Black beans and chocolate

Yummy or yucky?

Black beans, oatmeal, cocoa powder, sugar, and maple syrup

Last Saturday morning I thought I would change things up.  Instead of making the usual mochi cake, I tried out two new recipes for wheat-free black bean brownies. 

I was super excited to try out the new recipes.  Hubby, on the other hand, was extremely skeptical of the strange black bean and chocolate pairing.  It turns out that he had good reason to be.  My first batch came out shockingly sweet and sludgy.  It was essentially inedible and we had to toss the brownies out.  My second batch turned out tasteless, pasty, and dry.  

After these two failed  attempts, I thought that hubby might be right.  Perhaps black beans and chocolate weren't meant to be friends after all?

Now that my tummy had a couple of days rest, I'm feeling re-energized and determined to tweak my previously used recipes.  Hopefully I'll figure out that perfect combination of ingredients to create a yummy dessert that's chocolatey and high in fiber. 

Then we could eat chocolate all the time and  be healthy too. 

Do you know of a good black bean brownie recipe?    

Central Park

Can I just say how happy I am that it's no longer raining here on the east coast?!?  Can I get a "whoop whoop?"  (Whoop whoop!)  Baby Chuck and I are loving the bright and warm days.  We're doing our best to soak up every last bit of sunny goodness before winter comes. 

I think last Saturday definitely marked a turning point in the weather.  Hubby, Baby Chuck, and I seized the day by meeting up with some friends and walking through Central Park.  I loved seeing the swarms of tourists and natives out enjoying the good weather.

Even though we live just across the river, we really don't visit the city as often as we'd like.  Whenever our car crosses the river, I always begin "oohing" and "ahhing" over all the sights. 

I really love New York City and it's just so beautiful in the fall. 

This must have been wedding photo day because we saw a total of three brides walking around!

I so want to make this bubble man's special wand.

DIY Faux Stained glass

I love stained glass. There's something so beautiful about seeing sunlight shine through all those brightly colored panels.  I think my dream house would have a room filled with tons and tons of stained glass windows. (A girl can dream, right?)  

Since we're still living in a small apartment, I'm putting my dreams for that stained glass room on hold.  But what can I say?  The heart wants what it wants.  So this gal is going to craft some stained glass while she waits. 

Armed with this awesome faux stained glass tutorial, I brought forth my inner glass artisan.

Materials:
- full bottle of glue
- clear glue
- pencil and paper
- Sharpie marker
- thin, blunt paintbrushes
- craft paint in various colors
- mini muffin tin/ mini cups (to hold paint)
- craft knife
- picture frame
- skewer

Steps:
Step 1:  I took the glass panel out of my picture frame and cleaned it. 

Step 2:  I pulled out the white sheet of paper inside of my frame and used that to draw my stained glass design on.  (If you're missing that sheet, you could also just tape several pieces of paper together and draw on those.)

I really wanted a groovy and tasty pattern.

Step 3:  I created the "lead."  To do this, I emptied out a bit of glue from my bottle.  Then, I added several drops of black craft paint into the bottle.  I used my skewer to stir the paint and glue together.  (Note:  It didn't take very much black paint to turn the glue black.  I tried not to put too much paint into the glue bottle because I didn't want my  "lead" to get very watery and not dry nicely.)

Step 4:  I put the lid back onto my glue bottle and did some practice strokes.  When I had a good feeling for how quickly the glue flowed, I started tracing my design onto the glass panel.  (Note:  I still had some problems with the glue spreading.  But I took care of that in step 5...)

See how the seeds on the left ended up black?  It's ok... I fixed that in step 5.

Step 5:  I let the "lead" dry overnight.  Then, I used my craft knife to carve and peel away any the messy bits.

See? The seeds are fixed!

Step 6:  I poured clear glue into my mini muffin tin container.  Then, I put drops of craft paint into each of my containers to create different colored "glass paint." (Again it didn't take very much paint to color my clear glue.)  I used this paint to paint my glass.  (Note:  Make sure your paint fills in every nook and cranny.  Otherwise you'll end up with clear glass bits.)

Step 7:  After my paint dried overnight, I noticed that I had painted over my "lead."  No worries, I used my trusty Sharpie marker to re-color my "lead."   Then, I placed my glass back into my frame.   Tada!

 
Happy crafting!

Bunny Halloween Coloring page 2

So my poor bunny still doesn't know what to wear for Halloween.  Perhaps he should wear one of these costumes?

(To see the previous coloring page, click here)
Halloween bunny coloring page 2

Crapty Fridays- Day of the Dead candle holders out of baby food jars

Last year hubby, Baby Chuck, and I went to our first Day of the Dead Celebration (click here to see photos).  Feeling inspired by the colors and festive atmosphere of the holiday, I made two skull candle holders out of saved baby food jars.