Lemon Wreath

Lemon Wreath Tutorial

I finally did it! By it, I mean I finally found time to create the lemon wreath that I've been procrastinating about all summer. It's still summer, right? Good. Then, I'm not too late to have the lemon wreathes hanging on my front door! Time to quit looking at all the plastic lemons hanging around my house. Let's get down to business!

Materials:


5 large artificial lemons
10 small artificial lemons-textured
10 small artificial lemons-smooth 
1 15.5" grapevine wreath
1 stem artificial greenery
4' burlap ribbon

6-8" green floral wire
hot glue
wire cutters
scissors

I purchased most of the materials from Michael's and Amazon. I bought the ribbon on clearance (oh, yeah!) at Michael's along with the greenery and large lemons. The small lemons are from Amazon and the remaining items were materials I already had at home. I provided links to most of the items, but I wasn't able to find the link to the greenery. Sorry!

Directions:

Part 1: Lemons & Greenery

 1. Using the wire cutters, cut the greenery into segments leaving 1-2" of stem. Set aside.

Don't waste that stem! This would be great to spray paint and cover in glitter for Christmas!

2. Get ready for the lemons! Lay the large lemons out to plan their location before the glue. Leave a space wide enough for the bow.

3. Place the hot glue on the entire length of the lemon and stick! Repeat for all 5 large lemons.

4. Grab the greenery! Place hot glue on the entire length of the stem.

5. Angle the stem down and insert into grapevine wreath on the side of the lemon. 

 

6. Insert greenery on opposite side of the lemon.

 7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 with all lemons.

8. Lay out about half of the small textured lemons in the empty spaces and the others next to the large lemons to see what looks best. Then, glue!

9. Insert the greenery on either side of the small lemons adding more to empty spaces.

10. Repeat step 8 with the small smooth lemons making sure to continue leaving an open space for the bow.

11. Cut the remaining greenery in to small pieces.

12. Insert the remaining greenery throughout the wreath filling in any empty spaces.

Part 2: The Bow

1. Unroll the entire spool of ribbon and cut in half. This roll was 8' so I had 4' of ribbon to use for one bow since I was making two wreaths. If not making two ribbons, cut 4' of ribbon off of your spool.

2. Gather and pinch the ribbon about 1' from the edge. 

 

 3. Twist the long end of the ribbon to the opposite side. 

4. Flip the long end of the ribbon over to make a small loop. 

5. Gather the ribbon and pinch in the center with the same hand. Can you hold all of this? Yes, you can! Keep going. There's more!

6. The underside of the ribbon will be showing this point. Twist the long end of the ribbon to the top side.

7. With the long end of the ribbon, make a loop slightly bigger than the center loop. Gather and pinch in the middle. 

8. Make a loop on the opposite side. Gather and pinch in the middle. Are your hands cramping yet? Twist the remaining ribbon to the top side.

9. Place the wire through the center loop.

10. Twist the wire tightly to secure the bow. You may need a pair of pliers to get a tight squeeze if you have thick ribbon.

11. Insert the two wire ends of the bow in the empty space on the front of the wreath.

12. Flip the wreath carefully and find the two wire ends. Pull tightly!

13. Twist the wire tightly.

 14. Tuck the wire end into the wreath.

15. Flip the wreath to the front and fluff the bow. Trim the ribbon at an angle. Make your ribbon lengths symmetrical if you'd like....I like asymmetry. 

You're done!

 Make two wreaths if you have double doors like me!

See that dangling little lemon on the top left? I didn't notice it until after I took the pictures. Be sure to glue your lemons better than I did. Hey, I never said I was perfect! 

Tuna 3 ways

In my house, we love to treat ourselves to a good tuna steak. Well, we like to treat ourselves to a lot of food, especially seafood. As I was walking in the fish section of Costco, I glanced at the selection and was delighted for find a pack of 2 thick ahi tuna steaks up for grabs. So, I grabbed it! It seemed to be a lot of food for two people and one meal, but I decided it would be a be a good multipurpose ingredient to eat for a few meals. Tuna freezes well if you aren't into eating your weight in tuna within a two day span like us!

I went ahead and planned our menu to enjoy our tuna steak three different ways making sure to utilize the ingredients throughout all of the recipes.

1. Asian tuna tartar salsa

2. Asian grilled tuna & pineapple salad with a spicy peanut dressing

3.Tuna, Pineapple & Veggie Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dressing

Marinade

This recipe is for one tuna steak, but you can easily double it for two tuna steaks. Double the marinade recipe if you are making all three tuna recipes with two tuna steaks like I did. This marinade would great with other cuts of meat like shrimp, chicken, beef or pork. If using beef, chicken or pork, marinate for 6-8 hours and if using shrimp, marinate for about 1-2 hours.

Ingredients:

• 1 1lb ahi tuna steak
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/4 c vegetable/canola oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chili oil or 1 tbsp sriracha 
• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 tbsp ginger (optional)

• Mix the brown sugar & liquids.

• Squeeze the juice of 1-2 limes (depending on the lime's juiciness).

• Grate approximately 4 cloves of garlic using a microplane.
• Grate a thumb size piece of ginger using a microplane.

• Place the tuna and marinade in a plastic resealable bag.
• Refrigerate and marinate for 3-6 hours. Going longer than 6 hours will begin to break down the fish.

Asian Tuna Tartar Salsa

Ingredients:
This recipe could easily be divided in half for a couple of people, but use the whole tuna steak if you have several people or want leftovers! This recipe uses RAW tuna...hence the term "tartar." This dish is reserved only for our slightly adventurous eaters.

• 1 1 lb marinated tuna steak diced
• 1 medium tomato diced
• 1 ripe avocado diced
• 1 jalapeno with seeds & membranes removed diced finely
• 1/4 cup green or red onion diced finely
• 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 small cucumber diced (optional) 
• 1/4 c leftover marinade
• 1 tsp honey (optional)
• 1 tsp sriracha (optional)

• Dice all ingredients into equal sizes making sure to chop the jalapeno and onions smaller so they can mix throughout better. I actually preferred the recipe without the cucumber, but you can add it for a little extra crunch and to stretch the recipe if guests are coming.

• Place all ingredients into a bowl.

• Mix 1/4 cup marinade with 1 tsp honey if you'd like the marinade a little sweeter. Taste as you go! You can also add any other flavors that  you'd like more of at this point like sriracha for some added heat.

• Line a small container like a small loaf pan or ramekin with plastic wrap.

• Fill the container with the tuna salsa mixture and press it firmly with the back of a spoon until tightly packed and smooth.

• You may have some of the tuna mixture leftover (like me) depending on the size of the container and the amount of tuna used.

• Now we need to invert the tuna salsa onto a plate! Place a plate on top of the filled container and....

• flip! Remove the container from the tuna salsa. If the tuna salsa doesn't stay together, then put it back in the container, press firmly, and try again!

• Remove the plastic.

• Enjoy the tuna salsa with your favorite tortilla chips! We prefer the thin and crispy restaurant style with this recipe. Great appetizer to bring to a party or enjoy with friends and family at home!

Spicy Peanut Dressing

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 2 tbsp pepper jelly (1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp sriracha could be used in place of the pepper jelly).
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
•  1/4 c olive oil/veg/canola oil
•  juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp soy (not pictured)

• You could make this dressing in a mason jar and shake, shake, shake, but due to the peanut butter, it's easier just to use a blender or mixer. 
• Put all ingredients into the blender and press the dressing button or pulse until thoroughly mixed.

The peanut butter makes it the perfect consistency! Place in a jar and set aside. Refrigerate after making.

 Asian Grilled Tuna & Pineapple Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1 1lb tuna steak that has been marinated
• 4 pineapple rings sliced 1/2 inch thick (use fresh pineapple as it will hold up better on the grill and taste better too!)
• 1 head of lettuce chopped
• 1 tomato diced
• 1 medium cucumber diced
• 2-3 green onions chopped or 1 small red onion or shallot
• 1/4 c roughly chopped cilantro
• 1/3 c crunchy asian chow mein noodles
• spicy peanut dressing (see recipe above)
• avocado (optional)

Ingredients:

• 1 1lb tuna steak that has been marinated
• 4 pineapple rings sliced 1/2 inch thick (use fresh pineapple as it will hold up better on the grill and taste better too!)
• 1 head of lettuce chopped
• 1 tomato diced
• 1 medium cucumber diced
• 2-3 green onions chopped or 1 small red onion or shallot
• 1/4 c roughly chopped cilantro
• 1/3 c crunchy asian chow mein noodles
• spicy peanut dressing (see recipe above)
• avocado (optional) 

• Heat grill to medium high heat and place tuna and pineapple rings onto grill.
• Grill for approximately 2-3 minutes per side until you get nice grill marks.
• The tuna will be medium rare. If you prefer a medium tuna steak, add 1-2 minutes more per side. And if you prefer a well done tuna steak, buy it from a can! I kid, I kid....cooking tuna well done is not my preferred method of cooking this delicious meat, but do what you like. Grill the tuna until fully cooked.

• Chop all salad ingredients.
• Cut the tuna into thin slices. 

• Add the spicy peanut dressing to your salad. You can prepare each salad individually or make a whole bowl. This recipe will serve 4-5 people.

Tuna, Pineapple & Veggie Spring Rolls

• This is a great snack or appetizer to use your leftover tuna steak and veggies. You can also make it with pork, shrimp, chicken, beef and even veggie. 

 Ingredients:

**The amount of ingredients used depends on how many rolls you are making. This will make 4-5 rolls.

• 4 rice paper sheets (these are available for purchase at any asian market, online and maybe even at your local grocery store) 
• 1/2 c vermicelli noodles (rice or bean thread) cooked according to package instructions
• 1/2 c grilled tuna steak (use the left overs from the previous recipe or grill a tuna steak for this dish) thinly sliced
• 1-2 grilled pineapple rings
• 1/2 medium cucumber
• 1 green onion
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 c cilantro 
• 1 c lettuce 
• Spicy Peanut Dressing (see previous recipe)
• Peanuts (to garnish)

Directions:

• Slice all veggies and fruits into thin 3 inch sticks, chop cilantro & lettuce, slice the tuna steak.

•  Gather your tools: a shallow dish filled with water and a dry plate.

• Here comes the tricky part!
• Quickly submerge your rice paper sheet into the water until it's fully covered with water on all over.
  

• Move fast! Place the wet rice paper sheet on the plate. It will get very sticky and difficult to manage if it is too wet or rolled fast enough.

• Place your tuna on the rice paper first. The rice paper will act as a little window into the spring roll. Put the main ingredient first so you can see what's inside.

• Start stacking your ingredients! Avocado, cucumber, pineapple.....

• lettuce, peppers, onions, cilantro.......don't put too much or it will be difficult to wrap.

]

• Pull one side of the sticky rice paper roll over the filling.

• Bring each side over to the center. Keep moving fast!

• Tuck the filling in tightly and begin rolling the filling to meet the other side of the rice paper sheet.
• If your rice paper is sticking to the plate, you may want to lightly spray the plate with veggie oil spray before starting the next roll.
• If your rice paper tears, no worries. Try again! 
• It may take a few tries before you get it. Don't give up!

• Use the leftover spicy peanut dressing with a few chops peanuts as a delicious dipping sauce for your tuna, pineapple and veggie spring rolls. Enjoy!

**********************************************************************************

Asian Tuna Marinade

Ingredients:

• 1 1lb ahi tuna steak
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/4 c vegetable/canola oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chili oil or 1 tbsp sriracha 
• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 tbsp ginger (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix the brown sugar & liquids.
2. Squeeze the juice of 1-2 limes (depending on the lime's juiciness). 
3. Grate approximately 4 cloves of garlic using a microplane.
4. Grate a thumb size piece of ginger using a microplane. 
5. Place the tuna and marinade in a plastic resealable bag.
6. Refrigerate and marinate for 3-6 hours. Going longer than 6 hours will begin to break down the fish. 

(Meat Marinade Time: Tuna, Pork, Chicken- 3-6 hours, Beef- 6-8 hours, Shrimp- 1-2 hours)

**********************************************************************************

Asian Tuna Tartar Salsa 

Ingredients:

• 1 1 lb marinated tuna steak diced
• 1 medium tomato diced
• 1 ripe avocado diced
• 1 jalapeno with seeds & membranes removed diced finely
• 1/4 cup green or red onion diced finely
• 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 small cucumber diced (optional) 
• 1/4 c leftover marinade

Directions:

1. Dice all ingredients into equal sizes making sure to chop the jalapeno and onions smaller so they can mix throughout better. I actually preferred the recipe without the cucumber, but you can add it for a little extra crunch and to stretch the recipe if guests are coming. 
2. Place all ingredients into a bowl.
3. Mix 1/4 cup marinade with 1 tsp honey if you'd like the marinade a little sweeter. Taste as you go! You can also add any other flavors that you'd like more of at this point like sriracha for some added heat or soy for added salt.
4. Line a small container like a small loaf pan or ramekin with plastic wrap.
5. Fill the container with the tuna salsa mixture and press it firmly with the back of a spoon until tightly packed and smooth.
   You may have some of the tuna mixture leftover (like me) depending on the size of the container and the amount of tuna used.
6. Now we need to invert the tuna salsa onto a plate! Place a plate on top of the filled container and flip. Remove the plastic wrap.
   If the tuna salsa doesn't stay together, then put it back in the container, press firmly, and try again!
7. Enjoy the tuna salsa with your favorite tortilla chips! We prefer the thin and crispy restaurant style with this recipe. 

Great appetizer to bring to a party or enjoy with friends and family at home!

**********************************************************************************

 Spicy Peanut Dressing

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 2 tbsp pepper jelly (1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp sriracha could be used in place of the pepper jelly).
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
•  1/4 c olive oil/veg/canola oil
•  juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp soy (not pictured)

 Directions:

1. Put all ingredients into the blender and press the dressing button or pulse until thoroughly mixed.
2.  Place in a jar and set aside. Refrigerate after making.

**********************************************************************************

Asian Grilled Tuna & Pineapple Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 1lb tuna steak that has been marinated
• 4 pineapple rings sliced 1/2 inch thick (use fresh pineapple as it will hold up better on the grill and taste better too!)
• 1 head of lettuce chopped
• 1 tomato diced
• 1 medium cucumber diced
• 2-3 green onions chopped or 1 small red onion or shallot
• 1/4 c roughly chopped cilantro
• 1/3 c crunchy asian chow mein noodles
• spicy peanut dressing (see recipe above)
• avocado (optional)

 Directions:

1. Heat grill to medium high heat and place tuna and pineapple rings onto grill.
2. Grill for approximately 2-3 minutes per side until you get nice grill marks.
•  The tuna will be medium rare. If you prefer a medium tuna steak, add 1-2 minutes more per side. And if you prefer a well done tuna steak, buy it from a can! I kid, I kid....cooking tuna well done is not my preferred method of cooking this delicious meat, but do what you like. Grill the tuna until fully cooked.
3. Chop all salad ingredients.
4. Cut the tuna into thin slices.
5. Add the spicy peanut dressing to your salad. You can prepare each salad individually or make a whole bowl.

**********************************************************************************

Grilled Tuna, Pineapple and Veggie Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dressing

 

Ingredients:

**The amount of ingredients used depends on how many rolls you are making. This will make 4-5 rolls.

• 4 rice paper sheets (these are available for purchase at any asian market, online and maybe even at your local grocery store) 
• 1/2 c vermicelli noodles (rice or bean thread) cooked according to package instructions
• 1/2 c grilled tuna steak (use the left overs from the previous recipe or grill a tuna steak for this dish) thinly sliced
• 1-2 grilled pineapple rings
• 1/2 medium cucumber
• 1 green onion
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 c cilantro 
• 1 c lettuce 
• Spicy Peanut Dressing (see previous recipe)
• Peanuts (to garnish)

Directions:

1. Slice all veggies and fruits into thin 3 inch sticks, chop cilantro & lettuce, slice the tuna steak. Set aside.
2. Gather your tools: a shallow dish filled with water and a dry plate.
3. Here comes the tricky part! Quickly submerge your rice paper sheet into the water until it's fully covered with water all over.
4. Move fast! Place the wet rice paper roll on the plate. It will get very sticky and difficult to manage if it is too wet or rolled fast enough.
5.  Place your tuna on the rice paper first. The rice paper will act as a little window into the spring roll. Put the main ingredient first so you can see what's inside.
6.  Start stacking your ingredients! Avocado, cucumber, pineapple,
   lettuce, peppers, onions, cilantro making sure not to put too much or it will be difficult to wrap.
7.  Pull one side of the sticky rice paper roll over the filling.
8.  Bring each side over to the center. Keep moving fast! 
9.  Tuck the filling in tightly and begin rolling the filling to meet the other side of the rice paper sheet.
•  It may take a few tries before you get it. Don't give up! 
• If your rice paper is sticking to the plate, you may want to lightly spray the plate with veggie oil spray before starting the next roll.
• If your rice paper tears, no worries. Try again!
10. Use the leftover spicy peanut dressing with a few chops peanuts as a delicious dipping sauce for your tuna, pineapple and veggie spring rolls. Enjoy!