Time to Shop

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Just opened my very own Etsy shop. Check it out soon for art n crafts you'll love!!

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http://www.etsy.com/shop/KaleiokiStudio

♥ Sam

Happy Black Friday!

Let the craziness and shopping begin!!!

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Haha, yeah so everyone's driving like a maniac and buying things left and right. I'm getting ready for my last leg of this semester by packing my tree and goodies to make during the cold nights. Our trees are up at home (the real tree will be home when I come home) and decorated all nice! We've got a warm fire in the fireplace and movies on the tv. This is the life!!

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Hope you all have a lovely start of the winter season with whatever you enjoy and celebrate. I'd love to hear about them! (Feel free to comment!!!)

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For the start of the Christmas season, or just the holiday season, here's another delicious recipe:

Sam's Deep-Dish Apple Pie

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Make: 10-15 mins Bake: 40-45 mins

You will need: 

CRUST! - To make this a quick little recipe, just use a prepared pie crust (or even your own). I recommend Pillsbury, or the one in the last recipe I posted. 

Filling:

6 apples (best combo - 4 Gala and 2 Pink Lady) Try mixing very sweet with slightly tart; sliced and diced any way you want, good with and without skin

2 tablespoons of flour

3/4 cup of sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon of lemon juice (highly recommended fresh squeezed lemon, about 1/3 of the lemon will do it)

1/4 of a stick of butter

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Slice apples. Small, medium, large chunks all good. I use medium. Peeling is optional.

3. Add to big bowl. Begin adding other ingredients in order listed above.

4. With a large spoon, mix will. Fold ingredients until well-mixed.

5. Lay down first pie crust in your pan. make sure this one is well stretched, but no tears or holes. 

6. Pour in bowl of ingredients.

7. Take other pie crust for top and place, making sure you cover the whole thing.

8. With your fingers, pinch the edges together. Might be hard since there's a lot of filling!!!

9. Slit top lightly. Maybe make a design, like a tree or a star or your name. 

10. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and sugar to taste.

11. Bake for 40-45 mins. 

Let it cool for a while, there's a lot to cool!!!

Add some ice cream or cool whip on top and serve!!! Yum yum...

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Enjoy yourselves!

♥ Sam

Home for Turkey Day

Hello everyone! I'm finally home with mom and dad (and my cat and dog) for a few days. Thanksgiving break is great! (except for the traffic, yuck.) Time to eat good food, mainly pie, and put up some Christmas trees with a fire in the fireplace and good x-mas music playing while baking cookies... :)

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New stuff coming soon! Especially craft how-to guides and ideas! But first, a quick recipe for Thanksgiving!!!

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Best Apple Pie Ever 

-Sam's Chunky Apple Pie-

Make: 20 minutes; Cook: 40 minutes

Ingredients

2  cups  all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough

1/2  cup  whole-wheat flour

1/4  teaspoon  baking powder

1/2  teaspoon  sugar

1/4  teaspoon  salt

1 1/4  sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

6  tablespoons  block-style, cream cheese

1/4  cup very cold water

2  teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Cooking spray

3 pounds peeled apples (a mix of Gala and Granny Smith, or Golden Delicious), cored and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges (can be altered any way you like.)

1/4  cup  granulated sugar

1/4  cup  brown sugar

1/4  cup  all-purpose flour

1  tablespoon  vanilla extract

2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice

1  teaspoon  cinnamon

1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground nutmeg

1  large egg white, lightly beaten

vanilla ice cream

Preparation

1. Place flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a big bowl; stir. Add butter and cream cheese; stir until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add water and lemon juice; stir just until dough forms.

2. Transfer dough to a floured surface (i.e. cutting board or waxed paper); form into a disk. Separate disk into 2 halves; wrap both tightly in plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 375°. Coat a 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Turn 1 dough half out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 13-inch round (or big enough for your pie plate); transfer to wax paper. Cover and refrigerate. Fit remaining circle of dough into pie plate; trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang for crust. Using a fork, lightly pierce dough all over; chill until firm (about 20 minutes), or freeze 10 minutes.

4. In a large bowl, combine apples and next 7 ingredients (through nutmeg). Spoon filling into dough in pie plate; top with chilled dough. Fold overhang under edge of bottom dough; crimp overlap decoratively, using a fork or fingers. Brush egg over dough (add a little cinnamon and sugar for extra flavor); bake in middle of oven 40-50 minutes or until crust is golden and apples are tender. Let cool. Cut into slices, top with ice cream; serve.

For extra great filling, mix your filling in a bowl and let it sit in the fridge for a while. This makes that gooey goodness you find in pro pies. It'll be juicier, tastier, and BETTER. :)

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Have a happy Thanksgiving!!!

♥ Sam

...almost here!

Just one more day until Thanksgiving break! A chance to photograph and upload my newest projects and get things together!

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Today is so nice and warm and sunny! It's really unseasonal but I'm not complaining!! It's nice to wear a pair of shorts and a t-shirt again. My paperwhites on the windowsill have five bloom clusters now. They're nearly 18" tall by now! Such pretty little things. White with very green leaves. I've got them in glass jars so you can see all the roots - so cool!! Super easy to grow! Here's a how-to:

*Paperwhites for winter*

Paperwhites/narcissus/daffodils are so easy to grow and forcing them in the fall or winter lets you enjoy a bit of Spring early!! Bulbs can be found in any store or nursery during the fall or spring. If you can't seem to find any, ordering online would be your best bet. 

You will need: 

Paperwhite bulbs

rocks or soil (or nothing ;) )

small pots and saucers OR glass jars (which look cool)

Step one

Prepare your pots or jars.

Place pot/jar on windowsill or near sunlight (preferably inside!!), the more sun the better. My plants have grown very well with sun from about noon til evening. I set them on a windowsill and rotated them every so often. 

Pot

Fill pot with a few inches of good potting soil. (just water and rocks and water work better in jars)

Place bulbs on TOP of the soil, fat side down. :) With Paperwhite bulbs, the tops taper to a skinny point, so be sure you don't put them upside-down! Put them close - but not touching!

Grab more soil and cover the bulbs about half-way. A good portion of the bulbs themselves should still be visible. 

Water! Be careful not to overwater. Pots are better with drainage, but you don't want a puddle on your windowsill. 

Jar

With jars you have three options: just water and bulbs, rocks and bulbs, and soil. For the first all you need is a nice glass jar (cheap at a craft store) and your bulbs. Simply place the bulbs close - but not touching at the bottom and fill with an inch or two of water!

For the second - rocks and water - you need a jar, rocks, and your bulbs. Put a small layer of rocks in your jar. Place the bulbs - close but not touching. Surround with more rocks so bulbs are half covered. Fill with water to the top of rocks. 

*With water only or rocks n water make sure you don't get water into the tops of the bulbs until after you have good leaves!! They might get rot!!!*

The last I find works best without fail. You'll need a jar, some good soil, and your bulbs. Fill your jar with a shallow layer of soil. Place bulbs close, but not touching. Fill in with soil until your bulbs are half covered. Give them a nice watering! 

*Water your watering. Jars don't have good drainage so use minimal watering!!!*

In jars, you can watch all those roots grow!! Whether they're in pots or jars, Paperwhites will be a lovely addition to your room. They have a strong fragrance too! (Doesn't take long to get used to if you don't like it anyway) They're good for cut flowers however if you've got them in a lovely container already, no need! :) 

If you want to pollenate your Paperwhites, you can use your finger or a cotton swab to brush pollen onto the little stigma and style (white tube-like thing). Try to mix your flowers' pollen for better breeding. The seeds will develop in the little green bases of your flowers. 

*It can take up to 5 years to grow from seeds! However, bulbs can be used from season to season!*

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Hope your Paperwhites grow into lovely blooms!! :)

♥ Sam

Hello!

Hey there! Sam here! This is my first post or my new blog so I thought I'd share something cute...

... and something funny!!



♥ Sam