Dreams of Dance

February Bead Journal Project

2011-03-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not February anymore, but I did finally finish my Bead Journal Piece for February, and I *might* have enough time to get March's completed by the end of the month now that I am finished with the package I have been working on since we got back. :)

Here is the February Bead Journal Project Piece:

This is supposed to be a protea flower. The King Protea is South Africa's national flower, but we didn't get to see any king proteas in bloom while we were there - too late in the season. But we did see a few other protea flowers, mostly pink and orange ones. They grow on very very large bushes, and they were all over Table Mountain in Cape Town and at the Cape of Good Hope nature reserve. It ended up being a lot harder to bead than I imagined (harder than last month's penguins, for sure!).

Here is the original sketch that I made, you can see the finished flower didn't come out quite as I had envisioned it. I hope it actually looks like a protea!

Project Notes:
Size 11 delica seed beads in opaque pearl butterscotch yellow, pastel pink, pink, hot pink, watermelon, limeaid, lime green, aloe green, and forest green
3mm swarovski crystals, XILION Bicone Palace Green Opal
4mm swarovski crystals, XILION Bicone Light Emerald
5mm swarovski crystals, XILION Bicone Fern Green
leftover quilter's cotton
size D Nymo thread with size 10 beading needles
backing: dark green ultrasuede

Eventually I am going to attach a pin back to this, but I didn't have a good-quality pin back on hand and wanted to finish this before too much later in March! I think I am going to give it to my mom, as she has a collection of pins (mostly antiques, but not all) and she loves protea.

I do have the beads for March's project as well as the sketches completed, so I will get straight to work! Hard to believe that in another week it will be time to order the beads for April! :D

Trip Tank

2011-03-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

When we went on our trip, I of course had to take a knitting project along! Not only were we going to be spending hours on planes, and in airports, we were also going to be driving. I don't really do much knitting just to sit and knit, I have to be watching something on TV/DVD, listening (to a podcast, music, radio, anything!), or stuck somewhere with nothing else to do (riding in the car, sitting at the doctor's office, waiting in line...).

I actually bought a project and yarn specifically for the trip, because I wanted something that would take me several hours to knit but not take up a lot of space *or* take too much concentration (so lace was out). I thought about taking the final sleeve for the project that I wanted to wear on the trip but didn't get finished, but decided against it *just* in case something might happen to it - heck, I've spent so much time on the rest of it I don't want to ruin the whole project because I don't have backup yarn to knit the other sleeve! And I *do* still really want to finish it and be able to wear it...

I have been oogling Army Of Knitters' patterns for a while now, so I decided to buy the pattern for Erquy. I ordered yarn - a bamboo-cotton blend - from Elann. I did get most of the knitting done on the trip, but I didn't quite get it finished. I was really glad to have it along, though.

Back view:

I'll either end up wearing this over a white cami or my swimsuit, but alas, not for months and months as the weather here is still dreadful...

You can see the rest of my notes on Ravelry.

January Bead Journal Project

2011-02-08T20:23:00.001-08:00

My first Bead Journal Project for 2011 is finished! :D It's a little bit late, but then I was away for three weeks and it took me a week to catch up, and I still had to decide on my size and shape for this year and only then did I realize I needed to order beads too! Yikes!

Without further ado, here is the finished January Bead Journal Project piece:

Penguins! African Penguins, to be exact. These were sketched from pictures taken at Boulder's Beach. I love penguins, and the African penguin is really cute. They make funny sounds, sometimes it sounds like they are really making music! The penguins are just as cute in the wild as they are at the zoo...even cuter! I really love penguins, so seeing them in the wild at Boulder's Beach was amazing. :D

Here it is with the inspiration/project sketch page:

Project Notes:
Size 11 and 15 Delica seed beads in opaque black, white, blue grey, transparent matte teal green, ceylon beige, and lined light aqua
leftover quilter's cotton
size D Nymo thread with size 10 beading needles
backing: blue costume suede

I'm really pleased with the way this turned out, as I wasn't really sure how to finish the piece and couldn't find any resources that were very helpful. Eventually I just ended up slip stitching it to some blue costume suede stuff I had lying around, and then stuck a picot edge around it.

One of the reasons I chose the oval format was because I figured it would be very versatile, and for the penguins I decided to go with a bracelet finish. And of course I didn't think to take a picture of the bracelet on my arm. I will have to do that and create a photo collage, which was my initial plan...and then I decided that was taking too long so I'd better just put something up!

I'm hoping I can get February's finished before too far into March - I actually had January's finished a full week ago, but it took me a week to take and edit pictures and get this post up - I know, I'm such a slacker - and while I did get February's sketches finished and prepared the fabric, I haven't actually started beading yet as I have desperately been trying to finish up items for a package (still not done - this package is consuming my life!). And now wouldn't you know I need to order the beads for March! Maybe I can get February finished before the beads get here. :)

I'd love to hear your feedback, this is my first bead embroidery piece and while I think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt I would love any suggestions you might have!

Christmas Poinsettia

2011-02-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

So for Christmas this year I really wanted to make "package ties" to dress up the presents for all of my aunts and uncles. So I decided to make poinsettia tsumami kanzashi pins. These took FOREVER, but I am really please with how well they turned out. I made 10 - and I didn't make one for myself. I have extra fabric but I don't have any more crystals, and poinsettias aren't really my thing anyways.

Each flower required six green petals, six large red petals, and six small red petals. I also used six flat-back swarovski crystals, 3 of 4.6-4.8mm light topaz and 3 of 3.8-4.0mm light topaz. The six small red petals were folded more complexly than the bottom petals; all 18 petals were cut in 2" squares from silkessence - the green fabric was textured but the red fabric was smooth.

BJP Plans...I'm baaaaaaaaaack :D

2011-01-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

Three weeks away...it's hard to come back from nice warm sun and beaches to cold and snow.

I've finally decided on my Bead Journal Project's form for 2011. Each of my pieces will be an 1.5 x 4" oval, which I am going to finish by turning into either a bracelet or a hair clip, depending on the month and what I feel like doing.

I have also decided on my theme for January, although I am very behind (almost a full month!) and I have to order a few beads, so I might go ahead and plan for February at the same time.

But for a plan...

2010-12-19T21:05:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to come up with a plan for my Bead Journal Project for next year (which isn't so very far away!).

Right now I am thinking either of 1" hexagons (I would link 6 into a bracelet, 2 for earrings, and the the last 4 as a necklace center) or a 1" x 3" oval (as either a bracelet or hair clip, depending on the month).

I've also considered themes, but I think the problem is that I have too many good ideas for themes. Ie: video games, fairy tales, sea life, Africa, flowers, ...

So I'm not sure if I will do a theme at all or if I will just do whatever I feel like on a month-by-month basis. Although I do have to admit, it would be super fun to end up with a whole collection based on a theme at the end of the year!

Lost my marbles...er...beads

2010-12-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

Last year in January I stumbled upon Robin Atkins' blog, Beadlust. I was somewhat familiar with Robin Atkins from articles and projects in various bead magazines that I own (it's no small number...). From her blog, I learned about the Bead Journal Project that she had started, but alas! I was too late to join in for 2010. So I kept it in the back of my mind all year, thinking that I wanted to sign up for 2011.

Well, I did!

Which is compeltely crazy, because I know I am going to start the year off behind. Also, the only bead embroidery I have done is on a piece that was mainly regular embroidery, but which I thought could benefit from the addition of beads. Although I have pleanty of experience with other types of beadwork.

I have yet to decide on the size and shape of my bead journal pages...I want something small enough that I will be able to complete the challenge, but I also want it to be useable. So, I need to be able to turn it into jewelry or hair accessories. Or maybe patches. I don't really wear pins, so that is out.

I am kind of debating between doing a hexagon-shape and an oval-shape. And I'm contemplating what kind of a theme I want to use. I know I want to push myself to do more design, as that is one of the things that I have really missed since silver jewelry, but I'm not sure whether to focus on color (or, the use of color - push myself to use colors I don't normally use, like pink) or on a theme (like nature? adventure?). Whatever it is, it needs to be broad enough that I won't get bored.

I'll definitely update once I get the details figured out. I'm really excited for this project...even if it is a little crazy to add more things to my already full schedule!

So, what shape do you think I should do? And what kind of theme? I'd love to hear your ideas! :D

Blog Re-do

2010-12-01T19:54:00.000-08:00

So, I have decided that I am not a very good blogger. In an attempt to improve, I am officially re-starting! But this time, I have a plan! Well, sort of...

This is what I have planned for the immediate future:
Projects for next year (yes, already thinking about 2011...yikes!)
A recap of projects from this year (most of which I was too lazy/busy to post...sigh. Like I said, start-over!)
Favorite bloggy links! =)
A new layout (maybe)
And my Christmas gifts, which I made, but which I won't post until after Christmas, just in case (I don't think anyone would be likely to find this, but you never know!)

We will see where this goes from there.

I am going to "limit" this blog to creative endeavors of all kinds - knitting, sewing, beading, making, cooking, and all sorts of fun things like that. :)

Now I am off to finish Christmas cards and do some stitching...

Oh fall...

2010-09-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

I really am not a huge fan of fall. Or winter, either, come to think of it. But, for some reason, fall is the worst. Maybe because summer is so warm and then fall feels so much colder. And also the days get shorter and darker. Not to even mention the allergies from ragweed and all those moldy leaves....yep, fall is not my favorite.

It doesn't help that I am always cold, even during the summer (well, not when I am outside, which is rare - stupid allergies - but even when I am inside, especially at the office).

So I thought it would be a good idea to make myself a list of all the things I have to look forward to doing (and getting done) this fall!

Doing:
Open Water Certification Dives for SCUBA =D
Boston trip
Halloween decorating!
Preparring for large January trip

Getting done:
Travel accessories for South Africa
Dress to wear in South Africa
Swimsuit to wear on vacation (maybe)
Kanzashi Christmas presents
More Christmas stuff
Baby presents for people
Soup Weather! :D
Sweaters! Not like I ever get any knitting finished, *grumbles*, but still...

Hm...I am sure there are other things. I'm too tired and can't think right now. Good time to order beads. Hmm...maybe not.

Knitting Meme and Updates

2010-04-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

So, recently I have been in finish-whatever-stuff-I-have-lying-around-the-house-unfinished (which is, admittedly, a lot), plus I ended up making a peeps banner for Easter (so cute). So here is what I have finished:

• Perler bead lemmings (for my cube)
• Polymer clay lemmings (also for my cube)
• Peeps banner (to hang around my shelf, with Peeps plushies) for Easter

And here is what I still have to finish:

• Super Mario World magnets (for my cube)
• Ma's shawl
• Narwhal Plushies
• Catan dice box

But in the meantime, since I haven't done any knitting in a while (makes me so sad :( I tried casting on for fingerless gloves for my Ravelympics project, but the pattern ended up being way too big, even with smaller needles, so I had to frog =( ), I found this meme and felt like doing it. ^^

Instructions: Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

•Afghan (on my bed atm...largest needles I have ever used)
•I-cord (strawberry tops)
•Garter stitch
•Knitting with metal wire
•Shawl (my first "big" project was my wedding shawl)
•Stockinette stitch
•Socks: top-down
•Socks: toe-up (I cast on once but got bored...should try again though!)
•Knitting with camel yarn (camel...ew?)
•Mittens: Cuff-up (I don't like mittens)
•Mittens: Tip-down
•Hat (one of my first projects was a red hat with grey snowflakes that I charted)
•Knitting with silk (not finished yet...sigh)
•Moebius band knitting
•Participating in a KAL (Yay! SKC and LNL! And a shawl KAL!)
•Sweater (first sweater was okay, my riding cardi is great, Syd's sweater is almost 2/3 done)
•Drop stitch patterns
•Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn (first sweater)
•Slip stitch patterns
•Knitting with banana fiber yarn (bananas are yummy)
•Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
•Twisted stitch patterns
•Knitting with bamboo yarn (I love bamboo yarn!!!! Like silk, but...affordable!)
•Two end knitting
•Charity knitting
•Knitting with soy yarn
•Cardigan (NOT a cardi person but I want a "jacket" to wear at work so I have yarn for one...)
•Toy/doll clothing (Little Mermaid doll with clothes almost finished, plus a bunch of baby toys for friends kids)
•Knitting with circular needles (Circular needles == love for shawls!)
•Baby items (does a giraffe toy count? :P)
•Knitting with your own handspun yarn
•Slippers
•Graffitti knitting: knitting items on, or to be left on the street
•Continental knitting
•Designing knitted garments
•Cable stitch patterns (first sweater and gloves)
•Lace patterns (love!)
•Publishing a knitting book
•Scarf (three scarves so far but I'm kind of burnt out)
•Teaching a child to knit
•Knitting to make money
•Button holes
•Knitting with alpaca (mmmmmmmmsoft)
•Fair Isle knitting sometime =)
•Norwegian knitting
•Household items: dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies… (dishcloths were my first project, and I made one lace doily)
•knitting socks- or other small tubular items- on two circulars
•Dying with plant colours
•Knitting items for a wedding (for MY wedding!)
•Olympic knitting
•Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
•Knitting with dpns (nothing to be afraid of)
•Holiday related knitting
•Teaching a male how to knit
•Bobbles
•Knitting for a living
•Knitting with cotton (first fiber I knitted with)
•Knitting smocking
•Dying yarn (little purse and purple gloves)
•Steeks (scary!)
•Knitting art
•Fulling/felting
•Knitting with wool
•Textured knitting
•Kitchener BO
•Purses/bags (little tiny beaded purse)
•Knitting with beads (fun!)
•Swatching (generally useless?)
•Long Tail CO
•Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards (I hate entrelac)
•Machine knitting
•Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
•Stuffed toys (yay for elephants giraffes and fish)
•Knitting with cashmere (If I could afford it)
•Darning
•Jewelry knitting with synthetic yarn
•Writing a pattern
•Gloves
•Intarsia
•Knitting with linen
•Knitting for preemies
•Tubular CO
•Freeform knitting
•Short rows
•Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
•Pillows
•Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
•Rug
•Knitting on a loom
•Thrummed knitting
•Knitting a gift
•Knitting for pets (um, no.)
•Shrug/bolero/poncho
•Knitting with dog/cat hair (Um. EW!!!!)
•Hair accessories
•Knitting in public (at a bowling alley :P among other places)

Well, that was fun. Now I want to knit, but it is late and I am tired.

Saucy Satay

2010-01-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

Forgive the stupid title. -_-

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

I am not a big fan of pork. I will eat it, on occasion (read: when the only other choice is chicken). However, I resolved to try it again after seeing a yummy-looking recipe in the December issue of Cooking Light magazine. And, happily enough, this months' Daring Cooks challenge also contains pork, since pork chops seem to come in packs of four, and there are only two of us.

Raw pork with marinade...yeah I didn't take any pics of the marinade by itsef :(

Mixing the marinade wasn't bad, and happily enough I had all of the spices required on hand (shocking, I know).

I have been using my iron skillet to cook all of my meat recently, and I love it. It tastes better this way.

While I was waiting for the pork to marinade, I went ahead and mixed up a recipe of sweet and sour dipping sauce (see: Daring Cook's June Challenge(Dumplings) for the recipe), because that is my husband's favorite. I was going to make a black pepper dipping sauce and the peanut dipping sauce, as well, but I didn't have all of the ingredients for either of those, so I decided just to stick with the one. Which I also didn't take pictures of. Gah. -_-

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

I ended up cooking it for a little bit longer than the recipe recommended because they were still pink inside. :( I "pan fried" them because it is winter and charcoal grills don't work very well when it is cold outside! They still turned out really well.

They're making me hungry!

Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce
My notes in italics

Satay Marinade Ingredients
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed I substituted 2 tsp minced garlic
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed) I subsituted 1 tsp ground ginger
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls) I used olive oil
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)

Directions
1)I prefer to chop my onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.
2) Cut pork into 1 inch strips.
3) Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.

Cooking Directions (continued):
4) If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak your skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers. I couldn't find my skewers until after the meat was cooked...anyways, I don't know how to pan-fry meat on a stick!
5) Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.
6) Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes. I ended up cooking them longer because they weren't done after 20 minutes.

And this is the Peanut Sauce Recipe I didn't end up using:
Peanut Sauce
3/4 cup coconut milk (6 oz or 180 mls)
4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

1) Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
2) Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.
3) All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.

Conclusion
This is something I might actually make again, with more dipping sauce choices. And possibly different marinades, as well. I thought the pork was good even without the sweet and sour sauce. My husband liked them too (but he likes all meat so that isn't terribly surprising!)

New Year, New Goals

2009-12-28T18:46:00.000-08:00

So I thought this year I would do New Year's goals. I had something really clever to say here, but it seems to have escaped me (temporarily).

2009 was pretty good - both love and I got jobs. And we moved from the "student apartment" into a much much much MUCH better apartment. And we are saving and planning on a trip to South Africa or New Zealand sometime in the next year. And oh! We started exercising in May and haven't stopped yet, so that is a pretty nice achievement too. :)

One other side note - I got a new camera for Christmas!!! YAY!! We still want a DSLR but those are expensive so in the meantime Fishy got me a nice camera to replace the one that died. ^_^

Joint Goals:
1) Cook 1 meal/food item a month, translating the recipe to Afrikaans and speaking Afrikaans while cooking
2) Cook 1 male/food item every two months from a different country. Make them gluten-free.
3) Program together on a project for at least one hour a week (or do screencasts/tutorials/etc)
4) Yay, exercise!
5) 4 MAKE/Instructables/similar projects in the year
6) Arts!
7) Go places! Do things! Have fun!

Solo Goals:
1) Knitting. Lots of knitting.
2) Finish butterfly needlepoint already!
3) Make 1 card a month (or more)
4) Make 1 iris pattern for Mom per month (or more)
5) Daring Cooks/Daring Bakers
6) Make 1 new craft a month
7) Sewing! - soft circuits, dance costume, halloween costume, and random stuff!
8)
9)
10)

Yes, I know the last three are blank...but, I think that every year that New Year's resolutions should total 10 (aside from the fact that it is especially fitting this year, with it being 2010 and all :P), but I am not sure what the last three will be. Yet. =) Most of my longer-term goals are already listed in the 101 in 1001 post. So when I think of something else, I will add!

Happy New Year, world!

Sooooooooooooup

2009-10-21T14:14:00.001-07:00

lol, "Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusan"

Yeah I watch too many kids movies. XD

Without Further Ado...

The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

The challenge was Vietnamese Pho, and also Chocolate Wontons. I didn't want to make my own wonton wrappers for the dumplings (I can't eat normal wrappers :P) so I didn't do the dessert dumplings. Maybe the next time I make Chinese dumplings from scratch I will save some of the dough and try them, though...they did look yummy!

There were three variations of the soup: chicken, beef, or vegetarian. I went with the standard chicken, but I only used chicken broth and didn't add any chicken breast. Is it weird that I like chicken broth but hate chicken?

Unfortunately, I didn't end up with any pictures becauuuuuuuse....my camera is broken! D: It actually broke for real when I tried to take pictures for this challenge. And I want a really really good camera (read: Digital SLR) so I don't want to spend $100+ on a camera temporarily..but I might anyways because I don't know when I will actually be able to bring myself to spend $1000+. :\ Why does my stuff have to break? There is so much stuff I want/need and nearly all of it is over $1000!!!! But before I spend that much I need to save...enough to go to SA ($7000+) and enough to have a happy buffer (not sure how much that is...hm...) just in case.

Okay, moving on to the soup. I actually didn't modify the recipe much, aside from not putting in chicken breast.

Ingredients - Vietnamese Pho:
As usual, comments will appear in italics

For the Chicken Pho Broth:
2 tbsp. whole coriander seeds Biltong spice!
4 whole cloves
2 whole star anise
2 quarts (2 liters/8 cups/64 fluid ounces) store-bought or homemade chicken stock
~~1 whole chicken breast (bone in or boneless)~~Ew, chicken >.<
½ onion
1 3-inch (7.5 cm) chunk of ginger, sliced and smashed with side of knife
1 to 2 tbsps. sugar
1 to 2 tbsps. fish sauce

1 lb. (500 grams/16 ounces) dried rice noodles (about ¼ inch/6 mm wide)

Accompaniments:

2 cups (200 grams/7 ounces) bean sprouts, washed and tails pinched off
Fresh cilantro (coriander) tops (leaves and tender stems)
½ cup (50 grams/approx. 2 ounces) shaved red onions
½ lime, cut into 4 wedges
Sriracha chili sauce
Hoisin sauce
Sliced fresh chili peppers of your choice

Directions:

1.To make the Chicken Pho Broth: heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the coriander seeds, cloves and star anise and toast until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Immediately spoon out the spices to avoid burning.
2.In a large pot, add all the ingredients (including the toasted spices) and bring to a boil.
3.Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes, skimming the surface frequently.
4.Use tongs to remove the chicken breasts and shred the meat with your fingers, discarding the bone if you have used bone-in breasts.
5.Taste the broth and add more fish sauce or sugar, if needed. Strain the broth and discard the solids.
6.Prepare the noodles as per directions on the package.
7.Ladle the broth into bowls. Then divide the shredded chicken breast and the soft noodles evenly into each bowl.
8.Have the accompaniments spread out on the table. Each person can customize their own bowl with these ingredients.

Conclusion:
The end result was very good. I might make slight changes if I make it again, but it reminded me a lot of Thai food, actually. I've never had Vietnamese food before, so this was a fun challenge, and making the soup itself wasn't too difficult, or time consuming, which was nice. :) Since I have a job now and all!

puff

2009-09-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

Trying to come up with witty titles for this post...all I'm getting is stuff like "puff the magic dragon" or "huff and puff and bloooooooow your house down"...so...yeah. -_-

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

For those wondering, vols-au-vent translates loosely to "flys/flying in the wind". Which makes me think of wind kisses, which I now want to make, but I digress.

I only made a "normal" version of puff pastry. I am trying to lose weight and become more fit in general so I am trying to eat more healthily, and I am pretty sure that puff pastry falls under the category of "bad food". >.<

I have made puff pastry before, when I made croissants for French class in high school (it was "market day" :P and I was the only person who actually baked...but that is not unusual), so making the puff pastry wasn't terribly difficult. It was, however, rather time consuming.

Oh, and my lovely camera is kinda broke again (well, it breaks off-and-on so sometimes I can get one or two pictures, sometimes I can't get any...very annoying, I think I need to invest in a new one) so I don't have many pictures, and I don't know how good the pictures are because I was trying to take them before the camera died again, lol. Not conducive to artistic photography...not that I am ever very good at that. :\

I only made five vol-au-vent shells, and am saving (and freezing) the rest of the puff pastry to make pie shells for my husband...he really wants a pie with meat and vegetable stew in it. *shrug* And depending on how much dough I have left after that, I might make either croissants or general puffs to fill with custard or whatever...

I filled one of the vol-au-vent shells with strawberries and whipped cream, and the other four with tuna salad (Syd's request) for lunch today.

I don't really have a lot of comments on this challenge, it was fairly straight-forward. Beating butter with a rolling pin is kind of fun. ^_^

Without furthur ado, here is the recipe:
Vols-au-Vent
As usual, annotations, if any, are in italics

Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent
Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe below will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4” vols-au-vent

In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:
-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice I used strawberries and whipped cream, and tuna salad

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside. Yay, I don't have to ruin my new tray! I <3 parchment paper!

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.

(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile. The caps are so cute!

Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise).This is difficult If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place ~~a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or~~ another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the ~~silicon mat or~~ parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. I did poke the centers down, once in the oven and once after they were completely done. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.

Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight. I only did one layer...

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough
From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough I only made a half recipe, because I didn't have that much all-purpose flour...and because Syd is the only one who can eat the dough, so I will have to make my own for the meat pies

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

~~Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.~~ I do not have a food processor, I mixed by hand. It was fine, if a bit cold from the ice water!

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. This was fun! Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles which I don't have, so I used a normal rolling pin...it was fine), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength! I did not have any problems with this being difficult to do, although I have been weight lifting, my arms have always been weak. Trying to change that, though. Maybe it is working? ).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Final Conclusion:
Well, Syd really liked the puff pastry, he thought that turned out really well. I thought it looked like it turned out well, but I obviously can't actually try it. *shrug*

I think these would be good with chocolate or pumpkin mousse. But I still can't eat them so...whatever.

The fatest cake you will ever eat?

2009-08-28T04:48:00.001-07:00

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

Since there was no way Syd and I were eating this on our own (and I don't even think I want to make a gf-version for me...but we will see), I decided to make a half recipe, even though we are maybe going to share this with a couple of friends for a (belated) birthday. Although birthday girl's husband is kind of being a jerk at the moment, so...maybe not. He is not deserving of cake. He is more deserving of a good punch in the nose. :3

I haven't changed this recipe much (shocking!). The cake layers themselves aren't terribly fattening, it is mostly the buttercream frosting that does it. :P Although there is rather a lot of sugar as well.

So, a Dobos Torte is a tart/cake/torte that originated in Hungary. It consists of three essential parts:
multiple layers (5 here, but can be more) of sponge cake,
Sponge cake layers

(dark) chocolate buttercream icing,
Chocolate buttercream

and caramel wedges on top.
Caramel covered sponge cake wedges

I beat the eggs for the recommended amount of time, and they seemed to come out better than some of the other eggs that I have beaten previously.
Egg whites and yolks mixed, before adding the flour

I kind of estimated the amount of batter to use for each layer, so I hope my layers are thick enough. They didn't burn or anything, and they look good. They also smell good. Too bad I can't eat them. :(
Batter spread in circles...it was hard to get an even thickness

I grated my chocolate instead of chopped it. I used half a baker's chocolate bar leftover from making ystervarkkies.
Finely ground chocolate, castor sugar all measured out

I think I may have over cooked the carmel juuuuuuuuust a bit, ooops. I was doing laundry. ^^' I should not mutlitask while daring kitchening!

Icing the cake was the fun part!
You can see the layers!

And the finished cake! It was kind of hard to get the wedges to stand up and look nice without nuts underneath propping them up. Oh well, I still think the final effect is nice.
It looks good enough to eat! ^_^ ...I hope

I'll post pics of the insides of the cake once I see them. :P

Here is the Recipe: My notes are in italics

Dobos Torte

Equipment

•2 baking sheets I did this with only one..
•9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates I made a template out of paper myself, and traced it onto the parchment paper and waxed paper...
•mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
•a sieve
•a double boiler
•a small saucepan
•a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
•metal offset spatula
•sharp knife
•a 7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a sprinfrom tin. Making my own
•piping bag and tip, optional

Prep times

•Sponge layers 20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
•Buttercream: 20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
•Caramel layer: 10-15 minutes.
•Assembly of whole cake: 20 minutes

Sponge cake layers
I made half a recipe..
•6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
•1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided
•1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
•1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
•pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream
also half a recipe
•4 large eggs, at room temperature
•1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
•4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
•2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Caramel topping
Halved this one as well...are we seeing a pattern here? :P

•1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar I found this as Superfine Baker's Sugar
•12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
•8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
•1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Finishing touches

•a 7” cardboard round Making this myself, couldn't find a 4" round :P
~~•12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted~~No nuts in my house!!!
~~•½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts~~No nuts

Directions for the sponge layers:

NB. The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).

2.Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter.)

3.Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.)

4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.

5.Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.

2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.

3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.

4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Directions for the caramel topping:
1.Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.

2.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.

3.The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Assembling the Dobos

1.Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.

2.Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.

~~3.Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.~~

4.~~Propping a hazelnut under each~~ wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.

End Notes:
While a bit time consuming, this wasn't terribly difficult, but it looks impressive. I have no idea how it tastes, however!

I will add a review here once we have had the cake with the birthday girl and people...either tonight or tomorrow night. Yep.

That was fun! ^_^

I really need to be better at updating ._.

2009-08-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

I updated my 101 in 1001 list, finally. I had been slacking in updating (and in posting about what I have done, as well!).

We took my Dad up to the Neil Armstrong Museum for his birthday, one of the places on our list, so I can check off one of the "visit 10 places in Ohio"...next stop: who knows? Maybe someplace over labor day weekend.

Also, I am in the process of looking for a job, but I was not anticipating the economy being this bad, and have only even managed to get one interview (yes, ONE interview in almost 9 months!!! T_T) so that is a bit out of my control. :( The "get a credit card" is also out of my control, because neither of us have credit history and so we CAN'T get a credit card and we don't really feel like freezing $5000 for a year. Argh. Maybe if I can find a job.

But we did finally start working on our Budget App, using MVC (which is cool) and NHibernate (which is cool but NHibernateRepository is causing problems, which is not cool).

I have also been studying for the MCTS, and am currently through chapter 11 so I should be taking the test by the end of next month, then I can go on to study the services book and the web app book as well. Then I can be a MCP too! ^_^

I have also been crafting a lot lately, making cool stuff for Syd's cube and for our new apartment which is love. <3 I recently made fish decals for the bathroom, and they are awesome. I am dying to do the study but I am going to have to order stuff from Amazon first. White walls get kinda boring after a while, and we don't even have any art or photos up yet (and last week I broke the only photo frame we had out! D:). Also I am knitting on a hoodie (Riding to Avalon by Connie Chang Chinchio, from Interweave's KnitScene, Fall 2008) for the SKC KAL...I really wanted to knit the Apres Surf Hoodie (same designer) but Elann.com is all out of the yarn I wanted to use in the color...and the original yarn is discontinued and I can't find the color I want in a yarn that I want (I don't want an all or mostly wool yarn because I do not want the Apres Surf Hoodie to be too hot).

There are so many things that I want to do but I just end up either not having the time to do or not having the money to do. It is kind of frustrating, actually. This mostly includes electronic projects from Make, Instructibles, and Switch Craft, but also includes anything that requires a sewing machine or button machine. :P

Yeah so I should stop wasting time and finish coloring in my shrinky dinks. Yep.

Coming later this week: Daring Baker's August Challenge! Which has yet to be baked! ^^'

More seafood!

2009-08-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well, I certainly seem to be on a seafood kick recently! Between pan-frying cornbread battered fish, making fish and spinach quesadillas, and the last daring cook's challenge of Skate with Traditional Flavors Powdered, I think I have eaten more seafood in the last two months than...well...in the entire rest of my life combined! o.0

Not that that is a bad thing. I really like seafood. :)

So this months daring cooks challenge is ALSO seafood. This time, cuttlefish (and once again, a kind of fish that is not easily accessible in the middle of the midwest)!

This month's daring cooks challenge was hosted by Olga of Las Cosas de Olga and Olga's Kitchen. She chose a Spanish dish called Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, a well-known Spanish cook.

Here's all of the ingredients..

So first I started the sofregit cooking. That wasn't too hard, just a couple of tomatoes (chopped), and onion (chopped), some garlic (chopped), bay leaves, and spices.

Tomatoes and spices and onions oh yum!

While that was cooking away (and smelling mighty good!), I learned how to cut artichokes. I don't think I have ever EATEN artichoke before, much less cooked with it. So, that was definitely an experience.

Interesting...

I need a better knife. And now I need to clean my kitchen, and I just cleaned today! D:

And then I de-stemmed and gilled the portobello mushrooms. I have never done that before either, but it was kind of fun. Mushroom gills are soft. ^_^

Mushrooms!

Anyways, so then I took out the shrimp and ran half of it under cold water to thaw, removed the sofregit from the stove, and heated up olive oil and started cooking the shrimp.

And it was at this point that...my digital camera died. T_T Noooooooooooooo....So, sorry, no pictures of the finished dish. ^^'

Once the shrimp had been sitting in the oil for a bit, I threw in the mushrooms and artichoke hearts, and a couple of bay leaves, and sauteed that for a while.

Then, I added white wine, mixed that up for a bit, and then added the entire amount of sofregit. I didn't make a terribly large amount, to begin with...

After letting that sit for a bit, I added the water and brought that to a boil. Once it was really boiling, I added the rice, and boiled that for five minutes.

I substituted tumeric for saffron. I could actually find saffron, but I wasn't going to spend $16 on it, and I already had tumeric.

Then the rice boiled for another 8 minutes and sat until we decided to eat.

Rice and shrimp!

I was going to make some delicious Spanish dessert to go with this, but I either didn't have the ingredients for things or my husband wasn't hungry for them. And I didn't really want to run to the store, so...no dessert. I'll have to make dessert another night. :P (I was debating between arroz con leche, which Syd doesn't really like but I do, churros, flan, and custard...sigh...but my milk went bad!)

Anyways, here is the official recipe, with my changes in italics.

Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokesExcept I used shrimp instead
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4):
As I was serving only 2, I made a half recipe, but it still served more than two :P
•4 Artichokes (you can use jarred or freezed if fresh are not available)
•12 Mushrooms (button or Portobello)
•1 or 2 Bay leaves (optional but highly recommended)
•1 glass of white wine
•2 Cuttlefish (you can use freezed cuttlefish or squid if you don’t find it fresh)or shrimp...seafood is hard to find in the midwest, and cuttlefish are too cute to eat anyways!
•“Sofregit” (see recipe below)
•300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain. This kind of rice absorbs flavor very well) – about 75 gr per person ( ½ cup per person) Please read this for more info on suitable rices.I used sushi rice because that was the only short-grained rice I could find
•Water or Fish Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
•Saffron threads (if you can’t find it or afford to buy it, you can substitute it for turmeric or yellow coloring powder) I tok the tumeric option, saffron is too expensive
•Allioli (olive oil and garlic sauce, similar to mayonnaise sauce) - optionalOptional, so I didn't make this, I don't have a mortar and pestle...gosh, some people have everything!

Directions:

1.Cut the cuttlefish in little strips. Thaw the shrimp
2.Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the ~~cuttlefish~~shrimp in the pan.
3.If you use fresh artichokes, clean them as shown in the video in tip #7. Cut artichokes in eights.
4.Clean the mushrooms and cut them in fourths.
5.Add a bay leaf to the ~~cuttlefish~~shrimp and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms.
6.Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes.
7.Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
8.Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit or the whole batch of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit.
9.Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
10.Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
11.Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
12.Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
13.Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.

Sofregit (a well cooked and fragrant sauce made of olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and onions, and may at times different vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms)

I also made a half-recipe of this

Cooking time: aprox. 1 hour
Ingredients:

•2 tablespoons of olive oil
•5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
•2 small onions, chopped
•~~1 green pepper, chopped (optional)~~
•4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
•~~1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)~~
•1 Bay leaf
•Salt
•Touch of ground cumin
•Touch of dried oregano

Directions:

1.Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
2.Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)

Because I did not make the optional part of this recipe, the Allioli, I am not including the recipes for that here.

Final Verdict
I have decided that I don't really like artichokes, and they taste kind of like cooked broccoli. Ew.

However, overall this dish was very good. I think it might have been better if I had been able to use fish stock, but I definitely liked it with the shrimp.

Syd thought it was good, too. =)

Geek Crafts

2009-08-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

I am jobless. Still. So, being bored, I have started crafting things for my nice new apartment. I haven't gotten very far yet, but I am working on it and I have a few things "in the works" that I will share once they are finished.

Anyways, Syd wanted Mario magnets for his cube (after I made him tetris magnets), so he can "play" Mario during work. I looked into various options, but he wanted them small (so I couldn't needle point them on plastic canvas as I did the tetris magnets, and he thought the perler bead option would be too big as well, plus we don't have an iron anyways...need one, though) so I ended up making them out of shrinky dinks. And it took FOREVER. Even though they are small, coloring all of those pixles is kind of annoying. Cutting out the pixel edges is even worse. And then it took forever to find magnets that would fit on the back of the shrinky dinks and yet not be too strong that they would stick to the fridge rather than to the shrinky dinks (the shrinky dinks were not damaged, just the glue came off). But, anyways, here they are!

I am rather proud of this set.

I totally want to make another one just for me.

Except it took me oooooh two months to make them. I don't think you could pay me to make another set. Even if you paid me! Which you can't. Because Mario is Copyright Nintendo, of course. Although tons of people do. :\ Am I missing something, or what?

Although, now I kind of want to make a smaller set for myself. Just the power ups. Or maybe just mario and peach and the fish...or...argh. Now I want one too! :P I also am contemplating making earrings and/or a bracelet.

So that was for husband's work..."work" haha. >.>

Anyways, for our nice new apartment I made...coasters! And, not just any coasters, no. STARGATE coasters!

And that was before I knew Think Geek had official Stargate coasters. Sigh. When I have a job, I will happily spend all of my paycheck at think geek. They also have SGC shirts. Yes, I love Stargate. <3 I wish it was real. :(

Anyways, those are not all of the projects I have lined up but I am on a budget (no job *sniff*) and I am also trying to study for the MCTS and do all of the housework and laundry so Syd doesn't have to. <3

Cookies!

2009-07-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

July Daring Bakers Challenge - Mallows and/or Milan Cookies

This month's challenge, hosted by Nicole of Sweet Tooth, was mallows and/or milan cookies, both recipes by Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I chose to make the mallows, as I thought both Mom and Syd would enjoy them. So this months challenge is a lesson in...how to bake when you don't have stuff. :P

"Normal" butter and flour...

Butter and gf-flour

I made one recipe of "normal" shortbread cookies for Syd, and one recipe of gf-shortbread cookies for Mom and me. Well, that isn't technically true. I actually made half recipes of each, because the recipe said one batch makes about two dozen cookies. So I made a half batch, and ended up with....way more than two dozen cookies per batch. Three-dozen circular cookies, four dozen (or so) heart cookies, AND half a dozen fishy cookies. Granted, I did use the 1" circular cutter rather than the 1 1/2" cutter, as that is what I had (the recipe called for a 1" or 1 1/2" cutter, by the way). And since I don't actually have a mixer, I "sanded" the butter and flour by hand. Once per batch. Ow.

One batch of dough has been sanded...

The second batch, sanded!

Awww aren't they so cute and little?

Syd's cookies

My crumbly cookies

The gf-dough was a little bit crumbly, it wanted to crack and fall apart, but somehow I made it work, and the cookies turned out fine. Syd liked them, anyways...>.>

The marshmallow insides could be made from scratch or you could just use store-bought marshmallows. I decided to *try* to make my own. I have tried before, with Mom (to make marshmallow peeps :P) but have always failed. Marshmallows are evil.

Mmmmmmmmmmarshmaaaaaaaaaallows

But...I think these turned out okay. Which is surprising, because my old candy thermometer is messed up, and the new one didn't submerge all the way into the syrup. :(

And I used my little hand mixer for the marshmallows, I think it would have been easier with a large mixer. But they are so expensive. :\

Cookies ready for marshmallows

I piped the marshmallows on the cookies with my pastry tip (which I bought to make churros but still haven't made XD) and a plastic bag (no, I don't have pastry bags or decorating bags or anything...siiiiiiiiiigh)...unfortunately, by the time I was on my second tray of cookies the marshmallows had gotten hard and I had trouble piping them out. And then I got a phone call that I had to take (not taking phone calls is NOT an option when you are looking for a job!!!) so then the marshmallows were even more stiff. I tried to save them so I will have homemade marshmallows that are not on the cookies, but the marshmallow goo may have been too set up already. We'll see..

My cookies with marshmallows...

Syd's marshmallow cookies..you can see the marshmallow started to set up while I was piping so these don't look as nice as mine.

Yay chocolate! I had a whole bunch of chocolate glaze leftover, even after glazing the cookies that didn't get marshmallow put on them!

Cookie dripping with liquidy chocolate...

Of course, I did my cookies first to avoid contamination.

My cookies, dipped

Then, I did Syd's. :)

Syd's cookies, after dipping.

The recipe: With my notes/changes/etc in italics

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies if you say so...

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour For gluten-free, I subsituted all-purpose gf flour in the same amount, plus 3 tsp Xanthan Gum
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together If I made this again, I would add a little extra egg or water to the gf-recipe, it might help it stick together better
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients. or by hand..
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy. Still by hand...
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine. Whew!
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours. Don't let your masrshmallows get too stiff. I wasn't sure if mine were going to set up at all, but I ended up waiting too long and it was really hard to pipe out the second half..
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze. Don't leave them in too long or the marshmallow will melt!
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl. I used a chocolate fork, which is one thing I actually have. Well, kind of have. It's plastic, not metal :(
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping. But that is no fun!

Homemade marshmallows:I followed this pretty exactly
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.Don't recommend doing this with a hand mixer. It's not easy.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag. With a pretty tip!

Chocolate glaze:Yeah I didn't change this one either
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler Yay I have a double boiler! or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Final Comments:
I couldn't get the chocolate to set up, despite following the recipe. So I ended up putting the cookies in the freezer. Hey..whatever.

Syd really liked his cookies.

I thought they were icky. However, Mom liked my cookies (she also eat gf), so..maybe it was just me. I didn't like the buttery shortbread (plus gf dough has a weird grainy texture) with the combination of the sweet marshmallow and the chocolate. Ew.

But they were pretty.

Oooh, chocolatey oustide..

...marshmallowy cookie insides!

Illustration Friday, and stuff.

2009-07-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday! I actually did this week's promot! You can see it here. Not brilliant. Not even close to brilliant. But...better than nothing, and at least my people look relatively normal. Usually when I try to draw ballroom couples it just looks wrong. XD

Let's see...what else do I have to say?

I'm tired. I don't know what we are doing this weekend. I kind of don't want to do anything, because I'm tired of not feeling well. But I haven't felt well anyways the past three days so I don't know if it will make me feel that much worse.

Meh.

I really want to buy yarn and beads but I don't feel like I can afford it, so...I haven't. :(

Enough whining. I will go do something useful now. Meh.

Why do so many people hate seafood?

2009-07-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I don't get it. About 90% of people I know HATE seafood. Won't TOUCH seafood. And here is the really odd thing. I love fish...but I HATE chicken. HATE it. I won't eat chicken to save my life. "Everybody" loves chicken, a good portion of "everybody" hate seafood, and I am exactly the opposite. Funny. Luckily, Syd likes fish. We have been eating a lot of fish lately, actually...

...annnnnnnnnd July's Daring Cook's Challenge?
Skate, with Traditional Powdered Flavors

This month's challenge was hosted by Sketchy of Sketchy's Kitchen. The recipe is from Grant Achatz, found in the Alinea cookbook.

Shockingly enough, there was nothing in this recipe that I couldn't have! However, I won't eat skate on principle (too close to sharks for me. Poor little sharkies!). And I don't think you can buy it around here anyways, so I am substituting cod.

The finished meal :)

Anyyyyyyyyyyyway, on to the notes:

In-progress Comments

I made four different powders. And I think I changed every recipe that was given! Each powder was a 50/50 (approx.) combination of two ingredients. In no particular order, they are: lemon/powdered sugar, spinach/parmesean cheese, oregano/cilantro, and onion/paprika.

My Powders - Top Row, Left to Right: Lemon Powder, Spinach/Cheese powder. Bottom Row, Left to Right: Paprika/Onion powder, Cilantro/Parsely powder.

I got the idea for the onion/paprika powder from the Daring Cooks discussion boards, and I had a bunch of spinach on hand so I decided why not make a spinach powder, and looked up combinations online. The choice was between artichoke (didn't have), strawberry (a bit weird for me), and cheese, so I went with the cheese.

I actually didn't take a whole lot of pictures, oops. Partly because I wasn't sure how the powders were going to turn out, and partly I was just lazy. :P

I borrowed the coffee grinder from Mom, as I don't drink coffee and Syd doesn't drink enough to justify a grinder...and I got through making the first powder and realized that somehow I have lost my pastry brush (I *know* I had one!), *sigh*, so I had to go out and buy one. A cheap one. Moving is expensive. :'( Which partly explains some of the short cuts I took on this recipe.

Oh, I also completely skipped over the green beans. I had a, *ahem*, incident with Green Bean Almond Dean (luckily I was okay, almonds don't really seem to cause me problems like walnuts and pecans, but it scared me half to death) so now I am not eating green beans. Ever. Even if I cook them. Even if Mom cooks them. Even if I can guarantee they are 100% safe. They just don't look appetizing. So...yep.

And, finally, I thought the banana was weird so I made potato cakes with leftover mashed potatoes. Well, I tried, but I burned them so I ended up just making mashed potatoes. Sigh. And I forgot to buy banana chips (well, I am on a budget here :P) and I couldn't find cream powder and I didn't want to buy a whole big box of powdered milk that I will most likely never use again so I skipped that as well.

I decided to poach the fish in olive oil with herbs rather than in the beurre monte...it sounded better. I'm not a butter person. :P Also, I gave Syd three choices: the beurre monte, water & wine, or olive oil.

Olive oil, after the fish had been cooked (I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of the fish actually poaching o.0 Shame on me!), with rosemary, thyme, and a bay leaf

The fish did turn out really well, though.

Finished, nicely browned fish...with the bay leaf on top. Syd thought it looked pretty this way. :P

Swirling the powders was a lot of fun. XD But maybe I am just really easily amused and still like to play with my food. :P

A heart <3

Syd's plate...I swirled the powders for him

Syd wanted to swirl powders, too...

My plate...husband swirled the powders for me

Gosh, for this actually being a recipe that I can technically eat, I change a lot of things! o.0 Oops.

The Recipe, With My Changes
My changes are either noted in italics or by strikethroughs, but I will leave the original recipe for those who read this blog who haven't tried this recipe...hahaha riiiight, nobody reads this. Except for people who follow the daring kitchen links. Who will have most likely already made it. :P

Skate, Traditional Flavors Powdered - with changes
~~•4 skate wings~~ Substituted 4 cod fillets
~~•* Beurre monte~~ poached in olive oil with herbs
~~•* 300g fresh green beans~~ Currently not eating green beans!
•sea salt/kosher salt
~~•1 banana~~ I ran out of bananas, and thought this sounded odd.
~~•454g butter - 4 sticks~~For the beurre monte, which I did not make
•300g lemons
•1/2 Tbsp powdered sugar
~~•5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet~~ Forgot about this ^^'
•150g cilantro
•150g parsley
~~•100g dried banana chips~~ Forgot to buy these, and didn't feel like going back to the store. Also did not want to spend more money that I really had to.
~~•300g spray dried cream powder (or powdered milk)~~ Could not find this, and did not want to buy large box of powdered milk
•100g cup minced ~~red~~ onion
•1 tsp paprika
~~•200g capers (brined, not oil)~~ Too expensive :'(
•300g cup spinach leaves
•1 Tbsp parmesean cheese
•Olive oil, enough for poaching
•thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf

* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.

Powders - prepare ahead of time
caper / onion I made the onion powder but added paprika to it
lemon powder
cilantro/parsly powder
'brown butter' powder I did not make this
spinach/cheese powder I made this one up from scratch :P

once dried, all powders should be pulsed in a coffee grinder/spice mill/morter and pestle then passed through a chinois or fine mesh strainer.

citrus powder
300g lemons
~~1000g simple syrup~~
~~5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet~~

zest 300g of lemons (10.6 oz), remove the pith from the zest and ~~poach in the simple syrup three times~~(Note: I do not have a lemon zester, so I used a grater to remove the zest and the pieces were too fine to poach in the simple syrup because I do not have a strainer, and was not going to buy one for this purpose). dry with paper towels and move to a dehydrating tray. 130 for 12 hours. pulse the zest in a coffee grinder, pass through chinois, and mix with ~~citric acid/vitamin C powder~~ powdered sugar.

If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 8 to 10 minutes at medium powder. Once dried, follow the other instructions. Note: it probably took my microwave 15 minutes half power to dry the lemon zest...my microwave is pathetic.

cilantro/parsley powder
150g cilantro
150g parsley

blanch the parsley in boiling saltwater for 1 second, submerge the leaves in ice water for 3 minutes. Dry on paper towels and place on dehydrator tray. 130 for 12 hours. grind and pass through chinois.

If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 30 seconds, turn over leaves and microwave for another thirty seconds. They should be dry by now, pulse in coffee grinder, pass through chinois and reserve.

onion/paprika powder
100g cup minced red onions
1 tsp paprika

dehydrator - 130 for 12 hours
microwave at medium power for 20 minutes. Double the time for my microwave :'(

pulse in grinder, add paprika, pass through chinois

Caper powder I did not make this
200g capers (get the ones packed in brine/vinegar)

run the capers under cold water for two minutes to remove some of the brine.
dry on paper towels and dehydrate for 12 hours at 130 degrees.
microwave instructions are unclear. Dry them as much a possible with paper towels, the microwave on medium for 1 minute. Check the moisture content and stir them. repeat for 30 second intervals until they are dry. If you use this method, pleas post the time needed to dry the capers.

Once dry, pulse and sift the powder. Mix it with the onion powder.

Spinach/Cheese Powder I made this one up myself!
300 g spinach leaves
1 Tbsp parmesean cheese

Blanch the spinach in boiling saltwater for 30 seconds, drain, and place in ice water for 3 minutes. Pat dry.

Place in microwave, microwave at 30 second intervals (full power) twice, then for five minutes at half power, and then for 30 seconds at full power.

Place cheese in microwave, microwave for 5 minutes at half power.

Once dry, pulse both powders in grinder and mix together.

I do not have dehydrator instructions, as I do not have a dehydrator.

Brown Butter powder I did not make this either

100g Dried banana chips (unsweetened if possible - many are coated in honey - the freeze dried ones would be brilliant)
300g spray dried cream powder

If you cannot find the cream powder, you can substitute Bob's red mill non fat dry milk powder, or even carnation instant milk powder. The substitutions will alter the flavor a little, but you will still get the general idea.

preheat the oven to 350 degrees, sift the cream powder into a fine layer on a silpat or on parchment. bake for 4 minutes, then remove for heat. If it bakes for too long, it will burn. Be very cautious with all powders in the oven. They all go from browned to burnt in a few seconds.

grind the banana chips in a coffee grinder and mix with the toasted cream powder. Pass this through a chinois and reserve.

* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid. I did not make either of these!

Skate Or cod :P
Prepare the skate - 50G v shaped cuts are recommended
Bring 100g water, 100g beurre monte, and green bean rounds to a boil over high heat. Cook until the water has evaporated (about 3 minutes), when the pan is almost dry, remove it from heat and season with 3g salt

bring 300g water and 300g beurre monte to simmer over medium heat, add skate wings and simmer for 2 minutes.

I replaced the above with:
Add a dash of rosemary and thyme to the olive oil. Add one bay leaf. Heat until herbs have a change to flavor the oil. Poach the fish for 4 minutes per side, flipping to poach both sides.

Remove the pan from heat and flip the wing over and let rest in pan for two more minutes. Transfer to warming tray lined with parchment and season with 5 grams of fine sea salt.

Plating

Take the tip of a small spoon and make a small mound of the citrus powder, the onion-caper powder, the spinach/cheese powder and the cilantro parsley-powder. Swirl these around in a hurricane type pattern. I found that it is easier, and you get finer lines if you lightly shake the plate to flatten out the mounds, then swirl the spoon through it to get the pattern.

~~peel the remaining banana into very think slices (3mm) fan three slices on the plate, place green beans on top and place skate wing portion on top. On the tall edge, sprinkle the brown butter powder.~~

My original idea was to replace the banana/green beans with potato cakes, but I accidentally burned those so we just had mashed potatoes on the side. Sigh.

The Final Comments...aka After Eating

So. I thought the powder concept was a bit weird, honestly. And I thought it gave a strange, dry texture to the whole thing as well. However, they did taste good. I really liked all of the powders except for the cilantro/parsley powder, which I felt didn't have enough flavor. The rest were really good.

I enjoyed swirling the powders into pretty designs, and the overall effect was very nice.

I did this after I was done eating...it's a flowery fern thingy.

So, an intriguing recipe that tasted better than I initially thought, and one that actually wasn't difficult to make. It took a while, but most of that time was spent waiting on my pathetic microwave to dry the ingredients enough that I could make the powders!

I ended up with lots of leftover powder, so I might use it up the next time we have fish.

My husband had only one thing to say after eating:

"YUM"

I hate allergies. :(

2009-07-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

I really, really do.

It is so hard to go someplace knowing that going anywhere at all you are taking a risk.

For instance, whenever I go to my best friends' parents' house, I know that inevitably I am going to be miserable the next day, and 9 times out of 10 I am going to be miserable (sneezing, itchy eyes) while I am there. They live on a farm.

Knowing that, however, I can't always get out of going to their house.

Add on top of that the fact that I can't eat gluten. Usually they fix something like tacos, but not always, and then I am hungry AND miserable.

And then there are the things you don't even think about until it is too late. Irene has a sun conure, Pearl. The. most. annoying. bird. ever. A bird whose favorite food happens to be...cashews. >.< Having never owned a bird (allergies...ugh), I didn't even think about what the bird eats.

It is so weird, too...everyone else happily feeds Pearl cashews without even thinking about it, but to me cashews are as scary as...oh I don't even know what. But very, very scary. And to everyone else, it's just food. That is so weird.

Anyways, I'm going to go off and be miserably sneezy and get stuff done anyways.

The joys of moving!

2009-07-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

...no, seriously! I LOVE my new apartment. Absolutely. 100%. Well, except for the bathroom storage. That is lacking. But! Everything else is great. =)

And, now that I have this great place, I get to....decorate it! YAY! Of course, I have to decorate on a budget, sadly. At least until I get a job. Which may not be any time soon. Stupid economy. :'(

But I will eventually get around to posting pictures of the projects that I have done/am planning on doing. Yep. ^_^ Once everything is nice and tidy and put away (okay, most everything IS already put away, but still...the apartment is a *bit* empty. Well, totally empty. Furniture-speaking, at least. The closets are full of junk. I'm not sure why we have all of this stuff. o.0 And yet I'm not sure if there is anything that I want to actually get rid of! Terrible...*sigh* I am such a pack rat. :P

Also, I have determined that Syd and I need kitchen aprons. Syd has ruined at least two shirts now with oil, and I inevitably get something on myself (although I haven't ruined anything....yet). So sometime I will go to Michaels/JoAnn's/HobbyLobby/Crafts2000 and buy two plain aprons. With coupons. Or maybe I will just buy fabric and hijack my Mom's sewing machine. Not sure yet. Then I will airbrush them with pretty pictures! Yay!

I haven't done any projects for two weeks now, nor have I been to a craft store. Having withdrawl, but saving a little bit of money. Moving is, alas, expensive. :'(

Sometime I will get around to finishing my needle-felting. Maybe. And a couple of my knitting projects. And stuff. But for the moment I have been concentrating on a) putting stuff away, b) keeping stuff put away, and c) studying .NET programming skills which will (hopefully) give me the edge I need to get a job.

So maybe I will post some programming fun here once I finish what I am currently working on!

I still want to make a new blog layout. But alas, there are many other things that come first. Like a professional website. And ASP.NET programs. And studying for Microsoft Certification. And learning Flash programming. And working on XNA games. And stuff.

Sometime I should update my 101/1001 list. o.0

Oh! I'm working on a new poi move - behind the back weave. It's actually coming along quite nicely.

Okay, longer post than I was planning. Also, more rambling post than I was planning. :P Go figure. Oh well, you can't have it all, I guess! Yeah I should go finish dinner now.

Everything is a pudding!

2009-06-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
June Daring Bakers' challenge - Blackwell ~~Tart~~ Pudding

This month's challenge (and my FIRST! Daring Baker's challenge) - was co-hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. There were two mandatory parts. The first was the use of a sweet shortcrust pastry for the pastry tart. The second was frangipane.

I can't have either, at least not as given. Not that that is a huge surprise, however. :P I am the first to admit that I can't eat ANYTHING normal.

Working on the crust...

Moving on. So I decided to make the sweet shortcrust pastry by substituting my standard gf-flour mix and an extra 1 tsp Xantham gum for the flour called by in the recipe. Easy enough!

Finished Shortcrust

The frangipane posed a tougher challenge. Not only can I not have the flour, but I also cannot have the almonds. Hey, at least it didn't call for walnuts...

Through the Daring Bakers' Alternative Forum I found a link to Nutless Frangipane, and decided to try that.

The Nutless Frangipane

I also decided to make mini tartless rather than one larger tart, because I couldn't choose between guava or apricot jam. So I made four little tartlets.

Mmmmmmmm jam...

I really have about four or five different jars of jam and jelly and preserves under the counter. I really don't know why, because I can't eat it on toast, and my husband doesn't eat toast. Hm. I guess I did make those jam-filled muffins once...

Here are the tartless ready to bake:
Uncooked

And here they are out of the oven:
About 15-20 minutes later...a couple of them ended up sliiiiiiightly over done, but my oven is evil.

Apricot filling:
These tasted so good!

And Guava filling:
Note the drippiness of the filling...the taste was still great, they were just stickier!

Here is my modified version of the recipe:

Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)

1 cup gf flour mix
2 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 egg yolks
½ tsp almond extract Here I used imitation almond extract because I can have that...
1 Tbsp cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Nutless Frangipane
From Wookie Hut but I did change it some - changes are noted in italics. :)

Two parts:

Pastry Cream, aka Custard
1/2 cup milk
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 tsp imitation almond extract
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp sugar (again)
1 egg yolk

Heat milk and sugar on the stove. Meanwhile, mix cornstarch and sugar and whisk in egg yolk. When milk mixture is almost boiling, add it a little bit at a time to the egg mix (added to fast and it could cook the egg :P). Once all the milk has been added, stir in the extract and return mix to stove. Cook until the mixture thickens (just about when it starts to boil), and continue to cook for one minute. Remove from heat, transfer to bowl, cover with cling wrap and let cool. Place in fridge.

Flour Cream
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) softened butter
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup gf-flour
1 egg

Cream butter and sugar. Work in flour. Add egg until combined. Cover and place in fridge.

When ready, mix Pastry Cream and Flour Cream together (by hand). Keep in refrigerator until use.

Assembling the tart
I pressed the pastry into the tart pans, because the gf crust stuck to EVERYTHING no matter what I did. But gf crust is often like that. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with nutless frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 20 minutes. *note my oven is ummm difficult so baking time may differ greatly with your oven!*

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

Final Comments
Despite making a half batch of the nutless frangipane I still feel like I ended up with about twice the amount I actually needed. However, I did like it as a substitute for normal frangipane and thought it turned out well.

I may have overfilled the tarts slightly, but I like fruit. Apricot jam is yummy.

These remind me a lot of a traditional South African cookie, Jan Smuts' cookies. They also have a shortbready base, jam filling, and a gooey top, but the top is definitely not frangipane - no almonds invovled! And they are not made into a tart but rather use a muffin tin. The dough is cut out and/or pressed into the bottom of the muffin tin to form a shell, filled with jam (traditionally apricot) and then the top of the muffin tin is covered with the topping. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yummy.

These turned out really well. The apricot jam was great, but the guava jam went a little bit runny after baking. It still tasted so good but it did kind of run out of the tart and all over the plate, hands, and everything.

I will probably make these again sometime. They were fun and not terribly difficult or time consuming. And did I mention I like cookies filled with jam? :P

Daring Cooks June Challenge!

2009-06-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

Daring Cooks Challenge - June - Jiaozi / Chinese Dumplings
Hosted by Jen from Use Real Butter

The June Daring Cooks challenge (and the first Daring Kitchen challenge I have particpated in! YAY!!!!) was Chinese Dumplings. :) I have always wanted to try Chinese dumplings (everyone went on and on about how great dumplings were in Chinese class) but can't eat normal dumplings. So this gave me a great excuse to try them! I actually did this once twice, because the first time...well, you'll see. The requirement was that the wrappers be made by hand.

First go - I didn't feel comfortable using Wheat Starch, as that can be questionable, so I tried substituting a generic "gf flour mix" for wheat flour in the dumpling wrapper recipe. But the dough was so crumbly it wouldn't stick together at all, it would just fall into pieces whenever I tried. I did finish the regular dumplings (for my husband) but then I burned them, oops! I didn't take any pictures - no need to see ruined dumplings. :P

Second go - I retried two weeks later. This time I made a half batch of regular wheat-flour dough and a half batch of gf-dough. To get the gf dough to work I added 1 tsp of Xantham Gum, which made it stretchy enough that I could roll it out and actually wrap it around the filling.

For the filling, I made half a recipe of pork filling (subsituted "regular" cabbage for Napa cabbage, because I couldn't find any, substituted olive oil for sesame oil out of cheapness :P and the bamboo shoots were left out completely because I couldn't find those either) and a half a recipe of beef filling as well (same as pork, but substituted beef for the pork).

The fillings - pork is on the left, beef on the right.

The gf-dough, while actually possible to roll into dumpling wrappers, was still more difficult than normal flour.

You can tell that the edges are just a *bit* crumbly, but they still worked well enough...I was even able to pleat them!

Yeah this one was a bit misshapen, it was one of the later ones and I was getting tired.

I didn't have any problems with the pleating, I actually thought that part was rather fun. Because I have to eat gluten-free, but my husband does not, I actually made and cooked my dumplings completely before starting on the "normal" wheat flour dumplings for my husband. It made some extra work, but it is better than having a stomach ache for a week!

Here is the finished (but uncooked) tray of gluten-free dumplings...

...and here is the finished (but uncooked) tray of normal dumplings!

I pan-fried them rather than steamed or boiled because I don't have a steamer, and I thought the pan-fried bottoms looked really yummy. :)

Here are the gluten-free dumplings, ready to eat!

Gluten dumplings, with slightly over-cooked bottoms. Sigh.

For the dipping sauce I made a sweet-and-sour sauce, because my husband loves sweet and sour. :) And the dipping sauce really did turn out well. Even my Mom thought so (yes, they were so good I took a couple to my parent's house over the weekend - Mom just went gluten-free so I thought she would enjoy something different ^_^).

You can see here the dipping sauce in the bowl. I forgot to get a close-up of it. After this picture was taken, I divided it into two smaller bowls so there wouldn't be any cross-contamination of gluten.

Yes, I *do* actually have chopsticks, but we are moving and they were kind of already packed in a box. ^^' OOops... And, yes, I made twice-baked potatoes to go with it. Not very "Zhongguo-tsai"/Chinese cuisine/Asian but I couldn't think of anything else to make.

In conclusion: This was a tricky recipe to make gluten-free, and it was also time-consuming (but that was mostly because I had to make two separate batches, washing dishes and everything in-between), but the dumplings were really yummy. And now I finally know what (gluten-free) dumplings taste like! And that they do, indeed, live up to the hype! I will probably make these again, actually, but they won't be something I will make very often, but rather as a special treat a few times a year. Although, since we are moving and will have a larger refridgerator, it might be a better idea to make a full batch and freeze the dumplings in (labeled) freezer bags that I could then pull out for a "quick" meal. That might come in handy, especially if I ever find a job!

The recipe:

Wheat Dough:
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
flour for worksurface

GF-Dough:
2 cups (250g) all-purpose gluten-free flour of choice
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
1 tbsp Xanthan Gum
cornstarch or gf-flour for worksurface

pork filling:
1/2 lb ground pork
2 large ~~napa~~ cabbage leaves, minced
1.5 stalks green onions, minced
~~3.5 shitake mushrooms, minced~~ My husband doesn't like mushrooms :(
~~1/4 cup bamboo shoots, minced~~ (left out because I could not find this)
~~1/8 cup ginger root, minced~~ I substituted ground ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce (check label to find gluten-free!)
~~1 tbsp sesame oil~~ (subsituted olive oil)
1 tbsp corn starch

beef filling:
same as pork filling, but substitute pork for beef

sweet and sour dipping sauce:
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp corn starch
4 tsp water

Instructions:

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

For the dipping sauce, combine the vinegar, ketchup, and sugar in a sauce pan and heat until boiling. Mix the cornstarch and water together, and add that to the sauce pan. Stir, heating, until sauce thickens (doesn't take very long). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Make the dough: In a large bowl, mix the flour and water. Continue adding water in small increments until the dough is firm but not sopping wet. Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side (press center of edges together, then pleat the right half, seal the teardrop edge, and repeat with the right half). Place finished dumplings on a tray or cooking sheet (I covered my cooking sheet with waxed paper because I found it easier). Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.

To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for until bottoms are golden (10 to 15 minutes). Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve (or put in the fridge and reheat when ready).

To serve: Serve dumplings or potstickers hot with your choice of dipping sauce combinations.

You can find Jen's original recipe, with additional filling options and cooking options, plus her dipping sauce recipe, here.

Projects

2009-05-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

So, knitting projects to be working on:
1. Yellow & Blue (or Orange?) Giraffe for Tammys' baby
2. Baby booties for Tammy's baby
3. Pink/Lt. Green/White striped elephant for Tammy's Rosie
4. Blue elephant for Maria?
5. Strawberries...
6. Finishing Anna's Little Mermaid Doll (hair, dress, face)
7. Orange ("gold") fish
8. Bright blue fish
9. Mini fish in many colors :D
10. something with my leftover yarns

So that is all of my "mini" projects that I have to be working on, then additionally I have:
1. Sexy purple dress
2. Sexy blue silk top
3. Aeolian for Maryna
4. American Beauty for Ma
5. Seascape Stole for Mom(birthday?)
6. Syd's Springbok Sweater
7. Apres Surf Hoodie...sigh
8. Some sexy top from the bamboo/silk
9. Black cashsilk(?) Wings of Horus for me...
10. Mystic shalws?

Plus I kind of want to get black and white Cascade 220 and make penguin and pirate "stuff"...and also I want to buy more fingering weight yarn and knit gloves and socks(!) for myself, randomly. And maybe make some more doilys...

Or I could just go to bed and sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep OMG!

And, of course, that is only knitting projects in my to-do list, I haven't even gotten started on Make and Instructables projects, beads, programming, and Maya. I just found out you can take a 3D computer model and have it "printed" (aka molded :P)...and OMG I WANT ONE!!!!!

Blogging Schedule

2009-04-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

Monday - dance
Tuesday - travel and reviews, general
Wednesday - tutorials (crafts, programming, etc)
Thursday - drawing/art
Friday - cooking

...okay so tentatively this is my new blogging schedule. If it works, I will post on the side of the blog layout somewhere...although I am working on a new layout so it might not happen until after that.

I may post every day of the week, or only two or three, depending on my mood and what is happening. :)

I need to get back with it.

2009-04-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am getting a bunch of random stuff done this morning, then fixing lunch for Syd, then going to get groceries and run errands (library, post office). After that, depending on the amount of time I have, I want to work on our professional website, Maya, ASP.NET random tutorials, and stuff...and tonight I want to finish the scrapbooking page we started last night (it is mostly done and it is AWESOME!), and start the other one (it has to semi-match), and I also kind of want to bake something, plus I will have to fix dinner.

I am also quite in the mood to cook or bake. I want to try making churros, because Syd has taken quite a liking to those, and I also want to try quesadillas with spinach and fish. Maybe I will make that as a meal some day this week. And then Syd & I want to try fruit leather and rock candy, both. And I want to make Ystervarkkies for Syd. And more chocolates and candy making, maybe I'll make some fish-shaped gummies once I get my new molds (which should ship this week).

Additionally, I need to get my rear-end in gear on scanning magazine patterns, as I would ideally like to have those all scanned and boxed before we move...hahaha, at the rate I am currently going, that is highly unlikely. So I really need to work on that.

I've got my fingers crossed that I will be able to use my lampwork supplies when we move, I miss lampworking and it is too much of a hassle at Mom's house. I want to make Magic, The Gathering beads and send a box of fun stuff to Maria. :)

We still haven't finished rounding everything up for the box to send to SA. We are still missing stuff for Willem and then I need to find all of our DVD's of stuff and make a compiled video and copy it like four or five times and send it to various people..yay.

So, to sum it all up:
1) groceries
2) errands
3) dinner
4) apartments/housing
5) magazine scanning
6) packing
7) cooking/baking
8) exercising
9) knitting
10) DVD
11) professional website
12) flash/Maya/animation
13) art
14) scrapbooking
15) present for John?
16) geeky crafts
17) dance
18) poi
19) bead
20) birthday presents

Okay I really don't want my list to have more than 20 things so I am going to stop now. :P I also really need to finish at least one Hobbit Comic and get back into doing Illo Friday...

I miss jewelry class!

2009-04-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

I went over this afternoon to pick up my final pieces from silver jewelry last semester...man, I miss that class. :'( And I want my own studio with equiptment, or at least some place where I can rent a studio with equiptment!!!!

I'm making more chocolates this afternoon...strawberries, oreos,and who knows what else! Maybe coconutty things.

I'm also planning a blog layout update, with image links to the side and lots of cool stuff. :3 But it will probably take me forever.

Let's see...what else? Oh yeah I am still working on ASP.NET tutorials randomly, which is kind of fun. I want to work with flash, but I need to buy flash or adobe CS3/4. And I want to work with Maya some, too, but I need a better laptop. And a second external drive, so that when Syd takes the drive we have to work to listen to music I can still work on things. We do have gift cards that we could put towards that sometime. >.>

I'm really in the mood to do something fun. Either go somewhere, or make something. One of the projects in MAKE magazine, for example? MAKE magazine is totally awesome.

I need to be figuring out birthday presents for fishy..ack too much too much too much to do...

I was sad that I didn't get to attend the local Tax Day Tea Party yesterday. I kind of wanted to, but it has been such a bad week with Syd working constantly, we are both sleep deprived (which gives me headaches, literally) and I have had stomach aches all week constantly, probably accidentally got something contaminated at Easter. :( So it didn't happen, but I'm thinking about going to the next one. :P If I can talk Syd into it...he thinks governmental protests are useless (and he is quite possibly right)...but I still think it would be fun! Besides, nothing would ever get done if everyone had that attitude.

I reserved some more exercise books at the library (and some other random stuff too). Yay, fun! ^_^

Okay chocolate-making time. After dish-washing time. Ugh, dishes. >.< Oh how I hate thee!

8 things...

2009-04-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Moving to a bigger, nicer place! ^_^
2. Finding a job.
3. Going on vacation/late honeymoon to South Africa!!!!!!
4. Summer weather :)
5. Dance Fair
6. All of the good movies coming out this summer
7. Going places on our list as the weather gets nicer
8. Holding my husband when he gets home from work <3
(also: doing one of the Make magazine projects!)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Made Oatmeal-Raisin bread for Syd...
2. Mixed up fruit-yoghurt-coconut salad
3. Got groceries
4. Made Oatmeal-Raisin bread AGAIN because our oven has issues and the first batch was ruined >.<
5. Did my Yoga :)
6. Fixed lunch (tacos, leftover apple betty) and dinner (steakburger, parmesan potato wedges)
7. Pampered my hard-working fishy
8. Knitted, a little.
(and also scanned patterns, and did random other stuff)

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Scuba dive
2. Speak five languages, fluently
3. Feel well :(
4. Move far, far away (eventually)
5. Invent something super-awesome (or multiple super awesome things)
6. Start my own company (joint with husband, of course)
7. Make the Forbes top 200 XD
8. Travel the world (eventually, but money is needed first :P)

8 Shows I Watch:

1. Dancing with the Stars
2. The Amazing Race
3. Heroes
4. Ugly Betty
5. Stargate! <3
6. The Emperor's New School (love the Disney channel)
7. Mythbusters
8. MacGuyver :P

...Battlestar Galactica is in the line up, as are some other stuffs...I am catching up on years worth of no cable thanks to Netflix. XD Ooh and of course Rescue Rangers and Darkwing Duck belong on that list, too!

You are tagged if you read this! Mwahahahaha....

Movie Nights

2009-04-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Movie #1: Monsters vs. Aliens
Very enjoyable. We were the only people in the theater, which was nice, and the movie is very cute. Had to laugh when Susan tells her mom on her wedding day that she was "hit by a meteor!" and her mom replies "That's normal, dear, everyone feels that way on their wedding day!" (side note: I did not!) Not as inspired as any Pixar movie, nor even as good as Shrek or Madagascar or Bolt, but still very enjoyable and fun.

Movie #2: Fast & Furious 4
Yay! Very much as good as the earlier Fast & Furiouses...not sure what the subtitle for this one was, it should actually be F&F 1.5 or something. But anyways, very hot cars. And a very good plot, actually. Same cast (for the most part) as the original. If you like awesomely tricked out cars and racing...this is definitely a must-see. On a side note...omg Vin Diesel has waaaaaaaaaay too much muscle. It's scary.

Chocolate Making, Day 2 - molding

2009-04-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to make 3D hollow chocolate eggs for everyone for Easter...so that was 9, in total. Syd has done 3D molding before (it actually isn't that hard) so he helped me. We couldn't get the milk chocolate or white chocolate to temper properly, so it was unfortunately too thick to work for 3D chocolates. So we ended up making dark chocolates, which tempered very well, and most people at Easter probably preferred that anyway!

Basically, you take your chocolate mold, you fill it less than halfway with chocolate, you clip the two halves of your molds together, and then you turn it to evenly coat the inside of the mold. You keep turning it until the chocolate reaches room temperature, then you put it in the freezer until it starts to separate from the mold (it goes kind of white-ish). Then you take it out, unclip the mold, take one side of the mold off (carefully) and then pop it out of the other half (again, carefully) onto waxed paper. If you are confident that it turned out well, you can trim the seam with a razor (but if you hold it too long the chocolate gets soft and you can squish it). Then you wrap it up in chocolate/candy foil..and voila! Pretty 3D hollow eggs. =D

I wanted to try caramel or cadbury-style eggs, as well, but because I only had three eggs molds and on average only two of those actually survived each time, it took us the entire night plus one last batch in the morning to get enough to hand out! It did get easier as we went, and got a better feel for it. I'm going to play with the milk and white chocolate some this week and see if I can't get tempering down, and then when my new molds (we ordered 3D butterfly molds and a 3D shark mold) arrive maybe we can get some colored white chocolate (I have oil coloring) butterflies done and/or some milk chocolates. I also might buy dusting/sparkle powder this week (Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon this week) and try dusting the butterfly's wings...). I need a new box for all of my candy and chocolate stuff now...new obsession. And I reaaaaally want that chocolates & confections book.

I wish there was a professional chocolate making class that I could take somewhere in the area. That would be really cool. Oh well...I can figure it out on my own! ^_^

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of our finished eggs...they were all glossy and nice, and looked so pretty wrapped up in green foil! Bah! I will have to take pictures of the next chocolates that I make that turn out well. >.<

Chocolate Making, Day 1 - Dipping

2009-04-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

So we went to Sugarcraft over the weekend (also to the Zoo, and Jungle Jim's, and putt-putting, and to the movies, but I digress), and so I now have a double boiler. Yay! :D And an egg mold!

I was able to melt milk chocolate MUCH more easily, without killing it, and I think I even tempered it fairly well. I ended up with 12 chocolate-dipped Oreos (to which I added hard-sugar decorations) and the same number of chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks (to which I added easter-colored, aka pastel, nonpareils). I can't eat them, but that is okay (and is probably better for me anyways). I couldn't even eat them if I dipped my own pretzels, because I did the oreos first (as they are a gift) and the chocolate was therefore wheat/gluten contaminated.

I had fun, and it was much less frustrating than the last time I tried dipping anything. I actually had the right tools, the double boiler helped a lot, and I now know (at least, in theory) how to temper chocolate.

Tomorrow I am going to try making hollow chocolate eggs, "Cadbury" creme eggs, and "Kinder" eggs. I need to get the clips tonight so that I can clip the two halves of the mold together. Although, given the amount of things I want to make it may take more than one go...I will probably make more chocolate covered pretzels (some for me next time, with white chocolate) with the leftovers from the batches.

Other than that this week, let's see...well, I finished the Mystic Star KAL last week, finally, sans blocking (which is unlikely to happen until after we move and/or I have a job, so 2+ months probably). I am finishing up a small lace doily that I started as part of the little needle lovers monthly KAL, and am finishing the crochet border off tonight. Kalinumba has an Egyptian-themed KAL starting next week, called the "Eye of Horus". I signed up for it, but I am not sure if I will find yarn and start knitting in time or if I will wait until I get the shawl for Ma done first or what. Hmmm. I am also currently awaiting the right size and length needles in order to start two knits from the Sensual Knits book that Syd bought me for Valentines Day <3. I'm going to check my LYS Thursday when I take the car in...if they have them I might go ahead and buy them, I am quite happy with they HiyaHiya needles I bought for the Mystic Star Shawl KAL and the price was fine.

Finally, dance-related, we began International Rumba on Sunday, so this is our first introduction to International Style. I'm totally excited, it is really fun and it looks good and yay! That means we are better than they are! XD Or something like that. We also did our chacha full speed, so we will be doing it faster than previously, and we did a little bit of Tango.

Guitar Hero: Metallica - ROCK ON!

2009-04-03T17:54:00.000-07:00

The next in the Guitar Hero : band installment came out just recently, this one (the second after Guitar Hero : Aerosmith) based around Metallica, and using the new GH:World Tour format. Now, I really really personally disliked World Tour, although I have decided that this can be attributed to the serious lack of decent songs (there were only about three songs worth playing in World Tour, and I could easily five star nearly all of the songs on hard the first go-round). I still don't like the smaller notes buuuuuut hey our TV is tiny so this is likely the reason.

GH: Metallica is full of reaaaaallly good songs, both Metallica and other bands, and has even more songs than previous versions. It does have two "intro" songs that were included in other versions of Guitar Hero, but I'm not complaining. :) I also like the way they really captured the band, their facial expressions and movements seem much more realistic than previous versions.

Also improved from World Tour is the difficulty level of the songs. They are much more challenging on hard, and very difficult on expert. Which is good, because the challenge means I will have something to play while I wait for the next installment of the Guitar Hero Universe! =D

Rating: 4 out of 5

Various Updates

2009-03-16T06:20:00.001-07:00

I haven't been very good at writing blog posts lately, unfortunately. :\ I am ashamed. :P

I finally finished that darn pearl necklace! Well, it still needs fray check to seal the knots, but that is about it. :D I got rather down to the wire with the length of silk thread left over, but I made it. So now I have a matching necklace & bracelet of tiny white pearls.

I'm still working on the Mystic Star KAL. I want to buy some more yarn to dye, but I haven't decide what yet. I'm planning on casting on to knit a goldfish or something cute to work on in the car because I don't have any mobile projects at the moment, and it is bugging me.

I have a long to-do list this week. :(

I also knit myself a pair of Evenstar fingerless gloves, in yarn that I dyed, a very bright (but pretty) shade of purple. I would like to knit more gloves, but the ones that I really want to knit I need a different weight of yarn for (and I want to dye the yarn for that myself).

I have been working on the ASP.NET video tutorials, and I am making good progess.

Le Meh.

2009-03-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

So I am finally finally finally 16" into the back of Syd's sweater, which means I get to start the arm hole decreases, yay! I feel like I am kinda making some progress now. ^_^

Tomorrow I am going to: go through the clothes in the closet, go through all of our bank statements in an attempt to find tax info, and I want to bake chocoalte chip cookies...and maybe if I am really "with it" I will bake something yummy for Syd, I dunno. XD I also need to get groceries, which I was going to do today but didn't because I had such a bad migraine. Hopefully tomorrow my head will be all better.

Stupid spring weather turbulance. >.<

I love spring but I hate weather changes. :(

I also need to finish the Hobbit Comic I started and then write more script. The next few pages I'm really looking forward to, yay!

Mom is coming over and we are going shopping or something Monday or Tuesday, I am waiting to hear back from RHT about interview stuff and need to stop by their office sometime...hmmm what else....I would like to dye more yarn but I haven't decide what for, more fingerless mitts (two possible patterns, one that I would dye different blues the other...I'm not sure, maybe reds? I think I am going to have to invest in some more dye colors sometime...) or legwarmers to "match" (ish) my Evenstar gloves.

Oh I need to get Syd to take pictures of my gloves still, and we need to scrapbook, but Syd has been so busy working. :( Oh well.

I also didn't make it to the crafts store today like I wanted to (stupid migraine >.<), so I still want to make stitch markers and stuff but I didn't get the color that I need and I want to make them all at the same time...maybe tomorrow. Or maybe not. *shrug*

I should go to sleep now-ish so that I can get up in the morning with Syd in case Mom is coming over. I feel so uninspired. :P

I am so tired of this!

2009-02-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

I am sick -again-. Now my throat is so sore, it hurts to swallow and my ears hurt and I just feel miserable, again. This is the fourth week in a row that one or the other of us has been sick. >.<

We started learning samba on Sunday in our private lessons. It's really fun...not sure if our next routine will be samba or swing. I like both dances...I think Syd can choose. We already know more swing, but I would like to be good enough at samba that we could go to a latin club and actually dance. :)

I'm good at writing lists but bad at getting them done, or keeping them up to date when they are done...lol. Oh well. XD

So I made bowling pin cupcakes for Syd to take to work to raise money for the IT Strikers bowling charity thingy. They are pretty cute. I will have to take pictures after I make the second batch and ice the bowling balls. :)

I also made muffins for Syd, chocolate chip muffins specifically, and he has already finished the first batch (made them on Monday), so now I am going to make another batch. They weren't terribly hard to make...I just need a better oven and a bigger muffin tray so I don't have to do two to three bakings every time I make muffins or cupcakes! lol

Finally, I got some pixel cookies made but they haven't been baked yet. I'm not sure how well they turned out, actually, I think next time I will actually make a couple of patterns first, then they might work better. Maybe I will do that now.

I would really like to feel good enough to get back on schedule and get stuff done. It is hard to actually make progress on anything when you don't feel well. Plus, I get more easily frustrated when I am sick. -_-

hmmm let's see, what else? I played some DDR this morning, with ankle weights. I actually like it better than doing it without ankle weights. I am hoping the weights will help to tone my legs. We'll see. I didn't play for too long though, maybe 20 minutes or so, because then I started to feel faint while I was dancing. Which is not good. Soooo I stopped. :P

In other news, my weight loss seems to be on track so far, without me killing myself exercising or starving myself, so that is good. Hopefully I can keep it up. I'd still like to start situps and pushups in the evenings with Syd again. We did that last year before our wedding and then stopped afterwards...why did we stop? Probably because I felt miserable after coming back from Florida. Sigh.

Okay I think I have run out of stuff to say. I am waiting on Syd to get home for lunch. I will figure out something to do while waiting, I guess...

Catching up...

2009-02-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

Sooooooooo last week was kind of a waste of time, because I got a cold-thing and was miserable all week. T_T

But anyways, I really did the Illo Fri prompt, "time". But I was so sick and uninspired I did an even worse job than usual and so I was too ashamed to post it. ^^' I'll try to make this week's better.

I also did clean house, halfway, because I also had to do the laundry during my normal house-cleaning hours again. >.<

I didn't get through the Mystic Star KAL clues - not even halfway through! And now I have to take out the last row, which was halfway, because I messed up somewhere but don't know where and am off by ONE stitch. Ugh. And I hate taking out, so I have been putting it off. I shouldn't knit when I am tired, I mess things up. I did work on Syd's sweater some but I haven't really made any significant progress.

That was it...I was so tired and lazy that I just didn't do much of anything. Watched some netflix, slept a lot, and read three books. Well, finished one, read two, and am halfway through a third. Yay. :) But now I need to figure out some other books to reserve at the library so I can read them...maybe I should try the twilight series? :P

But! I did finally get my yarn dyed tonight, but I haven't been able to rinse it out yet and then it still has to dry after that. So I guess I won't really know how it turns out until tomorrow or sometime.

Tomorrow I am going to have a baking day. Because Syd wants me to make him muffins!!! :P And bowling pin cupcakes, and I never did get my Valentine's day cupcakes made, and I still have to make pixel cookies. And while I do that I will probably work on scanning some magazines because we really need to get things packed into boxes if we are wanting to move in May or June. Yep. =D

And YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO HELP ME FIND A JOB!!! >.>

Yes, you. I'm talking to you. <.<

:P

I guess I can try and motivate myself to add pictures to "spice it up". :P I do kinda wanna make a blog layout that is pretty.

Okie dokie that is all.

Review - Vanity Fair

2009-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

Vanity Fair by W. M. Thackery

I started Vanity Fair way back in December, and it took me until today to finish it. It is quite a long novel, and very wordy. The central plot revolves around two young (at least at the beginning of the book) women, Ameila (Emmy) and Rebecca (Becky), who are "friends", but who are as different as night and day. The book basically revolves around their romantic escapades and attempts at finding their places in the society of Vanity Fair.

While the book was amusing and fairly enjoyable, it did tend to ramble off into the author's views on different topics, things that didn't really quite relate to the story. Also, I found I only really liked one character. Emmy was too...pathetic, and Becky, while a strong character, was not really likeable (if this had taken place in modern times, she totally would have been a sorority slut).

Still, would definitely recommend the novel and the older movie - in the newest movie, Becky tries too hard to be "nice" and loses the character of the original Becky.

Now, which book from my classics list shall I move onto next? First, though, I have a captial crimes novel to finish, the latest Redwall novel, and the newest Tamora Pierce book. Yay!

I am so lucky.

2009-02-08T17:18:00.000-08:00

I have such a wonderful husband. <3 Even when he is too busy programming to pay much attention to me. :P He takes such good care of me and is so understanding. Plus, he loves doing things that I love doing and is always up for doing something new or different. I would be so lost and alone without him!

Sooooooooo I'm sick now. :\ No dance at all this week, which makes me very sad. I'm going to be in bed a lot this week.

I wanted to make a sterling silver heart necklace to go with my red V-day dress, but I can't find the right gauge of wire (16, round, dead soft) where it is not sold in lengths of 5'! I don't need five feet of wire, I need six inches! T_T But I really want to make that necklace. What is one to do?

This week I am going to try to work some on Maya (I did start my goldfish the other day, but I didn't finish it, and Maya makes my computer so slow -_-) and the Hobbit Comic Game and maybe our website.

For some reason, we can't find Mario Kart for the Wii anywhere, which is sad, and I don't think they ever released it without the Wii Wheel, and I really don't want a Wii Wheel - they are just gimmicky plastic holders for the Wii Remotes and they are TOTALLY over priced. :P

The third part of the Mystic Star KAL is released tomorrow, yay! =) And I am making progress on Syd's sweater, so that is good. Finally. :P I still haven't dyed my yarn, I have almost everything I need, but then Syd was sick, and now I am sick. :\ Maybe by the end of the week...

I can't think of anything interesting to say. Why do I even bother blogging? Seriously. So pointless. :P

Illo Friday and stuff

2009-02-04T13:36:00.000-08:00

So I got this week's illo friday prompt up here. So go look at it. It amuses me, even though I had a lot of trouble coming up with anything for this...I feel like my prompts are always shallow or tongue-in-cheek and very hmmm not serious. Maybe next week I will try something serious.

I used the copic markers. I love those markers. But one of them (Cool Grey No. 7) is totally dry. And that makes me sad. I guess I need to order refill? -_-

I also scanned in ummm three or four magazines, so that is slowly making progress. It takes forever to scan things though. Sigh.

I dyed my cookie dough (that sounds bad, doesn't it?) for the pixel cookies, which I will bake as soon as I get my oven cleaned out so it doesn't catch on fire again. Oops. ^^' The pink is NEON pink, it's kind of ummm...not edible looking, haha. I need to make my patterns...I will see what I can come up with. I have some ideas...

Syd is still sick but went to work anyways (even though I tried to tell him no! He just wouldn't listen! >.<).

There was something else I was going to say but I have no idea what it was. Hm.

I finished clue 2 of the Magic Star KAL. It is so pretty now! I love lace knitting...I should knit more shawls. Yep. I want to design a shawl, too...

Warm Feet Withdrawl

2009-02-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

So I have had this rash on my foot for a year or so, and it just wouldn't go away. Now that may partially be due to the fact that the medicine I have for it is outdated, however...my Mom came up with another reason that it got so bad, spread to both feet, and drove me crazy. My boots. My wonderful, warm, fuzzy Ugg boots that I wear every day in the winter that were a birthday present, that I love. No more boots. No more warm feet. T_T

So I left my boots at Mom's house last weekend and have been wearing other (cold) shoes that get my feet wet. And, imagine that, my rash is about 10x less bright red and has not been itchy at all. I also got new medicine (over the counter though) so that may be helping some, but there is no denying that not wearing my boots has dramatically helped.

So. No wool for my feet. Ever. Or at least, no wool for my feet when I have a rash, and I don't know if it would give me the rash. Now, how in the heck am I supposed to knit pretty warm socks for my feet when I can't wear wool socks? This is just not fair!!! I want to cry.

At least I can still use wool/alpaca/whatever to knit with, as I don't seem to get excema on my hands. But still. Meh!

So aside from that...let's see, I made it through clue 1 of the Mystic Star KAL, so far so good. New clue out. Oh I made pixel cookie dough, but didn't color it because I couldn't find the toothpicks. >.< And Syd is sick. Poor love. <3 :\

That's all...I think.

Mid-Week Updates

2009-01-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

Illustration Friday - Climbing

This has been a pretty annoying week. :\ I just have not been feeling well all week...Wednesday was the only day I felt halfway decent, and it was also the only day that I got anything done.

I hate feeling bad and knowing that there is stuff that I want to do that I just don't feel good enough to bother with. Sigh.

The Last Lecture - Review

2009-01-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

First non-fiction book.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow

This was an interesting book, and a quick read. I did find it just a bit depressing, although I don't think that was the intent. The book is basically a series of life lessons as told by Randy Pausch, about how to live your child hood dreams and use your time wisely. There were many funny anecdotes, as well as some interestings tidbits of information. However, no matter how many people tell you how (even so gently as this) to live your life, it is still your life to live, to have, and to waste. While one can be inspired by stories such as the late Mr. Pausch's, it is infitely harder to change your own life. Essentially, these types of life lessons must be learned the hard way - through trial, and error, and a lot of mistakes.

All that said, I did enjoy the book, and it was a very quick read.

Pretties!

2009-01-27T07:20:00.000-08:00

I got yarn in the mail yesterday! =D And it's so prettyful!!!! Now I have to wind it up and cast on for the Mystic Star KAL. I'm so excited! ^_^ And I ordered Acid Dye and am going to be dyeing some of my merino purple-ish and using that to knit cabled fingerless gloves and maybe legwarmers, for the SKC 2009 1st Quarter KAL. Yay!

Syd says I have a knitting fetish...I say I don't have enough money to spend on yarn for it to be a fetish. And I actually have more of a beading fetish, I definitely own more $$ worth of beads than I do of yarn! XD

Soooo this week I need to:
1) bake sugary goodness. I'm still debating between Star Wars cupcakes and Pixel cookies, though
2) Illo Fri
3) exercise
4) Creme Brulee for dessert
5) continue scanning magazines
6) poi
7) finish the first fire armlet
8) start applying for jobs?

and Next Week or in the first two weeks of February:
1) valentines cupcakes (cupcakes, V-day sprinkles in batter, raspberry jam heart on top)
2) fondue
3) chocolates of some kind

Friday Fun

2009-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

Sooooo I woke up this morning and watched Wives & Daughters, Part 3...I love that series. And the book, as well. And I knitted while watching, I am almost to the point with the white skirt that I can cast off a bunch on the ends and just fill in the middle, which will hopefully make it go faster? A little bit cheating, but I don't really want to knit the whole underskirt. XD

What else did I do? I played DDR for a while. I emailed my husband <3. I looked at acid dyes. I'm still waiting on my yarn to ship, I don't think I am going to be able to begin the KAL on Monday...oh well, I will just have to catch up. I should probably stop by Hobby Lobby this afternoon and buy a circluar needle, size..um...4? I think? O_O 3.25 mm?

And then I cleaned house. I dusted the living/dining/study room, and the bedroom, and I vacuumed the living/dining/study roomed, and mopped the bedroom and the kitchen. And I cleaned the bathroom. >.< And now I am tired. But at least I am so far keeping up with my 101 in 1001 goal to clean the house every week! It still looks too full of stuff...but I guess it is! XD

Next week I need to try a new dessert (creme brulee, I think) and a new candy (not sure what...I realllly want to make homemade Aero bars but I don't have a whipping canister and I don't think I really want to buy one just now?). I reaaaaaaaaally want to make geeky cookies or cupcakes (or both). I saw a how-to for pixel cookies, which looks really fun and amusing, and I also kind of want to do Star Wars themed cupcakes (with mini edible lightsabers!!!). So...we'll see if either of those happen next week.

I need to start applying for jobs. I am stumped as to where to apply, however. :\

Okay got to get on with it, I've got lots to do this afternoon and not much time to do it!

Illustration Friday - Pale

2009-01-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

So I submitted a drawing to illustration friday again this week. 2/2 so far! ^_^

It can be found here: Pale

Really happy with the expression, less happy with the bangs, but overall not too bad considering I did it in about an hour or less.

Also I have been keeping up with exercising and eating less, so hopefully I am progressing on that scale as well (no pun intended).

Need to work more with poi. I did create a list of all the poi moves I know how to do but I need to review them and review linking them all together as well as learning new moves. I wish there was a poi group in my area.

Going to do some bellydance now, I think. Or maybe more DDR. Or maybe...maybe I will just do nothing at all. :P

I need to email my love. Yeah I will do that and then figure out what else to do!

Poi Move - Shoulder Wraps from Alternating Outwards Shoulder Reels

2009-01-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

Long Title, Sorry...

But that is what it is. I can kind of almost do them...They are really frustrating because if you get off your planes even a little tiny bit you get whacked in the head from one side or the other. :P

Syd says it looks awesome, though, when I do it right. I wouldn't know...it's hard to watch yourself without video taping it! :P

I also cleaned house today, again, so I am trying to get into the 'clean-every-week-for-two-months' thing. Yup.

..that's all. My face hurts. My shoulders hurt. My legs hurt. I want to go to sleeeeep. I woke up at 6:30 this morning, for crying out loud! D:

Illo Fri - Contained

2009-01-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

Illo Fri challenge posted on drawingpoint. Yay.

Contained

Hmmm what shall I do this morning? I have absolutely no idea. At all. Whatsoever. >.<

Muffins! And other stuff.

2009-01-14T10:14:00.001-08:00

So I made cheddar cheese muffins this morning for Syd, I think he likes them. They were very easy to make. Yay, muffins! Now, if only I could actually EAT them. :P

I also made chili for lunch, with a recipe that I have never used before. It was pretty good, it might have been better had I actually had one of the spices that were supposed to go into it. Oops. I though I did have some of that, but...I didn't. ^^' Oh well.

I also got the bedroom floor cleaned, FINALLY, and moved stuff back into the room. So, next I want to go through the electronics box and then maybe some of the stuff on the shelf. ^_^

I'm going to play DDR for an hour now. I also need to do dishes. And make chocolates. And write checks and get them ready to mail. And other things. *sigh* I never have enough hours in the day. Oh! And I get to figure out what the heck to make for dinner! And...I have NO clue. >.< Oh dear. And I also have no car...so I can't go to the store so I have to make with what I have. Hmmmmm. I'm sure I can come up with something. Yup.

I'm going to start keeping count of calories, I think. Syd thinks it would be a good idea, so...I'll give it a shot. I'd really like to be able to wear my black Chinese chengosam. Really. REALLY really.

Oh yeah! I also need to fix up new earrings so I can wear them! And stuff. Yup. Syd wants me to write an email for him. And I want to finish my IlloFri drawing. And look at bellydance videos. And do poi. And and and...no time, system crash. >.<

Okay since I have so much to do I am going to finish this off and go do stuff now! Yay!

January New Main Dish

2009-01-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

So last night for dinner I made "Fish Fromage", which is a fish - and - cheese (as the name implies) casserole. I have never made it before...actually I don't really do casseroles very often! ^^' But Syd requested this, and it is good. It actually turend out well, which is surprising...often things I make don't turn out quite right the first time. Ah well, I try. And usually the second time I can cut down on the amount of time that it actually takes to make it!

So this morning I worked on my French Beaded Golden Snitch. It's not quite done (the center is done, as is half a wing :P) but it is getting there. I just used beads that I already had on hand, but the colors are pretty good. I bougth them this summer to build up my bead stash, which is made up primarily of blues and greens and a few purples and I was trying to get some more variety in there :P, and then never used them (ended up busy, going back to classes, etc, so...things kind of stopped getting done?). But they were perfect for this project! Yay!

I think DDR killed me...seriously. Ow. And I still want to work on poi, and figure out a poi song and actually start on a poi routine. Yeah. I need more moves to have a good routine, though. I don't feel like I am progressing much, and I am trying to change that, but...it is hard? :P

I also want to start scanning some of my bead and knitting projects/patterns and storing them in PDF files. I haven't figured out yet how to actually arrange them yet...by magazine issue? By project type? >.< I have no idea...

I'm going to make my husband chocolates again this afternoon, and maybe make some muffins too. ^_^ Too bad I can't eat the muffins! I'm fixing chili soup for dinner tonight (which is, technially, also a "new main dish"...uses a new chili recipe that I have been meaning to try for ages), I think, which shouldn't take terribly long.

Man, I still need to clean the bedroom. Sigh.

And I still need to knit, needlepoint, and ummm stuff. Yeah. At least we finally orderd from amazon last night, I am excited for my new bellydance DVDs to arrive! YAY! And a yoga stretch workout! I need to stretch, I have lost a lot of my flexibility and would like to get it back for dance class.

And I also need to color/finish my IlloFriday pic...gah! >.<

And I just want to sleeeeeeeeeeep. -_-

General Monday-ness

2009-01-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

Well...start of a new week.

Beginnings of my 101 in 1001 list:
I have gotten halfway through That Darn Pearl Necklace (in the crafts category), which is further than I have ever gotten with it before...now we'll see if I can finish it without screwing up the second half! I'm scared to even look at it! :P

I am working on mastering shoulder wraps from the Encyclopoidia. If I can figure out the movement one way, then the other two ways should come easier. I hope! Because I am getting frustrated - I can do it with each side on their own, but trying to combine them is HARD. Sigh. But at least I can now dow it with each side individually, that was hard at first, too.

I have sketched and outline my submission for the current Illustration Friday promp ("contains"). So...once I get it colored I will be posting that up.

And I may make something new for dinner tonight, a fish casserole-ish-thing. And I also have new muffins on the list to make this week, for Syd to take to work (or not!).

Groceries are a must this afternoon, as is cleaning the bedroom. Between that and dinner, there goes all of my time today. I already did DDR and have been working with poi.

I wish I could feel better. Most of the time, I don't feel great but I can manage it, and then every so often the weather just messes with me and I feel terrible, and compared to that I feel just great the rest of the time. Unfortunately, now is one of those times. -_-

Anyways...I need to get on with things. Groceries, check. Put away, check. Now...onto bedroom cleaning. :( After emailing Syd.

Yay!

2009-01-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally got my 101 in 1001 list up! =D There's a link to it over there -->, too!

Didn't really do much today. :\ Played DDR for an hour, it nearly killed me. We have dance tonight, bolero and chacha. Yay!

Syd came home early, but now he is taking a nap. He got up early this morning to call the bank, and hasn't been getting enough sleep. We need to get to bed earlier (don't look at me...HE is the one keeping us up! :P).

Here are things that I have come up with already that I think I missed on my 101 in 1001 list:
1) learn to braid my hair in several different ways (5, at least) that I can do easily with practice

2) organize recipes

3) Hobbit comics...

4) I know there is something else that I can't think of at the moment. >.< Rawr!

I want to buy pretty yarn but I don't want to spend money. I also want to buy a professional hula hoop and a hooping video, with the same problem. AND I want to buy bellydance DVDs...you guessed it, same problem! >.<

Ya I really need to do something productive. I'm trying to work on my Maya underwater scene (Gnomon Workshop, Maya Dynamics, Underwater Environment)...yay for Christmas presents! But now my external harddrive is being weird. -_-

I need more sleep than that...

2009-01-05T13:57:00.000-08:00

pleeeeeeeeeeease???

I do not function very well on only five hours of sleep, when I also have a cold AND a stomach bug (recovering, kind of...still have the headache, stuffy nose, and icky tummy T_T). >.<

Plus I had a dentist appointment this morning, which completely ate my morning. Sigh.

And I did dishes. I hate dishes! And put the laundry away. I don't hate putting the laundy away. :P And I did a *little* bit of cleaning in the bedroom, but I am REALLY going to do that tomorrow morning.

I'm still sore from bowling. Ow. And dance. Ow. And DDR. more ow. Sigh.

I haven't played Spyro yet, and it's due tomorrow. And I haven't practiced poi yet today. I should do that. I need to do that. Maybe I will do that now.

I need to get my 101/1001 list done. And work on Maya. And make Hobbit Comics. And order stuff, maybe? And work on "stuff" (care packages? Christmas presents for next year? Something?).

Annnnnnnnnnnd I just want to go to sleep. I feel so pathetic. :'(

Reflections

2009-01-02T05:50:00.000-08:00

So, now that is is 2009 (yay!), it is time to look back on 2008.

There were lots of good things that happened in 2008. Syd recieved his green card. We had our "real" wedding (as opposed to our "fake" courthouse wedding?). We got to go back to Disney World and see more of Florida. I got to go surfing! And I went to the beach, for the first time - ever (was just as good/even better than I'd imagined ^_^). I learned about Maya and got access to it at school. Maya is awesome! I finally took the silver jewelry class (also awesome!). We did our first ballroom dance exhibitions, in Columbus and at Dance Fair. Syd got a good programming job, finally. So now we have a source of income! And I finally finally finally graduated, which nearly killed me, but I did it, and somehow my grades were actually GOOD (Seriously, I still have no idea how I survived five classes in one semester >.<)!

Then there were some not-so-good things. Like ICE agents waking us up at 7 and lying to us (multiple times) and dragging Syd down to Cincinatti WITHOUT RIGHT (and actually, almost technically illegally) and putting him in jail for the night, destroying any belief that I had in the goodness, effectiveness, or ummm worth of the American Government. Kind of sad when your government betrays you just becuase it is "easier" for some government employees to go after REGISTERED aliens who are trying to get adjustment of status and have filed (after which they cannot be deported anyways until the results of the change of status are completed, one way or the other) so they know where they are than to actually DO THEIR JOBS catching ILLEGAL aliens. Completely destroyed my faith in the government, and I now believe the system is completely broken (as opposed to partially broken). Oh, and then there was the frustrating internship. The amount of time it took for Syd to find a job. The really really bad job at UCR from which he would come home with his back in a knot from pressure/stress. Stupid required classes. And evil professors. Of course, the election. Which was bad either way, really, because I am now for the Libertarians, and don't think there is much difference between the Dems and Repubs really. Both corrupt, inept, and full of stupidity. Bad economy largely because of stupid government policies. Everyone and their mother asking for (and receiving?) "bailouts" which won't work anyways...

But overall, I guess it was a pretty good year. Ended on a good note, anyways. Hope that 2009 will be even better, that I will be able to get a job and we will be able to save for another car, move to a better apartment, and go on a trip to South Africa (and/or New Zealand) by the end of the year so that I can FINALLY meet my in-laws! :D

The New Year's ball was awesome. Although now I am hungry for chocolate-covered strawberries (bought strawberries and chocolate!). We danced. A lot. We have improved an amazing amount from last year at this time, when we still only knew bronze dances and couldn't do silver waltz or foxtrot at all (now we can get around the room!). I braided my hair all pretty! And it actually turned out pretty well, which was surprising. We had a board game night with Tammy and Adam, that was mostly really fun. Rosie is adorable!

I still need to finalize my resolutions, which will be officially coming later, I guess, and I want to complete my 101 in 1001 list (which will probably include most of my resolutions :P). So, yay!

I want to buy yarn. >.>

So, I'm done!

2008-12-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

I'm finally finally done! No more evil professors! No more slaving away to homework! No more getting four hours of sleep a night for a week and a half! I'm done! I passed! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! ^_^

And I actually passed with decent grades! I'm totally surprised. I didn't even think I would survive a fall semester with five classes, must less do pretty good.

Anyways...

Tomorrow night is the New Year's ball. Yay! But I need to learn to braid my hair pretty before then, so I am going to try this afternoon. And toight we are going to Tammy & Adam's for a board game night. So that will be fun, I haven't seen Tammy in forever! And she is pregnant again, I need to find out when she is due...so I can knit her baby a blanket, or something, I guess.

I need to catch up on all of the things that I have been wanting to do but have been so overworked by classes that I haven't had time to do. Plus, I want to continue working with Maya and improving my skills with that, and eventually completely redo my senior seminar animation project. But right now I am just still so tired from the last week of classes, then Christmas, etc, and since Syd is working again I have been getting up early and doing more stuff around the apartment and stuff that I am just totally incapable of getting anything done at all. :P

Like right now I should be seaming my sweater...instead of posting this. Heck, I don't even know why I post stuff. O_O Not like anybody reads this, because I don't post regularly and I don't put pictures up and I don't even have anything interesting to say! So I guess this is mostly just a journaly thing for me. It's good for keeping to-do lists though. =)

Okay I'm going to seam my sweater now. And then figure out what else to do with my day.

I want to buy stuff now that Syd has a job but realistically I shouldn't, because we both need new dance shoes and we would like to take Shotokan Karate lessons (Syd used to, and misses it, and I think it would be fun and a good way to get in shape, seriously) and we want to go places (skiing at Mad River Mountain, the zoo, around? :P) and stuff and yarn is kind of sadly expensive. So basically I need to finish the projects that I have now (well, Anna's doll didn't cost very much but I am so close to being done I should finish it now, but Syd's sweater did cost a bunch and I should work on it, I just need to get the yarn divided up onto bobbins and am procrastinating that part :P) before buying yarn for any other projects, there are just six projects that I am really wanting to try (long opera gloves, fingerless gloves, lace stole for Mom, lace "ballet" dress for me, pirate socks, lace top for me, and maybe "Quidditch"/rugby socks for me..okay, so that is seven. :P Whatever!).

Okay, I'm going to start seaming now. See if I can get that off my list, at least!

2008-12-29T08:08:00.000-08:00

Random to-do-ness (w/Syd):
1) scrapbook
2) airbrush
3) other art
4) go places =)

Random to-do-ness (by self):
1) design sketchbook
2) cross-stitch designs
3) string art (earrings? Stuff?)
4) little Mermaid doll
5) seam sweater
6) Syd's sweater (bobbins, first)
7) Maya!
8) call Tammy
9) Wii Games?
10) beading
11) that darn pearl necklace
12) put away Christmas presents
13) dust 1/2 the house done
14) sleep!
15) clean computer files
16) go through favorites
17) back up computer on harddrive
18) Hobbit Comics
19) embroider hand towels, place mats, etc
20) knit (see knit list)
21) make apartment pretty
22) bake/cook
23) needlepoint(s)
24) cross-stitch 1/2
25) poi
26) braid hair
27) organize recipes that I actually use in Word, add pictures, etc, and also make sure I have recipe cards written or printed for each one!
28) scan and organize all beading and knitting and lampworking patterns to pdf format and organize!!
29) 101/1001 list! >.<
30) Write
31) Figure out what to start boxing up...
32)

I will add more if I feel like it later.

I can't believe I'm done!

2008-12-26T08:16:00.001-08:00

I'm done I'm done I'm done! But it doesn't feel like I'm done yet. :( It will, though...maybe once I catch up on sleep?

So it's almost time for New Years resolutions. I don't know whether to make any or none. O_O

So....

1) finish writing my 101/1001 list!
2) learn to knit socks this year
3) knit at least two: sweaters, lace shawls, scarves (presents), and gloves...
4) continue to keep sketchbook/inspiration/pattern idea "journal"
5) actually MAKE some of the things from my sketchbook
6) make our apartment prettier
7) clean once a week
8) cook at least one new meal a month, and reduce eating fastfood to after dance and Saturday's with Mom, except on "special" occasions...
9) lose at least 10 pounds..
10)...continue ballroom dancing (learn viennese waltz! and latin club dancing!)
11) continue learning poi, and actually make an entire poi routine =)
12) start some other kind of exercise (bellydance/hooping/karate/swimmming/whatever)
13) enjoy my time off for a bit, and then FIND A JOB!
14) continue working with Maya and other 3-D graphics programs, and create lot of models, worlds, and shorts to put into a demo reel!
15) write video game with Syd!
16) for a while(aka while not working) try to make one new Hobbit Comic every week

...that's all I've got for the moment. Hm. I can think of lots more though. Which is the problem. The more stuff I want to do, the less is going to get done.

Now, I am going to go work on finishing Anna's little mermaid doll. And watch something on Netflix.

Why Gears of War is the best shooter game on the market!

2008-12-05T08:37:00.001-08:00

The Gears of War saga has something that is unlike most first-or-third-person shooter games. In addition to the best field tactics - the ability to take cover, provide covering fire, use fallen enemies as shields, etc - the game is truly unique. Despite the four main characters (Marcus, Dom, Cole, and Baird) being incredibly macho males, and there not being a female COG solider in sight (or even a female in sight - no, Anya's "voice" does not count, nor does her one brief appearance in both games, and unfortunately Maria doesn't count either), Gears does not treat the war that they are fighting as being purely "fun" or "challenging". While there are those light-hearted moments ("let's go kill some bugs"), there is also a prevailing sense of desperation. They aren't fighting for kicks (although you might be). They are fighting for their very survival (and sometimes, for revenge). Essentially, what the Gears of War universe has that most other shooter games are lacking, is humanity. COG soldiers - men that you, through Marcus or Dom, fight with - die (both Carmines, Tai, etc). Men, COG soldiers and civilians, are captured, enslaved, and tortured. Entire cities are sunk. And Marcus and Dom themselves both suffer personal losses - in the original Gears, Marcus' entire family has been killed and he has be wrongly kept in prison for years for 'treason'; in Gears 2, Dom is searching for his wife, Maria, and when he finall finds her, she has been tortured to the point that she doesn't even recognize her, and so he kills her (although there is a sliiiight story line loophole with Maria supposedly being released from the hospital a 'few days ago' and becoming THAT emancipated THAT quickly...I mean, seriously? :P She looked like a holocaust survivor!).

For me, this is what makes Gears of War stand out from other first-or-third-person shooters. In Halo, there is little emotional connection to the game. Master Chief is, essentially, pretty much detached from the battle, and the light-colored world does not lend any gravity to the fight. (This is not to say that I did not enjoy Halo - I did, but preferred the online play rather than the 'story' play).

All that said, all the game is really lacking, in my opinion, is a female soldier playable character. I mean, I would think if the human race was as desperate as the game depicts that the military would have no problem conscripting girls. What gives, Epic?

Still, the Gears of War saga is easily the best first/third-person shooter game there is, and definitely one of, if not THE, best games available for XBox 360. I am eagerly awaiting the third title (and the movie).

Almost there?

2008-12-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

So this is the list of started-but-unfinished projects that need finishing after I am done studying:
1) That darn pearl necklace
2) Butterfly Needlepoint
3) Anna's Ariel
4) Mermaid Earrings
5) Florida Earrings
6) Birthday Happiness Earrings
7) Syd's Sweater
8) Jingle Bell Earrings (repaint)
8) Um?

And a list of things that I have not yet started but am planning to start:
1) French beaded snitch
2) French beaded lavender bunch
3) French beaded pinecone
4) Tatted necklace
5) Fire corset
6) Matching fire beaded cuffs and necklace
7) Disney Shorts Cross-stitch
8) Little Mermaid / Disney Princess wall art (cross-stitch/needlepoint/drawing)
9) AIRBRUSHED STUFF!
10) Christmas Cards
11) Hobbit Comics (Christmas present)
12) Knit Fish & Elephant (for Nate & Leah, Christmas Presents)
13) Fish Had for Syd
14) Presents for Irene, Maria, Tammy...
15) I'm sure there is more stuff I can't think of now...

I love you my fishy! <3
4)

Wakey, wakey! It's day breaky!

2008-11-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

Fabel 2 is an RPG-type game. And it is quite amusing. You get to run around as a hero (male or female, your choice, and does not really affect game play), be good or evil (which affects your appearance), defeat the evil guy who killed your sister, and buy stuff (buildings, items, whatever). It has multiple side quests, you can get married (and, yes, you can marry someone of the same sex, multiple people, and even have kids). You can complete the main gameplay at your own pace, and continue playing afterwards to earn more gamer points. And there are quite a few amusing gamer points.

This game is very easy to sit and play for days on end, until you beat the game and collect most of the points and items...I'm not convinced of how re-playable the game is, however.

I'd say that the dog is the best part of the game. I'm not even a pet person, but without your dog by your side the game just seems...weird. Besides, your dog finds all sorts of great items and treasures for you!

While very fun, and a game in which you are never lacking in things to do, even after the main plot is completed, one of the few drawbacks is the sounds. While funny and amusing at first, by the end of the game, the town crier and other noises are just, frankly, annoying.

The hour is...very late.

2008-11-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

List of unfinished projects:
1) that darn pearl necklace (second strand)
2) Anna's doll
3) Syd's sweater
4) my sweater (seaming)
5) butterfly needlepoint pillow (background)
6) geek cross-stitch

Additionally, this week there is the election (tomorrow), Wednesday is Mom's birthday, and Thursday we are going to a Microsoft convention thing.

(Mis)Adventures of a Fall Break

2008-10-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

So, this weekend was fall break, and I had Monday and Tuesday classes off. Since Syd is working, I decided to actually have a break Saturday and Sunday (for once!) and spend Monday and Tuesday working on my senior seminar project.

Saturday Mom came over, and we went to the Commons, had lunch at First Watch, and then went shopping at the mall. I was looking for a cocktail dress to wear for our chacha routine, but the only thing that I found that I *reaaaaaaaaally* wanted was $168, $68+tax over my budget. Sigh. So I came home empty-handed, except with knitting needles so I can maybe finally start Anna's Ariel.

Sunday Syd drove me down to the Greene, where we had never been but kept meaning to go. We looked around there, but it was uninspiring. Very pretty, though. Too many food shops and work clothes selling places. Not a single cocktail dress even worth trying on! Bah! So once again, we came home empty handed. After eating at Don Pablo's. But it was still fun. Sunday late afternoon/night Syd spent figuring out a problem in his work, where dynamically deleting items caused other dynamic text boxes to lose their information. After determining that it was not a problem with the viewstate, searching through myriad articles in the MCSD and developer blogs and not finding the answer, he finally stepped through the code with all the variables showing at the bottom of the screen and eventually figured out the problem (the dynamic text box's indices are not automatically renumbered, but the dynamic controls are, which is very odd) and it took a good three lines of code to fix it. At 3:30 AM. :P

And so Monday I got up and got him off to work, and settled in to work on giving my Fishy a face (well, continue giving him a face, really, because I had already created the eye sockets and did a little bit of the "nose", but still had the mouth, lips, cheeks, and actual eye balls to do. And so I do get that done, but not really to my ummm liking. >.< So I still need to fix that. And then Syd came home at 3, and said that the contractor had cancelled the assignment because the company was being unreasonable (which was true) but he was still kind of bummed. So we went home to my parent's house for dinner, then came back later in the evening. Yeah.

Today, since Syd was home, we slept in late (well, relatively so) and then Mom came over and we went out to lunch with her. I wanted to go to the mall here, and to Kohl's, but never got around to it, because I ended up working on my penguin model all afternoon. Good news: The penguin model is lacking only in eye ridges (in place of brows, because penguins just don't HAVE eyebrows :P), eye balls, and her "hair" feathers. But I still need to start rigging the characters, because I want to have the animation itself basically done in just over a month. Meep. That does not give me much time, especially with all of my other work. :\

However, I *do* think I am getting better at creating models. I suppose that is progress of some sort.

I have classes again tomorrow. That is sad. I don't like class and I didn't get enough done over break, really. I still haven't gotten mail ready, I need to write a thank you and a note to my Grandma, because she had surgery today and her birthday is this week, and Grandpa's birthday is next week! Oh my!

We haven't even had time to put Halloween decorations up!!! Noooooo!

I was going to try to seam my sweater this weekend, too. Sigh. Oh well, I guess it will have to wait (more). By the time I get around to seaming it, it will probably be too warm to wear it! :P

Okay, I think I am going to be done working for today, yeah. :) I'm tired. :\

101 in 1001

2008-10-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

The Key:
Items in bold are headings/general info/categories
Items in italics are items in progress, with date begun and/or progress listed
Items in ~~strikethrough~~ are items that have been completed, with end date and link to corresponding blog post.

Heck, maybe eventually I'll feel like making my list pretty colored! :P

The Info:
So I have way too many things to do. Seriously! I can't even fit them all in a 101 list...so I left off most of the things that I think will not happend in the next two years, or chose between several things (trips to places) because even though some of the things in one category may be completed in two years, all of them cannot be (applies to things like travel). Oh, and I'm super indecisive so I may change/modify my list as I see fit...to add things or whatever. XD

Home
1) cook one new main dish a month (10/33)
2) cook one new bread/pastry a month (10/33)
3) cook one new dessert a month (10/33)
4) cook one new candy a month (10/33)
5) embroidered set(s) of napkins, placemats, and tea towels - penguin & fish, Spring/Easter, Summer, Fall/Halloween, Winter/Christmas (0/4 sets)
6) dust, vacuum, and generally pick up the house once a week, regularly (40/143)
7) do a more thorough cleaning once every spring and fall (2/6)
8) decorate house for all major holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Fourth of July, Valentine’s Day, Easter) (4/14)
9) make home/apartment pretty – themed bathroom, just generally nice
Love
10) return to the Inn at Versailles for our honeymoon at least once
11) make/buy random “I love you” presents
12) Take random lessons or classes with Syd (archery, pottery, karate, whatever)
13) Make something that he requests every other week week (or surprise him) (30/171)
14) Do things together
a. Build a Kite (& fly it)
b. Build at least one thing from one issue of Make magazine
c. Put a puzzle together
15) ~~Go see a movie (in theaters) at least four times a year (10/10)~~
16) ~~Go bowling together~~
17) Go ice skating together
Exercise, Health, & Beauty
18) only eat out on dance nights (Thurs/Sun) and Saturday morning
19) Eat more fruits and vegetables (work up to 5/day)
20) Get weight down to 155 and keep it there (7/10)
a. buy new clothes to celebrate!
b. continue losing until 145 or 150, if possible :)
21) Start & Complete 100 push up challenge
22) Start flexibility workout (yoga?)
23) Learn to braid hair, easily: On hold, because the front of my hair is shorter than the rest now and it doesn't work to braid it :(
a. French braid
b. Lace braid
c. Fishtail braid
d. at least one crown braid
e. one braid with ribbon(s)
24) Buy a Hoopnotica hoop and video
25) Learn more poi moves…one a week? (1/143)
a. complete the Encyclopoidia (2/???)
b. work with The Scales Of Poi, as much as possible (0/???)
Travel & Adventure
26) visit South Africa next Christmas
27) Do things on our list of places to visit in Ohio (1/10)
28) Go places for the weekend
a. Aunt Jackie's
b. Springfield, Il.
c. NYC
d. Chicago
29) Take Dad to Gettysburg for re-enactment
30) Take Mom to Florida to SeaWorld & Discovery Cove
31) Return to St. Louis and actually be able to go places :P
32) Go to New Zealand
33) Go to the Tucson bead show (or just to Tucson?)
~~34) Use free flight tickets to go somewhere fun on a weekend~~
35) Go for a Hot Air Balloon Ride
36) Go skydiving (indoor or actual…whatever!)
37) Crew or ride on a tall ship
38) Ride in a Waco Plane with Syd!
39) Reapply for a passport!
Educational
40) Buy RosettaStone learning language course thingies for any/all of the following:
a. French
b. Spanish
c. Chinese
d. Arabic
41) Learn Afrikaans – vocab sheet/week, or vocab specific to things we are going to go do
42) Read 50 books on my list of classics that I need to read (2/50)
43) Subscribe to magazines – Make Magazine, PC Format, 3D World, ?
44) Read at least 5 non-fiction books a year (2/13)
45) Study engineering and create cool stuff (then start a company, etc…)
46) Participate in NaNoWriMonth
47) Continue practicing French at home – watch Disney movies in French, read French blogs, etc
48) Continue to take random classes
Financial
~~49) Find a job!~~ Completed Sept 30, 2009!
50) Save money in a separate savings account just for travel/trips
51) Save half of my salary in a personal retirement account
52) Go through bank & credit card statements each month when they arrive (0/33)
53) Get a credit card?
Programming & Computers
54) create professional 2.0 website with content
55) Post random blogs/tutorials on geeky computer stuff
56) Game programming
a. Hobbit Game
b. Thumbwiggle Games
c. 3-D Pirate game
d. 3-D world?
e. Agricola Test game
f. Settlers Test game
g. Stargate game
h. Jock game
57) Reminder program
58) Budgeting program
59) Continue to make 3-D models
60) …And 3-D shorts
61) Compile a demo reel
62) Go through computer files
63) Go through computer favorites
~~64) Back up computer onto external hdd~~
65) Read computer magazines to stay on top of “the industry”
a. CoDe Magazine
b. 3D World Magazine
66) Build a super powerful desktop computer from scratch!
67) Become an MCP
68) Make a pretty desktop background for Syd, with custom icons
Arts & Crafts
69) Use art prompt program to create artwork with Syd
70) Airbrush!
71) Knitting
a. Knit Syd’s sweater
b. Learn to knit socks
c. Knit lace shawls as gifts – Mom, Ma, ?
~~d. Knit baby present for Tammy & Rose~~ Completed July 2009
e. Learn to Dye my own Yarns
~~f. Knit fingerless gloves~~ Completed March 2009
g. Knit at least 10 finished objects (6/10) - plush elephant, plush fish, plush giraffe, fingerless gloves, purple dress, riding to avalon hoodie,
h. Design my own pattern(s)
72) Beading
a. Fire Armlets
~~b. Golden Snitch Flowers~~
c. Lavender flowers
d. Beaded pine cones
e. Projects from magazines
f. Monet cuff
g. Chinese coin bracelet, again
~~h. That Darn Pearl Necklace~~ - Finished February 2009
i. Design my own pattern(s) and submit to magazine(s)
73) Needlecrafts
a. Finish butterfly pillow
b. Begin second pillow
c. Witty/Funny cross-stitch
i. Mario themed
ii. Geek themed
iii. Disney Shorts
d. Petit Point Pattern?
e. Create Disney Princess Dancing patterns?
74) Book Binding
a. Use the book from Irene, make random books for fun!
b. Learn to bind proper books, and bind Syd & my chat logs and emails
75) Lampworking
a. Make at least one SET of beads/month (0/33)
b. Learn and experiment with new techniques
c. Buy a kiln…
d. ..sell beads
e. ..& participate in Beads of Courage
76) Organization
a. Organize craft/art supplies
b. Scan magazine, etc patterns and organize in pdf format. (20/42, est.)
77) Jewelry Making (not beading)
a. Find some place to continue taking silver jewelry lessons
b. Or a studio to rent
c. Make some chain maille pieces
d. Make some wire pieces (not chain maille)
e. Keep design sketches while waiting for opportunity to continue silver lessons/studio space
78) Other
a. Shrinky dinks
b. Perler beads
c. Candle making
d. Soap making
e. Clothes/Costume making & altering – fire corset, princess dress, ballroom costumes ???
f. Learn to woodcarve?
g. Perfume making
79) Drawing
a. Use copic markers more!
b. Do every Illustration Friday Prompt (6/143)
c. Keep design sketchbook and actually use it…(fill an entire sketchbook with designs)
d. Art100 Challenge (0/100)
e. FanArt100 Challenge (0/100)
f. OCArt100 Challenge (0/100)
g. Illustrate an entire book (The Three Musketeers?)
h. Learn to draw all Disney "princesses", Disney style + my style & their expressions (0/12?)
80) Scrapbooking
a. Get caught up!
b. And then stay up-to-date
81) Home Geekiness
a. Create stuff to decorate house/apartment/cubicle with
b. Create cool magnets (stargate, mario, ?)
Dance
82) Become proficient in Latin dances, then go to Latin club(0/5)
a. Mambo
b. Salsa
c. Chacha
d. Jive
e. Samba
83) Continue dance lessons (aka, still be dancing at the end of 1001 days)
84) Actually PRACTICE outside of class >.> once a week?
85) Go to at least one or two dances a month (1/143)
86) Do at least two exhibitions a year (3/5)
87) Learn quickstep & Viennese waltz well enough to dance at Arbor Hall (0/2)
88) Compete for first time?
89) Create costumes to wear at one of the exhibitions!
90) Take pole dancing lessons because it looks fun
91) Take bellydance lessons or learn bellydance from videos
92) Take any other dance lessons (Chinese Folk Dance, ballet, etc?) that I can
Geekery
93) Make Xbox pretty colors (& matching controllers)
94) Make geeky crafts/clothes/stuff
95) Make geeky foods (for Syd to take in to work?) (0/12)
(see “make custom desktop”, and “build projects from Make magazine”)
Other, Random
96) Learn modeling, balloon, and coin tricks for fun ^_^
97) Volunteer at aquarium, if possible
98) Send care packages, at least 5/year (4/13)
99) Send cards for holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries (using reminder program)
100) Blog about each item on the list as it is in progress/completed
101) Celebrate each completed item in the list, the end date of the list and create a new one!!

from Thursday, January 8, 2009 to Thursday, October 6, 2011.

Almost fall break and I'm falling apart.

2008-10-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I was working on a 101 in 1001 list, but I seem to have lost it, so I suppose I will have to re-write it sometime. It didn't have 101 things on it, anyways...

It's not like I don't have 101 things that I want to do, I just know it is imposible to do all of those things in 1001 days. Like...all the traveling I want to do. I would have to spend the entire 1001 days traveling, and I have neither the time nor the money for that, so I have to narrow it down. And that is (sadly) only one example.

I'm so frustrated right now. I have this one professor, had him last semester as well, who is just really really bad at teaching. And I am not the only one who thinks so. Nearly everyone else agrees (well...everyone, actually, at least to my knowledge). I'm really not even sure why I am trying any more. The stuff that he teaches should NOT be that hard (200-level CS courses, I have had several 300-level courses as well as difficult math courses, that have been NO problem). And I have the feeling that with a competent prof it wouldn't be that hard. I mean, maybe I wouldn't get an A...a B or something. But still. Trying really hard and still doing terribly is awful. I am at the point where I just want to stop trying, and all I am trying for at the moment is a D anyways. Argh.

On top of that, the rear tire blew out yesterday on Syd's way home from work, I don't know how he didn't crash the car. O_O That added complications to stuff yesterday and today, and on top of it Syd is feeling sick. :(

I have my three rings due tomorrow for jewelry class. Not too worried about that, though. At least this weekend is fall break. I'm just hoping that I don't get sick...that would be terrible. :( And probably likely...*sigh*

I need to work on my animation desperately. But I am either just trying to stay caught up with my other four classes or so exhausted (I bloody HATE fall allergies) that I just am not getting to it.

And to top it all off I STILL haven't cast on for the last third of mon petit chou! T_T It's been like two weeks...that's just sad, I am so close to being done (I probably would be done if I had cast on two weeks ago) and I still haven't finished seaming my first sweater. And the yarn still hasn't come in for Syd's sweater. Thinking of attempting to knit that for the knitting equivalent of NaNoWriMo.

So all in all I'm kind of in a depressed mood, which is bad, considering that fall break is this weekend...I should be in a good mood, looking forward to it, my three tests are (mostly) behind me, etc...but...meh. :\

I do NOT understand the aversion Men have...

2008-09-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

of writing down items on a grocery list when they run out! It is NOT THAT HARD!!!! And how the hell am I supposed to know we are out of it if I am not the one who used it up?? >.<

Now I can't make dinner. BAH!!!!

*breathe, self. breathe* I am just trying SO HARD to be on top of things and I bought $50 of groceries last night (granted, $15 of that was spent on ground coffee for Syd and wine for cooking, but still), and I still don't have all the bloody stuff I need.

Plus I am trying to cook dinner so we don't eat out so much and stuff, and then I end up giving up time that I should be studying or whatever in to make dinner, which is okay, but then it is frustrating to try and not be able to. Plus, I did the dishes so that I would have the pots and pans I needed (also so Syd wouldn't have to do them when he got home). >.<

Maybe I am just in a bad mood, however. Because I am tired and still half-sick and this has been a whole week now of being sick or half-sick and less than productive and so now I am running behind on stuff (or at least not as ahead as I would normally be) and so now I am starting to panic, but I still don't feel good enough to really push myself to get things done.

Or something. I don't know, I don't even feel good. :\ I'm probably partly PMSing on top of everything else because I already have my montly pimple. So I'm sure that isn't helping anyways because I do tend to feel rather lousy around that time.

I just want it to be the weekend yet. At least Friday I don't have my religion class, so that might help a little bit.

I don't even know why I am wasting the time in writing this. It's not like anybody reads it, and besides, it's not like I have anything interesting to say either! :P

I need more sleep.

2008-09-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

I didn't get a nap today. And I hate algorithms class. Know what makes it even worse? The fact that I *shouldn't* hate it, I just hate the professor (as does everyone else, it really isn't just me) and that makes the whole class terrible. *le sigh* I mean, I have taken so many classes that are supposed to build on the foundations of this class (and be harder than this class) and I passed those with no trouble at all. So, theoretically, this class should be easy. Rawr.

I'm so hungry and Syd is 20 minutes late. And I even fixed dinner, tortillas included! Sheesh. And we need to go grocery shopping and I need to finish my reading for tomorrow and maybe work on my models if I have time.

I was looking on ravelry today and somehow found my way over to NoTwoSnowflakes on Etsy, where I found absolutely GORGEOUS yarn in the perfect color, perfect type (SILK!!! OMG ALL SILK! I LOVE SILK!!!), and perfect name (Shark Fin...Sharks are soooooo cool). However, it is $30 plus $3 shipping, BUT I could totally make the Seashell Shawl with it (which I already have the pattern for) and it is 830 yards of pretty laceweight silk, so....that is actually pretty cheap for a shawl. Hmmm wonder if I can talk Syd or Mom into buying it for my birthday (since I don't really have time right now and I really want to get started on Syd's sweater once the yarn arrives).

I do wish Syd's sweater yarn would get here, it's six skeins of Cascade 220 and I already have two skeins of Cascade 220 in a different color. But I do have the mon petit chou to finish first, anyways. The top is finished, I've only just started the bottoms because I don't have much time to knit.

I need more time to do things that I actually want to do, but between homework, and fixing Syd's lunch and my lunch and our dinner, and washing the dishes, and trying to keep the house semi-clean, I just don't have any time. And then Syd comes home at night and wants all of my attention (which isn't a BAD thing, I just haven't even ended up knitting during any movies or anything because by the time we start watching them it is just so late I don't want to mess up my knitting).

I need to go do something now. >.< Something PRODUCTIVE.

2008-09-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

I'm sick again. Same thing I had last week, only worse, so I must have either re-caught it on Sat when I was sneezing my head off or sneezing my head off just weakened my immune system. Grar. I had a lot I needed to get done today, too. I slept most of the day, still don't feel great. I'm going to fix dinner around 5:30. Soup, I think, because I might actually eat soup.

I really should be doing homework, and I am going to try to force myself to now, but I am just SO tired and ugh. I miss having Syd home. :\

I was looking at Ravelry, at the finished Ravelympics items, and was adding random patterns to my queue. I found two very pretty lacey skirts that I would like to make to wear dancing. My dance wardrobe definitely needs help. Then I went to look at my queue...and I have almost 100 items saved! D: Even if I never add another pattern, and kept knitting at the rate I am knitting now, it would still take me upwards of oh 20 years to finish off all of those patterns! Of course, I probably wouldn't actually end up finishing them all, as there are several lace patterns (a few I definitely want to do, but others I will probably end up doing maybe 1 out of 5 or so), and several fingerless gloves/mits. There are also some smaller items, like socks, but even so. The one shawl I am just DYING to knit is the civil war shawl...drooool. But that will take so much yarn and so much time to knit.

I am working on my 101 in 1001 list, but am stuck at around 50. Which is really silly, because there are so many things that I want to do I know I should easily be able to come up with 101! lol Maybe I have too many lists? Also, I know that many of the things that are on my full to do list are things that I can't get done in two years, or things that I can maybe get one or two things done per category (ie: I can't completely travel the world in two years, unless I forgo work and do nothing else, so I had to limit that to going to South Africa and maybe one other place).

Yeah..I am going to attempt to do something now. Or maybe just sleep more. >.<

That darn pearl necklace!

2008-09-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

So, I was supposed to sew a button back onto one of Syd's shirts. He needs to wear the shirt tomorrow (man, I have GOT to get him more shirts XD) so I was going to do it this afternoon, as we have dance tonight and of course have to get up early tomorrow. But anyways, I digres...So I went to get the button and it was not where it had been for the past week (seriously...it was there yesterday! I know it was!) but that is okay, as there are two spare buttons sewn to the inside of the shirt, so I can use one of those and if the original button shows up sometime, I can sew it to the inside, no problem. And I borrowed the right color thread from Mom this weekend, so I had that. So I go to find my needles...and I have no idea where they are! None at all! I know I had them this spring (May 3, to be specific) when I fixed a hole in my dance dress. But I have NO idea where they are. So frustrating! So I was looking in my bead box, thinking that maybe they had been stuck there (after all, that would be a fairly logical place to put them). Alas! No luck, however, I *did* come across..

That darn pearl necklace!!!

A couple of years ago I was at my local bead store (had nothing better to do, I guess) and I was just looking around. Now, normally I'm not really big into pearls, especially not white pearls. However, this time I happened to notice a strand of tiny white/silver button pearls, and I decided that I HAD to have them. I thought they would be perfect wedding jewelry, although I wasn't planning on (ever) getting married. But anyways, I thought I would try pearl knotting so I bought a strand. And I made a double-stranded pearl knotted bracelet. Silk thread. SS clasp. And it was so pretty!!!!

Then last fall, I was out with Mom, and I thought that I wanted to make something for my bridesmaids to wear, in navy(ish) and lavender(ish). So I found two pearl strands that I liked and decided I would pearl knot necklaces for my bridesmaids. Annnyway. They happened to have a few strands of the tiny "wedding" pearls that I had made the bracelet out of. So, of course, I decided that I should buy two more strands and make a matching double stranded necklace for myself. To (possibly) wear with my wedding dress (but it didn't match, but I was going to go ahead and make it anyways).

So I made my bridesmaid's necklaces, no problem (I even bought matching silk thread online, because Crafts2000 only carries white and black). Then I start on my necklace. I get oohhhh maybe 4 inches in to the first strand...and I get a bad knot (not tight enough) that WON'T come out. So I go buy more thread, and start over. The same thing happens. FOUR TIMES. FOUR @)*$(#*$# times. >.<
So I gave up, and decided it was cursed. I had no problems when I did the bracelet, and that had two strands. I hadn't done even a quarter of that length with the necklace before it had problems.

Anyways...there it was, in my bead box. In a bag. And I have this sneaky little suspicion that I bought two more packs of silk thread (...which would be like six packs total for this ONE necklace >.<) to try again, but I don't know where they are. So now I am kind of tempted to try this necklace again. After all, it *has* been a year, and maybe the "curse" is broken. Maybe.

So that, my non-existant readers, is the story of That darn pearl necklace!

Day #1 minus Car

2008-08-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

So yeah we are going to be without car until Wednesday at least, so this will be fun. :P No dancey dancey tomorrow. :(

I was going to try to work on my internship stuff but I can't get my main animation to open correctly so I don't have any images to stick on my presentation or poster and I have looked at the help and there isnt anything that works so I think I just give up now. T_T

I need to go fix dinner just now anyways. I also need to order my textbooks (uuuugh) and work on my sleeve, I *have* to get that sleeve done today and get started on the next if I want to have the sweater done by next week. I sure hope Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon this week so I can start buying yarn for Anna's mermaid.

I just feel annoyed with everything. That is the ONLY scene that won't open, and there is no good reason for it, either...that I can find, anyways. And that was the best thing I made for my internship, and I am NOT remaking it, and my internship stuff is all BS anyways, I at least need images for it...or maybe I just won't bother with the poster and ppt. That would serve Dr. S. right..

I also need to start applying for jobs places. :\

I think I am PMSing, I feel generally a bit grumpy and annoyed with everything. Meh.

I hate my internship

2008-08-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so it has pretty much been a complete waste of time. And now I am at the point where I have to sit down and write up "deliverables" to hand in. A "nontechnical" paper, a "technical" paper, a poster, AND a powerpoint presentation (which I then have to present). AKA "pull stuff out of my butt" that looks/sounds good about what I DID for my internship and why it is important.

Which leads directly to the problem: I didn't actually DO anything for my internship (because I wasn't given anything) and I therefore don't have anything to write about. And the stuff that I DID do really ISN'T important. So.

Yay?

I am really tempted to just not turn them in, or to go to the prof and tell him that I really have no clue what to write. But he doesn't really care. Obviously. So.

...I'm kind of in the mood to color pictures. XD I will have to see what good things I have to color. Yeah...although I could be knitting or needlepointing or even (le gasp) working on Senior Seminar or my dance animation.

But I think I should get the papers, poster, presentation, etc, out of the way now (even though it means pulling BS out of my...erm..yeah) because I am going to be so busy once classes start that it isn't even funny. All my free time? Yeah, that will pretty much cease to exist until mid-December.

Speaking of that, I need to order my textbooks this week, and I need to be searching for jobs. That scares me. I need to get a website up and running with pretty models and code and stuff. Meep.

So that probably means I should stop this stream-of-consciousness writing and actually get down to DOING something that I need to do, right?

But...that isn't any fun. :(

The difference between men and women...

2008-06-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

So we were at Kohl's the other day looking for a birthday present for my brother, and we were looking at the "young men's" graphic tees. And I see one that says "XBox" on it with the XBox 360 logo on it and I'm all like "OMG THAT IS MINE!!!" and then I see a blue shirt with "Wii" on it. Uh-oh. Which one to get? Which one? Hard-core gamer? Or cool fun obsessed-with-new-tech-gadgets girl?

Eventually (after not buying either shirt but still wanting both), I got off on the train of thought on the differences between guys and girls and gaming. That's a lot of g's.

Guys (most guys, not all, but those who really like games) are perfectly happy to sit and play a video game (or multiple video games) for hours on end. They forget to eat, drink, and sleep while playing games. Additionally, they get very very very involved with games. To the point that they yell at the screen, at the game, at the other player(s), and want to throw things (or fits) when they don't get their goal accomplished for whatever reason.

Girls, on the other hand, even those that really enjoy video games, don't want to sit and play video games for more than a few hours at a time, at which point it becomes kind of like "well, this is fun, but I am kind of just wasting my time". Additionally, girls don't get quite as upset if they can't do it. They have the attitude that it is "just" a game.

I have a sneaky suspicion that if I bought the Wii shirt and wear it, people would label me as a "nerd girl". Which isn't bad, and partially true. However, if I wore the XBox360 shirt, I have the feeling I would be labeled as weird. As in "YOU play XBox360 (and like it enough to buy a SHIRT?)?!", which would obviously lead to the question of "which games do you play?", which then leads to the reaction of "REALLY? But you're a GIRL! Hardly any girls play that game..."

Now, I know there ARE other girls who play the games that I like. In fact, I like quite a few games, both girly games and non-girlygames. And I have met other girls while playing Halo3 online. But I would have to say that my favorite "new" game (not including things like Mario and DDR, even the newer versions, because they have been out for a while) is Microsoft's Gears of War. I like it so much that I am considering applying at Epic Games so I can convince them that they desperately need a PLAYABLE main character girl. Not just a secretary/ops lady...who you see once and then talks to you the rest of the game. No, that is not good enough. I want a female soldier, in ARMOR, out in the field with Delta Squad. Oh yeah. And I don't think I am going to get it for Gears2, so I need to get on the team so we can have one for at least Gears3....

...but that is off-topic. See? Don't get me started on my favorite game. What I was going to say is that when people find out that I play/like/obsess about Gears, they are always shocked and surprised, whether they are a girl or a guy. Why? Because Gears carries the connotation that it is very much a 'guy' game. The graphics are dark and fairly realistic, there are lots of guns (torque bow....drooooool) and explosions, lots of blood, and a fairly dark storyline. Oh yeah, and there are super-cool awesome-scary badguys all over the place that you can shoot the **** out of...or just chainsaw in half! Who wouldn't love a game like that....? I know there are pleanty of other FPS games out there with similar characteristics, but Gears just struck a note with me. It's main characters are funny (in a very dry, dark-humor kind of way) and easy to get attached to, the game play is great, and the story is awesome. But it is, in every sense of the phrase, a "guy" game.

Now, if I told people that "OMG I LOVE Legend of Zelda!" nobody would be a bit surprised. But I don't. LoZ is okay. But it is very much a kid/girl game. I mean...the grapics are okay, but not amazingly realistic. The tasks can be hard, but they aren't dark, there isn't a lot of shooting and blood and in-your-face-violence, and the whole plot is more fantasy based. Not saying there couldn't be a really good fantasy video game, but fantasy and rpg games on the whole tend to be a little bit more girly, for no apparent reason. I mean, I could think of tons of really cool fantasy games that guys would enjoy as much as girls, if they were done properly. But they all seem to be targeted at girls. I know people partially think it is because Link is "cute", but why don't girls fall for characters like Fenix and Dom?

Of course, there are games that aren't seen as "girl or guy" games. Things like Guitar Hero seem to be pretty unisex, so telling someone you like Guitar Hero or Wii boxing isn't a big deal, or a big surprise. Telling someone you like Halo3 or Gears, and actually being able to hold a conversation about it with them (and generally knowing more about it than them) IS a big deal.

What is wrong with girls playing a FPS? And being GOOD at it? Playing Halo3 live, many times people notice my name, and the first question is always "Are you REALLY a girl?" Uh, duh. Why would I have "Lady" in my name otherwise? >.< And the second comment is usually "You're one of the only girls I've ever seen play this game!" Whopee. At which point they decide to friend me for no other reason than I am a girl who plays games like Halo3, which is apparently sexy? o.0 Or something. Whatever. Their friend requests just sit in my inbox forever. Losers!

I just don't get it, but I am proud to be what most people would label as a "gamer girl geek".

Chocolatey-ness

2007-11-19T10:25:00.000-08:00

OMG, I never would have thought it was possible, but I actually found a chocolate bar that I like! We were at Meijer yesterday looking for canned cream (which turned out to be....normal cream, which here comes in a cardboard milk carton) in the International Foods Section - Brisish, and Syd was like "They have Aero bars!! That is so South African!"

Aero bars are Nestle Milk Chocolate bars with a "whipped" bubbly inside. The outside is stil smooth like a normal chocolate bar, but the inside is full of little bubbles and it just melts while you eat it and it rocks your socks. Or, at least, my socks. XD

So I am totally hooked on Aero, but the only problem is, the Int'l Food Aisle at Meijers is the only place you can get them here. Now, why is that? Really? Does that make ANY sense? No, it is yummy and Americans love chocolate, right?

I also have been on a hot chocolate fix lately. Instead of sorbet, I drink hot chocolte. Cold for warm weather, hot for cold weather. Works for me! I got spoiled in Quebec for really good, French, CHOCOLATEY chocolat chaude, none of this milky weak American hot chocolate! (You'd be surprised how hard it is to find GOOD hot chocolate). We buy Ghirardelli Double Chocolate and sometimes add a little bit of (Imitiation) Almond Extract to it...and of course mini marshmallows! (Whipped cream would be nice, but too fatty).

So...am I totally obsessing about chocolate because I am hungry? Probably. ^^'

So...linky linky: Nestle Aero Bubbles bubbles bubbles >.>