Friday, May 31, 2013

What She Wore: May 2013

Please excuse the messy bathroom!  We're getting ready to move, and there's always a garbage bag kicking around.




Cardigan: Maurices (2007)
Top: Maurices (2012)
Leggings: LC Lauren Conrad (2013)
Shoes: Maurices (2011)

I wore this outfit out to dinner with our friends, Rachael and Toby, then swapped the sky-high sparkly heels for a pair of black, close-toe kitten heels for work the next day.  I absolutely love these leggings, by the way.  They're super comfortable, but I think the polka dots make them much classier than regular leggings.  Leggings are not pants, people, so make sure you wear them right!  This top hits at the bottom of my hips, so my backside isn't sticking out for all the world to see.  Bonus!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

What She Wore: May 2013

Please excuse the messy bathroom!  We're getting ready to move, so there's almost always a trash bag kicking around.


Blazer: Maurices (2011)
Ruffle tank: Maurices (2011)
Skirt & belt: ModCloth (2013) (Sold out!)
Tights: Maurices (2012)
Shoes: Payless (2003)

I love when the fashion blogs I read list where to get something, but what I usually take away from something is just how to style certain pieces.  If I see an outfit I like, I usually sub in comparable pieces from my wardrobe and try to replicate what they've got going on.  So that's what I'm going to try to do here--point you to where you can get pieces that are still in stock, or list something similar if it's a basic.  But in this outfit, I'm basically wearing a black blazer, a red top, black tights, and black pumps.  If you don't have those pieces in your wardrobe already, you should!  The only standout here is the polka-dot skirt, which I love. You could easily swap that out for something in your own wardrobe--maybe you have a black pencil skirt, or a skirt with smaller polka dots, or maybe you'd rock a red skirt with a white camisole under the blazer. Make it your own!

Saturday, May 25, 2013

What She Wore: May 2013

Please excuse the messy bathroom! We're getting ready to move, so there's almost always a trash bag lying around.


Blazer: Maurices (Spring 2013)
Might still be available in some stores!
Tee: Forever 21 (2010)
Jeans: White House Black Market Noir Skinny Jeans (Spring 2013)
Boots: Payless (2011)

I loved this blazer the second I saw it, but after I bought it, it sat in my closet for close to 8 weeks before I took it out for a spin.  It's cute, but I wasn't sure what to wear with it.  My favorite thing is that those pockets are real--they're not just pocket flaps!  

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

What She Wore: May 2013

Please excuse the messy bathroom! We're getting ready to move, so there's almost always a trash bag lying around.




Cardigan: Maurices (2010)
Cami: Maurices (2012)
Belt: LC Lauren Conrad (2011)
Skirt: Maurices (2010)
Tights: Maurices (2010)
Shoes: Maurices (2012)

This is one of my favorite skirts because it has...pockets! Other than that, though, I find it pretty tricky to style.  The fuchsia in the skirt is difficult to match with the contents of my wardrobe!

Fun with Facebook

I am absolutely sick of people making political statements on Facebook.  I feel that if you care enough to want to make changes, you should contact your congressional representatives, or volunteer with a worthy organization, or donate to a cause you feel strongly about. Talking about it on Facebook never changed anything.  I usually hide posts from friends and family when they're being political, but sometimes things slip through my settings and I see it anyway.  After a particularly vitriolic post last week, I was tempted to write a vicious rebuttal (because that always works, right??).  Instead, I did this.  And it was good.






These are screenshots taken from my phone, because it's a little cleaner than grabbing shots from the web.  Hope you laughed as much as I did!  My friends are awesome.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Dorito Chicken Bake

Y'all, this is a super yummy, super easy casserole that's good year-round.  Perfect in the summer, perfect in the winter, perfect in the spring, perfect in the fall.  It's great fresh from the oven, but it's truly excellent reheated the next day.

Honestly, I didn't really measure any of this, so feel free to adjust quantities as needed.

You will need:
Two-ish cups of cooked, shredded chicken
Two-ish cups of shredded cheese. (I used Monterey Jack the first time I made this, used cheddar this time.)
One can cream of chicken soup
Half-ish cup of salsa
Half a brick of cream cheese (four-ish ounces)
Taco seasoning to taste (at least two tablespoons)
One bag of Doritos (I use the Nacho Cheese variety)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Combine all ingredients except Doritos in a mixing bowl.



In a baking dish, crush a layer of Doritos.


Layer in the chicken mixture, another layer of crushed chips, and the rest of the chicken mixture.  Top with more shredded cheese, because yum.





Bake for 30-35 minutes, until hot and bubbly and delicious.



Sha-zam!  Dinner's ready!

The boring stuff:
Takes 15-20 minutes of prep, plus baking time.
Feeds 2-4.
Difficulty: 2. 






Saturday, May 18, 2013

What She Wore: May 2013



 Scarf: Maurices (Winter 2013, out of stock)
Cardigan: Maurices (2012)
Cami: Maurices (2012)
Shoes: American Eagle (2010)




Wednesday, May 15, 2013

What She Wore: May 2013




Flip flops: Teva Mush Adapto Wedges in Trix Chocolate Chip (Spring 2013)
Jeans: White House Black Market Noir Skinny Jeans (Spring 2013)
Tank: Maurices (Summer 2012)
Denim shirt: Maurices (Summer 2012) 



Sunday, May 12, 2013

Bagels!

This bagel recipe has been languishing in my drafts folder since 2011!  Crazy, I know.  I did all the work, uploaded all the photos, but then never published the recipe!  At this point, I'm not even sure where it came from.  So, without further ado, vintage bagels.

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Hey guys.

I know I've been absent. I haven't been doing much heavy lifting in the kitchen lately, and blogging on my crappy internet connection is torturously slow and depressing. But I got a hankering to bake today, and I decided to try my hand at bagels. They are fresh from the oven at this very second, and boy, does my house smell terrific.



You will need:
One and two-thirds cups of warm water
One teaspoon active dry yeast
Two tablespoons sugar
Four and a half cups of bread flour
One and a half teaspoons salt
Two teaspoons olive oil

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or just a large mixing bowl, if you want to do this by hand), combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water.  The water should be just warm, NOT hot.  If it's too hot, it will kill the yeast and your dough won't rise.  Let the yeast sit and dissolve and become happy, about five minutes, then give it a quick stir just to make sure it's not lumpy.

Fix your mixer with the dough hook, add the flour, and stir until the flour is lumpy and wet, then add the salt and olive oil.  Mix/knead the dough until it becomes smooth, but sticky to the touch. 

Remove the dough, and put it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and put it in a warm spot to rise, until doubled in size.  (This should take an hour or two, depending on how happy the yeast is, how warm the room is, and whether or not Jupiter is in the seventh house.)

Come back, punch down the dough, and turn it out onto a floured surface.  Form it into a ball.



Divide the dough in half, then in half again, and so forth, until you have 6-12 equal pieces that are smaller than a tennis ball, but larger than a golf ball.



Roll each piece of dough into a long snake, somewhere around 10 inches.



Then--you guessed it!--form each snake into a circle.  As you can see in the picture, I was super paranoid about making sure my bagels had a definite hole in the center, so my circles are quite wide.





Set your bagels on paper towels, cover them, and walk away.  These babies need to rise again, at least two hours.  Make sure they're warm!



Once the bagels have satisfactorily risen (see my enormo holes? I was so paranoid!), put a large pot of water on to boil.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.



Boil the bagels, one at a time, for 30 seconds per side, then remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels.  Once they've all been boiled and drained, put them on a baking sheet and stick them in the oven! (If you want to add toppings, like poppyseeds or cheese, this is where you should carefully brush your bagels with an egg wash or olive oil and add them.)



Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. (Every oven is different, so adjust accordingly! Start checking at 8 minutes, and monitor from there.)



Enjoy!

Takes about an hour of hands-on time, plus 2-4 hours of rise time.
Makes 6-12.
Difficulty: 4.