Last Weekend I Gave You My Heart

Last Valentine's Day was pretty different in lots of ways.  Not making pretty pink soap this year, but been busy spreading the love.  A wise blogger advised me to not make my posts too long, but, well, consider this warning now!  It all started last weekend.

[copyright Amy Mitten]

After I made Rachael early morning brownies for her birthday we went out to support Emergency Service for the release of their very 1st music video: Feel Your Love.

Then it was time to get cooking for my Aunt Liz's birthday.  I posted a prep shot here cause I was overwhelmed by all the ingredients, but I was getting help from Bon Appetit, Ina, Giada and Peggy Fallon.

First I ironed a heart onto my apron with double-sided fusible.

Then tackled Broccoli Rabe with Pignoli: Giada's recipe called for raisins, but I found a dried cranberry cherry mix instead.

And browned onions for Peggy Fallon's Caramelized Onion Dip.

Trying to slice carrots into a "medium dice" for The Barefoot Contessa's Chicken Stew with Parsley Biscuits wasn't as hard as finding frozen baby onions (had to go to 3 stores).

And I used to have a rolling pin or 2, but couldn't find either one, so used a bottle to roll out the biscuits, probably like my Italian grandmother used to do.

I tried to stay organized.

And Mila tried helping, but...

I had to frost the cake myself too.

Everything seemed to take forever, but at last it was all done, including Giada's Lemon Spaghetti, and my Mom brought Ina's Roasted Winter Vegetables.

And still there was more to do: valentines for Etsy's Share Your Love.

and for family and friends

all sealed with love.

Then today on to a Valentine's Eve Menu from Martha Stewart and James Villas.

Had to use the 5 major V-day Food Groups: bacon, butter, cheese, chocolate and cream!

And made Swiss Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Gruyere Cheese from The Bacon Cookbook.  Seriously, is there a title that can make you happier than that?

And Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes.

Good thing I got some movies to watch too.

I'm overdue for drawing the winner for my 100th Post Giveaway, thanks to everyone for entering and Happy Valentine's Day!

Share Your (card-making) Love

After surviving cooking and baking for my 1st party since 2007 I had one more good deed to do.  Please join Etsy's Special Delivery project and make some valentines for City-Meals-on-Wheels!

You have one more day to join up: cards must be received by this Wednesday, so that means they must be mailed by tomorrow.  

You can also join the Flickr group here.

And for more cards, there's one more week to join my 100th Post Giveaway.  

Have a lovely Valentine's Day Prep week!

Bunny, Bear, Brownies and a Special Project

Happy Chinese New Year!  It's the year of the Bunny and Melinda the Build-A-Bear is all dressed up to celebrate with this little rabbit from Pearl River.

And with Belly, my friend Rachael's bunny: here she is after feasting on the holiday card I gave her this year.  She was too cute for us to be upset about it!

And speaking of Rachael I made her some birthday brownies this morning at 6:45 a.m.!  If you know me you know I'm not into mornings, so now you know how much I like Rachael.  My thoughtful friend Jenny had ordered me a subscription to Bon Appétit and on the cover this month:

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts from the amazing Alice Medrich.  Her newest book has the best title ever: Chewy Gooey Crisp Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies.  So, I got prepped cause I love my 10-piece glass bowl set from Williams-Sonoma for my mise-en-place.

You start by melting the butter and then watching it foam until it starts to brown.

and when you mix in some wet and dry ingredients it starts bubbling quite a bit -- kinda scary!  Then it's looking like regular brownie mix.

And adding eggs makes it all silky.

Mila was very curious about the whole process, but then waited patiently while they baked in the oven.

And I wish I'd gotten a better picture, but we were trying to surprise Rachael in the sunny conference room -- what a nice, warm day it was today for a change!

I have another birthday to get ready for this week with another Alice Medrich recipe, so more on that soon.  In the meantime, I found out about this awesome project from Claire at blah to TADA!.  Etsy is sponsoring another year of their Special Delivery "craftivism": Share Your Love 2011.

You can make greeting cards to be distributed by Citymeals-on-Wheels for Valentine's Day.  I love this idea and bought some supplies today.  And I love the knit heart on Etsy's link since I made some last year.

You have less than a week to join in -- cards must arrive at Etsy HQ in Brooklyn by February 9th (next Wednesday).  Happy card making and Valentine's-prepping!

100th Post Giveaway! (& my newest follower)

This is my 100th Post on Craftiness NOW!  

To celebrate I'm doing my 2nd giveaway: 12 greeting cards of all seasons made with Martha Stewart craft punches 

in hearts, flowers, leaves and snowflakes.  

My 1st giveaway was knit sushi for kitties, and speaking of kitties...meet Mila!

She's now the official blog mascot.  Strangely enough I just redecorated my bedroom in grey and then she came along and matches it quite well.

But back to the giveaway: the 3 heart cards say:

1) happy valentine's day (inside: to my one and only)

2) you & me (inside: meant to be) 

3) love to love you

The 3 snowflake cards say:

1) happy holidays

2) merry christmas to you

3) happy first snow to you (inside: and many more)

And...oh...uh oh, kitten card bowling, excuse me a minute...

Apparently if she's the center of attention she'll allow the photo session to continue.

Although she's thinking about knocking them all over again...I think...

Ahem...anyway, the 3 flower cards say:

1) miss you

2) happy birthday (inside: to you!)

3) happy day to you (inside: from me)

And the 3 leaf cards say:

1) i'm falling in love (inside: with you)

2) give thanks (inside: today & always)

3) thank you (inside: for all that you do)

And each card is stamped on the back with my new logo!  

Don't eat it, Mila...

OK, there's a better shot -- the stamp is from RubberStamps.net, highly recommended!

After the busy photo shoot she fell asleep, so now I can explain the giveaway:

1 entry will be given for each of the following:

- leave a comment with a favorite or unusual holiday you celebrate

- leave a (separate) comment with a crafty event coming up

- leave a(nother) comment with a great craft supply source

- be a blog follower

- follow me on Twitter

- like the Craftiness NOW Facebook page

The winner will be chosen at midnight 

on Monday, February 14th, Valentine's Day!  

Good luck and thanks for making Mila feel at home here :-)

Crafty Holiday Prep 2010

[from Martha Stewart Living]

One week to Thanksgiving!  Once again, Martha Stewart Living is having a Holiday Craft Sale, this year on Saturday, December 4th.  I really enjoyed it last year, so I'll sure be going again.  And I can't wait to get their December issue packed with exciting, new projects: ornaments made from strings of sequins?  Yes, please.

Amy Atlas has a very pretty Thanksgiving Crafty Round-up.  I want even just a few more days to do all of these.

I want to make this sweet, little knit pumpkin I saw over on FlowerPot Designs.  How many can I make by next week?!

I'd also love to have these felt oak-leaf bowls from Martha Stewart on my Thanksgiving table.  And how cute are these paper pilgrim hats?

It isn't too early for holiday gift project plans.  Over on the purl bee are ideas to get you started on your knitting and sewing: they have the most gorgeous fabrics and luxurious yarns, a lovely way to make your projects even more special.

Great array of holiday gift tutorials over at Sew, Mama, Sew with categories for Hipsters, Pet Lovers, Foodies and more.

Paper Source has fun holiday card kits.  Looking forward to visiting the new Brooklyn location with Koru Kate!

And lots of holiday decor patterns over at Lion Brand Yarn.  If you're in the NYC area don't miss visiting their beautiful studio.

Those are just a few for now, and this year I want to get back to things I haven't done in years:

1) get a real Christmas tree
2) make a gingerbread house
3) send holiday cards
4) actually cook something
5) have a party
6) go see The Nutcracker
7) and finish a few gifts I've started on already, shhh...

Happy holiday planning!