Since I was obsessed with finishing my crochet book, my blog-life sort of took a back seat. I never showed you guys some snippets from my birthday back in August! If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw most of these already, but I figured I’d write a good ol’ blog entry for them.

First up, my brother and I usually have a shared bbq at my parents’ house, since he’s a late-July baby and I’m an early-August baby. Guapo visited from San Diego for the weekend and also hooked us up with a giant chocolate donut from Bob’s.

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I have been fiddling around in the kitchen a bit lately… mostly for shortcuts to feeding my sweet tooth.

On a related but kinda gross note, I have a few cans of pumpkin because Bunny  had some intense tummy issues last week (oh how many loads of laundry I did and oh how much paper towel I went through…) so I have 2 cans of pumpkin puree left. (Pumpkin is good for doggies with upset tummies.) ANYWAY, I wanted to try a microwave pumpkin pie recipe. I used this one.

Sorry I forgot to take a photo of it. I made another quickie Instagram movie instead.

 

A video posted by Twinkie Chan (@twinkiechan) on Sep 23, 2015 at 11:07pm PDT

 

The recipe did say this fell somewhere between a pie and a cake… and I can’t say I was a superfan of the texture. I MAY have over-microwaved it, so it might be my fault, but I did see a few different recipes with different variations, so I will definitely try out some others. My pie was missing that smooth, creamy, custard-like texture, so I wonder if that can still be achieved in the microwave with other recipes. I still have tons of pumpkin left, so … more pumpkin parties for me!!! (These are all pumpkin parties for one, because  Manda hates pumpkin.)

A video posted by Twinkie Chan (@twinkiechan) on Sep 21, 2015 at 11:47pm PDT

So we’ve been wondering for a while about oven s’mores, since we don’t have a fire pit or such like. We finally procured graham crackers the other night (we already had mini marshmallows and chocolate chips), but nobody seemed that pumped about giving the oven s’mores a try!

I decided to just do it by myself tonight, and I posted that quick lil video on Instagram. There was a bit too much chocolate for me, and I’d probably leave off one graham cracker and do open-faced, but overall, I would call this an IDGAF Kitchen success!

Basically you just set the oven to 400 degrees and leave the s’mores in there for what I read was 3-5 minutes, but mine needed longer, and then I got impatient, so I cranked that ish to 425 and the marshmallows started browning right away. Just keep an eye on it. You can’t really mess this up!

I’m curious about whether using regular marshmallows cut in half would change the texture…. like more goo and less crunch. This definitely merits a second attempt and further taste-testing. This would be perfect for a low-key get together when you need a quick dessert for everybody. You can also dump the chocolate and marshmallows in  a baking dish and get everything nice and melty and brown on top, and then use graham crackers to dip into your s’more goo! Exsqueeze me, I’m going to get marshmallow-wasted now.

The crowdfunding campaign for my dress collab with Betabrand is now live! The earlier you buy, the more you can save. The 30% off slots are already taken, so grab one of those 20% off ones while you still can!

The print came out super cute. It will be a fun surprise for people who see you, cuz once they get up close, they’ll see that the things on your dress are actually crocheted!! I think it’s a really neat way to celebrate and wear our craft!

 

When I started drawing and selling patches in my shop, I didn’t think anyone would really want one. I think the COOL patch and the lemon/tart patch have been the most popular (and like NOBODY wants a patch with grapes on it).  Anyway, a few months ago, a gal named Iris Nectar contacted me and asked if I’d want to contribute a patch to her touring show, Feminist Fiber Art, and I said sure! She was collecting patches to put on vests for the band Feral Jenny that would be opening the show. I sent her some Yummy You! pinbacks, and those made it on there, too. You can read more about the show and see more pics at her website. I really want that butter patch!