Easy Entertaining: Strawberry Mint Water

       When I was in Canada a few weeks ago without luggage, my hotel lobby always brightened my day with their delicious water. They simply added strawberries and mint leaves to a big pitcher and let the water soak it up. It was delicious and turned the water a beautiful pale pink shade. Here's my recreation of it:


Ingredients:

6 strawberries cut up

4 sprigs of mint leaves


Directions:

1. Cut up strawberries and place them in the water pitcher with the mint leaves. Let it soak overnight.
   
2. ENJOY!

50 Dollar fix: Bathroom Additions

Here are some simple ways I have spruced up my tiny bathroom for fewer than fifty dollars. Sometimes it is the little things that make a difference in a room. These additions really make my bathroom sparkle!

Pretty shower curtain and rings from Target. Who doesn't love a little sparkle?

I took these plain wood trays from Michael's for 2 dollars each and modpodge some pretty scrap book paper on them. Instant art for my walls, and it doesn't matter if humidity gets to it.

Took the same scrapbook paper and covered a jar for my brushes.

I found this odd shelf thingy at a vintage store for 5 dollars. It was just plain wood. I brought it home and added a coat of pink paint. Hung it on my wall and Voila!

Weekly Wonderings: April 6th

 1) I went to a parade this weekend and got tons of free swag. Like nice cloth bags to a school I don’t go to, now I just need to learn how to decorate them to cover that. 

2) I also got tons of beads and candy. The candy is under the lid so it takes more effort to get to. The beads are there just cause it looked too bare without them. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the beads. 

3) A friend called me the other day, and said she had been to a flea market and bought me something. Turns out to be this really cool French dessert cookbook. Yay! (Also her birthday was this week, so I made something from the book, coincidence or not)

4) Apparently I have been on a cookbook binge because I bought these two the other day at Marshalls, for 4.99 each! I will let you know my progress!

5) Also I have gotten some comments about how great things look to eat, but they could never make them. I assure you I am not the best cook. When I post recipes, its because I have done them several times and they are pretty easy to follow. Sometimes we all fail, but that is the whole point in trying. I tried to make Baba Ganoush yesterday and failed, I used dried parsley instead of fresh and the garlic was too overwhelming. So the moral is, don't say you can't do something, but don't make something the first time for a dinner party that night.  

Leftover Magic: Mashed Potatoes into Gnocchi

     I hate eating the same thing every day, and leftovers sometimes don't seem all that appealing three days in a row. Take Mashed potatoes, great that first day and the second but by the third, I get tired of them. Enter the magical idea of making Gnocchi with your leftovers. It doesn't take much work and it quite delicious. Here's an easy recipe:

Ingredients:

Leftover Mashed potatoes (About 2 cups)

3 plus tablespoons of flour (More for flouring work surface)

1 egg (Beaten lightly)

Sea Salt






Directions:

1. Mix egg and potatoes together then stir in enough flour to make soft dough.
   
2. Knead dough on floured surface until it firms a little (Just a bit, roll it in flour honestly)
   
3. Roll the dough out into cylinder sections, and cut into about inch long pieces. Then use the back of a fork to make a ridge pattern on the back of them.
   
4. Cook in a large pot of boiling SALTED water. Cook two to three minutes. The gnocchi will rise to the surface, use a slotted spoon to scoop them out. Serve immediately.
 

Notes:

These are quite easy to make, but getting the dough can be a bit hard, just roll them in flour is the easiest way. Top them with a light marinara sauce or pesto. Make your own pesto for a delicious sauce!

How to Not Ship Something: Part Deux

Just so you guys could see how nicely I tried to wrap this before it got destroyed by the mailman.

The powdered sugar was in a baggie behind the note.

Martha Stewart Sunday: Pressed Flowers

     So I had a bouquet from my boyfriend from Valentine's Day. I didn't want to just throw out the flowers, I know I know, I am kind of sentimental like that. So I decided to press a few, luckily Martha was there with the know how to press them.


Materials:

Fresh Flowers

Parchment Paper

HEAVY BOOK (S)

Directions:

1. Take flowers and cut off the stem. Then tenderly place them on parchment paper, fold parchment paper over them so they are covered.
   
2. Place at the bottom of a heavy book or two.
   
3. Check back in about ten days for beautifully pressed flowers! 

Aprils Fools

Normally, April 1st is when you play jokes on someone or if you are French, you try to tape a fish on someone's back. But for me, it starts a new month and a new chance to start again. It seems like once a semester, a month just gets boggled down with travel, work and everything else, for me it happened to be this March. It was definitely a Murphy's Law situation. So April first is my chance to start over and hopefully start blogging once again! Here we go again! I just wanted to take the chance to once again really apologize to everyone. Hopefully, you will continue to read my blog despite this one month hiatus.