Christmas Limes, Apples and Candles

I have never been much of a decorator, but now that I have my own apartment, I enjoy doing little things to decorate for the seasons.  I would love to do even more, but I am taking baby steps.

With Christmas getting a bit closer, I decided to do a cute take on the traditional red and green.  I wanted to use real fruit, but I decided that would be expensive and would eventually go bad.  Instead, I ended up buying plastic miniature limes and red apples.  Each container was $6 (from Fred Meyer) but I got more than enough and they will last forever.  I filled up my hurricane jar with them, and it looks adorable.  Great for winter, but isn't in-your-face Christmas-y.

My hurricane jar also has a candle holder on the top, so I decided to jazz up a plain candle.  To do so, I bought a white pillar candle ($5.50), permanent double stick tape, and gold glitter.  Whilst DIY-ing, I was also watching GLEE and drinking white wine/cranberry juice, so it is safe to say it was a great night.

I added the double stick tape to the candle in stripes.  If you are a perfectionist, it would be better to measure out the spacing of your stripes, but I just freestyled it.  Different sizes would also look great and would help disguise any mistakes because the spacing would be less noticeable.

From there, I held the candle over a large bowl and poured the glitter over it, turning the candle as I did so.  I manually added glitter to spots that looked a little sparse.  It would probably be easier to put some paper in your bowl, so you can fold the paper and pour the leftover glitter somewhere.  I lost a lot transferring from bowl to container.  After that, I set the candle on the counter and used my finger to wipe away any glitter that had remained not stuck to the tape - this part was surprisingly easy.

Now I have my candle displayed on top of my hurriance jar and I think it looks really festive and store-bought.  You can barely tell I made it.  The really cool thing this is you can continue to customize your candle to match different holidays/seasons by using different color glitter and/or different colored candles.  The tape comes off just fine.

I also think this would be really cute if you used a hot glue gun to draw designs and stick glitter into the glue (like stars).  You wouldn't be able to change the design, but I think you could make some really awesome stuff.

Asparagus Guacamole

Do yourself a favor and make asparagus guacamole.  It is made almost entirely of unprocessed food (besides 2 tablespoons of mayo) and tastes delicious.  Try to be open minded - don't expect it to taste exactly like guacamole.  However, it does taste similar, and looks just like it, except a bit thinner.  I ate mine with naan and baby carrots, but it would be great with tortilla chips, pita bread, other veggies, etc.  This version is really low calorie for "guacamole" too.

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh asparagus, cooked
1 small chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic (divided)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbl mayonnaise
Juice from 2 lemons
One bunch minced cilantro
1/2 tsp chili powder
Salt and Hot Sauce, to taste

Directions:
1) Cook asparagus.  I boiled mine in a big pan of water for about 10 minutes.  You want them really soft because you are going to be blending them.

2) Dice up one small onion.  Blend the onion, asparagus, and 1 teaspoon garlic until smooth.  Pour into a bowl.

3) To the asparagus mixture, add mayo, lemon juice, cilantro, chili powder, tomatoes, hot sauce, salt, and another teaspoon minced garlic.  I love cilantro so I may have used a lot - you can adjust accordingly.  Stir to mix.

There you have it - very easy, very delicious, and very healthy "guacamole" to eat guilt-free!

Topshop Blazer

I love this blazer...trying to decide if I should buy it.  Has anyone else boughten something from Topshop?  I have heard great reviews, but I still hate deciding sizes via online shopping!

It looks like a great fitting jacket.  I imagine putting it over some cute dresses or casual shirts and wearing with jeans... going to have to ponder if it is worth a purchase.

Also, I think this shirt has a lot of potential.  I might be crazy because it doesn't look that great on the model...but I just love red. Seems like the hem might fit oddly though.

Red denim? Yes please.

They look like the perfect fall pants.  All the reviews say they fit great, but I am a little concerned they might fit too tight.  I haven't jumped on the leggings bandwagon yet, but these ones sure are convincing.

Also love this purse - but so expensive for a lil' guy!

So there you have it - after a red top, red pants or red purse?  Now is the season to hook yourself up. Which one (if any??) would you pick?

Peanut Butter and Jelly Tiramisu

Peanut Butter and Jelly Tiramisu - kind of mind blowing.  It literally just tastes like one of the fanciest, most decadent peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you have ever eaten.

This recipe comes from the Food Network. My friend had cut it out and put it into her recipe book.  Here is how we made it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
8 ounces room temperature cream cheese
1 and 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/3 cup framboise (raspberry liquer) or raspberry juice.  We used Torino's Raspberry Syrup (like what goes into coffee drinks)
*14 ladyfingers (took my friend awhile to find them - look in the bakery section)
4 cups raspberries (we got one of the big clamshells)
9x5 loaf pan (looks like a loaf of bread)


*A note on the lady fingers - you can typically find lady fingers in the bakery section of your grocery store, near where they sell bread, angel food cake, pound cake etc.  I haven't been able to find them at my local Albertsons but do find them at Fred Meyers.  The second time I used this recipe, I replace the lady fingers with torn up angel food cake.  Not only did it provide a bit more substance, it tasted even better! It worked just like the lady fingers but there was more of it plus it was overall much cheaper.
Directions:
1) Beat the peanut butter, cream cheese, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and cream in a large bowl with mixer on medium until smooth and fluffy. 

2) In a separate bowl, whisk raspberry jam, raspberry syrup, and 1/3 cup water in a bowl until smooth

3) Spread about 3 tablespoons of the jam mixture on the bottom of the pan - enough to cover the bottom.

4) Cover with half of the lady fingers, arranging them lengthwise.  Cover with half of the remaining jam mixture.

5) Spoon half of the peanut butter over the lady fingers.  I thought that there was a bit too much peanut butter, so don't feel bad if you don't end up using it all.  Use the spoon to spread it around so it covers the whole loaf pan.

6) Top with half of the raspberries. 

7) Adding the rest of the jam mixture, then spoon on the rest of the peanut butter mixture. 

8) Here, the instructions say cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 8 hours, then top with the additional raspberries. We wanted to eat it immediately, and that was really no problem.  However, if you let it sit for 8 hours, the ladyfingers soak up the raspberry liquid, and it tastes even better.

Here is a picture from the Food Network - I forgot to take one.  We aren't professionals, but ours looked pretty similar! We didn't bother with the additional garnishes of shaved chocolate and powdered sugar though.

Eggplant Ricotta Bites

Last night I went to my friend's house, where we made a feast and watched movies. 

Here was our menu:

1. Eggplant Ricotta Bites
2. Chicken Chili Stew
3. Cornbread
4. Peanut Butter and Jelly Tiramisu
5. Sparkling Red Wine

It was awesome! We also watched Bad Teacher and the Twilight movies (but I feel asleep right when Twilight started).

The recipe for the Eggplant Ricotta Bites came from the Food Network.  Here is how we made it.

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
Salt
All purpose flour
3 large eggs
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil
3 plum tomatoes, diced
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar - I think it would be better with balsamic
1 cup ricotta
Shredded fresh basil, for topping

1) THINLY slice the eggplant into rounds and season with salt.  You can use a heavy hand with the salt.

2) Set out three bowls.  Fill one with flour, one with the beaten eggs, and one with breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan.

3) Dredge the eggplant in the flour first, eggs second, and breadcrumb mixture third.

4) Heat up a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium heat.  Wait a few minutes to make sure it is really heated up, which will improve your first batch. Working in batches, cook the eggplant until golden on each side - this took me about a minute per side.  Add olive oil between each batch. Drain eggplants on paper towels and season again with salt.

5) Finely dice the tomatoes and toss with two teaspoons of olive oil and two teaspoons of red wine vinegar.  If I were making this again, I would do 3 teaspoons of each, and try it with balsalmic instead of red wine.  I individually added more vinegar to each of my bites as I ate them.

6) Spoon some ricotta onto each eggplant slice and spread out with the spoon.  Top with tomatoes and shredded basil.

Note - these are NOT good left over, so only make as much as you plan to it, and don't expect delicious leftovers the next day.  The eggplant got a lot more eggplant-y overnight, and was harder to bite into.  It just got soggy overall.

Curried Pea Soup with Sun Dried Tomatoes

Here is all I had to buy at the store to make pea soup - peas, an onion, and a few carrots.  I think pea soup is one of the simplest and tastiest soups out there, and it doesn't hurt that it is really inexpensive to make.  Below is my favorite way to make pea soup. 


Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 large onion,  diced
2 medium carrots, sliced in rounds
16 oz (or 2 and 1/4 cups) dried split peas
9 cups water, plus more as needed
apple cider vinegar, to taste
Tablespoon minced garic
3 teaspoons curry powder
3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

1) Warm two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.

2) Add garlic, carrots and onion to olive oil, and cook for 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

3) Add split peas, sun-dried tomatoes, curry powder, and water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Leave pot uncovered and let cook for 90 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

There you have it - curried pea soup with sun dried tomatoes.  The cooking time takes awhile, but it is not a very needy recipe.  It basically cooks itself and is a great way to get your daily required vegetables.

Peas never look the prettiest, so don't judge a book by it's cover :)

Vegetable Beef

Well I have been quite the negligent blogger - long nights at work, tons of good TV, time well spent with the boyfriend...all great excuses, trust me.  But now it is time to get down to business and I declare the first week of November, Soup Week.

Start with this one.  It's easy - so easy, I am not even going to include pictures.  Tomorrow, we can tackle a soup a teeny bit harder but only harder because it involves more than one step (Pea Soup).

Tonight, just throw this stuff in the crockpot and get excited you can eat delicious vegetable beef soup while cuddling up at watching Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice tomorrow.  Or your show of choice.

Vegetable Beef Soup
In a crockpot, combine the following:

28oz can crushed tomatoes
Beef stew meat (I got the prepackaged kind, not even sure how much it weighed)
1 or 2 potatoes, cut up into chunks
16oz frozen mixed vegetables
5 or 6 beef boullion cubes
pepper
dried basil - approximately 1 tablespoon, but can adjust to your liking
2 cups water - more or less depending on how thick you like it.  This is a good medium amount

If you are feeling extra crazy, this is delicious with a few carrots chopped up, the addition of a chopped onion, and a big juicy roll on the side.

Let your soup cook in the crockpot on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours.

ENJOY and be thankful for the delicious foods of Fall.