Currently:
August 30, 2004 link
I really like the way these bath salts are packaged. I like that the bag has a round bottom like a tube. They are so pretty! I have a soap making book that has a bath salt recipe and they have you hand paint the wooden scoop to match the bath salts (I think they were honey scented..) I have always loved that idea and I think it would go well with those little bags.
It's almost time to start thinking about Halloween! I picked up an issue of Country Home magazine and they had a project that I just loved. It wasn't really a project, it was more of a suggestion. They had a vignette of a haunted house and the little snippet under the picture suggested that you find an old dollhouse and paint it black, then add bits and bobs to make it haunted. I LOVE that idea! I had a dollhouse when I was little, and my mom STILL has them..so dollhouses hold a special place in my heart. I think this house would be lovely, or perhaps this one. I would add some bats and crow silhouettes cut out of balsa wood to the roof, oh what else...I think the possibilities are endless. Oh actually...if I was going to get REALLY serious about this I would buy THIS one. That would make a FABULOUS haunted house! Spooky! It would be cheaper and less time consuming to buy an already existing dollhouse, but I have never seen one at a garage sale so I may have to keep my eyes peeled. I don't even know if I have the time to buy, put together, paint, and adorn a new house, but I am TOTALLY going to do this some day.
August 24, 2004 link
Regarding knitting with broomsticks...I haven't been able to find much about it on the internet. Granted, I didn't look all that hard. There was a class over in London that dealt with it, and the book I bought is English in origin, and the magazine with the picture of the throw was also English so I guess it's more popular over there. However, my mom mentioned something about it once, so I think it's technique that has been around a while. (Oops! I just read her comment in yesterday's post). According to the directions, you saw the broom handles to about 28 inches and sand the rounded edges with some sandpaper. You can then glue a wooden disc on the other end so your knitting won't slide off. It is also recommended that you should oil the "needles" with a little olive oil to make things easier. From that point it's just knitting like you normally would, except you use the roving. You need to twist the roving a bit while you work with it. I don't know much about knitting, so I don't know why I think I can tackle a project like this. It seems easy since everything is so large, but I am probably deluding myself. Don't they make really large knitting needles?
August 23, 2004 link
I am so busy! That's a good thing, right? I have an appointment today to meet with an accountant to make my illustration gig a legal business. I feel so grown up. I got another illustration job, this time from Oxford University Press and I am totally thrilled. It's time I get my act together.
I was intrigued by Megan's mention of a felted flower bracelet in the Martha Stewart kids magazine so I had to run out and get it of course. It's very pretty, and the first thing I thought of when I saw it was "How did they make that?" and I am going to guess that the flowers were felted on a small rubber ball of some sort. They sort of have that half-dome shape to them. I recently bought some merino roving, just to have. It's so much softer than the roving I already had. I haven't done anything with it...I just like to take it out and feel it every once in a while..like a pet.
We went to Costco this weekend and I bought the greatest craft book. It was only ten dollars and it's called Complete Craft by Katherine Sorrell. It has fabulous projects and beautiful pictures. One of the projects is knitting a chunky wool cushion that looks exactly like the Knit Throw I have been in love with forever. You use wool roving and broomsticks! I am so happy! I am definitely going to give that a whirl.
August 18, 2004 link
I noticed yesterday that Jenny Hart has a book coming out! How cool is that? I can't wait to see it.
A few years ago I bought a 3 ring binder and some clear plastic sleeves to create a recipe book. We try a lot of things off of the internet and have a couple of subscriptions to some food mags so I end up with a lot of paper floating around so this was an attempt at organization. We have strict standards...if a recipe is REALLY good and we feel that we would definitely make it again, then it "goes in the book." However, when I first started the book, I was putting in recipes that I hadn't even made, yet wanted to try. Last night I went through my HUGE pile of pages and the book itself and reorganized everything. I took out anything I hadn't actually made and was amused to find that they were almost all desert recipes, specifically cheesecake or some variation. I also need to figure out how to add our favorite recipes that we use from our cookbooks. Both options seem horribly labor intensive and I can't decide which one is the lesser of two evils. I either have to re-type the recipes by hand (ugh) or lug the heavy books to a Kinko's and photocopy them (also ugh). This book has become a wonderful resource, so much in fact that J recently told me that if we ever break up and we have to divide our belongings, he wants the binder. Fat chance.
I decided that I really needed to start making the deserts, so once it starts to cool down enough to start using the oven again ( I am ready for fall ) I am going to start baking. Here are the items on the list:
Ricotta Tart with Honey-Tyme Glaze and Pine Nut Crust- This is on Foodandwine.com, but unfortunately you have to be a subscriber. I hate that! Anyway, this recipe has cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, ricotta cheese, and creme fraiche. All of my most favorite ingredients.
Black Pepper Cheesecake - I saw this chef on Martha and knew that I HAD to try this recipe. Even though they served it with pineapple on the show, he mentioned that it was also really great with strawberries and a really old balsamic vinegar which is what I am going to do when I get around to making this.
Pastiera with Strawberry Sauce - This also a Martha recipe, but it's not on her site. It's from the April 2003 issue. From what very little research I have done, I have found that a Pastiera is an Italian grain pie usually made for Easter. This recipe uses arborio rice and ricotta. It seems like a rice pudding pie, and I love rice pudding.
Tofu Cheesecake- This came from the July 2002 issue of House Beautiful. It's a recipe by Morimoto of Iron Chef fame, the article was about his then new restaurant in Philadelphia. I love Morimoto and I love cheesecake so I have to make this.
There are a few more recipes, some of them not containing cream cheese! I need to get through these four, which are the ones I am most excited about first..
