12*15*10

Hi! I've missed you! Its been waaaay too long. I'm sorry.

I've been busy.

Packing.

Moving.

Cleaning.

Working.

Damaging UHaul trucks, then shelling out wads of money to have them fixed. Ugh.

Returning the keys to my apartment.

Staring at the piles of boxes around the house that need to be unpacked.

If your kitchen looked like this, you wouldn't spend much time in there either.

So, bear with me. I promise, I have lots of very exciting things to post about in the coming days. Not more pictures of moving boxes and disgusting kitchens. Promise.

12*10*10

Things are looking a teeny bit brighter around here.

Before:

After:

I know, not really a big deal; it's still a very 1970s kitchen. But it still makes oh so much of a difference in the kitchen.

It even inspired me to make some whole wheat banana bread.

Unfortunately, the banana bread is dry and flavorless, but at least the house smells great. And I have more light in my kitchen.

12*9*10

This last weekend we brewed another batch of beer: another Honey Porter because the last one was that good! And this weekend, we'll be making a pale ale.

I decided that its about time I designed some labels for our beer. So I began the process today by doing some research. The following are favorites, courtesy of the Dieline.

Austin Beerworks label is simple, but both effective and attractive.

This label is for a homemade brew. Fuck yeah for homemade brew!

I love love love these labels! The bike, the vintage type, and the soft colors. Beautiful! And they just happen to be designed by HUB, one of my favorite local design firms.

These labels for Bard's Beer are charming!

And... my favorite: Pistonhead with their Dia de los Muertos skulls. Makes me want a beer with my tattoo.

12*8*10

Lets pretend for a second.

The weather is sunny and warm. There are flowers blooming, and leaves on the trees. The day light lasts later than 4:00. And you've got a sweet adirondack chair and lemonade for taking it all in.

I guess thats the mindset I was in when I made these cupcakes. Nevermind that I was caught out in a nasty rain and wind storm yesterday on my bike for about an hour. These cupcakes make it allllll better.

Mini Lavender Lemon Cupcakes

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender blossoms, chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

For icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 5 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• fresh lavender buds to garnish

Preheat oven to 350.

Line mini cupcake liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, lavender, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg, lemon juice, and zest.

Beat in 1/3 flour mixture, then half the buttermilk, then 1/3 flour mixture, then remaining 1/2 buttermilk, followed by remaining 1/3 flour mixture.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 15 minutes.

Allow to cool completely.

To make icing, stir confectioner's sugar and lemon juice until smooth.

Stir in zest.

Drizzle over cupcakes and garnish with lavender.

12*5*10

I finished up the ornaments that were created at craft night a couple weeks ago. Its too bad the photo doesn't do justice to the glitter I sprayed all over them.

12*3*10

These cookies. Oh man. They are the best. The very very best. They have a ridiculous amount of chocolate in them, as well as espresso, so they are extra rich. And satisfying. It really only takes one of these cookies to get your chocolate fix for the day. Yeah, they're that good.

But I'm just a little embarrassed. You see, I got this recipe when I was about 16. From CosmoGirl (which, sadly, has far more content to it than regular Cosmo). And even though it's been one of my favorite cookie recipes ever since, I'm always just a little embarrassed to pull out a recipe card that came from a page with the quote "I'd rather eat these cookies than go on a date - seriously!"

Seriously?

Alas, they are amazing cookies. Truly a great recipe from quite an unexpected source. They're chewy, rich, and delicious. Make them.

Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies

adapted from *ahem* CosmoGirl

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground espresso beans

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Create a double boiler and melt 1 3/4 cups of the chocolate chips and all of the butter in it, stirring constantly until it melts.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Stir in espresso, then chocolate mixture, then let cool.

Stir in flour mixture and remaining 3/4 cup chocolate chips.

Put bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes to allow dough to firm up

Make tablespoon-sized balls and place on a lined cookie sheet.

Put cookie sheet in the freezer and leave for a few hours.

Preheat oven to 375.

Don't thaw dough.

Bake for 7-10 minutes.

Cookies will be doughy on the inside, crisp on the outside.

Enjoy with a giant glass of milk.

12*2*10

Inspired by craft night that I'm hosting tonight, and the super duper rad prints by a local printmaker that I just discovered, I thought I would spread the word about the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale!

Shopping date! Lets go!