Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Homemade Pizza Crescent Rolls

While being sick over the past couple of days, I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and decided I had to not only make pizza crescent rolls, but I had to make the crescent rolls from scratch! I used the recipe that I found from Baking Bites, and they turned out so yummy!
Here is the recipe: Easy Homemade Crescent Rolls 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 1/4 cup water, warm (100-110F) 1/2 cup milk, warm (100-110F) 1 tbsp sugar 2 cups bread flour 1/2 tsp salt 4 tbsp butter, room temperature In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, or in a large bowl if you prefer to mix by hand, combine yeast, water, milk and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy. Add in bread flour and salt and mix well with a dough hook. Cut the softened butter into three or flour pieces and drop them into the dough, letting the mixer blend them in. Knead (with a mixer or by hand) for about 2 minutes. Cover the bowl and let rise for 45 minutes in a warm place. Preheat oven to 400F. Turn risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Press it out into a circle with your hands, then use a rolling pin to roll it out into an even, 10-inch circle. Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to divide the circle into 12 triangles (just like slicing a pizza). Starting with the outside edge of one of the triangles, roll the edge towards the center of the “pizza.” Once rolled, curve the roll slightly into a crescent shape and place on a parchement-lined baking sheet. Repeat with all rolls. Cover rolls with a clean dish towel and let rise for 20 minutes. Melt additional 1 tbsp butter in a small bowl. Brush tops of rolls with butter butter. Bake for 14-18 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before serving. Makes 12 rolls.
Before I rolled them up, I added some tomato sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese to half and the other half, I added ham and cheese. I then rolled them up and popped them in the oven!
They were so good!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Recycled Valentine's Day Heart Wreath

Here is my latest wreath made from the inside of the ties I used from my Tie-Dyed Easter Eggs
Here is a look at the inside of the ties - kind of like a softer version of burlap. The colors were varying shades of natural burlap and was a lot softer. I could not bring myself to throw it away, so I decided to recycle them! This was a very easy project and cost nothing (I had everything on hand already)! Material: I used the inside of 10 ties (but you could use burlap or most any other extra material) 1 wire hanger pliers Ribbon to hang the wreath
After cutting out the inside of the ties, unravel the wire hanger (you can use your hands or the pliers) and then shape it into a heart.
Push the fabric onto the hanger creating loops on either side to look like ruffles.
Here's a close up look at the loops.
Once you have used all the material and have wrapped the entire heart, use the pliers to seal off the ends of the hanger, sealing the heart. Finally, add the ribbon and hang it up! Easy Breezy!

Tie-Dyed Easter Egg Try-Outs

OK, so I know everybody has probably seen the tie-dyed Easter Eggs from various websites (including good Ole Martha), but I decided to give it a shot and see how they would really turn out! Not only is this so EASY, but these are the most BEAUTIFUL Easter eggs we've ever done! My kids and my husband were so excited and so impressed with the results!
Being a pharmacist whose Dad works for Pfizer, I especially love how the Pfizer Viagra Tie-Dyed Easter Egg turned out! Haha! I know you can find so many instructional sites on how to do this project, but I thought I'd give a quick refresher just in case! First, you need a collection of 100% silk ties (thanks to my hubby for his donation)!
I did try a polyester tie and a silk mixture tie, but they did not work at all, so only 100% silk:)
Just a look at the ties we were working with. The one with the pics of my daughter was the polyester tie that didn't work out:(
Next step is to cut open the back of the ties and take out the inner lining (I came up with a project that I will share later on what I did with all the tie lining . . . waste not, want not). (Here is the "project" - my recycled Valentine's Day Heart Wreath).
My GORGEOUS assistant hard at work!
Then, wrap out each raw egg with a piece of tie and tie it off with a twist tie.
Wrap the tie wrapped egg once more with just a solid piece of extra cotton fabric and tie it off again with another twist tie.
Add all of the eggs in a big pot of boiling water that has 1/4 cup vinegar and boil for 20 minutes. When the time is up, just put the eggs in a colindar and wait until they are completely cooled off.
Now the best part, unwrap! My hubby and kids literally stood there excitedly as each egg was unwrapped! We're an easily amused family:) But, seriously, look how AMAZING these eggs are!!
In the end, I did put all my eggs in one basket, but luckily, it all turned out pretty fantastic! This project cost nothing besides the eggs (we had everything else on hand) and gets two thumbs up! ***I would like to add that I did research if it would be okay to eat these eggs, and it looks like that would probably NOT be a good idea, so DO NOT EAT!