apple-pumpkin cream cheese muffins

it's autumn!
i first saw a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting in a recent copy of rachel ray magazine. but i sort of wanted something a bit healthier - so i figured, cupcakes minus the frosting basically equals muffins (i think). i went with some pumpkin cream cheese muffins instead - and added some sauteed apples (i thought of that all by myself!), and it turned out just right for the start of fall.

ingredients:

muffin batter:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 small apple - diced (sauteed in 1 T butter, brown sugar and cinnamon)

cream cheese filling:
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 egg
1.5 T brown sugar

directions:
1. combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl (first 7 ingredients).
2. mix together the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla and oil in a separate bowl.
3. slowly beat together the wet + dry mixtures until smooth.
4. saute the apples in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until slightly soft.
5. fold the apples into the batter.
6. cream together the ingredients for the cream cheese filling until smooth.
7. fill the muffin cups 1/3 full then drop a spoonful of cream cheese filling on top and then cover with more muffin batter until the cup is almost full.
8. bake at 375F for 20 minutes!

waiting

hi chloe!

party skirt remake

i bought this shimmery skirt (vintage talbots) for $4.50 at the thrift store (the fabric is so fun!), but it was super long - so i just shortened it a bit and rehemmed the bottom. the waist fits me just right (even though it's a size 10) but i think sizes were a bit smaller back then. it's totally ready to go to a holiday party!

dusk

soondubu

i tried to make a mushroom soondubu. i hate tofu, but i'll eat it in soondubu for some reason. maybe it's because the soft tofu that koreans use has almost no flavor of its own. mine is missing something....i'm not sure what! but it doesn't taste bad....just more like soup. at least it's healthier.

leather clutch

the other day i found this leather jacket at a flea market for $2!! the leather is so buttery soft - it's one of those things that i want to just keep touching. haha well, i thought it would be a good chance for me to experiment making something with leather for only $2 - and if i messed up, it wouldn't be a big deal. so i found some clutches online that i liked and set out to try to make one myself. i totally took apart the entire jacket (looks like a bear attacked it) and ended up with quite a bit of usable leather. i wasn't even sure if my sewing machine could handle leather, but i bought some special needles, upholstery thread and a $1 zipper - and it all worked out pretty well! i even have enough material to make a couple more little things. =)

more picnic blankets

vicky asked me to make her a picnic blanket for an outdoor concert she's going to. she picked out this green oilcloth, but since i couldn't decide which fabric to match with it - i ended up making two of them! too bad over here in seattle, picnic season seems to be over. i guess there's always next year.

ps. can you guess which one she picked?

new ironing board cover

i've been wanting to recover the ironing board for a long time now. finally got around to it today. as you can see - the old cover is really nasty (i have no idea how it's even possible to have that many stains!) i bought the fabric for the new cover for maybe $1 at a garage sale a long time ago. it was pretty simple: cut out the shape, sew the edges over with a string inbetween, and then pull the string tight!

pizzelles can be cones too

i made some more pizzelles and rolled some of them into mini cones.

feather ring

(top + bottom: 1. jesophi 2. GardenGwyn 3. rust 4. xVelvetx)

which ring would you pick based on these pictures alone? =)

since i can't have my first choice, my 2nd choice seems like a reasonable alternative.

cheesecake - the asian kind

tonight we're having dinner for that chinese moon festival, where you're supposed to eat moon cakes - except we don't have any (and no one really likes them) so i decided to make a cheesecake! the kind that you find in asian bakeries - light, fluffy and more cakey than cheesy. (and it kinda looks like a moon!) =) i think my round tin was a bit too shallow because it super puffed up and out of the pan right after i took it out of the oven. looks a bit like a chicken pot pie. but it turned out really soft and fluffy!

ingredients: (gotta get that scale out)

- 220 g cream cheese

- 60 g softened butter

- 140 g granulated sugar ( i used caster sugar)

- 6 eggs (yolks + whites separated)
- 60 g flour
- 20 g corn starch
- 100 ml milk

- 1 Tbs lemon juice

- pinch of salt

directions:

1. mix the softened cream cheese + butter until smooth.

2. mix in the milk until smooth.

3. mix in the egg yolks and lemon juice until smooth.

4. sift in the flour and corn starch until well combined.

5. in another bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar and a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.

6. fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture (gently!)

7. pour into a round pan - preferrably a tall one.

8. bake in a water bath at 300F for 45-50 minutes.

"to-do" list

(from google images)

i love this schroeder + snoopy print - i want it for the piano room! but i found it online and it's quite expensive. oh well. this is mainly just a to-do list for myself since i am getting a lot of younger students who are just learning to read music and play piano:

- frame some cute prints to hang on the wall (maybe from half-price books?)
- create a circle of fifths poster for students
- print out some cards with my name + email/number
- make a large grand staff poster with felt music notes
- make flashcards (rhythms, notes, keys...)
- get a small bookshelf for all the music piled on top of the piano
- prize bin/star sheets (?) not sure if i want to go this route

i'll try to post pictures when i get around to all this!

more flea market finds

- linen clutch ($3)
- pair of sterling silver necklaces, long + short ($10)
- slinky bracelet + necklace ($10)

i wonder if i got a good deal. i have no idea. i love all of it though!

lunch

pb+j and a glass of wine.
i randomly picked this syrah from whole foods.
for $8.95 - it's really smooth + fruity.

pizzelle chef

today i dropped by the flea market, and i found this pizzelle maker!!! i've been wanting one for a few years now, and i can't believe i got it for $6! i cleaned it up a bit - and now it looks new + shiny. i just made some pizzelle's (it's too dark right now to take a picture of them) but here is the recipe.

ingredients:
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter (melted + cooled)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp anise seed (i'm going to try anise extract next time)

directions:
1. beat the eggs + sugar until thick. then stir in the butter, vanilla + anise.
2. sift (important!) flour + baking powder and then blend into the batter until smooth.
3. drop by the spoonful into the center of your pizzelle iron.
4. wait about 25-45 seconds and then remove from the iron to cool.
5. sprinkle with some powdered sugar (optional).

magazine clutch

ah! more stuff i want and don't need....the leather just looks so soft.
- marc by marc jacobs $348
i wonder if i can find a less expensive vintage version...

cleaning out my closet...

i was about to throw away a pair of really old pj pants today - right into the trash can! they just seemed a little too worn and ratty to even be donated. but then i couldn't bring myself to do it...after all it is still fabric that could be used for something (although i don't know what that thing is yet). so i started looking up articles and blogposts on upcycling (basically repurposing trash into something useful) and there seem to be a lot of ideas out there for what i could do with these unwanted clothes.

but in the end....it still requires me to actually make something out of it. so i finally threw it away because i'd probably end up making into something that would eventually become trash...again.

sseko

(image from ssekodesigns.com)

i wish summer was just beginning so i could buy a pair of these sandals and wear them everyday. you can switch out the straps to change up the color and tie them every which way! every pair is created by young girls in uganda, and the money goes towards helping them further their education. pretty cool.