Birthdays are the worst days. 💧

December 21, 2014May 6, 2016Leave a comment

The house was warm and cozy, and the wafting aroma of rendering bacon fat added a delicious dimension into my Disney inspired dream. Suddenly I was awoken by a familiar tune, “Laura it’s your birthday, wake up!” I could hear my ever-energized and loving mother approaching. “Happy Birthday Laura,” she sang in increasing frequencies as she pranced up the stairs and rounded the corner for my room. I started to open my eyes when ‘click,’ the lights turned on.

The childhood memory of my mother faded out, and reality set in like a building thunderstorm on a sticky Florida afternoon. Happy feelings collided with endless tears and I was struck with a lightning bolt of emotion.

I will never get to see her again. Feel the scratch of her wool sweater as she rips the blankets off of me. Hear the ever so comforting sound of her boots coming down the hall. Smell the heavenly essence of her kitchen, and shovel down her delicious food without even getting a chance to breath.

She was full of life and in a heartbeat it was stolen from her.

I cry every birthday, I have since I was a little girl. My mom thought it was hilarious to take pictures of.

Well it kind of is.

This year though? I was just counting down the seconds until it was over.

Birthdays are the worst days.

Homemade Braided Collar for a Yellow Lab

December 21, 2014December 21, 2014Leave a comment

Winnie deserves the world. She is the sweetest little sea otter/dog in the world, and I love her. So today I made her a collar! I’m going to give it to her on Christmas and I can’t wait to see her eyes light up when she catches sight of this nautical necklace. (Yes this dog is ridiculously human-like so stop judging)

Here is how it turned out.

I followed this blogger’s guideline.

Cut WAY more rope than you think you’d need. Tying these knots eats up rope like crazy so make it super long. For reference, I put mine together on my bed and it was snaking all over my floor. You can always cut off extras later so be generous. Also if you want, cut the two middle pieces significantly shorter. They remain stationary the whole time, so you can almost cut them the length of your pre-existing dog collar plus an additional 6 or 8 inches for the loop.

Here is the braiding process. Remind you of childhood making hemp bracelets?

Once you figure out the knot, the hardest part is attaching your hook/clasp or making a loop. I used the cut, burn, and wrap trick that my sister taught me.

I think Winnie will like it.

She loves new jewels.

Thoughts on Cruise Ships….

December 17, 2014December 21, 2014Leave a comment

Have you guys been reading all the recent articles about cruise ship pollution??? NASTY. Here’s what I think…..

Maple Glazed Bacon Waffles

December 14, 2014December 21, 2014Leave a comment

I am a freak about bacon. Especially when it is oven baked and caramelized with a glaze of maple syrup. Add some waffles…… okay I will stop. I don’t want you ruining your computer with drool.

The key to this is rendering the bacon fat slowly in a COLD, non-preheated oven. Counter-intuitive I know, but it is the only way to melt away that fat and keep the bacon nice and crispy. SO KRISPY

Line bacon on oiled drying rack over sheet pan. Place in cold oven. Turn oven to desired temperature (this depends on how you like your pork belly), I like 400°F.

Bake until it looks like this, and the bacon is just starting to brown. This was after about 15 minutes.

Brush on maple syrup. Put back in oven and bake for another 10 minutes, or until syrup has nicely caramelized.

Flip bacon over, brush with maple syrup and bake until fully caramelized and the majority of the fat is gone. This was mine finished.

While bacon is cooling, whip up your favorite waffle batter. I cheated and used a mix, but you can go all pioneer on me and make your own. Next time I make waffles from scratch I’m using this recipe.

Crumble up bacon strips, except for one, and fold into waffle batter.