March 24th-April 1st, 2014: Pie to rule all birthday pies!

I inquired to Chad about what kind of pie he would like for his Birthday on the 1st. That question actually lead to a conversation about how I should make one pie once a month. It almost got a bit ridiculous when I said I should make 35 pies for his 35 years of age, but that worked out that I would have to make a pie basically every week until his next birthday.  I feel like we would turn into blimps if I made that many pies. In the end we decided maybe one a month would be ok and not disappointing if we don't get a pie made.

After looking up when certain types of pies are in season and making a list because lists are fun to make. Don't deny it. A list of pies is irresistible. Apple. Blueberry. Pumpkin. There is a pie called Bumbleberry and you know I'm going to make that someday.

I digress, I finally had to make Chad pick a pie for his birthday. You will never know the pain of decision than when you have to decide on what kind of pie someone will make you, and the choices are literally any kind. What seemed like ages, he finally decided on a coconut cream pie, which I'm sure you already knew based off of that first picture!

I have never made a coconut cream pie before, let alone from scratch. Well, it was mostly from scratch. I did not make my crust because I had some left in my freezer from when I bought some crusts during the holidays. Everything else was el' scratcho'.

While making the coconut cream part I had one of those moments that made me realize how much fun making new things can be. I was whisking and stirring away and it all of a sudden started to get thicker and it was basically like I was seeing magic happen before my eyes. I can't even count the amount of times I'll try to cook something new and I'll feel anxious and worried the whole time that it wasn't going to turn out. This time around I just let what happen, happen. I think I have some sort of pie baking bone in my body.

After it was all cooked up and ready to go in my cooled pie crust I had to let the insides rest for at least 2 hours. What does one do for 2 hours while they wait for the pie to cool? Watch whatever you can find on the DVR of course, but lets just get on with this pie story because my DVR is an endless time waste.

The pie has cooled and we begin the process of making our whipped topping and boy was it beautiful. And by beautiful I mean the recipe I found had rum in it. That means it's amazing. It goes so well with the coconut. I think I might be biased since rum is my downfall. Seriously, I have a drink with rum in it and I'll sleep like a wee babe.

Can I just say the best part about being an adult is you can lick that bowl clean if you want. I retained some dignity and used a spoon but I was THIS close to sticking my head in the bowl for a lick.

All in all I was very happy with my coconut cream pie and didn't burn the coconut or screw up the insides. I think a day later it is even better. Romana wishes it was for kitties but I made sure she knew it was only for us silly hoomins.

The next few days I'm going to be in a happy little Coconut Cream pie coma dreaming about the next pie I'll make. Oh, and I suppose I hope Chad enjoys it too since it was for his birthday! (I'm guessing he did since he had two slices yesterday.)

Go bake a pie or something. It'll be fun. : ) OH! And the recipe I used was a combination of the recipes located HERE for the whipped topping recipe with that scandalous rum in it and HERE for the filling recipe I used. I'm sure the crust recipes on either site would have been great but like I said I had one pre-made so I used it up!

March 19th-23rd, 2014: Spring Shedding

With the final coming of the first day of Spring this last Thursday we are feeling the urge to shed all the winter weight. I don't mean in the regular sense of loosing fat, but in the form of hair. It seems like everyone in our house is shedding some extra winter hair.

Our cats of course go through that little bit of extra shedding like they do after it starts getting warmer out. Although, Romana doesn't show shedding as much as Gwen does and thank goodness for that. I already look like a crazy cat lady enough as it is, I don't need more cat hair on my clothes!

Gwen will let us brush her, in fact, I think she actually really loves it when we brush her. She looks at us like we have some sort of magical powers that turn or hands into the best thing ever. Yesterday I took the comb to her hair after I finished Charli's hair cut and Gwen would not stop following me around until I did it some more. She is very demanding when it comes to something she enjoys.

Romana on the other hand doesn't understand what the comb is for and will usually try to bite and play with it like a toy. We have tried to get her to realize that it is for her enjoyment and not the kind she gets from a toy but I don't think she'll ever want to be brushed like Gwen does.

Speaking of Charli getting a hair cut, she had the biggest hair shedding that occurred in the house. I finally chopped off her massive mop of hair. I think she seriously lost a pound of hair at least. She wasn't really like a mop but she was a big poof ball. I think her hair was at least 3 inches long maybe more.

It's hard to tell what part of her you are looking at when her eyes have hair over them most of the time. I think picture above on the left is the side of her head and the one on the right is part of her face and foot. I can see the shape of her ear and the possibility of maybe her eye.

I had to sit and cut her hair before I bathed her so that after the bath was done I could just shave the rest off without it pulling too much. This is only my second time using the electric shaver to do my dogs hair and I must say it seemed like it went better this time around.

Part way through the trimming I had to take a picture of her looking like a partially sheared sheep.  I couldn't get a good view of her long hair on her belly but she just looked ridiculous. Her front end was the hardest to get trimmed so in the picture above her back is trimmed but she still looks all poofy up front.

I think the whole process of trimming, bathing, and shaving took a few hours, probably 4 max (most likely less).  This was the first time that I've bathed Charli since we got Romana last fall. She has never seen Charli sans all that hair. She of course spent some time following her around sniffing her trying to figure out what kind of witchcraft this was.

All and all I think I did a pretty good job for a second try at it. I feel like it took less time this time around. The time could have passed a bit faster because I spent a large amount of time sitting in the living room watching movies on netflix while I trimmed her hair.

I'll let you decide how I did. She looks goofy but she always has.

So we say bring on the spring.  Time to get the garden planning going! I'm already behind by some standards.

Hey, who knows if I'll try doing my own spring shedding. I've already shaved off all that winter leg hair. Haha, but really I'm looking forward to being able to go for a walk and it not being frozen or dodging road construction.  I'm so happy this summer we don't have construction anymore!

March 18th, 2014: After work motivation, what's that?

How do people find the motivation to do anything after work? I've never understood how some people still have enough energy to work out or do chores around the house when they get home from work.

I'm sitting here on the couch after putting in a load of laundry and I'm about ready to curl up in a heap and sleep right here. The wait for the laundry to dry is probably the longest hour of anyone's life. All you want to do is put that laundry away and the only thing standing in your way is the dry cycle.

I'll be honest, I'm not above leaving it in the dryer and doing it when I wake up but you never want to accept defeat so quickly.  I usually make it one load through, but if I have to do two loads of laundry that second load can forget what being folded feels like until I get some naps in.

Today when I was putting the clothes into the dryer Romana and decided she wanted to jump into our front load dryer to see what I was putting in there. She being the curious cat she is thought dryers were a place kitties should go. After the first few pieces of wet clothes where tossed in atop of her she didn't want to be in there for very long.

She has the habit to jump into things when you open them because of her curiousness. For example, the closet in the hallway is used for towels and other bathroom things that don't fit in there, and she feels compelled to jump in there the second you open it.

In fact, one day she jumped in the closet and I didn't notice so I of course shut the door, like you do. Then a little while later I hear a faint meow. Sometimes she can meow when she has forgotten where you are in the house so I simply called out where I was, but she didn't come. Eventually we found her sitting on the towels in the closet. Now she only visits the closet briefly when you open it so she doesn't get locked in, and I'm extra careful to check places when I open them.

Now I have to make sure she isn't in the dryer before I start it too. She is such a trouble maker, but she is too adorable to get mad at.

March 16th-17th, 2014: St. Patrick's Day, or should I say Idea Day?

Do you ever feel like you have too many ideas inside your mind going at once? A swirl of ideas that jumble together and never come out of your head when you are ready for them. There is never enough time to complete the idea you have, or maybe you lack the supplies.  So, you take note of it for later but then you are left with this list of things you would love to do but there is only so much time in this world, and sometimes a nap is far more important that doing task on your list. Frustrating, yet satisfying at the same time.

This weekend I tried to find a nice balance between my creative outlets. I spent a part of the time working on a new scarf for my Etsy shop. I really need to get more items up for sale in my shop in order to get more attention. I welcome any ideas that you'd like me to give a shot but for right now I've only got the one solid it to sell.

This scarf is going to be an infinity scarf that I've made in the round. I'm not sure how it will turn out yet because I'm making the pattern up on my own. So far so good, I think.

I know scarves are starting to get out of season with spring finally springing. Can I just say that spring has needed to sprung weeks ago. I have been feeling the urge to be outdoors and in my garden for weeks. I've had the whole stir crazy feeling since I got home from the trip to LA for the Doctor Who convention Chad and I go to there. Having the lovely 80 degree weather there and then having to come back to Minnesota where the seasons are winter and pot hole season.

The need to garden has grown so much inside of me that I have been considering how I can start it inside without my cat trying to eat it. I'm hoping to get my hands on some possible refurbished wood so I can make a few shelves out of it. If I make said shelves I'm thinking of creating a neat little herb garden holder with it out of Romana's reach.

See. Once again another idea up their in my brain just waiting to get out. I'm going to go work on the other idea I worked on over the weekend, my story I'm writing!  Did a bit of research and wrote a paragraph that will most likely be completely changed later, but it's still thrilling!

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day! It's the only day I have an excuse to deck myself in green. Wait, like I need an excuse to do that. Pssh.

March 11th-15th, 2014: Irish Soda Bread

Sometimes in life you have to take some chances. The chance I took was making some Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day weekend.

I have never made bread on my own before. I have made things like banana bread and the like but not bread-bread. I haven't used yeast and waited for the dough to raise, but then again this Irish Soda Bread is the type that you don't need yeast for; which is one of the reasons I chose to make this kind.

The idea to make this bread came to me when I started looking for ideas to make for St. Patrick's Day weekend. When there is a holiday going on near a weekend it is a great excuse to make something new.  I was considering making a pie for Pi Day on 3/14 but I settled for buying one instead. Plus, I lacked the ingredients to make a pie. So, I settled on the Irish theme! Corned beef, potatoes, and Irish soda bread sounded like great Irish themed options.

Biggest challenge when it came to making the bread was trying to make sure it didn't get over cooked! I checked and checked the bread but it kept looking semi-doughy in the middle but eventually I decided it's time had come. Unfortunately the bottom got a little over done but that's easily eaten around.

My first impression of this bread was the feeling like I had just made a giant biscuit. I'm pretty sure if I had space enough to roll it out I could have easily cut the dough up into biscuits. So, if that is what the bread is supposed to be like then it was a success; if it wasn't supposed to turn out like that then people are missing out on some giant biscuit action! Am I right?! No? Alright. 

Honestly, I do like the bread. After I had it with the corned beef I cooked in my crock pot and some scalloped potatoes I was feeling pretty darn Irish. Heck I got wild and crazy with it and put some honey on a piece. 

Seriously, can I eat this like a normal sized biscuit? I'm picturing just pouring a huge amount of gravy over the whole thing. Of course that would be waaaay too much food but man if I was a giant I'd be all over that.

Basically I just want you to know that this bread is tasty and you should make it if you so desire. Have an excellent St. Patrick's Day and be safe!

March 9th-10th, 2014: Story Waffles

If you were to write a book what kind of book would it be?

Seriously. What would you write about? Would you write about your life? Would you write a fiction about something you enjoy, or make it up from scratch? Would you write it for adults or children, or maybe even one for both?

I have been thinking about writing something myself. I'm not sure if it will be book material but maybe I'll eventually post it to a fan fiction site depending on what I avenue I go with it. I've been leaning towards something Doctor Who themed, but I'm not sure yet.  It's kind of fun to think about different types of themes for what I'm planning. I don't want to really give away too much because I'd still like a bit of a surprise for when I finally do it.

This idea has actually been crowding my head for awhile so I've found it hard to come up with blog posts because this is all I have been thinking about is writing it. I need a code name for it. Secret special thing? Booky thing? Waffle? Eh, I come up with something.

I'm going to leave you with a picture of Romana and I thinking about the kitty stories we should write. Which reminds me that I was once going to write a story about a Boston Terrier. Hmm, maybe I'll add that to my list.

March 6th-8th, 2014: When in doubt cook some balls.

I suppose I'm disappointed in another app now. I tried to post for the past few days through it and neither of the posts went through. I guess I'll have to look at another one. Ah well.

I'll just let you know what's what for the past few days. My days off at work are normally Thur-Sat, so I'm able to do things around the house; like cook. It's hard to make time for cooking during the work week and I try to do as much I can over the weekend.  If I cook large portions over the weekend then at least one or two days I get to have leftovers at work. Which is better than the sandwiches I tend to make instead.

This weekend so far I have endeavored into making Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes. Then this morning I made some pancakes for breakfast. I'm even contemplating making some cookies. We shall see if I go into that project because I've got a heap of dishes to do after all that cooking I did!

I've tried to make Swedish Meatballs in the past and they went alright, but I also used pre-made meatballs that time. This time around I went for the homemade meatballs and I think that changed things a million times for the better.

I've also never cooked meatballs in the oven. I've always done them in a pan on the stove top but I really liked how they turned out. They were large and moist and delicious!

The meatballs are probably the easiest part of the recipe (even if I had to tweak things). The scariest part for me when cooking something new is making a sauce. How often do you start adding in the ingredients and the instructions say it is supposed to look a certain way but when it doesn't right away a sense of panic fills the air? This would happened to me more often than not. I have begun to get better with that panic because I have learned what I can do to salvage my recipe. I had one of those moments with my sauce yesterday when I put the flour in with the butter and it was supposed to be pasty and began to clump. Instead of freaking out I just added a bit more butter and had my liquids ready to help it loosen up. In the past I would have panicked and thrown away the batch and had to start over. Not this time! I don't let it get the best of me if I can help it.

It's taken me some trial and errors to become more and more comfortable with my cooking abilities and I'm very grateful for it. There is nothing quite like a home cooked meal. One thing I'm still trying to figure out is how to get some good mashed potatoes from scratch. I'm thinking next time It'll involve my mixer instead of my pure arm strength. You can only do so much with your arm before it wants to fall off.

All in all we were very pleased with the way the meatballs and everything turned out. The recipe I used was called Ikea Meatballs and I'm pretty sure mine turned out way better than the ones at Ikea. Just saying. The benefits of making meat balls from scratch is you get to decide how large they are. Mine were definitely large and in charge. It was a great success and I will totally make these meatballs again.

I'm going to go try to do some dishes and possibly I'll attempt baking some cookies today but no guarantees. I get to have some tasty meatballs for leftovers today.