Pimp your IKEA

So, I entered an IKEA competition 'Pimp your IKEA item' or something like that.
You send in a sketch of a customised IKEA item, and if the jury likes it, you get the item to transform.
Then your item will be put on display at IKEA, and once the competition is over, the entry the jury likes best gets 2000€ (~2700$)

So wish me luck, because two of my entries were chosen! :D
The great thing is that, even if I shouldn't get first or second place, I still get to keep both my items, which together cost 220€ (~300$). So yeah, won already!

I'm still working on everything, but here, have my sketches:

Both my Timelord and Whale lamp were chosen!
I'm making the whale out of cooked paper mache, which should get pretty sturdy, so let's hope it won't fall apart while it's on display.

I made a few changes to my Timelord, the biggest one being that I'm painting everything blue. We (my dad, my sister and I) came to that decision after lots of arguing, because my dad said it would be too much work to sand everything first. I really wanted it in brown, with the wood pattern still shining through, but oh well...

So, I have a week for everything (because the IKEA staff clearly didn't think this competition through, and most of the time have no idea what's going on themselves. I mean, I still don't even know where to bring my finished things!), which isn't that much time, really, but hopefully I'll finish everything on time.

I guess I lied again

I keep on saying that I will post regularly, but what do I do? Not post anything for months...
I'll try, I swear I'll try!
So here's another recipe post, and I'll write about my IKEA adventures tomorrow/later today.

Sometimes I find recipes, which sound good, but change them a bit, to be even better.
Sometimes I find recipes, which would sound good with other ingredients, so I change a lot.
Sometimes I cook or bake up something amazing.
Sometimes I fail completely and hate myself for wasting food.

Well, here's a recipe where I changed a lot, and loved it!
(Even my non-soup eating dad liked it! Although, with lots of white bread in it, so I guess there wasn't much soup left)

BeanBeanBean-and-other-stuff-soup

Of course I forgot to take pictures while there was still enough soup left...so here's the best I have.

These are more guidelines than an actual recipe, just throw together what you like!

1 big can white beans

1 small can kidney beans

1 small can Käferbohnen (I googled, but still don't know what they're called in English...just take any beans you like)

2 medium potatoes

2 medium onions

2 large carrots

4 garlic cloves

3 vegetable stock cubes

1 1/2 L water

1 tbsp ketchup

bacon
rosemary


Cut your bacon into small pieces, add to a large pot and cook until brown and crispy. Spoon out the bacon, leaving the grease.

Cut the potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic into small pieces and cook in the bacon grease until soft-ish.

Add the white beans (without the fluid they come in), stock cubes, ketchup, rosemary and water.
Put on a lid, and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Take your immersion blender (or pour everything into a blender) and pulse until you no longer have big chunks of vegetables floating around.

Add the other beans (also without fluid) and bacon, and let simmer for another 10 minutes.

Enjoy!
Guten Appetit!