Elvis Pancakes...OMG

Everyone should be so lucky to know a pregnant lady like me (so says me).  I have crazy dreams every night, but two mornings ago I woke up nearly embarrassed to share one dream with the hubs.  I dreamed about Elvis.  Not the cute, young Elvis...but the older, chubby hunk-o-chunk of burning love...wait, it gets better.  I was his cook!!!  The dream continued on that I made him his favorite sandwich...pancake style. 

 OMG, I better have this baby soon, I am for sure turning into a truck driver!!!  I have nothing against truck drivers, I just fancy them to be crazy eaters too, since they hit up truck stops galore...ya know?!?

What you need:

Pancake Mix (do what you like, but I love me some Krusteaz, just add water)

I used 2 cups of the pancake mix to 1 & 1/3 cups water (mix as directed)

1 banana, cut length ways then across into bits

5 strips of well cooked (crunchy) bacon, crumbled

Peanut Butter Syrup Topping:

2 T. butter

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

(heat in microwave safe glass bowl for ~45 seconds) 

ladle batter into a pan well heated, over medium heat.

Top the batter with pieces of bacon and banana.

Wowza, yum!!!  Just wait for the delish topping! 

The heated butter, maple syrup and peanut butter (as

stated at top) thickens a bit and becomes the consistency

of scrumptious caramel.  I just decided this would be

equally delish on apple slices. 

Beautiful stack of Elvis Cakes.  Topped with peanut

butter syrup and garnished with a few chunks of banana

and bacon.  Just because. 

Yum!  Dare you not to lick the plate!

Fabrics Galore...

I saw these burp cloths on Etsy and was immediately obsessed, until I saw the asking price of $31 for a set of 4.  I do love me some chevron fabric, but I am also blessed with a mother-in-law who knows her way around a sewing machine.  All I have to do is send her a picture, or draw up an idea and she knocks it out.  How do you ever repay someone for being so generous with such a talent?

So, I googled 'chevron fabric' and found the holy grail of chevron fabrics at fabric.com.  I googled 'fabric.com coupon' and found one that saved 10% on my order, and even received free S/H...score!.

I gave my mother-in-law a quick ring to make sure this was okay.  She was game for the project, so I had the cutest stack of fabric shipped to her!  She is so sweet, she was measuring out fabric for another project I had in mind for Logan and baby (and I cannot wait for it to be completed so I can share with you all!!!  Just you wait, it is adorable!) 

Here are a few things she has whipped up for me off of ideas I had or have seen in magazines:

The curtains in Logan's old room.  I drew up what I wanted, picked

out the fabric and she whipped them up! 

My favorite old 'log cabin' quilt (to the right) that was beyond

the condition for practical use.  My mother-in-law and I  used the

old beauty  as our guide for picking new fabrics that had that same

vintage feel, to create a quilt for Logan's 'big girl bed' (to the left), that

will certainly be with her for a very long time.  Soon enough we will be

in our new house and I will share pictures of her bed, all dolled up.

This is one of the first sewing projects we worked on together.

She is a very patient instructor!  I had the idea for a pillow

for the rocking chair in Logan's room.  I decided I loved the lavender

chenille fabric so much I wanted to use it on the reverse for the

pillow cover, then the flower is stitched chenille side up. 

Another sewing lesson.  I saw a similar bird and owl

 at a store, but didn't love the fabrics.  So I picked

out my favorites, drew up patterns on newspaper and created

these cuties with my fearless instructor.

We always get out the sewing machine when the in-laws are visiting...I just need to be more confident in making stitches when she isn't visiting (soon, that must happen!!!).  Here are the cutie fabrics I just had sent off to Minnesota for her to whip up a couple cozy blankets and burp cloths for baby boy.

Just like I saw on Etsy, right?

I ordered extra of the gray chevron fabric for a

cozy blanket.

For a snuggly blanket. 

Burp cloth copycat...go ahead and call me that!

One more on the copycat train.

Too cute not to have something whipped up in this fabric!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Structures

I have many a cool cats in my life, and I am about to show you some kick ass structures

whipped up by two of them.

First of all let me tell you a bit about my brother, Tate.  He is an artist.  He teaches art at a college in southern Arizona.  He lives in a converted jailhouse that he bought when he moved to Bisbee and also owns loads of land down in southern Arizona.  Always one with a flair for thinking outside of the box, he started drafting ideas to build a structure on a bit of his land.  I have a hard time not thinking of the Pauly Shore classic (ahem, right) Bio-Dome when I think of a desert structure, but as Jem would say, 'this is truly, truly, truly outrageous'! 

A mock-up of the desert structure in clay.

Hollow shell.

Construction on the interior. I adore the use of glass blocks.

Roof angles for rain flow and collection.

Construction and another look at the roof angles.

Stop it, right!  The lines and shape are crazy amazing.

The area surrounding the door is recycled bottles.

I am beyond obsessed with that feature of the structure.

Local restaurants saved their recycling for Tate to utilize as

functional art.

This is what inspired me to write up this blog.  The

use of the bottles as art, light reflection.  Crazy innovative!

Close up: glass bottle bottoms

 (and a little Mother Mary, probably for good measure).

I hope you all enjoyed the little virtual 'walk through' and a glimpse inside the head of my brother, who is beyond words talented in what he creates.  I will report back upon completion.

***

The next structure I am currently obsessed with is a green house that has more meaning than just a garden growing shed.  The GREEN is also in the structure itself, as it is constructed completely of recycled windows and doors that Kurt (a chef I used to work with in Oregon) acquired for free off of craigslist. 

Free booty off of craigslist.  I would love to get my hands on

some of these windows and pop mirrors in them!!!

I only have one picture of the completed structure,

but it is totally drool worthy!!

So there you have it folks, literally think outside the box and who knows what you might come up with on your little plot of land.  I feel so inspired, can't wait to get my hands on our new home...

2 months and 1 day to go!

Before the After: Mid Century Dresser

While it's true that we will officially be homeless in a few short weeks, I will certainly be filling my shopping cart (yes, the one I will have to remove from the Target parking lot to push all my possessions and child around in...) with this adorable little mid century dresser, that I just acquired!  I am so in love. 

When I first saw this beauty on the Internet (I was technically looking for homes, but got side tracked when I accidentally opened craigslist and searched 'mid century') I channeled Rachel Zoe in thinking the dresser for sure needed to have a turquoise moment, but when we drove over to pick it up and I saw the beauty of the walnut (and the look on Zac's face when I told him of my brillz turquoise idea)  I decided the turquoise moment would have to wait.

Just need to find a home, to find this baby a home. 

All it needs is new drawer pulls

(I did kind of oversell with the title 'before the after'...but I am sure that really peaked your interest?!?)

I will report back, as soon as this little guy is all dolled up, where it is supposed to be!

(so, for the real estate Gods that read my blog...I am talking a cutie little house in  

Golden, with views of the mountains.  Do what you can.)

Just a Tease: Brownies with Chocolate Mousse and Raspberry Coulis

Well, I have tried my hardest to be a blogger in this crazy transition, and continue to fail epically.  I don't know why it took someone at our condo pool telling me that, 'most people go crazy doing one of the 4 things you and your family are doing right now...', She was right, I need to give myself a little credit that I still haven't pulled out any of my hair (well, other than that one pesky gray hair I yanked last week) and I haven't jumped from our 11th story balcony...moving to a different state, Zac starting a new job, searching for a home (with a budget that has doubled in the last month...vomit) and a pregnancy all in one swoop is really intense. 

Ugh (there I said it for the 301st time today)...but once again, all good stuff (other than the house search).

On a much happier note, I finally downloaded pictures off the camera, and will have many a gems to share in the near future.  Today, I will tease you all with a few of the pictures of my favorite dessert to whip up.  I do promise to make this, step by step, ASAP (omg, why didn't I add the idea of high altitude baking to my list of stressers???), but until then, please drool on: 

All packed up and off to friend's for one last hurrah

before we left Oklahoma. 

Die over the little milk jar I picked up at a thrift

store.  The perfect size to pack up the coulis in.

Dark Chocolate Brownies, Dark Chocolate Mousse,

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream with a Raspberry

on top.  Raspberry Coulis on the side. 

Banana Cream Pudding

My friend's son turned one last month and I wanted to bring a tasty little treat to the party.  I decided I would whip up little cups of banana cream, only because I could crush cookies on top, to look like sand.  Since they were having a seafood boil for the party, 'sand' felt like a good fit.  Turned out that I had a luncheon the same day, so I pulled out a few to take to lunch, and just served them up the old fashioned way, wafer cookie on top! 

I do not like pudding, so this was a strange pick for me...but everyone who tried the dessert said it was delish (and quite cute, if I do say so myself) so I figured it was worthy of a share.

In a medium saucepan combine:

small box of vanilla cook & serve pudding

1 & 3/4 cup milk (stir until powder is dissolved)

then add:

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp pure vanilla (I use vanilla bean paste)

Side note: I added the sour cream to kill a bit of the sweet,

since there will be the addition of ripe bananas and whipped cream.

Transfer to a dish and cover with plastic wrap (work

to get the plastic wrap touching the pudding and secure it tightly, 

pop in the refrigerator to cool completely (I made the night before, and

let it chill overnight) before continuing on.   The tight plastic wrap will help

you avoid the 'cafeteria pudding skin' we all remember from childhood

(and the reason, I assume, that I am not a fan of pudding!).

Next gather up:

1 & 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream (very cold)

3 T. Confectioner's Sugar

1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract (again, I use paste...obsessed!)

Place in a stainless or glass bowl and whip with an electric hand

mixer, or in a stand mixer, until medium-stiff peaks form. 

Chilled pudding, whipped cream, ripe bananas and

vanilla wafer cookies, all ready to do their thing. 

Chop up 2-3 medium size, ripe bananas and fold into

the chilled pudding.

Fold in a little over half of the whipped cream into the

pudding/banana mixture. Reserve the remaining 

whipped cream for topping. 

In individual cups (I used 5 oz cups) or in a large trifle bowl,
if you wish, start layering the dessert. 

This is how I put it together:

scoop of pudding/whipped cream banana 'mousse'

top with vanilla wafers (I chopped each cookie in half,

and put 3 cookie halves in each cup), then topped with

a few ripe banana slices and topped with one more scoop

of the pudding mixture. 

After all the cups are built, dollop each one with a

spoonful of whipped cream. 

Use a food processor or a rolling pin (make sure to

leave a small air hole in the plastic bag you are rolling over,

to prevent a cookie crumb explostion) to make the 'sand'

topping.

Cookie 'sand'.

All ready to gobble up...just need some umbrellas to

fancy pants (or tacky them up...if you will) them up a bit.

The perfect addition to a backyard seafood boil party!

Like I said, I pulled a few aside for a luncheon that

same day...just served them up old school with

the wafer on top. 

I doubled this recipe, which yielded 35 desserts, served in 5 oz plastic

cups that I purchased that the party supply store.