new favorite!

it was a tough decision to share this with others.  when i really love something at first, i tend to hoard it to myself.  i don't want to share it.  but, as much as i love this site, i felt that the greater good was to share it. 

terrain

there.  aren't you proud of me?  i shared!!  i didn't even hoard it more than 24 hours.  this is a big step!  ok, maybe i'm making myself sound like a totally selfish meanie.  but i'm not!  (i'm pretty sure i'm not...corrections?)  just try not to buy everything at once!  i had to seriously resist.  pictured are a few of my favorites that terrain offers.  i was thinking along the lines of mothers day, perhaps? 

cutest earrings!  my ears might actually let me wear them!

honey derived from fruit plants (namely: blueberry, raspberry, cranberry and orange blossom).

can you say butter and bread too, please?

this one i actually bought.  for whom?  not telling!

i admit to "needing" this.  i know just where it could go!

cow glass?  check!  cookie?  check!

a french tiered plant stand.  oh, how i long for a home to put stuff like this!  one thing at a time, brooke.

one thing at a time.  {sigh}

cupcake me!

it was no misery that i had to be gifted two crumbs cupcakes last week.  my gosh!  i'd never had their cupcakes before, and it surely won't be the last time!  when you eat something as moist, rich and scrumptious as these cupcakes, you immediately want more.  it has a sweet little surprise inside each one too!  it's torture just thinking about not being to have one for a while.  geez!  

my friend, crystal, was kind enough to surprise me with these last week.  so i hemmed her curtains?  i definitely got the better end of the deal, i think!  i'll hem anyone's anything to get more of these.  any takers?   i love her forever!  heaven, indeed.

in season

on i go with my food quests.  i'm really trying to eat so good.  this requires me to eat more vegetables and fruits, which then requires me to be able to afford it.  so i can mostly afford the stuff that's in season.  i very much wish i could buy strawberries all year long, but for $5 for a tiny plastic container full of not so tasty strawberries, i find myself adapting.

so i quickly looked up which fruits and veggies are in season right now, and here's what i found.  basically a nice list of those lovies in season that i would eat are:  apples, brussel sprouts, kiwi, leeks, oranges, pear, persimmons, sweet potaotes and tangerines.  notice how the vegetables somehow do not make it to my extremeley edible list?  hey, i'm workin' on it!  it's going to be a life-long struggle, i think.  but i will make it!

what i'm really looking forward to is summer!!!  every single item on the summer list makes my skirt fly up into a frenzy.  cause, of course that's when i wear skirts.  oh!  and to church on sunday.  i can't help that i'm a jeans kind of gal.  i was just telling stephen that i could wear jeans every single day for the rest of my life and be completely satisfied.  that is, as long as they are levi's.  i heart levi's!  they are always in season to me!!

crafts vs. food

lately my life has revolved around food.  not exactly about eating those things that i love and adore (namely, sugar and other naughty-ness), but eating those things which will aid in smalling my waist-line.  that is the goal.  whether it will work is up to me.  and so far, i've been doing really well!  i've even lost four pounds.  not bad for a week and a half. 

okay. 

you know what happened though?  i stumbled upon my new favorite website.  in reality i shouldn't be clicking over to this site for six more weeks, when my "diet" (i don't like referring to it as a diet, cause i still eat food.  generally diets remind me of not eating anything.  maybe just rice cakes and yogurt.  nonetheless, i'm dieting because i'm refraining from eating most foods that i stuff my mouth full of) ends.  it will end for a short time, before i start back up again.  and by no means am i going to sabotage myself by eating loads of fatty and comforting foods after my "diet" is done.  but yes, i'm going to reward myself, cause...gosh darnit, this is hard!

so you wanna know who's making me doubt my good intentions, just to eat a cupcake?  it's her fault!!! 

she is good.

yogurt pie

sorry that im doing two food posts in a row.  food is heavily on the brain lately, being that i'm working out like a maniac and really watching what i'm eating. 

nonetheless....i'm not afraid to share a favorite dessert recipe with you.  it warms my soul.  my stomach's soul.

this is a yogurt pie recipe that my mom used to make all the time growing up.  i don't know where she got it from, but i thank whoever/whatever gave it to her.  

we start with these ingredients.  (i'm going to be very vague with this recipe, because it's pretty straight-forward.  the pictures will tell most the story)

then you mix all the yogurt and all the cool whip (ps...in the nutritional facts at the end of the post, that is for lite cool whip and light yogurt....i used the naughty stuff).

place beautifully washed yogurt and cool whip containers and place in recycle bin.  check!

pour (or i consider it "glopping") into graham cracker pie crust (you can make your own, but i was lazy this time) and level it off nicely.

voila!  cover and refrigerate for a few hours.  then diiiiig in!  it's delicious and not too bad calorie-wise!

(nutritional info here)

gruyere cheese

this is going to truly expose me for who i am...one who hasn't tried many cheeses.  it's sad and true.  (i'm working on it, alright?)  so when i made these mini quiche the other day, i had to buy gruyere cheese.  the thought of using a weirdly named cheese kind of (in a brooke kind of way) grossed me out.  but i pressed on.  i bought it.  yes.

the next step was cutting it up into very fine pieces.  i was nervous that the cheese would smell horrific.  i have issues with strong cheese smells.  let's blame it on uruguay, where i walked into a cheese corner store, and about passed out from the strong olor of cheese.  it even drifted out to the streets.  i couldn't even walk by the place without wanting to upheave my stomach.  (okay, so maybe i'm being a little melodramatic.  who me?)  anyway, i got to cutting my cheese.  i opened the bag to the 3 ounces of cheese i'd bought and was very pleasantly surprised with my new discovery!  not only did i love the way the aroma filled my senses, but i adored it!  i also realized that i'd eaten and smelled this very same cheese several times before in other dishes i'd eaten (but not made myself).  had i only known it's name was gruyere.  i need to stop judging things by what they look like.
 

another example of my food snob-idity (yes, it's a new word)...me being afraid of eggplant.  number one?  the name of it.  goodness, it sounds disgusting, doesn't it?  number two?  the color.  althought it's a beautiful hue of purple/violet, to eat it is a whole other thing.  but recently, a good friend urged me to try some.  and i'm happy to report that it was good!  slimy, but good.  once you get over the way it was prepared (pf changs version) which caused it to be slimy, it was really quite delicious!  like they said on the lion king, "slimy, yet satisfying".  if you too are afraid to try it, i now ask you to be brave.  make it a grand new year and try something that you don't want to.  give it a chance!  you might just be (pleasantly) surprised!

apple pie, part dos

thanks for tuning back in!  good to see ya!  now comes the part that actually makes the pie yummy, in my opinion.  that includes sugar!, cinnamon and nutmeg.  oh yum.  throw all ingredients into the apple bowl and mix until beautiful and shiny.

look at that, would ya?  i'm telling you, it's always tempting to just eat it right there and then; although you would surely notice a difference in taste and texture later.

next?  the real kicker....butt-ah!  dots of it everywhere!

then, just as martha does, layer flowers and turkey pie crust over the top.

ask the cute little girl nearby to apply the egg wash.  she'll do a great job, just like this one did!  if you have no cute little girl nearby, we're taking orders.  she travels!

love it, bake it and then?  eat it please!  fresh out would be ideal, but let's face it, that just doesn't happen, does it?  not most the time.  so re-heat, if you must.

continue on to make your pumpkin pies, mixing such beautiful colors like these.  can't get much more like fall than that- at least, not in a bowl.  (just smile)

pies = happy brooke

apple pie, part uno

i was in charge of the pies this year for thanksgiving.  i made the two that i love the most, apple and pumpkin pies.  oh me, oh my, oh dinosaur!  so here's the apple pie in the making:

to peel

(what?  so i love rounding the edges)

then they'll look like this, just beautiful.  next....core the apples (paying no attention to how dry my hands are.  i should've photoshopped lotion on them.  ha!  can you do that?) ...

...ask your daughter to make sure the apples are peek-worthy.  check!

put peelings in compost.

chop into fine slices.  don't forget to eat a few.

cut out pie crust designs for the top of the pie.

continued in part dos.