Say Something Duet

Hey everyone! So like I promised in the last post, here’s a duet that my friend and I did to end this assignment. It draws together everything that I talked about in my previous posts. We chose the song Say Something by A Great Big World. (ps: sorry, my friend and I were having a lot of fun messing around with this so we might sound a little strange during some parts. Also, we did this in one try and I lost my voice before we recorded).

https://youtu.be/kUZg2DHcOt0


Hope you guys like it!

Bakin' Brownies

   In honor of the holidays I decided to bake Peppermint Stick Brownies for my family and friends! In many different areas around the world you can almost guarantee the presence of brownies in parties for people of all ages. Thanks to the book Cookies Cookies Cookies By Shelli McConnell I figured out a way to bake brownies for my family and friends and add a little holiday spin on them!

A sample of how the final product
will turn out to be 

Ingredients Needed:

• 1 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 & 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup mint-flavored chocolate pieces 
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans 
• Fudge Frosting 
• 1/2 cup broken peppermint sticks or coarsely crushed striped round peppermint candies 

Recipe 

Step 1: Pour and stir together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Step 2: In a large sauce pan combine the sugar, margarine or butter, and cocoa powder. Place sauce pan over medium heat and stir constantly until margarine or butter is melted. Remove from heat.

Step 3: Add eggs and vanilla into the same sauce pan from step 2. Use a wooden spoon and lightly beat just till combined (don't overbeat).

Step 4: Add the milk and the newly formed chocolate mixture alternately (adding in the two new substances in small amounts while switching between the two). Beating after each addition. 

Step 5: Stir in chocolate pieces and walnuts or pecans. Spread batter into a greased baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-28 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Step 5: Stir in chocolate pieces and walnuts or pecans. Spread batter into a greased baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-28 minutes or til wooden tooth pick inserted near center comes out clean.

 Step 6: Cool brownies in pan or wire rack. Frost with Fudge Frosting. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint. Cut into desired bars.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Step 6: Cool brownies in pan or wire rack. Frost with Fudge Frosting. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint. Cut into desired bars.

Want your brownies to have even more holiday spirit then it already does? Shelli McConnell has created a way for that very thing to be possible, "here's a secret, mint-flavored chocolate pieces are nestled in the center of these chocolaty brownies" (McConnell 16). My loved ones fell in love with the sweet surprise that was found in every delicious peppermint stick brownie, and because of that I can promise that your loved ones will too! 

Did you bake anything special for your loved ones in honor of the holidays?

If so what did you bake? Did your family enjoy it?

Happy Holidays Everyone!

McConnell, Shelli. Meredith Corporation. Des Moines: Meredith Corporation, 1992. Print.

How to Make the Best Desserts in 20 minutes or less!

As you finish that last bite of your dinner, you start craving for something. What is that thing? Vegetables? Meat? Fruits? NO! Everyone starts craving for something sweet, something like a...what is it again?...OH YEAH! IT'S A DESSERT! But OH NO, you're worried that this dessert will take forever to make! Is there any solution!?

For me, I have always wanted a good dessert to eat after finishing dinner but I know that making a good dessert dish will take at least an hour to make but now I have found 2 DELICIOUS dessert recipes that can get you in and out of the kitchen in 15 minutes!

Vanilla Parfaits

This is a dessert dish where you can even be a little creative too while making this. You don't have to put in the EXACT ingredients I put in this recipe (Lagasse, 98). You can probably add some fruit or even ice cream or nut of your choice. The main point is that this dish is VERY tasty and makes me just keep wanting to eat it. And the best thing is that you hardly spend 10 minutes in the kitchen making this!

Ingredients needed:
-1/2 cup of chocolate chip cookie crumbs
-2 tablespoons of crushed nuts
-2 table spoons of Vanilla ice cream
-1 1/2 teaspoons of chocolate sundae syrup

Directions:

1.) Take the ice cream and put it on a cup or bowl

2.) Take the cookie crumbs and spread it around the ice cream

3.) Take 1 tablespoon of syrup and sprinkle it around the ice cream

4.) Take the crushed nuts and also sprinkle it around the ice cream. Then, finish it off with 1/2 tablespoons of the syrup remaining.

5.) Enjoy!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are probably going to be "the easiest and best-tasting peanut butter cookies you will ever make" (Lagasse, 102). And Emeril Lagasse isn't lying when he says this. These cookies are the easiest cookies to make. No complications, no hassle, and it just takes 20 minutes to make in total! The chewy texture of these cookies are what makes these stand out in front of all the other cookies. And best of all, there is no flour!

Ingredients and Materials Needed:

-1 cup of creamy peanut butter

-3/4 cup of granulated sugar

-1/2 cup of chocolate chips

-2 eggs (brown or white)

-1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

-A large bowl to stir the dough

-A baking pan to bake the cookies

-Cooking spray

-Oven

-Latex Gloves

Directions:

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2.) Beat the eggs and put it in the bowl, then combine all the other ingredients into the bowl

3.) Stir by either using a wooden spoon or and electronic mixer

THERE'S MY STÜSSY SELF

4.) After the dough is smooth, grab the latex gloves, put them on, and pick up chunks of the dough and roll them into balls and put it on the baking pan. Aim for putting 24.

5.) When the oven is ready, put the cookies in the oven. Put it in for around 10 minutes

6.) After finished baking, take the cookies out and let them cool for about 5 minutes.

7.) After the cookies cool down, remove them by a spatula and serve or store! Enjoy!

So after I showed you these recipes, I just want to ask you one question. What are you going to eat for dessert tonight?

Lagasse, Emeril. Emeril 20-40-60: Fresh Food Fast. Comp. Steven Freeman. New York: HarperStudio, 2009. Print.                         

ukulele notes

Learning to play the Ukulele

 

 

For the past two years I have taken classes on how to play the ukulele. Ever since I have started playing I fell in love with it. Sure it can be a lot of hard work but it is fun learning a new song. It is a great skill that I have been learning, because I can express so many things through music with an ukulele.

 

 

Before I started playing the ukulele, I always wanted to play an instrument but I felt like I would never be good at it. But one day I tried, even though it did not sound good in the beginning when I played, after all of the practicing I got better and learned how to play many different songs and I enjoyed playing. Ever since I got better at play the ukulele I bought at better ukulele that helped me want to play more because of the way it sounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before you try to play notes on the ukulele, take a good look at the strings. The four strings on the ukulele give you four open notes. Holding the ukulele, start from the first string, or bottom string (closest to the floor) and tune it to an A pitch. "Move up, tune the second string to an E pitch and the third string to a C pitch. the fourth or top string of your ukulele (closest to you face) turn to a G pitch." (igloo books pg.10)

 

 

      These open notes, when played from 4th to 1st strings, sounds like an old tune, "my dog has fleas" (igloo books pg.10). For each string there are 12 notes that you can play by pressing down the strings at different places along the fret board. Play it now, one note at a time, beginning with the open note for each string.

 

 

The neck of the ukulele should be rested between your thumb and the base of your index finger of your left hand with the strings facing away from you. The space between the fingers lets you bring your left hand fingers to the proper fingering position (igloo books). It also keeps the neck of the ukulele from touching your index finger. As you place your left hand fingers of the strings in the spaces between the frets, hold them in a curved position with the thumb opposite to your second finger. As you shift your and to higher or lower positions, keep your thumb in position opposite of the second finger. Use the tips of your fingers to press the strings to the fingerboard.

 

 

 

 



Do you enjoy playing music?

If so what song or instrument do you like to play?

 

 

 

Igloo Books Ltd. Learn to Play the Ukulele. N.p.: Igloo, 2013. Print.