The Big Mac Conquered

Coming to you from Portland

For awhile now I have been trying to duplicate the McDonald's Big Mac, but I never advanced beyond the assumption that the secret sauce was mayonnaise and ketchup. (Turns out there is no ketchup anywhere in this recipe). I finally stumbled on a website where this guy reveals a bunch of secret recipes from famous food joints and has a great accompanying video as well. Neither the video or the recipe actually gives you measurements for the ingredients used, but someone left a comment under the video with the measurements they used and those worked perfectly.

 

 

They actually turned out wonderfully, and the sauce was SPOT ON. The only thing I forgot to do was toast the buns slightly which would have made the burger hold together better for eating. Also, the buns sold at the store are a little larger in diameter than the McDonald's buns so they end up being much more of a mouthful and the patties were a little small.

A few tricks that are mentioned in the video:
Only use a golfball-sized amount of ground beef for each patty and then really flatten them out.
Freeze the patties on a cookie sheet between two pieces of wax paper so that they keep their shape during cooking and are easy to flip. They are so thin that this would be very difficult if not frozen.
Use the bottom of another hamburger bun for the middle bun. Unfortunately they don't sell just middle buns at the grocery store.

 

I also found these amazing fries at the grocery store called "Fast Food Fries." They were fabulous and after showering them with a ton of salt they tasted very close to the real thing.

Closet makeover

Coming to you from Pullman

I read Real Simple this morning while I was waiting for my snow tires to get taken off (also had regular tires put back on in case you were wondering).  There was a space makeover article and it was just the push I needed to finally get going on my closet.  3 main problems that I have with the closet: 1) it was sagging in the middle...a lot.  I was worried that the whole thing was going to collapse.  My closet in Portland collapsed once when I was younger - it was loud, scary, and very messy.  I didn't want that to happen again.  2) I only had one shelf - I can only stack boxes so high. 3) where could I put all my shoes!!??  So, first things first - the most important thing was to stabilize the middle of my closet so that it would not sag and I could put as many clothes on it as I wanted.  (yeah, this is what I did with my first day of vacation since 4th year started).

Look how it was "stabilized" in the middle.  What were they thinking in the 60's???

New hard core shelf support.

New hard core rod and rod holders.

equals stabilized.  The next thing was to add an extra shelf to get some more storage. 

Double Decker storage - see my "hat person" hats!  probably will need more than 2 hats to become a hat person.

Finally, time to upgrade the shoe storage situation.

Before and after shots shots of the left side of the closet.  Please note the efficient shoe storage, the shirts arranged by color, the boxes looking nice and organized up above, and you can even see the "I want to believe poster" in the corner there. (secrets: boots that are out of season are stashed behind the shoe cubby and will reappear when fall rolls around and baseball hats that I rarely wear and hanging behind the hanging shoe cubby). 

Before and after shots of the right side of the closet.  Please take note of the absence of cluttered pile of shoes, the dresses arranged by color, and my special plastic drawers that will hold only clothes that are appropriate for clinics so that I don't have to search through everything to get ready in the morning.

Things I had to buy: a variety of screws, one closet bracket, 4 shelf brackets, one stud finder, one 6 foot shelf, one 6 foot curtain rod, set of heavy duty closet rod hangers, 2 hanging shoe holders, 1 shoe cubby.  Home supplies from Pullman Building supply and ACE hardware - thank you ACE hardware workers for helping me every time I came in (I think 4 times).  Both the shoe holders are from Walmart (I have Walmart shame...it's similar to Kardashian shame). 
one thing you really need to do projects like this is a drill.  you don't need a saw!  most home supply stores will cut things to size for a small fee.

Things I got rid of: a couple of old posters from undergrad that were stuffed in the back, so not really anything.  I was just organizing, but that doesn't mean I'm not still a hoarder.

I'm just glad my closet isn't going to collapse any day soon.

Oregon Plaque

Coming to you from Portland

This is another idea I got from Pinterest. The idea came from this website where someone sells these for $65, but I thought I would try to do it myself.

I bought a little wooden plaque from Craft Warehouse for $2, some green paint for $1, a roll of crochet thread for $3 and some 1/2 inch nails for $2. First I painted the plaque. Then I found an outline of Oregon online and cut it out. I taped this on the surface of the plaque where I wanted it and then nailed around the outline. This was the hardest part, because the nails are really tiny and it starts to hurt your fingers after awhile from holding them in place. Then I nailed the heart, which is approximately where Portland is located. Finally, I wrapped the crochet thread around the nails on the outside to connect with the heart on the inside. This was kind of difficult, because the heart has so few nails and the thread starts to stack up pretty quickly after wrapping around the same nail so many times. I also didn't know how to tie it off so you can see a knot at the bottom of the picture. I'm sure there is a cleaner way to do that. It only took me about two and a half hours to make and $8 for the supplies. The final product was just okay - worth $8 but definitely not $65 even if it was better than mine. In the end it's just something to hang or lean against your wall.

Summer goals

coming to you from Pullman

you might feel like spring has just started and are thinking that my summer goal making is a little premature - but i am still a student, and as such measure the seasons by when my breaks are.  my last semester of lectures...in veterinary medicine... at WSU (...because who knows where my life will take me and i love school so much i will undoubtedly go back [somewhere] listening to more lectures [about something] eventually) is over in a week and although i do not actually get a summer break this year (or ever again in my life unless i really switch things up and become a K-12 teacher) i will still measure the beginning of summer as starting the minute my last final is over. 

so!  making goals.  i have some for this summer.  because summer and break have always been an inseparable idea in my head, i am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that i will not have extra time to get stuff done (that stuff that i usually put off..."i'll have time to do that in the summer...").  nevertheless, i'm going to make some summer goals with the intent of having a little extra time, and maybe just having the sun out will make me more productive.  some things about goals that i have been told: write them down (i'm doing that now and in a very public manner, which equals more accountability - even though these are sort of silly goals i expect you to hold me to them), they should be attainable, specific, measurable, realistic, and there should be a deadline. 

Deadline: August 27, 2012

Goals:

• find a one piece swimsuit that looks good on me...like these

poka dots; stripes and bow; black

• stop twirling my hair (seriously, i'm practically an adult.)
• start a joy jar (i have a joy journal, but the thought of reading random cool things at the end of the year sounds fun, and i would be more likely to make a "deposit" every day)

sorry, uploaded by user on pinterest so i don't know where this idea came from

or should i make this instead...?

unique calendar seen here

• finish my quilt: it's much further along than when i took this picture, but i still have a lot of work

look how cute ellie is!

• see a dermatologist: before my good insurance expires!  Dr. Travis Stork told me today that i shouldn't ignore things about my health - doctor's orders!!
• go through all of my clothes and decide if it stays or goes - sex in the city style.  maybe i'll decide that it all stays (i doubt it) but i at least need to remind myself what i own. 
• plan a trip to go skydiving: like actually book an instructor because just planning it in my head and saving some money didn't do the trick - but i guess i'm half way there.  i just have to convince someone else to go with me - a few months ago, i realized that skydiving is something that i imagine i will do in my lifetime...you know how when people find out they are going to die they have to do certain things...like skydiving...and i just decided i don't want to wait until i'm dying to live. 
• make something like this...anything really.  just be a little crafty at least one time. 

  

  "A"; marriage is...; what a perfectly stupid time we would have; i love you...; maps

• go to Glenn and Yasmin's wedding: obviously i'm already doing this, but i wanted to add something to the list that i know i will for sure be able to cross off :)

i guess we have a while to see if i'm successful. 

m.

Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

Coming to you from Portland

I got this idea from Pinterest.  There are no directions so I just kind of guessed what was going on in the pictures.  I don't know what that mesh stuff is, but I went to the craft store and they sell rolls of tulle for $4 - I'm pretty sure that's what it is. 

I picked some small clovers and flower petals from the garden and placed them on the eggs and then wrapped them in the tulle.  I tied the tulle in a knot, becuase I was lazy and didn't feel like sewing the end together, which made it kind of loose around the egg.  This resulted in my plant stamps not leaving a super clear print on the eggs, because some of the dye was able to get underneath them. 

Then I dyed them using brown onion peels.  I have used these before for dying and I love the natural, warm brown color it makes.

And here is the final product!  Again, my designs don't have hard lines and aren't completely white, but for something you are going to crack and throw away, I think it is reasonable to take a couple of shortcuts. 



Spring 2012 Soundtrack

Coming to you from Pullman

I like to make soundtracks of my life.  It's usually a compilation of songs that are popular right now, songs that I just discovered, and songs that I hearing again for the first time or re-listening to in a new light, and songs that I heard in a movie/TV show that took on a whole new meaning.   What usually ends up happening, is I listen to the album about fifty times in a row and then I move onto my next "soundtrack," but whenever I listen to that album again, it reminds me of the time period that I listened to it in - it's a cool feeling.  Here is Spring 2012 soundtrack:

From left to right: The Northstar Session, Winter Collection; Carly Rae Jepsen, Call Me Maybe - Single; Florence + The Machine, Cerremonials; The Jezabels, She's So Hard - EP; Fun., We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monae) - Single; Walk Off the Earth, Somebody That I Used to Know - Single; The Jezabels, Dark Storm - EP; LMFAO, Sorry for Party Rocking; One Day (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack); Motion City Soundtrack, Even If It Kills Me; Colin Hay, Man @ Work; Joshua Radin, We Were Here; Ida Maria, Fortress 'round My Heart; David Gray, White Ladder; Wreckless Eric self titled album; Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection; McFly, Just My Luck; We The Kings, Sunshine State of Mind; Citizens Here and Abroad, Ghosts of Tables and Chairs; Teenage Fanclub, Bandwagonesque.

Here are the songs with some thoughts from me or how I found the song, because I think sometimes that is interesting.

1. You Come Up Like A Rose by The Northstar Session: wanted to see Florence + The Machine at Edgefield, but the dates conflicted with my senior schedule (and besides it is sold out already), but as I was flipping through concerts the name of this band caught my eye.  I downloaded their most popular song and after listening to it a few time proceeded to download all of their albums and plan a trip to Portland next month to see their free concert at Edgefield
2. Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen: iTunes suggested this song to me a month ago and now it's getting popular and on the radio!
3. No Light, No Light by Florence and the Machine: when I was getting a ride home from the airport from my classmate a couple of weeks ago, this song came up on her iPod so I downloaded it and a few of their other songs.
4. Into the Ink by The Jezabels
5. We Are young (feat. Janelle Monae) by Fun.: obviously this is on the radio, but what I just discovered is that the lead singer is a former member of one of my all time favorite bands, The Format, that broke up in 2008.  I'm glad he's back, and so far I like what I'm hearing.
6. Hurt Me by The Jezabels
7. Somebody That I Used to Know by Walk Off the Earth: my mom sent me a link to the youtube video of this cover song (it's really cool, you should watch it); then the Gotye version became popular on the radio, but I still like this version better
8. A Little Piece by The Jezabels
9. Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO: the first time I heard this song was right before Christmas break and I thought it was weird, but it's really grown on me
10. Praise You (One Day OST Version) by Fatboy Slim: from the One Day Soundtrack - love the movie and love the soundtrack
11. Fell in Love Without You by Motion City Soundtrack
12. Overkill (Acoustic Version) by Colin Hay: artist plays this song in an episode of Scrubs - I really like this song, but also the scene is about being overwhelmed in the medical field, which I can relate to a little
13. Closer by Joshua Radin
14. Oh My God by Ida Maria
15. This Years Love by David Gray: I've owned this song forever, but I heard it on The Bachelor season finale and really Heard it for the first time (yeah, I watched the season finale - so what?!)
16. Whole Wide World by Wrckless Eric: I'd heard this song many times, but Heard for the first time on Stranger Than Fiction
17. My Father's Gun by Elton John: Heard for the first time on Elizabethtown - powerful scene
18. Five Colours In Her Hair by McFly: heard in the movie Just Me Luck - this is a throwback for sure, these songs by McFly remind me of my undergrad
19. Life Is a Rollercoaster by Ronan Keating: from the One Day soundtrack
20. I've Got You by McFly
21. Say You Like Me by We The Kings
22. Too Close for Comfort by McFly
23. Microphone by Citizens Here and Abroad: from the preview for Invisible
24. The Concept by Teenage Fanclub: from the movie Young Adult

What's in your soundtrack?  In iTunes, under the comments section, I always put how I found the song or if it was popular and on the radio a lot I put the season and year in the comments - then in 20 years, when I want to listen to songs that were popular when I was in college all I have to do is search for "2012" and voila!  Happy sunny day of Spring 2012 and rock on!

Pinterest to Reality: Waldorf Salad

Coming to you from Pullman

I made something that I pinned.  I actually started the pin, so it's not something that I found on Pinterest, but I still think it's an accomplishment any time I actually make something that was related to Pinterest in any way, shape, or form.  Mostly because, Pinterest allows a person to pin things, keep track of them easily...and in this way, I am able to put off projects, because it's so easy to find them later.

I actually first saw this on The Chew, which is one of my new favorite shows.  I've been meaning to make Waldorf salad for a while now, ever since they had it at Subway this summer and I remembered how much I love it, and then when I saw this show it set me into action.  The recipe is here and it's really simple.

Clinton Kelly's Waldorf Salad

• 1 chicken breast (I baked mine in the oven since I didn't have any leftover chicken lying around - here is where I get all my chicken information)
• 1 red apple - cored and chopped (I used fuji of course...they say to skin it, but I didn't do that)
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts - chopped (I used slivered almonds instead, just because I really love them)
• 1/2 cup celery - finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red grapes - halved (sometimes I quarter them too if they are really big grapes)
• 3 tbsp mayo (I used 4 because it looked a little dry - but then i tend to put in a little extra of each ingredient so that's probably why)
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (yeah right, I used the regular kind of lemon juice from the bottle)
• salt and pepper to taste

It was so yummy.  I'm going to make more soon - it's so easy and so good i would like to have some around to make sandwiches with most of the time.  Plus, you get fruit, vegetables, and whole wheat in a sandwich so I'm going to say that it's healthy.  The way I made it, I ended up with 4 cups of salad and used 1 cup to make a sandwich so each serving came out to 250 calories.  This would be a great little appetizer though too...I would just have to figure out where to get those little tart shells :)

Punxsutawney Phil was right!

Phil saw his shadow and predicted 6 more weeks of winter.  I thought that he was wrong because it definitely looked like spring was just around the corner...but he was right, and I was wrong.  In the past week, winter has come back with a vengeance. 

Of the 6 more weeks of winter, we only have 2 more left.  I hope that is true.  I'm so ready for spring.  Haven't been doing many crafts lately, so no crafty blog updates.  Been working on school and my research project for my senior paper which will be measuring air quality and factors that impact air quality in surgery suites.  Fun!  For breaks I have been turning to Pinterest of course.   And keeping in line with popular internet memes...

I have also been spending time on The Chew website.  AND, in case you have been waiting patiently like me, there was a new episode of Psych last night that is available on iTunes for your viewing pleasure.  Okay, 64 more days until clinics start.  Might not be any crafts for a while.

Hearts 'n Things

Coming to you from Portland

I was inspired to get crafty for Valentine's Day after reading the February issue of Better Homes & Gardens - That is where all of these ideas came from. Click here if you want to see more ideas from BHG and get templates for these crafts.

These are just single servings of different candies/snacks that have cute little messages on them like "I Love You to Pieces" on the Reese's Pieces or "We're Mint to Be" on the York Peppermint Patty.  It was actually kind of difficult tracking down all of this candy in the perfect size to fit the templates I printed off of the website.  In the end I made some adjustments on a couple of things anyway. 

This is my favorite one: "I'm Bursting With Happiness That You're My Friend."  I just bought some little 3x3 ziplock bags to put the Starbursts in, folded the message over the top and secured it with double stick tape.

These are just large Hershey's dark chocolate bars that I wrapped in Valentine paper, ribbon and cut-outs.  Craft Warehouse had a miscellaneous package of paper cut-outs that said things like "Made With Love" and "All Love is Sweet, Given or Received."  They just added a little something extra to the design.  (Side note: Ribbon is very expensive! In order to get a variety I had to buy most of it by the yard and even that added up.)  I also bought the paper in a variety pack along with a few 12x12 sheets.  Paper is also really expensive and variety packs are usually the most cost-effective. 

I also did a few miniature Hershey bars.  After I purchased them I realized that the small ones come in plastic packages instead of paper and foil, so I had to wrap them in foil myself, but it turned out to be really easy - just like wrapping a present. 

I like this website, because it gave a lot of good ideas for things to get men for Valentine's Day which is always difficult - it's not really a holiday designed for men.  This is a homemade scratch-it and it was a lot easier to make than I thought it would be (go here for directions).  You just print off the template and write something into each of the hearts like 30 min. back massage or home-cooked dinner.  Then you trace the heart shape four times onto some contact paper ($7 a roll and I only used about 1/1000th of it! But now I will have it for a lifetime) and paint over them with two coats of a mixture of dishwashing liquid and metallic paint.  Then you just cut out the heart shapes and pull the clear part from the paper like a sticker and stick it over each of the messages you wrote in the hearts.  Add a shiny penny and you have the perfect homemade gift.

This is another easy gift for a guy.  I just went to the store and bought a nice case of beer with a red label.  Then I wrapped it in Valentine paper and velvet ribbon and added a little tag with a message. I also covered the handle with some white paper so it matched.

These are sugar cookies I made using a recipe from the website that I wrapped in cellophane and sealed with paper and ribbon.  They are not frosted, but I added some pink food coloring to the dough to make them more interesting.  All I did was cut a piece of paper to slide in behind the cookie and another one to fold over the top.  Then, using a small craft hole punch, I made two holes through the paper and cellophane and then strung a ribbon through and knotted it in the front.

Unlike Michelle I was not bombarded with Valentine's (I think I just got one from my mom and someone from work), but it really doesn't matter, because I had so much fun making everything, and I got to spend my Valentine's Day with the Trail Blazers :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

coming to you from pullman

another Valentine's Day has come and gone.  i was very pleased with my valentine's day cards this year and happened to have a great Valentine's day myself. i haven't mailed out my valentine's day cards yet, so some of you reading this can expect a card in the mail soon.  this year  i had a valentine's day card making party with Liliana.  here was our set up

things were a little more organized this year with all the tupperware - but not much.  even though i have all my craft supplies in tupperware, it's not organized within the tupperware so it still got to be quite messy.

These are all of Liliana's cards

and all of my cards!  let's break them down...

this ended up being my favorite card.  quote of the night: "does this look magical like a butterfly made it?" Liliana thought that was funny, but I was being serious :)  Anyway, some crafty people may experience this or perhaps it's just me, but sometimes i will buy things to use in crafts without having a particular project in mind, but i think that they are so pretty that i never find a project worthy of them.  well, the butterfly stickers fall into that category.  I have had them for 5 years.  it was my goal to try to use some of these "forbidden" items and I was successful!  these little hearts are from my heart punch that cuts out a big heart with a little heart punched out of the middle - that way, with each punch your get two different hearts to be crafty with; it's a good deal.

these were my "3-D" cards.  I thought that this wouldn't work at all, but my Elmer's glue turned out to be way more reliable than i had given it credit for.

these are all the cards i used stickers for.  the black letters with the white background stickers, are the kind you get at hardware stores - like to put your house number on your mailbox.  I got this, and a larger set from ACE hardware and so far I love them. they are perfectly simple.  The plain black stickers are the ones that I bought from Staples for my "I can't do this but I'm doing it anyway" project.  And the red label sticker is from my awesome DYMO label maker.  it came with 2 black roles, 1 red role, and 1 green roll of labels.  I have already gone through a whole black role.  once you get a DYMO label maker, you will find a lot of uses for it.  I got mine at Staples.

this was my card for Liliana.  I used my dinosaur paper!  (one of the "forbidden" craft supplies) 

these were the cards that i started making near the end of the night when i realized that it was getting really late, and although i love my friends, i needed to put less thought into the cards i was making them so that i could go to bed.  i really liked how they turned out.  i free-styled the hearts, which i think gave a nice quality to the overall look.  i also used some "forbidden" paper (the teal with glossy embossing).  they were perfectly imperfect and i loved them!  I have already thought of a couple of classmates that i forgot to make cards for, but hopefully all my friends know that i love them without me putting a card in their mailbox on valentine's day :)  These are the valentine's that I got this year:

plus all the valentines I got from Julie in the mail.  plus a candy valentine from Becca and Stacie that i already ate...plus a valentines cookie from Teresa.  it was a good haul this year and the most eventful Valentine's Day I have had in a while. 

Love is in the air

Coming to you from Pullman

Valentine's Day is coming up.  I'm sure you can expect an awesome blog post from my sister since yesterday I received a package full of clever Valentines from her.  They were so punny.  :)  (punniness runs in the family).  I also have a couple of Valentine's "parties" coming up - making cards, baking things shaped like hearts, painting hearts on our nails...i also have a heart shaped egg ring if we want to get really crazy.  remember last year?

that was a cluster.  still fun...but my crafting has become much more organized since this time last year.  Valentine's Day is such a good opportunity to do crafts and to randomly give all your friends a cute little card.  Even though I love making Valentine's Day cards, I have only actually celebrated Valentine's Day conventionally once; most years it's just another day of the week or a night to go out to dinner or drinks with my friends (last year a guy from the Globe Trotters asked me out at Rico's...haha).  When I was little Dad would get us baskets with candy and sometimes a little gift like a movie.  One year I got the movie Happy Accidents, which has turned out to be one of my favorite movies.  Anyway, here's a little taste of what this weekend may entail...

Courtesy of Pinterest of course.  I think I'm supposed to link each individual item here, but it's late and that would take so long.  Sorry Internet etiquette.  That "pinterest" link is to my Valentine's Day board so you can access all these projects.  Anyway, so much to be excited for this weekend.  And maybe I'll do some homework too. Have fun crafting this weekend :)

Kitchen Remodel

Coming to you from Portland

This was only a one day project for me, but my dad spent all weekend building these custom shelves.  They are stacked, open-style cupboards for a kitchen.

The open space on the right is where the fridge will slip in.  I sanded over all the places that had been filled for imperfections in the wood.  Then three of us lifted the shelves up to the wall and finally after about five attempts we got them installed.  There was a vent on the wall that made it impossible for us to place it in at an angle.  My dad had to cut out the back of one of the shelves so we could slide it striaght in.  He will later have to build a false back to replace what he cut out.

The open space straight ahead in this picture is where the stove is going.  We had to position the shelves on each side just right so that they were only about one sixteenth of an inch away on either side from where the vent and the stove are going to fit in.



A list makers dream come true

coming to you from pullman

Do you like to make lists?  My life practically revolves around it.  Most aspects of my life could be traced back to a list...things to do today, things to do this weekend, things to do this semester, things to do this year, goals this year, favorite things, favorite songs, songs i want played at my wedding ceremony (hypothetical wedding of course), books i want to read, movies i want to watch, things i want for my birthday, things i want to blog about...i think you get the idea.  it's out of control.  maybe it's how "P" people make sense of the world, although i know that "J" people tend towards lists too - perhaps it is the one thing that transcends the "J/P" dichotomy, something we can bond over, something that connects us.  (if you are starting to think that i'm speaking a different language, go here.  MBTI has given me a lot of insight into my own personality, but also how i interact with other people around me and helps me to identify the source of an interpersonal problem and seek a solution.  it's not just about knowing your "letters"...mine are INFP.  but i digress). 

Anyway, what's got me all excited about lists right now you ask?  CorkboardMe!  A fellow alumni of mine from high school, Tim, has been working on this website (i'm not sure what he does exactly...he's a programmer maybe?  yes, probably.  definitely an engineer of some kind i think.  i must work on my facebook stalking skills.  he was my drum major in marching band.  we went to band camp together.  Good times.)  so obviously we're facebook friends and i see all these status updates...Corkboard this and Corkboard that, and i finally paid attention.

Surprise!  it's a virtual corkboard where you can keep all your sticky notes.  finally.  there are lots of functions including some that i haven't quite figured out yet. 

this is a part of my corkboard.  so far, i love it!  i hope that you can find some enjoyment in it too.  go to their website to start your own.  i would recommend that you check it out and start making some lists. do it!  okay, that's all.  i know some list makers out there that are going to flip over this :)  in other news, this weekend is going to be epic ...first installment of 2012 New Years Resolution