Kittens inspired by Kittens

This is hilarious:

kittens inspired by kittens

Cake in a Mug

Cake in a mug?

I follow a couple of gluten-free cooking blogs and I stumbled upon this cake-in-a-mug recipe.  I was quite skeptical and a little grossed out by the thought of a tiny cake that is cooked in the microwave.  But, there we were on Valentines Day without any chocolate in the house and I knew this weird recipe was just a click away so I gave it a try.  It was good!  It puffed up in the microwave but fell, like a souffle (hardly) and I topped it with some local Izzy's vanilla ice cream (delicious).  It was completely cooked through (or baked, I guess you can bake in the microwave) and didn't stick to the mug.  I subbed garbanzo flour for the tapioca and rice flours since it was all I had.   I also whisked the ingredients in a separate bowl instead of right in the mug because the flour and cocoa were super lumpy.  I'm sure you could easily use regular flour, too, in case it sounds tantalizing.  It's  a lot of calories in one little mug, so be sure to share it with someone.  Or not.  

Happy Valentines Day!

How bad is this? Not bad at all? Completely strange? For Valentines Day Peter and I invested in stocking a mixed drink bar. Or, rather, we stocked a shelf in the kitchen with liquor bottles, we don't have anything nearly as glamorous as a bar, but maybe I can think of something creative that would make our new nightly tradition of a cocktail a little more special. There have been some good ideas in Ready Made magazine: 
Perhaps just a simple vintage or pottery tray on top of our piano (very childproof) would do. I could even include some glassware...I like it...Anyway. I bought a fancy bottle of tequila (my favorite) some gin, triple sec, grenadine, a six-pack of tonic water and Roses Lime. We already had some Kahlua and Jameson. I realize this is not anywhere near a complete bar, but it at least allows a selection. We've been in the habit of buying one spirit at a time and having the same drink over and over again but now we can make White Mexicans (I sub tequila for vodka to make this a Mexican instead of a Russian since I always get allergies from vodka), Margaritas (tequila, triple sec and lime), gin and tonics, tequila sunrises (if we have OJ in the house), or you know, just Jameson on ice, which is too tasty to mix. The next thing I need is a bartenders guide to help me think of more drinks. Maybe I can even find a gluten-free guide, since it seems like hidden gluten hides in things like beverage mixes, they don't have any ingredients listed so I find myself searching online for what's allowed and what isn't.  We don't have a lot planned for this day-of-romance, but a relaxing cocktail tonight with a bowl of popcorn and a rented movie sounds pretty darn great.  

Retreat

These four books are now in my shop. They were a lot of fun to make. The two larger books I'm calling "scrapbooks," since they have a wide spine and "spacers" which are narrow pieces of cardstock included in each fold of the paper that allow space for photos and other scrapbook type stuff so the book doesn't bulge too much from added media. These books are still great for journaling, don't get me wrong. The spacers also add a little colorful element to the design.

I got quite a bit of work done this weekend at a "quilt" retreat in Forest City, IA organized by my mother-in-law. It was fun. I was the only one without a sewing machine, which made me feel sad as I don't have much time for quilting, but it was WONDERFUL to have a day to work on books. Hubby took care of the baby...I mean toddler...with my bro-in-law, nephew, and father-in-law. Phew, that's a lot of hyphens. I did some experimenting with coptic binding. I'll post pics of the three books I finished at the retreat soon and describe their coptic nature at that point. It was a revelation for me that I can bring my book gear on the road and work other places. There's something about quilting/crafting retreats that is so motivating, all the creative energy in the rooms keeps growing and growing and everyone gets super focused. I can't wait until the next one in March.

New Books

This is my favorite one of the four I just added to my shop, though they are all really different and hard to compare. (((note, I sold one already so there are merely 3 new books in my shop))) buttons were an afterthought, there was a glue mark on the cover (darn glue, I hate it), and so I tried covering it up with all sorts of different things, some of the plaid paper from the inside was almost good but not quite. I added the top button, then the next day added the other two since one big button looked rather stupid. Such decisions to make late at night.


Check them out in my shop!

Crafty Home Projects

Suddenly, FGH has taken to napping  thanks to his ingenious mother who figured out that he will nap in his pack and play in my art room since it is so dark in there.  Since all my bookmaking stuff is in that room, I have spent my free time cleaning (of course) and also running my sewing machine.  Today I finished a valance for the kitchen and yesterday I made a couple throw pillows for the living room.  We may only live in this rental for a few more months so I picked projects that would easily fit into another house.  I figured the valance would work on any kitchen window for the most part.  It's nice to add some splashes of color since I don't want to spend the time, effort, or money to paint the walls of our abode during these transitional years.

(I do have quite a few books in progress, and some are already waiting to be photographed, so I will be adding to my shop soon.)

CSA

After one warm day, I am filled with spring fever. 45 degrees in January in Minnesota is like a tropical vacation. Seriously, as I was jogging behind the jogging stroller I told a sidewalk-scraping St. Paulian that 45 is hot enough, I was sweating buckets. Spring fever usually gets me excited to plant the first seeds and to finalize all the CSA plans for the upcoming growing season. Since we are no longer on the farm or running a CSA, I started to feel sad and bitter...again...about moving away from the farm. I emailed Loon Organics (they bought our farm) and decided to join their CSA this year. I thought it would be a great way to keep in touch with the farm, Toblerone, and hopefully some of our members. I will really really miss all the produce so it should help to get a full box every week. We will be picking up at the Mill City Farmers' Market in Minneapolis every Saturday morning. The new farmers (I call them the loons), will be selling produce as early as May 9 with hoophouse greens (yum!) I'm very excited to visit this market, as we had no time to do such things the past 6 summers while farming. I also signed up for the tomato share, salsa, greens, and pesto share (which were very popular amongst our August Earth members). It will be very interesting to experience a CSA from the other end. As for playing in the dirt (another thing I will greatly miss), I plan on getting a community garden plot, helping friends with their gardens (Sarah for one) and volunteering at "the" farm (our old farm). I feel like this farm transfer may end up like an open adoption. Hopefully.

A shot from last spring in the greenhouse with new onions, brassica seedlings, and spinach poking up in the background: