Fig Bars

A few weeks ago, I made this fig challah from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook... I was planning on doing a blog post about that, because it was supposed to be really pretty, but it turns out that tying bread in beautiful knots takes a skill that I don't have!  Then the bottom got a bit burnt and it just wasn't that good.  BUT I still had a bunch of figs leftover, so today was the day to redeem the fig baking project!  I wanted to make a homemade version of fig newtons, so I looked up some recipes and kinda just made my own little version.  Turned out REALLY tasty.  Here's the recipe :)

For the doughy part...
Whisk together
1 1/2 cup oats
1 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
then stir together with
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg

For the figgy part...
Bring to a boil, simmer until most of the liquid is gone, then blend in a food processor.
1 cup chopped black mission figs
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
A bit of orange zest

Once you have that, lay down a layer using about half of the "dough"in a square baking dish. Press it down a bit, smear the fig filling on top, and top it with the other half of the dough.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Deliciousssssss.

Garden Party

It's spring time!!!! Not that we really have seasons here, but it's been getting nice and hot during the day.  And I am overly excited about my balcony garden :)  We went to Home Depot and splurged on a couple of nice pots, because I can hardly stand to look at these plastic ones any longer.  I got a cute little cherry tomato plant, a jalepeno plant, and some flowers!  Oh and the growth of my succulent collection continues.  Bryan even got a little redwood sapling from some promotion at REI... not sure how long it will last in that pot, but maybe it will help our house hunting karma and find us a place with a yard... fingers crossed!

Cute or scary?

I went on a mission to make a purse without a pattern on my sewing machine... I made one for myself, and it was okay.  But I realized the fabric that I bought, while it was very cute, wasn't exactly the kind of thing I find myself wearing.  That, combined with the plethora of ideas for kids sewing projects on Pinterest, sent me on a mission to find a child I could force my creations on!!  Luckily one of my coworkers has the cutest little munchkin ever - so I started my monster purse project :)  It started off cute... then it got a little scary.  So then I made it at least kindof reversible just in case she starts crying uncontrollably when she sees the monster side, ha!  What do you think?  Cute or scary?

Pottery: Part One

I just finished my first pottery class as an adult!  It was super fun, and went by way too fast.  Luckily, the coworkers I took it with felt the same, so we'll be taking it again next quarter :)  Most of the stuff I made was crap, but there were a couple okay things in there!  My favorites were this little vase, a butter dish, and a squished business card holder.  Let's see if another 8 weeks leads to improved skills... oh and I'm taking requests if you want any mediocre earth-tone additions to your home decor!

Table Transformation

Here is what our table used to look like.  Okay just the top.  I was in too much of a craze taking it apart to think about taking a picture of the whole thing beforehand... but wouldn't you be too with such a hideous, ugly, gag-inducing table?  I can't even guess what those stains might be from!  Okay maybe I'm slightly overreacting, but I've been wanting to do something to this thing for MONTHS.  So we finally did it :)

We had lots of ideas floating around... the initial plan was to put a bunch of cool post cards (thank you, Lynette) on top and cover those with a piece of glass, but the glass search turned out to be a failure.  Then Bryan and I were thinking about painting it and giving it the "distressed" look.  Meh.  Maybe.  Then, finally, we went back to one of our original dreams of decoupaging the top with comic strips!  And, seeing as how we both love Calvin and Hobbes, it seemed like an appropriate choice.

So we got painting!  And decoupaging :)

And about a week later, after lots of coats of glue and one thick layer of probably cancer causing varnish, we got the awesome table we were dreaming of!  Pay no attention to the icky drop cloth.  Tee hee.

Sewing Escapades

I'd like to dedicate this blog to moms everywhere - Bryan's mom for buying me this amazing sewing machine for Christmas, my mom for buying me the fabric, pins, bias tape and for actually TEACHING me, and every other mom in the world who knows how to sew - it's harder than I thought it would be and you are all amazing!

Two weeks later I now have a sewing machine cover, a little notion holding case, and a bag for throwing sewing scraps into!  Good stuff.  Any ideas for my next project are welcome :D

My Golden Birthday!

I went back and forth for the last few months over whether or not I wanted to have a birthday party this year...  I wasn't sure because I don't have the 1,000 person friend base that all of us had in college, so obviously I was worried that I would have a party and no one would show up!  In the end I decided to have the party, because 1. When would my birthday be on a Saturday again?  2. I was turning 23 on the 23rd,  3. I wanted to make my own piñata, so a party sounded somewhat essential, and 4. If no one except Bryan showed up, I would have fun anyway!!  So I made the piñata... and it was awesome :D

We had a fiesta-style potluck, and my friends DID come!

Even Lynette drove all the way from Atascadero just for the party, and it made me so happy :)

The actual piñata destruction was a great success...

After everyone left, the rest of us climbed up the mountain to watch the sun set :)  It was gorgeous!  But a little bit awkward because we were on someone's property.  And then right after we took this picture, the lady got home and told us to scram!  Oops... oh well, totally worth it.  Best birthday ever!