Have you ever heard of this fabulous Italian dish? Well, I had never, and when I came across it in Jamie's Italy by one of my favourite chefs, Jamie Oliver, I couldn't resist wanting to try it out even though it looked quite complex! Thanks to our friend, Matt, for trying it out with me! 
Here is a summary of the steps in pictures:

1. First we made a batch of fresh pasta dough and roasted butternut squash chunks (seasoned with fennel and coriander seeds and red chili flakes). Next, we rolled out our dough and made strips of the squash, spinach (wilted), and ricotta. We grated fresh Parmesan cheese over top and seasoned with salt and pepper.
 2. Carefully roll the dough into a fat sausage like shape.
 3. Seal ends with fingers and place a clean kitchen towel underneath the pasta roll.
 4. Roll the pasta up in the towel tightly and tie ends with string.
 5. Place pasta roll in a large stock pot of boiling water, making sure the roll is fully immersed for 25 minutes.
 6. Carefully remove from the pot (can you see the steam?!)
 7. Gently unwrap your pasta roll.
 8. Slice into serving portions and top with crispy sage. We easily fed 6 people!


I'm going to a Bridal Shower this weekend and needed to make a quick card before I head to the lake! I used the lovely layout over at Freshly Made Sketches.
All supplies are Close To My Heart:
stamp sets - Card Word Puzzle, Hooray Bouquet;
ink - Ruby, Lagoon; washi tape.
Shapes cut from the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. 


Today over at Heart2Heart our theme is Some Like It Hot. I chose to share a favourite recipe from my Mom that can either be served hot or cold...but I prefer hot!

All supplies are Close To My Heart:
paperpack - Free To Be Me; cardstock - Colonial White;
stamp sets - Keyboard Uppercase, Recipe Box, Surf's Up Scrapbooking Workshop;
ink - Juniper, Cranberry, Outdoor Denim; Lagoon twine;
shapes cut from Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

Remember, you have all of July to play along with this challenge - hope to see you join us! In the meantime, check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the H2H Design Team.
July 18, 2014

Happy Day

Here is a card for a special little guy on his second birthday...I've used the Freshly Made Sketches layout, the colours from Color My Heart and the spots and dots challenge from Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.
All supplies are Close To My Heart:
cardstock - Sweet Leaf; patterned paper - Free To Be Me, Dream Pop;
shapes cut from Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.
July 14, 2014 in

Hamburger Soup

Here's a hearty soup for a stormy summer day.



Hamburger Soup
2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1/2 bunch celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 28oz. can diced tomatoes OR 8 diced Roma tomatoes (I blitzed mine in the food processor)
1 can tomato soup
3 cans consummé
1 bay leaf
1 small bunch parsley, chopped
2 cups water
8 tbsp. barley

In a stockpot, brown the ground beef. Once cooked, add the onion, celery, and carrots, and sauté for a few minutes. Stir in tomatoes and add tomato soup and consummé. Add the bay leaf, parlsey and water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 hours. Add the barley to the soup for the last 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf and enjoy! Serves 8.

July 08, 2014

Mason Jar Love

When I first saw this stamp set with a mason jar, I knew I could definitely use it for my sister-in-law's wedding. I saw this card on Pinterest and knew I wanted to do something similar. For her shower card I used the sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and included polka dots and flowers to play along with the Shabby Tea Room challenge this week too.
cardstock - White Daisy, Blush, Sweet Leaf (CTMH); ink - Black, Blush (CTMH);
stamp sets - Crystal Clear (Paper Smooches), Code It (CTMH); Embossing folder - Woodgrain (Stampin' Up);
dies - Crystal Clear 1 (Paper Smooches); images cut from Artiste Cricut cartridge (CTMH).

Today over at Heart2Heart we are focusing on something up in the air (plane, helicopter, hot air balloon, butterfly, bird, etc.). I have a baby shower to go to this month and was drawn to the idea of a stork.


I found the image I envisioned in the New Arrival Cricut cartridge. At Color My Heart Color Dare it is their 100th challenge! I thought their choice of colours to celebrate would be perfect for this baby boy card.
In addition to these colours, I also used Close To My Heart's Colonial White and Whisper with some old Dakota papers I had. The stamp set I used is B is for Baby. The shape for the stamp was cut out with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

Hope to see you play along us at H2H - you have all of July to check it out :)!
July 04, 2014

A Lifetime of Happiness

Wedding season is upon us and my sister-in-law's wedding is next weekend already! Here are the wedding invitations I made for her special day. We are busily getting last minute things made and organized, so I thought I had better not forget to make her wedding card! I love tic-tac-toe challenges, so when I saw the current challenge at The Paper Players I had to use it! I went straight across the bottom with Any shade of Pink + Pearls or Rhinestones + Embossing (my little bride and groom on the side heart are embossed). I had the interesting sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge in mind for my layout. Here is my card:
All supplies are Close To My Heart:
cardstock - Whisper, White Daisy, Colonial White; 
ink - Blush; stamp set - The Happy Couple; 
shapes and heart background cut from Artbooking and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridges.

Today is my first Design Team post for Heart2Heart! You can play along with any of our upcoming challenges all month long - just make sure to use some of our fabulous Close To My Heart products. This week you need to create a scrapbooking project with Red (I used Cranberry) and White Daisy with the option of blue, include sewing and a little sparkle! Here is a project I have started for my sister-in-law using the My Creations Kraft Pocket Album:
I created the bricked background using our Cricut Artbooking cartridge and cut out the stitched heart by hand. I created my stitching using our Waxy Flax and my sparkle comes from our Silver Shimmer Trim. I added some raffia at the end to tie everything together.

Happy Canada Day :)!
© Allie's Adventures in the Kitchen, Crafting, and the Kootenays! · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS