Project 41: January

Time for Month 11 of Project 41!  

Because I'm on Baskin-Robbins' mailing list, I know what the Flavor-of-the-Month is before I visit the store to try it.  In 11 months, there have only been two times when I learned what the flavor would be and was worried that I wouldn't like it.  The first time was in April when the flavor was Jamoca Heath.  I can't stand coffee and usually don't like coffee-flavored stuff.  I was pleasantly surprised when I tried the ice cream and liked it.

January's Flavor-of-the-Month is Movie Theater Popcorn.  It is described as "buttered popcorn flavored ice cream and buttered popcorn flavored crisp pieces all wrapped together with a salty caramel ribbon."

 

I had serious concerns that it would be awful.  I can't stand Buttered Popcorn Jelly Bellies and was afraid it would be similar.  Here's how it looked:

My companion this month was Jennifer.  I met Jennifer in early 2008 on the forums at Scrapbook.com and in person about a month later.  She was the one who trained me as a Certified Fiskars Demonstrator and recruited me as a Fiskateer.  We live about 30 minutes apart and get together for crafting every few months.  She was my assistant when I taught the Quilling 101 workshop two years ago.  

We actually had a third friend, Sheena, with us. The three of us spent the morning visiting one of the few remaining Bay Area scrapbook stores, Scrapbook Territory in Berkeley. Sheena and I had never been before and the three of us had been talking about going for over a year. We spent 2 hours there, looking at every single product they had for sale.  We had lunch on the waterfront and then our Baskin-Robbins ice cream in Jennifer's town.

Neither Jennifer nor I thought that Movie Theater Popcorn ice cream would be a good idea, but I'm happy to report that we both really liked it! The ice cream itself was like a salty vanilla with lots of caramel.  In it were candy-coated crunchy bits that were shaped like popcorn and tasted vaguely of popcorn (in a good way). I would definitely eat it again.

One more month left of Project 41!

Draw Along with Trevor

The other day, Trevor came home from school all excited to teach me a drawing project he learned. He did such a good job teaching me that I asked him to do it again for the camera.  

Grab a black pen and a sheet of white paper and draw along with Trevor!

Pretty neat, huh? I've seen a number of this style of draw along, but I don't think I'd seen that actual one before. Trevor thinks it's the best thing ever. I tried to convince him that Fred and Bob should be touching the forest path so that they're not just hanging in mid-air afterward and instead look like teeth, but that's not the way the teacher showed him. In Trevor's mind, the teacher is ALWAYS right. There are pros and cons to that.

Here is one that Trevor drew and colored in. It's hanging on our art wall.

I should encourage Trevor to make up a rabbit draw along ... we're already starting to brainstorm projects for this year's Bunny Week and that would be a fun addition.

The deRosier Chopped Challenge, Episode 2

Back when I was doing 40 new-to-me things to celebrate my 40th birthday, one of the items on my list was to cook from a mystery basket. I'd recommend reading (or re-reading) that post before reading this one.  I'll wait.....

... ok! We had such a great time with our original Chopped Challenge that it was only a matter of time before we had another one. But this time, Steve would be the chef! Trevor and I headed to the grocery store to pick out the four mystery ingredients. 

Trevor was giddy as we went up and down the aisles, bouncing the whole time (which is what he does when he is really, really happy). We spent a long time selecting the perfect items. We settled on sparkling apple cider, honey roasted peanuts, a tube of refrigerated pizza crust, and Jennie-O Turkey. 

Steve and I watch Biggest Loser together, which means he's seen PLENTY of ways to cook Jennie-O Turkey. I've never bought it before, but I couldn't resist for this challenge. Once I saw it, I was really tempted to put together a basket of only the products they shill on Biggest Loser, but Trevor (who doesn't watch the show) rejected that idea.

When it was time to begin, I made Steve put on Trevor's toddler-sized toque (hilarious), set the timer, and let him see the ingredients.

 

It took him a few minutes of basically doing nothing (looking at the pantry and returning with nothing, staring at the fridge, getting out pans and putting them back) before he got started. The first thing he did was make a mocktail for the judges using sparkling apple cider and grenadine. The judges were pleased.

Turns out Steve was stalling. Suddenly, an idea came to him and he was a blur of action. He cooked the turkey while chopping carrots. He sauteed broccoli in butter. He spread out the pizza dough on a sheet pan and combined apple cider and dijon mustard in a bowl. He chopped peanuts and set them aside. The judges were perplexed. The judges were also impressed. Steve usually struggles with multi-tasking, but he was handling it like a pro.

Next, he put the cooked turkey and broccoli on the pizza crust and added some grated cheeses and a little barbecue sauce.

 

He folded the pizza crust over the fillings and put it in the oven. Then he added oil to his apple cider and mustard mixture and started assembling a salad. The judges entertained themselves with some self-portraits...

... while Steve finished plating.

 

He presented the meal: "I've prepared a stromboli, stuffed with Jennie-O Turkey, sauteed broccoli, a blend of cheeses, and barbecue sauce. I've served it with a salad of mixed greens, carrots, mozzarella, bacon, and chopped honey-roasted peanuts, dressed with a vinaigrette of dijon mustard, olive oil and sparkling apple cider. Your mocktails are a blend of sparkling apple cider and grenadine.  Enjoy."

 

It was absolutely delicious! Both judges were quick to declare Steve the Chopped Champion. We'd both be thrilled to eat this meal again and again.

Cub Scout Day Camp '13

Another quick layout - I'm on a roll!  This one uses photos from last summer's Cub Scout Day Camp.  I didn't really have a specific story to tell, so I made a rare layout without journaling.  

Cub Scout Day Camp (affiliate link)

I don't love it, but I don't hate it either.  Most importantly, the photos are off my desk and into an album where Trevor can enjoy them.  

Easter 2013

I made this sketch recently, my tenth:

I used it to make the second of two layouts from Easter 2013.

I was happy with the layout... until I scanned it.  As soon as I saw it on the screen, I didn't like the way some of the letters in the title seemed to disappear.  It looked fine in real life, but I decided to change it so that it would look ok digitally too.

I didn't want to spend too much time making the change, nor did I want to use new supplies.  So I carefully peeled up the a and the e and added some turquoise ink to them.  The title is much easier to read now.

One simple change and now I'm satisfied with how it looks both in real life and digitally.