About Refaced (My Store)

Refaced is the New Years Resolution of 2014 that actually happened. A collaboratively crafty on-line store; Refaced is the brain child of two life long best friends who decided to take some ordinary objects and make them extraordinary. From upscaled shower curtains to improved upon paintings; from revamped outlet covers to re-purposed wedding china... every product is unique because it is us taking something original and making it ours. Or perhaps yours. Check out our shop at storenvy.com and see if we have anything that suits your home and tastes.

About My Scribbled Notebook

About My Scribbled Notebook

My blog used to be a standard, run of the mill, simple scroll, single page, cooking blog. It was fun, don't get me wrong, but I found myself wanting to post and to write more. A lot more. I love to write and dream to get something published someday but, in the meantime, I found myself telling a lot of little stories.  So, I made this other blog for stories about my life. And decided to set up a web persona. And with the decision of a web me came the idea of illustrating her myself. And then I got so excited about all the options, I could barely focus on getting pen to paper. 

I could do a web comic! Or illustrated short stories! Or an illustrated blog! The seed was planted and I quickly began flipping through some of my favorite comics to see what clicked, imagining myself as the protagonist, flitting around between fictional, non, and in between:

While  I had always dreamed of having Hobbes as my BFFE, (best friend for ever and ever), the strip comics like Snoopy's and those found on xkcd all weren't quite working for me. I drafted a few (truly tragic) attempts at strip comics but there was never enough writing involved to click with the craving. The layout of Hyperbole and a Half though, inspired. There are several blogs out there that have illustrated posts besides H&H, and as I began delving into all those type of sites I could find, the inspiration began to take root. My own protagonist, a doodled cartoon self, began to take shape in my spiral notebook, along with stories from my life, outlined and scribbled out on the page.

Eventually, my spiral was rather full and I was feeling pretty proud of my little cartoon me and the way my adventures and thoughts were all taking shape. I liked the way it looked on the blue lined pages, the crooked lines, and playing with crayons and colored pencils. Nothing complex, but fun to doodle. I couldn't help thinking it would be a shame to re-create all the images in my clean cut computer world of animation.

So I decided against it. Therefore, I present to you all: The unedited, uneven, and unorganized creations of my scribbled notebook! All done freehand, in a basic spiral notebook, with black pens and colored pencils. Scanned and old school. Posted here among recipes, crafts, photos, travel posts, and general geeky facts of my life! And yeah, my simple 1 page scroll blog is now ultra tab filled and involved. Once I expanded to comics, my creative needs blew up into all kinds of territories outside of the kitchen, ha. Hopefully you guys find some of them  as amusing as I did while creating.

You are now entering a straight-edge free zone of comics I create mashed with my tumblr pages gif jokes, random thoughts, and anything else that comes to mind. It's like a junk drawer but a web page.

And yes, my ruler only goes to 8. Fun fact, 8 and 12 are my two favorite numbers. Bonus fun fact, I misjudged the length of that ruler when I was numbering it.

About Clutzy Cooking

I love to cook. And to eat. I love food and cooking and baking. I however am extremely, pitifully, clumsy in the kitchen. And clumsy in general. But I grew up around the kitchen. My family is big into bonding over food, large family dinners happening frequently.  Baking specifically was something I always loved. I wasn't very good... at all. However, I loved doing it. And I loved the results. Cookies? Oh man. Pie? Pure joy in a tin. Brownies? Yep. Sign me up with a glass of milk. Cupcakes? I love cupcakes. Seriously. They are pretty perfect. I can't wax on about cupcakes enough but, needless to say... I am a fan. In fact, here is a picture of me dressed as a cupcake. Eating a cupcake.

And as such a sugar fanatic, I got better. And continued to bake, whisk, and stir out new things with minor catastrophes along the way. I've branched out from mixes to making from scratch- although I will say that mixes are not banned from my kitchen/this blog by any means just because I have learned how to use cake flour. Baking short cuts don't always (in my humble opinion) cut out on flavor. Some of my all time favorite recipes and tricks include mixes, doughs, cans, and crusts of convenience!  

I am however learning. And as I am learning, hopefully more advanced recipes and techniques will continue to appear on the page. This blog has been around since I lived in a college apartment and has evolved from jello shot recipes and strictly tried and true family recipes using cans of soup... to lemon curd from scratch and making my own bread. We go off book and then back on book here. My pantry continues to be stocked with everything from pectin to spaghetti o's, and well, my first aid kit has burn ointment and bandaids at the ready, so I have every intention to keep the treats coming and the burns minor. We'll be finding out together what eclectic recipes (and hospital bills) result. 

Even MORE About the Author: Meaghan Luby

Even MORE About the Author: Meaghan Luby

Once upon a time, I had a rather perfect childhood in a small Pleasantville-like suburb outside of Chicago. I had a great high school experience with great friends followed by a great college experience with some equally great friends and have continually had an amazing family throughout the whole ordeal. I count myself extremely lucky that way. Then in 2010, like so many other 20 somethings, I graduated college and didn't have a clue what I was doing with myself. After the graduation confetti fell, I moved back in with my parents and was promptly dumped by the long distance boyfriend who had been talking rings last I knew. Cue the quarter life crisis. To my name, I had a 6 month old cooking blog (this guy!), a super useful creative writing degree, a grouchy 11 year old yorkie, Mack, a 5 year old fish (RIP, Bellini, seen in all my headers), about $1,000 in my student checking account, and no solid prospects. I began to rapid fire apply for everything. And I mean, everything. From copy editing to bank telling to teaching English in China. If an english degree was something even somewhat applicable, I applied. 

And with fall came the miracle. A job. A corporate job that seemed, sure, less than creative but none the less, super fantastic. This really fantastic job brought me to Washington, DC- a city I had never been to before and was suddenly moving to before labor day, ha. I borrowed money from my parents to AFFORD the move across the country and began the beautiful adventure now known as my early 20's. 

I met a lot of law students who became a my DC family. I went from living in my first grown up apartment with my long time BFF (who moved with me across the states for essentially the same job with the same company) to living in a chaotic, drama filled, colorful Virginia mansion (seriously, a multi million dollar mansion we found for rent on craigslist for way too cheap) with 3 law girls, my bestie, and a crazy but not serial killer crazy math geek who we also found on craigslist (and we came to consider charming, not crazy). That's 6 people. Plus a few more who we rented to during summers. It was a blur of humans and fun. There were fire pits, movies, marathons, and a heck of a lot of wine. I mean, A LOT of wine. There were cocktail filled blurry nights and greasy hang over cure mornings. There were videogame all nighters, paper chain crafts, and out of control Halloween parties. There were board games, drinking games, and crazy games of hide and seek through our monster of a house. There was an inordinate amount of antics and cupcakes. And cupcake antics. There was chaos and lazy nights, pinched budgets and crazy splurging, and in general, being a young professional living in a ridiculously fancy house with 5 of your best friends. There was essentially living the teenage dream you come up with when you're 13 but so much better because this was real and had chocolate chip pancakes and gossip.

At some point within our alcohol and drama infused years at the mansion, I met Esquire. Another law student who came to mean a lot to me.

He ended up moving into the mansion (AKA, my personal "Real World DC" backdrop) and proposing January 2013. In short order after that night, life threw us a lot of curve balls. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I got a new job in Chicago, a job that not only fit my career dreams more but would bring me home to my family and mom. Esquire and the rest of the brood I had come to care about so much in DC all graduated law school. The timing clicked. We made the leap and decided to move, packing up everything we had each collected through the years and the still grouchy Mack and making the 14 hour drive to Chicago. We bought a house. We saw my mom become a survivor (WOOHOO!). Esquire took the bar exam. We planned a wedding. On September 21, 2013 (date picked due to this song) we threw a big party and tied the knot. 

And that's about up to speed! I now get to live what feels like the happily ever after, figuring out what that means a day at a time. Esquire passed the bar (my husband is a BOSS!), wedding planning ceased to be a part of my routine, and now I get to enjoy being married to my best friend, figuring out being a homeowner, loving what I do, and as always, waiting on the very particular Mack (14 and going strong). I will continue to count these and many more blessings as I cook, bake, craft, and chronicle here and can only hope that as my life continues to ever throw adventures my way that it brings most of you some semblance of entertainment because, usually? It entertains the hell out of me ;)

Best $2 I Ever Spent: Disney Cookbook

Okay. So, just moved to the greater DC area, went to the library book sale, and, found the most awesome cookbook EVER.

E.V.E.R.

So, usually, cookbooks like this are just quality food with silly names like "Mickey's Magnificent Mashed Potatoes!"... But they're really just mashed potatoes shaped like Mickey. Nothing special about them... They are just Mashed potatoes. I HATE WHEN BOOKS WITH THEMES DO THAT, SUCH A LET DOWN! You buy it for food fitting a certain image and, it's all just a facade.

Such. A. Bummer.

NOT THIS BOOK! This book is "inspired by the animation". So, essentially, if it was on screen in a Disney movie, it made it into the cookbook. Sure, there are some things that are reaches. BUT- most everything in the book is a reference to food that was once animation. There are over 300 recipes in this book and most all of them are exceptionally fun and Disney like :)

For example!

This is from the movie Mulan! She eats this breakfast dish before going to the first day of training in the army... REMEMBER? Remember remember remember! I am super enthusiastic about this right now. Wonder if that is clear...

Okay- so there isn't berry butter in the movie "Sleeping Beauty". But there is an entire scene/song in which Aurora is picking berries and then later when they are making bread. I thought this was so cute, the way they set up this page, so I put it in anyway.

There is a recipe for Mango Wuzzle jam!! Bed Knobs & Broomsticks may be one of the best, albeit little know, Disney movies to have ever been made. And their dinner scenes were great. I am not sure I will be making Mango Wuzzle jam anytime soon but, I now have the option! If I do, I will totally be watching the movie whilst I work.

The commercial/obsession in the "101 Dalmatians" for Kanine Krunchies should be easily recalled by any Disney fan. I am not sure if this recipe is for the K9 members of your family or the humans... perhaps both depending on flavor preferences?

And this is by far my favorite recipe in the book! Herculade! One of the newer movies, "Hercules" still gets me every time and when the muses sang about his new beverage line, like all the other Herc-groupies, Pain, and Panic- I wanted to get myself a glass!

This is likely to be the first thing I make from the book. Perhaps a spiked adult version for my friends. It's so fun and fruity looking and, of course, makes the childhood movie come off the screen and into my kitchen.

I'll keep you posted on how well making these Disney recipes turns out :)

Inappropriately Delicious Apple Dumplings

Yep. That's right. That is indeed the most delicious thing one can bake with apples.

Take a good long look, my friend. It's small little thing, each individual dumpling. You see it and you may feel jipped out of a properly sized serving. Perhaps you'll think that one small fritter couldn't be enough apple-deliciosity for you, no way, no how.

As the old (and more then pseudo inappropriate) saying goes: size doesn't matter if you know what to do with it. And this lil pastry knows how to make your mouth happy.

Okay. That sentence was definitely more then pseudo inappropriate. But that's how good these apple dumplings are. They are inappropriately good. Flakey, sugar crusted dough wrapped over apples. A rich, apple & cinnamon sauce that you can spoon over the dessert and inevitable scoop of ice cream. It's sinful I tell you! And in the best way possible...

It is probably because they have inappropriate amounts of sugar/butter/soda. Soda alone makes a dessert all kinds of fizzy, naughty, and inappropriate but when it's paired with MORE sugar and then the age-old seductress Butter... that's just pure sin.

And that, my friends- (speaking of which, ANYONE READ THIS? feel free to comment so I know you're reading, it won't bite)- is why Pioneer Woman rocks my world... your world... the world. She makes food that isn't afraid to say "screw you" to caloric intake. Look at this recipe, look at these dumplings!

You need to make them. Yes, need, as in necessary to fill your carnal apple craving with this butter lusty recipe. Fall needs apples (see my previous post) and therefore you need apples. And this is the best way to get them.

Here's a picture as well (albeit a poor quality one) of the way all the dumplings look in the pan together, not just in an individual serving. Now, make me proud and bake them ASAP. And don't you dare call this dessert in and forget the ice cream. Go all out or get out of the kitchen.

Ingredients

-2 whole Granny Smith Apples

-2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls

-2 sticks Butter

-1 ½ cup Sugar

-1 teaspoon Vanilla

-Cinnamon, To Taste (I poured A LOT in, there is so much sugar, trust me when I say this can take it!)

-1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.

Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Upside Down Apple Pie

So, this recipe is from Noble Pig and they make it about a zillion times more beautifully then I did. But mine was still lovely :)

It got a tiny bit more cooked then I would have liked. I got distracted... but! The only thing that got really affected was the walnuts were a bit overdone and the caramel became a bit too sticky/chewy. However, I cannot stress enough how delicious this pie was.

The bloggers at Noble Pig claim to make this rather then their typical apple pie recipe. I have now sworn to do the same. It's caramel-y, walnut-y, apple-y, deliciousiocity all wrapped up in a flakey pie crust. I of course recommend serving with with ice cream, but I was raised in a world where apple pie requires vanilla ice cream or whipped topping to be complete. A simple fork-full of this pie with some ice cream will change your life. I swear to you, one bite will make your apple pie fantasies come true. And we all have apple pie fantasies that need to come true.

This is the perfect recipe to herald in the fall. Long live apples, long live apple pie :)

Upside Down Apple Pie

6 Tablespoons butter, melted & divided
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 refrigerated pie crusts
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & cut into 1/2" slices

Coat a deep-dish pie plate with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. THIS IS IMPORTANT- PARCHMENT PAPER. I didn't have any and it caused disaster for the beauty of my pie. You should coat the paper with cooking spray too if you want your pie to remain in-heavenly-tact.

In a small bowl combine 4 Tablespoons of melted butter, brown sugar and pecans. Mix well and spread evenly over the bottom of the pie plate, on top of the parchment. Place one of the crusts in the pie plate, pressing it firmly against the nut mixture and up the sides of the plate. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and the remaining 2 Tablespoons of melted butter. Mix well. Add the apples in and toss gently to coat. Spoon into the pie crust.

Place the second crust over the apple mixture. Trim and fold the edges together to seal and cut some slits in the top of the crust for venting. Just seal the deal as best as you can. Pie crust can be picky.

Bake @ 375 for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until crust is golden brown.

Let the pie cool for 5 minutes and then place a plate on top of it and flip it over. CAREFUL! PROBABLY STILL HOT! Remove the pie plate and gently lift the paper. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature, WITH ICE CREAM if you have been listening to my wisdom and are feeling perfectly sinful.

Enjoy :) Happy Fall!!

Fall! Back on the Grid

Yes. I fail as a blogger.

Yes. My foodie responsibilities have been forgotten, neglected, and set aside.

Yes. This makes me like most all other bloggers who say "promise to write back soon!" and then a year later, create an entry reading "this year has been crazy!"

But! Here we go again. Trying to keep up with my own crazy cooking, trying to make time to wrangle some recipes out of the old family archives and try my hand at some fun ones I find on the web.

I apologize to this hiatus that I inadvertently took, this time it wasn't from graduating, being dumped, unemployed, and trying to glue my life back together in a touch of crisis. This time it was for good reasons!

I have gotten a job and moved across the country!!

I got offered a position and had to move within a month of the offer so, things kind of flew for me. I've been settling into my new life and, while things are still whirl winding around me, the adventure is making it all worth it.

I miss a lot of my friends from my old home but, am trying to keep tabs on them. And I am making a lot of friends in this new home.

Overall, good things happening :)

The only that was missing in my life was this blog. So! For the second time this year, I claim to be back! I will try to be. Someone, hold me to this. I'd really appreciate it :)

Classic Carbonara

One of the best things that I ever ate while in Italy was their authentic Carbonara recipe. Lots of flavor even though it's a very simple recipe.

I cannot begin to express how delicious I find this dish and am unsure what else to add to this post to get that point adequately across. You want to make this. You probably need to make this. Now, today.

Cheesey, creamy, with the yum flavors of pancetta and then peas to pull everything together. If this is the Italian version of bacon and eggs, America simply pales in comparison.

Pasta alla Carbonara Recipe

-1 tsp olive oil

-8 oz pancetta cut into 1/4-inch cubes

-1 medium onion, 1/4-inch diced

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-3 whole eggs

-2 egg yolks

-1/2 – 3/4 cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese, or a combo of both

-1 pound dried linguine or spaghetti

-1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

-salt/pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add at least a tsp of salt. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook, stirring often until it is well browned and crisp. Remove to a paper-towel covered plate. Lower heat to medium and add the diced onion and saute until caramelized, (5 minutes-ish). Add the garlic and saute til browned. Remove pan from heat and set aside. Cook the pasta. When the pasta is al dente, reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water and then drain the pasta. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, egg yolks and cheese until well combined. Add 1/4 c of the hot pasta water to the bowl and whisk well to temper the eggs. Add the hot pasta and toss, adding more pasta water as needed to make a creamy sauce. Toss with the peas, onions, garlic, and cooked pancetta. Serve with a smile :)

Easy Peasy Ice Cream Cake

Ice cream!!

Summer is made by things like lemonade, sunshine, and basking in the long, slow days. And then there is ice cream which is just the creamy delicious ice cream on the perfect cake of a season.

That's completely illogical metaphor now. But come on, this ice cream cake is so good, it is allowed such ridiculous phrasing.

For the layering of this cake, you need to pick out 3 flavors of ice cream to use. I made mine with peanut butter (the middle), peanut butter cup, and then ben and jerry's version of peanut butter cup. All of them share a common theme- peanut butter cups :) !! I used the favored candy to garnish and also selected peanut butter ice cream sandwiches to make it completely over the top.

It's a peanut butter cup overdose.

But, I have made this cake several different ways! In the summer, fruit is also always refreshing. I have layered it before with stawberry, oreo cookie, and then strawberry again, topping the cake with strawberries. It was pretty delicious but, I am sure you can come up with even more fabulous flavors when you give it a go yourself :)

(Also! In this particular cake, I was a ditz and forgot to add milk to the oreo crust to hold it together. Thus why it's crumbly in the photos. Don't forget the milk! Or you too shall suffer the consequences...)

Layered Ice Cream Cake

-15 oreo cookies

-2 tablespoon milk

-6 to 9 ice cream sandwiches (depending on size of pan)

-3 pints of ice cream of various flavors

-Candy or whipped cream to garnish (optional)

Coat the bottom of a round springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line side with wax paper, using nonstick spray to help adhere. Trim paper to the height of the pan. Finely crush the cookies, add the milk, and set aside. Unwrap ice cream sandwiches, working quickly, cutting them first in half, then quarters. Stack the sandwich strips in the pan, packing snugly together along the wax paper. Once they complete the outside, put the crushed oreo crust in the bottom of the pan, making sure it reaches the edges of the sandwiches. Layer your ice cream flavors one pint at a time, dumping ice cream and spreading before adding next layer and flavor. Garnish as you like and freeze overnight. To serve, remove the side of the pan an then the waxed paper. Should look lovely :)