11.30.2012

A Satisfied Single Girl


During the holiday season there seems to be an overwhelming amount of songs, movies, commercials and random awkward couples in the mall that make a girl like me feel badly about being single.

Last night I was sitting in my apartment after having class from 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. (I kid you not…) My roommates were gone and I couldn’t help but feeling a little bit pathetic. Should I be hanging out with friends? At a party? With my non-existent boyfriend?

I flipped on a B grade Christmas movie and cozzied up in my bed with a tall glass of wine. I was instantly reminded of the perks of being single.



Savoring Silence
Silence is completely underrated! But, I must admit it’s rare to set aside time for silence when you’re in college. There’s even noise in the library! So instead of sulking in silence, savor every second of it!

Your Favorite Candle
I think candles were made for single people. Candles are kind of like perfume, everyone has their own preference and you either love it or you hate it. I love being able to burn my Voluspa French Cade and Lavender without any objections to the smell or placement of my candle. So what if I want to put an open flame next to my book collection? Fire, shmire! It looks pretty!

Being the Most Brilliant Girl
When you’re single, you’re always right! I have this coffee table book called The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Time. It’s a great book, but I love reading it and letting myself think that my thoughts are even more brilliant! There’s nobody here to tell me they’re not, right?

Movie Mania
I’m a repeat offender when it comes to movies. When I love a movie I’ll watch it 10 times…in a row. Seriously. The Holiday is one of my all time favorites and with nobody here to stop me I can watch it as many times as I’d like! 

And what more could a girl want on a Thursday night? Besides maybe another glass of wine...



11.25.2012

Christmas Crafting


Pinterest has by far become my favorite procrastination enabler. Not that I’m proud of it, but everyone procrastinates, right? And if I’m procrastinating I’d rather be doing it on Pinterest than Facebook. (You can only stalk people for so long…) Plus, it’s not technically procrastinating if it’s over Thanksgiving break!

I’ve been practically drooling over the Christmas pins that have been popping up on my feed. Usually I’m really hardcore about waiting to celebrate Christmas until December first…I hate skipping Thanksgiving! But I had to make an exception just this once.


 As soon as I got back to school finals would start and I would hardly have time to fill my cup of coffee, much less take the time to Christmas craft! It was now or never.

Have any of y’all seen those adorable Mason jar snow globes that have been all over Pinterest? They seemed do-able and cheap. What was I waiting for? One trip to Hobby Lobby and one scavenger hunt in my garage later I was ready to start.



Here’s what I used:

1 Mason jar
1 container of white glitter
& something to  put inside of the snow globe! I used a little wooden tree that I found in one of the craft isles at Hobby Lobby…it cost me all of 29 cents! I also used some old scrabble letters. But the inside of the jar is the fun part! You can add or subtract whatever you have in your craft drawer!

Then it’s time to get imaginative. I moved things around a million times until I got it to look the way I wanted it to! And once I was done I was ready to make more! Of course I was crafting into the wee hours of the morning so Hobby Lobby was closed, but, I’ll definitely be making a trip back later in the week to get my fill of these Mason jar snow globes!

I can guarantee that there will be more posts about Christmas crafts to come! Happy crafting and Merry (really, really, ridiculously early) Christmas!





11.21.2012

Gorilla What?


There’s nothing like being home for the holidays, right? After being stuck in my car for eight hours (Norman to Houston…a killer drive!) I was sure as hell ready to get out of my car and in to my own bed! After a home cooked meal and a good nights sleep I was ready to get into the holiday spirit!

I started digging through my mom’s recipe books for some inspiration. I wanted something easy and sweet…my mother is a fabulous cook but she wouldn’t touch a baking sheet with a ten-foot pole! I decided on a Paula Deen’s Gorilla Bread


I know, I know, when you think about Thanksgiving you think of turkeys, not gorillas. But I promise, take one look at this recipe and Gorilla Bread will become one of your Thanksgiving staples!

Here’s what the recipe calls for:

½ cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup (1 stick) butter


1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped walnuts

When it comes to baking I don’t exactly like to follow the rules (maybe that’s why I’m a better cook…) Anyways, I felt compelled to change things up a bit. I used pecans instead of walnuts. Rebellious, right? Pecans are more of a Thanksgiving nut anyways, and they give the bread more of a Texas taste!Because everything's bigger better in Texas!


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Make sure you keep your eye on the saucepan. You don’t want burnt brown sugar and butter!


Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with ½ teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese.



Sprinkle ½ cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on another layer of nuts.


Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar and pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place on a cake platter or plate and enjoy!


Obviously I wasn’t concerned about my calorie count for the day…or the week for that matter! It’s Thanksgiving after all. If the Gorilla Bread didn’t get me the Pumpkin Pie would have…


I cannot wait to dig into this Texas Thanksgiving Toast! Happy 
Thanksgiving y’all! 

11.04.2012

Free to Find my Chi


This next Tuesday is Election Day, and if you don’t know that by now maybe it’s time for you to crawl out of the cave that you’ve been hibernating in for the past year. Election coverage is everywhere and all of my mother’s Facebook friends have been blowing up my mini feed with their, “CAN’T WAIT TO VOTE!” and “Feelin’ free today!” status’.

All of this talk about what freedom means in the media got me thinking. What makes me feel free? And then it happened…my stomach growled! I hopped up and made my way to my kitchen to whip up something to eat.


As I clipped the ends off of my green beans an overwhelming sense of gratitude swept over me. Remember the dorm days where every meal had to be microwavable? Remember the sorority house days where every meal was pre-planned and you had to eat whatever was on the menu that day? Yuck, the memories alone make me shiver!

For the first time since high school, I have a kitchen again! Who would have thought a few burners and a refrigerator would bring me this much joy! I am free to cook whatever I please, whenever I please!

This is my BEAUTIFUL kitchen at home in Houston. My mom did
an incredible job renovating the whole house on a tight budget
when we moved in. The whole renovation was featured
on one of my favorite design blogs Cote de Texas!

With my busy school load, cooking myself dinner has become an unexpected break from my hectic schedule. Culinary therapy!  A girl’s gotta eat, right?! And not only do my meals taste a heck of a lot better, but also they are much healthier.

My bulletin board is now overflowing with index cards with my culinary creations…maybe it’s time for me to invest in cookbook to put them in!

On the menu for this Tuesday is a healthy portion of garlic roasted shrimp and veggies. And of course, my first vote in a presidential election. (By the way...go vote! It gives you the right to complain all you want for the next four years..!) I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be feeling plenty free this week!

Happy cooking and voting everyone! 


I cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to my food. – W.C. Fields