Hi there, welcome to my blog! As the title suggests, it's going to be about everything and the kitchen sink. I am as they say, crafty, or artsy fartsy if you will - I make jewelry, I sew, I cook, I write, I do all kinds of cool crafts - and this is going to be my forum for that. The plan is that once a week I will do a post about a new project that I have done. My hope is that "going public" like this will keep me motivated. I wouldn't, after all, want to disappoint my many fans.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Garlic Babies!
I suspect you all probably won't be quite as enthused as I am about this little ditty, but I have to admit, I am stoked about some developments around here.
Five days ago, BF and I were making supper and I noticed one of the garlic cloves had gone to sprout, about half an inch at that point. I was going to dig that bugger out and mince the clove anyway, when I remembered something I'd read a while back about planting a sprouted clove and growing your own garlic. I had to try it.
I happened to have a pot in which a tiny, one-yield pepper plant passed away quietly this past fall, so I dug a wee hole about four inches deep, right in the centre and pushed the clove in, sprout pointing up. I remembered reading that it was good to really soak the planted clove for the first week or so, so I drenched it, put it by a window and hoped for the best.
Five days later:
That's it! I've now got two shoots, one about 7 inches and one about 4 inches tall!
Now guys, I do not have a green thumb at all. My Pops used to grow a garden every summer that could feed a football team for a year, and my brother K has been known to grow maple trees from seed, but me, that skill does not run in my blood. So this little garlic plant, whatever may happen with it, makes me really happy. Imagine, just IMAGINE if it actually produces GARLIC!
Ok, calm down. And don't worry, I'll keep you posted. ;)
Till next time folks!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Hey Girl, Don't Be Blue....
..oh....wait....
Awesome street art on Cunard and Gottingen.
Till next time!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
It's a Fine, Cold Day
It's cold out there...
...a Sorels and ear-flaps kind of day folks.
Hip-hip horray. I'd say this little phrase I found in a parking lot sums it up nicely:
As do the first two lines of this awesome Cowboy Junkies song.
BF and I just got in from several hours of errands, including a good chunk of time spent in the out-of-doors, and while I would not describe it as fun, I can tell you it certainly DOES make me appreciate the warmth of our apartment right now.
It also makes me feel really bad for those of us who don't have the warm home to head back to at the end of the day. I can't even imagine it. In case anyone else had the same thoughts, and feel like they might be in a position to help out, check out Out of the Cold. There are lots of different ways to help whether it be a donation, volunteering, or dropping off a few supplies like a pair of winter boots you haven't used much, or some warm gloves.
Friends, I trust if you are reading this that that means you are also warm and dry, and that makes me real happy.
Till next time folks!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Top Five Tuesday!
Today I am actually not posting a photo I took, no, instead I am sharing with you some of my favorite blogs, the present top five anyway, the ones I've been checking every day for inspiration, fun little glimpses into other lives, laughs and learning experiences. In no special order:
Your Yoko is my latest find, just came across it this week in fact. It's by Dayna Winter, a part time LA, part time Toronto gal who, like me, has a million trillion different hobbies and interests and the blog is about those, plus things that inspire her, and other things she's getting up to. She's funny and self-deprecating and real and I'm looking forward to checking out more posts.
Love Taza is written by Naomi Davis, who lives in NYC with her husband and their two kids. It's mostly about her and her adorable little family and their life in the Big Apple. Her photos are quite lovely, her stories and style are quite charming and it's nice to see how she's so madly in love with her honey and so crazy for her two little babes.
I'm sure some of you are already pretty familiar with this one. It's a crafty, reno-loving, decor fiend's dream come true. With many posts per day ranging from home tours to DIY to before and after projects and lots in between, it's definitely one you could get lost on for hours, planning your dream home in your head along the way.
Fashion East is a Halifax-based street fashion blog by three friends and style addicts, Krista Comeau, Meghan Tansey Whitton and Melissa Dube. The photography in this one is absolutely gorgeous, definitely on par with such super star bloggers as The Sartorialist, another one of my faves. Though they take submissions from other fashion lovers, and occasionally go "off the grid," most of the photos are of random, stylish Haligonians they see around town. Great proof that we East-coasters aren't always just about fleece and rubber boots.
A Beautiful Mess is hosted by sisters Elsie and Emma and is a charming lifestyle blog with daily contributions about DIY projects ranging from homemade coffee syrups to kitchen tables made from old pallets, fashion and beauty ideas, day-in-the-life posts and so on. I have about twenty million of their DIY things bookmarked for the future!
I hope you find these as fun as I do!
What are your go-to blogs right now?
Till next time folks!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Love Locks
I was strolling down Gottingen Street yesterday and came across this:
Little hearts made from string, woven into the chain link fence around the empty lot beside Alter Egos.
And on the same fence, this:
I think it's the genesis of Halifax's own lover's locks project.
Perhaps you've heard of probably the most famous one (though there are many such places all over the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_padlocks), Pont des Arts, a bridge in Paris, where lovers go and attach a padlock with their names written or engraved on it, and then throw the key into the Seine below, a symbol of their lives being locked together in love.
Romantic right? Well when I saw the fence on Gottingen, that's immediately where my mind went, and I got a little excited. I just love the idea of such a gesture. I mean, think about it: each and every one of those locks in the picture above represent two people who really love each other. In a world where there is always so much focus on hatred and the negative things around us, that's a pretty beautiful thing.
I really have no idea how long it's been there already, but I hope the Gottingen Street fence catches on. Wouldn't it be neat to walk past it on, say, February 14th and see it getting all covered up? ;)
To small gestures and big love, friends! Till next time!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Qu'est Pour Le Diner?
Guess what we're having for supper?
Old, dry baguette, bay leaves and dried thyme, Spanish, sweet white and red onions, shallots, all-purpose white flour, Gruyere cheese.
Can you guess? Here's another hint:
While browsing around Pete's Frootique the other day, looking for some culinary inspiration, I came across the awesome clearance shelf near the back and found a big variety pack of onions for 69 cents. When I remembered that there was a baguette in our fridge at home that could, at this point, have only otherwise been used as an assault weapon, it became a no brainer. Awww yisssss, French Onion soup!
French onion soup is a really cheap and easy meal to make, not to mention delicious and perfect for chilly days when you just need something to warm you to the bone. You get together all the ingredients you see above and prep them - cut the baguette into about half inch slices, shred the Gruyere, thinly slice the onions.
First things first, melt a good chunk of butter in a sauce pan or pot.
Add the onions. I was making four bowls of soup so I ended up cutting the entire Spanish and sweet white onion, half the red onion, and all the shallots.
Seems like a lot but the whole caramelization process really shrinks them down. I stir the uncooked onions around until they're all coated in butter and cover the pan, letting them cook slowly for about twenty minutes to half an hour.
The next step is to make your roux. I just sort of push the onions aside and tilt the pan so the butter and the juices the onions have released drip down. Then I stir in a couple tablespoons of flour and whisk until it forms a fairly thick paste.
Once you have achieved your desired consistency, stir the paste into the onions evenly and let it cook for a few minutes, until the flour loses it's graininess, and it's browned a bit.
Then start stirring in your broth. I used beef broth here, which is the traditional choice, but I have often made it with veggie broth, which creates a much lighter coloured soup. Both are super yummy.
I used about three and a half cups of broth. Then I turned the heat up and brought the soup to a slow boil.
Time to add the herbs. I tossed in three bay leaves and this much thyme.
I suppose it's about half a teaspoon. I covered the pan up again, turned the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer about ten more minutes. Then I divided the soup in four portions in the French Onion soup bowls, places a few of the crusty bread slices on top of each and covered them with cheese.
I always put the bowls on a baking sheet or something similar to make it easier and tidier to put them in and take them out of the oven. So into the oven they went and there they sat under the broiler for another ten minutes, or until they look all browned and bubbly.
C'est bon! Delicieux! Oh la la! Mais, oui!
I'll leave you today with another little French treat as well:
Amazing, no?
Till next time, friends!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
What a Flake!
Ever try to capture a sunset or a beautiful, sweeping view with your camera, only to be kinda disappointed in the outcome, like nothing you can do can really, truly represent what you see? Well that very thing happened to me this morning. BF and I were out and about unusually early for us, on a Saturday that we both have off. It was really snowing here in Halifax, and as we were waiting for the bus, I happened to notice that the flakes were those amazing, fascinatingly perfect kind of flakes, the ones that people try to make with scissors and paper. I had my camera on hand of course, and have been getting pretty good at using the macro setting, so I tried to get a few shots. I must have taken thirty before the bus came, but none of them really get across how beautiful the snow was. A combination of the wind, and both mine and BF's bodies shuddering from the -15 temperature didn't help.
Anyhoo, here are a couple of the shots that sort of, kind of came out. A little.
Look closely! Can you see all the neat shapes?
I know, it's pretty blurry. But I'm sure you get the gist.
Another blurry one, but I had to try. BF's woolly pea coat was COVERED with them.
And then I noticed, I was too, of course!
Oh, I SO hope you were out and about this morning and noticed the amazing little pieces of art falling from the sky.
Hope you're all enjoying your Saturday! Till next time, folks!
