2012 Calendar

Happy New Year's Eve! I was inspired by YHL's DIY calendars, and decided to make my own for 2012, modeled after their 2010 version. I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan, so I thought it would be fun to make some of her song titles the theme for this calendar, especially since some of them are quite relevant to the month! Click on the each image to download if you'd like!

Falafels

Mmmm. The last time I had falafels was on spring break in Germany. While they were delicious, it was quite greasy, so I was excited to see Mama Pea had a healthy baked version. The best part is the tzatziki sauce though! I didn't have any pita bread, but French bread worked well, turning it into a falafel sub.

Chocolate Chip Blondies

I definitely have a new favorite dessert blog. How did it take me so long to discover Katie's healthy dessert blog? You might have remembered the first recipe I tried back here. I decided on chocolate chip blondies--one of the more popular recipes from her blog this time. They definitely did not disappoint! Soo delicious and rich that you wouldn't believe that they're made from chickpeas and has no flour. And it doesn't get better than 74 calories a piece.
 

Shabby Apple After Christmas Sale

Hey guys! Shabby Apple is having a 20% off sale + free shipping until the end of the year. Just enter the code WINTERSALE at check out to get 20% off the sale items and free shipping, which will be going away next year. Click on over to start shopping!

I think this dress paired with these pumps would make the perfect New Year's Eve outfit!

WHIT

I recently discovered a new designer and am totally in love with her WHIT collection. After Whitney Pozgay graduated from UT Austin, she moved to New York, and began working at Kate Spade. From there, she moved on to Steven Alan, where she was the head designer. In fall 2010, she launched her first collection with three other partners. My favorite parts of this collection are the patterns, simplicity, and subtle details (like the asymmetry of the bubble skirt, or bow twists on the dresses). Below are my favorite looks from the collection.

Pumpkin Goodies

I did a little baking on Christmas Eve. . . probably should have done something with mint or gingerbread--nevertheless, some delicious sweets! First up was Jenna's vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I was ecstatic at how well these turned out!

I actually took a bunch of pictures on my regular camera, but these Instagram images turned out way better! It's a pretty awesome--I see why everyone's so obsessed with it now!

Next up, Happy Herbivore pumpkin bread! Loved the simple recipe and yumminess.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Let it Snow

I kind of wish it would snow here.

Cait plus Ate

Recently, I designed a custom header for Caitlin from Cait Plus Ate. She was so great to work with, and here is final product we came up with!
 

Check out her awesome blog here!

Quick Breakfast

This simple and fast breakfast was inspired by Allie's peach crisp.

1. Place the sliced apples into your bowl.

2. Combine all the other ingredients together.

3. Spoon the crumble on top and microwave for 2 minutes.

*Greek yogurt would make a nice topping too.

Alfajores de Manjarblanco

The other day I made these Peruvian cookies, which are very similar to macarons. Two sugar cookies sandwiching a layer of caramel. They're quite buttery/rich, so one little cookie will go a long way. So simple to make and it tastes delicious!

Ingredients

- manjarblanco (sweetened condensed milk cooked to a caramel): You can buy this at any grocery store; the brand I used was La Lechera

- 2 c all purpose flour

- 3/4 c butter

- 4 Tbsp powdered sugar

1. Mix butter, flour and sugar together.
2. Knead together until a dough is formed. (Here, I had to add a bit of water because the dough was having trouble sticking.)
3. Roll out dough on a flour surface and cut circles with a cookie cutter (the mouth of a small shot glass works well too).
4. Transfer the rounds onto a greased sheet pan.
5. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
6. Remove from over and let cool.

7. Spread a layer of manjarblanco over one cookie and press another on top.
**Depending on how big your cookie cutter is, you will yield a different amount of cookies. I got about 24 sandwiches out of my dough.

So I think I found the perfect dress for my sequin obsession this season. It'd be perfect for a holiday party paired with this coat and these heels!

Extreme Home Makeover Experience

 Yesterday, I was on site working on a house for Extreme Makeover - Home Edition!

For those of you who don't know, in September, a major wildfire struck Bastrop, Texas and destroyed numerous houses. We were building a home for a volunteer fireman and his family whose home was completely gone due to the fire.

 The experience was so cool...it was amazing to see how QUICKLY everything got done.

 

It was also interesting to see the the show gets filmed. Here they are filming a very scripted scene. While the numerous volunteers that came did a LOT of work, in this scene, they were told to act busy/pretend to be doing stuff as the scene got re-shot about 5 times, lol.

Kelsey, Ryan, and I with Paul Dimeo!