Published on February 8, 2010
Not to reinforce gender stereotypes, but this apron is too cute.
I picked up this apron at Target last weekend for my niece’s third birthday. I can’t ever say enough about how much I love Target, and I’m so glad there isn’t one around here or I’d spend way too much money. Anyway, I brought it back and put her name on it late last week, and mailed it out on Saturday. She should be getting it any day now!
Published on February 5, 2010
I’ve been struggling to figure out what to do with those beautiful Meyer lemons I picked up at Johnny Becnel’s while in New Orleans last weekend. I wanted to make something that didn’t require too much work (we made Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon for dinner last night, which are fairly time-consuming by themselves) that would still be delicious and good with coffee for breakfast today, so I chose pound cake.
Meyer Lemons from Johny Becnel's Farm Fresh Produce in Belle Chasse, LA
There are several reasons I love pound cake more than bread or cake. First of all, I’m not a big fan of icing pound cake has none. Secondly, pound cake is more moist than either bread or cake. And finally, pound cake is really rich but not too sweet–meaning I can eat it for breakfast without feeling queasy all day.
Meyer Lemon Pound Cake, shortly before being devoured for breakfast this morning
I used this Meyer Lemon Pound Cake recipe found at My Husband Cooks. I was forced to make a few alterations because I don’t have a stand mixer and I didn’t feel like going to the store. Still, I am very pleased with how it turned out (as are my friends, who ate over half the cake last night). I may use the lemons I have left to make a couple more to freeze for special occasions. The recipe calls for:
Preheat oven to 325° and grease and flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Cream together softened butter and sugar. When the butter and sugar have been mixed thoroughly, add the eggs and yolks one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the lemon zest and juice (or just juice if you’re me), and mix thoroughly. Add the vanilla, baking powder and salt, and mix thoroughly. Add the flour in 1/2 C increments, slowly mixing until it’s just completely integrated–do not over mix. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake in the oven for 75-80 min. When the cake is done, a toothpick will pull clean from the center. Allow 15 minutes for cooling, then serve!
Published on February 2, 2010
I have so much to say! First of all, I’ve decided to drop my clay arts class because it was eating up all of my spare time (10 hours a week, basically). Consequently, I’ll have a lot more free time (10 hours a week, basically).
On a related note, here are some things you can be expecting around here:
1. That winter hat tutorial I promised a month ago, now that it’s almost spring.
2. Lots of grad school and moving business; those two things are really sneaking up on me.
3. I bought raw almonds and Meyer lemons from a frui stand while visiting family in Louisiana this weekend. Delicious or at least interesting recipes should be coming soon.
4. Whatever else I feel like talking about.
One thing I’m very into right now is manual box coffee grinders. Also while visiting family this weekend, I got to use my grandmother’s kickass coffee grinder. I’m convinced I need one now, but after looking at several antique box models online I’m a little discouraged. The cheapest one I’ve found so far is $70, but I haven’t looked very extensively yet. There’s also an antique store around the corner from my apartment that I should check before ordering one online. Other suggestions are very welcome!
Published on January 24, 2010
Most of the art (I use the term loosely, for the most part) hanging in my apartment has been acquired at thrift stores, yard sales, antique shops, and from moving friends. Consequently, for a long time it hung rather blandly in a mishmash of antiqued, boring pea-green, brown, and gold frames with no sense of unity or cohesiveness at all. Sometimes I’m okay a mishmash (see: the assortment of blankets on my bed, the pillows on my couch), but since the kinds of things I have hanging on my wall are so diverse (you should know that all of my art is not so cutesy–there are zombies hanging in the living room, but that’s for another post), I decided to spraypaint all these thrift-store frames a unifying black. I chose spraypaint because I wanted a smooth, even finish that still allowed the character of the frames to still shine through despite their newfound homogeny. Today I’ll show you the three from the bedroom and hall, since there’s still work to be done where the living room is concerned. All in all, though, this is a very quick and inexpensive way to make your home feel more put-together with minimal effort.
One thing to keep in mind: I used black glossy all purpose spraypaint, the cheapest kind I could find. I did the base coat on one of the frames with what I had left of an old can of black matte spraypaint, and once dry it was really chalky and didn’t look good at all. Since it was just a base coat, I didn’t have a problem with it, but if you want to do this project yourself make sure you get the glossy kind. I used 2-4 coats, depending on the frame’s original finish (I didn’t bother to sand them, only wiped them down) and how windy it was when I painted each frame.
A boring brown frame, before (I'd already disassembled and started painting the smaller one before I remembered to take pictures)
Before: Cute kitten, boring frame
Butterflies in black frames, after
Sweet kitten in a new black frame, hanging proudly in the hallway.
P.S. That is an aqua globe you see in the plant on my chest.
Published on January 17, 2010
Made using heat-set Easy Weed vinyl and a cheap cotton apron.
Personalization with vinyl is the easiest way to make a quick, fun gift (not to mention all the organization uses… my heart flutters at the thought!). The ability to do this at any time for minimal cost is something I’m really going to miss about my job. I made this apron for my friend BJ, who is a culinary arts major and self-proclaimed Bread Queen, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. She and I are are members of the same social club at school, and our colors are red and yellow, which explains the interesting (ketchup and mustard) color choice. The text I used is Sweetheart Script, a personal favorite which I also used on my Christmas stockings (though they were embroidery and not vinyl), while the loaf of bread comes from a free font called FOOD! by Alan Carr.
My scholarship refund will come in soon. While my plan is to save as much money as possible, I’m wondering if it would be worth it to invest in a Cricut, or something similar. Are those kinds of things are sold used anywhere? I’ve also heard rumors of Cricuts turning up at places like Dirt Cheap, but never been lucky enough to find one myself.
Published on January 13, 2010
Because I only needed a few courses to graduate with my major, concentration, and minor, this semester I’m trying a couple of new things. As always with that kind of thing, there’s always the nagging fear of failure at something you don’t know if you’ll be good at.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I’ll be taking both a fiction writing workshop and a clay arts course. Even though I’m an English major, I’m far more nervous about the fiction bit I guess I’d feel a little worse about failing at something I’m supposed to be good at. As far as clay arts goes, I did work with clay a bit in middle school for an Empty Bowls luncheon, but my bowl was pretty pitiful to say the least. I think this fear of trying new things comes from concern about my GPA. The thing is, at this point in my college career I still haven’t managed to make a B, meaning I have a cumulative 4.0. Understandably, I don’t want to wreck that with a fun class, and I don’t want to work really hard in order not to only to neglect my English classes.
But I am Getting Over It and taking these courses anyway. I might even post some pictures of my clay arts I creations, depending on how pathetic they are.
Published on January 10, 2010
The past two mornings I’ve left for work it’s been snowing. One morning my car door was actually frozen shut. The next day I was almost late because I sat in my car so long looking at the snow. It’s kind of a big deal here. On these snowy days, by the time I get to work my hands are nearly nonfunctional due to the cold. This got me thinking: if driving five minutes in the cold sucks, how much more is walking to school (for an 8 o’ clock class, nonetheless) next week going to suck? I live really close to campus, and I generally enjoy the walk, but I feel like said walk will be considerably less enjoyable if I don’t take certain cold-protection measures. Hence, last night I decided to make a hat and mittens to protect me from the cold next week! This post deals with the mittens portion.
To make this hat and mittens set, I used BurdaStyle’s free (!) Felted Wool Mitten pattern made by Fabricitis. The hat was the result of a bit of trial and error, but I’m pretty pleased with the outcome. I started with a (favorite) wool cardigan that Kyle accidentally shrunk a couple of months ago:
The yellow sweater, included for scale, is a size S that I happened to be wearing at the time. I used to the shrunken green sweater, originally a size M, to make the hat and mittens.
BurdaStyle's Felted Wool Mitten Pattern by Fabricitis, part 1
Burdastyle's Felted Wool Mitten Pattern by Fabricitis, part 2
Rather than following the mitten pattern exactly, I folded it in half and used the sleeves of my sweater, saving myself a few stitches. Cutting the thumb hole proved a little difficult this way, but I just puckered the fabric where the thumb hole was supposed to go, snipped off the piece between my finger and thumb, and then widened and cleaned up the resulting hole. Like this:
The making of a thumb hole.
Sewing the thumbs in was definitely the hardest part. After following Fabricitis’s instructions and sewing the thumb piece up to the tip of the finger, I turned the piece right-side out and inserted it into the wrong-side out glove.
Sewing on a thumb is more complicated that in looks.
With the right sides together, I stitched all the way around the opening, giving me this:
Success!
The finished product.
I’ll be posting the hat tutorial shortly!
Published on January 9, 2010
I recently purchased, with a Christmas gift certificate to a local bookstore, Veganomicon. I’ve had my eye on this cookbook for a while, and so far I’m really pleased with the recipes. Last night I made the black bean burgers, which are different from the other black bean burgers I make in a few ways. First, the “glue” that holds them together is not egg but vital wheat gluten, an ingredient I’ve never used before but am pretty fascinated by. After mixing the dough for a while, it started to become really stringy; the texture created by vital wheat gluten is fascinatingly similar to that of real ground beef.
A stringy, albeit tasty, mess.
The downside to the recipe, which wouldn’t be a downside at all in other circumstances I guess, is that the other black bean burger recipe I use makes eight huge burgers, leaving plenty for freezing or lunches all well. This recipe made six smallish burgers, and I had a hard time even stretching the dough that far; next time I think I’ll double the recipe.
For the truly trashy, only loaf bread will do.
Last night’s burger was eaten with barbecue sauce, spinach ,and avocado, while today’s featured the more traditional ketchup and spicy mustard (on loaf bread, of course).
Published on January 9, 2010
Now that things have slowed down at work, I’ve managed to find time for all the little things I neglected during the holidays. Here’s a prime example:
Published on January 6, 2010
There’s a threat of ice and snow sometime between midnight and 3 am, and when it snows around here everything completely shuts down. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed about work tomorrow.) We really need groceries (like, haven’t bought groceries since before Christmas), but whenever there’s a winter weather warning everyone runs to the store to stock up on milk and bread, and I didn’t feel like fighting with all of those people when I got off work earlier. Instead I decided to come home and throw any and everything we had edible into a pot and see what happened, and I’m pretty pleased with the results! I’ll definitely be making this again, even on days when I have groceries in the house.
If you're in special need of comfort food, add a biscuit.
To make this soup, you’ll need:
In a large stock pot, cook the onion and carrot in the butter (over medium heat) until everything is almost caramelized. Add the red wine vinegar, making sure to scrape all the tasty bits from the bottom of the pot. Next, add the tomatoes and tomato juice. If you’re using whole tomatoes, you might want to crush them with your hands (I did), but I’m not too sure this step is necessary since everything will be pureed later. After adding the tomatoes and juice, add the tomato paste, sun dried tomatoes, stock, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for at least 30 minutes. (This is a good time to wash the dishes or whip up some biscuits. Mine probably simmered more like 45 minutes or an hour, and I think it was got better each time I snuck a taste.) After adequate simmering has occurred, remove the bay leaf and puree the mixture with a stick blender (my preferred method) or food processor. Be warned: there will probably still be tiny bits of carrot, and overall this is a pretty chunky soup. If you don’t like chunky, leave the carrots out. Anyway, once the mixture has been pureed, add the herbs and return to the heat until you’re ready to serve it (probably no more than another 30 minutes).
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Night Clerk at the Hotel of Both Worlds (Pitt Poetry Series) by Angela Ball
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal by Jared Diamond