Ze “Carnival of Cocoas” & A Rant on Mah Umbrella

So it pooouuured today, and it was wonderful. (Haha, Spring still isn’t here yet!)

Although yesterday was fantabulously wonderous!! It was raining, I had my fab ombre umbrella spinning round and round, while singing, and shimmying my way up and down the terrace. Singing loudly, of course. And, let me impress y’all with my multitasking skills, I was also texting my bro, Kamil.

Anyhoo, my umbrella died today =( After using it yesterday, I left it open in the shade on the terrace, and thought I’d just fold it up in the morning before heading out to school in case it rained today (which it did. A lot.).

Buut because I slept in today, I completely forgot and left it there. Ooh, what did Mother Nature do to my happy and bright umbrella in eight hours? Nothing. It wasn’t Mother Nature that did it. It was simply Mother.

My mom hastily wrapped up my umbrella, possibly while blindfolded, and broke four metal rods that kept the umbrella in shape. I came home to find it completely retarded and the closest thing resembling a star. I tinkered with it for around fifteen minutes and fixed it for the most part, but there’s still one rod that won’t bend the right way. It’s a small abnormality, but it still functions.

But it bothers me the most, that out of all the practical things I get from my trip to Budapest, Hungary, my mom still manages to meddle to the point where she ruins even an umbrella. And it’s not like you can get decent umbrellas here either.

Grr. If everyone’s got a fatal flaw, my mother’s is her Over Efficiency. And I hate it with a passion. A burning passion. Think Heathcliff’s love for Catherine. (#WH)

So anywaaays…It rained a lot, and the sunny days are gone for a while. It’s all cold and drizzle like at the moment.

The perfect time to search up some recipes for warming you from the inside out drinks!

And hence the title. A Carnavil of Cocoas. Sounds so brilliant ❤

But the credit doesn’t go to me, it goes to the owner of this coffee infused and obsessed recipe blog I found on my quest, Sugarbeanbakers.blogspot.com!

^[As Frosty, I am both flattered and immensely jealous that I do not own that mug…]

 

Y’all drooling yet? Well, look at how DELISH it all looks! I wanna try them ALL out as soon as possible! I just need to collect the ingredients this weekend, and hope the weather holds out for long enough to make these yummy drinks.

So click HERE for the recipes on the original site. Or you could click the first picture, the one with the me inspired mug and the title “A Carnival of Cocoas” on it too.

Have fun, and stay waaarm ❤

-Frosty
the cool as hell magical snowman that inspires not one, but all.

ps.
Eeeeps, all these drinks are putting me in such a CHRISTMASful moood *w* And I will most likely wear my Special Solstice Snowflake sweater tomorrow now ^_^ Ehehe.

Ze Simplest Apple Cider Recipe

Today it was rainy, windy, and then for a few hours, suuuuper sunny, then night fell, and it became wonderfully windy and cold again.

 

^[Now this is just beautiful ❤ This is the kind of color my cider is =) ]

Now, I’m from Chicago, the windiest city of all, and I MISS the powerful winds that sway skyscrapers, and fwoosh all your hair off your back and shoulders into the air (or if your lucky, or your hairs just that short, into the skyyy).

 

^[ Even a color like this has popped up if I use a bit too much cinnamon- how Daddy Dearest likes it =3 ]

Today it was that windy for just a brief moment, but I felt completely satisfied by it. And so I thought of home back there. The orange, bronze, and gold leaves I associate with such Autumny winds, and with that orange scheme came pumpkins, pumpkin pie, halloween, and then, apples.

 

^[ Ok, so mine isn’t anywhere near as light as this one, but I think this is the kind of color you’d get if you dilute it a lot with water and if you don’t add too much cinnamon.]

So I thought, hey, this is the perrrrfect weather for some apple cider! But I’d never made it before, and only had this fake copy thing here, so I wasn’t entirely sure how it was supposed to taste. But, I just through together what I thought would taste good together, and whatever felt Autumn and fell into that color scheme.

[note- this is NOT what you should be doing, especially if you are a chemist. Just google a simple recipe- it ain’t that hard. I’m just weird, and I came out with a great cup of yummy warm goodness, so just let it sliiide ^_^ ]

Ingredients-
1 cup/mugful of Apple juice (I used Nestle’s because I love it’s crisp taste, and color.)
1 teaspoon of Honey (I used this brilliant German brand I’m obsessed with at the moment, flavored Forest Honey, that had a gorgeous hue of gold to it.)
A dash of Cinnamon/1 Cinnamon stick

Serving- One cup, or for one person.

Now, this recipe is veryyy flexible. Just add more cinnamon if you like a stronger bite to your drink, or if you don’t want it too sweet. If you like it suuuper sweet, then add more honey, or use a sweet juice like I am. (My mom hates it sweet, so for her, I add about 1 parts water, and 2 parts apple juice instead to dilute it.)

Directions-
I Turn on your stove, and pour in apple juice into a pot. Let it heat on a low-ish medium flame.

II Get a teaspoon of honey, and try mixing it in to the apple juice. I say try because it takes a bit of determination and stirring to get it to slide off the spoon entirely and dissolve into the juice.

III Add your cinnamon. I usually sprinkle in just a bit, but enough to cover the entire surface of the juice lightly before I stir it in. If you don’t have powdered/another verb that begins with a g- grinded? ground? Yup, it’s ground.- cinnamon, just add your stick of cinnamon to the cup/mug instead.

IV Now just pour out your deliciously Fall drink into an apt mug, and enjoy!

Optional- Drink while reading a good book. What’s the point in making a warm drink to enjoy, if you aren’t enjoying it in cold weather, and with a book?

Cooking for the Cursed/Kitchen-Challenged. And of course, it’s Ali Approved =3

Taste the Autumn!

-Ali
Don’t blow up that microwave again!

ps.
What can I say, Marv the Microwave doesn’t like me =(
And I haven’t blown him up in at least a year and a half now, so yeah, I’m getting better at my experiments now ^_^

 

 

Recipe- A Pasta Sandwhich

Here’s a suuuuper easy recipe that’s creative, easy to make, and Ali Approved. I mean, it’s something that even I can make. And this is the girl that has set the microwave on fire whilst making microwavable popcorn. Multiple times.

Ahem. Well, this a unique twist on what the hell to do with leftover pasta you’re just tired of reheating over and over again that will just never finish. So here’s the recipe. Well, instructions. It’s very flexible, so you can add and remove whatever you like almost. Just enjoy it.

This dish was devised being creative with leftover pasta. Please keep that in mind.

Ingredients-
1. A bit of leftover pasta (already prepared, boiled pasta with keema/minced meat added if preferable, red pasta sauce/sauce of your choice.) (rtp, or even fresh out of the fridge works.)
2. A slice of cheese of your choosing. (Mine, cheddar)
3. Two slices of your choice of bread. (Mine, white. Brown if available.)

(Sort of) Required-
1. Open-minded-ness towards different food combinations.
2. A Sandwich-maker. The kind you’d use to make a plain ol’ grilled cheese sandwich.
OR
2. A stove and a microwave. And preferbility of solid cheese over melted cheese.

Prepare-(Sandwich-maker Edition)

1. Take a slice of bread and place into your sandwich maker.
2. Spread a layer of pasta, as thick or thin as you’d like on to the bread.
3. Place your cheese slice on top of that.
4. Top with the last slice of bread.
5. Manage to slam/smush the lid of the sandwich maker down (this may vary in difficulty depending upon the helpfulness of your sandwich maker and how much pasta you stuffed your sandwich with.)

Prepare-(Stove Edition)
1. Heat one slice of bread on a pan (no oil or water in the pan necessary) both sides.
2. While heating the bread, place your pasta in the microwave and heat until you are happy with it’s temperature. Usually, I’d say popping it in for 30 seconds should do it, if not, put it in for another 10 seconds, and do so repeatedly until you’re fine with its temperature. Check in between. (Duuh.)
3. Heat second slice of bread in the same way.
4. Assemble your sandwich. Bread, pasta, solid cheese, bread. If you REALLY must have melted cheese, just pop the sandwich into the microwave again, but note that the pasta will dry up a bit, and the bread might become soggy (especially if you have used loads of pasta sauce/condiments.)

Result-
You end up with a shell of bread, stuffed full of delish warm pasta, with melted cheese a top it. True love ❤

Wanna stretch this meal out to TWO days?!
Why not make the pasta first for dinner, then have this leftover utilizer for lunch? It’s quick, efficient, and sounds like an ad for some washing soap or some tubaware like thing!

Patsa Prep-
1. Take a packet of pasta such as the macaroni type, and pour it into a a pot that is mostly full of water (tap water, since it gets dumped later on.)
2. Put the pot on the stove, and set to a medium flame. Wait for about four to seven minutes for the pasta to boil and become soft. Stir occasionally to make sure the distribution of heat is equal and so that this foamy stuff doesn’t overflow from the pot (if stirring isn’t keeping it at bay, just blow directly on top of the pot. That always works!)
3. Drain the pasta onto a wired mesh thing, on top of a sink. Be veryyy careful, since you can EASILY get burns from boiling water. And make sure to keep it away from your face, do it steadily, not all at once, and if terrified, get an adult to do it for you.
4. Put the boiled pasta back into the pot. And now add the pasta sauce. Since this is cooking for dummies, and I am completely incapable of making my own, I simply use Ragu’s red pasta sauce. If you have your own that you can make, or get Dobby to make for you, please feel free to use that instead. I didn’t say, but you can also use white pasta sauce. Obviously. You could also technically use Nutella, but let’s just stick with reasonably not technically, now shall we?
5. Stir in the sauce.
6. Heat for a bit, so the sauce also becomes warm.
7. Viola, you’re done!
8. “lol”, no you aren’t. You still gotta clean up. Unless you get Dobby to do that for you. Then you can really be done at step 7.

Aaaaand that’s my Innovative Cooking for the Lazy and Incapable!

Be it a college student, or just someone else out there with a curse like me, feel free to try this out, and send me some pictures, or comment as to how YOU liked it.

I’d especially loved it if you’d send me your own version of this recipe by adding and doing your own thing to it. Like I might put more veggies next time. (Didn’t have any this time =( ) Or try doing it with a white sauce and brown bread. Add some lettuce. Make it a legit sandwich. Meh, I don’t know, just sort of brainstorming and babbling~

OH, I’m having a few friends over tomorrow, and I’ve still got some pasta left over…well, I know what I’ll be serving them ^_^

Hope this helped, and hope you try it!

It’s REALLY not as gross as it may sound =P

-Frosty
the cool as hell snowman inspiring all