Ggggrrrr-ad school stinks!

A food collage! Yes, I confess I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to go to graduate school, oh wait, I remember, I thought to myself, "hey, I really enjoyed undergrad and it would be nice to be around other people who are interested in the same field I am." Of course job security and a steady supporting pay check were also factors.

Well I have realized over and over again that grad school stinks! I love being in an environment with crazy estrogen filled women where we don't practice what we preach. I think that to be a successful grad student you must not have a life, you have to be this super human mutant who is consistently hyped up on caffeine (or worse things), be able to ace all examinations, kiss your professor and supervisors be-hinds, and just be overly excited and joyful about everything. yay? What is going on with education? I have learned that yes school is about learning, but it's more about appeasing your superiors and getting good test scores, forget if you are an ethical person, do good things, and have general everyday smarts.

Needless to say the fall semester can't come soon enough, I am hoping that I will get a glimpse of a better world and thank the food gods that graduation is just a few more months away. I leave you all, my faithful Mixing Minx readers with a collage-ish (I can't squish them all together quite like a collage, so it's "collage-ish") of food that I have made over the past couple of months. Enjoy!

xox- The Mixing Minx

Lucky Love Lasagna

Can love and luck be compared to a lasagna? Does that even make sense? Are you in my head, can you read my mind and where I am going with this? It is possible that the lack of sleep and spider in my bed anxiety has significantly impaired my ability to make logical comparisons between feelings and food...or maybe it has enhanced those abilities?

A lasagna is composed of layers, each one is significant and provides different flavors, just as a relationship is composed of various thoughts, feelings, and actions, all of which come together to formulate a successful relationship. I prepare the baking dish by pouring in a little pasta sauce, like a little flirtatious behavior before the dating, then I carefully pick the noodles that look the best and gently lay them in the dish as if each noodle represented a date that left me speechless. Next is a layer of ground beef that has been cooked with onions and peppers, similar to the foundation of a relationship with thoughtful words and gifts. 

Now don't freak out on me, I know some of you will, but I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta, does it make a difference? I really don't know, I think what really matters is that you have cheese, just as a relationship needs to have trust to spread around and form a stable foundation. Another layer of noodles is next, more dates and adventures are enjoyed. Then I spread sauce on top as if I am opening my whole heart and soul to the relationship that has been created by the layers below. Finally I sprinkle shredded cheese on top, just as I sprinkle my love over the various aspects of the relationship.

This lasagna symbolizes how lucky I am to have found the love I have.

xox – The Mixing Minx

Ancient Chinese Secret...

Something is different, something has changed, new lessons have been learned, growth has occurred, I sense the winds of change...oh, wait, maybe that's just my brother letting one rip, or, quite possibly it is an ancient Chinese secret.

I have had some cupcakes in mind for a while now, but I am not quite ready to make them, I think I need to wait just a little bit longer before opening those doors and creating something so sweet, also it would be irresponsible of me to only feed my brother cupcakes for dinner. For now my loyal readers, I present a home made dish of mine: orange ginger chicken with white rice and broccoli.

I will keep this one short and sweet, just like myself :) and leave you with these thoughts that I have come to realize.

           Amazing things come to those who wait

           Don't settle for anything less then what you want

           Only when you respect yourself will others respect you too

By the way, I never once saw a fortune cookie in China, but it goes with the theme here so if you don't like it then bite my fortune cookie! :)

xox - The Mixing Minx

Rebound Girl Cupcakes

Are you a recently single male? Did a girl break your heart leaving you feeling as though your whole world has been turned upside down? If you fit into this category then I am the girl for you! For the next month or so I will be your rebound girl. As your official rebound girl I will complete the following tasks:

• be your rock
• provide positive support
• listen for countless hours about the girl who broke your heart
• take care of you when you are sick or after your surgery
• cook, clean, and help you re-organize
• embrace your quirky interests
• help mend your broken heart
• drive long distances to get to you
• drive us around in my car so your ex doesn't spot us
• open my heart to you and try to take away some of your pain

Here are my Rebound Girl Cupcakes, made with a chocolate cake base filled with peanut butter, topped with chocolate fudge frosting and a delicious Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. 

These cupcakes represent my two glorious rebound girl moments. I would like to thank these two gentlemen who have allowed me to learn and realize my true inner strength. A special thanks to the first reboundee who is continuously there for me, shows me friendship, offers wise advice that one day I swear I will listen to, and a wish of good luck to you and your new lady who makes you happy, which is all I ever wanted for you. 

Unless you are going to pay me by the hour to be your rebound girl then I have officially shut down this business so I can open up a cupcake shop! 

xox - The Mixing Minx

Down & Dirty Cake

Get your nasty little mind out of the gutter! Gosh, I can't believe that is what you thought I was talking about! Bad Mixing Minx reader, bad!

Nah, it's cool, but seriously, this is my Down & Dirty Cake. I recently took part in a gardening adventure which resulted in the flickering of a few light bulbs in my head. Gardening requires quite a bit of time, effort, and patience. Preparing the yard, where you rake up the leaves and discover a whole new species of bugs that you never knew existed. Next you get super friendly with the dirt as you dig holes for the seeds and plant them. After planting all of your seeds you rejoice with a feeling of confidence that you completed the task you had planned. You begin to water these little seeds which is then followed by waiting....and waiting some more. Here is where the Gardening Gnome Gods (aka the GGG) come into play, they snicker behind your neighbors bushes and mutter back and forth about how much fun they are going to have watching you wait for your seeds to show some kind of action.

Well there you are, great job Mr. Green Thumb, you got those seeds in the ground and you have been keeping up with the watering, but what now? Oh, yes, now you wait even longer, you sit on your cute tushie and wait.

After waiting for what seems like forever, after putting in so much effort, hard work, time, money, care, love (yes, plants need love too) and after considering some therapy services for the strange Gnome-e like snickers you seem to be hearing, something abso-freakin-loutly amazing happens. Those seeds that you cherished and cared for so deeply begin to sprout and with continued care, they grow buds, and finally blossom in to the most beautiful flowers you have ever seen. Why are they so beautiful you ask? They are because you put your time, effort and patience into growing this garden.

So basically, to sum up, there are many aspects of life that can be compared to gardening. If you have a goal, if you are determined to do something, if you strongly believe in what you are going after, if your feelings are so intense that you truly believe that they are real, then go for it. Go for it big and as you do, remember that to see your seed grow and bloom into a flower, you will need to put in your time, effort, and a great deal of patience. Amen!

My Down & Dirty cake is made with yellow cake mix, chocolate frosting, oreo and chocolate graham cracker “dirt,” sesame seeds, and marzipan sprouts and flowers. I am hoping you caught on, gardening can be quite a dirty job that requires you to get down to plant and care for your seeds, also “Down & Dirty” sounds quite incising to convince you to actually read my blibbity blab. 

This cake represents my determination to go after those things that I feel are important, I continue to put in my efforts and care, and secretly I hope and pray that what I am going after is worth the time, effort, and patience....if not, I am so joining the GGG and muttering with the rest of the Gnomes as you try to plant a garden. :)

xox – The Mixing Minx

Patience and Cherry Pie

I am a Mixing Minx, I love to cook, bake, and concoct anything that I can in the kitchen while being some what sly and minxy. Some of my mixings are simplistic, and take minimal time and effort while others are more complex and require time, patience and accuracy.

Take a cherry pie for example, first you have to take out the dough and let it come to room temperature before you can even roll it out. After flouring the work surface and rolling pin you can roll out your dough and place it in the pie dish. Don't forget to turn on your oven, which means that you need to wait for it to preheat before you should place your pie inside. Damn, we haven't even put the pie filling in (the easiest part) and I am already loosing my patience.

So then you open your can of pie filling (if we were making an apple pie, well that would take even longer, no canned filling for that) and carefully pour it into the pie dish. Now re-flour your work surface and pin, roll out your second pie crust and hold your breath as you carefully align it on top of your filled pie dish. I like to get all fancy and punch out cute shapes for decoration, so tack on extra time for that.

Finally, push the top and bottom pie crust together around the edges, fold any excess under and use your fingers to create a waved edge. Then wet your hands, gently wipe them around the outside of your pie and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top. Are we done yet? No! Grab your pie crust ring, or for kicks and giggles, have a grand time making one out of tin foil.

Super duper finally, if you are like me and your delicate cherry pie is ready and the oven is preheated, say a little prayer: Dear Cooking Gods, please let this incredible cherry pie bake thoroughly, remind me not to open the oven too often, and for the love of all goods that are baked, let this cherry pie be tasty and worth the effort and time I put into it.

Let your cherry pie bake, baking time may vary depending on oven, size of pie, placement in the oven, and a variety of other factors. When the time is right, take your cherry pie out, let it cool and enjoy the fruits of your hard work.

Of course, if you are a wise Mixing Minx reader, you will be able to read between the lines and realize that this is not just about a cherry pie...

xox – The Mixing Minx

Caffeine Cupcakes

Oh yeah my friends, these are Caffeine Cupcakes! Caffeine – an unusual drug that I have slowly become accustomed to out of necessity. The past two weeks and the following two weeks will be sufficiently doused in caffeine from my two cups a day of espresso. Which means that the past two weeks and the following two weeks will also be accompanied by multiple trips to the bathroom, but that's besides the point.

Grad school is a witch, with a b. It has forced me to lower my standards on the number of hours slept per night, increased my production of tears and their spontaneous ability to spew out at any given point, and has aided in my reduced mental stability. Grad school has done something so terrible, it has forced me to do something that I really rather not, it has enabled me to become a caffeine addict!

In honor of caffeine and the Gods (devils?) who created it, I have made Caffeine Cupcakes. These cupcakes are made with a yellow cake base, chocolate espresso frosting, and topped with dark chocolate covered espresso beans, all for your caffeine in take pleasure :)

So as this semester comes to an end and my fate in a course is in question, I reflect back on the previous semesters and conclude that the first two weeks and the last two weeks of each semester provide the proper breeding ground for an overly caffeinated, immensely sleep deprived, one step forward and twenty steps backward, psycho basket-case. Adding any other outside factors to this equation results in a new psycho basket-case hybrid form that can only be tamed by chocolate and hugs.

xox – The Mixing Minx

Have Faith and Trust, Not-Cakes

My faithful and caring Mixing Minx readers, I have something new for you, something out of the ordinary and unusual. If you are here only to admire baked goods, then leave. If you are here and do not like cheese, and/or its pairing with meat, then leave. If you are here and strongly object to fried foods, then leave! Otherwise, hold on to your jaw, so it doesn't drop to your belly button when your mouth overflows with saliva from ogling at these Have Faith and Trust, Not-Cakes.

Have you ever had a situation arise where someone who seemingly cared for you did something to break your faith and trust in them? Trust is such an important factor to have in life, trust in your family, your friends, your significant other. Once the trust is broken, and the faith in that person is lost, how is it recovered? Can it be recovered? How long will it take? My thought, it depends. Every situation and person is different, some faith and trust will be forever lost, and others will return with time.

I like to think going with your gut feeling is often the right way approach and handle a situation. Currently, my gut is screaming, (not from a lactose induced frenzy, I haven't eaten one of these yet) I have trust and faith in it, and if on the off chance it is wrong (if I am wrong) then at least I can be wrong with a bang. BANG!

In honor of my pleasantly surprising new found old friend, and the new friends I have recently made, I present to you a daring mix, a twist on the typical cheese stick you may find at any restaurant, this is a munster cheese and salami stick. I carefully rolled munster cheese and salami together, double breaded it, and then said a little prayer, as I always do before cooking....it goes something like this: Dear Cooking Gods, please let this food turn out alright, Amen. I trusted and had faith in my gut feeling about this new dish and fried up a storm. 

Since I am a fairy fan, I will conclude with this:

“All you need is faith, trust, and a little pixie dust.”

xox – The Mixing Minx

Hakol Sababa Cupcakes

     Before delving into the reasoning and rationalization for these amazing cupcakes, I need to acknowledge that these were not the cupcakes originally planned. I was going to be a real minx and make Foot in Mouth Ugh-cakes, with my traditional chocolate cupcake, vanilla frosting and a foot and mouth made out of marzipan. I wanted to talk about how I felt as though I put my foot in my mouth yet again, and all of this other pessimistic, negative blibbity blah. Then something changed my mindset, maybe it was playing “guess that bug in my house” with a good girlfriend, hearing a positive song on the radio, listening to my brother tell a dozen Chuck Norris jokes, (did you know that when the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris, and that only Chuck Norris can dislike on facebook, oh yeah, the list goes on), or possibly it was getting the reassurance I was looking for. Anyway, my mind was changed, so the cupcakes had to be changed too.

     In light of my recent adventure and change of mindset, I feel it is appropriate to stop being so pessimistic, to stop being so negative and just say “phillips head screw it!” Hakol Sababa means something along the lines of “everything is good,” or at least that is what it means now. As you may have guessed if you keep up with this obnoxious blog, these are chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting, and my favorite, rainbow sprinkles.

     I think sometimes in life we get so caught up in our own little bubble, focus too much on what is wrong and not going the way we planned. We get so wrapped up in this “woe is me” perspective that we forget all of the positive things that are going on in our lives. Although your day may have been long and stressful, I know there is at least one positive action, feeling, person, or activity from your day. Although my day was stressful while playing ketchup since I was gone for a few days (yes, it's “ketchup,” food blog, remember?) I had an amazing, well needed vacation, met some wonderful people and came home to my family who filled my day with endless jokes and delicious food.

Hakol Sababa,

xox – The Mixing Minx

No Backbone Yam-Cakes

Where has my backbone gone? I think I lost some of the vertebrae in my spine, my will power is gone, rules thrown out the window, all hope is lost, I am forever doomed.

What is your weakness? What are those things that you just can't resist no matter how unhealthy or bad they may be for you? And tell me, what do you do to resist those things? Pretend they are not there, remind yourself of how bad they are, or give in to the torment of your weakness? For some people it is chocolate, candy, or maybe some potatoe chips (yeah, that's how I spell “potato” just deal with it, my blog, my spelling rules). It's quite possible your weakness could be from a different category all together, a person, place, shopping habit or other activity. Well whatever your weakness is, shoot, I am right there with you, and man is it ever hard to resist that weakness.

Recently I conquered my bread weakness, yeah, I LOVE bread, I would eat a loaf every meal of the day if I could. Challah bread, potatoe bread, sunflower bread, corn bread, pita, banana, rye, pumpernickel, naan, oh yum.... I need to stop, this bread list is making me so hungry.

Here are my No Backbone Yam-Cakes, as in: “My backbone must be missing. Ah ha! Here is some of it in these cupcakes!" These are sweet potatoe cupcakes, with vanilla frosting and marzipan vertebrae. Why sweet potatoe you ask? Well if you don't already know, then you don't need to know, so leave it at that. The colors are kind of funky, but it goes with the dish, and that's good enough for me. 

xox- The Mixing Minx

Holes In My Heart Cupcakes

I don't have the words for this one, so I will leave it up to those who seem to be better with words then myself...

“When you're dreaming with a broken heart, the waking up is the hardest part. You roll outta bed and down on your knees and for the moment you can hardly breathe, wondering was she really here? Is she standing in my room? No she's not, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....”

“And I'll kiss you between the ears
If you're my girl, swirl me around your room with feeling
And as we twirl, the glow in the dark stars on your ceiling
Will shine for us, as love sweeps over the room
'Cause we tend to make each other blush, you make me blush”

“And you are there on my heart at the start of my every morning and I can't deny by the end of the day that I'm running on empty But you make me full, steal my breath. You're so unpredictable, that's what I'm coming home to.”

“This music in my head of heartshaped melodies in red. If this is just the start I cant wait to hear the end. The hours come and go as we lay wrapped up tight in your silver glow I've never been this content to be.”

“I'm on the road of least resistance. I'd rather give up than give in to this. So promise me only one thing, would you? Just don't ever make me promises”

“And I tell myself to let the story end, my heart will rest in someone else's hand, my 'why not me?' philosophy began, and I say, ooh, how'm I gonna get over you? I'll be alright, just not tonight, someday, oh I wish you'd want me to stay. I'll be alright, just not tonight, someday”

 - xox The Mixing Minx

Sexy Irrational Chili & Deliciously Yuckie Cornbread

There is just too much to say about this dish so instead I will keep in short, like the short dog hair that I am still trying to lint roll out of my new white couch. This chili was made with pissy peppers, banging beans, angry onions, mangled mushrooms, good-too-shoes garlic, and sexy spices, all topped with catastrophic cheese. Sometimes even those who generally seem to be level headed have their irrational moments. Since beginning my externship, changing jobs, and opening my heart I think I have become even more irrational then usual. The cornbread is quite good to be honest, the "yuckie" is merely there to be conflicting. Well that's all I've got, so thanks for reading... *cough cough* Elena and Mom. 

xox - The Mixing Minx

Are You There Love? It’s Me, Ashley.

Dear Love,

    Are you there, do you exist? Are you hanging out with the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus? Are you a true feeling that exists within each of us to varying degrees? Gosh Love, you sure can be confusing, maybe a little tricky and sly as well. How do we know if our feelings are truly Love, is it something that you know immediately such as the idea of “Love at first sight?” Or is Love something that gradually grows over time and with experiences? Maybe it’s both, I am a fan of compromises, and looking for the middle ground, things aren’t always black and white, sometimes they are grey too. So here, when discussing the matter of you Love, I will support the idea of Love that can be faintly noticed at first sight and blossoms over time like a beautiful rose.

“Love, who can tell me I am wrong? I just think that I am strong. What is Love, what is love? I just want to be Loved.”

   So here, as we get closer to the holiday that honors Love, or possibly just the idea of capitalism and its great conquering abilities over our wallets for one day, I ask, what is Love? A (for the most part) wise man who in fact once Loved me, recently reminded me that Love will come my way again. I just wonder if Love is here now, or is this strange feeling inside lactose induced and merely my lack of ability to digest those crazy milk-ish foods that I continue to consume. I like to believe it is the beginning of Love, and as much as I want to shout it out, say it all day, and bend over backwards to express it, I will instead take the calm and reserved approach in fear of losing the feelings of Love. And Love, if you are there, some kind of sign might be nice, a figurative or literal one will do just fine. :)

Your skeptical optimist,

Ashley

Enjoy this upcoming holiday of Love, whether you are with someone or not, there is someone who Loves you and someone that you Love as well. Happy Love Day!

xox – The Mixing Minx

PMS Cupcakes

    This PMS cupcake trio is composed of different themes, those of which can often be found during that wonderful time of PMSing. Here we have love, anger, and chocolate all made with a pinch of the following: tears, love, sweat, frustration, anger, guilt, annoyance, shame, happiness, spit, jealousy, desire, care and passion.

Love: I love you, did you know that? It freaks me out, but it's true. In fact, I think I might love you too much for my own good. Love is weird and strange, warm and fuzzy, and most definitely not black and white. Tune in tomorrow for more on this matter as a new mixing will posted.

Chocolate: Yes, chocolate counts as a theme, what kind of woman do you think I am? I am starting to wonder if chocolate runs through my veins and I should attend CA (chocoholics anonymous) meetings. Chocolate is the core of my being, it is in my genetics, if you only know one thing about me, it's that I love chocolate and chocolate loves me.

Anger, or most recently renamed: You Annoy Me Bitch-Cakes. Made with get the heck out of my way chocolate cake, stop bothering me vanilla frosting, and bite me decorations. You - a pronoun which often is used to refer to a single person, but here, may refer to more then one person. Pardon my language but this calls for it. You. You are so annoying. You make me mad. You make me want to bitch. You make me want to embrace this month's PMS and complain up a storm. You get in my way. You make me think stupid thoughts. You make me waste good boxed cake mix and home made frosting. Here I am wasting my time writing a post about you which someone will waste their time reading. You annoy me.

Love, Chocolate, and Anger...all a part of the PMS process. Feel free my kind reader(s?) to miss-interpret up a storm for which a hurricane will surely follow.

xox- The Mixing Minx

You’re awesome, but…Cupcakes

Uh, yeah, you’re darn right my butt is pretty awesome, and so is every other woman’s tush (especially those with curves and hips). In fact, I think my butt looks amazing in those blue jeans with that black top and you can’t deny a hiney in a polka dot bikini. Butt, buns, fanny, tush, rump, rear, hiney, call it what you will as long as you acknowledge its awesome-ness.

Devil’s food cake, dark chocolate frosting, chocolate sprinkles, and a chocolate covered donut hole are just about every girls dream, it’s a true chocolate overload combination and completely appropriate for the occasion. “You’re awesome, but I just don’t see this going anywhere,” *cough* “I just took advantage of you/played with your emotions/got what I want and now I am done/think you’re a crazy lunatic, but I just don’t see this going anywhere” is what it has the potential to really mean.

My muscles may not be a buff as yours, my fingers not as callus covered; my nuts not kneed a half a dozen times throughout my life but you can still tell me the truth without sugar coating it just because I am a girl and you think you might hurt me. And for the love of cupcakes don’t even think for a second that you, any one person in particular is worthy enough of a cupcake created in response to your not-so-positive actions, it takes many experiences to create such a delicious work of art.

A bold butt statement:

“My butt is big and round like the letter C and ten thousand lunges has made it rounder but not smaller and that’s just fine. It’s a space heater for my side for the bed. It’s my ambassador to those who walk behind me. It’s a border collie that herds skinny women away from the best deals at clothing sales. My butt is big and that’s just fine and those who might scorn it are invited to kiss it.”

xox – The Mixing Minx