Paint Chip Mosaic

So I recently moved into a new house, and was struggling to find cheap decorations for my walls that didn't look awful. After many Pinterest searches, I came across the idea of making a paint chip mosaic! The inspiration comes from here, and I pretty much copied the design exactly since I love sunflowers.

The first step is going to the hardware store and stealing a ton of paint chips. This is the best step. You get to pretend that you are painting all the rooms in your house, and that you really need 15 chips of the same color, just in case. Maybe you have 15 roommates and they all want their own sample to approve before you paint it. I made up a lot of stories in my head like this, in case a store employee asked me what I was doing. No one did.

Despite stealing like 100, I still ran out of the colors I needed but luckily found this entire book of them in our garage!

Next you trace out your design lightly in pencil, cut your paint chips in to small, uneven squares and get to pasting! (Note: This will take 1 million years).

I made my pieces a little too small, so it really took forever. I did each piece individually, putting a dab of glue on the back of each with a toothpick. It's good to watch old episodes of Arthur while doing this. 

I framed it on some white printer paper, and voila!

It really complements my craigslist chair.

Final thoughts: Would I recommend this project? I guess, if you are under-employed, not easily bored, have TV to catch up on, and your housemates don't mind having a table covered in newspaper and glue and scraps of paper for weeks. 

The end result was quite nice though! 

Banana Bread Pancakes

I am currently in Denver visiting my best friend! Colorado is awesome. Almost as awesome as pancakes. This morning I got to cook in her kitchen, which is so much nicer than mine. It's very grown up and full of counter space and organized spices. 

Yum, banana mush. 

Although I used all-purpose flour, the original recipe called for whole wheat pastry flour, which I'm sure would also be good. I'm not sure if it was the altitude or I am just really good at making pancakes, but these looked quite pretty. 

 Next time I would definitely add chocolate chips and maybe walnuts.

I fed them to Stef and her boyfriend, who is visiting from England. He was also the very first person I know of to actually try to make a recipe off my blog at home!

They ate them plain, but I added butter and brown sugar on top. The original recipe also included a recipe for a vanilla maple glaze which I'm sure would be delicious as well. 

Banana Bread Pancakes Makes 10 pancakes Adapted from How Sweet It Is  2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon  1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1 cup milk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 3 large ripe bananas, mashed 2 tablespoons melted butter 1 egg, whisked  1/2 cup chocolate chips and/or walnuts (optional) Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl Add in milk and vanilla and stir (batter will still be a little dry at this point) Stir in bananas and melted butter  Stir in egg Stir in chocolate chips or walnuts if using  Cook over medium-low heat

Goldfish Pancakes

There's only one thing to do when you wake up across town on your friend's floor - make pancakes for everyone! Lots and lots of pancakes. 

I used the basic recipe that I used in my Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes, just doubled. I also didn't melt the butter or mix very well, so there were some very buttery chunks...

There were a lot of goldfish around, so why not. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Especially dipped in maple syrup?

It actually wasn't that bad. The goldfish got a little soggy but they added a nice touch of salt to the mix.
I only used goldfish in about half of them, then put chocolate chips in the other ones, like a normal person.

Hooray!

Goldfish (optional) Pancakes Serves 5 people 3 cups all-purpose flour 7 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons salt 4 tablespoons sugar 2 eggs 2.5 cups milk 6 tablespoons butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup Goldfish crackers 1/2 cup chocolate chips Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl In a smaller bowl, beat the egg then add the melted butter, milk, and vanilla Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and drop onto hot griddle Place goldfish into batter before you flip each pancakes (alternatively mix chocolate chips into batter).

Savory Grits Waffles, Take II

My friend Pooja is visiting for the week, so I decided to make her some of my favorite grits waffles. 

After a nutritious breakfast of leftover chocolate cookies, we got to work. 

The grits, butter, and milk get all melted together. I tried to convince Pooja it was lemon sauce and get her to eat it, but I guess that trick only works once. 

I need to start growing my own chives so I don't have to buy them!

The batter was still as beautiful as last time.

 And they were just as delicious :)

Ain't no party like a Pooja party!

Click here for recipe from previous post!

Lemon Walnut Waffles

It's officially summer!!!!!!!! I originally wanted to make lemon poppyseed pancakes, but I am having trouble finding poppyseeds. These were a close substitute though. 

How to make lemon walnut waffles: 

Step 1: Ignore the random slabs of meat your roommate has left chillin' on a chair.

 Step 2: Zest your lemon!

Step 3: Realize the recipe called for lemon extract, not lemon juice. Decide to use juice anyway. Squeeze your lemon as hard as you can! Mix in a bunch of other stuff.

Step 4: Pour batter into iron, and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Step 5: Remove, admire, and devour.

These are not a super crispy waffle, but they are delightfully airy. The lemon flavor is mild but noticeable. Next time I might omit the walnuts to let the lemon flavor through more. 

I ate one plain and one with maple syrup. Happy Summer!

Lemon Walnut Waffles Makes 10 square waffles Adapted from Sunny Anderson 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 tablespoons sugar + 3 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 eggs, divided 1.75 cups milk 1/4 cup vegetable oil Zest from 1/2 lemon Juice from 1 lemon  1/2 cup chopped walnuts Mix flour, baking powder, 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a large bowl In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks then add milk, oil, zest, and lemon juice and mix. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined Whisk egg whites and 3 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl then add to other ingredients.  Pour batter into waffle iron, sprinkle with walnuts, and cook until steam stops rising from iron

Doughnut Pancakes

In case you missed it, yesterday was National Doughnut Day. (It's also National Candy Month, which I think I am doing a pretty good job of honoring every day). 

Here is a picture of some doughnuts my mom made from scratch last Christmas to give you some idea of what I am trying to live up to:

Mine were not quite as beautiful but they sure tasted like doughnuts. Since I was alone I cut the recipe in half, but then forgot and ending up adding twice as much oil as I needed to the batter. It also was really thick, so I added a ton more milk than called for. The batter is really thick, then you add extra oil to the pan to cook them so it's almost like frying. 

The original recipe said to put the batter in a Ziploc and cut the end and squeeze it out into a perfect doughnut shape, but who has time for that seriously? I just blobbed it on. 

They came out nicely, and I didn't even burn myself on hot oil. 

Next, you make the frosting! Try not to burn your butter and spill your sugar. 

I don't know how she got her frosting so white looking. Maybe her butter wasn't burnt. I think the vanilla would turn it brownish anyway though. Despite overheating the pan and accidentally boiling everything, the frosting tasted great. Like a real doughnut! Must be all the sugar. 

These actually tasted like a wonderful hybrid between a doughnut and a pancake. Forget those cronuts everyone is talking about. This is the next big thing.

After eating one, I also felt the same way I generally feel after eating a doughnut. Slightly ill. But totally worth it.

Doughnut Pancakes Adapted from Cooking Classy  Makes 6 pancakes 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups milk   1 egg 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon applesauce 1.5 tablespoons sugar For glaze: 1/8 cup butter 1 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup milk pinch of salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl Whisk milk, egg, vegetable oil, applesauce, and sugar in a larger bowl then add in the flour mixture Cover the entire bottom of a heated non-stick pan with vegetable oil, then use a ladle to pour batter into a doughnut shape. As more oil as needed while cooking.  For glaze: Melt butter in a skillet (you can use the same one you cooked the pancakes in, just make sure it's not too hot!) Add sugar, salt, and milk until dissolved then mix in baking soda Remove from heat and stir in vanilla Serve warm on top of pancakes

Tomato Feta Pancakes

 I had a bunch of tomatoes, so obviously I put them into pancakes. It seems like not many people have tried this before, so I had to make up the recipe somewhat. I based it off one I found on the internet, but it was in French and all the measurements were in grams so I had to make some adjustments.

I dropped the tomatoes in boiling water to take the skins off. Naked tomatoes look kinda gross.

Then I sliced each one in half and scooped the seeds out.

Chopped them up, added feta, soy milk, an egg, baking powder, white and whole wheat flour.
I finally used the griddle - it made cooking these go so much faster.

My main worry was that these wouldn't stay together but they did surprisingly well.

The taste however was not the best. I think the tomato was too moist, so the inner parts didn't seem all the way cooked.
Next time I think a little more flour. Sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh would definitely be better.

But we ate them anyway!

Tomato and Feta Pancakes Makes 8 small pancakes Inspired by Alter Gusto 5 tomatoes (chopped, with skins and seeds removed) OR 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (recommended) 1/2 cup feta cheese 1/4 cup whole wheat flour 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 egg 1/2 cup soy milk Mix flours and baking powder, then add all other ingredients. Add milk last - use more if necessary to create a liquid consistency