Honey Roasted Cashews

Looking for something different to give your Valentine? How about Honey Roasted Cashews instead of the traditional chocolate?

I took a trip to New York in December and came across a Street Vendor selling honey roasted nuts. The aroma of the roasted nuts enticed me to buy a bag of honey roasted cashews. These were the best honey roasted nuts that I ever had. Since then I have been on a mission to find a recipe for these nuts. I searched the internet for recipes but none of them were able to recreate the Street Vendor cashews. Finally after weeks of trying to recreate the Street Vendor cashews, I think that I have come pretty close to the ones that I sampled in New York.

While the finished nuts were cooling on a baking sheet on the kitchen counter my husband saw them and just had to sample them. He loved them and couldn't resist sampling some more. In light of his glowing praise, I decided to share the recipe with all of you.


Honey Roasted Cashews:

3 1/2 cups unsalted cashews
2 1/2 tablespoons clover honey
1 1/2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup--don't use maple flavored syrup because the flavor won't be the same
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons of vanilla Demerara sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If using raw cashews, place them on a baking pan and roast in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove pan from the oven, stir the nuts and roast for approximately 5 minutes. Check them often and remove from the oven when the nuts have a light golden color. Set aside to cool. Skip this step if you are using nuts that have already been roasted.

In a small saucepan combine butter, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir to combine over low heat. After the butter has melted remove the saucepan from the heat.

Pour the cashews into a large mixing bowl and pour the syrup mixture over the cashews. Stir the nuts until all of them are coated.

Spray a large baking tray with cooking spray. Spread the nuts on the baking tray and bake for 6 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Remove the nuts from the oven and stir. Return the tray to the oven and bake for approximately 8 minutes or until the nuts are golden brown.

Remove from the oven and pour the nuts in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of vanilla demerara sugar over the nuts and stir until all of the nuts are coated with the sugar.

Line another baking tray with parchment paper and spread the sugar coated nuts in a thin layer onto the parchment lined tray. Let the cashews cool completely. Store the cashews in an air tight container.


Bon Apetite,
Suzanne

Hello Kitty Valentine's Rose Box

I just couldn't let Valentine's Day pass without doing at least one Hello Kitty project. Hello Kitty is so sweet that she seemed like the perfect choice for decorating a Valentine's Day box filled with heart shaped sugar cookies. Who wouldn't want to receive a Hello Kitty box filled with cookies?

For those of you who love Hello Kitty, I have another project planned. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. I'm sorry for the bad pun but I will tell you that it's a fabric project.





Close-up of the top of the box.


Directions for Hello Kitty Valentine's Rose Box:

Cricut Hello Kitty Greetings and Doodlecharms cartridges
Dark pink, medium pink, white, olive green and black card stock
Fiskars paper crimper
Large purple brad
Self adhesive gold rhinestone
Stickles glitter glue-Ice Stickles
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-Pearl
Smooch purple paint
6 Fabric Rose Buds
Martha Stewart Leaf paper punch
Foam Dots
Hot Glue Gun
White sheer wire edged ribbon
Martha Stewart Treat Boxes


1. Cut the heart from the Doodlecharms cartridge. Press the heart and the shift keys and cut the heart at 5 inches out of dark pink card stock.

2. Load the rounded edge of the heart into the Fiskars paper crimper. Press the handle and turn the knob to run the heart through the crimper.

3. Load the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge into the Cricut machine. Cut Hello Kitty 2 out of black card stock at 4 inches. Next press the White & Fur/Bow & Nose key and cut the fur and flower out of white card stock. Press the White & Fur/Bow & Nose and the Shift keys to cut Kitty's flower out of dark pink card stock. Press the Clothes key to cut Kitty's outfit. Cut the outfit again out of medium pink card stock. Press the Clothes and Shift keys to cut the flower stem out of olive green card stock. Assemble Kitty according to the picture in the Cricut handbook. Using a dark yellow colored pencil color Kitty's nose. Use the large purple brad for the center of the flower in Kitty's hair. Apply a small amount of Ice Stickles to the flower and let it dry. Paint the flower in Kitty's hand with purple Smooch paint and let it dry. Apply a small amount of Ice Stickles to the flower and set aside to dry. Press the gold rhinestone to the center of the purple flower.

4. Place foam dots on the back of Hello Kitty and attach her to the crimped heart. Lightly spray Kitty and the heart with Pearl Glimmer Mist and set aside to dry.

5. Assemble the Martha Stewart treat box. Fill the box with cookies and slide the red cover over the box. Tie the white sheer ribbon around the box and make a bow. Use the hot glue gun to glue the point of the crimped heart behind the bow's knot.

6. Position three fabric rose buds on the left front edge of the box top. Use the glue gun to glue the roses in place. Repeat the process to glue the roses to the right front edge of the box top. Apply a small amount of Ice Stickles around the edges of the rose petals and let them dry.

7. Punch six leaves out of olive green card stock with the Martha Stewart leaf punch. Glue three leaves under the roses on the left. Extend the front leaf slightly over the edge of the box. Glue three leaves under the roses on the right.

Night Owl Scarf

Knitted lace is beautiful but I have always been intimidated by it. The beautiful lacy patterns would inspire me but the written directions always seemed too complicated-yarn-overs, knitting through back loops and increases and decreases in the same row. I decided to give knitted lace another try. A scarf seemed like a good first project because I didn't have to worry about shaping the garment. I chose Brown Sheep Nature Spun yarn and a Vine Lace pattern. The pattern is easy to knit and works well with a worsted weight yarn. For those of you wondering about the name, I decided to name the scarf for the late nights I spent knitting it (often until 2 a.m.) rather than for the lace pattern that I used.


Mozart modeling the Night Owl scarf.


This is the actual color of the scarf.


Directions for Night Owl Scarf:

2 100 gram skeins (approximately 245 yards/224 meters per skein) of Brown Sheep Nature Spun, Alpine Violet color

Size 7 knitting needles

This scarf was knit on Addi needles using a worsted weight wool.

Gauge: 5 sts per inch on Size 7 needles in Stockinette Stitch

Finished measurements: 8 inches wide and 54 inches long before blocking.


Cast on 40 stitches.

Pattern Stitch:

Row 1: Purl
Row 2: K3, *yo, k2, ssk, k2 tog, k2, yo, k1; rep from * until one stitch left, k1.
Row 3: Purl
Row 4: K2,* yo, k2, ssk, k2 tog, k2, yo, k1; rep from * until two stitches remain, k2.

Repeat Rows 1-4 until scarf measures 54 inches. Cast off.

The end and sides of the scarf will tend to curl under during knitting but blocking will take care of this. To block the scarf lay it on an ironing board and straighten the sides and the end. Lightly steam the the scarf with a steam iron. Don't move the scarf until it is cool to the touch.

Foxy Valentine Card

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and as usual I have more ideas for projects than I have time to complete them. C'est la vie! There are several more Valentine's projects in the works and hopefully time won't run out before they are completed and ready to post.

The first of the cards is finally finished. This card was originally intended for Valentine's Day but I plan to use it for my Close-to-Valentine's Day Anniversary.




Directions for Foxy Valentine Card:

Cricut Ornamental Iron and Noah's ABC Animals cartridges
Martha Stewart Filigree Heart and tulip paper punches
DCWV Black Current Stack-patterned grey paper and pink dotted paper
Recollections Metallic Stack- silver paper
Black, rust, white, dark pink and grey card stock
Offray Black and White Dotted ribbon
Jolee's Bling adhesive pink pearls
Stickles Ice Stickles glitter glue
Adhesive clear crystals
Small pink adhesive backed rose
Scrap of green card stock to cut leaves for rose and tulip stem. Scrap of pink and white print for tulip
Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink- green apple or green metallic nail polish
Foam Dots



1. Fold the light grey card stock in half and crease along the fold.

2. Cut the grey patterned card stock to approximately 6 1/4 inches long by 5 inches wide. Next cut the black card stock 4 1/2 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches long. Cut the pink dotted card stock 4 inches wide by 5 1/4 inches long. Glue the pink dotted card stock on top of the black card stock, leaving approximately an 1/8 inch border on all sides. Attach foam dots to the back of the black card stock. Position the black/pink card stock on top of the grey patterned card stock, leaving a 1/4 inch border on all sides. Once you are happy with the placement press the black/pink card stock in place. Position the grey patterned card stock grouping about 1 1/2 inches from the top edge of the card and center it and glue in place.

3. Using the Cricut Noah's ABC Animals cartridge cut the Fox at 3 inches out of black card stock. Next press the Fox and the Shift keys and cut (Fox-s) out of white card stock. Finally press the Layer and the Fox keys and cut the fur out of rust card stock. Assemble the fox. Attach 3 clear crystals around the Fox's neck for a collar and apply a small amount of Ice Stickles to the Fox's eye lashes and nose. I used a tooth pick to apply the Stickles to the eyes and nose.

4. Load the Ornamental Iron cartridge into the Cricut machine. Cut Gate 10a at 5 inches out of silver metallic card stock. Glue the Gate to the pink dotted card stock.

5. Attach foam dots to the back of the Fox and position her near the bottom edge of the Gate, leaving a small space to the right of the Fox's feet. Press into place once you are happy with the placement.

6. Attach a pink pearl to the swirls at the top of the Gate. Next attach a small pink rose at the top center of the Gate. Cut 3 small free form leaves out of the green card stock. Don't worry if they are not perfect, leaves in nature are not perfect. Fold the leaves over an awl or other small object to give them an upward curve. Bend the tip of each leaf backward over the end of the awl. Paint the leaves with Smooch or nail polish and set aside to dry. When dry glue the leaves under the rose.

7. Punch a small tulip out of the scrap of green card stock and another tulip out of the pink and white patterned card stock. Cut the tulip flower from the stem of the pink and white card stock and glue it over the green tulip flower. Paint the tulip stem with Smooch. When the flower is dry glue it to the right of the Fox's feet.

8. Punch four hearts out of dark pink card stock using the Martha Stewart Filigree Heart paper punch. Glue a heart to each corner of the grey patterned card stock. Apply a small amount of Ice Stickles to the inside of the hearts.

9. Tie a small bow out of the black and white dotted ribbon and glue to the top center of the card.

Easy Knitted Scarf

This scarf is was knitted with Blick Fang a boucle merino wool yarn. I was instantly attracted to the variegated colors of the yarn and decided that it would make a nice warm scarf. Although I dislike knitting in garter stitch (knitting every row) it was the only stitch that showcased the boucle texture of the yarn. The pattern is beginner friendly and knits up quickly on size 9 needles.


Here's the finished scarf. It's quickly becoming my favorite scarf. The colors go with almost anything and it's soft and warm. It was cold and windy the day this picture was taken so I wrapped the scarf twice around my neck and tied it for extra warmth.


Mozart is modeling a more detailed view of the scarf.


Knitted Boucle Scarf Pattern;

2 100 gram hanks of Zitron Blick Fang color 800 (Traumwelt)
Size 9 knitting needles. I used Denise needles.

The finished scarf is approximately 68 inches long.
Gauge: 4 sts. per on Size 9 needles

1. Cast on 30 stitches.

2. Knit every row until you have used both skeins of yarn.

3. Cast off and weave in the loose ends.


* Please note that if you wish to substitute another boucle yarn that you need the same gauge and 300 meters of the substitute.

* Zitro Blick Fang is available from the Knitter's Nest 410-549-0709.

Robot Valentine's Day Card

I have so many projects going on that I have had little time to spend with my Cricut. Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and it's the perfect time to fire up the Cricut. I love making my own Valentine's Day cards because I am not limited to the design and message printed on a commercial card. Valentine's Day is the perfect opportunity to unleash your creativity! I wanted to do something different so I used the Robotz cartridge.




Close up of Robot

I always keep a lot of embellishments on hand for my projects. Embellishments can be expensive so look for sales and check the clearance aisles regularly and then stock up. After I cut the robot out, I grabbed several embellishments and laid them on my desk. I started laying them on the card until I had the design that I wanted.

Brittany recently asked how do I go about designing a card? The first thing that I do is to start with an idea of the main design element. Since I use Cricut cartridges to make most of my cards I usually decide on the image that I want to use and work from there. After I decide on an image the next thing is to determine the color scheme. For the Valentine's Day card we chose pink with grey accents. The next step is to have fun with the embellishments-place them on the card to see what works and what doesn't. Above all don't glue anything down until you are sure that this is finished design. I usually complete the design, leave it on my desk and walk away for awhile. When I return if I feel that the design doesn't need any changes then I glue the elements in place to complete the card.

Directions for Robot Valentine's Day Card:

Cricut Robotz cartridge
Cricut Paper Pups cartridge
White, light grey, black, light pink and medium pink card stock
Pink heart print card stock
Wilton heart shaped paper lace doily
Large pink self adhesive pearls
Recollections large white pearls
Stickles Ice stickles and platinum glitter glue
2 small black beads
Martha Stewart pink micro beads
Pink and white dotted sheer ribbon
Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist
Glue
Foam dots
Clear nail polish

1. Print the Valentine greeting using a card program and the half fold option on white card stock. Fold the card in half and crease along the fold.

2. Load the Cricut Robotz cartridge into the Cricut machine and cut Robot 10 at 3 1/2 inches out of medium pink card stock. Cut Robot base out of light grey card stock and Robot 10-s out of black card stock. Press the shift and layer keys to cut the eyes out of white card stock. Assemble the Robot. Spray the Robot lightly with Pearl Glimmer Mist and set aside to dry.

3. Cut the pink heart print card stock 4 1/2 inches long by 4 1/4 inches wide.

4. Glue the heart shaped doily to the center of the pink heart print card stock.

5. Attach the Robot to the center of the doily with foam dots.

6. Position the pink heart print card stock with the Robot about 2 1/2 inches from the top of the card, making sure that it is centered. Attach a pink self adhesive pearl to each corner of the pink heart print card stock.

7. Place a white self adhesive pearl over each of the wheels.

8. Load the Paper Pups cartridge into the Cricut machine. Select the Love Dog image. Press the dog and shift to cut the heart. Cut 2 hearts out of light pink card stock at 1 1/2 inches. Glue the open heart to the right and left of the Valentine's greeting. Apply Ice Stickles glitter glue to the hearts and set aside to dry.

9. Glue a small black bead to the center of the Robot's eyes. Apply Platinum Stickles to the Robot's left antennae.

10. Apply glue to the heart shape from the center of the open heart and cover it with Martha Stewart pink micro beads. Shake off the excess beads and cover the heart with clear nail polish to seal it. When the heart is dry attach it to the Robot with a foam dot.

11. Tie a small bow using the pink and white dotted sheer ribbon, center the bow just below the pink heart print card stock and glue in place.

Miss Meow

I love painting and I love animals, so naturally most of my paintings are of animals. After Christmas Denis asked if I would consider painting a portrait of his cat? My response was an enthusiastic yes. I love painting and look for any opportunity to while away hours in my studio working on my next artistic creation. Denis e-mailed me a photo of Miss Meow and I couldn't wait to get started.

As an artist I don't limit myself to working only in one medium. Although my favorite medium is acrylic paints on canvas, I would quickly tire of painting all my portraits in acrylic. I prefer to let my subject dictate the media and Miss Meow was no exception. She is a beautiful black cat with smokey highlights. Her black fur has a velvety sheen. Oil pastels seemed like the perfect choice because the smokey highlights could easily be blended into the black fur. The oil pastels would also give the cat's fur a velvety sheen and softness.



I just finished the portrait and couldn't wait to photograph it. I used a temporary frame lying around my studio to photograph the painting.


I would like to thank Denis for entrusting me to paint a portrait of Miss Meow. She is truly a beautiful cat and was an interesting subject to paint.