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Latest craft project coming soon!! Check back later for the full post!

High Altitude Baking

What's one of the easiest things you first learn to bake? Chocolate Chip cookies right? Or some other form of cookie, be it Oatmeal, Sugar or Snicker doodle, cookies are one of the first things I learned to bake early on. Joining 4-H when I was 8 introduced me to baking cookies on my own, despite growing up around my mom and grandma baking all the time. By the time I was 11 or 12 I was perfectly capable of whipping up a batch of cookies on my own, no adult supervision, except when it came to making sure I did the dishes afterwards <g>.  4-H was a big thing in south central Nebraska where I grew up. Nebraska as we all know, is pretty flat at an elevation of around 2600 ft. Any cookies or baked goody I produced came out pretty much perfect in my opinion, getting me numerous purple ribbons and a few trips to the State Fair. 3 1/2 years ago I got married, and moved to Colorado, on the west side of Denver, almost smack dab against the foothills. This gives me a nice elevation of around 5800 ft in order to get my baked goodies to come out looking like they did back in flat, old Nebraska. Needless to say, that first year my cookies were a mess, ranging from too poofy to flat and brittle. This lead me to searching and reading about high altitude baking tips and tricks. I also experimented a lot, finally deciding on what works and what doesn't. For pre-made cake mixes, I follow the high altitude directions of adding extra flour and adjusting the oil and water ratios and they seem to turn out just fine if I do that. For my cookies I have found that using Crisco in place of butter or margarine, keeping the amount of the leavening agent the same ( i.e. baking soda, baking powder, yeast) but adding in 1/4 to 1/2 C flour more than what is called for. Here are the latest cookies to come out of my oven, hot pink choc. chip cookies, in honor of Valentine's Day coming up. I followed the Nestlé Toll House recipe on the package. A link to the recipe can be found here . I just added Wilton's 'Rose' colored food dye. At my house, I make most of my goodies and meals dairy-free due to a dairy protein allergy that my husband has. So for the chocolate chips I used Enjoy Life Food's Dairy-free mini chocolate chips instead of Nestlé's semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips.

This is the brand of dairy-free chocolate chips I use. I know you can find these at Sprouts and Whole Foods.

Time to spoon onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets.











Ready to go into the oven!!

Fresh out of the oven! Nothing beats that!

'Just like Grandma used to make"

"Good food just like Grandma used to make" -- Runza
Yup that's right, or at least if you are from the Midwest and more precisely, Nebraska. Runza is a Nebraska based fast food restaurant chain found only in Nebraska with the exception of a handful in IA, KS, and CO. Unfortunately for my husband and me, the nearest one is over 2 hrs away. When we travel back to Nebraska to visit family and friends, we make it a point to stop at Runza for 1 meal. My husband is what the company calls a 'Runzatic'. He orders a #1, no cheese with an order of Frings. What are Frings you ask? They are an order of 1/2 crinkle french fries and 1/2 an order of onion rings. When we cant get back and have our Runza fix, I make home made Runzas from scratch for him. Here is my recipe I follow:

Runzas

Part I: Bread dough

1 egg slightly beaten 1/3 C oil

2 packets yeast 1 C luke warm water ( so it doesnt kill the yeast)

1tsp salt 1/2 C sugar

about 4 1/2 or 5 C flour

Mix egg, oil, sugar and salt. Heat 1/2 the water to warm, add cool water til you have 1C (coolness of the egg will bring the temp of the water down). Pour water in with egg, oil etc. Add yeast; stir around and let yeast proof for about 5 mins, til you see some bubbles forming. Add in flour and stir. ( I add about 1/2 the flour, then stir, then add the rest, finishing the mixing by hand instead of a fork). Dough should be firm but very slightly tacky. Shape into a ball and set in a greased bowl to rise double. Knead a couple of times, return to bowl and let rise again. While dough is rising the first 2 times, make your filling.

Part II: Filling and Assembly

1 lb hamburger, 1 package sausage ( plain or spicy is perfect),
1 head green cabbage, 2 medium sized onions

Finely shred the cabbage until it’s the consistency of coleslaw, the really fine kind, not the stringy kind. Do the same with the onion. I use the shredder attachment to my kitchen aide mixer and use the #2 shredder. A food processor works too but is more time consuming. I quarter the cabbage removing the stem, then halve the quarters to fit into the shredder. Cook hamburger and sausage together in a large pan until done, drain & return to pan. Add onion and sauté until almost done. Season with 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, 2 Tbs minced garlic. Add shredded cabbage over meat and onion, lightly season with salt. Cook cabbage down, on low, for about 20-30 mins. (you will know when its done if you know/remember what the runzas at Runza look like inside), stirring occasionally as the cabbage cooks down. Let cool before spooning into dough (I put mine in the fridge over night). You will need to make a double batch of dough for this recipe. 
Part III: Baking
After the dough has risen twice, roll the dough out into a square shape about 1/8 or 1/4" thick (however much bread you want in your runza) and cut into how ever big of squares you want.  Add about a 1/4C of meat and cabbage mixture to the center of the dough and fold and pinch dough to seal it. You can also add cheese in before sealing too if you want. Brush with melted butter before you put them in the oven and after they come out. Let assembled runzas rise in the same warm place as the previous 2 times until they're poofed up a bit. Then pre-heat your oven to 350*F.
(I am using homemade dough for them but you can also you pre-made frozen bread dough too, just follow it’s thawing and proofing instructions.) 
Bake for about 30 mins. or until golden brown on parchment lined cookie sheets.  I bake them and cool them then wrap in tinfoil and freeze. 

Cabbage & meat mixture cooked down in large electric skillet, ready to cool.

Runzas fresh out of the oven

                                 

 Fresh baked Runza, ready to eat!

DIY Fleece Blankies

The year 2012 proved to be a baby boom for my family and friends. What better way to welcome the new little ones than with a snugly, warm, fleece blanket. I found the idea via a Pintrest post. Normally you see no-sew fleece blankets that have the tied fringes. This post showed a no-sew double braided fleece blanket where the fringes are short and interwoven into each other as if you were braiding it. Following that link's instructions and a quick YouTube video how-to, I was able to knock out my first blanket in one afternoon. Since then, I have made 4 others. The fun in this project is picking out the fleece you want use. For the first blankie, I went with a cowboy boot western style fleece and a solid red blizzard fleece. My reasons? I decided that the little guy that this blanket was intended for was definitely going to be a cowboy, working with his daddy while working cows as well as a Nebraska Cornhusker fan.
Picking out your fleece should be fun, not a time racking decision. When I picked out the pattern for the next blankie, I asked the soon-to be parents if the nursery had a theme and went with that. I browsed through the different little girl patterns, decided they were too baby-ish and ended up picking out a cute brown based print with pink, blue and green birds and trees. To compliment it, I went with a pretty girl pink blizzard fleece. For me, that pattern just fit. It was exactly what I was looking for. It's a blankie she can grow into until she literally outgrows it and no longer fits her. Go with what you think is appropriate for the new little one. If you want to go with the nursery, infant patterns, go ahead. It's the thought that counts and I'm sure that the new parents won't mind having another blanket on hand for their little one, since we all know that babies can get messy and make messes. I even made myself one, finding some awesome pine cone print fabric on clearance. Score! I matched it up with some brown and green plaid print so matches our living room and decor quite nicely I think.
This style of blankie holds up better than the tied fringe style ones. There are no knots to come undone except for one small one at the end of the braid that finishes the braid. I wash my material first before I start assembling the blanket, that way its clean and ready to be wrapped up and given away. I will post the links to the site with the instructions and the YouTube video so you can start crafting your own no-sew double braided fleece blankies. Have fun picking the colors and prints, don't fret over it, follow the instructions and you will be knocking these blankets out as fast as you can buy the material.

Links:
Youtube Video tutorial on how to braid

Link to instructions on making the blankets

Cowboy boots & spurs with solid red blizzard fleece

 Solid pink blizzard with bird & duck print in pastels for baby girl.

 Braid close up. *Note* I don't use the paper clip trick shown in the instructions, I just use my fingers and get along just fine that way. Use whichever way works best for you.

 Little girl's blanket all done.

 My blanket with the pine cone print (yes I know from a distance it looks like a pineapple, but it's not). This was 2 yds of material which is a good sized blanket for an adult. The baby ones are a either 1 yd or 1 1/2 yds.

 This one is for a little boy whose nursery is pirate/nautical themed

 Gender neutral green with white polka dots and solid yellow blizzard. Went to a friend in Australia who had a little boy.

Brown with white polka dot and blue tie dye for a little boy.

Why the Craft Shed?

Why call this page The Craft Shed? Well that's where I have started to do a lot of my craft projects. My craft shed is a small addition stuck on the side our house and is about 8ft by 8ft. We recently remodeled said shed from being a junk storage area with no organization whatsoever to a functional storage and work space. Yes, I have to share my shed with a bazillion paint cans, a parts washer and eventually one day, my husband's air compressor. I have the majority of my craft supplies organized out here, minus the scrap booking supplies, rubber stamps and the sewing machine. Spray painting is much easier in the shed versus laying newspaper all over the patio concrete and hoping the wind doesn't blow while holding down one side of the papers with your foot another with your hand while spray painting. In my shed, I can just spread a few newspapers, open the windows and doors and spray paint until my heart's content or I run out of spray paint. There is still some work to be done in it such re-covering my work bench, figuring out something for the floor, and finding me a comfy stool or chair to sit on while working out there. Those projects are better saved for the warmer months though. So that's my craft shed in a nut shell. I will be posting my various craft projects as I go as well as posts about what I am reading, my cat and whatever else pops up. Enjoy!





Cleared everything out and added insulation to the shed.

 Added a cabinet for motorcycle gear and ski gear storage. My husband's parts washer and finally my work bench.

Added a bulletin board, shelving and an electrical outlet panel.