Carol's Challenge: 'Owl' let you figure it out!

What are your two favorite things in life? Owls and Ben's and I's ability to spew out awesome puns at all time!!! Well I might not be exact on your top two favorite things, however, I'm close enough and that's what is going to make this challenge a hoot! 

November is a perfect month to start digging out the winter and Christmas decoration, which also makes it a perfect time to create something new. Do what you want, create what you may, just make sure you make it owlsome! Your challenge is to dig deep into one of your favorite things, and create a masterpiece to add to your collect of Owl'a! From Food, to Crafts, you get to choose.

If you accept: Challenge Details:
Subject: Owls
Medium: Your Choice
Deadline: 11/11/14

'Owl' sit here and wait for your results!!

Carol's Challenge: Tis' the season to add SCARE!

Somethings never change: We're sisters and we find the need to fill October with epic scary movies with Halloween themes. From Corn Fields, to Haunted Houses, it doesn't matter if we've seen the movie once or 100 times, we have no problem revisiting it each year at this time. 

So this October I challenge you to take your scare to a whole new level by crafting a Scare Crow to join in all the scaring fun! Use your favorite movies as inspiration and create a new fun guy that will keep the scares going in your house for many years to come!!!

Challenge Details:

Create: Scare Crow

Medium: Determined by you

Time: You have until Monday 10/20

Do you accept?

FALL CHALLENGE: The taste is in the pour

We're back and we're ready for action! The Creative Distance is back and ready to start accepting the creative challenges, and with perfect timing I must say!!! Fall brings amazing reasons to get creative, and winter brings extra time of relaxation to get crafty. So save our blog site and check back each week for new challenges and responses of the challenges we've served. 

Fall is a perfect time for brew masters to launch new lines of ales, porters, apple beers and more! As the temps drop, football starts and we see these new beers, it's hard to not grab a 6 pack of them all to try on Sunday afternoon. Don't hold back any longer! Go grab some new fall beers and give your taste-buds a fall celebration of their own!

To kick off our challenges, if you accept, you challenge is to heighten those taste buds and pour up a cold one.... well six to be exact.  I challenge you to give 6 new brews a try and instagram pics of your challenge!!

Challenge Details:
Medium: New Fall Beers of your choice
Amount: 6 Beers
Report: Instagram photos proving each 6 beers of your choosing!
Time: You have 1 week. Results must be posted 10/1!

What do you say? Are you up for the sip??

II. Apple Challenge Results

I know what you are thinking, yes, I did wait until the last days to complete this challenge.  We have been so busy that we haven't even had a chance to enjoy fall this year, much less apple picking at the orchard!  Ironically, apples aren't my favorite fruit and when I think of them, I see that infamous scene of temptation from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (I might also have witches on my brain because of Halloween...).

 For whatever unknown reason, I am obsessed with Mexican food right now!  Tacos, nachos, rice and beans, etc... and  I didn't want to make a dessert, because lets be real, I  could have created thousands of apple desserts, but I wanted to go spicy, so let me introduce you to:

Spicy Apple Nachos!

Ingredients (everything is a guesstimate, because I don't measure when I cook):

• 1 Jonagold apple
• 1 Fuji apple
• 1 1/2  Granny Smith apple
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 can of black beans
• Ground turkey
• 1 red onion
• 1 white onion
• 1 roma tomato
• Brick of apple smoked cheddar cheese
• 4 corn tortillas
• 4 flour tortillas
• 1 jalapeño pepper
• Splash of cranberry juice

Steps:

1. Wash and peel the sweet potato.  Dice and place in pot of water and bring to a boil.  Cook until soft or easily pierced with a fork.
2. While the potato is boiling, preheat the oven to 450˚ quarter 4 corn tortillas and 4 flour tortillas. We had to use two kinds because I'm trying to avoid wheat and Jamin can't eat corn tortillas because, "they don't taste right."  I spritzed with water and sprinkled cinnamon between each layer of tortilla.  Place on baking sheet with an oven safe plate on top (it stops the tortillas from curling) and bake for 8-10 minutes or until chips are crispy.
3. Slice 1 jonagold, 1 granny smith and 1 fuji apple in half.  Remove core and seeds.  Place on baking sheet, we actually don't have a baking sheet so I placed them in a muffin tin which actually worked better.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake in 450˚ oven with the tortilla chips.
4. Slice the jalapeño pepper, onion and tomato.  Grate cheese, drain and rinse the beans and set all aside.
5. Brown turkey and season to taste.  I had to enlist a helper.  I have the worst time with cooking meat, I simply do not know how to tell when it's done... it's weird, I know.
6. If chips are crispy, take them out of the oven and set aside as well.  If the potatoes are soft, drain and set aside.  If the apples are baked and mushy take them out of the oven!
7. Combine apples (I used one half of each baked apple), half a can of beans, sliced jalapeño and roughly 6 chunks of sweet potato in a food processor.  Blend until all ingredients are mixed.  Because I used black beans, it is an unattractive color, but sample it, it tastes amazing!
8. Layer the chips onto a platter.  Spoon healthy heaps of your spicy apple dip, sprinkle onions, tomatoes, pork and some black beans on your chip spread.  Finally, top with cheese, the more the better ;).
9. Place into a warmed oven to melt.  While in the oven, thinly slice a granny smith apple for garnishment.
10. Remove from oven, top with apple slices, pour a glass of wine, serve and ENJOY!

 It was extremely tasty!  Adding the whole jalapeño pepper gave it the right spicy kick and the apples were sweet enough to balance that heat.

Try it... I dare you!

Here are more cooking pictures, for those of you who are visual.

I. Pumpkin Challenge

Your first challenge, if you choose to accept, is... PUMPKINS!

I love the spicy flavor of  pumpkin in the fall.  I think that I have become a fan as I have gotten older.  I don't recall enjoying it as much as I do now, then when I was little.  I alone have spent hours browsing pumpkin recipes, but I can't wait for your twist on the fall classic. The only rule, you can't use a recipe already made!  You can use other recipes for reference only!  Luckily, you have two roommates who get to sample your tasty treat!

Challenge Details:
Inspiration: Pumpkins
Medium: Recipe
Deadline: Sunday, October 21st @ 11:59 p.m.

Happy Cooking!