My Garden

My garden is experiencing severe neglect. Despite that fact, its nice to look out and see these garden faces. They make it seem so much less dismal.

Maybe there's a certain serenity in letting nature take over (by nature I mean weeds galore.) My garden statues seem to think so.

Balls

I'm making up a bunch of samples of Moody Mud, my aromatherapy stress dough, to send to a shop in California. I thought they were so cool looking that I just had to snaps some shots of the colorful little balls.(to those of you who saw the title and expected something else...shame on you.)

Bad Hair Day

Yes, dogs have them too...at least after coming out of my daughter's self proclaimed Doggie Hair Design Studio.

And hats off to this avant gaurde design perhaps inspired by Star Wars?

(*No dogs were harmed in the making of this blog entry.)

Blackberries, Blueberries and Pie...Oh my!

I'm ready for fall. I bought an apple scented candle and as its aroma filled the air I had a sudden urge to go apple picking. Think of it, a cool fall day, rows and rows of apple trees standing like soldiers just heaving with red fruit. Alas, fall was not ready for me. I'm a few weeks too early and my yearn for fall is a little misplaced in this 85 degree heat.

So, on a whim Sage and I decided to go berry picking instead! We hopped in the car and headed out to a berry patch just south of Kansas City. I'd never been berry picking before but I'd heard it could be hard work but just think of the end reward, a lovely berry pie. Besides, we really had nothing else to do on an August Saturday morning. So, armed with our little white pails and directions to walk down the path a ways we headed out to the open berry patch about a quarter mile from the berry outfitters.

We started with the blackberry patch since it was the first one on the path. Blackberries are tricky. They like to hide. They offer their unripe bright red fruit in plain sight while the fat juicy black ones hide well in the back under the brush and leaves. This was frustrating at first but as we wandered the rows and adjusted our blackberry eyes, suddenly plump purplish black blackberries were spotted everywhere. The red ones held so much allure at first though that we couldn't help picking some.

I really got into the zen of picking blackberries and I could tell Sage did too. We went off down different paths exclaiming in triumph each time we found a big ripe black one. I was thankful no one else was around because I really actually started talking to the tricky bushes and thanking them for such beautiful berries once they decided to reveal them to me. Sage would have been mortified to hear me even if no one was around. Its a good thing she was a few rows over.

How can you not be gushingly thankful for such a lusty berry?

It took us a good hour to collect enough berries for a pie. An hour of zen disturbed only mildly by the buzzing of horseflies and huge blackberry-eating beatles. Sage found a snail lazily making its way across a blackberry leaf. A butterfly landed on her and rode with her all the way down one row. This hour gave me newfound respect for the price of berries in the store. Its hard work but ever so pleasant to be so close to nature.

We walked a ways over to the blueberry patch next. As you well know, blueberries are quite a bit smaller than blackberries. I picked a few and quickly decided it would take an awful lot of picking to make a blueberry pie....and the berry outfitters store DID say they had an abundance of already picked blueberries...so we wandered a few more steps, admired the breathtaking view of niceley spaced blueberry bushes contrasting ever so nicely with the pale blue sky and paused just long enough for me to snap this shot before we headed back to the store.

Ahh but the blackberries....just look at this bountiful harvest.

I can't wait til apple season!

Pay It Forward-Part Deux

I love it when I buy something and first time out it gets noticed or gets compliments. I'm always afraid to wear "showy" jewelry. I am almost always seen wearing black perhaps so I can fade into the background and not be noticed....or perhaps I need Garanimals to help me match anything else. Alas, I checked, they only make Garanimals for kids. (For those of you who don't know what Garanimals is...http://www.garanimals.com/about.htm )

I digress, sorry.....This is my second Etsy.com purchase as part of my "Pay It Forward" plan, (AKA my excuse to buy things I clearly did not need.) Its a beautiful necklace and I couldn't be happier that my blank black canvass is decorated so beautifully.

By the way, this is a picture from the seller's site, its not me. The necklace unfortunately did not transform my cleavage for those of you who know me and wonder where that came from.

http://www.ydolem.etsy.com/

Fresh

Ah who can resist the allure of fresh laundry? Certainly not my not so fresh dog, Yeta.

Pay It Forward

I posted a challange of sorts in the Etsy forums for sellers to generate some good Etsy juju by engaging in the concept of "pay it forward." For those of you who don't know what the heck an Etsy is, you're missing out. http://www.etsy.com/ Etsy is an incredible venue for artists and crafters to sell their handmade wares. I felt that by buying from Etsy and giving someone else an Etsy buzz, it might also generate that vibe in my store as well. It worked, I made my first sale just after my first purchase. I bought this cube soap that I thought just looked so cool on the chrome stand from a shop called Red Leaf. Its a novel idea and I like novel ideas. I had initially wanted to buy from a shop who had yet to make any sales but this soap was calling to me. I dig cubes.

It was shipped super fast and it even came with a bonus sample of room spray in Lime Basil that smells fab. I love the scent of the soap, its called "Beach" but smells pretty similar to a perfume oil I wear called "China Rain." The soap lathers great, but I have yet to use it for shaving as suggested. Maybe I'll tackle my prickly legs today. I was a little surprised at the size since the soap was pretty pricey at $5 for the soap and $7 for the stand. I guess its pretty hard to judge scale by some photographs on the shop site. The stands are actually egg cups. Thanks to the free sample and the super-saturated scent, I was pretty happy with my purchase.

School Supplies

Sage starts school in a week. I can't believe this summer is already gone. We went shopping for school supplies and I don't know what it is but I'm like a kid in a candy store where school supplies are concerned. Is it the smell of fresh paper? The allure of pencils to sharpen or fresh pens that no one has used yet? Or is it more?

Every time we shop for school supplies we both get a little giddy. We love getting the list and checking off each item as we find them. Its not only the fresh, virgin spiral notebooks and the smell of crayon wax, its the excitement of a new year. It signals new beginnings and the scary yet exciting adventures that lie ahead. Its the promise of something bigger and its a welcome glimpse into fall when its 103 degrees outside. I feel the rush too. Just like I did every year when it was time to buy new school supplies.

It may sound silly, but these are the moments to savor in life. I know I have only a few more years left to shop for school supplies with my daughter. Yet still, somehow I think I will still buy them even long after she's gone off to college. Just so I can feel that rush again...and maybe flashback to the excitement and promise of a new year. Screw New Years Eve, I'll take new school supplies any day!

Best Sandwich Ever! (ok maybe just this week)

I have this recipe for homemade Pimento Cheese Spread that is NOTHING like the processed pimento spread you are used to from the grocery store. In fact, I think its so good that I crave it occasionally. Strange, I know. Who craves pimento cheese spread? ME! I use roasted red peppers so maybe I should call it Roasted Red Pepper Spread. Are pimentos and roasted red peppers the same thing? Hmm.

1 lb shredded cheddar (I like sharp)

1/2 lb shredded monterrey jack

3 TB finely chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped roasted red pepper (or add more or less to taste)

4 TB mayo (please no Miracle Whip! I mean, eww.)

1 TB Chopped fresh dill or 1 tsp dried

There are no fancy directions here, just mix all the ingredients together and there you have it. You may have to add a little more mayo to your preference also. Personally I think this tastes better if allowed to mellow in the fridge for a day or so but you will probably want to dig right in. Its especially yummy with lettuce and cucumbers. Yum.

Sweet n' Scrubby---Aye!

My friend Meg and my daughter Sage and I made sugar scrubs last night. I'm expanding my Moody Girl line and Meg was interested in making some too. It was a fun little gaggle of girls and we certainly did our share of giggling amid our sniffing of the over 50 different essential oils I have on hand. I wonder if my grandmother's quilting bees were like this. Did they sit around and talk about silly girl things and giggle at nothing in particular? I'll bet they didn't drink Mojitos which was the drink of choice for Meg and me (Sage drank root beer, what kind of mother do you think I am!) We joked about rum and pirates too. Why's the rum always gone? We tried 3 different scrub recipes, each with our own individual bowls and spatulas and each of us choosing our own scent combinations. For the first batch, Sage chose Lemon Sage (hmm, a little self promoting, don't you think) complete with added glitter to boot. Meg chose Ylang Ylang and Vanilla. For me, inspired by the Mojitos, I chose to blend Lime and Spearmint.

I think the lime green label I'd printed out beforehand helped with the inspiration but I think it really turned out well.

The second and third batches were a little more tricky. Meg couldn't decide on a scent for the third so, thinking like a pirate, she decided she needed more rum. Aye, me booty!

I'm not sure if it was the rum or the overdose on sniffing too many essential oils (I did warn everyone) but Meg and I both had trouble sleeping last night. She sent me a message this morning : "I totally see now what you mean about the fragrances keeping you up... I was SO awake, finally fell asleep, only to wake up at 1:30 having crazy dreams that you and I were pirates making sugar scrubs and a monster was after us."

I'll bet Grandma and her quilting bee ladies never had so much fun.

Purple Spuds

On a recent trip to Whole Foods, I came across these purple potatoes. I've only ever seen these in Whole Foods and Wild Oats so I figured, they must be good for me, right? I always feel so much better about eating food from Whole Foods even if its slathered in butter. Hey, its Whole Foods butter! (Shh, don't ruin the illusion.) So I thought, "wouldn't these make the prettiest mashed potatoes?" I have always heard you should have more color on your plates, right? It means you're eating a variety of foods. So, not one to shun good advice on healthy eating, I bought these to "color up my plate." (ahem...the illusion thing again...thanks)

Here they are all cut up and purty....

And aren't they even purtier all mashed up with a nice contrasting yellow tab of butter on top. (Whole Foods butter, its good for you!)

By the way, I made that bowl, from scratch, on a potter's wheel and everything. Homemade purple mashed potatoes in a handmade bowl. Ahh, life is good.

For those of you who are worried, I paired this with grilled chicken breast and a colorful salad. Only problem is, it didn't stay on my plate long enough to get a picture of that.

Magpie Skinnies

I do have real friends not just internet ones despite what my earlier blog entitled Blogging Chicks might have led you to believe. My friend Meg is awesome. She's real. I just opened a virtual store on etsy.com to sell my infamous Moody Mud and she designed my banner in about oh, 5 minutes! We were chatting on IM and there it was, my new banner.

Thanks Meg! She also designs the cutest onesies and sells them on her etsy shop. This is one of my favorites. If I had a little baby, I'd have one of each of her designs. She's also does paintings and is working on a children's book which I think is a grand idea. She's far more industrious about art than I ever was. If you want to check her stuff out, go to her etsy store! magpieskinnies

Austin's Uncommon

I visited this shop in Austin called Uncommon Objects. It was a typical booth style flea market but atypical in the fact that it housed the biggest array of some of the strangest and most fascinating flea market items I've ever seen amassed in one place. Unfortunately I had a whiny tween with me who seriously hampered my shopping ability but not before I could check out the bewitching display of vintage Shriner and Mason objects. I don't know if its the symbols they use like the "eye of providence" or the crescent that drew me in but I've always found those oddly intriguing. I really wanted the rich velvet cape with the eye of providence on it but it was a bit out of my price range....oh say...$500. That must've been the Grand PooPah's robe (or whatever it is they call him.)

Kind of like the $400 cowboy boots I found. I couldn't afford those either.

Oh well. It was sure fun to look...even with a whiny tween.

Blogging Chicks

I've spent a fair amount of time these past couple of weeks reading blogs and various women's forums and I have gotten a really good sense of female community that I find fascinating. I truly believe that girlfriends (with a select few male friends as well) are designed to hold each other up, listen, be there with a shoulder and sometimes to just plain laugh at life together.

Strangely enough, while the Internet has depersonalized alot of things in the past few years, I believe its also brought people closer together. I have revisited blog pages of people I've found interesting and with some, I feel like I know them. I feel like they're a girlfriend in a way sharing their daily lives with me like a phone call at the end of the day, just to chat.

Its also inspired me to actually look at some things in my life as "blogworthy" instead of as mundane things that I normally don't share with people. The other day I found purple potatoes at Whole Foods and when I made them into purple mash, I thought "Ohh I have to blog about these!" and it made it feel special somehow. That means I'm appreciating life instead of waiting for it to happen. I am appreciating everything and enjoying things in the "now" which is what I have been striving to do.

So thank you to all the bloggers out there who have helped me see that there are some really cool people in the world and for giving me a new perspective on the ordinary.

Big Red's Workout......Lemon Raspberry Yogurt Cake

Just look at these healthy ingredients waiting to jump into Big Red. Big Red has been calling me ever since my blog post the other day about how neglected she is. I don't feel so bad about baking if I am using things like Organic flour, lovely brown eggs, organic yogurt, canola oil from Whole Foods....you get the idea. I found a recipe for yogurt cake and I tweaked it a bit by adding raspberries and using lemon yogurt instead of plain yogurt.
Here's the recipe....

Lemon Raspberry Yogurt Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 heaping cup of lowfat yogurt (lemon is good)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup Canola oil
1 cup raspberries (slightly thawed if frozen)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt (er…I rarely sift but at least mix it up.) Set aside.

In another bowl (or your Big Red Kitchenaid in my case) add yogurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and canola oil and mix until just combined.

If you don't know how to zest a lemon, just use the smaller holes on your grater and gently get the yellow stuff off the lemon.

Scrape down the bowl with a spatula (yours doesn't have to have the lovely melted handle) and add raspberries. Mix just until incorporated.

Pour your lovely swirly mixture into a greased loaf pan, or in my case since you just remembered you lent your one and only loaf pan to your mother, whatever groovy pan you have available. I even considered a muffin tin but was too lazy to put the little paper thingies in and dollop the batter into each little well. I opted for the valentines day heart pan even though its the middle of July. I digress. Sorry.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick in and nothing goopy sticks on the toothpick. Remove from the oven and let cool.

This may be the most important step. DIG IN! Don't forget your favorite beverage. I think the milk jug says it all, don't you?

Dog Days of Summer

Sage is bored. Her friends are all out of town and she's got no camp this week. What's a bored girl to do when its too hot outside? Wash the dog!! This is an unexpected but welcome activity in my book.

I'm not so sure Yeta agrees.

Big Red

I love my Kitchenaid. I had coveted this one for years and finally was able to purchase one. The sad thing is, while she looks pretty sitting on my counter, she's sadly underutilized.

Why? Is it because I don't have the time? Is it because I'm a terrible baker? Is it because I need good recipes? Nope, its body image. Isn't it terrible when women feel like they can't bake because baked goods are bad for you? I've come to realize that no matter what food I eat, I have guilt. Instead of looking at food as nourishment and nutrients and the gift that it is, I look at every piece of food as a potential enemy...a wiley coyote there to tempt me only to result in making me fat.

Its an unhealthy attitude to say the least. Food is a life giver. Food should be revered. Instead it is shunned. If we were in another society apart from America, I believe our attitudes would be different. People are actually starving to death. They are literally dying from lack of food. Food to them would be a life saver. It would be something they would be incredibly thankful for. Something they would look at as a gift from the gods. Perhaps that is how I should look at it. So maybe Big Red needs to be revered too. Maybe I should use her today and make some incredibly delicious muffin or cake. And when I sit down to eat these wonderful gifts I can thank Big Red and the gods for providing me with such abundance and nourishment!

So thank you Big Red, you are curvy and beautiful...just like me!

Find the Birdie

My cockatiel, Lulu, thinks she's clever. She thinks I may not find her if surrounded by decoys. She does sort of blend in, but she didn't fool me.

Pie

I love pie. Pie is the cure for everything. The main thing I remember about visiting my grandparent's house was the big cherry tree in the back yard and the sour cherry pie bubbling in the oven. I can smell it now. My grandmother was an incredible baker. She couldn't cook much else that was tasty but she could make a mean pie. I'm afraid the apple fell very far from the tree on this one. I can't make a pie crust to save my life and these days who knows what's in the store bought variety. Then I came across this recipe and the step by step pictures and voila! I could make a pie crust!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/p-p-p-pie_crust_and_its_p-p-p-perfect/

I love this woman's blog too. She makes living out on a ranch with a cowboy seem so idyllic. Sigh.

Signs

A few weeks ago I was thinking "positive thoughts" and saying affirmations while driving to my folks house. I did a silly thing, kinda like when I had the Magic 8 Ball fortune teller as a kid, and asked the Universe for a sign. I wanted a sign that things were on the right track and that my "intentions" were being heard.

I hit a red light, looked over to Kinkos, a place I pass nearly daily, and saw in the window a sign. It read, "Signs, You Need Them. We Have Them. Signs Work!" I laughed out loud at the humor of the Universe. Thanks for that.