Eco-lovely

I am trying very hard to become more earth-friendly. I will admit I am lazy, and that is the main reason some things slip by me. I was flitting through Etsy yesterday and found these lovelies, Bird-E towels (formerly unpaper towels) by AthenaCreates.  So cute and perfect.  I couldn't stop thinking about them. I am ordering them up today.  Totally satisfies my goals to convert my cleaning habits, while indulging my lazy side (aka - I don't have to galavant around town trying to find the perfect absorbant fabric and then try bribe my neighbor to serge them.) 

I am a cake girl. aka Thank heavens for Ina...

The infamous cake or pie debate. I am getting older and have grown to love fruit and pastry. YUM. Delicious. But if you had one last dessert to eat, or you had to choose one to eat for the rest of forever, for me, cake wins. hands down. I just found the best recipe for cake that I have EVER made and its all I am ever gonna eat. It would be my last dying food wish. Thank heavens I ran half of the cake over to Miss Dylan, cause I would eat it all, and my hips would torment my pants that are already a smidge too tight, and my hubby would be mad that he 'got two bites and that's it?'
The recipe is the Carrot and Pineapple Cake from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. I love her. I want to win the lotto so I can buy a house on her block in the Hamptons. I bet if you lived next to her, you might get a "welcome to your new home" baked good. Or at least, when the ocean breeze wisps by you'd get a whiff of deliciousness.
Ahhh, Ina, I love you so. When I found your Coconut Cupcakes, I rejoiced. Now, they are a delicious but distant second to the luxury of Carrot Cake with Pineapple, with cream cheese icing. Oh heavens...

Macarons, take two...

Still loving my I Love Macarons book (see previous post) I tried these first at the inlaws in Seattle.  Something went wrong and they were all runny and flat like pancakes.  So, now were back in Nevada and they puffed up and formed the pied (little foot).  Fabulous. So I tried to make the buttercream recipe from the book. Not so fabulous. 
There is a part about making a sugar syrup in the microwave.  One minute, fine, stir, fine, nuke for 4 more mins, uh oh.  At about 2 mins 35 seconds, whats that smell??? Open the door, sizzling black sugared liquid boiling away in puffs of smoke.  I grabbed a towel, ran it out to the backyard and tossed the gunk and the bowl behind the garden bed with no garden. Back to reread the directions. Ahhhhh.  Her microwave is 500 watts.  Hmmmmm... oh, mine is 1300.  Note to self...read twice, cook once.  So after another attempt at the icing in the book, I quit, dumped the experiment in the sink and made some shortening based chemical frosting.  Delish!  Pretty sure chemical frosting does not belong in the french delicacy world but hey, oh well.  Its my kind of pastry, little bit trashy but super sweet, like me.
 

Curse you dial up!!!

I am going to pout and cry and have a tissy fit right here, right now. I hate dial up. I am typically not an angry person.  But this has got to stop.  Okay, yes, I am a cheapskate and don't want to shell out the cash for an aircard or HughesNet (for those crazies who like to live in the middle of nowhere).  Its just so slow.  I miss Grandpa & Grammy's dsl.  This post is gonna take forever.  Phooey. 

I FOUND THEM!!!!

I have been looking everywhere for these cups.  I originally thought they were made of milk glass, 'cause they are glasses, right? But I will settle for porcelain. I love you little cups. YAY! I found them just in time, they are on sale at Williams-Sonoma.  Yippee, holy cannoli, I am super crazy excited!