Italia at Home [Inspired by Gordon Ramsey]

 So lately I've been on a cooking kick. And because of this I have successfully devoured the 10 seasons of Hell's Kitchen I previous had not seen ( I watched 11 as it aired this year), and I also watched all of MasterChef this year. The one thing that Gordon seems to spend more time yelling about than anything else is Risotto.

Seriously, the man screams about it constantly. And I thought to myself "well, if he's so hell bent on everybody knowing how to make the shit, I will learn!"

Having NEVER attempted risotto in my life, and having only the brief knowledge of what I'd watched people cook on tv (and a glance at a few online recipes) I embarked on my risotto quest.

With this image firmly implanted in my mind:

I began

Mushroom Risotto with Caprese Salad

What you need:

Basmati Rice

Stock (chicken, vegetable, whatever)

Butter

Olive Oil

Mushrooms

Onions

Scallions

White Wine

Garlic

Salt

So I started with two pans the first with Basmati Rice (washed) and two ladles worth of vegetable stock. I then proceeded to add another ladle every time it didn't look 'wet' anymore while stirring.

In the other pan I sautéed olive oil, minced garlic, chopped onions, and scallions until they were caramelized.

I then put them in a separate container to the side.

In that same pan I then added 1/2 stick of butter, mushrooms (chopped) and sautéed

After they were cooked I then threw the onion/garlic/scallion mix back into the pan and stirred. I then topped it off with half a cup of white wine.

By this time my risotto finally looked fluffy (and didn't taste crunchy) 

I poured the contents of one pan into the other.

Stirred.

Vwallah!

It turned out PRETTY DAMN GOOD. I was proud.

Yes chef!

To die for tomato soup

So I've been very domestic lately with my new found lover boy. I've had the urge to cook and clean constantly and once again experiment with food.

So, not feeling 100% I wanted tomato soup. However, I'd rather die than eat that tomato paste in a can Campbell's crap filled with preservatives.

Here's what you need:

A dozen ripe tomatoes

Basil (fresh)

4 oz Cream Cheese (half package)

2 Tbs olive oil

1 large onion

2 cups (1/2 box) of vegetable stock (could also use chicken or beef)

1.5 Tbs minced garlic

Salt & Pepper to taste

Ok, easy peasy.

Get a big soup pot and put the stock in. Put on high while you chop tomatoes. I just diced mine.
Throw tomatoes into the broth
When they're both boiling turn down to medium
Put lid on

In a separate pan:
put olive oil in pan and let heat
chop large onion and add to pan with garlic
Reduce to medium and stir vigorously.

Once you start to get some color on your onions add about 2 leaves of finely chopped basil.
Reduce to med-low heat.

Let that cook down. (this takes maybe 2 minutes. Don't do it long enough to let anything burn)

Add the 1/2 package, 4 oz of cream cheese (can use full fat, 1/3 less fat, whatever) cubed or softened.

Stir and cook until thoroughly mixed.
Remove from heat.
Pour in tomato/broth mixture.
Stir until mixed.

I then gave two cranks on my salt mill
Then one on my pepper mill (i'm not a huge pepper person)
Put the top back on and set it between medium and medium low.
Cook for 45 minutes.

Should smell like tomato soup when you take it off. Everything should look like (slightly chunky) tomato soup. If it doesn't, put the lid back on and give it a few more minutes. Feel free to crank up the heat a little at the end if you need to. But make sure to stir if you do.

Finally, remove from heat. Take handheld blender (like the old-timey milkshake blenders) and blend the chunks of tomato until smooth.

I made crescents with fresh mozzarella inside because who wants tomato soup without a grilled cheese?

An Old Fashioned Baby Shower [Card]

Keeping with my Bestie's love of all things vintage and shabby chic (and because I found these great planters at Goodwill, her mom and I have decided to throw her a vintage baby shower.

I'll put pictures up of everything as it comes together, but first and foremost, I am so proud of my two vintage cards that I changed to make look like her and her husband. I'll show the original and my edits.

If you're wondering how I did it...two softwares: GIMP and FotoFlexer. GIMP is an online, free to download photoshop-light that allows you to add layers. And FotoFlexer is an online free to use editing software that I've been using for years.

The Original Card

Beautiful, touching, but she does NOT have black hair

So Gimp:

Use the lasso tool to select the area you want to recolor

Go to: Layer: Add new layer

Pick the color that you want to recolor it 

Use the fill bucket

In most cases you then go to the layer menu and select mode from "normal" to "overlay." HOWEVER, if your color is lighter than the original, that doesn't work.

So I chose mode as "lighten only"

Looks a little unnatural. But not TOO bad.

I then went back to "layer" and merged down the layers together and saved it / exported it.

The I went to fotoflexer.com

I uploaded the image

I selected the "effects" tab

Then "tint" and chose a light pink color to tint the entire image.

It took away the starkness of the orange hair, and it gave it a beautiful vintage feel. 

Second card:

She and her hubby both have red hair. His is more blonde with a little red and a redish beard. Hers is red red. 

Found this adorable brunette couple and a baby card:

Gorgeous but they're not brunette.

So off to gimp:

So Gimp:

Use the lasso tool to select the area you want to recolor

Go to: Layer: Add new layer

Pick the color that you want to recolor it 

(I picked an bright orange/red for her hair)

Use the fill bucket

Go to the layer menu and select mode from "normal" to "overlay." 

Tada! Hers looks great. 

Merge layers.

His hair: trickier. 

I once again do the 

So Gimp:

Use the lasso tool to select the area you want to recolor

Go to: Layer: Add new layer

But here's where I have to change it up.

I add four new layers, all of the cutout of his hair.

The first layer I made very light blonde and picked "Lighten Only"

Then I combined the two.

The second layer I made a darker blonde

"overlay"

The third layer a light red "overlay"

The fourth layer a medium red "overlay."

Pick the color that you want to recolor it 

Merge them all.

You get this:

Not bad, but he has a beard.

I google beard drawings. 

I pick one:

I go to fotoflexer and use the "smart cutout" tool to leave ONLY the beard and no background.

I then "tint" the beard:

Tada! Now I layer it over the original picture and I erase off the extra edges and tilt it to fit.

Tada! I made an Aliya & Cody vintage card!

If you want to make the vintage cards you love look like the people you love feel free to use my techniques. And if you don't know what to do for something you can always ask me or google is your friend. And because Gimp and FotoFlexer are both free you can play around on them as long as you want until you get your desired result. 

Tangled in progress

So my Tangled cosplay is continuing to be a giant pain the neck. It's literally going to cause pain in my neck because my wig weighs 20 lbs.

That's what mine looks like at this point in time. It may be drastically changed before it's over and done with. I kind of don't like the way it's looking. And it has to have combs and fasteners secured in there because it can't stay on my head the way it is.


As far as the costume itself I have the dress (almost done). It needs her front dark purple panel, the outer design, and lace at the collar and hem. Then I just need to make the sleeves....

got the fabric and cut it in strips

pinned the pieces together

8 pieces pinned for each sleeve cap (the poof part). Now I just need to sew and stuff.

Navy & Coral Crazy

Navy and Coral seem to be two big colors of the moment, and so to go along with my coral dress and navy cardigan I made a navy and coral eye makeup today.

Things I used:

Ulta brand blue eyeshadow palate

NYC neutral shadow palate (it's the "green eye" eye specific shadow palate)

CoverGirl three shade coral blush

Falsies "Big Eyes" Mascara

Black ELF liquid liner

Ulta Brush Set

& An Eyelash Curler (any will do)

Step by step in photos:

Put a neutral color all over the eye

Use straight edge brush for navy in crease

Use soft edge brush to spread darkest pink of blush over eyelid

Line top lid

Line half of bottom lid

Use medium pink on straight edge brush to seal liner 

(go lightly around the eyeliner. Try not to go OVER it, but just around it)

Use lightest pink in the inside corner of lid

Use top "big eyes" mascara brush on top lashes

Use bottom brush on bottom lashes

Go back over top lashes with bottom brush

Curl lashes

Just to show the difference & amazingness in this tiny mascara bottle. The two sized wands are AMAZING. Left eye - done. Right eye - done except no mascara. Look at what a difference it makes! This stuff is my new fave.

Nails

It's summer. And I'm having a hello kitty-gasm lately. So I decided to mix my favorite summer yummy with HK. Strawberry Nails and toes and a Hello Kitty accent thumb. 

Just paint the full nail a cute pinkey color. I used Sinful Colors Professional Island Coral. Then small black dots (Kiss nail art paint in black). And Milani Nail Art Green Sketch for the "leaves". 

Hello Kitty Accent Nail:

White - Revlon nail art dual tip expressionist. White on one end black on the other. 

Whiskers and eyes - Revlon nail art dual tip ( the black side)

Nose - Orly "Hook Up"

Bow - Revlon Nail Art Expressionist dual tip "Pinkasso"

And for bottom and top coat:

Sally Hansen dual duty top and base coat 

Cleaning Out, Making Food

So in an effort to have to move as little food as possible I'm trying to use up everything I can in my fridge, freezer, and pantry. So I decided to tackle two of the pinterest recipes that I had pinned forever ago with that in mind:

First...

http://pinterest.com/marlipaige/recipees/

That's my board for all things food.

Next, the actual recipes:

http://pinterest.com/pin/141089400796337077/

Crock Pot Pizza Casserole

Gonna be honest, I cheated. I didn't want to wait for a crock pot so I cooked my pasta, cooked down the meat some (but not all the way through), mixed together with onions and tomato sauce (I'm not a pepper or pepperoni person), and then I put all of them in little baking dishes and put mozarella on top. Then I just popped them in the oven while my cake (next recipe) was baking).

http://pinterest.com/pin/141089400799398750/

Berry Bubbles Cake

I used about 2 cups of frozen berries, 1 cake mix, and 1 bottle of the blackberry flavored "sparkling ice" because it's what I had here in my house. 

350 for 30 minutes just like a normal cake. And it was still liquidy. So I left it another 30 minutes....and....it still wasn't cooked all the way through. But it was mostly cooked just a little gooey in the middle, and since it had nothing like eggs in it I didn't mind. I actually sort of liked the gooey center. I melted some ice cream in there and just made it super gooey. It was marvelous. Reminded me a lot of my Nanan's "dump cake" that had pears and blueberries growing up. I really loved it.

So freaking busy!

So between trying to find a job, moving, writing for myself as well as blogs over at Biscuette.com and still for Lyrics Undercover, I am FREAKING BUSY!

In between packing I've started frequenting goodwill for new stuff for baby girl Johnson, who (I am still tickled pink) is a girl. Had someone tell me this week I really needed to be using Ebates for all of my online buying. So, I signed up, and it seems pretty cool. Unfortunately, I can't buy my ebay goodies through it, but for normal shopping, it's great.

While doing my constant Goodwill trips I found a serious gem! An almost complete set of "My Book House" children's anthology.

These are the "white and rainbow" 1971 version. I'm missing book 3, actually, but otherwise, I have the whole set. $1.50 per book, so $16.50 for the set, and as best I can tell they're worth between $70 and $150. So...THAT WAS A GOOD BUY!

Also started on my Dragoncon costume (assuming I get to go. If not, It'll be halloween). 

http://pinterest.com/marlipaige/costumes-sewing/

That's my link to the costumes that I'm working on, want to work on, find adorable, etc. But I've decided upon Rapunzel from Tangled. I love doing kid-inspired things because I just love how little kids want to take pictures with you. So...I decided to go the disney route. 

Got a wig, 150 cms, and then some extra "extensions" to try and make the braid big enough. Have a pink daisy chain, and I've got ebay offers in on lots of blooms to do the hair. 

The coloring may be different on my dress. I already have a dark purple corset I'm going to use for the corseted part...so the top and bottom will probably be reversed color scheme wise. I've been working on a light purple bottom, dark purple corset, and I'm going to get gold or tan cording for the lacing of the corset. Then I'll just need to make the poofy sleeves, lace around the collar, sheer sleeves, and lace at the end. I will update as I get it put together. 

I waited almost too long to get started on it, but I think I can pull it together pretty effectively in the next month.

In addition to all of that I still have to finish packing, move Sunday, and find a real job.

I also (can't help it) have been starting planning toward Aliya's baby shower. 

http://pinterest.com/marlipaige/showers/

That has not only her bridal shower stuff, but also the stuff for the baby shower. Her theme for the nursery is "Flower Fairies" so...there's a lot of that in there. 

So that's my life at the moment.

The Neverending T-Shirt Quilt

So I started this T-shirt quilt with such good intentions. I started pinning everything together when I realized....how the hell am I gonna sew this monstrosity?

So an fyi before you start yours that NOBODY tells you:
DO THEM IN ROWS!

Lay everything out on the floor that you want to use and arrange it accordingly then go in rows.

Let's say that these squares are all the different pieces of t-shirt that you've laid out exactly how you want. I know it's not even, neither is my blanket.

Next you need to make a general schematic of how you want your "rows" to be. Mine are still not 100% even, but they are in manageable rows!

Now only pin things together that are in the same "row". Then sew row by row.

When you're done you can then lay it back down, pin the sewed rows together, and sew again.

Nobody tells you to break that up when you're looking at doing one of these!

But if you don't you just end up with a lot of bulk to try and sew at one time and a plethora of straight pins sticking you in the thighs. It's not pretty. 

This is what it looks like thus far. It's still a work in progress. Only part of it is sewed. The other is just pinned:

It's gonna be freaking huge.

But yeah...rows...they're your friends. Take my word for it.

More soon!

Updating Thrift Shop Goodies

So everyone loves a bargain. I love goodwill because it is great at that. However, sometimes your bargain buys aren't EXACTLY what you wanted. I found that to be true of my $3 lamp.

See? Just not pretty. Plain, bland, blah. 

I started with glittering the top screw:

Fill bowl with blue and purple glitter (it's what I had)

cover top in mod podge (that's what the little dobber in there was for)

and roll around in there. And you get this!

Prettyful!

Ok, step two: the lamp shade.

I had music note fabric that I loved and have been looking for a reason to use. 

It came from IKEA. You could buy it by the yard, and i got some remnant pieces for cheaper.

So I put a bead of hot glue along the rim of one side and pressed the fabric in.

Then I would continue on all four sides until they were secure.

Then glue excess on the insides of the top and bottom of the shade.

You can see how it's glued inside the top of the shade over the edge.

I layered the fabric different ways on different sides to create the desired effect.

And then I made an adorable little bow with a resin rose on it and glued that sucker on the front!

(I may or may not go back at some point and glue ribbon around it)

But for now. SO much cuter than it was! I no longer hate it, and I now have light.