Mother's Day Countdown Week 11

Cornish Pasty Recipe made with Ground Beef - Step by step picture tutorial

My husband has some British backgrounds in him, so he grew up with a British taste for food. He had been purchasing Cornish pastries from the deli counter at Loblaws for many years, but recently they have stopped carrying them. He of course was very disappointed. When we took our honeymoon to Disney World in December I suggested we stop by The Three Broomsticks in Orlando's Wizarding World of Harry Potter and share some cornish pasties from there. He ordered the fish and chips and I ordered the pasties. We shared them both and they were delicious. Of course I knew eventually he would miss them once more so recently I asked if he'd like me to make him some. 
My husband and I both are not steak fans, so we decided to substitute the steak with ground beef. 

Recipe makes approx. 12 Cornish pasties

What you'll need:

Pastry

• 6 cups All purpose flour
• 2 cups Butter (Cold)
• 1 tsp salt (if butter is not salted)
• 1.5 cups of cold water
• Egg (optional) for egg wash

Filling

• 1 Large onion
• 2 cups of chopped potatoes (approximately 1 cm in size) 
• 2 cups of chopped carrots (also approximately 1 cm in size)
• 1/2 lbs of beef 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 2 tbs Worcester sauce
• 1 cube or packet of beef broth
• 1/3 cup of water
• 2 tbs flour + some for dusting
• 1tbs butter

Utensils

• pot/pan (to brown beef)
• Pot (to cook veggies and mix everything)
• Baking sheet 
• Parchment Paper
• Measuring cups/spoons
• Mixing bowl
• Plastic wrap
• Rolling pin

Step 1: Make the pastry

Put flower and salt in mixing bowl, cut up your cold butter into tiny pieces in the flour. (use a utensil not your hands)

Start pouring in the water slowly and mixing while you go along. (Mix with a utensil not your hands)

Should look like the above picture when ready. Quickly form dough into a ball. (Working it too much with your hands will melt the butter and cause your dough to become hard and not flaky.) 

Place dough tightly in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for 30+ minutes. 

Step 2:

Chop up your carrots, potatoes and onions

Step 3: Start browning your beef

Step 4: Heat your pot and add your 1 tbs of butter, 2 tbs olive oil and your onions. Cook on medium for 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally. 

Step 5: Add 2 tbs of flour and fry for 1 minute. 

Step 6: While flour is frying dissolve your packet of beef broth in 1/3 cup of water. Pour in. (If using bouillon cube just add both together in pot)

Step 7: Add 2 tbs Worcester sauce and pour in your vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes then add spices and cook for another 5-10 minutes stirring occasionally.

*If you find you need more water in your mixture use sparingly. (You don't want the mixture to be liquidy)

Step 8: Drain your ground beef and add to your mixture. Cook for another 5-10 minutes stirring occasionally. 

Step 9: Turn off burner and prepare surface for rolling dough. Also prepare baking pan by adding a thin layer of flour to the parchment paper so that it will be easy to remove once baked. 

Step 10: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take dough (can divide in sections if easier) roll till it is approximately 0.5 cm in thickness. 

Step 11: Take a small plate, or cereal bowl and cut around on dough

If you'd like to make smaller ones, cut around a cup. 

Step 12: Fill each circle with approximately 2-4 tbs of filling (depends on circle size) Fold circle in half like a taco and pinch edges. If desired you can use an egg wash for the edges. 

Step 13: Add all your Cornish pasties to your baking pan and prick side with a sharp knife. 

Step 14: Place in preheated oven and bake for 28-35 minutes. 

This is how it should look once baked

We had a lot of leftover filling (cause I only made half the dough) but I loved the filling on the side too. 

This is how I ate mine

This is how my husband ate his

Mother's Day Countdown Week 10

Tutorial DIY Eco Friendly Recycled Wind Chimes

I've been collecting #6 plastic items ever since I found out you can shrink them to make them into jewelry. Here's the post on the jewelry I made: A bit of recycled fun
When creating the jewelry items I couldn't help but notice the beautiful noise they made when they clanged together. It sounded like small hail pellets hitting a tin roof ; not annoying like a small bell or gaudy like a cow bell. 
So I began making many tiny #6 shrink plastic items. And just tossing them around in my hands to hear the sounds. I could close my eyes and picture a dark cold day in the middle of nowhere. Hail falling gently from the sky and onto the tin roof. Sitting outside cuddled up in a blanket smelling the crisp cool spring air. The hail bouncing off the asphalt. It was truly therapeutic. 
I had collected two black #6 plastic pie containers from lemon meringue pies I had brought to a party. I find the look of silhouettes to be soothing as well. So I decided to create a wind chime to hear the beautiful noise and use the black #6 pie containers as silhouettes. 
I have been watching "The Following" ever since it first started, and honestly cannot get enough of it. I'm nervous of where it's going but hope that it remains as good as it is. Anyways, in "The Following" Edgar Allen Poe's writings are referenced many times. So I thought what better than to create a wind chime of my favorite Edgar Allen Poe poem; 'The Raven'


Here's a tutorial on how to create your own. 

What you'll need:

* An Idea
* Clean #6 Plastic container (Any color)
* Shapes, colors, cut outs, or drawings
* Sharpie permanent markers (optional)
* Fishing Line or Invisible thread
* Baking pan
* Oven 
* Parchment paper or Paper (optional)

Step 1:

Clean your #6 Plastic with soap and water, dry. 

Step 2: 

Draw or trace your images or ideas onto your plastic. For those using clear plastic feel free to color it in with sharpie (as seen in my post A bit of recycled fun) This will cause your plastic to look like a sun catcher.

Step 3:

Cut out your shapes and place them on your pan.

These were my shapes, if you look carefully you can see the #6 sign in the leaf. (Don't worry when it melts it disappears.)
I used the pan I designated for polymer clay, and baked my shapes on parchment paper. It's not necessary but if you have left over oils on your pan they will bake into your plastic. Normal paper works just as well. 

Step 4:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and turn on your oven light. 

Step 5:

Once preheated place baking sheet in the oven, put on your oven mitts and watch your plastic shrink. It should take less than 2 minutes from start to finish. First they should shrivel and curl. When they are done they should be flat again. Do not move from your oven during this time. It happens very quickly and you'll need to be there to remove your pan once they are flat. 

Step 6: 

Let them cool. They should be cooled in only a few minutes. 

Warning: If your plastic is irregularly shaped or way too long it may curl and refuse to uncurl. As you can see. I lost 2 of my branches because they curled and melted together. Sometimes this happens. If it does, it may just be the shape, so try a different shape. 

Step 7: 

Assemble your pieces. Try to hang them so that they will hit each other when the wind blows. 

Step 8: 

Hang your wind chime and relax to the soothing sounds. 

Update:
Made a new one, in color this time. :) Happy summer. 

Mother's Day Countdown Week 9

The Host

I read Stephenie Meyer's book 'The Host' about four years ago. I'm not someone who enjoys reading. I have a very small attention span and end up reading through 2 pages and having to go back and re-read them again since I didn't pay attention. I also must have been one of the only people to not know who Stephenie Meyer was at the time of reading the book. 
In order for a book to keep me interested enough to read all the way through, it needs to be exciting and easy to picture in my imagination. In my life I have read a total of 6 books all the way through. So, I guess that says a lot about how many books can really keep my attention. 
When beginning 'The Host' I had the same expectations as I do with all books. I'll finish one chapter, then it will sit on my bookcase unread for the rest of time. Fortunately and surprisingly that did not happen. It so happened that once I was done the first chapter I couldn't put the book down. When I was reading the book the pictures came so easily and my imagination ran wild. Once finished, as with all 6 books that I had finished, I felt accomplished. Such a wonderful feeling to finish a book, and yet also so depressing that it is over. 
Last year they announced there was to be a movie about the book 'The Host'. I was so excited. Only 2 of the 6 books I had read had ever made it to a movie, and they did not disappoint. There are many reasons why it's exciting to see a book you've finished make it to the movie screen. I enjoy it cause I get to see first if it's true to the story, and second if my imagination did me justice. 

I've been to see the film and loved it. I feel they may have made it more 'P.G' and younger than needed, but they were true to the story. Better yet, my imagination was very close. I did feel like the caves were slightly more smaller and darker than in the movie. I don't feel the trailer did the movie any justice whatsoever. Were I to have not read the book, I most likely wouldn't have thought to see it. Personally however I was very disappointed with who they got to play Wanda in the last few scenes. I have watched the actress grow through 'Lemoney Snicket', 'Suckerpunch' and 'Sleeping Beauty', through which she looked beautiful. She did not look beautiful at all in 'The Host'. I was disgusted looking at the choice of actress as I see Wanda as a gentle beauty. 

I would highly suggest reading the book before seeing the movie, as you get a deeper emotional connection. I loved the book and the movie, and will be purchasing the movie once it's out. :)

Mother's Day Countdown Week 8