Fight Nights!

Here is your analogy for today:

Sweetened condensed milk IS TO my favorite ingredient to cook with right now AS dulce de leche IS TO my favorite treat to eat right now.

I was in lala land for awhile there when it came to dulce de leche. I had heard of it before, but never really understood it until... I was getting ready for UFC 144. Of course we were rooting for Ben "Smooth" Henderson and this fight night called for something special. Since the fights were in Japan I googled Japanese candy/desserts, but didn't find anything I thought I could make. I decided to go with something Brazilian, since I was going to watch the fights with friends from Bakersfield Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I then came across the super fun Dulce Delight and her youtube channel. She introduced me to sweetened condensed milk and it changed my life. For about a month all I wanted to do was make Brigadeiros for people.

So, even though I haven't mastered a Japanese dessert yet... there was still a happy ending. I learned all about dulce de leche, Benson won, and I didn't screw up any pots or plates making this candy!!! win, Win, WIN situation!

But... the most "winning" part of all this is that we actually got to meet Ben Henderson!!! He is such a great person and definitely deserves all the success that has been coming his way.

Liebster Award!

About a month ago we were given the Libster Blog Award by our dear friend Andi over at Crazy Daze Designs! I grew up with Andi in the same church and we still go there today! Our church is actually a pretty crafty place and I love it because there are so many creative, talented, caring, loving people. I'm very lucky to have been brought up in such a warm and supportive environment. Anyway, we have been pretty busy with life and have neglected this blog for far too long, so it's time to play a little catch-up and we'll start with this award. Thank you, thank you Andi for the mention and for being so patient with us.

So... what the Liebster Award anyway?

Liebster is German and means 'dearest' or 'beloved', but it can also mean 'favorite'.

The idea behind the Liebster Award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers.

If you are selected, you need to:

Choose FIVE up and coming blogs to award the Liebster to (they must have less than 200 followers)

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Post the award on your blog.
3. List the bloggers you are giving this award to with links to their sites.
4. Best of all, have fun and share the love!

#4 is our favorite because we love to share the love, so here we go:

1. Stitched with Good Intentions or Living the Creative Teen Life

If you read our blog you will already know about Kayla. She is amazing and I can't say enough good things about her. I discovered her in a magazine and we now send each other mail (ribbons, stuffed hippos, scrapbooks, stitched cards, Etsy finds... that kind of mail). I'm sure she has way more than 200 followers, but it doesn't show, so we're going to share her with all of you.

2. Parcel Posts and Other Notes

Kayla again. Love the quotes she posts and keeping up with all the exciting things in her life.

3. Carla's Studios

My aunt's blog!!! When we visit her we are usually playing with fire (glass beads), flinging paint (watercolor), or throwing pots (pottery). :)

4. Donate Life

We're breaking the rules a little with this one because they have 207 followers, but it's too important not to share. We are believes in organ donation!

5. Frazzled Five (mom + dad too)

She works, goes to school, has 5 kids, blogs, and has time to read! I can't wait to try some of her fun projects she has like this Rustic Photo Stand. We love earthy, organic projects like this.

And there you have it... our Liebster Blog Award picks. Go check them out and love them as much as we do! Thanks again to Andi and thanks for inspiring everyone to get crafty and DIYing with your blog.

Here is some of Kayla's work that I got from her Etsy a few years ago... love, Love, LOVE it!

School Craft: Valentine's Day

Or as some of my student's say... ValentiMe's Day. :) I love celebrating holidays with my students because they are the ones that make these special occasions so much fun. Each year I pass out handmade Valentines to everyone and this time my mom found the cutest tutorial for origami hearts over at Mollie Makes. Have you heard of Mollie Makes??? It's fairly new, but it's already becoming one of my favorite places for crafty ideas. They have the sweetest projects and these hearts are definitely one of them. I could not stop making these, so I didn't... until I had enough for everyone in my class (and then some).

TO: Puff

Not much needs to be said... this is for Puff and that is enough! ;)

French Macarons!

I ran in Pasadena this past weekend and while I was roaming the streets with friends from run camp, I couldn't help but notice these sweet little cookies called macarons housed in equally sweet boutique-like bakeries. They are French and they are so colorful and cute. So, of course, when I got home I started researching these little guys. Many have confused them with the coconut treat, the macaroon. While you can make a coconut macaron version, these are two different things. Confused? Don't worry... I was too. And to top it off, the origin of the name macaron is actually Italian and not French. Regardless, they are delicious and after being surrounded by them this weekend, I had to try and make them. WARNING: I really messed up on the filling because I didn't have the correct ingredients. I was going for Dulce Delight's recipe, but ended up just making a powdered sugar version, which was disgustingly way too sweet. I'll make it the right way next time. :) Another great reference was from Sorted Food. I was going to use their recipe because I liked how they added different colors to their mix, but all their measurements were in grams and doing any kind of math baking conversions at 1 am is definitely not happening, so I found this recipe from Giver'slog instead and it worked perfectly. With the exception of the filling, these turned out better than I expected for the first time. "Macarons have a reputation for being difficult, but honestly, they are not." :) It's true! They are surprisingly not hard at all to make, so give them a try! Happy Baking!

P.S. Since we're talking about SUGAR... I lucked out at the post race Sugar Ray concert and got Rodney's guitar pick. He has been with the band for about 24 years now!!! LOVE their music and energy. So great to see them live!

Sugar Ray Fun Facts:
Mark's first band was named the Shrinky Dinkx (Skrinky Dinks are one of the coolest craft materials ever) and their 3rd album is titled 14:59 (Andy Warhol reference anyone!?!). I love this band!!!

Larynx

This was actually a homework assignment! It's not due until March, but I couldn't wait!

MORE(no) MUSIC!

It feels like it has been forever since I have done anything crafty because I have been swamped with teaching, school, running, and organizing Donate Life events in town. Usually I would have had multiple meltdowns by now, but I've only had one and I'm pretty sure that it's because I discovered the music of Reynaldo Moreno. Every time I listen to one of his songs I feel the creative vibes that I have been missing. I have been loving the YouTube videos and they keep me company during my many hours in front of the computer. His messages are so positive and that's my main focus these days. One of my favorite quotes is by Leo Tolstoy and it states, "If you want to be happy, be." Creating is obviously something that makes me happy, but in the last year (after my dad's lung transplants) I discovered that what makes me truly happy is meeting people and living life with them. When I reflect on my life this past year, I am in awe with the people God has brought into it and how they are the ones who make my outlook so positive.

This past weekend I ran my first marathon in Arizona! About a year ago I set a goal to run a marathon in Arizona (St. Joseph's Hospital) and in LA (UCLA) where I would dedicate a mile to people who have helped my family during this journey. For part of my training I ran the Vegas 1/2 marathon in December. It was there we met the creators of One Blow K.O. who live in Arizona. They invited my mom and I to an event at The Lab this past race weekend and we got to meet Reynaldo Moreno, Ben Henderson, and Efrain Escudero. FYI... my family loves MMA (Ben is one of our favorite fighters) so this was pretty amazing for us. We also got to enjoy Bueno Burgers with such down-to-earth people. I'm pretty sure fate is the reason we connected with these people and I am beyond thankful.

So... I'm here to spread the love by sharing all these great people with you!