Rainbow Dash cosplay repairs

My very first cosplay needs some love before it can be dusted off again.  My friends Ayla of Antipode Geek Belly Dance and Glitterforge wanted to do a group cosplay for ConnectiCon 2012.  We decided to go as characters from My Little Pony.  Glitterforge went as Shining Armor, Ayla as Twilight Sparkle, and I went as Rainbow Dash.  Merika, Ayla's sister (and a domo), made us these fantastic cloaks with our cutie marks!  So totally awesome!

Cutie Mark cloaks made by Merika!

Having not worn the cosplay since then, all the stuff was thrown on a shelf after last year's convention.  Literally.  Was not even thrown in the wash (I know, right? Eww).

Does washing count as costume repair?  Probably not.  Hygienic, yes.  I didn't plan too terribly well on making this easy to wash.  The wings were sewn directly onto the hoodie.  I had to cut all the stitches to stick into the wash. 

Rainbow Dash wings - with cute visible stitching around the edges

As for the skirt, my concern here was that the cutie mark colors would bleed.  The cutie mark was made from felt, and the bottom (blue) layer hand-sewn onto the skirt. The yellow and red lightning bolts as well as the white cloud were tacked on with Elmer's adhesive spray.  I got lazy and only removed the bolts and clouds before washing and seemed to have no issues (phew!).

I also picked up a pair of butt shorts months ago for this cosplay (and am still working up the courage to wear them publicly).  I made even tinier felt cutie marks for the shorts --- and let me tell you, it is darn hard to cut things that small when your scissors are dull!

Cutie mark skirt and shorts after washing and repairs

I left the wig repairs until last.  After 2 days of con wear, the poor thing has lost some of its shape, especially toward the "roots".  Wigs are definitely a struggle point for me... I ran into similar issues on my Rydia costume.  Totally open to suggestions if anyone out there has some good advice! 

Rainbow Dash cosplay wig - before and after styling

Stuffed Chicken with Gorgonzola Cheese, Bacon, and Garlic Chives

As a new homeowner last year, I was super excited for Spring to come around.  I had these grand plans to have a fabulous vegetable garden and to grow all kinds of flowers and herbs.  Well, reality did set in---my intentions were way to ambitious.  

I did make an honest attempt toward growing some vegetables and herbs on the deck in planter boxes.  The vegetables were a disaster, though.  In my greed for fresh noms, I overcrowded what was planted and overwatered (be careful when growing plants in boxes to allow for adequate soil drainage).

Thankfully, the herbs came out all right!  We made heavy use of cilantro for fresh salsa, dill for potato salad, and mint for mojitos.  What stumped me was how to use the fresh garlic chives --- yes, read that correctly: garlic chives --- to make a super tasty meal.  I stumbled upon a recipe for stuffed pork chops with chives, bacon, and blue cheese and thought it sounded amazing.  I gave it a try with chicken and gorgonzola instead.  It is absolutely delicious (and goes well with chardonnay, to boot!).

This was my first experience stuffing meat... making stuffed meat... ahh cannot unthink how dirty that sounds.  Anyway, I am very lazy when it comes to cooking.  The last time I made the recipe, I used thin sliced chicken breasts instead, which meant not having to slice open a pocket in the meat.
 

Ingredients for stuffing

Stuffed Chicken with Gorgonzola Cheese, Bacon, and Garlic Chives
Modified from Blue Cheese, Bacon, and Chive Stuffed Pork Chops

Makes 2.5 servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb thinly sliced chicken breast
• 4 oz Gorgonzola cheese
• 3 slices precooked bacon
• 1.5 tbsp. chopped fresh garlic chives
• olive oil
• salt to taste (I used garlic salt)
• pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine cheese, bacon, and chives in a bowl. Divide into small balls, one for each set of chicken slices.  Place each ball in between two slices of chicken.  Use toothpicks to seal, if necessary.
3. Lightly oil outside of chicken slices.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Keep in mind that the cheese will be salty.
4. Bake ~30 minutes, until the stuffing is hot and chicken is cooked.  Remove toothpicks and serve.

I recommend using a broiler pan with aluminum foil to catch any drips, which will prevent the chicken from sitting in its own juices. 

Stuffed Chicken with fresh garlic chives and bacon garnish

Pysanky (Ukrainian Eggs) with Electric Kistka

So, like other art forms, I discarded pysanky for a few years before coming back to it again.  After doing some research online, I discovered the electric stylus and made an impulse purchase.  The electric stylus has a much more even flow because the beeswax is melted at the optimal, even temperature.  Plus, it came with interchangeable tips that had extremely fine points.  You can see the difference in the amount of detail (this is totally a change in stylus and nothing to do with skill...I am still very much a beginner at making pysanky).  It takes about 10-12 hours to make one of these on a normal chicken egg.

Geometric pysanky made with an electric kistka

While it is intricate and detailed, I'm not too terribly happy with how the egg above came out.  The design is lackluster and the choice of color is not terribly inspiring.  But, you can clearly see how geometric designs can be constructed on an egg.

The egg below is far better in my opinion.  It has a nice color combination and intriguing design.  To help keep the hollow egg upright (yes, it has not broken yet!!), I used a funnel to put a little bit of sand inside and glued the bottom hole shut.  The sand gives it some weight.

Floral pysanky made with an electric kistka

Rydia cosplay photoshoot

A big shout out to Kiratsukai of Splinters of Light Photography for the awesome photos and editing work!  I would have been a hopeless, lost mess without you putting me into various poses.  Be sure to check her out if you cosplay in the New York, Connecticut, and/or Massachusetts areas.

This one is my favorite!

 

A close second...

Side view of sleeves...can you believe there's a purse inside one of them?!

Easy Chicken & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

We love the heck out of tortilla chips in this house...tortilla chips with salsa, chips with sour cream, chips with bean dip, chips and cheese... you name it!  And thanks to Moe's restaurant chain, I fell in love with their green tomatillo salsa.  We have tried several different store brands to capture the same taste.  None can quite compare, but the closest we have found is Herdez brand Green Salsa.  For a party this past weekend, I decided to change up my favorite chicken enchilada recipe by adding this amazing salsa into the mix.  This variation has a phenomenal flavor and quickly became my new favorite---and was so simple to make!

Chicken & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

Casserole ingredients except the sour cream

Easy Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole with Green Tomatillo Salsa
Modified from Chicken Enchilada Casserole II

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

• 16 oz container sour cream
• 16 oz jar Herdez green salsa
• 16 oz (2 cans) black beans, drained
• 30 oz canned chicken, drained
• 5 (12 inch) flour tortillas or burrito shells
• 4 cups cheddar cheese 
• (optional) Onion powder to taste
• (optional) Garlic powder to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine salsa, sour cream, and spices together in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, shred the chicken with a fork.  Stir in black beans.
4. Tear tortilla shells into strips.
5. Layer the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan with 1/3 tortilla strips.  Top with 1/3 chicken and bean mixture, 1/3 sour cream mixture, and 1/3 cheese.  Repeat layering with remaining ingredients. 
6. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.
7. Let stand 10 minutes and then serve.

Leftovers make for a tasty dip with tortilla chips!  That is, I mean, if you happen to have leftovers...which would never happen because this is so amazingly delicious.  Why do I feel so full? 

Pysanky (Ukrainian Eggs) with Regular Kistka

I go through phases with arts and crafts.  A medium will be super shiny to me for a couple months and then I won't pick it up again for several years.  Pysanky is a good example.  It is a fascinating and beautiful art form.  Part of its beauty lies in the delicate nature of the medium itself: a hollowed out eggshell.  That's right, an egg!

Pysanky, also known as Ukrainian eggs, have religious meaning and Christian symbols woven into the design.  I am not a religious person myself and can still appreciate the delicate art.

My family bought me the necessary equipment as a Christmas present (that's right, not for Easter!) while in college: dyes, beeswax, and a stylus.  How does it all work?  The dyes are straightforward...mixed with water and vinegar, just like you would do for dyeing Easter eggs.  In order to make different colors and designs, beeswax is applied to the egg using your stylus (kistka).  Each stylus may have a different size tip.  The larger the tip, the bigger the flow of wax.  This is what a stylus looks like:

You place a little bit of beeswax into the receptacle and melt carefully over a candle.  It needs to be hot enough to melt the wax, but not so close to the flame that you burn the wax.  Every area that is coated in beeswax will retain the underlying color.  You dip the egg in dyes from dark to light (yellow, orange, red, green, etc) and apply wax after each dipping.  Then all the wax is melted off and you are left with a beautiful, fragile design.  Personally, I found the results with these styluses to be frustrating.  It was hard to apply lines evenly to the egg, and the tube would often get clogged.  This was about as detailed as I could get...

Pysanky made with a regular (non-electric) kistka

I tried a few "for fun" designs for friends, including Penn State eggs for graduation.  They made it all the way to State College safely, and then I tragically dropped the carton of them upon arriving at campus (doh!).  Also attempted to make chocobo from Chocobo's Magic Picture Book.  For some reason, the orange dye just did not want to take...disappointment.

Penn State Pysanky

Chocobo...wark!

The LearnPysanky website was a helpful resource to understand the basics.