This was my first attempt at using phyllo dough, and needless to say it was a success, but not without a few minor hiccups. Phyllo dough is awesome, an almost worry free way to make a quick crispy and flaky pastry dessert. Pastry dough itself can get pretty tricky, especially when it comes to getting that flakiness just right. You have to pay particularly close attention to how cold the butter is while mixing the dough, and if you over work it you'll easily ruin it, a common struggle most likely having do with the butter melting in the process of kneading the dough. Phyllo dough is a great solution for that, however, it is still quite delicate. These thin, almost transparent, sheets of dough rip with the slightest misuse. Once folded as it needs to be, buttered, and out of the oven this dough's light, airy, flaky and melting in your mouth. It's pure bliss. When paired with fruit, or commonly seen with a nut and brown sugar mixture in baklava, it compliments the sweet flavors perfectly. This particular dessert was inspired by this recipe. Deliciousness!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Warning: Sensitive Material Follows
This will probably be one of the most intense and sensitive subjects I'll ever make a post about. It's the kind of thing that people "just don't like to talk about," but that's exactly why it should be talked about and expression about experiencing something so wrong and gut-wrenching should be welcomed wholeheartedly. Fortunately, it's not something I have ever experienced, but there are people very dear to me who have. Speaking about sensitive subjects like this one is the only way to bring awareness and, hopefully, prevent these situations from continuing to happen. I found this poem to be very moving and inspirational. It takes great courage to put your heart out there in this way, publicly. Tears of sadness and gratitude to those who have had similar experiences and who choose to take those experiences and turn them into a voice, speaking up and sharing their struggles.
Stumbled upon it here.
Original here.
Inspired by here.
"The rape joke is that you were eight.
The rape joke is that at the time,
you didn't know people had sex to express love.
The rape joke is that the only other person
who’d seen you naked was your mom.
The rape joke is that he called you ‘beautiful’ first.
The rape joke is that he held your hands together
and told you to ‘try harder’ when you struggled.
The rape joke is that you believed him
when he told you were overreacting.
The rape joke is that your grandma
called him a nice boy and asked him to stay for dinner.
The rape joke is that he winked at you
when you apologized to your parents for not coming
downstairs the first time you were called.
The rape joke is that his friends
high-fived him for “getting some.”
The rape joke is that you still don’t feel like
you've regrown the pieces he stole.
The rape joke is that he was conceived when his
dad slapped himself into his snoring mother.
The rape joke is that her friends told her
she was lucky someone wanted her.
The rape joke is that each year in the United States,
32,000 other women’s bellies
ripen with life against their will.
The rape joke is that he never learned
to touch without scarring.
The rape joke is that your classmate thinks
‘have you seen what asses look like in yoga pants?’
is an argument.
The rape joke is your new boyfriend kissing
you and telling you he ‘raped’ his math test.
The rape joke is that ‘Why are girls so scared of rape? Y’all should feel pride that a guy risked his life in jail just to fuck you’
is a popular Tweet right now.
The rape joke is that you wake up to
the memory of him laughing,
“now that wasn't so bad, was it?”
The rape joke is that it’s been twelve years and
you still quiver when someone touches you.
The rape joke is that he hasn't stopped laughing.
The rape joke is that you forgot how to." - The Rape Joke | Lora Mathis
Stumbled upon it here.
Original here.
Inspired by here.
The Music of Sharing
I absolutely love sharing music. I'm one of those people you see walking from work to the store to the bus to the house, always plugged into my headphones. It's my go to when I need energy, when I need to relax, my therapy when I'm feeling anxious, or just simply when I'm addicted to a song and need to hear it on repeat. Although, I have not developed my own skills with any particular instrument (I have a guitar that I have been meaning to learn to play for a few years now), music is a huge part of my life. As for many, I assume, life would be far less interesting if music didn't exist. That being said, I'm constantly modifying my current playlist, listening to my most current finds on repeat for about a week or two, and then searching for the next song or band that is going to get me moving or help me reflect. Discovering new music evokes an interesting sense of intense satisfaction and sharing it with someone, and finding out they share the same feelings about the song or band that you do, just makes music that much more enjoyable. It's tough and time consuming sometimes trying to find a new song or band that is going to help you get through the day, or put you in that good mood, so I find it only suitable to share your current favorites with as many of your friends as possible. Like word of mouth with anything, the more sharing the more likely you'll find just what you're craving. One of my current songs on repeat is "You Know You Like It" by AlunaGeorge. The funky upbeat tempo was just what I needed a few weeks ago, and I haven't been able to shake it from my playlist since. I so graciously added this song, along with a few others from the duo, to my library after the suggestion from a dear friend. Her and I have been sharing for years!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Backyards and Creative Spaces
I've begun to realize that having a backyard can be pretty valuable and an often overlooked privilege. I've never really given much thought to just how much I enjoy having my own little access to the outdoors until I didn't have it anymore, ringing true to that little saying, "You just don't know what you have until it's gone." It's another space that can serve as a creative outlet, can make for a great place to gather with friends for a BBQ on those random warm Indian summer nights in the city, or roast s'mores around a fire pit during the more frequent colder city nights.
My current apartment is on the top floor of the building, and the only way to access the communal backyard, aside from running out the front door, down two sets of stairs, and around the side yard, is through my roommate's room and down the fire escape. The other issue is we are sharing the small space with 5 other units, of whom have been living here much longer than we have, and they seem to have some major territorial issues. The space itself has a lot of potential. It's mostly paved with a small area for gardening and a nice tree in the centered at the back wall of the pavement, perfect for hanging some tree lanterns or Christmas lights. One of the units actually built some rather large planter boxes to grow vegetables that I would love to contribute to, but seeing as how other sharing hasn't gone over so well in the past I thought it best to just let that idea go.
Today, I came across this link for outdoor DIY projects and two in particular seemed most alluring. The first is Garden Art in which you create a framed mosaic of succulents. It's a very simple DIY and a great way to break up some of the negative space on a wall of fencing. You can also make multiple frames of varying sizes and collage them which may offer an interesting home-y feel. The second DIY is an arrangement of colorful flower pots mounted to a fence wall, a very cute way to bring color from the ground up.
My current apartment is on the top floor of the building, and the only way to access the communal backyard, aside from running out the front door, down two sets of stairs, and around the side yard, is through my roommate's room and down the fire escape. The other issue is we are sharing the small space with 5 other units, of whom have been living here much longer than we have, and they seem to have some major territorial issues. The space itself has a lot of potential. It's mostly paved with a small area for gardening and a nice tree in the centered at the back wall of the pavement, perfect for hanging some tree lanterns or Christmas lights. One of the units actually built some rather large planter boxes to grow vegetables that I would love to contribute to, but seeing as how other sharing hasn't gone over so well in the past I thought it best to just let that idea go.
Today, I came across this link for outdoor DIY projects and two in particular seemed most alluring. The first is Garden Art in which you create a framed mosaic of succulents. It's a very simple DIY and a great way to break up some of the negative space on a wall of fencing. You can also make multiple frames of varying sizes and collage them which may offer an interesting home-y feel. The second DIY is an arrangement of colorful flower pots mounted to a fence wall, a very cute way to bring color from the ground up.
Someday I'll have my own space to decorate as I please. Until then I'll just have to pine over other people's creative spaces, making note of the creative ideas I like most and will someday incorporate into my own space.
Here are a few more outdoor space I have heart eyes for...
{Personal outdoor cinema}
{Bringing the best of childhood into adulthood.}
{Vines}
{My own personal creative studio.}
{Cozy guest house. Home away from home.}
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