Etsy Shop Spotlights!

I have been working on some products to put into my Etsy store the past few weeks, but thought that I would start spotlighting some Etsy shops and their products!  There are SO many cool things listed on Etsy...so many that you just can't get to them all!  I really want to start spotlighing shops for the holiday season....soooooo if you have an Etsy shop or know someone that does , send them over.  I will feature their products and promote their store here. 



Photo Prop Saturday

Surprised!? I know!  I usually don"t post on  Saturdays but since today is an extra rainy day in my city and I will be staying in ALL DAY! I figured I'd work on some photo props that I will be selling in my Etsy store.  So stay tuned today for updates and pics of some of the stuff I am putting in my shop. If you need bows or baby hats for holiday photos make sure to check my store out frequently...I will be adding quite a few things in the weeks to come!



They Fried WHAT?



It's that time again....time for the State Fair of Texas! Anyone who has ever been to the State Fair knows all about the fried everything that they serve there.  The contest is considered a friendly food fight among Fair concessionaires. Entries must be new to the Fair, unique and taste-tempting. In mid-summer, an invitation is sent to all contracted State Fair vendors with details about the contest. Interested concessionaires submit menus to a committee for review and consideration. Often the committee will request samples for taste testing before choosing the finalists for the contest. On Labor Day, judges are brought in for the final round of competition. The winner for most creative in this year's contest went to Fried Beer™ while Texas Fried FRITOS® Pie won the trophy for best taste. Come on now, Fried Beer????...they have gone too far this year! LOL and they have ruined my beloved frito pie....how the heck did they fry it!  I will try my best to find these things and take a picture of them although you can rest assure that I will not be eating all of them, especially the fried caviar! LOL  Check out these entries this year!



2010 Big Tex Choice Awards

Texas Fried FRITOS® Pie – A generous portion of savory Texas born chili accented with a hint of sharp cheddar encased in everybody’s favorite corn chip. Lightly battered and fried to a golden brown perfection. With its smooth medley of hot, meaty, crunchy, salty, cheesy, oozing goodness; “Texas Fried FRITOS® Pie” transports you back to the golden age of Fair Food. Bert’s Burgers & Fries stand in Cotton Bowl Plaza, near the entrance to the Midway. Winner of Best Taste.

Fried Beer™ - Beer-filled pretzel pocket is deep-fried to a golden brown. One bite and the escaping beer serves as a dipping sauce. 21 and over, ID required. Concessionaire contact: Belgian Waffle at the of the Esplanade and inside the Coca Cola Food Court. Winner of Most Creative.

Deep Fried S’mores Pop• Tart® – Pop• Tart® with a sensational chocolate, peanut butter, s’mores flavor is lightly battered & deep fried. Hot out of the fryer the sinfully diet-busting treat is drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream. Taste of Cuba in Cotton Bowl Plaza.

Deep Fried Frozen Margarita - Sweet & creamy funnel cake batter is deliciously coupled with margarita ingredients. Fried, dusted with a tangy lemon/lime mixture and lightly spritzed with south of the border flavor, it’s served in a salt rimmed glass. 21 and over, ID required. Desperados stand on Nimitz Drive, near the entrance to Creative Arts.

Fernie’s Fried Club Salad – Super colossal 12” spinach wrap surrounds generous layers of juicy diced ham & chicken, shredded iceberg, crunchy carrot strips, ripe cherry tomatoes, shredded sharp cheddar and hickory smoked bacon (see photo above). Deep fried until lightly crispy; topped with deep-fried sour dough croutons on a stick & served on a bed of shredded romaine lettuce. Choice of creamy Ranch, Thousand Island or Caesar dressing. The Dock Restaurant, inside the Embarcadero Building.

Fried Chocolate – A white chocolate mini candy bar + a cherry are stuffed into a mouth-watering brownie, dipped into delicious chocolate cake batter & deep fried to perfection. The finished product has a warm just-out-of-the-oven taste! Topped with powdered sugar and a rich cherry sauce and served with chocolate flavored whip cream. Nimitz Drive and on Funway inside the Midway.

Fried Lemonade – Lemon flavored pastry is made from Country Time® lemonade. First baked, then fried, this taste tempting treat is glazed with a mix of lemonade, powdered sugar, and lemon zest. Concessionaire contact: Chicken on a Stick stand located on Nimitz Drive, near the entrance to the Embarcadero.

Fried Texas Caviar – Texas version of a southern good luck staple. Black-eyed peas are fried and laced with special spices blended with Old Bay® Seasoning and are available in regular or spicy. Find them in Cotton Bowl Plaza (next to Cotton Bowl steps), inside the Auto Building, near Big Tex & on the Thrillway.

Does your state have a State Fair?  And if so, do they have any crazy foods?  Share!

Fall Fav...Slow Cooker Hearty Beef Chili

I get emails from Kraft Foods all the time with some pretty great recipes...here's one I got today for chili you can make in the crockpot!  Very simple and extra yummy!



What You Need


1-1/2 lb. Lean ground beef

1 can (16 oz.) no-salt added tomato sauce

1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans, rinsed

1 can (15 oz.) light red kidney beans, rinsed

1-1/2 cups TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Mild Salsa

1 cup Frozen corn, thawed, drained

1 Onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. Chili powder

1 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese

Make It

BROWN meat; drain. Add to slow cooker with remaining ingredients except cheese; stir. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW 5 to 6 hours (or on HIGH 3 to 4 hours).

STIR just before serving. Serve topped with the cheese.

Do you Vlog?

I'm baaaack!  Sorry I've been MIA for a few days but I am working on a new project that is set to come out in January 2011!  I'm excited about this new venture and wanted to take a poll of my Cre8tive Mocha readers.  Do you Vlog? And if so about what?  Cooking, crafting, home improvement projects?  I like to say that I vlog "my reality".  In the months to come, I will be asking for more feedback as well as videos that you have shot of your everyday "reality".  I am using a Flip camera like this one at the moment

But hoping to move on to the newest version the Flip Slide by December.



So stay tuned my readers and keep vlogging...I will be looking for "your reality" in the days to come.



Fake Out Knitting

I am pretty crafty and have learned to do A LOT of things in my crafting days, but never have a learned to knit with needles.  I played around with crocheting a bit (made a million pot holders, LOL)  but no knitting.  UNTIL Now!  I am always looking for an "easy" way to do things, seeing as I don't always have enough time to do all the things I want.  So when I came across the Knifty Knitter about a year ago, I was excited. This was my chance to look like I could REALLY knit!  I used it a bit but not extensively, then it went into the craft stash...until this weekend.  Look at these cute baby hats I made. What do ya think?  These came out so good I may actually sell them in my Etsy store.

30 Days of Christmas Project

HOLIDAY SPOTLIGHT

“30 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS”

I know, I know its 12 days but Cre8tive Mocha is shaking it up this holiday season and featuring 30 different designers/stores/products for the month of November. Cre8tive Mocha is on the hunt for new products to share with our readers who are mostly mom’s and their families. Submissions require a non-returnable sample since readers must know we've tried and loved everything we promote. If you would like for us to do a giveaway (optional), a 2nd sample is required to be shipped directly to the winner of the contest.

***** If you have products or know someone who does that might be interested in getting their product out to the Cre8tive Mocha readers, please have them contact me at cre8tivemocha@gmail.com*****

NOTE: All items that we use for the “review” process will be donated to a local women’s shelter once the review is posted. We have some very beautiful products coming our way for review but we just can’t keep them so we will donate them . They will be very much appreciated! So know that your items are going to a very good cause! Thank you!

Just a sweet pic to start getting everyone in the holiday mood!

Buttermilk Pound Cake

I was kind of bored Sunday night and started looking around for something for me and the mini me to do...maybe a craft or cooking. As I looked through the fridge I noticed that I had some buttermilk left over from the red velvet cake I made for the 50th Party (see a few posts down) that was going to expire in a few days.  I had a taste for something sweet and decided on a cake.  If you've never baked with buttermilk you should try it.  The cake is SO moist, it melts in your mouth.  Well here's what came of my spur of the moment baking!  The recipe is below, try it out and tell me what you think.

didn't let it cool long enough, so it was kind of stuck to the pan!  But tasted YUMMY anyway!


Ingredients


3 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter 3 cups white sugar 6 eggs 1 teaspoon lemon extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup buttermilk

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan. Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar. Mix in the eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lemon and the vanilla extracts. Gently mix in flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 90 minutes. Do not open oven door until after one hour. When cake begins to pull away from the side of the pan it is done. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Chocolate Tree

Tell me these are not the cutest things you have ever seen?! Check these out and the tutorial at Crazy Delicious Food.  Guess I will be adding this to my Fall "list o' stuff" to make!  If anyone makes these before me, send me a pic and I will post it here!

{FEATURE} Before & After

I love old furniture that looks like it is on its way to the trash and then is magically transformed by a crafty crafter!  Check out the table re-do by Denyse over at truly scrumptious  Gre8t job!

BEFORE

AFTER

Autumn Fun

I have been looking for some cool places to take pictures of of DD this fall and not sure why I have never been to the Dallas Arboretum in the fall time ( I won't tell you how long I have been in DFW) but anyway... take a look at this...They call this Autumn at the Arboretum - The Great Pumpkin Festival

There are over 40,000 pumpkins and gourds out here!
September 18 - November 14

So if you're in the DFW area and looking for a great place for Fall pics, you might try the Arboretum!  Maybe you'll see me there!

Chicken & Dumplings

With Summer ending and Fall fast approchaing I thought it would be good to get out some Fall recipes.  Here is a great recipe for Chicken & Dumplings from Raunya

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind: the first 2 carrots are added for flavor, you want to take those out because they will be mush if you leave them in the soup. The butter added at the end, adds salt, if you use unsalted butter you may want to add more salt, although I suggest using salted butter. Do not add the cream while it is boiling, it will curdle and be Gross. Please use breasts with bones and skin; it adds to the flavor in the soup, we only eat white meat, if you like dark meat feel free to use legs or thighs instead of or in addition to the breasts. This takes about an hour to make but it is worth it and pretty simple.


1 lb of chicken breasts with bones and skin (this is about 3)

1 small chopped onion

1 chopped bell pepper

3 stalks of celery, chopped

½ clove of garlic, minced

4 carrots

1 pack of refrigerated biscuit dough (10 count, do not get Grand’s or large biscuits)

½ cup of heavy cream

½ stick of salted butter, cut in small pieces

3 to 4 sprigs of fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste, do not over salt, (the soup will be salted later with the butter)

Boil the chicken breasts in 6 cups of water, with the onion, bell pepper, garlic, celery and 2 carrots. Chop the remaining 2 carrots in bite sized pieces and set aside. Once chicken has boiled, 30-45 minutes, remove from stock along with whole carrots. Remove skin from breasts and discard. Then remove meat from bones and tear or cut into bite sized pieces. Add chicken and chopped carrots back to stock. Bring to a low boil. Cut biscuits into 6 pieces each and roll in hands. Make sure you add them all at the same time. Keep this on a low boil/simmer for 30 minutes. The stock will thicken a bit. Turn the heat off, add the butter and stir. When the soup is no longer boiling add in heavy cream and parsley. Stir well and serve hot!

Real Party - Surprise 50th Birthday Party

Here are just a few pics from the party I just finished!  It was great and the guest of honor was VERY surprised! He had no idea we had been sneaking around for weeks behind his back planning this party!

Table Poms - Centerpieces