Craft Weekend!

Craft Weekend in Lincoln City, Oregon! 

I love crafts, I was sure I would love Lincoln City even though I had never been there before so I knew I had to find a way to crash this party when I saw the Facebook Post about it on Shannan's page! I can't believe I actually got to go either!  I have never left the 3 kids and Tyler and just jetted off for a weekend without responsibilities.  Wow! I was long over due, and did not know what I was missing!  It was such fun.  I flew into Portland and my sister in law, Molly, picked me up.  I laughed most of the way from Portland to Lincoln City with her.  It was so wonderful to spend time with her!  I think it had been over a year since I had last seen her, yes, since Christmas of 2010! We kicked off the trip by getting a little lost, me losing my wallet, and making sure to grab some Arbor Mist at Safeway all before we even got to the beach house Shannan had rented.   When we made it to the beach house, we were greeted by Shannan and Traci and 3 other ladies.  Shannan and Traci had really outdone themselves!  The house was amazing and they had it decorated too! Shannan was our craft director and Traci was all over the food! The crafts were non stop awesomeness and the food was delicious!

 The first night we ate and made our aprons.  This is when I was introduced to a fun little gadget called a ruffler.  I am getting a ruffler and ruffling everything from now on.  No questions asked!  This thing is so much fun and has literally changed my life!

 Look how great Shannan has this all set up!  I am so lucky that she is my husbands cousin and so by default I get to be her cousin too! Look at all the things she can teach me, and she is super fun, and totally nice. It makes me so happy to call her my friend as well! I love it!

 Molly was my roommate and we slept up on the 3rd floor where we had a bedroom, bathroom and our own family room too!  We never used the family room because we were too busy eating and crafting.  Come to think of it, we didn't really sleep much either!

 Sheri, Shannan, & Debbie!

 Baskets of fabric!

 Caution!  Craft in Action!  Shannan seriously has all the cool tools.  Her craft set up would be comparable to a mechanical garage.  She has all the power tools necessary to get the job done!

 This was our house for the weekend.  It is adorable and very big!  It also has a hot tub! I could move in and never leave!

 Crafting away!

 Molly!

 Live Coffee Cozy tutorial!

  I made this cute pillow!

 Button!

 The beach was just across the street.  It was so serene and peaceful.  I had never been to the Oregon Coast before and honestly didn't really understand all the hype behind it.  I mean, who really wants to go to a cold and windy beach? Now I get it.  It's chilly and windy, but unlike any beach I've seen before.  I loved it!

 Me and Molly at the beach!

 Shannan!  Our cruise craft director! She is amazing at everything; sewing, cutting, gluing, tying, ruffling, measuring, the list goes on and on!  She can craft like no one else!

 The craft weekend ladies!  Traci, me, Molly, Kim, Sheri, Debbie, & Shannan.

 Our fearless leaders Traci and Shannan without whom this weekend would not have been possible!  Thanks girls!

Me in my apron (that I made BTW!) I'm really proud of it, I'm really proud of all the stuff I made! I cannot wait to do this again! Tyler is the greatest dad and husband in the world, the kids loved their weekend with him too!

Some of the recipes from the weekend are below! We ate so well!

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze:

Scones:
2 cups flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. sugar
6 T. unsalted butter, cold & cut into small chunks
1 1/4 cup heavy cream, cold + 3 Tablespoons heavy cream for top
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Glaze:
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh or non)
Zest one lemon
2 T. butter
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together. Cut butter into the mixture using pastry blender or two forks until crumbly and most butter is mixed in. Make a well in the center and pour in 1 cup of cream. Mix until incorporated. Add up to 1/4 more cream if needed to make dough sticky. Fold in blueberries.  Dough is very thick and sticky.  Press out onto floured surface.  Press into rectangle about 4 inches by 12 inches. Cut in half - and half again so you have 4 equal size rectangles. Cut each one at an angle so you have 8 triangles. But on ungreased cookie sheet and brush with cream. Bake 15 - 20 minutes at 400 until very light brown. Let cool about 5 minutes then move to cooling rack. When cooling, make glaze.

Glaze:
Mix lemon juice and powdered sugar until sugar dissolved. Add zest and butter. Microwave 1 minute. Stir. Microwave 1 minute more (or until butter melted). Whisk to smooth. Let sit 5 minutes.  Spoon over scones.

Variation: Cranberries with orange glaze (swap blueberries and lemon juice out for cranberries and OJ)

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Ashley's Amazing Dip

5 avocados, chopped
7 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 cans corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1-2 packets of Good Seasoning Italian Dressing

1/4 - 1/2 cup Olive Oil (to taste)

Mix together and refrigerate. Even better the next day.

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Hummingbird Cake

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 teas. cinnamon
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teas vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups chopped or smashed ripe bananas
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

Cream cheese frosting:
8 ounces butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl, add eggs and oil, stirring until incorporated (don't beat). Stir in vanilla, pineapple, pecans, coconut, and bananas.

Pour batter into three greased and floured 9 inch pans (or two 8 inch pans). Bake at 350 for 25 -30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes; remove and cool completely on wire racks.

Spread cream cheese frosting between layers and on top. Sprinkle with pecans if desired.  Store in refrigerator.

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Meg's Enchiladas

3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup sour cream
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can (4.5 ounce) chopped green chilies
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 package 6 inch flour tortillas
1 jar (16 ounces) green salsa
1/2 cup water

Spray 9 x13 with Pam. Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl mix chicken, 1/2 the sour cream, 1/2 the cilantro, red pepper, chilies, 1/4 cup cheese, garlic and cumin. Warm tortillas in microwave or oven. Puree salsa, water, remaining 1/2 of sour cream and remaining 1/2 cilantro in a blender or food processor. Spread 1 cup on bottom of baking dish.
Spoon 1/3 cup chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in baking dish on sauce. Pour remaining sauce over the tortillas. Bake uncovered 35 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese (3/4 cup) and bake 15 -20 minutes until bubbly.

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Breakfast Casserole

1 bag frozen hash brown potatoes (cubed or shredded)
1 pound ground breakfast sausage
1 dozen eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 - 2 cups cheddar cheese
1/2 minced onion

Cook sausage with onion and salt/pepper to taste. Pour frozen potatoes in 9x13 dish. Mix cooked sausage mixture into potatoes. In a bowl, beat the dozen eggs with 1/4 cup milk.  Pour over potato/sausage mix.  Cover with cheese then foil. Put in fridge to sit overnight.  Next morning - preheat oven to 350.  Bake covered for 1 hour.  Take cover off and bake 15 minutes until cheese melted and bubbly.  Great with salsa or ketchup!

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Chicken Salad

2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 granny smith apple, chopped
1 -2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 - 1 cup golden raisins
1/2 - 1 cup pecans

Sauce:
Mayonnaise (about 2 cups)
Lemon Juice (about 2 Tablespoons)
Curry (1/2 - 1 teaspoon)

Mix together and let sit overnight in fridge. Serve on croissants, pitas, or lettuce.