Ephemeral Sparrow

Brussels Sprouts, Bacon, & Cider- Oh My...

2012-01-31T19:06:00.000-08:00

I went out to the kitchen tonight with the intention of making straight up, old school mac 'n cheese. Nothing fancy, just something I could throw together really quickly- I was hoping to have time to paint my nails and let them dry before I went to bed tonight.

Then I got sidetracked by my conscience, admonishing myself for the lack of veggies in my dinner. So I decided to toss in some roasted brussels sprouts and sweet potato. About halfway through cleaning the sprouts, I decided to ditch the potatoes- "Who needs pasta AND potatoes in their casserole?!," my conscience was fairly screaming.

Best decision, ever. Because if I had included the potatoes, I don't think everything else would've unfolded like it did...

Things were going nicely, until I discovered we have no chicken broth- Whenever I make my roux, I normally use about 3/4 broth to 1/4 milk.

What I did have was a giant jug of really, really good cider.

...

Without further ado, I present to you: Macaroni & Cheese with Brussels Sprouts, Apples & Bacon.

Macaroni & Cheese with Brussels Sprouts, Apples, & Bacon
Serves about 6

1/2 pound of brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups whole wheat medium shell pasta, cooked in salted water
2 tbs. unsalted butter
2 tbs. onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbs. all purpose flour
1 cup super awesome apple cider
1/2- 3/4 cup milk (depending on how thick you want your sauce)
1 cup + 1/8 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup + 1/8 cup extra sharp cheddar
3 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
1 large apple, in 1/2" cubes
2 tbs. panko breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the sprouts in the olive oil in whatever dish you'll bake your casserole in. Let them roast at 400 in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until your desired doneness- I like mine still a little firm but just starting to get browned.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium sized saucepan. Add the onion and garlic- Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions start to become translucent. Add the flour, and mix until it is thoroughly combined into the butter. Add the cider- Mix well into the flour mixture, until it smooths out and begins to thicken. Let it heat until it easily clings to a spoon. Add the milk, mixing well again and let it thicken again. If it gets too thick, add a little more milk. Take it off the heat.

Mix together the pasta, sauce, 1 cup mozzarella, 1 cup cheddar, apples, bacon, and brussels sprouts (I did this in the casserole dish). Even it out in the dish, and top with the remaining cheese and panko.

Bake in a 350 oven for 30- 45 minutes.

*Note: I didn't add any additional spices because there was quite a bit of spice in my cider. If your cider isn't as potent, you might consider adding some cinnamon and nutmeg.

** Also Note: I'm using low fat cheese, thus my excessive browning. We all know that stuff ain't real
cheese.

Reduce

2011-12-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

A great article on reducing our waste:

Here's What Else You Can Do Besides Not Buying That Jacket

A Good, Sobering Reminder

2011-12-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Pizza Good Enough to Break the Silence

2011-11-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

I love this pizza with all my heart. We had something kind of similar at a local pizza place once, but as I can't stomach spending $25 on a pizza all the time, I had to take matters into my own hands. Therefore, I present for you:

The Best Pizza of All Time

- Pizza dough (I use whole wheat Il Fornaio found in my deli section)
- 1 medium yellow onion, halved and sliced into 1/4" slices
- About 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp. fig preserves (or jam)
- 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 strips of bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled
- 4 oz. mozzarella (I prefer cutting little cubes from a block rather than shredded)
- About 2 tbs. cilantro, chopped

Warm up the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Toss in the onion, stir to coat in the oil, season with a bit of salt, and let it cook for a really long time, stirring occasionally. When your onions have a bit of brown color (about 10- 15 minutes in) you can cover your pan with a lid and lower the heat to a medium/ low temp to speed up the process- But even with the lid, let them go about 15 or 20 minutes more. The longer you let them cook, the better they will be- But I can never let it go for more than half an hour or so.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to whatever your dough advises. Stretch it out on a cookie sheet, and prebake it if your instructions call for it.

When your onions are done, add the preserves and crushed red pepper. Stir them in with the onions, just to warm up the preserves. Spread the mixture on your pizza crust. Top the onion mix with bacon, and then cheese. Bake for whatever your dough recommends.

When the pizza comes out, sprinkle the cilantro over the top.

Thank me ;p

Yarn Wreaths!

2011-03-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

So. Yarn wreaths. I've been wanting one.

Even more than just wanting one, I've been wanting to try to make one. I tried once around Halloween, and got frustrated with how long the yarn business was taking, so I gave up (I like the instant gratification sorts of crafts the best, okay?).

But since it looks like we're probably done with snow for the year (I REALLY hope I just cursed Colorado with 5 feet of snow), it seems we need to put the snow people wreath up for the year.

So I'm attempting the yarn wreath again.

I also just might have just made it way more complicated for myself... I went to Micheal's today and got enough felt and yarn for 6 wreaths, plus a straw wreath form. When I got the wreath, I thought it was a little large. When I got home and held it up to the door, it seemed a little large, but not terrible. As I was just looking over the snow people wreath post, I noticed I said that I used an 8" wreath, and now I really want to go and get a smaller wreath, because I loved that size on the door.

Blast.

Anyway... I guess what happens with my wreath is TBD. In the mean time, check out these inspiration wreaths.

Has the word "wreath" ever been used so much in a single blog post, in the history of blogging?

Yeah, I didn't think so either.

On to the wreaths!!!

Classic Romance 12" Wreath from ItzFitz, $40

I love the simplicity of this one. ItzFitz has quite a few different styles that I love, but I really like how classy this one looks.

Cute as a Quail Fabric & Feathers Wreath from sweetalyssa, $46

Not really yarn, but I love this take on the style with ribbons and feathers. And I love the wee tiny bird with a feathery cow lick.

Sea of Jewels 8" Wreath from ItzFitz, $30

Another from ItzFitz! I'm a sucker for jewel tones, so this one was right up my alley :)

Crescendo Yarn Wreath from GoodieTrueShoes, $48

Probably my biggest inspiration (and kind of subconsciously- I didn't realize how similar my plans were until I got back home and checked out my inspiration pictures again). Love the light blue green and oranges together (spoiler alert).

Ruffle Book Page Flower Yarn Wreath from TheWhimsicle, $30

Really liked this version, that uses book pages for the flowers... If my wreath weren't going to be potentially exposed to water, I'd totally try something like this.

Confetti Yarn Wreath 10 from AnnaHailey, $39

I like that this one uses the confetti-ish yarn, and that this one also has an assortment of flowers on it... I like the swirly rose-ish flowers the most because they remind me of ranunculus (my favorite flower), but I also like seeing the possible variety.

I know whatever I end up cranking out won't be half as beautiful as these examples, but I'm hoping for the best.

Also, just while I was typing this, I decided to go out and get a smaller wreath today.

So the finished product post might take a little longer than previously expected.

Also, it's entirely possible there might be some sort of giveaway with the larger wreath that I'm 2/3 of the way done wrapping... TBD!!!

More From the Holga

2011-03-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

From Flagstaff Mtn.

Our street

More of our street

Maxwell, our well behaved schnauzer

George and Milo, the less well behaved schnauzer

At Golden Ponds

Our street. Again.

Milo McGee, the less well behaved but by far more adorable schnauzer

More at Golden Ponds

And even a little bit more at Golden Ponds

I'm really loving the Holga. I love/ hate how unpredictable it is. Out of every roll of film, I'd say that 3/4 of the shots are completely worthless. But the 1/4 that turn out okay are so nice that I can't get too upset :)

An Expansion on a Facebook Update

2011-03-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

Things learned this weekend:

1) Moki & BunBun are tiny little specimens of their species

We happened to be in the area of the Boulder Humane Society, and thought we would drop in to see a couple of rabbits that they had listed on their website, just for funsies. Unfortunately, they had decided that morning that the bunnies were a little aggressive, so they wouldn't let us seem them. So we browsed through all the animals, and later on ended up stopping by the Longmont Humane Society.

The rabbits were MASSIVE. Like, bigger than Milo and Moki. Maybe bigger than Milo and Moki combined. I have never seen such huge house bunnies... Definitely made me feel silly calling BunBun "Big Bunny," because she was most decidely tiny. Huge bunnies... Who knew.

And also, less surprisingly, I was also reminded of how tiny Moki Poki is, too... The giant cats weren't as alarming as the giant bunnies, just a reminder that our kitten cat is itty bitty.

They weren't quite this big, though. I wish they had been...

2) Mahi mahi quesadillas are tasty delicious

I've been trying to figure out new things to do with fish... I took a mahi mahi fillet, cut it up into 1/2" cubes, dredged it in a mix of flour, salt, pepper, red pepper flake, and chili powder, and then sauteed it in a little oil until it got crispy. It was like really, really good fish stick bits. Awesome in a quesadilla with spinach, black beans, red onion, corn, cilantro, and cheese. YUM.

3) Tiny houses require only 1 day of spring cleaning

Sunday we had a bit of an impromptu spring cleaning... Once the vacuum gets broken out, I can't stop. After Christmas we got a new one (this Hoover WindTunnel) and it is amazing. I never thought I would nerd out over a vacuum like I have over this one- There is NOTHING it can't suck up. It is addicting watching it pick up dust. The carpets literary feel cleaner underfoot. Maybe this isn't a huge revelation for a lot of people... But it's huge for me, since apparently I've been buying super crappy vacuums up until this point.

Anyway- We're really close to being done with spring cleaning. We went at it for about half of Sunday, and I'm hoping we can finish it up this week/ this weekend in a few more hours.

4) It's Kind of a Funny Story is a good movie

I love when actors known for their comedic stuff do more serious movies (re: Zach Galifianakis). Especially when the movie is done in a kind of quirky way. It's good. You can rent it from a RedBox for a buck. I highly recommend it.

(While you're at the RedBox, also get Megamind. It actually made me lol.)

5) Sauve Rosemary Mint shampoo is kind of awesome

One of the biggest attractions for me at the salon I've finally settled on is that it's an Aveda salon, and therefore uses Aveda products, and therefore makes my hair smell fantastic on haircut day.

I picked up the Suave Rosemary Mint shampoo because it compared itself to an Aveda product. Since Aveda shampoo is about $11, and Suave is more around $2, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

While I don't think it smells just like the Aveda product, for $9 less it smells close enough... Plus it makes my hair feel really nice. Win win.

Yet again. $2. Try it.

Holy Moly

2011-03-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

So. Here we are again after another for no good reason, unplanned hiatus.

I'll skip lame excuses.

However. The weather is GORGEOUS and that always helps motivation/ happiness/ etc. Because it's not that I haven't wanted to blog... I just didn't feel like it.

If that makes sense.

Anyway. On to what I've been up to.

1) I got a new cell phone. It. Is. Awesome. I was kind of on the fence on whether I would actually use a smart phone to its full capabilities (I easily saw myself just using it for playing games. I won't lie- There has been a lot of Angry Birds going on.). I don't know what I was thinking, though... It's amazing. It's completely changed how I do a lot of things (shopping, scheduling, social media stuff), and has really helped keep me from sitting on the computer all day. You should totally get one.

2) We've actually been to see a couple of movies. We used to go see movies ALL the time, but for some reason that's kind of fallen off recently... So going to see 2 movies is big stuff around these parts. Anyway.

We saw The Illusionist a few weeks ago... It was really nice to look at and had some really nice moments, but overall was kind of depressing. The bunny was totally my favorite character.

This past weekend we went and saw The King's Speech. Finally. It was good, but I'm not going to lie- Kind of underwhelmed. Colin Firth was really amazing, and the movie looked beautiful, but I think I was expecting a little bit more from the plot other than the obvious.

And as amazing as Colin Firth was, as pretty and well shot as the movie was, as much as I enjoy Helena Bonham Carter, and as good as Geoffry Rush was... What I LOVED about this movie was- The Wall.

Look. At. IT.

Gorgeous.

If only we weren't renting.

If. Only.

3) I plowed through two Kate Morton books in hardly no time... I read The Forgotten Garden a while back, and was kind of underwhelmed... I liked Morton's writing style okay, but it seemed like there was a lot of pointless stuff thrown into TFG that didn't add to the story at all, or things were added and they never went anywhere.

Not so with the last two that I've read... The House at Riverton and The Distant Hours were both really very good... If you like historical fiction sorts of things, I'd recommend both of them.

4) I'm not one for diets or crazy health nuttiness, but I have found the My Fitness Pal application to be really helpful. It's a super easy way to count calories, figure out the nutrition content of recipes, and to track calories burned. I also like that I can use it on my phone (see item #1) or on the computer.

5) And in sadder news, last week we had to put our rabbit BunBun to sleep... The poor little lady had developed cancer that had spread to her brain and was really affecting her motor skills. She will be greatly missed, as she was the sweetest, most untroublesome pet we owned.

RIP, my Bunny valentine <3

6 Things

2011-01-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

1) The Tower, the Zoo, & the Tortoise by Julia Stuart is a cute book and a fast read. The story centers around a Beefeater & his wife who live in the Tower and have lost a child. Which is all fine and good, but I kind of wished that the story had centered totally around the wife, because she works in the lost and found for the London tube system and handles all sorts of kooky things being turned in.

2) Also recently read Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. I was on the waiting list for a really long time (seriously- when I requested it I was number 38 or something on the list), and when I got it I found out that it had a little Oprah seal of approval on it, which explained the long wait. Overall, it was a pretty good book. Reading Franzen is kind of like watching tv to me... He does a really nice job of making you want to know what happens next. His books aren't really page turners, but it's also really hard to put them down.

3) Right now I'm reading Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (who apparently has a Gorey-esque graphic novel, according to her Wikipedia page... Interesting). I'm only maybe 30 pages in, but it seems like it's going to be really good. I'll report back.

4) I also reread the last Harry Potter book, mainly because we saw the movie and I couldn't remember exactly how things tied up at the end- George asked me why I was reading it, and I told him that I couldn't remember how it ended and he very helpfully told me "Voldemort dies."

5) We went and saw The Green Hornet last weekend. I'm not a huge fan of super hero/ comic book based movies, but this one was AWESOME. Very entertaining and hilarious. I think my problem with those kinds of movies is that the "hero" always takes his heroism so very, very seriously. But The Green Hornet doesn't, which is refreshing. The movie's only downfall is they hid Cameron Diaz in it ;p

6) Otherwise, I'm still waiting on a break... The first couple of weeks of December were full of Christmas/ travel planning and prep, about two weeks driving around across the country visiting, then we brought a friend back with us to visit for a week here, another friend passed away, I interviewed for a job that required a lot of prep, and as soon as I got through all of that, I got involved with doing the lights for another show... I guess there were a few restful days in there, but it still kind of feels like I haven't been able to exhale yet.

Maybe next week...

The Things I Want: Savannah

2010-12-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

Savannah Mapcut on White by studiokmo, $260

Vintage Pinkussohn's Tobacco tin from AusableRiverTrader, $12

Savannah Streetscapes by turnofthecenturies, $28

I heart Georgia by truche, $50

Savannah, Georgia Travel Poster by Jennifer Hill @ JhillDesign, $45

Lucas Theatre Savannah GA by Phill55188, $20

I Made a Wreath!

2010-11-30T16:03:00.000-08:00

An 8" straw wreath, wrapped with two 18' tinsel garlands, a little of the wire garland with mylar stars, and two ornaments pinned down with straight pins (the glue gun is AWOL).

If I would've originally bought two garlands, this would've taken all of 15 minutes. Since I didn't, it took 5 minutes last night, a trip to Target, and ten more minutes.

Baddabing.

Holga

2010-11-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

Full disclosure: Somewhere in the shuffle of moving, I lost my 120 Holga that my parents got me for Christmas about 4 or 5 years ago.

Sorry, Dad.

Not that I was avidly using the 120... I believe I only shot two rolls of film on it before I got too busy to really use it. George was taking a photography class at the time, so it was really easy to come up with the film and get it developed. But once that passed, we found that the film was kind of difficult to find and more expensive than what we could afford at the time, and when we did have the film we had to take it to the real camera store (you know, not Walgreen's) and pay lots of money to get it developed.

But then we moved to Colorado where we are surrounded by lots of awesome stuff to photograph, so I tried to turn up the Holga, just for funsies. No dice.

When my birthday came around last month, I decided to take some of my birthday money and get a new toy camera. I went back and forth over getting a Diana or a 135 Holga or the 35mm film adapter for the 120. I finally got the 135 Holga, figuring film would be easier to get ahold of, and I could easily drop the film at Target (since, you know... I'm there every day). Plus, we had torn up the house for at least the 4th time looking for the 120 Holga with no luck (not to mention that the Colorsplash was missing, too), so the adapter didn't seem to make sense.

So, obviously, you know what happens.

I buy the 135 and a ton of 35mm film from Four Corner Store. I get excited when I get the shipping information. I track my package religiously. It arrives! I open everything up, it all looks awesome. I load the film up, and toss the 135 in my bag so I can be ready at a moments notice. I go to rehearsal for Rabbit Hole that night.

George gets there. He was taking pictures for my portfolio that night. He had stopped by the house to figure out which camera he wants to use. He opened the vintage train case in which he moved his nice Canon film camera across the country in.

In the train case with the Canon is the 120 Holga and the Colorsplash.

The same day the 135 arrived.

I look at it this way, though... If I hadn't gotten the 135, the 120 and Colorsplash would have been lost forever. By buying the 135 I lured them out into the open.

I decided to keep the 135, for all the above mentioned film hardships.

But believe me, I'm keeping my eyes on that 120 like a hawk.

Milo basking in a sun spot. I really need to break out the tripod.

Mannequin torso used for a couple of years in the Rocky Horror productions in Savannah that I couldn't bear to see thrown away. I "planted" her in a pot and covered her lady bits with black fabric for Halloween this year.

Sunset from a Milo walk the other day.

The Things I Want- Quirky

2010-11-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

One thing that has become incredibly glaring in the past couple of days is that I have a serious caramel problem. I've always known I'm a big fan, but the past couple of days I've been popping Milk Duds like they are the last caramel treats on the face of the planet.

Photo: Calabasas Candy Co.

This caramel from Calabasas Candy Co. looks even better than my fun sized boxes of Milk Duds. And 1/2 a pound of freshly made caramel for $9 seems like an awesome deal. Or that could be the sugar talking...

I've loved the artwork of Karen Preston for a while. Her print, Emily's Ride, has been a favorite of mine for a long, long time.

Photo: arabbitgirl

I love the colors of the sky, Emily's green glasses, the mushrooms, the texture... Not to mention that she is riding a bee. Karen sells her work under the name arabbitgirl on Etsy. And believe me, this is just one of many of her prints I would love to have.

Love, love, love this hair clip from FrostingCoutureShop... I'm not really much of a hair clip person, but I think I could make an exception for this.

Photo: FrostingCoutureShop

Really, I think I'm just a sucker for anything black and white striped, and that pink floral running through it is just the icing on the cake for me. You can find this lovely (and many more) here.

These little terrarium mushrooms from JadeFlower are perfect in every way. I need at least 9 sets of these for all my indoor plants...

Photo: JadeFlower

So cute. I also like that they remind me of the mushrooms in Emily Ride's... See what we just did there?

Photo: CorpseKeyCo

And finally, this guy from CorpseKeyCo. Because how could you not love him?

Holy. Cow.

2010-11-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

I am sad, because I finally felt like I was starting to gain some blogging momentum, and then, you know- Life happened.

Last week I had a super difficult tech week to get through.. It wasn't really bad work- wise or stress- wise, but more of my schedule going through a huge upheaval. I could give you a really tedious, old lady description of the situation (which I typed out and realized was incredibly boring), but I won't. Thankfully the show is up and running and just have to worry about getting through the run the next couple of weekends :)

Photo: George Pantazis

Rabbit Hole, Longmont Theater Company

October 2010

Also making this past week or so worse was Halloween looming ever nearer. I had big plans of making pumpkin heads which dissolved pretty quickly when I realized how frickin' long they were going to take me... So I kind of ignored all the stuff I wanted to do for Halloween until yesterday morning.

Needless to say, I think George was thrilled with this plan.

But I think things turned out really well, despite my horrible planning... Many compliments and kids that were afraid to come up the steps affirmed it.

Hopefully things will get back on track this week.

Hopefully.

Also, really quickly... The next time you make macaroni and cheese, do this:

Bacon, Leek, and Sundried Tomato Macaroni and Cheese

1. Bring a pot o' water to a boil. Preheat the oven to 350. When the water is boiling, drop in some salt and about 2 1/2 cups whole wheat shell pasta. Cook until it's al dente, drain, and return it back to the pot. Spray a 2 quart casserole with nonstick spray.

2. Cut up 2 slices of bacon into 1/4" squares. Cook it over medium high heat in your awesome Rachael Ray skillet. When it's pretty much cooked all the way through, toss in about 1/2 cup of thinly sliced, cleaned leeks (white and light green parts only). Cook for a couple of minutes. Toss in about 4 thinly sliced sundried tomatoes and mix them in.

3. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour over the bacon mix, and stir until everything is really well combined. Add a cup of milk, and stir again until really well combined. Let the mix start to thicken. Add 1 cup chicken stock/ broth, mix really well, let thicken. Add 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and dashes of garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flake. Stir until cheese has mostly melted.

4. Pour sauce over pasta, mix to combine. Pour pasta into casserole. Top with about 1/4 cup cheddar, 1/4 cup panko, and 1/8 cup parmesan. Bake for 40 minutes.

I'm sorry I don't have a picture of this... But really, it looks like your basic mac n' cheese. But the bacon, leeks, and tomatoes make it taste out. Of. This. World. Try it, I promise you'll like it.

You NEED This

2010-10-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

A few Christmas's ago, we returned some gifts to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and got a nice set of pots and pans instead. They're really great stainless steel with heavy bottoms and a fun curvy shape. They're awesome.

Problem was, nonstick skillets come in really handy a lot of the time. Frankly, the nonstick coatings freak me out. So many differing opinions on what is good for you and what is bad for you make it confusing. So we bought a $10 nonstick skillet from Target for those occasions when nonstick would be the only way to go.

And considering that it was only $10, it held up really well. Right up until last week, when it decided that it would bubble and crack all of it's nonstick coating all at once and start to rust, rendering it undoubtedly useless.

Enter Rachael Ray.

Let's discuss, shall we? I love/ hate Rachael Ray. Her perkiness is grating while being cute. She thinks she can throw the most mismatched ingredients into a bowl with a pound of hamburger, form patties, and call it a burger, but half of the time the burger ends up being amazing (I can't find a good example of a weird one, but just look. They're there). Her talk show is kind of all over the place, but she is one of the more entertaining hosts on the Food Network. I like her magazine, but she plasters her name over way too many projects and products. Overall, her recipes are hit and miss for me... Sometimes out of this world, sometimes I question her taste buds and sanity.

But let me tell you this. Rachael Ray endorses one hell of a nonstick skillet.

Last week when my skillet committed suicide, I promptly ran over to Marshalls where I had noticed that they had roughly a million skillets the week before (I had been searching for stainless steel measuring cups that were all one piece with no fused handles. I finally found some here). There were all sorts of different colors, sizes, and finishes, and I ended up picking this one because of how perfect the handle was (a lot were too long or short), I liked that I could put it in the oven, and the pan seemed solid, but overall the whole piece wasn't heavy, if that makes sense.

Plus, I'm kind of going through an orange phase for some reason.

The only thing in the Con Column was that is was a Rachael Ray product. Could be good, could be horrible. There's often no in between with R. Ray.

I made bacon in it the next night and promptly, totally, 100% fell in love with it. It heats up quickly, cooks like a dream, and is easy to clean up.

Overall my biggest complaint is that I can't imagine why I suffered through 2 years with that piece of Target crap.

The Things I Want- Birthday Edition

2010-10-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

It's coming. The big, nasty 30 is just around the corner. In honor of it, things appropriate for a 30 year old's (that phrase makes my skin crawl) birthday.

Something nostalgic:

Photo: brightsmith

When I was about 12, my grandma had traveled out West and then gave me a pair of teeny, tiny turquoise studs for Christmas that same year. At the time, I thought they were okay. Now, I would LOVE to have them, but (of course) I lost them a long time ago. I think this pair from Brightsmith would be great replacements.

Something new:

Photo: UrbanCheesecraft

With another birthday, one realizes that they're running out of time to get stuff done. Like making cheese. I really need to make cheese before I kick the bucket, and this kit from UrbanCheesecraft provides everything to make a few different kinds in one go. Perfect.

A big girl purse:

Photo: Lucky Brand

I have never owned a nice leather purse. Ever. Not that anything is wrong with Target bags- I love them. And most of the time I want to go purse shopping so often it doesn't make sense for me to spend a lot on a bag. But I'm ready to commit to a really nice, delightful feeling leather bag. This gray bag from Lucky Brand would go with all my coats and seems like it's not too big and not to small. Also, it's expensive but not so expensive that I would feel guilty about still keeping some of my other bags in rotation on occasion.

Somethings to contemplate my mortality:

Photo: Michelle Chang Jewelry

I love, love, LOVE this tiny golden skull necklace from Michelle Chang. It's adorable and quirky. I would wear it every day. Plus, it would be a nice motivator to remind me of my impending doom, and you, know... Motivate me to do stuff. Like make my cheese.

Something just plain awesome:

Photo: Wild Card Pottery

And these sea monster mugs from Wild Card Pottery just because they're awesome. Wait... I can make this work. These would be a reminder of my constant grappling with coming to terms with my impending ruination, dementia, and ultimate demise.

Clearly, I'm going to age gracefully.

Breakfast Skillet for Dinner

2010-10-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

Some things about me:

1) I love breakfast skillets. You know, a mish mash of hashbrowns, breakfast meats, eggs, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cheese, often served heaped in a skillet? Yummy. When we visited Chicago we walked about 2 miles (really wasn't necessary- we kind of got lost) in search of a place renowned for their skillets. That is skillet love, friends.

2) I only like cooking for other people. When I'm just feeding me, I tend to go the super easiest route I can find. I know it sounds really emo, but I feel like cooking just for me is never worth the mess and hassle.

Last night George was working late and I had a rehearsal to go to, so I was on my own for dinner. I was out of leftovers, out of Evol burritos, and had already had ramen for lunch. I couldn't think of any take out that sounded good. While at the grocery store picking up coffee, nothing leaped out at me.

I ended up back at home, dinner- less. I actually thought about just skipping eating, but decided I would seriously be regretting that choice in a couple of hours. There was only one option. I was going to have to cook. For myself.

Enter the Breakfast Skillet.

I've been craving diner-y breakfast food for a few days, and figured this would be the perfect chance to try making my own skillet. It went really, really deliciously well.

Breakfast Skillet for Dinner
Serves 1

1 strip of bacon, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 medium sized, peeled potato cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup onion diced
Salt and pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Handful of grape or cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons jarred roasted red pepper, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon butter
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon shredded cheddar
1 tablespoon feta cheese
1 tablespoon scallion greens

Over medium heat, cook the bacon in a nonstick skillet until it's crispy. When it's done, take it out and drain it on a paper towel, leaving as much grease as possible in the skillet.

Toss in the onions and potatoes, and kick the heat up a little bit (to medium high-ish). Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper flake. Cook until potatoes are done and a little crispy. Toss the tomatoes and roasted pepper in the skillet to warm them. Transfer it all to a plate.

If your skillet has gotten yucky (mine did), wash it out (or if you're feeling decadent, break out another skillet). Over medium heat, melt the butter. Toss in the eggs and cheddar, and scramble them up.

Top the potato mix with the eggs, sprinkle the eggs with bacon, feta, and scallions.

Eat that stuff up.

Drood

2010-10-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

I've slacked on blogging and really have no reason why, either.

Other than I've been slightly obsessed with my other library book, Drood by Dan Simmons.

First, a little about The Magicians... It really did start off with a bang, and looked like it was going somewhere really promising. But overall it was kind of unsatisfying. It was entertaining, and I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it... But I doubt I'll ever go back to read it again.

On the other hand, I can't get Drood out of my head. It's a big, fat book (my favorite kind) at nearly 800 pages. It's so big I can't comfortably hold it for very long without support. I love that.

It's combining a lot of biographical information about Charles Dickens and a lot of fiction about the inspiration for his last book that he didn't finish writing, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. First of all, I can't get enough of books like this, that blend actual historical events into a fictional story. Especially in Victorian England. Most especially when a little bit of a mystery is involved.

It is almost 800 pages, so there is quite a bit of stuff that really isn't moving the story along. But a very careful picture of Dickens is being created, which I love. I've never been a big fan of reading Dickens', just because it's SO hard to get through all of his descriptions. I've always felt kind of guilty about that, like I'm not a good, hardcore book lover if I can't stand Dickens. But finding out about the author himself is kind of making me feel less guilty about not being able to stand his books.

But, man... I'm having some weird, gory dreams after I read this book before bed. I'm not sure if the book and the dreams are related, because really, the book isn't that bloody or anything. But reading Drood before bed is the only thing that has changed recently in my routine, so I guess it's the source.

Barnes and Noble has the hardback copy on sale for a measly $5, if it seems like it might be up your alley :)

3 Things

2010-10-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

1) I finally broke down and got a library card this week, after wanting one for months (no lie). Also: Getting a library card was the only reason I finally got my Colorado driver's license after nearly a year living here. Slackers unite!!!

Photo: www.bn.com

Anyway, I just started The Magicians by Lev Grossman. I totally agree with one of the quotes on the back cover, from George R. R. Martin- "The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea." I think saying "it's Harry Potter for adults" wouldn't quite describe it well enough (because really, isn't Harry Potter for everyone?)... It's more like Harry Potter grew a pair, got off his high horse, stopped mooning around about how pitiful he is, and did some frickin' magic. Yeah.

I'm only a measly 90 pages in, but I would definitely recommend you try it. It's perfect gloomy, October reading.

2) For the love of all that is holy- LOOK. AT THIS. CAKE.

Photo: Sweet Paul Digital Magazine

I discovered Sweet Paul yesterday through Liz Demos who did an interview with Design*Sponge (hello, links). This cake initially caught my eye (seriously, how could it not?), but there are so many yummy things in the fall "issue" (do you call an online magazine an issue?) I feel like I need to hop out to the kitchen ASAP and get a move on.

Needless to say, I'm very glad my birthday is in 11 days.

Also needless to say, I'm very glad Sweet Paul is now in my life.

3) I have a serious problem. I cannot stop listening to Mumford and Sons. A friend on Facebook posted the video for Little Lion Man, and oh man. I'm totally hooked.

Photo: Andy Willsher via www.undertheradarmag.com

I was looking for a still from the video, but this picture cracks me up. They're just 4 regular guys, out in a boat, serenading each other with guitars. Don't all guys do that?

Also very happy for them and very sad for me that their next US tour is completely sold out. That must be an awesome feeling for them. For me, it sucks.

The Things I Want- Black and White

2010-10-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

Photo: The Black Sheep Studio

I love this paper mache treat bucket from The Black Sheep Studio... He's somewhere between goofy and creepy, which often is the best mix for something all together sinister. You can find him here.

Photo: homelab

I have a love/ hate relationship with cutesy wootsy things. I love them, but I always feel guilty for indulging myself. These gloves from homelab are the perfect compromise, with that adorable, kind of camouflaged owl . Totally obvious if you're looking for him, but could totally be acceptable as grown up gloves, too.

Photo: Opticwaste

I've been eyeballing the silhouettes over at Opticwaste for years... They're whimsical and a little spooky, which of course makes them perfect. You can find Beatrice (the above work) here.

Photo: kg+ab

I'd love to add these kittens under their dome to my collection of curiosities. I'm a sucker for anything that comes under a dome. KG+AB also offer bunnies under a dome, if floofy cats aren't your particular thing.

Photo: locallibrary

On locallibrary's homepage, Lauren Haupt declares her wares are the perfect handmade jewelry for everyday, and I believe it. I love how dainty and unobtrusive her pieces seem, but how they are still immensely unique and full of personality. If I had her Little Drop in B/W, I certainly know I would be wearing it nearly every day.

Best Potato Leek Soup Ever

2010-10-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we crossed item #3 off the old Summer Bucket list. In the process, we ended up bringing some lovely stuff home with us, which included a big bunch of fresh leeks. It was a chilly day, so I decided a potato leek soup was in order.

I've never made a PLS, so I started by searching around for some recipes. I was disappointed that they all involved pureeing, lots of cream, or weird things that we just didn't have.

I wanted something fast!

I wanted something easy!

I wanted something that didn't involve finding/ assembling/ using/ taking apart/ cleaning/ storing the blender!

And really, I didn't feel like I was asking for a lot.

I ended up settling on a Martha recipe. It called for leftover mashed potatoes instead of pureeing. It kind of made sense. I mean, right there next to the picture Martha promises the soup will be creamy.

I dutifully made some mashed potatoes, and followed the recipe. What we ended up with was some lightly flavored starch water with leeks in it. It was edible, but in no way was it enjoyable.

Yesterday was another chilly day, and I still had a couple of rapidly aging leeks and potatoes left over from the last attempt, so I thought I would give things another go. But this time without a recipe.

What we ended up with was perfect.

So here is that potato leek soup recipe for you, which requires no strange ingredients or kitchen gadgets.

The Best Potato Leek Soup Ever
Serves 4 healthy appetites

4 tbs. unsalted butter
1 tbs. chopped garlic
2 leeks, white & light green parts thinly sliced into rounds and thoroughly cleaned
4 tbs. flour
2 cups milk
3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable)
1 1/2 cups peeled, 1/2" cubed thin skinned potatoes
Salt and Pepper

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium high heat (more medium than high). Add the garlic, and sautee for about 2 minutes. Add the leeks, and sautee for a couple minutes more.

Add 2 tablespoons flour to the pot, and mix to combine. Add the rest of the flour, and again mix until it's combined.

Alternate adding cups of milk and broth (not sure if this matters in the least, but that's what I did and it was fantastic) one at a time. Incorporate each addition very well and let it heat up until it's nicely coating your spoon before adding the next cup of liquid.

This is the final product pictured above, but look at how nicely the soup sticks to the spoon- That's what you want.

With the final cup of broth, add your potatoes. Season well with salt and pepper. Bring everything just to boiling, then pop on a lid and bring your heat to low. Let everything simmer about 10 minutes, or until your potatoes are tender.

Then omnom that stuff. I think it would be really good if you made some Parmesan toasts to go with it.

Halloween Pre- Game

2010-09-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I was between directors at my old job in Savannah, so for the first time in a long time I didn't have a show going on around Halloween. I think since I had a lot of free time that I didn't know what to do with and no creative outlet, I kind of went a little crazy over Halloween. Don't get me wrong- Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. But never before had I gotten quite this into it.

Last Halloween we had just gotten to Colorado and we were living in a hotel, and I had a feeling the hotel staff wouldn't enjoy my collection of rotting body parts oh so much, so I didn't decorate at all.

Needless to say, there is a lot of bottled up Halloween excitement over here in this neck of the woods.

Not all members of the household are on board with breaking out the Halloween decorations as soon as they start creeping on to store shelves in mid- September. These household members make other members wait until October 1st.

Guess what. Tomorrow is October 1st.

So in honor of the mess I will surely be making tomorrow, let's look back on the mess that kicked it all off. May I humbly present.... Halloween 2008.

This was visible when the door was opened.

I was super excited about my skull candle that "bled" red wax through the eye holes that I had gotten at Target that year. I was cruising the Halloween stuff at Target today, and they have more of these this year, but they're not nearly as nice as this guy.

Outside, this was the view on the left side of the yard.

And the right side.

And the whole shebang... Sticking into the frame on the lower left is the awesome coffin George made for me. I was hoping to stuff another body in it, but just ran out of time and couldn't get another one made. I stuck a fog machine down into the bottom of it instead, and fortunately kids thought the whole effect was fascinating.

The view from the porch... We tried several different kinds of lights before discovering little simple clip lights from Home Depot worked the best. The stronger lights we tried melted the light gels :)

On the mantle inside the house.

I didn't realize it until just this very second, but I'm really going to miss not having a mantel this year.

I loved my ghosts. All they were was a foam skull with a long length of heavy gauge wire bent in half, then stuck through the bottom of the skull and running all the way through to the top, where I used the wire loop to hang it. All the rest of the excess became the "arms." I draped them with a couple of layers of cheesecloth, and badda boom- Ghosts.

Best. Halloween. Ever.

Hoping we can overcome my worries of snow and top it this year!

The Things I Want

2010-09-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Photo via Bean Town Handmade

I love this sweater over at Bean Town Handmade, for a few reasons.

1) I like that it looks nice and thick, which is ideal for Colorado falls and winters.

2) I like that this sweater is way more on the side of being functional than costumey so it still comes off as "cute" rather than "what the h- e- double hockey sticks were they thinking."

3) Who could resist anything that model is peddling?! A much stronger person than me.

Photo via sarantos

Love, love, love this ring. Made by Susan Sarantos of moss agate and 14 karat rose gold, this ring has an awesome sort of spooky yet refined quality to it that I adore. Plus I really like the combination of rose gold (which I love and feel I never see enough creative uses of it) and agate.

Photo via Victorian Lowbrow

The Undertaker's Cabinet Poster from Madame Talbot's Victorian & Gothic Lowbrow speaks 100% to my love of Edward Gorey and Halloween. I would love to frame this in a big, ornate frame and hang it year round.

Photo via The Morbid the Merrier

Funnel Cake lip balm? What else needs saying? I haven't placed an order with The Morbid the Merrier yet because I'm pretty sure I would try and eat this stuff straight from the tube. Also very interested in a lot of the fragrances in this shop... Definitely full of great treats.

Sweet Potato Pieorgis (formerly Pumpkin Ravioli)

2010-09-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Aside from blogging, I've also been avoiding making pumpkin ravioli. I found a recipe in an old Rachael Ray magazine (which I need a whole 'nother post to discuss my love/ hate relationship with the peppy kitchen wench that is R. Ray) that I thought looked interesting. So I put the ingredients on my weekly shopping list, fondly reminiscing on how delightful pumpkin anything is, and how especially delightful pumpkin ravioli must be.

Long story short, there is no pumpkin puree to be had in all of the Longmont, Colorado area. I checked King Sooper's, Target, Safeway, Walmart (which only had organic... Wtf?), and the other King Sooper's. Nothing. Not with the pie fillings, canned vegetables/ fruits, near the marshmallows or gelatin, or even lurking on a strange shelf in produce. I heard from a Twitter friend that there was a really bad pumpkin harvest last year, which meant way less canned pumpkin this year.

I let the lack of pumpkin weigh on me for a good long while. I mourned, if you will.

But then I decided to pull myself out of my despair, to forget the pumpkin, and use sweet potato instead. Not exactly the same taste, but the same color, right? Except when you make a potato ravioli, you're essentially making a pieorgi. Needless to say, my end result in no way, shape, or form really bears any resemblance to the inspiration recipe. Except for color. But that's how inspiration works sometimes, amiright?

Sweet Potato Pieorgis Which Were Pumpkin Ravioli in a Past Life
Serves 4

1 sweet potato, peeled, boiled, mashed with a fork, and cooled
3 scallions, thinly sliced
4 oz. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
Salt and pepper
40 wonton wrappers
3 tablespoons butter
8 sage leaves, thinly slices

1. Combine the sweet potato, scallions, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

2. Scoop about a teaspoon of the mix and place on a wonton wrapper. Smear some water around on the wrapper around the potato. Fold the other side of the wrapper over, and press down to seal. If you're feeling fancy, cut out the pieorgi with a round cookie cutter.

3. Boil pieorgis in salted water, 5 at a time, for about 3 minutes. They'll float to the top when they're ready.

4. As you're boiling the pieorgis in batches, melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. When it is completely melted, toss in the sage leaves with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook over the heat about a minute or two, and then remove and reserve to pour over the pieorgis.

The pieorgis also freeze really well... Put uncooked pieorgis on a plate or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and pop them in the freezer. Once they have set up, put them in a baggie. They will take a little bit longer to boil, maybe more like 5 or 6 minutes, but they will still float to the top when ready :)

A month?!

2010-09-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

Has it really been a whole month since I've updated here? Seriously, it felt like I had at least updated a week or two ago. I guess time flies when you're having fun...

Since summer officially ended yesterday, let's do an update on my Summer 2010 Bucket List. I shall enumerate the fun things accomplished, and present for you my shoddy excuses on the things that didn't happen. Yet.

1) Drive Trail Ridge Road has definitely been accomplished. And some bits of it more than once. We were so enamored with the park we returned the next weekend and bought an annual pass. And if you're friends with me on Facebook, I'm 100% sure you are tired of seeing my pictures of mountains, mountains, and more mountains.

View from Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park

September 2010

Photo: Amanda Drescher

2) We never made it to Water World... Not quite sure why. I was just never in the mood to deal with a huge, thronging crowd in bathing suits over an 8 hour period (because some people [I'm not going to name name's] think that you can only go to a water park for a full day or it's not worth it). Plus, it was kind of on the crazy expensive side of Things To Do. But we'll definitely shoot for it next summer.

3) We did make it to the farmer's market... Last weekend, actually. And we'll definitely be going back this weekend. For about $18 we got a good sized acorn squash, a pie pumpkin, a pint of black pearl tomatoes, a huge bunch of leeks, a purple and white striped eggplant (that George made some kick ass eggplant parm with), a few pounds of apples, some Marconi peppers, a tamale with beans, and no cinnamon pretzels. A very good trip, in my book. Well, except the no cinnamon pretzel part...

Photo: Amanda Drescher

4) We never did sleep outside... With our new found fascination with the park I was hoping we might be able to camp, but one of us (yet again, no names) is deathly afraid of being eaten by a bear in the process. BUT, we have been keeping the windows open at night and it has been delightful. Like crawl- under- the- heaviest- blankets- while- our- noses- get- wonderfully- chilly delightful. So close enough for me.

5) We have been using the grill and porch furniture more, but still not nearly enough. And I have no real reason why, other than we've been eating meatless a LOT. Which really wouldn't explain why we haven't been using the porch furniture. Unless meat is required to use it, but I don't think that's the case. .

6) We did finish watching all the Mad Men seasons before we started the new one. I can't wait to try rum on my french toast. That little Sally Draper should write a cook book. I'd buy it.

7) Milo hasn't gone on a walk EVERY day, but at least every other day we've been going to the dog park. He's such a cute little stinker... He doesn't really want to play with the other dogs, but he loves quietly observing them from a distance. Weirdo.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

8) I have been keeping the garden watered. And let me tell you what, the squirrels sure do appreciate it. They have snacked nearly everything in the garden to death, except the tomatoes, onions, and potatoes. They're even eating the hot peppers. I just don't know what to do about them any more, and don't really have enough fight in me to care about it any more this year. But next year... Next year they better watch out.

9) We haven't made it to the zoo yet, but I think we will soon. They have 4 tiger cubs and a baby seal. The only thing that could keep me away is if they have a Let the Snakes Roam Free day.

10) I've started on the chair, but haven't finished it. I'll get there!

Cravings

2010-08-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have been fighting my sweet tooth for about a month. It has been demanding cake, cupcakes, anything cakey and slathered with icing. I've been holding out pretty well. And then I ran across a picture of a chocolate chip whoopie pie and I was a goner.

I found recipes for pumpkin, classic, maple, and mint chocolate whoopie pies, for double chocolate, pumpkin with chocolate chip, oatmeal, red velvet... Tons of recipes, a lot of which I saved. I ultimately decided to try out this one because of how easy it seemed it would be. All the other recipes wanted me to use cups and cups of shortening and sugar, and this one just wanted a box of cake mix. Done and done.

The recipe warned that the dough would be dry, but mine was still super floury after I had combined everything the best I could, so I ended up adding maybe two tablespoons of milk to get everything to just hold together.

I chose to go the mini whoopie route, and found that the cookie parts turned out best when I actually formed the dough into balls by rolling it in my hands. Just dropping the dough resulted in something way too crispy, while making the balls made the cookies soft and pillowy.

While the cookies were going, I made the icing. It was pretty standard cream cheese icing, but instead of flavoring it with vanilla, I added about half a tablespoon of maple syrup.

The result?

Very, very sweet and yummy, and perfectly killed my craving. Bad news? Not a whole lot like a whoopie pie at all. The cookies aren't as moist and cake- like as whoopie pie cookies normally are, which was a little disappointing. However, these make great sandwich cookies. The icing dries nicely and keeps the cookies held together, which doesn't always happen for me.

These were SUPER easy to make. I will probably definitely make more of these, especially for Christmas. And I am interested to see how this recipe will apply to different flavors of cake mixes (I'm lookin' at you, Red Velvet).

Here's my recipe (which was modified from this one):

Vanilla Sandwich Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

For Cookies
1 box of vanilla cake mix
1/2 stick of butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1- 2 tablespoons milk

For Frosting
4oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick of butter, softened
2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2- 1 tablespoon maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. For cookies, combine the cake mix, butter, and egg together with a fork (or mixer). If your mix is too dry to hold together, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you can form a coarse dough. Scoop heaping teaspoonfuls of dough, and roll it between your hands to form balls. Space balls about 2" apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Take out and leave to set on the sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. To prepare frosting, mix cream cheese and butter together until smooth with a fork. Add maple syrup to taste, up to a tablespoon. Add powdered sugar in 1/4 cup intervals to mix until you get a consistency you like (probably no more than 2 1/2 cups).

5. When cookies have cooled completely, fill with about 1 teaspoon of icing, and sandwich cookies together. Store cookies in air-tight container in the refrigerator. Makes about 30 sandwich cookies.

I'm Going to Break it Down for You

2010-08-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

I am glad we live near here:

So we can go here:

(Supposedly Boettcher Hall is the only symphony orchestra space in the country built in the round. Exciting! Look at their awesome 360 tours and seating plan here... It really is an interesting set up.)

To see this guy that we love:

Although it will probably be a bit more like this:

So to sum up, it will be kind of like this:

I has a quilt!

2010-08-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

Well, just a top. Next up: Finding some binding and something for the backside (I'm hoping to find some sort of fun kind of coordinating sheet, but since I've been looking for one for roughly 2 years, I'm not holding my breath that one will magically appear in the next few days).

It's going to end up being a little smaller than what I was planning on... I intended it to fit a full size bed, but I wasn't counting on having to trim as much as I did. I think this would fit okayish on a twin sized bed, but not a whole lot of overhang on the sides.

I also gave up any idea of trying to line up the squares perfectly. That sort of perfection will never be something I find fun, so I doubt I will ever make a "perfect" quilt.

Fuzzy, but you get the idea. I originally wasn't planning on using the purple flowers on orange polka dots, but threw it in on a whim when I discovered it in a fabric pile around the house. I'm sincerely glad I did, otherwise the quilt would be even smaller than what it already is.

And by far, my favorite squares:

Of course I take a picture of the square with a lose thread on it.

Let's all cross our fingers this beast will finally be finished by the end of the month!

Smor·gas·bord

2010-07-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

(smor'ges-bord)n.

1. A buffet meal featuring a varied number of dishes.

2. A varied collection.
3. One of my favorite sorts of meals.

fig. 1:

(lunch)

Garden Update

2010-07-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

Ever since we got back from vacation it has been nearly impossible for me to remember to water the garden. Either I completely forget, or I don't remember until well after dark when it's almost bedtime, so I promise myself I'll get up early the next morning and water before it gets hot.

I imagine you know how often that promise comes true.

Which is why I made it #8 on my Summer '10 Bucket List. So far it's going pretty well. In order to motivate myself (which really, let's face it, is why this blog exists), I'm posting an update so everyone can see how horrible things are looking (and really, I didn't take pictures of the most terrible stuff). Hopefully by the end of the summer it'll all be in the shape it was before we left.

On to the evidence...

My poor, poor hanging basket. I can't tell you how proud I was of this before we left... It had beautiful cascading purple flowers spilling out of it, in a rare feat of gardening I have never experienced before. For whatever reason, hanging baskets will never, ever grow for me, no matter how carefully I take care of them. I'm not even sure if there is enough time to get this one back on track, but I'm trying.

The oregano, mint, sage, and basil are managing to hang on, but the cilantro is going to seed... I think we're going to try and dry the seeds to plant more cilantro next year, rather than using them for corriander (mainly because I don't think I've ever needed corriander in any recipe, let alone the ones in regular rotation).

Before we left, we ended up pulling out all the iceberg lettuce (we planted them too close together so they started to rot) with the intention of planting beans in their spot when we got back. The beans were doing great when we got home... Nice, healthy little sprouts. That I promptly killed. They're slooowly starting to green back up, but I think it's going to be too late to plant them even if they make a come back.

The cabbages and brussel sprouts are in this same bed, and horribly infested with aphids. Hopefully they'll finally get sprayed tonight to kill those little suckers... We have had the worst time with them and the horn worms. The battle has been so annoying this summer we'll probably skip cabbage, brussel sprouts, and broccoli next year. Leaves more room for tomatoes.

The next bed over is full of lovely little carrot shoulders starting to peek up above the ground...

And a nice little Serano pepper that is trying its best. It pretty much looks wilty all the time, but is making peppers, so I guess he's okay-ish.

There are strawberries also in the bed, which really didn't like not being watered every day. They're making a come back as well... I'm not expecting much from them this go around, but I think they will be awesome next year.

When we left, the eggplant had one lone flower on it. When we got back it had none, but I've managed to coax these three little blooms back.

The zucchini didn't seem any worse for the wear. In fact, I think it kind of liked being ignored.

The orange and red bell peppers are very happy, especially the orange... He's got three little peppers growing at a lightening pace.

The pickling cucumber has about 5 little guys on it. Evidently they like being ignored, too... When we got home there were 2 almost completely grown cucumbers on it.

The German Queen is awesome. It has about 5 tomatoes coming in that are going to be huge. Very, very excited.

The Sweet 100 is living up to it's name, in taste and volume.

The Yellow Pear has tons of these little clusters all over it, but their certainly taking their sweet time to ripen.

Mr. Stripey is very disappointing. He's been crazy slow to grow, and so far only has two tomatoes with no signs of more.

The Cherry Pepper has a bunch of little guys coming in all over it.

The acorn squash is out of control. I was expecting it to get long and viney. I wasn't expecting it to want to grow upwards. We put a tomato cage around it before we left and came back to about 3 feet more of vine that what we left it with. So he's getting tucked behind the fence posts... We'll see how that goes.

When we left we had quite a few yellow squashes. When we got back, we had a bunch of withered up things that used to be squashes. No signs of any new ones yet, but there are a few blooms, so there's hope.

And the lemon cucumber is holding steady. Not dying, but not thriving, either.

And the potatoes are in such a sad state I was too embarrassed to take pictures of them.

I Miracle Grow'ed yesterday, and we got a decent bit of rain today, so hopefully things will start to look up :)

Summer 2010 Bucket List

2010-07-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

1. Drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park on Trail Ridge Road and then spend the night at Grand Lake or Granby so we can stalk mooses.

Picture: www.regensburgerphotography.com

2. Go to Water World, the (supposedly) largest water park in America.

http://www.lakewoodcoloradorealestate.com/attractions-waterworld.htm

3. Make it to the stupid farmer's market... It's only been going on every Saturday for the past few months, but we always seem to have Saturday morning plans that prevent us from going. I hate that we aren't taking advantage of it.

Picture: www.longmontfarmers.com

4. Sleep outside one night.

Tent pic (and available to purchase) here.

5. Use the grill and porch furniture more.

Pictures: Amanda Drescher

6. Finish watching seasons 1-3 of Mad Men before starting to watch season 4.

Picture: www.blognewsok.com

7. Take Milo on a walk every day.

Picture: Amanda Drescher

8. Keep up with watering the garden (no idea why this one has become so difficult recently).

Picture: Amanda Drescher

9. Go to the Denver Zoo.

Picture: www.sciencenewsforkids.org

10. Recover the green chair while I can still do it outside.

Picture: Amanda Drescher

11. Enjoy more sunsets.

Picture: Amanda Drescher

The Dark Side

2010-07-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

A combination of not feeling so great and spotty internet led me to getting into organizing some of the photos saved on my computer. I tackled the folder entitled "Cool Rooms and Houses" and realized some stuff.

1) George is going to be in for a world of hurt when we finally have a house I can demolis... I mean, make pretty.

2) The aforementioned house is going to have to have at least 58 rooms (and at least 6 of those kitchens) so I can squeeze in all the stuff I like "the most."

3) Someone is going to have to do the very dirty, ugly job of prying the dark paint chips and samples away from me. I do not envy that person, because I love me some dark paint. See below...

Pretty much one of my most favorite rooms, ever. I love everything about it... Especially the charcoal black walls.

Follow the jump for a ton more darkness...

I'm horrible about noting where pictures are from when I save them, but I'll credit the ones I'm kind of sure about :)

I believe this is from Elle Decor.

From a DesignSponge.com Before/ After

From sfgirlbybay.com... LOVE this one.

More of the dining room from before the jump... Where do they get all the awesome vintage lights?!

I love this kitchen. I hope to one day have a kitchen large enough to accommodate comfy chairs.

LOVELOVELOVE.

A Lot of Green Stuff

2010-06-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

We started planting stuff back in March/ April... Here's some befores:

And here's what we're at right now...

Clockwise from bottom left: dahlias, a dying anemone (apparently the earth had the audacity to orbit, so now this spot is no longer partly shady), mint, oregano, alyssum, cilantro, sage, basil, a dying ranunculus (he hasn't been well since the last snow), and more alysssum.

From bottom to top: Iceberg lettuce, brussel sprouts, cabbage

From bottom to top: carrots, strawberries

From bottom left: Another dahlia, eggplant, zucchini, pickling cucumber, broccoli, carnation, more broccolis, a yellow pepper, a broccoli, an orange pepper, and Anaheim pepper

The zucchini is out of control and thinks it owns the box.

From bottom to top: German Queen tomato, Sweet 100 (I think) tomato, Mr. Stripey tomato, Yellow Pear tomato... Also marigolds and sweet yellow onions.

And lastly... Acorn squash, yellow squash, a cherry pepper, lemon cucumber, red potatoes, and blue potatoes.

And the porch (and the east view of the sunset from it) is still awesome.

2010-06-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

Everything is just right today.

Today I have no stress, which is good to remember on the days when it seems my life is nothing but stress.

It just rained, and it's nice and cool and green feeling and smelling.

The band across the block from us is rehearsing songs I loved listening to in high school.

The house is clean. Well... Clean enough.

We have everything we need.

Except Milo. He needs omnoms.

The garden is growing like crazy and getting bigger everyday.

I have people in my life that are unconditionally on my team, and today is one of those days where I'm not doubting that.

I very rarely used the word "blessed," but today I sure feel like I am.

Aubin and Willis

2010-06-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one day? I know. Highly excessive.

Which should prove without a doubt how awesome Aubin and Willis is... I would've just employed my Tumblr if it looked like there were only one or two items to post. But A and W has so many eye catching items, there were about 20 pictures I wanted to post.

Please check out the site... They have women's and men's clothes, too, but I was really taken with their handbags and home stuff (obviously).

All pictures from Aubin and Willis.

Selbourne Shopper

£98

Seatoller Shopper

£98

Carelock Fold Over Shopper

£189

Chattisham Notebook

£4.50

Emmerson Room Spray

£29

Hilmarton Blanket

£198

Rondendale Body Lotion

£9

A wee bit expensive, but very fun to browse :)

I'm Going to Live on the Porch This Summer

2010-06-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

So I've mentioned quite a few times how awesome the backyard is, but haven't really mentioned the front yard situation.

This is what the front of our house looked like when we moved in:

Nice. Not a lot to write home about, but okay, especially considering it was November when we took this picture. In front of the porch is a tiny little yard with really nice grass like in the back.

This is the new and improved porch:

Much nicer, yes? We FINALLY picked up our porch furniture from Kmart on Saturday. I can't tell you how much I love it. The seats are nice and deep, the cushions just the right amount of squishy and comfy, plus the frames feel really sturdy. Very pleased with this purchase... For awhile I was concerned that it was a super frivolous thing to be buying, but I think it was so very much worth it.

These are the anemones on either side of the stairs... I don't think I've ever seen these in the south... I bought them, pretty sure I would kill them instantly, but they're still looking pretty good. So far.

This is the awesome rose bush planted on the left side of the porch... When we moved in, it had been cut all the way back and we weren't really sure what it would do this spring. Apparently it is going to be loaded with pretty hot pink roses.

This is what's planted on the right side, kind of behind the loveseat... Not 100% sure what it is, but it just started sprouting these pink flowers... It kind of reminds me of an azalea bush, but not really.

The hanging baskets are looking great as well... I've never been able to get anything to grow in them before, so it feels nice to have finally conquered them.

We also got the rug on Saturday (from Home Depot) and the little side tables from Big Lots... The umbrella tree and pot we already had, and I got the little miniature rose on one of my recent unsupervised trips to Lowe's.

Since the porch light is a fluorescent and very anti- ambiance, we turned to my dear old friend, the string light. To George's great frustration, I made him hang these Saturday night... But yet again, well worth it (complete with the schnauzer bear peering through the screen door):

So if and when I go missing this summer... Check here first.

Things

2010-05-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

1) I made this Strawberry and Mozzarella Salad tonight for dinner. You need to hop on it and make one yourself... It was incredibly easy to make and reasonably filling for a light salad. It's kind of tart and creamy and rich all at the same time. Omnomnomnom...

Picture from Etsy Labs (I think... The first pic in the series is from Etsy Labs, so I'm guessing maybe the rest are, too?)

2) At the bottom of that entry, you might notice some different Etsy goods advertised to help you make your own delicious salad. As soon as we have some spare folding money, I'm going to snap up one of these Urban Cheesecraft Mozzarella and Ricotta DIY Cheese Kits (which they are [un]fortunately sold out of right now, sparing me from temptation) and make my own cheese. I have a feeling it will either be a spectacular failure or at the very best passable the first time around... But cheese makin' is something I've kind of halfway thought about doing before, and if all of this stuff comes in a kit, how can I not try? Plus, it will be a great use for all of our milk we can never seem to drink fast enough. Using up milk is a problem, but I have a feeling getting rid of fresh, homemade cheese will be considerably easier.

Picture: Urban Cheesecraft @Etsy.com

3) Jamie Oliver. Oh, Jamie Oliver... How I love and hate you. Love, because you're so passionate about what you do and are full of good ideas and motivation and truth. Hate, because you always seem to slip in some horrifying fact about farming that completely turns me off of meat. More specifically this time, eggs and meat.

This time, in Jamie at Home: Cooking Your Way to the Good Life you let slip that factory chickens are kept at least 5 to a cage with less space than a piece of typing paper, and stacked many cages high and wide. That the chickens feet are damaged from standing in wire cages their whole lives and that their nails grow long, and that their beaks are clipped and that their combs are so light pink they're almost white (when they should be red) because they are so unhealthy.

Enter Colorado being awesome. At my local grocery store (not a specialty grocery store either, just plain old King Sooper [Kroger to some of you]), I found Cyd's Nest Fresh. They're eggs from certified humanely raised chickens that are fed a natural vegetarian diet and are able to live naturally (aka cage free). Even better, they're from Broomfield, Colorado which is roughly only18 miles away from us. So much win it hurts.

Picture: From www.nestfresh.com

Dear old Jamie also has a lamb chapter. Now George and I aren't lamb eaters, not even a little bit. But Jamie goes into some detail about how the best way to buy lamb is to buy directly from the farmer. This idea, coupled with some information I've gotten from summaries of Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals* (I won't lie, I'm horribly afraid to read this book, even though I know it's one of those things I should probably do for my personal greater good), and joined by a very helpful booklet entitled Colorado Farm Fresh left by the milk lady in our cooler Monday night led me to Colorado's Best Beef Company.

CBBC is ran by two families. They don't use anibiotics, steroids, growth horomones, or artificial ingredients. They treat the cows humanely and minimally process their meat. You can buy anywhere from a whole cow to a pound of ground beef. This find was such a relief, because I can't help it... I like hamburgers. I like steak. I am so grateful to have a place like this where I can purchase responsibly produced meat.

When I order from here I'll let you know how it goes.

*When I first read some responses from this book, and a few brief summaries about it and the details it covers about the horrifying conditions animals are kept in and their inhumane slaughter** had me turning coat and running toward the vegetarian side of the fence. I can't help it. Animal cruelty breaks my heart.

**Animals are bled, skinned, and dismembered while conscious. It happens all the time, and the industry and the government know it. Several plants cited for bleeding or skinning or dismembering live animals have defended their actions as common in the industry and asked, perhaps rightly, why they were being singled out. (p.230, Eating Animals by JS Foer)

4) This weekend should be pretty awesome. Saturday I have to hang some lights/ make a few cues for a dance show I'm lighting next weekend, hopefully we'll hit up the thrift store in Loveland on our way to finally picking up the patio furniture:

Picture: Kmart.com

I think we might also go see the Musemason bluegrass band at the Mishawaka Ampitheatre on Sunday and to the Boulder Creek Festival on Monday. Hopefully there will be some time in there somewhere to pickup and start the next of the Pseudonymous Bosch series while laying in the outrageously green and soft grass.

5) To sum up: Life is good :)

Awful Falafel

2010-05-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

While Colorado has many awesome qualities, one of the not so awesome (obviously I've given up on the fight against "awesome") qualities is that Greek food is scarce here. Especially in Longmont.
So back around Christmas we were very excited to discover an establishment claiming to be the only Greek restaurant in town. I will not reveal the name, because I'm going to say not the nicest things about it at some points here, and I don't want to be super mean. I'm okay with just kind of mean, though.

We went to the Christmas parade, and while wandering around the park waiting for fireworks, we stumbled upon a little booth next to the ice skating rink which was in fact the Greek food people. George got a falafel sandwich, and loved it... I had a bite, too, and it was pretty good (as far as I know, because it was my first falafel).

Come to find out, the real "restaurant" ended up being nothing more than a little decrepit kiosk tent set up in the owner's front yard, surrounded by falling apart patio furniture. I have been too sketched out to try it, but George stopped by for another falafel. He said it was horrible and couldn't even finish it (If you know George, you know that this is quite the statement. He's been known to eat half a lasagna on his own in one sitting). We then dubbed it the "awful falafel" and moved on into a falafel-less exsistence.

We have been without falafel for many months. So I decided to tackle it myself.

My first mistake was turning to Martha. I love Martha. She has great recipes. But they invariably take for. Ev. Er. to make. If she says something will take 1/2 an hour, I expect it to take closer to an hour. 45 minues in Martha Land really means an hour and a 1/2.

I used this recipe for the falafel, and this one for the tzatziki.

This is the mess I made in the kitchen, and why I am not reporting back on bacon cookies (if we aren't Facebook friends, this link is to a conversation held yesterday on whether or not bacon cookies are possible) today:

Definitely not the worst damage I have ever done, but it was enough to make me not feel like making another mess.

Fortunately I had episodes of Glee and Parenthood to keep me company during my chopping, mincing, grating, and processing.

I got into the tzatziki first, because the cucumber needed to drain for 1/2 an hour. I only made about 1/3 of this recipe, because I really didn't think we would require 2+ cups of cucumber sauce for 3 or 4 sandwiches.

The recipe says to make 1/2" cubes, which I started with. Then you mix the cucumber with salt, and let it drain in a colander for 1/2 an hour. I did this, and then squeezed it as the recipe directed, but hardly eliminated any water from the cucumber... Maybe I had a dry one? Who knows. After I did this, I ended up chopping up my 1/2" cubes because they just seemed too big... I would recommend either mincing the cucumber or maybe pulsing it in a food processor a couple of times.

I'd also slowly add the dill to taste... I used dried dill and used about 1/4 of a tablespoon instead of the 2 tablespoons of fresh called for, and it was still too much.

The actual falafel making was pretty easy... I think I was short on garbanzo beans (the recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups/ 14 ounces... I got a 16 ounce can and I was still about 3/4 of a cup short), so I slightly reduced the other ingredients and added a couple tablespoons whole wheat flower to thicken the "batter" a little bit.

I also didn't try to handle the patties with my hands... I just used spoons. I also took a spoon and sprayed it with cooking spray to scoop them off the cookie sheet to get them in the pan, and it worked like a charm.

I used cilantro and mint with a tiny bit of basil as my 1/2 cup of chopped herbs, which worked really well.

Overall, it was definitely good, but I'm not sure if it was really worth all the effort. As I told George, it will have to be a sometimes food.

If anyone has an easier recipe, please send it my way! It would be very much appreciated :)

I Managed to Update Sparrow @Etsy.com

2010-05-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

New stuff!!!

Upcycled Chalkboard Globe

Vintage Silver Plate Leaf Dish

Upcycled Mounted Ceramic Hoof

And more :)

Assorted Things

2010-05-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

It seems like a lot has happened since our last installment. Here's the update.

1) The grill wasn't as difficult to assemble as feared. Actually, I think what took me the longest was unpacking everything out of the giant box. Each individual piece was wrapped with cardboard and foam and then most pieces were wrapped with tape. The most frustrating part of the assembly was that it kept raining... I was about halfway through when it first started, so I packed everything back up inside the grill top and had to wait it out so I could finish. Then almost as soon as I finished the rain started up again, so I ran back over to Lowe's to get a grill cover.

As soon as I got the cover home there was no more rain.

2) I have no problem with making cakes from mixes. They always turn out way better than anything I make from scratch... Somehow I have a great knack for drying out homemade cakes. George originally asked if there was such a thing as a butter pecan cake, and I said I didn't think so... But lo and behold, it does exist. And it is amazing. It smells great baking and tastes even better. And the cake itself is not too nutty... I don't know how to explain it. It is, but it isn't. Anyway, I highly recommend you make one yourself. I iced ours with buttercream and topped it with chopped pecans.

3) I finally hung up some string lights in the backyard. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, because the outside light in the back is like a blinding light that God would send down before magically appearing. The string lights are much softer and kinder to the eyes... Right now I just have them shoddily hung near the door (we need some sort of a ladder before I can make them look pretty), but I think I'm going to go all the way along the back of the house with them, too.

4) Betty White on SNL was very entertaining. The thing I was most impressed with in the whole show, sadly, was no Betty. It was that frickin' awesome wall of mirror with tons of light bulbs in it that was used during JayZ's performances. I need one so bad it's not funny.

Look. At. It.

Jay-Z Performance On SNL __F.B__ from FabyBaby on Vimeo.

5) We went and saw Conan O'brien's tour in Boulder on Sunday night. If he is coming to a city near you, I highly suggest you go. I didn't enjoy his opening act very much (cursing for no reason isn't humorous to me), but everything after that was fabulous. There was a nice mix of jokes, bits, videos, and singing. I agree with some other reviews that I've read, that the songs seem like they really don't add a whole lot to the show, but I've sat through worse stuff that Conan O'brien singing funny songs.

Also, the Macky Auditorium on the CU campus in Boulder is beautiful.

And technically, the show was awesome... George is working on finding me a bat:

I Will Survive (Live at Conan O'Brien's 'Legally Prohibited...Tour') from Kasey on Vimeo.

In conclusion: Awesome weekend. I think there's some stuff I'm leaving out, but that's what tomorrow is for, right?

Today is Going to be Intense

2010-05-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

Why, do you ask? Because I'm assembling this:

I fear it shall be one intensely frustrating day. But I'll power through it, because assembly of the new grill is one of the birthday guy's presents.

Good Idea.

2010-05-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure what possessed us to do it, but we spent a good while looking up different fast food places and checking out the nutritional content of stuff we get on a kind of regular basis. I recommend everyone take 15 minutes to do this... It has pretty much eliminated all fast food from our menus (even the third ingredients on BUNS was often high fructose corn syrup). We've decided Panda Express is still allowed, as long as the fried stuff is stayed away from. And I guess if you NEED a hamburger quickly, Wendy's would be your best bet... It was the only place I checked out that included only two ingredients in its beef (ground beef and seasoning salt).

We're by no means big fast food eaters. We'll do it maybe once a week when we're running around on the weekends... And I think George might do breakfast/ lunch a couple times during the week at work at a fast food place (but he has the metabolism of... Um, something with really high metabolism. George can eat and eat and eat and eat and still be as thin as he ever was. Jealous). But we couldn't fathom how some people eat that kind of crap everyday.

The thing I'm saddest to see go is my small Marshmallow Spoonbender from Good Times... It's about maybe 1/2- 3/4 of a cup of frozen custard with marshmallow cream in it, and is a very impressive 600 calories. RIP, old friend.

Our Backyard

2010-05-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

I can't get enough of it. The grass is so awesome... I guess living so many years in the south has made me believe that grass should be patchy with dirt patches and sort of straw- like and wiry.

It does not have to be so, my friends.

We love it.

Something else we love... Well, I love. Because Milo can't read. Not yet, anyway.

I'm a crazy dog lady.

Anyway- The Mysterious Benedict Society. Holy cow. What a book.

It's kind of like if Roald Dahl, Harry Potter, and Professor Layton all had a baby together. The writing style is definitely Dahl- ish, the situations are very Potter- y, and the obstacles are Layton- style witty. I love it. I finished this one this morning, so will be going out this afternoon for this one:

I'm planning to spend some quality time with this and a certain fella in the backyard this afternoon. I'm excited.

So, um...

2010-04-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not really updating that much here anymore (obviously), but I have been over here a whole lot:

Ephemeral Sparrow @Tumblr

Which is where I think my new home will be for awhile. Come visit!

UPDATE: I discovered that Tumblr will import my blog posts from here, so I'm going to keep the bloggy stuff here... We shall see if keeping up with both will be too much. I don't think so. But we'll see.

Sparrow @ Etsy.com Has Been Updated

2010-04-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

Check it out here.

The Living Room is Really Close to Being Finished

2010-03-31T15:35:00.000-07:00

Today I got way too ambitious. I tackled the carpet situation.

Our landlord has a boring beige area rug in every room (except the Murphy bed room, which is fun blue and green circles). Since we have area rugs of our own, we tried just laying ours over the top of hers, thinking that it would just make the floor squooshier. Which was true in every room but the living room. Our carpet here decided it didn't want to lay flat, no way no how. So we've ignored its bad behavior since November.

Until today.

Things I learned:
1) It definitely takes more than one person to wrangle a 9'x11' area rug out from under a 8'x10' rug.
2) Propping one end of the couch up on a box is very helpful for getting the carpet out from under a couple of its feet at once, but it's nearly impossible to get the couch off the box by yourself.
3) A bunny cage is not sufficiently built to support half the weight of a large carpet. No bunnies were hurt in the moving of the carpets, but there were a few tense minutes in there, I won't lie.
4) Schnauzer's are absolutely no help in this process.
5) Area rugs are really heavy, and one person can not manage to get one down a couple of stairs and through two doorways out to the shed solo. So sometimes they have to stay in the kitchen until the muscle shows up from work.

We also managed to get the frame for the coffee table finished (finally). George built it on Sunday, I stained it Monday, and attached the wheels and brought it in yesterday. It. Is. Awesome. I love being able to roll it out of the way. I love that since I can turn it around easily, now the drawers can face the couch so we can hide ugly things in it (remotes, Wii- motes, mail, emergency candy), but I can still turn it around to get my plans out of the top of it. Best idea of all time.

Since I was doing stuff, I also got the curtains up in the living room. I've been making myself crazy looking for some black and white damask patterned sheers that I KNOW we have somewhere, but I finally gave up. So I ended up putting up some slighting mismatched velvet panels I made for our last house in Savannah. One set is a light mossy green, and the other is sort of a light greenish blue. I put them up with the intention of that they would be good enough until I found something better, but I kind of like the mismatching.

And for good measure, the rest of the room:

I still want to do something to the brown piece of furniture (What the heck is it? It has two file drawers and a cabinet...) that the tv is on... I'm kind of thinking about maybe something slightly pattern-y with awesome Anthropologie knobs, but I haven't been able to wrap my mind around it yet.

I also need to convince George to help me get the Giant Mirror in from the shed to lean on the wall behind Bunny... Maybe tonight when we wrassle the carpet out of here...

2010-03-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

I was in the middle of the show yesterday, when George sends me a text saying Milo was bit by the dog that lives behind us. There is one measly board missing in our privacy fence, and the two of them have used the space to woof at each other with wild puppy abandon. So fortunately the other dog couldn't get to a whole lot of Milo, just his poor little nose. Unfortunately, his little schnoze is all scraped up. And I never really thought about it, but he uses his nose for a lot of stuff. He won't go out the dog door anymore, because has to nudge it open with his nose. He's been eating really gingerly, rather than burying his head in his omnoms up to his neck, as per usual. He's not rooting around on the couch like a little pig while warming up a comfy spot to snooze, because that requires a lot of snout use.

Besides his nose being out of commission, and him being generally shaken up and taken down a peg or two, I think the worst part of the whole thing is the lady that owns the dog didn't say a word about it to George. And we know that she knows what happened... George says he was inside and heard them barking at each other like they usually do, and then Milo yelping and crying. When he went into the backyard, the lady was hauling her dog back into her house. Who does that? Who doesn't even ask if he was okay, or at the very least, apologize?

The brightest side of the whole ordeal is that I think we found a good vet... We've been getting Mr. McGee groomed at Gunbarrel Grooming, which I really like. Also on the same property is the Gunbarrel Veterinary Clinic. We had an awesome experience there today... The receptionists were super friendly and stuffed Milo full of healthy treats, and handled getting all of Milo's and Moki's files faxed from Savannah. We saw Dr. Gustafson, who actually listened to what we had to say, rather than doing that thing that so many vets (and people doctors, for that matter) do where they sort of seem to tune out what you're saying while they're doing their examination. While paying, we asked if they boarded rabbits, and were then swept along on a tour of the whole facility, which was so clean and full of happy puppies.

So that was a very happy silver lining.

Picture: Amanda Drescher

I Love My New Black Apple Prints

2010-03-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

So The Black Apple was having a buy one get one free sale a few weeks back, so I figured it was time to go ahead and break down and get these guys, which I have wanted forever. For our free print, we decided on this one.

Yesterday I was looking for some gift boxes for my Etsy stuff, and ended up at Hobby Lobby where I discovered all their frames were 50% off.

Needless to say, all of our new prints now have very happy homes... Unfortunately I didn't notice that any of the frames had wall hangers on the backs of them (which probably explains why similar frames in another section of the store cost twice as much), but fortunately had all the stuff to put my own on them at home.

All pictures: Amanda Drescher, All Artwork: Emily Martin of The Black Apple

So pleased :)

The Theatre has Eaten Me

2010-03-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

I have really been wanting to update here, but if I am not sleeping, I am doing this:

Photo: George Pantazis

"Over the River and Through the Woods" opens tomorrow at the Longmont Theater... Hopefully once this is up and running I will have time/ energy to think about blogging, and, you know... Making dinner and doing laundry correctly again.

So.

2010-03-08T14:07:00.000-08:00

I suck because I haven't posted anything in a while. I think I've been through one of those phases where I feel like I have nothing to say. But today I'm forcing myself, because if I don't just make myself do it at some point I never will.

Let's start with yesterday... We went to see Alice in Wonderland.
I was really, really looking forward to this movie, because I love the story and I love Tim Burton. Unfortunately, it fell short for me in a lot of ways. I think mainly because one of the things I like most about Burton is his craftiness in film making, and as 90% of Alice seemed like it was CGI'ed, a lot of the Burton charm was completely lost.

Also, the whole thing was a lot more epic-y than what I was expecting... I knew that the story was going to be different than the original Disney Alice, but I was hoping that the departure would be better done that what it was. I read in an interview that Burton did that he was trying to create an actual story for Alice, and to create relationships rather than the movie being about her meeting a lot of eccentric characters... I think a better balance could have been struck between the old and new concepts.

In the same vein, I think the inclusion of the Mad Hatter past his initial scene was kind of pointless, other than to give Johnny Depp a larger role. George argues that the Mad Hatter was included to give Alice a reason to be drawn the Red Queen's castle, but I think another hook could have been found. If Alice was so sure she was in a dream, why would she feel any inclination to go to the castle to rescue someone she had just met? I think this might be where Burton was trying to manufacture some "relationship" feelings.

Overall, the script was weak and the visuals were not what I was hoping for from a Tim Burton movie. However, there were things that I loved:

Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts. Somehow it completely flew over my head that he was even in this movie, so it was a nice surprise. Also, his CGI'ed body bothered me a lot less than the Queen of Hearts.

All of Alice's dresses. Actually, I really liked all of the actual fabric costumes in general, yet again probably because they were obviously crafted and not generated.

Technically a cos-play costume, but I couldn't find one from the movie and this one is so spot on.

I loved the colorful/ mushroom forest scenes... The rest of the movie (for the most part) was very waste land-y, which isn't what I was expecting. I think I was hoping for more whimsy and less Mordor. Don't get me wrong, I love a good, muted color scheme (hello, Sleepy Hollow), but Alice just seemed to be lacking in a solid color idea.

Other love- worthy sets included the Mad Hatter's table:

And the room at the bottom (or is it the top?) of the rabbit hole:

Biggest regret of all: I wish we would have left the house early enough to get to World Market so I could get some Chocorooms to enjoy during the movie.

And just for funsies:

Here is a bit of the original Alice in Wonderland movie, recently released by the British Film Institute.

I am really looking forward to getting the Alice in Wonderland video games for both the Wii and DS... I love that they're different, and I especially love the characters in the DS version:

And finally, here's some awesome tattoos.

*If anyone happens across this that owns any of the above photos, I would love to give credit for them*

Freestyling

2010-02-23T20:07:00.000-08:00

We've started calling it "freestyling" when I in no way follow a recipe when making dinner. I won't lie- it's a dangerous game. Sometimes we end up with something not only strange, but inedible (Namely, a little something that we speak in hushed tones about called "Seafood Delight." Delightful, it was not.).

But most of the times, whatever ends up happening is edible, and sometimes really good. Tonight's freestyle was fan- freakin'- tastic. So good, I can't wait until tomorrow to write it all down here.

I started by getting inspired by Orzo with Roasted Vegetables from Better Homes and Gardens, and Fall Vegetable and Orzo Casserole over at Martha Stewart. I liked the idea of roasted vegetables, orzo, and a casserole.

Here is my best guesstimation of what went down in the kitchen tonight-

1 medium tomato, diced
3/4 cup of broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup of asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
1 leek, quartered and cut into 1/2" pieces
2 carrots, cut into 1/4" half moons
8oz of orzo, cooked al dente
Coarse salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes
About a clove of garlic, chopped
1 (generous) tablespoon lemon juice
Olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 Italian shredded cheese
1/8 cup panko bread crumbs

First I tossed all the vegetables (except the leeks) with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a sheet pan. Then I sprinkled them with coarse salt and black pepper, and then roasted the vegetables in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

I took the broccoli and asparagus off the sheet and into a baking dish, and then roasted the carrots and tomatoes for another 10 minutes. Once they were done, I shot them straight into the baking dish, too. Then I tossed the leeks in, added a dash of red pepper flake (maybe a 1/4 of a teaspoon, if that), a chopped garlic clove, and a pretty big squirt of lemon juice.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Meanwhile, I had cooked my orzo in salted water, and drained most of it... I left maybe a 1/4 of a cup of the pasta water in the pot. I added the butter, and half of the cheese to the hot orzo in the pot, and stirred it until the butter was completely melted.

I tossed the orzo with the vegetables in the baking dish, patted it all down, topped it with the remaining cheese, and maybe an 1/8 of a cup of panko bread crumbs. I put a lid on the dish, and baked it at 350 for 20 minutes, then took the lid off and baked for 10 more minutes.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

It is deliciously awesome. I can't even describe it... There's something very homey and comfort foody about it, but it doesn't really taste like anything I've had before.

You HAVE to try it.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Liberty of London for Target Bandwagon

2010-02-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

I'm hopping aboard.

Liberty of London is affiliated with an English (who would have thought) department store called Liberty &Co., located in London (again, what are the odds?). The store has been in business since 1875 and originally sold fabric and housewares. In the 1890's, the store helped develop the Art Nouveau style by supporting the designers of the movement, which is an influence I think that is still present in their new Target line.

I guess in the back of my mind, I always thought Liberty of London was known for little, stuffy, flower designed scarves and grandma shirts. But with this collection that is coming to Target, I think I've seen the light.

These items below are just a few I'm hoping to snap up, and I'm not even touching on the clothing, baby and garden items, and bikes. Yes, bikes.

The line comes out March 14th, online and in stores. Ready your credit cards.

All above photos from www.target.com
(click photo for a larger image)

Clockwise from top left:

Hat: 12.99

Scarf: 14.99

Set of 3 ceramic mixing bowls (I believe these are coming in 2 other designs, too... One a peacock feather, the other a damask... I would really love to get a set of each to mix the three designs together): 19.99

Ceramic coffee cups (Hoping these pass the George inspection, since he's been complaining about the current coffee cup collection): 4.99 each

Ceramic teapot (Also comes in a black and white design. This one is kind of a wild card... Would I ever honestly use it? Probably not very often at all. Would I love seeing it on the kitchen shelf? Absolutely.): 12.99

Melamine dessert tower tray (I don't have anything like this and would love to start a little collection with this one): 14.99

Ceramic canisters (I've had my cherry set for awhile, and feel like it's time for a change): 19.99, 17.99, 14.99

Pillows (I need these. I have no idea where they're going, but I need them): 19.99 and 16.99

Also check out the Liberty & Co. official website for expensive things to drool over.

Odds and Ends

2010-02-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

Is it possible for it to pour snow? If so, right now it is pouring snow. And it is awesome.

Last night I didn't feel like anything super heavy for dinner, and last trip to the grocery store I discovered Pillsbury is now making a thin pizza crust. I was curious. It became the perfect storm for dinner.

I love making pizza, because I can use up so many things that I have just a little left of in the fridge. Last night, asparagus happened to be the main pizza star.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Sidenote: I LOVE the label on the goat cheese:

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Anyway. So I made an Asparagus, Goat Cheese, Bacon, Sundried Tomato, and Scallion Pizza. It was SO good. Between seeing what they're baking up at Delancey and experiencing the religious experience that is the Idaho from Blackjack Pizza, I've become a lot more fearless about what "belongs" on a pizza. Hopefully there will be more experiments in the future, now that the perfect crust has been found.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

I would also like to give a shout out to my sous chef. He is my constant kitchen companion, and has helped get me through some tough kitchen dilemmas. Especially when the questions revolve around whether or not to use bacon...

Photo: Amanda Drescher

And lastly... I've spent most of the snowy morning reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. Holy cow, I'm hooked. Not just on the book, but on this whole Henry VIII situation. Once I finish reading the series of books, I'm going to spend some quality time with The Tudors. It looks like it will be super classy and accurate, like all things on Showtime.

The Cheesecake Cometh

2010-02-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

Making homemade cheesecake is a beast. I had forgotten how beastly it was, but now that I remember, I doubt I'll try to perfect Cheesecake Making to add to the special skills section of my resume.

As mentioned briefly here, I was originally planning on making this cheesecake for Valentine's day but ran out of time. Not until I was baking it did I notice that the recipe says it needs to chill for at least 8 hours, so I'm very glad I didn't try it for Valentine's.

The actual combining of ingredients wasn't so bad... The only place I think I failed was in beating the cream cheese until it was fluffy (how ambiguous), because I found some little lump-lets in the filling later.

My biggest problem came in when I discovered I didn't have any sort of vessel large enough to put my springform pan in to make a water bath with. And believe me, I explored every option that would safely go in the oven. Before consulting the internet, there was a panicked call to George asking him to stop on his way home (while it was snowing, around 7pm, after he had been at work since 9am) to get one of those aluminum roasting pans.

But then I checked the internet, to find there are many conflicting ideas about what the purpose of the water bath is (which is a method where you put the springform pan full of unbaked cheesecake into a roasting pan, and then pouring boiling water into the roasting pan to submerge about 2/3 of the springform pan) . It seemed that for the most part, there are two theories. The first is that the water bath slowly heats up the springform pan and somehow more uniformly bakes the cake. The second (which is the one I decided to believe) is that the water bath mainly is there to provide a humid environment in the oven. I also found a few advocates of putting a couple of pans of boiling water under the cheesecake to simulate the water bath environment.

So I figured I'd give it a go... What was the worst that could happen? I figured the top might crack, but that whatever happened that something tasty would still be coming out of the oven.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

While the cake was baking, I made the blueberry topping. It was super, crazy easy. However, I think because I was using frozen blueberries instead of fresh, I did have to cook everything down a little bit longer to get it to thicken up to a syrupy consistency.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Overall- We are a really big fan of the cheesecake. Yet again, I had to bake it about 30 minutes longer than recommended, and the cake still ended up a little less set than what it should be. So while it's not the most amazingly great cheesecake, it is at least better than that weird Jello cheesecake stuff in a tub.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

I decided (mainly for ease of storage) to individually top the slices. Which is good, because the blueberry topping is really too strong for the cheesecake. The homemade, cheesecake-y flavor is totally lost in the blueberries. But I can see the blueberries, slightly warmed, being really awesome on vanilla bean ice cream.

Glad I made it. Really tasty. Probably won't try this exact recipe again.

Our New Addition

2010-02-19T16:55:00.000-08:00

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Oh, Phrenology Phil, how I love you so...

Reason #36 to Love Colorado

2010-02-19T16:26:00.000-08:00

So Milo and I were sharing a kersnorgle upon the sofa couch when the door bell rang this morning. We were kind of disconcerted, because Everybody Loves Raymond (I know the merits of ELR are very debatable) had just started, and we do enjoy our late morning chuckle.

Okay, I was disconcerted about missing ELR, Milo was more disconcerted by the door bell.

It turned out to be a representative from the Longmont Dairy Farm. When we first moved here, we noticed that a lot of people actually have LDF coolers sitting on their front porches... I did a little Googling, and discovered that it was a milk delivery service.

Who would have thought.

So the lady and I talked all about their cows (they keep the herd only as large as they need), how they raise all their own cows (with no hormones), their low pulp and low acidity orange juice, and their Talbott's Mountain apple juice made from Colorado apples with no sweeteners or water.

She let me sample the juices and left me with a free half gallon of milk. All three are amazingly delicious.

Needless to say, we now have a cooler on the front porch, waiting to be filled up March 2nd.

Drink Me

2010-02-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas, Anthropologie had these awesome champagne glasses that I had to have. Since it was Christmas time, we didn't have a lot of spare change, so I thought I would just get them when we got back home. I was bordering on euphoric when they went on sale the day we were driving back to Colorado. I promised myself I would get online that night at the hotel and buy them.

Unfortunately, that was a very bad night (as can be seen here) and I completely forgot about the glasses. Like, completely forgot... I didn't remember them until maybe we had been back home a week or so. Of course they were no longer available, online or in our closest store. However, we did find these, which I love to death:

Photo: Amanda Drescher

I was a little sad about missing out on the champagne glasses, but figured I could maybe make my own. Imagine my surprise when I was trying to find a picture for reference today, and discovered they had been restocked:

Photo: www.anthropologie.com

Four are now happily on their way to, in turn, make me very happy. I can't wait! Especially since we only have one grown- up beverage glass that I really love (someone is a very enthusiastic dishwasher around here):

Photo: Amanda Drescher

They were from Target a few Christmas's ago, and designed by Tord Boontje. Unfortunately, Oprah deemed them one of her Favorite Things that Christmas and now they are nearly impossible to find.

So very happy that the Starry Champagne Glasses will be here in 5 to 7 business days.

Nitrates/ Nitrites are the Devil

2010-02-18T13:39:00.000-08:00

In the March issue of Glamour, there was a little question/ answer box in the health section asking about eating cured meats, such as lunch meat, bacon, and sausage. Within the answer, Dr. JoAnn Manson states that regularly eating cured meats leads to an elevated chance of stomach cancer, further saying that nitrites and nitrates are likely the cause of the link. Dr. Manson then goes on to say that eating cured meat sparingly, about once a week, is okay.

I had never heard this about cured meats. Since I really like a turkey sandwich at lunch time, and a little bit of bacon about once a week, I found this news a little alarming. I checked our lunch meat, and sure enough, nitrites were in it. Then I got really sad, and decided I would rather save up my nitrite/ nitrate intake for bacon once a week, and that would be that. I could live in a lunch meatless world. Sure I could.

However. Yesterday at the grocery store, something magical happened. I found Hormel Natural Choice Meats.

Photo: www.hormel.com

They have lunch meat. They have bacon. Both without nitri/ates. It was one of those magical moments where the silver lining suddenly appears. With all things that are good for you, they are a little bit more expensive... But I think in the long run, well- worth it.

Here's some more ideas on how to reduce your cancer risks: Reduce cancer risks with dietary tweaks.

What We've Been Eating

2010-02-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

First of all, I decided to forgo buying candy for George for Valentine's and decided to make some on my own. I know that he likes white chocolate covered pretzels, but since I don't, we really don't keep them in the house (Not because I'm so overbearing George can't have his own snack foods... It just makes more sense for us to get snacks everyone likes. Don't judge me.).

I got pretzel rods and a couple bags of white chocolate chips, planning just to melt the chocolate in a double boiler and dipping the pretzels (not rocket science or anything)... I checked this recipe, and it seemed my plan would work. And it did, for the most part. Things to note:

1) It was a lot easier breaking the pretzels in half and dipping the broken ends rather than trying to dip the whole pretzel... It only took me doing two whole ones to come to this conclusion.
2) The chocolate needs to stay over boiling water the whole time. Which leads us to...
3) The chocolate and the double boiler get insanely hot. I had a gap between my bowl and pot, and steam kept escaping and causing me to sling white chocolate chips all over the kitchen (much to Milo's delight). So I tried turning the heat down to more like medium- high, but the chocolate started to thicken and wasn't sticking nicely to the pretzels anymore.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

For Valentine's we decided early on to stay in and eat steak. I decided to make Steak au Poivre, Tri- Color Vegetable Saute, and Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Dates. I was also shooting to make Cheesecake with Blueberry Topping, but time got away from me (darn geocaching)... So that'll be a project for maybe next week, since I already have the three bricks of cream cheese for it sitting in the fridge.

The steaks were super easy peasy... Basically pressing pepper into all sides of them, and then cooking them in butter until they were done. I chose this particular recipe in order to use up a little bit of brandy we had. The sauce only called for 1/4 of a cup of it, but next time around I might use a little bit more because the sauce (while good) didn't really have a prevailing taste or flavor.

Picture: www.bhg.com

The Vegetable Saute was easy, too. I chose it because we already had the edemame and corn. I particularly enjoyed the sundried tomatoes in this recipe, which I normally don't have on hand so usually skip in recipes... They definitely added something to what otherwise would have just been warm vegetables. I also thought the combination of basil and lime juice was different, I think because we're used to lemon juice with our vegetables. If I make it again, I would probably use a medium onion instead of a large, and warm the tomatoes a hair less.

Photo: www.bhg.com

I was totally not ready to make the Stuffed Dates... First of all, between the two grocery stores near us, I couldn't find Medjool dates. So I ended up getting some prunes that were on the larger side, but I don't think they were big enough. Also, since the prunes were small I couldn't rig a good way to fill them. But, the filling was amazing... And it was also amazing stuffed in the dates. Really, how wrong can you go with blue cheese, scallions, and bacon? I just think it would have been better if I had something larger to stuff, and more filling in whatever I was stuffing.

Photo: www.bhg.com

For dessert, we tried to pick up something out of the bakeries/ frozen sections of both King Sooper (Kroger's to some of you) and Safeway, but couldn't find anything that looked good. We ended up getting a "premium" store brand vanilla bean cake mix from King Sooper, and it was amazingly delicious. They also have a few other varieties that I can't wait to try, this one was so good. Yet again, it had to bake about 15 minutes longer than recommended. We iced it with dark chocolate fudge frosting... Yum.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Last night, after about a week of several promises and several breaking of those promises, I finally made Mr. McGilicutty some more Beast Treats. The recipe originally came from here, but I found it via Everybody Likes Sandwiches, but I can't find the ELS mention to save my life. Anyway... I've made these for Milo a couple of times before, and he really seems to like them.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

In the past I've made them in the shape of tiny gingerbread men that we called mailmen, but this time around I kept it simple and just made small rectangles.

For the human half of the household, I made Skillet Shrimp with Couscous. I was intrigued, because I had never cooked with leeks before, much less knowingly have eaten them.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Verdict: Easy to cook with and very tasty... Like a giant scallion (who would have thought...), but with a less onion flavor.

Overall, it was a super simple recipe... I used red pepper flakes instead of mustard seeds, and Israeli couscous instead of just regular couscous. Since the couscous was larger, I actually brought the skillet to a boil, put the lid on it, left it on the burner, and then turned off the heat, instead of dumping in the boiling water over the couscous and then taking it off the heat.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Our Outdoorsy Colorado Activity

2010-02-16T15:38:00.000-08:00

Okay. First thing first... That coffee table project came no where close to being done. I had the best intentions, but George found us something to procrastinate with, so... There's always next weekend, right?

We spent most of our free time over the weekend geocaching. It's super nerdy, but I think I kind of love it... You basically follow latitude and longitudinal coordinates to find "treasures." Sometimes it's just a log to sign, other times a box of trinkets to exchange with...

Photo: Amanda Drescher

The log from a nano- cache, and our first cache find.

Photos: Amanda Drescher

From our second find... An ammo box hidden in old, rusty bridge pieces laying on the ground.

All in all, I think we found 9 caches in 12 or so attempts. We think the ones we couldn't find were due to the snow that fell Saturday night.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

View from the porch Sunday morning.

However, yesterday was by far the best caching trip. Mainly because they were in the middle of a prairie dog community. For whatever reason, even though I know they're just squirrels with tiny tails, I get really excited about the prairie dogs. They are adorable, and make the most awesome noises, and wag their tails as they jump down their holes. What's not to love?

Photos: Amanda Drescher

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Milo is on the fence (Ha! Punny...) about geocaching. And prairie dogs. And wearing his backpack. But he is all about going to a park and nosing around.

Photo: Amanda Drescher

Our last prairie dog field find... The little caplets are magnetic. I found this one inside a gate hinge.

On the geocaching site, they have a store section... Ever since seeing this on the site, I have been living in fear and hope that we run across one of them. Fear, because I think it could be a tricky little s.o.b. to pick out, and hope because it is awesome.

So glad we finally have a real outdoorsy activity. We're assimilating nicely in the happiest, healthiest city in America.

So, last night...

2010-02-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

Things in the kitchen got a little crazy.

It all started when I decided to make this Blueberry Sour Cream Pound Cake from Martha Stewart. I hadn't made a pound cake in awhile, and thought this would be great because I had some frozen blueberries that I had no plans for.

Picture: Amanda Drescher

Things started out well enough. I was halving the recipe, because we really didn't need personal poundcakes for each of us. Martha wants you to beat the sugar and butter together for 8 minutes. As I have not joined the rest of society and assimilated by buying a KitchenAid stand mixer, I had to suffer through with my electric hand mixer. I only made it about 4 minutes before I gave up, and I wonder if it affected the end results... But I figured if I was halving the recipe, that I could halve the time.

Actually, that was a little something I made up to make myself feel better about not being able to use a hand mixer for 8 minutes. Also, pre- electric mixer poundcake bakers most likely had biceps of steel. I could not imagine mixing that batter by hand, because it became super thick.

Anyway... Everything got into the batter, into the pan, and into the oven (I skipped the sanding sugar, because who keeps sanding sugar on hand? I felt pretty good that I had blueberries...). Where it proceeded to bake for 25 minutes longer than the recommended baking time. Martha said that a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean, and mine kept coming out really goopy. I'm not sure if it had something to do with my slacker electric hand mixer ways, or maybe the altitude (even though I've never had any issues with altitude and baking before).

Picture: Amanda Drescher

The end result was good... Nice and rich and buttery. But doesn't particularly have a very poundcake-y texture. More just like a moist muffin. I'm not sure if the extra baking time dried out the ends of the loaf a little bit, or if maybe the center should have been left a hair goopier than what Martha let on... Either way, delicious stuff.

So after dirtying pretty much every dish we own to make the poundcake, I decided the easiest thing I could make for dinner was gnocchi. I'm not sure how I came to this conclusion, but it was definitely wrong.

I use this Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage recipe from (yet again) Martha Stewart. I don't always do the brown butter and sage, but I always use this recipe for the gnocchi. There are two places where I veer away from the recipe. Instead of using leftover mashed potatoes (mine are never perfectly lumpless, and gnocchi is way better without the lumps), I make a packet of instant mashed potatoes in the microwave and then cool them off in the freezer. Also, instead of trying to make perfect little gnocchi shapes, I make something more like a little dumpling by using the process detailed here in step 3.

The gnocchi, butter, and sage tend to be really rich and heavy, so I like making a tomato salad with balsamic vinegar to kind of foil the richness a little. Last nights salad was 3 roma tomatoes, half a cucumber, about an ounce of sliced mozzarella, 2 scallions, 5 fresh basil leaves, salt, pepper, and about a tablespoon of both olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Picture: Amanda Drescher

The gnocchi takes a little bit of time, but they are always well worth it.

Weekend Project!

2010-02-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to start assigning us at least one project for the weekend, so we avoid playing Mario Wii and yelling at the tv for hours on end.

When we were in Savannah, I found a vintage metal blueprint file cabinet for sale in Beaufort for $40. I quickly hopped on it, knowing that they easily sold for hundreds of dollars. That night we went to pick it up, which turned out to be an adventure in itself. Let's just say I'm really glad we have a GPS now to avoid that kind of ugliness.

We heaved the thing home, and then it sat in our shed. Then we moved and had no place to put it in the house again... So it sat in our shed. Then we moved to Colorado, to an even smaller house that would not contain our huge coffee table, so the blueprint file finally made it inside to serve as the coffee table and storage for my theatre lighting and set design papers.

Photo by Ephemeral Sparrow

However. There are problems.

1) The thing weighs a ton, and is very difficult to move. I think it weighs so much that it's actually affecting how the carpet lays on the floor, because there are all these weird waves in the carpet and it can't be straightened because the file won't allow it to move at all.

2) It's a little low. If it were about 5" higher, it would be ideal.

So I want to add wheels to it, kind of like so:

Picture from: Hardware Aisle c/o This Old House

Except I don't want to attach wheels directly to the bottom of it... I want to construct sort of a frame of 2x4's the file can sit down into and that the wheels can be attached to instead of the actual metal. I also want to stain the wood something dark.

So all in all, it should be a fairly small, cheap project... Famous last words.

I guess we'll know by Monday how it goes!

Return of the Pescaterian

2010-02-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

So awhile ago I read this horrible ad ("horrible" as in the oh- my- god,- I- had- no- idea way) that Jamie Oliver was the spokesperson for in a food magazine, talking about how baby piglets being raised for pork get their teeth ripped out without any sort of anesthetic so they can't bite. Seeing as how I am an ardent adorer of animals, and, you know- human, this bothered me. So I declared myself a pescaterian.

It lasted maybe a month.

What can I say, I really enjoy a good steak now and then... But we have been more conscious about looking for free range meat, which thankfully is much easier to come by in Colorado than in Georgia. And I always plan at least three vegetarian meals a week, a couple of poultry meals, and maybe one beef... So it's not like we're raging meataholics or anything.

But George brought up wanting to eat more fish again (why did he wait until we moved to one of the states farthest away from fresh seafood?), so we're giving it another try.

I had been intrigued by these frozen Ahi tuna steaks I ran across at Target a couple weeks back, so we started there. I figure most seafood we get is going to be frozen at some point to make it to Colorado, and I would rather go ahead and buy things that are still frozen so I don't have the pressure to cook them right away.

Anyway... Never having prepared a tuna steak before, I searched around online until I ran across this Marinated Tuna Steak recipe at AllRecipes.com. I skipped the parsley (for some reason, parsley always just tastes like grass to me and I never enjoy it in a recipe), marinated them for more like 45 minutes instead of 30, and cooked them in a skillet with a little oil in the pan for about a total of 12 minutes, according to a Rachel Ray recipe. They were the vaguest shade of pink in the center, and they were delicious. I think mainly due to the soy sauce/ orange juice combination.

Last night, I got us back on the shrimp bandwagon, which is way more familiar territory than tuna steaks... Right before we left Savannah, it seemed like we were eating shrimp at least once a week. Last night I made Shrimp and Tomatoes over Soft Polenta, a recipe from the Martha Stewart branch Everyday Food.

Picture from marthastewart.com

I loved this recipe for three reasons: 1) It was stupidly easy, 2) It helps use up the five pound bag of cornmeal that I have (Publix had these nice little bags of cornmeal, maybe two pounds or so... But the smallest bag of cornmeal at Safeway was five. Needless to say, I've been loving any recipe that helps me use it up), 3) George liked it.

The only place I veered from the recipe is I got a little liberal with the red pepper flakes, but Mr. I Smother Everything in Tabasco didn't mind.

I now have freezer full of salmon (which I've never cooked) and more shrimp in the freezer, so we'll see where that takes us.

Snow/ Reading Day

2010-02-08T15:51:00.000-08:00

It has been snowing since yesterday afternoon, which is awesome in my book. I freakin' love snow... Except when I have to shovel it with inadequate gloves. But if I have good gloves, I even really don't mind the shoveling that much (well, except when the snow has been walked on a lot already, and then that icy, packed layer has to be scraped up).

I've been shamefully unproductive today. I've been reading The Lost Symbol pretty much all day. It is excellent snowy weather reading... Dan Brown is horribly predictable and his writing isn't that great. But he is incredibly fun to read, despite his faults.

Picture from KnopfDoubleday.com

Next on my Want to Read list is All the Names by Jose Saramago... It's supposed to have something to do about a registery that is so large that when you go in, you have to hold the end of a string so you can follow it to get back out. Saramago also wrote Blindness, which was really well-written. Sorry, Dan Brown.

Picture from bn.com

Anyway... I have to go figure out how to cook tuna steaks and prepare for a round of Doubles Shoveling later on this evening when George gets home.

Getting Started

2010-02-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

I have tried starting a blog at least 10 times, but have quit at least 10 times and have ended up erasing whatever I happened to write because it all sounded stupid and contrived.

However, I've decided that no matter what I write, it will sound strange to me no matter what, so I shouldn't worry about it.

Coupled with the fact that I expect maybe 5 people will read this on a regular basis. So, you know... No pressure.

What has prompted the blogging this time are the following reasons:
1) I feel I post entirely too many links on my Facebook that no one but me seems to care about. So I figure I can post them here for my own enjoyment/ crappy memory/ sake of my bookmarks tab.

Um... I guess that is the main reason right now.

So here are the links I've posted to Facebook recently:

I've been really wanting to put something on our bathroom walls. There's beadboard about 4' tall all the way around the room, but lots of glossy white wall space between it and the ceiling. Our bathroom is mainly black, white, and sort of a mossy green...

I think these would be awesome in there: Keeping Up With the Boneses

Picture from whatisblik.com

I guess I just have to convince George of the awesomeness.

This song passed through on my Genius shuffle (Say what you want about Apple, Steve Jobs, iPods, whatever... But I stinking LOVE the Genius feature. It has probably saved literally hours of my life from being wasted coming up with a halfway decent mix of songs I always listen to on a regular basis anyway, thus defeating the point of having a crap- ton of music to begin with. Anyway. Love the Genius):

Broken Social Scene- Guilty Cubicles

Um... It just made me happy. Not everything has a point.

Especially here.

Last but not least, totally loving that Design Sponge featured this banana bread the other day:

Skinny Laminxs Banana Bread via Design Sponge

Picture from designsponge.com

It is fan- freaking- tastic.

That's all I got.

Oh, also, Super Mario Wii is melting my brain.