Introduction: Scuffins - Muffin-shaped Scones. <PIC> My daughter and I like scones for breakfast. Unfortunately, the traditional triangular shape tends to crumble in a book bag or briefcase. So, we looked around for a more "travel-friendly" shape, and found our cup-cake pan. So, Scuffins - The Muffin shaped scones!  Step 1: Recipe. <PIC> Here's the scone recipe we use (U.S. measurements):
2 cu Flour
1/2 cu Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder (NOT soda!)
3/4 cu (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cubed
1 egg
3/4 cu Half-and-half (or heavy whipping cream)
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
1 1/2 cu dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apple, etc.)
Preheat oven to 400o Farenheit
Need a mixing bowl and something to mix with, various measuring devices, a knife and a regular table spoon, and a muffin tin. Step 2: Mix It Up. <PIC>
          Place dry ingredients into your mixing bowl. Stir to mix. Because of a wrist injury, my daughter cannot mix by hand, so we used a power stand mixer. Attached is a video of how fast the mixing should take place. Like mixing biscuits. Mix for about 15 - 30 seconds. Step 3: Now It's Getting Sticky. <PIC> Add the butter cubes and mix for a minute or until the cubes are well distributed and coated. Step 4: Time for Egg Creme. <PIC> Add the egg (without the shell, wise guy) and cream and vanilla (if preferred. Try it without, first).
Mix for another minute so the egg is well mixed in. Step 5: Add the Payload. <PIC> Now fold in the dried fruit. Put in a 1/2 cu at a time, and fold.
When you're done it should look like the second photo. Step 6: Decant Into the Muffin Tin. <PIC> Now it's time to put the dough into the cup-cake tin. We spray the tin with a cooking spray and lightly flour it to prevent sticking. We use a regular table spoon, dipped in hot water, and scoop up a dollop which will fill the cup to the top of the tray. Continue until you either run out of dough or spaces in the tin. With our cup-cake tins, we get about a dozen with this recipe. Step 7: Send It to That Warm Place Below. <PIC> Time to put it in the 400oF oven for 20 minutes. Do the knife blade test (stick a shiny clean knife bland into the center and if it comes out clean, it's done. If it comes out with batter on it, give it another 5 minutes and repeat). While you're waiting, this is an excellent time to wash the mixer, bowls, etc. Remember, a good cook isn't done until the dishes are! Step 8: Cool It. <PIC> Using a knife, slide down the side between the scuffing and the tin, and twirl around and lift the scuffin so it goes sideways. Then you can pluck it out with a hot pad and set aside to cool. Finally, you can enjoy a hot scuffin with butter (or jam!) Be sure to finish cleanup. Keep in a cool, dry place and you can take it in a back-pack inside a sandwich bag and be assured it won't get completely trashed!
Enjoy.


Introduction: Lazy Cook - Pizza at Home. <PIC>
The problem with being single and loving pizza is how to get a fresh pizza without ordering delivery, paying too much for frozen, and having to make too much at a time.  Let's keep this instructable as easy as the pizza is to make! Step 1: Collect Your Ingredients. <PIC>
Get out your ingredients:
FLOUR tortillas (A couple of dollars for 20 - 10 cents per)
Pizza sauce (A couple of bucks for enough for 20 - 10 cents per)
Shredded cheese (Three dollars for enough for 10 - 30 cents per)
Toppings (optional - Pepperoni is about three bucks for 20 - 30 cents per)
Seasonings (optional - but shouldn't be - a couple of cents max per)
Total cost per pizza = 10 + 10 + 30 + 30 + 2 = 82 cents per pizza
Note: I make my own Italian seasoning by mixing oregano, basil, garlic, rosemary, and thyme.  You can buy a similar mix at most grocery stores. Step 2: Turn on the Oven. <PIC> Set your oven to preheat to 400 while you perform the rest of the steps. Make sure it is at temp before putting the pizza in!
Something to think about, how do you know if your oven keeps a good temperature? Buy a oven thermometer. That way when you think you're cooking at 400 you actually are.
(That was an easy step, huh?) Step 3: Place the Tortillas on a Cookie or Pizza Sheet, Add Sauce. <PIC> Simply lay the tortillas out on your cooking sheet.  Spoon on the sauce.  One heaping teaspoon per pizza is enough!
(Believe it or not, you can cook these on heavy paper plates in a pinch.  SAFETY -  Make sure the temp never reaches about 400.  Paper burns at 413 degrees)
This is a great time to rinse off the spoon and put it up to dry... Step 4: Add Cheese. <PIC> Take a hand pinch (fingers and thumb full) and place it heaped in the center of the pizza.  Use your fingers to pat the cheese into a nice circle. Step 5: Add Seasonings. <PIC> To me, this is the most important step.  If you've ever had a pizza that made you think, "Hey this is better than usual!", it's probably most because of the seasoning.  Cheese is cheese, bread is bread, and toppings are toppings.  What makes any pizza so good is the seasonings.  Even if you think it is the sauce, it's because of the seasonings in the sauce, right?
First of all, put it on before the toppings so it settles down into the cheese.  Secondly, don't over do it; a small amount goes a long way.  Try to sprinkle it evenly and consistently.
See the picture of how to regulate the flow of an open bottle with two fingers. Step 6: Add Toppings. <PIC> Now just place your toppings on.  Remember that any meat topping is going to add some grease from their fat content.  That's okay, fat is where meat gets its flavor.  Just be careful not to add LOTS of meat toppings.  A pizza is something that should be a meaningful blend of tastes.  Too much of any one thing ruins it!
Also note that I placed my fixings all in the center of the pie.  Since my pan is warped down in the center I really should (and normally do) put them somewhat to the high side so they don't slide off the tortilla as they bake.  You'll see in a minute when they come out of the oven. Step 7: Put in Oven. <PIC> Make sure the oven is preheated to 400 already.  If you put it in too soon, the heating elements trying to bring the temperature up with scorch and burn your pizza on the outside and leave the inside undercooked.  This is true of all cooking and one of the biggest mistakes people make in baking.  WAIT until the oven is preheated to put your masterpiece in!  Just opening the door causes the oven to have to heat back up! Step 8: Set a Timer!. <PIC> Set your timer for 12 minutes.  Know how some recipes tell you to adjust the time for your oven?  That's because ovens aren't all accurate at keeping the heat you set them to.  We don't have to worry about that because we are using a thermometer!  Set the timer to 12 minutes for perfect pizza!
Check things out at about six minutes - you'll see something like the second picture.  Remember, don't open the door!  It has a window for a reason. Step 9: Remove From Oven. <PIC> When the bell goes off, take your pizza out of the oven.  Remember, things in the oven are HOT.  You can use your hand, but for the next week or two it will hurt like crazy and might even get infected from the third degree burns - use a hot pad!
Set it on another hot pad to cool a bit before cutting.  This usually takes about three minutes.
Notice how my pizza slid to the middle of the pan some - almost off the pizza?  I could have started uphill a bit so that as it slid it would be moving to the middle of the pan.  If you have a nice new pan this shouldn't matter.
Also notice how dark the cheese is.  This is because of the type of cheese.  If you use mozzarella it will be lighter. Step 10: Cut Into Slices. <PIC> I cut mine into four slices.  This makes it easy to put on a single plate if you made two.
DON'T FORGET!  Lazy cooks clean utensils as they use them.  Step 11: Clean Up. <PIC> Well, all that's left is cleaning up a bit.  If you use a stainless steel wool pad, anything on the pan comes off real easy.  I usually do this right before I eat the pizza.  That way all I have left to do is toss the paper plate when I am through eating!
My brother thinks I should not use paper plates due to deforestation.  I wonder which is worse, deforestation or using up clean water for washing.  I'll leave that for another Instructable...
Enjoy your fresh hot pizza!


Introduction: Vegetarian Bean Enchiladas. <PIC>   My boyfriend and I are huge fans of Mexican food if you haven't already figured that out. Living in New Mexico, we end up eating quite a bit of it. I recently found this blog, The Garden Grazer, and let me tell you, it's fantastic if you're a vegetarian who loves Mexican food. She makes this recipe she calls bean enchiladas, and I decided to adapt it. Here's how you make bean enchiladas: Step 1: Ingredients. <PIC> Ingredients:15 oz. (1 can) black beans15 oz. (1 can) vegetarian refried beans15 oz. (1 can) enchilada sauce4 cloves garlic1/2 large onion (about 1/2 cup chopped)shredded sharp cheddar cheese6 medium-sized tortillasoptional toppings:avocado, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, crushed red pepper, bell pepper, chopped spinach, etc. Step 2: Making Tortilla Filling. <PIC> Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Mince your garlic and dice your onion. Saute in a pot over medium-high heat until onions are translucent. Lower heat to medium. Add refried beans and stir with a wooden spoon until soft. Add the drained can of black beans. Stir to combine. Spoon out 1/6 of the mixture onto the first tortilla. Sprinkle some cheese on it. Repeat five times. Step 3: Put 'em in the Baking Dish. <PIC> Roll each tortilla and place the seam-side down in a slightly sprayed 9x13 glass baking dish. (You can fold in the ends if you wish, but I decided not to.) Step 4: Bake. <PIC> Pour the enchilada sauce and cheese over the whole thing. Oh, and don't skimp on that cheese. Seriously, don't skimp on the cheese. Place in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Step 5: Prepare Toppings. <PIC> Now prepare whatever toppings you're going to serve with these enchiladas. I decided to chop some baby spinach. We also had sliced olives, avocado and crushed red pepper. Step 6: Done!. <PIC>   After the enchiladas are done baking, take them out of the oven. Serve immediately with chosen toppings. Enjoy!  If you want to see more posts like this, visit my craft/recipe blog Liz Makes. Have a great day!


Introduction: Nalesniki- Traditional Polish Crepes With Cheese Filling. <PIC> Nalesniki are traditional Polish crepes that can be filled with a sweet cheese filling or fruit preserves. My family makes Nalesniki for the holidays and servers them as a dessert but they also make for a great breakfast! Nalesniki (makes about 20)Pancake: 3 cups unbleached flour 2 eggs 1 cup milk 2.5-3 (+) cups water 2 tsp sugar pinch of salt Combine all ingredients in pot with a handle. Use mixer on medium speed until all ingredients are combined. Keep adding water until the mix is thick but runny (like heavy cream). Heat an omelet pan on medium high heat. Grease bottom of omelet pan by dipping a paper towel in a shallow dish of olive oil. Ladle one full ladle of liquid dough into center of heated greased pan. Rapidly swirl the pan as to cover entire bottom with dough. Touch up air holes with dough on back of spoon as needed. Using a spatula, flip the pancake as soon as it’s golden. Transfer pancake to flat dish when both sides are barely golden. Repeat until all mixture is used.Filling: 3 lbs (48 oz) ricotta cheese 3 eggs ¾ - 1 cups (according to taste) sugar 1 tsp vanilla zest of ½ lemon ½ tsp lemon juice Mix by hand all ingredients in a large bowl.Nalesniki: Put ½ spoonful of filling onto the front/middle part of a pancake. Fold the top down onto filling. Then fold both left and right side in towards the middle; finish rolling the pancake from front to back. Repeat!To Serve: Sautee both sides in butter until golden. Serve with sugar, sour cream, or jam. Step 1: Mix the Pancake Ingredients. <PIC> Pancake: 3 cups unbleached flour  2 eggs 1 cup milk 2.5-3 (+) cups water 2 tsp sugar pinch of salt Combine all ingredients in pot with a handle. Use mixer on medium speed until all ingredients are combined. Keep adding water until the mix is thick but runny (like heavy cream). Step 2: Prep Pan. <PIC> Heat an omelet pan on medium high heat. Grease bottom of omelet pan by dipping a paper towel in a shallow dish of olive oil. Step 3: Make the Pancake. <PIC> Ladle one ladle of liquid dough into center of heated greased pan. Rapidly swirl the pan as to cover the entire bottom with dough (the thiner the pancake is the better - use just enough liquid dough to cover the bottom of the pan). Touch up air holes with dough on back of spoon as needed. Step 4: Repeat Steps 2-4 Until All Pancake Mixture Is Used. <PIC> Using a spatula, flip the pancake as soon as it’s golden. Transfer pancake to flat dish when both sides are barely golden. Repeat steps 2-4 until all liquid dough mixture is used. Step 5: Make the Cheese Filling. <PIC> Filling: 3 lbs (48 oz) ricotta cheese 3 eggs ¾ - 1 cups (according to taste) sugar 1 tsp vanilla zest of ½ lemon ½ tsp lemon juice Mix by hand all ingredients in a large bowl. Step 6: Assemble the Nalesniki. <PIC> Nalesniki: Put ½ spoonful of filling onto the front/middle part of a pancake. Fold the top down onto filling. Then fold both left and right side in towards the middle; finish rolling the pancake from front to back. Repeat!  Once complete, store the Nalesniki in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Step 7: Sautee the Nalesniki. <PIC> Sautee both sides in butter until golden. Step 8: Serve and Enjoy!. <PIC> Serve with sugar, sour cream, or jam. Enjoy!


Introduction: Emergency Birthday Cake. <PIC> Have you ever been camping, or driving through Small Town, USA when you realized that you forgot your travel companion's birthday? Need an Emergency Birthday Cake, but there are no bakeries or bigger grocery stores around? Well have no fear, I'm going to show you how to make an easy no-bake emergency donut layer cake from things available at most truck stops and small corner stores. (You can thank me for saving the day by posting photos of your trip and cake successes in the comments section below... ) Step 1: Supplies. <PIC> 2 raised donuts* (preferably, one that is glazed with sprinkles)1 can pre-made frosting paper plates (3 + however many pieces  you need to serve)2 plastic knivesbirthday candles*Try and find two donuts that are roughly the same shape/height and as round as possible. Step 2: Cut 1. <PIC> Cut the non-frosted donut into four equally thick slices, using one of the plates as a cutting mat. Step 3: Cut 2. <PIC> Repeat for the frosted donut, being extra careful to cut the frosted top off evenly. (This will serve as the top of your cake.) Step 4: Building Your Layers: Part I. <PIC> Place the bottom slice of the non-frosted donut, cut side up, on one of the paper plates.Spread a layer of icing on the top using the second plastic knife.Repeat for the next two layers.NOTE: You will not be using the top rounded slice of the non-frosted donut. Set it aside for a midnight snack. Step 5: Building Your Layers: Part II. <PIC> Continue adding layers using the middle two slices of the frosted donut. NOTE: You will not be using the bottom rounded slice of the frosted donut. Add this to the midnight snack plate.Set aside frosted/sprinkled top. Step 6: Ice Ice Baby. <PIC> Now carefully cover the sides of the cake with icing until the sides (and top) look even and smooth. Then take the frosted/sprinkled donut top and place it carefully on top.Yay! Your emergency cake is now built. Step 7: Light Their Fire. <PIC> Add candles, light them, an then SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY setting the dial to 'embarrassment' (= super loudly)! Step 8: Make a Wish + Serve. <PIC> Have the lucky birthday boy or girl make a wish and blow out the candles. (FYI: It may be a mini cake, but they get a regular sized wish.)Then serve up the tiny cake pieces! I don't know the nutritional value of this creation, but I'd guess that for healthy caloric intake, one tiny piece will do...  :)Happy Emergency Birthdays everyone!


Introduction: The Cool Pool Cake!. <PIC> I made this cake for my son's 4th birthday this summer.  We had a luau/tropical theme for his party and this was a perfect cake for it. Unfortunately I don't have as many detailed photos on this cake as I did with my pirate cake but I thought I would add it anyway.  This is a fun easy cake to make that is sooooooo good.   Step 1: Let's Dive on In!. <PIC> You can make this cake with any size or shape cake you desire or have pans for.  I made to 10" round cakes and layered them on each other, then I cut the top layer down about 1" and scooped out the cake.  Next I did a fast set Jello, in green cuz I couldn't find blue.  Poured it into the cake and then since I didn't want to have a slimy looking pool I added some drops of blue food coloring to give it some moving water effect.  You can't really see it in the pictures though.  Next it went into the fridge overnight (but you don't have to wait that long).   Step 2: Finishing Touches!. <PIC> Next came the frosting and decorating.  I used teddy grahams, peach rings for the inner tubes and used some silk flowers for the umbrella's, I just put them on top of skewers and viola!!!  Then at that point I realized I had forgotten to buy some graham crackers for the diving board and had to think quick for an alternative.  My solution... a piece of bread.  not tasty but boy it worked great!!!  I frosted it and lined it with piping gel, YEAH!!!  For a fun touch I add mini Oreo's around the base of the cake to finish it off!  The kids loved and it was so moist and tasty!!!


Introduction: Cupcake Wrappers. <PIC> Just some photos of the cupcake wrappers I made for my wedding. The template is one I found online, with our monogram added to the front. I printed them on basic colored cardstock from JoAnns, then cut them out so that the top of the heart was the top of the wrapper.


Introduction: Easy Cream Cheese-Pecan Fudge. <PIC> This was a recipe given to my mother a few years ago. We love it and I hope you do too! It's very easy and makes a wonderful gift if you make your neighbors plates of treats for the holidays!
This is the EASIEST fudge to make! You don't need to cook the fudge with a candy thermometer or anything!
Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the finished product once it is cooled and sliced. Hopefully, you can forgive me  and enjoy the picture of the pecans :)
Also, in this recipe I've made a double batch. That's why I'm not using a 9x9 inch pan. Step 1: Ingredients. <PIC> Ingredients:
8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. of butter
2 c. chopped pecans
~ 1 1/2 lbs of powdered sugar Step 2: Toasting the Pecans. <PIC> 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet (this will reduce your mess)
3. Chop up your pecans
4. Melt butter
5. Mix butter and chopped pecans
6. Pour pecan-butter mix onto cookie sheet.
7. Bake pecans roughly 15-20 minutes. After 10 minutes watch them closely. They should look a little toasted. If a few on the edge of the pan burn it's no big deal. Just toss out the burnt ones. Step 3: Mixing the Cream Cheese. <PIC> 8. Try as best you can to mix the cream cheese in with the powdered sugar.
9. When you have completely mixed the powdered sugar and cream cheese or you have given up, add the toasted pecans to the mix. The butter on them will add some liquid and help you blend it more thoroughly.
10. When all ingredients are mixed thoroughly pour into 9x9 inch brownie pan and pat it down lightly so that it can spread out into the pan.
11. Set in the fridge to cool and eat whenever you are ready!
See! Wasn't that easy!?
Storage: I would recommend storing it in the fridge covered in aluminum foil since one of the main components is cream cheese.


Introduction: Ghoul-icious Sausage and Pumpkin Soup....It's Spook-tacular. <PIC> A Friend of mine gave me this recipe many years ago. I think she got it off of the Internet on a low-carb recipe site. I've seen it floating around since then.
It has been our Go-To recipe every Halloween as well as any time we want an easy to make, great tasting soup.
This is NOT low fat as written, but IS low carb. You could do a few adjustments to lower the fat/calorie count. I'll list some of the changes I've made Step 1: Step 1 Recipe (Ingredients and Equipment). <PIC> 1 pound tube of HOT sausage (you can use regular or lower fat sausage) You could add red pepper flakes if you can't find HOT1 Medium Onion Chopped
1-2 Cloves of Garlic Chopped (I used garlic from a jar today)8 ounces of Fresh Mushrooms sliced (you can use canned sliced mushrooms)1 rounded Tablespoon of Italian (or Spaghetti) spices
1  15 ounce can of Pumpkin Puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)4 cups Chicken Broth  (I used 2 cans of chicken broth) 1 cup Half & Half (I used 1/2 cup of half and half, and 1/2 unsweetened regular almond milk) you could use all skim milk
Large Sauce Pan
Knife
Cutting Board
Measuring spoons, and cups
Can opener Step 2: Step 2 Getting Started. <PIC> Brown the sausage in the large sauce pan.....there is NO need to brown it in a skillet, this will save you from washing an extra pan.
Chop the onion while the sausage is browning
Drain the sausage
Return the sausage to the pan Step 3: Step 3 Combine. <PIC> Once the sausage is back in the pan add:
chopped onion
chopped garlic
Italian Spice (or spaghetti spice)
Mushrooms
Saute until the sausage is cooked and the onions are tranlucent
         Step 4: Step 4 Here Comes the Pumpkin. <PIC> Add the can of pumpkin, and mix WELL
Stir in  the broth
Simmer 20 minutes, stirring once or twice Step 5: Step 5 Finish. <PIC> Stir in half and half, and simmer for another 10 minutes (DO NOT let it boil)
Salt and pepper to taste (I never add any) Step 6: Serve, and Enjoy. <PIC> I know this sounds like an odd combination, but it's really GREAT. I've never had anyone NOT like it, and I've shared this recipe over, and over. This is a filling, hearty, healthy soup.


Introduction: Easy Eyeball Cookies. <PIC> A quick and fun twist on cookies to bring you into the Halloween holiday season. I found candy eyeballs in the grocery store the other day and thought they could be a fun addition to some homemade halloween treats. Then it hit me, oreos are a natural eyeball decoration for baked goods, especially now that they come in a miniature version. Naturally, they should be found on a cookies 'n cream cookie and so this Instructable was created. With the help of Jello's Cookies and Cream cookie pudding mix, these cookies are wonderfully chewy and moist.  Follow along to make cookies 'n cream cookies with a fun decorative flare! Step 1: Ingredients. <PIC> You'll need the following:2 1/4 Cups Flour1 Teaspoon Baking Soda1/2 Cup White Sugar1/2 Cup Brown Sugar1 Cup Unsalted Butter (two sticks softened)2 Eggs1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract1 Package of Jello Oreo Cookies and Cream Pudding Mix1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips1 Bag of Mini OreosBlack Gel IcingPreheat your oven to 350F.Recipe adapted from Six Sister's Stuff.  Step 2: Dry Ingredients. <PIC> Combine your flour and baking soda in a small mixing bowl. Whisk together until thoroughly combined. Set aside until after your wet ingredients are mixed. If you haven't done so already, preheat your oven to 350F. Step 3: Cream . <PIC> Add your brown and white sugar to your softened butter in a large mixing bowl. You'll want a large mixing bowl because you'll be adding your dry ingredients to this mixture in a later step.Mix together with an electric mixer until uniformly combined and creamy.  Step 4: Eggs and More. <PIC> Once you've creamed your butter and sugars add your eggs, vanilla extract, and jello pudding mix. Blend on medium speed with your electric mixer until evenly mixed.  Step 5: Chunky Goodness. <PIC> There's something extra delightful about a cookie with a few extra chunks and this is the step where that magic happens. Pull a few (10-26) Oreos aside. These will be for your eyes later. Take the rest of the mini oreos and crush them. I did this by placing them in a ziplock bag and rolling the back of a metal spoon over the cookies. Add 1 cup of crushed oreos and 1 cup of chocolate chips to your cookie dough. Fold evenly into your dough.  Step 6: Ballin. <PIC> Roll tablespoon sized chunks of dough in your palms. Space evenly on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in your oven for 8-10 minutes at 350F. I ended up baking for just 8 minutes which resulted in a chewy, moist cookie with a golden brown bottom. I wanted to have them a little chewy so that I could insert the mini oreos easily.Once baked, let your cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes.  Step 7: Eyeballs. <PIC> While your cookies are cooling, start separating your oreos. It's that same classic method from yoru childhood days. Grasping the cookie on either side of the oreo with your two hands, rotate your hands in opposing directions, twisting the cookies apart. Keep the side that has the majority of the cream. These are your eyeballs.  Step 8: Place Your Eyes. <PIC> Gently place your mini oreos into your warm cookies. Press firmly enough that they lodge in the cookie dough. Add one and make your cookie a cyclops or multiple to give it a monstrous look.  Step 9: Pupils. <PIC> Create pupils on your eyeball(s) using your gel icing. I chose to use standard black icing here, but you can definitely and easily get creative. Use red to create a bloodshot eye look or green and blue to create a more natural eye color detail.  Step 10: Enjoy. <PIC> You're done! Eat up and share your new cookies 'n cream eyeball cookies with friends and family or set out for a halloween party.


Introduction: How to Make a Bowl of Cereal. <PIC> Hello in this instructable I will show you how to make that bowl of cereal you have long desired for in the morning Step 1: Gather Your Supplies.. <PIC> The first step is to get the supplies needed for a bowl of cereal:
1. Bowl
2. Spoon
3. Milk
4. A box a cereal! Step 2: Get Bowl and Add Cereal. <PIC> First get your bowl and place it on the counter top or table.
Then add cereal. Step 3: Add Milk.. <PIC> Now it is time to add milk!
1. Get milk
2. Remove cap
3. Pour onto cereal
4. put cap back on milk Step 4: Add Spoon and Enjoy!. <PIC> Finally, add your spoon
And enjoy your bowl of cereal!


Introduction: Indian Masala Chai (Spiced Tea). <PIC> Imagine, you are on the train riding south from Delhi headed toward the city of Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal.  The warm air blows through the open bar windows as you look out over the Indian countryside.  You hear a gruff voice:  "Garam Chai, Garam Chai" and the strong smell of cardamom hits your nose.  You hand over a few rupees to the Chai Wallah, and he gives you a terra cotta cup of the best tea you've ever tasted.  This is the recipe for that tea. Step 1: Tools and Materials. <PIC>
          First, you must gather the proper supplies.  The trickiest part of this recipe is getting the proper tea leaves.  This may involve a trip to your local Indian market.  The key is to ask for "CTC leaf".  CTC stands for "Cut, Torn, Crushed" and is a concentrated, processed tea leaf.  You could try and make this from loose leaf Darjeeling or something fancy, but Masala Chai isn't really that kind of thing.  It comes in a bag and looks like coffee grounds. The MOST important thing isn't what is on this list, but what is NOT on this list.  Resist the urge to through all the spices in your spice cabinet into this tea (i.e., no nutmeg, cinnamon, lemongrass, cloves, allspice, etc.)  Of course after you've had the authentic chai experience, go ahead... but I strongly suggest you make it simply at least once to see how good it is.   2 cups of milk     2 cups of water     3 tablespoons of sugar     6-7 cardamom pods (I suggest buying these in bulk at your local health food store)     4 teaspoons of CTC leaf indian tea     something to strain the tea with  Step 2: The Boil. <PIC> In a large saucepan, put 2 cups water, 2 cups milk, 3 Tbsp of sugar over low to medium heat. Cut the tips off of the cardamom pods and open them up.  Put the inside of the pods into the pot and discard the hard outer casing on the pods.  Flavorful pods are very dark... if you have a bunch which are dried out and light brown, you may have to add more pods to really taste the cardamom. Stir this mixture to dissolve the sugar, and bring it to a boil.  Be careful because it really likes to boil over.  It's ok if it does a little bit, I'm convinced it makes the tea more authentic. :) Step 3: The Tea. <PIC> Once the sugar/cardamom/water/milk mixture is boiling, then it is time to add the 4 teaspoons of CTC leaf tea. After adding the tea, you boil it for several minutes until it gets that "chai color" as shown below. Step 4: Strain and Serve. <PIC> Now that the chai is done, it's time to strain out the leaves and cardamom pods. I use a little tea strainer, but you could also use cheesecloth. Close your eyes, and enjoy a taste of India!


Introduction: Mindful Coffee. <PIC> Today we are going to learn to slow down and smell the coffee. We are going to learn mindfulness and improve our level of happiness through coffee. Step 1: Quality. <PIC> Life is short choose what you enjoy and choose quality. Know your coffee. Check the roast date. ultimately it should be about two weeks prior to now. Read where it's from. Make note of which you like.  Step 2: Smell the Beans. <PIC> Smell the whole beans.  Step 3: Choose Your Tool. <PIC> There are so many ways to brew coffee. Today we are doing Pour over. What a great method for focusing on mindfulness and happiness.  Step 4: Grind by Hand. <PIC> The more work the longer it takes, generally, the better something is. Grinding by hand not only forces you to slow down but produces a superior coffee. It also allows you to enjoy the aroma of the coffee as it is ground.  Step 5: Smell the Grounds. <PIC> Notice the different in scent from the whole beans.  Step 6: Boil Water. <PIC> With many of these methods you will book the water yourself. This frees you from reliance on a Coffee machine. Listen to the water flow and heat up. see it, smell it, feel it.  Step 7: Wet the Filter. <PIC> You want to set the filter fort to take out any thing that may affect the coffee flavor.  Step 8: Place the Coffee. <PIC> Place the coffee grounds I the filter. Step 9: The Bloom. <PIC> Pour just a little bit of boiling water over your grounds. Watch as it absorbs, bubbles us, and released an aroma of steam.  Step 10: Pour Over. <PIC> Pour the boiling water over the grounds slowly. Do this in about 3 separate pours.  Step 11: Smell the Coffee . <PIC> Again this is all about experiencing it. Smell it as it cools, feel the steam, feel the heat and weight of the cup.  Step 12: Taste and Enjoy. <PIC> Taste and enjoy your coffee. Sit with it. Don't drink and drive. Sit.


Introduction: Divinity Chew Candies. <PIC> Look, making candy is hard. But in light of that, I attempted to make divinity candy this year to take to my family get together using my grandmother's recipe. What ended up happening? I messed up. I got my mess-up on camera since I was making an Instructable for divinity. Alas, you get this!The StoryI don't usually use a candy thermometer and have always had divinity turn out well. This time, the sugar syrup mixture got a little too hot. The result was...not divinity. However, it did taste like divinity! Instead of being white and fluffy, it was tan and chewy. As disappointed as I was, what I got out of this mess-up was sort of a "Divinity Chew", kind of like a taffy with a divinity taste to it. This is a traditional candy turned into something new. In fact, I decided to cut them into little pieces, wrap them in wax paper, and hand little boxes of them out to the family on Christmas Eve.In giving the boxes out, I opted to not tell the family that I meant to make divinity and ended up with a chewy thing instead. When asked, I urged them to try it first, then tell them the story.There seemed to be a common theme in the response I got: "You might be on to something with this!"Enjoy! Step 1: Gather Ingredients and Materials. <PIC> I used my grandmother's recipe, which has been copied by my mother and appears to leave out how much vanilla is needed, but a credible source (my mom), has told me it's 1 teaspoon. After making this recipe and getting my "Divinity Chews" I was also told some steps were left out because my grandmother made it from a recipe in her head and apparently missed a couple while transferring it to paper. Nevertheless, here's what I used.Ingredients needed:3 cups white sugar 3/4 cups white karo syrup 3 egg whites 3/4 cups water 1 teaspoon vanilla Pecans, shelled and crushed into piecesMaterials needed:Nut cracker (if using in-shell pecans) Stand mixer (to whip egg whites) Candy thermometer (optional) Cookie sheet, butteredWaxed paperThe recipeSo if you've checked out the recipe, it's pretty confusing. She never used a candy thermometer and relied only on what the sugar did when you dropped it into cold water. I'm not going to be using a candy thermometer either, so in the next step, I'll review the stages sugar goes through when boiled. Step 2: Soft-Ball to Hard-Crack: Stages of Candy-Making. When you mix sugar syrup and water and heat, the water boils out. The mixture of heat and water loss is what gets you to the correct stage of candy hardness for the appropriate type of candy you're making. For instance, I sometimes make "no-bake cookies" and boil sugar and water for a minute and a half and they harden up just right even without testing the hardness of the sugar beforehand. However, my boyfriend has never had them come out right - my guess is that he doesn't boil the sugar long enough!Stages of SugarSoft-Ball StageThe sugar for no-bake cookies is boiled until it reaches the Soft-Ball Stage. At this stage, the mixture ranges from 235° F–240° F and has a sugar concentration of 85%. In the absence of a candy thermometer, when you drop some of the sugar syrup into cold water, it will form a ball that, when removed by hand, will flatten.Firm-Ball StageEver made caramel? You probably cooked the sugar until it reaches the Firm-Ball Stage. We'll be using this stage for this recipe too. The mixture is now 245° F–250° F and the sugar concentration has raised 2% to 87%. A ball will still form when dropped in cold water, but when removed, it will not flatten until squeezed. In this recipe, when it first mentions hard ball, it actually means this stage, as some of the mixture will be cooked longer until it reaches the next stage.Hard-Ball StageFor this recipe, we're looking to get to the Hard-Ball Stage. Once past the firm-ball stage, there's a little more leeway on temperature range: 250° F–265° F. The sugar concentration is up to 92% at this point, so when the sugar drips from the spoon into the cold water, it does so in thick strands. Once in water, it forms a hard ball that doesn't flatten when picked up unless you really squish it. This stage is what is referred to in the recipe when it says "until it bounces off the table".Crack StagesPast the ball stages, you reach the Soft-Crack and the Hard-Crack Stages. During the Soft-Crack Stage, the temperature is between 270° F–290° F and the sugar concentration is 95%. In cold water, the syrup will form threads that will bend before breaking. The Soft-Crack Stage is what my sugar syrup mixture ended as. During the Hard-Crack Stage, the temperature is between 300° F–310° F and the sugar concentration is 99%. In cold water, the syrup forms threads that break when bent.Higher TempsAnything past the above stage will get you caramelized (brown liquid) sugar, where all of the water has evaporated. I won't be talking about these here. Now to begin! Step 3: Prepare the Eggs and Pecans. <PIC> PecansGoing with tradition, I used whole pecans. My family had an overabundance of them this year, but usually I just use pecans which have already been shelled. If I had to guess, I used about a cup of shelled pecans, which was probably about 1/3 cup of crushed pecans. I would have liked more, so feel free to put in pecans until your heart's content (or none at all if you prefer).Set these aside for later.EggsSeparate the whites from the yolks on all 3 eggs and put the whites in the mixing bowl.Break out that stand mixer (or a hand mixer and buff arms) and whip the egg whites until they are stiff. Mine got super stiff, but were not over beaten. Step 4: Sugar Syrup Mixture. <PIC> Add the sugar, karo syrup, and water in a saucer and set to high. As it heats up, stir it so it mixes together.Now, ♪let it boil, let it boil, let it boil♪Part 1If you're being safe and using a candy thermometer (probably a good idea), heat the mixture until it reaches 245° F–250° F, the Firm-Ball Stage. If not using a candy thermometer, you should test occasionally by dropping some of the mixture into a glass of cold water until it makes the firm ball. Remember, the sugar syrup will make a ball, but will flatten when squished. At this point, very slowly pour HALF of the sugar syrup into the mixing bowl with the egg whites while mixing on a lower setting. Pouring too fast will make the whites cook! Keep the mixer on while going to Part 2.Put the remaining mixture back on the burner.Part 2Now heat the mixture until the candy thermometer reaches 265° F–290° F, the Hard-Ball to Soft-Crack Stage, or when you drop some sugar syrup into cold water and it will be a hard ball and solidify into threads that will bend before breaking. My mixture I believe was either between these two stages or just going to the Soft-Crack Stage because it formed a hard ball when in water, but when I took it off the burner, it was a tan color.Once again, very slowly pour the mixture into the egg white/sugar syrup mixture while the mixer is on a low speed. ---------------------WARNING: The mixture is EXTREMELY HOT. Do not have the mixer on a high speed or it might splash back up at you. Be very careful when pouring the sugar syrup at any stage!!---------------------After pouring the remaining mixture, turn the mixer to a higher speed. After about one minute, turn off the mixer, remove what you can from the whisk, and very carefully remove the mixing bowl. Put the bowl on a pot holder. Step 5: Add Vanilla, Pecans and Spoon. <PIC> Add your 1 teaspoon of vanilla and your pecans (if you choose to use them) and mix well. Now you potentially have 2 options. Option 1 (how I did it)Spoon the mixture on to buttered cookie sheets. You might need to use another spoon to scoop the mixture out in cookie-sized pieces.Once cooled, use kitchen shears to cut each piece into bite-sized chunks.Option 2You might want to take a somewhat easier route without two spoons. Pour the divinity mixture on to a buttered cookie sheet or two so it forms a large puddle. Let it cool and then use kitchen shears or some other shard device (maybe a pizza cutter?) to cut it up into small pieces. Step 6: Wrap and Serve. <PIC> Cut squares of waxed paper and wrap each piece individually. I ended up with about 130 pieces, which I stuffed into small 3" x 3" x 2" gift boxes.At Christmas before our unwrapping "ceremony", I handed them out to my family and got good reviews. They taste like divinity, but have the texture of a taffy. My aunt admitted that she isn't a fan of the texture of traditional divinity, but that these "chews" are much better for her.All in all, I was able to salvage my failure into a success! I managed to take a traditional candy and make it "modern" according to one family member.Luckily for you I recorded my failure and now you too can make these yummy holiday candies!


Introduction: Paleo Creamy Butter Chicken. <PIC> Paleo Contest made me think of Butter Chicken - Paleo Style. I just recently tried this new version with cashew cream and it is so good!Raw cashews are a very versatile food because they have no flavor before they’re cooked.  They impart flavor of the dish they’re put into, which is great for this recipe. This paleo butter chicken is delicious and authentic. It’s perfect for a weeknight or for a dinner party.This recipe goes great the flat bread, Rice and Spring Hoppers. Step 1: Ingredients. <PIC> Cuisine: IndianServes: 6INGREDIENTS: 250 gm Chicken½ large onion, finely diced4 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp fresh, finely grated ginger1 cup tomato puree1/4 cup cashew crème ½ cup Coconut milk1 tbsp Butter1 tbsp lemon juice1 tbsp garam masala (you can find this spice mix in any asian food store)1/2 tsp ground cumin½ tsp paprika powderSalt, or to taste1/4 tsp cinnamon powder1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper1 bay leaves Step 2: Soak Cashew. <PIC> Soak raw cashews in 1/2 cups boiling water for 30 minutes. Place the cashews in a blender with soaking water and blend until smooth.It will be of a creamy texture. Step 3: Blend. <PIC> Chop the tomato.Blend it in a mixer/ Food Processor till puree'd. Step 4: Saute. <PIC> Melt butter. Saute garlic, ginger and onion. Step 5: Masala. <PIC> Add all the spices. Add garam masala, ground cumin, paprika powder, Salt, cinnamon powder and freshly ground black pepper.Saute for 2 minutes. Step 6: Curry. <PIC> Add tomato puree and saute till the raw smell goes.Add coconut milk and mix well. Ad in the chicken pieces.Mix well. Step 7: Creamy. <PIC> Cook the chicken on medium heat for 10 minutes with the lid closed.Check in between the gravy. If it is dry add some milk/water.At last add the cashew creme. Cook on low heat for 3 minutes. Step 8: Serve. <PIC> Garnish with coriander leaf/ curry leaf.Serve immediately with rice.This recipe goes great the flat bread, Rice and Spring Hoppers.


Introduction: Easy Lemongrass-Ginger Juice. <PIC> Ingredients: 1 pound lemongrass, preferably lower part 1 gallon hot water 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or calamansiA piece of ginger root, peeled and chopped 4 tablespoons cane syrup or used other kind Step 1: Make the Lemongrass Stalks and Ginger. <PIC> (1) Make fine pieces of lemongrass stalks, ginger and add them in hot water. Let them steep for 5-7 hours in hot water, and then strain to separate lemongrass and ginger.(2) Stir in calamansi or lemon juice, cane juice, honey (if desired) and serve.(3) You can experiment ways to make this beverage; either hot or cold.(4) Healthy beverage for daily use like tea.


Introduction: Red Pepper Corn Chowder. <PIC> This is a recipe I adapted from one I got from my mother-in-law. I add red pepper and frozen corn instead of canned corn for an improved flavor and texture.  Step 1: Ingredients. 12oz Package Salt Pork1 Small Onion3 Medium Yellow potatoes1 Large Red Bell Pepper1 lb Frozen Sweet Corn2 14.75 oz Cans Cream Corn1 qt Light Cream1 pint Heavy Cream2-4 shakes Tabasco Sauce1/8 tsp White PepperKosher Salt1/2 tsp Garlic Powder1 Bay leafFlourPinch of Cayenne Step 2: Prepare Mise En Place. <PIC> I start by chopping my vegetables and end with the salt pork. Dice the onion to about 1/4 inch, the potatoes to about 1/2 inch and the red pepper somewhere in between 1/4 and 1/2 inch. There is a thick part of skin on the slat pork that needs to be removed and discarded. Make a small slit between the meaty part and the skin and being careful not to slice to deep into the soft fat or your finger. Slice and then dice the pork to around 1/4 inch pieces.  Step 3: Start Cooking. <PIC> Place an 8 qt stock pot over medium heat and allow the pot to get hot before adding anything, this helps prevent sticking. Cook the salt pork over medium heat until the fat starts to form bubbles, about 15 minutes. You will want the meaty bits to start to get a little crispy.Next add the onions and stir frequently until they soften, about 3-4 minutes. Then add the potatoes with a pinch of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Turn the heat up to medium high and stir frequently until the potatoes just begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the red pepper, stir frequently until the peppers get soft making sure to scrape any bit that might stick to the bottom of the pan, about 3-4 minutes.Note: We prefer to have soft potatoes in my chowders however if you desire to have them a little firmer then add the red peppers in at the same time as the potatoes. We also like to have a little crunch left in the red pepper again adjust the cooking time according to your personal taste and consider cutting them a little smaller.At this point add flour a tablespoon at a time thoroughly mixing and cooking after each addition. Continue until all the ingredients start to bind together in clumps.  Step 4: Continue Cooking. <PIC> Once everything has clumped together it is time to add the rest of the ingredients. Add the cream corn, frozen corn, both creams, Tabasco, bay leaf, white pepper and garlic powder. Stir occasionally until small bubbles start to form on the top as pictured above, about 15-20 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 45 minutes to an hour depending on how thick you like chowder. Continue to stir occasionally during the simmer.Note: Add more Tabasco and/or some cayenne pepper if you want a little more spice. The amount  I add is suited for other members of my family who do not like spice. Also Limit any additional salt as the salt pork is pretty salty I really only add it when the potatoes go in mostly because not seasoning potatoes just seems wrong to me.  Step 5: Serve and Enjoy. <PIC> We like to serve this with corn bread. I like to add some fresh sliced jalapeno or Serrano peppers to spice it up a little.


Introduction: How to Skin Tomatoes. <PIC> It's summer!  Time to grow or buy huge quantities of delicious tomatoes for your favorite summer tomato dishes.  Peeling or skinning tomatoes turns out to be the easy part - in fact, it's so easy a 3-year-old can do it.  Just follow these easy instructions, and you'll be making great tomato soup, salsa, or pasta sauce in no time flat.
i just processed about 22 pounds of tomatoes in about half an hour, including extra time to accommodate my assistant's* help. :)
*Corvidae just turned 3 yesterday!  She loves helping out with fiddly food-prep processes, especially if they involve the stove and/or ice.  If you let your toddler (or older kid) help in the kitchen, make sure they've got a nice stable platform (we use a folding utility stool for Corvidae) and that they're smart around hot and/or sharp objects.  We're trying to scald tomatoes, and hopefully NOT innocent bystanders.  Step 1: Tools and Ingredients. You'll need:
- a pot full of boiling water
- a bowl full of ice water, and more ice to add as needed
- a slotted spoon
- a sharp knife
- lots of beautiful fresh tomatoes!
I got these Early Girls from my favorite tomato growers, Wild Boar Farms.  Soon they'll have tons of gorgeous and amazingly delicious heirloom tomatoes at the market, but I prefer to roast and freeze those, and their skins are so thin they don't require peeling. If you don't live in the SF bay area, I highly recommend buying some of their seeds so you can grow your own. Step 2: Staging (set Up Your System). <PIC> - Fill a medium to large-sized pot with water, cover, and crank the heat so it comes to a boil quickly and efficiently.
While you're waiting for the water to boil:
- Fill a medium to large-sized bowl half-full with ice, then cover with water.  Place it near the stove, but not so close it heats up from the boiling water.
- Wash your tomatoes, and remove stems.
- Make a small X in the skin at the flower end (opposite the stem) and place near the stove. (see photo for detail)
Check out my staging choices in the picture below, then modify as needed to suit your situation. Step 3: Boil Tomatoes. <PIC> Dump tomatoes into boiling water, and cook for roughly 30-45 seconds.  (Start counting time immediately - no need to wait for the water to reboil.)
This time will vary according to the size of your tomatoes (smaller tomatoes will cook faster!), the size of your pot (larger quantities of water have greater thermal mass!), and the number of tomatoes you drop in each time (more thermal mass of tomatoes drops the water temperature!).
The goal is to boil the tomatoes just long enough to cook the outer millimeter or so of tomato skin and connective tissue so the skin will detach easily, while leaving most of the tomato in a nearly-raw state. Do some test runs, and adjust your timing as needed.  If you see the tomato skins starting to split down from your original cut, they're definitely done - yank them out immediately, and consider dropping the time for your next batch. Step 4: Cold Shock Tomatoes. <PIC> Scoop your tomatoes out of the hot water with your slotted spoon, making sure to drain any excess, and drop them into the ice bath.  Leave them until cool, then set out on the counter stem-end down while you process the rest of your tomatoes.
Remember to add more ice (and remove an equivalent volume of water to avoid spills) on a regular basis to keep the water bath nice and cold. Step 5: Peel!. <PIC> Now the peels should practically slide off of your tomatoes!  Sometimes a paring knife comes in handy for damaged areas, or tightly adherent skin around the stem, but it's still ridiculously easy.
I prefer to peel over one bowl, then store the peeled tomatoes in a second bowl to avoid mess.  This way, you can squeeze out the accumulated tomato skins when you're done to make a nice glass of tomato water!  Just add a pinch of salt, and it's your treat for virtuously processing all those tomatoes.
Now get started on your favorite tomato recipes!


Introduction: Plum Wine. <PIC> How to homebrew wine, using plums.
 Step 1: To Start:. <PIC> I used:
The Boots Book of Home Wine Making & Brewing (New and revised edition 1978) Recipe 119 PLUM (dry)
42 red/black plums (4.5lb in the book, but I have no scales)
245g red grape juice concentrate (1/2 pint in the book)
1 Kg white sugar (2lb in the book)
1 tsp citric acid (juice of a lemon would be fine instead)
1 cup of strong tea (1/2 tsp of tannin in the book)
1 tsp pectolase
Campden tablets
1 tsp yeast nutrient (ammonium phosphate & sulphate)
1 tsp Super Wine Yeast Compound (i.e. yeast and nutrient as above, which in retrospect I didn't need...)
A 5 gallon / 25 litre bucket, with snap-on lid.
Electric blender (optional)
A long spoon
Two 1 gallon / 5 litre demis
1 fermentation lock
Siphon tubing Step 2: Plums: Preparation. <PIC> Examine your plums, remove stalks, leaves and any which you would not eat (i.e. under ripe or mouldy)
Add plums to a food-grade bucket, and cover with boiling water (~ 5 pints or ~3 litres). This cleans, sterilises and softens the fruit. When cooled pour off the water.
Fun-part:
Wash your hands and squeeze out the stones, this will leave you with plum-mush and sticky-fingers.  Step 3: Before Fermentation:. <PIC> Add ~3 litres / 5 pints of cold water, and blend until 'soupy'. If you're not going to use the blender, just ensure the plums are well mushed.
Add 1 cup of strong tea (of the "English Breakfast" type, no milk, no Earl Gray) otherwise tannin if you have some.
Add 1 tsp of citric acid, or the juice of a lemon (as opposed to bottled lemon juice)
Add 1 tsp pectolase. This should 'digest' pectin within the fruit, which will otherwise give a hazy finish to the wine.
And finally, the book recomments 1 Campden tablet.
In water, these produce sulphur dioxide to sterilise.
Put the lid on the bucket and leave overnight. Step 4: Fermentation. <PIC> Add a tsp each of yeast nutrient and wine yeast (beer / lager yeast is not advised). Or, if like me you've got the wine yeast compound (with nutrient) a large teaspoon of that.
Also add the grape juice concentrate at this stage. Note that this is a concentrate.
Stir this mush twice a day for 5 days.
The brew will tell you it's OK by releasing gas (esp when stirred), and you'll find that the yeast clumps the fruit pulp together. If this doesn't happen you're in trouble... Step 5: Fermentation Stage 2. <PIC> Filter off the fruit pulp and yeast, I used a sieve & a funnel.
Dissolve half the sugar (~1lb ~500g) in a small amount of boiling water (probably only ~100ml).
When your sugar syrup is cooled to 'warm' add to your brew.
There will be enough yeast left in the brew to continue.
Fit a fermentation lock and let it go for a few weeks (see next step) Step 6: "Ferment Until Dry". <PIC> You should notice a couple of things:
Bubbles rise in the brew.
Gas escapes through the fermentation lock, making a 'glop' noise.
When this slows down after a few weeks add the rest of the sugar, as in step 5, and let it go again.
When fermentation is complete:
No bubbles rise in the brew.
No gas escapes through the fermentation lock.
Yeast starts to settle to the bottom.
The pictures used here are of a batch which was made with white grape juice concentrate, the previous images are of a batch made with red Step 7: Clearing. <PIC> Decant or siphon the wine from the yeast at the bottom, into another demi.
Alternatively transfer into another container, clean the demi & return the wine
At this stage the verdict was:
"Fruity but a bit yeasty, very promising"
I added 1 Campden tablet, to 'deactivate' any remaining yeast, and as a preservative.
If you wait long enough all the suspended material will settle to the bottom & you can decant off delicious clear wine. The lasts picture show the wine after 1 week intervals, it did clear after a couple of months.
It turned out rather good, but lacked tannin. And independant opinion was "would go well with fish". Nice and fruity, but lacked the balance of wines we're used to drinking.


Introduction: Minny's Famous Chocolate Pie From the Help. <PIC> Sometimes in life, you get what you deserve. Minny's Famous Chocolate Pie is a perfect example of that. If you have read the book, or seen the movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about. This recipe is obviously the clean version, missing just one essential ingredient to being the perfect piece of rich, decadent, karma pie.
I wanted to make a traditional Chocolate Southern Pie and researched many recipes. It's totally worth making your own crust, and it's really not that hard, so don't cut corners when making this one.
Recipe adapted from http://www.theeverythingsoapblog.com/2011/11/recipe-southern-chocolate-pie.html Step 1: Ingredients & Prep. <PIC> Ingredients & Prep:Perfect Pie Crust:
1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2  cup chilled vegetable shortening
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp ice cold waterMinny's Pie Filling : Clean Version
4 Tbsp good quality cocoa powder
1/4 tea kosher salt
5 Tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp butter
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole milkMeringue Topping:
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
4 Tbsp sugar Step 2: Make the Crust. <PIC> To make the crust, mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the chilled veg. shortening and incorporate the mixture together with your hands. When the mixture is almost ready, add three tbsp of ice cold water. Form dough into a ball and wrap with saran wrap. Place in the fridge for an hour to chill.  Step 3: Roll Out & Bake the Crust. <PIC> Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Place a piece of parchment or wax paper down on the surface you wish to roll out the crust. This will allow for easier clean-up. Lightly flour surface of wax paper. Using your rolling pin, start from the center of the ball and roll out to a 11'' circle. Gently fold crust in half and then in half again. Place the crust into your pie plate and gently unfold. Using your fingers, form crust into the pie plate and trim edges to desired finish.
Using a fork, poke the crust all over, including the sides around 50 times to prevent the crust from blistering.
Place pie in oven for 15-20 min until edges and center are golden brown. Remove crust from oven and set aside.
Lower the heat on the oven to 350 degrees. Step 4: Make the Pie Filling (Clean Version). <PIC> Make sure you lowered the heat on the oven to 350 degrees.
Create a double boiler by adding water to a saucepan and place a heat proof metal bowl on top. Temperature on the stove should be med. to medium low to prevent scorching.
To make the pie filling, separate your yolks & whites. In a small bowl, mix together yolks and milk. In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt & cocoa. Add the dry ingredients to the double boiler. Then whisk in milk/yolk mixture. Continue to whisk 10-15 minutes until mixture becomes thick in consistency and resembles pudding. Remove from heat and add vanilla & butter. Step 5: Make the Meringue Topping. <PIC> To make the meringue topping, add egg whites and salt to Kitchen Aid mixer. You can also do this by hand using a whisk, but I recommend using the mixer. It will cut the time in half and save your wrists from hurting. Once soft peaks form, add the sugar. When you have stiff peaks, pour meringue over chocolate pie filling.
Place the pie in your 350 degree oven for 15-20 min or until the meringue is golden brown.  Step 6: Enjoy!. <PIC> Remove pie from the oven. Please allow pie to cool for an hour before indulging. Saran wrap and keep it in the fridge for maximum freshness.
We all know someone who deserves a piece of this pie. Probably, multiple someones. Kindly share!


Introduction: Easy Garlic Bread and Cheese. <PIC> I LOVE the garlic bread and cheese from Pi**a H*t, but find the garlic bread you buy from supermarkets pales in comparison so I invented my own recipe which is so easy to make and everyone who's tried it says its even better than the huts!
Ingredients needed:
French bread
Butter/Margarine
Tube of Garlic paste (or fresh garlic peeled and crushed)
Extra virgin olive oil
herbs (parsley or mixed herbs - whatever you fancy)
Cheese grated (mozzerella or chedder - again whatever you fancy)
 Step 1: Select and Prepare Your Bread Slices. <PIC> Cut your bread sticks into thickish slices diagonally and arrange on a tray (I cover the tray with foil for easy clean up afterwards).liberally sprinkle olive oil on the slices and put under a hot grill. Step 2: Prepare the Garlic Butter. <PIC> Right - while the bread is toasting, its time to prepare the garlic butter.Choose a microwave safe cup or ramakin, put some butter or marg in it and zap it in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds.Then squirt in a helping of garlic paste (or your peeled and squashed garlic cloves - use a garlic press) and some herbs.Zap it again until all the butter/marg has melted nicely. Step 3: Butter Up Your Slices. <PIC> Your bread should now be nicely toasted, remove the tray and flip your slices.
Add a good teaspoon of the butter/garlic mix to each slice, stir the mix well as the garlic tends to sink to the bottom.
Once all covered, return the tray to the grill to toast the other side.
If you don't want the cheese, once the slices have toasted they are ready... for cheese, read on! Step 4: Cheese It Up. <PIC> The final step is to add your favourite cheese topping and melt it again under the grill.
I like to add a light sprinkling of herbs on top of the cheese for appearance.
Once the cheese is all melted and bubbling - its time to dish them out and collect the thanks of those you share them with.
Let me know if you try this and enjoy them.
Caroline x


Introduction: World Harbors Jerk Pork. <PIC> World Harbors Jerk Pork
Ingredients:
Pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/4 bottle World Harbors Jamaican Style Jerk Marinade
1 tbsp Olive oil
Instructions:
Cub pork in to small cubes, place in a glass bowl and pour marinade over, mixing well to make sure all pieces are coated
Marinate overnight
Set skillet to medium
coat skilled with olive oil (I use a Misto)
Grill pork until cooked through, turning frequently, about 10 minutes
I like to serve it with brown rice mixed with black beans and a sprinkle or two of garlic salt
Serve and enjoy


Introduction: Fabulous, Melt in Your Mouth, Gluten Free Cornbread. <PIC> Thanks to gluten free flour mixes like Pamela's Gluten Free Artisan Flour Blend, the guess work is removed as to what flours to use, how much xyanthan gum, starch...you're ready to go to make delicious baked goods. I found that my Corn bread recipe tasted better made with this flour blend than unbleached wheat flour. The Cornbread can be made either way, using Pamela's GF, or regular flour, the choice is yours. What ever you choose, the result is a tender, moist, irresistible Cornbread that you will want to serve with all your soups and stews!  Step 1: What You Need:. <PIC> Equipment:Mixing bowl, measuring cups, measuring spoons, liquid measuring cups, whisk or blending fork, 8-9" Iron Skillet or baking pan Dry Ingredients:1 Cup Gluten Free Flour Mix 1 Cup Yellow Cornmeal1/2 Cup Sugar 2 tsp Baking Powder1 tsp Baking Soda1/2 tsp SaltWet Ingredients:1 Cup Buttermilk, (to 1 cup line)1/3 Cup Olive Oil  ( to 1 1/3 cup line)2 Eggs1 tsp Vanilla ExtractButter for pan Step 2: Prepare the Skillet. <PIC> Put a generous 2 - 3 Tablespoons of Butter in the bottom of your 8 - 9" Iron Skillet or Baking Dish. Place in oven and set temperature to 365*. Step 3: Mix Dry Ingredients . <PIC> Mix together:1 C Gluten Free Flour Mix ( or white flour )1 C Cornmeal1/2 C Sugar2 t Baking Powder1 t Baking Soda1/2 t Salt Step 4: Measure and Mix Wet Ingredients . <PIC> Using glass measuring cup, add Buttermilk to 1 Cup line.Add Olive Oil to 1 1/3 Cup line.Mix well.Add 2 Eggs. Beat well until eggs are well blended.Add 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract. Step 5: Add Dry and Wet Ingredients Together. <PIC> Add the contents of the measuring cup into the dry ingredients and mix well until everything is well mixed. Step 6: Butter Skillet, Pour in Batter and Bake!. <PIC> Remove skillet or baking pan from oven. REDUCE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 350*. Spread melted butter around skillet/pan drain excess butter into cup.Pour batter into skillet/pan. Spread it evenly. Drizzle leftover butter on top of batter.Bake in oven on middle rack for 25 - 30 minutes. Top of Cornbread will be cracked, pulled away from the sides of pan and surface should have golden brown highlights. Do not over bake!Let Cornbread cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Serve with butter with savory stews and soups. Delicious with cinnamon and sugar for breakfast the next day...that is if there is any left over!!


Introduction: Jalapeno Corn Bread Loaf. <PIC> Native Americans were using ground corn (maize) for food thousands of years before European explorers arrived in the New World. European settlers, especially those who resided in the southern English colonies, learned the original recipes and processes for corn dishes from the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek, and soon they devised recipes for using cornmeal in breads similar to those made of grains available in Europe.
Cornbread has been called a "cornerstone" of Southern United States cuisine. Many cornbreads are done in a shallow pan but I like to do my cornbread in a regular bread pan then serve it sliced. I find this helps keep it moist longer and it still has the crispy crust which everyone loves. To add extra flavor I always use buttermilk and add sharp cheddar cheese along with Jalapeno peppers. Step 1: The Ingredients.... <PIC> 2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 cup creamed corn
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1 jalapeno pepper (or more depending on your preferred heat level) Step 2: Getting Corny.... <PIC> In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.
Whisk all ingredients together to combine well. Step 3: Getting Wet.... <PIC> In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, and creamed corn, whisking together to combine thoroughly.
Dice the jalapeno pepper & shred the cheese.
 Add the jalapeno and 2/3's of the cheese to the wet ingredients and combine thoroughly. Step 4: Meet & Mix.... <PIC> Add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk mixture and stir to combine.
If the batter will not pour, add more buttermilk to the batter. Step 5: Bake and Enjoy!. <PIC> Pour the batter into a greased bread pan.
Bake for 15 minutes then sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top of the bread.
Continue to bake another 5 minutes until the cornbread is golden brown and springs back upon the touch.
Remove from oven & when cooled turn out bread onto baking rack.
Serve warm with butter & Enjoy!
I love cornbread with anything barbequed, I am not much of a "heat" man so I only added the one Jalapeno for this loaf but it could easily handle 2 or even 3 depending on the level of heat you prefer. Also by using a very strong cheddar cheese you do not have to add too much (which adds a lot of grease) yet you still get the flavor. That is why I also like to add it on the top, not only for looks but that concentrated flavor when you bite the crust.
You will notice a couple of muffins in one picture... I had a scoop of batter left over and as I hate over filling the loaf pan, so I put this mixture in my muffin pan and presto a perfect snack for my lunch!.


Introduction: Finger Jell-O Eggs With Real Egg Shells. <PIC> There is always room for these delightful Easter treats. Most kids expect an egg when they crack the shell open, but just see that look of glee when kids of all ages peel away to reveal a great gelatin treat. Grown-up-kids benefit from the addition of spirits- please peel and enjoy responsibly! Step 1: What You Need. <PIC> Your favorite brand of dessert gelatin in your favorite flavors (1 small box makes about 5-6 eggs).One packet of unflavored gelatin for each small box of flavored gelatin. (You will see the results of not having the right ratio of unflavored gelatin later in this Instructable- I swear that was intentional just to show what happens and was not a result of being distracted by a silly kitchen helper)Container to hold and add still liquid gelatin. (I used a generic condiment squeeze bottle dispenser, but "flavor injectors" used in cooking also work well)Scotch tapeSmall screw (or other egg opening device- screws seem to work best and will be explained in a later step)Many paper towels (depending on the skill of the kitchen helper) and newspapers to contain spillageBowlsSaucepan Optional:Huge appetite for eating tons of eggs (or use the eggs for another tasty Easter treat), a patient spouse who lets you make a mess, Pretty Princess kitchen helper (as seen in some of the steps). Spirits for adultification of eggs.Also optional is a hot glue gun with glue sticks. Step 2: Let's Get "Cracking". <PIC> You will need empty eggshells- one empty shell for each final egg treat.Use the screw to apply pressure to the pointy end of the egg. Slowly turn the screw back and forth while gently increasing your pressure on the egg. You should feel the screw "bite" into the egg after a few seconds.Thread the screw about halfway into the egg, then back the screw out.Repeat this step on the opposite side of the egg.Note: Using a screw is preferred to a nail or needle because it allows you to control the breakage. Tapping with a nail or other device can over crack the egg and lead to messy hands and frustrated kitchen helpers. Choose the size of your screw to match closely with the size of your desired fill bottle or injector. If you are not using the kitchen helper, then a flavor injector and smaller screw work best. These ultimately lead to less leakage. An older kitchen helper might be able to manipulate the flavor injector better. Smaller holes lead to better Jell-O eggs.  Step 3: Blow Your Eggs Out. <PIC> You will want to do this step right after the previous with each egg and repeat these two steps until you have the correct number of eggs. Your other option is to keep your kitchen helper engaged enough to blow the eggs out as you operate the screw from the previous step.To blow the egg empty:1-- Place the side of the egg that you put the second hole in to your mouth (the first side will have leaked a little and raw egg in your mouth is gross to some people)2-- Form a tight seal on the egg with your lips.3-- Blow hard. It is helpful to have a container bowl under your egg to catch the insides. Blowing will be easy at first as the egg-white leaves the egg in a rush. You will feel a sudden change in egg pressure as you reach the yolk; just keep blowing and it will come out. Your kitchen helper will likely comment that it looks like the egg is "peeing" while you do this step. You will likely hear that comment for each egg your kitchen helper does not get to blow out themselves- it is important to keep your kitchen helper engaged to avoid funny comments. You can not afford to giggle during this crucial step. Step 4: Clean Your Eggs. <PIC> Once your eggs are blown out you will want to clean them up from the inside out. This is not a suitable job for kitchen helpers as it involves very hot water!Fill a large bowl with water as hot as you can stand. Submerge each egg into the bowl allowing it to fill with the hot water. Enjoy watching the bubbles come out of the egg.The membrane inside the shell is likely going to cause you some grief here. Sometimes the membrane will prevent water from entering the egg. You will know this is happening if you see no bubbles coming from the egg and if the egg is floating at the top of the hot water. Use the screw from the egg cracking step or your finger to push the membrane open.Allow the eggs to soak in the hot water for several minutes.Note: This is the first year I bothered to was the inside of the eggs. I have never gotten ill from this project, but my kitchen helper was a little grossed out about the idea, so I improvised this step. Floating egg shells are very fun to play with for both grown-ups and kitchen helpers. Step 5: The Second Blowing. <PIC> If your kitchen helper's lungs were not strong enough to blow out the egg insides, this is the chance for redemption.Blow all the water out of the egg. Try to aim for the bowl you had them soaking in. This is highly dependent on the skill of the kitchen helper. You may need to perform a clean up of your area after this step.Place the eggs on a drying cloth or paper towel as you blow the water out. Allow the eggs to fully dry before continuing.Seal the smallest opening (screw hole) in the egg with scotch tape. This will hold your Jell-O in place. The optional hot glue works better than tape, but it takes a lot longer to complete this otherwise fast paced project.  Step 6: Making the Gelatin. <PIC> Prepare the gelatin according to package instructions.Note: Almost every packaged instruction for Finger Jell-O or "Jigglers" includes the use of unflavored gelatin. Please do not be distracted by your kitchen helper or else you might accidentally not add enough unflavored gelatin to your mixture. (Double the steps below for large packets of flavored gelatin)1- Boil 1 cup of water. 2- Add small packet of flavored gelatin mix to boiling water and allow to dissolve completely.3- Mix 1/3 cup cool water with one packet of unflavored gelatin.  Step 7: Filling the Eggs. <PIC> Once your gelatin is mixed, you will need to work quickly to fill your eggs. 1- Place the open end of the egg op top of your condiment dispenser.2- Flip over the condiment dispenser and give it a gentle squeeze.3- Egg is full when liquid gelatin mixture overflows the top of the egg.Note: This is the step that some adults prefer to add a spirit or two. Be certain to keep those eggs away from kitchen helpers.Other note: You will know pretty quickly if your tape seals are holding. Allow the first egg to sit a moment to make certain that you are taping the bottom holes well enough. Leaks will occur. My kitchen helper learned all about leaking eggs. If you choose to use the hot glue, you will not have issues with this bottom leakage. Step 8: Wait, Relax, and Enjoy the Insides of the Eggs. <PIC> Place your filled up eggs in the refrigerator. Allow them to cool and firm up for at least two hours. This is a great time to use up some of your eggs. Note: I wish I had scheduled a nap time for the kitchen helper. I am sure that nobody needs an Instructable to explain why. Place some of the extra gelatin mixture in the refrigerator (in a shallow container). This will firm up very quickly and give your kitchen helper something to enjoy while the waiting game is played. Step 9: Yum Time. <PIC> Once the two hours are up, you may begin enjoying the eggs. These eggs do not peel as easily as a hard boiled egg; expect small shell pieces.I attempted a similar project with chocolate. The baker's chocolate was setting too quickly for me to fill the eggs and my condiment dispenser kept clogging. I would welcome a companion guide for anyone able to figure out how to make a chocolate egg inside a real egg shell work.The eggs taste great!


Introduction: Cinnamon and Apples Crumble. <PIC> Hi all, The recipe today is a simple apples and cinnamon crumble. It's very tasty and easy to do. This recipe is tasty alone, and even better with vanilla ice cream !Follow these simple steps to make this easy cake ! Step 1: Ingredients. <PIC> For this crumble, you will need:5 big apples   100 gr of flour   grounded cinnamon   80 + 30 gr of butter   80 gr of sugar   one bag of vanilla sugar Step 2: Prepare the Dough. <PIC> In a large bowl, put 100 gr of flour and 80 gr of sugar. Add also about 1/2 tablespoon of grounded cinnamon.Measure 80 gr of butter and cut it in small slices in the bowl. Wait a couple of minutes to let the butter to heat up a bit at room temperature.Now we will make the crumbs. With your hands, "crumble" the ingredients with the tip of your fingers. After a couple of minutes, you should start to have a "sand" texture like the pictures. Take the bigger bits of dough and crumble them with your finger. It's easy ! Just don't press on the dough - we don't want something compact !-. Just use the tip of your finger to get this sand texture.Put the dough bowl into the fridge while working on the apples. Step 3: The Apples. <PIC> Ok, start peeling some beautiful apples. In my case, I took about 5 big apples.Cut them in four, remove the seeds, and cut them again in small slices.We will bake them a bit in a pan before the main baking in the oven. Some recipes doesn't bake them (the apples are raw before final oven baking). I prefer this, as the result is smoother...!Put 30 gr of butter in a large pan. Once the butter is melted, add the apples slices. Bake them for about 6-10 minutes. Carefully stir them with a wooden spoon (I don't want to scratch my pan !). At mid-baking, add one bag of vanilla sugar and 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon.Stop baking once you have transparent edges on the apples. Step 4: Assembly and Baking. <PIC> In a large mold, put the apples and the juice (completely empty the pan). With the spoon, level the apple layer to have a flat surface.Spread the dough on it. Try to cover all the apples !Once done, put the mold in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes at 170°C. Stop baking when the dough starts to become brown.  Step 5: Finishing. <PIC> Here we are, a very tasty crumble cake. If you want to make it tastier, add some vanilla ice-cream with it !You can eat it hot, or let it cool. The better is to have the mid-warm crumble and the ice-cream... It's incredible !Thanks for reading !


Introduction: How to Make a Nice Italian Dinner. <PIC> How to prepare a decent / sorta fancy Italian dinner. Step 1: Make the Meal. <PIC> Make something with pasta. Have a cool appetizer such as mozzarella and tomatoes with basil. Have good Italian bread with dipping sauce. Step 2: Set the Scene. <PIC> Prepare a nice setup with cheese and grater. Have a bread knife readily available for fresh cut bread. Have the appetizer neatly presented. Use nice plates or china. A candle and flowers are always important. So is having the salt and pepper shakers readily available. Step 3: Finishing Up. <PIC> Fill the crystal glasses or wine glasses with Italian wine, champagne , or grape juice with club soda. Light the candle. And serve. Step 4: Enjoy!. <PIC> Enjoy!HOW NOT TO LOOK


Introduction: Kim-kraut? Sauer-chi? Sriracha Slaw ! ! !. <PIC> A lot of cultures preserve cabbage by fermentation. Sauerkraut is finely sliced cabbage stored in an earthen crock and layered with salt then allowed to ferment. Korean Kim-chi is chopped cabbage and several other veggies that are coated with a spice and salt mix and then allowed to ferment in an earthen pot, often buried in the yard for several years. Fermented curciferous vegetables are a good source of antioxidents, are thought to help with battling bad cholesterol and help carbohydrate metabolism or weight loss. So it's healthy food that I think tastes good.  Step 1: How I Got the Idea. <PIC> Several weeks ago I found a couple jars of "spicy mixed salad" on sale at a discount store, it looked interesting but certainly wasn't spicy in my opinion (go figure) it's a mixture of carrots, cucumbers, sweet peppers, onion and various spices. It was tasty especially after I added a lot of sriracha sauce and it got me thinking. I like sauerkraut and I like kim-chi so why not make my own "salad" Step 2: What's in It. <PIC> I bought a small bag of sliced cabbage for coleslaw pickled jalapeno peppers to taste pickled garlic to taste  roasted red peppers  sweet bread and butter pickles  kikoman sriracha sauce, This isn't as spicy as the original with the green top but it was kicking around in my pantry  salt about 4 tablespoons Step 3: Getting Started. <PIC> Some preservation techniques require you to heat the cabbage, others you massage the salt into the cabbage and later rinse it off. I put the shredded cabbage in a glass dish and added about 3-4tablespoons of fresh ground sea salt, I massaged it in and let it sit, returning every 1/2 hour to stir and massage the cabbage some more. After about 2 hours I rinsed the cabbage under cold running water and dried it in a spinner before sprinkling with another teaspoon or so of salt, as you can see in the photos it lost about a 1/3 of it's mass  Step 4: Chop Chop. <PIC> while the cabbage was salting I cut the pickled jalapenos, garlic, roasted red peppers and sweet pickles into a rough chop Step 5: Mix. <PIC> I poured the bottle of sriracha sauce over the salted cabbage then added the chopped veggies and stirred it all together. I let the mix sit for about an hour then packed it tightly in the reused very clean jar Step 6: I Couldn't Wait.... <PIC> I couldn't wait for it to ferment, I had to try it but that's ok since both sauerkraut and kim-chi are often used after only a couple hours. I made a wrap using a whole wheat tortilla, olive oil based mayonnaise, low sodium ham and turkey with cheese and my sriracha slaw, talk about food fusion ! cuban sandwich filling in a mexican type tortilla and korean inspired fermented cabbage


Introduction: How to Make Tropical Dessert Wine (in Climates Like Singapore!). <PIC> Ever wanted to make your own sweet dessert wine? Here’s the easiest way to get started, for only $6 a standard wine bottle. Afraid your climate isn't suitable for brewing? Fret not, with the right yeast, you can brew almost anywhere.Enough of the (supposedly) attention grabbing one-liners, time to get down to business!Here is the YouTube guide for those who prefer seeing the action right away:The history bit of the Instructable:The oldest alcohol archaeological records suggest that humans were brewing alcohol as early as about 9000 years ago! The Chinese fermented rice and honey whereas the Middle East fermented barley and grapes. So, if prehistoric humans could, with their state of the art technology, brew, drink, and be happy, I'm sure anybody today can do so to!Today, we'll be focusing specifically on mead (honey wine). So, let's get started! Step 1: Shopping. <PIC> Unsurprisingly, you can get most of the things that you need from around the house! So, I've included two lists of stuff that you'll need to procure.Lying around somewhere list:1. Large plastic container (fermenter)2. Honey3. Water4. Blu-tack5. Glass bottle/plastic bottle (finished product)Actually go out and get list:1. Brewing yeast (Lalvin EC 1118)This is the commando strain of brewing yeasts. It can withstand high temperatures necessary for brewing in the tropics and brews faster than your average yeast. You can find these on Ebay for about $1 a sachet. 2. Airlock (3 piece preferably)Reason is that the 3 piece design makes it easier to clean, in the scenario that the brew overflows into your airlock. You can also find these on Ebay for $1 a set.If you live in Singapore like me, you can get these from iBrew. Step 2: Preperation. <PIC> Its power drilling time! You'll need to make a hole in the lid of the large plastic container to put your airlock in. If you don't happen to have one lying around, you can use a readily available kitchen knife or a pair of scissors. Step 3: Mixing. <PIC> Before you begin, rinse all your equipment thoroughly and remove any debris.Now for the fun part! First, activate your yeast as per packet instructions. A 4 litre or 1 gallon batch requires 1 gram or 0.035 ounces of yeast.Second, mix the water and honey in the following ratio: 1 litre (1 quart) batch = 400g (0.88lb) of honey + 700ml (23 oz.) of water. Give the mix a quick shake.Third, add the activated yeast into the mix. Now put on the lid with the hole, and then put on the airlock. Lastly, seal the base of the airlock with some blu-tack. Now you're all set! Step 4: Waiting. <PIC> Leave the fermenter in a cool, dark place. Within 24h, you should be able to see the mixture bubbling! In around a month, the mix should stop bubbling and you'll have your very own dessert wine! Step 5: Bottling. <PIC> Now, you'll need to transfer the brew to another bottle. You can use glass bottles or re-used plastic bottles. Personally, I prefer to use glass bottles because it adds a little character to the wine. If you decide to re-use a plastic bottle, go for bottles that previously contained just water. Also avoid those that once contained flavoured contents because the taste tends to leech over to the wine.Also remember to leave the yeast behind as it tends to affect the taste. Step 6: Safety. <PIC> Although more traditionally associated with poorly sanitised beer rather than wine, it is better to be paranoid than to be blind. First, keep the bottles in a cool dark place, to prevent light from breaking down the finished brew. Second, when handling a bottle after some time, wear protective gear. Lastly, do a weekly check to ensure that there isn’t any significant build-up of gas. Step 7: What's Next?. <PIC> The end? I think not! You can go on to explore other recipes that involve adding fruit peels or tea to add exotic or exquisite tastes to the wine! Another alternative is to carbonate the wine to get your own sparkling dessert wine, instantly! Enjoy your new found source of alcohol! I hope that you enjoyed reading this instructable!


Introduction: Chicken Jelly Cake. <PIC> This is a chicken recipe that one could decorate as beautifully as they want - one could put a boiled egg inside or broccoli and make it tall with a lot of jelly underneath..  I called it a chicken jelly cake as it looks quite jolly like a cake and could use it as a cake for those who doesn't like sweets :-) I had one chicken thigh left so decided to make an instructable out of it :-) It is important to use a chicken with bones and skin still on it. You could also use some real jelly if you want to make a big and sturdy one, but for the small one - the chicken bullion is enough and turns into a thick jelly itself. So here we are.. Ingredients for one portion:1 Chicken thigh1 small carrotHalf of small onionblack pepperDried dillSmall peasGreens for decoration Step 1: Chicken Bullion. <PIC> Put a chicken thigh in a saucepan and pour a hot water over it ( just enough to cover the chicken), add some onions and black pepper. Simmer for about an hour or a bit more ( till the chicken starts falling apart). Last 10 minutes before switching the chicken off, add the carrots to the bullion and continue simmering.  Step 2: Cutting and Seperating Everything. <PIC> Drain the broth in a separate small container and put it aside. Cut the carrots in a shape you like and arrange them beautifully at the bottom of the dish (so when you flip it - the shape will be on top), add peas and sprinkle it with dill.As for the chicken, remove all the bones and chop the remains. Step 3: Final Bit. <PIC> Lay the chicken on top of the carrots very carefully ( so the shape will not get distorted/messed up). Put all the chicken in and press the spoon gently on top. Now start pouring the broth over it very gently - fill the dish up to the top. (Discard the rest of the bullion - or make some soup :-D )Leave the dish untouched for an hour or two till it cools down and then put it in a fridge over night (8 to 10 hours) Step 4: Flip. <PIC> Take a knife and slide it through the edges of the chicken jelly, so it will unstick. Tip it over on a plate and decorate it. Wa lah - it's done! :-)


Introduction: Homemade Chocolate Truffle. <PIC> Chocolate is actually pretty hard to manage. A little bit higher temperature will ruin the texture and the taste of chocolate. However, this recipe is very easy to make, without needing a thermometer.  Step 1: Ingredients. <PIC> You will need:227g   60% dark chocolate or bitter sweet chocolate1/2 cup    heavy cream Cocoa powder for dustingYou can also choose (recommended):1/2 tsp    Sea salt 1/8 tsp     Cayenne pepper 1/8 茶匙2 tbsp     Rum Step 2: Melt the Chocolate. <PIC> First put your chocolate into a mixing bowl. Then heat your heavy cream and make it to a boil. This is a very useful trick-- boil the cream instead of heat the chocolate itself. Chocolate can be easily ruined by over heated without a thermometer, but you can avoid the tragedy with heating another ingredient instead.  Step 3: Mix the Ingredients. <PIC> Let the hot cream sit for about 2 minutes. Then add the cayenne pepper and sea salt into the mixing bowl.Start to mix everything together and the chocolate will melt little by little. If you are using chocolate bar, please chop it well before you put it in the bowl. Step 4: Stir the Chocolate. <PIC> Add your alcohol when the chocolate is melted completely. Then keep stirring and it will show a beautiful and shiny texture. Pure the chocolate mixture onto a wrapping sheet or mold. Step 5: Chill the Chocolate and Ready to Use!. <PIC> Wrap the chocolate well and put it in the fridge for about 2 hours. Take it out and cut it into squares (or you can just use your hand to make them look like "rocks"). Step 6: Finish Your Truffle!. <PIC> Dust some cocoa powder, or roll them in shredded coconut or nuts, viola! The homemade truffle is ready! And it's perfectly managed as the chocolate is not being treated with high temperature. You can make them in advance and put them in the fridge, then take it out and enjoy anytime you want! Step 7: Enjoy!. <PIC> This could be a perfect Valentine's gift, or a homemade snack gift, or just a great dessert that you prep in advance and enjoy anytime you want!Hope you will like this recipe :)


Introduction: Record-Breaking Pi. <PIC> Rich chocolate truffle pie recipe adapted from allrecipes.comIngredients
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 9 inch prepared cookie crumb crust Directions
1. Melt chocolate chips and mix in 1/2 of the cream on low heat, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Set aside.
2. If you're unable to find a prepared cookie crumb crust, make one like I did with Oreo's No Bake cookie crumbs. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter or margarine. Mix with 1 packet of cookie crumbs in a 9 inch pie dish. Press the mixture evenly to form the pie crust. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, beat the rest of the cream until soft peaks form. Beat in chocolate mixture on high speed 1/3 at a time. Mix well and spoon into the crust.
4. Refrigerate at least 8 hours. Decorating Ingredients
• 12 ounces of black Wilton candy melts
• black icing decorating pen
• Red readymade icing/decorating pen
• White icing decorating pen
• Parchment paperDecorate
1. Melt candy melts on low heat, stirring at 30-second intervals until smooth.
2. Pour over the pie and let cool until the candy shell forms.
3. On parchment paper, make a simple record template with decorating icing and transfer to the pie.
4. Now comes the best part, cut up the pie!
Notice the upward fault line is a nod to record approximations of pi from 2000 BCE until now.
Enjoy!


Introduction: Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie, 1938. <PIC> Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie, 1938 Ruth Graves Wakefield and her husband Kenneth in 1930  bought a tourist lodge and called it  the  Toll House Inn in  Whitman, Mass., halfway between Boston and New Bedford.  Ruth did all the cooking and the restaurant drew crowds. One  especially popular dessert was a butterscotch nut cookie  served with ice cream, but she wanted to come up with  something different.  That something different was the  chocolate chip cookie.  Graves wrote a cookbook in 1930 called  Toll House Tried and  True Recipes. It went through 39 printings. The 1938 edition  was the first to include the chocolate chip cookie, which she  called the Toll House Chocolate Crunch  Cookie. She sold the  recipe and the Toll House name to Nestle for $1.  The recipe  makes about 5 dozen cookies. Step 1: Ingredients. <PIC> 2¼ cups flour1 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter ¾ cup brown sugar ¾ cup white sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon hot water 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 cups (18 ounces) semi sweet chocolate chips Step 2: Prep Flour. <PIC> Sift flour together with salt and set aside. Step 3: Cream Butter and Sugars. <PIC> 1. Cut 2 sticks of softened butter into pats. 2. Attach paddle to mixer and beat on medium for 30 seconds.3.  Add 3/4 cup of brown sugar to mix4. Start on slow speed, then beat on medium for 30 seconds. Scrape sides, beat for an additional 30 seconds.(scrape sides)5. Add 3/4 cup of white sugar in same manner as above.6. Scrape sides, and remove as much as possible from paddle attachment. Step 4: Eggs!. <PIC> 1. 2 large eggs, room temperature, in a small bowl.2. Beat with whisk3. Slowly add to creamed butter/sugar.4. Mix until just combined. Step 5: Baking Soda, Flour. <PIC> 1. Dissolve 1 tsp of b.s. into 1 tsp of hot water2. Add that alternatively with flour mixture.3. Mix until just combined. Step 6: Almost Done!. <PIC> Have you ever been in the middle of baking and realized you were completely out of any and all extracts? I discovered you can make your own yummier substitute with equal parts of Brandy and Maple syrup!1. Homemade substitute of vanilla extract, or use the actual stuff if you have it. 2. Add a teaspoon to cookie dough and mix until thoroughly combined.3. Using a spatula, remove most of cookie dough from paddle attachment. (The leftover is for licks.)4. Stir in almost 2 bags of high-quality chocolate chips. (The rest is for snacking on the next day when nothing in the fridge makes itself.)5. Transfer to glass bowl, cover and place in fridge for 36-48 hours. Yes, you read that correctly. Don't mess with the formula.  No need to label as that may invite naughty nibblers to reach in and help themselves to a dollop or two. Step 7: (Bake) Toll House Cookies!. <PIC> Who doesn't love these perennial favorites!    1. Gather things you need:Chilled cookie dough, removed from fridge just before you need it.lined cookie trapswire racks for coolingscale to weigh out dollops of cookie dropsspoon, or two, for scooping out doughPreheat oven to 375 degrees F.2. Scoop out 1.5 oz of cookie dough. (This makes generously-sized cookies, maybe 2.5 dozen)3. Place onto cookie sheets, leaving plenty of room for spreading.4. Bake for 10 minutes, plus or minus 1. Oi! The smell!! Cool cookies on pan for two minutes, then transfer carefully to wire rack to cool completely. It's okay if the spatula slips and you break one in half. Better to test them to make sure they came out okay. ; )  Store in lined cookie tins/stoneware. Step 8: Make It Even More Special.. <PIC> The Toll House cookies are another component of my Yankee Holiday Cheer Package.My presentation for these classics was simple: Two delectable cookies protected in waxed paper, some Kraft paper wrap over that.  Laid upon that is the Toll House Cookie Story, tied up with some simple, yet so functional kitchen twine.


Introduction: Frozen Buttercream Transfer. <PIC> I'm going to show you in this instructable, that you- YES YOU, can create an awesome hand piped picture replica on a cake!
Frozen buttercream transfers are pretty easy to do and end with impressive results! I've been so happy with my recent featured instructables that I decided to dedicate this on to the instructables robot! Woo! Step 1: Materials!. <PIC> First of all, you’ll need some buttercream. I have no idea if this technique can be done with store bought frosting,(feel free to let me know in the comments! Maybe if you add powdered sugar to it... but I’m very inclined to say no, unless it’s store bought decorator’s frosting. That goopy stuff in a can alongside the cake mixes wouldn’t work at all, I’m sure.
I use the classic Wilton Buttercream recipe: http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Buttercream-Icing
Okay, so you’ll need at least two frosting colors, depending on your design. I recommend gel colors or good high quality liquid colors like Americolors.
You’ll need a frosting bag for each color of frosting and several sizes of round icing tips.
You’ll need a picture that you want to turn into a transfer and a piece of wax paper or parchment paper. Also some tape. Step 2: Preparation. <PIC> My picture needed two colors, black and yellow, so I mixed food coloring into two little bowls of icing. Then I put each color into it's own bag. I used a smaller icing tip for the black because it was for the detail and outline.
Next, tape your picture to the counter and then tape the wax or parchment paper over top of that. This is so that they don't slip around while you try to trace the picture. Step 3: Tracing the Outline. <PIC> Take your outline color and start tracing! You might need to switch to a smaller tip for some fine detail work. When you're first starting with buttercream transfers, it's best to start with basic images like this this on that aren't overly elaborate. Once the outline is done, you'll want to let it sit for a minute or two to sort of set up. Step 4: Filling in the Color. <PIC> Start filing in your outline with the second color. Try to stay in the lines, but you can cover lines without messing anything up. Cover the entire back with frosting.  Step 5: Letting the Icing Set Up. <PIC> Okay, now you'll want to peel the tape back, carefully and tuck it under or tear it off. You can lift this thing up and take a little peek-a-roo at the bottom for a sneak preview of what it's going to look like!
Find yourself a flat spot  in the freezer to stash this thing. Like this box of waffles. Totally perfect. (and delicious. Does anyone else totally want waffles now?)
Ok! So... let this bad boy set up in the freezer over night. I'm being serious. Like... 8 hours would be great. You want it frozen solid and hard. Seriously.  Step 6: Placing It on the Cake. <PIC> Ok, so this thing is going to start to warm up and melt the second your hands touch it, so work quickly here. Remember when I told you 8 hours? Yeah, I left this in there for like... I don't know... 20 minutes? As you can see, quality suffered so that I could bring this to you guys sooner. Geez.
Anyhow, flip the thing over onto your already iced cake. A little smoothing down with a fondant smoother helps. I don't recommend using your hands, the heat will just melt to the paper.
Now start peeling the paper back veeerrry slowly. Pull back and reveal your picture. If you let it set up over night and get it pressed well against your cake... it should come right off! Step 7: Closing Notes. <PIC>
Here are some more successful FBCT's I've done!
Also, I'm so thrilled with my recent featured instructables that I'm giving away a gift code for 3 months of free pro membership to instructables over on my blog: http://gemcitytiffany.wordpress.com/
I want to share my love of 'ibles with all my friends and I  hope that by the end of the week my friends will be just as in love with the site as I am!


Introduction: Blueberry Cream Cheese Pull Apart. <PIC> The flavors of blueberries and cream cheese combine to make this delectable recipe perfect for dessert or breakfast. Ingredients 10 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold 2 tablespoons butter, melted 3/4 cup frozen blueberries 6 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 egg 5 tablespoons sugar, divided 1 tablespoon lemon juice 3 tablespoons brown sugar zest of one lemonIcing 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon milkInstructions Cut rolls in half and place cut side down in a sprayed 9-inch round baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Remove wrap, brush rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with blueberries. Combine softened cream cheese, egg, 2 tablespoons sugar and lemon juice and spread over rolls. Combine brown sugar, remaining white sugar and lemon zest and sprinkle over cream cheese mixture. Cover with plastic wrap again and let rise until double in size. Remove wrap, place pan on a baking sheet to catch drips and bake at 350°F 20 minutes. Cover with foil to prevent over browning and bake an additional 7-9 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Combine icing ingredients and drizzle over rolls.Video Instructions:http://www.rhodesbread.com/recipes/view/2317