Foodie Friday: Cream Cheese Danish

Cream cheese danishes are delicious. I had never thought of making my own, and when I stumbled upon this recipe I decided to give it a go. It was delicious and so simple because the crust is made out of crescent rolls!

This recipe makes 8 servings. I baked it in my 9x13" pan and it was the perfect size to cut into 8 pieces. You could cut the recipe in half, do it in an 8x8" pan and have 4 large or 6 small servings. Make sure you refrigerate it if you aren't serving it within an hour or two of baking it. I think the danish is delicious cold, but Jason said he liked it warm!

You will need:

• Danish:
• 2 8oz packages of cream cheese softened
• 2 8-count packages of crescent rolls (I used butter flake)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Glaze:
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1/4 cup milk (or less)

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Grease 9x13 pan and place 8 crescent rolls (1 package) on bottom, un-separated
3. In a large bowl, beat together the rest of the danish ingredients and spread over crescent rolls
4. Open second can of crescent rolls and break off 4 rolls individually. I usually let the dough stretch out a little and then place it over the cream cheese mixture however you see fit/pretty
5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling isn't completely jiggly and the crescent rolls are golden brown
6. While cooling, make the glaze by melting your butter and then whisk the rest of the glaze ingredients together
7. Drizzle over the danish and serve once it's cooled

Have some fun with it! Try using the crescent roll dough and reshaping it, maybe cutting it with a cookie cutter, to decorate the top of your danish!

Craft Tuesday: Tackling Crayon Art

This project was fun. Awesome, super fun. Almost therapeutic because of the simplicity of it all, and all the colors are just so crazy and cool.

Alright, so I have seen this crayon art ALL over Pinterest. It is awesome and everyone wants to do it. There are two methods to do doing it that I know of: 1)Hot glue the peeled crayons and use a blow dryer to melt them. 2)Run crayons through your hot glue gun.

My friend Brittnee and I decide to tackle this project together, in a two-part adventure. This is part-one. We opted to try the hot glue gun method first because we figured it would give us more control over the colors and where we place them. Plus, at the end we wouldn't have crayon chunks hot glued onto our canvases.

Well, it didn't go as smoothly as we thought and I definitely have some suggestions for you if you are going to try the hot glue method. First of all, use a new glue gun (or a glue gun with no glue in it) that you are using ONLY for crayons, because this WILL get messy and you will probably never be able to use your glue gun for regular gluing again (unless you really, really clean it well). I bought a new hot glue gun the day after I did this project. I will probably be able to salvage my other one, but I use mine for LOTS of stuff, and I need nice, clean one for all the other projects I do. Second, you really have to test out the waters to see what heat setting you want to use and how your glue gun will be most effective when it comes to pushing these crayons through.

Wax melting out the side means burnt fingers :(

Our biggest problem was that my glue gun wouldn't "grab" onto the crayons to push them through, so we had to push them through with another crayon. Then the wax ended up melting out the side AND through the glue gun hole, so it was a little...leaky. This got messy and frustrating. Perhaps if you use a glue gun that uses the small glue sticks this problem would be solved. If you are buying a cheap little glue gun specifically for this project (which is not a bad idea at all) then I would recommend you try that kind.

Okay, now that I have told you all the ways that ours was difficult let me show you how awesome, and INCREDIBLY FUN this project was. Seriously. Most fun I have had doing a craft in a while. Of course, it could be because I had company this time!

You will need:

• Crayons. Lots of crayons
• Hot glue gun (that you are willing to part ways with)
• Canvas(es)
• Heavy drop cloth you don't mind getting melted wax on
• Patience

We had two 7x14" canvases. The first canvas we used as an experiment canvas. We tested the different ways the wax melted and got used to "waxing." Of course, you could use a heavy piece of cardstock or cardboard to practice on, but our canvas came in a two-pack, so we figured, why not?

By laying the canvas flat and holding the gun perpendicular we were able to achieve a very cool splatter look. It was fun and stress relieving to just have at it. Then of course, we messed up our awesome painting by experimenting with the dripping effect, which is what we all see and love all over the internet (especially Pinterest).

While holding the canvas at various angles (we laid the end of the canvas on top of our upright crayon box) and pushing the crayon wax out at the top end of the canvas, we got that sought-after drip look. Hooray!

Now that we knew our way around this project, it was time to start the second canvas. Our goal was to create a tree - a weeping willow to be exact.

First, we used a light blue crayon to quickly mark of which areas we wanted to be background, tree trunk, and branches. We used several shades of blue in the splatter technique to create the background, a sky actually. While that wax was still hot we used a blue crayon and spread it out and mixed it up. Ended up pretty neat I think.

Next we began the tree trunk. Using about 8 crayons in various shades of brown we ran the crayon through the gun, moving it from side to side of the designated trunk space. When we had finished with all of the crayons, I used the hot tip of the hot glue gun to "carve" a heart in my tree trunk. Using the tip of the gun to remelt the wax is a great trick. If you have a big clump somewhere and you want to break it up, that's a great way to go about it.

Next, we flipped the canvas over so that the other end of the canvas was now propped up. We began dripping the greens out next so that the wax dripped towards the tree trunk. It took me about 2 crayons of green to flush all the brown out and then on top of that I used about 4 more. In other words, every single green and brown crayon went into this piece, and several of the blues too. Of course, we could have chosen to do reds & oranges and made the tree an autumn tree. (Hmm. Maybe I'll do that for my next one!) I tried to fill in as much of the white space as possible, but wasn't able to.

All in all, we were very pleased with how this crayon art (or "waxing") turned out. Though I burned my finger on hot wax, I think it was well worth it!

If you do attempt this, please be careful not to burn yourself and make sure you have something to protect the surface you are working on. Wax does come up, but this wax is HOT and could do heat damage.

Foodie Friday: Baked Garlic Chicken

Baked, breaded, garlic chicken. Those are 2 things I love, and one thing that is a perk. Baked, not fried, chicken. How delightful that this dish is so delicious and a fairly healthy meal! Jason and I made this for my parents and our friends on 2 separate occasions, and each time it was inhaled.

This is adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe which sounded quite good, and I always like putting my own little spin on things. We topped it with a white wine sauce (we used Julia Child's herbal white wine sauce or "Sauce Chivry", but that was very ambitious of us), but simply squeezing some lemon juice on top would be fantastic too. As sides, we served mashed potatoes and fresh steamed broccoli, both of which tasted wonderful with the herbal white wine sauce. This recipe makes 4 servings.

You will need:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 15 saltine crackers
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 475F
2. We'll start by preparing the breading. If you have a food processor, combine all your crackers, garlic, parsley, butter, and pepper (to taste) and run until you have a fine mixture
3. If you do not have a food processor (guilty), then put your crackers, parlsey, and pepper in a large freezer bag. Crush using your hand or the bottom of a cup. Next, press your garlic into the bag. Use a fork to mash your butter and add to bag. Shake up the bag and use your hands and the cup to mix the breading ingredients together. Set bag to the side when finished
4. Make three shallow, diagonal cuts in each side of each chicken breast. Place on a covered surface (freezer paper or a cutting board) and cover them with freezer paper or plastic wrap and beat them until they have flattened out some
5. In a small bowl, beat your egg. On 2 separate plates, pour your flour and your breading mixture
6. Prepare a flat baking sheet (using non-stick spray or foil) for your chicken
7. Begin breading your chicken by first coating one chicken breast in flour. Next, dip your chicken in the egg, and then turn it over into the plate of breadcrumbs to fully coat it. Place on baking sheet
8. Repeat breading process for each chicken breast
9. Bake chicken for 12-15 minutes
10. Serve as a whole breast with a lemon slice, or slice up and drizzle white wine sauce on top

Enjoy!

Craft Tuesday: Wrapping Paper Collage

Every year for Christmas I spend money on beautiful wrapping paper only to see it used and thrown away without ever capturing how pretty it was under our tree. Not anymore! Here is a wonderful way for you to remember the excitement of Christmas morning- a wrapping paper collage!

By Mod Podging squares of the wrapping paper you use each year onto a hefty sheet of paper or cardboard, and then placing a picture from Christmas morning on top, you can create a great piece of wall art for the holidays (or a scrapbook page).

Left: Blue reindeer, lightweight "cheap" paper wrinkled
Right: Brown and silver, heavier paper did not wrinkle

After doing this one myself, I found that the heavier the paper the better, because it won't wrinkle up when the Mod Podge is applied. From a distance though, the wrinkles are not noticeable. On the same note, my square hole punch wouldn't punch through the foiled paper, and I had to cut it by hand. Also, I would suggest tracing out the bottom line of each row of wrapping paper, otherwise your lines may tilt a little, like mine. Of course, that's all in the charm of a hand made craft!

You will need:

• 1 12x12 piece of card stock or cardboard
• 1 square hole punch (I used a 3" diagonal square hole punch)
• 1 photograph
• Black cardstock/scrapbooking paper
• Stickers of your choice
• Glossy Mod Podge
• Wrapping paper scraps
• Sponge brush

Begin by gathering up some wrapping paper scraps. You will need to punch several squares out of each sheet. I used a total of 25 squares (5 squares by 5 squares, each square measuring a little over 2"), and punched about 28 squares to choose from.

Once you have all of your squares punched, play with them and arrange them in a way that you like! This took me a few minutes and a lot of moving around, right until I had almost every square back at their starting point, until I was pleased with the arrangement!

Then make a stack for each row to keep them in order as you proceed to glue them down. Doing one row at a time, apply a thin coat of Mod Podge and then lay your wrapping paper squares down. Your Mod Podge may dry before you get to lay down the last square or two, so reapply the Mod Podge before you lay those squares down.

After you have Mod Podged all of your squares, glue down any loose corners and let dry completely. This shouldn't take more than 10 minutes, max. Now, apply one or two thick coats of Mod Podge on top to seal the squares down and give your collage a nice finished look.

While this top coat dries, glue your picture to the black sheet of paper, leaving a quarter inch border around the edge.  On another piece of black paper, use stickers to write the year or your family name. Trim to size. Once the Mod Podge is dry, trim off any excess paper and glue down the black papers with craft glue, or a little bit more Mod Podge. Do not Mod Podge over this layer.

Now you can frame your wrapping paper collage, put it in your scrapbook, or keep it somewhere special for you to look back on whenever you like.