Nov 13, 2011

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette Review



Pros: All brand new colors
Great color payoff
Easy to blend
Fairly wide range of colors
Several neutral shades

Cons: Very shiny packaging - picks up smudging
Only one matte shadow
Several neutral shades (if you're looking for COLOR this is a con)
Lid lifts off, is not attached to palette, and not hinged


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Next to a MAC 252
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Some closeups of the shadows
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[IMG]http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii459/erinandpayton2/Makeup%20Pics/DSCF6016.jpg[/IMG]
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Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb chicken thighs, cubed
2 1/2 tsp sale
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
4 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped
4 oz white button mushrooms, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
2 Tbsp butter
3 oz all purpose flour
2 c chicken broth (one box o stock)
1 1/2 c milk, room temperature
1/2 bag frozen peas
1/2 bag frozen edemame
Olive oil

Season your chicken pieces with salt and pepper. In a large pan saute seasoned chicken in oil until browned on all sides, about 4-6 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.
On medium head in the same pan add a bit more olive oil (OR cook up some bacon) add in the onion, shallots, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, celery, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper, stir to combine.
Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Add butter and melt. Stir in the flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes, you want to do this to remove the floury taste. Gradually stir in the chicken broth and milk. Bring to simmer, stirring occasionally. Continue stirring until sauce thickens, about three minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peas, edemame, and chicken. Stir. Cover and set aside.

Prep your vessel. You can do this family style with one large pie, or in individual ramekins. I prefer this with a puff pastry crust on top, but you can use a regular pie crust. I also only like crust on top, but you can line your dishes with a crust if you prefer. I also always put the ramekins on top of a sheet pan. That way if there is any bubble over, it ends up on the pan, not in my oven.

Divide your filling between your ramekins, cover with dough. Egg wash the tops to get a nice browned crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then decrease the heat to 400 and bake another 15 to 20 minutes.


Onto the pictures!

Chicken Pot Pie
The team.
Chicken Pot Pie
The veg all prepped.
Chicken Pot Pie
Saute the chicken.
Chicken Pot Pie
Then the veg.
Chicken Pot Pie
Until the onions are nice and softened.
Chicken Pot Pie
Add the butter.
Chicken Pot Pie
Then the flour.
Chicken Pot Pie
Stir, and cook for a few minutes.
Chicken Pot Pie
Add in the milk.
Chicken Pot Pie
Then the chicken stock.
Chicken Pot Pie
Remove from heat and add the frozen veg.
Chicken Pot Pie
Stir in.


My camera died here... so forgive me....

When they come out of the oven they look like this....
Chicken Pot Pie
Well hello beautiful...
Chicken Pot Pie
Loaded with veggie goodness.
Chicken Pot Pie
My beautiful homemade puff pastry. Isn't it flakily gorgeous?

NOM. So good.

Do you like chicken pot pies? Have you ever made them from scratch? You should.

Nov 9, 2011

Youtube Videos

Can I ask you all how you feel about the youtube vids? Are they alright to put on here? Or do you feel like they detract from the feel? I'm asking honest opinions here, I would love to know how you all feel! I've got a few more vids I can embed here, and just keep them up in between everything else, or I can can it and take them down.

Thoughts????

Nov 8, 2011

Blue and Teal Geometric Stripes

Quick and easy nails today. :D

Base is OPI Road House Blues, the teal is a CC striper.

OPI Road House Blues
OPI Road House Blues



Thanks for looking! Do you have a favorite blue?

Nov 7, 2011

Review of ELF 144 Eyeshadow Palette

Yellow and Green using the ELF 144 Eyeshadow Palette

I filmed a review of the ELF 144 eyeshadow palette, this is the look from that. I just went ahead and embedded the tutorial from youtube for you all. :D



ELF Yellow Green Tutorial
The shades and the order they were used in.
ELF Palette
ELF Palette


I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think. :D

Nov 2, 2011

Teriyaki Sauce

I love teriyaki sauce. Use it to bake some chicken wings, or drizzled over the top of food. OMG. Sweet and a little bit spicy, sticky and thick. Yum.

Ingredients
1/2 c soy sauce (My favorite incarnation used 1/4 c soy and 1/4 c Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
1/4 c water
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated or chopped very very finely
2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
9 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 c water

Mix all ingredients except 1/2 c water and cornstarch. Begin heating in saucepan over medium heat. Stir to make sure everything is well combined. Mix cornstarch and water in a cup to dissolve. Add to sauce in pan. Heat until sauce thickens to desired thickness. It thickens quick, so if you over thin just add water. Transfer to your bottle of dish of choice. This loses a bit of volume when it cools, because it's so thick the simmering causes air bubbles to get stuck.
You need a good amount of heat for the cornstarch to thicken your sauce, a simmer is usually enough. Just let it go for a bit. I usually stir this so nothing burns, it is sticky.

You can substitute dried garlic and ginger.... but the taste is VERY different. I much prefer the fresh stuff.

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The crew.
Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients in the pan.
Teriyaki Sauce
Giiiiinger!!! Use a spoon to scrape off the skin, you waste less than if you tried to peel it with a knife.
Teriyaki Sauce
See how finely it's chopped? You don't want it bigger than that. Otherwise as you're eating you'll get chunks of ginger. Not good.
Teriyaki Sauce
Do the same thing for your garlic. It looks better in the bottle if it's all uniformly small.
Teriyaki Sauce
Simmer.
Teriyaki Sauce
Prep your vessel.
Teriyaki Sauce
See how it holds its shape? I just ran my finger down the back of my spoon. That's what you want.
Teriyaki Sauce
Mmmmm.... fluffy.
Teriyaki Sauce
All bottled up.
Teriyaki Sauce
See how much volume we lost? That's normal.

Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients
Chicken legs, breasts, or thighs
Teriyaki Sauce

In a baking pan add your chicken and teriyaki sauce. Bake at 350 for 40 - 50 minutes for breasts. If you're using legs, go for 375 and about 35 - 40 minutes. Less is usually more with this sauce for roasting. I sometimes do throw quite a bit in a pan with chunks of chicken breast meat and bake that just like I do the breasts. Then it's all saucy and I can just use that sauce on top of my noodles or rice.

Teriyaki Sauce
Chicken and teriyaki before baking.
Teriyaki Chicken
Mmmmmm..... see how delicious that looks???

Do you like teriyaki? Have you ever attempted making your own?