Late night mocha + new craft book = unlimited POWER!

Sometimes I wonder about decisions I make.  Tonight I bought a new travel mug at a local coffee shop while out at the Thursday night farmer's market in our neighborhood.  Now this was a very practical decision because 1) I like to bring my own coffee in the morning and 2) my old travel mug permanently tastes like...well...no comment. However, a less than prudent decision was to say "yes, please!" to the offer of a free large mocha in my new travel mug.  At 7:45 pm. On a work night.  Despite the fact that I will likely have a rough wake-up involving more caffeine, I don't regret my delicious mocha or my new favorite craft book purchase made while still on said mocha high: One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker & Patricia Hoskins.

Among other projects, I'm particularly excited about making a cover for the hideous 2-drawer file cabinet up-for-grabs at work.  I'm not sure it will go with the semi-professional theme I was attempting for my office, but then again, neither does a shnasty file cabinet!

In other news, we found a tasty (and CHEAP!) sushi place in the neighborhood last week called Rolls 'n' Bowls.  Extremely fresh fish, nice family-run establishment, and just overall great rolls.  Plus it's BYOB with no corkage fee.  Although it lacks date-night ambiance, it's the perfect spot for weeknight sushi cravings. I'm hesitant to write a Yelp review because I don't want anyone else to find this place.

Pretty fancy presentation for the price:

And completely unrelated to anything else on this post (blame it on the mocha high)...I just couldn't resist posting a pic of Ivy in her ridiculously cute and sleepy state:

Maybe that will motivate me to put down my book and head to bed...nah.

Crafting When You Least Expect It

This past weekend we went to see Buffet at Toyota Park.  Despite the crazy heat (it didn't help that we were sitting in a parking lot), we had a great time tailgating beforehand.  Our friend Christy was nice enough to handle all of the decorating and preparation- including a kiddie pool, sand, tent, grill, food, beer, and...the essential $0.99 full-assembly-required-glow-in-the-dark lei.  There's nothing better than doing a "craft" at a Buffet concert, although I had a bit of trouble with it at first. I seemed to be missing a few connectors (go ahead...make a joke):

 While Christy had no trouble at all and got it right the first time:

After a little searching, the connectors were finally found and we had a great night.  As cheesy as Jimmy Buffet is, there's just something about him that makes you want to relax, spend time with friends, and just enjoy the little things.  Although I think I might have an easier time doing that more often if I lived in paradise...so now when are we moving to Key West? Maui?  Anywhere that doesn't turn to ice in a few months?  I can dream I guess...

A brief stroll through the Enchanted Broccoli Forest

I was looking through my cookbooks the other day and happened upon an oldy but goody, Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest.  I haven't made a recipe from it in ages, so I decided to choose a few to pilot this week.  Last night we had an Indian-themed menu from the book, including her Indian Pulao, Potato/Panir/Pea Curry, Raita, and Parsley-Mint Chutney. Two hours after embarking on this adventure (thankfully my brother and our friend Coors Light were on hand to keep me company), we had plates of steaming Indian-ish food.  I would definitely make the Indian Pulao again, but I think I have a better raita recipe somewhere.  Although pretty spicy, the chutney was really good.  The curry was also tasty, but let's just say that no picture was taken for aesthetic reasons (i.e., substituting tofu crumbles for panir and black sesame seeds for regular sesame seeds resulted in a less-than-appetizing color).  Nevertheless, behold the beautiful pot of Pulao:

Indian Pulao (adapted from Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest)
1 to 2 Tbsp butter or canola oil                            3 to 4 Tbsp water (as needed)
1 C chopped onion                                              2 diced carrots (or sliced like I did)
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger                                  2 minced garlic cloves
3/4 tsp salt                                                           1 diced medium green bell pepper
1 tsp mustard seeds                                             1/2 C raisins
1tsp turmeric                                                         6 C cooked basmati rice (I was bad & used white)
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fennel seed (optional- I used it)
* She also adds 1 C chopped nuts and 1 C toasted unsweetened coconut to the top at the end, but I didn't have any. But I bet it would be good...

How to Make It:
- Cook 2 cups of rice in 3 cups of water (about 15 minutes for white basmati).
- Melt butter in a large dutch oven or pot (I love my Le Creuset rip-off).  Add onion, ginger, salt, and spices and saute for a few minutes until the onions are soft.  I added a little water during this so it would not burn and turned it down to medium-low.
- Add carrots and garlic. Stir and cover for a few more minutes (about 5).  Then add the bell pepper and do the same (another 5-ish minutes).
- Add the raisins and rice, mix it up, and let it cook a little longer on very low heat until all the flavors meld together.
- Put some raita and chutney on top and eat it.  Mmmmm....

If you want to feel like a rockstar, buy some flowers from the farmer's market...

I started my day off with a cup of coffee and walked to the Tuesday morning farmer's market in search of some tasty additions for dinners this week and flowers to freshen up the table.  So today's creative effort was to arrange these beauties in some kind of rustic-looking fashion.  The beauty of farmer's market flowers is that, honestly, flower arranging skills aren't necessary because they are so great just on their own.  Rambler loved them so much that she shoved herself into the picture too:

Plus there were enough for an extra mini-arrangement for the living room:

So the rockstar piece comes from the walk home.  If you're feeling a bit invisible lately, go buy some flowers from the market and walk home with them.  I guarantee tons of comments.  Sure, they'll be about your flowers, but it feels good anyway. And you get the added benefit of knowing you supported a local farmer.

Recent crafty endeavors

This past weekend I had the opportunity to be in what may have been the most fantastic wedding ever.  Our good friends literally "took the plunge" and jumped off a 10m highdive during their wedding ceremony.  The creativity didn't end there...that evening all of the bride chicas (as we were fondly referred to) wore wild hair pieces to signify our status.  A few weeks ago we gathered at the "Chica of Honor's" house to create these lovely colorful hairclips from peacock feathers, silk flowers, fake butterflies and birds, and LOTS of hot glue.  I think they turned out pretty snazzy and went well with the reception's flamenco theme:

On another crafty tangent, I thought I'd share my current knitting endeavor.  I found this pattern on a great knitting blog http://knit1fortheroad.blogspot.com/search/label/wowza%20wrist%20warmers .  It's still in the works, but I love the pattern that it is creating.  The picture doesn't do the color justice- it's a pretty dark teal that will go great with my brown winter coat.  I'll keep you posted on the progress.

And finally, I just had to post about my current favorite craft book (along with cookbooks, another obsession of mine!): Softies by Therese Laskey.  As you can see in the picture, I made Ms. Green Tea (well, Earl Grey in this case) Bag already (in addition to Treeling and two different versions of Wee Robot for gifts).

I'm thinking about starting the adorable whale on the cover for an upcoming project...more soon.

Here goes nothing...

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my new blog. This is an exciting moment for me as this is my very first blog post ever. As such, it seems to make sense that I provide some kind of explanation for this new blog (i.e., the answer to why you should spend your precious time reading it?).  In a nutshell, I am someone who loves to eat good food, drink great wine, try new recipes, and create crafty items.  However...life tends to get in the way and somehow the creative aspect of these interests usually gets pushed to the side in light of time constraints and lots of other excuses.  So what I hope to do with this blog is twofold: One is to provide a space for me to share what inspires me as it relates to food, wine, and crafts.  Perhaps a link to a great blog that I found while procrastinating at work.  Or an amazing recipe for Thai Green Curry.  And maybe a picture or two of my current craft project.  The other purpose is to help others on their own quest to try something new today.  Share your yummy recipes...or knitting patterns...or a picture of a beautiful garden. Whatever tickles your fancy and makes you feel good is what I'd like to hear about...

So to start the inspiration, I'll share what I am...well...embarrassingly excited about lately: my craft corner. For those of you fellow city dwellers, you may also be able to relate to how extremely exciting a small area completely dedicated to crafts can be. Although you can see in the picture that it is a pretty modest sized space, it is oh-so-exciting to actually be able to access all of my craft materials in one spot without getting smashed by things falling out of the closet when you open it.  

 And my lovely muse, Rambler, likes the windowsill to gaze out upon...