Sunday Bulldog

It's a rainy Sunday and we're cozied up at home today.  I just started reading a novel called The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, which I heard about from Grechen of Grechens Closet.  Yesterday I got myself to the South Pasadena Library and felt like a kid in a toy store.  I absolutely LOVED perusing the book shelves, choosing this book or that.  So, I chose the Tartt novel as well as a book about dog training, and another about how to be happier at work.  I plan to review that one later.

I'll go back to my book now but let me leave you with this picture of Finn who is serenely napping on his corduroy bean bag.

Pucker Up!

I'm not a huge make-up wearer but I do love makeup.  I remember receiving my very first makeup kit when I was 10 years old.  Santa brought it.  It had eye shadow, blush, mascara, and lipstick.  I remember how I obsessively applied the mascara on my barely-there lashes only to transform myself into a Tammy Faye Baker look-alike!  Still, I had so much fun with that makeup kit and ever since then, I've had a lot of fun experimenting with different brands of makeup, from high end lines to your run of the mill drug store brands.  

Today I'm going to share my latest find, the big lip pencil,  by a company called J.Cat Beauty.  Here's what it looks like:

It's a very creamy and easy to apply highly-pigmented lip color.  Think of it as a fat lip liner that you actually fill your lips with as opposed to only using as a liner.  I bought a set of 12 of these lip colors from Amazon for around $25.00.  What a deal, huh?

I like the coverage the lip color provides and luckily, the majority of the colors in the set were ones I could actually wear.  The lip pencil pretty much just glides on but I do recommend you first use a neutral lip liner and then dust some facial powder on your lips before you use the J.Cat.  This will help "set" the color in, as well as prevent any bleeding or feathering that can happen with lip colors.

Here are a few of the colors that I particularly liked on me: 

Caramel Mocha

                                     

Red Rose--a bright pink/red shade

 

Dolly Pink--bright pink with a bit of purple

Keep in mind, this lip color is not a long lasting one and I found myself touching up after things like eating and drinking.  If you keep those activities to a minimum throughout the day though, I think you will find that the color stays pretty fresh for several hours.

Have you been buying and trying any new makeup for the new year? If so, do share!

The Layered Look for 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everybody!
Did you make any new year's resolutions for 2015?  Mine are the same as last year's:
get more organized, de-clutter, buy less, and eat more greens.

So, what better way to start the new year off than by making this beautiful salad?

I had been eyeing this recipe for some time now and finally had a chance to make it for Christmas Eve.  It's called a "layered salad" because, well, there are several layers of yummy-ness, topped off with a sour cream-mayonaisse dressing and some fresh dill.  I discovered that this salad was hugely popular in the 80's and 90's and commonly made for potlucks.  I had no idea!  The recipe I followed was from the site, Pioneer Woman and you can find it right here: Layered Salad

You can change things up, of course.  If you don't like the idea of adding peas into your salad, switch it to corn, or garbanzo beans for some additional protein.  Some other ideas: broccoli, cauliflower, or even shredded carrots.

I received many compliments when I brought this dish to our Christmas Eve dinner potluck.  Some even thought it was a dessert because it looked so pretty!

The Day After

Ahhh, yes, it's December 26th, and Christmas is over.  Sigh.  I always feel a bit blue on the day after Christmas.  Maybe it's because the big day has been much anticipated these last few weeks, and there's been so much prepping, planning, wrapping, and baking, and then it's finally Christmas, and then...poof! It's over.  Well, time to plan for Christmas 2015, right?!

Today's post will be about the things I baked for Christmas 2014 and maybe you will want to put these on your list for gift giving for next year.  Or better yet, why not make these now and you can enjoy them as we look forward to celebrating the New Year?

Homemade Granola

This is a recipe I've been making for the last 7 years, maybe.  It's super easy and relatively healthy because there isn't any added oils at all. You just throw some brown sugar, dried fruit, nuts, and oats together, bake it, and voila! The recipe is one I adapted from Alton Brown and the Food Network and you can find it here:http://tastetestedrecipes.com/better-breakfasts/626-granola-time.html


Kipfel (German Crescent Christmas Cookies)

Cookie dough shaped into crescents

Cookies baked and allowed to cool

Shower these babies with powdered sugar!

Oh, this is one of my go-to and favorite recipes for the holidays.  I've been baking and giving these cookies for the past 18 years.  This year I made the dough a few days prior to baking, rolled the dough into logs, and wrapped them in plastic wrap.  You can keep the dough frozen for 6 months!  When I knew I was going to gift the cookies to someone, I simply let the dough thaw out for a few hours and baked them the same day.  This made my baking schedule so much easier and less stressful. It's a win-win!

Ingredients:
2 cups unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups (9 ounces) whole almonds
1 tsp salt
powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until well blended
Combine 1/4 cup flour, almonds and salt in a food processor and grind until almonds are finely chopped.
Add almond mixture and the remaining flour to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly.
(at this point, you can roll the dough into logs and freeze in plastic wrap)
Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, form into a crescent shape.
Place cookies on ungreased baking sheets, spacing evenly.
Bake until golden brown at edges and firm to touch, about 17-20 minutes.
Cool cookies for about 10 minutes on sheets; place cool cookies on a large plate or parchment paper and sprinkle them with powdered sugar.
Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Candy Cane Truffle Brownies

Shhhh...don't tell anyone but I actually used a brownie baking mix for these.  My favorite one is the Truffle Brownie Mix from Trader Joe's.  It tastes just as good, or even better, than homemade, in my opinion.  I got about 12 candy canes, placed them in a large plastic freezer bag, and pounded them with a metal spatula to break up the candy canes into bits and pieces. I stirred in about half the candy cane pieces into the prepared brownie batter, baked it, then once it was out of the oven, while still hot, I poured the other half of the candy canes on top of the brownies, and then let the whole thing cool in the pan.

Do You Charcuterie?

Charcuterie is truly an art form.  French in origin, charcuterie is a "branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as sausage, bacon, ham, pate..." (Wikipedia).

Last weekend I hosted a wine tasting party at my house.  The theme for the evening was South American wines.  I served two whites and three reds.  The first course was this charcuterie platter:

Chardonnay from Chile was a lovely accompaniment to the charcuterie, which consisted of several types of salamis, fresh and dried fruits, homemade chicken liver pate, hummus, nuts, breads, olives and several cheese.

Have you served a charcuterie platter? If so, what was on yours? 

I'm looking forward to throwing my next party, wine tasting or just a get together, the charcuterie platter will surely make another appearance!

Ever Hear of Everlane?

Seems like everybody and their brother (or sister) has done one review or another about the online retailer, Everlane.  I myself had never even heard of this company until about 3 months ago.  Since then, I've been an Everlane-addict!

I love the clean lines of their clothing; nothing fancy, just simple basics that I can wear every day and pieces I can dress up or down.

The reason I'm even mentioning Everlane today on my blog is because this company did something simply unheard of, in my opinion at least.

Let me first give you a brief "back story"; a few weeks ago I was pining over one of their tank tops, called the Langley Drape Tank.  I no longer saw this item on their website so I emailed their customer service to ask about it.  Lisa Pham, their customer service representative messaged me back to inform me that they had sold out on this particular tank top and Everlane wouldn't be producing any more of them.  Bummer.

Fast forward to this afternoon.  I looked out on my porch to see a large brown envelope which I quickly recognize as the Everlane packaging.  I didn't recall ordering anything again after my most recent purchase which was just last week.  I quickly (and excitedly), open up the package only to find the Langley Drape Tank inside, and a note from Lisa herself telling me that she looked high and low for me and was able to find one of the tanks I had wanted so badly.  Plus, it was a gift from Everlane!

I was happily surprised.  I already loved Everlane but now I love them even more.  I've been an online shopper for maybe 10 years now, shopping some pretty great and not so great sites.  Never once have one of those companies given me a gift of any sort (not that I expected them to)!  I can't praise Everlane enough.  Not only because I got a free tank top from them, but really, because the tank top represents their thoughtfulness as a company and how they will go out of their way to please their customers.

Anyways, here's my tank top as it was packaged in classy Everlane style:

and here's the tank...it's made of a cozy slub cotton and the cut is a little longer in the back.  I love it!

Everlane

The Kiddos in their Costumes!

Here's a preview of my two honeys in their Halloween costumes.  I'm not sure if I'll take them trick or treating or not this year. We will definitely be passing out candy though.