Spooky Halloween Terrariums
STEP 1: First, wash each container and dry thoroughly. Choose a sturdy twig that’s slightly shorter than the jar and hot-glue it to the inside of the lid, so that the twig sticks straight up.
STEP 2: Hot-glue plastic bugs to the wood — making sure the decorations are small enough to fit inside the glass when you seal the terrarium.
STEP 3: Spray-paint everything but the jar — twig, bugs, lid — white or black.
STEP 4: Once the piece has dried, hot-glue green floral moss around the base of the twig. Carefully place the jar upside down over the lid and screw it on.
To make the crow version shown, follow the instructions above, but hot-glue a fake bird to the twig after you spray-paint.
DIY Tutorial Vintage Suitcase Chair. Found at See Kate Sew here. Variations of this have been all over the web, but I never saw a really great tutorial attached to any of the images until now. When I saw how little you really needed for this project it got me thinking that maybe even I could do it :)
.Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
Ingredients
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 2 cups sugar
* 4 large eggs, room temperature
* Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (about 3 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 cup buttermilk
* Lemon Curd
* Seven-Minute Frosting
Directions
1.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in zest and vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beating until just combined after each.
3.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
4.
To finish, spread 1 tablespoon lemon curd onto middle of each cupcake. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large open-star tip (Ateco #828 or Wilton #8B) with frosting. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake, swirling tip slightly and releasing as you pull up to form a peak. Hold a small kitchen torch 3 to 4 inches from surface of frosting, and wave it back and forth until frosting is lightly browned all over. Serve immediately.
Crispy Duck Breast with Roasted Potatoes and Orange Balsamic Salad
I found some “reduced for quick sale” duck today and just couldn’t help myself… it’s just so good.
Ingredients (Duck):
- 2 duck breasts
- Thyme
- Salt, pepper, and olive oil
Heavily salt the duck and add thyme. Cover in cling film for 2 hours and refrigerate. Set the thyme aside and rinse the salt from the duck. Heat a pan with about 4-5 tbsp of olive oil on high, while you add salt, pepper, and thyme (from earlier) to duck for taste. Sear skin side first until crispy before you flip. Served best medium rare.
Ingredients (potatoes):
- Baby potatoes, in half
- Sage
- Salt, pepper, and olive oil
Boil potatoes halves for 10 minutes. Score sides without skin with a fork, and then toss with salt, pepper, olive oil and sage. Put in a baking dish, in a 200C / 375F oven for about 30 minutes (or until crisp), stirring once.
Serve all with a spinach, mandarin orange and balsamic salad.
