March 16: National Everything You Do Is Right

Today is the day that you are supposed to feel good about everything you did. No regrets! (Until tomorrow at least). You are supposed to forget about rules and common sense. (Sounds dangerous to me).

So what wild and crazy activities did I partake in today? Absolutely nothing. And that's ok with me.

I'm calling it an early night and going to bed.

I did sew a new "chocolate" themed pillowcase (and I might have eaten some chocolate also).

                                                           www.etsy.com/shop/trendyturtles


Don't forget to wear green tomorrow. I happen to have green eyes so I don't have to worry about remembering. But according to some people, having green eyes doesn't count as wearing green (yet technically I am "wearing" my eyes) so I'll wear green just to be safe!

March 15: National Pears Helene Day

What is Pears Helene Day? And how do you pronounce it?

It's a fancy French dessert. I found a variety of recipes and they all made it seem like this is a common dessert. Huh. Suspicious. Anyways, I decided to give it a go.

Pears Helene:

Ingredients:
- 4 pears (every recipe listed a different type of pear. I went to the store and bought the first pears I saw and they ended up being ok. I'll say that I used green pears.)
Note: Before cooking, cut the pairs lengthwise and core them. Leave (or attempt to leave) the stem on.

- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 cups water, divided
- vanilla ice cream (optional)
- chocolate sauce (optional) (see below for my home-made chocolate sauce recipe)

A pair of pears!

 Note about getting the core out of a pear: It is difficult. I peeled my pears first because they weren't organic. Different recipes called for peeling pears while others didn't. I think it's a personal choice. Peeled pears look a little bit like naked people. Peeled pears are also very slippery and make cutting the core out difficult. My two pears resulted into five different pieces, instead of four halves. Oh well.

Here's a tongue twister: Peeled paired pears. Peeled paired pears. Peeled paired pears purchased pails of pears off a pier.

Yes, I did make that up myself. No, I can't say it.

Five pear "halves" instead of four...

Directions:
1. In a medium pot, combine the cinnamon sticks, water, and sugar together. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer for about 5 minutes. It should be a golden brown color and start to thicken.
2. Add in the remaining two cups water and keep on a very low heat.
3. Add the pear halves to the mixture and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes or until poached. I stuck mine with a fork and it easily went all the way through so I called that done.
4. Allow the pears to cool in their sauce.
5. Serve with ice cream or chocolate sauce or whatever you would like.

Doing their stuff in the sauce.

I decided to make a home-made chocolate sauce. The first time I burned it really bad and had to start again. I then almost burned the second batch while capturing the below video of my cat, Sophie.

                                                   She's intrigued by a piece of asparagus.

Home-Made Chocolate Sauce:

 

Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk and it tasted fine)

Directions:
Mix the sugar, cocoa powder, flour, and salt together in a pot. Add in half of the milk and mix to form a thick paste. Add in the rest of the milk and bring to a boil. STIR CONSTANTLY. (This is why mine burned, I didn't stir constantly.) Reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often. Let cool and serve. Apparently you can stir the remainders in the fridge for up to two weeks. This was a delicious chocolate sauce. I'll be making this again. Goodbye store-bought preservative-filled chocolate sauces, I make my own now!

I couldn't get the halves to stick together.

Oh well..

So my honest impressions: It was interesting. I would make it again, but not if I had guests over. I really had to man handle them while trying to get the core out. I don't think someone would want to eat one knowing that I had man handled it. The chocolate sauce was really good! I did feel fancy eating it. I did not feel French while eating it. I don't normally eat pears as I don't like their "grainy-ness" but these ones were barely even grainy.

March 14: National Pi Day and National Children's Craft Day

First of all, I taught my cat how to dance today! That was probably the most exciting thing to happen.

Do you get it? She's "shaking" it. Make sure your volume is on.

March 13 or 3/14 is National Pi day. I didn't bake a pie today, nor did I eat pie.

I did however, participate in a Children's Craft though.

I decorated some stickers! WOOHOO STICKERS!

Of course I would color a donut sticker. What else would you expect from me?

Make sure you check back tomorrow. The food item I am going to attempt to make, may join the blueberry popovers as a "failure." I've never heard of this dessert before. So it should make for quite a story.

March 13: National Coconut Torte Day

I love coconut. And chocolate. So I decided to make a Chocolate Buttercream Coconut Torte for today! It was a good choice. I was a little nervous after the Blueberry Popover incident/failure, but I am confident to say that I have redeemed myself. This cake tasted like something I am sure royalty eats! It was very fancy and I felt like I was eating a true delicacy!

Isn't she a beauty?

Before beginning this baking adventure, I might recommend putting on a cute pair of slippers. I think the reason this torte was a success was because of my cute slippers!

Here is some fun information about tortes. What exactly is a torte you may ask? (I did actually ask this.) Tortes are normally flour-less or near flour-less. They are thinner than cakes and sometimes are made out of ground nuts. They are very fancy.

Personally, I think the reason why I like tortes so much is because they sound like turtles. We all know I love turtles.


Coconut Torte Recipe

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup coconut flakes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tbsp. rum (optional)


Directions:
1. Grease an 8 inch springform pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup coconut flakes on the bottom and on the sides of the pan. However, I couldn't figure out how to get the coconut flakes to stick to the side of the pan, even when greased, so I just sprinkled them on the bottom and it turned out fine.

At this point, you may question why your mother has four different, yet similarly sized springform pans when you cannot ever remember her using them. Maybe she only bakes with them when I am out of the house?

2. Stir together the rest of the coconut (1/2 cup), flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form and then gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar.

4. Beat the egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and rum until thick and pasty.

Note: It is important that when you add the melted butter into the egg yolks, it is cool. If not, you risk the hot butter cooking the eggs. We are not making an omelet here, we are making a torte.  You don't want it to turn out egg-y.

Another note: You may decide, since you have the rum out, to take a swig. You may then quickly remember that you are not a pirate, and that rum tastes better in cakes or in mixed drinks. You may need to recover by drinking some water. This is nothing to be embarrassed about. 

5. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture, and then into the flour. Don't over mix.

6. Spread mixture in the springform pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.

7. Let cool until completely cool once out of the oven, then remove the sides of the springform pan.

8. The recipe I loosely followed (which should be noted that this recipe showed no pictures which I thought was a little sketchy) said to cut the cake into three equal layers. Well that's a joke! This cake was about one inch tall. How was that supposed to turn out well? I cut mine into two layers and just frosted between the layers and on top. The recipe also said to put chocolate shavings on top. Yes, because I have time to make my own chocolate shavings - NOT. Anyways, as you will see from the pictures, I only had two layers and no chocolate shavings and it still was something to admire!

Springform pan covered in coconut!

Ready to bake!

Baked!

See how thin it is? And you are supposed to make three layers out of this? I think not!

The two layers. If you look at the one to the left, you will see it is very coconut-y, that's what was on the bottom of the pan which was covered in coconut.



Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes
- 3 tbsp milk or almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons rum (optional)
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon (see below)

So I realized that while I love cinnamon, and add it to almost anything, I have never added cinnamon to frosting. So I did today. I added about 2 tablespoons cinnamon to the frosting, and well, it gave it a kick! I was a fan! Only for the adventurous though :D

Mix the softened butter, cocoa powder, vanilla and rum together. Alternately add the powdered sugar and milk until you like the taste and consistency. Then add the coconut and stir well.

Frost between the cake layers and on top and then enjoy!

March 12: National Plant A Flower Day

Today started off with a laugh.

I went to a coffee stand in town that I sometimes visit. The owner, who is a very sweet lady, told me that the other day she had seen me while driving and waved at me. She thought I was waving back, but then determined that I was singing and dancing in my car. That sounds like me.

Number 1: I questioned how often that I frequent this coffee stand if she recognizes my car.
Number 2: I was slightly embarrassed by my sudden burst of dancing skills in my car.

We both got a good laugh.

Later I had a run-in with a rude lady in town who attempted to smoosh my zest for life out of me as she insulted me, yet again. If working for Disney taught me anything, it taught me to keep my patience as I deal with difficult people.

But then I came home and planted a flower for National Plant A Flower Day, and I immediately felt better. While I could focus on the fact that people are sometimes rude for no reason, I chose instead, to remember laughing with the coffee lady over my exuberance. I chose to remember that I always have a very excited kitty to greet me whenever I come home (who is trying to squish her way onto my lap as I type this). And it's then I remember that I have to let go of the negatives to make room for all the positives that exist in my life. A positive like planting a beautiful flower and eagerly waiting for it to bloom.

I don't know what these flowers are called, but I'm calling them Purple Princess Plum Flowers.

March 11: National Worship of Tools Day

At first, I thought this was a good National Day for my dad to celebrate. I am not the most handy with tools. I'm sure I could use a hammer or a wrench if I really needed to, but I prefer to leave that stuff to my dad.

But then, I realized I was thinking of "stereotypical man tools." Then I realized I actually love tools, that is, if we are talking about sewing tools.

As you might be aware of, I have a pillowcase sewing business on Etsy. When I go fabric shopping, you better watch out. I'll have a cart filled with fabric in no time and if you are unlucky enough to get behind me when it's my turn to get my fabric cut, well, let's just say you better hope you don't have any immediate plans. I buy my fabric in bulk and it's no easy task cutting all that fabric for me.

I often joke I am an old person (even though I am in my young twenties!) While fabric shopping, all the grandmothers who are buying fabric to sew baby projects for their grandchildren, always engage me in conversation. Most of the time I am the youngest customer in the fabric store by a few decades. It's okay though, give me a sewing machine and the correct tools, and I am unstoppable.

So my tools for National Worship of Tools Day include a cutting mat, a handy-dandy see-through yard stick, scissors, and a rolling blade cut thing. I don't really know the official name for them, but I think it's better to name things based off of what they actually do.

Want to see what these tools help me accomplish?

The last three pictures are up-close pictures of my pillowcases so you can't see my fancy handiwork, but it's there!

Check out this link for more pillowcases : https://www.etsy.com/shop/TrendyTurtles

March 10: National Blueberry Popover Day

I love blueberries. My dad has several blueberry bushes and every summer I eat approximately 87% of them by myself. I refer to them as "my blueberry bushes" even though I have little to no responsibility for their care. Anyways, because of my blueberry "addiction", I was stoked for today.

Are you prepared to laugh? This was my first "fail" of a baking recipe. I blame it on the fact that I used a muffin pan instead of a popover pan. I guess popover pans are actually important. It's on my list to buy one in the near future though. A lot of people rave about them and I'm never actually had one.

Zesting that lemon!

Lemon Blueberry Popover Recipe:

-1 cup of milk (as usual I used unsweetened almond milk)
-2 eggs
-2 tbsp melted butter, separated
-1 cup flour
-zest from 1 lemon
- juice from 1 lemon (I ended up with a huge lemon so I only put in the juice from half of it)
-1/2 cup blueberries

Directions:
1. Preheat over to 400 degrees. Mix milk, eggs, and 1 tbsp of melted butter together. Then add in the flour, zest, and lemon juice.
2. Place the popover pan (or in my case the muffin pan) in the oven for a few minutes to warm it up. Then pour a little bit of the remaining 1 tbsp melted butter into the bottom of each hole. Fill each hole 2/3 of the way with batter. Top with blueberries.
3. Bake for 15 minutes and then turn heat down to 350 degrees and bake for 15 more minutes.
***DO NOT OPEN OVEN WHILE THEY ARE COOKING***

4. Take out of oven and slit the tops with a knife to let steam escape.
5. If you are me, and you have now realized that this is a FAIL, you should probably laugh about it.

Did you notice I got new mixing bowls?

I did end up eating two of these, but they were a little "heavy" and they were very short. They tasted like a condensed muffin. However, pictures I have seen on the internet look very airy and fluffy and delicious.I imagine, they would taste a little like you were eating a cloud.

See? BIG FAIL!

I'm not giving up. Once I get an official popover pan, you better believe I will be trying this recipe again.

So, knowing me, I had to tweak the recipe. I added about two tablespoons of cinnamon to the batter because...well cinnamon. Cinnamon is good! You know how I pretty much add cinnamon to anything. I also probably added too many blueberries to the tops of the popovers (blame it on my blueberry addiction), so that could have possibly weighed them down. I then added a cinnamon-sugar mixture on top of the popovers. Once again, that was not in the recipe.

A limp, very short, condensed muffin thing.

I will update you the next time I make these with a real popover pan. I may even stick to the original recipe.