If you’ve never heard of this delicious Sichuan dish before, now you have & you’ve seen a picture of it. Of course my rendition of it errs on the traditional meat & tofu dish, but this is still an amazing Chinese dish, which pretty much is a party in your mouth. Probably might even make you sweat a little if you can’t handle the heat. This would not be the greatest recipe to try if you’re in, oh I don’t know, California or Florida right now–the states that completely avoided the Polar Vortex because they defy the laws of Seasons–but if you’re in any of the other 48 states with the exception of parts of Texas, this dish is right up your alley. Autumn is happening & it’s slowly getting chillier with each passing week, so if you’re one of the strange individuals who doesn’t like soup–& apparently I know about at least 3 of you–mapo tofu is a nice solution. This dish is the perfect embodiment of Sichuan cuisine with its usage of their spicy peppercorns, reminiscent to the heatwave that is hammering a drought stricken California or the ever humid Florida. So, eat up this recipe & experience the heat before venturing out to the chilly autumn wind. Even if you’re not a fan of tofu, the sauce is so distinctive in flavor that the tofu won’t even bother you one bit. Not a fan of mushrooms? We’ve already talked about this.
Ocean
Freeport, Grand Bahama |
As I sit here listening to Broods’s self-titled debut EP, I feel a sense of calm that I haven’t felt since I was in the Bahamas with my family & Josh. I’ve been so high strung since I’ve gotten back with application deadlines looming, attempting to gather together my thoughts to compose several profound & moving personal statements formatted correctly to each school’s guidelines that I often forget to just breathe. There is so much I’d like to write to explain myself & why I want to pursue medicine, but I’m often confined to 2500 characters to 450 words, thus it’s absolutely imperative that I make every word count. Years of blogging have taught me that most people stop reading if your blog exceeds 500 words so I’ve always attempted to keep my thoughts short. Just taking a gander at my giveaway post, you can see that most people didn’t care to read what I wrote because they were simply there for the chance to win free loot.
Without further ado, here are some pictures & a video from my week vacation in Freeport, Grand Bahama. It was overcast everyday while we were there so the weather wasn’t optimal for us to do any fun water sports, but with such a beautiful view, it’s difficult to have a bad time!
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CLICK THE PHOTO FOR MORE PHOTOS TO SEE MY ASSEMBLY PROCESS!! Happy 4th of July, Americans! Summer is here & most girls, myself included, are annoyed that their make-up is melting off their face. You can either lay around to avoid movement or you can try to decorate your home with some beautiful summery beach themed terrariums. If you think playing with sand & succulents is going to make you too hot, then you can just sit this one out & enjoy an ice pop. Lazy.
Terrariums are making a comeback & seem to be popping up nearly everywhere! Although my Herbal Terrariums germinated, I wasn’t completely satisfied with them. Herbs are a bit difficult to care for when they’re confined indoors to small spaces, which is why I decided I should try the traditional succulent terrariums instead. Succulents are native to arid regions of the world aka deserts. They thrive without needing to be watered every day as many will only require being watered once every 2 weeks. Since they’re such low maintenance plants, they’re perfect for terrariums. If you’re not sure about how to remove potted succulents, try finding some air plants instead. Planting those should be an absolute breeze since you won’t need to remove them from any dirt! Without further ado, I present to you DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Beach Terrariums!
DIY Beach Themed Terrariums
You will need:
- Horticulture sand (not sand from the beach or from your yard, horticulture sand)
- See-through glass jars, containers, fishbowls, etc.
- Activated Charcoal
- River pebbles, glass pebbles, decorative sea glass, etc.
- Shovel, spoon, or scoop
- Gloves
- Succulents
- Seashells
You can find succulents at your grocery store, gardening center, &/or, but not limited to, some home supply stores such as OSH. You’ll need to make a trip out to a gardening store or stores like OSH to find the activated charcoal & horticulture sand. Arts & craft stores should cover the rest of the things you need.
Step 1
Clean & dry all of the glassware you plan on using as well as the decorative material. Seashells should be thoroughly washed as the salt remaining on the shells can add unwanted salt to the sand.
Step 2
In order to create a drainage system for the roots of your succulents, place a layer of the pebbles in your glassware. If you have a lot of shells, you can also place those in too. Next, scoop in a layer of activated charcoal into your terrarium. This will prevent mold from growing & it’ll enrich the sand. Layer the sand over the charcoal amounting to more than ~1.5 inches or so.
Step 3
Using a small spoon or shovel, dig a hole through the sand layer to place your succulents. Cover up the hole with more sand. Once you’ve finished planting & placing your succulents, scoop in a thin layer of sand.
Step 4
Decorate your terrarium with seashells or sea glass. Get creative & enjoy!