OOEY GOOEY TOFFEE CAKE

I got this recipe from a Disney blog that has recipes from restaurants all over Disneyland, especially Epcot, where each "country" has employees/chefs that are actually from that country and make amazing authentic food! This is not one of those. 

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO AND SO SHOULD YOU!

Für Hildegard von Bingen by Devendra Banhart

-Jerica-

EARL GREY & LAVENDER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

One of my co-workers left for a better opportunity... so for her farewell I made her some Earl Grey & Lavender Chocolate chip cookies! 

Again, this post is also from something I did months ago. I am trying to catch up since I have not contributed to this blog in a year! 

This awesome cookie is so simple- you can take your favorite cookie recipe (chocolate chip, sugar cookies, shortbread - anything!) and just make one change and it's done! 

Where your recipe calls for butter, all you do is melt the butter in a pot and throw in 3-4 Lavender/Earl Grey tea bags into the butter pot. Do not have the stove on high and just let the tea infuse the butter ( yes like if you were making special brownies). Remove the tea bag (squeeze out all the butter) or strain the butter if you did not use bags and proceed with the recipe! 

SINGLE & READY TO MINGLE MAN KIT

This was something I did back in January- this is a super delayed post. Also sorry for the terrible phone/Instagram photos! I sort of forgot all about blogging and these are the only pictures I have of this project. 

I made this for a friend who had recently got out of a relationship to help him get back into the game! He loves How I Met Your Mother, so I got him The Playbook and made him a kit of props he would need for each play.

PUPPY PAW-TY

Wow... I have not posted in awhile! Sorry all! Been busy with many things... including fulfilling Jack's bucket list. One of his wishes ( well alright what I assume he would wish for if he could talk) is to have a Puppy Paw-ty. 

We had it today and it was a delightful time! There was tons of treats for the pups and beer/food for the humans.

I made all of the treats from scratch and made doggy bags for my guests to take some treats home. 

DOG BUCKET-LIST

This post is bittersweet. Amy recently found out one of her five dogs has a terminal cancer. So she made this bucket list for her dog Jack!

This is a great idea to make for someone when they have received bad news like this to turn it positive You can also make some natural sweet potato dog chews, or some homemade peanut butter treats to go along with it!

- Jerica-

Updated 4/24/2014

Check out his adventures (not in the exact order as his bucket list):

1. LEARN TO SWIM  

 2. GO TO THE BEACH

3. EAT ICECREAM 

4. CHASE A PUPPY - I tried to fit in as much as I can in a day for him, so I invited Snoop to the beach with us! Jack is a big dog but adores chasing puppies, I had to find one who was super playful and bold enough to be Jack's chew toy. 

5. HAVE A PAW-TY

 6. HAVE A BEER 

7. EAT A BURGER 

8. HAVE A LOBSTER DINNER -- I switched this to Rib Dinner 

 

9.  TAKE A FAMILY PHOTO - This was the closest thing we could get to a family photo. Trying to get 5 dogs to sit together in one spot is tough! 

10. HAVE A CUDDLE PARTY - We actually did this all the time!

11. MAKE TREATS - We made tons for Jack's Paw-ty. Well, I made tons and he just taste tested them.  We made sweet potato treats, carob dipped peanut butter treats, peanut butter & pumpkin pupcakes, puppy donuts, apple bacon and cheddar biscuits, and a carob & carrot cake! 

12. HAVE A MEAL OF ALL TREATS

13. EAT A JAR OF PEANUT BUTTER - we brought a jar of peanut butter with us to the vet for his last treat. He pretty much ate the whole thing. I am so grateful to have gotten to have him in my life and spend the last few months spoiling him rotten. He was the most gentle dog I have ever known - especially for how huge he was!

14. DONATE TO AN ANIMAL SHELTER - Jerica and I walked the Furry Scurry in honor of Jack to help raise money for homeless dogs! I also donated to Fred's Fight Against Cancer, a fundraiser for a foster dog with cancer. And what amazed me so so much - was how great all of my friends and family were! Two angel like friends donated to shelters in honor of Jack as well. Thank you Sandi and Maria! 

- Amy -

DESSERT PIZZA: FRESH BLACKBERRY, GOAT CHEESE, THYME & HONEY

Yes I just said all of that in one recipe! Don't question me!

Amy found this amazing recipe for a dessert pizza that we then made for her birthday! We ended up making it with Red Mill gluten free pizza dough mix, but of course you can use it with any type of dough. It has very interesting flavors and is not difficult at all to make, much easier than a regular pizza. We also made a ricotta lemon-almond cake and prosciutto/arugula/pear pizza, but that's a story for another day! (An aside: For all you single goat-cheese-loving ladies, check out this recipe for goat cheese alfredo with roasted red pepper!)

KEYBOARD ART

My soon to be betrothed likes computer games, so of course he likes all his artwork to reflect this right?! I got this idea from Paper, Plate and Plane but arranged mine in a different way.

OMBRE EMBROIDERY THREAD FEATHERS

This craft is a little more time consuming but they are great if you have lots of embroidery thread lying around. When I'm sending someone a letter I like to put one of these to spice it up a bit. So spicy!

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO AND SO SHOULD YOU!

My Number by Foals

It's true! You really don't have my number!

DIY CHRISTMAS GIFT ROUNDUP

Here is a quick roundup of some DIY christmas gifts made by A Diamond Mind for you to make this winter that are all under $15! Click pictures for links and enjoy!

 DIY vanilla chai tea

For the dog lover in your life, some sweet potato chews! The only ingredient is sweet potato.

 

 Make one of these cuties in an hour with hand sewing. Use fabric scraps to add some personality to the ears!

Order a cheap wood case and use a wood burning tool to customize it!

 

Make some geometric art with paint samples and old magazines. 

This is perfect for friends or family who have moved away. Complete with homemade woodstain.

PERFUME RECIPE

 

Lately I have been so into making perfumes and wanted to share a recipe every once in a while! My problem is that I don't keep track of how many drops, I just go crazy until it smells right. However, here is one that I did record recently. This would be an awesome customized homemade Christmas gift! After adding the oils, I dilute with pure ethanol (you can also use vodka!), the amount depending on if I want it to be a lighter or heavier scent, but your perfume should be mostly alcohol (~90-80%). I get most all my essential oils from Bulk Apothecary, their oils are really high quality yet so cheap! I should be getting reimbursed for this damn infomercial!

UPLIFTING SCENT

9 drops Green Tea fragrance oil

3 drops Pink Grapefruit essential oil

1 drop Bergamot essential oil

1 drop Lavender essential oil

-Jerica-

GOAT CHEESE ALFREDO WITH ROASTED PEPPER

This is not for the faint of heart. Cheese, heavy cream, and butter. Yes please!!

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO AND SO SHOULD YOU!

Fiction by The xx

-Jerica-

DIY CANVAS ART

This week we bought a bunch of canvases to make some wall art for our houses! I have a lot of smaller pieces but really needed some larger art. These canvases were on sale at 5 for $25 so we jumped on it. I made the anchor one based on a giant cross-stitch piece that I saw, but mine is made with just paint! I counted out 29 "rows" and divided that by the available amount of centimeters on the back. I did some measurements to try to make everything centered and evenly spaced and drew the Xs on the back using pencil. Then held up the canvas to the light in order to see through and I just had to paint on my Xs!

Amy painted the diamond and our friend Alix painted on the antlers. Until we can afford actual art this will have to do!

For some more DIY art ideas check out some of our other projects like paint by number updo, geometric paint sample art, nail and string art, or vintage book picture display!

-Jerica-

5 FALL CRAFTS & RECIPES

Use some of our past DIYS to get in the moooood for looove (fall)! Click captions for links!

 

1// Grab some mason jars and scrap paper!

 2// Get cozy with some warm honey lavender milk

3// Make this cute and simple ghost!

4// Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

5// Spicy Vegetarian Corn Chowder

-Jerica-

ENGAGED!

Guys I got engaged! Actually since my last post, I graduated and got a job doing research! So crafts have been put on the backburner :(. But this engagement party was an excuse for Amy and our friend Alix and I to get crafty! We kind of just all brought things and brought ideas and it came together so amazingly, better than I ever could have imagined! We did not have any particular theme in mind, other than we wanted diamonds. Here are some pictures of the details.

JASMINE RICE SIDE DISH

 I found some jasmine rice on sale and was looking up some recipes and used this one because I already had anything! The bay leaf adds an amazing cool flavor to this dish.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1/4th cup green peas

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups dry jasmine rice

3 cups water

salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour 3 cups water into the saucepan and add the salt. Increase the heat to medium and let the rice come to a quick simmer. Reduce heat to low and let rice simmer lightly and sit uncovered until all of the liquid is absorbed. Cover the rice and remove from heat. 
2.  In a large saucepan over a medium-low heat, warm the oil. Add onion and saute for 3 to 5 minutes. Mix in green peas, bay leaf, and jasmine rice. Stir to coat the rice. 

PASTA CARBONARA

I was wanting to make a pasta carbonara dish and was doing a little research, and realized that the authentic recipes are nothing like a pasta carbonara dish you would order at an American-Italian Restaurant. There's no heavy cream, or wine, or peas in the sauce ( I still added them), but rather the sauce is just uncooked egg! My recipe is still not completely authentic but it was so delicious. And actually pretty healthy when you think about it! My substitutions included using Whole Wheat pasta, Turkey Bacon, and adding Peas. All together it took me about 30 minutes to make!

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO AND SO SHOULD YOU!

Weekend by Class Actress (Casa Del Mirto Remix)

  -Jerica-