China Knuckles were first created as a joke. I thought the irony of a weapon made of china would give people a laugh. Little did I know that my sense of humor would be shared by so many. The first batch sold so quickly, that I decided to get actual brass knuckles cast in porcelain, decorated with pretty floral motifs. Thanks to the work of The Maryland China Company, my little joke is now a reality.

I get one of two reactions to the China Knuckles. Either “OMG! That is awesome!” or “I don’t get it.” Let me assure you that there is really nothing to get. They are not some sort of political statement about feminism or violence against women, as some have inferred.  China Knuckles are just meant as an ironic art piece that also functions as conversation starting jewelry. They are obviously not mean for fighting. We have enough common sense to know this much, right? I hope. Of course, when worn, they do sort of act as a warning device, letting people know that the wearer perhaps shouldn’t be messed with.

I do want to make sure the China Knuckles do some good. I was recently really touched when a woman bought a pair for a friend who was fighting cancer, as a symbolic weapon of her fight. She wore them to chemotherapy. Because of them, I want every pair to help in the fight against cancer by donating 10% of all retail sales will go to The Cancer Research Institute.

The new cast China Knuckles are now available in their own shop and in my Etsy shop. (They also can be made into a bad ass necklace.)

pinch of black pepper and salt

Scallion and or chopped parsley (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare water for pasta and boil according to directions, cutting 1-2 minutes off of cooking time since pasta will continue to cook in the oven.

Heat a saucepan over medium high heat and add butter. Once melted and sizzling, whisk in flour to create a roux and cook until bubbly and golden in color, about 2 minutes. Add milk and beer into saucepan whisking constantly, then add  cheeses and stir until melted. Turn heat down to medium and continue to stir, cooking for 5-6 minutes while mixture thickens.  Add chopped scallions to sauce.

Add cooked and drained pasta to a casserole dish and pour cheese over top, mixing gently to combine. Top with a sprinkle of cheese. (I do not believe in bread crumbs) Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly and golden on top.

Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Inhale. With beer.

August 30th is my 6 year Etsyversary! I can not believe it has been that long. Started it on a whim, not knowing how many great opportunities it would provide, I am grateful to all of my loyal customers. To celebrate, I’ve created a coupon code that will be active from now until the end of August. Enter code “ETSYVERSARY” in the coupon code box at checkout in my Etsy shop for 20% off your order. I will be adding new work throughout the month.

Also, it is not too early to send me your holiday custom orders. Would love to tackle a few before the November rush. Send in your custom order in August and I will also take 20% off of those orders. (order form available here.)

• 1 lb. ground turkey or lean beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 package of mushrooms
• 1 (1 oz.) package hidden valley ranch dressing mix
• 1 (1 oz) package taco seasoning
• 1-2 cans of your favorite beans (I used black)
• 1  can whole kernel corns
• 1 (8 oz) can Rotel tomatoes with chilies
• 1 jar of good salsa
• 1 box of chicken or beef stock

Plus, of course, Cheese, sour cream, chips and cilantro for topping

Simply brown the meat and onion and add the seasoning packets. Then, add the broth and all other ingredients and simmer until you are ready for dinner. I let mine cook for about an hour and it was perfect. I imagine that making this in the crock pot would be awesome, however, I have sworn off the crock pot. (I hate smelling food all day, then having to eat it.)

Top with all of your favorite toppers and enjoy! Let me know how you make it. Oh, I bet it’d be great with corn bread too. Next time…

]]> http://ibreakplates.com/2012/01/taco-soup/feed/ 2 http://ibreakplates.com/2011/12/last-minute-gift-idea-cheesecake-in-a-jar/ http://ibreakplates.com/2011/12/last-minute-gift-idea-cheesecake-in-a-jar/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:47:37 +0000 Juliet http://ibreakplates.com/?p=1420 All of the plates for this holiday season have been broken. Phew. Thanks to all of my awesome customers, I really appreciate you supporting my small business. It has really been such a pleasure. If I could, I would make you all a cheesecake jar, but instead, I will share the recipe, which I found in Martha Stewart Living magazine. I taste tested last night, and let me tell you, Martha knows of what she speaks. This thing tastes like it was from a restaurant! I have modified it a bit, to fit my jars.

You will need:

5-6 12oz mason jars

2 – 8oz packages of room temperature cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat kind and it was great!)

1 cup sugar

6 large eggs (room temp)

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons lemon juice

salt

your favorite preserves or jam

1 cup ground graham crackers

3 tablespoons butter.

1. Preheat the over to 325. Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and beat for 3 minutes more. Reduce speed to low and add eggs one at a time. Raise speed to medium and add sour cream, lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp of salt. Beat for 3 minutes.

2. Divide batter into 5-6 jars. Transfer them to a deep baking dish and fill the dish with boiling water to about 1/2 way up the sides of the jars. Cover with foil with cut slits to vent. Bake until set, about 45 minutes or so. Keep checking.

3. To make the graham cracker topping, stir the cracker crumbs and butter together and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 10 minutes. Spoon into the jars. Finish by topping with your favorite preserves, I used raspberry.

They can be refrigerated for 4 days or frozen for future cheesecake emergencies.

It may be to late to send broken plates for Christmas, but I would argue that cheesecake is an even better idea. Happy Holidays!

Cook the onion in the olive oil and butter in a large stock pot with a little salt and pepper for several minutes until the onion is soft. Cook over medium low heat, slowly, so the onion doesn’t burn.  Grate one of the garlic cloves over the onions and cook for just a minute or so, until garlic is a little soft.

Add the sliced zucchini into the pot and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes. Add the chicken broth, wine and 2 tablespoons of the chopped chives and cover again and cook for another 10 minutes.  Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Add half of the crab meat

Take an immersion blender and puree the soup. (If you don’t have one, pour the soup into a blender and puree).

Pour back into the pot with the rest of the lump crab meat. Heat through.

Meanwhile, preheat your broiler.  Place the bread slices on a baking sheet and broil just until toasted and golden. Take the second garlic clove and rub over the warm bread.

Serve the soup with the grated cheese, fresh chives and a garlic toast on top.

Seems like these bizarre events always start with an unexpected email. I received one of these emails last week in the middle of stressing over Crafty Bastards. My friend Katie was picked to be on the “Tech Panel” of crafty bloggers to document one of the craft week episodes of The Martha Stewart Show. The producers said they had one more spot, if she knew anyone, and she was awesome enough to suggest me! They said yes!!!!

SO, on the Monday after Crafty Bastards (still sore from the show, which was awesome despite cold rain!) I hopped a train to New York!

I am criminally punctual. I was at the train station by 6, a full hour before my train. It was nice to sip coffee and people watch though. Had a nice ride (in spite of the guy who walked into the bathroom on me) and arrived to a cloudy, but rain free New York.

I have only been to New York once, in high school, to see a Miss Saigon on Broadway. Thank goodness for my trusty dusty iPhone map app that helped me get around. Of course, I had to walk through Times Square and get the cliche “I’m in New York photo.” Next, I was on a mission to find a place to charge my cell phone.

Found a tea bar with an outlet, took a rest and charged my phone before the show. The studio was across the street and I could see flower deliveries being made. I knew that had to be the place!

I met up with Katie in line and as we walked in together, a producer said “We need a mom with toddlers.” Katie and I looked at each other like “should we speak up?” So I blurted out, “We both do!” She looked at me and said “Great, do you want to do a craft project with Martha? You can’t be nervous at all, and you have to be extra animated and excited.” I didn’t think I could do it. Being put on the spot like that, I just knew that I would freak. Luckily, Katie is a an art teacher and was perfect for it! She took that bullet. They whisked her away for rehearsal.

I am in the holding tank filling out paperwork, when the producer comes up to me again and asks “Have you ever had Kimchi? We are looking for people who like spicy food to taste on air.” I couldn’t very well say no to her again. Clearly, she saw tv magic in me I agreed, signed some papers, and went to rehearse. I got to walk though the craft dept. and prep kitchen on  my way.

rehearsal

The three of us practiced standing there and eating hot dogs. I was picked to stand next to Martha. NEXT TO HER. Ah! Once we knew what we were doing, we were sent back to the holding room.

They let the blogger group go up first. We were placed right in the front and were given a tour of the set.

Me in Martha's Kitchen

Behind the Stove. (even looked through the drawers.) Everything is from her Home Depot line and is fully stocked and functional.

Martha's greenhouse, modeled after the one at her home (only MUCH smaller.)

The countertop with kimchi preperations

As soon as we got to the craft room, a stage manager pulled me out of the group and put a microphone on me. A MICROPHONE! Then they sent me to hair and make up. Hair and makeup to eat a hot dog!

When I got back to my seat, the show was ready to go on, Joey Kola was warming up the crowd and it was Katie’s turn to be a crafty rock star. She did SUCH a great job, I was so happy she did it. Her teacher skills shined.

Next up were some gardening segments. I couldn’t really see from where I was, so I spent that time freaking out that I was going to have to eat tubed meat on national TV next to Martha Stewart. The kimchi preparations began and I was too close to see. All I know is that about 100 cloves of garlic and gallons of chili powder went into some cabbage and I was going to have to eat it. The producers had warned us that it was VERY hot and they placed milk out of camera in case we couldn’t take it.

Waiting to be called up.

Our segment starts with Martha and Marja Vongerichten (wife of Jean-Georges and host of The Kimchi Chronicles) grilling steak and making kimchi butter. Then they dress hot dogs and call us over to taste. She asked our names and where we are from and I am sure that I somehow sounded like and idiot saying “I am Juliet from Baltimore.” Anyway, we take a bite of our hotdogs and nod in approval. Frankly, it wasn’t hot at all. Next Martha carves into raw steak and asks who likes their steak rare. I went for it, took raw steak from Martha’s hand and ate it. The teleprompter was prompting her to ask us to describe kimchi in 5 words or less. I hate these kind of questions, like you would get in a job interview. Luckily, Martha ignored their waves and kept chatting with Marja. My answer would have been Red, Spicy, Korean, sauerkraut.

Commerical break and we pose for photos with Martha. The the bloggers jump in for another photo with Martha. TWO PHOTOS! I think they will email them to me, but they also said something about sending them to local newspapers. Ack.

Show is over, we get some awesome swag, and Katie and I look at each other like “What just happened?” I don’t know, but what I do know is that I am going to carry my giant bags of gardening tools and craft supplies to Eataly and eat some noodles.

Just what the doctor ordered. I REALLY wanted to see what the hype was about NY pizza, but I was too excited to go to Eatlay. It was overwhelming having to carry giant bags (and being so worn out.) but I did manage to eat noodles and to buy some ingredients to make a meal at home.

Finally, it was time for my train and I hiked back to Penn Station to return to the real world.

It was an  awesome day. Thanks SO much to Katie for thinking of me. SO nice to meet fellow bloggers  Craft Gossip, 100 ideas in the head, Stamp 48,  Purl Bee, You Stir Me, Meg Allan Cole,Whit and Whimsy!

Show airs on Thursday at 10am on the Hallmark channel.

First up, the 8th annual Crafty Bastards is tomorrow! Bastards is always an amazing show, but this year’s festival will be bigger than ever, with 50 more craft vendors, the addition of the Crafty Farm, and the Young & Crafty section (and more food!) Hope to see you there.

I take a day off on Sunday, then Monday I head to New York to The Martha Stewart Show! I was lucky to be picked to blog and tweet from the Tech Panel during the taping of the craft episode of the Martha Show. I am SO excited for my little New York adventure, especially because I plan on making a pit stop in Eataly. I will let you know when *my* episode airs!

OK, enough procrastination. Must go break plates.

I will be exhibiting at Crafty Bastards in DC on October 1, 2011.

I have been working on Fall wedding orders, custom orders and collecting plates to break for fall and holiday shows. I just updated the FB album of thrifted plates yesterday, if you’d like to take a peek and see what new finds will be broken soon.

In other news, I have been busy preparing my son for school which starts at the end of the month. SCHOOL! Well, preschool, but still. I am so looking forward to fall, the smell of school supplies makes me giddy. I have lofty goals of blogging more in September, but no guarantees. May be knee deep in preschool homework, you never know.

Oh! Almost forgot to tell you, I got accepted into Crafty Bastards again this year! If you are anywhere in DC, I hope to see you there.

That’s all for now. I will try to have more interesting news next time.