DIY Steampunk/Victorian Skirt

So, I don't know how many of the fans of this blog are also into steampunk, and of those how many like sewing and costuming, but, I saw this pattern for a simple faux-bustled skirt today and pretty much had to share it. My understanding from chatting with an acquaintance who's made it is that it really is as easy as it looks.

I haven't figured out yet how to work my sewing machine with a broken right foot, but as soon as I do (and find just the right fabric) I'd like to give this a try. Why? Well doesn't every girl need a bustled skirt in her wardrobe?

Shut up. Every girl needs that. It's true.

Stop looking at me like that.

Full pattern and instructions from the fabric.com blog can be found here.

Nutella Mug Cake!

I admit, I am posting a link to a recipe I haven't tested and won't be able to test, because Mr. Scrimp and I don't have a microwave.

it just looks so GOOD

I know, I know! Crazy, right? Not owning a microwave? Who even does that?

It isn't something we did on purpose. We just didn't have one when we got married (there was a "wait, you don't own a microwave?" "I thought you did!" "I thought you did!" conversation), and we didn't really have the money to get one at the time*. We could buy one now, but it's been nearly two years of a no-microwave life, and I have to admit, it's grown on me as a lifestyle. Slow food is sort of de rigeur when you have no microwave. What started out as a disorganized accent has become a life choice we now actively uphold.

The one thing that does make me sad is that we will not be able to sample this particular mug of deliciousness from The Family Kitchen. A chocolate mug cake with a twist--a little extra oil and a big scoop of Nutella make for a cake that is moist, gooey, and about as decadent looking as you can get with microwave cookery.


* We did the same thing with a vacuum cleaner and made do without for over a year before a kind relative donated an unwanted one. I am not enough of a hipster to do everything the old-fashioned way just because I can.

Recipe: Apple Cake

I broke my foot on Saturday! This probably means good things for readers of my blog, because it's going to force me to do a lot less running around and being busy and a lot more sitting down and working on projects to pass the time, which means I'll have a lot more to talk about here on Scrimpalicious.

Today, I'm sharing a recipe for Apple Cake. I wish I had pictures to show you, but we ate this thing so quickly that I didn't have a chance. I originally found the recipe on AllRecipes.com, but it was cloyingly sweet and very high in fat, so I modified it. This variation on the recipe is property of your truly.

Homemade Pop Tarts

I think most people under the age of 30 love Pop Tarts, or have loved them at some point in the past. But if you're like Mr. Scrimp and me, that love has been tainted by your knowledge of how absolutely terrible they are for you--am I right? (You don't need to answer that; I know I'm right)

Pop Tarts, for me, have always fallen into that heartbreaking category of "processed foods that are impossible to make at home," along with Ecto-cooler, Little Debbie Oatmeal Cakes, and Eggo waffles. Let's just face it, people. Some foods are delicious because they are full of horrifying chemicals. And, probably thanks to their vividly colored fillings, neon sprinkles, and tooth-aching sweetness, I just always assumed Pop Tarts were one of those things.

Proof that I was wrong?

Enter the Los Angeles Times (really) and their recipe for homemade Pop Tarts--oh wait, I mean toaster pastries, because convention demands we lie to ourselves and pretend that toaster pastries that aren't Pop Tarts are still worth eating.

Are they Pop Tarts? Technically no. Stupendous Man refuses to eat store-bought organic toaster pastries and although I know he'd try these, I doubt I'd be able to manufacture something that tastes like a perfect replica to him, primarily because there are only one or two situations in which I will willingly use corn syrup and as for the rest of the crazy things they put into Pop Tarts, I don't even know how to pronounce half of those ingredients, let alone where the home cook might buy them.

Still, a toaster pastry that I can fill with my own homemade jams or jellies? Or frangipane? Or Nutella? A Nutella-filled pop tart!! You have my ear, L.A. Times. I am definitely going to give this recipe a try, and I am just going to try and ignore the fact that each one has nearly 500 calories in it. I sleep through breakfast and skip lunch on many Saturdays, making this a totally acceptable weekend breakfast because shut up.

So it might not be healthy in terms of calories, but I'd rather sit down and split a single, chemical-free homemade, Nutella-filled pop tart with Mr. Scrimp any day than stock my pantry with brand-name cancer pastries.