Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Crescent Ring

MY FIRST RECIPE! I seriously love cooking, especially little appetizers and snacky things, so hopefully I will be able to do more things like this! 

I first tried this recipe on Christmas Eve, and it wasn't that great, but I altered a few things and served it on Christmas Day AND New Years Eve (each time for different people) and people were raving about it! Here is the Pinterest pin that this recipe was inspired by and where all photos in this blog post came from. Here is the finished product:

Ingredients:

• One 8oz package of plain cream cheese, softened (set it out about 2-3 hrs before you're ready to begin prep)
• Two tubes of crescent rolls
• One can of cooked chicken (or you could use a breast of chicken, but the pre cooked can is MUCH easier), finely diced.
• 1/2 cup of finely diced celery
• 1/2 cup of finely diced onion
• 1/3 cup of hot sauce
• One packet of powdered ranch dressing mix.
• Ranch dressing for dipping (optional)
• 1/4 cup scallions, cilantro, or fresh herbs, finely chopped (optional)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375.
• In a bowl combine the cream cheese, chicken, celery, onion, hot sauce, and ranch dressing mix. 

                   A note about the hot sauce: the original recipe called for 1/2 cup which is how I                    made it the first time. I like spicy foods. I really do, but this was entirely too hot.                    The ranch dressing dipping sauce only offered mild relief. The second time I                            made it I reduced it to 1/3 cup and it was leaps and bounds better.

• Pop open your crescent rolls (I always hate this part, it's like an adult Jack In The Box), and arrange on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper:

• It takes a little maneuvering to get the crescent rolls arranged as shown above but just keep trying, it will come together like a puzzle.
• Then, as shown above use a large spoon to scoop the chicken mix around the center of the ring, then fold over the crescent rolls.
• If some of them rip when you fold them over it's okay! Just squish them back together as best you can.
• Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. I found 20 minutes turned out best.
• Let sit for about 10 minutes before cutting. The filling needs to set! Warning: this will be difficult because it will smell amazing.
• Garnish with herbs if desired.
• Serve with ranch dressing in the middle.
• Listen to your guests rave.

Let me know in the comments how this recipe works out for you! Happy cooking :)

Magazine Basket

Happy 2014 everyone!! I'm sorry about the lack of posting. This is certainly not what I intended for this blog but hopefully y'all are crafting a little bit on your own! 

I recently completed a fairly easy yet time consuming craft called the magazine basket. I'm sure you have seen this one on Pinterest several times. I definitely have and it always intrigued me. Warning: this craft is extremely time consuming. Patience required. While doing this craft I listened to a lot of Vitamin String Quartet and watched a lot of Breaking Bad. I like to craft with calm music and stressful shows. I don't know. Here is the finished product:

Tools:

• Glue gun
• Scissors or a fancy paper cutter
• Mod Podge
• Sponge brush
• Ruler (optional)
• Thick marker (optional)

Materials:

• One thick magazine (I used InStyle cause I like to think I'm stylish but I can't afford Vogue) or a few smaller magazines.

Estimated Time:

• A long friggen time. Like a month or more depending on how fast you can roll and glue (not a drug reference).

My Cost:

• FREE! My favorite price.

The Steps:

• First, rip all the pages out of the magazine. If they come out a little sloppy, that's okay. So did my life. Anyway, then cut the pages in half. I just used scissors, but if you're lucky enough to have a fancy paper cutter then use that! Now that you have a half of a page, it's time to start to start folding. Fold the page in half three times horizontally. Or the hot dog way for all of you still in your youth. 

Tip: After folding the page three times I quickly ran a ruler over it. This flattens the strip, makes your creases tighter, and makes it easier to roll.

• Next it's time to make your base. Take your strip and wrap it around a thick marker, then put a little dot of hot glue on the end.

Tip: I found the marker to be a little challenging so for the rest of the circles I just used my finger.

You will end up with a little circle that looks like this:

• Next, just keep wrapping those strips around that circle until you get the width you are looking for. I didn't have any particular width in mind, I just kind of kept gluing until it looked decent. It ended up being about 6 1/2 inches wide.
• To wrap the strips around you basically have two options. You can either (1) hot glue the entire length of the strip, or (2) just glue on the two ends to secure it. If you choose the first way your base will be totally secure and you won't need to Mod Podge it, but it could be a serious waste of glue. If you choose the second way it will be really loose and you will be able to push it into a cone. Don't panic, once you Mod Podge it it will be stiffer than a..................

At some point your strips won't go all the way around and you will run into this problem:

It's completely fine. Just start your next strip where the last one ends. You won't even be able to tell once it's all finished. Here is my finished base:

• If you chose the second method of gluing the strips, you now need to Mod Podge the base. Just a thin layer on each side using a sponge brush should do the trick.
• Now it's time to roll. And roll and roll and roll and roll and roll until you literally can't see straight. You're going to roll your circles for the body of the basket the same way you rolled your original circle, using either a thick marker or your finger. 
• Then once you've rolled as many as you think you'll need, start gluing them to the base. I basically just glued around the side of the circle and slapped it on the side of the base.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Once you get to your second row you need to decide your shape. If you want it to go outward like mine does, you need to place your circle slightly off in line with the first row. If you want it to go straight up, just keep it in line. Regardless of which method you choose, you need to place your circles in the middle of the circles underneath, NOT stacking directly on top.

• Now you will continue stacking your circles until you get to your desired height. I finished it off by Mod Podgeing the entire basket. Again, just a thin layer. Let it dry and you are good to go!!
  

Like I said, this is extremely time consuming but it comes out really well, and it is fairly easy. I get a lot of compliments on it and most people don't believe that I made it! I feel like that picture on the right doesn't do it justice. I'm super proud of this one!

You could try to make a trash can using this method as well! If you try this craft, let me know how it goes in the comments, or ask any questions you may have!

GOOD LUCK!!!!