{when life hands you lemons...}

...make Little Lemon Souffles!image via martha stewart

I remember when this recipe came out in Martha Stewart Magazine years ago. It was a good thing...literally. I remember I'd go to our local library and check out the Martha Stewart magazines, dog ear my favorite articles/ideas, and then xerox to put in my "great ideas" binder. This was one of my favorites! I've had the recipe for years, but I've never tried it. I think I just might have to!

Ingredients:

8 large lemons, preferably Meyer
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Trim tip end from a lemon so fruit sits level. Cut stem end one-third of the way down, making cut parallel with bottom; reserve top. Repeat with remaining lemons.

2. Hold a lemon above a sieve set over a bowl, and scoop out the pulp. Squeeze the juice from the pulp, and reserve. Repeat with all lemons. Place shells on prepared baking sheet.

3. Combine egg yolks, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup reserved lemon juice, and flour in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat mixture on medium speed until pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly until very thick, about 8 minutes. Remove bowl from heat, and return to mixer. Beat on medium speed until cool, scraping down sides several times, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl, and set aside.

4. Combine egg whites and remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar in clean mixer bowl. Place the bowl over the pan of simmering water, and stir until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch. Remove bowl from heat, and return to mixer; beat on low speed until frothy. Gradually increase speed until meringue is shiny and holds soft peaks, 2 to 3 minutes, being careful not to over beat.

5. Whisk 1/3 of the meringue into the yolk mixture. Gently fold in the remaining meringue. Carefully fill the prepared lemon shells to just below the rims.

6. Transfer baking sheet to oven, and bake until meringue is slightly golden and rises about 1 inch above the shell, about 14 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer to serving plates. Garnish with the reserved lemon tops, and dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately.

{stress}

*sigh*

So...there are problems with the house.

I knew things were riding too smoothly to be true...

*lump rising in throat*

I'll keep you posted.

In the mean time, I feel like screaming, bawling, laughing hysterically, and throwing up.

Oh, and I also feel like eating a huge pan of rice krispy treats.

Lord help me.

P.S. There's a new post on my Skinny Jeans Blog. Check it out!

{pretty rooms}

I love these pictures! I've been going crazy the past few days ripping out pages from home decor magazines & saving my favorite pictures from online sources to find as much decorating inspiration as possible!

I can't wait to get into our new house! Just the thought of painting, putting up bead board, & trim thrills me!

*sigh* Isn't it lovely?

i can't remember where i found this image...sorry!
image via pottery barn
image via pottery barn

{sold!}

We put in an offer....

...and they accepted!

I'm excited and terrified at the same time for what happens next, but we feel good about it! If you have any advice, leave it here!

Wish us luck!

{woah baby!}

Last night was my friend Tara's baby shower! She is such a sweet girl, and I was glad to help her friend Emily with the preparations.

Em did such a great job with setting everything up so nice! Her house was adorable and I was so impressed with this diaper cake! Isn't it clever?I made the cupcakes & the favors. (That Betty Crocker knows her stuff!) Just throw some canned icing into a disposable frosting bag with a cute tip, add some sprinkles, and you have pretty, delicious cupcakes! The favors were a little tin pot with soil pellets & wheat grass seeds. The card read, "Thank you for celebrating Tara & her little sprout!" & included instructions on how to grow the seeds.

(These were so easy & cheap! Pots: Ikea 3 for $1, Soil Pellets: Walmart 20 for $2 (I put 2 pellets in each pot), Seeds: Engh Gardens $2.95 for a big bag, Velum envelopes: Joanns $1.99 for a package of 10, Ribbon: Joanns $1.50 for a roll (I used the 40% off coupon), and the paper & cellophane I already had.)

Tara got so many cute gifts! These little outfits were my favorite! Can't you just picture a chubby little baby wearing this? Eeee!!!This little guy was Tara's friends new baby. He was so sweet and such a cuddle bunny! Plus, he was such a good baby! He slept most of the night!

{earth is #1!!!}

picture from here

I've been trying to be more green lately. We haven't bought paper towels in months- now I use cheap wash clothes to clean and wipe things with. We put more in the recycle bin than we do in the trash can, and I've been trying to be more green when I clean!

Does your garbage disposal stink? Mine did- until I used a lemon to clean it! Cut it in half, toss it down the disposal, & turn it on! Your house will smell great too!

Did you know that lemons also bleach the stains left from tomato soup & spaghetti on your tupperware? Just rub lemon juice on the spots, let dry in a sunny place, then wash as usual.

You can find more tips, where I found these! Real Simple also has other ideas on how to naturally deodorize other household items!

Happy Earth Day!

{skinny jeans update}

*gasp*

i know, i know

the skinny jeans blog has actually been updated!

check it out

{Hes going the distance.Hes going for speed.}

Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,

Engines pumping and thumping in time.

The green light flashes, the flags go up.

Churning and burning, they yearn for the cup.

They deftly maneuver and muscle for rank,

Fuel burning fast on an empty tank.

Reckless and wild, they pour through the turns.

Their prowess is potent and secretly stearn.

Hes going the distance.Hes going for speed.

-Cake

We woke up early this morning and made our way downtown to cheer for the Fooze, who ran in the Salt Lake 1/2 Marathon today!

There was even a lady ringing a cow bell.

More cowbell please!

Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers was there too. (Doesn't it look like him?)

It wasn't long before we saw my brother coming around the corner! He's such a great runner- seroiusly, he runs with such ease- like a gazelle. Notice the guy in the red next to him? His face has runners envy all over it.

Great job Bar! We're really proud of you!

{wanna spoon?}

Spoon Me

best frozen yogurt, ever. hands down

plus, they're healthy and open late

well, except for Sunday. there's no spooning on Sunday

{just as I am}

Of course, I would be bare faced, with my hair up, fresh out of the tub when I saw that I had been tagged to take a picture of myself, just as I am. The rules: Take a picture of yourself right now. No primping or preparing. Just snap a picture.Load the picture onto your blog.Tag some people to play along.

Naturally, I did as I was told. Here is the picture I snapped. I know, I look mad right? That's just my face folks. Seriously. Okay, so maybe when I took this picture, I was/am a little tired and tilting my head down enhances the mean girl look, but to be honest, I was just born with the tired/heavy eye lid look (if only I looked as seductive as Diane Lane). When I was a teenager, I used to wonder why random strangers would scowl at me or give me a dirty look, and I then realized it was probably because it looked like I was giving them a dirty look! I've since learned to keep my eyes open a little wider and lift my eyebrows ever so slightly so that my scowl doesn't peek through, but at the end of the day, this is me. Just as I am.

I tag any of you who haven't done this. :)

{cover that thing up!}

So, last year I bought this oven cabinet from my old work, on the cheap! We needed more storage, so I thought, what the heck! Putting it together was a nightmare, but after a coat of paint, I thought it looked great! The only problem was the uncovered "oven hole". I couldn't find any cabinet doors that were the right size to put over it and I didn't want to pay to have any custom made.

A cheap tension rod, some left over fabric, & a simple straight stitch was the final solution!

Before

After

Now I just need to find some cute moulding to go on top and I think it'll be done!

{getting my craft on}

Last weekend, I took the bed that was in our second bedroom to my mom's house. It was, after all, her bed frame & mattress (she paid for it!), and when my brother got married & took his bed, she was left with an empty room! I've been wanting more space to work on various craft projects, so it worked out perfect!

Now I have a space to sew & upholster!

This is just a small sampling of my fabric collection. I'm addicted. I made the lamp and shade years ago for an Interior Design class & I love it! And of course, the blue chair that I still need to upholster!

This is where I get my upholstery on. These are the current projects I'm working on. The little black and white chair is one that I started from scratch- just a wood frame! I'm almost done (as you can see, I still need to add the back), and when I'm done, I'll post more pictures!

I found the little stool & barrel back cane chair at a thrift store & painted them white. Still deciding on fabric for them.
Here's a close up of some other thrift store finds, I have yet to finish! I haven't decided what to do with the ornate frames (cork board maybe?) and I want to cover the drum shade in a funky fabric to go with the funky orange lamp. Thoughts? Okay, honestly, what do you think about this lamp? I found it at DI, cleaned it up, spray painted it glossy white, and need to re-wire it. Is it funky cool (good) or just funky-grandma with dyed orange hair in a freaky way funky (bad)?
P.S. I'm thinking of doing an upholstery class- anyone interested?

{hilarious}

Want to laugh really hard? Read this. Then read this.

{tears of a rapper}

i can relate

{coloring easter eggs}

{Happy Easter}

hope you all have a

Happy Easter

...full of lovely hats, lace gloves, and patent leather Mary Jane's...

(picture courtesy of my momma- click on the picture to get a better look at that sponge roller, curly hair- an Easter day must!)

{you rang?}

When I find free things, I want to share them. (Well...most of the time...unless it's a complete steal, in which I selfishly decide that mum's the word and keep the loot to myself. I'm bad, I know.) However, in this case, when I stumbled upon these babies, I had to share.

I pass out business cards all day for work, and I wish they were only half as beautiful as these!Download the PDF from Cottage Industrialist by clicking here!

P.S. Thank you for your sweet words of encouragement yesterday! We went in for a second look, and by some miracle, things turned around for us. I cannot doubt that our prayers were answered.

{my house is spotless}

When I'm stressed, I clean. As I bustle around, picking up this and that, organizing drawers, dusting, and scrubbing, I momentarily forget about my problems. I don't know if it's the act of being busy or occupying my mind with other things that gives me such sweet, momentarily relief. I can spend hours, mindlessly, scrubbing the hell out of the baking sheets that have browned from baked on grease. You know, the kind that never comes off, no matter how much elbow grease you put in. Or, maybe it's the satisfaction from seeing the final result. When my house is clean, even though I might be worried out of my mind about something else, at least I have control of one situation, and that is the cleanliness of my home.

I was up until 1:00 cleaning last night. I was flustered, on the verge of tears, and angry. We just finished our taxes- 'nuff said. After I finished scrubbing the stove top, and organizing the junk drawers, I stood back, sighed, and took it all in. I love a clean house. Especially when I'm sick or stressed. Even if my life is out of order, at least I have a clean, organized space to go to, and that eases my mind, if only for a moment.

The thing about cleaning though, is that there is only so much you can do before there is nothing left to clean. Yes, in a day or two, the carpets will need another once over with the vacuum, and the dishes will pile up again, crying out for another soak in sudsy water, but until then, the stressful, anxiety ridden thoughts creep back into my mind, keeping me company through out the night. I know I shouldn't worry about what I cannot control. I should be thankful for being prepared, and having the means to take care of this situation, but it still doesn't loosen the knots in my stomach.

But, as they say, this too shall pass. Until then, watch out. I'm a woman armed with Lysol and Windex, and I think I see a spot on my window.

{a little inspiration}

i love green- especially paired with other colors (and no, chocolate brown isn't the only color to pair it with!)

have a look....

{payback is a B!&#@$}

Picture this.....

You're showering. Eyes are closed, warm water pouring on head. Ah...so relaxing. Suddenly the water turns cold, VERY cold. You gasp in shock. And then you hear uncontrollable, hysterical laughter.

He got me back, not once, but TWICE! Two cold...no, freezing (huge) glasses of water were dumped on me in the shower.

Touche, honey. Touche!

{april fools!}

How was your April Fools? Good? Did you get pranked? Or maybe you were the prankster! Well, I love me a GOOD, hilarious, April fools joke! I wanted so badly to prank Andrew first thing in the morning yesterday, but I knew if I started too early, he'd be more suspicious the rest of the day, hence ruining all of the greatest surprises I had in store for him.

Right before noon, I could contain myself no longer though, and called him.

Him: Hey Honey, what's up?

Me: *big sigh* Well...I just got rear ended. Yeah, it's pretty bad. I think it's totaled. I'm just sitting in my car waiting for the police to show up. *another big sigh*

Him: What?! Are you serious? Are you okay?

Me: *trying soooo hard not to laugh* Uh, yeah, I'm okay. But you know the first thing the girl said to me when I got out of the car to see the damage?

Him: Was she rude?

Me: Not really...she said, "APRIL FOOLS!!!"

At this point I was laughing hysterically. He...not so much.

When I got home from work, I went to work on my second prank, "Fauxberry" pie.

On his way home from work, Andrew called to see what was for dinner, and I casually responded, "Oh, I don't know. I'm not really in the mood for anything but pie, so we'll see." I don't think he believed me until he got home and saw that I had something baking in the oven and I was stirring some pink, fluffy stuff (which I told him was the pie topping...you know, kind of like a meringue). He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Are we really having pie for dinner!?" and I simply replied, "Yeah. It just sounded so good!" Then, while he was in the shower, I quickly got the "pie" out of the oven and "frosted" it with the pink fluff. When he got out, I said, "K, let's eat!" He did a double take at the "pie" and then back and me and just shrugged. It wasn't until I dished it up that he realized it was meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top! He ended up loving it and thought it was not only delicious, but it was a great prank!

FYI: The meatloaf recipe I used was delicious! I didn't put it in a pie crust though, and I used instant mashed potatoes (rather than real) and colored them with a little food coloring (instead of adding pured beets) since Andrew hates beets!

The last prank I pulled was by far, the BEST! I could hardly restrain myself from laughing every time I thought about it. Here's what I did....

P.S. This is not for those who have weak stomachs....don't say I didn't warn you!

I bought a full size tootsie roll, unwrapped it, cut it into 3 pieces, and moulded it into......well........this...Yes, my friends, I LOOKS like cat poop, but it's just my sculpting genius. I placed them under the covers on Andrew's side of the bed, and waited. The best part is that when I went to take the picture, our cat had to check out the goods. I think it just makes the picture that much better, don't you?

When we went to bed, I literally had to bite my tongue so I wouldn't laugh. The moment of pure elation happened when Andrew flipped the covers down and saw this. He took a step back, eyes wide and mouth open in a look of shock. Then he looked at me.

I tried to look as surprised as I could and yelled, "Bad cat!", but it came out more like this, "Bad ca-ha-ha-hat!" as I was laughing so hard. It took him a minute to realize that they were faux terds and then he had a good laugh too.

Sorry, honey! I can't wait for next years pranks!

P.S. To read about another genius prank, click HERE!