It's time for FUN!!! It's time for VALENTINE BLOG CANDY!!!! (I think this is even better than chocolate!!)

Blog candy is now closed! Thanks for playing!


It's been a LONG time since I've given away blog candy, and I just feel the need. *smile* I think you're gonna like this one, so hold onto your bootstraps!! I have fallen so much in love with these Tilda stamps, that I feel the need to get someone else as hooked on them as I am. So here's what I'm going to do.....

On February 14th, Valentines Day, I'm going to show my blogging friends a little love by giving some lucky winner TWO Tilda stamps. Here is what someone is going to win!



Ice Princess/Balet Tilda

Fence with summer background. Perfect for the sitting Tildas!!

Now, here's what you have to do.

1. Leave a post here and on Feb 14th, I will use Random.org to choose the number of the lucky winner.
2. Post a link to the blog candy on your blog. If you don't have a blog, that's ok, you can still win.

3. Blog candy is open to anyone, no matter where they live. So please be sure and enter.

4. One post per person please. We'll try and make it as fair as possible.

5. Watch my blog for the winner! I will post the name and you have until 11:59 PM on Feb 17th to claim your prize. If you don't send me your information by then, I will pull another winner.

So....Best of luck to all my blogging friends! Thank you so much for coming by to visit me today, and I hope to see you back again real soon!! HUGS!!

Happy Birthday JJ!! Mater card using the Cricut Cars Cartridge

My oldest grandson JJ turns a big five years old today (Friday)! He loves the movie Cars, so how could I not make a card like this for him! This is a total lift from my friend Nancy who is one of the most amazing crafters EVER! I told her as soon as I saw her card that I was going to have to lift it!
I cut Mater with my Cricut Expression and Cars cartridge that I bought at Hallmark Scrapbook! You should go check them out! They are having an AMAZING cartridge sale right now! Most cartridges are selling from 29.99 to 39.99 except for the newest ones. I used Doodlecharms for the trees, and New Arrival for the banner.


Pattern paper is Basic Grey and cardstock is Bazzill. I used lots of Cat's Eye chalk ink around the edges of the cuts. And the last and most prevalant thing that I used for this card was a tremendous amount of my love.
Thanks for stopping by to see me today, and I sure hope to see you back again soon for more crafting fun! Hugs!!

BRRRR!!!!!!


Just wanted to post a quick pic of my adorable Grandson JJ! He turns a big five years old on Friday. My, how time flies. They just moved to KY this year and was smack dab in the middle of that nasty storm that swept the country. But JJ sure didn't seem to mind!! LOL! He was having a blast! Sorry I don't have a card to share with you tonight, but I think he's cuter anyway! See this big grin plastered on my face? Thanks for stopping by to say hi today! Hope you're having a great week and hope to see you back again soon! HUGS!!

Heart shaped Valentine card

YAY! We made it through Monday! I have had soooo much fun making Valentine cards!! This heart shaped card is from a set of shaped cards from The Cutting Cafe' that you can either cut with your cutting machine (I used my Pazzle) or you can just print it off and cut it out manually. Either way, these cards are FUN!!



I cut out the base image, but I wanted it to stand up, so I just made a strip of cardstock and glued the front and back of the card to the front and back of the cardstock. Works like a charm! I also wanted a scalloped edge, so I just made that using my Pazzle. Yep....I know....I just used this Tilda not that long ago. But seriously now....can you blame me??? LOL! She's so cute that I couldn't resist!! I colored her up with my Copic markers.

Most of this card is just Bazzill cardstock. That little strip on the front base is a piece of Basic Grey scrap paper I had. the little hearts on the white....well.....those are the leftover little hearts that come from the punched out portion of the MSBP. Nothing like using scraps, huh? LOL! That circle stamp is from another set of Valentine stamps from The Cutting Cafe'!



I used some Prima flowers with a Basic Grey brad, and that pretty pink ribbon is from I {heart} Papers. That's about it! Thanks again for stopping by to see me today, and I sure hope to see you here again soon!!


Some overdue thank you's!!



I've been issued some awards, and it's about time I said THANK YOU to the fabulously talented ladies that have awarded them to me! There is nothing better than having friends come visit me and take a peek at the work I've been doing. That, in itself, is a HUGE reward to me every day! So on to do what I came here to do! *smile*
The first award is the Marie Antoinette award.


I received this award from Jeannie. Jeannie, you are the true meaning of a sweetheart! What a loving, giving person with a beautiful soul. I am blessed to know you. Thank you for this award!

I also received this award from Norine. Norine is a new talented blogging friend who I'm looking forward to getting to know better! Thank you very much for this award, Norine!

I also received this award the sweet and talented Tammy! Tammy I truly love your work and you are such a sweetie! Thank you so much! I'm so humbled that you gave it to me!

And I also received this award from Justine! Justine is also an extremely talented new blogging friend of which I'm looking forward to getting to know better! Thank you Justine! I am honored to receive this award from you!


I also received this wonderful award. To be told that my blog has heart is a true treasure to me, and I have to thank my friend craftNmommy (Lisa). Thank you so much Lisa! I'm so honored that you thought of me for this!


Please do yourself a favor and visit the blogs of these talented ladies! They are all extremely talented artists!!!

Again, I thank all of my blogging friends that come by to visit me all the time. Whether you take the time to say hi, or just stop by and peek at my work. I love the fact that you visit, and you are the reason I keep posting. So please, accept these awards from me as gratitude to you. I sure hope you've had a wonderful weekend, and I hope to see you back again very soon!!! Big hugs!!

Milk Chocolate Layer Cake

My son's (10!) birthday was yesterday. He LOVES milk chocolate, so when we saw this recipe for Milk-Chocolate-Frosted Layer Cake in Food & Wine magazine, we knew this had to be his birthday cake this year!
I would normally be nervous making a cake for the first time for a birthday, but Food & Wine has yet to steer me wrong!
OK...I was not thrilled with the way the cake pulled away from the pan, but it ended up just fine. If I make this again, I might just go with round pans.

Chocolate curls...not my strong suit!

Our white counter tops make the cake look like it's floating! :)
The birthday boy and the cake!

The frosting was really rich and creamy. I'd say that was everyone's favorite part. We liked the cake, too, but it was not chocolaty at all. It had a "spongy" texture...more like a muffin, but it was good! Birthday boy was happy; Mom was happy! :)

Who loves ya? Card made with Pazzle and Cricut

oooooooooo.....this one was so much FUN to make!!!! Don't you just love FUN??? I used a piece of pattern paper from a DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies stack. I love the blue and green color combo, so this one jumped right out at me.
I used both my Cricut Expression and my Pazzle Inspiration with this card. Isn't that tree the coolest??? I LOVE it!!!! I cut it with my Pazzle from the Swirls and Twirls cd! I've had this cd for a while and I can't believe I have not discovered this cut until now! I'll sure bet you that I'll be using it again though!

The flowers are actually cut from the piece of paper with a little chalk ink around the edge and then popped up off the card base. That cute little owl was cut from the Cricut Storybook cartridge, and the WHO is faux chipboard that I cut with the Mickey Font. I went around the edges of the letters with a little white acrylic paint.


The tag is just hand cut and run through my printer for the "loves ya?". I just think this one is really fun and funky. Thanks TONS for stopping by to see me. Hope you're having a fabulous weekend and I also hope to see you back again really soon!!!



Cranberry-Apricot Muffins (Gluten, Dairy and Sugar Free)

Cranberry muffins with apricot jam.

By the time you read this post, Dear Reader, I'll be walking Venice Beach. And sighing a long slow sigh. At last. A long overdue getaway- the first vacation since our last visit to the City of Angels- way back in the fall of 2007. Which, considering the roller coaster ride of a year we've all had- personally and collectively- feels like a virtual lifetime ago.

I'll be away for a week. But don't worry. You know I couldn't leave you on your own without a new recipe to tempt you into the kitchen. So I stirred up a new batter for you- some tender breakfast muffins. A fresh combination of tart cranberries and golden apricot preserves in a flour base that features buckwheat, sorghum and quinoa flours- yielding a higher protein profile than your average gluten-free muffin. And, as a bonus to those of you eschewing sugar cane, this recipe has no added sugar. (I didn't add nuts this time, but if you like a little nutty crunch in your muffins these would be lovely with chopped pecans, or toasted almonds.)


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Nothing holds a candle....

YAY!!!!!! We made it through the week to another glorious weekend!!! I LOVE my weekends!! Ok, I'm sorry...I can't help it. I can't stay away from these precious stamps! I can't get enough. SOMEBODY STOP ME!!!! LOL! Please???....... :0) I had this card in mind as soon as I saw this stamp. I finally got to make it.

I stamped her out onto white cardstock and colored her with my Copic markers. I love these markers, but it sure takes a while to learn how to use them. I wish there were classes somewhere around here! I cut her out with my Nesties. I just typed up the sentiment out on my computer and printed it.
I used my yummy Martha Stewart border punch across the bottom and the ribbon is from Micahels. The button is Basic Grey. I used some Cat's Eye chalk ink around the edges of some of the cuts.


That's pretty much it! I sure appreciate you coming by to see me today! It means an awful lot to me!! Have a wonderful day and hope to see you again soon!!!



Just Smile! Hello Kitty card made with the Cricut

Happy Hump Day!!! We're on the downhill slide for this week! I love it! Anyway, the challenge last week over at the Hallmark Scrapbook message board, was to use any kitty Cricut cut. WOOHOO! Another chance to get to use my Hello Kitty cartridge! (Thanks Donna!)

I was in the mood for something bright and sunny, so I used some orange cardstock I had along with some cute Sassafras patterned paper. That red-orange flower is by CK, the button and ribbon are from my stash.

Just Smile is a Peachy Keen stamp and the tiny flower on the balloon is Prima with a little Basic Grey brad in it. I used some chalk ink on my cuts to help give some definition. Have you ever used dew drops? I love those things! That's what I used to just freehand some interest onto my card. Just a little dab of glue holds them in place perfectly!



If you have a cricut, we'd LOVE to have you come join in on our weekly challenges! And if you don't have a Cricut, you really should think about it! I love mine and use it every day! Jody over at Hallmark Scrapbook has the best prices and service on the internet! Go take a peek and check her out! Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me today! I so appreciate your visits and your comments! Have a wonderful day and I hope to see you soon!! HUGS!


Savory Vegetable Pancakes

I love savory pancakes- shredded veggies add so much flavor.


Savory or sweet? That is my question today- not to indulge in the duality of either/or and divide the pancake universe into opposing sensibilities or anything, but if push comes to shove (and I'm four square against shoving, honestly) the naked truth is I'm more of a savory, salty, golden crunchy pancake lover than a soft, sweet and sticky with maple syrup craver.

Maybe it's because I love pancakes for supper.

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2008 Food Blog Awards- Vote!

Have I got news! The Well Fed Network’s 2008 Food Blog Awards have announced their top five nominations in fourteen categories. And guess what? I am honored to convey to you today that Karina's Kitchen is among the finalists chosen for Best Food Blog- Theme.

Score one for the celiacs and food sensitive! Humble gluten-free and GF/CF recipes get to party with some amazing foodie-worthy food. I am seriously stoked. It's akin to graduating from the kiddie folding-table at your clan's Thanksgiving and being offered a chair at the grown-up's feast.

I couldn't be more pleased. Big thanks to this year's judges, and Andrea, Ilva, and Susan who graciously nominated me for this category.

Congratulations to my fellow finalists in the theme category: Wild Yeast, Lunch In a Box, Prudence Pennywise, and Hunter Angler Gardener Cook- do stop by and check out their blogs.

To vote:

The polls are now open and will accept votes up until Saturday, January 24th at 8 pm EST. Official winners will be announced on Monday, January 26th.

Good luck to all the food bloggers participating (see the main list at Well Fed Network here).

And most of all, thank you, Dear Reader- for reading, commenting, and supporting Karina's Kitchen for the last three years. Without you? I'd be more than a little wan, and sad, muttering to myself as I wrestle with xanthan gum and quinoa flour out here in the New Mexico desert.

Another Valentine! Hope you're not sick of them cause we have a couple weeks left! LOL!

I am having so much fun making all these Valentine cards!! And of course, I just HAD to use another one of my new Tilda stamps! I have no idea what the name of this one is, but I LOVE her! How can you not??? LOL! Have you seen anything anymore precious??!!! (click on the pictures for a nice close up view)

This is called a TENT TOPPER card and learned how to make them from my adopted sis DeeDee!! The bottom of the card is 4 1/4" square, and then you just make whatever shape topper you want and attach it to the base so the card ends up measuring as an A2 card ( 4 1/4" x 5 1/2") It makes such an adorable card that I will be making many more like this!

I colored her with my Copic markers and cut her out so I could pop her up (have I ever mentioned how much I like dimension?? LOL!) I'm really sorry, my scraps are in a mess right now and I can't find this piece of pattern paper to tell you who the maker is. The cardstock is Bazzill. The oval shapes were cut with my nesties and then I ran the white through my Cuttlebug with the swiss dots embossing folder. The sentiment was just printed on my computer and the hearts on either side of it are from my Martha Stewart punch.
That's it for tonight! I sure do appreciate you stopping by to visit me today! Hope you had a good Monday (as good as Monday's can be) and I hope to see you again soon! HUGS!!

Gluten-Free Banana-Blueberry Muffin Cake

Moist and fragrant gluten free banana cake studded with blueberries
Kick up your gluten-free banana cake with blueberries.

My partner in culinary crime- the infamous and ever-up-for-baking husband Steve- informed me our bananas were mucho ripe. In fact, to be completely accurate, he poked his head into my cozy little studio the other day and declared, Our bananas are ripe. I should bake something.

I looked up from my iMac and murmured Hmmm, in assent. 

But what, exactly?

Ripe bananas were calling. Begging to be a part of some grander life affirming tastebud tingling scheme. But do readers really need another banana cake recipe? I pondered, slurping cold coffee with vanilla hemp milk. Which reminds me. I should share this.


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A Texas Valentine

Valentine's Day...one month away!!! Ladies, start your ovens!
Chances are if you live in Texas, you are a Longhorn or Aggie fan.
These make great gifts for men...nothing too mushy or sweet. Add a college or sports logo to a heart cookie and Valentine's Day is finished. (OK...you may have to make a trip to Victoria's Secret...then it's finished!) ;)

I love this krinkle/scalloped heart cutter!

Warm Quinoa + Spinach Salad with Grape Tomatoes

Quinoa Spinach Salad Recipe
Light and fresh quinoa salad with baby spinach

Here is a wonderful year-round salad that is warm and inviting, fresh and vibrant. The sort of salad a certain individual needs on a damp winter day when the sky is paper white and the clouds are thick with snow. On a day such as this it's tempting to head straight for comfort food. That leftover Kicked Up Baked Mac 'n Cheese in the fridge. That wedge of Roasted Vegetable Kugel. But what the body craves may- or may not be- what the body needs. I'm just saying.

I'm no expert on cravings. But I do know that if I make a habit of indulging every gnawing whim and craving that wiggles its way into my winter-fevered brain I'd have hips to write home about. I'd chew Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares for breakfast and eat warm Horseradish Spiked Red Potato Salad every noon hour from now till the Vernal Equinox (a serotonin-boosting strategy not recommended, by the way, for those of us past a certain age where you can pack on the pounds faster that you can say, Blueberry pancakes on a stick). And by the way, if we are what we eat, and we can "change our life" by what we visualize, does dreaming of Beef and Potatoes au Chocolat make us fat?

Surviving three months of virtual inertia- followed by ten months of slow and steady wins the race recovery- with three honkin' titanium screws in your hip (by the way, not that it invalidates and softens the tedious struggle of last year or anything, but why do certain family members- who claim to be compassionate- insist on referring to these suckers as pins, embroidering knitting group safe visions of a petite and delicate procedure that in no way involved a couple of workbench sized clamps and a battery operated power drill?) not to mention double digit extra poundage adhered to one's backside makes you appreciate a recipe like this.

Trust me.

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How To Cook Quinoa in a Rice Cooker (with recipes)

Quinoa Taco Salad and more gluten free quinoa recipes
Quinoa makes any dish special - even taco salad!

Last night I twittered about quinoa- where else but on Twitter (and by the way, Dear Reader, if you're not following me on Twitter, maybe you should; when the muse hits I share tidbits from my life- often from my kitchen- such as what I might be cooking, or thinking about cooking, or simply wrestling with out here in the lonely snow kissed desert) and my tweet stirred up some interest when I mentioned- in passing- how I cook my quinoa.

I do it the way I thought everybody did it. But judging from the response- even from seasoned vegetarian cooks- it appears my method of cooking quinoa might deserve a mention. So here's how I do it.

I cook it in a rice cooker. Fast. Simple. Rockin'.

In fact, quinoa is the easiest no-fuss grain you'll ever cook. It's healthy fast food. Cook up a batch ahead of time and you can stir up a fabulous light lunch (like the Lime Quinoa Salad with Mint) in a New York minute. Well, maybe a Los Angeles minute. A Venice Beach minute.

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New Mexican Stew with Ground Turkey + Green Chiles

Gluten
Slurp worthy green chile stew with turkey.

Looking for a simple but truly fabulous slow cooker recipe to warm you up? Here is one my favorites. A New Mexican style stew with budget-friendly ground turkey spiked with roasted green chiles, lime, and cilantro. Make it as mild or as spicy as your taste buds prefer. It's perfect comfort food for any time of year.

Need more slow cooker inspiration? Check out the tasty gluten-free cookbook Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by fellow food blogger Stephanie O'Dea.


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Yeasted Cornbread

Tender gluten-free yeasted cornbread baked in a skillet.


The pairing of a tender, grainy bread (freshly baked, still warm) with a bowl of soul-fortifying soup or stew is a favorite combo for winter comfort around here. Steve and I are big fans. We slow-cook a lot of soup. And we bake a different cornbread every week. So today I'm posting such a pairing. Two recipes- a new yeasted cornbread I am crazy about, and a New Mexican Stew that will chase away the January back-to-reality blues and blahs and whatever else may ail you, Dear Reader.

When all else fails, a simple earthy meal of hot soup and rustic bread can soothe the crankiest of beasts. Especially when that beast happens to be my mood, infused with cabin fever.

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Sassy Pink Poodles

It's been dreary here lately, so I thought I would show you a bright, happy cookie to fight the blah's!

I made these a few years ago for a little girl's birthday party. I was nervous, to be honest, about making poodles, but really happy with the way they turned out.

To make the poodles:

  • Outline poodle body in bright pink royal icing using a #2 tip, making separate outlines for the head, leg, tail, neck "poufs" and ear (AmeriColor Electric Pink).
  • Thin bright and light pink icing (AmeriColor Deep Pink) with water to the consistency of syrup. Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit several minutes.
  • Run a rubber spatula gently through the bright pink icing and transfer to squeeze bottle. Fill in "pouf" areas and ear. Use a toothpick to guide into corners.
  • Using the light pink icing, transfer to squeeze bottle as above and fill in the remainder of the body.
  • Let sit overnight.
  • Using a mixture or meringue powder and water, paint the bright pink areas with a small paint brush. Shake on bright pink sparkling sugar. (Click here for how to set up a "sanding station.")
  • Using a black food coloring pen, add the face details (AmeriColor Gourmet Writers).

Happy New Year (I'm still here!!!)

Happy 2009!!! We are still unpacking boxes, but my sprinkles and food colorings have a new home. :) This is a marked improvement over the box in an armoire where they have been residing!

I've been saving glass jars lately...I'm not sure why (is this a sign of middle age?). Using them, instead of plastic bags, for sprinkles is a lot more festive!
More baking to come once we are unpacked. In the mean time, take a look at this KILLER CAKE my sister made for Christmas!!! I can't remember what it was called, besides heavenly, and 5 pounds per slice!
 
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