2 Cheesy Stars

So I made these things thinking I would have something similar to goldfish crackers.. They were excellent, for about an hour, after that they belonged to Hank. 

Here is everything you need, simple enough, the recipe came from >HERE< 

The recipe calls for a food processor- which I don't have -so I did this:

This is a food chopper from Pampered Chef. 

You'll have to chop all 8oz of cheese (or put it through the food processor)

It should look like dust. 

I dumped the cheese dust into the mixer.

cut up 4T butter into cubes (then chop it too) it'll need to be good and cold or it will just make a mess

A pastry cutter would be your best friend right about now but I don't have one so I made do with a knife and threw it all into the mixer with 1C flour

This didn't quite do it

I used a knife and this was as good as it got

Add 2T cold water

Then you have to get your hands in there and get it into a ball-ish form, it should take shape pretty easily

Next you'll want to wrap the ball in cling wrap

Put it in the fridge for about half an hour, if you forget about it, that's okay, I did too.

When you suddenly remember that you had that cheesy ball thing in the fridge, go get it and unwrap it on a flat surface

Roll it out pretty thin

use a small cookie cutter, I have stars in every size so I went with that, if you're feeling creative you can make your own by slicing a soda can and bending into your desired shape

Start laying them out on a cookie sheet, you can use parchment paper or whatever, wax paper works too, its what I used (I don't like it though)

I made a LOT.. this is only the first batch

This is after 15 mins @ 350F 

this is batch #2 there ended up being over 700 crackers and I had leftover dough

here's some of them in a sandwich container. They were excellent for like an hour or so while they were still warm, after that they took on this weird texture like pie crust and I really just didn't like it. Hank on the other hand LOVES them. 

Here he is dancing for one

Can you see the crazy in his eyes? 

okay Hank sit. 

Down.

sit up

Do you want it, Hank? Speak.
Good boy! 


Happy Baking =]
Enjoy!

0 9-11

Today marks 10 years. Ten years ago today was Tuesday. A perfectly normal Tuesday, just like any other. I was in seventh grade, I went to North Port High School, we didn't have the middle school built yet. My grandma was scheduled to come home from the nursing home that day, she had been in a car accident and was there for care while she got better and healed her broken bones.

 I got to school as usual, in a perfectly ordinary way, it was 7am. As I walked through the crowded balcony to get to my math class I overheard a boy behind me say "the twin towers are going down today", I had no idea what that meant but I had a flashback to a TV show I had watched as a child that mentioned them, the show was hosted by a Popsicle stick named Stick Stickly. Stick Stickly was looking for a long lost twin brother and decided to look at the Twin Towers, and that was really all I knew about them. That, and that they had something to do with stocks, and were in New York City where my uncle lives. I thought about what had just happened for a moment and considered asking my teacher what it meant when stocks went down but the thought was lost in the bustle of the morning.

 I was sitting in class when, after the first plane had hit, the announcement was made for all teachers to turn their TVs to the news channel, we didn't have one in Mr. Brislin's math room so we all shuffled next door to Mrs. Sepeare's english class. We sat on the floor, horrified faces all around the room as we watched the obscene events played out on the TV.

 Just after 9am we watched the second plane hit, the scene then changed from what looked like a horrible accident to the biggest attack on our nation since Pearl Harbor in 1941. They played and replayed the images as the newscasters' voices droned on in the background, just as panicked, horrified and confused as the rest of the nation.

 A little after 9:30 a third plane crashed into the Pentagon. A call came, I was told to gather my things and go down to the front office, my dad was there to pick me up. I felt awful, sick to my stomach yet at the same time nothing more than going through the motions, I hurried down the hall wondering what news I would receive when I got to the office, was my uncle okay? I was scared. Daddy told me that he hadn't heard anything and that we were going home. We later found out that my uncle hadn't even known the terrible events had taken place. 

We listened to the radio as they detailed the events of the morning, they went on to say that a fourth plane had been hijacked and we listened as they told of the Pennsylvania field crash. We got home and turned on the TV there, watching as they replayed the horrors of the morning and talked about what was being done, and what was to be done about it. Two-Thousand, nine-hundred ninety-six people died that day. 

The hijackers learned how to fly at the Venice airport, as a kid I lived right up the road from there, I had ridden past it in the car hundreds of times. One of my best friends, Jenna, lived next door to them, her brother met them, he said they were nice. 

As I sit here typing this 10yrs later, remembering and re-living that day, I can't help wondering how it is that there are people out there, Americans (or so they claim), who insist on not supporting our troops. Those troops out there are my friends and their siblings, my classmates, people I grew up with. They're out there doing their jobs to make sure all of us here at home can continue living our lives as we do, without fear of re-living that Tuesday morning in a much more real sense. To them I say Thank You. America is a free country, serving in the armed forces is a choice, my friends didn't get drafted, my classmates weren't government regulated into service, they chose. It is because of their choice that it remains a choice. 

For those who consider themselves 'Americans' yet don't feel the need to support those who keep us free, get out. If you feel that the job they are doing is inferior, get out. If you feel it is unnecessary, click on the links I've posted in this page, if that doesn't change your mind, get out. There are planes leaving this country every day. Planes, just like the ones the terrorists used as weapons against us ten years ago. 

I'm sure countless others have stories similar to mine, but I felt the need to share. 

2 Planeteer Shirt

Do you remember the 90s cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers? I do. I grew up on that show. I love it, okay its growing closer and closer to obsession status. I have every episode scheduled to air in the foreseeable future ready to go on my DVR. Yeah. 

So I did what any obsessed fan would do.. I made a shirt =]
 Will need a shirt.. any color is fine, any type will do as well, I used a tank but T's or long sleeves, it doesn't really matter. Some fabric paint, a round object approx 6in in diameter, and some cardboard

My cardboard was a little on the small side but put it inside the shirt like this..

Place your circular object in the middle of the shirt, if you're using a T-shirt you'll want to place the circle approx 1in from the neckline. 

Trace it with your fabric paint in black.. if your paint doesn't have a point on it you can use a paint brush, it works just as well. 

Keep tracing all the way around, be careful to watch for the fabric bunching up, you want it to stay smooth. 

It's a little messy but the green will cover it. 

I used the same bowl to mix my green in, I wasn't happy with the factory-made green. You want it pretty neon-ish. 

Oh, yes =]

I didn't feel like looking for a paintbrush.. this worked out just as well though I think.

=]

You need to create an axis, the green circle is a globe.. so make a straight vertical line in the center. I used my cardboard as a straight-edge.

Not bad.

Now you need a horizontal line.. It was at this point that I noticed where my fabric had bunched during the drawing of the initial black circle.

YAY!

In order to make it spherical you'll need to make the next set of lines curved

One down..

I found it easiest to flip the entire project so that each new curved line would be on the side opposite my drawing hand. This helps make the curve. 

At this point it pretty much looks like a basketball.

The next set of lines will be curved along the width of the sphere

Three down..

Last one. 

YAAAY!

Here it is! Fuzzy and out of focus (my apologies) 

And here it is on. Again, I apologize for the horrible last couple of pictures, in my defense this very last one is from my crappy cell phone. I also apologize for my scraggly hair, it's in desperate need of attention as of late and I just haven't gotten around to it. I hope that if you're not as obsessed you still found this a good read and maybe inspires you to check out some Captain Planet re-runs on youTube. If you are in my boat, I encourage you to also make your own Planeteer shirt. I think the plan currently is to be a planeteer for Halloween. I usually go all-out, last year was an exception(it was awful.. store-bought costume and all). 


Happy Crafting!
Enjoy! =]