Monthly Archives: March 2012

Chocolate-Covered Bacon

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Yesterday one of my friends was having a little dinner party at her house, so I made one of my favorite hors d’oeuvres to bring, plus something new that I’d never made before – chocolate-covered bacon.  I’d tried it for the first time on my birthday and really liked it, and I thought it would be something fun and unique to take to a party.  I’d say it was a hit!  People really got a kick out of it, and most everyone seemed to like the sweet-and-salty combination.

For the tempering of the chocolate, I basically followed the directions from the chocolate issue of Food Network Magazine, and I just kinda “winged” the rest of it, but it turned out pretty good.  Here’s how to make it:

Open a package of thick-cut bacon and thread each strip on a small bamboo skewer.  Cover a jelly-roll pan with aluminum foil, and place a metal rack on top of it.  Lay out the bacon skewers on the rack, and bake at 400° F for 20-25 minutes or until crisp.  Let cool completely.

Finely chop 8 oz. semisweet chocolate.  Combine three-quarters of the chocolate plus 1 teaspoon shortening in a microwaveable bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir, then continue to microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and the temperature is 100°.  Remove the bowl and place it in a larger bowl of cold water; stir in the remaining chocolate until melted (the temperature should drop to about 82°).  Remove the bowl from the water and microwave in 10-second intervals until chocolate is at 90°.

Use a spoon to cover the bacon in chocolate and let set a room temperature.  Rewarm chocolate to 90° if it cools and become too thick for dipping.  Store bacon in refrigerator.

{I wish I’d gotten some better quality photos of the finished product, but I only had time to snap one quick picture before heading to the party.}

Enjoy!

random photos…

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…from my photography class!

school – no, life – has been kicking me in the you-know-what lately.  my brain is tired, my eyes are tired, but alas, here the blog sits, waiting on me.

only a little over a month until graduation though, which is good or bad, depending on how i look at it.  but for this little blog, i think it will be good!  we will see.

so anyway, just a few minutes ago, as i stared through my haze of mental exhaustion at the blank post, hoping some inspiration would come to me before the ticking clock and my comfortable bed convinced me to wait until the morning, the inspiration did come – in the form of my photography class project photos, which i’ve been meaning to post.

they’re not perfect, and yet i was happy shooting them and i’m happy looking at them.

here is a bit of what i’ve been doing:

they are random.  they are simple.  but they are mine.

and for some reason, they bring a sense of calm into my life, which is greatly needed right now.

xo

a celebration.

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i seem to have issues with dragging birthday celebrations out into the rest of the month, and sometimes into the next month…[this may or may not have been the case with my bday, if you recall this post, and this post, and this post...haha.]  but in my defense, we did celebrate my brother’s birthday late, and with this week being so busy with school stuff and interviews and trying to lose the pounds i gained after eating my way through spring break…

i know.  excuses, excuses.

anyway, here are some photos from our little family birthday celebration for mike:

{our outdoor kitty, nibbles, managed to look tremendously bored throughout the entire celebration!}

{we were all giggling at the third hole in the liner of his new swimsuit… very mature, i know!}

a fun time was had by all!  well, all but one.

we felt bad because we were leaving for chicago early the following morning so we had to take little lucky to the kennel before it closed for the evening, which meant that he didn’t get to partake in the celebration.  and he of all people [er, individuals] LOVES parties.  specifically those that involve opening presents, because that’s one of his favorite pastimes.

poor little guy!  we really missed him and his expert gift-unwrapping skills that night.

no chance we’ll let you miss out on the fun next time, buddy!

SBXII: Documented by Food

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wanna know what i did for my last spring break of college?

…i spent a little time in lots of places – at home in mansfield; in austin; in dallas; in libertyville, illinois; in houston; and in college station

…i hung out with my family and also visited my friend angela

…but mostly, i ate.

lots and lots of good food.

from start to finish, it was one yummy meal after another.  i didn’t plan it like that, but that’s just kind of the way it turned out.  and being the self-proclaimed foodie that i am, i’d say it was quite a fabulous way to spend my break!

so to sum up sb 2012, here’s a collection of photos of the treats i indulged in over the course of the week:

anddd now it’s time to hit the gym!

Singalila Gallery

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Yesterday my family and I spent the day in Libertyville, Illinois, my dad’s hometown, to work on cleaning out his deceased uncle’s home.  Libertyville has a charming little downtown, and after lunch, my mom and I took a moment to explore some of its shops and boutiques, just for fun.  Which is how we came upon Singalila Gallery… our new favorite store.

Filled with gorgeous, one-of-a-kind pieces of art, jewelry, accessories, home decor, and books, it was one of those places that we could have bought anything from and been 100% excited about it.  The clever and lovely ways everything was displayed, the bright colors, the uniqueness of it all…we were in love.  The girl working there was stylish and friendly, and she clearly knew the importance of excellent customer service.  On its Facebook page, Singalila says, “Every place has a feeling. Our desire at Singalila is to make you feel welcome, energized, glamorous, and inspired.”  I couldn’t describe the atmosphere of the gallery any better than that.  Needless to say, we made quite a few purchases!  I’m not able to make it to Libertyville too often, but now I’m searching for an excuse to go back!

{All photos came from the Singalila Gallery Facebook page}

signs of spring.

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sorry i’ve been MIA lately… it’s my last spring break so i’m enjoying it to the fullest!

i’m loving that spring seems to have sprung… everything is starting to look green and the trees are blooming.  today i even saw some bluebonnets along the highway – they’re out early this year!  and as much as i dislike losing an hour of sleep, it’s so great to have it staying light until 8 pm.

i’ve been busy shopping, eating, and hanging out with the fam this weekend, but i’ll post more about that later.  right now i need to head to bed because we’re heading to the airport at 5 am tomorrow morning to catch a plane to chicago.  i just wanted to check in and let everyone know i’m still alive!  see you when i get back on wednesday!

birthday boy.

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this is my brother mike.

today he turned 19 years old.

this kid has been partners in crime with me since i was three, through my best times and my worst.  sure, we argue every now and then like siblings do.  but mostly we laugh a lot, teach each other things, confide in each other, and celebrate our differences.

a few things about Mike:

he’s “brother bear” to me, or “peekal” as i also used to call him.

i was “j” to him when we were little.

he goes to university of texas, my rival school.

he’s always been a chocoholic.

he was student body president of his high school.

he’s both a math and computer genius.

he’s very competitive and used to cry if he didn’t win a board game.

when he was seven or eight years old, he told me that during church he discovered how a fourth dimension exists; i believed him, and still do.

he’s an extremely easygoing yet extremely driven person.

his handwriting looks like he’s in first grade.

he’s already in the process of creating ipad applications to put on the market.

when we were little, my favorite thing to do was make him “perform” with me.  we’d hold hands and i’d sing a song and he would sway back and forth and just smile.

he has a huge heart and loves animals, especially dogs.

in our family, “chava” means sorry.  he made that up when he was little and it stuck!

he’s an awesome tennis player.

he has the amazing ability to avoid answering questions/giving anyone else in my family details about his life if he so chooses.  i don’t know how he manages that!

one time i heard him saying math problems in his sleep.

he had a favorite little stuffed duck named quack quack that he used to bring everywhere.

he was the most patient listener while i read to him from all my books and magazines.  in the mornings especially, we’d climb in bed together and i’d read to him.

he used to spill his milk pretty much every day between the ages of six and ten.

…he was also in his terrible twos until he was about ten.

we loved watching scooby-doo and bugs bunny together.

he was not one of those annoying little brothers that likes to pester you – he was pretty content doing his own thing.

he’s a true gentlemen – he always opens the door for me, including the car door.

he gives good hugs!

i’m so lucky to have such a wonderful guy to call my brother.  i couldn’t be more blessed.  mike, thank you for always being there for me and a happy, happy 19th year to you!

xoxo

austin roadtrip.

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last saturday, my friend kyle and i decided it would be the perfect weekend to go to austin.  i had been wanting to visit my friend michael as well as my brother since the semester started, and michael had said we could crash at his apartment (which happens to be very nice), so we took him up on that and headed to capitol of texas and one of my favorite cities in the world.

we had dinner with my brother and his roommate caleb at pluckers, the famous austin-born wing bar.  i had never been there; in fact, i’m pretty sure i’d only had wings once before in my life!  we don’t really come from a wings kind of family i guess.  as i said to my brother, i really can’t picture my mom eating them, for whatever reason.  (not that she wouldn’t…it’s just hard to picture…)

in any case, i was excited to try them.  i played it safe and got some honey bbq wings and a side of cajun corn on the cob.  the wings were tasty, and the corn was great too but SUPER spicy.  as in eyes-watering, beads-of-sweat-on-your-forehead, mouth-on-fire-for-an-hour-afterward-even-though-you-chugged-five-glasses-of-water spicy!  good thing i’m a texan and can handle that!!

my brother got two kinds – buffalo medium and hallelujah.  he let me try one of his buffalo wings and it was SO good.  i’d definitely order those next time.  or the hallelujah wings – he and caleb were both raving about those.  i was so glad we went because i learned that i really like wings!

it was so nice to see my brother, even if it was just for a meal.  he’s loving austin and it’s great to see him doing so well.  i meant to get a picture of us before we left, but the slam-dunk contest was starting, so of course that took priority with the guys! :)

after dinner, it was already pretty late, so we said goodbye and headed over to michael’s.  it was fun to catch up and see his place, and then we got ready and headed to – where else? – sixth street!  always an adventure!  we went to so many awesome bars and met up with some of kyle’s friends too.  it was such a fun night.  and we definitely couldn’t leave without stopping at one of the food trucks camped out near sixth!  (there are so many!)  i had the best buffalo-meat-and-vegetable stir-fry with rice.  unfortunately i don’t remember the name of the truck…

the next morning, kyle and i got going fairly early because we knew we needed some pictures for our photography project this week.  i did much better documenting the day in photos than i had the day before:

{we ate at this amazing pizza place that my brother had told us about}

{my slice of margherita pizza was out of this world.  we sat on the curb enjoying the beautiful weather, eating our pizza off paper plates, and people-watching just like true austinites!}

{south congress ave…notice the famous lucy in disguise with diamonds costume shop.  we didn’t go in!  uncommon OBJECTS was really cool though.}

{this one area of south congress has all these food trucks parked together in a lot with tables and strings of lights.  it sort of resembles a fair ground, and you can get any kind of food you can think of!}

{i wasn’t leaving without getting a cupcake from hey cupcake!  we wanted to take them to go, so they gave us little individual plastic to-go containers for each one.  i got sweetberry – strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting – and kyle got michael jackson – chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting.}

{there were vendors selling beautiful blown glass – ornaments, vases, plates, globes.  one of them saw my camera and asked if i would take some pictures and send them to him.}

{we stopped at the pennybacker bridge (or 360 bridge as it’s often called) to snap some photos.}

{lake austin}

{those rolling hills}

{kyle looking out over the lake…and no that’s not our six-pack there under the tree.  just to clarify!}

{what a view.}

{before we left, we ate our cupcakes up there on a rock overlooking the lake, the bridge, and the highway.  my sweetberry cupcake was possibly the best cupcake i’ve ever had (along with my friend laura’s coconut rum cupcakes, which can’t be beat), and the gorgeous view and company of my dear friend kyle made it that much sweeter.}

xoxo.

birthday things.

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since last week …and last weekend …and this week… [haha] have been so crazy busy, i’m way behind and haven’t been able to share the events of my actual birthday.  it was the little things that made that day such a good one, but i absolutely would not want to forget what a happy, happy birthday it was.

as somewhat of a side note, the first wonderful thing about it was that the test on my birthday was postponed a week; i found out the monday before and was elated.  my professor had simply asked the class, “any objections to having the test on wednesday, the 22nd?” and a girl had raised her hand and said she didn’t want to have it then, so we took a vote, and as it turned out, no one wanted to have the test that day.  so we voted to have it a week later.  i didn’t know it was such a democratic system or i might have suggested the date change sooner!  either way, definitely a good thing!

as for the rest of the day:

{an assortment of food magazines to look at…always a hit with me.  thank you mom & dad!}

{gorgeous tulips from my dear friend angela}

{the best carrot cake ever, made by my mother}

{a birthday garland}

{so many birthday cards!  you know how i love them.}

that night, my friend kyle and I went to Messina Hof for chocolate night, which they have every wednesday night.  we’d never been before, but we had a blast.  we tried all different wines, plus chocolate-covered bacon and chocolate-covered fried pickles!  i’d been wanting to try chocolate-covered bacon since that seems to be the “in” thing right now, but i wasn’t sure about the chocolate-covered pickles.  they both turned out to be really good though!

{a little collage kyle had posted from our night at the winery}

after our little chocolate adventure, kyle had to study for a test (he was such a sweetheart for spending as much time with me as he did knowing he had a test the next day!).  my friends thomas, rebecca, and zach came over to celebrate, and we ended up going to the tap for a few drinks.  it was a fun way to end the day!

{thomas & me…i don’t know why my legs look this freakishly tan in this picture.  they’re not tan in real life.}

{me & becca}

it was a perfect day.

on a final note, i had a birthday dinner at la bodega (one of my favorites!) on friday because my friend angela was coming in town from houston to celebrate, and then we all went out to northgate afterwards.  here’s a picture of the crowd all together:

{kyle; katlyn; lauren’s boyfriend arnold; lauren; me; angela; thomas; and zach}

thank you to all my friends and family who made my birthday so special!