Ginger Bread House

This here is a ginger bread house that I built over the Holidays. It took me over about 6 hours each day for 3 days to make it. Its my real first one, I don't count the ones that were pre-made in a box and you don't have to do any of the work other then making it looking pretty. Now it from the gingerbread architect book that I found at Barns and Noble. As you can see I tired to make the one that was on the cover .

Now I wouldn't tell you to make these in three days, no no. It tells you in the book to leave yourself at least a week to make them or there will be a lot of stress to come, and its true. I needed to get this out soon because x-mas was ...well the next day. I made the base of it out of wood and placed a light in it so that it whole thing would lit.

What I love the most about this house is the fact that it has real " glass" windows, made from crushed butterscotch hard candies. You crush them and put them in while your gingerbread is baking when its about 80% cooked. Sometimes I pulled it out and it had holes so I just fill in and popped back in. It didn't do anything to the gingerbread because it wasn't hot enough , long enough, for the bread but it was for the candy. It was a little annoying, why, because of these windows I needed to watch and do each piece one by one. It was about 30 or some pieces. Needless to say I was up till about 3am watching x-mas movies. I have to say at 3am , watching white Christmas really makes you cry :D.















Anyways, it was a lot of fun to make this crazy house. It ended up being about 13in high and 15 in long, with about 12 in deep. Big house. We ended up punching it and drop kicking it after the holidays. I can't wait to make another !

Cirtus Yummy Peels

Alright so I had to really research this one. I went to a few different sites like here and here for way to make citrus peels, but it always seemed when making them most people had trouble with the grapefruit. After a few tries here is what I did to make the yummy holiday candies

Candied Citrus Peel

4 grapefruit rinds (or equivalent in citrus fruit of your choice)

5.5 cups sugar (divided use)2 cups water
Melted chocolate (optional)

Flavoring (lemon is great for this)

Scrape all of the flesh and membranes from the fruit rind, this is very important with the grapefruit, you don't have to do this with the oranges. Make sure to leave the pith intact. Slice the rind into half inch slices and place into a pan large enough to hold it plus an inch of water. Cover with clean water. Bring water to a boil and boil for a minute or two then drain. Repeat a total of five times until the rinds are very tender. Leave in a colander to drain well.
While the peel is draining, mix together four cups of sugar and the 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and continue to heat until the mixture is clear. If you wish, you can drop flavorings such as cinnamon, cardamom, or vanilla into the sugar syrup to flavor the final product.

Using several layers of paper towels or a kitchen towel, press the rinds to extract as much water as is easily possible without smashing them. Once the syrup is clear, drop in the drained peel. Make sure that there is enough syrup to allow all of the rinds to be in contact with it. If there isn't make a half batch of syrup in another pot and ladle over the top.

Bring syrup and rind to a boil and reduce heat to very low. Cover and allow to simmer until the rinds become translucent and jewel like (almost like colored glass). Stir occasionally. This takes about an hour.

Remove the rinds to baking sheets lined with parchment and allow to dry over night. Take your reserve cup and a half of sugar and put in your food processor, whirring it until it is the consistency of fine sand. This step is not strictly necessary but creates a better finished product. Take the slightly tacky pieces of candied rind and toss them in the sugar until thoroughly covered. This step is very important here, it helps make them harder and sweeter. Shake off gently and return to the cookie sheets. Allow to dry for a further 2-4 hours before placing in an airtight container for storage.
















Optionally instead of covering the rinds in sugar you can dip them in chocolate and allow to
harden.

Blueberry crumble bars !

Blueberry Crumb Bars

From AllRecipes.com

After seeing a blueberry crumb bar on another site, I immediately wanted to make them mainly because of the really yummy pictures that came with it. So I snagged a recipe from AllRecipes.com and a few yum yums later I had this. I dolled it up with some lemon juice and lemon zest, they were just as heavenly as anything else you can make. My roommate and I because addicted to these, they are great for any meal for the day ! We love to have ours with some tea. I made these about three weeks ago and now I'm ready for round two with these bad boys.

I read that it could be easily swa

pping another fruit or berry for the blueberries–I’m especially thinking something tart like cranberries in the fall (I think using orange instead of lemon with cranberries would make it even better). But if you have blueberries on hand, do not miss a chance to make these.Right now in my area they are selling blueberries two for one. They are just so yummy

These are best to cut once chilled, and store even better in the fridge than they do at room temperature because they end up getting a bit mushy after a while.

Yield: 36 smallish rectangles

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. (This took an extra 10 to 15 minutes in my oven.) Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Enjoy !

Gingerbread cookie madness

So tonight I made a batch of gingerbread cookies ! They turned out yummy but a little on the lemon side, so if you make them with less lemon juice they would make the perfect gingerbread cookie. I snag this from the food network ! This is what you need ...


6 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
6 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon ginger
Pinch of salt
5 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup honey
1 3/4 cups sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, spices and salt together in a large bowl, and set aside.

In a small saucepan combine the butter, honey, sugar, lemon juice and the lemon and orange zest. Bring this to medium heat and cook until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Let cool to about room temperature and beat in the eggs.

Make a well in the flour/spice mixture and add the egg/sugar mixture to the well. Using a fork, begin to gradually incorporate the flour into the egg mixture. When the flour has mostly been incorporated, turn the mixture out onto a clean work surface and gently knead until the mixture is smooth and homogenous. Knead in a little more flour if the dough seems sticky. Chill dough for 1 hour or overnight.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to an even thickness of about 1/4-inch. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place on a lightly greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cookies are firm and lightly browned. Let the cookies cool for 3 to 4 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

When the cookies are completely cool decorate, as desired.

Cook's Note: If you are planning to hang the cookies, make a hole for the string before baking.

Staple Food of the Week

Breakfast Sandwich of Yummyness
OK I think i want to start sharing my staples foods, food that i keep coming back to no matter what mood I'm in. This week I would like to share a sandwich I whip up anytime of the day. It's a egg, cheese and Canadian bacon grilled sandwich. Now what you need for this is

2 eggs
2 slices of Canadian bacon
1 slice of cheese ( 2% is great for this )
butter
two slices of whole wheat bread

Now this is a very healthy meal that will fill you up. The Canadian bacon has only 1 gram of fat per 4 thin slices or 2 gram per two ticker slices! While normal bacon ( depending on the brand ) will have up to 9 grams per two slices. I like to get the thin slices because it taste more like bacon and less like ham, which is what the thicker tends to taste. Plus its meat so it helps make you feel more full.

Now you want to get you grill going , spray some olive oil pan and heat up. Put your bacon on first , fry for about 3 min's and then put your eggs on. What I like to do with my eggs is make them both over easy and scrambled. Now how do you do that ? crack them on the pan over easy, and right before you flip break the yolk. Flip it and cook it through . you get the yellow all in one area and if you do it right it get a little bit ( only a little ) of run-ness in the eggs, which adds to the favor. Don't forget to salt your eggs. Now have your bread ready, buttered on one side. Put one piece of bread, butter side down. on your frying pan and flip over a eggs on it. put one piece of bacon and lay your cheese down. Add the other bacon and egg on it and place your other piece of bread on top and make it like your making a grilled cheese .

Put on a plate slice it up and I love have hot tea with this meal and fruit. Yummy tummy !

tomato soup day !

So today I made a home made tomato soup ! I got the basics down from a website but them modded it up a lot with my own favors ! I'm telling you this is the best of a snow in day !

Here's the basic recipe-

-1-3 cans of whole tomatoes
-1 big yellow onion, diced
-4-5 cloves of garlic, diced
-olive oil
-salt & pepper
-pesto
-milk (whole is best)
-a table spoon of honey
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- dash of basil, garlic, tomato spice ( mrs. dash makes this )


Dice the onion and garlic and saute it in olive oil. Then after 10 minutes, add the canned tomatoes, sugar, spices, pesto and cover with water if needed, and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer, cover, and keep it on low heat for about 20-45 minutes. Puree it with a stick blender (or throw it in the blender) and add enough milk to make it a nice light red color, probably about 1 cup or so. Season with a little honey and stir that right in there.

I make this in big batches and freeze it for a latter date ! I also like to add some parmesan cheese on top , it gets all melty and good !

To make the bread, just get a hard bread and slice it. I like to had garlic salt and Parmesan cheese to it before baking it. Bake in the over for about 10-15 at 300 degrees, or until toasted.

Oh how I love just these wonderful things

Ok so its Christmas time ! So of course I've been online a lot looking for gifts and such and of course i want to share with you some of my fun finds. well there is this great site called www.delight.com and they have great things for pretty much anyone in your life. Here are a few of my favorites.

http://www.atypyk.com/

So i just came across a great new product site ! http://www.atypyk.com/. Its kinda like suckuk.com but shhh not as witty. Some of the stuff makes your mouth open and then laugh, like Chris Blood vine ...mmmm. This reminds me , I need to post about fred and friends soon. Here are what I think are the best of the bunch from this site.

Great Artsy Sites

check out these sites ! They are all super fun ! If your bored or just feeling like you want a little fun in your life, go on them an play around.

http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/index.html
http://www.graffiticreator.net/
http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/
http://www.blockposters.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/w00kie/sets/180637/show/
http://www.typorganism.com/asciiomatic/

:) happy siting !

Edward Fella: Type means Polaroid

Ok so I just want to post about an artist this time ! Surpising I know , since most of the stuff I normally post about are products and their great design ! Edward Fella is an artist ...well Let wiki tell you,
" is an artist, educator and graphic designer whose work has had an important influence on contemporary typography. He practiced professionally as a commercial artist in Detroit for 30 years before receiving an MFA in Design from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1987. He has since devoted his time to teaching at the California Institute of the Arts and his own unique self-published work which has appeared in many design publications and anthologies. In 1997 he received the Chrysler Award and in 1999 an Honorary Doctorate from CCS in Detroit. His work is in the National Design Museum and MoMA in New York."

Great huh ! What I love about him are his MANY photos, taken by a Polaroid camera , of type around in the real world, mostly handmade . Check it out.

Alright . Haven't posted in a while. I want to just update you on some of my favorite this as seen on suckUK.

Dead Fred
Right from the site.
"Feeling stressed and frustrated? Need someone to take your aggression out on? And somewhere to keep that pesky pen you keep losing under the edge of your computer keyboard? Well Dead Fred is the man for you!Alleviate all that pent up aggression by violently and repeatedly stabbing Fred through the heart... and is if by magic there it is, just where you left it, your pen right at your fingertips - and your stress and frustration, vanished!"






Splat Stan





Stress Ball Paul



And some others

Suck UK does it again !

So going to one of my favorite websites I got so excited because they added new things, which only happens once in a blue moon. Alway amazing and always funny, their products give a new edge to stuff normally. So when I saw their ice / hot packs, it made me want to live in the UK so I could get this stuff easier.



This is their description: "They look like proper medical plasma bags off of ER!
Perfect if you need a little TLC to help you recover form a big night out or a simple pulled muscle! But don't hook them up to an IV and mainline on the bright coloured juice! Instead apply the packs directly to the pain to soothe away your troubles! Available as Dr Cool Bag (blue - chill in the fridge) and Dr Hot Bag (red - click to activate and recharge for re-use in boiling water)."

They only cost 10 pounds which is about 20 USD .

Personally I'm tired of only finding these neat things from UK sites. I honestly don't go looking for UK sites only, I promise !

Need something to pick your ear out

Well get yourself the cotton swab Pisellino then ! Again another great product from MadeInDesign.com. I saw these guys and I think they are just the cutest thing !



Funny and playful, this mysterious object is not other that a harbors cotton stems! Closed and put in the bathroom, one does not understand his function… Nevertheless, it suffices to raise the small joyous face of Pisellino, to discover an abundant reserve of cottons stems. Exist in blue, green and orange

They are only 15 pounds each which comes to about 30USD.

Lets talk about coffee baby

Well as i was browsing the good ol' world wide web I came across the oddest, and somewhat coolest coffee makers around. From madeindesign.com the Geo proust drip coffee maker gives you coffee with design. This is what made in design had to say about it: "Geo brings to the fore an expressive, decorative and anthropomorphic language that is absolutely unprecedended in the world of kitchen appliances. This explicitly artistic approach is underscored by the presentation of a hand-painted version, the Geo-Proust, which has been put out in a numbered production."

Now from what I read about it, it was made by designer Alessandro Mendini, who even though I don't know the name I still looked him up. See for yourself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Mendini

Just to let you all know this little hand painted feelow goes for 150 pounds, which happens to be about 300 USD. Nice huh. I would never pay that price for a drip coffee make because at that point get yourself a espresso maker !

Minor Studios

Now, mostly I've only posted about products that I've come across to be art / geek ...me related. What I also wanted for this blog is to post other coming founds that might be related to the above topics. I've found a great website/blog of a studio graphic designer named Dave Werner, who heads up Minor studios. They are currently working on a new video game ( what that is I'm not sure ) and started up a blog to blog its process. Along the way the plan on blogging of their comings and goings as well as doing video podcast. Its really the video podcast that I'm all about . If your into graphic design, art , gaming , or just plan fun stuff then visit the site and watch one of the videos, its well worth your time.

http://minorstudios.com/journal/

thats the site . if you have anything else to say after you have went through it comment away.