Recipe Organization Overhaul

A couple of weeks ago I was inspired to finally begin to organize our growing collection of recipes that we've tried, tested, and tweaked to our liking. I currently have THREE different notebooks with recipes we've written all over to achieve our desired results, with absolutely no organizational method. I would just grab and write down whatever was at hand. It was time to fix that.

I still have a long way to go, but this tutorial here on Maia the Bee, laid it all out and got my gears turning...not to finish my 8 different final projects I was supposed to be working on...but to organize recipes. Of equal importance, right?

 I love how they turned out!

I currently have added our most commonly used recipes (typing, formatting, and printing can take awhile), but am working on adding all of our tried and true recipes from the past as well. A time consuming task for sure, but will be well worth it!

Crochet Rug

See this beautiful thing?

Well according to Like A Cup of Tea, it retails for about $700.00.

Screw...That.

So I've set out to make my own version for my new place.
I now have an apartment with "hardwood" throughout (with the exception of the bathroom and kitchen) and it seems a little chilly and cold for a bedroom...particularly in a basement suite. I'm a big warm and cozy fan...particularly during our Canadian winters.

I may not finish it for awhile, but it will be so satisfying to make it for under one tenth of the retail cost, and in the colors I want.

If I'm going to stay in on gloom and doom days such as today...I might as well do something productive while I watch Christmas movies! ;)

Love,
Ern

Gold and Blue - Sunburst Nails

I had a little bit of fun with my nails for the last wedding we went to in October.
Yay Peep Toe shoes!

Coffee Cake with Coffee Cream Cheese Icing

The week after we celebrated D's birthday I received a text from one of his friends requesting more cupcakes.

I originally got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman about 2 years ago

I have received more compliments on this cake than any other cake before or since I made it the first time.

My cousin who does not like cake likes this cake

Oreo crumbs provided a great coffee-like dusting, without over doing it on the coffee flavour!

  

D's Birthday Last Year

I was very proud of the texture on this one, although I couldn't get a good enough picture to show it well.

Our friends who don't like coffee, loved this cake (even though it is very coffee-ee-ee)

This year, D requested the cake again. Of course I can't say no and still maintain best girlfriend ever status, so I made it yet again.

This time I was a smart best girlfriend ever, and baked the cupcakes the night before. Yay for planning ahead!

 The next day I iced them

The color contrast wasn't the greatest with the icing...but I was just so tired at this point, and running out of time to get everything done before his party ...it also got a little melty and smushy. 

But still oh-so-DELICIOUS!

Recipe Comments/Tips:

Tip: To make a substitute for buttermilk, pour 1 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar into a 1/2 cup, and add milk until full; let stand for 5 minutes before incorporating

Yes, it does seem like a lot of liquid for the cake...but I have never once had a problem with it setting. Trust me on this. Its a smashing good caffeine fix.

I follow the recipe as is on her blog, until I get to the icing. Here I make the following changes:

• I use 3 cups icing sugar
• add about a 1/4-1/2 cup cream cheese 
• a squirt or two of lemon juice to cut a bit of the sweetness
• This time to get the darker, chocolatey icing I added some chocolate syrup from my fridge to a separate bowl the icing, just until it was dark enough for me.

Hope you enjoy this fabulous cake as much as my loved ones have!

Love,
Ern

Roasted Red Pepper and Quinoa Soup

So far, I'm not doing so well on keeping up with my blog. I have, however been a busy little bee around my home.

I'll be posting some pictures of my new room once I finish de-junking, re-organizing everything (it's an embarrassing disaster zone), and finishing a few projects for it.

While I haven't been doing so good at keeping up with all of my goals I set in my last blog post, I did 
I've been keeping up for the most part with my Kitchen Goals.

I wanted to share with you my take on Easy Eats' - Roasted Red Pepper and Quinoa Soup

I played around with the recipe a bit and this is what I came up with. And I loved it!

Roasted Red Pepper and Quinoa Soup

Roast the following tossed mixture at 375 F for 45 minutes:

3 red peppers, cut into squares

2 Roma tomatoes, wedged

2 large garden tomatoes (I would have subbed for 4 Roma [around 6-7 total]…this is just what I had on hand)

½ medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 TBSP olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Sprinkle of basil and oregano and red pepper flakes as desired

Add with Roasted mixture to soup pot:

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Puree with immersion blender until desired consistency

Add and simmer for 15 minutes:

1 cup cooked quinoa

Add 1 c. Cream (or milk for a healthier option)– play with the ratio until it is as you desire

Garnish with a bit of Feta or grated Monterrey Jack cheese and serve!

Tastes even better the next day!

I also have a few other new recipes I've been working on that I'll be sharing with you soon!

Ern

Final Back to School

So here it is...my last year of school EVER.

 On my last first day of school (hopefully!) EVER!!!

Now that I have moved into my new place and I have a job serving for the year, I feel like my life is finally settling down. Aside from two more weddings we will be attending this fall, we have nothing big planned for this year which is a relief.

I am looking forward to powering through this semester, and enjoying my practicum the next. Finishing up with two Spring courses to complete my degree.

In preparation for my last year of school ever (...I hope!), I have decided to make a list of things I want to work on and accomplish by the time I graduate. Things that I've been putting off for a long time, or have never been good at sticking with.

Personal Goals:

Work on being a better, more present friend

Spending individual quality time with family members

Be more social - and do it frugally.

Actually do my readings before classes

Attempt to do laundry more regularly - not just relying on my tons of clothes to keep putting it off

Work on building a closet of versatile, quality basics that will last me years

...and cheap, fun, in-style-for-now pieces

Blogging more often...finding things that inspire and challenge me to do so. I have been so neglectful to my budding little blog. I really want to see it grow and develop in the next year.

Health Goals:

Be more physically active - and work doesn't count

Be better about making meals for school/work

Stretch more often

Sewing Goals:

Refashion more of my clothes

Make pillows for the living room

Make curtains for my bedroom

Make a blanket for the couch and across the foot of my bed

Finish sewing a piece of clothing I actually will wear...and like

Downsizing Goals:

Nail polish box

Refashion or get rid of clothes I never wear anymore - I'm usually pretty good at the downsizing...but I should really take the time to alter them into favorite pieces...most of them just need a little tweaking

Go through all of my old school papers and notes that I'll never use or read again...even though I think I will (I really won't!)

The excessive pens and notebooks collection

Jewelry Supplies
Text books - sell 'em!

Kitchen Goals:

Try a new recipe at least every other week

Never show up somewhere empty-handed

Always do the dishes right away

Financial Goals:

Save 10% of all of my income

Work enough so that I don't have to rely on student loans for month-to-month bills

Make Christmas and Birthday gifts for friends instead of buying them

I plan to update this list as the year progresses - adding to it, and crossing off the things I have accomplished at those points in time. Just to see how far I've come by the end of the year. I'm hoping it will be quite far.

Leave of Absence

So due to absolute insanity in my life, including a lot of double shifts...I haven't had time for blogging, or the crafty kind of things I'd like to be spending my summer doing.

I'm hoping to be back sometime in early-mid August.

Thanks to financial issues (working my buns off to make them work!), and moving, and no time even for D it seems, I just can't make things work.

However! I have plans for making my new place quite cute and cozy, and am hoping to have lots of blog-worthy posts stemming from that and my sewing experiments.

Hope to see you in August!

<3 Ern

The Hunt for Summer Employment

So ever since (and even before!) my Spring semester finished up I have been job hunting like a madwoman. I finally hit a spot of luck today.

I was hired! Yay!!! I can finally start working my way out of debt. Let's hope it's a good job!

It sounds like the ideal place for me. It's a new gastro pub opening up in our university/bar area, and their two main focuses are food (75 items on the menu...whoa!), and beer....a total of 120 kinds of draft and bottled, with no cross over. It's gonna be a lot to memorize, but I am so thrilled to be working again!

Fresh Soft Pretzels - Big D's 25th Recipes

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. 
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). 
4. In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
5. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and form on a greased baking sheet. (optional to spray with butter flavored cooking spray before you salt them) Sprinkle with kosher salt.
6. Bake in preheated oven for until browned. *watch them closely the first couple of pans so you can figure out what works best for your oven.

 TIPS:

We found it to be quite hard to keep a consistent size, color and smoothness to the pretzels we made for D's birthday (we made over 3 batches...so...many...pretzels!), but by the end we figured out what made the best out of all the batches.

Here's what we learned....

• Grease the pan!
• Use a rack that's up higher in the oven to prevent burning of the pretzels bottoms. 
• The baking soda bath burns a black residue onto your pans...line with tinfoil for easy clean up.
•  Do not dip the dough in the Baking Soda bath for longer than 10 seconds...they get too soggy and just don't turn out as well.
• A good way to divide the dough is by rolling it out in a long, flat rectangle with your rolling pin, then cut long strips with a knife.
• be sure to roll each strip with your hands so that it is rounded and not square like a few of ours turned out!

A lot of people tend to be puzzled about the dunking into a baking soda and water mixture....Simply put, without it, they won't have that wonderful golden brown color. 

Just whatever you do, don't put it into the actual dough!

Hot Mustard Dip

• 1/4 cup ground mustard
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons honey

1. In a small saucepan, combine mustard and vinegar; let stand for 30 minutes. 
2. Whisk in the sugar and egg yolk until smooth. 
3. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture just begins to simmer and is thickened, about 7 minutes. 
4. Remove from the heat; whisk in honey. Chill. Serve with pretzels. Store in the refrigerator. 

Original recipe source: Butter Soft Pretzels

Hot Mustard Dip 

Best Guac Out There! - Big D's 25th Recipes

So I don't like onions...like I really....do not like onions...but a little green onion never hurt anybody. Actually, onions do have some health benefits..unfortunately...I'll be finding my health benefits elsewhere.

So here is the best guac I have ever had:

2 Large Ripe Avocados

1 Ripe Roma Tomato

1 Green Onion stalk

A couple dashes of seasoning salt - add lime juice to taste.

It's just that easy.

Cut up the avocados and mash with green onion, season salt, and lime juice, dice tomato and stir in last so you don't have mashed tomato.

I've always preferred this recipe to any other, you taste the fruity, creaminess and not just an overwhelming ONION flavor, like most I've tried. And I'm always down to try some guacamole!

Sometimes for a little extra tang I might add a TBSP of mayo...but it really doesn't need it!

This was a huge hit at D's 25th Beer Tasting Bday Bash - the bowl was empty, and I even refilled it!

Go Big D or go home!

So for Big D's birthday we had a Beer Tasting at my place.

We invited everyone to bring a bottle, or a few of a unique brew for people to sample, and then to bring whatever else they wanted to drink for in between samples.

We stuck the beer in a plastic bin from Dollarama, filled it with ice, and let people go wild. Little plastic cups (Not Red Solo cups...that is not sample sized...no matter what your drunk cousin may say to convince you otherwise!) and sharpies were provided so no one had to swap spit out of the bottles. There was more distinguished analysis of the flavour, after tastes, bubbles, etc...at the beginning of the night. Let's just say not everybody stayed so distinguished till the end. ;)

I just realized now in creating this post, that I didn't actually get any shots of just the unique beers....what was I thinking??

Anyways...I'll be breaking down my recipes from the party in posts over the next week or so as I find glimpses of momentary freedom in my crazy schedule. Spring semester is wild busy (I don't know what I was thinking!), plus the roommate and job searching takes up the rest of my "free" time.  

Let's just say I'm over due for a lazy night doing whatever I damn well please...and clean laundry...

Wish me luck fellow bloggers!

We went all out on the food, and made almost everything from scratch! 

What goes better with beer than nachos, soft pretzels, and pizza (rolls)? 

Nothing! That's what! ;)

There were nachos to accompany my homemade guacamole.

The tricky trickster of the bread family!

Homemade pretzels and D's Hot mustard dip....they look deceivingly easy....they are not!

These were an amalgamation of a few different pizza roll recipes I found online...unfortunately I was stuck at my house icing cupcakes (darn little cream cheese chunks kept clogging the piping tips!) so I didn't have time to help D with my experiment. They turned out great though and were a smashing success! The platter was gone and needing refilled everytime we turned around it seemed!

mmmm pizza! Isn't my man just the most talented?

 We made some Vodka Gummy Bear shots

The before and after...they almost tripled in size!

I made D's cake...of course! But I never claimed to be good at decorating! 

(It says "Happy 25th Daryl")

Coffee Cupcakes with varying strength coffee cream cheese icing, as per birthday boy's request.

I had to get creative as I remembered everything...except the birthday candles!

It fell over shortly after he blew it out!

Happyy Birrrrtthdaayyy toooo youuuuuu!

D playing with his Rockin' birthday gifts! These gifts perfectly sum up D's interests...his friends know him so well!

His actually playable electric guitar shirt....and MMA Oven Mitts...his three favorite hobbies! :)

He told me later that this was his best birthday ever by far. There was much satisfaction to be had in having made almost everything from scratch, and having people just eat it up till we ran out. He was proud of our accomplishments...and I am so proud of him!

And of course...what guy doesn't want a cooler and a fridge full of leftover beer that just couldn't be "wasted" as a birthday present? ;)

The only somewhat cute picture of us all night...

Happy Birthday Babe...I love you!