A Hot, Fresh Batch of Links

um, these things are amazing. i wish i was this creative!

crafts:

• mod-podge window quilt project (you could do this with any frame, really)
• tissue paper flower ball party decoration (what an easy party decoration!)
• yoga pants from a men's long sleeve tshirt (do i need yoga pants? i might...)
• shrinky dink flowers and leaves (i smell a new pair of earrings for meredith very soon)
• shrinky dink photo jewelry (i don't know if i'm artistic enough to pull off wearing something like this, but so cute!)

baked goods:

• fourth of july cupcakes (the colors are easily customizable for any occasion)
• blueberry cornmeal pancakes with orange maple butter (they sound more difficult than they really are- you can make the butter ahead of time, and even the dry stuff for the pancakes can be done ahead as a sort of mix)

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

how incredibly cute would i look baking cookies in these vintage-y aprons?!

Cookie Cake Pie

no, that's not a list of items, it is one single, solitary, satanic item. it's like the turducken of desserts. i saw it on cakespy and immediately started salivating. cakespy, in case you were wondering, is an evil genius. with a blog. evil geniuses are coming into their own in the 21st century, i guess.

anywho, i made two of these suckers and neither one of them lasted long enough to be photographed. so i'll just put cakespy's photos.


looks good, right? oh but wait, there's more...


it's a pie shell with cookie dough in it, then cake batter, then frosted. oh, mah, gaw. cakespy made her own crust and dough, then used boxed cake and frosting. but i went all pre-fab and changed the flavors a bit too. it easily lends itself to such customization.

so, the first one i made, the cake didn't get cooked because my mom took it out too early. she didn't do the toothpick test, but said it just looked done... well, it wasn't, and the center was just warm batter. but of course, that didn't stop us from eating it. it just put me on notice that while the top may look fairly brown, it's not done and it won't burn, so stick to the toothpick test.

alright, down to the nitty gritty. you will need, for one (pre-fab) cookie cake pie:
-1 pie crust
-1 roll of chocolate chip cookie dough
-1 box of yellow cake mix
-1 can of chocolate frosting.

-preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
-defrost your pie crust, put it in a pie tin if it isn't in one already (the frozen crusts are by the fruit and cool whip and come in a pie tin, but the refrigerated ones are by the cookie dough in the grocery store and are just rolled).
-dock the crust (poke the bottom with a fork a few times), just to be safe.
-put the cookie dough in the bottom of the pie crust, about an inch thick. i found it best to break it up into little pieces (think grape or peanut m&m size) and drop them in the crust, and then gently sort of spread/push them together. be careful not to tear the crust. there will be dough left over (about 1/2 to 1/4 of the roll).
-mix up the cake mix according to the directions. pour it in the crust, over the dough. leave a little room for the cake to rise. you'll probably only use about half of it, so use the rest to make a single layer 8" cake, or something.
-bake until it passes the toothpick test (until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean). for me, that was about 40 to 50 minutes. i'd say start checking at about 30 minutes, then every 10 minutes thereafter. it might start looking a little burnt, but unless it's black it's not burnt.
-cool, then frost with about half of the frosting. more if you want (of course), but i used only half so i could use the rest for the 8" cake i had made with the rest of the batter.

YUMMY! some people say it's too sweet, but that doesn't stop them from eating it. but i would advise a tall glass of milk to wash it down.

Inspiration!

from dollar store crafts...


thumb tacks, string, and clothes pins make a "quick and dirty" inspiration board anywhere! i am totally going to put these things all over the place. the back of my door, over my desk, on my closet doors... to inspire me to greatness!

The Crap-eteria

i didn't bring my lunch to work today (scheduling mix-up), so i had to buy it somewhere. the courthouse where i'm interning has a cafeteria in it, so i figured i'd go scare something up there. the menu looked fine- burgers and sandwiches, and even grilled tilapia. it boasted a vegetable plate, so i decided that's what i'd get. i was thinking they'd have stuff like fried okra, some kind of steamed vegetables, a cheesy veggie casserole... standard cafeteria veggie fare.

boy, was i wrong. it was all carbs- rice, macaroni and cheese, fries... you get the picture. i got the three best options, which were grody spinach (the only non-white thing up there. was it steamed? fried? i dunno, but it was swimming in some sort of liquid), decent cabbage (although also swimming in a liquid), and run-of-the-mill mashed potatoes (surely instant). what a mistake. but by the time i got up there, i couldn't think of something else to get, and they were rushing me, so i just got those. luckily, the meal was somewhat filling so i didn't have to eat all of it, and i was also saved by some pretty good cornbread.

i also got a cookie, which was pretty good. but i'm pretty sure it's from costco, so i don't give the cafeteria much credit for that.

so, if i ever get stuck at work again without lunch, i'm going to go get something outside the courthouse. or stick with the burgers or chicken fingers at the cafeteria- it's really hard to screw those up.

but luckily, tomorrow and friday i'll be eating lunch at the belo mansion. sure, a little pricey (a buffet for $12), but it doesn't disappoint. salmon, steak, real vegetables, yummy desserts... totally worth it! tomorrow i'm going to some womens lawyer association lunch with the justice i'm interning for, and friday i'm going to a federalist society event about sonia sotomayor's nomination (which i thought was today, hence no lunch). fun, fun!

Carrot Cake Balls

i decided to give the cake balls another go, this time with carrot cake (and cream cheese frosting, of course) because that's what was in the pantry. and i coated them in white chocolate. i did a much better dipping job this time than last. for one, i made the balls smaller, using the larger end of a melon baller instead of just guessing. they held together better when they were smaller. also, i kept the chocolate warm by putting the ceramic bowl on top of a heating pad. i put the heating pad in another bowl to distribute the heat better, and put saran wrap over the heating pad to protect it, and so my dad doesn't get chocolate on his back the next time he uses the heating pad.

also, my technique was just better, in dipping the ball and wiping off excess chocolate and scooting onto the wax paper. i guess it just takes practice. and i drizzled the balls with white chocolate, which helped to camouflage any imperfections.

also this time, though, i made two 8" round cakes instead of one 13x9" cake, using half a can of frosting for each cake. i admit, this was at the request of my mother. she liked the cake balls but thought they were a little too sweet (they are), and being somewhat wary of some of my culinary innovations and experiments, she preferred the tried-and-true regular cake over the cake ball invention.
but that doesn't mean that i just made a plain ol' cake. well, i sort of did. but i added a little embellishment, while i had the white chocolate out for the cake balls. criss-crosses on wax paper...


then stuck into the cake!

sorta looks like it's from a fancy bakery, don't it? sort of. let me make a point here- the criss-crosses are important. if you just do loops (so the lines are all parallel, essentially), they just fall apart. so, criss-cross, people!

here's a piece of cake and some cake balls, before headed over to the neighbor's house.

and, the inside of a cake ball, before meeting its delicious, impending doom in my mouth.

see those little orange bits? carrots, right? wrong. they are "carrot flavored bits," as proudly advertised on the cake box's front! they're carrot powder, sugar, and some other binding stuff. the cake still tasted good, it just didn't really taste like carrot cake. more like a plain spice cake, which was still good, as i said.

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

i want one of these dresses. i've been looking for dresses like these for so long, and they are hard to find.

Vintage Earrings Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!!

Vintage Earrings Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!!

These earrings are sooo cute. Classy and sophisticated. If I don't win these, I'll have to make some of my own!