Happy Birthday to me! Some Blog Cake and a scrap page!

How fitting to share my birthday post with Another Freaking Scrappy challenge site...I always try to do their challenges.....'cause they are so freaking good! Fun stuff on my birthday, happy dance!!!! Plus, I know all the girls from AFSC will stop in and then THEY can enter, which will make me super happy!

I had to squeeze this page in for their latest challenge which is ending quite soon! Like super soon.

Their Dec. 15th challenge is to: scrap a favorite recipe – use a photo of the item if you can or wish to. Make sure the recipe is included on the layout!

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They provided a sketch which I flipped.

This was a page I did showing the mound of food we had on Christmas Day!

And, we tried a new recipe which we LOVE!  Well, I'd include the link, but we tweaked it quite a bit, so it's our version!

Asparagus Salad with Sweet Balsamic Vinegar

yield: Serves 6

Boiling the vinegar concentrates and sweetens it, so the dressing

doesn't require as much oil to balance the acid.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

·         1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

·         3 tablespoons olive oil

·         1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

·         1 teaspoon minced garlic

·         2 pounds asparagus, tough ends trimmed, left whole

·         1 small red pickled bell pepper, diced

·         Feta Cheese

·         Pine Nuts

·         Bacon Bits

·         Tomato

Boil vinegar in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until

reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Pour vinegar into large bowl.

Whisk in oil, mustard and garlic. Season dressing to taste with

salt and pepper.

Cook asparagus in large pot of boiling salted water until

crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water

and drain again. Add asparagus, the bell pepper and tomato

to dressing; toss to blend well. Lay asparagus on bed of lettuce.

Sprinkle with feta cheese, pine nuts, and bacon bits.

You can just see the actual dish peeking out under my letters below. It isn't too photogenic, but boy was it good! Sorry about the flash, the day got away from me and I had to take these in the evening...

Both sets of letters were cut out of my Silhouette, inked up, glimmered up with glitter and then a coat of crackle glaze was added. They "pop" out of my page due to pop dots.

And another shot of letters and the cutie pie place setting I cut out with my Silhouette and also the little plate I cut out of a photo. I added the script in Picasa. My Gram got me these new fancy red plates. Typically I do a Christmas journal, but I may skip that this year as scrapping brings me way more joy...we'll see.

I am loving this page and my food glamour shots! Thanks for a great challenge!

And, my birthday give away:

I had to make a cute box to store it all in. And include a shot of our snow that is so pretty....It's much prettier on the ground than in the air in my opinion.

And, a close up of the front:

OH! You want to see what is inside it???  Flowers you can only get in Potsdam!

These are pretty 3D. Perfect for a box or a frame...but also have a magnet on the back!

Most of them are made by the very crafty super star here in the North Country...The Mad Recycler!

So, the rules. (btw, Lisa from You Made Me Ink, if these look a wee bit familiar...I'm just sayin' I may have borrowed them...you can have them back later)

1.  You don't have to follow my blog to receive this cake.  Since it's Birthday Cake, all are welcome.  However, I would greatly appreciate it if you did, only if you find inspiration in my pages and projects.

2.  Leave me a comment with some kind of contact info and the link to your link below.

3.  Only ONE ENTRY per person, please! 

4.  Please add a photo of this cake on your side bar if you would and link back to me. If you (like me) are confused on how to do that, a simple post will work with a photo and a link.

If, by any chance you can recommend some amazing, funny, quirky blogs that you love, that would be greatly appreciated! I have a couple I follow strictly because they make me laugh! OH and challenge blogs too. 

 I will leave this open until next Friday and draw a name using a very scientific method. If I get real crazy, maybe I'll figure out how to do one of those random number generator thingies. 

And hey, if you are stalking me from Facebook, repost my blog link on your main page and I will count that!

Alright, good luck!

And if you feel inclined to eat a piece of REAL cake today, I won't blame you. All this talk of cake has made me hungry!