chocolate chocolate-chip oatmealbanana bread

Yes, I realize this is my third post today. And yes, I realize this is in no way fashion related. But who would turn down a recipe? And after divulging one of my three secret dream career paths, I find it only fitting to write a little more about food now. But don't worry, I won't start writing about medicine or chores.

For Christmas this year, my sister got me four beautiful white ceramic measuring spoons, with handles fashioned to look like antique keys. My mom got me a hefty 9x5" Pyrex baking dish for breads or loaves of all sorts. Between these two things, I couldn't be happier. I am on my way to being a chef. (Not really, but at least I now own two cooking tools of high praise and beauty). She also included two recipes: zucchini bread, which I absolutely love, and meatloaf, and her recipe for meatloaf is pretty darn hard to beat.

Since I haven't gotten around to buying ground beef at the grocery store yet, and had all the ingredients to make a bread, I decided to try my hand at that tonight. I did not have zucchini, but I had two bananas that were reaching "that point" where they were good for baking. In addition, I had read somewhere that hypoglycemic people tend to have trouble with gluten - a lot of the times it isn't rare to have celiac disease, but also gluten can tend to cause blood sugar trouble. So while at Whole Foods the other day (it was like a dream - so many weird and interesting foods I wanted to try), I bought some brown rice flour. It looked interesting, seemed to have many health benefits, and was gluten-free.

The rice flour was different than I'd imagined - but in a good way. I, of course, thought it was going to be brown. It wasn't. It was a slight tan, and felt very soft. I didn't think to taste it before baking with it. The rice flour was the biggest alteration to the recipe I made; I substituted it for the white all-purpose flour (which I also love - nice and fluffy!) I also obviously used bananas instead of zucchini, because it was what I had on hand, and I added cocoa powder and chocolate chips to the dry ingredients mix for a chocolate (and chocolate-chip) bread.

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Chocolate chocolate-chip oatmeal banana bread
gluten-free

2 c brown rice flour
1/2 c packed brown sugar
6 T white sugar
1 1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t salt
1 c oats
1 c large chocolate chips
3 eggs
3/4 c vegetable oil
2 t vanilla
2 overly ripe bananas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan with butter, and dust lightly with flour and shake out the excess.

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add oats and chocolate chips.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with the oil and vanilla. Mash in the two bananas, then pour into the dry ingredients. Stir just until combined. (And taste).

Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake 60 minutes; a toothpick (or sewing pin, since it's all I had) should come out clean from the center. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing.

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The resulting bread was very good! The brown rice flour lent a heartier texture and a nuttier flavor, and I like that in bread. It has a slightly grainy texture compared to white flour, but it's nice, not grainy in a bad sandy way - and with the oats, really gives it a nice bite. The inside was moist and the cocoa powder flavored the flour very nicely - no wimpy chocolate flavor! The ginger and cinnamon really give a nice fragrance to this recipe. However, the banana flavor is not lost at all; rather, it remains rather prevalent. And, with the rice flour, you're getting some good vitamins and minerals and fiber!

Nutrition facts (because I know somebody's going to care):
Serves 18
Serving size: 1 slice (cut the loaf into nine slices, and divide each slice down the middle - seems stingy, but trust me, the pieces are still big!)

Calories: 272
Fat: 16 g
Sodium: 249 mg
Carbohydrates: 40 g
Fiber: 3.5 g
Sugars: 19 g
Protein: 4.5 g

Iron: 6.5%
Vitamin A: 1.2%
Vitamin C: 2.5%
Calcium: 5.5%

I love to cook, so I think I will try to write up recipes more often.

sunday photoshoot

Today, my sister, mom and I went down to the Essex Studio (the home of the American Sign Museum) to shoot photos for my portfolio. I wanted some actual shots that weren't just "here's my garment!" but had lighting and scenery considered as well.

Here are some photos of the things we shot, and details about each project!

Note the superior lighting quality.

What: "worm" cowl
Material: Malabrigo Merino Worsted yarn in "Loro Barranquero"; I used almost a full two skeins, or just around 400 yards.
Details: Instant gratifiation project! It was simply garter stitch for three rows then you purl for five (r0ws), knit for four, repeat. I chose this colorway because of the way it would pop against my coat. It can be worn doubled up (like in the picture) or loose around the neck.

What: my final blouse project for school; the assignment was to use a collar, a sleeve, and some form of closure (I used a ribbon-tie collar, a bishop sleeve, and buttoned cuffs)
Material: organza (polyester, shh don't tell!) with a rayon collar and placket detail
Details: I designed this to have a loose, swingy trapeze shape. I also adore anything sheer, and I love that you can see every detail underneath it. I used a narrow rolled hem, and every seam is a French seam.

What: red dress project for the Red Heart Association
Material: silk dupioni, a polyester lining, and lots and lots of Swarovski crystals and czech seed beads! There is also wide horsehair braid inside the bow for stiffening
Details: This was our first "real" design project: to create a red cocktail dress that represented what we thought the color "red" meant, as well as who we are as a designer. I love classic femininity, so I wanted to create a play on the modern "power dress" by creating a simple, feminine silhouette and then a giant, I've-got-confidence bow sitting on the shoulder. Because I am all about detail, I hand-beaded the bow. There are over 1,000 beads on that thing!

What: my final skirt project for school
Material: a chrome, a lilac, and a hot pink silk dupioni
Details: I love paper-bag waisted garments! And though these two pictures don't show it, it has 20 hand-covered buttons running down the front as a closure.

What: lace blouse, just made it for fun!
Material: a synthetic lace fabric with metallic gold and navy threads, on a black base. Found this on sale, and couldn't say no.
Details: This one also has French seams. However, I used the natural lace edging for the hem, and the selvedge for the sleeve hem, because they were too pretty! There is a center-back seam (I love those) and pleating around the neckline.

Now to work on the website.

the stylish blogger award

Thank you to my friend Elizabeth for picking me!!

Here's the dealio:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

So, seven things about me. Let me try and think of some interesting things here that may not be so obvious. Or just really distinguishing Rachel things.

1. I absolutely love peppermint. I put peppermint oil in the water I spritz my hair with every morning, I wear Burt's Bees peppermint chapstick, I ate all the leftover peppermint white chocolate Hershey's Hugs my nana hated and wanted to get rid of, York Peppermint Patties are my favorite candy in the world, and I use peppermint lotion and body wash. Overkill? Never.

2. I am a little obsessed with my hair. After straightening it on and off for 5 years, I discovered it is actually very curly when I finally decided to quit my ceramic iron addiction. I love "experimenting" with it and I love that it is a unique quality about me. And it is definitely a lot healthier now!

3. If the show is still going on by then, I'm gonna try out for Project Runway after I graduate. Never hurts to try.

4. I sort of want a million different careers. I go through phases with them, but its the same few that always reappear for me: a culinary career, a medical career, and then just being a housewife. These things are not instead of fashion design, they are to be on top of it.

5. My guilty pleasure is anything plastic surgery related. It's a little creepy, I know, but I'm fascinated by it. Part of it is the medical procedural aspect, and the other part is the fact that people wake up and decide they want to manipulate their bodies to satisfy the pressures of society. Reconstructive plastic surgery is beautiful to me, and then cosmetic plastic surgery has a human-psychology appeal - it's just odd, and disturbing, but people think it makes them better. Trashy plastic surgery TV shows? Yes please! Googling doctors' online files of before-and-afters? That's been done too. You can judge me if you want.

6. I aspire to own a rabbit someday. My first stuffed animal was a rabbit and it was a match made in heaven. They make up the largest percentage of my stuffed animal population back home. But I want a rabbit. Like, a "large cat" sized rabbit.

7. I really, really hate the color green. The day everyone freaked out over the zodiac shift I almost died of an identity crisis cause it meant I was now a Taurus (their color is green). After learning it only applies to those born after 2009, my mind was settled. I am a spitting image Gemini, from loving the color yellow, to the asthma, to the figure, to the eye color, to the skin color, and all the other eerily similar things in between. But green and I have always had an issue, and I really don't know why. In addition to green, I dislike the letters e, M, m, N, and n; and the numbers 4, 8, and 9. To me they are "green" numbers or letters. All other letters are blue and purple and yellow and red and orange. Don't ask me to explain this; it's just how it is.

I, like Elizabeth, won't be able to come up with 15 bloggers. But the few that I can think of deserve it!

Mallory Makes Things
Milk and Mode
Eat Make Read
Erica B's DIY Style!
Do they collide?
An Apple Pie from Scratch
Temptalia
Style Bubble

Now to pass along the news.

anthropologie blouse

A few weeks ago I wandered into Anthropologie. They were having a sale, and while I still can't afford most of their sale items they are always fun to try on anyway because that store has a way of making the most beautiful clothes.

One blouse I found fell just shy of making the cut into my wardrobe. It was a v-neck blouse with panels of mint jersey and mint chiffon (in a way that the sides were completely sheer - gorgeous!). However, it was still $74,00 and mint wasn't quite doing it for my complexion.

Now, the thing about Anthropologie is that if you really, really look at the clothes, you realize they aren't complex. They use simple silhouettes with artfully chosen embellishment (beading, pleating, draping). Their trick is the fabric - they pick painted silks and chiffons and silk jerseys so the simplest of garments look luxe. And it works.

So I'm in the dressing room, and I'm wanting this shirt but I know this color isn't "me". I take out the camera and shoot a few Myspace-esque pictures in the mirror and start thinking, hmm. With photo references, I can easily recreate this in a color that I love, for a lot less money. About $40,00 later I have all my fabric (well, about twice as much fabric as I need ... even better!) and a lot of inspiration.

Please excuse my black bra.

I draped the blouse on my dress form using muslin (so of course it didn't actually drape) and altered a few things: the jersey panel in the front comes straight down, rather than angling to where the side seam would hit the hem; I also smoothed out the curve of the underarm in the armscye (fancy pattern making word for the less eloquent "arm hole") to make construction easier - angled seams with chiffon are not easy! I forgot to take pictures of the back, so I just have another simple jersey panel at the top with a straight back that isn't gathered. I can adjust that if I don't like it. I also can't see from the pictures (boy, I sure did a good job taking detail shots) whether there is a side seam or not - there easily couldn't be, but I added one for a "feminine" silhouette. I may remove that, however, and just stick my "side back" and "side front" pattern pieces together so I don't have to bother with a French seam. For the gathered piece at the front, I may add a gathered chiffon overlay (where the hem will be about a half inch shorter) just for some prettiness.

The mystery, however, lies in this little detail shown above: what are those bubbly things? Looking at it now, it appears to be a sort of trim sewn on top of the seams. But I'm almost wondering if I can take very thin pieces of jersey and braid it and use that instead. I will of course also add it to the top jersey panel in that curved shape like they did here, too. And some beads? Why not. I think silver would be nice, but that can be an afterthought for later.

Fabric is preshrinking in the dryer currently (I've finally gotten into the habit of doing this so I can actually, uh, wash the things I make after I wear them so I don't feel confined to only wear them once because I'm too afraid to get them wet). I have six pattern pieces (possibly five if I combine the two chiffon sides). I'm rather excited to get started on this.

More details to come once the sewing begins! I love snow days.

review: nars duo in "habanera"

I usually don't do this, but every now and then I stumble across a product that is just so right and rather than keeping it to myself, I like to share.

I've had my eye on a NARS duo palette for a while - but oddly, it wasn't this one. Instead, I'd been lusting after the Rajasthan palette of a champagne nude and a deep green navy charcoal - something I thought would go nicely with my eyes. I do already have these colors in my collection of random eye shadows, but I thought these would be of a higher quality and it's nice to have them next to each other in one convenient package.

Over Christmas break, my sister and I wandered into Nordstrom. I thought it might be nice to stop by the NARS counter and swatch the dream palette on the back of my hand to lock in where my Christmas money would be going. But, they didn't have it. So I just went to town and started swatching some other random colors on my hand, just to see what they would look like. Habanera caught my eye, but not because it was something I really wanted - it was because the colors, together, looked unusual. On the left was a minty pale frosted blue, and on the right a sparkly gray plum. Both colors were lovely, but I wondered how they came to be in a palette together.

A few weeks later, I find myself in Sephora with a friend. I head over to the NARS counter again, and once more they don't have Rajasthan. So of course I put Habanera back on my hand and start seriously contemplating that this may be what I want instead. At $32,00 it isn't a cheap beauty buy, but the single eye shadows cost $23,00 so you're really getting your money's worth by going for the set. Somewhat of an impulse buy, I decided to get it along with a new eyeshadow brush (finally).

Before ever putting it on, I hopped online once I got home and googled to see what beauty blogs had already swatched it and how it looked on their eyes. Normally one does this before buying a product ... but I guess this time it was more of an impulse than a deliberated decision. To my surprise, Rajasthan's reviews weren't that splendid - the charcoal navy wasn't very well pigmented, and looked muddy rather than deep in color. However, Habanera was raved about - the colors worked strangely well together; the icy blue was placed on the inner eye and the smoky lilac was used as the darker accent at the outer eye. The effect was impossibly lovely. And, the reviews hailed it for being rather universally flattering. Win? I think yes.

So now for the pictures.

The more accurate color portrayal is at the right.

So my review? I absolutely love it, if you couldn't tell. Using the mint and the plum as a stand-in for the usual frosted white and brown or black is an imaginative way to play up a smoky eye. In addition, the overall effect is somewhat lighter and softer, perfect for day - and for someone who typically wears an evening eye during the week AND weekend (myself), this was a wonderful choice for me to still get to play with color but keep my usual look. As for the quality of the product, both colors are amazing. NARS typically produces silky and velvety shadows with a wonderful texture, and these don't disappoint. The color is highly pigmented, especially for the blue, and the violet works equally well wet as when dry (used dry it is a beautiful wash for the entire lid, and when wet it makes a great smoky look for evening - but a little more alluring because of the hint of purple). Would I recommend this to anyone? Absolutely. I can't see these colors looking bad on anyone. And you know what else is cool? Layer the plum over the icy blue - you get this beautifully metallic brown purple that is just divine.

NARS duo in Habanera is $32,00 at Sephora and NARS.