Spring Challenge!

Welcome SPRING!!! Let's do a layout celebrating its arrival! Easter is also this weekend so I thought we could do a layout either about Easter or SPRING or BOTH! Here is the formula:
Choose 4 (or 5, or all 6) of the following to include on your layout:


E- Easter or spring theme (try to include something to eat or a menu)
A- "Acrylic" accent (this can be as simple as punched plastic packaging that resembles acrylic)
S- Sparkle (glitter, bling anything that sparkles)
T- Tag/ticket
E- Embellishment of your choice
R- Ribbon

I used them all on my layout which is based on sketch 106 from Let's Scrap:

E-aster theme
A-crylic title letters that I inked PINK
S-parkle on the title and the butterfly
T-ags
E-mbellishment: Paper clip
R-ibbon on the tags

This challenge runs for 2 weeks so you have until April 12th to play along! Can't wait to see your creations in the gallery!

My Pantry

The girls on the forum have used this challenge as an opportunity to clean out and reorganize their pantries. Not I! I used this challenge as an opportunity to show future generations a glimpse of what our life is like now. No time to clean and organize a pantry that never stays that way even when we do it. I think a pantry says a lot about a person and right now, my pantry fully describes my life...chaotic! So here you go, a little bit of messy inspiration. LOL



If you decide to take this challenge, please load it up in the gallery and we will showcase it here on the blog! Happy scrapping!

Pantry Challenge Layout

Last week I challenged you all to create a layout about your pantry. I wanted to share my layout with you. A couple of years ago I remodeled my house and when I was designing my cupboards I included a corner spice rack that is right next to my stove. I couldn't be more pleased with the results. My pantry is small but it has all the necessaties. I also have a pantry for my outdoor kitchen, which is stocked with different items. It has a shelf for spices and utensils, but it also has shelves for wood pellets (I own a Traeger grill)paper plates, napkins, eating utensils etc. I also keep a full freezer.

If your pantry is well stocked it will save you time!! Here's my layout, be sure to upload yours to the flickr gallery!!



Debbie

What's in your pantry Challenge??

Every kitchen needs to have certain suppiles on hand. If you're just setting up your kitchen, you will need some basic staples on hand to prepare any recipe. Most of the items on this list are shelf-stable. Some items will require refrigeration after opening or have expiration dates (such as yeast). Check labels for dates. Store the oldest dated items in front so they can be used first.

This list is a general guide. Take your own tastes into consideration when selecting your own pantry basics.

Pantry Basics
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Beans, canned: black beans, red kidney, white
• Beans, dried: red kidney, great northern, lima, lentils, split pea, black, pinto
• Bread crumbs
• Broth, dried and canned: beef, vegetable, chicken
• Cereal
• Chocolate: unsweetened squares, semisweet chips, cocoa powder
• Coffee: beans, ground, instant
• Cooking spray
• Cornmeal
• Cornstarch
• Crackers
• Dried fruits: raisins, apricots
• Extracts: vanilla, lemon, almond, orange
• Flour: All-purpose, whole wheat, cake, bread
• Fruit preserves, jam, jelly
• Garlic, fresh
• Gelatin: powdered, unflavored
• Lemons, fresh
• Limes, fresh
• Milk: boxed, powdered, evaporated milk
• Nuts: almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts
• Onions: red and yellow
• Pasta, dried: spaghetti, linguini, angel hair, fettuccine, penne, noodles
• Peanut butter
• Potatoes, fresh
• Rice: long-grain, wild, basmati, arborio
• Soup: canned and dry bouillon
• Sugar: granulated, confectioner's, light and dark brown
• Tea
• Tomatoes: canned whole, crushed, chopped, puree, sauce, fresh
• Tuna, canned
• Yeast, dry active
Herbs and Spices•
Allspice, ground and whole
• Arrowroot starch
• Basil
• Bay leaves
• Chili powder
• Cinnamon, ground and sticks
• Cloves, ground and whole
• Coriander, ground
• Cream of tartar
• Cumin, ground
• Curry powder
• Dill weed
• Fennel seeds
• Five-spice powder
• Garlic powder
• Ginger, ground
• Marjoram, dried
• Mint, dried
• Mustard, dried ground
• Nutmeg
• Onion powder
• Oregano, dried
• Paprika, Hungarian sweet
• Pepper, cayenne, dried red flakes
• Peppercorns, dried black
• Poppy seeds
• Rosemary, dried
• Sage, dried and rubbed
• Salt, table and Kosher
• Sesame seeds
• Tarragon, dried
• Thyme, ground and dried
• Turmeric
• Vanilla extract
For this weeks challenge I want you to do an inventory on your pantry. Take a photo if you like or create a layout with journaling only. Include a list of your most important staples that you keep in your pantry. Upload your layout to the gallery. You have until march 28th to complete this challenge. Oh and I have a little something for the winner!!!

Debbie

Do you know the Pioneer Woman?

If you are a blogger who is interested in cooking, then you no doubt have heard of the Pioneer Woman, aka, Ree Drummond! And if you're like me, you have visted her blog The Pioneer Woman, more times than you can count! If you have never heard of her, well then... now's your chance to click on that blog link and be introduced. You are a "foody" so you will not be disappointed! And by the way, Ree has much more information and good spots on her blog aside from cooking! She has other inspiring areas of interest for lifestyle, decorating, home schooling and even photography!

I first discovered her about 2 years ago when another scrapbooker on-line had posted about her. In that post, said scrapbooker had attached a recipe of the Pioneer Woman's... her recipe for lasagna.



Now I have always loved to eat lasagna, however I have never been any good at preparing my own. My lasagna, no matter how I tried, never tasted as good as when my mom would make it. Mine was always dry and always bland! When I saw the recipe I thought, "sure... I'll give this one a go". To my pleasant surprise I was amazed at how my lasagna turned out with this recipe! Finally, I had found the best evah lasagna! Sooo tasty, and so moist! I no more need to go searching for the perfect recipe for this favorite Italian dish because it's been found! This recipe has also sold me on the Pioneer Woman's cooking. Last year she even came out with her own cookbook in print!

I've made a scrapbook page about this most delicious lasagna so I thought I'd share it here!


So now I hope you'll be inspired to head over to Ree's Pioneer Woman blog and have a look around for yourself if you haven't already! Perhaps you too will come across the perfect recipe you've been searching for! And if you do, how about make a scrapbook page about it and share it here ... all of us here at Creative Cookbooking would love to see what yummy things you are cookin' up!
Happy bloggin', cookin' and scrappin'! :)

Birthday Theme Packs

My son's birthday party was last month and he wanted to have a Pirate themed party. I sent out Pirate invitations, held the party at the local swimming pool, and handed out bags of loot to all of the kids who attended.



Once you come up with a theme for your party, the rest is easy. There are patterned paper designs to match nearly ANY theme your child comes up with. The kids loved it and so did the parents! We even had one mom leave her entire RSVP message in "Pirate speak". It was hilarious!

My daughter's 5th birthday party is this weekend and she wanted to have a cowboy/cowgirl party (we are holding her party at an indoor carousel/activity arena in town). I will post pictures of her invitations and handouts later this week.

Birthday Celebration Challenge!

Happy March, everyone! Spring is just around the corner, I can feel it.

What traditions do you have to celebrate birthdays in your family? In ours, the birthday celebrant gets to choose dinner on their special day. I always expect them to want to go to a restaurant, but usually they prefer for Mom to make their favorite meal. DS#2 & Mr. C have birthdays just 2 weeks apart. This past October, we held a joint birthday dinner for the two of them because our son was going to be in town on Mr. C's birthday. DS has a very expensive palate (and an enormous appetite), but he and Mr. C both love steak and seafood. Here is the layout I did of their family dinner:



Your challenge is to share your family's birthday traditions with us. We can't wait to see all of your fabulous ideas!