Things I Like to Smell - Vol. I

Do you have certain scents that trigger memories for you? Or, conversely, when you reflect on some time, place, or person that was special to you, does a smell come with that memory? It does for me. For example, freshly baked bread smells like being home because my mom is the best at making bread. Even though my first boyfriend was over a decade ago, I can still tell when I walk by someone wearing the same cologne. And after my grandma passed away, I considered buying some vintage Avon talc powder at a flea market  because she had it in her bathroom for as long as I can remember.

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Anyone who spends a significant amount of time around me will quickly learn how much I like to smell things. Justin and I almost always spend some time smelling seasonal candles wherever we find them. Teavana and Penzeys both endeared themselves to me from my first visits, simply because you're allowed to smell all the things. And sometimes when I am sad or bored, I will go to a grocery store and stand around smelling the different body washes or fabric softeners. I'm well aware that it's things like this that make me obviously normal and not weird at all.

Without further ado, here are some things I am currently fond of smelling. This volume of Things I Like to Smell was inspired by my friend Kerry's post on beating the winter blues. Even though we had a freakishly nice weekend (high five, global warming!) it is back to feeling wintery here in Ohio and these are the smells that cheer me up despite the weather.

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1. Sea Spray from Lush Cosmetics
My friend Vicky gave me some of this and it has gradually become my new BFF. I like it for all its intended reasons (like making me not look as if I'm trying to cosplay Hermione Granger in my daily life) but the most surprising thing for me was the scent. This product is the perfect reminder of sunny, windy, sea-salty days. I don't know how they do it, but I've found it a pleasant surprise to catch a whiff of summer when it's all of 12 degrees outside.

2. Orange & Cranberry Scones
Whether it's because this is the first flavor I ever made, or just the fact that citrus is such a happy smell, baking off a batch of these scones always smells the best to me. Find a recipe, make yourself some tea, and and eat one while they're still warm from the oven. Trust me on this.

3. Stauf's Market Spice Tea
Speaking of tea, this one is amazing. It tends to get cold before I can finish it because I'm always torn between wanting to keep smelling it and wanting to drink it. If you like orange-y cinnamon teas, this is the best one I've had yet.

4. Woodsmoke
My parents have a wood-burning stove in their house, so this is another smell that always reminds me of home. The combination of clean, cold air and the drifting smoke never fails to take me back to the days of bundling up and going out to play in the snow with my brothers.

5. Homemade Yujacha
I found this post on Pinterest about a Korean concoction of honey and lemons that you add to hot water to make a drink that's good for fighting colds. Since I love honey and lemons, I had to try it. I also added slices of fresh ginger to mine, and sweet merciful heavens it could not possibly smell any better than it does. It also tastes good, which I was concerned about with leaving the pith of the lemon in there. I am almost through my first jar of it, and I haven't even been sick.

So am I the only one who just wanders though life smelling things? Or could I run into you in the laundry aisle the next time I'm lurking in a grocery store? Either way, I hope you get to smell some of your favorite things today too! As for me, I think I'll be making some tea shortly!

Design: Coffee

If coffee ever becomes self-aware, bands together and decides to take advertising into its own tiny bean-hands, I've got its first campaign covered. I hope coffee remembers that I've been there with it through hot and cold brews, from my first gas station 'cappuccino' to the caramel brevé I ordered this morning from my favorite coffee shop, usually with cream and sugar but even the one time when I was little that my grandma made my brother and I try it black to teach us some kind of lesson.

My sweet fancy graphics were done as Illustrator practice, and the slogan comes from something my cousin said on one of those facebook surveys that used to be popular waaay back about a year ago. Thanks for the inspiration, Danelle!

But really, who that loves coffee would ever argue with this sentiment? I say no one.

Thrift Store Lessons

Yesterday, I wanted to go thrifting, so after work I drove over to our local Volunteers of America (because it's bigger, cleaner, better organized, and less smelly than Goodwill.) When I stopped at the stop light where I needed to turn, there was a creepy clown outside, holding a sign that said "Volunteers of America 50% Off." The parking lot was the fullest I've ever seen it, but when I was in there, there was a sign up about one color tag being 50% off and another be 75% off. So I wanted to make sure the clown had not mislead me into believing everything was 50% off, which resulted in having the following conversation with the nice lady running the checkout.

Me: Is everything 50% off?

Lady (emphatically): NO. We do this every last Tuesday. When you flip your calendar over, find the last Tuesday and mark on it Volunteers of America 50% Off Day.

Me: ... So, everything is 50% off today.

Lady (like it's obvious): Yes. And every other day this month anything with these colored tags is on sale. If it has a grey tag, tomorrow it will be 50% off and if it has a red tag it will be 75% off. That way there is always something on sale.

Me: Is there a way to know what things have which color tags?

Lady (like I don't know what colors are): It's the color of the tag. See? This one is grey.

Me: Well yeah, but I mean, is there some way to know what clothes will have which color tags? Like if I wanted to look for things with red tags, do they mean something?

Lady (like speaking to someone who doesn't speak English): It means it's 75% off. That's what the colors mean.

Me: ... Okay. ::gives up because she's finished ringing me out and there's a line behind me::

Perhaps I was unclear in asking if there was a code for the color of the tags, like grey tags are sweaters and red tags are high-waisted polyester grandma pants. But the moral of the story is: Volunteers of America has a 50% off everything day on the last Tuesday of every month. I bought six pieces of clothing for under six dollars. I call that winning. And of course, I brought back some photographic souvenirs. Enjoy.

Seven of the same ugly wig.

Haunting frog statue, circa the early 90's pastel era.

Portrait of the matador as a young man.

I did the modern version of 'flipping my calendar and finding the last Tuesday' so there's now a monthly reminder in my cellphone about the VOA sale.  I might have to go back sooner though, just to buy that painting so I can cross my sister-in-law off my Christmas shopping list.

Cake Balls: Quasi-Vindicated!

While I prefer to call them cake "truffles" instead of "balls" because it sounds fancier, I would be lying if I said Andrea and I did not make several [hundred] semi-inappropriate ball-related jokes while making them. I'm sorry. It's how we roll. (See what I did there?)

In my last post on cake pops, you may recall me advising you to not make them, and saying I probably wouldn't do it again unless I really loved you. Well, that's the tricky part. NephewQ turned three last weekend, and his party was at Chucky Cheese, so I made these because A. I really love him, and B. they are bite-sized and travel-friendly. Plus, you have to admit that they're cute. So I gave cake balls another chance.

This is where the quasi-vindication comes in. I made some changes this time around, and it made the process go more smoothly, and the overall result better-tasting than last time too. Plus, it never hurts to have Andrea in your kitchen, alternating between baking and reading aloud from one of the worst children's novels ever written. (Don't read it.)

Andrea, in the midst of ever-so-helpfully coating the cake balls.

Here are the changes I implemented:
1. Use canned frosting. I know, I know, but it really is faster and therefore easier.
2. Crumble the cake in the food processor. Anyone that tells you to do it by hand wants your brain to explode. The super tiny cake pieces melded better with the frosting, making the texture more like a truffle and less like someone partially chewed your cake for you.
3. Do not put them on gorram sticks! If you want to make cake pops, this step is unavoidable. But if you're calling them truffles, no on expects the stick, or the Spanish inquisition.
4. Do not thin out the candy melts with oil. The snap of completely re-solidified white chocolate was a nice texture contrast, in my opinion. I also didn't color the melts this time, but that was for aesthetic reasons. Here, "aesthetic" meaning, multicolored sprinkles.
5. Throttle back the perfectionism. This might just be me personally, but since they didn't have to look like something else, I was only concerned with the coating not cracking, and getting some sprinkles to stick. Maybe not as impressive as robots, but hey, people still liked them.

Me and the finished cake balls, packed up and ready to party.

Food: Birthday Cakes

I have recently begun nominating myself to make people birthday cakes.
Why?
Because I like to. And because I don't like DQ ice cream cakes, which seem to be the default in our family. And because I can always use the practice. And because I know they will be tasty and ::insert the I-bake-from-scratch-snooty-face:: not box-mix-pre-fab hullabaloo. [Aside: I spelled "hullabaloo" correctly on the first try, even though that might be the first time I've used that word in my life.]

Here's the first cake I ever put any effort into decorating, including learning to basket-weave the sides because that is what my mom wanted on the cake. (Chocolate with chocolate cream cheese frosting.)

 Lisa - Chocolate Basket-Weaving (06.21.10)

The outside of this next cake was plain on purpose, to disguise the fact that insides were meant to look tie-dyed. Jenni loves tie-dying things, so I thought it was a clever idea. (Almond cake with cream cheese frosting.)

Jenni - Tie-dyed Layers (11.21.10)

This is the smoothest I've ever gotten butter cream to look, and the only time I've liked the look of text I've piped. Amie likes Celtic things, so I looked up some Celtic fonts and sketched it out first. And I free-handed the design just out of my head. I was pretty proud of it. (Chocolate cake with probably cream cheese frosting but I don't remember.)

Amie - Smoothed Frosting (04.24.11)

I put these together in one post, because they were more about experimenting with techniques. The people they were made for seemed to enjoy them, which is always the best part. Well, that and eating them later.

And don't judge me: cream cheese makes the best frosting. FACT.

Food: Lego Cake

I made this cake for Q's second birthday. (Can you tell I love my nephews?) Obviously the frosting could be smoother, but I thought it came out pretty well for a first attempt at anything like that.

It's a 13"x9" cake, cut into thirds vertically, with one third cut in half horizontally. Got it? Good. And what makes them look like blocks are marshmallows cut in half.

Lego Cake (01.29.11)

Have you ever tried to frost 24 half-marshmallows in four different colors? It is more difficult than you might think!

Original inspiration for this cake here. Instead of box mix and canned frosting (::insert snooty face::), I made this cake and cream cheese buttercream. And Quinn was really excited about it, so you know, that's what really counts.

2010Holidays, Part the Second

...and by later, I meant, ten days later.

The point really wasn't what I made, or what I got for Christmas. It never is.

This is the first year that I've gotten to see almost all of my family and friends for around the holidays. I missed some of the K-side family because I didn't go to Christmas breakfast, and I sadly didn't hear back from Andrew before he returned to Kuwait, Nick is in NYC and Steph's family is in Texas now so she didn't come home. But that was about it.

I had quite a few glorious days off, making nice long weekends where I could cook, bake, shop and spend time with Justin or the friends and fam.

I don't know if I can actually put it into words. I guess what it comes down to was the prevalence of feeling loved and if everything was right in the world. Even the friends I didn't see were with their families, and Justin's mom had to work, but he got to see her a few days before and spent Christmas with my family.

I belong here. And I love them all.

I know my "home" will always be wherever my family is making dinner, my friends are playing board games, wherever we all feel loved and cherished for exactly who we are.

That is the magic of Christmas. Or the magic of girls' night. Or the magic of it's-Tuesday-I'm-going-to-chez-Quinn-because-I'm bored.

Love.

Love is always the answer.

Here's a pretty picture of my cupcake.

Guinness Gingerbread Cupcake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Holidays2010

They were awesome. Here's why:

Christmas In October
This was Mom's idea, but she passed the planning on to me and I am glad to say it went well. We all went to Grandma's house and brought Christmas-dinner type things. I made gingerbread with Guinness and spiced crème anglais. It was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. I should stop taking camera phone pictures, because they are pretty crappy.

Thanksgiving
It was delicious. And fun. And a few days later, we had second Thanksgiving, just for the heck of it. :) I made cranberry sauce (that I added some red wine and orange zest to) and roasted brussel sprouts with shallots, pears and thyme. So good. Even people who don't like brussel sprouts tried them and liked them. (I don't have a picture though.)

Ninja Cookies
I tend to send random emails to Hannah of cute things I find on the internet and she bought one of them (ninja-shaped cookie cutters) for BJ for his birthday. So without him knowing, Andrea and I went to their house while he was gone and helped Hannah make a bunch of peanutbutter ninja cookies. It was loads of fun, because we eventually started making themed ninjas and discussing their lives and whatnot. :) I have the best friends.

Ugly Sweater Party
My friends and I have been talking about doing this since at least last year, and Andrea and Jenni hosted one this year. It was a lot of fun. Jen and I painted a wintery backdrop to take pictures in front of in our Ugly Sweaters, and almost everyone managed to find really ugly sweaters. :) It was great. For that, I made spinach/artichoke dip which was also tasty and I also don't have pictures of. Boo. BJ has yet to send me the pictures of everyone in their Ugly Sweaters as well.

Ugly Sweater Party Cheesey Winter Scene

So apparently I worry about using up all my vacation days and not having any by the end of the years. Well, we get 10 and by the first of December, I had 5.5 left. Lol. So for Christmas and Birthday/New Years, I had three- and six-day weekends, respectively. The other ones I took randomly throughout the month, so I wouldn't lose them, using them to Christmas shop and help my mom craft with second graders, lol.

Zoo Lights
Justin took me to see the Lights at the Zoo. It was FREEZING. But, fun. It was the first time we'd been back since our first date there over a year ago. (Aww. :)) And we randomly ran into Jenni and Nathan, which was weird. Baby elephant, snake-neck turtles, good times. :)

Triangle of Trust
Lyndsey and BreAnn and I got together while Lynz was home. We just wandered around shopping and eating things, but it was a lot of fun. Bre drove so I was able to have my first Great Lakes Christmas Ale on tap at lunch time. Mmm. And it was great to see them both again, since we haven't all been together since Lyndsey and Mike's wedding over a year ago. Fun times. Bre and I are going to try to spend more time together in the future, since we only live about 20 minutes apart.

Christmas Eve
Before going down to the farm, I baked off some Gingerbread and Stout Cupcakes. I got the recipe from Love & Olive Oil, but I altered it a bit. I wanted to use the fresh nutmeg I got from Andy, so I took out the allspice (because I didn't have any anyways) and added more cloves and the fresh nutmeg. And I used Guinness for the stout, of course. I left them to cool, but I knew they'd be good just from their amazing smell.
As usual, spaghetti dinner was a huge success. I contributed a bottle of wine (because it was called Electric Reindeer and I thought it was funny) which was just okay, and I brought the Mexican Hot Chocolate cookies that didn't burn. [Which reminds me: I need to get Amy's mom that recipe.] All the food was amazing as always, and we got pajamas again this year after Mom and Dad said they were going to stop last year and transfer the tradition to Quinn. But instead of us all staying at the farm and getting up super-early to open presents, we went to our respective homes. Justin came up around 11 or so and we each opened one of our presents. Mine was the XKCD book and his was two pairs of Christmas boxers. :)

Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas Day
I didn't go to breakfast this year, because I didn't feel right about leaving Justin alone and also didn't want to drive back and forth four times. So Justin and I opened our other presents. His was a Star Wars 'Cantina Band' shirt and mine was an N64 with Mario Kart. [Geez, we sound like nerds! :)] Then we made breakfast (farmboys with sharp cheddar and mustard, hashbrowns, +eggs for the boy) and swore at various Mario characters for a while.
After that, we made the frosting for my gingerbread cupcakes. I wanted them to have orange cream cheese frosting. [Best decision ever.] Although I should warn you to never try the mixture for taste BEFORE adding ANY powdered sugar. Not pleasant. I just made a basic cream cheese frosting and added the zest of one orange. Mmm. So good.

[Wow, this entry is getting long.]

So we frosted cupcakes, got ready and went to Mom and Dad's where we had our traditional English Christmas dinner with my family, Amie, Jason, and Rachel. It was so good. Prime rib and Yorkshire pudding are possibly the best combination known to man. Then we opened presents. Quinn was hilarious. Everyone seemed to enjoy their gifts. And we were SO full from dinner we ALMOST FORGOT TO EAT CUPCAKES! Scary, I know. But I remembered as Andy and Amy we packing up their stuff and their kid and passed them out to everyone. And it's a good thing I did, because they were amazing.

Honestly.
Best cupcake I have ever made or eaten.

Prettiest too, actually, since I've never before been able to get the frosting all fluffy like that. And Justin found the pretty crystal-y sugar in the cupboard and suggested a little sprinkle of cinnamon as well. The cupcake wrappers were cute too, but the cupcakes were really moist and soaked them so they weren't so pretty afterward.

Anyway. Enough waxing poetic about cupcakes. [But they were delicious!]

So then Justin and I hung out a while longer then went home with our full bellies and presents. :)


My Birthday (AM)
Went to Amish country with the fam: coffee, shopping, shopping, lunch, shopping. Lunch was at my favorite restaurant called Broken Rocks in Wooster. If you haven't been, you should go. Instead of my usual Cajun Chicken Pasta, I got the crab cakes this time (and another Christmas Ale!) and they were really good. And the Belgian Chocolate Custard, of course. Oh. So good.


...

So I've written all this, and still haven't gotten to the point.
More later I suppose.