Laur is Crafty

I love Dairy Free Ice Cream, it’s such an awesome and useful book, but I was so disappointed when I made the Classic Vanilla Ice Cream. I used cheap Vanilla Extract, so it was probably my own fault, but the whole batch tasted strongly of alcohol from the first bite to the last! The mark of a good batch of Vanilla Ice Cream is something that doesn’t require toppings to be palatable, and honestly I don’t mind going artificial to get there, and that is how I got here. Is propylene glycol safe to ingest? No idea, and honestly I don’t really care at this point, because this ice cream is DELICIOUS!

Ingredients: 1 can (13.5oz) Whole Foods 365 Coconut Cream 1 ½ cups Homemade Cashew Cream (approx 1:3-ish cashews to water) ½ cup Wholesome Granulated Allulose 1 Tbsp LorAnn Butter Vanilla Bakery Emulsion ½ tsp Xanthan Gum (optional)

I’ve been fiddling with this recipe quite a bit this year, trying to keep it dairy free but similar in taste and texture to the orignal, and it’s my absolute favorite bread for sandwiches. Even when the results come out a bit wonky!

(P.S. - This bread machine cost me $5 at the thrift store and it’s probably the best $5 I’ve ever spent. If you can’t afford a bread machine but really want one, go thrifting! Who knows, you might luck out like I did.)

Sour Cream Bread - 1½ lb Loaf page 53 of The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger [amazon link]

Ingredients: ½ cup + 1 Tbsp Water 1 cup Sour Cream* 3 ½ cups Bread Flour 1 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar 2 tsp Gluten (no offence to author, but definitely optional) 1 ¼ tsp Salt 2 tsp SAF Yeast OR 2 ½ tsp Bread Machine Yeast

*Vegan Variation for Sour Cream: 8 oz Kite Hill Cream Cheese ½ tsp Lemon Juice ¼ tsp Apple Cidar Vinegar 1 Tbsp Water

Instructions: 1.) To create “sour cream,” in a medium sized bowl mix together Cream Cheese, Lemon Juice, Apple Cidar Vinegar, and 1 tablespoon Water until consistency is smooth 2.) Place all ingredients in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer’s instructions, with the water and “sour cream” put in first, and adding the dry ingredients in on top. 3.) Set crust on Medium and program for the Basic cycle; press Start. 4.) When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.

Love my Omelete Ease, one of the best kitchen utensils I've ever bought.

I can't seem to make myself do anything productive or even vaguely interesting... I'm so bored.

This is how I roll now, I watch Awkward. and Girl Code while I paint my nails.

Apparently I'm just super into flowers right now?

Editing the brown spots outta these orchids was probably way more fun for me than it shoulda been.

Re: Gradient Nails

Whatever, I get obsessive! I know! But I had to make them match my hair and jewelry, didn't I?

Again, can't find the tutorial video I learned from, but this is the closest.

Gradient Nails, EASY

All of the gradient nail tutorials on youtube were way too labor intensive for me, until I finally found one that was just two stripes of color on a makeup sponge, stipple & repeat until you get the desired coverage. FINALLY! Something I could see myself spending a few minutes on!

I grabbed a packet pf makeup sponges today, months later, and tried it out. AMAZING! But now I can't find the video that taught me. This one comes closest.

Snickers Pillow Cookies   [source]

½ tube refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened

¼ cup all-purpose flour

24 miniature Snickers candy bars *

Red and green colored sugar **

1) In a small bowl, beat cookie dough and flour until combined.

2) Shape 1½ teaspoonfuls of dough around each candy bar. ***

3) Roll in colored sugar.

4) Place 2 in. apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

5) Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

6) Remove to wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen.

source

Someone needs to stop me from watching tutorial videos on youtube!

How To : Make Your Own Lipstick/Lipgloss

source | source

1) Petroleum jelly, however much you'd like 2) Scrape some old/used eyeshadows onto jelly until you get a color you'd like (I actually did this in a separate cell, and THEN mixed it with the jelly, so I could blend the colors thouroughly.)

If you want a gloss, use less eyeshadow. I noticed the matte colors also aren't as sharp, so use those. 

If you want a lipstick, use more eyeshadow, to the point where you start to think you've actually used a little to much. Glittery colors seem more highly pigmented. 

So I watched this easy Newspaper Nail Art tutorial the other day, tested it out, and it worked great! Then I thought to myself... "You know, self, they also print photos and art in the newspaper, in color! Do you suppose that would transfer as well?"

Apparently the answer is yes.

Quite like how grainy and subtle they turned out. If you look closely, you can actually SEE the pixilation.

Pro Tip : Use a light touch when putting on the top coat or the brush will rub off the newspaper ink! Example: my thumb in the second picture. And please ignore the bad paint job in general! I'm not great at painting and I was doing this in the dark, to boot.

Lady : I'm running to the pharmacy, you want anything? Laur : Cookies. Ice cream. Pie! Laur : ...Actually, just get me a bag of marshmallows and a box of Fruity Pebbles. Lady : Uh, it's Walgreens, do they HAVE that stuff? Laur : Yes. Yes they do. Lady : If you say so... Laur : Fruity Pebbles! Not Rice Krispies!

Every summer my mother falls in love with the scent of this plant someone in our neighborhood has. This year she finally stole a sprig, so we could figure out what it was. Mr. Googs informed us that it was Night Blooming Jasmine, so we promptly went to the local nursery and bought one for her.

Egg and Croissant Popovers

This one is super freakin easy!

Preheat oven to 325º or 350º? We switched it up about half way through, because we were afraid the egg wasn't cooking? It was, so 325º is fine. Just watch and decide for yourself.

Spray whatever nonstick thing you want in your cupcake tray, I used Pam baking spray with flour.

Line the cups with croissant dough, or Pillsbury Crescent dough if you're like us. We used the XL kind, for optimum doughiness.

Drop egg into croissant cavity.

Season however you like. We salted and peppered all of them, then added thyme and fresh basil according to our respective tastes.

Bake for 20-30min.

Eat and enjoy!

 Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men!