Powered by Tofu

Yesterday was the start of week two of the spring cure.  The first week was super simple compared to this week! So here’s the insane list for this week… and I do believe it will require making lists about lists — which just happens to be one of my hobbies. ;)

Week 2 To Do List:

• Fix one thing in your apartment – this will be filling in the nail/screw holes from hanging curtains.
• Clean kitchen from top to bottom – requires its own list…
• Water filter
• pretend your apartment is a whale – oh hai whale!
• Designate an Outbox area – my storage closet is already an “outbox” of sorts
• Clear one area using the Outbox – Use it? Love it? Need it?
• Buy flowers
• Determine your style
• Find a new recipe and cook one meal at home – I already try to cook/eat at home at least 3 nights a week
• Choose a date for your housewarming – in eight weeks you say?

Less blogging, more kitchen cleaning… I think I need to create a Ramones/Rancid station on Pandora first. Ciao!

All successful journeys begin with a positive vision.

This post is part of my Apartment Therapy Spring Cure 2010, so if you’re not keen to follow along then come back in 8 weeks. ;)

Now, for some honesty… I didn’t actually do anything cure-ish this week, but perhaps that’s because I already have a “vision” for my apartment and I did the cure a few years ago. Anyway, I did re-read chapter 1 and I suppose this next week will be a little more work, since it focuses on the kitchen. :] Join the cult.

Week 1 To Do List:

• List of repairs – drywall mud to fill all the little holes I made while hanging curtains :P
• Vacuum/mop floors
• Remove one item from your apartment and put it outside – does my kitteh count?
• Buy fresh flowers – purple tulips from the farmers market :)
• Sit for 10 minutes in a part of your home that you never sit in -  in <600 sq ft there isn’t really part of my home that I “never sit in”, unless you count the floor directly in front of my balcony, which I did spend some time napping in the sunshine over the weekend. :P
• Look into earth-friendly cleaning products – I use Method.

On to week 2 and the kitchen! Oh and an update on my Liberty of London obsession… I now have: a storage bin, file box, 2 mugs, tray, gardening gloves, sundress, piggy bank… and. that. is. all. I’ve decided on several occasions not to buy anything else… but I would probably tackle someone if I spotted one of the teapots in-store… and I wouldn’t mind the bicycle either…

otherwise known by the long — and culturally sensitive — name: Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes  with Irish Whiskey Chocolate Ganache and Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting

I spotted a link to some Irish car bomb cupcakes last week that looked a little too similar to a Smitten Kitchen recipe that I’ve been meaning to try for ages! So I’m not going to copy her recipe, if you actually want to make these lovely cupcakes go check out Smitten Kitchen’s recipe. The only change I made was making a cream cheese frosting instead of a butter cream frosting. I thought it would have a smoother texture and go with the Baileys, whiskey, Guinness combo better.

Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 8 oz of cream cheese (room temperature)
• 3/4 cup – 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3-4 TB of Baileys (usually you would add vanilla, but it isn’t needed with the Baileys)

1. Mix the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar together with an electric mixer

2. Add in the Baileys (you might need a little more sugar at this point).

3. Nom, nom, nom

This was my first time making a chocolate ganache filling, so it was fun to learn something new. I also improvised a little on the filling instructions. I don’t have a 1″ cutter or piping supplies, so I used one of my new insanely sharp knives and then a butter knife to pop the round out. And then to fill them, I just used a plastic bag with the corner cut.

So I love these cupcakes, although I think they’re quite possibly the most unhealthy cupcakes of all time. :)  They’re a brilliant concept though, and they go so nicely with Liberty of London trays. :P What next… maybe mojito cupcakes, or pastis cupcakes, or pink gin fizz cupcakes…

What would make an awesome drink cupcake?

A reminder to my home decor pals that the Apartment Therapy Spring Cure starts tomorrow (Monday, March 15, 2010)! It’s been about 3 years since I did the cure, so it should be fun to give it another go… although it really shouldn’t be too much work this time around, as I’ve been pretty sparing with the items that I kept/repurchased after my travels. :)

How to:
Get the book (or check it out at the library)
Sign-up for the weekly cure emails
Start reading the book, and participate as much as you want with the discussions, flickr pool etc

The Plan: (March 15th through May 10th)
Week 1: Creating Your Vision
Week 2: Clearing a Path
Week 3: The Landing Strip
Week 4: Retail Therapy
Week 5: The Thick of It
Week 6: Light Therapy
Week 7: Sacred Space
Week 8: Throwing a Party
Week 9: Graduation

Should be fun, and I may just have an excuse to pick up some new home goods — Liberty of London for Target is calling my name at the moment. Anyone else a little obsessed with this line right now? The LoL (heh) line is like a “few of my favorite things” roundup: gardening stuff, bicycles, flipflops, piggy banks, dresses, tea pots, and all in the sweetest patterns. <3

Who else is doing the Spring Cure?

Well this one was pretty easy — I had a little help since some restaurants went out of business last year. :|  There were a couple of restaurants that I’d been meaning to try just because they’re close, but I’m disappointed to report that I wasn’t missing much and I won’t be back. However, there are two restaurants in my neighborhood that I really love — so I guess it evens out.

Maybe next time I’ll add “Eat at every restaurant in my work neighborhood” to the list. Oh, and I defined my neighborhood as 1/2 mile from my place using the Yelp map. (photo by yoppy)