A Little Bit of Sunshine

 Today I’ve spent a lot of time outside. I’ve gone swimming, running, and I’ve had fun wandering about our garden picking flowers. The lighting in my room this afternoon was perfect for a photo shoot so I simply couldn’t resist. (Though I often wish I had a model other than myself!)

Knitting in Public?

This week, for the first time ever, I knitted in public. My friend and I hang out in Martin’s on Wednesday nights and this time I decided to knit while we were there. I ended up knitting 2 headbands while we were there. It was totally worth it just for all the crazy looks I got from strangers.

The Fair

Today I enjoyed a day at the Goshen Fair with some friends. It was a great time that included: petting random animals, laughing at llamas, experiencing fair food, and getting rained on.

French Braid Waves

One of my favorite hair styles is french braid waves. All I do is french braid my half-dry hair, leave it in for a day, and then enjoy big waves! It a great summer style.

A Box Full of Vintage Buttons

A week ago I bought this giant 4 1/2 pound bag full of buttons. I needed some new buttons for my knitted items and I really wanted some unique vintage buttons to make my items one of a kind. It took me 4 days just to sort out 1/3 of the buttons. I did find some amazing buttons though!

Plant Cozies

Guess what new item is going to be for sale this September? Knitted plant cozies (plant pot included!) What color of plant cozy would you prefer?

Purple Hair Tips

So today I dyed my friend's hair purple! It turned out pretty awesome.

Raspberry Mocha Frappuccino

Feeling fancy? This decadent frappuccino isn't just some milk, coffee, and ice thrown in a blender. I carefully created this lovely drink that is more like a posh dessert rather than an afternoon treat from Starbucks. This is a frappe that would make even the celebs jealous.

So how did I make such an elaborate drink with only a kitchen full of ingredients and my imagination to guide me? It all started with a really bad ice cream craving. For almost 3 whole years, when I was younger, I would order the exact same thing from any ice cream parlor we entered. If they had it, I would routinely order coffee and dark chocolate ice cream with fresh raspberries mixed in. I decided that I wanted to take this favorite and turn it into a drink. A fancy drink. After an hour or two of being a total mad scientist in the kitchen, I created this lovely concoction. This drink makes me wish I had a time machine so I could go back and drink it again. And again. And again. 

Are you up to the challenge of making it? Trust me, it's worth it. 

Raspberry Mocha Frappuccino 

Step 1) To start off, you are going to need to make my Simple Iced Coffee. You will need to do this either the day before or a few hours before you plan to enjoy your frappe. 

Step 2) Time to make Raspberry Chocolate Cream

1 cup of frozen raspberries

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons raspberry balsamic vinegar (optional, but definitely adds flavor and is highly recommend)

3 cups of milk

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1. Put the frozen raspberries in a glass bowl and microwave until thawed

2. Strain the raspberry juice into a sauce pan (just throw away the left over seeds)

3. Add the sugar and vinaigrette to the raspberry juice

4. Stir on medium heat until the sugar dissolves and it becomes like a syrup

5. Stir in the milk, vanilla, salt, cocoa powder

6. Continue to stir on medium heat until mixture becomes just like raspberry hot chocolate

7. Pour most of the hot mixture into a pitcher and stick in the fridge to cool

8. Pour the rest of the mixture into ice cube trays and freeze (about 15 cubes)

 Step 3) Now to make the Raspberry Chocolate Syrup

1 cup of frozen raspberries

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons raspberry balsamic vinegar 

25 gram bar of DARK chocolate (The darker the richer! I used 85% dark)

1. Put the frozen raspberries in a glass bowl and microwave until thawed

2. Strain the raspberry juice from the seeds into a sauce pan

3. Add the sugar and raspberry vinegar to the raspberry juice

4. Stir on medium heat until the sugar dissolved and it becomes like a syrup

5. Add the bar of chocolate and stir until it melts 

6. Leave the chocolate syrup out on the counter to use later 

Step 4) Once the coffee is cooled, the raspberry chocolate cream is cooled, and the ice cubes are frozen, you may begin the Raspberry Chocolate Whipped Cream

1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon  sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 big Tablespoon of the raspberry chocolate syrup

1. Put all the ingredients into a mixer and mix on highest setting until the cream becomes just like whipped cream. 

Step 5) Here's the very last step! Excited? Since you can't really make 7 frappuccinos all at once in one blender, I'll tell you how much to put in for just 1 or 2 frappes at a time. 

1. Pour a little less than 1/2 a cup of the Raspberry Chocolate Cream into the blender

2. Pour 1/4 cup of chilled coffee into the blender

3. Put 3 raspberry chocolate cream ice cubes and 3 coffee ice cubes in the blender

4. Put a spoonful of Raspberry Chocolate Syrup into the blender

5. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream (This is optional. It just makes it creamier) 

6. Blend away until mixture is smooth and creamy

7. Pour into glasses and spoon a generous amount of Raspberry Chocolate Whipped Cream on top. 

8. Drizzle the Raspberry Chocolate Syrup onto the top (Warning: if you're as generous as I am, you may run out quickly) 

Your masterpiece is now complete! Sit down and enjoy your frappe. I hope you feel fancy.