POM POM NECKLACE

Today I tried my hand at this pom pom necklace I found on Honestly WTF.  I like the idea of this necklace and I feel like I can expand on it even more; but for first attempt, I'm satisfied. 

French onion soup is one of my favorite foods--it's simple, easy, and really inexpensive.

Here's what I did:

1 yellow onion
1 tsp butter
3 slices of baguette
3 slices brie cheese (normally Gruyere cheese is used, but i didn't have any)
1 cup water
S&P

In a sauce pan combine onions and butter and cook until caramelized, this normally takes 45min or so--be patient.  Once the onions are nice and golden brown add water and salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  At this point put the cheese on top of the bread and place into oven until bread is crisp and cheese is melted.  Ladle soup into a bowl and top with toasted bread.  DIG IN!

summer

I think I'm going to have a heart attack

Today I went over to my Grams' house and after I pointed out her decorative antique mason jars, she started showing me a bunch of her mother's old kitchen wear.  Along with the jars, an egg-poacher, and an apple mill, she had me pull down a small wooden box, labeled recipes (my heart stopped).  When I opened it, I think I died for a second.  

This little box is filled with billions (not really, but a lot) of my great grandmother's hand typed recipes.  I have the box on loan for now and am just starting to look through the magic.  I have a feeling I will be very busy this afternoon.  Woo-eee!

A while back I found a baggy long-sleeved silk Pendleton blouse at a local thrift store for I think $2-3.  Today I finally altered it into a tank top.

I should have taken a before photo, buuut basically I took off the sleeves, scooped the neck, and brought in the arm pits.  It came with a silk scarf of the same material, so I sewed it straight, right beneath the neck line.  It's hard to see in the photo but the scarf actually turned out really cool.  You can tie it around back--to give the shirt form, let it flow loose, tie it around the neck, ect.  ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES!!  I'm really pleased with how the tank turned out.  Now I'm going to be on the hunt for more fixer-upers like this.

I found two Ralph Lauren pillow cases at a thrift store for 25 cents each, and bought them with the intent to make pj shorts.  

After two failed attempts at making the shorts I decided to not let the fabric go to waste and make a tank top.  I had to do some major surgery, but I was pleased with the end result.

It's not perfect, but you cant beat a $0.50 shirt.

CARROT CAKE 

Yesterday was my dad's birthday (4th o' July baby!) so I made him a carrot cake.  Carrot cake has always been one of my favorites, and I was so pumped to make one for my dad this weekend.  I was originally going to make a gluten free cake but I forgot my recipe card at home so I followed a food blogger recipe for the cake instead and made a walnut cream cheese frosting using a few different recipes as inspiration.

Here's what I did for the frosting:

1 8oz package of cream cheese (you can use light if you want)
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the walnuts in a food processor and mix until they become fine or start to stick together.  The point of this is to make a pysudo "walnut butter" but not quiet as sticky.  Cream together the "walnut butter," cream cheese, and vanilla in a mixer.  Once everything is well combined, start adding the powdered sugar.  Ta da!  Cream cheese frostin'!

Vegan Coconut Date Ice Cream

I found this recipe on this blog: http://wingitvegan.blogspot.com/2011/02/teeccino-winners-and-date-sweetened-ice.html and I thought I'd try it out.  I was really happy with how my batch turned out.  It's a really sweet ice cream but not sugary sweet, more earth sweet (from the fruit).  Anyways, give it a try--it's delicious!


Here is the recipe (I made a few adjustments from the one on the blog):
1 cup oz pitted dates 
1/2 cup water
1 14 oz can coconut milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a sauce pan combine the water and dates and let it come to a boil.  Once it does, remove from heat and let the dates soak for 15 minutes.


Combine the coconut milk, vanilla extract, and dates+their water into a blender and mix until smooth.


Using a fine mesh strainer pour the mixture right into your ice cream maker as it spins.  Let the ice cream churn until it won't churn no mo'!  I think mine took around 15 to 20 min.  Put mixture into a container and freeze right away to let it harden.  ENJOY!


*In the last 5 min of the churning process feel free to add in chocolate chunks or walnut chunks would be fantastic too!

Vegan Mint Chip Ice Cream

I've been seeing a lot of ice cream recipes using coconut milk so I thought I'd give it a try too.

Ingredients:
14 oz coconut milk
1/2 c vanilla almond milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbs honey/agave
1/3 c fresh mint
1/4 c chopped chocolate/carob chips

In a blender, mix all ingredients except for the chocolate until the mint is broken up and everything is combined--about a minute or so.  Pour mixture into ice cream maker and let it do its magic!  I added the chocolate once the ice cream was nearly finished after about 10-15 minutes of churning.  Garnish with a sprig of mint, and you have your very own bowl of churned wonder.

Whidbey Island strawberries, this is what summer tastes like.