Want it Wednesday: Wait... is that PINK?

So the first beeeauuuutiful "yeah right, I wish" item to be featured in my "Want it Wednesday" blog series is something I found while browsing Ebay and dreaming of pretty cookware.

This photo is from the No. 462 home improvement blog- I couldn't find one anywhere else. If you're reading this, I'm jealous of your pretty dutch oven!

Um, hello beautiful! I didn't even know you existed. What's that? You were only made available in Japan?

I want to know where to find one of these without paying a small fortune for it on ebay. I personally prefer Staub but, come on, I'm a lady. Let's face it, making anything PINK that your competitor hasn't made pink yet gives you a ton of market advantage. If Le Creuset made a line of breast cancer awareness ovens available through Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table, they would make a killing. Plus, if Staub tried to make their ovens pink, it wouldn't look as cool. LC collectors would go nuts.

So, Le Creuset, could you pretty please make some pink enameled cast iron available in the U.S.? I promise I would buy a few pieces (or at least, my mom would).

Thanksgiving prep: Cheddar Bay Biscuits

    Cheddar bay biscuits aren't usually on the traditional Thanksgiving menu- But I think they'd make a lovely addition to any holiday table. Why?

 

Because they're easy. Drop biscuits don't need time to rise, and for those who are hesitant to use yeast, these biscuits aren't too "breakfast-like" to serve with dinner. And they also happen to be delicious- the cheesy, delicate crumb with a subtle garlic flavor is so decadent. 

I've seen copycat recipes for Red Lobster's cheddar bay biscuits online and in restaurant copycat books. Most of them required the use of jiffy or biscuit mix. I don't do mixes, so I researched and combined a few recipes to create these. I thought that they turned out really well.

Review: Giada Pasta Sauce

Okay, I want to make two important points before sharing the review for the Giada Creamy Tomato Cream Sauce with you.

1. By no means was I given this product to review by Target, Giada De Laurentiis, the Food Network, or anyone affiliated with the lady's sauce. My uncle bought it for me, and since it didn't have any onion or onion powder in it, I decided to try it.
2. This is a rare circumstance. I DO NOT use jarred sauce. Ever.

Confession

I stole pecans from campus squirells.

 

And I took just enough to make a Chocolate Pecan Pie.... hmmmm.....

Scrapbooking on a Budget- Halloween

We all know that scrapbooking can get expensive. Here's some suggestions for creating the perfect Halloween scrapbook page on the cheap.

• Get it covered- Hobby Lobby 50% off Scrap Pads Sale- Buy a holiday set. If you're lucky, you can find some in the clearance corner, and usually about $6 gets you a ton of paper, for all sorts of occasions. If you can't afford that much paper, or you simply don't need that much paper (or if you just want to pick the exact designs you want), you can snag some individual sheets at the 5 sheets for a dollar sale. These sales usually rotate every 2 or 3 weeks. 
• Embellish it!- Instead of buying expensive 3d embellishments, consider using foam or felt stickers. They look just as impressive as expensive boutique stickers, but come at a fraction of the price. Head into Michael's the day after Halloween to snag them on clearance. Or, you can use the 50% off coupon, available online, to make your purchase.
• Surprisingly Low Prices- Target offers $1.00 Embellishments by Colorbok, and they look AWESOME and provide a great theme for your scrapbook. Check out some of the totally useful products they offer for $1.00. Beats paying $4.00 for a sticker!

Now that you've got the basics, you're good to go. Remember, if you need anything else, like acid free photo stickers or cardstock, use a coupon!! Here's a link to a Hobby Lobby 40% off any regular price item coupon.

Hopefully, after my Finance test on Thursday, I'll be able to put the finishing touches on my Halloween 2010 scrapbook pages and post a picture!

Happy Scrapbooking!

Happy Halloween!

    Happy Halloween! Last night Charles and I made a drive to see a friend. She was having a Halloween party, and she's quite the entertainer. As soon as I got there I was like, oh, this is definitely Rachel's party! She's super detail-oriented, and was a great hostess. We had a great time.

I went as Amy Winehouse and Charles went as Slash (minus the top hat- he couldn't find one that was good enough!). Tonight we're planning on carving pumpkins and I'm definitely going to roast some seeds!

Crochet this: Cute Lil' Amigurumi Pumpkin!

I love to crochet cute little decorations. Ever since I learned to crochet from youtube, I've been working on granny square blankets, dolls, vegetables, hats, scarves, gloves... the list goes on and on. This is one of my favorite projects by far. The cute little pumpkin looks very real (well... as real as a pumpkin made from yarn can look).

Just In Time For Halloween: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

    I haven't had a lot of time for seasonal baking lately. My classes are super duper stressful, to the point where all I do at home is study. Since the semester is almost over, hopefully that will change soon. I think my next semester is supposed to be slightly easier, despite the fact that I plan to take 18 hours.

   But this weekend, I managed to make time for a couple of projects. I completed a cookie "order" for a former coworker, and I also searched the internet looking for some fun pumpkin-ey baked goods. I always look at CooksIllustrated.com first, partially because I pay for a membership to the website and want to get my money's worth, and partially because I LOVE America's Test Kitchen. I know that when I'm looking for something specific, there's usually a foolproof recipe that matches it on Cook's Illustrated Online. I got really lucky with this one because it was actually sent in by another reader for the Holiday Baking Contest in 2005. Wow. I am so glad she shared and I can absolutely see why she won. These pumpkin whoopie pies are the bomb.

Blog Confusion

Y'all. I don't know what the heck happened to my last blog. One second I'm getting ready to make a new post, the next second I'm finding out that since I waited until the day my domain name expired, that my blog is basically unusable. I can't see it, I can't update it, I can't renew my domain (believe me, I tried!). So I had this one sort of on reserve. I've been wanting to switch to it eventually, because the format actually is better for me. Plus blogger is a lot more customizable than I remember... This just presented the perfect excuse to make the move. Sure, I'm bummed that all my posts are gone... but my last blog lacked in structure and substance was random. Hopefully, this time around, I can keep it organized. And, hopefully, I can make a super cute banner to go with what I think is a super cute blog name.