Infused water

I keep seeing fruit- and herb-infused water on pinterest, and it was only a matter of time before I tried it. I'm permanently dehydrated, and this is the perfect way to keep me drinking. I just chop up some fruit, grab some mint from my fire escape, and toss it into my pitcher!

A very refreshing batch

Roasted radishes

When I was little, I loved radishes. I was the six year old snacking on radishes and carrots while everyone else was eating french fries. I still like them, but I honestly don't love the bitter taste of raw radishes as much as I did when I was a kid.

I got a whole bunch of radishes from my CSA, and I decided to give roasting a try. They turned out GREAT. I would highly recommend this method for cooking radishes--takes the bitterness out but leaves most of the flavor intact.

Sliced thin

Fire escape tomatoes

My fire escape has been very generous to me recently! I have more mint than I know what to do with, plenty of basil and parsley, a pepper plant with two green peppers, some celery I rooted, and a HUGE tomato plant that has been giving me a bunch of tomatoes recently! The plant itself doesn't look all that great, but I think that's because it put so much energy into its fruit. I can't complain, though!

Just as the first one was turning red

My first little harvest

So many more!

Garden mint chocolate chip ice cream

I love ice cream. I can't eat regular ice cream because I can't have milk fat, so my ice cream maker is my best friend. I LOVE mint chocolate chip ice cream. Luckily, my mint is starting to grow big enough to trim and use for ice cream. The other day, I discovered that you can buy push pop containers! I got a pack of 24 push pop containers for less than $30 from Amazon. 

I used mint from two different mint plants I have--one I planted from trimmings from my mom's mint, and one that I bought at Trader Joe's. My ice creams are all custard-based (include egg yolks) for creaminess since there isn't any milk fat involved.

Mint plant #1 

Mint plant #2 (rooted from cuttings)

Fun with straps #2

My second dress for my fiance's med school graduation came from a self-drafted pattern that I fully lined and incorporated some fun squiggly straps. I generated the initial pattern for my black dress with white polka dots with the knotted straps (blog post here), which has an A-line skirt. I modified it for this new dress into a pencil skirt, including a back vent. It's not a wiggle skirt (it doesn't taper in at the knees)--it's just a straight pencil skirt.

Back straps

Fun with straps #1

My fiance graduated from medical school last weekend, so I made two new dresses for the occasion! I had fun making creative straps for both of them.

For this first dress, I used Simplicity 5498 (out of print, the first dress I ever made) with a few sizing alterations--I took it in at the back seams connecting the side pieces to the back panels and in the center front as well. The dress has princess seams and flares out at the bottom, giving it a mermaid shape. I used a thick fabric with some stretch to it, so it was really comfortable. The fabric has been in my stash for a long time, so I'm not sure what it's made from or where I bought it.

Fun with straps dress #1

Aloe Melon Sorbet

I wrote this post a while ago and never actually posted it, so my apologies for the references to the wrong month... This March heat wave has been AWESOME and has made me excited for summer cuisine like sorbet. 

Homemade pretzels

I've been planning to try making pretzels for a long time. It was definitely fun, and worth it. I wouldn't recommend it if you have as little counter space as me (I have about 4 square feet of counter space total). Making the dough into pretzel shapes was the hardest part, so after I had enough for everyone in my lab to have one at journal club, I moved on to little pretzel nuggets. Just a heads up--these taste like movie theater pretzels, not like Philadelphia soft pretzels. Both are delicious, but I'm still looking for a Philadelphia pretzel recipe!

Cheesy Mustard Beer Bread

This post is a bit delayed--I made this bread for the Super Bowl. I saw this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and I got really excited! I modified it quite a bit based on what I had in my kitchen, what beer I like, and what type of cheese I can eat.

This bread made my kitchen smell like a cheesy brewery, just to warn you. It was a really good smell for about two minutes, but then it just kinda smelled bad.

Here's my modified recipe. Visit Smitten Kitchen for the assembly instructions! I also brushed some extra mustard on top after it cooled for a few minutes.

Blueberry Cinnamon Swirl Bread

You know the Cinnamon Raisin Swirl loaves of bread you can get at the store (or make yourself)? Well, I decided to twist it up some and use blueberries instead of raisins.

I made the dough in my breadmaker, then lightly kneaded in some whole, fresh blueberries. I stretched out the whole thing, put some cinnamon sugar on top, rolled it up, and baked it in a loaf pan. It turned out WONDERFULLY, and I ate it every day for breakfast for a week, toasted with some margarine on top.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Freshman year of college, my roommate introduced me to King Cakes, which her parents sent us from New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I've been working on my recipe for years, now! This year's is a chocolate-cinnamon roll--I made two small jelly rolls and twisted the two together before forming them into a ring.

Cozy Christmas (men's) Shirt

I branched out this Christmas... I made MEN'S clothing. I made two plaid flannel shirts for my fiance. I couldn't finish both in time for Christmas, so I gave him one then and finished the other one after. The first was a surprise, but I let him try on the second while I was working on it (definitely a good idea). The first didn't fit properly :( I somehow left out the front seam allowances, and the collar was too high. The second fit perfectly.