From Diva to Domestic

Was that long enough?!

2014-01-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

Ummmmm wow!

Sorry I didn't realize almost 2 years had gone by since I did a blog post! Did you miss me?? Well I miss you guys!

So today's post will be a mash up of sorts...

I've done some really neat things from redecorating my apartment, to learning the addicting art of making cheesecake, to finding easy ways to "fast soften" dry beans for soups and chilis!

Which one would you like to hear first?? Cheesecake?? Yea, I thought that one too... =)

Here are some of my most recent cheesecakes...

Raspberry Dark Chocolate

Wildberry

Inside of the Wildberry

I kind of went on a cheesecake making frenzy...and then I went on a fast. Talk about ROUGH! So before my fast, I had to go out with a BANG!!

PRESENTING...THE TURTLE CHEESECAKE

Turtle Cheesecake

This cheesecake is layers of chocolate graham, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, pecans, cheesecake batter, more chocolate, more caramel, and nut topping drizzled with caramel and chocolate!

Watch the video below...

How YUMMY does this look?! My mouth is watering RIGHT NOW! I want another piece sooooooooooooo bad!!

I'm terrible at writing recipes but you need to know this one! *recipe below*

9 in spring form pan
2 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker or graham cracker crumbs
5 tbsp butter
4 oz Ghiradelli chocolate squares
3 8oz block of cream cheese (I like Philadelphia)
1 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
Hot Fudge Sundae topping
Caramel Sundae topping
2 small bags of pecan pieces
1 small bag of nut topping

To make:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Pour your graham cracker crumbs into a mixing bowl
In a measuring cups, melt butter and chocolate squares together in the microwave
Stir until you have a liquid chocolate
Add the chocolate/butter mixture to the graham cracker crumbs until all of the graham cracker is completely saturated. If you need to add more butter, do so here
Press the graham cracker crust into your springform pan, going up the sides (here you may want to line to bottom of your spring form with a piece of parchment paper. Just put the sheet of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan alone. Then add the sides of the spring form, pressing tightly against the parchment paper for a tight fit...or you can just suffer with a messy pan!)
Next, pour in enough hot fudge sundae topping...DO NOT HEAT IT UP! This is very important... It will get warm in the oven, so you don't want it any warmer, or it will be runny
Then add caramel sundae topping. Same thing, don't heat it up.
Sprinkle your pecan pieces on top of the caramel. Depending how much you like pecan, you can sprinkle 1 bag or both
In your mixer, add all of your cream cheese and the sugar
Beat with your flat beater on low until it is a creamy consistency
Next, add your eggs, one at a time, completely incorporating one egg before adding the other.
Then add your lemon juice
Add the vanilla
Beat on low until all ingredients are completely incorportated... DO NOT OVER BEAT. Your cheesecake batter will be really runny and you will have to start over.
Pour the cheesecake batter over the hot fudge/caramel/nut layer. Make sure it is completely smooth on top
Take your hot fudge topping and dollop a few spoonfuls onto the top of the cheesecake, using the spoon to guide some of the chocolate down into the batter
Do the same with the caramel
Take a knife and swirl the hot fudge and the caramel into a pattern of your choosing
Sprinkle nut topping around the edge of the cheesecake
Bake for 35 minutes. Check the cheesecake at the end of bake time. If it jiggles in the center but has a firm skin on top, it is done. DO NOT OVER BAKE
Take the cheesecake from the oven a place on a wire rack and let it cool for 10 minutes
After 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pan to release the sides. Allow the cheesecake to cool on the wire rack for another hour. After that, wrap in plastic wrap (still not removing it from the pan) and allow to cool for 12-15 hours before serving.

To serve:

Release the sides of the springform pan
If you decided to line your pan with parchment paper, slowly lift the cheesecake and place it on your presentation dish. Use a sharp point knife to cut the excess paper away. If you didn't cover your pan bottom, just serve straight from the bottom. Do not try to lift.
Warm up your hot fudge and caramel and drizzle over the top.
Use a smooth knife to cut and serve

I hope you enjoy this yummy cheesecake. Leave comments below and let me know how it was!

Hiatus...cause everyone needs one! =)

2012-04-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

So hello Blog world!

I know. I've been gone since, like, THANKSGIVING! Please try not to kill me...

I have been rather productive in my months off. Since I've been gone, I did some super crafty treats compliments of Pinterest for Christmas, I've made Christmas cupcakes as Christmas gifts for friends, and I've started a cupcake business titled none other than...The Ivory Cupcake!

Stay tuned for back logged posts to keep you updated on all my fun over the last few months!

DIY post... Cause I'm bored!

2011-11-30T09:05:00.000-08:00

Sooooo I was sitting at work around 4:30 a.m., completely bored out of my mind! I had to find something to keep my mind jumping back and forth so I can stay up until 7:15 (a.m. that is) but I was completely unsure of what!!!

So I decided to surf a few DIY/Crafty blogs... at first I wasn't really interested because I didn't know what I was looking to create. But after surfing Pinterest for about an hour, I found something completely interesting.

I love scarves and always have. But this new interesting scarf that I can't wrap my head around is this infinity scarf! I mean, I absolutely LOVE IT! Whoever thought of it is GENIUS! I bought one from Old Navy this past weekend during their Black Friday sale and was talking about them to one of my church member when I mentioned to her that I had run across a blog (My World Made by Hand) that featured the "No Sew Infinity Scarf" made from a t-shirt!

Well I sent the link to her so she and her girls could have a blast making them and thought, "Why don't I just get a little more in depth with this thing."

So I surfed more and discovered, there are TONS of people who have their own variation of this "no sew" infinity scarf! Over at the CAFBlog (I can't write the whole name cause my mom reads my blog! lol) she put an spin on it by cutting the shirt in strips and then weaving them together with another piece of fabric.

At Harmonic Mama, she did a quick and dirty and her scarf still came out simple and gorgeous in 5 minutes! Way to accessorize on the way out the door!!!

I can't wait to try my hand at these super simple and super easy infinity scarves...who know, maybe theyre will be a few Christmas presents out of it! http://harmonicmama.com/2011/10/super-simple-5-minute-no-sew-infinity-scarf/

Giving Thanks...a few days late!

2011-11-26T07:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Turkey Day everyone!!

I must say, I think I was worrying for no reason! I was under a lot of pressure for this Thanksgiving dinner to go off without a hitch.

I was originally making a peach cobbler, hanging out at my mom's house and then going to visit my in-laws all before going Black Friday shopping with my sister. About 3 days ago, though, I found out I was making a full Thanksgiving dinner, with all the trimmings and hosting dinner at my house! Well with a little encouragement from my sweet husband and a little assistance from my mom, I pulled off MY FIRST THANKSGIVING DINNER!! =)

My menu for Thanksgiving:

Turkey

Dressing

Mac n Cheese

Yams

Green Beans

Corn

and Peach Cobbler

Looks good right?! AND there were NO ER casualties!

But what felt the best is how proud of me my mom was and the praises I got from my husband.

Not to be cliche, I would like to list the things that I am thankful for:

1. I am thankful for my faith, because without it, I have no idea where I'd be.
2. I am thankful for my mother, because without her, I have no idea who I'd be.
3. I am thankful for my husband, because without his love, I have no idea what kind of person I would've become.
4. I am thankful for my family.
5. I am thankful for wonderful friends.
6. I am thankful for a roof over my head.
7. I am thankful for transportation.
8. I am thankful for employment.
9. I am thankful for my supporters.

I am just simply thankful.

In the meantime, I think I'll pat myself on the back for now....

AGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

2011-11-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

You ever just want to scream?? No I mean like, REALLY SCREAM?! Like Macaulay Culkin HOME ALONE Scream?! Well, thanks to Thanksgiving being tomorrow, that is me...RIGHT NOW!

I was in my own little world, minding my own little business for Thanksgiving and only making a peach cobbler. Now folks, I AM MAKING AN ENTIRE THANKSGIVING DINNER! Turkey and all! I don't know how to make a turkey! I don't really know how to cook! I just fake it really well until I get good at it! Lol.

Well now, I'm cooking dinner for myself, my husband, my mom and dad, and my sweet niece Rebecca... WISH ME LUCK!

I apologize in advance for any ER casualties... =)

Another DIVA post!! (Step-by-Step to my favorite 30 min self-manicure)

2011-11-10T00:51:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my first post, I love all things fashion related! I love hair and make-up and clothes and shoes and everything that makes you feel pretty!

I was feeling funky this go around so I decided to mix it up a little.

I used some Sinful Colors again that I got at Walgreens along with some of my favorite O.P.I. products. I like the Sinful Colors because they are cheap and are O.P.I. quality.

SO LET'S HOP IN!

So first you need to take of any existing polish and wash your hands. Next, shape and file the nails and use a cuticle oil around the backs of your nail beds to nourish them. I like AVOPLEX by O.P.I.

Then apply a layer of OPI Chip Skip. I LIVE by this stuff! It really helps the longevity of my manicures.

Next, use a nail hardener before the base coat. My favorite nail hardener is OPI Original Nail Envy. It really helped when I was transitioning my nails from gel and acrylic overlays to natural nails. I usually use 2 coats if I'm wearing it alone.

Next you're going to need a base coat. Any base coat will do. I like CND Stickey but for this manicure I just used a basic beauty supply store base coat since it was the first thing I could get my hands on. It's actually a top coat too so it will save me some time later! ;-)

Now for some COLOR!!

Using my beloved Sinful Colors, I decided to hop on into fall with a taupeish color called Nirvana. It rivals OPI's You Don't Know Jacques.

Next, I wanted to funk it up a bit so I decided to do somewhat of a leopard print design. Anyone who knows me, knows that leopard print is my weakness! <3

I used a lime green as the base for the leopard print. This color is Innocent by Sinful Colors. It also has an O.P.I. rival, Who the Shrek Are You?

Then, I used a darker color to outline. You can use whatever darker color you prefer, but I used Ski Teal We Drop by OPI.

**Drumroll please!**

The finished product!

Seal with a top coat and enjoy showing off your new manicure!!

My new favorite thing!

2011-11-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

So as you may know from a previous post, I have a puppy named Codee. She is a lab mix. She's super sweet but can be completely out-of-hand!

Codee Jade Ivory

Well since we've had Codee, we have gone through 3 phone chargers, 3 laptop chargers, 4 pairs of MY shoes (FYI, she should be homeless by now), 3 DVDs (at least and a few cases as casualties), an adapter for the portable DVD player, an adapter cord for the modem, an ethernet cord, frequent garbage can turnovers, 2 spray bottles, an ID badge reel...you get the idea. She's a chewer. And Mommy had gotten to a point where she just couldn't take it anymore. She even began to scratch holes in the carpet by our bedroom door when she was mad at us for not letting her in. She's a very temperamental baby.

This is the beginning of the hole...it got worse.

Well, I had pretty much had my fill of her and all of this scratching, chewing and biting. I was on the verge of giving her to a shelter because I just couldn't handle it anymore but I decided to try one more thing.

*ENTER* GRANNICK'S BITTER APPLE SPRAY!

The most amazing invention ever!

This stuff is a savior for all pet parents. After hearing so many people at work rave about it I decided I would give it a try...couldn't hurt right?

When I got ready to buy it, I almost didn't because I'm on a budget and didn't really want to pay the $10 for it. But then I decided that $10 is way cheaper than trying to replace another computer charger, cell phone charger, shoe, etc. So I went to PetSmart, broke down and purchased the Grannick's Bitter Apple.

I was so surprised that it worked!

So here's what I had to resort to:

Please don't talk about my ghetto duct tape! Lol!

Everywhere that there is duct tape (please don't talk about me...it's only temporary. We're going to get the carpet replaced) is where she scratched up the carpet down to the wood. So once I bought the Bitter Apple, I taped all of the frayed ends down with duct tape. Well of course my little tag-a-long was not far behind and got a whiff of that good ole duct tape a started licking those lips. I knew that I immediately needed to spray it with the Bitter Apple so that it wouldn't smell the same to her.

She took one sniff of the treated duct tape, looked at me, looked at the duct tape, looked back at me and then WALKED AWAY! I KNOW!! IT WAS A MIRACLE!

When I told my husband what she did, his response? "Spray the whole house!" :)

A diva blog!

2011-11-07T23:45:00.000-08:00

Today's post is more DIVA than DOMESTIC!!!

So I decided to polish my own nails this weekend...

1) to save money,
2) if I screw up at least I didn't pay for it and I could do it over again, and
3) I wouldn't have anyone to blame but myself so no uncomfortable Nail Salon confrontation...(I'm very ticky about certain things...ESPECIALLY when I'm paying for a service!)

So I decided to go pink since it's pretty much my most favorite color in the entire world...seriously! And I wanted to get in my last pop of color before I get shunned for not wearing fall colors.

I painted all of my nails with the hot pink called Pink Forever by Sinful Colors. I purchased it at Walgreens for $1.99!!

The second color I used is called Bali Mist. It's really sheer so I only used it to enhance a couple of nails.

I used a color blocking technique that I liked last summer. I still think it's pretty fun.

What are your favorite nail polishes to use??

Making my husband happy...

2011-11-07T23:14:00.000-08:00

Making my husband happy is so easy...

exhibit A:

Devil's food cake with homemade chocolate buttercream icing...or as he likes to call it, "Cream!" lol

So he totally knew about the cake, but I waited until he fell asleep to decorate it!

Did I mention that I absolutely LOVE to bake?! :-)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

2011-10-31T18:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Here's to a celebratory post in honor of the ghoulish holiday!

So as you all know in my earlier posts, I wanted to make some really special and festive cupcakes for Halloween. I really like getting into the holidays, so I tried to make this one REALLY fun!

I finally made a decision on which cupcakes to make for the occasion and they turned out to be the Jack Skellington cupcakes. I started with a fairly simple semi-homemade recipe for my favorite cupcakes: Chocolate Velvet. It's a recipe that I found months ago on the Betty Crocker website, and I just can not stop making them! They are so moist, and chocolatey and delicious that everytime I make them, I can't stop eating them! (Bad habit, I know.)

The recipe starts out with a box of Betty Crocker Devil's Food cake mix that I got at Wal-Mart.

Once all of your ingredients are in (except the chocolate chips) mix them together on high. It should look like this...

Next mix in the chocolate chips. Make sure to stir them in not beat them in with the mixer. I used Hershey's Semi-sweet Chocolate chips, available at Wal-Mart or any other grocer:

Divide them [as] evenly [as you can get them] into the baking cups:

Now bake...and wait...

and wait....

and wait........

but only for 24 mins though!

Ready..... DONE!

Now for the frosting...

The frosting is a homemade white chocolate frosting. I found the recipe on Cook's.com I added way more powdered sugar than the recipe called for (approx. 24 oz. instead of 1 cup) because the frosting kept tasting too buttery and wouldn't stiffen or fluff up. I found the Baker's chocolate on sale at Wal-Mart and it comes in 6-1 oz. blocks so it was perfect for the recipe (I really don't like left over ingredients).

It comes in little squares and you need to chop it up for this recipe.

Then frost the cupcakes:

Pre-face:

Face added!

YUMMY IN THE TUMMY!!!

What can $2, a stick of butter, and an egg get you?

2011-10-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

Answer: A happy husband!

Yesterday was another day of semi-homemade laziness. I wanted to do something nice for the hubby but I was feeling a little lazy.

I looked in the cabinet and noticed a big bag of Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie mix.

I thought to myself, ”He might enjoy some of those tonight!” And at $1.94 from Wal-Mart, why not!

They were AWESOME!!! And they're pretty much all gone now! :)

What's your favorite semi-homemade lazy day dish?

Semi-Homemade Living

2011-10-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a semi-homemade diva! I mean, I like making things from scratch, but semi-homemade is my go-to in my diva to domestic transition thanks to Sandra Lee.

I began watching Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee about 3 or 4 years ago when I wanted to make something special for my husband (then boyfriend), but I didn't want to kill him! Lol! So I took a few cues from Sandra Lee. Well, it turned out horribly! Needless to say, I didn't serve it to him! Nope, it went to file 13 (that's the garbage for those of you that don't know)!

So then I went to Betty Crocker and decided that I love cupcakes and I wanted to try to put my own spin on them. Betty Crocker has tons of recipes that can become your own!

Today though I was being a little lazy and wanted something quick. I had a hankering for chocolate that just wouldn't go away and since my husband is a junk food junkie, it was only fitting that I made some brownies! Not just any brownies though...Pillsbury Cheesecake Swirl Brownies that we got at Wal-Mart.

There was a recipe on the back of the box for Almond brownies that I wanted to make but I didn't have almonds or chocolate chips and if you remember from earlier, I was being lazy today. So going to the store was NOT an option!

So I decided just to make the brownies in the cupcake baking cups for a lot less clean-up (again cause I was being lazy.) ;-)

They turned out amazing! My hubby likes them, and best of all I wiped out that cupcake pan and chilled out!

What's your favorite semi-homemade recipe?

Stain, stain, go away...

2011-10-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

Have you guys met Codee?

She's my pup. She is the cutest terroist I've ever seen in my entire life. She loves on mommy and daddy. She'll lay and cuddle. But when she's mad, she's MAD! And she takes her revenge out on you by peeing/pooping on the carpet, biting at your face or any other body part, for that matter, that she can get her teeth on, eating your stuff (cords, shoes, remote, etc.) or barking in your face while you're sleeping. There is the occasional pimp-slap at 5:00 in the morning if she needs to go out and you're not awake yet. Yep. I love my little terrorist.

I don't, however, love the stains. Like I said, when she gets mad, she pees/poops after she runs around like a crazed animal! I've tried so many things short of bleaching my tan carpet or getting my carpet in my entire house shampooed! My usual go to is Fabuloso cleaner--lavendar scent and Glade Carpet & Room Tough Odor Solutions. But I decided to try something new and see if that worked. I tried this cleaner that I found at Wal-Mart called Out! Oxy-Fast Stain & Odor Remover. I'm not really seeing any results though. It seemed to be working at first, but now, I'm not so sure.

Do you guys have any suggestions on how to get the stains out AND keep my house fresh?! HELP!!

Love,
A desperate pet parent

Jack Skellington...

2011-10-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Of course everyone knows who Jack Skellington is, right? Oh, you don't? Let me give you a refresher course...

Tall, slinky, skeletal man.
Charming and charismatic.
Dead.

Oh, just forget it! You'll know him if you see him. But you don't really want to see him...not in real life anyway.

Well what better way to celebrate Halloween with one of the scariest looking faces in TV?! Jack Skellington is probably one of the easiest and most fun designs to make on a cupcake! It's a no brainer! =)

I found cute ones on Pintrest and I just had to click through to see where I could find a recipe.

This recipe is BORING! (no offense to the persons that made this cupcake recipe) But I mean, seriously? Who wants same old, boring old, chocolate cupcakes with white buttercream?! I know it's an oldie but goodie but let's be serious here...This is Halloween! We need to spice it up a little! I was thinking a dark chocolate or devil's food cupcake with a white chocolate frosting.

What are your favorite black/white cupcake combos?

Halloween Cupcakes

2011-09-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

So I have been on a quest all week (okay, the last two days) to make a super awesome cupcake(s) to top my Halloween cupcakes from last year. Last year, I made Pumpkin Spice cupcakes (which also made a reappearance at Thanksgiving) with canned pumpkin, and Monster cupcakes with molten chocolate middles.

This year, I have been on Pintrest quite a bit and have found a new challenge: Zombie Cupcakes. These cupcakes were inspired by a t-shirt called "The Last Cupcake Standing."

They are super cute and look like so much fun to make! I have hit a few bumps in the road though. I can't figure out what I want to do for the outsides so that I can make the cupcakes look like zombies. I went to Bake it Pretty and found these super cute treat tubs, but they don't hold up very well in the oven and are a bigger than the standard size cupcakes.

I have two other alternatives. One, would be to bake the cupcakes in the portion cups offered by BIP, but, they only come in polka dots or stripes. The other alternative would be to bake the cupcakes in standard white or lime green baking cups, but I still think they would be too small for the treat tubs so I would still need to figure out how to wrap them so that they are still following the zombie theme.

Any ideas?

Hello!!!

2011-09-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

Hello ALL!! I would like to personally welcome you to my blog that will map out my road to domestication.

I am currently a 25 year old college student and brand new wife (as of 6 days!). However, I am NOT very domestic at all! In this blog, I will let you into my world as I have fun, failure, food and an awesome husband who doesn't hold back!

My specialties include all things fashion related and overall amazing looking and anything that is 5 ingredients or less and mostly semi-homemade!

You will witness the good, bad, and ugly as I attempt new recipes, cleaning tips and tricks, and perfecting some oldies but goodies!

Stay tuned. I can't wait to let you into my world!

-Brit