Month: May 2010

Crafting

I Guess This Is My Craft Comeback?

Emerald Thunder

Yesterday’s posts served to fuel my desire to do something creative with my summer. I mean, what am I even doing now? Motivation to go out and about is almost non-existent as it is, so crafting seems to be the most amusing option without having to leave my room at the end of the day. Now if only I could get someone else to clean up all the yarny bits and pieces that end up on my bed and floor.

I’m sure by the end of the summer I’ll have a room FULL of butterflies and hearts and probably flowers and every other crochet and felt softie I can find online. But first on my list of ideas is to make a garlandy type thing of butterflies to hang on my wall.

Uncategorized

Long Time No Cooking/Crafting/CT

Emerald Thunder

I’ve now moved into my summer housing, and as such I no longer have a kitchen, which means no baking for a while, and thus no entries about my wonderful edible creations. Now that my main classes are finished, I know that I should have plenty of time to craft, but the creative juices just aren’t flowing for some reason. Maybe a trip to Purl would get them going again. And finally, it’s the off-season for Celtic Thunder. There hasn’t been any major news about STORM or the other albums being released, so the buzz surrounding them has died down a little bit. I think we just need another new contest to enter the lads in, then we’d have something to keep ourselves occupied with and to talk about in the CT Pub. I’m going to keep an eye out for anything and everything just in case.

Since nothing creative has been happening for me, I might as well post about the cuteness in my life right now. Last weekend I acquired a wonderful yellow potted plant for my windowsill. I don’t remember the type of flower it is, just that it’s big and bright.

My kiddies also got some pets this past week, and I’ve been charged with keeping them alive over the long weekend. May I present Fishy (orange) and Fishy-Fishy (white).

They’ve been fed and some of their water has been changed, so I think they seem pretty content right now. I really want to spruce up their little bowl, but sprucing costs money, which I don’t have at the moment. Maybe next weekend . . . or the weekend after.

Uncategorized

*raises hand* My name is Danielle, and I’m addicted to modern kitchen appliances.

Emerald Thunder

I came home yesterday after a long (but fun) day of work and wanted nothing more than to nuke something to eat and then fall asleep. Unfortunately, the end of the school year means moving out and, in my case, losing the stuff my suitemate brought with her for us to use. I was greeted by a bare counter top — no microwave, no hot pot, no George Foreman mini grill. Do you have any idea how depressing that is when my fridge and cupboards are already pretty much empty? Cold cereal it is! This change in dinner plans did nothing to warm me up after my day outside in the cold, and so I donned a sweatshirt and huddled under my thin quilt. Even making tea tonight was turned into a giant production and used more things than necessary. I now get to clean a pot, strainer, spoon, and mug, instead of just a mug and spoon. And my otherwise 3 minute dinner is now in the oven for 30 minutes; good thing I’m not too hungry yet, or else I’d be grumpier about this.  

I’m spoiled by convenience and availability, I admit it. I’m stuck in this situation for one more day, and then I get to move to a room without a kitchen and without open dining halls on the weekends. Let’s see how that works out for me. . . . I know I chose that location to save money and for its convenient location, but darn it, I WANT A KITCHEN! I don’t want to relive my freshman year–no homemade baked goods, having to go outside to a dining hall whenever I wanted food, and not being able to cook away my stress/bad moods. 

I need to take advantage of what little time I have left with my kitchen, with what few ingredients remain in it. I wonder if Amy’s going to miss the eggs in the fridge, if they’re even hers. . . . She’s leaving tomorrow, anyway, so I don’t think it should matter too much to her. Maybe I’ll send her off with some brownies made with her eggs to make up for taking them.

Baking

Catching Up

Emerald Thunder

This past week has been insanely busy, thanks to finals and work, which means it was the PERFECT time to bake up a storm. Right? Well, that’s what happened. There was the bread and cake from Sunday, but then it just continued.

Tuesday was the school-sponsored "Midnight Breakfast", and I have learned my lesson and won’t be frequenting that event again, partially because it’s held so far from my dorm. So, like last semester, I took matters into my own hands and created a wonderful Midnight Breakfast for myself and my suitemates. Unlike the food from my school, this breakfast was actually hot and GOOD. Rather than cold waffles/pancakes/bacon/dry muffins, my creations consisted of homemade cinnamon rolls with copious amounts of frosting, pancakes, blueberry sauce, strawberries, whipped cream, nutella, and scrambled eggs. I know it wasn’t a wonderful cross-section of the breakfast world, but any more and we wouldn’t have been able to move or study.

The cinnamon rolls made the kitchen smell heavenly when they were in the oven; so much cinnamon-y goodness. The pancakes decided to be extremely temperamental, and so only a couple of them cooked up nice and evenly golden. 

  

 

Thursday morning prompted the baking of lemon blueberry scones, and the first batch was okay, nothing amazing. If I hadn’t been in a rush to get to an exam I would have baked them for a couple minutes longer to get them a bit browner. When I finally got around to baking up the rest of the batter, it had been sitting in the fridge for a couple of days, and so they turned out more akin to fortune cookies in respect to their taste. All in all, this scone-venture was a failure. I think i need to make one more batch so I don’t end on a bad scone note. 

I admit I didn’t make this cake. One of the secretaries at the school I work at bought it for the little party we had for my last day there. It was a pretty little cake, but once I saw the ingredients list it became much less pretty. I think I’m becoming a bit of a baking purist. But it’s the thought that counts, and it’s not like I’m going to hold this against her, partially because it was such a cute little cake.

Tomorrow, I’ll be baking up a cake for my suitemates’ graduation, so I need to start thinking about what it’s going to be and what it’s going to look like. Hopefully it’ll turn out well.