Classy & Adorable

Multicolored Funfetti Cupcakes!

As the title suggests, this cupcake is loads of color and fun!!! 

My high school friends and I love to do 3 things (and a new found 4th)…

1) Talking/Drinking beverages/Playing apples to apples/Talking in Starbucks

2) Talking at someone’s house

3) Talking while Baking at someone’s house

4) Talking and Hiking.

Anyways, these cupcakes were made doing our third favorite thing of course. We had decided to make fake red velvet cake (which was chocolate cake with lots of red food coloring) and funfetti. But last minute, we decided to split up the funfetti batter and add more food coloring in addition to sprinkles!

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We used the following recipe… http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/06/homemade-funfetti-cupcakes/

… with a few minor substitutions! 

1/2 cup butter (1 stick of butter)

1 cup sugar

2 whole eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup milk (we used almond milk) 

Sprinkles and food coloring! 

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 

Cream butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.

Mix the dry ingredients together and then add half to the wet ingredients. 

Finally add the milk and then the rest of the dry ingredients. 

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Now get a couple of bowls and spoons! Divide the batter into smaller bowls and add food coloring! We made orange (red + yellow for those of you who forget how to make orange…), green (blue + yellow), blue, yellow and pink (we did not have enough food coloring to make red).

Then add sprinkles to each! (The original recipe suggests 1/3 cup… divide that equally amongst the colored batter!)… We kind of just randomly threw sprinkles into the mix!

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Now plop a spoonful to half a spoonful of each color into the muffin tins! Be sure to pat down the batter so it all kind of sticks together before putting it into the oven! 

Bake for 18-20 minutes (toothpick it!). 

Yes I realize the raw dough looks a lot like play doh… 

But I promise you… they tasted delicious! 

We ended up frosting them and adding even more fun sprinkles to the top!!!

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One note I did have was that the cup cakes ended up a bit dense. There are a couple of things you can do to avoid that… one is to separate the egg whites from the yolks and whip the egg whites until they are frothy before adding them in; second is to increase the amount of baking powder to about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons; third is to add some more milk/apple sauce/oil… just to add some moisture and lighten up the cake! 

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Happy Baking! :D 

And a special shout out to my Academy girls! These were so much fun to make and eat! :)

Blueberry Cobbler

My mother loves blueberry season! We always go to the farm and pick bushels upon bushels of blueberries! About two years ago, my mother was out of town and I discovered our freezer was half full of frozen blueberries, so naturally I decided to make some type of dessert out of them! I am normally a chocolate dessert type of person, but most people in my family enjoy the fruit based desserts, so I looked up this recipe for a blueberry cobbler! I believe it was from allrecipes.com and the original recipe is called “Very Best Blueberry Cobbler”: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Very-Best-Blueberry-Cobbler/Detail.aspx

Anyways, I have tinkered with the recipe and this is my version: (it’s pretty much the same thing just with significantly less sugar, cause blueberries already have tons of sugar in them :D )

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Filling:

• 2 and 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (or more!)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 a lemon - juiced (or ~ 1 tbsp lemon juice) 
• 1/2 tsp flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp butter, melted

Crust:

• 1 and 3/4 cup flour
• 4 tsps baking powder
• 6 tbsps sugar
• 5 tbsps butter
• 1 cup milk
• extra sugar and cinnamon (to sprinkle on top!)

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1. Grease an 8 inch square baking dish. (Or any size… just increase the amounts of everything slightly!)
2. Place blueberries in dish and mix in vanilla and lemon juice.
3. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of flour and 1/4 c sugar over it (add more sugar if you prefer…)
4. Stir in the 1 tbsp of melted butter and set dish aside.
5. In a bowl, mix together the 1 and 3/4 c flour, baking powder and 6 tbsps of sugar.
6. Rub in the 5 tbsps of butter. (Get your hands dirty! I melt the butter slightly, cut it into chunks and then literally rub the butter into the flour mixture until it’s evenly mixed!)
7. Quickly stir in milk until just moistened. (The batter should be very thick, but not dry! —> wet dough like! You may need to add more milk to achieve this!)
8. Cover the dough mixture and let it sit for ~10 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 
10. Spoon dough batter over blueberry mixture so that dough covers most of blueberries (it’s ok if a couple of blueberries peak out!)
11. Mix together the extra sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the dough.
12. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick/fork inserted comes out clean!

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Enjoy the cobbler warm (aka right out of the oven!) with some vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream! 

This recipe is super easy to make and very quick! You can make it while making dinner and have a delicious dessert to eat right after dinner :D Also you can store the left overs in the refrigerator and warm up again the next day in the oven for breakfast! 

Even though I’m a chocolate lover, this cobbler has me going back for seconds! And for those of you who love cobbler, I assure you you will love this recipe! :D

And for those of you who are adventurous, try making this cobbler with strawberries or peaches or mixed berries :D

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This time I used a mixture of fresh and frozen blueberries!

A picture of the dough covering the blueberries pre-baking!




And the final product with some vanilla ice cream! Yum!

 

Enjoy! And bake with love <3 

Milano Cookies: eggless and delicious style

So most of you who know me, know that I don’t really eat eggs unless they’re already in a baked good… but you probably didn’t know that I just don’t like cooking with eggs period. Therefore I have always looked for baking recipes without eggs! So far I’ve succeeded in making most of my favorite desserts and goodies, sans eggs, and Milano cookies are no exception! 

My family loves the Pepperidge farm milano cookies! And the mint milano cookies are by far my favorite cookie on this earth (yes beating out chocolate chip!), so naturally I decided I needed to make them. I trolled the internet looking for an eggless recipe and came across this one from recipetrove.com:

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Cookie:

- 1 cup salted butter, softened

- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed (or unpacked cause I get lazy and never pack it)

- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

- 2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

- 1 tbsp. salted butter

- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

—> since I love mint milanos, I used mint chocolate chips! Or you can use regular chocolate chips and add a little bit of your favorite flavor extract (menthol, orange, lemon, amaretto, etc) 

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Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 F.

2) In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and sugar at medium speed.

3) Add vanilla and flour and blend thoroughly at low speed.

4) Shape a level tsp of dough into 1” balls, then roll to a log shape, about 2” long.

5) Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2” apart.

6) Bake 17-19 minutes, or until cookies spread out and turn golden brown.

7) Cool on a flat surface.

8) Melt chocolate and 1 tbsp of butter in a double boiler, or microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds just until melted

9) Let cool slightly and spread chocolate on one cookie and top with another :D 

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I made these almost a year and a half ago while I was home for winter break, so I don’t really remember what worked and what didn’t. This is all I know/remember:

1) I think I made the balls/rolls too big so my cookies didn’t flatten out and get crispy. Instead they remained a bit soft, but still delicious none-the-less!

2) The cookies were super buttery! But they were so delicious that my dad didn’t even wait for me to make the milano sandwich, he just ate half the cookies on their own!

3) I made a plateful of cookies in the afternoon. By the next morning they were all gone. I guess that means they were a hit! :D 

Nutty Applesauce Spice Cake

My boyfriend’s roommate’s birthday is today and we set out to find a recipe that matched the birthday boy! We had already made a death by chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting for his roommate that loves chocolate, a vanilla cake (almost sugar cookie like) with orange cream cheese frosting for his best friend and now we decided to make a spice cake for another one of his roommate’s for multiple reasons:

1) The birthday boy doesn’t like sweets

2) The birthday boy LOVES spicy foods

Therefore the obvious conclusion was to make a spice cake!

I found this recipe titled “Never Fail Applesauce Spice Cake” and it looked absolutely delicious! You can find the original recipe here:

 http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/never-fail-applesauce-spice-cake/Detail.aspx

But we did make some minor changes to the recipe so here is the recipe that we ended up using! Oh and I also changed the name because I felt as though this new name was more fitting! 

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Nutty Applesauce Spice Cake

Cake

2 and 1/2 cups - all purpose flour

1 and 1/2 cups - white sugar

1 and 1/2 tsp - baking soda 

1/4 tsp - salt

1/2 tsp - baking powder

1 tsp - ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp - ground cloves

3/4 tsp - ground allspice

1/2 cup (1 stick) - butter

1/2 cup - buttermilk

1 and 1/2 cups - applesauce

—> we only had 1 cup of apple sauce, so we used 1/2 cup plain yogurt!

2 eggs

3/4 cup - chopped walnuts

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Frosting

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) - butter

1 cup - chopped pecans

4 cups - powdered sugar

1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened

1 and 1/2 tsp - vanilla extract

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1) Sift flour, white sugar, soda, salt, baking powder and spices into a large mixing bowl. 

—> we had a sifter but chose not to use it… a good stir with a spoon with do!

2) Mix in 1/2 cup butter, buttermilk and applesauce (or applesauce/yogurt). Beat for 2 minutes with an electric mixer on medium speed.

—> we accidentally broke my hand mixer the last time we were baking, so we mashed the butter in a separate bowl and then added it in. It was a bit hard to get the butter to mix well, but we were content with just really small chunks of butter! (It’ll melt anyways…) 

3) Beat in eggs. Fold in 3/4 cup chopped nuts. Pour batter into a greased and floured pan. 

—> the recipe suggests a 9 x 13 inch pan, but we used an 8 x 8 inch pan and it turned out great! 

4) Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes!

—> the ovens where we live tend to bake things faster, so we put it in for 30 minutes… BIG MISTAKE. This cake turns super brown, but it doesn’t mean it’s done! After the center collapsed (false toothpick test!), we put it back in the oven for another 20  minutes! :P

5) Mix powdered sugar, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. 

6) Melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat and add 1 cup chopped pecans. Keep stirring until browned (butter turns brown and pecans get soft and caramelized!). Stir cooled pecans into cream cheese mixture.

7) Frost cooled cake… and enjoy! :D

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The next time I make this cake, I would do a few things differently. First of all, the cake wasn’t overly sweet, but it was sweet! So I would reduce the sugar from 1 and 1/2 cups to 1 and 1/4 or even just 1! Then in order to make this cake vegan, I would substitute the 2 eggs for 1/2 cup of apple sauce! So that would be a total of 2 cups of apple sauce! You can also do 1/2 a cup of plain or vanilla yogurt! Your cake will be super moist and delicious! If you do add more apple sauce/ yogurt instead of eggs, and you think your batter is too runny, add a 1/4 cup more flour! 

Regardless, this cake was delicious! I wrote J and 21 on it with the extra chopped pecans I had… the picture does not do this cake justice! But it is a nutty and spicy and apple-y cake! :D 

“Are kumquats just oranges that never grew?”

My adorable baby brother gets complete credit for that quote.

I love kumquats. Wegmans had a bunch of fresh kumquats and so I picked up a handful and was so excited to just eat them! But then I remembered my mom making a broccoli, beet, kumquat Indian sabzi that was absolutely delicious. Since I’m still not a pro at Indian food and therefore can’t make up fantastic meals on the spot like my mother, I resorted to a stir fry!

So a little background about kumquats: Go look at the wiki page. :P

No but really, they resemble oranges but differ greatly in a couple of extreme ways. First of all, they are tiny! They are actually olive sized. Hence the reasoning behind my brother’s question. Secondly, you can eat the peels! The peel is actually sweet and very flavorful. It is a nice contrast to the pulp of the kumquat which is very tart but so delicious! 

Anyways, I kind of jacked this photo from the wikipedia site, so for those of you who would like to see what a kumquat looks like, here you go:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumquats

Anyways, onto my made up stir fry recipe which made 4 servings (or two huge male appetite servings!).

I like to call this my India stir fry - because I only use green, white, orange and brown ingredients! :P

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India Stir fry

5-6 kumquats

1 head of broccoli

1/2 a bunch of asparagus

2 handfuls of sugar snap peas

1 package of tofu

ginger paste

garlic 

rice vinegar

soy sauce

chili-garlic paste

1 cup dried brown rice 

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1) Chop tofu into chunks. Put ~2 tablespoons (maybe a tad bit more) into a large flat pot. Add tofu and a spoonful of ginger paste, a half a spoon of chopped garlic (I use the pre-chopped kind) and a sprinkle of salt. Cook on medium/medium-high until all four sides of chunks are golden brown.

TIP: Start this before chopping/doing any other step! The trick to good tofu is letting it cook for a while and getting all nice and golden brown. You don’t have to monitor it, just occasionally flip the chunks to make sure all sides get evenly brown! Therefore, do the rest of the steps while cooking the tofu! 

2) Cut broccoli into florets and asparagus into 1 inch pieces. In a wok or another large pot/pan. Add some oil and add the broccoli, asparagus and sugar snap peas. Saute for a couple of minutes and then add 2 tablespoons of water and cover. Cook for about 4-5 minutes longer.


3)  Cook rice. I used a rice cooker, but you can do it the traditional stove-top way as well. Remember brown rice uses a little more water than white rice! You don’t want dry rice!!! 


4) Slice kumquats. By now the tofu should be done. If not, turn off heat from your veggies until your tofu is thoroughly cooked! Once tofu and veggies are cooked, add tofu and kumquats to veggies.


5) On medium heat, add ~2 tablespoons of soy sauce and rice vinegar to the stir fry. Then add however much chili-garlic sauce you desire! Stir-fry for a couple more minutes!


6) Serve veggies/tofu over brown rice! :D

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The kumquats and rice vinegar add a nice kick to the flavor and this meal was super filling and only took 40 minutes to make!!! :D

It’s also very pretty with the green veggies, the white/golden brown tofu, the orange kumquats and the brown rice! :D 

Spring Break Plans: Emmeline Apron

So I decided that instead of going far and distant and WARM borderline HOT places for spring break (you know with the student income which equals zero that I have), I was going to make an apron. Not just any apron though… during the summer I was searching for the perfect apron which not only served its purpose of protecting ones clothes while having interesting baking/cooking adventures, but ALSO looked super cute! This was a tricky feat indeed! I finally stumbled across a pattern by Sew Liberated, called “The Emmeline Apron”… who knew patterns had names? Well anyways… I tried to find a free pattern version, but those designers at Sew Liberated really know how to keep a secret… so I caved and bought the pattern off of Amazon.com for around $11. Let’s see if it was worth it!!! There are 7 steps to making this apron and since I started today I should be done Friday! :D Just in time to go back to school! (oh what fun…)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Day 1 - step 1 - Cut out pieces

I got home from school, took a 3 hour nap and then went to Jo-Anne Fabrics to get the materials I needed for this apron! I bought two patterned cotton fabric (since the design is reversible) and I bought one solid color that I hope compares and contrasts well with both of the patterned pieces! 

So the lighting is terrible, but it’s late and the household is asleep so I did the best I could! Anyways, step 1 was to cut out all the pieces for the project. I did all of them except for the bias because I’ve never done a bias strip before and I’m scared that I’m too tired right now and will mess something up! So I’m going to save the cutting of the bias strips and group it with step 2 which is sewing the bias strip! :D 

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Day 2 - step 2 - make bias strip

So as a beginner sewer, I read through this pattern and was very confused by this whole “bias strip” concept. Luckily I found this website that along with the Emmeline apron directions, I was able to kind of figure out what a bias strip was and how to make it! I would post a picture, but really it’s not that exciting looking. But after I figured out what I was supposed to be doing, I cut out the fabric for my bias strips (left over from step 1) and then sewed them together! :D If you buy the pattern and want tips on how to attack this step, just let me know! ;) Otherwise, consult this bad boy:  Bias Strip  . That link saved my life! :D 

Monday, March 21, 2011

Day 3 - step 3 - make bodices 

I’m not sure why I keep adding the date every time… I guess it is just making me happy that I am on track with this project! Anyways, todays step was to make the two bodice pieces. After reading the instructions and looking up exactly how to make each stitch, I attempted making the bodice pieces… They are a little off, but they do look good! Since I’m still learning how to work the sewing machine, some of my stitches are off slash I had to redo some of them since I can’t walk or sew in a straight line (even when they are drawn in…)

So here are the pictures of my two bodice pieces. My dad says they look like baby doll aprons… I had to explain to him that these pieces were just the top of the apron! haha 

I have to admit… they DO look like baby doll aprons! :D

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Day 4 - step 4 - make tucks and attach bodices

Today’s step was relatively easy… It could have been because I’m getting more familiar with the sewing machine! I’m so glad we had home economics in middle school, otherwise this project would have been so much more daunting! Anywhooo, this step was easy peasy! And I got lazy slash realized that I was giving away too much of this secret, so I think I will wait to post pictures until I finish the final product! :D Which should be done Friday if I keep at this one step a day deal! Yay! 

Thursday April 7, 2011

Step 5,6,7 - Make the rest of the apron!!! 

So as you can see I stopped the awesome plan of one step per day. I did although finish my apron on Saturday (a day later than planned), but I did all three steps on the Saturday of my spring break! And I’m only finishing this post now… oh well. 

The last three steps involved sewing the bodices to the bottom parts of the apron, sewing the two sides of the apron together and then making the halter top. I slacked a little in the halter, instead of doing an invisible seam which looks more professional I just sewed in right on with the sewing machine. It saved so much time and besides, I don’t care that I can see the seam! I used matching thread and I’m not gifting this to anyone… so therefore I am not too worried about my shortcut! 

Anyways, here are some pictures of the apron! I debuted it while making some cake mix cookies last night and it was great. I didn’t get any water or soap on my clothes when doing the dishes, didn’t get any flour/oil etc on them either, and it looked super classy and adorable! (At least I seem to think so!)

Cookies from Cake Mix!

Before any of you are quick to judge these cookies… just whip up a batch first and then you shall see why I love this recipe so much! First of all, I have made this recipe so many times, adding in different things to the batter and using different types of cake mixes and every time, my cookies have turned out amazing! Secondly, these cookies are completely vegan! But for those of you who eat eggs, you can also make them non-vegan! Ok, so here’s the recipe:

Cake Mix Cookies
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1 box of your favorite cake mix

2 Eggs OR 1/2 cup Applesauce

1/2 cup Veggie oil

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 cup of your choice chips/nuts/dried fruits/etc

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1) Heat the oven to 325 degrees. 

2) Mix together cake mix, applesauce, veggie oil and vanilla. Be sure to mash out any clumps of cake mix!

Tip: Before adding any of the wet ingredients, mix together the cake mix and try to work out some of the clumps before hand, it helps to decrease the amount of clumps once wet ingredients are added!

3) Add in your choice of chips/nuts/etc.

4) Roll into 1” balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet

Tip: I always hate when people give measurements in inches or centimeters or something else that requires me to whip out my RULER. So I just used a spoon and made small-medium sized balls of dough. 
Also you can drop the cookies as is on the sheet or roll them into balls, I prefer to roll them into balls cause they look nicer and cook more evenly. But for the truly homemade feel, just drop the dough on!

5) Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Tip: If you use applesauce, do not worry if the cookies look a little soft. Let them cool and they will be soft and chewy cookies! If you prefer harder cookies then leave them in a little longer!

I made 3 boxes worth of these cookies last night, wearing my new apron! :D They turned out great! And I’m not just saying that, but four boys tried them and they all loved them! I think I’m going to have to make more… good thing they are so easy/fast!

Like I said before, you can make different varieties, here are some combos that I’ve tried:

Yellow cake + Chocolate chips
Yellow cake + Mint Chocolate chips
Yellow cake + Chocolate chips, Butterscotch chips, Walnuts
Yellow cake + Chocolate chips, Walnuts
Spice cake + Chocolate chips
Chocolate cake + White chocolate chips
Chocolate cake + Chocolate chips
Chocolate cake + Mint chocolate chips
Funfetti cake

Combinations I want to try:

Carrot cake + White chocolate chips
Strawberry cake + Bananas… aka instead of apple sauce use bananas!
Chocolate cake + White chocolate chips, Macadamia nuts/Walnuts
Chocolate cake + Peanut butter chips

Here are pictures from the batches I baked last night… it took me only an hour and a half to make 3 boxes of cookies!!! :D

Yellow Cake + Chocolate Chips, Walnuts
Yellow Butter Cake + Chocolate chips, Walnuts, Butterscotch chips

Chocolate Cake + White chocolate chips 

On a final note… I brought all of these cookies to a Bhangra Competition (Bhangra Blowout in DC) for my team to munch on throughout the weekend. Let’s just say they were all devoured by the end of the competition! :D 

Butter Croissants and Pains au Chocolat!

So I have to admit, I wish I took French in high school, everything sounds so much cooler! For instance, I made butter croissants and chocolate filled croissants, but saying pains au chocolat sounds so sophisticated!

Actually, I made raspberry and chocolate filled croissants! I used the croissant dough recipe from epicurious.com, which is one of my favorite recipe sites! Anyways, Nancy Silverton posted this recipe in October 2000 and after reading the reviews and the recipe about a hundred times (yes that is an exaggeration), I decided to try it. Further motivation to make these came from the fact that my dad absolutely LOVES butter croissants and my youngest brother asked me if we could make something (together!!!) that was chocolatey with a hint of raspberry!

So I made this dough, following the recipe pretty closely… my mom made her own brown sugar though, mixing molasses with white sugar… and I also did not cool in the fridge for an hour between folds. I did about 20 to 30 minutes. And then while baking, I forgot that I needed time to let it rise after you made the croissant shapes, so I slept in… then I just put the croissants in the oven at around 100 degrees to have them rise for like 5 minutes in a warmer environment. I used half the dough to make plain butter croissants and the other half of the dough I spread some raspberry preserve on it and sprinkled some semi-sweet chocolate chips! They both came out amaaaazing!!! :D 

I ate 3 and am stuffed and don’t think I’m going to touch another one until tomorrow. But let’s be honest, food like this does not tend to last in my house for longer than a day! 

And again, please pardon the quality of the pictures… I had to use my computer once again! I couldn’t wait to find the camera I was too excited about how these turned out!

Pains au Chocolat et aux Framboises

Butter Croissants

Together!

Recipe for the croissant dough: 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Croissant-Dough-103988

Recipe for the butter croissants:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Butter-Croissants-103989

Recipe for the chocolate filled croissants:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Filled-Croissants-104000

Mind you, I did not spritz my oven. I kind of used a ruler… I did not give sufficient time to rise. I did not cool long enough between folds. I guesstimated the shapes. And I made up stuffings for the croissants… moral of the story: You can follow the recipe for the most part, your croissants should still come out delicious. The most important part is to make sure you fold the dough 4 times! That is how you get those delicious buttery flaky layers that just melt in your mouth!

I also made the folds last night and then let the dough cool/rise a litte in the fridge over night! 

But speaking of buttery, I may cut it down to 2 sticks… just cause mine came out a little too buttery for my taste… but some people like it like that! 

All in all, when I have the time and an awesome kitchen space like my mother’s, I will definitely make this recipe again. :D :D :D Also my father totally approves! He said they tasted better than the ones we buy from the store/bakery… so yay! :D (But he also agrees on the butter… none of us are trying to make Paula Deen style croissants! :P)

Eight years in the making, patiently waiting…

Ok, so it was actually only a little over a year in the making, but I really wanted to include that Fort Minor reference…

MY LEGWARMERS ARE FINALLY FINISHED! Even though I started this project last December, I only just now finished both leg warmers! And I mean finished as in I sewed in the ends as well (which for any beginner knitters, is how you finish a knitted piece - no knots! But it is also my most unfavorite part of knitting…). Anyways, I found this particular pattern on ravelry.com, which is an online knitting forum site. I highly recommend joining this knitting community online for any beginner knitters or anyone who is interested in knitting! It offers a wide selection of free patterns and a lot of useful information :D So I found this pattern on ravelry.com, but it actually is a design from the knit picks design team titled “Cabled Legwarmers”.

To be completely honest with you… I had NO idea what or how to do cables! So I looked it up online and after multiple youtube video watching I decided to attempt this pattern. Just to show you how novice of a knitter I was, this pattern is where I learned the difference between a knit and a purl stitch as well as how to do a braided cable pattern AND how to use double pointed needles to knit in the round! :D :D :D :D :D

Anyways, I bought a set of double pointed needles in US size 7. I know the pattern asks for both size 7 and size 8 needles, but I did everything in size 7 cause I didn’t want to buy another set of needles :P Although one day I will own a set of size 8 needles… but not now :P Well, the size of the needles didn’t matter, cause the legwarmers turned out great! Also, I did not realize I needed a special cable needle and did not want to drive to Jo-Ann’s again, so I utilized my awesome engineering skills and decided to use an old carabiner clip that I had… I broke off the clip part and used the rest as my cable needle. It was just my luck that my carabiner clip was approximately the same size as my needles AND was the same color :D

I also used Paton’s classic wool to make my legwarmers and I chose the color gray because to be honest, I think gray looked way better than the same legwarmers on the pattern… but any color could have been used! My mom is all about the 100% wool though, (none of the artificial yarn!) so we stick to paton’s classic wool! :D I originally bought 4 spools of yarn, but I only ended up using 2! The remaining two spools, I used towards making a scarf! So in the end, it all worked out. 

The final product:

Sorry for the poor quality photos… these were taken with my computer since I don’t own a digital camera (I know, I know, I’m probably the only one left in my generation who doesn’t own one… oh well, I make do with what I have!). 

So for those of you interested in also making these, you can download the free pattern (either on ravelry.com) or directly from the knit picks website: http://www.knitpicks.com/cfpatterns/pattern_display.cfm?ID=50542220

Now that winter is almost over again… I finally can keep my legs toasty warm! I’m glad that I go to school where it will probably blizzard at least 2 more times before May, so they might actually be of good use! :D 

Oh and I guess when I dance as well. 

Happy Holi/Dhureti!

So today is Dhuleti, the festival of colors. Yesterday was Holi, the celebration of the death of the demoness Holika. Anyways, it is Hindu tradition to celebrate Dhuleti by colors! I mean powdered, water, oil based… every type of color is just thrown around everywhere and at people. It gets in your hair, your eyes, your face. You cannot recognize anyone once they have partaken in Dhuleti festivities! Anyways, today our local temple was celebrating Dhuleti, but my family decided not to go… BUT this afternoon, we get a knock on the door and our good friends show up and attack us with colors! It was the best surprise Dhuleti celebration ever! It totally made my entire day better! :D