January's conquest, and what's in line for this month

I conquered the Carrot Cake and it was delicious! Overall I'm pretty good a baking, so this was a good way to start out my Pinterest challenge. One thing I did learn was to make sure all the ingredients were actually listed in the recipe. I got to the end and realized the sour cream listed in the ingredients was nowhere in the actual recipe. I added it at the end, before it got baked. The other thing is there was no recipe for the icing. On the blog the cake recipe was on she had another cake listed, so I guessed at the icing using her other recipe as a guideline. The icing turned out amazing and I would have sat there and eaten the whole bowl! I did make one alteration to the recipe and used golden raisins instead of walnuts, just because I don't really care for nuts in my cake. I posted more pics on my Facebook Pinterest Project page.

Mixing the cake batter together

In the oven, now we're baking!

Frosting time!

Finished product!

So now we are well into February and a project has finally been chosen. One of my neighbors had an abundance of eucalyptus branches, so it was suggested that I find a use for them. And thus the idea born. I found a link to make Eucalyptus Mint Whipped Body Butter , and that sounded great. Everyone's skin is all dried what with it being the middle of winter. When the legs are hidden from the world, people tend to forget to do the maintenance we do in the summer. So this project looked all well and good, but it didn't solve my neighbor's problem because the recipe called for eucalyptus oil. Off to Pinterest I went again, in search of a solution. I came up with How to Make Eucalyptus Oil from leaves. Well thank you Pinterest, you have come through again. Today I went and pilfered the branches for my neighbor's porch (okay not exactly, I had permission) and now they are slowly cooking in my crockpot. Now I just need to find a double boiler, for part 2. I'll work on that next week. Then I guess I'll be handing out body butter to anyone who wants it. See, I'm being crafty!

Side project, practice makes perfect

Since January's project is baking a cake, I decided to do a little practice first. I've never made fully homemade cake. Off to trusty Pinterest I went and found this cake The "Best" Chocolate Cake recipe. That's quite a statement to live up. There are lots of cake recipes out there and this one claimed to be the best. I figured it was worth a shot, and decided to go for it. I decided to change up the frosting with a vanilla frosting. I didn't want to over-chocolate anyone.

Finished product!

I will tell you this cake was awesome! Plus it was pretty easy to make. It said to mix it for 2 minutes, but I mixed a little longer and it turned out super fluffy and delicious! This Pinterest project may turn out pretty well if this is any indication. Although it won't be food every month. It's a good start. Next step is make the carrot cake that Clay picked out.

January's project has been chosen

January's project has been chosen:

Carrot Cake for January!

Clay was nice and picked something relatively easy for the first project. My neighbors have decided that maybe we should do a cook-off of sorts. I must make the Pinterest recipe, and they can make their interpretations of my project. Then we will have a taste off when everyone is done. I'm not sure if this trend will continue for the rest of the year, but it could make for an interesting take on what was originally a simple idea.

We shall see...

An idea

Out of a drunken rambling comes forth an idea.

You see, I have a feeling that Pinterest is controlled by a group of 50s housewives that have traveled to future to make us feel like we don't do enough around the home. From baking, sewing, elaborate dinners, craft projects, etc. I just can't keep up. I don't have that much time to do my hair or nails, I have a full-time job and a busy life for the most part.

I explained this to my boyfriend one day, then it struck me. The Pinterest Project! For the year of 2014 I'll have him pick a project for me to do, once a month. After all I'm not a crazy person, and I'm trying to be reasonable as to what I'll actually accomplish.

So that's where we are at. The first project has been chosen and soon I'll begin documenting the process. At least he's starting off with something fairly easy.

Wish me luck!