Caradamom Saffron Bitters

Most people just think bitters are for fancy craft cocktails or your aunt's Old Fashioned, but I find bitters to be a refreshing and aromatic addition to sparkling water.  

Usually, but not always, containing an alcohol base, bitters are basically herbs, roots, or other aromatics in a concentrated, or bittersweet form.  Bitters have a long and slightly sordid history.  Well before prohibition, they were used medicinally and the British added them to drinks to help cover the taste of quinine which was in tonic water and used to fight off malaria.   When prohibition came along, bitters were still available since they were considered "medicinal" and despite their frequently high alcohol content are still sold as alcoholic non-beverage products and taxed as such.  Totally weird politics going on here. 

The best thing is, you don't need to buy the super expensive fancy bitters; you can make them yourself!

Miso Cookies

The recipe called for miso paste and half an egg -- I had to make these cookies!  Sorry, I'm getting a little ahead of myself.  My book club dinner/meeting is tonight, and I'm assigned to bring a dessert.  I rarely make desserts but, when I do, I love to make desserts with a unique twist.  So I'm looking at recipes from one of my favorite websites, japanesecooking101, and that's when I saw the recipe for Miso Cookies.

Tacoma Postcards

I went to a fun party this month called Tacoma Postcards.  It was a community building party for the Tacoma Historical society with a arty twist.

Everyone was encouraged to make at least one postcard representing one of their favorite (or least favorite) buildings in Tacoma. 

Now, I think of myself as an arty person that is interested in architecture, but when it came down to making my own, I was a little stumped where to start.

Building a Hot (Pepper) House

The south side of our house is the perfect spot to grow our tomatoes and hot peppers with sunshine from sun-up to sundown.  This year we decided to try enclosing our hot peppers to maximize the heat, and hopefully boost our yield.  I was able to utilize the small hothouse enclosures that formerly housed my seedlings, but unfortunately they were not designed to hold larger pots and so could only hold half of my plants!  I searched for larger enclosures but either the dimensions were wrong, or the price was more than I'd be willing to pay.  So I built my own!

More Experimentation with Smoothies

 I started making smoothies at the beginning of the year to get some more whole foods, hydration and variety in my diet and have been making them at least 2-3 times a week.  At first I was making them just for breakfast, but I have really upped my running training and have now added them as a great post-workout snack.  

I used to be pretty anti-protein powder for added supplements.  Even though I am eating mostly vegan these days, it is still pretty easy to get all your protein (and vitamins) from nuts, veggies, and whole grains.  I add in the occasional piece of fish to boost my protein as well.   But I noticed with my more intense weeks of training, I was starting to be pretty tired and sluggish.  I have been reading about vegan athletes' diets and they all seem to use a lot of protein powders.

Building a Boat Sculpture: Part 1

 The great thing about being at artist in Tacoma is that a lot of community art events exist here.  I've been asked, along with 9 other artists, to create a boat sculpture for the Maritime Festival in September.  It seems a long ways off but I want to make a fun, unique sculpture and that take time so I have started my sketches and prototypes now. 

I started by researching different boat types and making a lot of sketches.

Eat Your Vegetables!

Some women collect shoes, and others purses, clothes, or knick-knacks but not me!  Nope, I collect cookbooks!  I just love to pour over the pages, oohing, aahing over the photos of all that delicious food!  I love to cook the food, too, but now that our kids are out of the house it gets to be a chore adjusting the recipes for just the hubby and me.  Which is why Eat Your Vegetables, Bold Recipes For The Single Cook by Joe Yonan caught my eye.

And Now for a Total Geek Out

 My husband and I were on our way to meet some friends at a local wine bar and found ourselves to be a bit early and so stopped into what I thought was a comic book store next door. 

It was a comic book store, but also a total geek out vintage shop full of toys, games, and other ephemera from popular science fiction and fantasy.   Each area of the shop was given to a different show or movie, like Star Trek, X-Men, or Star Wars. 

When I saw this Darth Vader, I knew I had to have it.  I had actually owned one of these when I was about 7 or 8 and foolishly sold it at a garage sale when I had moved on to other hobbies, like collecting model horses.   But what is it?

Spicy Bonzo Salad (Vegan Chickpea Salad)

I eat a lot of garbanzo beans.  Many people think garbanzos are just for hummus or chop salads.  Both are delicious but there are numerous other ways to enjoy this versatile legume that is full of iron, protein, and fiber.  One of my favorite ways to prepare them is to mash them or pulse them in a food processor.  Then they can easily be mixed into veggie patties, salads, even cake!

Think of the mashed garbanzo salad as the vegan equivalent of tuna salad.  Once you try this, you might not ever go back to tuna again.

Decorate your light switch covers.

I think generic light switch covers are so ugly.  Our living room has a double light switch, and the first time I saw that huge ivory-colored plastic cover I knew it would have to go.  So I cut a piece of illustration board, grabbed my acrylic paints, glue, an art card, and made a new cover.  That was 15 years ago, and it's still on our wall.

Coffee-Macadamia Nut Biscotti

One my souvenirs from my trip to Maui were macadamia nuts still in the shell.  I've had some difficulty deciding what to do with them since I don't have very many, and it's not like I can run to the store and buy some more.  I found a recipe for Coffee-Macadamia Nut Biscotti on foodnetwork.com that looked interesting so I printed out the recipe, grabbed some nuts, a hammer, and headed for the front porch to get comfy on the cement steps.  

52 Weeks of Sewing: Week 2: Altering a T-Shirt

Unless I know exactly what I am buying and have worn it before, I rarely buy clothing online.  It never seems to fit like it should and it feels incredibly wasteful to me to ship something back even if it is free shipping.

But a few months ago (ok, let me think, it might actually have been last summer, oops) I fell victim to an online sale at one of my favorite shops, Pin Up Girl Clothing.  Their dresses are adorable and I've actually gone to their shop in L.A. to try things on so I know what I can buy online later, but they had this awesome Star Wars vintage style t-shirt on sale and I read the reviews on sizing and thought a large would be ok.  But then it came and it was swimming on me.  I think it's supposed to be a little loose and meant to show off a bra or tank top underneath, but I felt like I was wearing a muumuu.

My old sewing machine wasn't so hot with stretch fabrics so I set it aside.  Now, however, I have my new Brother sewing machine, multi-tasker that it is, and I just knew that I could now tackle this teeny tiny project.  

Is Your Home in Need of an Energy Audit?

 If you own your own house and you have drafts that you can feel or high energy bills or are unsure whether your walls are insulated or not, it might be worth it for you to get a home energy audit. 

A home energy audit is a process in which your house is assessed on its energy uses versus the overall efficiency of your house with energy conservation as the final goal.  We've only been in our house a little over two years and now know enough about our energy uses (extreme waste because of baseboard heaters) that we decided to bring in some professional help to guide us in steps to make our house as efficient as possible.   It's not free where I live, but it is heavily subsidized to encourage you to take part.

Fried Rice

When I make rice I like to cook a big batch.  It takes as long to make as a small batch, and the leftover rice comes in handy.  I use it in soups and stews, mix with a bit of soy sauce to make rice balls, or better yet -- fried rice!

Fried rice is so quick to make, and uses only a few ingredients.  A little green onion, an egg or two, and a few cups of day-old (at least) rice sauteed in some oil with a sprinkling of soy sauce.  That's all you need.

I like to add diced carrot and yellow onion, and some peas when I make fried rice, but you could also add corn kernels, asparagus tips, zucchini -- whatever you have on-hand.  Fresh or frozen vegetables work equally well but I prefer using fresh (with the exception of peas), and frozen vegetables would certainly make the preparation quicker and easier.

A Healthy Cookie (Vegan and Gluten Free)

Now that I am trying to eating a mostly whole foods diet (meaning food that comes from real ingredients, not overly processed), I have found my biggest struggle has been giving up sugar.

Every ten years or so, it seems our information pendulum about what is healthy swings wildly.  We were told to avoid fat in the eighties and everyone jumped on the Snackwell's bandwagon.  Then came the no carb diet.  Now, scientists are discovering that fats are good and it is probably the added sugars that have been causing heart disease to sky rocket all along.  

Sketchbook Inspirations

I went to the coast earlier this month, I dragged a whole bunch of art supplies with me.  I do this on every trip I take and usually the art supplies stay in the bag or suitcase untouched for the duration of the trip.  This time, however, I actually got some work done.  

A Birthday Treat for Mom: Dorayaki

When I was young, every December we'd pile into the car and make the big drive from Puyallup to Seattle to shop at Uwajimaya, a large Asian grocery and gift store.  Mom would stock up on ingredients not readily found in our local stores.  My brothers and I would fill up our baskets with delicious Japanese snacks and sweets, and Dorayaki was one of my favorites.

What is Dorayaki?  Quite simply it's a pancake sandwich that's filled with a sweet red bean paste called Anko.  In Japan it's a popular treat to have with your tea.  My mom loves them, so I decided to make some for her birthday.

52 Weeks of Sewing: Week 1: Zippered Pouch

Welcome to my first project in my bigger quest of 52 weeks of sewing.  I've been thinking about sewing some zippered pouches for some time.  I used to own a great little zippered pouch I kept drawing supplies in but it turned out it was really a microphone case and I had to give it back to my husband.  And I have been missing it ever since. 

I didn't need anything fancy, but I needed sturdy material.  I worked a little on surface design on canvas a couple of months ago and so I dug those pieces out and got to work.

52 Weeks of Sewing

If I had a motto, it would be: "No time like the present to start a new project!"  And I have a crazy idea in mind.  To start 52 projects!

OK, even I am not that crazy, yet since I bought my new sewing machine I have been excited to keep working on projects but have lost a bit of my original enthusiasm.  Where to start?  I have so much fabric around the house, in piles, in bags and boxes in my office closet as well as in my studio.  And patterns, ideas, fragments of ideas and sketches piling up all over the place.

It is time to organize.  It is time to create.

Cutting Board Pesto

 When most people think about pesto, they think they have to buy it at the store or make it in a food processor.  The true pesto, originating from Genoa, consists of basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano and olive oil.  It is traditionally made with a mortar and pestle, not a food processor.

Fun etymology fact: The Genoese name is pesta, which means to pound or crush and led not only to the name of pesto, but pestle as well!  

When we were at the coast earlier this month, the kitchen at the cabin we stayed in was pretty well stocked with the basics but there was no food processor, of course.  So I improvised.