Most delicious coffee cake

When I was little I always thought coffee cakes contained some sort of coffee, so I never ate them. I understand now that these cakes are really great WITH coffee. Or milk. Yum.

I was messing around making some dinner this afternoon, when I felt like combining a bunch of stuff into a bowl and making a cake. This is neither vegan NOR low-fat. Hahaha. Lots of sugar. But once in a while, stuff like this is such a real treat! Anyway. This is what I came up with:



Topping:
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp margarine
1/2 cup flour

Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract


Steps:
- Preheat oven to 360degrees Fahrenheit.
- Lightly flour a round baking pan(use an 8" or a 9", whatever you have. I don't recommend going smaller because the cake rises quite a bit, and it will end up spilling over the sides).
- Whisk together all the dry cake ingredients(flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a large bowl. Then add the oil, the egg, the milk, and the vanilla extract. Set aside(don't let sit for too long or the oil will separate!).
- Then, mix together the sugar, the flour, and the cinnamon for the topping in a bit of a smaller bowl. Then, slowly add the margarine. The mixture should be brownish and crumbly.
- Pour the cake mix into the middle of the pan on a flat surface. Then, evenly crumble the topping onto the cake mix.
- Place in the oven until the top is hard like a shell(around 40 minutes, I guess), or until a knife comes clean(of batter) when you stick it in the middle. The topping will melt and integrate with the cake mix, leaving some spots of the cake to just be sections of cinnamon and sugar(I'm not complaining), so if you stick a knife in and cinnamon-sugar looking stuff is on it, that's a good sign. Just check other spots because it doesn't happen throughout the whole cake).

When you're done, you can fancy it up by lightly sprinkling some confectioners sugar on top.

It will be cook to maybe about 2x the size, so make sure you use a big enough pan!

I have to say, this is probably the best recipe I've ever come up with. :D
I said BEST, not necessarily the healthiest. Bahaha.
:X

loldogs

Well, I've got the StumbleUpon application, right?

And I stumbled upon the ICanHasCheezburger(or whatever) website. It had a bunch of other websites giving captions to celebrities, and another one about Engrish. Which was funny.

However, there was one website that I could just not stop looking at.

I Has a Hotdog.










I think I was "aww"ing and "eeeee"ing for about three hours. Then I decided that enough is enough.

Hehe.

I'll find something interesting to post sooner or later.
:/

Veggie Potato Soup

So, before I actually take photos/give tutorials for some of my projects, I'll start off with my favorite home-made soup. I usually make a batch that's larger than this, but if you want to make something that serves around 4-5 people, follow these ingredients. You can also add cauliflower and zucchini, and even a lot more carrots and potatoes and celery. The more the merrier, especially since it's all healthy stuff.


Veggie Potato Soup(Healthy/Vegan)

You will need:
- handful of baby carrots/ few large carrots(cut into pieces
- an onion(diced)
- a few stalks of celery(cut into pieces)
- 3 medium-sized potatoes(cubed into approx. 1/2 inch pieces)
- 1 carton vegetable stock
- basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, salt, pepper, ginger(powdered or fresh, doesn't really matter. you don't need that much of it)
- large pot

1. Coat the bottom of your pot with olive oil.
   
2. Dice the onions and throw them in. Saute them until they become transparent. A little browned is okay too.
3. Add the carrots and celery. Keep mixing them for around 5 minutes.
4. Add the carton of vegetable stock.
   
5. Add the potatoes.
   
6. Let it come to a boil.
7. Add a bunch of the spices, nothing more than a teaspoon of each though. Do it according to your tastes(for the ginger, add a very little bit. too strong will give it a weird taste).
8. Put it on a low flame, cover it, and let it simmer for around 25 minutes.

Voila!! It's delicious. And doesn't really need much else. I love the rosemary, it's my favorite.

SUPER

Well, hot-DOG.

Obama won.

I got to see most of the election between watching episodes of LOST with my boyfriend. This was probably the one night where I wasn't like, "QUICK PUT THE NEXT ONE ON".

I thought the election was interesting. I watched MSNBC for the beginning, and then CNN finished it off. And then for giggles Fox News, after that. Ha ha. They did nothing but talk about McCain's campaign.

What a surprise.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Obama can handle this country. He said a bunch of things in his speech last night that literally sent shivers down my spine.

Can we.. POSSIBLY... clean up after ourselves? Can we live a life where we know our country doesn't have debt shoved down its throat?

I'd consider myself rather unpatriotic. I used to really frown upon any of those people with those flag stickers on their car, or anything like that.

But surprisingly enough, Obama gives me a reason to be patriotic. He makes me WANT to love this country. I don't know how he did it. But I must give him some kudos if I ever see him, because he's accomplished something that's pretty damned awesome, if he's able to make me love America.

I'm proud to say he's my president. I don't feel ashamed to have him lead my country. I actually feel pretty confident and good about it. It's amazing. I never thought I'd have this sort of feeling towards government.

I was watching the election, and there were these projected outcomes for each state, and as I continued watching it, I just kept getting the feeling that he would pull through.

The people have spoken- Obama is our new president. He won by the popular vote, AND the electoral vote(2:1, might I add). I'm glad I feel good about my country now, and I'm glad he's our president.

:D


In other news, I've been working on making a few things. I'll list them here and then possibly take photos and make tutorials and whatnot for making them. :D

- messenger bag
- tea-stained paper to be made into a fabric-covered journal
- Sculpey jewelery
- boxes made of paper

All projects have either been created or are in the process of being made. I'll get photos up soon.
:]

oh, politics

I'm not sure why I stay up this late.

I miss the sunshine.

Anyway, today is election day.

I bet anyone who has a blog who lives in the U.S.(and probably outside the U.S. if they're interested) will be talking about today's outcome.

I can't say I'm a huge advocate for either candidate, and it doesn't look like I'll be voting. I got my registration form back in the mail, telling me that I forgot a section. It's a little too late now. I haven't gotten any confirmation in the mail about it or anything.*

I think that if Obama gets elected, things will change. Oh yes, has he preached about his change. I'm not sure if this change will be the change we need, or the change we were looking for, but I do think that we need to stray off of the path we've been traveling for the past few decades and head somewhere new.

If McCain gets elected, I don't think we'll have much change. Me, I'm a person who can't handle having the same thing happen to me every day. I need variation. I don't like monotony, at all. I don't know if he can make our dollar stronger, and I don't know if he'll even live to serve out his term. And to have a crazy book-banning fundamentalist soccer mom for a president isn't exactly what I'd call a "good change". Not really much of a change though, to be honest. Most politicians are the same.


I don't like politics. I don't like getting involved, or talking about it. Yet somehow it always ends up being talked about at the Thanksgiving table. Do you know why?

People are so stubborn about their opinions. They think that they've got it all figured out, and everyone else just doesn't get it. Most people are so righteous, and think they're doing everyone else a favor by telling them to get a grip and listen to them. They've got valid sources telling them that they're right, and telling them that anyone else who is wrong is against you and shouldn't be trusted. And don't eat the cranberry sauce, it's been tampered with.

People are so eager to show other people things they 'know'. Knowledge is a 'gift' and the more you have of this knowledge, the more respected you are in society.

All knowledge is, really, is the collection of different memorizations and thoughts, maybe a little processing(although I doubt it's your own), and all you have to do is keep it nice and safe inside your brain, until it proves to be useful in a conversation with your family or some conservative/liberal you happen to meet in a cafe. Your ego(and everyone has one) is telling you to prove to everyone how superior you are to them, just because you were able to process a bit of information and conveniently remember it. It sounds a bit silly when put that way, doesn't it?

People let their egos take over their brains. Egos should be demolished. They do nothing but hurt you. Getting to the top of the ladder, be it socially or economically, is not what it's all about. It's about realizing that your brain is just a brain, you're a small thing with a beating little heart sitting on a tiny little planet in the middle of nowhere. You don't have control over other peoples thoughts or actions. You can't make people feel bad. Sometimes your ego likes to think that it has control over others, but it really doesn't. It's just a shame that other peoples egos get in the way, and act in a reverse manner, and start to feel inferior to the larger ego. Thus feeding both of them, and sending both spiraling into a vortex of hell. Seriously. Welcome to Earth.

Anyway.

Politics doesn't matter. I wish there weren't borderlines between countries. I wish our egos didn't exist. If they didn't exist, man wouldn't feel the need to have control over others, thus eliminating government and the like. If egos didn't exist, we would be able to live like fish do. Or dogs. Or rabbits.

Sometimes I like being able to think and do things that rabbits and dogs can't do. That's what makes humans special. I like the good aspect of having a mind that can work things out and be able to make choices. But when bad stuff starts to cook up in there, and when you start feeling superior/inferior to others, that's when it starts to get screwed up, and everything has gone to waste.

I think it's fun learning. Even if we are insignificant beings, why not make the best out of our so-called 'lives'. Why not just try to have fun while we can, and get along with each other, and read books and paint pictures and have a silly laugh, and fall in love, and make run-on sentences without punishment.

Why not!

Unfortunately not everyone could understand it. And I'm not forcing you to understand this, Or agree with me.

After all, this is my ego speaking.


I hope the population is pleased with it's decision. If not, I hope something happens. Come on, life's been too boring lately. You gotta give me something here.

*Edit: It turns out that I AM registered to vote, and will be casting my ballot for Gloria La Riva, the Libertarian Socialist candidate. We need summa that.**

** I'm just kidding. I'm voting for Obama. Just because everyone else is and I'd rather support him than a grandpa with a VP who is completely insane.

hey there

Well, I don't have much to say just yet. When I get around to making projects and coming up with new ideas, I will probably put them up here.

^_^

Although I must say that instant cappuccino is obnoxiously addicting. It doesn't even have any caffeine. Oy vey.