Birthday Bash- Giveaway #5: Michael's Gift Card

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 It's my bloggy birthday, and my real-life birthday is coming up soon!  Let's celebrate!

Each day this week, I have a giveaway for you, as well as a fun, birthday-themed post.  !  The theme of my giveaways this week is "My Favorite Things"!   I have not been compensated in any way for featuring these shops or products-- I am just thrilled you get to share them with me, and I hope they become some of your "favorite things!"


Thanks for coming back today!  Before we get to the last giveaway, please make sure to enter all the giveaways this week.  They can be found here.  All giveaways are open until midnight on Sunday the 13th.
Now, on to the show.....My final giveaway is simple and hopefully really useful.   Any crafter knows a great place to shop is Michael's.  It's dangerously close to my house, and I go there ALL THE TIME (much to the chagrin of my husband and boys).  I only get through it with the promise of lollipops at the end, but hey- it's worth it!
Today I'm giving away a $25 Michael's gift card.  Need a stack of scrapbook paper?  That'll cover it.  How about some paint and supplies?  No problem.  A little home decor?  $25 will pick you up something cute, especially with your 40% off coupon that is on their site weekly.


Simply use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.  Good luck!  a Rafflecopter giveaway






Don't forget to enter all the giveaways, found here.

Finally, please come back this afternoon for a HUGE announcement about my blog.  You won't want to miss it :)

Teacher Gifts {aka Mom's homework!}

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I don't know about you craftily inclined folk out there, but when the holidays and other major events roll around, I almost feel obligated to do something cute. I think I do a good job at not going overboard and always try to involve the kids. The end of the school year was different this time because it was our first! But, we also packed up 85% of our belongings last week and I just couldn't do a lot. So with some 'pin'spiration I was was able to do a little crafting with a lot of cuteness!

Check out these cute treat bags for the bus monitor and bus driver! You can find the printable here, and it calls for use of Hershey nuggets, but I couldn't find any. 


Next I needed something for his teacher's aid and another team teacher who my son has absolutely loved. These re-usable cups with single serve lemon{aid}s couldn't be simpler or cuter, and something they will use! Check out the printable here.


Lastly, the truly very important teacher gift. I mean, how do you properly thank the single person who has planned every single lesson, activity, snack, and field trip? I wanted to make something for her, but something that she could use more than once. Then I figured it out. What is one thing that kept her going through the year? Coffee! She always had a mug of coffee in her hand, and who could blame her? I put my new found knitting skills to use and made her a hand made coffee sleeve and put it around an eco cup and included a gift card. I hope she remembers us as she drinks her coffee for her next kindergarten class.


Comment if you are interested in the knit pattern-- it was my first cable knit! So easy and turned out great!

What did you do for your teachers this year?

The Man with the Golden Borsht

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Attention all Chefs -

Attention all Cooks -

Attention all Bakers, Foodies, Posers and Children of God.........

Let me take just the briefest of moments to intro my newest favorite person that I've met in awhile.

Her name is Lisa Zara.....and this woman flat out knows how to cook.

Recently I can into her Blog Site, and how often do I promote other sites....like once every 100-200 posts?

Well the wait is over.

For the last couple of days I've been musing over her concepts concerning green chili, and after smashing my head on a brick wall, I think I almost caught up to her.

But just when I was ready to take a breather.....this diamond in the rough starts preaching the gospel of (Get This......)

GOLDEN BORSCHT!

At first I thought she was toying with me, there is no Big Foot, there is no Loch Ness Monster,and the certainly is no such thing as Golden Borscht...right?

Well, Lisa ended up sending a link over to me, I ended up sending it over to StarTribune "TASTE" columnist Kim Ode, and the 2 of us giggled and marveled at Zara's project.

So you know I love borscht as the Polish Lord loves Warsaw kittens, so I pretty much groveled and begged Lisa Zarra to write something up for you L.A.B. Rats.

She was kind enough to put the following together, so if you trust my judgment....check out her Blog.

It's called.......................

"YOU EAT LIKE THAT EVERY DAY?"

Let's see what Lisa Zara has to say.

"Danny Klecko,I would love to share with your audience, thanks for having me as a guest blogger.

So the story is, our friend Stephanie is from a Ukrainian family, so this is her recipe, but she would generally make this with red beets. You need to cover your kitchen with garbage bags, and wear gloves, and you would still look like you worked in a slaughterhouse by the time you finished ! I came up with the idea to use the golden beets. So, while they still stain somewhat, it isn't that bad. You just look a bit jaundiced.

As for the golden beets, I call them the "Holy Grail" at the Farmers Market. They are usually tucked in with the red ones, at a ratio of about 10 to 1. I do know you can get them at Linden Hills Co-op for a pretty steep price, but they are worth it. They are a little less earthy tasting, and well, less "beet-y".

You can add a beef soup bone or cannellini beans if you like, but apparently the all vegetarian version is more traditional. And I personally like this better after it sits a day. Get some crusty bread, a little Dr. Zhivago, you are all set !

10 cups chicken stock
5-6 large golden beets, boiled, peeled and shredded (wear gloves!)
1 large onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large carrots, diced finely
2 stalks celery, diced finely
2 large potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
3 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Sour cream and fresh dill

In a large stock pot, bring chicken stock to a simmer. Add onion, beets and garlic, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add carrots, celery and potatoes, and simmer an additional 15 minutes. Add cabbage, and simmer just until tender, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with sour cream and dill.

Thanks again Klecko for having me, and don't forget my mantra....

We really do eat fast, easy, made from scratch meals almost every day. It just takes a little planning, having ingredients on hand, and some creativity. Don't be afraid to try new things ! And, of course, read my blog !"

The End

Don't forget L.A.B. RATS...we are in Zara's debt, take a second out and check out her Blog, or be smart like me and subscribe to it.

Sue McGleno's Baking Ruse / Kim Ode's Book

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During the Summer, on every-every-every Saturday night, Sue McGleno will say something like....

"Let's get up extra early tomorrow and head over to the Saint Paul Farmers Market."

Well....each Sunday I pop up around 5:30 or 6, head to the gym to do my dreadmill time, and then return home to see if my little angel has risen yet.

She means well, she loves the idea of a romantic early morning date, but the demons of slumber clamp down on my baby, and fight me for her attention.

Usually the demons win, and Sue McGleno crawls out around 8:30.

A couple weeks ago, while strolling down aisle #3 @ the S.P.F.M., Sue McGleno noticed that rhubarb was in it's prime.....

"Doesn't that look beautiful?" she said "We should make something rhubarb. Do you have any good recipes that call for it?"

I kinda had to chuckle, sometimes I think my wife pays attention to me...LOL

"Well, maybe you remember....Kim Ode just released a cookbook called RHUBARB RENAISSANCE and within weeks it's gone into a second printing. In fact, she did a book signing at the bakery, and Hennessy paid tribute by baking one of the recipes out of the book. It was the Persian-Rhubarb Snack Cake, and I'm telling ya....I swear on the soul of Tarzan and Cheetah that it was one of the 10 most delicious things that I've ever put in my mouth."

So Sue McGleno urges me to bring the book home, and then we'll look at the recipes and then we can go buy the ingredients at the farmers market, right?

Well we did this.

We decided we were going to make the Rhubarb Crisp (only I was going to swap out 1/2 the rhubarb for strawberries.

Now I know that will make Kim Ode cringe, but I don't know.....maybe its a guy thing, but I don't do well with...in your face tart.

But everyone of the woman in my life love-love tart.

So anyways, everything was purchased, the book was turned to page 68 and all of a sudden....guess who wasn't feeling well?

Now the last thing I want to do is dog my bride in front of the entire world "WINK-WINK", but it is a strong coincidence that during our last 1/2 dozen baking projects, my little Russian-Jew has to rest during the scheduled baking sessions, but Lo and behold.....guess who resurrects themselves when Papi places the baked goods on the proverbial windowsill?

But I really don't mind.

I love to bake for people, but even more so, I love the opportunity to bake for my wife.

Anyways......

The book is called RHUBARB RENAISSANCE by KIM ODE and it was published by the Minnesota Historical Society.

Here's just one wonderful recipe, and FYI....the book doesn't just discuss baking with rhubarb, it covers entree's appetizers, salads, breads and even cocktails.

This book is a must, hop over on Amazon and order it today.

You know Klecko isn't a food pimp, I just love this book.

RHUBARB CRISP

4 CUPS RHUBARB (cut in 1-inch pieces)
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons flour, divided
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned (not quick cooking) oats
pinch salt
8 tablespoons of butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Toss rhubarb with 2 tablespoons of flour and granulated sugar, then spread evenly in an ungreased 9x9-inch pan.
In a medium bowl, mix remaining 1 cup flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, oats and salt.
Then work the butter with your fingers until the mixture looks crumbled. Spread over the rhubarb and bake for 45 minutes.

*Klecko footnote, remember (and don't tell Kim, but I went 2 cups strawberries and 2 cups rhubarb.

Also....Kim makes no mention of vanilla ice cream...duh!

And Pollacks....you already know what I'm gonna say..LOL, that's right, COOL-WHIP,make sure you have a bucketful.

OMG - Lets Talk Oreo's

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If you grew up in America, its all about the Oreo Cookie huh?

For those of you in other countries, take a quick second to learn some interesting stuff about this iconic treat.

Oreo's are 70% cookie and 30% cream filling.

This cookie was introduced 100 years ago, and has flourished in sales the entire time.

20 1/2 million are eaten each day.

Over 345 billion Oreo cookies have been sold.

Nabisco uses 47 million pounds of cream filling for only one batch of cookies.

Somebody recently told me that Oreo's have become the #1 cookie in China, but do your homework on that.

But the one thing that kinda makes me sad is that Oreo's have been the most popular cookie in America throughout my entire life.

Let's take a quick look at what ingredients make up an Oreo.

INGREDIENTS -

Chocolate flavor sandwich biscuits with a vanilla flavor filling

Sugar, wheat flour, vegetable fats (with antioxidants: E-306, E-304), fat-reduced cocoa powder, glucose and fructose syrup, raising agents (sodium and ammonium bicarbonates), whey powder (from milk), cocoa mass, salt, emulsifier (soya lecithin), flavoring (vanilla).

Will these cookies kill you?

No, maybe not, but look at those ingredients, that is what's my countries fave cookie.

I don't even want to get into the fact that who knows where they are made, and how many days do they sit on a truck or train traveling across the country (or maybe now days the world).

And then they sit on your grocers shelf for how many days or weeks?

And then when you finally-finally get them home, how many days does it take you to devour an entire package?

And this my friends is more popular than Grandma's, Mothers or Church Lady Betty's Chocolate Chip cookies......

Forgive them Polish Jesus.....they know not what they do.

End of Transmission.

Priests, Poets and Bakers

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Last night I had a tough choice to consider, go to the University Club for the season ending reading, or watch the NBA finals.

With confronted with such choice, typically I will opt for the one that gets me out of the house, therefore preventing me from becoming a total Plop A**.

But Lebron is "My Guy" and I was wanting to will him across the finish line.

So I go the artsy route anyway, and it was OK, except the Celtic guy who insisted on playing those God Awful high pitched pipes.

Afterwards, I headed into the bar, grabbed a Carona, and the bartender (who was a guy) asks....

"Ya want a lime with that?"

Well of course I do, its a Carona, but dude should know that no "Real Guy" wants to ask  for a lime....

Just shut up and shove it down the bottle neck brah.

So now the Poet Laureate grabs the chair across from me, others join her, and then finally a priest is the last slides into our group as well.

My stars...if it isn't Father Gillespie.

Father Gillespie was one of the readers on this evenings ticket, and w/o a doubt gets my vote for one of the cities Top 10 most interesting orators.

Dude must of flourished in Homiletics 101, because he had the lot of us eating out of his hand.

He starts his set mentioning that his poetic reading will be like a perfect Mass, you know...the kind where the ending is close to the begining.

But then he talked about the Poet Billy Collins.

So at our table people are sqwauwking...."Blah-blah, Saint Paul Stuff, more Saint Paul Stuff, Irish this and Irish that."

Eventually the priest looks at me and says.....

"Baker, you are kinda quiet tonight."

"Father' I said "I was trained as a youth to never discuss the Irish."

The Poet Laureate rolls her eyes and reminds me....

"C'mon Klecko, after all 1/2 your blood is Irish."

So I turn to the table, smile, nod.... and then report the following.

"In 1965, when I was 2, my father the Mick deserted my mother, and from that time on, she always got annoyed when we embraced shamrocks or leprechauns. Ever since then we just set our eyes on the red and white, and all the angels of Warsaw."

The table sits silent.....

One - One thousand, Two - One thousand, then the priest interjects.

"Well your mom was a Pollack, no wonder why he left her, I'm surprised he stayed as long as he did!"

O-M-G.....I so LMAO.

Now that's my kind of priest, keeping it real, sipping a high ball and have a little fun with his flock.

Now the Padre asks me if I knew Bruno, the guy who baked at Kramarczuk's Deli?

"Yeah, I knew him. That's a Pollack joint over Northeast, I was raised over there, and btw....at Holy Cross, they said the Mass in Polish. How old was Bruno when he passed Father?

"Funny you should ask, I don't remember the age of everyone whose funeral I officiate, but Bruno was 83."

I smile and toss a little theory onto the table.

"Don't quote me on this, but I think Bruno baked all the way, up until his death."

Father Gillespie takes a belt off his cocktail and verifed my thought....

"Yeah, he did bake till the end. about a year before his passing, I asked him when he was thinking about retiring, and he just said WHEN I NO LONGER REMEMBER THE RECIPES. Yes, Bruno was loved. In fact, when the hearse carrying his remains was headed to the cemetery, they made certain to pass Kramarczuk's. when it did, the entire staff stood outside on the curb and they all removed their hats and had a moment of silence as Bruno passed by."

Ya think?

I so hope somebody misses me when my final ride passes, don't you?

The Ivan's Are Coming

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Props out to my friends in the former Soviet Union!

For the last 2 years, my home boys from Germany have been my #1 Viewership (other than my hometown USA of course).

At the end of my first year the Russian's had just finally cracked the top 10 and moved into the #8 slot.

This morning, some 320 post later, my Ruskie friends had taken the throne of international viewership for the first time.

I feel so honored, Prevet Comrades.

In closing, you might have been bumped down a notch Germany, but don't forget, it was on you backs that I obtained my momentum, I.E. Literary Success.

Thanks to everyone involved, but i do hope you will join me in thanking and celebrating our Russian friends commitment to baking.

Mad Love.....Danny Klecko