Sangria on a Stick

This recipe is from a small ice-pop shop in Durham, NC called Locopops.
Summer just isn't complete without a frozen sangria on a stick!

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Zest of 1/2 lime

3 cups fresh pineapple chunks (about 1 pound)

2 dried start anise pods

1 1/2 tablespoons white rum

Juice of 2 to 3 oranges (2/3 cup)

2 1/2 cups dry white wine

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, ginger and lime zest. Add the pineapple and toss.

Scrape the pineapple into the skillet, add the star anise and cook, without stirring, until the pineapple caramelizes, 5 minutes.

Stir in the rum and let the alcohol burn off, about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the orange juice, scraping the bottom of the pan; let cool.

Discard the anise.

Puree the fruit mixture in a blender.

Stir in the white wine and pour the mixture into ice-pop molds.

Freeze until solid, about 4 hours.

Makes 12 pops.

prep time 20 minutes plus freezing

cook time 8 minutes

Everyday Napkins

I am conducting an experiment in our house. I have not purchased paper towels or napkins since January to see if we actually need them. Well we don't.

Now don't get me wrong I'd rather soak up a potty training accident on the carpet with paper towels and throw it away and be done with it. But this is the attitude that has gotten our planet into trouble. So I adjust. I bought a pack of kitchen towels at Costco only because I wanted the 2 red towels to match the kitchen, I could care less about the other fruity prints ones. Well now the fruity prints have a purpose...they are now used for anything which I would normally use paper towels.

We've been doing the cloth napkin thing for quite a while so that wasn't a big deal to get use to. The only time I relied on the paper napkins was when we had added guests at the table. Now that we live in MD surrounded by my family the added guests at the table happens more frequently (thanks goodness!) than when we lived in Seattle, WA. So today I went through my fabric stash and cut up some everyday napkins. I make children's clothing full time so most of my fabric is left over from a kid outfit, hence the bright colored fabric and police cars.

To make the napkins simply cut out 2 squares of fabric, sew them together wrong side facing out leaving yourself a small opening somewhere to turn the fabric inside out. Once you turn it inside out, iron and sew around the napkin again.

I'm even thinking that instead of taking Logan to the party store to pick out his paper plates and napkins for his birthday party instead I'm going to take him to Joann's with my 40% off coupon in hand and have him pick out his favorite licensed character fabric to make everyday napkins that, for almost the same price, we can enjoy over and over again after the party!

Home improvements

We are in the process of buying our second home. I daydream daily of paint colors and furniture arranging. I adore this process of moving...the decorating! Our first house was in Des Moines, WA. And when we moved in there was a lot of work to be done. The entire downstairs was painted this horrible pea soup green and the fireplace was painted a high gloss white. It looked bad but I knew we could fix it with a little paint. Buying a home makes such a dent in your savings that you barely have enough money to start the projects you want to tackle. Painting is the cheapest face lift you can give to a room. So I started there. The first picture was taken at our home inspection with the seller's furniture and decor still in the house. We quickly got rid of the pea soup green and replaced it with a off white and then I tackled the fireplace. I looked into having the paint removed so we would have the original stone work but it was really expensive and would mean we would have to be out of the house for a few weeks as the process would be toxic to breathe. With a toddler and a brand new baby in my arms that wasn't a possibility. So I grabbed some paint and with my theatre background I used the knowledge I gained in college from the many hours painting sets. I used 4 colors, all were left over from paint we used to paint different rooms in our house. Using a dry brush dab a very small amount of paint on the brush, you want it to remain dry, and tap on the surface in a random order. Let each color dry before applying the next color. There is no real science to it, just use your imagination. I've seen this technique used on many types of projects from door frames to decorative pots to a fireplace :)

More Packing Tips

The packing and shipping continues. This is a packing tip that I LOVE. Pack your things...dishes, breakables, or anything that needs to be cushioned in your own clothes. It makes so much sense. You have to pack your clothes when you are moving anyway so wrap those t-shirts around your dishes and call it a day. Pictured here is my sewing machine inside its box padded with shirts and scarfs and my sewing/craft boxed safely nestled between jeans and sweat pants. Saves you money on buying bad-for-the-environment bubble wrap as well!

Thrifty Wallet Buddy

I just finished reading I'm Not Buying It, My year without shopping by Judith Levine. It's a very well written book and I was completely moved by her and her husbands' desires and determination. We live very simply. I'm no longer a big shopper. Whenever I'm about to buy something I always ask myself "would I rather have (blank) or do I want to buy a house?" Our goal of buying a house is always in the forefront of my mind whenever I am faced with shopping. After reading the book I've become more aware of buying wisely and buying products from companies I believe in or other indie designers like myself.
I recently found this Thrifty Wallet Buddyhttp://www.newdream.org/live/walletbuddy.pdf and had to share it with you all. You print it out and place your credit card in it so that every time you are about to buy something you stop and read the questions like: "Is this purchase something I need?" or "can I buy one used instead of new?" or "can I buy one that was made with environmentally responsible materials?"
Stop yourself and think before handing over the credit card...it just may save you from debt and help you to live more green.

Cheap Gift Idea

Here's another recycled jar idea. I got this recipe on the food network website, combined it all in a baby food jar and painted the lid. Great gift idea for anyone on your list of birthdays this year.




Emeril's Essence Recipe

• 2 1/2 Tablespoons Paprika
• 2 Tablespoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano
• 1 Tablespoon Dried Thyme
• 
  

Recycled Jars

As you can tell Jessica and I are huge fans of reusing everyday items to give them new life. Well with 2 kids we go through a lot of applesauce and I'm left with these rather large jars so I've given them new life by turning them into tea containers. Hubby and I gave up the coffee and are into loose leaf tea these days. After washing out the jars and scrubbing off the labels, the hardest part. I then painted the lids with a craft paint I bought at Michael's a few years ago. It's called Sophisticated Finishes and it says it's ideal for indoor and outdoor use.

The possibilities are endless for reusing jars. Store rice, dry beans, small pasta noddles etc. And the bonus is that if everything in your cabinet is in the same size jar it will be more organized and you can actually see what you have on hand. Heavenly!

First Hat

Congratulations to Allison for crocheting her first hat! This smart looking hat is a picture of the skull cap that Allison made after just 2 quick lessons. She made it all on her own with no pattern and just some basic guidelines from me. It looks awesome and goes to show everyone who is thinking about learning to crochet that as long as you stick with it the awkward feelings in your hands will disappear and in under a week you'll be making hats and scarfs!

I'd like to teach the world to crochet!

I'm not usually on the cutting edge but I will never forget learning to knit and crochet with Gretchen in order to make holiday presents for the Christmas of 2000. Our goal back then was to stop buying useless presents for our friends and family and instead give them something practical like a hat or scarf. When we started I swear we were the only women under age 25 interested in knitting needles and crochet hooks. In fact we had great difficultly finding places that sold yarn in Manhattan and had to get our moms to send us yarn from Michael's or JoAnn's from the suburbs. Then suddenly everywhere we looked people were knitting. Hip yarn stores complete with hipster cafes started popping up and before I knew it knitting was the "new Yoga".
It has been over 7 years now and I am happy to say that the trend hasn't stopped. Just this week end my dearest childhood friend Jen and her partner Allison visited me for an exciting weekend in New York City. In addition to going to upscale restaurants, visiting MOMA, and going to a Broadway Show I was exciting to find out that they had brought with them yarn and crochet hooks and wanted to spend some of their time here in the city learning to crochet. I had such a good time teaching them the basics. It reminds me of what a good lesson in life knitting and crocheting can be. When I first learned to crochet I was convinced it was impossible. That even if I figured it out that I would never be able to make anything actually worth giving to someone. But before you know (it as long as you stick with it) you have yourself a scarf. Usually the person teaching you (in my case my mom and grandma) is quite skilled and can easily make their fingers fly through stitches. Unfortunately, the first time a beginner tries to chain or make a single crochet they get frustrated. It is easy enough to watch someone hold the work in one hand, maintain the tension with the finger, and slip the yarn over the hook all at the same time. BUT TRYING TO DO IT CAN SEEM IMPOSSIBLE!!!!
The great thing is is that as long as you keep at it you eventually get it. Then the key is finishing a couple of projects - even if they have mistakes in them. In the beginning the work looks pretty ugly. The picture of the uneven work top left is a good example. But to me that work looks great because I know how hard it was for their fingers to make it and for their minds to move on to the next row even though they knew the row they just finished was far from perfect. I was so excited to be teach my friends a skill that has brought me such happiness. I hope the trend of knitting and crocheting never goes away again. If any blog readers in NYC want to learn to knit or crochet let me know ASAP. It is one of those skills that takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master but you'll never regret it for a second.

Easter Chocolate

We are saving money to buy a house so every penny is accounted for in our budget. But saving money is not just about budgets and coupons it’s about thinking ahead. I went to the local CVS drug store and picked up Valentine’s Cards for kids at 90% off, 2 weeks after Valentine’s Day. I paid 20 cents per box and I bought the more expensive ones with temporary tattoos. I also bought some heart shaped boxed chocolate candy for 15 cents a box. I don’t plan on holding on to those till next year but what I do plan to do is offer them on a decorative plate as an additional dessert for my dinner party guests. They will never know it came from a heart shaped box. Planning ahead can save you so much money. Two weeks after Easter you can bet money that I will be buying Easter baskets and Easter trinkets for next year’s holiday. And those pastel M&M's, especially the pink ones, would be perfect for a little girl's princess birthday party. Or if you know you'll be throwing a baby shower this summer stock up on those dark chocolate Dove eggs, they are heavenly! Chocolate can live in your freezer for up to a year. And use as part of the decor and edibles for the baby shower.

Lentil Rice Casserole

So you are having people over and your significant other really isn't the best at dinner party conversation so you feel torn between the kitchen (preparing the meal) and entertaining your guests. What's a girl to do? Well make the Lentil Rice Casserole and you can have it in the oven while you quickly vacuum before they arrive, perfectly timed this dish can be ready out of the oven at dinnertime.
Also if you are having vegetarians over and you are a meat eater...make this dish and they will love you!

Lentil Rice Casserole

3 cups chicken/vegetable broth
¾ cup lentils, uncooked
½ cup brown rice, uncooked
¾ cup chopped onion
½ teaspoon sweet basil
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Blend all together in a casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 1 ½ hours @ 300. During last 20 minutes top with ½ cup cheddar cheese.

Veggie Scrubber

One of my favorite reuse creations are my vegetable scrubbers. You can make them out of any bag that vegetables come in. Onion bags work great and as you can see here I am using the bag that zucchini came in. Cut off any paper adhered to the bag and then simply roll it up, tie it. Play around with it to form the perfect shape for you. These scrubbers can also be used to help you clean stuck on food without scratching Teflon pots and pans.

Recycled Bag

I am so excited about the new bag I made out of shopping bags. There is no real pattern...I just wing it. But the whole thing is crochet with a N hook.

First fold the bag lengthwise and cut off the end and the handles. I cut the bag in 1 inch strips, each strip is a circle shape when unraveled, and then loop them all together and roll it up in a ball like you would yarn.

I used all different kinds of bags; bread bags, shopping bags, newspaper bags. My next project is going to be using only one kind of bag like the newspaper bags.

Scrapbooking

Ok I admit it...I love scrap booking. With 2 kids creating these albums for us to have and enjoy means a lot to me. Also it taps into another aspect of my creativity. What I don't like about scrap booking is how it adds to the consumerism mentality that takes place here in the USA. You could spend a small fortune on all the stickers, papers, embellishments etc that line aisle after aisle of your local craft store. It's actually hard to resist. But as I walked the aisles myself yesterday looking for a stencil of the alphabet I couldn't bare to spend $13 dollars on one alphabet. So I came home empty handed and during the drive it hit me...I should make my own stencil. And so I did. Yes, it won't last forever...but are you really going to want to use the same font of an alphabet forever anyhow? And when your done just throw it in the recycling can.

I printed out the alphabet ( Rockwell Extra Bold at 120) on heavy duty card stock and cut out each letter with an exacto knife. This part takes time but after you cut out a few letters your mind begins to clear and you reach a zen state of mentality. It's glorious! And now I have a stencil that I can trace letters for my title on each layout.

Vegetable Stock

I'm a little crazy about creating healthy meals for my family. With 2 sons that are extremely picky-eaters they keep me on my toes trying to find ways to sneak protein and vegetables in their diets. Recently I've got my parents on my healthy eating bandwagon. They pay me to make 2 weeks worth of food for them. So far in a month my dad has lost 4 pounds and my mom has lost 2 pounds. But even better than weight loss is that my mom's doctor was so pleased that her cholesterol levels are down to a normal rate. See Mom and Dad...this healthy eating thing is pretty cool!

I recently learned how to make vegetable stock and it's one of those staples that are great to have in your fridge. A little vegetable stock can be used in place of oil when sauteing veggies, adds extra flavor and less fat! All you have to do is when you are cutting up vegetables for a dish put all the pieces of vegetables that you would normally throw in the trash in a large pot. I'm talking about the ends of an onion, the skin of an eggplant etc. And then fill with water and boil for an hour. Remove the large chunks of vegetables and throw away or put in your compost. Run the liquid throw a sieve. And wha-la you have vegetable stock..store in your fridge and add to sauces or use in place of oil for sauteing.

The added bonus is that you are using something once more before throwing it away!