CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE COVERED CAKE BALLS

The title is no joke. This weekend Sherry, Sarah and I tackled perhaps the most ridiculous cookie you could make: a chocolate chip cookie covered cake balls. We followed the guide on the Sugarderby website.



First we made cake balls. We used red velvet cake mix, and these get covered in chocolate.



Meanwhile, we mixed up some chocolate chip cookie dough. Once the cake balls are all set, you make a cake ball sandwich with two chunks of the cookie dough and roll it into a ball, which gets rolled into a giant monster cookie ball.



The results are pretty fabulous, but you better believe there will need to be extra trips to the gym with these hanging out around the house! The cake balls are really fun on their own too, and lucky for us, we have extras.

What's in the Bag?

I picked up this week's CSA bag today, and am now starting to think of what will be on the menu this week.



This week we got lettuce, kale, celery, green onions, carrots, avocados, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, beets (the guy called them "watermelon beets" but I couldn't find anything about those, so I'm guessing they are just baby gold beets?),

and cherimoya:



This is a fruit I've never had before, so I'm excited for it to ripen up a bit before doing a taste test. Time to get busy in the kitchen.

The Start of my CSA Adventure

My new year’s resolution for 2011 is to join a CSA and eat more veggies! I joined the California CSA, and am one week in. They have the option to pick up weekly or bi-weekly. I picked the bi-weekly option for now, as I get my bearings on how to handle all the new fresh produce in our fridge.

My first pick up included: broccoli, a yellow squash, avocados, carrots, celery, lettuce, spinach, parsley, tangerines, a lemon, and itty bitty beets.

This is what I did this week with my pile of fruits and veggies:

Chicken Pot Pie

Curried Lentil Soup

Roasted Beets

Roasted Broccoli

Avocado Dressing – blended with vinegar, mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper

Grilled Yellow Squash

And of course…lots of salads and tangerines :)

Pinterest

Have you signed up on Pinterest yet? I just got my invite yesterday, and am loving it. Pinterest is a website that allows you to build up boards of all your favorite pics and links from any internet source. I've been having tons of fun today adding inspiration and organizing into groups for knitting, food, craft projects, and just favorite things. You can find my boards here.

Christmas Crafting

Wow, it's about time we dust off the cobwebs around here and get back to it. Let's start off with a little holiday craft project I made while back in Wisconsin.

I saw these little crystal snowflakes on Martha Stewart and wanted to give it a try. They're so easy! My mom had sparkly pipe cleaners and borax stored away, so away we went.



First you make your shape out of the pipe cleaner, and hang it on a wire. Meanwhile, add your borax solution to hot hot hot water, and stir to dissolve in a jar.



Place the pipe cleaner shape into the jar and wait...



and wait...



and ta-da!



Crystal snowflake! You can make whatever you want of course, and use different color pipe cleaners, change the amount of time you leave the ornament in the solution for, or add food coloring. Mom was working on hearts for Valentine's day before I left. How cool!

Thanksgiving Weekend

*sunset in San Simeon*

I took some time off for the Thanksgiving holiday so Boyfriend and I could take a road trip up to San Fran. We had a great trip visiting some of Boyfriend's family, and spending some time on our own in the city. Here are some quick highlights (at least the ones I got some pictures of).



Snoozin' elephant seals near San Simeon



Boyfriend at the beach in Carmel, CA on Thanksgiving day



Views from our hotel room at the Westin Market Street in San Fran


(this picture was spruced up by the Camera Plus app for iPhone)



Anthropologie had the BEST holiday display!



Boyfriend's aunt cooked up "a little bit" of food for us to bring with us on the road. Yum. I think this is going to feed us for the whole month of December.

I hope you all had the happiest of Thanksgivings!

Simple Things

Yet another shawl! These can be so addicting to make, especially when you don't have to think too much about the pattern. This was the perfect project for a busy month, when I just wanted a non-thinking project.



This was made from just over two skeins of Knit One Crochet Too Handpainted Ambrosia, which is a silk, cashmere and alpaca blend. I bought this yarn on sale at the cutest little yarn store near my grandparents house in Urbana, Illinois. Klose Knit is a cozy little store, and has some fun yarn-bombing right outside.



This is the Simple Things shawl, found on Ravelry.



It's always a bit silly taking pictures of yourself :)

Time to Share

Hi friends - I took a little bit of an unintentional hiatus there, but things have been a bit busy. Let's get to it!

I have a few FOs (Finished Objects) to share with you, so we'll have to play a bit of catch up. First up are a pair of socks I made for myself.



This is the Clandestine Sock pattern, available for free on Knitty. You'll remember I had a bit of a rough start with this pattern, but I noticed about a third of the way through the first sock, and got myself back on track. I love this sunny yellow with this pattern - I think it really shines. I got the yarn in the sale bin at Knit Culture Studio - it's Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock. This was a little bit of a putzy pattern to follow, but luckily I have small feet so I had a little bit less knitting to do.



Fall has finally hit LA, and I'm enjoying the rainy, cloudy days we've had this week. I got a fun fall-themed package in the mail today, complete with red leaves specially plucked off a tree in Door County just for me.



Included in my package were three Halloween wash clothes she knit up just for me. Thanks Mom!

Third Times a Charm

We finally did it! Yesterday Sherry and I baked macarons yesterday, and they turned out beautifully.



We filled them with lemon curd and nutella, and kept half in the natural almond flour color, and made the other half a rosey pink color.



I've learned from past baking mistakes and I think I actually have this mastered.

Ughck!

A weekend's worth of work


Tragically ended like this:



Time to read the pattern correctly and start again.

I won!

On Saturday, my friend Lauren and I wandered over to Knit Culture Studio for their customer appreciation event. I'm so glad I did! We got a copy of Debbie Bliss' Fall issue, and put our names into a raffle. While shopping around, they called my name for a sweet little prize of the Easy Baby Knits book, accompanied by three skeins of Sublime baby cotton in a poppy color. I'm not sure what I'm going to whip up with this yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out!



A few finished knits are right around the corner. Stay tuned.

Whoooopie!

Whoopie Pies that is. I recently got this book:



This book is Gobs of fun. They split the book into two sections - half for the cake part and half for the fillings, so you can mix and match however you please. For my first dive into the book, I settled on the Red Velvet with Classic Buttercream frosting.



I didn't have red food coloring, so I thought to a blue velvet cake Boyfriend and I love from a nearby cafe. This recipe called for a lot of cocoa, and I didn't really think of how that would mix with the blue...let's just say it wasn't too appealing. I kept adding blue and more blue and eventually got a really weird forest green color. I decided to call it quits at that color so as not to overpower the flavor with coloring gel. They taste great and were a great sweet treat to bring along to the Hollywood Bowl last night.

Me vs. The Macaron

You may remember a few months back, I took a French Macaron baking class. Shortly after, I made a mess trying them out on my own. My friend Sarah wanted to try to tackle these with me, so on Saturday, we gave it a shot.



We.failed.miserably.



It was a super mess. Perhaps too much egg white, and not stiff enough peaks? Who knows. Sarah (friend Sarah, I haven't started talking in third person) had a moment of brilliance and suggested perhaps we could use them as a berry crisp topping. So Sunday I set out to the Hollywood Farmer's Market, picked up lots of blackberries, and set about making a blackberry crisp. At about ten minutes left of baking, I put the macaron mess on top and let them keep baking.



I gotta say, it was delicious, and completely festive for a 4th of July bbq.

Stay with me - I'm not giving up on macarons yet.

My Crocheted Necklace

I crocheted this necklace a few weeks ago, but just got around to taking some pics. Halfway through knitting my sweater vest, I needed a little break, and this necklace totally fit the bill.



The magazine version includes beads, and was done in white for a bridal feel, but I like it even more in bright color without the beads. I think the pattern holds strong on it's own.



This was my first time working with crochet thread and a teeny tiny hook, but I didn't find it too difficult. I moved a little slower than usual, and had to really concentrate on the pattern/chart. Totally worth the heavy concentration - I absolutely love it.


(my parents made me this fantastic holder - thrift store frame + radiator grate from the hardware store, spray painted silver + s-hooks - works perfectly!)

The "Sexy Vesty"

I finally finished this darn sweater vest I've been working on for what seems like the longest time. Although it felt like the knitting dragged on a bit for such a small amount of stitches, I think it turned out great.



It fits perfectly, I love the yarn I used (Lions Brand Cotton-Ease), the color is fun and summery, and its a very workable piece in my wardrobe.



The pattern is free and available on Ravelry - the Sexy Vesty (because nothing says sexy like a sweater vest).



I'm happy to move onto the next project!

What To Do With Tomatillos

If you happen to come across a big bag of tomatillos at your local farmer's market, I would highly recommend making this most delicious Tomato and Tomatillo Gazpacho.



We were almost immediately in need of a second batch after tasting the first one. Super tasty and refreshing.