Crash: The Stunt Woman...

I got in an accident on Monday.
It was horrendous.
I was on a bike.
And a car t-boned me.
My bike flew up 20 feet.
I flew 15.
Had a nice landing straight in the middle of the intersection on the pavement.
Then I got up and shook it off.
Then an ambulance came.
And a firetruck full of hunky firemen.
Did I mention it was Valentine's day?
The guy that hit me was a chef.
He told me "It's okay Lady."
Really?! Because I'm pretty sure it's not!
Well luckily I went away from it with just a few bumps and bruises.
But do you know what the best thing of all is?
My fabric saved my life.

I was riding home from my favorite fabric store and for some reason wanted to bring a backpack in stead of using my bike basket to carry my bag.
The backpack was full of a heavy weight wool.
When I was flying through the air matrix style, the weight of the backpack turned me and allowed me to land on it and take some of the impact.
My P.T. calls me Crash, The Stunt Woman.

GOD BLESS THE FABRIC I SAY!

On a lighter note.

Here are some of my latest creations...

My People Silk

It is a silk print with pretty little vintage ladies on it.
Silk was a nightmare to work with but worth it!

Original pattern and design to boot!

"RAD" rayon with organza overlay skirt!

22 inch coat zipper! Super cool.

BLOOD BROWNIES

MOM, LISTEN TO YOUR DAUGHTER.
MAKE THESE NOW.
If you do, you will be the happiest mommy in the world.
If you don't, WELLLLLL... You're missing out. Big time.
I know the first thing out of my mommy's mouth is going to be,
"No fair, I can't find blood oranges in this town!"
I agree, it's not fair. It's actually a travesty. But have no fear you can use any orange and it will be amazing. I am sure every single one of you has seen and drooled over the cover of the most recent "BON APPETITE" issue. If you haven't, get in your car and drive to your nearest store and look at the cover. There will be drool on the floor infront of you within 2.2 seconds.
Allison has been secretly torturing me with it out on display in her spot in the dressing room. Every "5" I waltz into the dressing room and see this heavenly stack of ooey gooey brownies winking at me.
"BAKE MEEEEEE" they say in a calling tone. "BAKE MEEEEEEE!"
OKAY FINE! I WILL! BUT I WILL HAVE MY OWN TAKE ON YOU LITTLE NUGGETS!


I decided to once again carry on with my citrus obsession.
And delete the walnuts.
Because my mom says so.
She never allowed nuts in our desserts growing up...
YES MOMMY DEAREST!

So my twist. Add blood orange zest to the brown butter. And use the best cocoa powder around... Valrhona.

The result... The deepest darkest brownies you've ever sawwwwww. These babies are black. And you know once you go black, you never go back.

I'm gunna call these BLOOD BROWNIES. Because they are as necessary to life as blood. Or maybe just because they have blood orange in them... YOU DECIDE!

Now when you make these. Be alone. If you have a husband, send him to golf. If you have a child, give them a cardboard box to build a spaceship. And take the pan. To a quiet corner. Grab a ginormous glass of milk. And a couple napkins. And be happy for the rest of your life.
Please and thank you.






BLOOD BROWNIES:

AKA: Brown Butter Brownies with blood orange
Ingredients:
Vegetable oil spray
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup (Valrohna) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons water
2 teaspoons finely ground espresso
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, chilled
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
zest of a blood orange

Directions:
Position oven rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 325º. Line an 8- by 8-inch metal baking pan with foil. Press foil firmly against the sides of the pan and leave a 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray and set pan aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and orange zest over medium heat. Once butter has melted, continue cooking for 5 minutes, stirring often, until butter has stopped foaming and has turned a light brown color. Remove from heat and immediately add sugar, cocoa, vanilla, water, espresso powder and salt. Stir until combined and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Add eggs to chocolate mixture one at a time, whisking well after each addition. When mixture is thick and shiny, add flour and whisk until blended. Continue whisking vigorously for 60 strokes. Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached. Cool completely in pan set on a wire rack. Using the foil, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 16 pieces. Serve immediately or store at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 days.

Adapted from Bon Appétit, February 2011

LABELS!

My mom told me I amaze her yesterday.

I told her I amaze myself.
I felt like a total narcissist.

She could have been referring to the fact that I have gone bonkers with sewing.
In THREE weeks I have made 3 dressed, 2 shirts, some dance clothes, 2 character skirts, working on a evening gown and another original dress design.
It's kinda creeping me out.
I have spent this week trying to pull a brand name out of anyone who cared to listen.
There were some great things. The forerunners:

Reed in the Wind
Cattail Reed
Huckleberry Designs
J.A.R. Handmade Clothing
WillowReed

I decided on, LONE REED.


I love it.
I don't want it to have a negative connotation.
Lone.
"Poor thing".
No.
Lone is not a negative thing.
For me LONE REED is close to my heart.
One of my favorite movies in the whole world is "You've Got Mail".
Yes, one of the best chick flicks in the history of time.
There is a part of the movie that Frank says to Kathleen, "you are a lone reed. You are a lone reed, standing tall,

waving boldly in the corrupt sands of commerce."
I forgot about this quote and made my brand name then watched "You've got mail" and heard the quote and almost freaked out.
I knew I had heard that somewhere!!! DUH!
I was sold.

Next, I was convinced I could draw my own design, get it onto my computer without a scanner and print it onto fabric.
They turned out a hell-of-alot better then I thought they would!
Here is what they started off as...



I also LOVE the idea of having a little change of name for different things.
Like, "LITTLE REEDS" for a children's clothing line. Or "DANCING REED" for my dancewear. Or "EDIBLE REED" for baking. hahahahaha

On the Citrus Train...Grapefruit Macarons

Sticking with the citrus theme, I decided to make some Macarons.
I bought both Texas Ruby Red Grapefruits and Florida Red Grapefruits to enjoy this week but decided to turn them into something even more delectable then they are naturally.

Citrus is FAR underused in desserts in my humble opinion... I mean I can't think of anything more delicious than a citrus dessert! I lends itself perfectly. The tartness allows the dessert to not be over sweet and helps to develops deeper flavor profiles.

I turned these lovely grapefruits into:


Grapefruit Macarons filled with Bittersweet Chocolate-grapefruit Ganache and a GRAPEFRUIT CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM.


I got the idea for a Grapefruit Caramel from a blog that did a blood orange caramel. Recipe was from the sweets GENIUS David Lebovitz. He did a cooking class at my VERY OWN CENTRAL MARKET and I MISSED IT.

I cried.

Then made this caramel in his honor.

And ate it by the spoonful.

Kill me now.


Anyways, The macarons taste like heaven. The perfect balance of tart, bitter and sweet.

High five.



The blood-orange caramel recipe is here!
You will die. AMAZING.


For the Macarons:

Followed the "I LOVE MACARONS" recipe with Grapefruit Zest added halfway through your "macaronage"

Then for the Bittersweet Chocolate Grapefruit Ganache (GOD THAT'S A MOUTHFUL!):
1 cup 70% Cocoa
about 1/4 cup milk
grapefruit zest
tablespoon grapefruit juice

Melt Chocolate in double boiler. Add milk and stir to the desired consistency. Stir in remaining ingredients.

For the Grapefruit Caramel Buttercream:

Make the Grapefruit Caramel from the recipe above and set aside to cool.

1 1/2 sticks butter (softened)
about a cup of Powdered Sugar (or to taste)
grapefruit zest
a little less than half of the cooled grapefruit caramel

Beat butter in electric mixer until light. Add zest and slowly drizzle in caramel. Add sugar until it is desired sweetness.

Enjoy :)

Blood Orange Bars

I love citrus.
I love Oranges.
I love lemon bars.
But do you know what I love the most?!

BLOOD ORANGE BARS

Why you ask?!
Because they are the bomb dot com.
I mean, I just can't believe something so beautiful can come from the earth.
And I am really glad they (who every they is...) named it something so gruesome.
Blood Orange.
Just picture it, a man walks into the kitchen and finds his wife with what appears to be blood all over her hands and a large butcher knife... "OH MY GOD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" he exclaims.
"I'VE KILLED AN ORANGE!!!!"


.....

Blood Orange Bars:

Crust
3/4 cups unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt

Cream butter and sugar, then slowly add flour and salt until combined. Pour mixture into a small pan. Press down with your fingers to flatten into an even layer. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Filling
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2/3 cup juice 2 small blood oranges, and a large lime
2 Tablespoons zest, half blood orange half lime
2/3 cup flour

Whisk the sugar and eggs until blended, then add juice, zest, and flour. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour filling over the cooled crust. Return to the oven and bake 30-35 minutes, until set. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar. Cut into squares and enjoy!

I have myself in stiches...

This one time I decided to make clothes.
This one time was last Sunday.
I made a dress.
It came out like this...


And now I am hooked.

I owe it all to my friend Ali.
She inspired me because she made ridiculously cute things that were perfect in every way.
I was certain I was going to fail.
"ARE YOU JOKING? I CAN'T FOLLOW A PATTERN!"
I should actually be very mad at her because she is going to make me bankrupt but I can't be mad.. who can be mad when they are making CLOTHESSSSSSSSS.
Not I, GUY!

Anywho, it's been a week and a day since the newest hobby began and here are some of my other creations....

Plaid Puffy Sleeve Shirt.
OBSESSION. WITH. PUFFY. SLEEVES.
Pretty much drafted my own pattern on this baby.





little green linen.
i heart you.

Silk Crepe and Lace Blousey Poo

Back of 1st dress.

The many faces of nutcracker...

Oh hey there!

I survived Nutcracker.
It actually wasn't as strenuous as prior years for me. It was quite enjoyable to tell you the truth! Not only did I get to do a role I always have wanted to perform, I got to rehearse with the original muse of the role, Barbara Bears.

It was my favorite day ever.

I'm just sayin'.

Through the wild journey of "The Nutcracker" we get to perform many different roles. In the party scene alone I perform 5 different parts... Lead Mom, Mom #4, Doll, Auntie, and Fat Mom. Then quick change into a snowflake (depending on the show) then off I go to the land of sweets with one of the following: Spanish, Arabian, Mirlitons, or Flowers. Mix and repeat for 34 shows.

Oh Hey. Here are some of their faces.
(Try not to scream when you look at the first.)


Auntie

Fat Mom

Columbine Doll

Lead Mom

Spanish (and the infamous spit curl)

Arabian

Anywho, the run is over and now I am loungin' in Hawaii with my Grandparents. Definitely one of my favorite vacations of the year. It was almost exactly a year ago that I started this blog in this lovely city. I find myself going on the same morning coffee run, and walking the same routes around the city but something that will never be the same are the sunrises and sunsets. I have always been a freak for anything that has to do with "cloud play". I live for it. Give me clouds, and a sun and throw in the movement of the sun coming up or going down and I am entertained and happy for at least 30 mins. And that's a big deal because don't have a very large attention span. Sometimes I find myself doing 12 things at once and I think its a way of keeping all parts of my brain entertained at once... hmmmmm TANGENT.

Here's a winner.