This pic pretty much sums up my Thanksgiving -
My adorable nephew Julian <3
So much great food, lots of grab-your-belly laughter with the family + KIDS running around for a change!! It’s nice for once not to be the youngest at the family functions :)
Everyone gathered at my grandmother’s house this year for dinner, and my Aunt did the honors of cooking this amazing meal for all of us. We had so much leftovers to bring home it was unreal. I figured that this was a good opportunity to find a unique dessert recipe and flex those non-existent baking skills of mine. I don’t personally like cheesecake, and in fact I’m the only person I know that doesn’t, but I found this Sweet Potato Cheesecake recipe on the Food Network website.
I’ve never ever made cheesecake, but it sounded like an interesting combo of flavors.
The recipe makes two cheesecakes – talk about pressure! I started with two 9″ pie pans with thin slices of Sara Lee pound cake lining the bottom for the crust, mashing 1 medium sweet potato + whipping up 3 (8 oz.) packages of cream-cheese at room temperature.
At this step I wished hard for a state-of-the-art baking mixers (as you see, I don’t know really what they’re called). My arm was SO tired trying to beat the cream-cheese softer. After slowly adding the granulated sugar, heavy cream, eggs, flavored extracts, and mashed sweet potato it was easier. After-the-fact I had wished I had the fore-thought to puree the sweet potato really really smooth.
Adding the nutmeg last here and whipping smooth. I was hoping the mixture would’ve turned orange :/
About an 45 minutes to an hour later (as the directions suggested) I kept looking through the oven window wondering if it was really done. I was like ‘eh, it’s fine’ & I immediately pulled it out of the oven. WRONG! It started falling and cracking!! I immediately googled the problem + apparently it’s a common issue AND you should leave the pastry in the oven, instead of exposing it to the air…..like I did, haha.
Despite all the issues + problems it went over pretty well! It didn’t turn orange as I had hoped for, but there were nice flecks of orange from the sweet potato. It was a pretty good recipe, but if I would change the recipe at all I would NOT ADD THE LEMON EXTRACT!!!! I was weary adding it in the first place – I should’ve listened to my gut! It’s a pretty strong flavor.
So, next on the agenda? I need to start thinking about Xmas + New Years! Between studying, making presents, and making a dress for New Years (I know, I know – we’ll see what happens) it’s going to be busy!
In short – clearance items rock….well….sometimes. I’ve perused too many sales racks only to find the shirt that I really wanted is only available in a ginormous size. I usually end up feeling like hunting down the last heffer my size that took the shirt that belonged to me. BUT a few months ago I started looking for clothing items (shirts only) in other sizes + I now make it a habit to inspect them for hacking/slight adjustment potential. I figure, if it’s a really cheap find, so what if I mess up this shirt right?
And so my story begins.
*adjusting my cape*
This first shirt I bought a million months ago from Forever21 for $3.99 – sized at the largest Medium I’ve ever seen. Dark-blue with gathered shoulder seams and a criss-cross detail with metal rivets in the back.
Front + Back
Front + Back in the mirror. It doesn’t appear to drape badly in the photo, but the shirt is strategically hanging from my shoulders at this point.
See what I mean….
Let the hacking begin!
I cut the bottom band, which is gathered on its sides. In the mirror I pinned the shirt and to create new seams to fit my size ( top shoulder + side seams of shirt). I then cut the excess.
(The only reason I added this next photo is because that green nail polish looks so AMAZING!!!)
So it’s just pinned here. I haven’t finished because I’m not sure if and how I’ll incorporate the back strips with the metal rivets yet. But you get the idea – it’s a better fit!
Next is a tank that I bought from Old Navy just yesterday. It was marked down to $5.49 from $14.50 and size Large. I tried so hard to find another in my size UGH! I was really sold on the off-center bird screen print so I got it.
I know. This shot is bordering ‘indecent exposure’ LOL but I swear I have shorts underneath and it hangs low. Again, it’s a size LARGE.
The dashed lines represent where the new seams will go. Again, this was determined by where I pinned the shirt on myself.
Few cuts here and few straight stitches later, I’ve got my bird right where I want him! A simple fix.
I put jeans on this time.
UGH, I just remembered. I know, I know – I still need to save (do-over) that hobo bag.
I originally had another dress in mind for a Halloween costume. Think 50’s era, Leave-It-To-Beaver’s mom meets Niecy Nash from Clean House (I had soooooo planned to rock a flower in my hair!) but alas, the dress was beyond my beginner’s level + I was running out of time. I only had THREE days left with no ideas, money, or a costume. So, I dug through my growing pattern stash and picked this easy Vogue pattern instead!
I picked pattern option D (slim skirted tube dress without straps)
Of COURSE I only now realize that I had accidently purchased the size 12-14-18 pattern :/ so I had to modify my pattern on trace paper according to my body measurements (which would’ve been a size 10 according to the Vogue pattern sizing) and I also decided to shorten the length of the skirt by 6 inches. Instead of buying a specific fabric, I used this cheap white muslin fabric I already had ($1.49/yd) so that really saved me on cost!
I have never done a dress before, so even the first three pieces I had sewn together deserved a photo op.
I had to of course make sure the measurements were good + that everything fit. Here, the top bodice piece connects to the skirt (minus zipper)
Time to hand sew on the gold band to really make this costume work!
Zipper time!
Halloween day I added the lining and I hemmed the skirt bottom. I bought a tube of Rimmel’s ‘Green with Envy’ sexy jade green nail polish, found an old gaudy multi-colored gem stone gold necklace, threw on a pair of gold strappy shoes I had, and used the same ribbon band on my dress as cuffs for my arms and around my ankles. Tada!
Next project should be a new bag/purse. My hobo bag looks too authentic now – it’s in really sad shape.
You may not be able to tell from the photo, but it needs to be retired. I got it from Target for $9.99 a while back, but the love is gone now. To the left, to the left.
