Well ladies and gents, I've been working a ton and finally finished the new and improved version of my blog. Its complete with my very first domain name, courtesy of The Boyfriend :) Unfortunately, to get the design I wanted I've had to move it over to Tumblr and that means I won't be able to move all my old posts over to the new site. For that reason, I'll keep this old site up in case peeps get nostalgic and wanna read about dog bunnies, my movie re-make rants, or homemade marshmallows. I hope people enjoy the new design! I'll leave you with one more cute video:
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Typical Wednesday
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.
I've come to the decision that my blog needs a face lift. As soon as I've got the sucker put together I'll be sure to notify folk of the move.
Peace out, homies.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Yes, Please!
MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! This is awesome! I couldn't stop giggling with delight while watching this trailer. It still needs a little Arnold, and I'd even take a sprinkle of Van Damme or Jesse Ventura. Hilariously, Statham might be the best actor in this film, lol. This is going to rock.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Happy Friday
Its been a super good Friday so far and I hope everyone is also having a great day to kick off an awesome 3-day weekend!
Purdy
I saw these bags featured on another website and had to post a couple of pictures. I have a strange attraction to bright red leather and this cranberry bag comes pretty close to fitting in that category:
They have bigger versions that are sized to fit laptops and books:
And then there's this saucy little clutch:
I'd have to ring up my credit card if they featured the mini truffle bag in the above bright yellow- lawdy!
You can check out the Morelle bags here on Etsy. I'm surprised at how reasonably priced these bags are given that they're made by hand. They're gorgeous looking and also appear to be pretty sturdy- which is a match made in heaven as far as I'm concerned. I haven't seen these bags up close, but the internet pics have me drooling...
They have bigger versions that are sized to fit laptops and books:
And then there's this saucy little clutch:
I'd have to ring up my credit card if they featured the mini truffle bag in the above bright yellow- lawdy!
You can check out the Morelle bags here on Etsy. I'm surprised at how reasonably priced these bags are given that they're made by hand. They're gorgeous looking and also appear to be pretty sturdy- which is a match made in heaven as far as I'm concerned. I haven't seen these bags up close, but the internet pics have me drooling...
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Parasites
I found a new blog featuring a parasite of the day and I couldn't be more excited to share it with folk! My favorite parasite is featured on Jan 8th, Giardia lamblia. I devoted my entire graduate career (and a portion of my foot for the tattoo) to this little guy. Its awesome and has been on this planet long before people. Check it:
I'll be excited to see if they feature Trypanosoma cruzi or Trypanosoma rangeli both of which we've started working with in the lab. Below is an awesome pic of a trypanasome we isolated from a local pack rat:
Dude, science is so freaking awesome!
I'll be excited to see if they feature Trypanosoma cruzi or Trypanosoma rangeli both of which we've started working with in the lab. Below is an awesome pic of a trypanasome we isolated from a local pack rat:
Dude, science is so freaking awesome!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Shiny New Clothes
I was checking the new arrivals at Anthropologie and have a new list of shit I want and can't afford. I'm tempted to go there this weekend and just start trying a bunch of things on. That way when they don't fit right I won't feel bad about not being able to afford them, lol.
This one might make you feel dizzy while looking at it, but I think its neat.
I really like this one, its purdy and it has pockets!
Are you starting to notice a color trend here?
And the finale... I love how the skirt is a tad poofy without being overly girly. It reminds me of an Audrey Hepburn dress that would look good on a skinny chick like me.
This one might make you feel dizzy while looking at it, but I think its neat.
I really like this one, its purdy and it has pockets!
Are you starting to notice a color trend here?
And the finale... I love how the skirt is a tad poofy without being overly girly. It reminds me of an Audrey Hepburn dress that would look good on a skinny chick like me.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Spartacus
The Boyfriend and I were listening to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me on NPR this weekend and they featured Lucy Lawless as the celebrity they were quizzing. While she was on the show they were pimping her newest gig Spartacus: Blood and Sand. I googled the trailer for S and G's and it looks pretty fun.
But then again, I dig hot guys blowing shit up or wielding swords to seek vengeance and get their lady back. Its hot. :D
But then again, I dig hot guys blowing shit up or wielding swords to seek vengeance and get their lady back. Its hot. :D
What If...
... the Big Lebowski had been written by Shakespeare? I present to those of you who haven't already read it this weekend, Two Gentlemen of Lebowski as written by Mr. Adam Bertocci.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Twinkie Recipe
The Boyfriend was uber excited this morning about finding this recipe on the CHOW website. Its not like he usually eats the little snack cakes, but I think the idea of eating Twinkies sans preservatives was enticing. There are two seperate recipes (one for the cake portion and one for the cream filling) both of which look really easy. If you don't have a Twinkie shaped tin, they suggest using a regular muffin pan. We'll get to this recipe one of these weekends :)
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Possible Birthday Present Ideas
Spotted these from the Lisa Leonard's Designs website and they're lovely! They have beautiful personalized necklaces as well.
I'm also considering asking for Spanish lessons. The local community college offers classes and I found a good beginning one, but the corresponding secondary courses offered afterwards are all at awkward times during the work week. So I have to think on this one a little bit...
I've also been coveting this gorgeous blouse from Anthropologie, now on sale for a mere $60.00. (Yes that was said with some sarcasm.) Of course this top might look absolutely ridiculous on me, I have no idea. But it looks great in the catalogue, lol.
I'm also considering asking for Spanish lessons. The local community college offers classes and I found a good beginning one, but the corresponding secondary courses offered afterwards are all at awkward times during the work week. So I have to think on this one a little bit...
I've also been coveting this gorgeous blouse from Anthropologie, now on sale for a mere $60.00. (Yes that was said with some sarcasm.) Of course this top might look absolutely ridiculous on me, I have no idea. But it looks great in the catalogue, lol.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Homemade Marshmallow Update
After making all those gorgeous candy cane covered peppermint marshmallows for Christmas, M-dog and I were shocked to find that the candy cane topping melted and got funky a few days later. Boo! The marshmallows still tasted great, but lost serious appearance points. I put my thinking cap on and after a few discussions with people I've hypothesized that the candy cane melt down was likely due to all the moisture from the ridiculous amount of peppermint syrup we added. The original marshmallow recipe called for a teaspoon of vanilla extract. We nixed that and added like 1/3 cup of Torrani peppermint syrup. Given the volume difference and the fact that the syrup wasn't an alcohol based extract, I figure all the moisture resulted from the syrup and caused the candy canes to sweat whilst in their air tight containers for storage. So for folks wanting to try the candy cane bit at home, I suggest either sticking to the original marshmallow recipe, or try using a peppermint extract instead.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
French Macaroons
The first French Macaroon I ever tasted was purchased at Sucre' during a spontaneous trip to New Orleans to visit a homie. It was perhaps one of the most delicious little cookies I'd ever tasted and I was hooked the minute the brightly colored treat hit my taste buds. The textures are so wonderfully complimentary and the flavors are so delightful! I've failed to find a local bakery that makes these little suckers, so I'm thinking I might just try my hand at making them myself. The following recipe is one I've found rummaging around the internets for recipes:
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 7/8 cups almond flour
* 1/2 cup egg whites
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 3 drops food coloring
* 1/4 cup water
Easy Buttercream:
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1 tablespoon hot water
* 1 teaspoon instant coffee
* 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Stir together the confectioners' sugar and almond flour and sift it through a tammie or very open mesh strainer. In a mixer with a whip attachment, whip the whites until frothy. Add the sugar (and food coloring if using) and whip until stiff. Add 1/3 of the almond mixture and fold part way in. Add another 1/3 and fold partway in. Add final 1/3 and fold in leaving a few specks of egg whites. It will look like deflated marshmallow. Place a pastry bag with a close pin holding it shut in a tall round container folding the edge over the rim of the container to fill it easily. Pipe dots of meringue at each corner to stick down some parchment paper on a sheet pan. Pipe rows of kisses 1-inch each (size of a quarter) one half inch apart. Bake about 17 minutes until very light brown. Pour 1/4 cup water under the parchment paper at both ends of the sheet to steam them loose. Let cool and peel off.
Easy Buttercream: In a mixer with a whip attachment whip the butter very well, scraping the bowl often until it's light and fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix on low. Drizzle in the flavorings with the hot water. Chill up to a week until ready to use, then bring to room temperature.
Pipe macaroons with buttercream and make little sandwiches. Keep in a covered box chilled.
Upon reading the recipe a tad more closely, I realized this might be a bit of project for someone who hasn't done this before and just wants her cookies now. So I tried searching youtube for a how-to tutorial and found the lovely folks at Sucre':
Note the difference in temperature and bake time: 280 degrees for 14 minutes (Sucre') sounds like it will be much more compatible with my oven. I'm not sure if I'll be up to the task this weekend, but I definitely have to try to make these soon. Right after I figure out where the hell I buy almond flour...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Rice Pudding
I've been itching to find a good rice pudding recipe lately. This one from smittenkitchen might do the trick:
Arborio Rice Pudding
Serves 4
1/2 cup Arborio rice
4 cups milk (both whole and reduced-fat have worked for me)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split (or 1 teaspoon pure extract, added with almond at the end)
1 bay leaf
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
In a large saucepan, place all the ingredients, except the almond extract. Bring it to a gentle boil and then turn it down to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom, for about 30 to 40 minutes. Taste the rice to check for doneness. The rice should be very soft and plump.
There's also Alton Brown's recipe for a slightly different version. I dig the idea of adding the coconut milk, but would leave out the nuts and fruit. I'm just a purist like that with my textures.
Ingredients
* 1 cup cooked long grain or basmati rice
* 1 cup whole milk
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 3/4 cup coconut milk
* 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1 1/2 ounces golden raisins, approximately 1/3 cup
* 1 1/2 ounces chopped unsalted pistachios, approximately 1/3 cup
Directions
In a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat, combine the cooked rice and milk. Heat until the mixture begins to boil. Decrease the heat to low and cook at a simmer until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring frequently, approximately 5 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium, add the heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar, and cardamom and continue to cook until the mixture just begins to thicken again, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Use a whisk to help prevent the cardamom from clumping. Once the mixture just begins to thicken, remove from the heat and stir in the raisins and pistachios. Transfer the mixture to individual serving dishes or a glass bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Maybe I'll experiment with these this weekend...
Arborio Rice Pudding
Serves 4
1/2 cup Arborio rice
4 cups milk (both whole and reduced-fat have worked for me)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split (or 1 teaspoon pure extract, added with almond at the end)
1 bay leaf
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
In a large saucepan, place all the ingredients, except the almond extract. Bring it to a gentle boil and then turn it down to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom, for about 30 to 40 minutes. Taste the rice to check for doneness. The rice should be very soft and plump.
There's also Alton Brown's recipe for a slightly different version. I dig the idea of adding the coconut milk, but would leave out the nuts and fruit. I'm just a purist like that with my textures.
Ingredients
* 1 cup cooked long grain or basmati rice
* 1 cup whole milk
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 3/4 cup coconut milk
* 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1 1/2 ounces golden raisins, approximately 1/3 cup
* 1 1/2 ounces chopped unsalted pistachios, approximately 1/3 cup
Directions
In a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat, combine the cooked rice and milk. Heat until the mixture begins to boil. Decrease the heat to low and cook at a simmer until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring frequently, approximately 5 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium, add the heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar, and cardamom and continue to cook until the mixture just begins to thicken again, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Use a whisk to help prevent the cardamom from clumping. Once the mixture just begins to thicken, remove from the heat and stir in the raisins and pistachios. Transfer the mixture to individual serving dishes or a glass bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Maybe I'll experiment with these this weekend...
Yowza
This is what Repo! The Genetic Opera should have been. Its bordering on a little too much gore (peas and rice, I must be getting old if I'm saying the words "too much gore") but still looks bad ass. Judd Law isn't one of my favorite people but the story line seems groovy.
Inspiring photo
I want to own a house one day where I have enough outlets to plug in all these lamps. I love the color in this photo and also dig the multi-sizes of the paper pendant lamps. Upon some thought, I suppose I could just plug them all into a surge protector and plug that into the wall for the desired effect. Nothing like when those brain cells start to rub together...
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Back From Holiday Traveling
My Christmas vacation was extremely hectic with all the travel, but seeing our families made it all worth it. Our Odysseus-like journey started with 2 1/2 hours of sleep before a 2am wake up/3am departure from our abode to get on the road for a 2 hr drive to the Phoenix airport. Of course, that was the smoothest part of the trip. Arrival in Florida was fine and spending the first leg of our trip with The Boyfriend's family was fantastic. The only hitch was an unexpected family member that I hadn't met yet and was not mentally prepared for. I wasn't really ready for his aunt's brand of crazy, however I made it through the four/five days with only one mental breakdown.
One particularly exciting part of the trip for me was a visit to Norman Love's Confectionery. This dude designs the fancy chocolates for Godiva. The same fancy chocolates that cost a small fortune to order a box. I've always wanted to try them and figured I'd just wait until I got a for-reals paying job and splurge on a Godiva order. When I realized the guy who designs those chocolates is based out of a location right next to the airport we flew into, you couldn't have held me back. Below is a pic of his display case:
Upon tasting them I was so excited at the deliciousness I got a little misty-eyed. The man himself came out to ring the jam packed crowd of customers up at the register and I thanked him very much for the wonderful experience of tasting his craftwork.
The Boyfriend and I made out like bandits this holiday season. I now have 2 new zombie tshirts for my collection, a shiny new laptop (praise baby Jesus), Planet Earth DVD series, a ton of new flannel shirts, enough Aveda to last me 6 months, 2 new microbes (one is featured below as my mustache) and many more wonderful items I'm greatly appreciative for.
The second leg of our trip included many trips to the local pub, a round of shooting Dad's new zombie targets, catching Sherlock Holmes (not bad, love Robert Downey, Jr.), trying Quaker Steak and Lube for the first time, walking through Busch Garden's Winterfest thing (bad pic featured below), and enjoying time with my family.
Back to the travel insanity: On Christmas I saw that our flight for the following morning had been canceled (thank goodness I receive email on my phone). So I spent a crazed 45 minutes talking to various folks to get us on another flight. In the process of getting that fixed, one of the airline representatives had canceled our last flight back to AZ without telling us. As you can imagine it came as a bit of a shock when we found out a mere 15 minutes before our flight, after standing for an hour and a half in the slowest moving line known to man. We ran around the airport and finally had some very nice ladies working for Delta and United help us to get our boarding passes. After a rush to the gate and sighs of relief, we were finally on the plane home- and we stayed on that plane on the tarmac for an extra hour before getting in the air. Ah, yes, the joys of traveling.
Other than the actual traveling, the trip to see our families was really wonderful and I couldn't have felt more a part of The Boyfriend's family. Spending Christmas with both families equally was the best gift I could have received.
One particularly exciting part of the trip for me was a visit to Norman Love's Confectionery. This dude designs the fancy chocolates for Godiva. The same fancy chocolates that cost a small fortune to order a box. I've always wanted to try them and figured I'd just wait until I got a for-reals paying job and splurge on a Godiva order. When I realized the guy who designs those chocolates is based out of a location right next to the airport we flew into, you couldn't have held me back. Below is a pic of his display case:
Upon tasting them I was so excited at the deliciousness I got a little misty-eyed. The man himself came out to ring the jam packed crowd of customers up at the register and I thanked him very much for the wonderful experience of tasting his craftwork.
The Boyfriend and I made out like bandits this holiday season. I now have 2 new zombie tshirts for my collection, a shiny new laptop (praise baby Jesus), Planet Earth DVD series, a ton of new flannel shirts, enough Aveda to last me 6 months, 2 new microbes (one is featured below as my mustache) and many more wonderful items I'm greatly appreciative for.
The second leg of our trip included many trips to the local pub, a round of shooting Dad's new zombie targets, catching Sherlock Holmes (not bad, love Robert Downey, Jr.), trying Quaker Steak and Lube for the first time, walking through Busch Garden's Winterfest thing (bad pic featured below), and enjoying time with my family.
Back to the travel insanity: On Christmas I saw that our flight for the following morning had been canceled (thank goodness I receive email on my phone). So I spent a crazed 45 minutes talking to various folks to get us on another flight. In the process of getting that fixed, one of the airline representatives had canceled our last flight back to AZ without telling us. As you can imagine it came as a bit of a shock when we found out a mere 15 minutes before our flight, after standing for an hour and a half in the slowest moving line known to man. We ran around the airport and finally had some very nice ladies working for Delta and United help us to get our boarding passes. After a rush to the gate and sighs of relief, we were finally on the plane home- and we stayed on that plane on the tarmac for an extra hour before getting in the air. Ah, yes, the joys of traveling.
Other than the actual traveling, the trip to see our families was really wonderful and I couldn't have felt more a part of The Boyfriend's family. Spending Christmas with both families equally was the best gift I could have received.
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