Category Archives: homemade

My journey in resin art continues

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Keeping Creative

As a way to stay mentally challenged from the other side of my brain – I started to learn how to use epoxy-resin as resin-art.

A lot of this was inspired as a new way for me to use more of the old jewelry pieces I used for the 2019 Holiday Trees and 2018’s Planner Keepers and Bookmarks when I was given a box of old jewelry to do something with. So since then I keep trying new ways to use up the “broken and unloved baubles & beads” as more people donate them to me to give them a new life as gifts for others.

I first started with pouring and casting coasters to get a feel for the process (and yes they will most likely show up somewhere come December for gifts). It was an interesting process needing to pay attention to the temperature in the room and bubbles etc. from Coasters I branched out to more art-themed pieces with some multidimensional art with some practice pieces using an owl mold filled with pebbles for feathers.

This week I wanted to begin to use up some leftover resin before we close up and head back east in a few weeks at the end of the month.

That means going back into the “gaudy baubles & beads” box for some finishing touches to a series of bookmarks for those that still read actual physical books.

For the background in how I reuse old previously loved, broken and vintage jewelry and the gaudy baubles box visit: https://bitetheroad.com/dec2019recap/

This is to me testing my creative side during COViD19.

I decided to see how free form resin pours would come out with an eye towards making a vase/candy dish/trinket bowl type thingy. Definite lessons learned but for my first try, it’s not awful. The with the surplus resin I did a series of bookmarks

December 2019 recap

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Well its that time of January, when I am finally back on track and catching up on all the delays, vacation emails from folks. The majority of the holiday decor is down and we are settling into more rain here in the Bay Area. Below is a visual recap of some of the highlights.

Homemade gifts

This year I went back into my craft pile and decided I was going to use more of the surplus old jewelry pieces I use of when I made the Planner Keepers and Book Jewels in 2018. While I had initially thought I would do ornaments, I somehow got my vision shifted and ended up making decorative pinecones “globes”. While a bitch to ship, I am happy to say all but two arrive in tack and I even have a few extra still around to give as gifts or sell. The only “new” as in pre-owned that I needed to purchase to make these were the vases that got used as the globe parts. With each one taking about 2 days plus dry time. Needless to say, a few folks got them late. A couple of folks were all “you should sell them”. And I’m like and what, call them “Gaudy Baubles”? Hey.. that could work too.

While a lot of work – it was pretty cool to see the progress. Even if the house was covered in glitter snow.

The rest of December was pretty casual. No big party this year did a super casual last-minute potluck with a few pals. I managed to back a few treats while Paul recovered from some dental work. Scored a great find at Salvation Army with a 5 foot “Santa” which didn’t get added into the decorations but it was a pretty damp holiday.  Did try out two new cake recipes which were hits as well as some fun vintage ornaments I scored.  then a great dinner at our favorite steakhouse for New Year’s Eve. So overall a good way to wrap up 2020

 

Big food “doings” last week

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Its that time of the year…

But I opted to keep this year low key for TDay. No travel, no company or open house. Just Paul, the pup and me. Have to be honest, it was pretty nice.

– Got some walks in

– Rearranged living room

– Tree up

– Saw two movies including Knives Out,

– Made one chocolate pecan pie,

– Played around with a sweet potato and pecan  cake,

– Cooked an easy turkey dinner for two (on Friday) and leftovers for sandwiches and sweet potato Shepard’s pie.

– Had time with the boys

– Got some crafting organized for this years holiday gifts

 

– Read a bunch of books, watched some Hallmark and Scifi to keep them balanced.

– Got my vintage, homemade diorama up in one piece

– Now Monday,  I starting thinking about cookies. From last years group 2018 or do I redo ones from some of my previous favorites... so many options.

 

 

 

Pizzagaina vs Ham Pie.. it’s all good

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Its spring and that means its time for me to make the Pizzagaina or “Meat Pie”.

Which in itself is no small task. It takes planning, shopping and lots of prep. I wrote about this in the past here.

So last night after work and while doing some recording, I started the baking the batches. I had already prepped the meat and cheese earlier in the week and did the dough the night before.

Now, this isn’t your standard hand pie. This is the Italian older cousin. It’s dense, rich with eggs and cheese and full of dried and cured meats. Think “cheesecake meets quiche” but without the jiggle.  You will hear this called by many names from including; Easter Ham Pie, Pizzagaina, Pizza Rustica but they all mean essentially the same thing.

I have several versions but as I’ve written before this is my favorite basic version recipe. You should feel free to swap out the meats for what you can find locally to you. I also started to try out doing them as mini loaves as they freeze and are great house gifts for pals

 

It was a book club that Sunday and I went big

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Because book club discussions aren’t always just about talk.

Our monthly book club is also about what foods we bring; what reading the book inspires us to bring and share. Many of us choose to find a way to bring an authentic or reinterpreted version of something mentioned in the book or from the time period.

Since this month we read David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. 

My take on the book was positive as a read. Finding it a well-balanced collection of research and storytelling that manages to remind the reader of the historical narrative of racism and white privilege at the heart of so many of this countries moments. But the subject did give me several layers of emotions.

But back to the food

I opted for a Bourbon Pecan Cornmeal cake with an edible gingerbread oil rig and chocolate “oil”. My unique challenge was that I have never made a gingerbread oil rig or any structure before. So choosing the right recipe and the structural challenges were quite the experience. But in the end, it all worked out.

I won’t even mention the stress of moving it in two parts then topping the cake with its “rig” caused.

The cake itself was great.

I liked to cornmeal texture with the nuts. It is one I would remake. The recipe for the cake was from http://eclecticrecipes.com and used walnuts, but I had pecans laying around begging to be used.

From Writing to Reading to Cooking to Hiking…

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And the weekend begins…

While it wasn’t intended to be this weekend ended up a full one. With several creative writing activities in the process, including new edits to the TedXProvincetown script due next week, a big meeting on Tuesday to prep for. I also have our monthly book club and trying to get some time to get Paul out and about while the weather was nice.

What to do on a day off?

Part of the reason I like book club is the research behind the books. So for me, a “Food Lab” is an essential part of the reading.  This month’s read was the prompt for a few vintage themed recipes to go with the book “As Meat Loves Salt”.

As a “just in case,” I also figured I would do my take on a parfait with Honey Citrus Ricotta & Marscapone cheeses layered with simmered honey citrus blueberry and strawberries. These would be perfect or as toppings for either of the other two dishes in case the dishes failed or were too dry (and I happened to have the fruit handy), so they were the first to get made so they could set up overnight.

 

In keeping with the Great Britian/16th-century theme,  I found a great cookbook well while at the bookstore over at Fort Mason that had 16th and 17th-century English recipes reinterpreted.

One of several that caught my eye included a Sour Cream Spice cake.  Originally intended for raisins,  I did switch them out for dried cherries but it was the only “change” I made. I found a typo in the recipe that confused cardamon and cinnamon, so I opted with cinnamon.

The Review:

Folks liked it. Super dense and moist, with a subtle spice taste. The batter is thick and must be over the size bundt pan I have so as with some older recipes I already do with. Next time I would only use 2/3 of the batter. It was too full and would have meant a much longer bake and be super dry. As it was this still was a little moister towards the inner ring. On Sunday, I toasted it for breakfast and really liked how that tasted with some salted butter on it.

 

The other dish was an Apple Noodle Pudding aa s backup if the cake was dry or didn’t come out. This version of a “pudding” uses egg noodles, apples, and dried cherries as its base with butter and sugar and flour. Once cooled, all it needed was a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

The Review:

Well, let’s just say – the bowl came back not only empty but CLEAN! I definitely will make this again and experiment with different flavors combinations. I am thinking rosemary and pear next time.

As luck would have it all of them came out quite good but ya gotta love those “Plan B’s” .

Sunday was a casual day with me in my head drafting, so Paul and I took Dino up to walk around Buena Vista Park.

Once we hadn’t done in way too many years before heading home for some downtime and before I grilled up some dinner and was back at it.

 

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Bringing Easter in with old favorites and a new fav of Vietnamese Coffee Cake

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I got big Easter reviews at home today from the patient!

This is the text that I got while in the office, after prepping for this afternoons dinner and making sure that Paul got his coffee and Easter Ham Pie.

“The House of Dino has done it again. Chef Frank and sous-chef de cuisine, Shadow, have brought an Italian tradition into the 21st century. Their Easter Ham Pie is moist, salty, and creamy. All your favorite breakfast foods… eggs, bacon, ham…rolled up into one beautiful pie. Served warm or cold, it simply melts in your mouth. The crispy flaky crust holds the magic together. Just like your Italian grandmother made…only better.  Well done, boys!

Later today we planned a very last minute meal with just a few pals doing a potluck. But since we had a ham a few weeks ago, I decided to go super simple with some baked ricotta & herb shells, meatballs, grilled sausages, and peppers.

Then as a surprise to Paul who has been out of the action of late. I test baked one of the recipes from the October 2017 edition of Milk Street magazine for Vietnamese Coffee Cake with Espresso Cream. 

Overall a nice easy day with enough leftover for Monday and some treats the rest of the week.

 

 

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Its time for Easter Ham Pie aka Pizza Gaina

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This years first batch of Italian “ham” pie aka “Pizza Gaina”is cooling. It’s a family favorite dish I have only been making for a few years, starting when my Mom stopped mailing me hers each year!

But with way to much happening here at home, it was to much to do the big batch for now. I am thinking this will work for now and get us through the holidays and then I can make a few more later this week.

See last years post on the recipe here (https://bitetheroad.com/easter-ham-pie-aka-pizza-gaina/

The Power of Home Crafted Vanilla2.0

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For You More Creative Types, Make Your Own Vanilla2.0

Yup – that’s right. Well, I goofed this week – I had intended to let had my guest post from Anna go live first, but some of you might have gotten a sneak preview of this one when the “now” feature got clicked. In either case, you can read Anna’s post  “Know Your Extracts: Sniffing out the Best Vanilla for Your Baking” once it goes live late this week, then perhaps you will be inspired to go on to the next step and try making your own version of Vanilla2.0

Vanilla is one of those elements in baking that you either love or don’t. Somewhat like using good quality Tumeric is in cooking. I got started on this road myself after watching some of the baking shows on TV that were using Vanilla Bean Paste which I hadn’t seen before. After visiting the blog Superfoodly.com which had posted a December piece “The Scandal Between Vanilla Bean Paste vs. Vanilla Extract” .and served as a good place to start (I didn’t necessarily agree with everything – they shared some great content on the post).  I started following links, speaking with other folks who do more baking and came across the whole movement of making your own Vanilla Extract.

Several great recipes are available online for making your own home inspired version of vanilla extract. But to make a good quality one, you need time and the right beans. It isn’t something you want to rush. In fact, if you get them started now. They will make great Holiday gifts this season.

Choosing which beans you want to use also takes some research. Areas to take note of include the grade of bean, the type of bean, the age of them and the source ( they can be expensive) and what liquid you intend to use to extract the flavor (a variety of options exist based on flavor or non-alcohol needs).

My next plan

I will be starting a batch in April in fact with ” Tahitian Grade B beans but I also like the Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans (Vanilla Planifolia so may make some comparison batches. A few of the online sites that offer recipes for making your own, including purchasing recommendations include: 

Once you get ready to start making your own here are a few things you will need to have on hand.

If you are like me and tend to be more creative, plan early:

  • You will need the beans; that means deciding on the grade of the bean and the ration of beans to the liquid mix; I saw lots of variations on this from 1 whole vanilla bean for every 2 liquid ounces of alcohol. I think to keep it simple I may start with a 1:1 ratio as in 1 bean to each ounce of liquid (then depending on the jar size might top off)
  • Extracting liquid; lots of options for this the most common include Bourbon, Rum, Brandy, and Vodka. The key factor is the liquid has to be greater than 70% proof
  • Bottles/Jars; You will need to decide if you are making a large batch then decant into smaller ones or just go right to the smaller ones. I think I will be hitting the swap and flea markets for vintage and unusual decanters to use as gifts. One common theme I heard was to avoid clear jars (or keep stored in a dark place) and my preference to stay away from plastics. As a back up I found 4 ounce Amber jars on Amazon that I may order to have on hand for “extra” last minute needs.
  • Labels: start thinking what size you will need and how you plan to label them if you are gifting them

Note: this post has some affiliate links to Amazon

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