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Elevated Family Dinner at the Cicada Moonshine Cafe

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And I couldn't agree more ~ Life is art ~ we are all artists, in every moment we are creating.  So this weekend at Cicada Moon Workshop's "make something, ANYTHING, every weekend challenge" we are going to make some beautiful food!


On the menu tonight at the Cicada Moonshine Cafe ~ 




And because you have to dance while you are in the kitchen, let's get the Sonos jukebox going ~





The focus is on the hamburgers and the adventure begins at Lawrence's own Hank Charcuterie:





"At Hank, we use traditional preservation mixed with modern techniques and locally raised and grown product to create the best in hand-crafted charcuterie.

In the farm-to-table scenario, Hank is the link between the barn/garden and your plate. We process meat and produce with a respect for the life and heritage of every ingredient and that passion is reflected in the food we create. At Hank, we appreciate the heritage and the story behind everything we make. We strive for our processes to do justice to the work of our local farmers, and hope to connect the community back to their food."


We chose their custom salami-hamburger blend then brought it home.

 The Trey broke out this bad boy:



And his new found knowledge about making the perfect burger (of course it involves a Weber Grill!)


1. Trey's winning advice:  it's all about the meat, start with the best and you will have the BEST hamburgers.  We are lucky to have a charcuterie here in Lawrence.  But if you don't, talk to the butcher shop in your local supermarket, they may be able to custom mix hamburger for you.  Don't over handle the hamburger (use a burger press to get the perfect patty).  And add NOTHING but a little kosher salt and freshly ground pepper before you put it on the grill.








2.  Ready for the grill:




topped with Havarti ~ oh yeah!


3.  In the meantime, inside the house ~ Ella's Elevated Root Beer Floats:



Super easy ~ Breyer's Natural Vanilla Ice Cream, Boylan Bottling Company Root Beer ~ scoop, pour and serve :)
4.  Moscow Mules:


Also super easy ~ to make one:  ice cold copper cup fresh from the freezer ~ fill cup with ice ~ 1/2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice ~ 2 oz vanilla vodka ~ 4 to 6 oz ginger beer ~ stir ~ garnish with lime slices and fresh mint ~ serve.


5.  The relish tray ~





7.  Time to get the buns ready, toast them in the toaster oven and brush with butter (yummy) ~


8.  And on the side (fresh from Aldi's)?




9.  Bringing it all together ~




5.  And to end the feast ~ an easy strawberry cake for my very sweet family ~ my cool husband who makes every day a piece of art and my lovely daughter who dances and sings with me in the kitchen ~

Click on picture to get the recipe.

 And with that, we move our bodies out the door for an "after-the-feast" stroll!

 Join us next weekend at Cicada Moon Workshop, we will be heading out into the garden or maybe into the workshop itself, not certain yet!  

 Be happy ~ create, make, enjoy, live!

Weekend 7 ~ DIY Mary Shrine ~ part of THE make something (anything) every weekend challenge

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Hello and welcome to week 7 at the Cicada Moon Workshop and our "make something (anything) every weekend challenge".

I am lucky to have a very cool studio full of bits and pieces of this and that ~ one of my favorite collections (or in my husband's eyes one of my worst habits :) is my assortment of "Mary's".


So, this weekend at Cicada Moon Workshop, we are going to make a Mary Shrine.

1.  1 Mary + 1 vintage jewelry box = the beginnings of your shrine:



Strike up the Tori . . . 





Here we go ~


2.  This jewelry box comes from one of the very first auctions Trey and I went to in Emporia, KS ~ it was overfilled with vintage costume jewelry (and even a silver tooth!)  I love how primitive it is, old and beautiful.  A perfect fit for one of my ceramic, thrift-store Mary's.






3.  When we had Studio Rewind, I often made Mary Shrines and sold them in our shop.  One of my favorite themes is "Our Lady of the Butterflies" so I am going to make several paper butterflies from vintage letters, maps and blue prints.



4.  I pulled this butterfly pattern off of Pinterest and printed the patterns out onto card stock:



5.  Cut out the butterflies ~ you only need to cut out one half in great detail, refer to pictures below to see why :)



6.  Fold your selected paper in half, then trace half the butterfly on the fold then cut: (TIP:  I use 2.5 magnification reading glasses instead of a magnifying glass ~ hands free and super cheap ~ great for detailed work!)







7.  Gently shape your chosen butterflies with hand folding and pencil shaping.  I layered my butterflies to give them more dimension and glued them together with mini-glue dots:




8.  Okay, time to position the butterflies into your box.  Position a glue dot on the back of one of your finished butterflies and then pick a spot for it to go :)




9.  Now, I want to add some words to the back of the box.  I am going to use a wax paper/ink jet printer transfer technique.  I chose my words, converted them to a JPEG then copied the picture into PowerPoint and then flipped the image horizontally:
Words in PP saved as JPEG

JPEG copied into a PP slide, then flipped horizontally.


10.  To print the words onto wax paper, I cut a piece of wax paper and then tape it onto a piece of card stock (otherwise, the wax paper gets eaten in my printer!)





11.  After you have printed onto your wax paper, cut it away from the card stock and position it onto the wood in your desired location, printed side down.  Then tape into place:




12.  Take a capped sharpie and firmly press down on the words, make sure every word is firmly pressed so the ink can release from the wax paper onto the wood:







13.  Gently lift off the wax paper:

14.  Our Lady of Butterflies:










Next week, we are going to open the doors to Cicada Moonshine Cafe and do a play-by-play as Trey, Ella and I cook up an elevated hamburger feast.  Featuring Trey at the grill using freshly ground hamburger from our local charcuterie ~ truffle oil sweet potato fries ~ moscow mules for the adults and Ella's elevated root beer floats :)

 Enjoy the miraculous week in front of you, may storms and blossoms abound ~ relax and let the butterfly medicine infuse you!

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