DIY Paper Basket

With Spring in full gear now we are going to share with you a little how-to Spring/Easter basket that you can make. These are perfect to use as an afternoon craft project with the kids on Spring Break so they can have them ready for egg collecting on Easter morning or you can use them as decorations or even as a goodie “bag” at a party or gift basket to give to someone. They can be as cute or as sophisticated as you want them to be.

Here’s how to make them...

We actually made two different sized baskets. The first one (blue) is made from regular sized paper that we cut into a 8 ¼ x 8 ¼ inch square. You can really use any size paper but it needs to be cut into a square. The bigger the paper the bigger the basket. We also made one (pink) that was slightly larger so we made that a 12x12 inch square. We have also provided lots of step by step by step pictures as some of the steps are hard to explain.

So the process at the start is the same for any size. You will need to start off with a square then you mark it into thirds in both directions so you end up with nine smaller equal squares.

Then you cut the two lines on the bottom third and the two lines on the top third (as shown in the picture below).

Now fold all the side towards the middle along the lines.

Here’s where things get a little different.

Blue Basket (wider shallower basket): Put glue on the sides of the bottom middle square and then glue the bottom corner squares to the middle so it forms a triangle. Repeat at the top.

Then use scissors to round the four corners of the basket.

Take a long thin strip (ours is from what was left over of the paper that we made into a square which was about 8 ½ inches long but you can make yours whatever size you like) and glue the strip on like a handle.

Now you can decorate. We used some punches but you can draw, stamp, or sticker things to it. Keep in mind that stamping and drawing would be more difficult when the basket is already assembled.

Pink Basket (taller deep basket): Take each corner and spilt into thirds again and cut. 

Now take the middle bottom square and mark the middle of the edge and cut into a triangle and do the same on the other side. Fold along lines. 

Glue the inner third from the right hand side to the inner third from the left hand side so they are perpendicular to each other.

Then continue overlapping and gluing sides, adding thirds and alternating sides until you’ve used them all.

The last ones should be in line with each other.

Glue the remaining triangles upward to hide all of the overlapping gluing that you’ve just done and probably to hold things in place as well.

Fold little one inch circles (ours probably could have been a little bigger) to help hide all of the edges and corners at the top

Attach a handle. Again it can be whatever size and colour you choose. Lastly, decorate!

Roast Beef Dinner

“Classic Recipe for Roast beef: 1 large roast of beef. 1 small roast of beef. Take the two roasts and put them in the over. When the little one burns, the big one is done.” – Gracie Allen

This week for our Royal themed blog posts we are focusing on one of the most popular British meals, and that is the roast dinner. When we went to England, my friend’s family took Nicole and I out to a restaurant that specialized in roast dinner. How cool is that? You could pick what kind of roast you wanted and all of the toppings and side dishes as well. I myself love roast dinners so I am super excited for this post. So here we go.

There are many types of roast dinners out there...roast beef, ham, chicken, pork, and turkey are the ones that I can think of. All are very yummy, but our focus this week is on the roast beef dinner (this one is my favourite). I have found a few recipes online that have some very delicious sounding roast beef dinner recipes, so we’ll refer to those as we go through this blog today.

First you have to choose your cut of roast beef. Some people like prime rib which can be expensive and some will go with a rump roast or top sirloin. To help you pick what kind of roast you want I have a little guide below.

Dry Roasting Cuts

These are the types of roasts that you think of when you think about roast dinners. They cook for a few hours in the oven and are juicy and flavourful when they are done. You can rub these with your favourite spices and make a really nice gravy for these as well. These are perfect for when you have some time on your hands. They may be a bit expensive, so they are a nice treat to make for your dinner guests every once in awhile.  

Regular Roasts:

Sirloin tip

Eye of round

Outside round

Inside round

Rump roast

Bottom sirloin tri-tip

Premium Roasts:

Top sirloin

Tenderloin

Wing

Prime rib or standing rib

Rib eye 

Quick Cooking Roast Cuts

You can easily make these or weeknight dinners or if you want to add them to another dish as well. They cook much quicker and aren’t as time consuming to make and prepare. 

Sirloin tip

Eye of round

Outside round

Inside round

Bottom sirloin tip

Now that you have your roast picked out you can finding a roasting pan to place it on and then cover it in your favourite spices. Some people will rub garlic on their roast beef, some just put a little salt and pepper. Some people will use a roast beef rub that you can purchase from the grocery store or some people like to use fresh/dried herbs like rosemary or thyme. It is up to you and what you like. You can always experiment and try things out. What we usually do is rub our prime rib roast with salt, pepper, and a little bit of dark soy sauce. It’s always very flavorful and it’s simple to do as well. There is no exact science to it, just rub on the spices until it looks coated evenly.

Place in the oven bone side down and cook at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours or until it’s medium rare.

While your roast is in the oven, you can make some potatoes to go with your dinner. I love to have garlic mashed potatoes with my roast beef, but roasted potatoes or baked potatoes are good as well.

When I think of veggies and roast dinner, I think of mixed veggies like peas, carrots, beans, and corn, but you can also do things like steamed broccoli or green beans tossed with a bit of butter. Mushrooms pair well with beef also so you can cook some with butter and garlic and put it on the side. You can also start off with a salad, Caesar salad is always good with roast beef. 

Yorkshire puddings are a must when you have a roast dinner. Here is an awesome recipe that I found...

No-Fuss Yorkshire Pudding by Eric Akis

These are no-fuss because you don’t have to preheat the pan. Use a good-quality, non-stick muffin pan to make these Yorkshire puddings. If you use an old, battered pan, they’ll stick. You can bake the puddings a few hours in advance, cool them a bit, remove them from the pan, set them on a baking sheet and cover them. When ready to serve, quickly reheat them in a 350 F oven about 5 minutes.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 45 to 50 minutes

Makes: 12 puddings.

6 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup water

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

vegetable oil spray

Set an oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Place the eggs in a bowl and beat until well blended. Whisk in the milk, water, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Whisk in the flour until just combined.

Very thoroughly grease a non-stick, 12-cup muffin pan with vegetable-oil spray. Pour in the batter, filling each slot almost to the top. Bake for 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat to 325°F (160°C) and bake 35 to 40 minutes more, or until the Yorkshire puddings are puffed and golden and almost dry in the centre.

Set on a baking rack and cool a few minutes. When the pan is cool enough to handle, carefully remove the Yorkshire puddings.

 Last but not least, comes the gravy. I haven’t had the best of luck making gravy, but here’s a pretty simple recipe that I may try one day.

Roast Beef Gravy

Remove the roast from the pan. Remove excess fat leaving 4 Tbsp of fat plus juices and browned drippings in the pan. Use a metal spatula to scrape up any drippings that are sticking to the pan. Place the pan on the stovetop on medium high heat.

Sprinkle 4 Tbsp flour on to the drippings. Quickly stir with a wire whisk so that the flour gets incorporated into the drippings. Let the flour brown a bit if you want, before adding liquid in the next step. (You can also start with a slurry of flour and water if you want.)

Slowly add stock, water, milk, cream, or a combination to the pan, whisking vigorously to dissolve the flour into liquid. Allow the gravy to simmer and thicken, and continue to slowly add liquid until you have about 2 cups of gravy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Always taste first before adding more salt! It may not need it.)

 http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_gravy/#ixzz4Kwn3n8nm

If you prefer au jus here is a recipe for that...

Au Jus

3 cups water

4 teaspoons beef bouillon (or 4 cubes)

1 teaspoon soy sauce

¹⁄₄ teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper

Directions:

Place the water in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low; whisk in the beef bouillon.

Whisk in the soy sauce, garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.

If you like a thicker Au Jus gravy, you can also whisk in a little flour to thicken it.

Happy roast dinner!