Pumpkin Spice (Alcoholic) Latte

I have finally contributed something to the world!

Allow me to share with you my recipe for a delicious pumpkin spice latte…

You will need:
Pumpkin spice
Coffee grounds
PA Dutch Pumpkin Cream Liqueur
Maple Syrup

First, prepare your coffee as you normally would, adding about 1/2 tsp of pumpkin spice to the grounds for each serving.

Next, get your cup ready. Fill it 1/4 of the way with the liqueur; if desired, add 1/2 to 1 tsp maple syrup (the liqueur is sweet on its own, but less so when you add coffee).

Then, whip this mixture using a whisk or milk frother. It will fill up about half of your mug. Pour your spiced coffee over and enjoy!

Gift Bags Made Out of Maps

This post is to commemorate my first commissioned Pinterest project!

I kid you not, reader, as my mother gathered the gifts she'd bought for a friend's graduation party, she turned to me and said, "can you do some Pinterest stuff to these presents?"  And that I did.

I used an older Pennsylvania tourism road map to make one, and a cool, glossy advertising map of Herkimer, NY (the very place the graduate will attend college, might I add) for the other.

I had re-pinned a tutorial on my "Great Idea!" Pinterest board, but it didn't help much.

Here's my version of the directions.

YOU WILL NEED:

• Writing utensil
• Map or other paper
• Cardboard for support of long sides, bottom
• Scissors
• A glue stick (or whatever else you deem appropriate to hold the whole thing together)
• Ribbon or similar for handles

WHAT TO DO:

Take a look at my awesome design skills.  Make the sides and bottom however long you like, as long as the long sides are the same and the short sides are the same.

Cut on the solid red and fold on the dotted black lines.  You probably want to cut the outside perimeter, then fold everything before you make the smaller snips.  Once you do that, you should see how it becomes a bag.  If you need some more guidance or tips, read on.

The basic gist is this: 

• At the bottom of your paper, measure out enough room for the bottom of your bag. 
• The height should be however tall you want it, plus an inch or two that you can fold over some cardboard to make supports for the handles.
• The width of what you cut out it is made up of five sections: the long side of your bag, the short side of your bag, long side again, and short side again, and the last one is just some extra room so you can glue together the edges (about an inch should be fine).
• After you've glued together the bottom first (put your cardboard in between the flaps so it's not exposed at the bottom of the back), edges next, and top last, use your scissors or a hole punch to make a hole for a piece of ribbon to use as a handle.
• The two short edges will have flaps, too, just glue those to the inside, or cut them off if you want.
• I like to add a little tape as reinforcement when I glue the edges together with that one little strip.

I hope this makes sense and you have fun making your own gift bags!

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Recently, my team at work had a pot luck.  We were all encouraged to bring our favorite summertime treats.  We had pulled pork, italian ice, all kinds of salad, and even an ice cream cake!

I hesitantly agreed to bring cupcakes, knowing that there was a good chance I could mess them up, but securing permission from my manager to show up a bit late on the day of the pot luck, should I have to make a last-minute stop at the grocery store for some pre-made cupcakes.  But I had more in mind than just any cupcakes - these were to be ice cream cone cupcakes!

I got the idea from something a friend of mine had pinned, but after a quick Google search, I learned this was not at all an original idea - just pour cake mix into ice cream cones and bake!

I also learned some other things along the way:

• I started out making Xs in my roasting pan to hold the cones, but quickly realized that it was best to first draw a grid, then use a guide to cut out circles with my (clean) razor blade.  I fit 12 cupcakes into each disposable roast pan.
• I had quite the difficult time finding the best way to transport them.  They ended up in a box from a case of beer!  You can imagine how popular I was carrying two cases of beer into work!
• I only had one container of icing.  I could have used a second, I had to skimp a little towards the end, but overall they turned out great and were a hit!

Shrimp with a Creamy Pesto Sauce

Full disclosure: I work for Kraft Foods.  Of course, though, all opinions are my own.

I didn't use all my garlic mustard & stinging nettle pesto when I made it, so I froze the leftovers into an ice cube tray and stored them in a zippy bag for later!  One day, I had a bunch of rice and a bunch of Philadelphia cream cheese.  I was hoping to make some kind of a rice pilaf, but couldn't find a recipe with cream cheese.  Instead, I found this on my wonderful iFood app: creamy pesto shrimp & rice.

Of course, I had cream cheese, not cooking crème (in fact, though I work for Kraft - I didn't even know there was such a thing as creamy pesto cooking crème - the customer I work with doesn't carry it).  I just melted the cream cheese and added a few cubes of my frozen pesto, plus a little half and half. 

I used brown rice instead of white rice.  It was very filling and VERY delicious!  Next time, I will use fettuccine instead of rice.

Yum!

Garlic Mustard & Stinging Nettle Pesto

Here's one of my first posts to Pinterest!  I made a pesto out of items from my backyard and I was SO EXCITED about it.

I heard a story on NPR about foraging for food (listen to it yourself here!), and realized how fun (and cheap!) it would be to make a pesto out of items that were growing literally everywhere (I live out in the country).

In the process, I learned that garlic mustard is a nasty invasive species (if you live in north America), and it is best to kill and eat as much of it as possible - especially since it is free, grows everywhere, is pretty delicious, and apparently is good for your cholesterol.

I also learned all kinds of nettle tips here.

I did change one thing about the NPR recipe, though - I added parmesan cheese.  The pesto is okay without it, but absolutely amazing with it!

Here's the really easy recipe:

Enjoy!

Mission

Mission:

First off, I'd like to provide you with a little background as to why I've created this blog and what you can expect to find here.

To be perfectly honest, it's best not to come with any expectations!  I hope to share my projects, ideas and tips on everything from saving money to taking care of animals and a lot about the crazy stuff I find on Pinterest!

In fact, Pinterest is the main reason for this blog!  It's fun to post to Pinterest, but linking someone else's URL from your photo post makes it looks as if your photo is from their website!  It's a great tool, when your photo IS from their website, but I'd prefer pinners know that my images are my own.

Well, I guess I'll get started creating links for the things I've already shared on Pinterest!

-Monica