Chain of Command

WOW it's been a long time since I've done a post, guess I've been coerced into enjoying this random beautiful weather in Boston. Decided to bang out a craft last night since otherwise I'd have to abandon this whole blog thing entirely. Result? Chain necklace:

I have a ton of beads I've been meaning to use so decided to break into my stash. Here are the supplies I used including these lovely pink lemonade squares from Beadles in Rockport, MA - awesome store.

Love me some craft supplies.

Check out my tutorial for making a loop out of wire for a bead here, apply that to the three pink lemonade beads with the jewelry wire. You should have three guys that look like this:

I swear this fabric is actually teal, not your grandmother's lime green...

Open a jump ring, which is a tiny metal ring that has a gap you can twist open and link the beads together in a chain. Here's a blown up ring to see what I'm talking about:

Please forgive my unpolished nails, I'm really not a heathen.

This is what the chain will look like:

Couldn't resist.

Using another jump ring, connect the end of your jewelry chain to one end of the bead chain.

You're feeling sleeeeepyyyyyy...

Without cutting the other end, measure how long you want the total chain to be by holding it up to you neck. You're going to cut the chain to connect to a clasp that will be able to open and close so you can put the necklace on, so for now just pretend like you want the chain to go all the way around your neck. Now cut the end that will connect to the other side of your bead chain.

Just make sure not to cut your finger off with these rust-slathered garden shears.

Measure the middle of the chain that you just cut and cut again, this is where the clasp will go to allow you to open and close the necklace.

This shot was way harder to set up than it should've been for the average human.

Using more of those nifty jump rings, attach the loose jewelry chain to the free end of your bead chain (Sorry for overuse of the word "chain", but it's applicable). You should now have one continuous necklace, just without the clasp at the ends. Using more jump rings, attach the clasp and it's little partner holder to the free ends of the jewelry chain.

Let's just hope it doesn't fall off while I'm breakdancing. Hate it when that happens.

And voila! You have an actual finished necklace. The more I tend to work on making jewelry the better I get at it, so practive makes perfect. That being said I'm still not very good at it, but hey "They can't all be winners." - Bad Santa

Tried to model it on myself, but Oscar held still longer.

Cauliflowers?! For meeeeee??

Stumbled onto something pretty awesome a few weeks back, mashed cauliflower. I dunno if you feel the same way as I do about cauliflower, I loves it, but it's hard to find fun ways to cook it. Roasting, steaming (blah), with crumbly ritz crackers on top (Super yum) etc. It feels very underappreciated though for how good it tastes even with the boring ways to cook it. So this seemed like a fun recipe to try...

First things first, acquire a cauliflower.

Like my magnet collection?

Break it up into small pieces and boil for 10 mins or until soft.

Smushy.

While it's boiling, gather 1/4 parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup milk and if you want, a tablespoon of cream cheese.

Squeeze bottle of pre-minced garlic. Best. Purchase. Ever.

When the cauliflower is soft (easily punctured all the way through with a fork) drain it and pat dry with paper towels. Doesn't have to be crazy dry, just enough so it's not dripping (We don't want no watery mashed flowers).

Immediately transfer to a food processor while it's still hot and combine the milk, cheese and garlic.

 Please excuse my bland kitchen.

Pulse until all mixed up like.

Yummmmm...

Enjoy your healthy and super yummy concoction. Only eat in moderation, safety first ;)

Fin.

Very sad post

Last week our beloved MCAT had an unexpected health issue and passed away. It was very quick and he wasn't in any pain, but it's sad for all of us left behind who loved him very much. He charmed whoever he met with his playful personality and sweet disposition, and we know that he's been reincarnated as a dust-loving, window-watching, cat-chasing tiger in the jungles of the wild. Rest in Peace little guy, you'll be very missed.

 Emerson Cat Munsell

2008 - 2012

Tonight we make soap

Helloooo, very sorry it's been about a month since I did a post. I really have been crafting, cooking etc but I just haven't gotten my act together enough to document and post it for everyone's viewing pleasure. Finally decided enough was enough and would try out making soap.

You can get really into soap and make it with lye and stuff and ingredients, not my style. So I bought a brick of soap base, some lavender oil and little lavender bits (seeds? I dunno...).

Been carrying this around for awhile...

Tip? Put some lavender oil right on your pillow, will make for some sweet dreams.

The soap base is fun because there's lots of different kinds you can buy. Goat's milk, soy, pure white etc. I got straight clear regular kind cause I'm broke and I wanted to see the lavender bits in it.

Take some, cut into little chunks.

 I don't know why, but this looks really cool. Like space ice.

 

Melt in the microwave first for 30 seconds, then 10-20 seconds until completely melted. It took me about 4 or 5 rounds of 10-20 second intervals until it was totally melted. It's the consistency of water so be carefuls.

Iew.

Put some drops of lavender oil in there, I just kind of shook the little container out until it smelled pungent enough. You can put the lavender bits in now too, but they tend to float to the top so let em steep in there for minute to bog em down.

Cover a wide bottomed container with wax paper, making sure it gets into all the corners.

Fits perfectly.

Pour the wax in, making sure it covers the whole bottom.

Also iew.

Let it sit for a hot second, then sprinkle the lavender bits in (Unless you've already done this.) This'll cause them to stick to the surface and they won't fly around when we pour the second layer of soap on top. I did not do this and my bits flew around.

*shake*shake*shaaaake*... *shake*shake*shaaake*... shake your 

laaavendeeer biiiits, shake your laaavendeeer biiiits!

I honestly like the looks of the soaps with less lavender in them better, so that's what I suggest. I went a little crazy on the first batch and they turned out a little murky.

Let that layer dry for a bit, 10-15 minutes, then pour a second layer on top.

Did not go as planned.

Let that layer dry as well, 20 minutes or so. Then peel it back from the wax paper until you have a little freestanding brick'o'soap.

Bam.

From here you can go crazy, just cut off jagged pieces, cut it up into neat little cubes, or even make soap shavings... I chose cookie cutters cause I just wanted to go straight up insane.

Seems legit.

Luckily soap is really easy to cut, so it's not difficult to use a bunch of shapes. I'd use metal though because plastic ones seem to be a bit too flimsy to do any real damage.

At one point my hand started to hurt, so I'd press down on the cutter with a flat hard surface, like the pan we originally poured the soap into.

Ease and class are the name of the game.

After fitting in as many shapes as possible, you can ball up and reheat the remaining soap. Although with the lavender bits the soap got tinted darker and darker with each reheat.

Blorbular.

When I only had a tiny bit of soap left I tried this method, taping down a cookie cutter to wax paper and pouring the soap into it.

Super easy, right?

Did not work.

ehhhh...

Let em dry, stack em up and package em for your friends and family. Don't worry, they'll have to coo over them and pretend they're really cool, so you'll feel validated in the end.

Glamour shot

 

Picture perfect

Crinkly Chocolatey Cookies

In the quest to become an actual adult I've decided to follow through with my plan to make treats for my office for the holidays instead of just buying cookies and eating them out of the bag at home. I had a bunch of recipes saved up and set aside Sunday to make some, first up - crinkle cookies.
The recipe seemed daunting at first since it calls for a stand mixer, something which only professional bakers and housewives from the 50's seem to have, but in the end I didn't even need to use one. Score one, me.

Put the oven to 350 degrees and make sure the racks are placed so that there's three equal spaces between them. This is important cause we're going to rotate the pans mid-bake.
Sift together ( I did not sift, personally, but you're supposed to) 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Floof, floof.

Finely chop 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate. Don't go crazy with the "finely chop" part, just so that it's not several gigantic pieces so it'll melt evenly.

Baker's chocolate: not like real chocolate, trust me.

 

Add to a small saucepan with 1/4 cup vegetable oil and put on low heat.

I know I shouldn't want to eat this cause of the oil, but still...

Heat, stirring occasionally (like every minute or so, don't leave this stuff unattended) until the chocolate is melted and incorporated with ze oil.

 

Goooooooo...

 

When melted, set aside to cool.

When it's been cooling for just a few minutes, put it in a large bowl with 2 cups sugar.

What do I want to eat every step of this recipe? 

Sugar, chocolate and oil are good, right?

This is where the actual recipe calls for a stand mixer, I just used a good ole fashioned wooden spoon and it worked just fine. Stir it up until it's all mixed together and looks like gooey chocolately sugar.

Okay, don't wanna eat this step.

Add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and four eggs, ONE AT A TIME, fully incorporating each egg before adding the next. I used a electric mixer to make this go faster.

Love getting to use my mixer, makes me feel like an actual baker :)

Still using the electric mixer for as long as you can, add the flour mixture slowly. By the end I couldn't even use the mixer because the dough had gotten so thick, so I just got in there with ma hands and smushed it up until it was all mixed together. Obviously wash your hands really well before you do this.

Cover with saran wrap and chill for 1-2 hours.

Shove aside the ten mustard containers and half eaten jars 

of salsa to make room for his behemoth.

When the dough is nice and thick and malleable like playdough, take about 1 tablespoon sized pieces out and roll them into balls. Put about a cup of confectioner's sugar in a shallow dish and roll those suckers in it until they're all coated.

Rarely get to use confectioner's sugar, makes me feel like a princess!

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and place the balls about 2 inches apart on the sheet.

Balls.

Place one sheet on the lower rack of the oven and the other on the upper rack. Bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes, then rotate the sheets. Bake for an additional 5 minutes for gooey soft cookies, and 7 minutes for crisper cookies. At one point I forgot about them all together and they baked for an extra, like, fifteen minutes, and still turned out pretty good.

Voilas.

Let cool, knock off excess sugar by tapping each cookie on a hard surface lightly by its edge. Continue to eat them yourself sitting in front of the TV watching old X-Files, or bribe friends and family into wrapping your holiday presents for you. Either way: score one, us.

Panko Parmesan Chicken Avec Sprouts

One of the reasons I don't always get around to doing crafts every night is that I'm trying to teach myself more about cooking. I was a big fan of super fast meals using very few ingredients, but I've found those usually turn out pretty terrible. So now I try to make quickish meals with not a ton of ingredients, it's all about compromise. Luckily Martha (that is Martha Stewart, the holy God of crafting and all things handmade) always has really yummy recipes online that are quick, healthy and don't require a four hour grocery store trip.
I chose the panko and parmesan crusted chicken with brussel sprouts, you can check out the original recipe here.
First step, turn the oven onto 450 degrees. Mix 1/3 cup parmesan and 1/3 cup panko. Panko is this wonderful crunchy Asian breadcrumb dealy, super good and healthier than the regular breadcrumbs. I just got a can of it. Pretty psyched. For the parmesan I used shaky cheese like you use on spaghetti, turned out pretty normal.

Weirdly, this mix actually smelled really good. I had to stop 

myself from just sneakily eating a handful...

Place about a pound and a half of chicken in a 9" x 13" casserole dish, toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon of thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

Nothing weirder looking than raw chicken.

Sprinkle the panko/parmesan mixture on top, trying to cover all the corners.

Looks way better with these fragrant crumbs all over it.

While the oven is still heating up, prepare the brussel sprouts. Cut just the tip of the bottom of the sprout off and take a couple outer leaves off too. This sounds really tedious since they're so small, but it goes by really fast. Then rinse them out and dry em off a little bit.

My Grammy's strainer, hot right?

I omitted the mushrooms because I didn't feel like buying mushrooms, but plain ole brussel sprouts are pretty awesome all by their lonesome. After rinsing toss them in a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss for a few minutes to make sure they're all covered in that oily goodness.

Why do things instantly look insanely delicious when

they're covered in olive oil, salt and pepper?

Spread them out on a lined baking sheet. Feel free to sprinkle with some more salt and pepper.

Profesh.

Martha says to make sure your oven racks are placed at the bottom third and top third of the oven. And when Martha says where to place your oven racks, you better listen.

Pop the chicken in the upper rack, sprouts in the lower and check on them after 15 minutes. Poke the sprouts with a fork and if the fork slides through easily then they're done. Cut a small slit in the chicken and take a gander in there, if it looks not at all pink but a creamy white and the juices of the chicken run clear, that sucker's done.

 

Glorious, love when veggies are a little singed.

The whole process only took about 30-40 minutes, super fast. It also tasted great, and I'm no whiz in the kitchen. I think that if I can pull this off, most people with an oven and general sense of the English language can too.

Action shot.