Hump Day Humor

I was so busy today, that I almost forgot to put up my humor for today! And that really would've been a shame, because this is really funny. I came across this print in Dan Jackson's Etsy shop. Enjoy! :)

(108 Print Guitar Hero, $22.00)

I Knead Noodles

Ha, get it? Yep, I'm a dork.

The lasagna turned out pretty yummy last night, but I can't say the same for my first attempt at homemade noodles. Apparently I didn't knead the dough long enough the first time, because when I put it through the roller part, the dough fell to pieces. So I kneaded and kneaded, and kneaded some more, and tried again. Came out fine, and I cut it into lasagna-sized strips. But when I cooked them in the boiling water, a bunch of them came apart. When I drained the water, I had a few whole noodles, and lots of little bits of noodle. So I ended up having to use the store bought no-cook noodles anyway, which ended up working out great.

And speaking of lasagna, here's a good looking one I found in GulfCoastCottagePDF's Etsy shop. (Italian Feast Felt Food PDF Pattern, $5.99)

Music Monday

Tonight starts my New Year's Resolution, and yes, I know it's a little early. Oh well. I was inspired. (And if you have no clue what I'm talking about, check yesterday's blog update.) One month of cooking from my newest cookbook, How it all Vegan! by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer. My mom is coming over, along with possibly a couple of guy friends, and I'm making Classic Spinach Lasagna, with homemade Traditional Tomato Sauce from the same cookbook. (Homemade pasta sauce rocks, and is super easy!) I'm also making Easy Garlic Spread and cooking it in some puff pastry to make garlic bread rolls. Yum! I bought some lasagna noodles just in case, because the closer it gets to cook time, the more chicken I'm getting about making my own pasta. We'll see... I might save homemade pasta for another night when I won't have company...

What about Music Monday? Hold your horses, I was just getting to that. I was putting groceries in the trunk of my car today and had a very "hippie" moment. In the Whole Foods parking lot, wearing faux-suede boots and an organic cotton skirt, putting reusable grocery sacks filled with tofu and organic veggies into the tiny trunk of my Beetle...

Needless to say, I listened to some Beatles on the way home.

This is one of my favorites. Enjoy!

Whew!

I hadn't realized that it's been so long since I updated my blog... Oops! The holidays are busy for everyone, so hopefully you didn't miss me too much. ;) All I know is, we were definitely Christmas-ed out. Five is a little much, but there's not really much to be done about that. It's nice to be able to spend time with so many different family members, though!

During my week away from school, I've been doing some thinking. And no, it didn't hurt, thank you very much.

Ben and I have been going out to eat most nights, and not cooking at all. For a while I was doing pretty good about cooking at least one dinner per week at home, but the last couple of weeks the only cooking I've done is to take to Christmas Eve dinner at Ben's grandmother's house. The way our schedules are, Ben and I really only eat together Monday and Wednesday nights, plus the weekend. So ideally, one (or both) of those nights would be staying at home for a home-cooked meal. Then, since Mr. Picky Pants doesn't really care for leftovers, that would leave me with lunches to take to school or leftover dinners for nights that I eat without him.

So I've decided that my New Year's resolution this year is to cook one or two dinners per week. That being said, I am a cookbook-holic. Yes, I admit it. I love to look at cookbooks, but the problem is that since I don't cook often, they don't get much use. This means that part of my Cooking Resolution is going to be to use those books! Right now I'm thinking of spending one month per cookbook, so I can try out as many recipes as possible. And I'm not afraid to admit that I was inspired by watching the movie Julie and Julia while wrapping presents. I'm starting with How it all Vegan! by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer, which my mom gave me for Christmas. Oh, did I forget to mention that I've recently started cooking vegan at home? Except for Christmas Eve macaroni and cheese, that is. My mom is coming over for dinner tomorrow night, so I'm making something from my new cookbook. I'm also trying my hand at handmade pasta, to use my brand new pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid. Wish me luck!

It's the Holiday Season!

It's finally starting to feel like Christmas in our house. First of all, to give you a little background, we're "not allowed" to put up Christmas decorations until *after* Ben's birthday at the beginning of December. Yes, he has a complex. And since I don't have any Fall/Thanksgiving decorations, the Halloween decorations stayed up inside the house until the weekend after Thanksgiving. I know, I know, that's way too long. Halloween is my favorite holiday. Sue me. :)

When we bought our house a couple of years ago, we thought it would be a good time to upgrade our tiny, apartment-sized Christmas tree to a house-sized one. Well, it barely fit in the 2-door Civic Ben drove at the time. I sat crammed in the corner of the backseat while the front seat was folded backwards so the giant box could lay in the entire passenger side of the car at an angle. Putting it together was a big adventure. You'd think a pre-lit tree wouldn't be so bad. You'd be wrong. Two years of listening to Ben yell and curse at the tree, and several broken light bulbs later, he decided he's not putting it together anymore. (Taking it apart was just as bad.) Oh, and did I mention that the darn thing was too big for the room anyway?

So after us not putting up a tree at all last year, I finally convinced him that we should get an aluminum tree. You know, the kind that they put up way back in the day. (I found this awesome vintage tree ad on Curly Wurly's blog. Lots of great stuff to look at!)

I already had my grandma's old color wheel in the attic, so all we had to do was get a tree. Low and behold, they sell aluminum trees on Amazon! So tonight we put it together, and it was *way* less stressful. Almost peaceful, even! So I'm ranking our new vintage-looking aluminum tree among my top purchases ever.

In no particular order: ski gloves and jacket for car rider duty at school, Neti pot, tiny whisks, and the aluminum tree.

Friday Feature

Today's Friday Feature is Designs by Kari, who I met on a BNS thread on Etsy. Kari makes gorgeous jewelry. In fact, I've ordered from her a couple of times. :) Not only is everything in her shop beautiful to look at, she is currently running a 25% off sale! All you have to do is put "Happy Holidays" in the notes to seller at checkout to receive your refund.

Honestly, I had trouble picking just a few items to feature today, so I started with something I have a weakness for... Rings! Kari's Raspberry Coral ring is made with a raspberry coral cabochon on a silver plated adjustable base. I personally love buying adjustable rings, because I can make them smaller in the winter when my hands are cold and shrunken! :) (Raspberry Coral Ring, $10.00)

Another beautiful item in Kari's shop, her Rock of Love Necklace, is on sale! The focal bead is jasper, with fuscia, black and green all swirled together. I love how the green Czech glass beads pop and give the necklace sparkle. (Rock of Love Necklace, $22.40)

Hump Day Humor

It's Wednesday. And you know what that means. It's business time - conditions are perfect. :)