Insecure Moment or Moment of Clairvoyance?

Dear Bummykins,

___ Face -->

You get 10 points for finding the hidden messages.

Co-drawn with boyfriend at a co-ed bridal shower.

Look who's back from summer vacation!

After a nice long summer of rediscovering the magic of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), my boyfriend and I decided to try to learn and acapella "Da Mystery of Chessboxin.'"  Though we've probably listened to the track 50 times in the last month (and countless times in our youth), we still can't get the lyrics straight.  I like to imagine that he'll get over his stage fright and actually rap this song with me one day at hip hop karaoke. 

So, here I go with my ghetto drawing memorization technique.  This will definitely help us get through our upcoming road trip to Toronto!

So the first few lines are easy enough.  They're:

RAW, I'mma give it to ya,
With no trivia,
Raw like cocaine straight from Bolivia.
My hip hop will rock and shock the nation
Like the Emancipation Proclamation.

And this is where it gets tricky for us, hence the DRAWINGS!  Enjoy if any of you are reading this! 

More to come soon-ish, as it's bedtime for Sharmycakes! zzzzzzz

How to make a Rice Krispies Raving Rabbid

 Mon received this cool Raving Rabbids mold about a year ago, and we only got around to using it now.  Doesn’t the final product look great?  Many thanks to Mon and Nakubu for making these sugary treats!

Rayman's Raving Rabbid Rice Krispies Dessert

Nakubu, Mon and I wanted to originally make these the day of the 1upcakes, but ran out of time. They went ahead and made them without me (cry) but kept the pictures for me to share!  Here’s the how-to!

You will need:

Recognize the picture? It’s from the 1upcakes tutorial. We were a bit too ambitious that day.

-         Rice Krispies Cereal

-         Marshmallows

-         Butter

-         White Icing

-         Pink Icing

-         Red Icing

-         Black icing

-         Raving Rabbids silicone mold

Steps:

 1.  Make the Rice Krispies Squares by following the direction on the cereal box.

2.  Quickly fill the mold with the warm Rice Krispy mix.

3.  Freeze or cool the mold in the freezer/fridge (this was done 3 separate times for the 3 rabbids).

4.  Remove the Rabbids from the fridge and place on a flat surface for decorating.

Video game inspired food is always tasty =)

5.  Spread white icing over the Rice Krispies Rabbids.

+1 icing skills for Nakubu.  And yes, "yummy" is intentionally misspelled for dramatic effect.

I call this pre-decorated one "Melty Face"

6.  Decorate with the red, black, and pink according to the desired Rabbid look.

Don't forget to scream "DAAAAAH!!!" before you eat them!

The End!

How to make a Jigglypuff Bento

I recently got a request to make a Jigglypuff bento (thanks, Heather, for the great idea!).  Here’s my second bento, made with the leftovers from my Kirby bento.

For Heather: a Jigglypuff bento!

 

The concept of the bento was inspired by the video game Super Smash Bros.  I also riffed on the themes of “before and after” the honeymoon phase of a relationship, or it can represent the thin line between love and hate, or loosely on the theme of “friendly competition.”  Something’s telling me that you’re probably thinking that I’m getting too “English Literature Teacher-ish” and that I should end my paragraph right about…now.

If you’d like to know how I made this or if you’d like to replicate it, here’s the tutorial!

What you'll need:

-       A bento box (or Tupperware-type container)

-       Scissors

-       Cookie cutters

-       Toothpicks

-       Nori

-       Cheese (I used 2 kinds: white cheddar and American)

-       Lettuce

-       Ham (I also used salami inside the sandwich for variety)

-       Mayonnaise

-       Hot sauce (or ketchup)

-       Mustard

 How to make Jigglypuff:

Jigglypuff and Kirby are basically circular ham and cheese sandwiches.  I placed ham over top and stylized it to look like the desired characters. The Jigglypuff is my design, and the Kirby is Anna the Red’s creation (for Kirby, follow this link, or go to Anna the Red’s blog).  Here's how to make Jigglypuff.

1.  Cut pieces of nori into the desired shapes.

2. Use a circular cookie-cutter to cut pieces of toast.  I used 2 large pieces of toast to make 4 slices (which makes 2 Jigglypuff/Kirbys). 

3. Cut 2 slices of cheese with the circular cutter. This goes in the sandwich.

4. Use a smaller circle cutter (or the top of a heart-shaped cutter, as I did since I don't have a smaller circular cutter) to cut Jigglypuff's arms.

5. Cut several slices of ham with the circular cutter (depending on how much ham you like). Cut Jigglypuff’s arms and ears (and Kirby’s arms) as well.

6. Spread mayo and mustard onto the slices of bread.

7. Add the cheese and ham.  Save the top slices of ham for Jigglypuff and Kirby’s face/body (you’ll need 4 for each mini sandwich).

8. Place the remaining slices of ham on top of the sandwich.

9. Slide Jigglypuff's ham "limbs" in the desired locations.  Use cheese for Jigglypuff’s legs.

10. Cut circular pieces of cheese for the whites of Jigglypuff’s eyes and place accordingly.

11. Cut lettuce for the eyeballs (heart-shaped for the “love” look, and circular for the “angry” look).

Kirby is pretty much the same thing.  The only differences are that I applied mayo with a toothpick to make the twinkle in his eyes, and several dabs of hot sauce on the ham to make his rosy cheeks.

Final product: WIN!

Ta-da!

Bento Supplies: A Starter's Guide

I'm a huge fan of Anna the Red's blog.  I found her blog to be quite inspiring and have spent the past few months accumulating knowledge and tools. Thanks, Anna, for giving me a shoutout on your blog, Twitter and Facebook! =)

I've been getting some questions about how to get started.  Here are some of my bento goodies and a list of places where you can buy them!

This is my bento box.  I got it for 2.00$ from Ebay (minus shipping).  It's awesome because it's got chop sticks and Western cutlery.  And of course it's awesome because it's Hello Kitty (I feel my readership going down now).  Yeah, that's right, I like Hello Kitty!  Alternately, you can use any air-tight food container that you have on hand.  <3

I got this for $2.00!

Now, here are some common bento supplies:

These are my bento supplies. I have yet to use most of them! Stay tuned for updates :)

Here are some of my items and their uses

1. Bento box ($2.00, Ebay). Used to carry and store food.

2. Brontosaurus sandwich cutter ($1.00, Dollarama). Used to cut sandwiches in funky shapes.

 3. Heart sandwich cutter ($1.00, Dollarama). Used to cut sandwiches in funky shapes.

4. Silicone chocolate moulds ($5.00, some specialty cooking store), and cupcake moulds. Used to hold thick sauces or little foods.

5. Egg moulds ($7.00 for the two, Ebay).  Shapes hard-boiled eggs into these cute characters!

4. Metal cookie cutters ($1.00 for a pack of 6, Foret Dollar; $1.50 for the round at Stark & Whyte). Used to make pretty food.

5. Panda bear food picks ($1.00, Ebay). Used to make the bento look cuter or to string together small foods (such as olives or edamame beans).

Click this link to see the tutorial of my first kyraben (character) bento.  My next project will be posted as well, so stay tuned!

How to make a Kirby / Nintendo Themed Lunch

Here's my very first bento.  It took months of accumulation of items and study of Anna The Red's awesome blog to get me to do this.  Here's how to do it if you want to get started!

Sharmycakes' Kirby/Nintendo-Themed Bento!
Thanks Anna The Red, for your awesome tips!

What you'll need:

-       A bento box (or Tupperware-type container)

-       Scissors

-       Cookie cutters

-       Toothpicks

-       Nori

-       Cheese

-       Lettuce

-       Broccoli

-       Carrots

-       Sweet Potato

-       Ham

-       Salami (or other red-coloured deli meat)

-       Mayonnaise

-       Hot sauce (or ketchup)

-       Mustard

This is my sketch and some of the cookie cutters I used

The tutorial is broken down into each character/component:

Mario Star:

1. Cut cheese with a star-shaped cookie cutter.

2. Cut nori (dry sheet seaweed) eyes and place in desired location.

Mario Mushrooms:

Yummy!

1. Cut cheese with a mushroom-shaped cookie cutter (really, who thinks to make that?).

2. Use the top part of the mushroom-shaped cookie cutter to cut a slice of red deli meat (for the red mushroom) and a slice of lettuce (for the green mushroom).  It may help to cook or nuke the lettuce before cutting to make it more manageable.  Place on top of the cheese.

3. Cut small pieces of cheese and place accordingly.  Alternately, you can use a hole puncher and punch holes from the meat and lettuce.  I cut the cheese with a knife and then discovered that a pizza cutter sped up the process.

4. Cut nori for the eyes and place in the desired location.

Kirby:

The flying Kirby is in the sky (sweet potato star and moon) and standing Kirby's on the ground (broccoli trees)

Kirby is basically a circular ham and cheese sandwich with an extra slice of ham over top (with a cute Kirby design).  This is Anna the Red's design, but I had to alter a few things because I had different tools.  Here's how to make it.

1. Use a circular cookie-cutter to cut pieces of toast.  I used 2 large pieces of toast to make 4 slices (which makes 2 Kirbys). 

2. Cut 2 slices of cheese with the circular cutter. This goes in the sandwich.

3. Use a smaller circle cutter (or the top of a heart-shaped cutter, as I did since I don't have a smaller circular cutter) to cut Kirby's arms and legs.   You'll need a total of 8 Kirby "limbs."

4. Cut 4 or more slices of ham with the circular cutter (depending on how much ham you like)

5. Spread mayo and mustard onto the slices of bread

6. Add the cheese and ham.  Save 2 slices of ham for Kirby's face/body.

7. Place the remaining slices of ham on top of the sandwich

8. Slide Kirby's ham "limbs" in the desired locations

9. Cut nori eyes and mouths

10. Place some mayo onto a toothpick to draw on the whites of Kirby's eyes

11. Place some hot sauce (or ketchup) onto a toothpick to draw on Kirby's rosy cheeks

Here's another shot of my first bento and the feelings I got after making it! 

So excited to eat this tomorrow!

The End!

Hip Hop Karaoke Video

I actually look like I kinda know what I'm doing, thanks to Oopey's awesome photography!

I've been getting some requests to see the video.  It's sure to give you guys a few good laughs.  Here it is (thanks Mon and Nakubu, for setting it up.  What a nice surprise)!

For more pics and videos (there were some really awesome and fun performances), check out HHK's website or find them on Facebook for the freshest info!

Also, props to Oopey Mason for the pics!  Here are some more of his pics from the show.  Be sure to check them out on the HHK Facebook page!

Living with Parents: Part 2

The Pros and Cons of Living with your Parents
Part 2

Pro: Free rent

Con: Having to follow the same rules you had in high school

Living with Parents: Part 1

The Pros and Cons of Living with your Parents


Despite what most people might think, living at home when you're nearly thirty certainly has its benefits.  

Sometimes, however, the very same situation that is a "pro" can quickly transform into a "con." 

The following is part 1 of a series I'm calling "The Pros and Cons of Living with your Parents."

Pro: Free Food

Con: Being Forced to Eat Gross Vegetables

*Bitter melon, or bitter gourd, is a vegetable grown in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.


It also grows like weeds in my backyard.  


Bitter melon tastes EXACTLY as it sounds.  


It is bitterness personified.  


Eating it is like bitterness b*tch-slapped you in the face.

I HEART: LEGO!

  

LEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


These here are my latest Legos.  Bummykins got me the Harry Potter Hogwarts Set for Valentine's Day. BEST GIFT EVER. Hagrid's house follows.  It was not so great.  I'd say Hagrid's Hut was a ripoff.  Do not buy. BUT LEGOS ARE STILL AWESOME, THE END!




Lego Review: Hogwarts Castle #4842
 

Interior View: Hogwarts Castle

Play Experience: 3/5
Value for Money: 1/5
Quality:4/5
Detail: 5/5

Although the set is labeled appropriate for children 8-14 years old, I consider this product extremely fun for someone in her 20s.

Having some years of Lego-play experience under our belts, my partner and I had loads of nostalgic fun assembling this set. We were pleased to see the straight-forward manner of the instructions. The quality of the set, and its parts, and the details were also notable. For instance, the tables of the great hall can be decorated with a turkey, cake, croissant, and cherries, and the hall also includes two seats for professors, and a podium for Dumbledore. The vanishing cabinet doors are also well detailed, and the "stained glass" on the sides of the great hall are all nice finishing touches to the set.

My first qualm with this set is the most obvious: it is far too expensive. The second shortcoming to this set is that some of the rooms are a bit too small for play. For instance, the common rooms don't afford mobility beyond the two swivel chairs provided, the "forbidden section" of the library leaves much to be desired, and the trophy room is slightly awkward for play. My last criticism of the set is that it excludes some important minifigures, such as Ron, Malfoy, and Fawkes (since when is Dumbledore's office complete without his beloved phoenix?).

Qualms aside, if you are willing to fork out a pretty penny for the sake of good fun, by all means, this set is worth hours of imaginative fun.

Exterior View: Hogwarts Castle

Lego Review: Hagrid's Hut #4738

Exterior View: Hagrid's Hut

Play Experience: 2/5
Value for Money: 1/5
Quality: 3/5
Detail: 4/5

The most exciting aspect about this set is the light-up brick. Beyond that, I find it hard to justify the playability of this set with the price.

Interior View: Hagrid's Hut