thank god for christmas break:

so...school/work/practicum ninja almost died several times in the last 5 months. but i AM still alive! and i AM back to crafting! i don't have a lot of process pictures, but i have a lot of "here are the things i've finished" pictures. and by lots, i mean...several.

aah, bomber hats. how i love thee. it's nice to actually use the material i've been looking at for forever.


luckily, this recipient was both patient and grateful...what would i do without friends? again, the bomber hat pattern came from threadbanger.com.

also, as it is the dead of friggin' winter, i figured it was time for quick-and-easy rice bags. you can't tell in the photo, but i started making mine with the actual bag of rice in a muslin bag with the flannel as a cover. it's similar to a pillowcase so you can take it off and wash it if you need to...also so you can take it off to actually heat up the rice, because i think it's kind of gross to put something in microwaved food and then in my bed.


i am in love with that rainbow-type material. i purchased a ton of it, not knowing how exactly i'll use it. perhaps i'll just hang it on the wall and smile at it occasionally. :)

that's all for now. i have many more things i'm working on which i've not been taking photos of...i'll have to work on that. and i quit my job. so now i'm just school/practicum ninja.




also, exciting announcement! i've registered an etsy name with which i'm going to make my shop...once i motivate myself in that direction. so, look forward to a supergrandopening announcement in the near future.

Oat Cakes

I only have two cookie cutters at my new place, a ghost and a heart--- so given the choice and being in a hurry to bake these suckers I went with heart shaped christmas cookies. These little treats are great for dipping into chocolate, or with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese. They are buttery and crisp and just the perfect blend of salty and sweet. The best part is you can make a huge batch ahead of time,refrigerate them, and then throw them into the oven 30 mins before your guests arrive.



Brown Sugar Oat Cakes

1 1/2 c cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 c. Dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 c. All purpose flour
2/3 c. Quick cooking oats

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

2. Combine butter,brown sugar and salt in a food processor, pulse until butter, sugar and salt are combined but not completely smooth.

3. Add flour and oats. Do not overmix.

4. Roll out on floured surface and cut into bars or use cookie cutters.

5. Refrigerate cookies for at least 20 mins on cookie sheets.

6. Bake at 300 degrees, 15 mins in the lower third of the oven and 15 mins in the top third.

They should be dark brown and once cooled will be super crispy. And amazing.



Kitchen Ninja Out.

SHARKOWEEN - a guest ninja posting

The reason we're all such terrible bloggers is because we have friends, and lives outside of the Internet craftosphere. One of those friends is the EPIC JKWW. She recently had a shindig that was so amazing that the Kitchen Ninja had to have it on the blog... Here it is, put your fins together for JKWW!!!









Shark-o-Ween

Greetings Craftacopians!

The Kitchen Ninja has graciously invitied me to share the sharktastic silliness my hubs and I (OK, mostly I) offered up to our friends on Halloween this year.

See, I love/hate sharks. I love them because they are awesome, but I hate them because they are scary and give me nightmares. Seriously. What's scarier than sharks? And what better way to celebrate their awesomeness and scariness than a shark-themed Halloween party?




I made some of my favorite simple appetizers, and came up with sharky new names for them.

Like...

"We're Going To Need a Bigger Boat" Bruschetta




1. Cut up a narrow baguette.
2. Stack up some fresh basil leaves on a cutting board, roll them up lengthwise, then use a sharp knife or scissors to slice them into little ribbons (rolling the leaves up tight is key to thin, pretty herb ribbons).
3. Slice up some fresh tomatoes and some fresh mozzerella into disks. (Hey! Didn't Kitchen Ninja make HOMEMADE mozzerella?).
5. Stack cheese, tomato, and basil ribbons onto your bread slices, drizzle with olive oil, shake on some salt and pepper, and then toss them in a 350 degree oven for just a couple of minutes. Just until the cheese gets a little melty.

You could also whip up some

Fried Shark Fins (aka: Cranberry Cream Cheese Wontons)




* Ninja's Note - Turn on your stove top exhaust fan as soon as you start heating the oil for this. I have never made this recipe without filling the apartment with smoke. The oil gets hot quickly, and frying without the benefit of a deep fryer is smokey business. But soooooo worth it.

3/4 package (8 oz size) fat free cream cheese
3 TB chopped dried cranberries (I like mine berry-er, so I add like 1/4 cup, but the recipe called for 3TB)
2 TB finely chopped chives
3/4 tsp minced gingerroot
1 TB minced parsley
Salt&Pepper
24 wonton wrappers
1 egg white, beaten
Veg Oil for frying (NOT olive oil)
store-bought jalapeno jelly or tamari sauce

1. Mix cream cheese, cranberries, chives, ginger, and parsley in a small bowl, season with S&P.
2. Spoon 1/2 TB of filling onto the wonton wrapper, brush edges of the wrapper with egg white. Fold wrapper in half and press edges to seal. Repeat until you've used up all the filling and wrappers.
3. Heat 2 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a large saucepan. Fry wontons, a few at a time, until golden - 1-2 minutes. Drain onto paper towels. Serve with dipping sauce.

*Frying tip from my fave Alton Brown - throw and unpopped popcorn kernal into the oil to test if it is hot enough. If it pops, you're ready to fry. If it turns brown or smokes, the oil it to hot. If it just sinks, the oil isn't ready yet. Careful, though, an oil super-hot kernal will fly out at you if it's good to go :)

We also made "Fish are Friends, Not Food" veggie sushi stacks





A tower of blue sharky cupcakes




And some *KILLER* shark fin ice cubes in some nice blood red sangria. (get your shark fin ice cube trays at Perpetualkid.com).



A good time was had by all! (OK, maybe AugDog would have preferred a different costume).


But we did get to play games like Name that Shark




And our friends dressed in costumes and one friend brought us a Sharkolantern! A Very Happy Shark-o-ween to all!

xoxo
NerdyNinja

Screenprinting on the cheap

Ever wanted to make a sweet t-shirt? It's easy y'all! All you need is:
1) embroidery hoop
2) mod Podge
3) gauze fabric
4) paint brush
5) fabric paint
6) sponge brush

Below is a screen print design I'm working on. First, I copied a silhouette of a peacock with some 1920 flourishes. After copying the design on to the gauze, I then painted mod Podge glue onto all the spaces that I did not want fabric paint to get through.












Then, sponge paint onto the fabric using your dried screen-printing design.
























How awesome are these??

Go forth and screen print!

Kitchen (sometimes screen printing) Ninja Out.

Cinnamon Rolls for my Mama

Yes, Kitchen Ninja has a Mama Ninja, and she turned 50 yesterday! Woo hoo! There was even a piñata, which mama ninja refused to destroy because it was "too pretty". She said,"if you want candy you'll have to dig it out of there without breaking it". That's just crazy talk.

Speaking of crazy, these cinnamon rolls are CRAZY GOOD!!


Here's the recipe:

CRUNK! CINNAMON ROLLS

Dough:

2 packages of rapid rise yeast
½ cup warm water
1 cup scalded milk
½ cup sugar
1 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
8 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

1 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
2 cups brown sugar, plus more for pan
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
½ cup pecans
½ cup raisins
½ cup butterscotch schnapps (or rum)

Glaze:

½ cup melted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Warm schnapps slightly in a small bowl, add raisins, set aside.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside.

In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg.

Add 4 cups of flour and mix until smooth (sort of slurry-like). Add yeast mixture.

Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle, it should remain a pretty soft, wet dough.

Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle.

Spread melted butter all over dough.



Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with pecans and raisins. Drizzle a little schnapps on the filling for good measure. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal.

Cut into 12 to 15 slices.



Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 2 hours, or overnight. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.



Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Spread glaze over slightly cooled rolls.




Ta-da! Delicious. My Pops said they're better than Bette's, and if you've ever eaten a cinnamon roll from Bette's in Hood River, OR you better believe that those are both fighting words AND high praise.

Yeah Bette's- I'm coming for you.

~ Kitchen Ninja OUT.

Location:SW Durham Rd,Tigard,United States

babies and stuff

a friend at work is having a baby boy...Adam. i have a baby boy...Ethan. i made E's crib quilt. he doesn't use it. it hangs on his wall. since then i have made him a crocheted Oswald. that's it. Adam officially has more stuff made by me (6) and he isn't even here yet and E only has two things made by me and he is THREE! here's what I made for Adam and hopes that i try to have more homemade lovin' for my own...cute little airplanes

paper airplane time
they did the nursery in airplanes...i just flew with it!

firefly fans of course!

firefly again...

to go with...

sis is 4...and soooo excited!
my other friend at work made cute ruffle socks and bows to match this shirt

for mama...a ring sling. wish i had a better picture but i was in a rush.
i made the tree design and added t-shirt material in green to the inside for optimum baby comfort.

this is what we've been doing...
our halloween village...again wishing i had taken a better picture!

okay...since the baby craze is over maybe i'll start on something for my own kiddo...

- the mama ninja

How to: take 13 people camping

I am exhausted. In the emotionally, mentally, physically kind of way.

So, what better time to blog, eh?

The past two weeks have been ( and will continue to be) insane. I've been off camping in the woods with 10 of my students, am moving, getting ready for the worst planned audit ever, farming, getting ready for a friend's visit, a camping trip to see Dave Matthews and Ben Harper and potentially sleeping in the midst of all this.

Which brings me back to blogging. I searched high and low for a helpful page somewhere that would assist me in packing and planning food for this trip. No such luck, which is why next time you take 10 teens, 3 adults and 3 dogs camping come here first. I've got this down.

THE GEAR:

Camping stove and propane
Grill
Griddle
Pan
Soup pot
Coffee pot
Skewers
Marshmallow roasting spikes
Metal spatula
Metal tongs
Sharpest knife you can find
Pot holders
Tents
Sleeping bags & pads
Water cooler
Three coolers
Camping chairs
Foil
Zip locks
Wet wipes
Paper towels
Trashbags
Toilet paper
Sunscreen
Bug spray
Aloe
First Aid Kit
Flashlights
Lanterns
Scrubbing brush
Dish soap
Cord for washing line
Hammer/mallet for tent spikes
13 plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery(awesome enamel sets available everywhere)

THE GRUB:
6 loaves of bread
20 hotdog buns
13 tortillas
12 English muffins
2 boxes Graham crackers
3 bags of marshmallows
20 Hershey bars
12 chicken breasts
6 multi-color peppers
1 pineapple
4 boxes jumbalaya rice
1 bag coffee
1 box Swiss miss
1 container lemonade mix
2 packets bacon
4 dozen eggs
1 quart milk
6 onions
4 sticks butter
1 jar peanut butter
1 jar jelly
1 bottle olive oil
13 potatoes
13 corn cobs
20 bratwursts
1 block sharp cheddar
1 container thin sliced turkey
2 large bags salad mix
2 cantaloupe
1 watermelon
Salt
Pepper
Sugar

THE MENU:
Monday Evening - chicken kabobs and rice, salad, s'mores, coffee or cocoa

Tuesday Morning - bacon and eggs on toasted english muffins, cantaloupe, coffee.

Lunch- sandwich & fruit

Dinner - bratwurst, potatoes wrapped in foil and cooked on coals, corn halved and steamed in pot. Salad. S'mores. Cocoa.

Wednesday Breakfast - breakfast burritos filled with egg and potato hash using left over corn, potatoes, onions and any other veggies and cheese. Cantaloupe and watermelon.




The camping stove is a lifesaver in the mornings, for coffee and boiling water for dishes.

We also went through 12 cords of wood in three days. Perhaps a bit excessive, but the kids loved sitting up to the wee hours chatting around the fire.

Overall, an excellent trip, and now with my handy planning list I know what to pack next time! : )

The list is your friend.

Kitchen Ninja Out.