. Preheat Oven to 400 Deg F
  2. Chop/slice the fresh vegetables to a medium size. Onions should be finely chopped because those bastards pack a punch. I used potatoes, celery, carrots, broccoli, and a small onion in addition to one bag of frozen assorted vegetables.
  3. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook the vegetables until they just begin to get soft. Start with the harder veggies (onions, carrots, celery, broccoli) and after a couple mins add the other veggies (potatoes, mushrooms, raw peas, etc). Cook for another 8 mins or until they no longer crunch when you sneak a taste.
  4. Turn off the heat and add cream of broccoli (or prefered base), frozen vegetables, seasonings, and fake chicken.
  5. Place crust into the pie dish and add the filling from the saucepan.
  6. Cover with dropped biscuit dough
  7. Bake in the center rack for approx. 25 mins or until the filling is bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown.
  8. Let the pie set out of the oven for 5-10 mins while you drool and admire your handiwork.
  
  

  MMMMMM Vegetarian Pot Pie

  
  

Iron Man Dress

My Inspiration for an Iron Man Dress

KelseyMichele did a fantastic job translating over-the-top costumes into quite lovely evening gowns!

My love of Iron Man and need for a new cosplay for New York Comiccon practically required I give the very bodyconscious design a try. Even if it required more spandex than I have ever worked with before.

After sewing a fitted long sleeve dress out of the metallic red spandex it was time to work on the golden accents.

Without a walkingfoot attachment to my sewing machine it was near impossible to sew on the sticky metallic side of the fabric

Mcguyver an Arc Reactor out of Home Depot supplies

And add some sexy shoes found in Goodwill and painted to match

How to: Sew a Bow Tie

Bow ties are stylish, timeless, and cool. There are also extremely simple to DIY.

What You Need:

• 1/4 yard of Awesome fabric
  – from crazy patterns to the classics. If you want to customize your bow tie stick with simple solids. Medium to heavy weight fabrics work best but a sheer interface can be used to make even the thinnest materials usable.
•  Thread
  – matching or complementing colors
• Sewing Machine or needles

• (Optional) 1/4 yard of Stabilizing fabric/ Interface– If you prefer your bow tie to be extra stiff or are using a light- medium weight fabric you will need a thicker fabric (like denim) or iron-on interfacing (eg Pellon 950F ShirTailor)
• (Optional) Fabric paint or permanent markers

Let’s Get Started:

Bow ties range in shape and size just as much regular ties. If you have access to a favorite bow tie, I suggest you create your own pattern – it will make sizing easier.

Create your own Pattern

1. Adjust bow tie to fit.
2. Trace bow tie onto parchment/wax paper.
Other paper would work but you will not be able to trace it all on one paper. If this is the case, it is important to measure how long the adjusted tie is so that you can replicate it on your fabric.
3. Label!
It’s always frustrating to spend time making a pattern only to render it useless by forgetting to label it. Obviously we are making a bow tie but marking the neck size (or going by name) keeps everything organized.

Now it is time for the fun part.

After tracing or pinning the pattern you will need to cut it out. If you were able to trace the entire bow tie then cut out two pieces of fabric. If you are planning to use interfacing or a stabilizing fabric cut out one piece using the same fullsize pattern.

If you were not able to trace the entire bow tie onto one pattern or if you are using a printed pattern from the internet you will need to find the neck size of the person receiving the bow tie. This will be the first number of their collared shirt size – eg [16 34/35]. In this example, the long skinny strip of the pattern will need to be 16 inches in order to fit.

• If you are using interfacing iron it on now to one piece of your decorative fabric.
• If you are going to decorate your bow tie with fabric paints or permanent marker do so now before it is sewn together. Some geeky examples are my Minecraft and Gallifreyan bow ties but there’s no limit to what you can do. I’ve seen everything from poetry to doodles on bow ties!

The Gallifreyan is based on the language developed by GreenCrook.  It’s a great way to personalize a gift with a secret Doctor Who message.  

The final step

Is to sew together your bow tie. Place your pieces right-side together (with your optional stabilizing fabric on top) and pin. Sew around the edge with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. It is important to leave a 2 inch gap while sewing in the center or else you will not be able to invert your bow tie right side out.

Snip the corners and cut slits into the seam allowance along the curves of the bow tie to help it lay flat.

Using your trusty pencil, chopsticks, or butterknife invert the bow tie through that gap you left.

Iron the bow tie flat and sew up the 2 inch gap. It is hidden under the collar so don’t worry about using an invisible stitch.

Tada! You now have a fantastic bow tie.
Do you have any ideas for a fantastically geeky bow tie?

Sweet Kisses

Gay Pride Parade NYC

Kisses

Brooklyn