DIY Yarney

I think it was sometime last year when Alex bought the video game Unravel for me. He's always trying to find video games that I would like and Unravel seemed to be right up my alley. I mean, I'm not really into video games, but when there's one that speaks to me, I get hooked. Unravel is a side-scrolling puzzle game (applied physics, too!) that is not only heartwarming and emotional, but also beautifully made with a lovely soundtrack. Several weeks ago, we finally finished the game and that day we made our very own Yarney. It's really simple (three easy steps!) and even if you haven't played the video game - it's still pretty cute.

Here's what you'll need:

• scissors
• red yarn
• white yarn
• bendable wire
• a paper clip

Here's how to do it...

Step One: Make the Skeleton
Take your bendable wire and start making Yarney's wire skeleton. We made ours using three different pieces: the head, arms and legs. We attached each piece together with more wire. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just make sure that his legs and arms are both the same length. As for his head, the goal is to have it crescent shaped on the top. Ignore the little dragon on ours, Alex added that for fun. ;)

Step Two: Start Wrapping

Take your red yarn and start wrapping Yarney's skeleton. Don't worry about being precise here. The more chaotic it looks, the better. As for where to start, it's really up to you. We started with the head and worked our way down. However make sure that wherever you do start that you finish there before moving onto a different area. So finish the arms first before moving onto the torso. A little tip: when you are wrapping his torso make sure you go down a little past where his legs start. The key here is to make a little "shirt". Which you can see in the photo above. Once you're done wrapping, cut the yarn and tuck it underneath. Here's what you'll have once you are done...

Step Three: The Eyes

I'm not going to lie. This was super frustrating for me and I still feel as though I could have made the eyes better. You're going to want to take your paper clip and thread in the white yarn. Yarney's eyes are almond-shaped, so try to aim for that. Once you are done making the eyes, simply tuck the white yarn underneath the red.

So there you have it. A super easy way to make your own Yarney!

When He Makes Her Dinner

In our house Alex does the cooking and I do the cleaning. It works for us too. I mean I'm good at cooking, but I like baking more. Besides that, Alex has been a professional chef for over 15 years and his meals are always way better than what I can make. So last week, while I was stuffing my face with some salmon fishcakes that Alex had made us, I told him that I really needed to start photographing the dinners that he makes us, like I used too. If you're interested, I posted all of the meals on Instagram under the hashtag: #whenhemakesherdinner.

Somewhere along the way, life got busy and I stopped taking photos. Which sucks because Alex really does make the most delicious and pretty looking food. So, instead of filling up my Instagram with photos of the dinners he makes, I'm turning it into a series here on the blog. Which I'm excited about. Please say hello to, When He Makes Her Dinner.
Here's what Alex made us last week:

Featured meals: salmon fishcakes w/ mango salsa, grilled steak w/ garlic rice and veggies (w/ mango salsa), homemade guacamole and mini burger sliders topped w/ a fried egg and my homemade pickles and a side of roasted potatoes.

Oh and by the way, I completely forgot to take a photo of the pesto/alfredo fettuccine and grilled chicken that he made us last night and I'm still kicking myself. Hopefully I won't forget next time. It's just so hard because whenever he puts a plate in front of me the food looks and smells so good that I want to eat it as quickly as I can.

Free Comic Book Day 2017

This past Saturday was Free Comic Book Day and it was actually the first time I had ever participated. Mainly because Alex was at work and I wanted to make sure he got the free comics that we wanted. But also because I wanted to support our favourite comic book shop, Uncanny Heroes. I really love that shop... Mike, Clark and Art are super knowledgeable and really friendly. They even put up some artwork in the shop that Alex made. Which is always really cool. Anyways, back to Free Comic Book Day. I had a great time and also ran into George Lowe aka Space Ghost.

I got a pretty great haul of free comic books too. Including a Tingey print signed by George and some Space Ghost buttons. Now running into George isn't anything new. We actually already know each other (I met him at the museum I work at over seven years ago) and we've ran into each other quite a bit in this small town. And since it was Free Comic Book Day we figured an obligatory photo together was in order. George is also the reason that I stayed pretty much all of Free Comic Book Day at Uncanny Heroes. All because I was helping him take payments. We spent most of the time cracking jokes and talking about art. And honestly the day would have been a thousand times better if Alex had been there with me. At least there's always next year... 

Also, I'd like to give a huge thanks to Uncanny Heroes for taking some of those photos you see up above (you know - the ones with the logo on the bottom left). They are just great!

Did you take part in Free Comic Book day this year? Have you in the past? Let me know in the comments below so we can discuss!

Swedish Apple Cake w/ No-Churn Honey & Sea Salt Ice Cream

Yesterday Alex & I popped over to IKEA. We didn't really need anything, but we just felt like going. I know - we're weird. Either way, we discovered a little cookbook of theirs called, Food's Ready! and we found a salmon fishcake recipe that we ended up making for dinner that night. As for dessert, I made their Swedish Apple Cake and instantly fell in love with it.
I tweaked this recipe just a little bit and it still turned out delicious. Alex was pretty stoked on it too. Which isn't that much of a surprise because Alex is a sucker for apple pie. In fact for our first Thanksgiving together we made a bacon latticed apple pie. But this cake gave that pie a run for it's money. Even though this recipe originally called for vanilla topping, my homemade no-churn honey & sea salt ice cream hit the spot. Just a heads up, you'll need a 9 inch springform pan to make it. Oh and since the recipe called for milliliters, it's best if you have a measuring cup that does both. If you don't have one, I included the cups next to the milliliters.

SWEDISH APPLE CAKE

INGREDIENTS
2 red delicious apples
1 fuji apple
3 eggs
200 ml sugar (about .84 cups)
150 ml neutral oil (about .63 cups)
300 ml flour (about 1.26 cups)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp allspice
sprinkle of ginger on top
oil for the pan

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F. While it's preheating, peel and slice the apples - don't forget to remove the seeds and core. Then line the springform pan with parchment paper and oil the inside walls of the pan.

Then beat the eggs and sugar until it's light and fluffy. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Then slowly fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Add in the vanilla extract and pour the cake mix into the springform pan.

Next you'll want to push the apples slices down into the cake mixture. You can do this a variety of ways. For me, I just lined the apples next to each other. I started on the outside and worked my way in. Don't worry about overlapping - it's fine. Just go with it and if you have to cut some of the slices to fit into any gaps, go for it. And if you can't fit anymore apples, eat 'em! Just be sure you push them down. The further they get pushed, the more apples you can put in.

Then place the pan on the middle rack in the oven and let it cook for 60 minutes. It's done when a skewer comes out dry. Leave the cake in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then let the cake cool out on a rack. You can serve it cold or hot with no-churn ice cream (recipe below).

Seriously, look at the layers of apples in this thing. Delicious! It's even good for breakfast with coffee.

Alright, so if you're still reading this I'm pretty sure that you want to make the ice cream. Which is awesome - because it's really easy! Now, I don't have a photo of this - but just trust me - it's good. And if you don't trust me, just google it. Just an FYI, I used a stand mixer, so I'm not sure how it will turn out with a handheld mixer. And P.S. you'll need to make this the night before, because it needs to stay in the freezer overnight.

NO-CHURN HONEY & SEA SALT ICE CREAM

INGREDIENTS

14 oz can sweetened, condensed milk
16 oz heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup honey

DIRECTIONS
Add the sweetened, condensed milk and heavy whipping cream together in the stand mixer's bowl. Whip the mixture until it's light and fluffy. Then quickly fold in the sea salt and honey. Pour the mixture into a freezer safe container and stick it in the freezer overnight. If you really can't wait that long (I couldn't) just let it chill in there for at least 6 hours.


Let me know if you try either of these recipes! I'd love to know if you like it or not.