Layered Chocolate Pudding

I have a little secret for you... I don't really like chocolate. I mean, I like it but it is never ever my first choice. I'm a vanilla girl through and through. 

But pudding? Pudding has to be chocolate.

I love chocolate pudding and have been craving it for a really long time. Honestly, that's the main reason I added it to my 26 X 26 list - just so I could have an excuse to make it! This recipe is super easy and the layers allow for a little bit of wow-factor (mine don't look that pretty, but I didn't mind because it tasted so good)!

For the pudding:

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups whole milk

4 large egg yolks

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (note: I used salted butter and omitted the salt further up in the recipe. It turned out fine!)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 oz. high-quality dark chocolate (note: again, since I live in a small town, high-quality chocolate isn't really available. I used Dove bars for both the dark and milk, and it was still yummy.)

2 oz. high-quality milk chocolate (see above)

1 tbsp. cocoa powder (optional)

Place the dark and milk chocolates in separate, medium-sized bowls. Bloom the cocoa powder, if using, with a little hot water to make a paste and add to the bowl with the dark chocolate.

Put the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan and whisk to combine.

Slowly add the milk and whisk to combine, making sure to dissolve all of the cornstarch and removing any lumps. Whisk in the egg yolks.

Whisking constantly, cook over medium-high heat until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble. This took me about seven minutes.

Reduce heat to low and continue to cook for one more minute, continuing to whisk. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and butter. Divide the pudding evenly, through a fine-mesh strainer, over the chocolates. Whisk to combine the melted chocolate.

Spoon even amount of each pudding into a serving dish (I used mason jars). Press plastic wrap to the surface, if you don't like pudding skin, and chill for at least one hour.

Source: Serious Eats

26 x 26 : 5 / 26

Tortillas

I'm not sure why I've never attempted homemade tortillas before. I don't even think I've looked at a recipe for them before. I didn't think they would be hard or anything, they just were never on my radar.

They're on my radar now!

Homemade tortillas are simply amazing. They're simple to prepare, take minutes to cook, and the resulting taste is like nothing you'll find at the grocery store. I have been converted to the homemade-tortilla side and I can't see myself ever going back.

Rolling it out. Excuse the stripe of pink polish on my thumb!

Cooking in cast iron. I would use a griddle next time.

For the tortillas:

3 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

A scant 1/2 cup lard or shortening

3/4 to 1 1/4 cup boiling water

Place flour, salt, powder, and lard in a medium bowl without stirring.

Add your boiling water in parts, incorporating it as you go with your hands or a rubber spatula. You want all of the ingredients to incorporate without being too sticky.

Knead the dough with your hands for 5 minutes, then form into a ball. Cover and let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, divide into 12 equal pieces and roll into balls. Roll each piece into a thin circle. Heat your pan or griddle to medium heat.

Place a tortilla into your pan or on your griddle. It should begin to bubble within 30 seconds; burst them with your spatula as they form. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until browned and cooked through.

Repeat with the remaining dough.

Source: Style Me Pretty

A couple notes: I wasn't able to roll out my tortillas as thin as I would have liked; I think the dough was a little bit too dry. Also, in the cast iron skillet, the tortillas barely needed a minute on each side to cook; keep that in mind if you you choose that method.

So, what did my mom and I do with this lovely tortillas? Shrimp Tacos with Pineapple Salsa. Yum!

26 x 26 : 4 / 26

Envelope-Style Cushion Covers

If you're just learning how to sew, like I am, this is the perfect first project for you! I used this tutorial from Teal and Lime and am shocked at how simple it was. Four straight lines and voila! You have a completed envelope cushion. I'm not even joking when I say that I whipped out my last cover within 15 minutes.  

Step-by-Step

1. Cut your fabric to size. For a 20" by 20" pillow like I made, cut a rectangle 20.5" by at least 44"; this will result in a small 6" overlap. I wanted a larger overlap, so cut my rectangle 20.5" by 54"; this resulted in approximately a 16" overlap.

2. Hem the short ends by folding them over by 1/2 an inch, and then 1/2 an inch again. Iron and stitch.

Pinned and ready to sew.

3. With the fabric turned right side up, fold over one side to the center. Because I was doing the larger overlap, I folded mine in 16" from the hemmed edge.

Folded over.

4. Fold the other edge over so that your resulting square is 20.5" by 20". Pin the edges and stitch.

Almost there!

5. Once you've stitched both sides, turn the pillow cover inside out and you should now have a 20" by 20" envelope-style pillow cover.

See how simple that was! Now I want to make cushion covers for every person I know and every room in my home! Here are some additional pictures, just for fun.

All four together.

A not-so-great picture of all four, plus my DIY chevron artwork.

20" by 20" cushion covers are all over Etsy for right around $25 dollars, not including the insert or shipping. I made mine for an average of $7.15 PER CUSHION! That's a savings of almost $18. If that alone doesn't encourage you to give these covers a try, I don't know what will.

Goal Update: 20 books by 2014

I know I just updated you guys regarding my reading list, but I did some serious reading over the weekend and managed to cross five (FIVE!!) books off my list. 

1. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
2. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
3. Lord of the Flies - William Golding 12% completed
4. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 12% completed
7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Secrets - J.K Rowling
9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
12. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
13. Lamb - Christopher Moore
14. Moloaka'i - Alan Brennert
15. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
16. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Ann Brashares
17. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares
18. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares
19. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares
20. Sisterhood Everlasting - Ann Brashares

I finished the first three Sisterhood books on Saturday, reading them one right after the other, and wrapped up the series early Monday morning (like, one-ish!). It's been a long time since a book, or series of books, have grabbed me the way these books did. I find myself already missing the characters, and wishing there were five, ten, TWENTY more books to read so that I knew what was going on in their lives right now. I was apart of the Sisterhood for two glorious days, and now I'm sad it's over.

PS. Just a reminder - bold and blue(tiful) means complete!

PPS. I promise I'll be back with some recipes sometime this week. Just trying to figure out what I should make!

Weekly Goal Update: Running (August 19th to 25th)

I ran three days this week: Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. I am super pleased with my weekend runs especially, and am feeling confident that I'll run 5 km before my goal date of September 1st (which just happens to be this Saturday!!).

Thursday's run was not good, not good at all. I didn't feel great before I started but thought to myself, "If anything will make me feel better, it's fresh air and exercise." I was wrong. I managed to run 2.22 km before stopping, but I was extremely unsatisfied with that. I ran an easy route, with almost no incline, and should have been able to get to 3 km at least. However, I felt very dizzy and faint so I figured it was probably best if I walked the remainder.

Saturday's run was so good, for distance at least. I was tired from the get go, probably because my pace was too fast (for me). I really had to push myself to get to the 3.4 km mark, but that is all running (I walked the rest of the way, without the app running in the background). I was really pleased with that.

You guys.  This run is why I'm so confident I'll hit 5 km before Saturday! This is the run that changed my life. This run turned me into a runner. I get it now. I felt so good the entire time. I loved my pace (7 minutes per km is a happy place for me right now) and didn't feel tired at all until the last half kilometer or so (where the picture starts turning red on the left hand side). I think I could have ran further, that's how good I felt, but the hill was just too much for me.

Goal Update: 20 books by 2014

Originally, when I had posted about the books I wanted to read during the last handful of months in the year, I only had a list of 15 books. Thankfully, a bunch of you piped in with books I should add so I'm happy to say my list is finally complete! 

1. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
2. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
3. Lord of the Flies - William Golding 12% completed
4. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling
7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Secrets - J.K Rowling
9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
12. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
13. Lamb - Christopher Moore
14. The Book of Negroes - Lawrence Hill Moloka'i - Alan Brennert
15. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hossein We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
16. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Ann Brashares
17. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares
18. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares
19. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares
20. Sisterhood Everlasting - Ann Brashares

*Thanks to Dani for reminding me about the Sisterhood series. It's something I always wanted to read, but kind of always forgot about!

There is my revised and completed list. I'm hoping to read more then twenty books by the end of the year, so the ones I've omitted or traded in for something different are still books I hope to read. If nothing else, I'll include them on my goal for next year!

PS. Books that are bolded and highlighted in blue are books that I have completed. The percentage completed, if included, is as of the day the blog post is published.

What I Love: Running

As a new runner, I did a little bit of research prior to starting to see what my "must-haves" should be. What brand of shoes is the best, what brand of shorts doesn't ride up, what running app is the most helpful. 

I ended up drowning in information and deciding that only I could decide would work best for me. 

Still, I present you a list of things I'm loving that may help you narrow down your search, especially if you're a new runner like I am!

The music: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West (especially "Monster")

A and I are super obsessed with Kanye West right now, and are loving his MBDTF album. We both have our favourite songs, and mine is absolutely "Monster" (but I kind of have a thing for Nicki Minaj, too). The album is full of great songs, great beats, and music that will help you stay pumped up through your entire run (no matter how short it may be!).

The shoes: Nike Free 7.0

via

I have extremely high arches and shoes without proper support often lead to sore knees and an aching back. These shoes provide the support I need while still being light-weight and comfortable. Shoes are definitely personal preference and you should try multiple brands and fits before making a choice, but I would definitely recommend these. 

The shorts: Champion Mesh Shorts with Compression

via

These shorts from Target are absolutely amazing. They don't ride up, they are beyond comfortable, and they are a steal at $16.99. I almost feel guilty sharing them though, because I haven't been able to find them in Canada (I bought them on my most recent cross-border shopping experience with C). If you're looking for running shorts and are planning a trip to our southern neighbours, make sure to pick up a pair (or two!) while you're there. I'm regretting only bringing one pair home!

The app: Nike+ Running 

All of the screen shots I post in my update posts are from this app. There are so many things I love about this app: that it shows you the route you've done, that you can play music through it, that it tells you the distance you've ran while you're running, that it remembers your personal bests. I could go on and on, but I do believe it is the best app for runners. Download it now. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Those four things are my favourites of the moment. I'm still looking for a really great running top, but am thinking I may spoil myself with one from Lululemon when I've hit my first goal of running 5 km.