Thursday, September 29, 2011

Homemade Happieness... oh and cookies

     What's better then a chocolate wafer filled with sugary paste like filling? I think nothing, which is why today I attempted to make homemade Oreos. I found a recipe online at food.com (http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-oreo-cookies-36513), figured out that I had most of the ingredients already and then after my chores around the house I embarked on my journey to Oreo land! 
     The instructions were super simple and the pre-made cake mix sped things up alot. I got double chocolate fudge cake mix because that's the closest I could find. It took forever for the dough to not be sticky anymore, and I decided to roll it out and make star shapes because I thought they would be more festive. (I actually later regretted doing a star shape because it's hard to get the filling all the way out to the points of the star.)


I rolled the dough to be about 1/4 of an inch thick and I think next time I would do them a little thicker. I baked them for 8 minutes and they came out soft but hardened up pretty quick. I used two different sizes of stars and it ended up making enough for 12 big cookie stars 16 little star cookies. 



The filling was not hard at all. I kind of felt like I was going to get diabetes just making the filling though! The filling made more then I had cookies, but that's because I used big cookie cutters. The filling is like the consistency of play dough or moist sand. I'm trying to say that this is not something that you spread on, you roll into a ball and then squish it down to make a sandwich.  



Right as I finishing the last batch, some friends showed up (imagine that!) and were totally open to being the taste testers. Everyone gave thumbs up and Jim even used curse words to describe how tasty they were! I feel like these cookies weren't hard to make, just a little time consuming. I will say that if you take these anywhere or make them for a gathering I'm sure everyone will be super impressed with your baking skills. All in all I would totally make these again, with a few tweaks to my dry run! 
     I hope this has inspired you to try these cookies or even a different recipe. I had a ton of fun and even the husband helped with the cookie cutting. It's time for a nap and then work so I'll update soon and I hope everyone is good and happy!













Saturday, September 24, 2011

Adventures from the Farmer's Markert

While the morning air was crisp and the sun not yet scorching, we wandered over to the farmer's market to pick up some weekly produce. I am trying to broaden my horizons by trying a new item every time we adventure to the market. The bright colors and good spirits make it an awesome place, this morning in particular. I got a good variety of stuff and with that being said I will share some of my finds this morning...




The flower man is always so pleasant. With a thick Spanish accent he always tells me how great of  selection I have made and names off the species I have chosen. Oh the flowers. This is my weak spot. I love the way that flowers make a room pop, I love the vibrant colors, the smell, how each flower is unique and I love how happy they make people. This morning I chose, Snapdragons, Mums and some giant Lillies. Only one of the lillies bloomed, which means all week long my arrangement will transform into something new. 


 From a distance I saw a small frail woman in the middle of a booth, surrounded by brightly colored bobbles. I am a trinket person. If you have a knick knack, I am all about it. So I demanded that we rush over and check her out. With a crooked smile and large glasses she greeted us and also slightly judged (we totally look like hooligans). I saw this ring and knew it needed to be mine. Most of her jewelry consisted of blown glass beads, I instantly saw the bright orange of this ring and loved it. for a mear $7 dollars it was mine. She made sure that we were stealing anything else and gladly put on my new purchase and waddled away. 






There are so many fruit and veggie stands to choose from and most have the same things. I usually end up going with the people that seem the most friendly. This morning I grabbed some green beans, a red onion some white peaches and my adventure food of the week.... drum roll...... lemon cucumbers. This new veggie of the week is round like a lemon and has seeds like a cucumber inside with you cut into it. The flavor is a little   tangy like a cucumber and doesn't have that sharp crispness. It's a little more mellow flavor but I think it will go really well in cucumber and onion salad.




 We also got some bagels and a croissant with raisins and custard in it. We sat on the messy deck with the puppies (Lucky and Frankenstein) and enjoyed breakfast. It was still cool and the trees were shading the morning glare. All in all it was a great morning and I loved seeing all the new things and spending time with my handsome husband and my two darling dogs. 

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Humble Beginings...

Welcome and hey! Ok so this thing is new for me and I'm going to pledge now to keep up with keeping this thing updated! Since this is the world wide web and I'm assuming that none of  you know me I will tell you a little about myself. I'm Nicole, I'm a 26 year old fat lady, I'm a wife and a mother to two adorable dogs (Lucky and Frankenstein), I work and live in a small town, although I am from a large city (I kinda feel like Zha Zha), I love clothing, crafting, Internet stalking, adventures, cooking/baking, anything vintage, good music, my awesome friends, my amaizing husband, and much much more! One thing you will notice is that I am a horrid speller and don't have the best grammar. I apologize in advance for this!

This is me!!!
Some things that can expect to see in my blog... random rants and things going on in my life, photos of these things, fashion, makeup and accessorie stuffs, food stuff (I'm excited to do tutorials and reviews food adventures), random advice and life lessons I happen upon. Mostly it will be me, being me. 


My handsome husband and I

I'm thinking about cake!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day

!ole!

Mirror maze time
I'm so excited to get started and hope that this blog makes you smile, think, envy, and enjoy!