Date Recap

Event: Second date
Who: Bicycle guy, CQ
What: Picnic and bicycling
The Bikes: His-Vintage Schwinn, Hers-Retro Santa Fe-themed Huffy
Where: Behind the Lincoln Memorial, beside the Potomac
The Food: Baguette, brie, strawberries, and mimosas
Fitness Level Needed for this Date: Intermediate
Mood of Event: Adorable

Fish win. Frappuccino fail.

I started my new job this week. I'm super happy to be a productive member of society again and all but I have to say this whole getting up every morning and going to work thing is TIRING. The fact that my particular profession subscribes to the belief that meetings, regardless of what they pertain to, should start at 7am no matter what does not help. It's been nice to finally start though and seeing all my friends from my program on a regular basis again is fabulous.


So I've been trying to take it easy today. I did sign up for health insurance this morning though so I feel like I am pretty much done for the day after doing something so unbelievably productive. AND I did laundry. So there. 


Apologies for not having been quite as crafty as of late, what with the whole job thing getting in the way, but I have managed a few small projects. I made salmon and squash the other night using parchment paper, which I had never done before. There was a recipe in this month's Bible but I'm not an enormous asparagus fan and didn't actually own any of the spices the recipe called for so I decided to use squash, butter, garlic, and copious amounts of lemon juice instead. 

All you had to do was cut up the veggies, toss them onto the parchment paper, add your spices of choice, and place the fish on top of the veggies. 

You then folded the parchment paper closed and rolled up the edges to seal it. I put the nice little package on a baking sheet and stuck it in the oven. (Note: I ended up taking the skin off before I stuck the bundle in the oven.)

20 minutes later and voila, I unwrapped a beautiful piping hot dinner. I'm definitely excited to experiment with different types of fish and vegetables in future.

Yesterday, I was wanting some chocolate so I made some flourless peanut butter cookies. They are super easy and, aside from the chocolate chips, both gluten and dairy free. Isn't that what you look for in your cookie recipes too?

I also bought a decorate-your own-mug mug for a friend's birthday yesterday. I was going to make a pretty collage to go in it using snapfish but my printer is not producing blue ink at the moment so I cut up an old map (freebie from Doctors Without Borders) and inserted that instead. I was so pleased with the result that I decided to make one for my self as well. Mine focuses on Europe and the Middle East, which I feel is good so that I can study it and keep up with the location of whatever nation is currently in revolt. 

Lastly, after sitting in an 80 degree lecture hall for most of Tuesday and watching one of the presenters suck down a frappuccino while I slowly melted, I have been craving one none stop ever since. I decided to make one for myself this morning. I mean the closest Starbucks is two whole blocks away. I made a regular cup of coffee (not having an espresso machine) and added large amounts of sugar and cocoa. 

I put the coffee in the blender and added milk and ice.

Before blending:

After blending:

Afterwards, the coffee seemed to all go to the bottom leaving a frothy mess on top. Maybe I frappe-ed for too long? 

The other problem is that my freezer seems to only make ice that tastes like freezer burn. I have noticed this in the past and thought it was the ice trays so I washed them carefully before making ice this time. Apparently it is not the trays but the freezer itself that makes the ice taste bad, not really something I can fix. Anywho, unless the flavor I was going for was freezer burn frappuccino, my foray in blended drinks was a bit of a failure. I therefore reverted to my old standby of an iced mocha using plastic reusable ice cubes. I am a big fan of these cubes as a) they don't taste like I'm licking my freezer wall and b) they don't melt so they don't ever water down your beverage. Win-win. 

Well, that's about all the productivity I can stand for one day. Off to watch Hulu for several hours. And I have a date with bicycle guy tomorrow. We are going to some show opening at the National Art Gallery. Since it's going to be a nice day, he suggested that we bike there. I'm now accepting suggestions for a cute outfit that is both art gallery and bicycle appropriate. K'thanks.

Placemat Confession

If I'm totally honest with myself, the fact that I spent my evening making placemats may be the biggest sign I've had in a while that I need a boyfriend. The placemats turned out pretty cute though. Growing up we had these plastic placemats that you could just wipe down when you were done with them. I think mine had ballet positions on it. I think APP's had dinosaurs. I'm trying to remember if AMFP had one but I  think he just inherited the dinosaurs (sorry, third child). Actually now that I'm thinking about it, those placemats may have been made of foam. Regardless, they were the inspiration for this project. 


I bought two sheets of pretty, artsy paper at Paper Source. The first one I had laminated whole and hung in the kitchen as a backsplash. I have always wanted a backsplash (obviously) but have not yet lived somewhere that installing your own tile was acceptable. 

The second sheet of pretty paper I decided to use for wipeable, everyday placemats. The man at Kinkos discouraged me from laminating this sheet though as he thought the design printed on it might melt. I remembered though, perhaps from some 2nd grade art project, that contact paper exists and might work just as well. A quick google search of children's craft projects confirmed that this was a viable option. I ordered some contact paper from Amazon (sign #2 of the day I need a boyfriend) and went to work. 

After cutting the paper into four pieces, I cut out eight slightly larger pieces of contact paper. Laying out the paper while trying not to let the edges all stick together was probably the hardest part. 

After encasing each sheet of paper, I trimmed the edges on each side. I left about 3/4 inch on each side to make a nice border and because the sheets of paper I had to work with weren't quite placemat size.

 Finished product:

So that's how I spent my evening. And I cooked fish and veggies in parchment paper for the first time and it was absolutely delicious. I will definitely be doing that again.


Update on the mens: I had a running date with the guy from the bicycle. Btw, he needs a nickname. Suggestions? It was actually a really fun first date, at least when I wasn't gasping for air. I should be seeing him again this weekend. 

Most Productive Run Ever

So I was not particularly productive yesterday in terms of crafting or baking. I apologize. I did, however, have a great run. As I was coming back up 16^th Street, just after I’d passed that really weird hotel that I always think is called Rogue but really it’s called Rouge, I noticed that there were two guys on bikes next to me. Looking at me. Okay, now chatting with me. Basically, one of them was pretty cute and I ended up giving him my number. Kind of weird to ask out a girl who is jogging while you are on a bike? Yes. But he gets major points for entering my number into his phone while still cycling. We shall see if he ever actually calls. Regardless, most productive run ever.

The rest of the evening involved heading over to AP and AS’s, drinking large amounts of Pina Colada, discussing the various merits and virtues of power hours, eating Thai take out, reminiscing about the good old days of college, finding a hip-hop/rap power hour on YouTube, getting through about two-thirds of said power hour, drunken dance party (Number of participants: 1. Me.), yelling at each other for none of us being able to finish said power hour, consuming large numbers of homemade peanut butter cookies, giggling hysterically while catching up on Glee, and me in bed by midnight. Perfect evening.

AP and AS also informed me last night that the fact that I "watched" The Hangover on my laptop on the drive to Atlanta was kinda weird. I didn't really watch it; I more listened to it. I sat the laptop on the passenger seat, plugged it into the stereo via a tape adaptor, and cracked the laptop just barely open so that I wouldn't be tempted to actually watch it. I mean it's a very good one-liners kind of movie. One might even say it's fairly cerebral. My point is, if you’ve seen the movie once, you don’t really need to see all the action again. You can just listen to it. I’m trying to think of other movies you could do this with. Maybe Zoolander? Though then you would just have to imagine “blue steel” in your head. To be honest, that might be better though.

As for today, hopefully I will accomplish something more blog-worthy. I do have a second date with Yoga Nurse some time today. Time and location TBD. 

Arobatic Yoga at the Drum Circle

Okay, so I had a coffee date this morning with the individual who will be known from now on as "yoga nurse." I think it went well and would be happy to have a second date. He seemed to enjoy himself too so hopefully there will be a second one. To give you a little taste of our little date, here are some phrases that were used in conversation:


"Soy mocha latte"
"Gastrointestinal bleed"
"Vegan housing co-op"
"Straight night shifts"
"Logan circle is totally the new Dupont Circle"
"Grey's Anatomy brand scrubs"
"Arobatic yoga at the weekly drum circle"


But seriously, as varied as the conversation may have been, I did have a really good time and hope there will be more to come!


Since I've been baking so much, I decided to try some gluten free baking as well so that my lovely roommate CA could partake. I've made a few gluten free baked goods before but only ever using recipes that didn't call for flour at all; this was my first attempt at a recipe with gluten flour and such. We had a bunch of candy left over from Valentine's Day so I decided to make M&M cookies.

I didn't have the baking mix that the recipe called for so I looked at some other recipes and added baking soda and xanthum gum to the gluten free flour I had bought. 

Unfortunately, CA and I connected too late for me to find out that apparently xanthum gum has a not-so-great flavor and that I should have used a baking mix that she actually did have. Oops. Now I know. I tried adding more M&Ms, some extra sugar and a handful of mini chocolates chips to save the cookies but I don't think it really worked. 

You were also supposed to chill the dough for four hours before you made the cookies (I assume so that they come out fluffier). With doubts about these cookies already forming, there was no way I was doing that. I did throw the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes.

The cookies turned out pretty but, in my opinion, had an aftertaste reminiscent of cardboard. 

Roommate disagreed and said they were pretty decent but who knows. I'm sure people have said worse things about Lactaid products. We still have some M&Ms left so maybe tomorrow I'll try again, sans xanthum gum.

Peace out, peeps. Happy Friday!

Muffins, Fake British Accents, and Banoffee Pie

On the very last day of my semester in London, literally on the train on the way to the airport, I sat surrounded by my overly-stuffed bright red luggage set and ate the muffin I had picked up on a final trip to Sainsbury the night before. It turned out the muffin was banoffee flavored and was maybe the best muffin I have ever had. Top five at least anyway. “What is banoffee?” you may ask. Well, American friend, it's a combination of banana and toffee and usually refers to banoffee pie. You may recall the scene from Love Actually (which you will if you have seen it as many times as I have) in which Kiera Knightly shows up at the apartment of that guy who is in love with her and offers him banoffee pie because she thinks he hates her. Pre-semester in London, I think I just glossed over that line in the movie without having any idea what she was talking about. Post-semester in London I finally realized what she was talking about.

For one reason or another, I've been thinking about banoffee pie lately and looked up the recipe thinking it'd be fun to make. And fun to eat. As it turns out, banoffee pie contains a large amount of condensed milk. I'm not at all sure I can digest small amounts of condensed milk, much less the 21 ounces called for in the traditional recipe, so I decided to attempt muffins inspired by the pie instead. The recipe I decided to use doesn't have any condensed milk and (BONUS) calls for little bits of Heath Bar and miniature chocolate chips to be sprinkled on top.

Side story - While living in London, from time to time my flatmates and I would want to make chocolate chip cookies. The only thing was, none of the grocery stores seemed to carry chocolate chips. And I mean, we checked multiple Tescos and Sainsburys. Not even the lovely Waitrose came through for us. So instead we bought chocolate bars and chopped them up into chips ourselves, but it was super weird nonetheless. None of these stores sold pre-made cookie dough either. Waitrose did, however, sell a box of chocolate chip cookie mix that you just added water to. I know, it sounds disgusting, but if you ate them right after you made them, they were pretty damn good. And did I mention there was NO pre-made cookie dough!! It was desperate times.

Side story to the side story - About halfway through the semester, my flatmates and I all discovered that we all practiced the same small bit of deception in public. If we bumped into someone in the grocery store or accidentally got in someone's way on the sidewalk, we would each blurt out a small "Sorry!" with a British accent. Each of us started doing this independently without consulting each other. It's not like any of us ever faked a British accent to any extent, but for some reason each of us independently decided that trying to hide our blatant Americanness and just blend in while shopping for arugula (oh, sorry, rocket) seemed like the right thing to do. Jack Donaghy would have been ashamed of us.

Back to the muffins… After some internet cruising, I settled on this banoffee muffin recipe. Mashing up the bananas for the batter was probably the weirdest part. It was about what I imagine making your own organic baby food would be like. Except that my bananas were not organic. I chose metallic flats from Banana Republic this month over springing for organic bananas. 

Chopping up the Heath Bar into bits was also fun. 

 

I liked that the recipe contained Greek yogurt too.

The muffins turned out absolutely amazing. 

Seriously, I don’t think I can adequately convey the deliciousness. Feel free to stop by Adams Morgan and pick one up if you want. Lord knows I'll probably be home.

Chairs and Cookie Cakes

I've been wanting a chair in our living room for a while but haven't seen on that I liked in my price range (read: under $50). So today I headed out to Virginia to hit up some Goodwills. I would have gone to a Goodwill closer, but here in the District, all the Goodwills and Salvation Armys seem to be the actual job centers and shelters, not the thrift shops.  At Goodwill #1 I managed to drop and subsequently shatter a really cute Pyrex pot, enormously loud shattering noise included, so I didn't feel like hanging around that one too long. Luckily, at the Goodwill #2, I found a chair that I could see some potential in. 

Also, the cushion was already pulled up from the chair so I had a better idea of how to get fabric around it. 

I had some paint leftover from my old dresser that I had painted blue. I loved that dresser and had accented it with a mishmash of adorable Anthropologie handles and pulls, but unfortunately it literally fell off the back of a truck in my last move. The leftover paint was still good though! 

I didn't have anything to stir the paint with so I used a handful of straws (patent pending). 

For the cushion fabric, I had some old curtains that AS had given me. I think they were using them as a drop cloth. Either that or a cat bed maybe? There was definitely some sort of animal hair on them. A quick lintbrushing and ironing took care of that issue instantly though. 

After gathering supplies, I put on a Bieber Pandora station and went to work. And no, I am not obsessed with Justin Bieber. I know I seem to talk about him a lot on this blog, but honestly, in general I probably talk about Zac Efron a lot more. Anyway, I was just getting in the mood for the Bieber-themed Glee episode tonight.

Here's the finished product. 

I'm pretty pumped about how it turned out. And the best part, since I had all the supplies already, it cost me all of $10 (the cost of the chair). I still want to get a comfy lounge chair at some point but am happy with this for now.

I also went by Harris Teeter today hoping to pick up a heart-shape cookie cake at a post-Valentine's Day price (Is that not the saddest sentence ever?). Unfortunately there were none left (Okay, that's the saddest sentence ever). So I came home empty handed and decided to make my own cookie cake instead.

I found a recipe online that was unbelievably easy and only had one stick of butter in it (rather than two). 

I learned two things from making this cookie cake: 1) Don't bake at 6:45pm before you have had dinner 2) Always preheat the oven or else you will find yourself scraping little bits of dough off the top of the cake to eat while you wait to put it in the oven. I also licked the bowl, the spatula, and the mixer attachment completely clean.

Teaser: I have a match date on Thursday. Stay tuned.

Bagels

Having tasted my older brother's heavenly bagels and having large amounts of time on my hands, I decided to attempt making my own this week. It was a two day event and I began last night at 6pm before I went to meet a friend for dinner. I decided to use a recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, considered by many to be the bread-making bible. The first stage was to make the "sponge." 

This was made up of just the first half of the flour, half the yeast and some water. When I got back from dinner about two hours later, I added the rest of the ingredients to make the actual dough. This included some honey and I decided to use a jar of local Savannah honey given to me by a friend (Thanks, friend!). 

I then had to knead this dough for about 10 minutes. I had a vague idea of what kneading should look like but wasn't exactly sure. I thought about YouTubing it but decided that might stifle my creativity. I did look up a video afterwards and my method was... similar. At least I don't have an audience when I bake. 

After that, I divided the dough into twelve balls. This only took me two tries, slightly disturbing as my job involves a fair amount of math. 

I then had to let the dough "rest" for 20 minutes. Shhh... the dough is sleeping...

After this, I used my thumb to punch a whole into the middle of the dough to form the traditional bagel shape.

The bagels then got covered in plastic wrap and left in the fridge overnight.

This morning I actually set an alarm to get up "early" to bake the bagels. AP had warned me that if I left the bagels in the fridge for too long, they could fall and I did NOT want my bagels to fail. Not on my watch. Next, the bagels got boiled for one minute on each side.

I then spread some grits over the baking sheets before laying the bagels out to be baked. It was supposed to be cornmeal, but I didn't have that and with my days at the grist mill at summer camp as reference, I decided grits were the next best thing. Finally, the bagels got baked for 10 minutes in the oven. 10 minutes, that's it! Much to my surprise, they not only came out looking like bagels but they are absolutely delicious!

Seriously, I cannot believe they came out anywhere near this good. I was expecting them to come out as misshapen clumps of semi-cooked dough that I would eat anyway because I would be too proud to admit defeat. But instead, I got to enjoy a bagel, diet coke and a little Bieber this morning (catching up on the Grammys). Fabulous way to start the day.