DIY: Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Hey guys!

Chocolate dipped strawberries make a great party treat and are super easy to prepare. They can also be a romantic treat for your significant other or Valentine’s day. Here are the steps to making your own chocolate dipped strawberries at home!

Ingredients:

- Fresh strawberries (preferably nicely shaped)

- Chocolate candy melts (I used dark chocolate)

- Vegetable oil

Directions:

1.  Wash and make sure the strawberries are cleaned with water.

Fresh strawberries

2.  Lay out parchment/wax paper on a tray.

3.  Make sure to pat the strawberries dry with a paper towel.

Strawberries patted dry with paper towel and laid out on parchment paper

4.  Put the chocolate melts into a small bowl with a bit of vegetable oil (around 1 tbsp, depending on how much chocolate you have). **NOTE: Vegetable oil will allow the chocolate to look shinier and smoother.

5.  Melt the chocolate by microwaving or heating over the stove. I also used this fondue set to help keep the chocolate warm so it would prevent it from hardening during the dipping process. Make sure to stir the chocolate and not to overheat/burn or it may become chunky and inconsistent.

Dark chocolate and vegetable oil

6.  Now you can start dipping! Grab the strawberries by the leafy stem, making sure it is out of the way and dip your strawberry around 3/4 in so that part of the strawberry still shows. **NOTE: If the chocolate starts to harden again or becomes difficult to dip in, heat it up until smooth again.

7.  If you would like your strawberries a little fancier, you can choose to garnish with different types of nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, cashews, etc.) after you have dipped them in chocolate. Decorate your strawberries by melting different coloured candy melts and drizzling the chocolate over your strawberries with a spoon. You may also put your melted chocolate in a zip-lock bag and cut a hole at the corner and use it like a piping bag to pipe on different designs.

Crushed cashews

8.  Allow the strawberries to cool at room temperature for around 5 minutes, then chill in the fridge for around 15 minutes to make sure the chocolate hardens well.

Top left: Chocolate dipped strawberries with cashews
Top right: Chocolate dipped Word of Warcraft (Horde sign) strawberries!
Bottom: Chocolate dipped strawberries with chocolate drizzle

World of warcraft: Horde strawberries

 

9.  Now they’re ready to serve and eat. Enjoy!!

Instagram with GGG!

As most of you know, Instagram is a popular program that allows you to freely share photos with everyone… similar to Twitter, except for photos. Now, Instagram is expanding to the web with profile pages, which means you don’t need and iPhone or an Android to go on Instagram anymore!

Feel free to follow each of us on Instagram!:

Boss_emily:   http://instagram.com/boss_emily

Stephanie_jean  (Cute Sauce):   http://instagram.com/stephanie_jean 

DIY: Pumpkin Carving and Halloween Effects

Halloween’s already over, but here’s some decoration ideas for next year!

My Pumpkin Carving:

My Jigsaw carving (from the thriller movie Saw)

As you can see in my Jigsaw pumpkin carving, it is has a foggy smoke around it. I created this effect using dry ice!

Dry Ice Effects:

Dry Ice Pellets

Dry ice with hot water

I bought around 15 pounds worth of dry ice from Continental Carbonic Products Inc. for around $18 – $19.

Halloween Effects using Dry Ice:

Fog Effect: Fill a metal/plastic container 1/2 full with hot water. Add a few pieces of dry ice every 5 – 10 minutes. **Note: As the water cools, it will be necessary to start over with hot water to maintain the fog effect.

Witches Brew: Place a smaller metal/plastic container 1/2 full with hot water and a few pieces of dry ice into a larger punch bowl. Then, add punch to the punch bowl, making sure that the dry ice DOES NOT come into contact with the punch. **Note: As the water cools, it will be necessary to start over with hot water to maintain the fog effect.

Jack O’ Lantern: Choose a pumpkin large enough to hold a large can inside. Clean out the pumpkin and carve anything you choose. Fill the can about 1/2 full of hot water and mix in a cup of salt. Place the can inside the pumpkin. Wearing gloves, drop two or three large pieces of dry ice into the can of water. **Note: As the water cools, it will be necessary to start over with hot water to maintain the fog effect.

CAUTION!: 

• Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide
• Avoid contact with skin, eyes, mouth and clothing. It may cause cold burns.
• Asphyxiant – liberates heavy gas which may cause suffocation.
• Keep out of reach of children.
• Do not eat or put into drinks.
• Do not seal in glass or other closed containers
• Make sure area is properly ventilated before using.
• Use heavy gloves when handling, as dry ice may cause cold burns.

Trick or treating with my nephews!

Does my nephew’s Halloween costume look familiar?

Mini Darth Vader + Darth Vader

Halloween 2012: Boss-Emily’s Costumes

Hey guys! For Halloween, I usually try to put together my own costumes to eliminate having duplicate costumes with someone else. Sometimes it helps save money too because you can reuse parts of your costume again or for regular use. Here are my costumes for this year’s Halloween:

1.  Prisoner Costume:

My prisoner’s outfit

• Geometric Black and White Dress: from Urban Outfitters
• White bandana: from Walmart
• Sheer, black thigh-high socks: from Walmart
• Prisoner Sign: printed it out myself! Can you guess what the numbers signify?
• Handcuffs: from Value Village
• Black DV Wedges

Black and white geometric dress from Urban Outfitters

Handcuffs from Value Village

Where’s Waldo?

2.  Darth Vader Costume:

My Darth Vader costume

• Red Light Saber with Light: from Walmart (can shorten and lengthen)
• Darth Vader Mask: from Toys “R” Us
• Simple Black Leather Gloves
• Black Cape with Hood: homemade
• Sheer, Black Corset with Garter Belts: from Victoria’s Secret (I wore this for my prisoner’s costume as well and attached it my thigh high socks)
• Black Faux Leather leggings: from Aldo

Red Light Saber from Walmart
Darth Vader mask from Toys “R” Us
Black leather gloves
Black cape with hood

Sheer, black corset from Victoria’s Secret
Black Faux Leather leggings from Aldo

Back in the Day: 90′s Halloween @6 Degrees

DIY: Red Velvet Halloween Cake Pops

Halloween is soon approaching… which is why I decided to make some Halloween themed cake pops and also as a treat for my best friend’s birthday. I la-la-love red velvet, so I decided to make these cake pops from scratch.

1. Top Left: Firstly, I used a red velvet cupcake recipe to make red velvet cake and some cream cheese frosting. However, if you want to use a short cut, you may buy the red velvet cake mix and ready to use cream cheese frosting from the grocery store.
2. Break the cake into fine crumbs.
3. Mix the fine crumbs with frosting. **Note: Add frosting bit by bit. You just need enough so that they stick together to be molded into balls. Use your own judgement!
4. Top Right: Mold them into balls with your hands. I used a spoon to help me.
5. Bottom: Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
6. Melt some chocolate or candy melts in the microwave or stove.
7. Time to decorate your cake pops! Dip your lollipop stick into the chocolate to ensure it will stick to your cake pop. Then, Stick it into your cake pop and sprinkle/decorate it how you please…and voila!….a cake pop is born! 

Homemade Halloween Macarons!

Hi guys!

I made an early Halloween treat this year…macarons. Stay tune for more homemade Halloween treats and recipes on how to make them at home yourself!

Happy Early Halloween!

SANS Magazine: GGG Summer Photo Shoot

Hey everyone!

Before the Summer ended, the GGG crew and I were able to collab with the Creative Director of SANS Magazine, Michael Turnbull. We met him at this year’s Anime North and he is a pleasure to work with! Here’s a sneak peek of the photo shoot:

Awesome hair done by hair stylist: Sai Perez

Awesome photography by: Alex Hardie

Directed by the fantastic: Michael Turnbull

To see the rest of this photo shoot with the rest of the girls, go here now!!: The Bubbly Summer Shoot. The girls and I had a great time with everyone at the shoot. I definitely look forward to working on future projects with SANS Magazine again!

Feel free to comment below and suggest possible photo shoot themes for next time!

DIY: Homemade Sushi

Hey guys! These couple of days, my mom and I have been making sushi for dinner and I wanted to share how we prepared it. Here are some of the steps we took:

1.  For sushi making, the rice must be mixed with vinegar to help ensure that it sticks together and doesn’t break apart. I mixed my rice with this Korean vinegar that I got from a nearby Korean supermarket. I also seasoned the vinegar with a little sugar and salt.  Add this vinegar mixture in small amounts and just enough to your liking. **Note: Prepare the vinegar separately in small bowl before adding to the rice.

2.  Some of the ingredients that I prepared before hand:

• Egg Sheets: I made them about 1/2 inch thick. I cut some of it in strips for sushi rolls and some into rectangular pieces for Tamago (egg sushi).
• Surf Clams:  You can purchase these in about any supermarket in the frozen section like so. After quickly defrosting, they are ready to eat.
• Salmon: We bought the salmon from a local supermarket and put it in the freezer for at least 48 hours to kill any parasites. We deboned the fish as we cut it. You may also purchase salmon ready without bones, but it may be more expensive. (I will demonstrate how I cut the salmon another time)
• Squid Sashimi: I bought already prepared squid sashimi from a nearby Korean supermarket. They were sold in a pack and rolled up. All I had to do was let it defrost and cut the rolls into rectangular strips for squid sashimi sushi. (Clear, white coloured sushi in the first photo)

Top left: Egg strips and rectangular pieces.
Top right: Surf clams
Bottom: Raw salmon

3.  I prepared the sashimi sushi with the help of this rice molder. It helped to keep the rice together and achieve the general shape of what I needed. After using the mold, I still altered it a bit by making the rice pieces more narrow to compliment the size of the fish pieces. I also cut strips of seaweed from the large seaweed roll papers to use it to wrap around the sushi afterwards. **Note: If your seaweed strip does not close properly at the ends, use the cooked rice to make it stick together.

Around: Salmon, egg, squid sashimi sushi.
Center: Surf clams and Tobikko rolls (fish eggs on top).
**Note: The green fish eggs are wasabi flavoured.

4.  For the sushi rolls, I included: imitation crab meat, avacado, celery, cucumber and salmon.

Many people eat their sushi with soy sauce, but I wanted to share with you my new favourite sauce. This is a Korean hot pepper paste that is used to dip your sashimi in, but I use it with sushi as well. I love it! You can get this at a Korean supermarket as well.

Korean hot pepper paste

Now, it’s ready to eat. Bon appetit! ….or should I say…itadakimasu! LOL

Bottom: seaweed salad

The X Factor USA: 13 Year Old Carly Rose Soneclar

Hi guys! Recently a bunch of good shows have been coming back now that a new season is starting, X Factor being one of them. I really wanted to share this particular performance from 13 year old Carly Rose Soneclar with you. She sings the song “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone.  Hope you guys enjoy it!

Feel free to share your opinions about the performance below!

My Arm Candy of the Day

Hey guys! As you all already know, I’ve been really into accessories lately. Below, is what I usually wear for my daily arm candy. It has a very casual look and I feel like it’s suitable with any outfit I wear.

• Orange, coral beaded bracelet is from China
• White, rope-braid bracelet is a gift from my friend when on vacation in Punta Canta
• Leather Pandora bracelet with Buddha and turtle charm
• Ring from Aldo

For those who are wondering what nail polish I used, I used the Maybelline Express Finish in the Peachy Petal, which is a pink, coral colour. This nail polish is actually Cute Sauce’s, but she let me use it. I fell in love with the colour at first sight. This nail polish will need at least 2 coats to get that solid, amplified look. It also dries fairly quickly. My only downside to this is at times, it did not apply evenly on my nail. Overall, I would definitely use this nail polish again because the colour is on point!