Won-TONS of flavor!!

I have been wanting share some of the newest recipes we've been trying out recently, so here they are. These come courtesy of ABC's "The Chew". If you have yet to see it, I highly recommend it! It is on in the mornings and it features Clinton Kelly (TLC's "What Not To Wear",  previous "Top Chef" contestant Carla Hall, Chef Michael Symon, Chef Mario Batali, and Daphne Oz.

The first recipe is Clinton Kelly's Sesame Chicken Wontons. These are super delish and really simple to make. It takes about 20 minutes if you buy a rotisserie chicken and a bit longer if you cook your own.
The link for the recipe is after the break.


Here are a few pics we snapped while we cooked.

Here is the link for the recipe:  Clinton Kelly's Sesame Chicken Wontons

***

ingredients

• 1  Finely chopped Rotisserie
• 2 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 1 tablespoon Ginger (minced)
• 1 bunch Scallions (finely chopped)
• 3 tablespoon Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Toasted Sesame Oil
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 pound Wonton Wrappers
• Vegetable Oil (for frying)

In a large, non-reactive bowl, combine all ingredients except for wonton wrappers and vegetable oil. Mix well.

Fill a small glass or bowl with water to moisten fingertips.

Place about a tablespoon of the mixture into the center of each wonton wrapper, and run finger along edges of two sides of the wrapper so that when folded into a triangle, they close wet surface to dry surface.

Preheat oil to 350F.

Drop wontons into oil, cook until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and allow to cool before serving.

***

I really recommend going to their website and checking out their recipes there. They have a really nice, clean layout that makes it super easy to read and follow. It even specifies what cooking tools you will be needing depending on the recipe. 

We will definitely be posting some more recipes from the Chew as well as some we have come across that are definitely worth trying! 

Are you a fan of wontons? Do you think you'll be trying this recipe? 

Let me know if you decide to try this recipe. I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

Damarys

Birthday post!

So it's been another few days since I wrote but February has been a really trying month for me. My birthday was this past Saturday and although I have a great man who loves me, I was unable to enjoy my day like I would have liked to. Mostly, I was bothered that out of the six people in my very small family, only two called and wished me a happy birthday. Of course there have been other things plaguing my thoughts but this was overwhelming. It still makes me sad to think about, but I digress.

I just want to take a few minutes to thank the one person who was truly there for me from the beginning. Ever since we met, you have been my strength, my rock, my everything. Miguel, thank you for being the bestest best friend anyone could ever ask for. Thank you for loving me despite all of my faults. Mostly, thank you for being YOU...  you are truly amazing.

***

On a different note, I couldn't decide how I wanted to paint my nails for my birthday so I ended up trying out two of my newest polishes, OPI "Not Like The Movies"  and Finger Paints "Asylum" Flakies. I'm not entirely sure I love the outcome, but it was different. Here is a quick snap I took with my new macro lens for my iPhone.

As far as gifts go, Miguel, his parents, my little brother and our neighbors gave me some pretty awesome stuff which helped make my day brighter. Here's a pic of the loot.

Miguel did not have birthday wrap so he opted for Christmas. lol

His parents gifted me this sweet Lomokino camera with its very own film viewer. I already shot almost a full roll. Can't wait to get in the darkroom and develop it. I'm hoping it'll look awesome! :)

Miguel gifted me the Xbox Kinect sensor that came packed with four games (Kinect Adventures, Fruit Ninja, The Gunstringer, and Child of Eden)! After battling with some xbox live updates for the better part of four hours, I was finally able to get it working today! I played a tiny bit of Kinect Adventures and The Gunstringer. I have yet to play Child of Eden, but I will very soon!

The Kinect is pretty fun but it takes a little getting used to. Incredibly though, I managed to actually break a little sweat and tire my arms out. I fully realize this means I am completely out of shape! lol

I also got some cool socks, a tiny macro lens for my iPhone 4s, an Anthropologie dress (which sadly, was a size too big), some earrings, a scarf, two cute tops, and some nice little kitchen gadgets (measuring cups and spoons, a little cutting board, and a graduated cylinder/measuring cup).

Here's a pic of a cute little dinosaur that came with my socks from Edge of Urge




















Here's a pic of me holding the duck (with beaver tail) that held my leftovers from dinner at El Divino.

Here's the duck again next to a pic of my birthday dessert (banana spring rolls)

My birthday may have started out rough, but it ended on a good note. Thanks again to Miguel, and everyone who thought of me and made me smile.  :) I really appreciate it!!

Robot Shirt DIY

A while back I had decided I wanted to decorate a shirt for my little nephew. I finally had the chance to work on it and was able to give it to him for Valentine's Day! After much thought, I chose to go with a robot. Robots are cute and I mean, c'mon! Who doesn't love robots?!

 Isn't he adorable?!

This DIY is super easy. Here it goes:

Supplies:
Shirt
Grey Felt
Red Felt
Black Felt
Thread (I used six stranded floss and separated it into 2 strands) - White, Black
Needle
Thimble
Glue (I used Fabri-Tac)
Scissors
Fabric Marker (useful but not absolutely necessary)

Steps:
Use the fabric marker to trace the squares on the felt. You will need a square (head), a slightly larger square (body), a tiny rectangle (for the neck), two long thin rectangles (for the arms) and two stubby rectangles (for the legs). I did this in grey felt first and then made slightly bigger ones in black felt.  You can start cutting as you go or after you trace them all, it is up to you.

Proceed to trace the heart on the red felt and the black felt and cut them out. Cut out some eyes and some antennas out of black felt only.

Once you have all the pieces cut out, place them on the shirt and arrange them how you would like the robot to look. Next, glue the red and black hearts together. Glue the hearts to the larger grey rectangle. Then, glue the eyes to the smaller grey rectangle. Now, glue the grey and black squares (for the head) together, and repeat this for the body, neck, arms, and legs.

Lastly, glue all the robot pieces onto the shirt.

**You can choose to stop here or take it a step further to give it a little extra cuteness (and protect the felt from coming off in the wash).**

After gluing the robot to the shirt, thread your needle with 2 strands of the white six stranded floss. Sew the heart, the legs, the arms, the body, the head, and the neck with white thread. Depending on how much glue you used, you will probably need the thimble. I made the thread slightly spaced apart to give it a more handmade look.

Thread the needle with 2 strands of the black six stranded floss. Sew the eyes and the antennas. I sew them through the middle just to keep the edges extra clean on these two.

Now step back and take a look at your wonderful creation!

It's ALIVE!!!! :D

     

Sorry about the crappy pics... they were all taken with several different phone cameras.

Hope you guys liked the DIY! Isn't the robot just awesome?!

Enjoy!

Damarys

I'm Back... Valentine Update!

I ended up taking a little time off to figure some things out, but now I'm back! I had the chance to finish a little DIY project I did for my nephew (Photos will be coming soon!), a new Valentine's Day DIY (I know a bit late but still a good little easy project to decorate for next year), an easy peesy Valentine/February polish design, and a few recipes we have tried that were pretty darn amazing! I'll be posting all of those real soon... I sure do have some catching up to do!

How was your Valentine's Day? We ended up staying in and I made a lasagna and paired it with a nice bottle of pinot noir, while Mike made a new recipe I found a while back for Carrot Cake Cheesecake! It was yummy!

So I didn't get any good pics of our carrot cake cheesecake but here is the original recipe with a pic by Sarah at Sugar Cooking!

Mini Carrot Cake Cheesecakes
Ingredients: 

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted

• 8 0z cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely grated
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 lemon extract (or a squeeze of lemon juice) 

Directions: 

• To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray mini cheesecake pans with non-stick spray, or line mini muffin tins with paper liners. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar. Press into pans (I used about 1 tablespoon per cheesecake). Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown. 
• To make the cheesecake: Beat cream cheese and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the egg. Add carrots, flour, spices, and vanilla extract. Spoon on top of crusts so they are about 3/4 full.
• Bake until set, about 18 to 22 minutes.
• Transfer pans to a rack and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to frost.
• To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and extracts. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost with cream cheese icing. Enjoy! 

If you try this recipe, make sure you stop by and say hi to Sarah and give her props on a great recipe!


By the way, Mike got me the Meaningful Beauty skin care kit I had been wanting! I am on the third day/fourth night and I can honestly say, I can see a difference already!! I love it!

He also got me these super cool earrings from Nervous System

They have some amazing stuff. Go check them out!

What did you guys do for Valentine's Day? 

Damarys

DIY Bib

I finally finished the bib DIY project! I purposely made this the first DIY so I could get it done within two to three days. Unfortunately, it took me way longer than I had expected!

The plan:
Make a cute/quirky bib for my nephew

The Supplies:

The problem arose when I first laid out the letters. It turns out I miscounted and I was missing an "S". I decided to go ahead and start the project with the missing "S" thinking it would be no problem to find the matching package of letters again. After about two weeks, visiting two different Hobby Lobby stores several times each, and endless searching online, I finally gave up on finding the exact matching font and just went with the closest one I could find. It's not completely perfect but it looks pretty darn good.

Aside from the letter fiasco, I made a few rookie mistakes along the way... but you live, you learn, right?

That's what I get for sewing while I'm watching tv! lol

Aside from my smalls snags, the bib is pretty easy to make. First, arrange the letters on the bib with backside down. Next, place a cotton cloth over the letters. Proceed to iron on applying firm pressure for 25 seconds. Then, turn the bib and iron the back of the letters for another 25 seconds and let it cool.

Make sure your steam setting is off! 

Also, since the bib fabric is not completely waterproof, it is not guaranteed the letters will not come off during washing so I went ahead and secured them by sewing them on at various points. I sewed as close to the edge of the letters as possible while still ensuring I had a good enough hold to secure them to the bib.

And here's the finished product!

On a side note, I went by my mom's house today and visited with my grandma, my little brother and my mom's birds. While my grandma was busy sewing her shirt, my brother and I took the birds out of the cage and took a few pics...

I don't think the bird liked my nail polish though... he kept biting it! It was hilarious!

His tongue looked so weird! lol

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the bib diy and the bird pics! What did you think? Don't be shy! Leave me a comment with any thoughts, questions, etc.  Hope to hear from you!

Damarys

Pink Nail Gradient

Thursday night, I finally took some time to do my nails. I decided to try my hand at polish gradient (grading) which I had seen a few times but had yet to experiment with. I went with a pink palette (which I'll probably be sticking with for the month of February) and I think it worked out pretty well considering it was my first attempt.

These are the colors I used:

Essie's Vanity Fairest

Essie's Pink Diamond

Nicole by Opi All Kendall-ed Up (from the Kardashian Opi Line)

Essie's A Cut Above (Luxeffects)

Essie's Shine Of The Times (Luxeffects)

The gradient process is pretty easy, but like most polish projects, it is a little time consuming. I usually start with a clear base coat to protect my natural nail. Next, select a nice color scheme and begin with the lightest color you chose. I used two coats since my base color was so pale. 

Here is what the first polish looks like by itself... This is Essie's Vanity Fairest.

After it dries, use the next lightest color in your scheme. Place a few drops on a piece of paper and with a makeup sponge or a eyeshadow sponge pick up a little bit of the polish. If you pick up too much polish it will ruin the effect, so make sure to dab the sponge on the paper before you use the sponge on your nail. 

I didn't take pictures of each step of the grading process, but here are pics of the finished product.

Start dabbing from the bottom of the nail towards the top (cuticle) but only go about 3/4 of the way up your nail. You should get a stippling effect.

Then, use the next color in the scheme and follow the same steps but this time, you're only going to apply the polish about half way up the nail. Follow the same step with the next polish but only go a quarter of the way up the nail. 

Once it dries, use a clear glittery polish over the whole nail to blend the layers together and give a nice glittery effect to the whole look. Finally, just top with a clear top coat to protect your work and keep it from chipping! 

For a good step by step video on nail grading check out this video from KlairedelysArt. Click on the link for her youtube channel.

What did you think? Will you be trying this technique out? Have you already tried it? If you have, feel free to post or link to some pics! Would love to see different takes on the nail gradient technique!  :)

Thanks for reading!

Damarys

Shellac and Konad Pedi Time!

 I finally got a chance to give myself a pedicure on Tuesday night! I used some of my shellac polishes and I decided to try using my konad stamps to add a little something special.  I am happy to report it was a success!

I did one coat of Red Baroness Shellac polish, one coat of Zillionaire Shellac polish and I topped it off with white konad hearts from the M3 plate.

The Zillionaire Shellac polish is a very thin glittery polish. It is great for layering with other polishes. I like the subtle effect it gave my nails. For more of a sparkle, try using two coats instead. 

You can see a little of the sparkle effect on the bottle in this pic. Below, is the end result!

Hope you guys like it! Getting ready to do my mani now. Will post pics soon! Stay tuned!

Damarys