Kenidee's Project

I was so excited about how this project turned out and wanted to post it right away, but it was a gift for a friend of mine and I didn't want her to see any of it until she opened it up! I finished making these a few weeks ago and mailed out the package to her on Monday and she just got it today and opened it up. She really loved the gift and said she was in tears! This made me very happy because that was the reaction I was going for! A lot of my friends who knew I was up to something were interested to see what it was. So here is the project I made for baby Kenidee Oubre and her Mommy Nicole!

I got this idea from my friend Sheena, she added ribbons to a cute wall hanging she purchased to clip on all of the little bows girls end up with to keep them in one place, while doubling as cute art work for a little girls room. I just decided to make the whole thing from scratch!

..and of course not every hair accessory can be clipped so I just HAD to make a treasure box for all of those other little things girls need and love! This is the front and top of Kenidee's treasure box.

The back of the box.

And the inside with a mirror on the lid and a quote at the bottom that reads: "Follow your heart wherever it takes you, and be happy. Life is brief and very fragile and only loaned to us for a while. Wake up every morning with the thought that something wonderful is about to happen."

Of course Mom needs something to keep all of those little things in to remember how little her baby once was (cause unfortunately they don't stay little forever). So this is what I made for Nicole to put the hospital tags in, her first pair of shoes, bows, pictures and all of those little baby things!!

One side of the box reads "A Child is a Gift. A child to hold and cuddle, 'tis a gift from God above. And the world is so much brighter, when you have a child to love."

The other side reads "Nothing in life can hold more joys or more tears, can make you more proud or more tired, or give back more rewards than being a mother."

And inside the box reads "A mothers joy begins when a new life is stirring inside...when a tiny heartbeat is heard for the first time and a playful kick reminds her that she is never alone."


I love being crafty, especially when it's for someone else.

Honey Bars (Take 2)

So I wasn't satisfied with the Honey "Bars" I made previously and looked up another recipe. I like this one much better. German Honey Bars Lebkuchen


Again, I modified this recipe but only by one ingredient. Anyone know how expensive cardamom is? I do.

I ended up using ground cloves instead, I believe it's a completely different flavor but that is what I had in the cupboard and I wasn't about to spend $16 on something I've never used and the likelihood of using it again was slim! That and I know that cloves and cinnamon go well together. Anyways, I mixed everything up according to the recipe and spread it into a 15x17 cookie sheet (the kind with the sides) instead of a "jelly roll" pan, which I didn't have. The recipe says to spread the dough evenly into the prepared pan...well that wasn't easily done because the dough is incredibly sticky. It was like super thick peanut butter that only stuck to the spoon and not the prepared pan.

After spending about 10 minutes trying to spread the dough unsuccessfully I had an idea: use the back of a metal spoon and cooking spray (good ol' cooking spray). My idea paid off and after a few extra sprays on to the back of the spoon (when the dough started to stick) I finally had it evenly spread in the pan.

So because I was using a larger pan than the recipe called for I decreased my cooking time. I set it to 10 minutes to be safe and added minutes until I felt it was fully and evenly cooked. It ended up being about 15 minutes. When I read the glaze recipe I thought that the dry to wet ratio of ingredients was a tad off, but it worked out perfectly. If you're not into the lemony flavor you can use milk instead. Once they cooled down, I cut them into the recommended size pieces. Cutting was a little difficult as was getting them out of the pan. I suggest using a bendable spatula to get 6-8 out at a time, some might stick though.

These have a GREAT flavor and they reminded me of Christmas, I later discovered that "Lebkuchen is a traditional German product baked for Christmas, somewhat resembling soft gingerbread." - Wikipedia
Go figure.

Honey Bars (Take 1)

So Craig and I are going to an Oktoberfest put on by his home brew club (Temecula Valley Homebrewers Association) during the first weekend of October. The theme for the event is (of course) German and we'll be having a pot-luck dinner the 2nd night in. So I was on a mission to find a yummy dessert to make and share. I found this recipe for German Lebkuchen Bars (German Honey Cakes) and thought it'd be the perfect dessert after all of the other German foods everyone else was bringing. I hit up the local grocery store only to find out that they don't carry two of the ingredients I would need (both of the candied items). Now, normally I would figure out something to put in it's place, but it would have ended up being 1/2 a cup of modified ingredients and I wasn't about to be that courageous. So I stood in the middle of the baking aisle, called my Mom to ask her a few “what if” and “what is” questions and then began looking up a different recipe for the same thing that required less “special” ingredients. After finding five difference recipes I finally found one that only required I buy two ingredients (as I already had everything else at home).

Here is the recipe I ended up with: Honey Bars

Now, I ended up doubling the recipe and tossed in a few modifications based on other recipe's I've seen. I used sliced almonds instead of walnuts because I am not a big walnut fan and I don't know many who are. They sell sliced almonds in 5oz packages so I went with that, which was just under 2 cups worth. If you don't double the recipe then the smaller size package of sliced almonds will work fine (I think it's a 2.5 or 3 oz package). I also added 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and a dash or two of ground cloves. It just sounded good, but keep in mind I added those amounts to the doubled recipe. According to the bottom of the baking instructions it says if you use an 8x8 pan to only fill it 2/3 full. I only have one 8x8 pan so for the first round of baking I filled mine 1/2 full and it puffed up like a nice cake, ended up adding about 10 minutes to the baking time, and cooked unevenly. The second round of baking I didn't have enough batter to get to even the half way mark on the 8x8 pan it ended up being about 1/3 full, took only 30 minutes, and baked evenly throughout. The entire house smells wonderfully sweet but I am disappointed in how these turned out. I was expecting "bars" not "cake" but they turned out to be a very "heavy" cake so they won't crumble apart when cut into serve-able squares. My overall notes after tasting them: I am glad I added the cinnamon, otherwise these would not have much flavor to them, they are a bit dry (not bad) so even adding some chopped apples to it would be great! I felt like I was eating an apple cinnamon muffin, only without the apple and not a muffin. I would recommend cream cheese frosting on these, too (but alas, I have none).

Cooking tip: When cooking with honey, spray some cooking spray on your measuring utensils before measuring out the honey. It will prevent the honey (or other super sticky ingredients) from sticking! (Credit to Paula Deen for that lifesaver!)


Now, if I could just get someone else to clean the kitchen.

Hard Cider is Easy

We went up to Oak Glen this weekend to pick up some apple cider from Riley's Farms. Its a very Julian-esq place, orchards and fields of fruits and vegetables all surrounded by mountan's, trees, cabin-esq and victorian-esq homes. One of the things on my list is to go there and pick fruit with my husband. They have raspberry, pumpkin, apple, pear, strawberry, watermelon, cherry, flower, peach and ollalieberrie(what?) fruit picking days. I think we may try to make another trip there before Thanksgiving to pick pumpkins (cooking pumpkins, not jack-o-lantern pumpkins). If anyone is interested in checking out the place, their website is here. We ended up bringing home a total of seven gallons of cider, five were just apple, one was cherry-apple and the last was raspberry-apple. I even got a small jar of pumpkin butter to share with the family on Thanksgiving, it tastes like pumpkin pie but with a more spreadable consistency - very yummy and I can't wait to try it on some toasted whole wheat or sweet bread!

The second half of our day consisted of "brewing" the cider into hard cider. I didn't know how simple it was. Basically in a nutshell you put the cider in a carboy (6-7 gal glass or plastic jug) and add a vial of yeast to it. Of course you have to be sure the temperatures are right and to leave out any contaminants.

These 5 gallons of apple cider went into a 6 gal carboy:

Pouring the cider into the carboy (we repeated the process with the other two flavors into two, one gallon glass jugs):

Then we pitched the yeast ("pitched" is a fancy way of saying "poured"). For the 1 gallon batches we split a vial of yeast for each, for the 5gal batch we used one whole vial:

Added the stoppers - which prevents foreign objects and bacteria etc. from entering the carboy as the cider ferments (the stoppers we had didn't fit in the 1 gal jugs so using foil works, it's just a bit risky). Then we placed the now fermenting cider into a freezer with a temperature controller set at 68 degrees:


All in all it took us about an hour to do everything, including pre-cleaning and post-cleaning. These should all ferment for about two weeks and then it's on to the next step of carbonating, kegging and bottling. The cost per gallon of cider was $9 for the apple (in the glass jugs) and $10 for the cherry and raspberry (in plastic milk jugs).

Today was a great day!

101 Things / 1001 Days

101 Things in 1001 Days, inspired by Day Zero Project

Start: Thursday, October 1st 2009
End: Thursday, June 28, 2012
Revised: March 22, 2010 
Last updated: April 10, 2010

1.Get a job, any job...and then what I really want when it becomes available! [12/12/2009]
2.Get certified in AutoCAD
3.Get certified in Revit
4.Get LEED accreditation
5.Learn and understand financing and investing [in progress]
6.Take a class on Project Management with my husband (if at MSJC, walk to/from class)
7.Read and study Furniture/Interior design books from college days (refresh!)
8.Spend an hour+ a day working on my portfolio for three weeks [0/3]
9.Attend a meet up for digital scrap booking [11/6/09]
10.Read a book once a month [.5/32]
11.Don't drink any soda, alcohol, or coffee for 2 weeks [0/14D]
12.Ignore the Internet for a week (including email, exclusive of work related)
13.See a Cirque Du Soleil show live at least once
14.See a Broadway show live at least once [Lion King on 10/21/09]
15.Skinny-dip
16.See a dermatologist to make sure my freckled skin is healthy
17.Only check my email/networking sites twice a day for a week
18.Watch all episodes of Family Guy, consecutively (get seasons from Krystle)
19.Watch all episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, consecutively
20.Watch all episodes of Angel, consecutively
21.Watch all episodes of Firefly, then movie Serenity
22.Get and watch seasons of Dexter [done for now 6/2010]
23.Go to ten garage sales and buy at least one item at each [0/10]
24.Get my social security card/name fixed (they spelled “Gardner” as “Garnder”)
25.Change the name on my passport from Smith to Gardner
26.Use my recipe books to make at least fifteen dishes [0/15]
27.Get a Kitchen Aid mixer!

28.Learn to use Google Sketchup

29.Learn how to patent and idea/invention

30.Get DVD storage unit and transfer discs to sleeves [7/2010]

31.Start a freelance consulting business (interior design/decor)

32.Learn to use my 4 cup coffee maker properly [10/14/09]
33. Spend at least a week in Ireland
34.Get my art work/pieces framed [1 done, countless remaining]
35.Go to a Clean House yard sale
36.Re-finish/upholster a piece of furniture
37.Take 24 pictures per month of random/interesting people/objects/places etc. [in progress]
38.Make everyone's gifts for one Christmas
39.Make a Christmas ornament from old jewelry and beads (like Grandma Smiths)
40.Fix broken ornaments from my Grandmas collection
41.Learn how to sew [1/2 complete]
42.Make an entire bedding set (exclusive of flat and fitted sheets) from scratch
43.Go SCUBA Diving
44.Go hiking
45.Buy bikes for me and my husband [6/2010]
46.Ride a bike on a regular basis (3x week?) with the dog
47.Go white water rafting
48.Get Wii Fit (and actually use it at least once a week)
49.Go on a fruit picking date
50.Go camping [on 10/02-10/04 2009 for Oktoberfest]
51.Take a hot air balloon ride
52.Road trip to Napa with friends for a wine tasting weekend
53.Go skydiving at least once
54.Plan an Owens family reunion/picnic [08/2010]

55.Keep track of all of our deductible expenses for the 2010 tax year.[in progress]

56.Go on an all girls trip to Vegas [in progress]
57.Host a cookie exchange party during the holiday season
58.See the Grand Canyon with my hubby and stay at a bed and breakfast
59.Road-trip to the mid-west, stopping at the weird photo-op spots along the way
60.Follow through with the awesome gift idea I have for my husband

61.Finish Year Scrapbooks

62. Finish Puerto Vallarta Vacation Book
63.Go to Disneyland at least once during the holiday season
64.Visit the walk of fame in Hollywood (must have pics: MJ, PS & EP's Stars)
65.See a movie at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood
66.Go to La Brea Tar pits (LA)
67.“Kidnap” Mackenzie for a day of girly fun!
68.Plan my best friend's bachelorette party
69.Take salsa dancing classes with Craig
70.Visit my brother +family in Arizona
71.Donate blood (if they'll let me)
72.Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity at least once
73.Donate a toy for tots, each Christmas
74.Donate what I can to various charities/walks that friends participate in
75.Donate 10 cans of food to a food bank
76.Plant a tree
77.Volunteer for a clean-up day
78.Pay off student loans (including ones in my Mom's name) [in progress, not even close]
79.Pay off credit cards [12/2009]
80.Start contributing to mutual fund [in progress]

81.Move out of the in-laws [07/2010]

82.Get pregnant/have a baby
83.See Michael Jackson's 'This is It' in theaters *fail*
84.See New Moon with at least 3 friends
85.Get a new mattress
86.Go to an observatory at night to look through the telescope
87.Get a one year wine membership at Ponte winery
88.Get my 5th year wedding anniversary ring (from the hubby)
89.Sell all of the items we currently have on craigslist [4/5 +Misc]
90.Save up to buy a really nice digital camera [04/03/10]

91. Finish wedding/honeymoon scrapbooks

92.Improve posture (get back brace thing) [1/2 complete]
93.Go to a concert (at least one *Madonna?*)
94.Learn to make sushi
95.Fix my lower back tattoo
96.Learn the alphabet and 25 common sign language signs
97.Get 4 tickets to Ellen show
98. Finish Cruise vacation scrapbook.
99.Brew 5 Gal's of beer with guidance from my hubby
100.Update my blog when I complete items on this list [14/101]
101.Put $5 in my savings account for each item completed [$0/$505]

Update on housing

Well it's been about a month since we listed our house for a short sale and we got 3+ offers within 2 weeks. Sent in the best offer to the bank and now we're just waiting for them to approve the offer and do all of the other paperwork. I got a call yesterday from them saying it would take into November to get everything approved and finalized. So here we sit, taking care of the house but managing to pay off our other debts before we move in with the hubby's parents. I am not really looking forward to that, I love them to death but the idea of living with other people after being on our own for 2+ years is making me hesitant on the decision, but it's what we can do for now. And it should benefit us best for our future.

New Blog Site

So, I've been on livejournal, I've done the myspace blogs, and my husband even made me a personal blogging site which was a pain for me to remember how to update and I was constantly having to reset passwords and ask my husband w*t*h* was wrong. So I've come to blogspot where more of my friends have blogs and it seems easier to use and update. I am still trying to figure out how to export my past blogs and import them to this one. One day it will be figured out.