Think Creative

The seafood pancake at Hazel features calamari, shrimp, Fresno peppers and shavings of bottarga. (Photo by Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) There’s good food, and then there’s the sort of food you can’t seem to forget. These are our favorite dishes of 2016. And trust us, we ate a lot. Seafood pancake at  Hazel One of the go-to dishes on Korean restaurant runs for Rob Rubba, the chef at Hazel, is the typically wheel-size seafood-scallion pancake, or haemul pajeon. At the worldly Hazel, he gives the popular drinking snack a mouthwatering upgrade, cooking calamari and shrimp in garlic, ginger and miso butter and slathering the surface of the crust with house-made garlic mayonnaise. There’s more: sliced Fresno peppers for a little kick and sesame and flax seeds for a subtle crunch. While the chef, an advocate of “medium” plates, says he hopes he’s serving a dish “most Koreans would know,” he finishes the plate-size pancake with shavings of bottarga. The pink filings...

Chicken Karahi (serves two, prep time 15 minutes, cooking time 20 minutes) Ingredients:  500g chicken cut into medium sized pieces 2 decent sized tomatoes, roughly chopped 5-7 green chillies depending on size 2 tbsp ginger paste 1 tbsp chopped ginger 1 tbsp dried fenugreek 2 tbsp red chilli 1 tbsp ground garam masala 1 tbsp ground coriander seeds 2 tbsp plain yoghurt 2 tbsp butter Method: Cook the chicken in a high temperature, well oiled pan for a few minutes until it has been seared. Once seared, mix in ginger paste. Add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. Save Add the fenugreek, coriander, garam masala and red chilli and stir until the water starts to draw out of the tomatoes. Add yoghurt and chopped green chillies, stir well and reduce to a medium heat. Keep stirring to avoid burning the sauce. Save Once the water starts to dry up and the sauce takes on a thicker texture, add butter. Stir thoroughly, take off the ...

Step 4 Drop the  Opacity  to  50%  and  Lock  the layer  (Control-2) . Add new layer to start creating the illustration. The sketch will be visible enough so we can trace the shapes. Being locked, it won’t bother us on accidental clicking. 3.  Trace the Sketch Step 1 Start tracing! Using the  Pe n Tool (P) , we’ll trace the drawing we made, shape by shape. It requires a bit of time and maybe some nerves if you are a beginner, but trust me it is worth it when you see the final result. Step 3 Once you’re done, delete the sketch layer and check your traced drawing. Make sure all paths are closed. Your drawing should look like this. 4.  Color Your Design Step 1 Let’s see how our mug monsters will look in color. We already had a color palette in our sketch so we can use the same colors. My palette contains five colors. I am showing you them in CMYK percentage, but feel free to use any color you want...

Mugs are part of our everyday life. They help us enjoy most of our favorite daily beverages - from warm coffee and tea to cold milk and ice tea. Can we make the experience even more enjoyable while having our drink from our very own designed mug? Sure we can. It’s always more fun to use a colorful mug instead of the boring blank ones. And it will be also a nice addition in the kitchen. So let’s start designing our mug! 1.  Create a New Print Document. Most of the printable mugs are the same size – so we’ll go with  200mm  by  90mm.  2.  Start Sketching Step 1 Let’s make a sketch filled with funny monsters which will brighten our sleepy mornings. Most of the blank printable mugs are white – let’s take advantage of it and make a bright and cheerful illustration on white background. We can also put a small banner at the middle bottom of the mug where you can write your name on it, so everyone (siblings, roommates and co-workers) will know ...

You'll need the bottom bottle, cardboard or foam core, a pair of scissors, duct tape, and if you want a pencil. Get the cardboard or foam core and cut out a wing that will a good size for the bottle.  Cut out 3-4 wings that are the same in size. If the size is off it will effect how high the rocket launches. You can make them whatever size you want and whatever shape you want.  Once the wings are cut out, tape them onto the sides of the bottom bottle of your rocket so it looks somewhat to the picture. Make sure they're taped around the same height because the wings effect the direction and the height of the rocket.  Making the parachute Before you finish assembling your rocket you need to make your parachute. You'll need a garbage bag, a tennis ball, scissors, dental floss or string, and a piece of cardboard or foam board. You can use a garbage bag or a plastic bag. If you use a plastic bag you don't need to cut it but if you use a garbage bag you'll need...

It's simpler then it sounds to make a working bottle rocket and doesn't cost you much money. You only need a few materials. Getting the rocket assembled is easy..but getting the parachute to launch is a bit harder. Two 2 litter soda bottles. A Garbage bag or plastic bag (for the parachute) Duct tape scissors  Cardboard or foam core A Tennis ball  Dental floss or string  Cut the bottles Once you have all your materials get your bottles. One bottle you're not going to anything to, which will be your bottom bottle that will connect to the launcher.  The other bottle you're going to cut the top so you have the bottom of the bottle.  Put the bottles together (DO NOT TAPE THEM) to make sure they're cut right before you move on. (The picture is what the bottles should look like after you attach the wings and make the parachute.) 

In this tutorial video I show how to make wooden rings out of veneer. This is a great project that doesn't require many tools. In fact all you really need is some super glue, a knife, sandpaper and some tape. Having a lathe or a drill will most definitely help speed up the process. Even if you're not a woodworker you probably already have all the tools necessary for this quick and simple project. I did find that the first couple rings I made were a bit sloppy but by the time you make your third one you'll get the hang of it and make some beautiful bentwood rings. I used this technique to make my own wedding rings for myself and my wife. It's a very rewarding project and suggest you give it a try yourself! If you're using a drill bit as your template you'll need to find the equivalent bit size in MM. Ring sizes in MM can be found here.