My DIY Recipe Binder

Everybody has their own way of storing recipes. Once upon a time, people used recipe boxes. Then people had fill-in-the-blank recipe books. Then I think everybody either switched to some kind of app or stopped cooking altogether. None of those options were going to work for me, so I decided I needed to create my own recipe storage solution.

My Criteria

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a wee bit opinionated about things. (See: Brand Wars.) Given that I may have a stick up my butt from time to time, when I decided to invent my own, unique, absolutely perfect recipe book, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted and how it would work. These were my criteria:

Flashback Post: Epic Minecraft Surprise Party!

Guys, I need a new blog. This new blog shall be called "Things Katie Did That Required Her Whole Ass and Six Months to Plan." It shall be a blog all about this amazingly epic Minecraft Surprise Party that will go down in history as the most awesome party ever.

It all began back in February, right after my brother's ninth birthday. I asked him if I could throw him a tenth birthday party next year. He said no. I begged. He said no. I pleaded incessantly. He said no. So I resorted to Plan B: enlist my brother to help me throw a surprise birthday party for my roommate, and BOOM, the World's Most Epic Minecraft Party was born.

I spent a hell of a lot of time online searching for Minecraft party ideas, and despite the fact that everybody wants to throw a Minecraft party these days, not many people have many ideas on how exactly to execute such a party. (If you don't know what Minecraft is, you are a loser and you need to jump in your archaic time machine and bring yourself into 2014 where all us cool people hang out.) Robin and Ed did have a few pretty awesome Minecraft party ideas, though, so mega shoutout to them.

The first thing I started working on was the food. Because....I'm me. And I'm always hungry. And food is awesome. I ended up with a four page Google Doc on all my ideas for all the food that I could somehow twist into Minecraft food. One of my favorite ideas that I'm sure I stole from somebody (if I stole it from you, tell me and I'll give you props) was for Rice Krispy Treat sandstone and obsidian blocks. I made Rice Krispy treats a couple of months ago and wasn't ready to make them again, so I chose against serving obsidian.

I opted, instead, to serve all of this:

That glorious smorgasbord includes melon, "sticks" (pretzels), carrots, cookies, "golden apples" (sliced golden delicious apples), bread, "baked potatoes" (chips), and "slimeballs" (grapes).

Oh, yeah, and chicken.

 Plus, there was a whole table of desserts, including Cookies and Cream Hershey's Kiss "diamonds," Hershey's Special Dark Minis"gold ingots," Hershey's Milk Chocolate Minis "iron ingots," and Twizzler TNT.

And cake. Can't forget the cake.

The cake originally had more cacti on top, but I don't know what happened to them. Maybe the scary turkey in my neighbor's yard stole them....

The second thing I started planning was the decorations. I love, love, love these Minecraft windows, but alas, they would have made my already epic Minecraft party so supremely epic that the universe would have imploded at its sheer epicness, so I didn't do them. Instead, I made a ghast. The ghast was originally supposed to be a pinata, but since it took me three hours to make, I officially forbade everyone from whacking it with a stick.

My favorite part about the decorations was probably the brown tablecloths with fake grass on top. I scored the fake grass at Home Depot and had enough to cover all my tables and then some. (If anybody needs to borrow some fake grass, I have plenty.) Beyond that, it was mostly just balloons.

Next up on the list is the shirts. I completely, totally, 100% ripped these off from Jennifer. Aren't they awesome?

My brother and I made them almost two months before the party and then had to wait to wear them! Ack! But hey, it was worth it for how awesome we look. The guys wore some pixelated Minecraft sunglasses to complete their looks.

With everybody well-fed and decked out in their Minecraft best, we got to start the shenanigans. I set up a bow and arrow shooting range with pictures of mobs.

We played Pin the Tail on the Dog. I didn't win.

 We created crazy explosions with Coke-and-Mentos TNT.

Also! I totally rocked the invitation. I rocked the invitation so much that when my roommate showed up at the party, we met him at the curb and handed him the invitation so that he could see just how cool it was. Then we brought him around back and got the party started.

"What about mood music?" I hear you ask. No worries. I've got that covered too. Lots of very creative people with very much time on their hands have created Minecraft-themed parody songs based on popular music. I rounded up a whole bunch of those and burned CDs to play at the party and give out as favors. And, of course, because I am beyond extra, I designed totally rad CD covers.

I am deeply sorry that you weren't all able to attend the most radical block party of all time. (Block party...get it? Because Minecraft has blocks? I'm so clever). That being said, I hope you have the opportunity to steal my ideas and create an equally awesome party of your own. If you want any of the printables, let me know and I'll hook you up. The original files are in InDesign, but I can send you PDFs of the signs and whatnot.


EDITOR'S NOTE: This post was originally written in 2014, about a party that also occurred in 2014. I found it drifting through my drafts and decided to publish it anyway. I know it's out of date, and I know it's out of the blue, but I put a lot of work into this and thought some of you might still enjoy it.

I Fixed My Stove!

Guys! I did it! I fixed my stove!

Now, I know this isn't a cinematic wonder or anything, but I figured it would be easier to show you the process in video form rather than blog post. Thus, I present to you my YouTube debut:

For the last week, the only way to turn off my stove has been to flip the breaker, which has vastly limited my culinary endeavors. Luckily, the fantabulous dudes from Appliance Parts Pros provided me with the knowledge and appliance parts necessary to repair my stove all by myself.

(This is a very big deal for me. I called my roommate when the stove broke and not only would he not let me attempt the repair myself, but he told me not to order the part until he came home. I also told my mother I was going to fix my stove and she yelled at me and told me to hire an electrician. I showed them.)

It was actually a very simple repair; I just had to swap out the Infinite Switch. (I totally know what that is, by the way.) The whole process took me less than thirty minutes, even whilst trying to find camera angles. It saddens me that the people in my life have so little faith in my stove fixing abilities.

If any of your appliances are being bitchy, I highly recommend checking out AppliancePartsPros.com. Actually, if none of your appliances are being bitchy I recommend breaking one of them just so that you have a reason to check out AppliancePartsPros.com. The part I ordered was less than $25 with shipping, whereas ordering it directly from GE would have set me back $35 before shipping. And, speaking of shipping, I ordered the part on Sunday night and had it on my doorstep at 10am Tuesday morning. I was absolutely floored and cannot say enough about how awesome the Appliance Parts Pros are. (No, they're not paying me to say this, they're just that rad.)

Regularly scheduled blog programming will return on Monday with the long-awaited Peanut Butter M&M Cookie recipe. For real this time. I promise.

6 Different Ways to Dye Easter Eggs

Dudes! It's almost Easter! Set your bunny traps! (Did you know that once a year, on Easter Eve, the Easter Bunny lays a chocolate egg and if anyone catches him in the act they are granted three wishes? Well, now you do. Consider yourself educated.)

Thanks to the impending holiday, I'm sure you've been concerned about your kitchen reeking of vinegar since St. Patrick's Day when it reeked of cabbage and green beer. It's a tradition, after all, to fill our houses with the scent of vinegar so we can decorate eggs from the dyes in the flat cardboard box at the grocery store which oh-so-thoughtfully ensures that all of everybody's eggs look exactly like all of everybody else's eggs.

Sure, you might be one of those fancy people who dips their eggs in two different dyes for some spiffy gradient action or maybe you go nuts with the white crayon before attempting to dye an egg red and having it turn out pink, but really, really, at the end of the day, your eggs look just like everybody else's eggs.

Worry no more! This Easter you and your eggs can stand out as the truly original and stupendous people you are (that's right, I said it, eggs are people too) with these six ideas for fresh new fun exciting egg decorating techniques that will set you apart from the masses and prove once and for all that you are a unique snowflake, damnit.

Idea #1: Kool-Aid Eggs

Save yourself some time and boil your eggs in Kool-Aid for one-and-done egg dyeing. Sure, all your eggs will be the same color, but that's okay, because they all started the same color, so making them look different would upset the status quo and lead to a lot of gang violence.

Idea #2: Glitter Glue Eggs

Make your eggs dazzle with glitter glue swirlies. And non-swirlies. And unidentifiable piles that may have originally been an attempt to draw a bunny. Your inner kindergartener will love this new style of egg decorating and you can use the leftover glitter glue to make some awesome temporary tattoos for you and your friends.

Idea #3: Sharpies

Screw dyeing altogether and test out your creativity with some hand-drawn egg designs. Feel free to turn your eggs into monsters, butterflies, or abstract (read: crappy) works of art using only markers. While you could also use the Sharpies in conjunction with your glitter glue tattoos, I recommend buying a paper bag to wear over your head before making such a long-term statement with your body art.

Idea #4: Stickers

Go ahead, embrace your slacker side. Instead of fussing with all those dyes and colors and high-effort decorating techniques, try stickers! Stickers come in a wide variety of designs, including flowers, bugs, racecars, and cartoon characters. I, however, chose to take a fancier approach and am currently waiting for my egg monocle to arrive from Amazon.

Idea #5: Blow Paint

Give your eggs a blow job this Easter! Dip straws in acrylic paint (or finger paint or house pant....watercolors not recommended), point them in the general direction of your eggs, and blow! Your eggs will be covered in lovely splatters and speckles in no time at all--you'll probably have energy leftover for an actual blowjob after!

Idea #5: Glowing Eggs

Now, I know you're all thinking I just bailed on the whole egg-making thing at this point, but you're wrong! (I did have to take a slight detour--if you know what I mean--after the previous batch of eggs, but I'm back now.) All you have to do for these eggs is cover them in a layer of glow-in-the-dark spray paint and then let them do their thang. As a bonus, you can save these eggs to light up your refrigerator should that little light bulb ever go out.

Disclaimer: I don't recommend actually eating any of these eggs (except maybe the Kool-Aid ones) and I accept no responsibility for any harm that comes to you or your loved ones due to you eating these eggs. However, if you get any unbelievable superpowers and you want to use them for good, that was totally my fault and part of my master plan. You can mail my check.

Happy Easter!

Half Assed April Fools Day Pranks: 5 Pranks for the Kitchen

April Fools day is tomorrow, and I am happy to inform you that I have spent the last month conniving against my roommate and can now share with you the dastardly ways I'm planning to destroy my kitchen for the sake of April 1st.

1. Googly Eyes in the Fridge

Perhaps you've heard of this little thing called Pinterest where people post pictures of very fattening food, very skinny women, and googly eyes on their milk carton. If you haven't, you need to get with it (and follow me)! You also need to put googly eyes on everything in your fridge, because that's not unnerving at all.


2. Rubber Band on the Sink

My little brother actually ruined this one, but the idea is that you wrap a rubber band around the spray nozzle so that when your victim turns on the sink they get a face full of water.


3. Turn it Up

Every morning my roommate turns on the news/oldies station really quiet in the background. My plan is to switch the stereo to the Top 40 station, crank the volume and up the bass so he gets blasted when he turns it on.


4. Coffee Gone Rogue

My roommate drinks this microwaveable instant pseudo-coffee stuff. I'm swapping it out for real coffee, so he can stir and stir and stir and it will never dissolve. (I'm not completely evil, though, I'll put the old stuff in the cabinet so he can find it.)


5.Old News
I saved a week-old paper and plan to pull a switcheroo on the internal pages. The front page will be current, the inner pages will all be old news.


What's the best April Fool's Day prank you ever pulled? Tell me in the comments!

How to Celebrate Valentine's Day When You're Single and Alone

Don't be that desperate chick who sends herself flowers on Valentine's Day so nobody thinks she's desperate. (Unless your self is into that, in which case do what makes your self happy.) Send some chocolates instead and follow these instructions for a lovely Valentine's Day alone.

Start by preparing yourself a fine Italian meal for one.

While your lasagna is in the oven, have some wine.

Don't forget the veggies.

When the food is ready, light a few candles and have a nice romantic dinner by yourself.

Indulge in a fine Italian dessert. Enjoy knowing you don't have to fight over the last bite.

After dinner, stretch out on the couch and watch a movie. Choose a classic romance like The 40 Year-Old Virgin or Zach and Miri Make a Porno. (Netflix. You're welcome.)

Before bed, relax in a warm bath. Catch up on some reading.

In the true spirit of Valentine's Day, be sure to make yourself a morning-after breakfast tomorrow.

Remember, this isn't sad, this is independence! Savor it! One day you'll look back and remember the good old days before you had to worry about your cats smothering you in your sleep. (Don't have any cats yet? Adopt some!)

Happy Valentine's Day, ladies!

Homemade DIY Sugar and Spice Body Scrub Recipe

Not gonna lie. This kind of looks like poop.

I promise, it's much better than poop.

As a matter of fact, this is a super-spectacular DIY beauty treatment that will make your already-gorgeous self especially smooth skinned and glowy.

Glowy, not sparkly. We can't all be Edward.

There's a good chance you already have all of the ingredients in your house waiting to be made into scrubbiness....that is, if you're the kind of person who already has coconut oil and adorable teeny tiny baby food jars in their cabinets. If you're not, that's okay. I wasn't either.

In case you haven't gotten to know coconut oil yet, I'd like the honor of introducing you.

You, this is coconut oil. Coconut oil, this is you.

There. Now that everybody knows everybody, you can read this list of all the amazing things the two of you can do together and then make this scrub, which I have been so nice as to write into a small recipe and a big recipe. Don't you love me?

The Small Sugar and Spice Body Scrub Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tbs coconut oil
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger

Instructions:

1. Put your coconut oil in a little bowl. Warm it up if necessary. Soft is good, liquid is liquidy. In layman's terms that is approximately fifteenish seconds in the microwave.

2. Dump your sugars and spices on top of the oil.

3. Stir.

4. Test the texture. If it's too harsh for your skin add some more oil. If it isn't gritty enough add some more sugar. In my experience the brown sugar is gentler than the white sugar.

5. Scoop the whole thing into a pretty little jar.

6. To use, rub mixture into wet skin and rinse off. A light layer of oil should be left on the skin for moisturizing awesomeness.

The Big Sugar and Spice Body Scrub Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup coconut oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tbs cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cloves

Instructions:

1. Put your coconut oil in a bowl. Warm it up if necessary. Soft is good, liquid is liquidy. In layman's terms that is approximately fifteenish seconds in the microwave. Probably more. You be the judge.

2. Dump your sugars and spices on top of the oil.

3. Stir.

4. Test the texture. If it's too harsh for your skin add some more oil. If it isn't gritty enough add some more sugar. In my experience the brown sugar is gentler than the white sugar.

5. Scoop the everything into pretty little jars to give to your friends.

6. To use, rub mixture into wet skin and rinse off. A light layer of oil should be left on the skin for moisturizing awesomeness. 


That's it, folks. If you give this a try let me know how it works for you, especially if you tweak it in fantastic new ways.

Happy scrubbing!