Making Mushrooms

  by: www.FabricGreetings.etsy.com


Winter is hopefully coming to an end. Everyone is beginning to go stir crazy from being snowed in or bothered by the intense cold that has blanketed much of our country this year.  

Those who garden are scouring the seed catalogs that arrive. Thoughts are turning to what to do with the yard and gardens when the weather permits. Here is a little crafty idea to get you started. These little - or big - mushrooms make wonderful garden art. Or they can be displayed on a patio table. They are fun to make and the kids can help as well. And is a great way of recycling.

If your children are young or clumsy, then I suggest using some of the plastic ware that can be found in the dollar stores.
  

Here's what you need to do.

I scour the thrift shops, Goodwill, and flea markets for my supplies. With  yard sales starting, you can find ideas there too.

You will need glasses, vases, hurricane globes, candle sticks or bottles for the stem of your mushrooms.

The "caps" of your mushrooms will be bowls, lids, plates, cheese domes.

Again - this is left to your imagination. 









Now comes the fun part. Experiment with putting different "caps" on the stems. Turn glasses upside down, try longer vases on smaller tops or larger tops. Your imagination is  supposed to run wild here.

When you  have decided on the way 
you want your mushroom to look, you will glue 
them together. I use E6000 glue. 
It has a very strong odor and should be 
used near an open window, or in the open air. 
It works on glass and is waterproof. 
I do not recommend kids using it without
parental guidance.





Once you have your mushroom completed, you can add embellishments if desired.

The little mushroom above is made from a candle stick topped with a desert plate. On top of the desert plate is a small condiment bowl. Finally a green glass bead is glued to the top. This mushroom is approximately 6 inches tall. The large, tall mushroom in the header picture is 10 inches tall. The size depends only on what you choose for a stem and cap.




                   
                             If you are making mushrooms with plastic
                             ware, a good glue to use is
                             Aleene's Jewel-It.
                            The glue is non toxic and water proof.







If you make some mushrooms, post a link in the comment section so we can see the creativity of our readers.

Great Recipes for the Holidays - The Sequel

The Hearts and Hands United etsy team is made up of sellers from around the world. So you will find a varied group of recipes.
Here are some more great recipes for the holiday season.  We are trying to mix them up so you have a selection to choose from.                                                                                                                                            


Here are several recipes from Jeanie who runs:
www.JeanieBeanHandknits.etsy.com

She says this is great for a crowd and can be served in a crock pot.

Calico Beans - makes 5 quarts

Brown 1 lb. ground beef, 1/2 c. chopped onion and 1/2 lb of crumbled, cooked bacon. Cook and drain.
Add:
1/2 c. ketchup
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 T. dry mustard
2 t. vinegar
Mix well.

Add 1 can each of:
great northern beans
butter beans
kidney beans
2 cans pork and beans

Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or in the crockpot for a few hours on low.

Freezes and microwaves well.

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. butter softened
3/4 c. seedless raspberry jam - warm this before attempting to spread over crust.

Preheat oven to 350 (175 C). Grease 8" square pan lined with foil or parchment paper. I prefer parchment for this recipe.
Combine brown sugar, flour, soda, salt and oats. Blend in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender until crumbly. 
Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Spread the warmed jam within 1/4 inch of the edge. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over the top and gently press into the jam.
Bake 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned.
Allow to cool before cutting.

Cookie Bark

1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
saltine crackers

Preheat oven to 375

Line a 15" by 10" jelly roll pan with parchment paper (foil also works) and cover the bottom of the pan with saltine crackers.

In a small sauce pan, add 1 c. butter and 1 c. sugar - bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and add 1 tsp. of vanilla
Pour mixture over the saltines and bake for 8 minute.
Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the top. Pop the whole pan in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Remove from the freezer and break into pieces.

This recipe comes from one of our members who lives  in Morocco. 

www.sewsouk.etsy.com 

Orange, cardamom, and date m’hanncha 

M’hanncha is Arabic for snake and this is a snake shaped pastry- ideal for dessert or at teatime. Traditionally it is just made with almond but it is nice with dates too. This is eaten at festive occasions in Morocco and is a very popular traditional family sweet. You can make mini individual ones but usually a large one is made and people cut or break a piece of the snake coil off.

Ingredients

Filo pastry- about 8 large sheets
375g/13oz butter
375g/13oz icing sugar
3 free-range eggs
375g/13oz finely ground almonds
3 cardamom pods, crushed
2 unwaxed oranges, zest and 2 tbsp juice
50g/1¾oz dates, stones removed, chopped
50g/1¾oz flaked almonds

To serve
• icing sugar, for dusting
• flaked almonds
• 5-6 pistachios, crushed- optional


1. For the filling, cream the butter and icing sugar together. Mix in the eggs in one at a time, making sure they are combined before adding the next. Add the ground almonds and mix well.

2. In a small pan, heat the cardamom pods and orange juice to infuse. Simmer for a few minutes, then allow to cool.

3. When cool, remove the cardamom pods and add the juice to the butter and egg mixture along with the three-quarters of the orange zest and the flaked almonds and dates. Mix well.

4. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

5. Put the filo sheets on a long table (about 6ft long) side by side with the edges slightly overlapping each other to form a very long rectangle approximately 2m/6ft long. Cover any unused filo sheets with a damp clean tea towel whilst you are working to stop it drying out.

6. Spoon the filling in a straight line near the edge of a long side of the pastry. Then, just like a Swiss roll, begin to roll up the pastry until you have a very long, thin roll of pastry. Wrap up into a swirl, to resemble a coiled snake. Brush with a little melted butter. If any of your pastry breaks patch with another piece with a dab of melted butter

7. Place on a large baking tray dusted with flour brush with a little melted butter and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the pastry is golden-brown and crisp.

8. To serve, dust with icing sugar and scatter with flaked almonds. Finish with the reserved orange zest and some crushed pistachios look pretty but are not essential. 
Serve with vanilla ice cream or eat at tea time with a cup of tea. Here in Morocco M'hanncha eaten with very sweet mint tea.

Need an easy breakfast meal? All the prep for this is done the day before and just requires baking while presents are being opened on Christmas morning. This comes from Alyce of

www.ADollsNecessities.etsy.com

Breakfast Casserole

serves 6-8

1 lb loose breakfast sausage

1 1/2 grated cheese - I use cheddar

3 slices of white bread - crust removed and cubed

8 eggs

2 cups milk

pinch of dry mustard

Mrs. Dash seasoning to taste

Brown sausage. Drain. Put in 13 x 9 baking dish. Layer cheese on top, Add bread cubes.

Mix well remaining ingredients and pour over sausage/cheese/bread. Cover with foil. Refrigerate over night or longer. Put into cold oven @350*. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake additional 15 minutes.