Homemade microwave vegetable crisps

A long time ago I saw how to make potato crisps in the microwave on some tv show.

I don't remember what show it was, but I do remember how to make the crisps.

You cut thin slices of potato using a peeler.

Then fold up a piece of greaseproof paper concertina style.

Lay the potato slices on top and sprinkle with salt.

Put them in the microwave for around 5 minutes.

Sometimes they need a bit longer.

Then try getting a bit fancy and adding different flavours.

I sprinkled some chicken seasoning on, but I probably didn't need as much as these had a bit of a kick.

My Mum suggested I also tried making crisps in the oven, with a bit of oil on the baking sheet.

It's easier to forget about them when they're in the oven, so I'm going to stick to the microwave.

Also, in the microwave you don't need oil = healthier!

I then got really crazy and tried making courgette crisps.

These took longer to crisp up but that might have been because I put less salt on.

I also tried using carrots which produced these shrivelled things. To be fair it was a small carrot.

Healthy snacks and a great way to use up the courgettes that just keep growing in the garden!

Getting my bake on

I'm home for Easter now and baking always seems more appealing when I'm in my kitchen at home.

(No offence housemates, but come on, you've seen our kitchen) 

I made these sugar cookies with a different coloured, shaped centre after seeing something similar briefly on the internet. So briefly that I didn't make a note of exactly what or who made them. Apologies internet.

The mixture was a bit sticky so the only way I could successfully replace the middle with red stars (which were just cookie mixture with food colouring) was with the help of a lot of plain flour.

My sister and I thought that it would be nice to add strawberry flavouring to the stars, except we both thought of this once the cookies were done. Ah well, next time.

Too Small - Private View

Last Thursday we had the private view for our exhibition.

Who likes my new red jeans?

I call them my J-Nett pants.

No private view is complete without a lovely spread and since our exhibition featured miniature art we themed our nibbles accordingly.

We had mini party rings, mini oreos, cocktail sausages, mini chocolate fingers, mini sausage rolls, mini cheddars, mini donuts and baby bells.

And the drinks were served in plastic shot glasses!

People also had a good look at the work, but really, it was all about the food.

Gingerbread Village

On Christmas Eve my sisters and I put together a little ginger bread village.

My Mum bought us a kit so all we had to do was assemble the pieces and then decorate with candy. 

Then my sister made it snow over the village!

These were the two buildings that I did.

I think I did a pretty good job, since my degree is pretty much making miniature models.

Did everyone have nice Christmases?

Eat a lot?

What's your favourite Christmas food?

Snowman Cookies

When I saw the melted snowman cookies on Crazy Domestic I had to make some myself.

I used a general sugar cookie recipe from a random book and then decorated with icing for the snow and a marshmallow for the head. I added the scarf, buttons and arms with tube icing but this wouldn't stick to the marshmallows so for the eyes I dipped a cocktail stick in some black food colouring.

Though it's not a requirement, I suggest decorating the cookies, or any kind of Christmas cookies, whilst wearing Christmas/winter pyjamas. It just adds to the whole experience.

My friends thought it was a bit mean to eat these poor little snowman but they soon came around once they discovered how delicious they were.

Om and nom!

Also, my bottle top Christmas tree project has been featured in a Kids Christmas Craft e-book which you can view here on All Free Holiday Crafts. Exciting!

Fun and delicious!

Want a snack that is both delicious and entertaining?

Then go for breadsticks and chocolate spread!

Why?

Because it looks like little people with awesome hair-dos!

(Minus the faces. I added those on the computer)

When I eat this in front of people they all look at me strangely because I giggle to myself before each bite.

This one is my favourite.

Possibly because it meant a lot of Nutella.

And then just for funsies...

But of course, don't get too attached to these little people...

...because you do bite off their heads.

Miniature food made with salt dough

Pretty good spread huh?

Shame it's too tiny to be eaten.

That's right; I made some miniature food for my dolls house. Here's how;

Salt dough.

You'll need plain flour, salt and water.

I just got roughly the same amount of flour and salt and added water until it went doughy, but if you want to do things properly then just google a salt dough recipe.

To make everything in that top photo I only used the amount of salt dough you see in my hand there.

I cooked my salt dough on the lowest oven setting - less than Gas Mark 1 - and the smaller pieces only needed about 15 minutes, the larger ones I left in for 30 minutes. You'll be able to tell when they're done as they should go white and hard and not be squishy in the middle. 

To make a batch of hot cross buns roll some salt dough into a ball then flatten it into a rectangle with rounded edges. Mark out six sections and add thin strips of salt dough for the crosses. Dab a bit of water on to make them stick. Then cut out the individual buns.

Once they've been in the oven paint the buns. The crosses and bases will already be the right colour but add some orangey brown to the tops. I also painted on a little varnish to look like the glaze.

Note; the salt dough expands slightly in the oven so flat edges don't come out so flat. To fix this just use some sand paper to file them flat again. This is something I had to do with the bottoms of the hot cross buns.

To make a croissant thinly roll some salt dough into a long triangle. Then roll it up, starting at the wide end, and curve into the right shape. 

Once cooked, paint with a golden brown colour, a little darker on top.

To make donuts roll some salt dough into a ball and then flatten it. Use a kebab skewer or a thin drinking straw to make a hole through the middle.

After they've been in the oven, paint them golden brown and then different colours for the icing.

I also made scones, shortbread fingers, cupcakes, cookies, plaited bread, turnovers and Belgian buns. The possibilities are endless, just have a play around with the dough.

Here are two ladies enjoying a cream tea and a gossip.

Hungry kids waiting for the cake to be cut.

And a family having their continental breakfast of croissants.

I'd love to see what you come up with.

Burger Cupcake!

I've had this photo saved on my computer forever and I finally got round to making my own Burger Cupcakes last week.

I only just found the source of the image (here) and discovered there was actually a how-to, but I just made it up as I went along with mine.

The 'bun' is a regular cupcake and the 'burger' is a chocolate brownie.

Then I used icing tubes for the cheese, ketchup and lettuce.

Om and nom!

Pizza

So we've all seen my felt donuts, right? Well I wanted to try making a different food out of felt, and I picked pizza.

What we have here is a delicious pepperoni pizza with a tomato sauce covered base and cheese, topped with pepperoni and green...bits. I don't know, peppers? Herbs? Either way they look cool.

Here's the break down of how I put it together.