Dumb and Cute

So, tonight confirmed for me a well known truth that I have tried ignore for years... girls acting dumb and cute will win points with men. It's a sad truth, but it worked in my favor this evening, acting like a complete ditz got me out of a ticket! A few girlfriends and I went to see the new Twilight move - Breaking Dawn 2. Before I continue on, let me just say that I read the Twilight series when it first came out and loved the books! I still stand by that. It is an entertaining series, but the movies with bad acting, shirtless werewolves, sparkly vampires and ridiculous, screaming teenage fans have made it kind of a joke and now it is just embarrassing to admit to liking it.

So anyway... we were driving to the movie when I suddenly saw red and blue lights spring up behind me. I was getting pulled over and had no idea why. I started to panic, tickets in California are expensive! I pulled over and the cop walked up to my car. He informed me that my tail light was broken and that white light was shining out the side and that it needed to be fixed ASAP. As he examined my licence and registration he asked where we were headed to. I told him we were going to see a movie. "What movie?" he asked. Oh how I wanted to say anything but the truth in this moment. "Um... Twilight." I mumbled in shame as the rest of my passengers were giggling in embarrassment.  "We're all over 30." Darla exclaimed from the back seat. The cop was clearly enjoying my discomfort. He prodded, "How many movies have they made so far?", "Have you seen all of them?" Then Darla chimed in once again, "and she's read all of the books!" Thanks a lot, Darla. My face was bright red at that point and we were all giggling like stupid girls. Just give me my ticket and let me leave already. But, he did not give me a ticket. No, after small talk about Twilight he suggested that I go to Walmart and buy some transparent red tape to put over my tail light so I don't get stopped again and let me go on my way. In fact, he was really nice and kind of flirty. He was charmed by our giggles and excitement to go watch sparkly vampires on the big screen. Part of me wanted to call out, "I know you think this is cute, but I am smart... really." Oh well, I suppose we made his night more entertaining even if it was at the expense of our dignity.

Speaking of Twilight, I will say that Breaking Dawn 2 was the best movie in the series. I thought it was great! I mean, let's be real, it is not going to get nominated for any Oscars or anything, it is still Twilight. But the acting was a hundred times better than the first couple of films and the cinematography was beautiful. Breaking Dawn is kind of twisted (Stephenie Meyer could have finished with Eclipse and I would have been happy) but the movie took the source material and did a great job with it. It could have seemed very creepy but didn't at all. Hats off to Bill Condon. The series is officially over and I can go back to being a normal sane adult that doesn't swoon over teenage vampires. (unless that is your thing, because apparently some guys like that)

I should rename my blog...

... "The things I make from Pinterest". Because seriously, I feel like every post is a recipe or a crafty thing that I have tried. This post is no exception. I have done a few Pinteresty things lately. My friends, Brooke and Charley had a baby last week, a beautiful girl named Emily. I went over this weekend to see her and bring presents and food. Presents and food = Pinterest! Brooke loves cats so I crocheted a kitten hat and 3 little amigurmi kitten toys. I think they turned out pretty cute.

And since I am slightly obsessed with Fall food, I made homemade chicken noodle soup, homemade bread, and caramel apple cider cookies. 

The bread was awesome! It is the easiest thing to make, you don't have to knead it or anything. Just stir the ingredients together, let sit overnight, dump in a pot, and bake. It was crusty on the outside and light on the inside. Perfect! I found a winner of a recipe. Thanks Pinterest!

Crusty Bread

3 cups flour
1 3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours.  Overnight works great.  Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a pot with an oven safe lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.  Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool. DONE!

I also found another recipe that looked good for the season - Caramel Apple Cider Cookies. They are very good but the caramel center is very caramely so the texture is pretty chewey. 

Carmel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla 
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 14 oz. bag Caramels 

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined.

Unwrap your caramels. Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.

Bake for 12 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they’ll pop right off.

Christmas is coming up and I am inspired to make gifts for my nieces. I think I am going to buy a sewing machine this week (it's about time) and go to town. Yay for Christmas time!