Binkies and Briefcases

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Free Canvas Photos

By: Stephanie2 Comments

I’m soooo excited about this deal I just had to share it with you. I’m not being compensated by this company, I just think it’s awesome.

Canvas People are giving away a FREE 8×10 canvas print of your photos. If you’ve ever priced these things you know they can easily run $100.

I ordered 4. That kind of feels like cheating, but there is no limit posted on their website and they let me do it, so I’m assuming it’s cool with them. Just close the browser and go back to the website each time to place a new order. You will have to pay a separate $15 each time for shipping, and even though that’s a little pricey for shipping it’s way cheaper than any other deal you’ll find on these.

I upgraded the first one to an 11×14 for $9.99. The second time around I realized that if you tell them you want an 8×10 and then continue with the order a little pop-up screen will offer you the upgrade at an even cheaper price. So the second one I upgraded for $6.99. (After that the pop-up screen didn’t come up any more)

They also charge for black and white and sepia, but I was able to do that myself in Picnik. Is that cheating too? I don’t know, but what I do know is that I was able to steal this picture from our friend’s Facebook page

and enlarge it in Picnik (You have to enlarge it because the regular resolution if a facebook photo isn’t good enough to be transferred to the canvas. In Picnik go to edit, resize, then type 1200 in the first box, then it will be large enough for the 8×10 and 11×11 sizes. Just be careful not to enlarge it too much or it will start to get distorted.) and turn it into this

which I think is going to make a great housewarming gift as a canvas now that their house is finished and they’re moving in next week. (I don’t think they read my blog, but if they do…SURPRISE!)

I also turned this picture of my sister with Nicholas

Into this, which I think is going to make some awesome personalized artwork that’s (I hope) hip enough for my trendy little sis once it’s on canvas. Her birthday is in a few weeks and I think she will LOVE this. (and I know she doesn’t read my blog, so no worries there)

You simply must get in on this!

**You do need to make sure that the faces aren’t too close to the edge because the sides will wrap around the canvas. It will show you exactly how much will be cut off once you upload your photo to the website. **

Maryland Crab Cakes

By: Stephaniecomment

I’m participating in Share a Meal Monday except I forgot to do it yesterday, so now I’m late for the party, sorry. 🙁

Anyway, we are originally from Maryland, and while we have loved having the opportunity to live in and travel to other states the truth is that nobody does seafood like our home state. Not even the Seafood on our honeymoon to Nassau in the Bahamas was as good, sorry Sandals. (I still love your white chocolate cookies, though.)

So here is my ode to Maryland for SAMM: Maryland Crab Cakes (For Real)
Disclaimer: if you ever find a recipe for MD crab cakes that has cereal in it, it’s an impostor, put it down and walk away.

Crab Cakes:
1 lb of lump crab meat. (When we lived in FL they sold this in pouches in the grocery store like they do with tuna. Here in PA, it’s in the refrigerated section next to the fish counter)
1 egg, beaten
1 slice of white bread
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 dash Worcestershire
1/2 tsp Old Bay (it’s a spice that’s usually next to the seafood with the cocktail sauce) Old Bay is the secret to good seafood and is also good on popcorn and on french fries with vinegar.
chopped parsley-as much as you want

Crumble the bread into fine crumbs, then mix all of the ingredients together. Fold them lightly so that you don’t break up the meat too much.

Form into cakes and fry over medium heat in butter or broil until golden brown. Everything but the egg is already cooked, so they don’t take long at all.

1 lb usually makes about 4 cakes. (You can also make little mini cakes or balls and fry them up for parties)

Crabmeat is expensive, around $10/pound, but you could still buy crab meat and small steaks and have a nice surf & turf dinner with a side of spinach for around $25 for the whole family, which is way cheaper than getting them from a restaurant and (unless you already live in MD) these crab cakes will be better than the ones you are getting at the restaurant anyway. I promise.

If you’re looking for other crabmeat recipes, you have to check out my Maryland Crab Soup that you can easily throw together in an Instant Pot!

How to Puree a Pumpkin

By: Stephanie4 Comments

Learn how to use your microwave to make homemade pumpkin puree out of fresh pumpkins. Just like the kind you buy in a can, but with no preservatives and only one ingredient- pumpkin!
 
From Field to Freezer
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We went on a field trip last week to a pumpkin patch.
Nicholas got to take home two pumpkins.
He then proceeded to annoy me for four days by taking the pumpkins down from whatever “out of reach” spot I had put them and throwing them around the house like pumpkin footballs.

The pumpkins had to go.

I was on my way to the trash to throw them out, but that just seemed so wasteful.

So I did some Googling and learned how to puree a pumpkin. Once it’s pureed you can use it in any recipe that calls for pumpkin.

The first thing I learned was that the pumpkins are supposed to be small if you are going to use them for cooking. Apparently large pumpkins are just for decoration and don’t taste that great.
That was fine by me, our pumpkins were little anyway. The other thing I learned is that all pumpkins are edible. That was a big relief, because I didn’t know what kind of pumpkins these were and I was kind of worried about inadvertently poisoning my family.

how to puree a pumpkin with the help of your microwave

First cut the top off the pumpkin and then cut the rest into sections using a serrated bread knife.

how to puree a pumpkin

Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp stuff.
Rinse off the seeds and set those aside.

learn how to puree pumpkins

Put the pumpkin pieces in a microwavable bowl. Add about a cup of water.

pumpkin seeds

Dry the seeds on paper towels, then put them on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. If you want to roast the seeds, salt them and then bake at 375 for about 12 minutes. 

homemade pumpkin puree

Microwave the pumpkin for about 20 minutes. Check it after 15 minutes and rotate the pieces to make sure they are cooking evenly. When it is soft like a cooked sweet potato it’s finished.

Scrape the cooked flesh away from the skin. (There’s a gross Halloween visual)

The tutorials I read said to put it in the food processor or blender to puree it, but I found it worked just fine to smash it really well with a fork. (Who needs all those extra dirty dishes?)

If you’re not going to use it right away store it in a freezer bag & then freeze it. You might want to double bag it for extra security against freezer burn. 

Google says you cannot can homemade pumpkin.
I always listen to Google.

It will be pretty cool to make a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving out of a pumpkin we actually picked straight from the field, though.

Want to see how I made the hat Nick is wearing on our trip to the orchard? You might also want to check out: 

How to make adorable pumpkin sweater hats in less than ten minutes out of upcycled sweaters

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