Homemade Quirk

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Celebrate National Margarita Day: Treat Your Self to a Top-Shelf Margarita Cheesecake

published by Eric Smith on February 22, 2012 - 10:48am

Get ready to party, today is National Margarita Day! We could dish out the tried and true recipe for the standard margarita, but come on. Where's the fun in that?

So put away those fancy glasses. Cancel your plans to hit the bar. I've got a fantastic recipe from Booze Cakes by Krystina Castella & Terry Lee Stone. Read on to learn how to make a Top-Shelf Margarita Cheesecake.

That's right, you heard me. A margarita cheesecake.

Marsh Madness: Sixteen Food Blogs Square Off For Best Marshmallow

published by Eric Smith on February 20, 2012 - 1:40pm

Are you ready... for Marsh Madness?

No, that isn't a typo. Starting today, we're kicking off Marsh Madness with Serious Eats. It's our version of March Madness, only we're replacing basketballs with marshmallows .

We've created four brackets with sixteen super sweet bloggers, and each food blogger is crafting his or her own unique marshmallow. The recipes start with the original vanilla mallow recipe in Shauna Sever's Marshmallow Madness, and then the sky is the limit.

At the end of the tournament, Shauna will select her favorite of the bunch, and we'll award that food blogger with a Quirk Books cookbook library and $100 gift card to Williams-Sonoma.

We've got the full schedule and the entire bracket below. Check back regularly on Serious Eats for recaps on the marshmallows, bookmark the blogs and keep up with Marsh Madness on Twitter via #marshmadness.

 

DIY Valentines: Send A Love Letter From Your Valentine's Favorite Author

published by Cristina Perachio on February 13, 2012 - 3:24pm

There is nothing more uninspiring than the drugstore Valentine aisle. Forget Hallmark this year and impress your Valentine with a love letter from their favorite author tucked inside a paper mailbox -- complete with a hinged door and quaint red mailbox flag.

For this DIY-Valentine you’ll need the following materials:

- 3 sheets of card stock
- double-sided tape
- single hole punch
- paper fasteners
- craft knife
- pen
- mini envelope and card
- craft scissors

Feel free to use this lovely template from her Craftacular Highness, Martha Stewart, if you’re artistically challenged like me or create your own version of the 3-D paper mailbox.

Once you’ve assembled your mailbox, inscribe a note with a short quote or passage from your Valentine’s favorite author, slip it inside a mini envelop and deliver it to your “mailbox.”

Hopefully, your beau’s favorite writer is someone romantic like poet, Pablo Neruda. You’ll have an easy time finding lovey-dovey quotes encapsulating your true feelings. But perhaps your Valentine is more into stark Russian prose. Not incredibly romantic but -- fear not! Your letter will just be that much more unique.

I’ve chosen to use a quote from one of my guy’s favorite authors, Fyodor Dostoevsky, but you can borrow from any author that has meaning to you or your Valentine.

On the small note tucked inside the mailbox, I wrote:

We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at
first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.

Works every time. You're welcome.

-FD

Short. Sweet. And completely unique. Your beau will appreciate your creativity and hey, you remembered their favorite author! Bonus points.

Welcome to Homemade Quirk!

published by Anonymous (not verified) on March 1, 2011 - 11:01am

We knew you were coming, so we baked a cake.

Welcome to Homemade Quirk! Please join us in our obsession for collecting and sharing all things cute, quirky, and fun.

Homemade Quirk is a cozy little community for D.I.Y. adventurers, cooks + bakers, crafters, gardeners, animal + nature lovers, homemakers, rebels, daydreamers, photographers, artists, writers, editors, designers, and book lovers to share stories + ideas and meet new friends. Like the community on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Made with love by Quirk Books, an independent book publisher located in the heart of Old City, Philadelphia, PA.

More Posts

My Five Favorite Macaron Recipes Found While Pitching The Cookiepedia

published by Eric Smith on February 7, 2012 - 9:34am

Last year, while I was busy doing blogger research for The Cookiepedia, I stumbled upon a lot of outrageous macaron recipes. There were plenty of wild flavor combinations, from the subtle like lavender and vanilla bean to the adventurous like pistachio with vanilla raspberry & rhubarb jam.

I felt bad for Quirk's Margaret McGuire (editor) and Katie Hatz (designer) during this process, as I was filling their inboxes with link after link. So, here are my favorites from those days of assaulting their email accounts.

Read on to scope out the recipes, for a chance to share your favorites, and an opportunity to win a copy of The Cookiepedia! Oh and Margaret? Katie? I apologize for nothing.

Pasta Innamorati: A Pasta Dish for Your Sweetheart

published by Elizabeth Ann Q... on January 24, 2012 - 11:55am

Nothing else is sweeter than cooking dinner for the one you love, especially on Valentine's Day. This pasta dish is incredibly simple to make, yet superb in all the right ways. You only need a few basic ingredients, a good bottle of wine (or two!), and of course, that special someone to cook for.

I guarantee this dish will make the evening very special.

Asian Spicy Ribs With White Rice: Welcome the Year of the Dragon

published by Elizabeth Ann Q... on January 18, 2012 - 10:44am

Have you welcomed the Year of the Dragon yet? Well, these Asian-inspired spicy ribs are as powerful and mighty as a dragon. Superior flavors of sweet hoisin sauce blended with fierce red pepper flakes make this an ideal meal to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

Simply bake the covered ribs until the succulent meat nearly falls off. Then uncover and roast quickly with the sweet-spiced glaze. Serve hot with steamed white rice, and you’ll rule! Just like a dragon!

Roasted Cornish Hens With Wild Rice

published by Elizabeth Ann Q... on January 11, 2012 - 2:50pm

The Winter season is a great time to have friends over for a nice fancy dinner. It's cold out, you want to stay in and warm up in the glow of friends and family... so I've got a recipe that's perfect for you. Cornish game hens and wild rice.

Don't be fooled. This roast is easier to cook than it looks. Make sure you plan accordingly though, serving one bird per portion, because they weigh less than a pound each. You can slather on a quick marinade and pop these little birds into the oven while you spruce up your dining room and lay out the plates. Get hold of an instant wild rice side dish, chill the drinks… and enjoy!

Celebrate Elvis' Birthday With His Favorite Sandwich

published by Susan Russo on January 5, 2012 - 12:41pm

If Elvis Presley were alive today, he’d be celebrating his 77th birthday.

He may have been the king of rock and roll, but Elvis Presley had an appetite that was more down-home than aristocratic. A Mississippi boy at heart, Elvis preferred iconic Southern dishes, such as buttermilk corn bread, Memphis-style bbq, banana pudding, and sweet potato pie.

Five Days of Quirkmas: Snowed In Survival Kit, Win A Quirk Craft Book Collection

published by Eric Smith on December 21, 2011 - 12:18pm

Contest is over! Thanks!

Today's Five Days of Quirkmas giveaway is a Snowed in Survival Kit... aka, all of our crafting books. Spend those chilly Winter days huddled up working on crafts with your friends, family, and potentially, your cat!

Microcrafts by Alicia Kachmar, Katie Hatz, & Margaret McGuire: A celebration of all-that-is-small, Microcrafts dishes out 25 projects no larger than a spool of thread. Micropapercrafting, microsewing, microcrochet, and even microgardening... there are lots of super cute tiny projects in here.

Witch Craft by Alicia Katchmar & Margaret McGuire: Lots of spooky-yet-adorable projects fill Witch Craft, from marshmallow skulls to plush poison apples.

The Museum of Kitchy Stitches by Stichy McYarnpants: Well, this isn't really a craft book. It's a showcase of hilarious stitched up projects.

Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden: Love amigurumi? Adore monsters? Perfect. You want this book. Creepy Cute Crochet contains more than 20 patterns for zombies, ninjas, Vikings, vampires, aliens, robots and more. 

Knitted Icons by Carol Meldrum: Not happy with just crafting famous monsters? How about famous people?

Crafting With Cat Hair by Amy Hirschman & Kaori Tsutaya: This hilarious, strange, and rather cute craft book will show you how to make projects using your cat's fur. Buttons, portraits, cat toys, picture frames... plenty of projects that you and your cat can make. Together.

How can you enter? Just leave a comment telling us about your favorite crafting activity. Are you a knitter? Crocheter? Papercrafter? Let us know. I'll select one of you at random and send you a package full of books, as well as some sample crafts we've got around the office. Don't forget to leave your email address! I'll need to get a hold of you somehow, right?

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