Liar Liar Pants on Fire

It has been...oh, two years since I began this blog? Not only did I not follow my New Year's Resolution of keeping a blog, I also did not keep my resolution of baking! Where is my hair shirt? How will I atone for this?

Sarahseven

I desperately want this dress:

by Sarahseven

Three Cheers for Spring!

Daffodils, butterflies, and Cadbury mini eggs. Is there anything more springy? I'm also a bit smitten with the necklace I whipped up above.

kahlo and cupcakes

So I think that I may have found the perfect cupcake recipe. I found it on a little site called http://www.cupcakerecipe.net/. And you can find the recipe here. I tweaked it slightly to make Valentine cupcakes by using strawberry flavor instead of vanilla and mixing in a little red food coloring and some white chocolate chips. I topped the cupcakes with some strawberry jam and then a standard frosting that I mixed some chopped strawberry pieces into. And the piece de resistance- a little heart cut from a fresh strawberry to top it off! Delicious! I've already eaten two today and I think my tummy's a-hankerin' for a third!

I also finally found the perfect use of these frida kahlo appliques that were given to me a while back:

I sewed them onto an Indian pillowcase that I purchased at a bead show last weekend. I'm not sure if I want to put a pillow in it or just display it as a wall hanging.

Sew what?

I found this rad little houndstooth number at a vintage store a while back, but was hesitant to wear it as it seemed a little dated/lacking to me. Imagine my elation when I found a rogue strip of black lace in a drawer- a few minutes of stitching later and my skirt had a whole new sassy attitude

!

Doughboy gonna knock you out

My latest foray into the world of baking involved good ol' fashioned vanilla cupcakes. I won't bore you or myself with the details involved. Suffice it say it was very easy and I would say successful although I am not sure that it is more economical than buying the boxed stuff from the store. Whilst homemade cupcakes have the advantage of being all-natural, free of preservatives, and blah blah, I have a weakness for things that are either cheap or instantly gratifying. I am, of course, speaking of Pillsbury's Funfetti:

Not only is Funfetti perpetually on sale, it is also tasty and beautiful. Just look at those little rainbow fettis! Plus I absolutely adore the Pillsbury doughboy, a fondness that has been going on since I first laid eyes on that little chubster. That said I am pretty sure that there are many reasons that I should not adore Pillsbury but honestly I would jump off of a cliff if that handsome little doughboy asked me to.

Anyhow, here are the cupcakes that I made extra special for our little Cardinals and their Very First Super Bowl. Thank you for making me realize again how much I like football guys!

You would never know that I was an art major looking at the quality of those footballs, but it was hard frosting those mothers.

Speaking of art, I finally received my bubbles in the mail. Oh, I've got a very special project in mind for these bad boys but in the meantime I've entertained myself endlessly with them:

Apple Galette, hopefully the beginning of a new love affair

For the first time since I was probably twelve, I have made some New Year's Resolutions. One of those resolutions is as follows:

I resolve to hand-make at least one pie/tart a month and one batch of cupcakes/muffins a month.

It may not sound like much of a resolution but I am absolutely determined to become an excellent baker. I love the thought of having warm delectable goodies to share with friends and random people in the street.

My first baking attempt for the year is a Harvest Apple Galette, the recipe being from a little book called Pie and Tart by Williams-Sonoma that I received this Christmas from my dear friend Aaron. I've chosen this recipe because it is 1. Cheap 2. Easy and 3. A nice introduction to the world of galettes which will prepare me for the ultimate galette- the Galette des Rois.

This galette is basically an apple pie but instead of a pie pan you just plop it on a cookie sheet and sort of fold over the sides. It has a really rustic and handmade look to it, which I like.

The consensus:

This was actually a fairly annoying pastry. I followed the recipe but there wasn't enough dough so the sides don't fold over as nicely (or at all really) as they should have. Also, I sprinkled some sugar over the top and got some on the wax paper which caused a bit of a smoke party in the house as it burned in the oven, which I quickly remedied by opening some doors and windows. Nothing tragic so far, but after cooking it for about ten minutes longer than the recipe called for, the crust still wasn't golden brown. I decided to broil it for a bit to just brown the top. Unfortunately my experience with broiling is extremely limited and after about 20 seconds of broiling I managed to singe the top of my galette which upsets me to no end! Oh well, live and learn! The finished product:

Not the prettiest thing. The next time I make one I will definitely prepare more dough so that I can fold it over farther and make it nice and lovely. Plus if the broiler is necessary I will watch that evil fellow like a hawk!

................But how does it taste?

Pretty good! The apples are nice and mushy and tart, and crust was pretty succesful. I served a little vanilla icecream on the side because I can't have apple pie/tart/whatever without a little icecream or whipped cream! I will definitely try this reipe again, but will have to make some personal adjustments.

<3~ Kim