jimmjamjamjam

January is over. Fini. Done. Gone. Never to be heard from again in 2010. So that means February is here in all its cruel ferocity.

We left January with a birthday celebration for Jason. I made a chocolate peanut butter concoction which was absolutly amazing. I used a chocolate cake mix from a box (how mundane, but you can still have fun with mixes), but I made the frosting myself from a recipe I found over at Smitten Kitchen. It was delicious! Cream cheese frostings have always put me off, simply because I was unfortunate enough to be force fed cream cheese frostings on costco cakes from age 9 through 16. I like being the one to make birthday cakes because I get mad props from my friends, but it's all trickery. You can't go wrong with sugar. Most people love it, dream about it, crave it. Making any dessert, I think, is an automatic win.

my, my, does time fly!

It sure does, Roger. I started this blog knowing that I probably wouldn't do much with it, really, and here I am, several months and a gym membership later, posting my third entry!

A lot has happened in the last few months. I baked a lot of buttery, sugary, delicious treats which helped contribute to a big tip in the ol' scales. Not unexpected, but as I am rounding out my 26th year, I feel that I should probably get a handle of the situation before I landslide into scales not previously known. I got on board with physical fitness after a several year hiatus, and I now sweat if off at the gym semi-regularly. My favorite torturous exercises include laboring over the stair master, the elliptical thing, and hefting weights around. I can assure you I look like a complete idiot, but I love feeling tired after working out so I plan to continue. I have been toying with the idea of doing a triathlon this year. We'll see about that!

Now, that's enough about working out and being healthy. Let's talk about the drunk part of the last few months. There just so happens to be a fabulous German bar across I-5 from my apartment, called the Feierabend, and we've been spending a lot of time and money there. They boast the largest selection of German beer on tap on the west coast, but that is thus far unverified. They also have what they call a Mug Club, where they have a series of punch cards to complete for different items. The first punch card (filled after about 25 liters of beer consumed) warrants you a t-shirt reading "Ich liebe deutsches bier", the second a patch (unverified), and the third your own personal stein which you can either keep at the bar or take with you. We're almost done with our t-shirt cards, and it has been a delicious process. My favorite selections include the Franziskaner weissbier, Hacker-Pschorr dunkel-weisse, and Kostringer. It's a lot of fun to hang out with a bunch of friends for an afternoon and make fun of each other as we get more intoxicated. What's even more fun is walking up the steep ass hill after drinking two liters. Stumbling and merry-making ahoy!

The rest of our boozing adventures over the past few months include our holiday party. Rather than give our friends presents for the holidays, we decided to give them the gift of booze, thus hosting an event we called Merry Boozemas. Really awful event name, but it got the point across (and it was definitely a boozy affair). We intended it to be a cocktail party, but since neither of us are bartenders, we pretty much just bought a bunch of booze, mixers, and garnishes, and let people play around. While people were boozing it up, we had old Fred Astaire movies playing in the background (Top Hat, and Funny Face), and some other old jazz blaring on the laptop. Glenn Miller is my new favorite artist in the world.

In preparation for Boozemas, I went on an adventure to Ikea, where I purchased some cheap cheap cheap glassware and other things I didn't really need but wanted. You know, like you do when you go to Ikea. We made several trips to the liquor store, and subsequently had awkward conversations with the friendly staff which may have made me seem like an alcoholic. I will say that I am not an alcoholic, just a binge drinker. I openly admit that, and, I'm sorry, Liver, this is only a phase. I checked out a bunch of music and movies from the library for ambiance, and I'm still riding my Glenn Miller/classic movie phase. The event was a success, apparently, and people seemed to enjoy themselves. It looks like this will be a regular event, and I do not mind at all!

New Year's was fun, but had an unfortunate end due to complete shitfacedness. New Year's Day was painful and long. I must have spent a good part of the day bent over a toilet, or in misery on the couch. I finally saw Fargo, rewatched the Lord of the Rings movies, and eventually felt good enough to enjoy some of Seattle's goodl ol' terriyaki! Note to self: mass quantities of cheap champagne is a no-no.

That's about all the update I can do today. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!

Peach-Raspberry Crostata, via Pittsburg Needs Eated.

A few weeks ago, J picked up some raspberries and peaches at the Farmer's Market with the idea that I would make something tasty with them. I've recently been on a baking binge that produced cranberry-orange scones, blueberry cobblers, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, cakes. After stumbling around the internet looking for ideas for my next project , I discovered the most amazing food blog in the world, Pittsburgh Needs Eated. She's got some really great recipes, and awesome pictures to boot. I spent a good long while looking over her postings, and now that I'm thoroughly jealous of her ability to bake, I feel the need to cook just about everything I read on her blog.

The recipe I ended up using for the peaches and raspberries was her Peach-Raspberry Crostata. The results were, I am pleased to say, quite delicious! I didn't follow the recipe exactly, and I subbed in the regular iodized salt for the sea or kosher salt, and I used nutmeg as a sub for the ginger. Those changes aside, it turned out pretty well! The recipe made eight little tarts of varying size (my rolling skills have much to be desired), which really were delicious. I ate one fresh out of the oven, and man oh man, I about died. The crust was perfectly flaky and buttery, the pairing of the fruits really did well. I baked them late at night (2 AMish) so no one else got to eat them fresh when they were at their best. They weren't so awful out of the fridge, though. I think everyone enjoyed them! The only issue I had with the end result was some burning from spilled over juices. I would like to think it added some character to the pastry.

I also decided to bake a birthday cake for a house guest this weekend. The cake was not remarkable by any means, other than the miracle that despite the fact that I ran out of ingredients (flour, sugar, chocolate), the cake turned out okay. I was expecting something slimy and alive to crawl out of the oven (Swamp Thing, perhaps?) but I was delighted to find a perfectly moist, light chocolate cake with a touch of raspberry jam flavoring. I ended up eating most of the cake myself, just out of pure joy that it worked. The next birthday cake I produce will be better.

Thanks to my new favorite food blog, Pittsburgh Needs Eated, for sharing her recipe!
I didn't snap any pictures while I was working on the recipe so I don't have any pictures, but, I promise next time I will provide some pictures.

Introducing Fiddlesticks

Well, hot damn, I've done it again!

I'm taking up blogging again after a few years of absence due to an increasing desire to improve myself in various ways through various means. My intent here would be to share the outcomes of any creative projects I undertake, or other mundane chores I feel like sharing. My audience at this point is solely myself, but I think I can entertain myself fairly well!

Starting up a blog is really tiresome and trite, so my apologies to the peanut gallery. The last time I really attempted blogging wasn't really blogging, I suppose, as people think about blogging now. It was more or less the self-indulged hell that makes up the better part of LiveJournal. Yes, I was young and driven to share my emotions with the world. Thinking about those LJ years feels a bit like looking at all my fashion mistakes from 1997 to 2005. Ouch. Don't be afraid, I will not be repeating those mistakes here!

Onwards and upwards! What I really want to do with this is develop some creativity which has been a bit dormant recently, share things I like or find interesting, and put some of my ideas out there.

I've got some ideas for projects, which include:
-Straightening up my home and adding a bit more style.
-Whipping up some delicious treats in the kitchen. (I love baking a bit too much.)
-Pulling myself out of the frumpy/ill fitting depths of my closet.
-Doing some simple crafts.

Thanks for reading this far. I look forward to sharing some ideas - and hopefully laughs - with you!