Princess Zelda

Zelda looks slightly evil but I think it suits her since she keeps getting possessed/manipulated in order to resurrect Ganondorf, or as he's named in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Demise. I haven't finished the game yet, but when I do, I'll have a review for it up on The Verbal Mosh's site. I'm taking a break before I attempt fighting Demise. I know it's gonna take me several attempts to beat him. SEVERAL.

With many breaks in between. Unless, of course, I get lucky. When I played Twilight Princess, I remember feeling like it was easier to beat Ganondorf compared to the guy trying to resurrect him.

Sometimes the simplest puzzles get me stumped.

E.T.A. I beat Demise on my second try. What?!!!! :D

Anyways, Happy almost New Year, everyone :)
-O.Pelaez

Severus

I was watching Deathly Hallows Part 2 again, the other day. I just had to draw this moment as I LOVE this scene in the movie. It's so heartbreaking.

And look! I finished my mittens with the buttons I bought :D

Happy Holidays!
-O.Pelaez

Severus and Lily (c) J.K.Rowling
The above fanart and photo (c) O.Pelaez

So Cold

The other day, I was walking outside with no coat, just a sweater for additional warmth. By the time I got home, my hands were balled up with my sleeves pulled over them and my ears were freezing. Not good.

The latest issue of Knitty is up. I just love "Borough." This has been the first time I ever saw a project, queued it and cast on so quickly. I had been thinking about knitting myself mittens for a while now, and after the events described above, it only cemented how much I needed them. They're just about done too. I need to find buttons. I really want to check out the store, Tender Buttons, but I'm afraid it's a little out of my way right now. I may just plan a visit though, once I've started my new cardigan. I've got all the yarn for it. I need to start swatching and charting my pattern.

I paint a lot of pet portraits. Occasionally, I get asked if I paint people's portraits too. I do. I just love painting animals a lot more, so I don't have as many examples but here's my latest self-portrait. :)

Black Friday

Yesterday was exhausting as I spent the whole day cooking food for Thanksgiving. My favorite dish I made was my Mac & Cheese. I had gotten the recipe off of Martha Stewart's website a while ago. Every time I make it, it comes out so good, cheesy and crunchy. Sometimes I'll top it with roasted tomatoes, sometimes with bacon or like yesterday, I made it plain. Mmm.

I haven't done a whole lot of painting and drawing outside of commissioned work so I don't have a lot to show right now. I did make a new, cute booklet/card that you can see in my etsy shop. From now until Monday on midnight (EST) you can get 15% off everything in my shop by using the coupon code: FESTIVE15 at checkout.

I'm organizing my desk space and trying to clear it of the yarn clutter that currently occupies it. I had gotten rid of my previous pin cushion to use the yarn for another project. So, my pins were just laying about. I just couldn't find any other pin cushion designs appealing to make. Then, I realized I had the perfect pin cushion all along. Alfie! My elephant. The pins on him make an adorable headdress.

100 Heart Giveaway *EDIT* Winner announced

Hi, guys and gals ^^

To celebrate 100 hearts on my Etsy shop, I'm having this giveaway/contest.
In order to enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post. You'll have until Monday (Oct. 24, 11:59 p.m. EST) to enter. I'll be randomly drawing two winners.

The first prize is an original ACEO* watercolor painting from me of Princess Zelda (because I'm so excited for Skyward Sword to come out.)

The second prize drawing is for a 4"x6" print of my watercolor ocelot painting. 

Good luck to everyone!

:)

-O.Pelaez

*ACEO stands for Art, Cards, Editions and Originals. They are 2.5"x3.5" in size.




*Edit*
Using a random number generator, the two winners are:

For the Zelda painting:
Comment 4.
CraftyMoose Crafts


For the Ocelot Print:
Comment 2.
badwolf


CONGRATULATIONS!

Winners, please get in touch with me so I can mail your prizes out to you. You can find out how to do so via my About Me tab at the top of my blog or at my profile link on the right.

:) Thank you, again, to everyone who entered.

O.Pelaez

This past weekend, I went to New York Comic Con. I had a really great time. For a fuller review, you can visit my podcast's website.

*drum roll, please*

...




Today is finally the day I get to change my Etsy shop name. Previously, I had been using a username for the shop that I use on a bunch of art sites. I thought that was a really good idea for maybe two minutes (okay, I'm exaggerating a bit) but the point is I didn't like it after a while. It was a name that I threw together from something I heard on t.v. It wasn't me. It wasn't my brand.

After waiting patiently all morning for the Etsy admins to give everyone the green light, it's now changed. I decided to make a new banner, too, to mark the occasion.

O.Pelaez 

I think the cat better represents my shop compared to the knitting needles. There's still an element of knitting in the banner, though. I don't think I could ever get rid of it. The background is an abstraction of a knit one, purl one ribbing.

When I went to New York for comic con, I also stopped by one of my favorite yarn shops: School Products. I bought three skeins of their beautiful lace weight merino yarn. I'm finishing up a lace shawl, a Laminaria from knitty.com, and after that, I plan to knit a cardigan with my new yarn. Gosh, I love getting new yarn.

I have two new comic projects lined up to work on and a couple of projects being sent to publishers.
I have 98 hearts on my Etsy shop. When I reach 100, I'm going to be throwing another giveaway. I'll pick two winners this time. The first will win an original ACEO and the second will win a print of my "Ocelot" painting that you can find for sale in my shop.

Here is a detail of my ocelot.

And here is my clue as to what the original ACEO painting will be: she is a princess

 :)

-O.Pelaez

Kevin and the Kitchen Witch

It's been a while since my last post. Here is the cover to a comic I recently worked on. This is my first time working with a colorist. I enjoy collaborations and this was a fun project.

"Kevin and the Kitchen Witch"
Written by Steve Orlando
Pencils and inks by O.Pelaez
Colors by Heather Breckel

Currently, I'm working on another commissioned comic and I have another comic lined up after that.

New York Comic Con is only a couple of days away. It's always such fun. Hands down, one of the best conventions I attend. Last year was even more awesome because the convention dates lined up with the NYC Yarn Crawl. Unfortunately, that's not the case this year. I still may pop into the LYS if my mood deems it so. I really want to make myself a new cardigan, but I might hold off until next year to do that.

Molasses

I finally did it!

In preparation for the big storm over this past weekend, I decided to make some molasses flavored fudge and, lucky me, it didn't turn out a terrible mess. I still have some by my desk which is perfuming my work area with it's lovely aroma.

As usual, I'm working on new art that isn't set for public viewing yet: a couple of different comic projects. I've designed a cute new pair of fingerless mitts that I need to write up the pattern for and get test knit.

Here's something I will show, a Scottish Terrier I painted not too long ago:

:)

Cold Hands pg32

Coincidentally, I've been thinking about baking a cake these past couple of days but I haven't done so. Too busy drawing comics :D

Bits

Here is a preview of a painting I finished for a book about robots. The book is grey-scaled so it won't have all the nice nuances of color that are in the original but I like it like that. It makes the original all the more special.

And here are my most recent pair of fingerless mitts I've knit. I LOVE this pattern. It's so simple which is why I love it. It will mix in well with the rest of my wardrobe. The pattern is called "Toasty" and can be found on the blog: A Friend to Knit With.

:)

I want to let people know that my comics podcast is hosting a contest giving away a 3-day pass to New York Comic-Con this October to two lucky winners. It's really simple to enter and the prize is so cool. You can go here to find out how to enter.

Cold Hands pg31

Dancing!

Cold Hands pg30

I use vanilla extract to make the best treat ever: FUDGE. Now, I don't have a candy thermometer so I just "eye-ball" it. That works most of the time except when I tried to make molasses flavored fudge. My stove is really hot and it took no time at all for it to turn into a lump of rock hard candy, not chewy, creamy fudge. I do want to try making it again though. I still don't plan on buying a thermometer, but hopefully second time will be a charm.

"With my fist!"

(My guy and I keep quoting that line from Regular Show. It's too funny.)

Cold Hands pg29

...

Cold Hands pg28

Page 28! In case you need to refresh yourself in what is going on, here is page 27.

I, also, wrote a review of my trip to San Diego Comic-Con this year. Find that here.

Chopped Up

It will be three weeks with no new update for "Cold Hands. " I've been so busy working on new projects/commissions. Comic-Con is right around the corner, too and I've been prepping for that. I wanted to share a little preview (the image below) of the latest comic I completed for a Victorian themed anthology. I finished inking it last night. Still, I have to go back and add all the dialogue and SFX, something I enjoyed doing while in college but not so much anymore.

In other news, I found out recently that the web-comic I contributed to few months ago, The Gutters, is nominated for five Harvey Awards including Best Writer, Best New Series, Special Award for Humor in Comics, etc. Finding that out made my day. Here's my original post where I talk about the web-comic. You'll have to scroll down as it's at the bottom of the page.

I can't wait to go to Comic-Con and get out of this oppressive heat-wave.

Sticky Weather

I have been busy working on new paintings/prints/commissions. I have one comic thumbnailed out and another one that needs to get started. Yesterday was spent organizing my paper. I'm going to watercolor the first comic (something I haven't done since Sophomore year of college.)

Print: "With Pins and Needles"

I finished knitting a new scarf that needs to get blocked. I still have a little bit, maybe 25-50 grams left, of my ball of Peaches & Creme worsted cotton yarn. I thought I would make a matching pair of mitts to go with my scarf, but I really dislike bulk on my hands. The fingerless mitts I've already made are generally dk weight or thinner. I think I could make a chunky bracelet, which would be cute. There's, also, the standard knit for this yarn: coaster/washcloth.

More from my Shop

I could use a coaster... I just don't want to make any yet. Or do I?

The weather hasn't been good either. It's really humid/sticky.

Colds Hands pg27 and cold feet

Yesterday, my latest socks I'd made finished blocking. They are super cute. Very low knit, they slip inside my flats with minimal exposure. It's really lovely considering these are the shoes that constantly cut my foot at the back of my heel. Now, I will be able to wear them more often and not have awkward, long socks sticking out. I definitely need to make more of these socks in multiple colors :) I'm thinking black, blue, grey, ... maybe a pretty, bright green...

Cold Hands pg26

Cold Hands pg25

The plot thickens!

Cold Hands pg24

I'm working on some new watercolor paintings and I love the way they are coming out. They are going to be a part of a submission into this juried art fair, of sorts. I've got a W.I.P. shot of one of the paintings on my Facebook page. I'm really curious about the whole endeavor as I've never done a show like this. I hear good things and bad about people selling their art in such circumstances and the way an artist fares depends on a lot of factors falling in to the right place. If it turns out well, I may sign up to do more of these shows. If not... at least I can say I tried.

Cold Hands pgs 21-23

So, the interlude is finished. I wanted to get it out of the way and get back to the main story-line. I've been a bit busy these last couple of weekends, such that my postings haven't come out on time. You can see, here, one of the reasons why. I wrote a little review of the X-Men: First Class movie that I saw on Sunday with my guy. Be warned, there are spoilers in it.

Afterwards, we went to check out Soul Daddy down by the South Street Seaport. We were fans of the show, America's Next Great Restaurant, but after reading such mixed reviews online, I was a little hesitant to check out the food. By far, that cornbread waffle was my favorite part of the meal and mostly because of that delicious butter they gave on the side. I had the pulled pork sandwich which was okay. The corn was really good, too. There was a little bit of business in there. It wasn't packed. One man put together my order and the woman who was supposed to ring me up, walked away so that I stood there and had to wait for the man to finish up my guy's order, take off his food gloves and then ring us up. Luckily, there was no one ordering after us, but that sure was weird of her to just walk off. What counts is the food was good (better than what I was expecting). I wouldn't eat there every day or even once a week, but once in a blue moon if I ever feel like taking that long Subway ride just to get there... It is so out of the way. It was hilarious to step out of the Subway and see the giant Chipotle sign, and then get to Soul Daddy, with it's tiny banners, tucked down a side street.

I finally took some pictures of my new cotton scarf I knit that I talked about in this previous post. I love it. It's so soft.

Cold Hands pgs 18-20

I'm finishing up with my Karius scarf. It's being blocked right now. I made it out of cotton, so it's nice and light enough to wear during chilly summer nights.

I'll see about posting some finished pictures of it when it has dried. :)

Socks

I have knitting on my mind.

... as usual.

The last time I drew Dumbledore was about three years ago. As seen here. I love the way my art has progressed. Immediately after art school, I felt a bit in a rut. I think doing actual knitting and crochet work has helped my art as well because I'm allowing my creativity to take on all different kinds of shapes.

Watercolors and ink. Original size is approx. 4.5"x6.75"

Professor Dumbledore (c) J.K.Rowling

Dumbledore Fanart (c) O.Pelaez

Cold Hands pg17

This story is not designed to be a web-comic, if you recall from the very first page of it. As seen here. So, the pacing is slower than I normally like. I might decide to print out a few copies to sell in my Etsy store so that if people are interested, they can read the story as intended: Without the gaps of time in between each page posting and the accompanying notes that a lot of times have nothing to do with the story. I say this, mostly though, because I think the next post I put up may have more than one page in it as the narrative/sequencing breaks down due to the intermission being told in splash pages. Hm. Well, you'll just have to wait and see what I do.

Summer time keeps drawing closer. There are two things I am really looking forward to: 1.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and 2.) San Diego Comic Con.

:D

Cold Hands pg16

So, I did an interview with the very cool artist Palle Schmidt, whom I met at this year's MoCCA Fest. Please check out his website, where you can read all about it. The interview.

And now, on to a little rant I have.

Parents need to teach their kids not to sexually harass women on the street. If you don't correct that behavior, they will never learn. They will grow up to become perverts and deviants. It's not funny. It's not cute. It shouldn't be tolerated at any age.

End of rant.

I frogged that gray sweater from two posts ago. I've turned it into a shawl. I was having issues with the quality of the yarn, Lion Brand Wool-Ease. I don't plan on buying that brand again any time soon. Maybe for toys or smaller items, but definitely not a sweater.

Cold Hands pg15

I've been listening to An Horse's new album, "Walls." I think it's fantastic. This past Tuesday, I saw them live for the first time. I've been to other shows, but it's always been to see bands my guy likes. And I like most of the music my guy likes, not all, but most. Anyways, it's funny how I first came across this band. Funny because there's a Harry Potter connection. I was in the process of discovering Wizard Rock when I found the artist, The Hermione Crookshanks Experience. The girl of that name, Kristine Tuna, as a part of non-Harry Potter songs she recorded, made a cover of an An Horse song. And that was that. Loves An Horse.

Cold Hands pg14

It's very exciting to be making my first pullover. My first large project since learning to knit was a cardigan I made for my guy. He wore it a lot during the fall/winter. Now, it's my own turn to sport some fine hand-knits, if I do say so myself. The pattern is based off of the "$5 in Paris" pattern by Anna Peck-Maliszewski which you can find here. I'll have project notes on my Ravelry page. I love the way this sweater is turning out.

Cold Hands pg13

Bird.

It always cracks me up, on the Prisoner of Azkaban special features dvd, where Gary Oldman is talking like a "bird."

A couple of posts ago, I was talking about what to do with this grey yarn that I have. I still haven't decided what I want to make out of it. I know I want some kind of cardigan. Either a "Luna Lovegood" cardi or I might pick up additional colors and make a fair-isle cardi. I'm so indecisive! One of the reasons why no one likes shopping with me :P

Cold Hands pg12

So, the weekend has come and gone, along with it this year's 2011 MoCCA Art Festival. It is always such a great experience and this time was no exception. I met a lot of great people and sold a lot of my work. My mini-comic, "Jack," completely sold-out. I'm so happy because I love the way that book came out. I worry about my stories sometimes appealing to a large audience (basically, anyone other than myself) because it's different. My work is dramatic/serious and it means a lot that other people are enjoying the work that I do.

Well, enough about me. Like I said, I met a lot of cool people. Alec Lewellyn, whom I know from college, gave me a copy of his most recent mini-comics: "Big Title" #2 and "Pancakes!" I've read them and I think they are really awesome. His stories revolve around his wrestling characters, the main one being a guy named William Downs. I find his work to be humorous and entertaining. Me and my guy used to watch a bit of Friday Night Smackdown before it switched channels so I get the whole theatrics of putting on a wrestling show. It is all a show. Big Title #2 pokes fun of that to a certain degree but it also revels in it like a real wrestling match. So, I find. Pancakes! is a great issue, too. Personally, I'm more of a waffles gal but that's splitting hairs.

Find more Alec Lewellyn work here: aleclewellyn.blogspot.com

Another really cool group I met was Accent UK. They are an independant comic producer, mostly from the UK who put together a yearly anthology, along with their own regular titles. They gave me their most recent copy of their anthology, which I have yet to crack open. I did start to read the other comic they gave me entitled "Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man." I'd say I'm about half-way through the book, and I'm really liking it so far. The premise involves a man who can stop time, and is using this gift/curse to help other people, though it winds up taking a personal toll on him. The artwork is lovely. There's a cool distinction between the way regular time and "Bobby time" (Bobby being the main character) is illustrated. The shading and the tonal values make the world around Bobby such a somber place. It helps the reader connect with the isolation the main character is feeling. I look forward to finishing the story up.

Find more info about Accent UK here: www.accentukcomics.com

There are some other books that I have and haven't read yet, and some other artists I'll be sure to get around to talking about. I'll have more talk about the overall experience of the convention on this week's episode of The Verbal Mosh.

It was one crazy good weekend and I look forward to next year's MoCCA Fest.

Cold Hands pg11

It's that time of the year... MoCCA time! The MoCCA Arts Festival is next weekend, April 9-10, held at the Lexington Avenue Armory in NYC. Doors open at 11a.m. I'll be sharing a table. I plan on bringing my "Black Morning" series with me, along with a new mini-comic (if I ever start it) and a couple of other things. You gotta come by if you want to see. It's a cool convention with a lot of great indy comics and artists. I hope the weather will be nice. The event is indoors but it's the icing on the cake to have a beautiful spring day.

Anywho, if you want to find out more about the art festival, check out their website.

Cold Hands pg10

I'm collecting yarn for a new cardigan/vest/thing. A couple of years ago, I had bought like six or seven skeins of worsted, grey yarn that I had intended on crocheting in to a throw for my guy. Once I found out that he thought the yarn was too itchy to use, I wrapped the yarn up in a bag and left it in my closet. I'd been taking out a skein or two, here and there, for myself to make in to bags, hats and mitts. It had never occurred to me to make a sweater of sorts out of it. Mind you, when I first purchased it, I only knew how to crochet (and only ever attempted accessories and pillows.) Any kind of large article of clothing was beyond my comprehension.

Now is a different story.

It's almost a year and a half since I first taught myself how to knit. It's been so enjoyable. There is such a hassle shopping for clothing in department stores. Clothes are always so big and long. Tailoring everything is such boring work. Plus, items in the petite section are never as cute as the "normal" people clothing. Knitting and crocheting my own clothes, I can get a perfect custom fit and make really adorable items.

So, I'm collecting my grey yarn, frogging the hats and bags I'd made. I haven't decided if I want to knit a vest or crochet a cropped cardigan. Crochet will always be a bit more fun for me, seeing as I'm a lot faster at it. The cardigan that is on my Facebook page took me a day to make and another day to weave in the ends and block. I have another vest that I knit that took me a good deal longer to make. I worked on it on and off so I can't remember exactly how long that took. I think I put it down in my Ravelry page but I don't feel like bothering to look. Yesterday, I started work on a new pair of fingerless gloves. These are the kind with partial fingers attached, rather than one thumb and one opening for the rest of your fingers. I feel like the partial fingered mitts will keep my hands just a tad bit warmer. I have yet to test them outdoors so I could be wrong. My right glove is knit, today the left side will get tackled. Here's hoping that this one will get knit faster now that I've got my measurements down.

Cold Hands pg9

Sorry for the late post this week. Normally, I'm coloring another "Cold Hands" page first thing on Sundays, but this past weekend, I was out of the country for the Toronto Comic-Con. I've been to Toronto once before (last year) and the city was so great, my guy and I had to go again. More of what that particular convention is like will be discussed on episode 106 of our podcast, later on this evening.

As to the rest of our trip, Toronto has some really great restaurants. One of our absolute favorites is Cafe Crepe. The Toffee Coffee was delicious and didn't agitate my stomach the way many other coffees can and their Parisian Hot dog was like no hot dog I've ever had before. We had eaten dinner at the Burger Bar. My meal, the Cowboy Supper rice bowl, was tasty. I wanted something without too much fat and grease (and flavor) because I wasn't feeling so good (Partly from our stiff bed and the cold weather). The burger my guy had, on the other hand... well... considering it's a burger joint, you would think their burgers would be the best thing they had to offer. The waitress got his order wrong. He asked for cheddar cheese and he got bleu. He asked for fries and she completely forgot them when she brought the rest of our meal. When she did bring them, they were soggy and the sauce was inedible. So, we went back to the Cafe Crepe which is where we had a sort of second dinner and brings my tale 'round about. Even though I was full after having my rice bowl, and finishing half of my hot dog, I ate it all and my coffee because it was just that good.

Another good place to eat at is the BeerBistro. I'm not particular to beers but I heard the food was good and my guy likes to drink beer. On recommendation from the bartender, I did have one glass of beer and I'm a little upset because I didn't quite catch the name of it and it was the best beer I've ever had. So of course, the one beer I like, I probably won't be able to find again. It was peach flavored and that's all that I can remember. Ah, well. We sat right next to the kitchen, over-looking the chef, which was a cool experience. The overall atmosphere was really nice. The best item we tried had to be the Spicy Kobe Beef Tacos.

It's funny. If we weren't at the convention or the comic book store, The Silver Snail, we were some place, eating. I had thought about visiting the LYS, The Lettuce Knit, but I didn't really want to buy anything, just browse. If I did browse, I would've bought something. I figure it's best this way. I'm not that fond of browsing stores because I'm indecisive at times and take forever to pick something I like.

All in all, Toronto is a great place to visit, but I would never live there. Too dang cold. People on the street were talking about how nice the weather was and how it felt like Spring. It was too dang cold.

Page 9 is based on the rough sketch that turned in to this illustration.

:)

Wild-Eyed Vixen

A few samples from my "Black Morning" series.

The depiction of women in old movies can sometimes be a bit over-the-top. I can't recall the name of the movie I was watching, it was some time ago and I don't believe I saw it from the beginning. I came across it flipping through the channels. Anyways, the lead female character was jumping up and down in hysterics over a man she adored, almost like a child. She kept saying over and over that whatever-his-name-was loved him because he yelled at her. Y'see, his yelling meant that he cared about her, that he would get so worked up over what she was doing. The man, of course, was cool and reserved. He tried to deny that he loved her, but she knew. From that moment on, she wasn't leaving his sight. And, the movie ends with the woman taking it upon herself to move in to the man's home.

Sounds psychotic, but in the world of those two individuals, it worked. I wish I knew what the name of that movie was.

I'm re-reading Harry Potter. Yes, again. I can't wait to see the final film. I made myself a pair of Luna's Dirigible Plum earrings in crochet. Luckily I had a pair of old earrings that were falling apart, so I took them apart even more and used the hooks for the top part that goes in to my ear. I'll be posting a picture of them on my Facebook page soon :)

Cold Hands pg8

I write really strange stories. For some odd reason, that dawned on me yesterday as I was drawing up a short three page comic for another anthology.

...

Ever since I bought my new Wacom tablet, I've enjoyed doing more and more digital work. Hmm... enjoyed? Well, I don't enjoy it the same way I enjoy using watercolors but it's been better. I realized why I didn't like painting digitally before was because I was so uncomfortable. Coloring thirty some odd comic pages with a mouse hurt my wrist after a while. With the tablet, my wrist doesn't hurt like it used to. My coloring has sped up. I can't color as many pages as I can pencil or ink, but that will come with more practice. It's nice. It's not even an incredibly big or expensive tablet. Maybe if I was commissioned for more, large digital projects I might consider upgrading. My Bamboo tablet is just fine for me right now.

Cold Hands pg7

Sometimes I mean it and sometimes I don't. Cookies aren't exactly my go-to sweet. I really like chocolate and fudge. Yesterday, I made myself some Hazelnut Brittle. The recipe was for one pound of brittle but, I rarely ever follow a full recipe. I was going to cut the recipe down to a quarter of a pound, but there were a lot more hazelnuts that needed to be used up or were never going to get eaten, so I made half a pound instead. I know a lot of the times other people can become a bit hesitant to try new things, so I'll end up eating my "creations" all by myself. I made coleslaw the other day. It was very tasty. Nobody else wanted to try it and I felt like Marge Simpson when she asked Bart, "What's wrong with my sundaes?"

Cold Hands pg6

Over the holidays, when I had started making this comic, I was doing a lot of baking. It was a nightmare when I was in the middle of a cookie recipe and realized I had, previously, used up all of my vanilla extract. Hands over my head in exasperation, I panicked for one second and then ran out of my house, not properly dressed. Snow was on the ground and I was in socks and my peep toe flats. No scarf. No gloves. Though considering I was running around, that actually kept me just warm enough.

I'm still doing a lot of baking and cooking. Thanks, in part, to the great gift my older sister gave me: The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. Man, is there a ton of pie recipes in that book. Some of the meals I've made haven't been too good. Here are some of my favorite recipes:

Cheesy Chivy Scrambled Eggs

English Farmhouse Scrambled Eggs and Bacon

Custard Tart

Rice Pudding

Homemade Fudge

Beef and "Guinness" Stew for Kids (I didn't have any actual Guinness on hand to make the real thing, so the kid's version used soda instead)

Kreacher's French Onion Soup.

Making my own desserts from scratch has really opened my eyes to just how much sugar goes in to this stuff. I wanted to test out a lot of the recipes in the book right away, but now that I've made a majority of them, I'm content to wait a good while (maybe even months) before I make them again.