Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Things I love tuesday... IT'S SNOWING!!!

woah... deep breath...
the last few weeks have been mad crazy, and rather awful, but I'm FINALLY on Thanksgiving break, as of today.
My apologies for today's post being a day late, but to make up for it, I'm posting all of my favorite pictures from the last month-ish.


Gathering ingredients for butterscotch pudding...





Peaches... I miss summer already.





My halloween costume... deranged 50's housewife- complete with bloody rolling pin!




My lunch the other day- quesadilla w/ habanero cheddar and guacamole.




YOU GUYS. IT'S SNOWING. OH. EM. GEE.




... and snow means it's time to brew some tea with milk...




...and sit down with hot, cozy tea, and a favorite book.




Lots of love,
      -g


PS- Buddy Holly is amazing, and you all should stare at this picture of him for a while, kay? I did...
smexy... right?

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

things I love TUEDSAY! (blog edition)

I like to give credit where credit is due, so I figured for this week's edition of TILT, I would give links to all of my favorite blogs, all of which are a MAJOR inspiration to me.

shutterbean and joy the baker- the original food blogs that inspired me to start my own!
(psst- check out their podcast!)

gala darling- the inventor of things I love THURSDAY, and thus the inspiration for things I love TUESDAY. Clever, huh?

Ironic Couture- a blog created by some friends of mine... I can't help but laugh my ass off reading Libby's posts.

Doe Deere Blogazine- Pretty much the first blog I ever read, and I fell in love with the concept immediately.

Tempeh With a Side of Algebra Homework- Another blog by a friend, AND she's a gluten-free vegetarian. I don't know how she does it...

Hey, Nice Nails- Speaks for itself, my smudged black nails are JELLY.

Things we Forget- Inspirational post-its, left around random places.

and lastly, The Oatmeal and Hyperbole and a Half- for when I just need to laugh.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

kale chips, or how I learned to deal.

So, the past few weeks have been filled with an unholy amount of suckage...
My grandfather died, the Boy broke up with me, I've been crazy swamped with homework and rehearsals, and I miss my old school terribly.

But, after a few weeks of crying, stuffing my face with apple crisp, and watching Titanic over and over, I decided it was time to put on my big girl undies and toughen up.
How better to do that than listen to Adele and La Roux, and make HEALTY FOOOOOOOD! YEAH!
Okay, so that's not THAT exciting, but it led me to a food-induced epiphany- Life. Goes. On.
No matter what happens, or who you lose, or how much you push yourself, everything eventually figures itself out.

In short, this is for everyone who lost someone they love, for all the girls or guys who have been dumped, and for anyone who needs a health-food epiphany. 



Start with a bunch of flat-leaf kale... (sound delicious yet? no...? yeah, I thought so.)

...yummy?



Cut it up into little squares/random mouth sized shapes.

mouth sized. yeah.


Toss it into a pan with some olive oil and seasonings. (Salt and pepper, garlic salt, Old Bay... whatever you like.)

Starting to be yummier...



Bake it up, eat up, and toughen up.

Also, try not to call your ex the night they break up with you. Please. For my sake, if not yours.

BTW- just use enough oil to lightly coat the kale you have, and bake at 300ยบ for about 20 minutes, or until crisp.


Good Luck, and don't be too hard on yourself, kay?
    -G

P.S.- I love you. 

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Things I love TUESDAY

...is a week late, as last week was scaaaary crazy.
Speaking of scary, I'll have a post about halloween up soon!


I love to just sit on my bed and draw.




The stop signs in Quebec just make me happy.




I love kale chips! They're so crispy, it's like junk food with veggies! (Recipe soon)




I love making random things out of candy after Halloween.



I found this robin's egg in my garden this summer.




And lastly, I LOVE how hideously creepy this little gnome is.



Lots of Love,
     G

Saturday, November 5, 2011

marshmallows and music...?

Hi, I'm grace, and I'm addicted to music and marshmallows.
Yeah. For real.
So I figured you should try it, and to make this easy for you, here's a recipe for marshmallows, and a quickie playlist of my faves, WITH links.

You can thank me later.


Just as a quick warning, this marshmallow recipe is DANGEROUSLY easy, and I have to say that my blood sugar level suffered during that time, along with my friend Libby's (from Ironic Couture.)

Let's get started, shall we?


First off, get your gelatin soaking in a mixer bowl, then put the sugar, syrup, and water in a pot. 
Bring to a boil, and boil for one minute.

Boiling away...



Pour it into the mixer with the gelatin, and whip for 12 minutes until it is fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and salt.


Fluffy!


Pour into a pan lined with oiled plastic wrap, and let sit for at least an hour.

I can't even wait...


Use scissors to cut the marshmallow slab into little cubes, and dust with powdered sugar.

YUM!



Ingredients-
3 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for dredging

Firstly, put the cold water into a mixer bowl, and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Let this sit for 10 minutes.

While the gelatin is soaking, combine the 1/4 cup of water, white sugar, and corn syrup in a pan. Bring it to a boil, and boil hard for one minute.

Pour the (HOT) syrup into the gelatin, and mix on high for about 12 minutes. It should be huge, fluffy, and magical. :)

Put that mixture into a pan lined with oiled plastic wrap, and let it sit for an hour. After an hour, remove the marshmallow slab from the pan and coat it with powdered sugar. Use scissors to cut it into little cubes, coat them with powdered sugar, and enjoy!



BUT WOAAHHHHH
we're not even done yet!
As promised, a bunch of my favorite songs, with links! 

M83- Midnight City (this song is SCARY good. I'm not even kidding.)



Crystal Castles- Crimewave (not that good, but catchy.)






happy listening!
   -g

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Things I love TUESDAY

Alrighty then, I've decided to start a weekly post, so that I DO post at least weekly, instead of just letting the blog die.

So, without further ado, THINGS I LOVE TUUUUEEESDAAAAYYYY!

I love fluffy, creamy, homemade marshmallows (recipe coming soon)




I love love LOVE my dog, she's my baby girl. :)




I love salsa with homegrown tomatoes, onions, and peppers.



I have an odd obsession with taking pictures of my shadow, even at tennis courts...



What's that? Sweet, creamy chai tea? LOVE.



Chai tea is AWESOME with apple crisp..., by the way.



Lastly, I ADORE waking up early to see the sun rise, and taking pictures.




Lots of Love,
    G

Sunday, October 16, 2011

*crickets*

Well, it's been awfully quiet around here lately... 
Apologies to any readers that might be lurking for the lack of posts, though I suppose my disappearance doesn't help much with increasing traffic.

To explain myself, life has been, in a word, busy. My first year at a real public school began, I've been drowning in homework, and, as a slightly positive change, there is now a Boy, and that's why I'm posting today.

As it turns out, the Boy's second favorite dessert in the universe is apple crisp, and I happen to be overloaded with apples, and had (seemingly) nothing to do with them. (For the record, his first favorite is cherry pie, which I despise.) 

So, after being given this news, I rolled up my sleeves, dug through my kitchen, and dove into this recipe. 
Little did I know that 
(a), it is dangerously easy, and therefore addictive to make, and 
(b), one of the hardest desserts to STOP eating... eep.

Lucky for him, the Boy is a runner, so at least HE had nothing to worry about... myself, on the other hand, am more often covered with flour and sugar than sweat, and prefer getting my arm workout by stirring cookie dough.

Let's begin, shall we?

note: I made a HUGE batch, so don't freak if yours doesn't look like as much as the picture when you follow the recipe.


First, ingredients are kind of necessary for apple crisp... I recommend having apples on hand... hmm?

 



Peel and core a few apples, then slice fairly thinly and spread in a pan.




Get going on the topping! (I'd heat up your oven about now... I always forget)
Blend up sugar, flour, oats, and spices in a food processor. It should look a bit like this.




Chop up some butter and add it to the party! What are you waiting for?!




Mix mix mix... 
You want some good sized bits of butter in there, don't murder it!




Crumble it over the apples, and try to keep the topping bits irregular enough to have some nice texture.




Bake it up, put it on a plate, and give it to your Boy, or just somebody you love. :)




Full recipe-

Apple Crisp
(recipe adapted from shutterbean)
serves about 8... or one very hungry Boy.

8 apples
12 tablespoons butter, chilled
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt (only if you use unsalted butter)
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger

1) Peel and core the apples, then slice and spread evenly in a pan.
2) Combine all the dry ingredients with a food processor.
3) Chop the butter into small pieces and blend them with the dry ingredients until it looks like very coarse sand, and sticks to itself enough to just hold together, then crumbles.
4) Sprinkle over the apples until they are just covered. 
5) Bake at 375 F, for 50-55 minutes, until the crisp is brown, and the apples are soft and bubbling.


Enjoy!
    G