The Realist Mermaid: Archive

So does tumblr go down slightly less now?

I stopped using it after getting tired of the outages, I suppose a second chance is in order.

Nov 24th

8 tags

Apr 14th

8 tags

“Those inspire me, they’re very inspirationing”

– Caira, age 4, while gazing at the fudge I was packing up to mail

Apr 14th

1 note

8 tags

Apr 12th

9 tags

Easter Bunny Sale!

Hop Hop Hop A special just for followers - a special sale price on our big marshmallow bunnies AND up to 4 can ship for one price! All orders over $20 (excluding shipping) get a free gift and all orders over $50 ship totally free. Click here to order from my store Great big marshmallow bunnies! Your choice of available flavors, the pictured ones are chili mango and double vanilla. The...

Apr 12th

11 tags

Apr 9th

5 tags

Apr 9th

7 tags

Rosemary Flatbread

After rummaging and finding absolutely nothing that sounded tasty in the fridge, I decided to make a nice crispy flatbread. These are so unbelievably easy and the dough can be kept in the fridge for about a week, used for breadsticks, flatbread, pizza, dinner rolls. My measurements are probably less than precise, I generally measure things in the palm of my hand and in pinches! Rosemary...

Apr 9th

9 tags

Apr 9th

2 notes

Customizable Sugar View Large Egg Easter →

My mom made these :)

Mar 27th

9 tags

Mar 27th

“He’s freakin me out, dude”

– Caira, while peering at a spider in the yard

Mar 27th

4 tags

Mar 24th

1 note

5 tags

Mar 24th

8 tags

Mar 21st

3 notes

5 tags

I hope this works - fundraising for disaster...

To donate directly you can go here

Mar 19th

7 tags

Mar 15th

9 tags

Mar 15th

11 tags

So, Garrett, what do you think of chocolate?

Feb 10th

10 tags

Dairy Free Almond 'Milk' Chocolate Spread

I have a slight obsession with Nutella, which unfortunately has milk in it. I’ve been playing with mixes and trying things out to see if I could make a spread that really satisfies the Nutella craving. Today I made a spread with raw almonds that is actually sort of amazing, now if I ever manage to find some hazelnuts I’ll add those in and see what happens! Almond ‘Milk’...

Jan 23rd

1 note

11 tags

Do Chua - Quick Pickled Daikon

Continuing with the banh mi fixation - this is the stuff that is on the sandwich that gives it that sweet, sour, salty, crunchy awesomeness. It is made from daikon, which is a large mild type of radish is very rich in vitamin C (excellent during cold season) and very low in calories. And it is shockingly easy to make. This is how I made mine: 1 medium sized daikon (you can use part of a large...

Jan 20th

Jan 17th

79 notes

13 tags

Oh my, Banh Mi

Where have you been all my life? I tried my first banh mi today, and I am ashamed to admit I didn’t even think of taking a photo before devouring it. We frequent this place and I have never really given the little sandwich menu a second glance as we’re usually there to get pate chaud and croissant for the kids. Today my dad convinced me to try one while reminiscing about Vietnam and...

Jan 17th

5 tags

Jan 16th

10 tags

Jan 16th

8 tags

Mochi!

I wish mochi was more common here, because it really is the perfect answer to gummy candy cravings for meat and gluten free households. Mochi is, as best I can describe it, a sort of stretchy, chewy gummy dessert of Japanese ethnicity. It’s ingredients are very simple; sweet rice, sugar and water. Traditional mochi is an involved process that involves pounding rice and mortars and...

Jan 16th

10 tags

Giveaway Funs Part Two!

We’re having another giveaway, this time for a fabulous little Valentine surprise! Enter by tweeting about realistmermaid.com, linking to our etsy store, following/commenting on facebook and for referring friends! Make sure all tweets have @realistmermaid in them so we can find them. Drawing will take place on 1/15 via random.org selection from the combined database of facebook, twitter...

Jan 11th

7 tags

Dear Cupcakery Owners,

Red velvet seems to be a huge craze and everyone is selling it, but I can’t figure out why when it seems no one is bothering to make real red velvet cake. Am I the only one that can taste red food coloring and thinks almost every ‘red velvet’ cake I’ve tried recently is just gross? I really love red velvet, it’s one of my favorites … but who decided red velvet...

Jan 10th

4 notes

7 tags

Caira was singing a song about Christmas, I don’t remember it all (hey, it was about 15 minutes long) but one part cracked me up: ”I told Santa I’m not bad I just have a lot of energyyyyyyyy then he got me presents ANYWAY!”. lol

Jan 9th

1 note

7 tags

The baby’s newest word: Tasty. Oh yeah, definitely my kid :D

Jan 9th

6 tags

Jan 9th

I love using a mortar and pestle, I feel all medieval apothecarish.

Jan 7th

8 tags

Dec 28th

The kids got a ridiculous amount of toys … been tripping over stuff all day. Best one so far was stumbling over, then setting off, some incredibly loud light up toy piano thing right after I’d finally gotten the baby to sleep. Doh.

Dec 26th

With just a few minutes left, Merry Christmas!

Dec 26th

6 tags

Vegan Tamales - They're Easy

Tamales are a Christmas tradition for a lot of families, I know they are over here! They are, however, usually made with lard and meat broth in the masa as well as meat fillings and often butter. So this makes finding a vegan tamale troublesome. They are, however, very easy to make! 3c instant masa (this is found in many super markets now, it may say nixtamalized masa, usually says para...

Dec 24th

2 notes

9 tags

I Veganized the Cookie Dough Truffles

And they are still completely awesome. 1/2c vegan shortening(I use earth balance, love it’s flavor) or coconut oil 1.5c raw sugar 1 tsp sea salt 1/2c tapioca flour 1/2c rice flour vanilla (either seeds or extract) a few teaspoons cold water 1/2 bag vegan chocolate chips Cream shortening, sugar, salt and vanilla until lighter in color and fluffy. Add your flours and the mixture...

Dec 23rd

10 tags

Vegan Nutella!

For those of us that can’t have dairy, the avoidance of Nutella is a sad fact of life(and in moments of weakness I still go for it, then regret it, hah!). Even the Nutella-esque offbrand ones all contain milk. My solution? Make my own Nutella substitute. And since I love dark chocolate I’ve totally fallen for this. 1c hazelnuts 1/4c cocoa powder 1/2c powdered sugar(you can...

Dec 21st

5 notes

Dec 21st

36 notes

10 tags

Dec 16th

6 tags

Me: So you like beans, Garrett? Garrett: Yap Me: Does the [hot wheels] car make them taste better? Garrett: Mmmhmmm *vigorous nod* Smart alec. Takes after his sister already.

Dec 14th

10 tags

Dec 14th

Making a whole bunch of Neapolitan marshmallow pops with rainbow sprinkles for a holiday church bake sale … they’re almost too cute to eat. Almost. Om nom nom. :)

Dec 13th

7 tags