Mini (savoury) pies

I'm just popping in quickly to share this miracle snack with you - one that I accidentally found (and modified a bit). I hardly EVER share food on this blog so this is definitely something you should make a note of.

Ingredients: 

Cream cheese

Bacon (fried)

                 Jalapenos (chopped/fresh or bottled)

                  Puff pastry (store bought or home made) 

   1 Egg white

Cut small circles, I used the lid of a glass jar - 6cm/2.4", out of the rolled out pastry (about 3mm/0.1"thick) and layer as follows: 

Blob of cream cheese, piece of fried bacon and a piece of Jalapeno.

Brush some egg white on the edges of the pastry and place another pastry circle on top of it. 

Press down the edges with a fork (the top pastry will stick to the bottom one because of the egg white).

Brush the top of each mini pie with egg white to allow it to brown easier.

And bake at 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15min or until brown.

AND TA DA!! 

(Sorry for the ugly plate, they where about to be eaten so I had no time for nice styling.) 

If you want to do something more, which only adds to the delightfulness, then get a bowl of salsa and dunk the pie in it before taking a bit. 

Do it - trust me you'll thank me later.

Blessings

Gabi

Giveaway no. 2

Sadly this giveaway is now closed to entries.
I am really excited about 2012. Its a year of new beginnings. Not only are we moving back to South Africa in April (after a 5 week road trip/family visit in the States - WHOOP WHOOP) But a friend and I are starting a business when I get back. I have been wanting to start a business for about 4 years now so I cannot explain how excited I am. I will explain more about it when the website is up and running. Which means goodbye teaching career. It also means trusting the Lord way more as its totally out of my comfort zone - but bring on the challenge. I know God is big enough :)

I also want to say thank you for supporting me over the past year - its been almost a year since I started paying some serious attention to this blog, and its been great to see everyone's enthusiasm. 

So lets get on with it and give something away!

This giveaway is for old and new followers (so you can still get in on it even if you are only joining today).  

Here is what you can win:

 This Melanie bag (pattern from I Think Sew).
(the giveaway is for the bag not the pattern - just to avoid confusion ;)

I really like this bag so here is another picture just because I can :)

 So here is what you have to do to win: 

1. Be a follower/become a follower.

2. Say hi, below(Leave a comment).

3. That is all :)

Things to remember:

You can only enter once.

Please make sure that you leave an e-mail (if its not in your info) so that I can get hold of you - I won't spam you, I will only e-mail you if you have won.

You can type it like this: 

inspired(dot)gabi(at)gmail(dot)com

Anyone can enter from any country. If you can receive mail you can enter :)

The giveaway ends on Sunday Jan 15th at 12pm (Colorado time - just because my brother lives there and to avoid confusion with all the different time zones) 

If I announce a winner and I don't have your e-mail I will give you 3 days to contact me - then I will have to redo the draw:)

(It will be a random draw )

^.^
Oh and PS. I'm off to Hong Kong this coming week - so If I seem absent, don't worry I'll be back - hopefully with some great new craft finds.
Blessings


Gabi

Ladies tea

A few weeks ago we hosted a ladies tea at our church. The topic was God's perspective on health and beauty and we had two amazing ladies from our church speaking to us. I was in charge of the decorations and although the budget was limited it was loads of fun.

Here are some photos.

  Having these women in my life has made my time in Korea so much easier.

I hope  you enjoy your last few days of 2011.

Blessings

(thanks to Katy Doerksen for all the photos)

^.^

I promise I'm not sleeping over here ^.^

Just in case you thought I was relaxing on this side and sipping a cup of tea or playing in the falling Autumn leaves...I'm not only doing that.

I have been doing a few other things too: Here are 3 of them ^.^

I made a birthday bag for a friend :)

I also made my first zippered pouch.

I inserted my first zip ever.

Then unpicked my first zip ever.

Then I shortened my first zip ever.

And then broke my first needle ever.

I did needle felting onto fabric for the first time ever (the cloud)

And then I finished making this:

I needed a handbag that was cheap and big enough to act as an overnight bag. So I bought a plain (cheap) bag and then hand sewed some of my heart on to it (Africa).

Hope you have been having some creative fun too.

^.^

I wrote a letter to my love...

A while back I was missing my family and decided to send a small care package. I thought about what I would have liked and realized that sitting down and having a cup of tea with my mom would be wonderful. So, because that is currently impossible I went for an alternative.


 I had seen a few people from our wonderful online craft world make these, but their only use was the cuteness factor. I decided to change the concept just a little by making the envelopes from different colours and I wrote tiny letters to my mom and attached them each to a teabag. So that when she was missing me she could have a cup of tea and read my note (not exactly a full conversation - but you have to take what you can get if you are oceans apart.)

Of course I have an opinion...

I'm currently doing a 30 day drawing challenge - although I've decided that I determine when those days occur :)

I just did day two and it was: Draw your favourite animal.

At the moment my favourite animal is a tie between Corgi puppies and Bunnies. I went for bunnies. But I decided that these bunnies needed to reflect my personality. Something about myself, that isn't always positive, is that I always have an opinion. I really don't know everything, but time and time again I find myself in mid sentence blabbing about something I know for a fact I really don't know anything about. The person I'm talking to doesn't even need to ask for my opinion, I give it freely and often ignorantly. I also have this intense desire to fill in the silences, you know those awkward ones where no one is speaking.

And time and time again I find myself with my foot in my mouth because I said something totally stupid.

One day I'm going to find my mute button - but until then... meet the opinionated bunnies :)

 Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.
Proverbs 17:28

I hope you have a great weekend.
^.^