Pies, Pies, and More Pies!

I LOVE pie. I attribute it to my birthday being on Pi Day (3.14!), but I'm not sure if that's actually the reason. I've almost never met a pie I didn't like (although that could also be said for every type of dessert...), except of course for pumpkin because who wants vegetables in a pie?! Not counting chicken pot pie of course.

I rarely get to make that many pies because someone else in my household (ahem, not me), doesn't love them as much as I do. But this holiday season, I've already made four!  We had a pie night for relief society and several of us volunteered to bring pies we could all eat after we learned how to make a pie. I knew I wanted to make this banana cream pie from A Spicy Perspective because it was the perfect balance between a regular ol' pudding banana cream, and some fancy homemade custard kind of banana cream. It turned out so well! I had several people tell me it was their favorite of the night (I personally loved the cookie dough pie the best..that is totally on my list to make soon!). Unfortunately, the crust didn't stick together as well as I wanted, but that could be due to my extreme dislike for using too much butter. :) I used a banana cream pudding instead of vanilla, and I quite liked it, even though it did have a somewhat fake banana taste. And I didn't use the coconut, but I certainly will if I make it again!

The other pie I made was totally random - I wanted to make something that didn't involve going to the store, and somehow I happened to have strawberries in my house! That almost never happens, so I took advantage of it and made a strawberry peach pie. I couldn't really find any recipe... so mine is very loosely based on this one from All Recipes. I didn't use the cinnamon, used canned peaches and fresh strawberries, and added some sort of mixture of flour and cornstarch...I was just winging it. This pie was the only one that was all eaten at the pie night! I quite like peach and strawberry together, it turns out, so once summer hits I'll do this again too!

And finally, for Thanksgiving I was asked to bring pie to my cousin's house. Pecan is the best (even my husband thinks so!) so I made two of them - both the pie crust and the pecan pie recipe is from the Taste of Home cookbook, and they are super simple (pie crust = flour, shortening, salt, water), but always delicious! If I did it again, I'd make extra filling - probably 1.5 times, since my pie dishes are apparently super deep!

Pin 1 Down: Zucchini Brownies

With no time to waste, I accomplished my 1st pin in my personal 6 pins in 6 weeks challenge. We received a giant zucchini from my family when we came to visit - or rather, we received only part of a giant zucchini! This recipe only used 2 cups of shredded zucchini, so I still have quite a bit left to play with....or hide and pretend it doesn't exist....

Every Pinterest recipe that I found for gooey-looking zucchini brownies used the same recipe as this one from Mommy I'm Hungry. And while it sure is gooey (or rather, the frosting certainly is), the brownies themselves weren't my favorite. For one, there are no eggs in this recipe! How can we have brownies without eggs? So the brownies were slightly gritty from the sugar (I think I may have done the steps in an incorrect order though..) and I thought they were pretty dry. But then I put this frosting on top- and you can't even tell! I only did about 2/3 of the actual frosting and it's still so gooey, chocolatey, and delicious!

So while I'll keep searching for a better zucchini brownie recipe, I was actually pleased with how these came out. Plus there were plenty to share with our neighbors, especially the wonderful ones who lent me powdered sugar when I had absolutely none.... :)

6 Pins in 6 Weeks

Lately I've been in such a creativity rut. I don't feel very motivated to try new foods, desserts, crafts, sewing projects, anything! I loved the 6 pins in 6 weeks challenge I participated in earlier this year, so I think I'll have my own little challenge over the next month and a half to get the juices flowing again. Here we go - these are the 6 pins I'd like to accomplish in the next 6 weeks (give or take a few months... :D ):

Order fabric online (something I've been afraid of) and make a cardigan: http://pinterest.com/pin/55450639131526721/

With some of the fabric I order, make myself a new purse: http://pinterest.com/pin/55450639132710723/

I love apples but I never take full advantage of apple season. Buy some and make this delicious-looking pizza: http://pinterest.com/pin/55450639133691477/

Use up that zucchini and make brownies! http://pinterest.com/pin/55450639132658432/

Do at least a few of these different ways to improve your life: http://pinterest.com/pin/55450639132782959/

And finally, get to work on another necklace! http://pinterest.com/pin/55450639135049832/

Blue Necklace

I can make jewelry! Or rather, I can attempt jewelry. It has long been a goal of mine to start making jewelry. However, unlike sewing where I already have the machine and just have to buy fabric each project, or crafting where I already have a glue gun and just need some random supplies, jewelry making involves a whole new set of tools and materials - so I had to start from scratch. That's why I've been putting off jewelry-making for so long...but now I can make jewelry forever!

Over the course of a month or two, I collected Michael's coupons and purchased the supplies - wire, chains, necklace closures, straight pins, crimps..all kinds of things! I was planning to just use our wire cutters and pliers from the tool kit- but I discovered I really needed one of those round pliers. So I got one of those too, and it made all the difference!

After acquiring alllll of that, I finally got some beads as well. They're all cheap-y ones from Walmart right now, but once more coupons come in I'll probably get some prettier ones at Michael's again! I have so many jewelry ideas on my Pinterest board that I want to try, but I settled on the Cobalt Blue Cluster Necklace from My Girlish Whims to start. It looks pretty easy....boy was I wrong!

Okay it wasn't actually too bad. The hardest part (just like she mentions) is getting 50 or so beads on the straight pins and creating the loops. I was doing so terrible, but then I got those round pliers and it was way easier! Unfortunately, the holes in my (cheap) beads were too big for the pins, so I ended up hot gluing all the beads onto the pins...which may not hold forever, but I was determined to make do with what I had on hand!

After getting all the beads on pins (this only took me like...a month? I'm a slow worker :D), getting the chain and crimps and everything else was super easy. And I am very excited and pleased with this necklace! Now...what to work on next?! Maybe earrings to go with it!

Twix Brownies

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to make caramel. Sometimes I love to ponder on how my NYRs aren't so much resolutions...they're more like goals. Is there a difference? I should just say "one thing I'd like to change about myself is the frequency that I make caramel." Perfect! So now, instead of zero times per year, I have officially made caramel one time per year!

Instead of the usual boring (and amazingly delicious - Ghirardelli from Costco) brownies that I make, I wanted something fun when our friends came over. I have been eyeing these twix brownies from Jasey's Crazy Daisy for forever, and I finally got up the nerve to try them! I didn't have shortbread cookies, so I made a graham cracker crust instead and it was delicious. I should really make brownies with a graham cracker crust more often.

I also didn't have caramel squares...dun dun dun. And since I just can't make a single recipe without substitutions, I might as well admit that I don't ever buy cream anymore either, so I didn't even have that necessary caramel ingredient... :) So I found this caramel recipe from Bright Eyed Baker that uses milk! Making that caramel was certainly an adventure. Unlike her instructions that say it should take about a half hour...mine took well over that and still didn't get thick! I was stirring the sauce on the stove after adding the milk, and I realized my burner had turned off a while before...(it does that :( ) so I think I let it cool too much and it just never got thick!

Despite that (wow, sorry long post!), these brownies were seriously DELICIOUS. Make them! Make them with a million substitutions! Just look at the picture for ages and keep drooling! I definitely know we'll make these brownies again. I may even splurge and get caramel squares! Haha, actually I will for sure get caramel squares next time. They were gooey, rich, chocolatey and caramelly and amazing.

 

p.s. Sorry these pictures are so bad...we were eating them way too fast! Also, I'm trying to improve my food photography just a little bit, and clearly these pictures aren't doing it.

The Most Adorable Fabric Ever

Every time I look at this fabric, I am still so in love with it! I bought it over a year ago, and I bought all that was left at JoAnn's! (I'm sure they have since restocked, many times.) Then it sat in my closet because it was just too gorgeous to do anything with. Everyone I asked mentioned pillows (not really our color scheme), or an apron (I have an adorable one from my mother!), and so I inevitably thought of a skirt, since I seem to make more of those than anything else.

I used this tutorial from Freshly Picked as my inspiration, but I kind of just winged it as well. I think it's truly the best use of this fabric. I used almost the entire amount - it's 3 times the circumference of my waist, and I love the giant and simple elastic on top. It was super simple to make - just cut, sew together, gather, and sew to elastic! I feel a little silly whenever I wear it just because it is so big and bright and full, but I really really love it at the same time and I think it's the best constructed skirt I've made yet! I tried to be so careful in my cutting and sewing, and it really paid off.

Bedroom Wall - Finally Bare No More!

I finally took the plunge and did something with the wall above our bed! I've been looking for some kind of headboard or wall art ever since we moved in, but I really didn't want to spend a ton of money. (Story of our lives!) After painting the striped canvases for our living room, I knew I didn't want to buy more canvases because they are quite pricey. When I stumbled upon this wall art using vinyl and moulding from Ooh Baby Designs, I knew it was meant to be on our wall! I feel like this is really my decorating style - simple.

I've always had trouble with vinyl decorations because I feel like they're so cheesy. I tend to dislike all the cliché sayings. But I really wanted this wall art, and so I found the most acceptable one at Bed Bath & Beyond and just went with it. I found these thin pieces of wood moulding at Michaels and painted them blue with leftover paint from our striped canvases. I can't believe I waited over a year for this 20-ish minute project!

I always read other bloggers' posts and think about how everyone is such a expert on the things they blog about. Will I ever be this way? Will I tell random stories about my life all while showing off gorgeous pictures of my food? Will I try out a million recipes and learn the chemistry behind baking just so I can create the perfect cookie recipe? The answer is...maybe? But for now at least, I still consider myself a very non-expert in everything on this blog. Case in point: How hard should it be to nail in 4 pieces of straight wood for a frame? And yet, there's a hole in my rectangle here. Next time, self, attach the 4 pieces into a triangle before nailing them to the wall! I guess for now I'll still be learning as I try out each new project on this blog. :)

Chipotle Dinner - Success!

I've only been to Chipotle once, but holy cow is it delicious! It's one of my husband's favorite places and we don't have one super cloase, so I've been wanting to make it for dinner forever. I'm always hesitant to buy ingredients that are outside my comfort zone, so it takes me a long time to build up the courage to try a new recipe!

I used the recipes from ChipotleFan.com, specifically the corn salsa (didn't use poblano chilis, and just used green jalapenos) and steak marinade. My husband doesn't actually like Chipotle in burrito form (he's crazy!) so we just had the steak and corn salsa, and paired them with cilantro lime rice and pinto beans. I've made various forms of these foods before, but I've never used pinto beans before- and I think they really made this taste just like Chipotle! I'm not a bean lover, but I think I'm warming up to them for some dishes at least.

The corn salsa and rice were absolutely perfect. The steak was overcooked, but of course that's my fault...and a fault that I can't seem to overcome! I cooked it on our George Foreman grill, and I only cooked it for about 4 minutes, but that was still too long! Next time, I'll be sure to watch the steak closely so we can have it nice and tender. Overall, we loved this, and next time I'm breaking out the tortillas for sure. :)

S'mores Bars

How in the world have I not blogged about these bars? They were so delicious- and I don't even like s'mores very much. We went camping with our friends last month, and the week before we went, we had them over for a planning night. Really we just played games and ate delicious food like usual, but we spent a little time planning the supplies and food for our trip. 

The camping trip turned out incredibly fun, even though it was rainy and chilly the whole time and we mostly just sat in the tent playing even more games, and eating even more food. Can you tell what we like to do? We roasted a few s'mores over the campfire, but I still think these bars are the best s'mores treat I've ever had. They even have cookie dough- so how could they not be amazing?

The recipe is from Amandeleine, and I don't even know what else to say about them. They're crunchy, gooey, deliciously chocolatey s'mores bars! These were amazing, and since I rarely ever make a dessert twice, next time I'm craving s'mores I think I'll definitely go for some Reese's peanut butter cup s'mores from The Recipe Critic or night owl s'mores treats from Real Mom Kitchen. So many wonderful desserts to try!

Super Easy Pillows

Our apartment finally feels a little more like a home: it has pillows! These pillows have been a long time in the making (I've had the fabric since January!) and I can't believe I waited this long to make them. They were so easy! I bought this fabric a long time ago, and I have avoided getting pillow forms because they can be so expensive. But I finally found myself itching to be crafty, and so I ventured out with my coupons to JoAnn's - and found them to be 50% off anyway! I love it when the exact thing I need is 50% off - it's like telling me it's my destiny to do this craft.

So once I finally acquired all the necessary supplies, these pillows took all of a half hour to make. Why did I wait so long? I followed this super easy tutorial from The Happy Housie (did you know I have the exact same bird fabric? I finally did something with it too- post coming soon!) and I couldn't be happier. I measured a billion times and cut once, sewed some (reasonably) straight lines, and now we have wonderful pillows! The two fabrics clash a little (probably a lot, actually), but I really like them both, so they'll do for at least a while. 

Unfortunately, my dear husband does not feel the same way about pillows that I do (I feel like they are the best addition to our decor we've ever made, so I suppose it's hoping too much for him to feel the exact same way...). Apparently three pillows on one couch and only one on the other feels so lopsided to him that it's driving him crazy. But that's what wives are for, right? Also, rule #1 about these pillows is that you can smash them, throw them on the floor, use them as foot rests, and anything else. Because pillows that need gentleness and tender care wouldn't last a second in our house. So they will never look perfectly fluffed, but I still love them!

Spring Wreath

I wasn't even going to blog about this wreath because I'm so embarrassed about it. But I guess I need to blog about it to see what I did wrong and set goals for how to become better! This wreath from Flamingo Toes was my inspiration. I usually don't love wreaths made out of the basic grapevine base because they look too a) old, b) withered, c) fake. I guess I'm a pretty particular wreath person (and growing even more so now that I browse wreaths on a regular basis!) because I don't love fir green wreaths for Christmas, I don't love the grapevine wreaths with leaves on them for Autumn....and I'm starting to dislike all the yarn wreaths, wreaths made out of other strange materials.....okay wow. But there are wreaths I do really like! I think they usually look fresh. And that's why I like this wreath so much!

Unfortunately, my wreath is a far cry from the one at Flamingo Toes....Apart from the fact that the grapevine itself is not round at all (there were only like 3 left at the store- I tried my best!), the whole thing looks a little...rushed and amateur, eh? Probably because I rushed it and I'm an amateur! Well, at least it's an honest wreath.

So I started by making the felt flowers, which actually always turn out good. I love those felt flowers! But I used Flamingo Toes' tutorial to make the larger flowers, and I used muslin I had laying around. Turns out, muslin is way too floppy for this! So I have large floppy flowers. But I do like the colors!

Then after that, my moss was strange and kept falling out everywhere. It still looks very angular where I cut it to glue on the wreath, so I'll need to fix that eventually. Moss is just weird....and I was hoping for a brighter spring green! I guess I just can't have my perfect wreath ever...

And finally, I made a banner out of burlap and felt letters. I personally don't love the banner on the inspiration wreath, and I though burlap would be perfect! Well, the burlap banner is actually my favorite part....but the hand-cut letters aren't. :) I wanted to do this project in one night, so rather than painting on the letters, or even taking more time to draw the letter design on the felt, I just started cutting letters! They definitely look amateur there, and although they're not my favorite, I do think they look fine on this wreath.

Well, it seems I went back to trying to shortcut or cheat my way into having a beautiful craft. I know it takes patience, and careful planning, (at least for me :D) to have a craft turn out well. So I just need to put off finishing something for one more day- and then I think I can be successful at crafting!

I just can't get into holidays....

I always feel like I'm most crafty when there's nothing at all going on. I didn't do a single thing for Christmas last year, and I couldn't even make the tiniest decoration for Valentine's day. I always miss the big holidays, but I seem to get a crafting craze during July or August when there isn't really any big holidays to decorate or make treats for. :)

So unfortunately, that means the last few months have been pretty bare in the crafting/baking/doing anything area. I haven't really participated in New Year's, Valentine's Day, our birthdays, St. Patrick's Day, Easter...anything! I actually did make a spring wreath...I'll have to go get pictures of that sometime! But here are the few things I have done lately:

Halal Chicken and Rice
I've been threatening to make this dish for months, and I finally did it! It just sounds kind of weird, so I think that's why my husband was wary of trying it. :) But it turned out really well! It's very similar to chicken shawarma, which I love. The white sauce isn't tzatziki though, it's just a lemony creamy sauce. It didn't have quite enough flavor right off the bat though- it could have been that I used chicken breasts instead of thighs....but after sitting a day in the fridge, the leftovers were much more flavorful!

 Cinco de Mayo
We had an AMAZING Cinco de Mayo dinner up at my sister's house, and she let me bring dessert! I have a hard time thinking up desserts to feed 10+ people, but this trifle was just the thing. I need to think of trifles more often! Although mine had to be in a big bowl instead of the pretty clear glass trifle dishes, I still think it turned out pretty well (plus the bowl was overflowing!) I also made Mexican wedding cookies (also calledmany other things), just for something that actually qualifies as Mexican food. Both desserts were so good! I just love making dessert. Like....seriously.

Actually, I really love dessert so much that I've officially decided to open a bakery someday. That sounds really weird saying it like that, and of course it won't be until I'm a grandma probably, but I would truly love to have a little shop and just make all my favorite treats. And learn to make actual good treats! So that's the life goal---40 years from now! :D

6 Pins in 6 Weeks

Well..that 6 pins in 6 weeks thing was worth a shot...Okay, actually I really enjoyed it, even if I didn't do very well at it. So here were my 6 pins that I planned to do:

1. Learn to accessorize: I don't have any pictures to prove that I accomplished this, but it's really more of a work in progress anyway. I did wear a lot more jewelry- I even got back into wearing earrings sometimes! Most importantly to me, I cleaned out a lot of my old jewelry and kind of took stock of what I have. Now I'm ready to start shopping for more updated jewelry so I can wear it on a regular basis!

2. The waterfall braid: done! I've done my hair like this so often now, and I love it each time.

3. Homemade granola bars: I planned to make a granola bar similar to the chewy bars, that are...well...chewy! But I also had a goal not to spend any money doing this pinterest challenge, and so I could only use what I had at home. I didn't have rice krispie cereal or quick oats, so I found a different recipe I'd pinned long ago to try! It was more like those crunchy granola bars, and while it was still pretty good....I won't be making them again. I don't care as much for the crunchy granola bars, but it was sure fun to try! So I'll get rice krispie cereal someday and make some delicious bars. :)

4. Make a yarn wrapped vase out of a Martinelli jar: done! It's still on my table and makes me happy every day.

5. Make a cleaning schedule: Done! I almost didn't finish this project, because it turned into a giant project where I wanted to make an entire house planning binder and all sorts of organizational things...but I calmed down and finished at least the cleaning schedule! Again, I just used what I had on hand, so some old scrapbook paper (not my favorite...but I need to use it all up before I can justify buying any more!)

6. Make overnight oatmeal: Total. Fail. Actually, I knew it would be a fail considering I didn't buy any of the ingredients! With March being my birthday, my husband's birthday, Easter, and all sorts of other things, I felt so overloaded with food that even the thought of this oatmeal made me a little sick. I try to have a small breakfast of cereal and banana slices, so a jar of oatmeal with yogurt and fruit/mix-ins just seemed too much during this gigantic month of food. But I looked at the recipes for the oatmeal again last weekend, and they looked really really good, so I think I'm over my perpetual fullness and I can try to make these soon! I'll let you know how they go, because I really can't wait to try all the flavor combinations.

March: The Month of Birthdays

March is a pretty fun month, if I do say so myself. The weather is officially getting warmer, and the world is once again a happy, not dead wintry place. We have my birthday, my husband's birthday, Easter, St. Patrick's day, and probably a few more excuses to eat as many treats as possible. I just really love March! Last year, our birthday cakes were both disasters. Since last year, I've found my absolute favorite chocolate cake recipe, and these cakes were much better because of it!

My cake was an almond joy cake, inspired by these beautiful cupcakes by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. If I had it to do again, I might just make her exact cupcakes, complete with the gigantic dollop of almond frosting. I didn't want to make a huge cake, since it was just the two of us (and we'd have more cake in just two weeks for my husband's birthday!), so I just made one layer, which the almond frosting and chocolate ganache. I thought it was very very good- but again, I'd have at least twice as much almond frosting next time!

I've been showing everyone I know the recipe I used for my husband's birthday cake- the recipe is for peanut butter cup brownie cake from Sprinkle Bakes. Even just looking at her pictures of that amazing cake make me want to make it again! And we still have half of ours left. :) I didn't make the brownie layers (because I'm a wimp and didn't want to use 5 eggs!) and so I made two layers of my very favorite cake recipe and one layer of the peanut butter filling. I had to adjust the chocolate frosting quite a bit- when I followed the original recipe, it was not very sweet, and very very dark. So I made it a light, whippy frosting instead, and I loved it all! It was actually very easy to make the peanut butter layer, and the whole cake stayed together, so I'd call it a birthday success!

Fun Happenings Lately

There are quite a few things going on lately that I need to update regularly. I guess I can just lump them all into one large post every few weeks, since apparently I can never get my act together enough to post weekly or on any regular schedule. Life has been pretty great lately- I feel like I'm learning new things (crafty things!), and trying new recipes again, and keeping up on my NYRs. (For the first year ever!) I realy think 2013 will be the greatest year yet.

New Year's Resolutions
This is just a small update- but I have water! Meaning, I did complete my February goal of obtaining emergency water storage. I don't have a ton yet, but we at least have one case of water bottles for emergencies. I still need about 7.8 cases more for our family to cover the 2 week goal of water storage, but I'm not sure our apartment would ever have room for that much water! We'll stick to just a few more cases and that will make me happy. :)

For March, I just need to get an emergency money supply and start putting together 72-hour kits. I'm actually super excited- we had 72-hour kits growing up (all I remember was tuna and jolly ranchers. Gosh mom, you think I'd ever eat tuna without mayonnaise and relish! Seriously....) and I've received pre-made kits from various church activities. But I'm excited to actually come up with a list of things I want to include, then go shopping for those things (mainly different granola bars and such :D), and really know what's in my pack!

Fun Treats
March will certainly be the month of fun treats- we have both of our birthdays in the next few weeks, and I'm sure there will be Easter treats as well! But we had friends over yesterday and I wanted to try a new dessert- so I made these triple-chocolate oreo 7-layer bars. Basically all the kinds of chocolate you can think of in one gooey bar! It was super good, and although I think I prefer the regular 7-layer bars with the more.....expanded....flavors (graham crackers and coconut, I love them!), these were great to have with ice cream and friends. I used this recipe from Once Upon a Chocolate, and I have a feeling I'll be using more of her recipes in the future. :)

Pinterest Goal
I don't have a lot to show for my pinterest goals that I'm working on as part of the link-up party, but I promise I've been doing them! First, I learned how to do a fishtail braid. It was way easier than I expected, and certainly adds a fun new hairstyle for my boring rotation. Also, I know that I can tweak it in the future to do different things like a bun, full braided head, etc.

But what I can show you is the Martinelli bottle project. I didn't have twine, and it's my goal not to spend extra money for these pinterest projects. So I used old brown yarn that I had (which matches my house perfectly!) and I love how it looks. I was totally expecting to just have to glue it at the bottom, wind up the yarn all the way, and glue once more at the top. Not! As long as the bottle was straight, I could do that. But on the curvy part, I had to glue every few centimeters to make the yarn stay straight. I like the look of a messier bottle with the yarn overlapping randomly, so I might try that next. I had hopes to do all my Martinelli bottles (4 full size and one mini bottle), but I just got this one done before I was worn out. Maybe I can do one a week or something! But for now, I love this bottle on our table. :)