Satisfying All Around...Another Food Edition.

I'm not going to lie. It's never fun to try a new recipe and have it bomb. Or have someone, ehem... unwilling to even try it. Today I tried a new Pinterest recipe for pork chops and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I even had to do some modifications for lack of ingredients.

Baked Pork Chops I modified it by adding a few dashes of Tabasco to the egg mix. I also didn't have any seasoning salt so I rubbed some cajun seasoning in... and it wasn't spicy in the end. Just flavorful. I also tried carmelizing some onions with the pork chops and then adding them to the gravy mix. I doubled the sauce mixture and when I didn't have another can of cream of mushroom, I used this recipe on Pinterest to make a substitute (with garlic, but not the mushrooms). Instead of baking the pork chops as long as it said, I modified that by baking for 45 minutes, adding the sauce and making for another 30-40 minutes.

Last week I tried a recipe for Garlic Herb French Bread and it was so good that I nearly ate the entire loaf myself...  On Tuesday, I made it a second time in a week to go with spaghetti. Not only was it super flavorful... but I tried a method of getting my bread to rise using an oven and also tried braiding my loaf.

To satisfy my sweet tooth I tried this Caramel Crispix recipe using up some rice chex and wheat chex. I had the equivalent of one box so I halved the recipe and it worked just fine. I'm not sure how a person could screw this up. Yum.

The only recipes I tried that weren't quite "wins" were the ones for bok choy. This is something I've never cooked before and I wasn't quite sure what to do. I opted for splitting the bok choy and trying two different sauces to see which flavor and method I prefered. What I learned was that both flavors were great and neither prep method was quite what I wanted it to be. I think I needed baby bok choy and I had the full size stuff. I should have chopped it up I think. Instead I tried an oven method and a frying method and neither yielded a result that resembled the picture... either I didn't cook it long enough or at the right temp or perhaps I'm just not sure what the texture should be when cooked.

The spicy roasted bok choy was indeed quite spicy, but I love spicy so I thought it was pretty awesome.

Baby Bok Choy with Sweet and Tangy Sauce might suit the masses more. It was tangy and  not at all spicy, but quite nice.

Next up... I plan to make Crème Brûlée. I have tried this recipe when a friend made it and served it at our wine club. I'm determined to try it myself. Yum. It was so very dangerously delicious. I'll update one I've actually conquered this one!

Why I Marched in 2017 and will continue to do so...

Please read this excellent article that captures how I feel... especially in response to those who don't seem to "get it"... regardless of their gender. It begins: 

"Say thank you. Say thank you to the women who gave you a voice. Say thank you to the women who were arrested and imprisoned and beaten and gassed for you to have a voice. Say thank you to the women who refused to back down, to the women who fought tirelessly to give you a voice. Say thank you to the women who put their lives on hold, who –lucky for you — did not have “better things to do” than to march and protest and rally for your voice. So you don’t feel like a “second class citizen.” So you get to feel “equal.”"


--"You are Not Equal. I'm Sorry." by Dina Leygerman

Oh yeah. And a little bit of it is about this dumbass.

What's Cooking? A (Pinterest) Recipe Roundup for this Week

I struggle to remember what I used to cook before Pinterest. A lot of homemade macaroni and cheese, perhaps.

Tonight's meal featured a "Tested and Approved" meal option: Stromboli.  I love this one for the ease and deliciousness. It's got a few steps but still pretty easy.

Sunday felt like a day that needed a sort of Super Bowl type food so I opted for my very favorite sliders.  Oh man. Little delicious burgers from heaven. Yum. If you search for Sliders Four Ways on YouTube you can also see a print version of each of the recipes in the description.

Saturday, we ate Swedish Meatballs and mashed potatoes (very rich and creamy... my secret lots of cream, butter, sour cream and some tabasco... all whipped in my KitchenAid Mixer). My mom pointed out that this recipe was nothing like the one she uses, so here's the link. We like this version. Super tasty.

Friday, we had Spicy Sausage Rigatoni with Tomato Cream Sauce. I really like this one, but it is pretty spicy for those who don't like that sort of thing.

Earlier in the week I made Chicken Lazone and served it over angel hair pasta. This one is also a little spicy since I tend to cut up my chicken into bite size pieces and dip in spices before cooking rather than coating a full breast or tender.

Not sure if you've noticed but all our meals seem to have one common ingredient--cream. The only one that didn't was the stromboli from tonight. Sheesh.

In addition to this week's main course menu I tried a new recipe: Scottish Shortbread and am happy to report it was a success.

I also made homemade granola bars today but the jury is still out on those. They don't seem to be holding together very well. I skipped the brown sugar in this recipe and just used butter, honey, and peanut butter for the liquid bits. Didn't add any vanilla. I mixed in oats, peanuts, sunflower seeds, craisins, and sliced almonds. I've really liked crushed pretzels in this recipe but I didn't have any. I also decided to skip the chocolate for this batch so it hardly seems like I even followed the recipe, but I think the idea is that can be altered.  I wonder if I added a bit of Karo Syrup if it would stick together better.

Almost every week we make Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins for the little monster who can't imagine a breakfast without one. This week was no different.

And lastly, I made one more batch of our favorite ranch dressing. This one is a Whole 30 recipe that uses coconut milk and is fabulous. So quick and easy to make if you have the ingredients on hand. And tastes good enough to drink! I typically don't bother adding cilantro or any other spice since the first time I made it without and it tasted so good, I've never tried it another way.

Taste is a Curious Thing

I just discovered Taste Test Etsy via Swiss Miss. If you love Etsy, which I do, you might agree that it's a bit overwhelming with all its awesomeness. Tons of choices. Tons of fantastic products. Well, Taste Etsy determines your particular "taste" based on choices you make between different groupings of items.

I actually think they might be on to something because this little black polka-dotted briefcase was among the items Etsy recommended to me, based on my taste and they were right on. You can buy this for me here! :)

Lost in Linkland...

Candy Corn Hershey's Kisses. These are to die for.

I think I need to embrace the mustache craze and get one of these magnets...

Fairy Tale finger puppets patterns

The Meaning of Photoshop by Khoi Vinh -- an article that ponders the role photoshop plays in our perceptions of beauty, real or imagined and whether such a thing is a destructive force if not acknowledged.

Photos of Marilyn Monroe reading, reading, reading... via Sheila Variations

a few others:

Yep, reading is sexy.

The Book Seer

The Book Seer

I LOVE this thing... I thought it would just be like on Amazon with the "people who bought this book also bought this book" feature and in some ways it is.. but it feeds from Amazon AND from LibraryThing, providing links to other books. There's enough variety that, when tested, it actually spit out a few titles that were intriguing to me.

If you are wondering what to read next, here's your oracle.

Two Crazy Cool Crafts for Kids

I love doll houses and I didn't have one as a child. That's fine, I survived, but I'm always intrigued when I see versions of them online. Here's a sort of minimalist one-a Constantine dollhouse, that actually costs a pretty penny ($150) and a homemade version by Elsie Marley that has endless possibility. Check out all the pictures of Elsie's here. I am determined to make one of these. It reminds me of Phoebe's dollhouse on Friends. And I am sure I'm not alone in saying I LOVED that one!

Another fun craft to try out... this one is more for the kiddos.

Shower Curtain Play Mat at Filth Wizardry via Whip Up

Using a dollar store shower curtain liner, this mom taped it to the floor and took directions from her kiddos as to where the roads should go. To expedite the process she taped two Sharpies to a plastic bottle so both lines would be drawn evenly spaced. Click on the Filth Wizardry link to learn more and to see more pics. She got the idea from My Little Gems and those pics are worth checking out, too.

I Link ,Therefore I Am.

How cute is this little card table playhouse for a child?
I am in LOVE with it.
I wonder if I could make something like this myself...
Special order them here, at Imaginative Play Toys on Etsy

Secrets of Simplicty by Mary Carlomagno sounds like a book I need to read (via Decor8)

Am dying to make these yummy cupcakes via Inchmark.

I'm all about the coconut.

Awesome wedding invitations for the music lover! via Black*Eiffel

Love this from Threefold Collection via Freshly Blended.

I think the printable checklist is pretty darn cool, for a list lover like me!

Fabrics from this Etsy Store are making my mouth water.

Fat Quarter pack of two fabrics:
Jennifer Paganelli--Polly Stripe in Persimmon
Alexander Henry--Apples & Pears in Blue

Fat Quarter:
Alexander Henry--French Countryside Granville Fabric

Stopping my Overthinking with some Linking

Today was a rotten day. The most rotten of rotten days. Not the "I overslept" or "my car wouldn't start" kind of day. Not even an "I ate half a pan of shortbread and didn't even care" kind of day (even though I DID and don't really care). My day's drama started yesterday afternoon and it seems to be never ending and the sadness it engenders is pooling up like flood waters at my feet. And my heart feels like a it's tight in the grasp of some unseen, unknown cruelty. Yeah, I can't even really talk about it. I will. I think I need to write about this, but not today. Today's only real remedy will be closing the door on it and starting again tomorrow, with the same shadow, sure, but maybe a bit more light. We'll see.

What has been making my evening tolerable...

Candice Stringham's photography blog, Aperture 1.4 is quickly becoming a favorite. This post is what clinched it for me. She speaka my language.

Things like this Red Riding Hood keyhook at the Three Potato Four shop. Actually everything at Three Potato Four. Especially these finger puppets and this typewriter. And they have a blog too.
I've been seduced. It's crazy costly. I have a horrible habit of subscribing to magazines and then not reading them. But this is only FOUR issues a year... it's basically like buying a beautiful book. I would love to just get one issue and see what I think. The Spring 2009, due out in April, is their first issue. Here's a link to a promo video about it. See if it seduces you too....

I love this paper doll tee shirt sweater. I could never make it and I probably don't have the bod for that style anyway.... but it's soooooo cute. Needled is my new knitting blog love. It's written by Kate Davies and her recent "Jubilee Bees" post made me think of my long-lost friend Emma... I wondered if she'd ever indulged in such adorableness in the name of the Queen.

Now, folks who read me more than once have probably figured out that I've been on a cuckoo clock craze this year and I think I'm not the only one. You can buy one here. Wow.


This is a crazy concept and one I hope starts to catch on. It's an anti-social social, specifically in an event in March in Montreal, but still. Holy crap. This is completely what I would love to do. Go somewhere with my knitting, book, sketchbook, laptop, and simply "be" in the presence of others while doing my own thing... you know being social and anti-social all at the same time. I learned about this event via this Drawn post.

I love this sort of thing and this is just the sort of thing I need to quit buying because then I collect things I really ought to just toss. Right now my ticket stubs from beloved concerts and the like are hanging on a little ribbon styled bulletin board that my Gram made me years ago. Maybe it's time to move them into a more permanent storage via Chronicle Books own Ticket Stub Diary. It's on my universal wish list!

I just discovered the Winnipeg Folk Festival (which I love but haven't been to in AGES) artists' line up includes Neko Case... I may have to make it this year... now if they only had First Aid Kit it would be kismet!

Links of Love.

I love the idea of this ring.
It is designed to leave a message behind when the ring is removed.
For sale here.

These are pretty adorable and so simple!

I love this idea. I don't have lollipop molds,
but I'm thinking I should get some!
Click here for directions.

I did do a little crafty fun earlier.
I've discovered all kinds of super downloads.
One for some cutey-patootie valentines you can print and use.
One for a papercut valentine.

One for a sticky note cozy.

Apparently it's Animation Week in Carmynland.

How fun is this commercial? I love the animation and creativity. Here's a link that talks about more about the creation of it.

I'm Flipping Out!

I just saw this on The Small Object blog.

She took a small video clip of her nephew--the kind you do on a digital camera. Then using the FlipClips website she had them turn her video into a custom-made flip book for about ten dollars. So cool. Follow the Small Object blog link to see how hers turned out. There you can watch her video of her flip book (which is a flip book of a video... wait, what is going on here? )

Tee hee :)

Crazy Good Stuff Out There. More Luscious Linkage.

Snails and slugs.
These are from the Mochimochi Blog
You can download the pattern there for free!

Yep. That's MOSS growing in that ring.
I really think I need this. You can buy them here.

This pic? Inspiration.
This is a little handmade deal from the Lucky Beans blog.
They remind me of the Fisher Price "Little People."
I love the pirate with his eye patch.

I'd love to watch this 25 minute short
based on a book by Oliver Jeffers.
It looks delightful.
You can view more movie stills here.

Color your own wallpaper.

Sew your own pads? OR buy them here.

Cuckoo for Cuckoo Clocks?
Check out Kate Sutton's amazing rendition.
Or her bandages for that matter.
Here's a link to her blog.

I found this cute lil hat through Whip Up.
An invaluable source for all things crafty.
Here's the knitting pattern.
I really want to make this!

To Give or to Get. There is no Question-- A Superpowered Holiday Gift Extravaganza.

With Christmas around the corner, a gal can't help but be tempted to shop for all kinds of goodies. Or lust after all the wonderful things folks in bloggerland are finding to make and give their loved ones. I find that every time I set out to buy a gift for someone else, I come home with three things for me. Still there are a few things out there I've resisted the urge to buy but love just the same. Here are a few items that have made my wish list this year and a few items that I know would make perfect gifts for someone out there.


What fun it is to give...
Emily Martin's The Black Apple Etsy shop is a favorite for wonderful art, note cards, pins, and now paper dolls!

If you search typewriter key or scrabble tile jewelry on Etsy you can find endless shops with those items as necklace charms. Frankly, I find them charming! :)

I've been meaning to make some aprons all year, but I'm not sure my sewing skills are there yet. Still I love this pattern. I'd love to GET the pattern as a gift and then start making these to give to others! Isn't it lovely in red and blue?

Chronicle Books is a terrific independent publisher for all kinds of crazy cool books. I can think of at least one person who would love a book just for lists. And a person who would love this journal too.

I am also a big fan of reuseable bags. Ones like flip and tumble. Or RuMe. Or Envirosax.

I love Christmas music and every year I get at least one CD. This year, I've already purchased the Martin Sexton Camp Holiday CD, but I was thinking Sufjan Stevens box set might make a wonderful gift for someone. And I wouldn't mind getting it either.

Things I'd love to get include....
The red knit Alice band found on Dollyknits Etsy site.

A cuckoo clock like Grandma had in her living room. I don't expect anyone to drop a thousand dollars on this sort of expenditure and I'd probably be upset if someone did... I'm too thrifty for such nonsense... though if you ever hear of someone tossing one out... grab it for me! :)

And I love these little Flade figurines. They are nostalgic and cute and somewhat expensive.

And these wall mounted bookshelves. I just think they look very cool.

I'd also like a Half-Price Books gift card or a lefse grill, for my lefse needs. Maybe a magazine subscription to Everyday with Rachel Ray

A copy of Pippi Longstocking illustrated by Lauren Child or a Wonder Woman mug.


To make this festive link fest even more fun I've asked fellow bloggers, E. Louise, Minnemom, Sara, and Rachel Zana for some of their lists to share. They provided me with lists and sometimes links. I selected the images from the links, so my disclaimer is that the items pictured may not the exact item my bloggie-buds had in mind.

E. Louise is a thrifty and crafty gal who knows how to create fantastic handmade items.

Giving according to E.
I found a website that links to ethical websites for comparison shopping.

I also like the idea of sponsoring a goat with Oxfam as a gift, that kind of thing.

This year I mostly made my presents: my godson is into Transformers but I didn't want to buy a chunk of plastic so since he's also into (and very good at) drawing I bought a blank journal and created a cover page with 'Transformers' as the title and some pictures printed on (downloaded from the web) and then in the Transformers font it says 'The Untold Stories by Thomas C.' so he can create his own. I'm pretty proud of that idea, as you can probably tell :)

Apart from that it was scarves and gloves all round, so I have crocheter's arm!

Oh, to receive....
Em doesn't the piddly list of goodies I have amassed. Instead she goes for the goods with gusto! Here are the four items topping her wish list this year. Santa? Are you listening?

1. Digital camera
2. Piano (real not electronic)
3. Big proper posh food processor/mixer/blender
4. House :)


Minnemom at Travels with Children may seem like she has a "one-track" mind (and it runs down Route 66!), but her blog is dedicated to travels and so it follows her wish list is too. L. and I were college buddies and our big celebration trip after completing student teaching way back when was to road trip from UND to Washinton DC and back again. 14 days, something like 14 states, 12 college campuses, a jillion museums and we were happy as clams. Actually I can't quite remember the statistics but we were well organized and well educated when we were done. I love the open road and exploring new places. She's infusing her little ones with the travel bug early on!

Some of Minnemom's Giving Goals in 2008:
Where to Go When: The Americas. (A little something for the in laws who have the flexibility we all crave in traveling)

Books for the kids about places we’re going to go or have already been. For example: Megan O’Hara’s lighthouse book now that they've been to Split Rock, and her General Store book now that they've been to Historic Forestville.

Why not Wish List, according to Minnemom:
An iPod Touch. I could sync our itineraries with my calendar, use the wi-fi to find travel info, play podcast tours in the car, and much, much more.

National Treasure DVD. Someone recommended it as a good film to watch before we head to Philadelphia. I saw it a while ago and had forgotten all about it

Roadside Attractions: Cool Cafes, Souvenir Stands, Route 66 Relics, and other Road Trip Fun. I’d love to see how many of these I’ve seen already, and how many more I can get to. These big things beside the road can be a lot of fun, especially when traveling with kids.

The Most Scenic Drives in America. I already received this (two copies, in fact!) at an early Christmas celebration. I love finding new scenic routes to take me off the beaten path.

Any “Places to See” or “Off the Beaten Path” books.

Most anything by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. The history, photo, and travel books they publish are excellent.


Things Rachel Zana is Giving this Christmas Season
as described by Rachel...

1. A stripey homemade afghan crocheted with Lionbrand's Thick and Quick yarn. It's thick. The blanket is heavy and perfect for snuggling (I think). Someone who saw me working on it described it as yummy.

2. Raspberry jam. Crab apple jam. Strawberry jam. Rhubarb jam. The products of our summer jam making extravaganza will be distributed to teachers at school, preschool, church, some of our neighbors, and various members of my husband's jam-loving family.

4. Homemade Scarves. Made out of that same thick yarn.

5. Each year I design enormous professional photography books with all of the most special images from the year to give to my parents and my husband's parents. I use a company that only works with professional photographers (I actually have a tax ID number so I can call myself a business to do business with them) but you can make similar books using a much simpler process with templates at shutterfly.com and many other photograph developing company sites.

6. Connectagons. I'm really excited to give this to my daughter who LOVES to build things, and my trio of nieces in Iowa.

7. My children are each getting a very special puzzle from made by Grimm Spiel and Holz. I LOVE this company. It's all I can do not to go hog wild crazy and buy EVERYTHING they make. Unfortunately they make expensive things. The place with the most extensive collection in the U.S. is finewoodentoys.com

8. Each of my kids decorated a ceramic plate for each grandparent and great grandparent in the family. We used plate decorating kids from hearthsong.com, but there are other places to find similar products. The plates are safe to eat off and wash, according to the instructions.

9. Each year every capable member of our family composes several poems using magnetic poetry. I compile them in a homemade book that we give to my poetry-loving sister-in-law. The title of the book is "Really Bad Magnetic Poetry: From our House to Yours" This year we are creating volume three. She loves getting it. I type up the poems and print them. The youngest members of the family illustrate the pages in a very abstract fashion with light watercolors. I attach the pages to a 5x7 little scrapbook that I find every year in the dollar section at Target. The poems are always quite hilarious, and the project is a lot of fun.

10. We're working on a couple of holiday giving projects, like sponsoring a child through Compassion International and helping some orphanages in China and Haiti, as well as maybe buying some livestock for a family in need through heifer.org or helping with some water needs through this organization: samaritanspurse.org.

Things on my Christmas Wish List:
The Christmas list that I gave to my mother who LIVES for buying presents at Christmas time included a lot of Rachel-specific items, like the following:

A. 14 heavy duty laundry baskets to put toddlers in and zoom around the room as we pretend to drive tractors at music class.

B. 24 sets of preschool sandblocks to use at music class.

C. A Rovner inverted ligature for my soprano clarinet.

D. An EZ notes magnetic white board (it's a white board that has treble and bass clef lines on it. You can place magnets on the lines or draw in notes to practice learning note names, intervals and chords on it . . . I want it for teaching piano lessons).

E. A Montessori movable type alphabet to use at piano lessons and with my kids

BUT here are some more normal ideas that I wouldn't mind getting:
1. I would just love for my family to clean up at clean up time without catastrophic complaining, whining, and general mayhem.

2. I think the game Batik looks interesting.

3. I really just love getting gift certificates to Barnes and Noble. I love wandering around the store with the gift card in my pocket for HOURS debating about the possibilities. There is also a really neat independent bookstore in my city that I really like visiting, too.

4. Stories. I love the gift of stories. Fiction. Biography. I would love for people in my life to just write me a story. Homemade books.

5. Red mittens from made by Wintergreen.
Wintergreen is a really neat company that designs and makes some TERRIFIC winter clothing in Ely Minnesota.

6. Socks. I love getting socks for Christmas. I hate buying socks with my own money.

A List of things I would Ask for if Money and Inconvenience Weren't of Consideration:
1. Time and funding and childcare to enable me to take a trip to Haiti for a week or two to volunteer in an orphanage.

2. Quilts. Handmade quilts. I love them.

3. A new full frame camera : the canon 5d or it's soon to be released sibling, the 5d mark II (although I'm not sure I feel very excited about the video capability hooked into my camera).

4. A Bass clarinet that plays down to low c made of grenadilla wood:



Sara at Midwestern Position says, "I am having a hard time coming up with a list even for my family this year, but I will tell you ideas that I have for others. I could give and give and give...money permitting. I tend to give people things that I really love during the year."

To Give is better than to Receive, according to Sara:
Collapsable Market Tote - you can find these for $10 at TJ Maxx. I am giving lots of these this year.

Puffy Vests - Landsend.com had a great price earlier in the week.

Slippers - but I like to give the boot kind that are all knitty...old navy has some cute ones this year.

Netflix subscriptions - I am giving this to a few people because I love mine so much.

Taste of Home Cookbook - I love mine and find tried and true recipes with a nice twist.

Magazine subscriptions - Amazon.com has some amazing magazine subscription deals...some as cheap as $5 for a year!!

Kitchenaid Mixer - I am not giving anyone this, but I would if I could afford to. I love mine so much and know that anyone who does any kind of baking would appreciate it.

But if Someone Else is Buying....
I think for me...a vacation. A beachy vacation with colorful drinks.

A ticket to the Obama inauguration.

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Whew! Great stuff everyone. What fun to follow all your merry links and think of the fun these gifts could bring. Happy hunting! Happy Christmas.