Red, White,...y Verde!!!

Well, dear readers, I am horribly backlogged, as you may suspect. Life comes at you quick! It looks like things may be picking up for a certain planning-minded miss. Some of them are my own doing, and some, completely, utterly, delightfully unexpected! I have given up on the post promised in the last one, because it has taken more time and research than expected. I might as well tell you now: the promised post was to be a road trip all along the entire length of the Mississippi River, named The Baker Man Trip!!! It will be posted TBA...

What I have in store for you my backlog includes a sake tasting party, my engagement party, and a Nostalgialicious themed combined bday party. BUT, I will start with my first commission: my company asked me to decorate for our Cinco de Mayo lunch. I decided that the cheapest and most effective to create a fiesta-like atmosphere was to make papel picado banners from company paper. All the white papel picados were recycled from already used printer paper. I had only one night to make them, and the room was HUGE, so to make banners that go from one corner of the room to the other and not lose too much sleep, I spaced them farther apart on a piece of yarn. Here are the results!

In retrospect, I should have taken a before pic, but I think it's kinda obvious...

I...er...used the cutouts to make little centerpieces...Save the trees! In case you'e wondering, it's a sombrero. I also made a bell design (the yellow thing on the table in the background) and that X looking design were 4 maracas.

And a different angle...
I also played salsa music to set the mood. The sweet deal was we got to make frozen margaritas! Everyone loved the banners and we all had a smashing time.

Papel Picado instructions: Papel picado is like making snowlakes, except you're working with square pieces of paper.

1) As my starting piece of paper is plain old printer paper, I folded one corner of the piece of paper to the other side of the paper, making sure that the edges are perfectly aligned. I then had a triangular flap and an edge that's extra. I cut out the extra edge so that I only had a triangle that's actually a square folded up. To save time, I then used that square as a template to cut the rest of the paper into squares.

2) I folded the square in half, then in quarters, then in half again diagonally.

3) I then went to town with a pair of scissors. Be careful not to take out too much of the folded edges as they are structural...

I realized that even with my honey's help and when we're doing random designs, to have the right amount of intricacy, it's taking forever. So, I made the executive decision to have all the white papers intricate and all the colored paper to have a simple bifold or quarter fold design template. That way, it would be plausible to cut several papel picados at once. I then tried my skill at drawing half a sombrero, bell, and maraca. I thought the results were cute, if not accurate.

It was towards midnight when I was struck with another idea! Why not use every scrap of paper and use the simple cutout pieces to make centerpieces? It was modeled after those decorations where it's flat until you open it up and attach the two opposite pieces of cardboard together, and it forms either a ball or a bell or some such. You know what I'm talking about right?

1) To do that, I started with a still folded cutout. I added a square of double stick tape on the bottom and top of the cutout, near the fold.

2) I then layered another still folded cutout on top of the

Pretend that in the last shape, there's two folded pieces on top of each other.

3) Repeat steps 1 & 2 until you've attached ~10 pieces together (it'll work really well if it's a denomination of the number of papel picados you've made of that shape).

4) Allow the folds to decompress, and attach the bottom side of the first piece to the top side of the last piece. Reinforce by taping the the outer edges where two pieces have been taped together. Product should look like the blue sombrero on the table in the second picture of this post (I hope).

Enjoy!

The Ugly Christmas Sweater Making Party

As this blog is not about food, but more rather about events, I had a little trouble coming up with an event for which my liege waffles would shine. Then, it came to me...It must be wintery and cozy. What can be more cozy than crafts by the fireplace? Buoyed by hot chocolate? Or chocolate milk laced with peppermint schnapps?

Satisfied with this idea, I then started to wonder what crafts? Knitting requires people who knit, and not everyone knits or crochets. Not everyone embroiders. There must be a common goal to make for an adventurous night. And it must get funnier as the booze sets in (not mandatory, of course). Also, as a requirement for me, there must be a tongue-in-cheek twist. SO, why not an ugly Christmas sweater MAKING party?

A little--very little--history lesson about the ugly Christmas sweater:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4679082_wear-ugly-christmas-sweater-style.html

Ugly Christmas sweaters have been around for as long as I remember. Everybody's mother or grandmother owns an ugly Christmas sweater. Some come with gaudy wintery images, some even count out the "12 Days of Christmas" gifts. The one thing that they all share is that they are over the top and ridiculous, but in a very good way.

I'm sure you all have heard of the Ugly Christmas Sweater themed parties. They've been popping up and gaining in popularity for years. I couldn't find who was the original, but the guys at uglychristmassweaterparty.com kind of got the credit for it because they bought this domain name a few years back (they didn't know who was the first, either). Just this past Christmas, their website exploded as they started selling these ugly sweaters for $25 bucks a pop. They were featured in several morning shows.

So...with that history lesson, I'll move onto the equipment for what you and your guests will need for your sweaters.

1. A sweater or sweatshirt. It could be a plain sweatshirt, an old sweater you don't want to wear anymore, or an already ugly Christmas sweater that you want to make uglier. You can provide these sweaters or guests can each bring their own. Either way, I've an amazon link for the cheapest crew neck sweatshirt.
   http://www.amazon.com/Jerzees-Sweatshirt-4662M-Available-Colors/dp/B00084Y4L4/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1265577879&sr=8-14
   
2. Jingle bells. Essential. If it doesn't jingle, it ain't ugly, in my opinion. http://www.amazon.com/JINGLE-BELLS-CLASS-PACK-MULTI-COLOR/dp/B000F8X9T6/ref=pd_sim_dbs_k_1
   
3. Craft felt. Perfect for making Santas and reindeers.
   http://www.amazon.com/ASSORTED-PACK-ACRYLIC-CRAFT-FELT/dp/B0025Z4OVE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1265579410&sr=1-2
   
4. Embroidery floss. You can use regular thread you find around the house as well, but I think that these embroidery floss serves two purposes: To attach your oh-so-ugly designs to your sweaters...and to add contrast in the stitching for more...pop.
   http://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Embroidery-Floss-Primary-Skeins/dp/B001689HX6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1265579582&sr=8-2
   
5. Embroidery needles. These are better than regular needles because the loops are bigger to accomodate bigger threads.
   http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Eye-Embroidery-Needles-Size/dp/B000YQEVYQ/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1265579735&sr=8-13
   
6. Stuffing. For added flare, stuff your felt creations, or better yet, have an arm or an antler actually reach out from the sweater for a more 3D effect. The world is at your fingertips.
   http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Mist-Fiberloft-Premium-Stuffing/dp/B00114ONKM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1265580122&sr=1-2
   
7. Pom poms. Classics.
   http://www.amazon.com/Pom-Pon-Variety-Pack-Pkg-Multi/dp/B000Y3F3W8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1265584572&sr=1-9
   
8. Any fabric scraps, leftover yarn, ribbons, bows, etc. that you and your guests can pool together. The more colors and textures, the better.

You can also find these items at your local crafts stores. As always, do your research to find the best prices. The best time to buy these items, especially the more seasonal ones, is right after Christmas.

Drinks:

Hot chocolate is always good in the winter. You can also add alcohol to it. I suggest a shot of peppermint schnapps or Kalua.

Milk chocolate is great with a shot (or two) of peppermint schnapps as well

Game:

uglychristmassweaterparty.com mentions a game that would be fun to play as you and your guest make your ugly sweaters. This seems like a good game to play anytime, anywhere. Here's the direct quote from their website:

"Holiday Sausage Game

This game was clearly created by a genius from Wisconsin...Here are the rules.

Divide everyone in the room into two teams. A player from team 1 may ask any question to any player on team 2...However, the player from team 2 must answer that question with "Holiday Sausages"...no matter what the question. If player 2 is able to answer "Holiday Sausages" without laughing, team 2 gets a point (or player from team 1 takes a drink). Simple. Hillarious when you get creative. Good times."

You can also have slideshow of ugly christmas sweaters on your tv or computer for inspiration. uglychristmassweaterparty.com also has a short but sweet slideshow of their parties.
http://www.uglychristmassweaterparty.com/these-are-ugly.html

The waffles

Now, the part that inspired all of this: The Liege Waffles. As I mentioned earlier, this is a semi-modified recipe from another blog:
http://oneperfectbite.blogspot.com/2009/04/brussels-and-liege-waffles.html
I finally got to make them for a good picture, taken by my brother, when my family went on a ski trip. This recipe makes about 10 waffles.

Sponge:
4-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1-1/3 cups warm milk
1-3/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (I've doubled the sugar)
1 egg lightly beaten (I usually just crack it straight in)

Batter:
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons granulated sugar (I've doubled the sugar)
3/4 cup pearl sugar, or cubed sugar, individually crushed to hail sizes if you can't find pearl sugar.
Directions:
Sponge:

1. Warm the 1 1/3 cup milk in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes, until you can feel the heat emanating from the surface, then add the 4 1/2 tsp. yeast, 2 tbsp. flour, and 2 tbsp. sugar. Stir the ingredients to combine then let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy. There should be this weird, beige crust at the top of the milk.
   
2. Sift the remaining flour (literally 1 3/4 cup flour - 2 tbsp flour) into another bowl, make a well in the center of the flour, then add the yeast mixture and the egg into the well.
   
3. Stir to make a smooth mixture. Cover with a plastic wrap, and let sit in a warm spot for 2 hours. The mixture should double in size and look literally spongy.

Batter:

1. Mix the butter, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, flour, and vanilla extract to form a paste, then add the pearl or crushed cubed sugar.
   
2. Add the paste mixture to the sponge and combine to make an even mixture.
   
3. Start heating the belgian waffle iron (it has bigger indents) at the medium setting. Don't set the heat too high because the sugar will burn, which will taste bitter. I've never timed to see how long to cook the waffles, but a good indication of when the waffles are done is to watch the steam. A short time after you close the waffle iron, steam will start billowing out. I watch the steam until it starts to subside, then I check it for brownness. I usually take them out when the ridges turn a light golden brown and the bottom of the indents are a deeper brown.

I recommend starting the sponge 2 hours before your party. And start tossing the batter on the waffle iron as your guests start arriving. That way, you don't have to worry about keeping your waffles warm and crispy. Enjoy! If you ever try throwing this party, let me know how it turns out!