Fondant Part 2

So, the marshmallow fondant was fun to make and tastes good...very sweet...but yesterday I tried to use it. That proved to be harder than it seemed. I added a lot of confectioners sugar to the marshmallow mixture to try to get it as smooth and non-sticky as possible. It stored well and when I first rolled it out, it worked well. The first few cupcakes, I used a glass to cut circles in rolled fondant and place them on top of cupcakes that I had pre-iced with a touch of buttercream that works as a glue. They worked really well and look great, but the fondant was a little too thick and make the cupcakes way too sweet. The next few, I tried to roll thinner, but as the fondant warmed up, it became more and more sticky. It got to the point where when I rolled it out, I couldn't pull it up from the table or the rolling pin. I got a bunch more done, at a slow pace, but finally gave up when it became extra sticky.

Th cupcakes themselves taste good, and the fondant does look good, but I don't know if I'd bother with it again. I think they still taste better with regular icing. They may not look as perfect as well-done fondant, but they are much easier and taste better.

Marshmallow Fondant!

I've been saving recipes to Pinterest for a while and am just starting to get through some of them. Today I decided to try to make fondant out of marshmallows and confectioners sugar, which I pinned a few weeks ago.

I use to love working with fondant. I bought a special cake pan and a bunch of colors of rolled fondant back in college and tried to decorate a few cakes with it. They always came out looking wonderful but the fondant tasted really weird and ruined the cakes. I thought about making my own but the recipes online at the time seemed really complicated and I never got around to it.

The recipe I just used was really easy. All you do is grease a bowl and pour some mini marshmallows into it. I used about 3 big handfuls. To that, you can mix in some water or some flavoring. I used vanilla extract. You microwave them for 10 seconds at a time, stirring with a greased spoon each time. It took about 4 10-second increments until it was all melty and easy to stir (very sticky of course). Once it was done, I added food coloring to the goo. The first batch I did was purple and the second was green.

Once it's all colored, you start adding confectioners sugar. I stirred it with the spoon for a little bit but once it started coming together, I tried to get as much off the spoon as I could and then used my hands for the rest. All you do is keep kneading in confectioners sugar until it starts to feel like fondant, until it would be easy to roll out with a rolling pin. I had to knead in a lot more sugar than expected.

Anyway, once the fondant was done and no longer sticky, I saved it by wrapping it in greased plastic wrap and I put that into a tupperware container.

Tomorrow I plan to use the fondant, so stay tuned to see how it worked out!

Wall Art

I just saw an idea on Pinterest that caught my eye. If you mount 12 x 12 scrapbook paper onto a square piece of styrofoam (or I guess any square, sturdy object), and frame it, it looks like a piece of art. Get 3 or 4 or even 5 or six of them and hang them next to each other and it can look very cool! As a scrapbooker, I am definitely tempted to try this out. 

The apartment is really starting to come together, and I think once we get some things hung up on the walls, it will really look good. I have a ton of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper, which is a good start at least. I was thinking of using this idea as an over-the-bed piece, but our bedroom is burgundy and gray. The burgundy was handed to us since that is the color of the carpet, but I'm really starting to like it.  Of course, it seems that the only color of scrapbook paper that I don't have is burgundy. I guess I would have to go to Michaels or A. C. Moore for the styrofoam and frames anyway, so I could pick up some burgundy paper too. That might just be the plan, unless I find other paper that would work in one of the other rooms instead. 

My other fun art idea is to go through all of our old photographs and pick out some favorites. We can get these printed and framed and have our own art on the walls. I actually like this idea even more and think it would work well in any room. Going through photos might just be my project for the day tomorrow. Pinterest is also great for this because there are a lot of pins about hanging up different size photos in clusters. There are some really nice layouts that would look great. 

Of course, we both already have a lot of wall art from our previous places. Mine is, of course, a lot of Beatles art -- I only took the good ones - framed, signed, and/or numbered pieces. His is also a lot of music and pop culture related art as well. All of it is pretty neat and luckily now we have plenty of space for it all. It's hard now to picture exactly where everything is going to go, but hopefully we'll get that figured out soon! Wish us luck! 

Been a while

I haven't posted in a while. Over the holidays, my boyfriend and I finally found an apartment together and we are in New York City now! Between the move and job hunting and the holidays, I haven't had much of a chance to blog, but hopefully I'll be able to update this more regularly.

We've been buying lots of furniture and doing some decorating, so hopefully future posts will involve some decorating ideas and tips as well as other stuff I learn as we get our new place together. Currently, I'm waiting for UPS to deliver an entertainment center that we ordered about a week ago. I'd love for it to come soon so I can start building it today.

I'm also hoping to do a lot of cooking while I have some time at home. I love to cook and am excited to share some recipes on my blog!

I'm also looking forward to sharing some blogs about my current job search. At the moment, it's kind of discouraging because I have applied to a lot of positions without ever hearing anything back....except for one rejection which I received less than an hour after I applied, which was pretty disheartening (they couldn't have looked too hard at my application). I have a lot of experience, but I feel like employers won't be able to look past the fact that I left my last job to try teaching. It's something I'm glad I tried, but turned out not to be for me. I'd love to get back into my marketing roots, especially being in a city with so many truly interesting and fun companies, but it's not easy to get that across in a resume and cover letter. I know I'm smart and I know I can do pretty much any job, but it's hard to get anyone to give you a chance, when there are so many people with lots of focused job experience competing against you. I know I'll find something -- it's only been a week of actual job hunting, but it's definitely going to be hard.

Anyway, that's my update for now. I'll be back soon!

Pinterest is not Killing Feminism

I haven't written a blog in a while, obviously, simply because I never know what to write about. I debate subjects in my head and then figure, what's the point of writing something? Then again, sometimes, it's just a good way to spend some free time when I'm not sure what else to do.

Anyway, an article I read on Buzzfeed about Pinterest, the new(ish) social media pin board site got me thinking. I am on Pinterest a lot lately. It's a fun website where I''ve gotten recipe ideas and fashion tips and ideas. I'm not really a huge feminist or anything, but it annoys me when it is insinuated that a feminist can't possibly care about looking good, eating well, etc. What also annoys me is pseudo-intellectuals reading into this like it's some big news story that women enjoy food, clothes, fitness, etc. I think the most popular women's magazines have realized that for years.

I joined Pinterest a while ago, and I was skeptical about starting up with yet another social media site. I have enjoyed it because it's somewhere I can go to find new and interesting tips, products, ideas, recipes, etc. I don't think that by enjoying those things, I am somehow a traitor to women. I care about women's equality and fairness. I agree with equal pay for equal work and keeping the government out of women's healthcare, but I also like cooking good food, wearing nice clothes, feeling good about how I look, etc. The two things don't have anything to do with one another, in my opinion.

For some reason, Pinterest has an overwhelmingly female population. That's just who happened to join and use the website. Maybe it's because women enjoy sharing ideas and products with others while for men, I think it's something they just don't do as much. I agree in keeping men and women equal, politically and socially, obviously, but there are just some things that are always going to be different. Men and women sometimes think differently, and have different interests and ways of sharing things, but that is a completely separate issue. I am still enjoying Pinterest for a welcome distraction when I need it and for inspiration to try new things. I don't think women need to give up doing things that they enjoy for some feminist ideal....isn't that the complete opposite of feminism?  Giving up what we like because men don't do the same thing is counterintuitive to me.

:End rant for the day:

Sephora Sample Review: Clarins One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser

Clarins One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser - $35 at Sephora.com

And the reviews keep on coming! I have more samples hanging around the house than I even thought I had! I found a bunch more of them this morning hiding in my makeup case. So many things to try! I decided I wanted to at least change it up from simply moisturizers and eye creams, so today I am branching out into cleansers. I realized I also have actual makeup to try out, as well as some perfume, so that's all on it's way too.

This week, I have been using my mini sample of Clarins One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser. I haven't used a lot of Clarins products recently, though I used to be a big fan of their lipstick and foundation. It can be difficult to find an exfoliating cleanser that is the right balance between harsh and smooth. The little beads or particles inside some can be so abrasive that it feels like you're scratching your face. Some can be so light that they don't feel much different than a regular cleanser, and they don't give you the benefits of exfoliation. This cleanser is definitely a good mix of the two. The silica microbeads inside feel good on the skin, and you can also feel the exfoliation happening. The cleanser is made with orange extract that gives it a light, citrusy smell, that is perfect for a morning wake-up.

The cleanser washes off nicely and leaves the skin feeling fresh after sloughing off all those dead skin cells.  I wouldn't use it as a daily cleanser, since you're not supposed to exfoliate every day, but as a deep cleanser to use 2-3 times a week, it would be great. At $35 for a 4.4 oz bottle, it's pretty affordable for this type of product. I'm not clamoring to buy it right away, but it's a solid product and I certainly couldn't find any negatives, which is a big plus considering my sensitive skin.

Sephora Sample Review: Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm

It's not like me to select eye cream samples from Sephora, but I think I selected this without really looking at what it was. Nevertheless, I do like eye creams when I remember to use them. They usually feel good in the morning and do seem to help with puffiness or bags under the eyes. I have been using a Sephora brand product that I like a lot, but even when I could really use eye balm or cream, I tend to forget that I have it.

Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm from Sephora.com

This eye cream was good. I wouldn't say it was anything special or has any magic powers. At $65 for the full size product, I certainly won't be purchasing it any time soon. But, I did use up the sample and I had no problems with it. The smell was neutral and the cream was soft and smooth and felt nice going on. It wasn't sticky or greasy at all.

The description on Sephora's website states that it used a microalgae-based ingredient called alguronic acid that "fights visible signs of aging." Using just a small sample of the product, I couldn't confirm or deny that it works to combat the signs of aging, but I have no doubt that it would work just as well if not better than some of the other anti-aging eye creams out there. It's one of Sephora's greener products, formulated without a synthetic dyes or fragrances and without sulfates, so that is a major plus in my book.

Overall, this seems like a pretty good product. If I used eye cream more frequently I might be tempted to get it, but until then, I do just fine with the cheaper one that I use once in a blue moon.