DOES YOUR BUSINESS MOO?

Looking for a unique gift for the artist, crafter, or organized person in your life? 
How about some chic little personalized Valentines?

This past summer, my friend Larise and I went to the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco ~ an astounding collective of some of the most creative and talented craftspeople from around the country!  One of the things that stood out to me were the chic little business cards that many of the vendors were using ~ smaller, thinner, and more avant garde than your typical business card.  Some of the cards featured mod geometrics.  Others had modern floral prints, or quirky characters, or vintage inspired images.  To my artistic eye, these little personal expressions were a feast of visual candy!  

Moo cards as Hanging Tags for your Etsy Store

I was thrilled to discover that MOO, a forward-thinking printing company in the US and the UK has made the process of creating your own "Mini-Cards", not only easy, but extremely fun!  MOO was started by Richard Moross, a twenty-something Londoner, who was bored with the business cards most people were exchanging. He decided to do something about it. 

"Our first product, MiniCards, came about when we realized that sometimes, we wanted to hand out details of our personal sites, and we just didn't have a nice way to do it. A business card was too cheesy, too serious, or too... businessy, and didn't represent us the way we really are. A hastily scribbled piece of paper is more personal, but who ever has paper or a pen when you want it? We needed something else. So we made MiniCards. Little cards - about half the size of a business card - with your own photos, designs and text on. Made in boxes of 100 with the option of having a different image on every one."

MOO cards personalized for special events

You can choose from dozens of premade collections designed by different artists, choose a single premade design, or upload your own photo are artwork from Flickr, Facebook, or ETSY!  They're affordable enough to use like a regular business card, a calling card, or as gift and apparel tags (Just $19.95 for a box of 100).  


What ever happened to the "calling card" anyway?  Somehow it got replaced with the scribbled note on the back of deposit slip I suppose.  As a busy parent, I can appreciate the ease of being able to reach into my purse and give a friend a card with all of my info already on it.  Can't say I miss the days of balancing a baby on one hip and teetering for balance while I searched through the diaper bag abyss for a pencil!  Bloggers, how many times has the subject of your blog come up in conversation and someone has asked for the URL?  You jot it down on a scrap of paper, and it ends up in someone's back pocket where it gets chaffed to oblivion before meeting it's final demise in the washing machine.  Sound familiar?

Moo tags for your hand-made wares

Okay, so what's my angle?  Did MOO pay me to say this?  Am I being compensated?  No.  One of the reasons I started blogging was that I enjoyed telling friends and family about new things I had discovered and wanted to share.   

The first time I visited the MOO website, I sat there for hours just ogling all the different designs. I wanted them all! I ultimately decided on the collection from Bianca Gomez. My cards arrived quickly, and in the cutest little earth-friendly container. My package from MOO also included a coupon for 10%. I was so thrilled with my experience with MOO that I contacted them to get permission to share the coupon code with my friends. I have their blessing, and will disclose that if anyone does read this article, and use the coupon code to order cards, MOO may kick some free mini's my way. Honestly, I wasn't looking for a freebie, and would have written this anyway, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Il Timpano ~ For your Big Night, or any night...

There are films that make you laugh;  films that make you cry; films that cause you to take pause, reflect and meditate on your own life; and then there are some films that inspire you to express your love and passion through cooking ~ Babette's Feast, Like Water for Chocolate, Eat Drink Man Woman, and Chocolat to name a few.

After I first saw Big Night back in 1998, there was one thing I knew I must do:  make a Timpano!  As a busy, working mother of two my recipe has slowly evolved through the years to be a bit easier, quicker, and appealing to the kids, without sacrificing flavor and depth. 

What  I like most about this recipe is that it is versatile (you can add any ingredients that your family enjoys), fun for the kids to help make, and is always delicious.  The presentation never fails to garner "oohs" and "ahhs".

Rook No. 17 Big Night Timpano
serves 6

1 pound dry spaghetti

1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce (or homemade)

2 cups grated parmigianno reggiano

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered.

1 cup cooked italian sausage, black olives, spinach ricotta filling, halved meatballs, or grilled vegetables

1 package frozen puff pastry, brought to room temperature

1 egg, beaten with 1 TB water

butter for greasing the pan

To begin, adjust oven rack to lower middle.  Preheat oven to 400.

Grease a 7" high-walled cake pan with butter (bottom and sides).  Insert a round of parchment, as you would for a cake, and butter that as well.  Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the spaghetti.  Cook to manufacturer's specifications for al dente.  Drain pasta and return to pot.  Toss with spaghetti sauce over low heat.  Add 1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup parmigianno and stir till spaghetti is completely coated and cheese starts to melt.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside to cool.

Lightly flour your work surface.  Open and unfold one sheet of puff pastry.  Lightly flour rolling pin, and roll the puff pastry to work out lines and wrinkles, and to extend it just far enough to fit in the 7" pan.  Place in prepared pan as you would a pie crust.  Let extra puff pastry hang over the sides.

Add a layer of spaghetti, about 1" high.  Using the bottom of a wide drinking glass, press down on the spaghetti to compact.  Top with 1/3 cup of each cheese.   On top of the cheeses, arrange a layer of one of your fillings. 

Next, add another 1" layer of spaghetti and compact.  Top with another 1/3 cup of each cheese.  Arrange egg quarters in a flower petal shape. 

Top with another 1" of spaghetti and compact.  Finish with remaining cheese.  You will have some pasta left-over.  Put it in the refrigerator for lunch the next day.  In my house, you can forget about the next day.  It usually disappears from the pot while my back is turned.  

On your lightly floured work surface, roll second sheet of puff pastry, just to soften the lines where it was folded.  Using a pastry brush, moisten the entire top rim of the puff pastry that is already in the pan (and filled with spaghetti) with your egg wash.  Gently lay the second sheet of puff pastry over the top.  Using your rolling pin, fuse both sheets together by rolling back and forth over the top of the pan until the extra simply drops off. 

Using a decorative cookie cutter, such as a leaf shape, cut pieces from the extra puff pastry and apply to the top of the timpano, adhering with a brush of egg wash.  Using a small biscuit cutter, cut a small hole in the middle of the puff pastry to allow steam to escape.  When decoration is complete, brush the entire top with egg wash.

Timpano likely got it's name from the Latin "Tympanu" meaning drum

Bake for 45 minutes, or until Timpano has risen and is a rich, golden brown.  Allow to cool for half an hour before inverting gently on a plate (it will be upside down), then gently flip back on to a serving plate.  Slice and Serve.

Has a cinematic experience inspired you
to create a new family favorite? 
Please share...


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This recipe has been linked-up with:

Waiter! There's a BABY in my cake! -- or -- IT MUST BE THREE KINGS DAY

Today we are celebrating the 12th Day of Christmas.  I'm nursing a tremendous migraine, so fortunately, this does not mean that our true love will be bestowing the gift of "twelve drummers drumming".  What it does mean is that today my family and I will celebrate Three Kings Day; also know as Epiphany or Twelfth Night.

This Christian holiday celebrates the day that the three wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus. The legendary visit later gave rise to the custom of gift giving at Christmas on the Feast of the Epiphany, today traditionally observed on January 6.

In Germany, where my father's family originated, children go from house to house on Epiphany eve, singing carols and chalking the year and initials KMB (those of the kings, Kaspar, Melchior and Balthasar), near the entrance of each home. The festive Dreikonigskuchen or Three Kings Cake is also served that night to celebrate the occasion.

Since childhood I have relished all the magic and pageantry that comes with holiday celebrations, and have also been intrigued by family history, heritage, and culture.  Any opportunity to make a little magic ~ transforming an ordinary day into an extraordinary day of joy and memory-making is an opportunity best seized in my book.  So as a parent, I have made considerable effort to learn more about the traditions and celebrations of my and my husband's ancestors, and integrated them into our lives in the present day. 

On years where January 6 falls on a weekend, we host a big party for all our friends, family and neighbors where we serve a traditional New Orlean's style King Cake.  In keeping with the tradition, the guest that finds the little baby jesus charm in his/her piece of cake is crowned King or Queen of the day and is given a hand-made crown to wear.  In years where the holiday is on a weekday, we find a way to integrate the celebration in to an activity at school, or let the girls choose a few friends to have over in the evening.  This year, we brought the party to my daughter's preschool.  The children helped me prepare a humongous King Cake, which was enjoyed by all.

The tradition of the King Cake is popular in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Bulgaria, to name a few. In the United States, the King Cake is part of the Mardi Gras season traditions. Each country has it’s own recipe for the King Cake, varying from the French Galette de Rois with Puff Pastry and Almond filling, to the Louisana version which more closely resembles a ring of broiche. Despite regional differences, what these special cakes have in common is that they all have a small trinket (often a small plastic baby, sometimes said to represent Baby Jesus) inside, and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations. The traditional trinket in the cake is a bean, still seen in some European and Mexican traditions but rare in U.S. king cakes.

I’ve taken some liberties with the traditional Louisiana style King Cake, to make it more family friendly, and fun to prepare as a group. Borrowing from the Mardi Gras tradition, we top our King Cake with sprinkles in green, purple, and gold: Green representing “Faith”, Purple representing “Justice”, and Gold representing “Power”. It is also said that these three colors represent the gifts of the Magi: Gold, Incense and Myrrh.  The cake is baked in a bundt pan, giving it its characteristic ring shape, representing a crown.

This tradition is a wonderful way to round-out the Christmas season, continue the joy, honor our culture, history, and for those of the Christian faith, to further celebrate the savior's birth.

King Cake

(adapted from my grandmother's recipe for monkey bread)

3 tubes refrigerator biscuits (small, buttermilk)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup melted butter (2 sticks), plus extra for buttering the pan

1 trinket  (we use a plastic baby, which I promise you does not melt)

purple, gold, and green sprinkles
icing (recipe below)


Preheat oven to 375.


Butter the inside of a bundt pan.

Open biscuit tubes.  Cut each biscuit in half and gently squeeze into a rough ball shape.  Children can do this with safety scissors.

In a medium bowl, combine sugars and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, melt butter.

A handful at a time, dip biscuit balls in melted butter. 
Transfer to sugar bowl and toss to coat.

Place sugared biscuits in buttered bundt pan.

Be sure to imbed your trinket into one of the biscuit pieces before dipping and rolling in sugar.  If serving a small group, and wanting to ensure that one guest gets the trinket, insert a toothpick in the area where it is hidden.  This way, you can be sure to serve from this portion of the cake first.

Continue until all biscuits have been buttered and sugared and placed evenly around the bundt pan.  Gently press down to help biscuits adhere to one another.  Pour remaining butter over the top of the biscuits.

Bake until biscuits rise and are golden brown (approx. 30 minutes).

Remove from oven and immediately invert cake on to a serving plate.

Drizzle with icing.

Icing:

1. Melt 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) of butter in a saucepan or microwave.
2. Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar into a medium size bowl.
3. Add the melted butter to the powdered sugar.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of milk.
5. Beat until smooth and creamy, adding a little more milk if necessary.

Sprinkle one third of cake with purple sprinkles, another third with gold, and the last with green.

 Serve.

The guest that finds the trinket becomes

"King" or "Queen" for the day. 

DO YOU CELEBRATE ON JANUARY 6?

PLEASE SHARE YOUR FAMILY TRADITIONS.

WHAT TRADITIONS FROM YOUR FAMILY HERITAGE
HAVE YOU CONTINUED WITH YOUR CHILDREN?