February Favorites

I cannot believe it is almost the end of February. Part of me feels like we are way further than nine weeks into the year and the other part cannot believe two months have already gone by. I thought I'd share the things I loved this month and the reasons why! I'll list the prices and the places to purchase some of these items if you are interested. I also included an important thing I've learned this month at the end of the post.

#1 thing I bought this month was Beyonce's album! I remember everyone on Tumblr freaking out when she released her album in December but I never looked into it until I saw all of these GIFs and short video clips people were posting from the album. I watched her Vevo videos that explained her ideas and inspirations behind the album and I knew I needed to buy it. I bought the entire album off of iTunes and a hard copy from Walmart but I was unaware the hard copy is censored and therefore no bueno for me. They were both around $16 and you get 14 songs and 17 music videos. I love all of it. Her music makes you feel completely empowered and confident, like nobody can mess with you. I play the album every time I'm in the car, at the gym, or hanging out on the computer. My favorite songs are XO, Partition, and Jealous! I give the album 2 thumbs up, 5 gold stars and every award on the planet.

I love Swiss Miss in the normal packages but I always hated how I could never completely dissolve all of the powder and then my parents bought a Keurig for Christmas. And then for my birthday my dad gave me two boxes of hot chocolate and in about a month my mom and I have finished an entire box. What's cool with the Keurig too is that you can choose the cup size so you can control how strong or weak your drink is! You can buy these at Target for $12 and you get 16 little cups. 

Another Target purchase was this day planner. I have been feeling really overwhelmed with the ridiculous amount of free time I have until school starts. I had multiple people suggest that I start using a day planner to set up my days so that I'm not just sitting around not sure of how to spend my time. It's been really refreshing to be able to write down my plans and organize my days so that I am more productive. I like the idea of having a hard copy of my calendar because using my phone doesn't help me and I often forget what I've put into my calendar. I think this was around $8 to $10 and it comes with monthly and weekly calendars, contact sections, and notes sections. This will definitely come in handy when school starts again too.

Lemon bars! I've made 4 batches in the last week so clearly I have an unhealthy obsession. I made a test batch and didn't like them and then I found the best recipe ever. Mel's Kitchen Cafe is where I found the perfect lemon bar recipe that I will use for the rest of my life. The recipe is pretty straight forward and will only take about an hour to prepare and it is totally worth it. And most of the ingredients are things people normally have in their house anyways! 

I love this show. Why does the UK have so many great shows that I can't watch here in the US? So unfair. Once again Tumblr was how I found out about this show. I kept seeing photos and GIFs then finally someone posted a link to all of season one and the first episode of season two and I watched them all in one night. It's nice being able to relate to a show that doesn't have famous actors and actresses done up in makeup and hair and living some unrealistic life. The show will make you laugh a lot, cry and at times make you want to throw the remote at the screen. I hope they continue to create more seasons and become easily available to people in the US.

My sister told me about how every girl in our town was using some great mascara and how it was making all of their eyelashes super long. This is the Loreal Voluminous^® Butterfly Mascara. My sister went out and bought it and I tried it out and instantly fell in love with it. It lengthens your lashes but doesn't clump them or make them spidery. I often use this mascara first before layering on two different mascaras. It is the perfect base. The only issue I have is if you don't wipe off excess product before applying it it will clam your lashes together and it's a bit of a pain to remove the clump. But as long as you remember to do that you're good to go! I bought this at Target for $8.

I used to use this Shea Moisture coconut & hibiscus body wash all of the time in the fall but once it ran out I just never repurchased it until this month. My skin had not been doing well for multiple reasons at the beginning of this year. It's probably rained twice in the last 3 months so it's been extremely dry out here in California. I noticed my skin was rough, dry and ashy in some parts and I knew right away I had to start taking care of my skin better. I bought this at Target and lucky for me it was buy one get one 50% off so I bought two of them. The original price was about $10 each and a little goes a long way. You only need a quarter shape amount on a loofa or your hand because it lathers up like crazy. My skin has been feeling and looking so much better thanks to this body wash and the lotion I'm about to talk about.

Another skin favorite. I bought this back at the end of November as a recommendation from a girl I went to school with. My hands were taking a beating from washing them so much throughout the day and then using my hands in flour and hot water and soap. I bought this Hempz Original Herbal Body Moisturizer from Ulta for $23 and I have been in love with it since the day I bought it. It smells so delicious, it's sweet smelling but not perfumey which is what I needed. I apply this right after I shower to my hands, legs, and arms and it makes my skin feel so moisturized but not oily. I use this every day and it is something that I would re-purchase over and over again.

I love greek yogurt. I wasn't a big fan of yogurt when I was growing up because I hated and still hate chunks of fruit in my food. And then when I was in junior high I found out I was lactose-intolerant and I stopped eating anything dairy all together, except ice cream. Who can say no to ice cream? Anyways, I was taking a food and nutrition class at school and learned that some people who are lactose-intolerant can eat greek yogurt! So I went out and bought some and have been eating it for almost 2 years now with no side effects. I was eating the Dannon Oikos vanilla non-fat greek yogurt for the longest time until this month. I became obsessed with key lime and lemon and I saw that they had those flavors in the traditional style so I tried those out. Again, I love this yogurt. It's really thick and creamy and it doesn't have an artificial or overly sweet lemon taste. It's nice to snack on when you crave something sweet! I usually buy these from the grocery store but only when they're on sale for $1 or less.

My last obsession for the month is listening to white noise when I go to bed at night. But not just any white noise, I listen to the sound of rain. I had been having a lot of trouble falling asleep at night. I wasn't going to bed until 2 or 2:30am and once in bed I was constantly getting up and moving around the house because I felt so restless. My doctor recommended I listen to white noise and focus on my breathing and it's been helping me out so much. It makes me so relaxed and it's all I focus on. This video is 10 hours long too so you get an entire nights sleep to the sound of rain. I usually play this on my laptop and put the screen on black and the noise level as low as it can go or on my phone on the lowest volume. Each time I listen to it my phone or laptop only plays for 30-60 minutes but by that time I'm fast asleep. If you have any difficulty sleeping or relaxing in bed I would try this out!

♡

I wanted to end this post with an important thing I've learned this month. And what I've learned is it is okay to ask for help. I know that sounds silly or simple but it's something I've never liked doing. In elementary school I refused to ask for help because I thought it meant I was stupid. Instead I would do whatever I could to figure out things on my own and sometimes I never found out the right way to do things. This carried on into junior high and high school and into college as well. I started asking for help in culinary school so I could get everything I wanted out of class. I did not want to be wrong. And sometimes I thought I knew the answer but I still asked so that I was entirely sure. And I made mistakes in class but I always asked why and received help when I needed it. 

I've always embraced my independence. I always tell myself I need to be able to do or say things because if I won't do or say these things for myself then who will? I love being independent and I dislike being dependent. But I had no choice in January because I had surgery that resulted in me not being able to do much except eat, sleep, walk around and go to the bathroom. And that was frustrating. It was beyond frustrating. I disliked it all. And I had to ask for help for almost everything I did. And at first I fought it, I was determined to not ask for help. But I ultimately told myself I needed help and it was okay to ask. And now I don't feel bad or stupid or annoying when I ask for help. I feel like I'm being mature and responsible for being able to step back and look at a situation and say, "I need to ask for help" or "I can't do this on my own". Being able to ask for help has made life a lot less stressful and I feel like I've learned so much more than if I had just kept my questions to myself. And the other important thing to remember is that there are people in life who want to help and don't mind helping. Your family and friends and teachers like to help. There is no shame in asking for help. It took almost all of the stress and pressure I had placed on myself off. Here are two quotes about asking for help that I love:

"Asking for help does not mean that we are weak or incompetent. It usually indicates an advanced level of honesty and intelligence.”- Anne Wilson Schaef

“The strong individual is the one who asks for help when he needs it.”- Rona Barrett

S'mores Bars

Today was a really good day. I woke up to rain and then went out to breakfast with one of my best friends. We had the most delicious melt in your mouth pancakes and then we went to the mall, Sur La Table and Target before coming home. But a short while after being home I felt sick and I craved comfort food. I wanted soup, stew, mashed potatoes and gravy, milkshakes, anything to make me feel better. I settled on noodle soup but I knew I wanted something sweeter. I thought about driving to the grocery store and buying ice cream or some gummy candy but my mom took my rain boots, I was done spending money, and I sure as hell wasn't going back into the rain. I also remembered I bought the ingredients I needed to make s'more bars. I love this dessert.
I've been making these s'mores bars for a couple of years now and they've always been a favorite of mine. They are super easy to make and they don't take long to prepare and bake. I found the recipe on Crepes of Wrath and I basically follow the entire recipe but I change a few things up. If you wanna find out how to make these delicious s'mores bars then keep on reading!






To make these bars you will need:

-an 11x7 square baking dish
-1 stick of butter
-¼ cup of brown sugar 
-½ cup of sugar
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 ⅓ cups of all purpose flour
-8 crushed graham crackers
-1 tsp of baking powder
-¼ tsp of salt
-4 chocolate bars
-1.5 jars of marshmallow fluff (It has to be fluff, not marshmallows, the marshmallows don't turn out well in the oven and the flavor is not the same)

Tip: Before baking it's important to have all of your ingredients pre-measured and set up in your kitchen so you aren't running around, possibly forgetting a step or ingredient, or realizing you don't have everything you need!

1. Preheat your oven to 350* and butter or Pam your baking dish. 
2. Crush your graham crackers. I put them in a freezer ziploc and smash them with a hammer or a mallet until they are crumb texture
3. Cream the butter and sugars in your stand mixer or handheld until light and fluffy.
   
4. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix.
   
5. In a separate bowl combine the flour, crushed graham crackers, salt, and baking powder. 
   
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until it crumbs together
   
7. Take half of the dough mixture and press it onto the bottom of your baking dish. 
   
8. Lay the chocolate bars equally across the dough and lightly press down
   
9. Scoop out the one and a half jars of marshmallow fluff onto the chocolate bars and with a flat icing spatula or butter knife, spread across chocolate bars and spread to each end of the dish. You might have to hold the chocolate bars down with your free hand while spreading because the fluff picks things up and is like glue. Seriously if you can tell me how to spread marshmallow fluff and not make it look like a 3 year old did it you are an amazing talented person and I want to know the secret.
   
10. Crumble the rest of the dough over the fluff or press into flat, small pieces and place over the fluff. I prefer the crumb method because it's a nice texture. 
    
11. Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 
    
12. You can even let them fully cool or dig in while the fluff and chocolate bars are still warm and ooze out. Both are extremely delicious. 
    

I honestly think they are best the next day or a few hours later when the chocolate solidifies again but I never have the patience to not have a piece the moment it's cooled down. They taste delicious with a glass of milk and when you're about to run out the door and you need a snack on the go! :) 

Moustache Bakery in Healdsburg

You know how when you look up to somebody you instantly take everything they say to heart? Like if you have a football coach who played in the NFL everything they say sticks to you like glue. It's kind of like when you're a kid and you really look up to one of your parents, aunts, or grandparents and everything they say, every word of advice you remember and apply it to the rest of your life. Sounds dramatic but we all know it happens. That's how I felt about my Pastry and Baking teacher.

I was afraid for that class because I had heard nothing about my teacher. I had no idea what she looked like or how she taught whereas I had taken my other teachers classes twice before so I was comfortable. I don't know why but I expected this really strict and serious chef and I was scared for class to start. However, the second I met my teacher I instantly liked her. She reminded me of my Aunt Jodi, she was fun, loud, confident and intimidating at times. And she laughed like my Aunt Mickie, it instantly made you laugh even though you had no idea what was going on. You could tell how much my teacher loved what she did and how she all wanted us to love it too. She would always say she was worried about us getting bored in class, which was impossible. And whenever she made a remark about a book, a restaurant, a person, a food type, anything I was all ears. If she liked it, then it was amazing. So when she said Moustache Bakery had the best cupcakes I knew I had to go there.

First off, it took us forever to find the place. And by us I mean my boyfriend Joe and myself. After looking for 10 minutes and walking the wrong way and then being on the wrong side of the street we finally found it. It was freezing outside but once we stepped into the bakery we were hit with cozy warmth and an inviting atmosphere. I feel like most cupcake places try to be girly and fancy but this place was the opposite. I think rustic is a nice word for it. They kept it simple, which we like. They had cupcakes, macaroons, ice cream sandwiches, caramels and cookie sandwiches. And they also made hot drinks like hot chocolate, mochas and lattes. The hardest part was choosing what to get.

Joe thought we were going to share a cupcake and a macaroon. I knew the second we walked in I wasn't going to share, sorry Joe. I was deciding between their lemon cupcake, The Miller, which was a lemon olive oil cake with lemon curd filling and lemon frosting and their vanilla cupcake, The Misses. But I felt like the lemon was calling my name and I could just get the vanilla the next time. Joe thought the peanut butter cupcake, The Sheriff, which was a peanut butter cake, jam filling and peanut butter frosting sounded interesting but he ended up choosing The Outlaw. I'm kind of drooling thinking about it. I should be embarrassed but it was too dang delicious. The Outlaw is a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and a caramel filling and sea salt topping. Still drooling. And then for macaroons they had four flavors: pistachio, chocolate caramel, ginger, and passionfruit. Our soda that we had at lunch had ginger so I axed that option immediately. I've never had passionfruit and wasn't feeling it so we ended up with a pistachio and chocolate caramel macaroon.

I am obsessed with The Outlaw cupcake. Wow. I love anything lemon but the second I took a bite of that cupcake I was hooked. The cake was so chocolatey and moist, almost like a flour less chocolate cake. It had that silky texture that could just melt in your mouth. And the filling was the perfect amount of dark, luscious caramel. The chocolate frosting was smooth and had curled chocolate and the perfect amount of sea salt on top. I was worried the salt was going to be too much but the second I bit into it I knew it was combined perfectly. Joe thought the salt on the chocolate balanced out all of the sweetness. I believe chocolate and caramel were a match made in culinary heaven.

Even though Joe chose the chocolate cupcake, he really liked The Misses. Really liked as in that was his favorite. Usually he chooses something better than I do too. I don't know if he believes that but I do. I would say eight out of ten times I like what he orders better unless its something I can't eat or refuse to eat. Anyways, Joe thought the lemon cupcake was more like a huge piece of cake. The cake part itself had the stability of a great piece of cake. You couldn't even taste the olive oil, maybe that was the oil they used instead of butter. I should've asked. Oh well. The lemon curd filling was fantastic too. It wasn't sour or oozing out it was perfect. I loved the lemon frosting as well. It was all perfectly balanced. Each bite we took we found more things to love about the cupcake. It just kept getting better and better the more we ate. I'm picky about cupcakes too. Far too often I come across cupcakes which are overpowered with frosting. its like 30% cake 70% frosting. It is ridiculous. But these cupcakes were outstanding. My teacher was absolutely right. This is a place I would definitely return to.



Onto the macaroons! You'd think that after eating lunch and sharing two cupcakes we would be too full for anything else but we had to try the macaroons. Joe really wanted the pistachio and I'm not the biggest pistachio dessert fan so I wanted the chocolate caramel macaroon. These macaroons were huge too! At least I thought so. The chocolate caramel one was a chocolate shell with I believe chocolate ganache and some of the same caramel that was in The Sheriff and the pistachio had chopped pistachios on top and a pistachio filling. I think we had both had too much chocolate so the chocolate caramel macaroon was a bit over kill. But the shell and the fillings all combined nicely. You could really taste each component of the cookie. There was the perfect amount of ganache and caramel and they cookies weren't overfilled or under filled. Same for the pistachio. The almond shell combined with the pistachio filling and the extra crunch from the chopped pistachio was amazing. That one was my favorite; once again Joe chooses the perfect item on the menu.

Now that I'm back home I just wish I had gotten a box of macaroons to drool over. Overall I thought this place and their products were fabulous. Sometimes when you're in a touristy area like Sonoma County, you find yourself overpaying for things. Kind of like if you were to buy a water from Disneyland or the 7-11 right outside 7-11, they're the exact same but ones more expensive because of your location. This wasn't a factor at Moustache Bakery. The macaroons were $2 each which makes sense if you've ever made them before; they're extremely difficult to make. The cupcakes $3.50 I think, Joe paid so I'm not sure. And I didn't look at any other items and their prices either. I really loved the environment in the store. There was a chalkboard showing where they get their ingredients across Northern California so you knew funky stuff from who knows where wasn't being shipped in. And you could taste how much time and effort was put into the products. By that I mean you could tell that the cakes weren't made in some huge batch and they weren't 2 days old. You could tell whoever made this store and whoever bakes everything demand and make quality food. Everything tasted fresh and everything was delicious. It is extremely difficult nowadays to find a bakery thats not apart of a Safeway or Costco that has quality products. I'm so happy that I listened to my teacher and that Joe and I took the drive out to Healdsburg to try these delicious treats.