Friday, November 5, 2010

Tiana's Kitchen~Pizza Cones

FAKE SWEETS! And we're not talking about jewelry here. Today I am going to share one of those recipes that isn't even really a recipe - Pizza Cones

Like any pizza recipe, you can put whatever you want on it, but it makes me feel special to write this up as a recipe. It is really just a different method of making


I came up with this idea after getting a pizza cone at Taipei Zoo last year. It is a handy way to have pizza you can carry around with you. Using a thinner skin makes an interesting crispy texture and the tomato paste prevents as much sogginess.


Start with a crepe skin or tortilla (I added some onions on it)
toaster oven

Add 3Tbs of tomato paste
toaster oven
Tomato paste work better than tomato sauce because it does not slide around and get as messy. Also the flavor is stronger, so you can use less!

Add toppings (I used enoki mushroom, onion, smoked salmon, and cheese)
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The enoki mushroom imitated the cheese texture, so I did not add as much cheese, making this pizza healthier!

Toast
toaster oven

You can either cut and eat it like pizza
toaster oven

OR you can roll it up into a cone
toaster oven

Tuck in the bottom a little bit (fold up the end while rolling) like a burrito to prevent fall-out in case you did not manage to make a perfect cone ^^;
toaster oven

This can be made in advance, pulled out of the fridge and toasted prior to eating. You only need a napkin to wrap around the cone and wipe your hands and mouth with. Less mess, less cleaning, more yum!

I have thought of making these and rolling them like crepes to bring to a picnic. Tasty, customizable for different tastes, and minimal mess. It would require a larger oven to make many though!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Tiana's Kitchen~Cat's Eye Coins

"I want to fill myself only with sweet things"
~Momoko Ryugasaki, in Shimotsuma Monogatari/Kamikaze Girls

Sweets dominate in the Lolita Kingdom. Cakes, cookies, macarons, parfaits, ice cream, etc. take over tea parties and show up in prints. This may have been fine and dandy for Momoko, but I am sure that the rest of us need a little more nutrition than Momoko's bento provided:

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Cookies, canned fruit, and candy hardly constitutes a healthy meal! Today I am going to show you how to make a nice snack that is sweet but still has nutritional value.


Cat's Eye Coins
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Ingredients:
1 banana
1 TBS Peanut Butter

Directions:
1) Slice your banana in half lengthwise
snacks

2) Fill the center with peanut butter. It may feel hard to spread because of the slickness of the banana. My advice is to put a big glob of peanut butter on the banana, then start pushing from the top of the glob to spread it out. This way, the base doesn't have to move at all

snacks

3) Don't worry if it is not neat, because now you put the banana back together! I like to squish it a little to make sure everything sticks

snacks

4) Wrap your banana in cling wrap or wax paper and put it in the freezer to freeze. When you feel like having a snack, take it out, unwrap, and slice into coins

snacks

snacks
Meow~

You can also slice them into coins and then re-freeze for later. The frozen texture of the banana is a lot like ice cream, and the peanut butter adds a creamy, rich flavor. Feel free to experiment with other fillings (Nutella, anyone?) and have fun with it!

Banana is full of potassium, but also fairly high in sugar, so I don't recommend this snack more than once a day. Peanut butter is a good source of protein and healthy fats, but fairly high in fat and calories. As a snack or dessert, this is a good balance of treat and nutrition. I am enjoying some as I write this post!

Enjoy, and stay healthy!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Sparkle Stitches~ Bloomers lvl2!

Have you mastered the Budget Bloomers? Want something a little fancier or more challenging? Welcome to level 2, Bloomers with a Ruffle at the Hem!


Today I will show you how to make bloomers from the same 1 yard of fabric, but with a little ruffle on the edge, how cute!

First, cut out your pieces just like regular bloomers. Now, you need to learn the lvl2 skill of... MAKING BIAS TAPE!!!

It is not that hard, I promise But you can always just buy pre-made bias tape if you don't feel like making your own.

BUT for the brave challenger, here we GO!

Take some of the scrap fabric from cutting out your bloomers. Bias is at a 45* angle to the selvage. The easiest way to find 45 degrees is to draw a 2"X2" box on your fabric with the selvage as one of the sides of the box. Connect two opposing corners of the box, and it will be 45*! Extend that line until you reach the opposite edge of the fabric. Now draw parallel lines at double the finished width of your bias tape. So if you want a 3/4" finished width, draw the lines 1.5" apart.

sparkle stitches

Stitch your bias strips together into one long strip, iron flat the seam allowances, and fold in the long edges to meet in the middle. It is easier to just show photos

sparkle stitches
A completed bias strip

sparkle stitches
Showing the edges

A bias strip will not unravel, so it is useful for binding edges or as a casing.

Next, determine how wide you want your ruffle to be. Add your hem allowance, and draw a guideline at the top of the ruffle

sparkle stitches
The blue line is where I will put my elastic

Put your bias strip on the line you just drew and pin in place

sparkle stitches

sparkle stitches
Pin at the line

Stitch the bias tape on both folded edges so you are left with the short ends open. Turn up your hem allowance, press, pin, and stitch. It is much easier to hem now rather than after elasticizing. Thread your leg elastic through and secure the ends.

sparkle stitches

Finish the bloomers just like the basic Budget Bloomers. Sew up each inseam (I like to tack the seam allowance open at the elastic line), turn one leg inside out and put it inside the other leg, sew the crotch line, turn down the waistband, press, pin, sew, and thread elastic. Then you should have this:

sparkle stitches

And worn:

sparkle stitches

These lvl2 Bloomers take a bit more time to make, but are still relatively simple and just a bit fancier. I would probably sell these for $15 if you are looking to sell your own or buy some from me ;)

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Nail Art/Cinderella Solutions~Daily Nail Polish

Lolita fashion is all about the details. Detailed prints, embroidered lace, fabric quality, accessories, and of course, nails. While it is not necessary to have an extravagant design, it is nice to at least have a matching color. Nail polish, however, lasts for about a week to 10 days. Instead of coordinating your nails to your outfit, you would have to coordinate your outfit to match your nails!

Oh, but you can simply remove the color with nail polish remover, right? Of course it is possible, but that is pretty damaging to your precious nails! Not to mention time-consuming and costly (especially with glitter polishes, which must be soaked first!)

I personally love to do my nails, and my recent obsession is a Glitter French. A shimmer base coat with glitter piled on the tips where the white of a regular French manicure would go. After the first time I did this though, it took a few days and a quarter of a bottle of mild remover to get all of it off, despite soaking and rubbing. My cuticles became very dry from the treatment! So, I found a better way that is cheap, and allows one to change nail color and design daily - no remover required!


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Here is the culprit - Anna Sui nail polish 302. Beautiful pale pink with a shimmer
Also (not pictured) Shiseido silver glitter polish. Anna Sui actually had an almost exact same glitter, but didn't come in a mini bottle like Shiseido so I went with that ;)

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Polish on (two coats). No photo of the completed French, but even this requires soaking already!

Nail Art,tutorial
The hero of the hour! Yes, that is plain white school glue. How can this school glue help, you ask?
It is your base coat. Just put some glue in an empty nail polish bottle and apply a layer of it before your regular polish! Allow the layer to dry (it does not have to be very thick) and then polish and decorate your nails as usual

When it comes time to take off your polish....

nail art
Just pick at the edges, and then peel it off!

nail art
The silver glitter portion was a bit stiffer and harder to find an edge on, but still comes off quickly and easily

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Perfectly clean

Now you too, can change up your polish without damaging your nails! And save some money on remover, to boot ;)

Happy Halloween!

Guess what?


halloween,holiday
halloween,holiday