Bedroom Re-vamp: AFTER

I tried to wait until this afternoon to post.  I really did.  But I was just too excited to wait!

 

This is the view of my new-and-improved bedroom as it is NOW.   I'm not sure if the pictures do it justice, but it's so heavenly to me I can't even explain it.

 

New view of the bed.   What a difference just a few items make!  Bedskirt, sheets, and throw pillows are from Target.  Duvet cover is the original one, from Overstock.com.  New lamp base and shade are from Walmart.

 

This may be one of my favorite items in the room!  Sheer curtains are from Kirkland's.  Hydrangea garland & brown satin ribbon to tie the curtains back are from Michael's.

 

Close-up of the hydrangea garland...as my Gram always told me, "everything needs a little bit of yellow!"  Also, please note that the curtains have little grids on them, like my duvet cover.  SERIOUSLY.  What an amazing score from Kirkland's!

 

The bookshelf that started it all.  I had decided I needed one and after I put it in my room, I felt like everything else deserved to be changed too.  Bookshelf is from Target.  Bud vases on the top of the shelf are from Partylite, and the hydrangea flowers are from Michael's.

 

Dresser area.  Mirror is from Kirkland's.  Lamp base, vase, and hydrangea flowers are from Walmart.   TV moved into the other corner, angled out to face my bed, so much more cozy.

 

LOVE these flowers.  The colors were perfect!

 

Found this adorable plaque at my local Hallmark.  I had to have it!  (Please, ignore the dust on my dresser.  We're all human, right?)

 

Another view of the whole room - romantic, warm, and comfortable.  Just how I wanted!

 

Have you done any DIY projects lately?  Please share!  This was so much fun...onto the next!

Bedroom Re-Vamp: BEFORE

Recently, I've had the feeling that I needed to change/update my bedroom.  It was a little dormy for my tastes, and since I'm "knocking on 30's door" as my sister says, I thought maybe I should make it look a little more grown-up.  Thus began a 4 week project of cleaning, throwing away, updating, and upgrading.  I had so much fun!  To tell you the truth, I'm kind of sad that I'm done.  But I'm NOT sad that I now have such a lovely room!

 

I really wanted something that was fun and that also represented me (I love elegant and girly things, but I've never been a fan of lace, or the color pink for that matter). I wanted it to be romantical (made-up word), warm, welcoming, and homey.   I live in an apartment and although I could paint if I wanted to, I wanted to try to stay away from that and really just upgrade the things that I already had in my room to begin with.

 

Here are some "before" pictures:



This was the view of my room as you walked in my bedroom door.   This was taken after I had just moved and set everything up, so I didn't have a lot of clutter at this point and I had brought absolutely NONE of my book collection with me.    Things looked pretty plain, but it was mine, and this was my first apartment.  I felt like I had so much space!

 



This was how my bed looked like before.  LOVE the duvet cover, and yes that is a stuffed animal on the top of my pillows.  I love that little dog, okay?

 



This was how my far wall looked - TV and DVD shelves, dresser, random wheeled cart where I kept magazines and whatnot.  Stereo and CD's on top of the dresser.  Random palm tree poster that I framed (from college) for some wall art.

 

I can't wait to post the "AFTER" pictures tomorrow!  The change is pretty dramatic, but the major components were not really changed.   It was definitely my first DIY project, and I'm pretty proud of it!

The Holy Grail of Macaroni & Cheese

Alright. Here goes. I'm only sharing this recipe because I want a back up for myself in the horrible instance that my written recipe gets lost. This recipe is special. Of all the things I make, I get the request to make this most often. I got the recipe from a friend of mine, because I was so head-over-heels in love with this stuff. I'm tellin ya - worth it's weight in gold. Ready? Here goes. One last thing - this stuff comes with a warning: don't make this unless you want to eternally be disappointed with every other mac n cheese recipe you'll ever make again.

1 lb Creamettes (yes, you must use this brand of macaroni. I'm not sure why it's so much better)

1 lb block of Hoffman's SuperSharp cheddar (don't try to substitute - I know it's expensive, but the whole dish depends on it)

1 quart of milk (that's 4 cups :-) )

1/2 Tablespoon black pepper

1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grate your cheese into a large baking pan.

Stir the sugar, pepper, and salt into the milk.

Boil the noodles for 7 minutes and drain. Pour the hot noodles over the grated cheese. Let sit for about a minute and then mix together until all the cheese is melted. Pour the milk mixture over the cheesy noodles. Do not mix. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 55 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Voila! Enjoy and try to share even though it hurts. You can thank me later.

 

Cross-Country Road Trip

Brief post alert!  I'm just browsing on Google Maps right now in preparation for a cross-country trip my sister and I are taking in March.  We are leaving Pittsburgh, PA and our destination is Tacoma, WA.  We want to go to Yellowstone and would love to see Montana, but are there any other awesome destinations on the way that we should prepare to visit?

We'd love to see as much as possible, so please give me any and all ideas you guys may have!!  Thank you!

The Internet: A Blessing and a Curse

I played a dangerous online game today.  I played the Facebook game.  No, not Farmville or whatever.

 

Have you ever seen someone so blatantly post something so mindless that it made your blood boil and you had to say something?  That happened to me today.  I posted something back (nicely) - and what I posted was a fact.  Did you know it's a fact that a US Code states that you should put your hand over your heart when the Star Spangled Banner is played?  Well, some people didn't know that, so I informed them.  What I received in return can only be described as the babble of idiot minions of the person who said that your hand only should be over your heart during the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Alas, the real issue at stake was the fact that it is respectful to put your hand over your heart in BOTH situations.  And the problem is that my sometimes over-zealous hearts for America prompted me to post in reply.  So after I got angry and then embarrassed at myself, I then did the following:

 

LOOKED UP LOLDOGS.  Have ya'll ever been to THIS website before?  If not, go now...it will turn any type of mediocre to bad day into a great one!

 

Here's an example of the true brilliance of LOLDOGS...



 

Here are my take-aways from today's adventures on the internet:  

1.  NEVER engage in a Facebook debate...it will get you nowhere but the Land of Frustration and Shame.  I knew this before, but this point was proven today.

2.  ALWAYS look at cute pictures of dogs to turn your day from crappy to awesome.

 

Good luck on the Internets, friends!  :)

My Adventures In Making the Elusive Macaron

I’ve read lots of different recipes and tried my hand at a few, and I’m walking away from this project with these tips that I think are essential for great macarons:

Bob’s Red Mill almond flour is ridiculously expensive. ($10-15/lb?!?!) I’m calling BS on this one. Go to Trader Joe’s and get their almond meal. It isn’t blanched, but the almond skin just adds more flavor. It gives them a cute speckled look.

Buy a kitchen scale if you don’t have one. I ironically bought the Biggest Loser one for the express purpose of making cookies. It was pretty reasonable ($20 at BB&B)

Age those egg whites, or at least get them to room temperature. Yeah, this sounds gross, but I lived to tell the tale.

Don’t over-mix! Undermixing is better than over-mixing. Show some self-control and know when to stop. 40 strokes max. Use a rubber spatula.

Let them rest. I really think this was a crucial step in my successful batch. After you pipe the batter, whack the tray on the counter a good 3-4 times to release air bubbles (pop them with a toothpick), and then let them sit for at least 30 minutes to form a nice skin. They are much less likely to crack this way.

They NEED to mature. Don’t question this. These take advanced planning if you are making them for a specific date. If you taste them right after they are baked, you’re not going to be impressed. These babies absolutely need filling (yummy buttercream is my preference) and they need to sit in the fridge for at least 3 days before you eat them. On that note, let them come to room temperature before you devour.

 

Attempt #1 – Brave Tart’s recipe

4 oz. (115g) almond flour

8 oz (230g) powdered sugar

5 oz (144g) egg whites – temperature and age not important!

2 ½ oz (72g) sugar

½ tsp (2g) salt

Scrapings of 1 vanilla bean

You can read more here http://bravetart.com/recipes/Macarons but basically this recipe calls for you to beat the egg whites like they owe you money. This recipe differs from the others I’ve seen in that regard, also in that she says that temperature and age of the egg whites are not important, and that you do not need to let the piped macarons sit and form a skin.

This was my first attempt at macaron making, and I’m pretty sure that I over-mixed, therefore creating hideous little cracked monsters that were in no shape or form a macaron. While they were ugly, they were delicious. I’ll give them that.  I was very frustrated since these were supposedly pretty easy to master, and apparently everyone else had success. So…I moved on to a reeeally “fool proof” recipe for attempt numero dos.

 

Attempt #2 – The Sucre Cuit Style – Italian Meringue

200g almond meal

200 g powdered sugar

200g sugar

50g water

150g egg whites, divided into two 75g portions

You can see detailed pictures and the whole recipe at http://dessertfirstgirl.com/2010/10/making-macarons.html  This recipe is supposed to produce much more consistent results, because the meringue is cooked, and therefore very stable and pretty resistant to over-mixing (which, as you will recall, is where the problem was in attempt #1) So…they “worked”. Kind of. They baked up lopsided, but did get something that resembled feet. I will not be making this recipe again, because the taste was nothing in comparison to Brave Tart’s recipe. Hers tasted fastastic, and these tasted…well…blah. They were very sweet and really couldn’t hold their own without intensely flavored filling.

 

Attempt #3 – Not So Humble Pie’s Recipe (the one where the clouds parted and the angels sang)

5g dehydrated egg white powder (this is hecka expensive but necessary)

28g sugar

225g powdered sugar

125g almond meal

100g aged egg whites (mine were 3 days out at room temperature)

Scrapings of one vanilla bean (I added this)

Success at 295 degrees for 18 minutes

If you are pulling your hair out desperately awaiting the next coming of the macaron gods, please go here http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html They turned out to be tasty and perfect and looked exactly right. I made them for Christmas and everyone was thoroughly impressed.

My Adventures In Making the Elusive Macaron

I’ve read lots of different recipes and tried my hand at a few, and I’m walking away from this project with these tips that I think are essential for great macarons:

Bob’s Red Mill almond flour is ridiculously expensive. ($10-15/lb?!?!) I’m calling BS on this one. Go to Trader Joe’s and get their almond meal. It isn’t blanched, but the almond skin just adds more flavor. It gives them a cute speckled look.

 

Buy a kitchen scale if you don’t have one. I ironically bought the Biggest Loser one for the express purpose of making cookies. It was pretty reasonable ($20 at BB&B).

 

Age those egg whites, or at least get them to room temperature. Yeah, this sounds gross, but I lived to tell the tale.

 

Don’t over-mix! Undermixing is better than over-mixing. Show some self-control and know when to stop. 40 strokes max. Use a rubber spatula.

 

Let them rest. I really think this was a crucial step in my successful batch. After you pipe the batter, whack the tray on the counter a good 3-4 times to release air bubbles (pop them with a toothpick), and then let them sit for at least 30 minutes to form a nice skin. They are much less likely to crack this way.

 

They NEED to mature. Don’t question this. These take advanced planning if you are making them for a specific date. If you taste them right after they are baked, you’re not going to be impressed. These babies absolutely need filling (yummy buttercream is my preference) and they need to sit in the fridge for at least 3 days before you eat them. On that note, let them come to room temperature before you devour.

*****

Attempt #1 – Brave Tart’s recipe

4 oz. (115g) almond flour

8 oz (230g) powdered sugar

5 oz (144g) egg whites – temperature and age not important!

2 ½ oz (72g) sugar

½ tsp (2g) salt

Scrapings of 1 vanilla bean

 

You can read more here http://bravetart.com/recipes/Macarons but basically this recipe calls for you to beat the egg whites like they owe you money. This recipe differs from the others I’ve seen in that regard, also in that she says that temperature and age of the egg whites are not important, and that you do not need to let the piped macarons sit and form a skin.

 

This was my first attempt at macaron making, and I’m pretty sure that I over-mixed, therefore creating hideous little cracked monsters that were in no shape or form a macaron. While they were ugly, they were delicious. I’ll give them that.  I was very frustrated since these were supposedly pretty easy to master, and apparently everyone else had success. So…I moved on to a reeeally “fool proof” recipe for attempt numero dos.

*****

Attempt #2 – The Sucre Cuit Style – Italian Meringue

200g almond meal

200 g powdered sugar

200g sugar

50g water

150g egg whites, divided into two 75g portions

 

You can see detailed pictures and the whole recipe at http://dessertfirstgirl.com/2010/10/making-macarons.html  This recipe is supposed to produce much more consistent results, because the meringue is cooked, and therefore very stable and pretty resistant to over-mixing (which, as you will recall, is where the problem was in attempt #1) So…they “worked”. Kind of. They baked up lopsided, but did get something that resembled feet. I will not be making this recipe again, because the taste was nothing in comparison to Brave Tart’s recipe. Hers tasted fastastic, and these tasted…well…blah. They were very sweet and really couldn’t hold their own without intensely flavored filling.

*****

Attempt #3 – Not So Humble Pie’s Recipe (the one where the clouds parted and the angels sang)

5g dehydrated egg white powder (this is hecka expensive but necessary)

28g sugar

225g powdered sugar

125g almond meal

100g aged egg whites (mine were 3 days out at room temperature)

Scrapings of one vanilla bean (I added this)

Success at 295 degrees for 18 minutes

If you are pulling your hair out desperately awaiting the next coming of the macaron gods, please go here http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html They turned out to be tasty and perfect and looked exactly right. I made them for Christmas and everyone was thoroughly impressed.

Some Things

Greetings, faithful readers!   I know I've said it before, but I'm so sorry we've been completely lazy with blogging as of late.  The latter part of 2011 was a bit...well, overwhelming for me personally.  Since it's my blog and you're reading it (thank you!), I'm throwing out some updates and some things that I'm hoping to do with this bloggy (and otherwise) in the near future.

 

In July of 2011, I started working part-time in addition to my full-time job.   Kind of threw me out of my usual routine a bit, and I definitely let some things go by the wayside.   Including this poor bloggy!  Sad, but true.  Unlike before, I am going to try to blog on weekends now (Fri/Sat/Sun) instead of weekdays.  I love writing this little blog with Rose - it's very special to me!

 

In late summer 2011, I went home to visit my family for vacation.  My dear Gram (who is responsible for a lot of the recipes on this blog) went to the hospital that week.  She had been battling lung cancer and kept doing so until early December when we lost her.    We were very blessed to have her for as long as we did - I have so many wonderful memories of her.  I spent weeks at her house in the summer with my sister, took train rides with her to visit my family in Harrisburg, and spent countless Sunday evenings at her house for family dinner.  She even got on a plane and came down to visit me here in NC.    I miss her terribly and I can't believe that I can't pick up the phone to call her anymore.  I know she is with my grandpa (Pa Joe as well call him) in Heaven, but I have to admit that it's really difficult to imagine my life without her in it.

[caption id="attachment_800" align="aligncenter" width="483" caption="Me, Pa Joe, Gina & Gram - camping at Deep Creek Lake."][/caption]

My plan is to collect as many of her recipes as I can and post some of my other favorites on here.  Gram and I emailed a lot and she encouraged me in everything I did - writing (briefly) for an online newspaper, my photography aspirations, and even in this blog.  I sent her the link to this blog in an email once, and she responded at the end of her email with this:  "By the way, the double toilet in your blog was a riot, and the recipes divine.  Ciao."  

 

The point of all this, I suppose, is to let you know what's been going on in my life.  Blogging is fun, but it can also be extremely therapeutic (especially to those of us who struggle to say these things out loud!).   I think that I speak for Rose as well when I say "THANK YOU" to those of you who take the precious time out of your day to read this tiny little piece of the internet.  We are going to make you (and Gram) proud in 2012!

2011 Resolution...

2011 Resolution Recap

1. Go to the gym 4 days a week.

BAHAHAHA this lasted til April. Way to go, me.

2. Show more kindness, love and generosity everyday. Go out of my way to do one nice thing or help one person I normally wouldn’t.

FAIL. I started off really well (again) but this year sucked in the social relationships department - my group of coworkers had quite a falling out and basically I was kind of a jerk for several months following.

3. Every other Thursday, the night before I get paid, I’m going to take out whatever is left in my checking account (after all the bills were paid) and save it. Hopefully this will be around $50 every pay check. If I can do this, I’ll have a little over a grand by vacation time.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. This DID NOT HAPPEN. I did however discover Ebay and did some mucho savings for my vacation and ending up not paying anything out of pocket. 1/2 win.

4. Not so much a goal as a hope/dream. Same wish I’ve had for the past few years, but to quote Beyonce, if he likes it then he’d better put a ring on it. Dream for 2011: take relationship to next level. Cross fingers, wish upon a star, throw a coin in a fountain, and then promptly come back to reality. Amen.

Yeah. Moving right along.

On to 2012 where hopefully things will go much more smoothly...let's try this again!