Crescent Pepperoni Roll-Ups and More

Tonight, I finally cashed in a gift certificate that I won at the Lyn Comer benefit from Blue Earth Leathers (it expires tomorrow). I got a beautiful necklace.

When I got home, I made New England Clam Chowder and a new recipe I found on Pinterest, Crescent Pepperoni Roll-Ups.

Crescent Pepperoni Roll-Ups

• 1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
• 40 slices turkey pepperoni
• 4 pieces of mozzarella string cheese, cut in half
• garlic powder
• pizza sauce

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 8 triangles. Place 5 slices of turkey pepperoni on each crescent roll. Top pepperoni with string cheese half and roll up. Sprinkle crescent rolls with garlic powder. Place rolls on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with a side of warm pizza sauce.

I used regular pepperoni, and didn't have any dipping sauce, but they were still good on their own. Tom loved them, too.

Cabled Headband

I just had to take a break from all of the ribbed headbands I'd been crocheting for Julie and Mel, so today I finished a black, cabled headband for Rachel.

I think it turned out well, and she loved it. I know you can't see it very well in the picture, but it looks just like Kayla's, only black.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that yours was as relaxing as mine. I feel like I got nothing done - no cleaning, no crocheting, nothing. I spent most of my time playing an interactive fiction game from the 70's, "Adventure." I loved it! I also helped cook Thanksgiving dinner, which turned out well.

I made a vegetable tray earlier in the day, which we nibbled on all day, but for dinner we had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and crescent rolls. After a few hours of football, pumpkin pie for dessert topped it all off.
It was a wonderful time with the family. Donnie leaves tonight, and Mom and Dad tomorrow, but, as always, it's wonderful to spend time with them!

Bourbon Banana Bread

Mom and Dad arrived tonight for their Thanksgiving stay. I made our Thanksgiving baked goods (pumpkin pie and date nut bread) as well as something new - Slow Cooker Bourbon Banana Bread.

Slow Cooker Bourbon Banana Bread

Bread

• 2 2/3 cups Original Bisquick® mix
• 1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

Glaze

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon bourbon
• 1 teaspoon hot water

1. Grease bottom only of 3 1/2- to 4-quart round slow cooker with shortening or cooking spray. Sprinkle lightly with 2 teaspoons of the Bisquick mix.
2. In large bowl, stir bananas, granulated sugar, 1/3 cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons bourbon, the vanilla and eggs until well blended. Stir in remaining Bisquick mix, the cinnamon, chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the pecans until well blended. Pour into slow cooker.
3. Cover; cook on High heat setting 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Turn off slow cooker; uncover, and remove ceramic base from cooker to cooling rack. Let cool 15 minutes.
4. Loosen edge of bread with thin metal spatula. Remove bread from slow cooker to cooling rack. Cool 1 hour.
5. In small bowl, mix glaze ingredients until smooth and consistency of thick syrup. Drizzle over top of bread. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/4 cup pecans.

Makes 16 servings

At first I thought it hadn't cooked all of the way through, but I'm guessing that it was probably the mashed bananas that made the bread look like it wasn't cooked through. The flavor was good, and the glaze wasn't too sweet. And the bourbon flavor wasn't overpowering, which is something that I worry about whenever cooking with alcohol.

Thanks to the Troops

Here is another great video featuring Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe."

Headbands

After a really long shift at Tidewater today, I finished two headbands. The first was started and finished today, after finding instructions on how to do a cable stitch in crochet.

Kayla said she loved it. Rachel even said she wanted one, but in black.
The second, I have been working on for a few days, and when Julie and Mel saw the finished product, they each ordered six, in a variety of colors! Please excuse the scary picture, I modeled this one.

I need to move on these quickly, they're meant to be Christmas presents.

Omigosh, I Won

Well, heck! I just found out today that I won two items at the Ashley Greene Benefit!

I won a wine gift basket from the Tidewater Grille and a gift certificate from the Greene Turtle in Aberdeen. A fun idea for a date night!

Also, today, I made a recipe that I found on Pinterest.

Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken

• 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 2 tablespoons asian fish sauce or 1 tablespoon of GF soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1. Place all the ingredients above in a food processor and process until smooth.

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2. Pour marinade over chicken breast and let flavors sink in for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
3. Prepare your grill or broiler. Cook until temperature registers 165F on the meat thermometer. Let the chicken breasts rest for 5 minutes before serving, this prevents the meat from drying up.

I made the marinade this morning before work, and marinated the chicken when I got to work this evening. I thought it was pretty good. It was flavorful and tender, but personally, if I try this recipe again, I'd decreaase the amount of sesame oil.

Old Scarf, New Yarn

The latest scarf I’ve completed is very similar to many of the others I’ve made, but this time I used a different brand of yarn. Mom and Dad came to visit Friday night, and brought a birthday gift of yarn. All of the different colors of Boutique Sashay that I hadn’t used previously, plus a yarn I haven’t tried out, yet, Premier’s Starbella Flash in Peacock. I worked on the Starbella Flash scarf a little at the Tidewater, to see how it would work out, and the hostess walked by and said she wanted it! So, I’ve been working on it, and another scarf, for a few days, and while I was on the bus at band on Sunday, two more scarves were requested (one in the Peacock, and one in either purple or black). It looks like I’ll be busy for a long time! But anyway, I finally finished the first Peacock scarf tonight.

I just love the color, hopefully I’ll get around to making one for myself!

Ravens vs. Raiders

Today’s game against the Oakland Raiders was ridiculous! The Ravens soundly defeated the Raiders, 20-55. I only wish that the Ravens would play that well all of the time.
Since this was the Veteran’s Day game, our halftime show consisted of one song, the Armed Forces Salute. During the song, we played each military branch’s song and formed letters on the field that coincided with each (like for the Marine Hymn, we formed USMC). During the pregame show, there were also some really nice salutes to veterans, live feed from Afghanistan, and an A-10 Warthog fly-over.

Two More

I finished two scarves today. The one I finished this afternoon is Nicole's.

I think it will suit her well. She said she likes darker colors, she likes the Baltimore Ravens (hence, the purple), and I think she likes some bling. This yarn, Red Heart's Boutique Midnight, has silver threads running through it. The color is Aura, which has some beautiful grays, purples, and blues that I love. The pattern is called Sophisticated Scarf.
The second scarf that I completed is another Frilly Crochet Scarf, this time using Red Heart's Boutique Sashay in Salsa.

Julie ordered this one as a Christmas gift for her mother. This one is 6 feet long, my usual length is 4 feet, on request.
Only two more pending orders, a scarf for Brit's grandmother, and a headband/earwarmer for Kayla. Then, I can move on to different crafts, or scarves to sell on Etsy. By the way, I relisted some items on my Etsy shop this afternoon, so my shop is officially open again. I'll list some scarves after I get some good pictures.

More Sales

Linda paid for her scarves today. I can't believe it, but she paid me $10 more per scarf than I was going to charge her. I feel guilty taking the money, but yesterday, she quoted a price per, and I straight up told her that was too much, but she said it was for my time and effort. She even said that she might order some more for Christmas gifts, but she'd probably buy the yarn. That's cool, because I owe her.
In other news, Nicole ordered two scarves from me yesterday. This one will be difficult, since she's giving me no guidance except that one is for her, and I know her style (the other is for her aunt). Hopefully, she'll like what I have planned for her.

Sales

I am so excited, I had two sales today! I delivered Ellen's and Janet's scarves, and got paid! Whoo-hoo!
I spent most of the morning, and any extra time during work finishing up a third scarf for Linda.

On Friday, I gave Linda the two scarves she had ordered, and she ordered another one, this time in "Hip Hop." Luckily, I had a sample in my car that she could look at. Hopefully, this scarf thing will prove fruitful in the near future.

Third of Three

I finished the last scarf for Ellen today.

Okay, I admit, this is the same picture I posted for the last scarf from this trio, but they're all the same. I hope to bring them to work tomorrow, and hopefully Ellen will be there so that I can deliver her order. I'll keep my fingers crossed.