A Challenge! Vegetables!
Other communities have challenges so I've decided to do a monthly (or maybe weekly or bi weekly) challenge.

It is summer and fresh vegetables are beginning to arrive. I invite everyone to post their favorite fresh vegetable recipe, share stories of their favorite markets, extol the virtues of their CSA or recommend vegetable related products or activities.

Extra points to anyone who can make any of these things not seem like this is the "Country Kitchen Women's League and Canning Society".

Current Mood: curious

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I Am a Slave to My Nose
Thanks to p_sunshine I now have something new to pine for. She introduced me to this perfumer whose motto is "I Hate Perfume". This is of course immediately attractive to me. I got into BPAL because I hate perfume but love to smell good. Upon investigating this site further I found no less than 14 fragrances I wish to try. Sadly, that will easily cost over $200. I have been spoiled by BPAL's imps.

Without further ado I give you Christopher Brosius Limited.

For those that are interested my 14 fragrances are ( hereCollapse )

Conveniently p_sunshine has ordered three of the scents on my list. I am sure that we will both give scent reports once we have tried them.

Current Mood: curious

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Turkish Feta Spread
Beyaz Peynir Ezmesi
(Turkish Spicy Pureed Feta Cheese)

8oz feta cheese broken into chunks
4 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Turkish red pepper or ground red pepper
1 1/2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil plus extra for drizzling
2 tsp dried mint (garnish)
Sliced tomatoes
Assorted olives

Soak feta in warm water for about 30 minutes changing the water often. This reduces the saltiness of the cheese. Those that know me may have already guessed that I skip this step. Crumble the feta into a food processor. Add garlic, paprika, red pepper and olive oil then process until smooth. Transfer to a shallow bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 20 min. Remove from fridge and serve at room temperature. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with dried mint. Serve with sliced tomatoes and assorted olives.

EDIT: If you don't have a food processor you can use a standard blender. In most blenders the glass cup on the top is removeable and you can drizzle oil in that way. If your blender does not have this option, open the lid, put on a teaspoon of oil and blend. Repeat until you have acheived the desired consistancy. If you don't have a blender we are going to have to have a chat about proper kitchen/bar equipment. In the meantime you can use a mixer or if you don't have one of those, you will just have to do it the old fashioned way with using a fork and your muscles.

HINTS:
I already mentioned that I do not soak the feta because I love the saltiness.

Made as written the mixture comes out fairly thick and can be formed into a cheese ball. If you wish more of a dip consistency, simply drizzle additional olive oil through the spout in the food processor while processing on low until desired consistency is achieved.

If drizzling olive oil on top make sure you use good quality olive oil.

I do not sprinkle with mint because many of my friends do not like it. Pine nuts, chopped walnuts or a few dashes of paprika will work well as substitutes.

This is also good served with vegetables, crackers, pita points or crusty bread.

Current Mood: busy

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Mildly decadent dessert
My mother introduced me to a very simple, slightly decadent dessert not too long ago.

1 part plain yoghurt
1 part hot chocolate powder
2 parts ricotta cheese

It makes a nice, rich mixture that isn't as sweet as ice cream, and the texture of the ricotta is particularly appealing to me.. Low fat versions of both dairy products exist, of course.

Current Mood: calm

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Hello there
I bake. Usually in great and terrifying quantities so keep that in mind when reading any recipes I post.

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Christmas Crackers
Cross posted to midlantic_steam

Invented in 1847 Christmas Crackers are still popular in the UK today. You can purchase these Victorian favors for anywhere from $1 to $10 each, depending on the contents and how fancy they look. You can also make your own allowing you to customize them for Steampunk, Goth, Harry Potter, Dr Who or anything else you can come up with.

Here's a list of what you will need:

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Here you can find detail instructions on making your own Christmas Crackers as well as a place to order supplies. Old English Crackers

HINTS:
Many sites sell "cracker rollers" but you can make your own by cutting a paper towel tube in half then sticking a wad of aluminum foil in one end of each half. Shape the aluminum so that it allows your "rollers" to couple with the tube pieces you are using as the body of your crackers.

I prefer tape over any kind of glue for assembly. It is quicker and cleaner to use tape. I hide the tape by placing it on the underside of the overlapping edge of paper with half the tape exposed lengthwise. I then fold over the tape so that the sticky side faces the paper I'm trying to adhere the overlapping edge to and, well, adhere it. Sadly, I could not find a web page demonstrating this technique. Granted, it would be far easier to just use double sided tape but I hate that stuff.

Making your own hats is easy and you can get metallic colored tissue paper for a steam punk look or moons and stars for a wizardly look or what have you. Stay away from the Mylar tissue paper as it can crease permanently while it is in the tube.

If you want to stamp your tissue paper hats use heavy tissue paper and as little ink as possible. I have yet to manage this without tearing the tissue paper. I usually resort to stickers.

You can find sites online with printable fortunes for fortune cookies that work well in crackers. You can also find pages of quotes from your favorite Sci-Fi show or Steampunk novel and make your own cracker sayings.

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Another Holiday Recipe
Very well… Due to extreme boredom I shall now post the Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts recipe.

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

2 cans Whole Water Chestnuts (8oz)
1 cup Soy sauce
3 T Mirin
1/8 cup light brown sugar
1 T powdered ginger
½ cup Pineapple juice (optional)
1 pound bacon strips

Combine first 5 ingredients plus the pineapple juice if you choose to use it. Mix thoroughly so that brown sugar is dissolved. Allow to marinate at least 3 hours, preferably over night. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut bacon strips into thirds. Wrap each water chestnut in a piece of bacon, securing the bacon with a toothpick. Arrange bacon wrapped chestnuts on a broiler pan sprayed with cooking spray and bake until the bacon has achieved desired crispness. How long this will take depends on the bacon and the oven and the phase of the moon. Remove bacon wrapped chestnuts from broiler pan and place on a serving platter. Serve warm.

Hints:
Line the bottom of the broiler pan with aluminum foil. The combination of bacon grease and brown sugar is deadly.

If you do not have a broiler pan you can use any kind of baking pan with sides to it. The bacon will not be as crispy and will be greasier as it will be sitting in the grease rather than the grease dripping off of it but greasy bacon wrapped water chestnuts are better than none.

If you choose the pineapple juice option you can use the juice from a can of pineapple chunks then marinate the pineapple chunks with the chestnuts. You may then skewer a pineapple chunk and a water chestnut together and bake them separately from the bacon for your vegetarian guests.

Current Mood: bored

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Lush Review
Well, I sat down to report on the last batch of LUSH products that I purchased and realized that two of them were no longer in the catalog. Whether this is temporary to make room for seasonal items or permanent, I do not know. I decided to review them anyway.

Bath Bombs:
Black Pearl
"Calm down with a soothing, fruity Black Pearl bath. The small but mighty bomb is a major stress reliever, lavender, chamomile and blackcurrant add a touch of wicked fruitiness."
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Butterball
"For butter-soft, vanilla-scented skin
Baste your body and keep your skin soft and supple with our best-selling vanilla bomb full of moisturizing cocoa butter. After soaking your limbs (and all the bits in between) you'll feel so cozy you may fall fast asleep, much like after a turkey dinner. "
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Bubble Bars
Amandopondo
"Lemon and rose to help you forgive and forget
Scented with rose absolute and a twist of lemon and orange oils, each little cream pillow has a rosebud on top to symbolize an appeal for forgiveness. Give one to anyone to whom you owe an apology; once they have bathed in its fragrant foam, with rose to soothe resentment, lemon to clear the mind and orange to lift spirits, all will be forgiven."
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Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds
"Daydream in relaxing patchouli, cinnamon and frankincense
Gone are the days when we could run from responsibility and linger on whatever caught our fancy. We're just too darn busy. For 20 minutes, escape from stress and slip into a spicy patchouli and frankincense bath. Relax and get lost in clouds of fluffy white bubbles."
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Bath Melts
Dreamtime
"Reassuring lavender and chamomile for peaceful sleep.
If you're having trouble falling asleep and your sheets are a mess from tossing and turning, slip into a bath with a Dreamtime bath melt. Soothing sandalwood, lavender, jasmine and chamomile magically lure you to slumber in peace. No sheep required!"
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Body Butters
Schnuggle
"Body Butter for bedtime
A gentler, lather-free cocoa butter bar with absorbing, cleansing powers and corn starch to keep your sheets mess free. Ginger, sandalwood, lavender and jasmine induce sleep."
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Ok, that's all the LUSH reviews for now. I'll put in another order for myself after the holidays (so sadly, no reviewing any of the holiday themed products) and will post as I use those rather than waiting until I'm done with the box.

Current Mood: lethargic

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Cheddar Sail Boats
Cheddar Sail Boats

8oz finely shredded cheddar cheese
8oz cream cheese, softened
Milk or buttermilk
Salt to taste
1 pkg 9”x14” phyllo dough (or 14”x18” using half sheets)
Butter, lots of it
1 or 2 Apples of your choice

Lower fat version:
8oz low fat finely shredded cheddar cheese
8oz Neufatchel
Skim milk or fat-free buttermilk
Salt to taste
1 pkg 9”x14” phyllo dough (or 14”x18” using half sheets)
Buttery cooking spray
1 or 2 Apples of your choice

Let both cheeses come to room temperature. Using a mixer combine cheeses slowly adding milk until you have a creamy paste. Add salt to taste. Spoon mixture into one corner of a gallon zip topped bag. At this point you may refrigerate the mixture for several days. If you do, be sure to take the bag out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature before proceeding to the piping portion of the operation.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter if using butter. Spray a mini-muffin tin with cooking spray. Unroll phyllo dough and cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Place one sheet of phyllo on a large cutting board. Gently brush with butter or spray with buttery cooking oil to cover evenly. Place next sheet on top and repeat until you have four sheets layered together. Make 3 cuts going lengthwise and 4 cuts going width wise so that you have 12 mostly square pieces of phyllo. Gently stick the phyllo squares in the holes of the muffin tin. Make sure to flatten the bottom a bit so they will sit properly on a serving platter. Bake for 10 min or until golden. Gently remove cups from muffin tin and allow to cool on a cooling rack. (They will cool just fine on a plate, but they will cool quicker on the rack. It is debatable as to whether or not they are crispier if cooled on the rack.) Repeat process until you have enough for your purposes. You can usually get 48 sail boats out of a batch of cheese mixture.

Cut sides off of apple then slice the sides into slices about ¼” thick. Cut the slices in half so that you have two pieces that are vaguely sail shaped. It is a good idea to place the slices in a bowl with water and lemon juice to keep them from browning. Just drain the slices well when you are ready to assemble the sail boats.

Snip corner off of the bag. Squeeze a good dollop of cheese mix into each phyllo cup. Push an apple slice into each dollop so that it looks like the sail of a boat. Serve to happy guests.

Hints:
I have found it’s best to have 2 mini muffin tins so you can be working on one while the other is baking.

This is best with medium cheddar. Sadly, pre-shredded cheese does not usually come in medium.

Dampen the kitchen towel well before you need it so that it can dry out a bit. Freshly dampened towels are usually *too* damp causing the top sheet of dough to disintegrate when you try to brush it.

If you use plastic wrap, spray it on the side facing the dough with cooking spray.

Using the cooking spray is easier so you may wish to consider it even if you are using full fat cheeses. Of course, if you’re really lazy you can just buy pre-made phyllo cups.

If you are feeling fancy you can put a large pastry tip on the bag.

I use two colors of apples because I like the look.

I actually use an immersion blender instead of a mixer because it’s easier to clean.

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Commenting Issue Fixed
I believe the commenting issue is fixed now so everyone can comment in the community. Please forgive the inconvenience.

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Telf's Butterbeer Part 1: The Easy Method
Some of you know I have gotten it into my head to actually brew, as in with yeast and apples and bottles and such, Butterbeer. I'll let you know how that goes.

At my Halloween party last weekend I made a quickie Butterbeer I like more than the other recipes I have tried in the past. Granted, there is probably something like this out there somewhere as I cannot imagine that no one thought of this before, but it was a hit and thus I share it with all of you.

Telf's Butterbeer

1 part Buttershots
1 part hot or mulled cider (there was a slight preference for the mulled)
2 parts sparkling apple juice, room temp or warmer

That's it. Pretty easy and very light on the alcohol content. If you absolutely cannot stand the idea of having alcohol in your beverage you can try mixing butterscotch sauce in with the hot cider, but the Potter books are fairly clear that there is enough alcohol in butterbeer to get someone intoxicated if they drink too much.

If you want to drink it chilled, you can either let the cider cool or skip the cider altogether and just use 3 parts sparkling apple juice. It bottles up pretty well if you have the proper bottle and/or cork but if it's not corked up tight it will lose it's fizz. I haven't let it sit for any amount of time so I do not know if any extra fermentation occurs but thus far there does not seem to be anything happening.

I hope to have space cleared out this weekend to start a batch of hard cider for which I will then try three different options for the secondary fermentation (the fermentation that occurs in the bottles making the brew fizzy)

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Review: Piratz Tavern
Review of Piratz Tavern:

Location: Downtown Silver Spring on the corner of Georgia and Bonifant. Easily accessible from my work and the metro, though parking can be a bit of a bother. I recommend the parking garage by the Borders and the Majestic.

Atmosphere: Neat, as in keen. It was done up for Halloween so I don’t know how much of the décor was seasonal and how much was permanent. I lusted after several of the table and chair sets. The dining area is dark and cozy, possibly a bit too cozy in spots. I sat in the bar area which is more open than the regular dining area. They have a back deck which is done up to delight in it’s own campiness. Sadly, the deck it is currently closed for the season.

Service: We went on a week night and we got great service. The hostess had this look on her face that seemed to say, “Like, omigod! Why am I wearing this stupid outfit and seating all these freaks! I’m so sure!” It may have just been the kin d of night she was having and the rest of the staff was friendly and seemed to know what they were doing.

I understand that the person accompanying me went later on a weekend night and the service was sketchy in that “OMG it’s the weekend and we’ve been open less than a month and damn we’re a lot more crowded than we thought we’d be” way. This is more likely to be an after work place for me so I am not bothered by that.

Food: A lot better than I expected. I had expected bar food or at least something trying to be fancy but really just bar food in disguise. To my surprise they had some really nice dishes. Desert was to kill for.

Booze: I had mixed drinks for a change instead of beer because their Halloween cocktails sounded so cool. It was almost like Halloween at Macadoo’s minus the souvenir mug but with a higher alcohol content in the drinks.

Price: More expensive than I would have liked, but I was drinking fancy mixed drinks. I need to find out about Happy Hour and such. Sadly I can’t see their website at work.

All in all I give it a thumbs up. I want to go back again soon to see if it manages to remain so delightful after word has gotten around and they’ve experienced that incredibly busy first few weeks where everyone is trying them out.

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Suggestions please...
Dave and I like to do crafty things with the girls.  Their favorite is probably the paint your own stained glass sitckers.  We have done things like that and we have a tie dye kit ready for the next one, but I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what we could do as a family after that.  While it doesn't have to be something that Dave would like to do, as he has no problem just helping, something that would be fun for all of us would be nice.

Any ideas?

Current Mood: busy

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Flaming Goodness
In the Food section of the Washington Post this past Wednesday there was a little section about grilling accessories. One of the featured items was this:



It’s a 7x7 tabletop grill that you can use natural hardwood charcoal or some variety of canned/liquid fuel in. One look sent me back to my childhood where the big treat on Easter Sunday was that my cousin and I got to split a pu-pu platter.

Once we had divided up the appetizers that came with it we’d take turns heating the tidbits over the tiny hibachi, marveling over the glowing blue fuel that produced the flames. Needless to say, the habitual acquirer that I am, I want one…or two, since if I have more than four people over it would be more convenient for folks to not have to reach for the flames.

Not surprisingly this little gem is out of stock at Korin Japanese Trading Corp. They do have a cute black model that is the same thing but smaller, and a red in the small size as well. Sadly, I don’t like the design as much and you can’t use charcoal in it.


I’m thinking that sometime this week I’ll go by the Asian market on my way home. They have all sorts of gadgetry so they may have something like this. They let me down on a previous quest for a doflatchy that I can not for the life of me remember what it was. I am hopeful, though.

The Korin site is a very dangerous place for me, by the way. Not only does it have all sorts of cool Asian gizmos and sushi plates and bento boxes, but it also has a set of knives that will set me back about $2000. Yes, you read that correctly. Two Thousand Dollars. And here I was thinking that registering for a set of knives that cost more than $150 was pretentious.

Current Mood: hungry

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The Luxury of Bathing
For about a year now I've been trying to collect and perfect bath products and spa treatments I can make at home. For the most part I've had some wonderful successes.

For one thing, I've found that olive oil is the best thing in the world for dry, itchy skin or brittle hair. In the bath it soothes and softens the skin but doesn't leave that nasty slick in the bath tub nor does it leave a sticky mess. It's far lighter on the skin, too. I don't feel greasy when I get out of the bath.

I get a lot of stuff from The Herbal Home Spa but I've had two failures recently. Ok, one semi-failure and one horrific failure.

The Quasi Failure:
There's a recipe for spiced bath oil. The book says to use sesame oil, but since I've had such good luck with olive oil I decided to use that. It didn't take the scent at all, possibly because the olive oil itself has such a strong scent. My skin feels great after using it, but I don't have that nice lingering spicy smell I was hoping for. I'm thinking I will add some nutmeg essential oil to the olive oil and try it that way.

The Horrific Failure:
I tried making the Venus bath listed in the book. It involves lots of herbs and vinegar. Now vinegar is very good for the skin. It balances the ph and soothes itch and burning from dry skin, the sun, bug bites, poison ivy, etc. I made this stuff and let it sit too long. It smelled like pickles when I opened it. I thought to myself that this probably wasn't too bad and drew a bath using about 2 cups of the stuff, the recomended amount. Well, it soothed most of my skin, but my face and female parts had quite the allergic reaction. Scratch that one, literally. It's probably fine for someone else, but not me.

Successes have included Bath Fizzies. I use the recipe for the super moisturizing fizzy, which is how I found out that olive oil worked so well in the bath.
I've been quit happy with the results. Now, not all my scents are dead on because I've discovered that much like scents react differently with different skin PH thus rarely smelling like they do in the bottle, the essential oils react with the citric acid and baking soda to make a completely different smell from what I mixed. I have made quite a few fizzies that smell awful, but I think I have a handful that smell quite nice.

What I am currently very curious about is the concept of getting these luscious perfume oils from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs and using them in bath fizzies, bath oils, body lotions and hair treatments. We'll have to see if I'm allergic to them in the bath before I get too wild.

Current Mood: creative

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Under $10
I'm thinking that since I started this I should post in it. If I don't, who will?

Nothing deep to start off with. Below is a link to an article from Daily Candy about things to do in the DC area that cost $10 or less. A little cool for under $10 is, well, cool.

A Perfect Ten

Current Mood: cheerful

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Mixology
By which I do not mean the art of arranging music, but the art of tending bar.

Some of you may know I have a fascination with bartending. I have never taken a class but I know a few standards and have a few books on the subject. Still, there are times when I am at a loss. I know what's in the bar but I want something more exotic than a gin and tonic. SometimesI know the name of a drink I like, but can not find it, or at least the version of it I am thinking of, in any of my books.

Today at work someone asked me what you call a Red Bull mixed with vodka. In my search for the answer to that question I came across Drink Nation, a wonderful little website that may very well prove to be invaluable.

One can search for drinks by title, ingredient, theme, etc. You can search by key word as well. What I love most about this site is that it has a drink menu generator where you select what booze you have on hand and what ingredients you have and it will kick out a list of drinks you can make. I am betting when I am in the mood for something spicy-sweet I can pop in ingredients that sound good and come up with a cocktail to satisfy my craving.

Current Mood: thirsty

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Allergy Eyes
Fall is my favorite time of year. Sadly, it is also a bad time for allergies as far as I'm concerned. Today is my worst allergy day of the season thus far. With allergy season comes allergy eyes. Swollen, puffy, itchy, gummy-feeling eyes are what I wake up with every morning. I swear it adds 10 years to my looks.

For some time I have been trying to do something about this with varied results. While many of those on this forum are against pandering to superficial beauty or simply not interested in beauty treatments, there are also lots of allergy sufferers out there that may find this of interest. Here are my findings.

1: Cucumber Slices: Do not use one thick slice for each eye, but put several thin slices on each. It really does nothing for puffiness but it does take the sore, dry, tired, gummy feeling out.

2: Potato Slices: Again, use thin slices as with the cucumber and you will get for the most part the same results. Beware, your significant other may think you smell like hash browns.

3: Tea Bags: Did nothing for me except make my face pleasantly tea scented. Many people still swear by this, however.

4: Preparation H: Don't laugh. I read about this in some happy hippy simple living magazine. It reduced the most severe swelling, but only worked up to a point and dear god does it stink.

5: Naphcon A eye drops: These are most wonderful. They burn the least of any allergy eye drops I have tried and are the most effective. They do nothing for puffiness but they rid me of the urge to constantly rub my eyes, the eye rubbing being a major contributor to the puffiness.

6: Less strong drink, more water, and a good night's sleep: The best method for ridding one of puffy eyes. Sadly, it is still not 100% effective this time of year, but it has worked the best for me thus far.

So, does any one else have any input on this grave subject?

Current Mood: puffy

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My favorite game right now is "What's In It???"
My favorite game right now is "What's In It???"
Basically more and more I find myself going to restaurants or shops and trying to think how I'd prepare/construct/etc. the item I'm enjoying (or would like to enjoy except for the horrible, horrible spendiness. :P)
Examples:
Fondue, such as that you'll find at the super-tasty Melting Pot is relatively simple to make and not really that expensive, provided you have proper fondue pots/forks/skewers. I thnk I know what I'm going to be asking for for any upcoming b-days/anniversaries/gift-giving occasions.:)
Cat trees. VERY SPENDY FOR WHAT THEY ARE!!! I have the advantage of having a brother in law who does home renovations and can thus get me scrap lumber and other goodies to make these. I think my Dad might get a little nervous about the idea of me + power tools, but he'll get over it. I helped repair barbed-wire fence this summer, so I'm feeling all adventurous and do-it-yourself-y.
By this time next year I want our house to be a place that people can come and stay and feel perfectly at home, not a place I feel like I need to make apologies/excuses for. (We still have that "just moved in last week" look about the place.:P)
Today I enjoyed eyeing cat trees at Petsmart, and thinking what elements I'd like to put into one I built; and later, mentally desconstructing the BEST EGG SALAD SAMMICH I've EVER HAD! plus the cookies Mom and I split at a local eatery I like to call Une Petite Patisserie. (Not its actual name, but it's a little frou-frou for this area, and so deserves a little affectionate ribbing.) All I've figured out about the egg salad so far is that it had the tiniest smidgin of roasted red pepper in it. Hmmmmmmmmm. Must go back for more for further analysis.:)

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Speaking of tea, one of the things my mother and I were discussing the other day was milk versus cream in one's tea.

I think that Red Tea, for instance, can support the flavor and thickness of cream, whereas Red Rose Tea (my breakfast tea of choice) needs milk or else it becomes too cloying.

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