Monday, December 13, 2010

weekend in black and white

december weekend
december weekend
december weekend
december weekend
december weekend
december weekend
december weekend
december weekend
december weekend
december weekend
december weekend

and a little color:
december weekend
december weekend
december weekend


over the weekend:
i put finishing touches on some handmade gifts that i sent off today.
made caramels and reindeer cake pops
drank some coffee that didn't hurt my stomach
went shopping at the mall to get one present i couldn't online (it was crazy, and i won't ever do that again)
read a whole lot. (the glass castle and josh's upcoming memoir)
wore a cute dress i got for my birthday.
but other than that was in pajamas most of the weekend.


tomorrow we're going ice skating with friends, which i'm super excited about. i love ice skating, even though i tend to fall a whole lot.

Friday, December 10, 2010

modcloth guest post (& happy birthday mom)

Homemade-Marshmallows-top
Homemade-Marshmallows-all-wrapped-up

just a quick little post to tell you i was lucky enough to be a guest blogger over on the modcloth blog.. a marshmallow recipe and cute way to wrap them up for gift giving.
check it out here!

and...



Happy birthday mom! I love you and i hope you had a beautiful day.

happy birthday mom

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

triple chocolate cupcakes

When I first saw the recipe for these cupcakes I was very fascinated.. an entire cupcake.. with frosting.. using no sugar. That's right up my alley. And I have to say, they didn't let me down one bit. They taste like "real" cupcakes, with a bittersweet chocolate frosting. They are quite perfect for those days when you are needing sugar (or chocolate) extra bad, but don't want to spoil your no-sugar rule.

Well, for me, that rule is not in place in December. Too many things to indulge in!! But come January, these will be a close friend of mine. (these are also a better alternative for diabetics)

I used xagave in these. It's the best agave i've tried, very subtle in flavor which makes it a great substitute in baking and cooking. I love the stuff.

triple chocolate agave cupcake

Triple chocolate AGAVE cupcakes
vegan

Filling:
5.5 ounces silken tofu, drained
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup agave

Melt the chocolate and agave over a double boiler until perfectly smooth. Set aside. Puree the tofu in a food processor, until perfectly smooth. You will need to scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the tofu and process until smooth and thick. It will look like chocolate pudding. Set aside while you bake the cake.


Cake:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ounce semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup agave
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon rice vinegar

To bake the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 12 muffin tins with papers.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Melt the chocolate and oil in a medium sized bowl over a double boiler until perfectly smooth. Whisk the agave into the chocolate mixture. In a third bowl whisk together the soy milk, vanilla, and vinegar, then stir it into the chocolate mixture. gently whisk the wet mixture into the dry. Divide the batter into the muffin cups and bake for about 18 minutes or until the tester comes out clean.

Using a paring knife cut out a portion of the cupcake, to make a space for the filling. Don’t cut too much away or the cupcake may not have enough structure and fall apart.
Use a pastry bag with a round tip to fill the cupcakes with the filling and spread it smooth.

Optional:

Ganache:
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons coconut milk

Melt the chocolate and milk over a double boiler until smooth

Spoon the ganache over the top of the cupcakes.

recipe source

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

brrr...

It's 24 degrees right now!

It's been really cold the past few days and its supposed to keep up for awhile. And its about time! I've been staying cuddled up on the couch (where a hot cup of tea is always within reach) whenever i'm not doing projects that involve the sewing machine. I've been busting my butt to get christmas gifts made and so far i'm on schedule.. deadline is the 12th.

some snapshots of the day:

new favorite mug
morning tea in my (new!) favorite mug

knit gifts
some cuddly knit gifts i wish i could keep for myself

felt matryoshka dolls
i've had a mini obsession with matryoshka dolls lately, so i decided i better make some felt ones. these are unfinished..

pretty felt
pretty colorful felt

black apple print
a print from black apple (the first of many i plan on collecting), a gift from vanessa.

ribbon
pretty ribbon i picked up on black friday.

paris map
paris map
i got this poster sized street map of Paris in the mail from a friend. I'm so in love with it, I cannot wait to frame it and put it up in our new place. Thanks Kim!!

christmasy table
tree

Stay warm!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

christmasy times

We've been having lots of fun with our new flip camera. It's so dang convenient, we find ourselves using it constantly. I put together this set of clips last night and hopefully i'll be posting videos more often.
(I apologize in advanced if they bore you to tears.)



music: horchata by vampire weekend

Friday, December 3, 2010

pinning

I've had an awful headache all day, so i took it easy (ha! like my days are so hard in the first place) and did some of christmas music listening, kitty cuddling, christmas movie watching and a whole lot of aimlessly perusing the internet. One of my new favorite websites for doing that is Pinterest. Ever heard of it?? I just discovered it and i'm kind of obsessed now. It's eye candy in every category possible.
Here are some of my favorites from today.





ALSO!

dujour mag
dujour mag
the new dujour magazine issue is out.. and it is chock full of beauty. You can see a sneak peek of the issue here, or you can get an online subscription for $10/year. (Its worth ten times more than that) I have quite a few recipes i contributed to this issue, and a travel diary spread from my San Francisco trip as well.

Have a great weekend.

p.s. I'll be posting my first video montage from our flip camera on Saturday. be excited.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

DIY: wreath

tinsel wreath

I can't believe its December!! This has been the fastest year ever.. but it seems like i say that every year.
Our little apartment is looking pretty christmas-y and we have the holiday pandora station on just about 24/7. Christmas time is the best.. (never mind that it was 80 degrees today...)

I made four of these little wreaths in about five minutes.. instant christmas decorations.

You'll need:

a large embroidery hoop (or just about anything circular; foam wreath, cardboard cut to size.. ect.
1 strand of tinsel garland


Well.. its pretty self explanatory, you wrap the tinsel around and around and around.. occasionally sliding it one way or the other to fill in empty spots, keep wrapping until you meet your starting point. secure with a piece of tape. And hang!



tinsel wreath
tinsel wreath
tinsel wreath
tinsel wreath
tinsel wreath
tinsel wreath

tinsel wreath
(great minds think alike. Tinsel garland wreath tutorial also seen here)

Monday, November 29, 2010

caramel apples (and raspberries)

caramel apples
Well.. I made these a month ago and then the pictures got lost into the unorganized mess that is my pictures folder. But since caramel apples are one of my favorite things in the world, I thought it was still worth a share. Roll them in crushed peppermint and its perfectly festive for christmas.

caramel applescaramel apples

Caramel apples
makes 4

1 cups granulated sugar
1 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


In a heavy sauce pan over medium heat combine sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. This will take some time.

Once the mixture boils add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream in a slow trickle so that you do not cool your caramel mixture and it continues to boil uninterrupted.

Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to boil for 5-6 minutes without stirring.


Add butter one tablespoon at a time, stirring after each melts. Clip on your candy thermometer and allow to boil over medium-low heat until the mixture just hits 250°F (Firm Ball stage) stirring occasionally. This should take about 30-40 minutes, if your temperature is climbing too quickly you might need to reduce heat all the way to low. By the same token, if you're not hitting 250°F by 40 minutes you might want to increase the heat a bit.

While waiting, clean apples and insert sticks.

Once you've hit the right temperature, quickly remove from heat. Stir in the teaspoon of vanilla and dip the apples into the caramel. Place on parchment paper to cool.

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I got a little carried away and started dunking raspberries in the left over caramel. It was out of this world good! I strongly recommend.
caramel raspberries
caramel apples
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