Pressure Cooking [and Cleaning]

RKP recently noted that, in the midst of pressure from school and work, she likes to turn to "stress crafting." Because honestly, when you have a lot to do, nothing relieves the stress like adding 4 or 5 new projects. I experienced this last weekend when I should have been working on my final portfolio for my graduate program. Instead, I emptied our two closets, re-organized and put things back. I bagged up old clothes for Goodwill. I made a Rum-Apple Baked Custard:

and homemade chili:

and chocolate chip cookies:

and then this weekend I was very productive on the portfolio. "Stress crafting" isn't avoiding work; it's a way of resting your brain. How do you rest your brain?

Real Fast Food...and the Egyptians?

This pictured recipe by Nigel Slater gets no points for food photography, but it does get points for being delicious.  I guess other people probably knew about Nigel long before I got to him, but he's definitly worth a read. I am currently enjoying Real Fast Food which has great ideas about how to get real food on your table in 30 minutes or less. I like his creativity and his flexibility...and his Chili-Chicken with yogurt sauce.

This morning NIS and I went to our local farmer's market, where we had a chocolate brioche and bought fresh pork sausage made from happy pigs and some vegetables. Right now it is cooking in an onion-beer sauce. We plan to eat it with mustard. We also enjoyed seeing a part of the city we had never been to before - we wandered around with our coffees in hand and saw Morning Glories:

and this bizarre...Egyptian...thing...proving once again that I just don't understand the South.

It was just out in the middle of the grass...randomly...

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Nigel Slater's Chili-Chicken (modified)

1 small onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

juice of one lemon

1 or 2 chicken breasts cut up into small pieces

combine all ingredients together and let chicken sit as long as you can...heat a skillet (if you have one of the Le Creuset grill pans, that would be perfect - I make do with my little iron skillet) very hot and throw the chicken in. It shouldn't take more than 3-4 minutes to cook. Serve in whole-wheat pitas with chopped lettuce and yogurt sauce - or alternatively, just eat it plain with the yogurt sauce. It is that good.

Crafting for Relaxation

So I've pretty much realized that when there is a lot going on in my life (and sometimes the stress level is high), I can measure it by the sheer volume of craftiness that suddenly overtakes me. Then I have to stop myself so I don't get out of control and start planning all sorts of crazy projects.

Guess what I've been up to recently? Well, first there was the cool shirt made by PPS:

(which I think is pretty awesome and soon to be posted in the etsy store)

So I tried my hand at some sewing:

(also coming to the store - I think I like how it turned out?)

Then there is something for the Meeper (Jan, close your eyes):

(I think he was trying to get away)

And as Amms correctly guessed, Marie Antoinette is in town:

(yummy shoes, anyone?)

Which brings me my special winter break project that I'm really excited about. Let's just say it relates to the pink shoes, but involves this:

(they look like easter eggs??)

I could stop at any time...

Etsy Friends and Hints

I think that it is very cool that there are a couple other friends on etsy (and hopefully more soon!).

onewordprints makes fun journals and collages (with the help of her goldfish).

mrsjennyjames is one of my favorite photographers and she has lovely prints in her store!

And here is a little hint for my winter break project! This picture comes from a movie involving delicious shoes - anyone know what it is?

what we've been eating.

Sweet potato pie & mushroom-red onion-chicken tart

Acorn squash & butternut squash ready for their water baths

Sauteed with garlic, onion, olive oil & basil and served over whole wheat pasta & mozzarella

Unfortunately, the Sweet Potato Pie had too much vegetable flavor. One slice was nice for novelty, but we didn't devour it like we would a pumpkin pie. I think that makes me give up on sweet potatoes; I've tried them multiple ways now and they never seem to succeed. Squash, on the other hand, has been really tasty - especially with a lot of garlic. Yesterday the New York Times had this tasty article about seasonal cooking, with recipes for fig tart with onions, rosemary & stilton, ratatouille & sausage potpie, and tomato eclairs with ricotta & basil filling. I think I need to get some figs?

Fall Weddings and Upcoming Attractions

Another wedding! Bride Sara asked me to do shoes for her and then decided that she wanted them for her bridesmaids as well. She had purchased jewelry already and so I went with the theme of black/silver/red roses to create the girls shoes.


Detail on one of the shoes. It was really fun because I did them all similar, but also different so they could each have their individualized pair. (How fun is customizing?!)


I bought some small pieces of vintage jewelry at the thrift store to incorporate into the shoes (like a pair of drop ebony earnings on the backs of this pair).


Doing these shoes involves my love of thrift stores, etsy, ebay and craft supplies. Even a small piece of ribbon can finish off a pair - left over from a gift or church rummage sale (where I bought a whole box of stuff for $0.50).


The bride's shoes turned out wonderful - vintage lace, a velvet rose and pearls and rhinestones - how decadent is that?


They almost seem like they could be the cake!

PPS and I have been brainstorming a lot recently. This has led to some thrift store purchases, checking out options online and a hopefully a crafting bonanza soon. She has some ideas to add to the store that I think will be really good. A spring line of fun fashion may be in the works! (And I also had a really fun idea of something I want to do over winter break!)

.muffins & foodreads.

apple whole wheat yogurt goodness. from smitten kitchen (with some variation by me).

here are some good food reads for Sunday night:

City Journal on how there is lots of good food in America - everywhere.

Mark Bittman of Bitten on how to make your own hummus.

Martha Stewart with 33 ideas on what to do with apples.

A great bookstore

Selexyz Dominicanen
Originally uploaded by rob4xs

 This picture doesn't do it justice, but if you jump over to The Coolist, you can read about and see more pictures of this amazing bookstore in Maastricht, Germany.

Field trip?