Tea party

The tea party came and went.

That makes it sound much easier than it was.

Lost of love and sweat went into it.

It was worth it, and we were not sad it happened.

Just the opposite actually.

Finals are this week and next.

That is why things are so... quiet.

Loving you is cherry pie

After a brief stint in bed with strep last week, I am out and about and ready to blog!

A few Sundays ago I made a cherry pie for dessert.

 We'd had the filling since February, and every time I opened the cupboard with all our canned food it called my name.
In a subtle way that only cherry pie can.

I felt a little nervy because I hadn't made pie since jr. high. However, "Easy as Pie" must have originated from how easy pie is to make. Or maybe it was how easy it was to eat? How had I let my pie making skills deteriorate so much?!

The pie turned out marvelously.

I made some delightful whipped cream to dance across its surface, and we gobbled it up while it was still hot and gooey.

We felt like the crust was the best part; I don't know how much it was the recipe so much as the method.

I willingly took the time to refrigerate my ingrediants before I mixed them, and to refrigerate the crust for an hour after I had finished. I think this step is essential to a happy pie.

Take your favorite pie recipe, do this step, and I think you will be happy till you die.

Bathroom Painting.

Before the painting!

We forgot to take actual before pictures, like of the bathroom in it's before state, decorated; so these are simply before we started painting.

The painting process.

The one of me painting is just to prove that it happened.

the stencil one; proves... that we stenciled I suppose.

Finished!

The polka dot box is no longer a resident of our bathroom, because she didn't go.

Other than that, she looks like this!

Here is how we got through it:

Grey's Anatomy

{Any television show that you watch sans commercials, really helps. Other goodies are Scrubs, Arrested Development, and Gilmore Girls. Depending on the audience and your mood.}

Pizza

{since our kitchen was literally in shambles we had to call for reinforcements}

Mamma Mia

{Something fun and peppy equates to more enjoyable monotony. Also something you have seen before, so you aren't always turning away from the wall.}

Good music

{good music, or even good-bad music. Something to get your blood flowing. This really can range anywhere from Neil Young to The Black Eyed Pea's; we don't judge.}

Each other!

{I would never recommend painting with somebody you didn't love}

{Stencil Design}

Holla holla holla!

{Muse}
Here is a little shout out to my two best aunts!
I can't think of two more deserving beneficiaries than the two of you!
You work those meet and greet passes!

Tea party

Last year for our book club we read The Tea Rose.

Additionally, Liz and I threw a tea party to accompany this great book!

It was so, so fun that we decided to do it again.

and again and again and again.......

Liz, ready.

INVITE

{Because its cute!}

This year we are reading Alice in Wonderland.

Which was decided last year, before all the fuss about the movie commenced.

We have BIG plans for this year; its going to kick last years tea party's butt!

Party mix one

{what happens at parties}

vegan friendly cake; for Jonas

A few weeks ago we were staying at our parents, to do laudry, and because there was shindig there.

My parents were in California, so Marianne and I had the delicious assignment of procuring a dessert.

With our nephews tender tummy in we set out to make the best chocolate cake we could for him.

oven: 375 degrees

pans: two 8-9 inch pans

Original Mandy's Chocolate Cake recipe found here

ingredients:

{cake}

3 cups flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

4 teaspoons vanilla

4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

{icing}

2 ounces of semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup vegan butter/margarine/whatever you use

3 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons soy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

{Ganache}

5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped; roughly

1 Tablespoon golden syrup, brown-rice syrup, or I used maple syrup

1/3 cup soy milk

{I also added about 2 cups of sugar, because I wanted my ganache to be sweet, not semisweet}

To make

{Cake}

Sift together your dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar.

In a separate bowl mix your wets: oil and vanilla

Add your two mixtures together, and whisk your little heart away, or until they are well incorporated, which ever comes first.

Add vinegar and stir quickly. The vinegar may or may not form pale swirls in the mixture. Refer back to your 3rd grade science fair to see why this happens.

hint: vinegar + baking soda = volcanic eruptions

Tip:

there isn't egg to keep this thing from crumbling out of the cake pan, pans, or cup cake tins.

i would recommend greasing, flouring, and parchmenting every inch of your pan.

{Icing}

Melt chocolate and let cool

tip:

Melting chocolate can be trickier than one may initially think.

In order to not burn it, heat the chocolate until a few pieces start to melt.

One this happen, immediately remove from heat source, and stir until all chocolate pieces are melted.

mix room temperature chocolate with margarine, until fluffy.

in a sparate bowl: add sugar, soy milk, and vanilla; beating until silky smooth.

add the two together.

{Ganche}
Chop chocolate in a food processor.
Heat syrup and milk together, and bring to a boil.
Hint:
If you dip your measuring spoon in boiling water, before you put the syrup in it, the syrup will just slide right out of the spoon. Eliminate mess and headache.
Drizzle syrup mixture into the running-chopping food processor, until smooth.
let cool.

The grand assembly

Frosting is to be sandwiched between your two cakes, and your ganache can be slathered about the top and sides of said cake.

SEW What?

Yay for me, I did a bunch of sewing last night! Not only that but I took pictures, which turned out to be a big deal. I had not batteries for my camera, so I went around my house pulling the batteries out of my remote controls, then it still didn't work because my camera program isn't on my new computer and I can't find the program CD and all I managed to do was kill all the batteries in my house and I just ended up having to go get some at the store in the end. BLAH. Anyhooodle, to the point Batman!

It was an all night sewing fest and here is a list of things needed.

1-Sewing room or sewing space. This is mine and she looks nice and clean because I cleaned it before taking pics so you wouldn't know how big of a slob I really am!

2- Sewing supplies. This is a skirt I hemmed last night and some of the fabric I was working with. As well as my measuring tape and marking pencil, both very important.

3- Batman socks, they help me get my game face on, which looks like this

4- Game Face=Ready to Rock the Sewing!!!

5- Here I am working on a dress. I am making the pattern myself. Which it means I am essentially adding many unnecessary hours to my project. I will end up measuring and remeasuring a million times. As well as sewing and re sewing. BLAH. But hopefully in the end it will look something like this

6- Actual progress was made. This is just about what it will look like when finished. It is mostly held together here by pins and such but it will be really nice and less like a nightgown, when finished.

Closer look at bodice

Booyah!

I also added some black to the hem of this skirt last night

I know this picture makes little sense. That is because I am wearing it today so those yellow things at the top are actually my knees. I am sitting and this is my lap from the top. But you can see the the black I added all the same!

xoxo Liz

cut the bonds with the moon

Spring break; updated.

{Surprise flowers from Marianne}

1) repaint our kitchen, bathroom, and door frames.

no door frames. eventually though.

2) stencil bathroom walls {paperless wall paper}

took almost all of saturday, but we did it!

3) clean behind our fridge, and inside.

we couldnt move our fridge, but eventually yes, this will happen.

we just need to ask some muscles.

4) do some printing by hand.

will happen, we are printing our new shower curtain.

5) perhaps some sewing.

we have plenty of time for this.

6) watch lots of movies, and TV series.

done, this would have happened even if it hadnt make the list.

7) sneak into the Grand America, and go hot tubing.

i think we totally forgot about this.

oh well, we will wait and do it with people who appreciate such exiciting adventures.

8) have friends over.

did!

mostly family, though.

that still counts, i'm sure of it.

9) go to a movie night at friends.

went to Home Depot instead.

10) hang out with Liz

this happened multiple times, because we are good like that.

11) hang out with Mom and Dad.

we slumbied at their home monday and tuesday nights.

12) pizza party

not really in the way we expected, but we did have one, well actually a few.

13) spend some time with Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens.

the smallest amount of time, but time none the less.

14) knit.

even smaller amount of time.

15) Bake the cherry pie that has been calling our name since Valentines.

Done,

and very tasty.

16) Walk up to Einstein’s for breakfast one morning.

We did yesterday morning, and it was killer!

17) still have time to be lazy.

We are SO good at this one!

I am feeling very lazy, speaking of, so I am thinking I may post painting pics next week.

Do an apartment special all week.

Mmmm, a delicious apartment special!

aint this just like the present

{spring hail}

I just had to snap a quick picture, even though its ugo.

When I was walking into work, it was sunny.

Ten minutes later, it was hailing!

I love that about Utah, the capriciousness.

I love change, and what is better than experiencing all four seasons in an hour time period?

Nothing!

Our painting is coming along nicely, and we are logging it, so expect that next week.

Today Marianne had a dental appointment by my work, so I met her before. We did a little thrift shopping and struck gold.

We got a ton of stuff to print on, which means we have even more projects lurking in our near future.

Also I went a little crazy with the vases; Marianne had to rein me in.

I would have probably purchased all of the vases, all of the shell plates and bowls, and the punch bowl set if she hadn’t been there.

What would I do with out here?