I'm an adult, and I deserve an adult glass: January 2013

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Fajita Friday...Thursday...whatever

Need something quick but filling for dinner? Fajitas are a great idea. In under 20 mins you can have a delicious dinner.

What you will need:
10 min. Boil in a bag rice
Black beans
Mexican blend cheese
Green pepper
Red pepper
Onion
Tortillas

Guacamole:
Avocado
Lemon
Salt
Tomato
Garlic
Onion

Start with the rice. Boil the water and put the rice in for 10 mins.
Coat chicken in whatever seasoning you want (I used ms dash chicken seasoning) and put into a olive oil coated pan and cook until done.
Chop peppers and onions and put in a pan with olive oil on medium low heat until lightly grilled.

For the Guac:
Spoon out inside of avocado add lemon juice and salt and mash with a fork.
Chop onion, tomato and garlic and add to the avocado.

Tip: keep the avocado seed in the Guac to keep it fresh longer.

All you need is love...and cards

Valentines day can be a sore subject for some people, and while I like it, I can see why some people don't. I like to think of it as a day to spend with special people whether it be a significant other, friends, family, or whoever. That's why I'm posting some cute card ideas in advance, so it gives you all an opportunity to make a card for the special people in your lives (and it's a fun craft idea).

1) Lady bug love
For this one I did something a little different. I used oragami paper (you can also use construction paper)

2) Up Up and Away!

Again, for this one I tried something different by using oragami paper (I backed it with cardboard though so it would be a bit stronger). I also made the house a bit more Up like.

3) Ace of Hearts
I didn't write the cheesy line on mine, but if you are making these for a class or an office it would be kind of funny. I'd say this one is the quickest/easiest of all of them, and would be easy to make in bulk because you could layer the paper when you are doing the cutouts.

4) Love games

That link isn't really what I followed to make these, but it's where I got the idea. I made a scrabble one cutting out squares and writing the letters on with sharpie then gluing them down. Then the tic-tac-toe one is a bit harder cause the xs are hard to cut out, but if you cut a small square, cut the corners off, then cut triangles it works pretty well (although a bit uneven).

5) Luv bug
I didn't use the foam things, but I just used construction paper instead.

There are a ton more on this site:
http://spoonful.com/valentines-day/valentines-day-cards
http://www.marthastewart.com/274260/valentines-day-cards/@center/276974/card-making-center
http://www.squidoo.com/easy-valentine-cards

Have fun, and happy (almost) Valentines day!!

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Bobloblawslawblog...among other blogs

Yesterday my friend (who is a baker) texted asking me for some reliable baking blogs. I have a few that I use most of the time, and a few that I have tried from time to time. I thought I'd share them with you guys so you can make lots of yummy things too (and cause I'm sick and can't do these things myself). Enjoy, and let me know if you find a good recipe!

These are the ones I use frequently:
Bake at 350 - Mostly sweets, but some other things. Good for decorating ideas.
                   Some awesome examples:
                                    Nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies
                                    Cut out sugar cookies with decorating tips

The Sweets Life - Good for both cooking and baking.
Some samples:
                                    Kale chips!
                                    Dangerous amounts of sugar!

Smitten Kitchen - Really good for providing recipes for people with no crazy cooking supplies (which is anyone in NYC cause no one has the space!)
   Yummy treats and dishes:
                                    Apple cider caramels (yes, the same ones I posted about...HIGHLY recommend)
                                    Cupcakes!


These are the ones I've tried a few times, but not enough to know if they are really good:
Brown Eyed Baker
Oh My Sugar High
Bakerella
Baked Perfection

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Ketchup

Well...It's been an embarrassingly long time since I have posted, so as a first post in 2013 I am going to give you a little bit of everything.

New Music Obsessions 4:

1) NEW MUMFORD AND SONS!!!!!!
Well "new" I've had it since it was released in Sept., and it's awesome. The album is called Babel. I really enjoy I Will Wait (track 9), but some other good tracks are Babel (track 1), Lover of the Light (track 10).

2) The Head and The Heart:
Emerging band from Seattle Washington. They only have one album also called The Head and The Heart. I'd describe them as indie pop. They have a bunch of fun songs. What I really like about them is that they switch up their sound a bunch throughout their album so it isn't all the same. Some tracks I like are:
Track 1 Cats and Dogs
Track 3 Ghosts
Track 6 Coeur D'Alene

3) Young the Giant:
Also an up and coming band, but these guys have been together since 2004. They are from California (surprise surprise). Also an indie rock/pop group. They only have one album called Young the Giant. I'd say they are more rock than The Head and The Heart. Some tracks I enjoyed are:

Track 3 Apartment
Track 4 Cough Syrup

4) Devotchka:
Now this is definitely not a new band, in fact, most of you might know them from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack. They did most of it, but they do in fact have many other albums. To name a few: Una Volta, A Mad and Faithful Telling, 100 Lovers, and the Little Miss Sunshine Soundtrack. Chris and I went to go see them live a few months ago, and they were amazing. They are a huge band with many instruments and people, so they put on a great show. They have a bit of a Beirut sound to them if your into that. Some good tracks are:
Una Volta:
Track 6 Ocean of Lust
Track 11 One Last Vow

A Mad and Faithful Telling:
Track 1 A Blessing in Disguise
Track 4 New World
Track 6 The Clockwise Witness

In addition to all of that new music I want to bring everyone's attention to the Governors Ball (http://governorsballmusicfestival.com/). The lineup is INSANE. It is going to be amazing. I hope to see you all there!

RECIPES!

As part of ketchuping I am going to include two recipes for you. The first one (you'll have to forgive me for being about a month and a half late) is a holiday recipe for peppermint bark, but that doesn't mean you can't still make it. It is a very winter thing to make, so I think you can still do it until the end of Feb. I made peppermint bark for all of my co-workers around the holidays, and it is a great way to save some money but also give something that you put effort into.

Peppermint bark:
Line the pan with aluminum foil
Using either a blender (WAY easier) or a knife and cutting board chop candy canes into dust and small pieces. Set aside.

Melt dark chocolate (you can also use milk chocolate if you want) over medium low heat. Stir frequently.
When entirely melted pour into pan.
Use a rubber spatula to spread chocolate evenly across the pan.
Place pan in refrigerator for about an hour or until solid.
Melt white chocolate chips in the same way. When entirely melted pour over dark chocolate layer. Use rubber spatula to spread, but be careful because the dark chocolate will melt from the hot white chocolate, so be gentle when spreading.
Sprinkle candy cane dust and small pieces over the white chocolate layer and put back in the refrigerator to set for about 2-3 hours before cutting.

The other recipe is from Smitten Kitchen (special thanks to Greg for giving me the name of a new cooking blog to follow). The recipe is for Apple Cider Caramels, and they are AMAZING. I HIGHLY recommend making them. I am not going to copy the recipe here, instead I will give you the link because making candy can be complicated:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/10/apple-cider-caramels-the-book-is-here/

I will say, Smitten Kitchen is pretty good at giving recipes where you don't need lots of fancy materials or cookware (which is good in NYC cause who has the space for all of that stuff?). That being said, for this recipe a cooking thermometer is definitely a good thing to have. These are how mine turned out!