Review: Japanese Kit Kats and Mentos

A little while ago, I posted a review of some Japanese treats that I bought at a local Asian shopping mall. Here are some more new Kit Kat treats straight from Japan, along with some Japanese Mentos!

The Japanese Mentos are a caramel flavor which doesn't do much to freshen the breath, but they taste great! They had a wonderful coffee and caramel flavor with the regular Mentos texture. I definitely recommend these if you like the taste of coffee...yum! They had all kinds of other flavors at the store too (one I can remember was Grapefruit), so I might try some of the other ones out.

The first Kit Kat was a success for both Paul and I - called "Cookies +", which tasted like a Kit Kat bar blended with Oreo cookies. This one was really good! The second Kit Kat bar is Apple Kit Kat. Paul hated this one, and I didn't mind it. It tasted like a regular chocolate Kit Kat bar with a slight fake-apple flavor blended into it. This one was just okay and good to try for the novelty of it, but I probably wouldn't buy it again.

Featured Etsy Blogger: Designs By Nora

Designs by Nora is the Featured Etsy Blogger of the Month! This Etsy Shop features handmade jewelry and handbags. The earrings featured in the picture above are Purple Star Stud Earrings made with polymer clay and coated with glaze for extra shine. The earrings in Nora's shop are super cute and can be worn with just about any outfit!

The purses in Nora's shop are made by her uncle who has been making leather purses for 30 years. These handbags are elegant and sophisticated; they look fabulous!

Be sure to also check out Nora's Blog!

For all of the Computer Geeks Out There!

Everything is hand stitched in needlepoint.  All of them are made for computer geeks and people who are nostalgic for older computers.

The set of four computer floppy disks are fridge magnets. There are four different floppy disks in four unique and fun vibrant/pastel colours - pink/magenta, olive green, turquoise green, and periwinkle (blue-purple).

The other three items are needlepoint patches/pins that you can attach to your backpack, clothing items, purses, bags, whatever! They are: the Happy Mac icon (for all of you Mac lovers out there!), the Gmail envelope icon, and the Windows 95 Sound file icon.

All of the stitches on the back are hidden with matching felt, and in the case of the needlepoint patches, a safety pin has been sewed in so you can easily wear it!

Blog Carnival: Music In Our Schools Month

Wow! Did you know that March is:

• Irish American Month
• Music in Our Schools Month
• National Craft Month
• National Frozen Food Month
• National Irish American Heritage Month- designated by Congress in 1995.
• National Nutrition Month
• National Peanut Month
• National Women's History Month
• Poetry Month
• Red Cross Month
• Social Workers Month

That brings a lot of recognition and awareness to so many wonderful issues and causes! I would like to draw attention to one that is close to my heart - Music in Our Schools Month! To be honest, before I started writing this blog post, I didn't even know that there was such a thing for the month of March.

Music education is incredibly important to keep within our schools and communities, especially in a time where there have been cut-backs to many music programs. All students should have access to music and music education in their schools as it is an essential part of their learning. Music education has been proven to lead students to success in other areas of learning, success in society through practicing co-operation skills (when working together in a band or ensemble), success in developing their intelligence, and success in life.

Personally, I have grown up with music - I started learning how to play classical music on the piano from the age of four, and taught myself how to play guitar when I was around 13 years old. I was always involved with my high school symphonic and jazz bands, playing clarinet and piano, respectively. Band was a huge part of my high school life - we travelled to places such as Florida/Bahamas on a cruise, Chicago, Ottawa, and Toronto to perform.

Music education in our schools can be such a positive influence on a student's time at school since it gives them a creative outlet, allows them to learn how to read and perform music, and is great for team-building and co-operation in a group environment. All students should be able to have access to music in their schools!

For more information, please visit the National Association for Music Education.

FO: Basic Ribbed Sock

I finished these socks a really long time ago and have finally got around to sharing them! These are a pair of Basic Ribbed Socks, as originally posted on the Wise Hilda Knits Blog. I have recently started knitting socks and was looking for a basic pattern to start...and here they are! They fit great, they're really comfortable, and I love the heel!

The yarn that I used is the Patons Kroy Jacquards in the color Tutti Frutti. It is a self-striping sock yarn.

I just love handmade knit socks - does anyone else have the problem that they don't want to wear them around like regular socks? I have been using my knit socks just to wear around the house but can't handle the thought of putting them inside shoes at this moment in time! I'm not sure if anyone else has this problem or if it's just me! These socks are too nice to wear inside shoes or boots!

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

Here is a fantastic recipe that has become almost a staple around our place - a great way to cook cauliflower, nutritious and delicious! This is a great one for garlic-lovers - feel free to add as much garlic as you like, beyond what is called for in the recipe (we do!). You can also modify it to add spices where you see fit. We don't add the parsley as is called for in the recipe since Paul doesn't care for it. We also add a bit more parmesan cheese than is stated in the original recipe below - be sure to use the grated parmesan cheese for more cheese-meltiness. You'll love this side-dish, yum!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large head cauliflower, separated into florets
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).

2. Place the olive oil and garlic in a large resealable bag. Add cauliflower, and shake to mix. Pour into the prepared casserole dish.

3. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. Top with Parmesan cheese and parsley, and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.

Taken from Allrecipes.com - Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

Katamari Damacy Nike Shoes

These shoes are super sweet, check it out: Katamari Damacy, painted onto Nike Dunks. These custom shoes were posted on Kotaku and painted by Kotaku readers Steve and his girlfriend. You can see more pictures of them up-close and in detail at Kotaku. The detailed illustrations on the shoes depict the Katamari world perfectly! These shoes are rad - now, if only I could get a pair for myself!

Check Out These Sweet Embroideries...

Over at the Totally Severe blog, Sarah has created some awesome original embroideries that will be featured in an embroidery show at Gallery Hanahou in the SOHO district of New York City. The Dr. Phil one is pretty sweet, but the Price is Right one holds a special place in my heart since I've been watching the show since I was a little girl. I kinda wish that the Price is Right one had Bob Barker in it instead of Drew Carey (grrr...hate Drew!) but this embroidery is amazing regardless! I love all of the hearts!

Zomg!! Earthbound Plushies!!

Eye5 over at Metroidhat.com has posted some detailed tutorials on how to create your very own Earthbound plushies - the ever-so-popular Starman and Mr. Saturn! These patterns are incredibly detailed with many photos, along with descriptions of materials and techniques so you can make your very own Earthbound plush toy.

If you aren't familiar with the game, Earthbound (known as Mother in Japan) is a role-playing video game that was released on the Super Nintendo. This game is so fun and quirky and you once you play you will be hooked! You might recognize some of the characters from the Super Smash Bros. games - Ness is one of the main playable characters in those games, and he is originally from Earthbound. Earthbound is definitely one of my favorite games - I didn't discover it until a few years ago, and even though I wished that I had known about it when I was a kid, it's better late than never!

Pul(sew)width's Felt Musical Instruments

Pul(sew)width at Etsy is a totally awesome shop that sells little felt versions of musical instruments. These look exactly like the original versions and are made completely of felt! Right now, there are a variety of vintage keyboards and synths, just like this Minimoog (pictured above).

She also takes custom orders, so if there is a special keyboard, guitar, guitar pedal, effect, or whatever that you'd like to be re-created in felt, just send her a message! To view some other fun felty projects, check out Pul(sew)width's Flickr Page.