Pumpkin Hummus Recipe

Like this? Then pin it on Pinterest here!

I've had lots of questions how I make my Pumpkin Hummus after posting on Instagram, so here's a quick recipe. I love to serve this with pretty much anything! It's filling and makes a good side dish for dipping veggies or bread in.

Ingredients

1 can drained and rinsed chick peas
1-2 cloves garlic
2-3 Tblsp. Sesame Tahini
2 Tblsp. extra virgin Olive oil
Splash of water (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup)
1-2 tsp ground cumin
juice of half a lemon
shot of tabasco sauce if you want a bit of kick
salt & pepper
pumpkin purée (anywhere between 1/2 to 3/4 cup)

To make the pumpkin purée, you can use a variety of pumpkins or winter squash. If you use a Hokkaido pumpkin you can leave the skin on, so that's the one I normally use because it's so easy. You could also use butternut, Muscat, whatever you have on hand - these varieties you will have to peel. This is what a Hokkaido pumpkin looks like:

Depending on the size of your pumpkin, use a quarter or a half of it. Remove the seeds and peel (if necessary.) Chop up into rough chunks, and steam them for about 15-20 minutes until fully soft. If you don't have a steamer pot, try roasting them in the oven for 20 minutes on 200 degrees C. I wouldn't recommend boiling as that makes them very watery. Then use a handmixer to purée the flesh, or a blender, whatever. Since this is the most time consuming part of the process, I like to make a lot of purée at once, and use the left over for soups or baking. You could even freeze any left over purée.

Easy way out: Use canned pumpkin. Make sure it's not pumpkin pie filling, it should just be 100% pumpkin, no added sugar, nothing.

To make the hummus, put all the ingredients into a bowl and use a handmixer to blend. Or, if you have a blender, dump everything in and blend. Wow, that was hard wasn't it? Now you've got amazing pumpkin hummus!

This hummus will be gone in no time, so I normally double this recipe and keep it in the fridge for snacking. I love dipping veggies in it, or use it as a healthy sandwich spread.

Icy Snowflake Nails

Like it? Pin it on Pinterest here!

These snowflake nails are perfect for winter and the holiday season. I love snow, and wanted to do a wintery, icy cold blue design for the nails, so I thought this was both festive and appropriate for the season. It's also a very simple design, that even a beginner nail artist could accomplish. You only need a few things! Here's my tutorial...

Products I used:

Models Own Feeling Blue

Essence Fashion Victim

L.A. Colors Art Deco in White

ANNY clear polish

rhinestone nail wheel (from ebay)

Do you like this design? Let me know in the comments!

Lilash Annual Sale & Sigma Free Shipping

It's that time of the year again for major Thanksgiving feasting, and post-feasting shopping! A few people have asked me about the annual Lilash lash enhancement serum sale which happens every year around this time. Here are the details:

From 12:00 a.m., Black Friday, November 23rd through 11:59 p.m., Cyber Monday, November 26th, LiLash and LiBrow products are only $99 each, and the LiLash + LiBrow Combo is only $149.95!

Get Lilash on SALE now!

Lilash and Librow normally retail for $139.97 each when not on sale, so this is a huge discount that they only offer around Thanksgiving.

Here's a picture of my own lashes after using Lilash, and you can read all my experiences with the product on my blog post here, and my video here. I am currently not using the product because I just wanted to take a break for a bit, but I have used it for a long time before and it definitely worked for my lashes! See for yourself below.

Also, Sigma has FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING for two days! Yes, worldwide. Here are the details:

Thursday, November 22 (12:00 AM Central Standard Time) until 12:00 AM CST Friday, November 23.Use code BF2012 at checkout.

If you want my opinion on Sigma brushes, I have several review videos on them. My favorite brushes are from the SIGMAX synthetic series for foundation and concealer brushes (F80, F88, P86, P88). Other individual real-hair brushes I like from them are E55, E40, E35, F35, E25 and F10.

You can check out all the products such as makeup brushes, eyeshadow palettes, and more here.

Tutorial: Kristen Stewart Makeup "On the Road" Premiere

I loved Kristen's look at the movie premiere for On The Road. Overall, I love the makeup looks she's been sporting lately, she really has a signature style. Often she wears smokey brown eyes, although this time her makeup artist used a lot of warm red tones which really flatter Kristen's fair complexion and medium brown hair. It's such a beautiful look for autumn and winter.

Here is my take on the look...

For comparison, here are some pictures of Kristen at the premiere which I used as my inspiration.

If you want to recreate this look, watch my video tutorial below:

Face
L'Oreal Visible Lift foundation, MAC Blushbaby blush

Eyes
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe, MAC Blue Brown pigment, Catrice Heidi Plum, Ben Nye Toast, MAC Woodwinked, Laura Geller eye pencil in Dazzle, Rimmel Scandaleyes mascara

Lips
KIKO Nr. 88 lipstick, NARS Lip Lacquer in Diablo

Nailpolish
KIKO Nr. 243


Which movie are you more likely to watch? On the Road or Twilight Breaking Dawn Part II? Let me know in the comments!

Recipe: Apple Cranberry Crisp

Like this? Pin it on Pinterest here!

This is my favorite seasonal crisp or crumble to make in the fall, and beats out plain old apple crisp by a mile, in my humble opinion. Something about the tartness of cranberries mixed with the tenderness of apples makes me excited in my mouth a little bit - actually not just a little bit! It's a party in my mouth, oh yeah!!!

Watch my tutorial for how to make this extremely simple but very delicious dessert. Serve it hot with vanilla ice cream, and I promise you there won't be a bit left over!

Fruit:

4-5 peeled, cored and sliced apples
1 package fresh Cranberries (about 340g or 12oz)
1/2 cup white sugar (100g)
Juice of half a lemon to prevent oxidizing
Cinnamon
Ground cloves
Ground nutmeg

Mix everything together in a deep casserole dish. Make sure to use a lot of fruit, your dish should be filled to the top before you spread the crumble on top.

Crumble:

1/2 cup quick oats (65g)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (65g)
3/4 cup brown sugar (160g)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g)
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Tblsp. pure vanilla extract

Mix all the dry ingredients together, then drop in chunks of butter and the vanilla. Mix together until it's nice and crumbly. If it's too soft, add a bit more flour and oats.

Crumble the mixture on top of the fruits, then bake at 375 F / 190 C for 55 mins. The crumble mixture should be slightly browned. Serve hot with ice cream or whipping cream.

Tutorial: Carly Rae Jepsen "This Kiss"

Like it? Pin it on Pinterest! 

This makeup look is inspired by Carly Rae Jepsen from her music video "This Kiss". Her makeup artist Desirae Cherman created two looks for the music video.

Scene 1 — The Rock Star: "The performance scene is an underground-club kind of a vibe: dark, smoky flashes of light," Cherman explained. "It created a lot of cool shadows and highlights. I wanted to do the same with Carly's makeup so her features would really pop." The first look was inspired by Pat Benatar's classic smoky eye, which was paired with a dark red lipstick. Cherman recommends a bold lip color as every woman's go-to for after five events. And you can make the look last all night by adding loose powder after lip liner. Then, apply your bright lipstick, blot once, and clean any smudges with concealer.

Scene 2 — Girls' Night Out: To stage a casual night out with girlfriends, Cherman created a cool cat eye. "One of my favorite looks to do with bangs is a nice, strong winged eyeliner," she explained. "It instantly lifts your eye, defines the shape, and makes them pop out." If you have bangs, Cherman recommends skipping makeup on the forehead altogether. That way, your fringe won't end up greasy after a long night spent on the dance floor.

Source

My look was obviously inspired by the second look, although I thickened up the black eyeliner a bit because I just liked how it looks. Here are some screenshots from the video, although I mainly went off the description from Cherman, as the makeup is a bit hard to see.

Watch my tutorial below for the step-by-step to achieve this fun look:

Face
L'Oreal Visible Lift foundation, Ben Nye concealer wheel, Smashbox Passion blush

Eyes
Kryolan Eyeshadow Base, Smashbox Softbox II palette, Smashbox Smokebox Palette, Smashbox Jetset Waterproof liner in Navy Blue, Smashbox Artificial Light in Flash,

Lips
Combo 1: MAC Beet lipliner, Smashbox Electric Pink lipstick
Combo 2: Barry M Nr. 146, MAC Show Orchid

Nails
KIKO Nr. 288

USA Election Nails Tutorial

Like it? Pin it on Pinterest!

Want to wear a patriotic and fun USA inspired manicure on Election night? Try this one on for size. I got inspired by the American Flag, but added a ballot box on the thumb to pay homage to the election. Whether you're voting for Romney, Obama, or someone else - this nail art is sure to fit the bill.

Get these nails with the help of my tutorial below.

Nail polishes used:

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White
KIKO Nr. 336
Anny Woman in Red
China Glaze Shine
Leighton Denny Miracle Mist Speed-Drying Spray