Been Busy Baking

Well, I guess all of this baking and cooking took me somewhere. I usually bake as therapy. I like the measurements, organization and feeling of making something scrumptious out of a bunch of piles of ingredients. But as it turns out, people really love what I prepare. I guess it is because I love doing it so much that it has to come out in the end result, the taste. All said, I am now baking for Redhot Roasters Organic Coffee (previously Jackson's Organic). I am using my own recipes with organic and local ingredients and making them daily. So drive on thru and try some hot coffee and fresh muffins! It really is a great treat.

Currently Serving: Zucchini, Cranberry Orange, Blueberry and Banana Chocolate Chip
Test Kitchen: Lemon Poppy seed and Chocolate Muffins. Also working on a Quiche option.

Photo Booth Hogs in Butchertown

Get on for a Sunday Fair!

(Hey Blog Buddies, Please steal this image and re-post)


Yup, it is finally here!

All the e-mailin', phone callin', brown nosin' and elbow greasin' will show its colors this wonderful Sunday, May 17th at the Butchertown Art Fair. Please bring a smile, some cash and absolutely everyone you know.

Amongst the sea of (like 60+) vendors, you can also experience some puppy cuddles, Savvy haircuts for cash, some local herbs, kite babies in the breeze, bluegrass, organic coffee, beer and lots more.

Really, why the hell wouldn't you show up?

Derby 'n Oaks

Bowties and Fancy Dresses at the 806.

Blowing My Mind

I feel the same way about Paul Rudd & Seth Rogen now as I felt about Eddie Vedder and Tupac Shakur in Junior High.



This is kinda like my centerfold. I know I have interesting celebrity crushes, but at least these guys are a step up from Bill Maher.

Bunny

Although we are Athiest, there is more than one reason to fly the Bunny ears.

Participate Yo!

So, we're doing this Art Fair. And if we know you, you have something to offer as we do not have lazy, uninvolved friends. So far we've got some Mperfection, Some $20 Savvy cuts, Some Jackson's Coffee, Some Bejeezus, Some Sustainable Living, Some Skee Ball, Some BBC and more! Whatever you do, bring it. The economy is shit and we all need some fun and some cash - Make it happen in 2009. Because Yes You Can!

Be a better version of yourself, be involved.

Kalup Linzy: Thanks Interview Magazine

Chewing Gum has been stuck in my head for days and days yo!



"Funny, funny, funny"

Ottoman Progress

I've been cutting a lot of these


To make some of this beautifuness


And here it is so far

I kinda love it.

Why no Blog?

Because I saw this in a window last month and decided to make it rather than spend $500 on it.



I'm being crafty.

The Long Awaited Foyer

So, I finally got the party pictures and here are the best shots of the foyer. The space itself is rather tight so camera shots in the room do not do it justice. But here is a living room shot with the party-foyer in the back.



And another blurry shot with vixen, Kristen. We left the hand stamped panels up. Why not, eh? If you don't remember why you should care about our foyer, scroll down a few posts.



It really looks great. It's more fun than eight layers of chipping wallpaper and cracked drywall.

Kelso's Curried Nuts

Ingredients:

Step 1
1/4 cup h2o
2 Tbl unsalted butter
2 tsp brown sugar
1 cup cashews
1 cup pistachios
1 c pecans
(used unsalted nuts)

Step 2
2 Tbl sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
(spices all ground)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl mix step 2. In saucepan bring h2o, butter and brown sugar to a simmer.
Add nuts and stir consistently until liquid is absorbed. Add glazed nuts to spice mixture. Drop in a 1/2 cup of dried fruit (cherries and apricots work well) and stir to coat



Add to parchment lined baking sheet, cook for 10 minutes. Pull out of oven, stir and then cook for 10 more minutes. Ta-da. Kelso recommends storing these in an air-tight container as your house will smell like curry for days and days!



** I altered her recipe a bit. I only used half the salt, added 3/4 cup Pepitas, 1/4 cup sliced Almonds and a handful of Brazil nuts. I probably used about a cup of dried tart cherries too, rather than a 1/2 cup. It was simple and delicious, not to mention nutritious.

First Throw Pillow

So, J made the flower. We carved our own stamp. Mixed our own paint. I painted a pattern. Cut the fabric. Stiched a pencil onto it with yarn. And then I sewed it up. Ta-Da.






It's not perfect, but looks great for a first try.

Camera Pictures

Jason (Kelso & Dan). Vess. Erin.




No one stole it Erin. My bad.

2009: Realer Than Real

Thirteen Things I will do this year:

Write three business plans on paper
Truly consider going to Graduate School (noncommittal)
Eat Raw as often as possible
Talk less shit (outside of my home)
Spend a lot more time with nature
Have more sex (and no more babies)
Build a grow box and tend a garden
Be a high energy, focused parent
Witness two of my favorite people get hitched
Condition my body for optimum performance
Escort some virgins to the Big Apple
Beam with smiles at the homecoming of my sister
Be more loving to the people in this world


I like making lists, its so homo-sapien.

Flip the Foyer: Panel This!

Seeing as how our first try wasn't all poppy and fun like we had hoped, we proceeded to spend 11 hours creating these busy babies. You see, we were in a bit of a time crunch. Our Holiday break in an empty house was coming to an end and we wanted to surprise the neighbors with a kick-ass foyer upon their return. Their return meant the countdown to the house party was coming to an end; shit needed to be right on. The foyer had been kinda last on the list of fix-its but it was also the first impression of our home (and we're house-proud kind of people). So we had planned on partying-up the foyer by hanging our hand stamped fabric panels. The finished result looked dope. If Greg The Mayor would post some pictures yo, I'd be able to demonstrate the beauty that was our foyer. Until then, here's a glimpse of the process.

Mperfect pattern.


Stamps.


Slick.


Pretty.

I'm A Sucker

Bring it.

Marketing works on me. Strolling though the isles of Target two weeks before Christmas, I grabbed two 6 packs of Coca-Cola Classic in glass bottles from an end cap. We simply don't buy canned coke, plastic is out of the question. If we do happen to make a soda purchase, it's 365 Brand Root Beer or the occasional Coca-Cola Classic in a glass bottle. On to the story: as I grabbed the sodas J says " You're a sucker for target Marketing". Right then and there, I noted that I needed to give this observation a bit of thought. That thought surfaced again last night. I was talking to J about my recent literature indulgences (to remind you, I have now read all of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels in less than 6 weeks and have moved on to Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series), and I pondered wether or not HBO is owned by the same company who produced the Twilight film. It would make sense for the deeply influential parent companies to successfully market a vampire craze right in time for the holiday season. Although I have yet to research weather they are marketed with the same money, I assume the answer is yes. And this observation bums me out beyond belief and makes me mourn the day I finished Orwel's 1984. I left that book with an eye-in-the-back-of-my head sensation; I was not going to be foolish and naive of the persuasion that big money brings to the table. And although I acknowledge that living life as a sceptic can suck the bliss from almost everything, I also acknowledge how much fun it is to be willingly naive and take part in normal society type shit like drinking soda and reading soft-core porn vampire novels.

When it comes down to it, I simply need something that can help me relate to other humans. And unfortunately, that's not usually conversations about atheism and nutrition.

12.29.08

It's the end of 2008 and it can be said that I took on more than I ever had imagined in one year. I made the most amount of delicious, nutritious food that I have ever made. I grew a human. We helped transform a foreclosed dump into a beautiful, historic home. I brought a human to Earth. And we moved again, one week after we had Mary Jane. As if we weren't overwhelmed by the holiday's and preparing for our party, we pulled some all-nighters creating together. It was long overdue and now I'm feelin' it. I want more!

J created a pattern.



We carved a stamp using the pattern.



Inked the stamp.




And made an interesting cloth.



Although it didn't turn out to be as beautiful as I had hoped, it was a damn good first try. Mary Jane dug it. Mperfect what?

Redless Velvet Cake

I once heard that red food coloring is derived from the pigment in the shell of beetles ( i.e. ladybugs). I can no longer eat red food coloring. Hence, Redless Velvet Cake

(Recipe Coming Soon)

Christmas Kitchen

Sometime around noon on Christmas Day.

I have to admit that my favorite moments around the holiday season are spent at home in moments like these. I know this time of year is focused on family and togetherness, but that just leaves me with an empty pocketbook and a load of anxiety. Christmas in the Midwest is difficult when you're a atheist vegetarian. There's nothing to eat but fattening side dishes and desserts (if you're lucky) and you're forced to nod your head in prayer to earn the right to eat them. (Side note : I usually end up sticking my tongue out at the youngest member of the family during these awkward moments, kids don't care about god either).

But in true holiday spirit, I am left to feel for my atheist/vegan/vegetarian friends this time of year. When home is no longer the house you grew up in and family doesn't feel like "family" anymore, at least I am comforted by knowing that I'm not in this shit alone.