angry chicken

living in a sea of crayons and glue sticks

Things are nutty around here. That baby is 10 months old now and into everything. The girls had to move their entire paper doll stash from the floor, to the small table, to the big table all in about 10 minutes yesterday after the baby doggy was tearing them to shreds. We moved onto other activities, this one being a favorite—it's called Shopping List.

Here's the 3.5 year old version. It involves the morning newspaper paper, glue sticks, scissors and paper. What's awesome is they take these with us when we go grocery shopping. I had all these big plans this week to try some projects from this lovely new book you surely are all familiar with—

The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, by Amanda Blake Soule, but life got the better of us. But, I have been able to put Amanda's wonderful ideas into good use around here in the form of making it easier for all of us to make a mess. This means changing around tables, making it easier for the girls to get out their own supplies and facilitating a quicker clean-up, which is the real clincher. We live in a small house and there is a lot of bumping and tripping on chairs, crayons, and papers, and it can make me crazy. My parenting style is following the path of least resistance, so if it's hard for me to set up the girls to get crafty—things need to be organized differently. If I'm thinking "if I trip over that flippin chair one more time, I'm gonna chuck it outside"—yeah, that's a clue it's time to rearrange the furniture.

Amanda has this brilliant setup in her book with this huge table next to an armoire with all her family's craft supplies tucked inside, and it has doors. Thank god for doors. Two of the projects/ideas I want to try first in her book are the henna tattoos and providing photo albums for the girls and letting them have at it with the camera. I can't believe they don't have their very own photo albums yet, I think this is such a great idea. This book is full of ideas like these— very, very cool.

In my constant attempt to keep the girls involved in decisions about their creative areas, I did have them help me rearrange the coloring station and put their names on boxes so there are fewer coloring book infringements (middle child running amok) and because they helped with it, they seem more interested in taking care of the area. They also insisted that the boxes have not only their names, but princess stickers adoring them, of the Disney variety. Not my first choice on the lovely unfinished wood Ikea boxes, but hey, whatever works, man.

Congrats Amanda! I wish I could bring you a cake. No, make that pie!! Your book is wonderful.

new cookbook excitment

I have had this book, The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show for about 2 weeks now and I keep talking about it to anyone who will listen. This usually means Pete.

me: Honey, try this rice, really you have to. . .(me putting a wooden spoon in his face of very hot brown rice while he has other non-compatible food in his mouth) I cooked it a whole new way!

husband: (Taking a very small nibble) Um, okay. . . .it's good?

me: Yes! And, you know what the key is to everything?

husband: Money?

me: No, Fish sauce! Umami!

husband: In the rice?

me: No, salad dressing!

husband: Um, what? Hmmmm. . .wow. (Not listening, feeding the baby.)

me: I seriously can't believe this rice cooking method they talk about. This has changed my life, you know? Amazing! Oh! we need to get the little mesh sink drains at the Asian market, that would change ours lives too. They mention that in the book.

husband: Which book?

me: That new Splendid Table Book, you know, from the radio show?

husband: Right.

later that week-

me: In that book, it has a master salad dressing recipe and then 10 variations! And they also crush garlic with a rock! That is so great.

husband: Which book?

me: That How to Eat Supper Book. And we can now make our own pho!

husband: hmmm

the next day-

me: I think Sadie is a super-taster. They have a test you can do to see if you are, but we need to go to an office supple store to get something for the test. I don't think she'll put it on her tongue, either.

husband: What? Um. . . .what? Did you say super-taster?

me: Yeah, from that new cook book.

husband: Which book?

me: That Lynne Rossetto Kasper book.

Not that he doesn't like food or talking about food—to give him credit, I do have conversations in my head and forget how much I have said out loud, so there is confusion sometimes. Add two loud kids and one crazy baby and the fact that I can never refer to anything, like a cookbook, by the same title. It's a gift of mine.

I will try to describe it-

It's a book for home cooks, even beginners, but it's not too basic. There's a wonderful equipment list, book recommendations, quotes from other chiefs, amazing recipes, advice on navigating ethnic markets, the list goes on—tons and tons of tips, shortcuts, and cool things I had never heard of. It somehow melds Italian, Asian, Indian, & Mexican recipes without it being the kitchen sink. It also has a list of favorite vegetarian cook books, and hooray, most of them are not vegetarian, you know what I mean? My favorite cookbooks save one, are not vegetarian.

I have learned so much from this book already, like a whole new way to cook rice (Seriously!) umami, (So cool!) and I am now using way more raw red onion. (With tips to make it less raw red onion-y.)

It's an intuitive cooking book. That's the deal, and that's how I cook. It describes basic preparations but then suggests many variations. The dishes sound amazing, but honestly, there's so much to read (without it being too text heavy, somehow) I haven't made many recipes from it yet. But I will report back on that.

It's by Lynne Rossetto Kasper from NPR's The Splendid Table, along with her producer Sally Swift (who, after reading this book, am convinced is my cooking doppleganger) and I think this is why the book is so pleasant—it's like their laid back food loving radio show in book form, minus the caller asking how to cook tongue or cow brains. Very nice. I read cookbooks in bed, I'm one on these people, and this is perfect bedtime reading. It's right next to Anna Karenina, a good balance right now.

Actually that's an interesting idea—to read a cookbook along with fiction, especially if it relates somehow. I need to remember this.

Great new craft book-

I have in my hands Susan Beal's new book, Bead Simple: Essential Techniques for Making Jewelry Just the Way You Want It, and it's awesome. The projects are wonderful, the how-tos are clear and well written, and the tips and resources are extensive—the whole book is a much needed resource for me. There's a handy icon guide which quickly shows you if a project is hard, easy, time consuming or super quick, and the technique illustrations masterfully drawn by Alexis Hartman are very easy to follow.

My own jewelry/beading experience is pretty hodge-podge. I started beading in middle school and high school on a bead loom, with seed beads, to wrap crystals. Come on! It was the 1980s, you know. Then I did a bit in college with vintage beads and chain, but always knew I was missing critical things, like learning to wire wrap. I wanted to learn knotting and pretty much everything else too, but all the books/magazines out there were so not my scene. I then took some jewelry classes and learned to solder and designed our wedding rings, but the basics, like using the right clasp, connecting pieces—I just had some major holes in my know-how. This is the book I needed.

I have to mention that not only is Susan a great writer and author she is one of the friendliest and most supportive people I have met in the craft scene. Along with learning some great beading skills, you should get this book for the good karma of supporting such a wonderful person. I wish I had it years ago, and I am so happy I have it now. My 9 month old baby can't wait to pull more earrings out of my ears and break more necklaces. At least now I can fix them.

So, here's some info:

Susan's personal blog, West Coast Crafty

Bead Simple Website

And Meet Susan here in Portland!

Bead Simple event at Powell's
1005 W. Burnside St, Portland
(in the Basil Hayward Gallery upstairs)
Monday, April 7 at 7:30

I'm going for sure. And unrelated, please buy an oven thermometer. Man, mine is 35° too hot!! I knew my oven ran hot, but I didn't know it was that off. . .jeez!

 

I need to dust off my needles

photo by Michael Crouser

Portland's own Larissa and Martin John Brown have a new knitting book out, Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together and there are some mighty fine projects in this lovely book. This one above is designed by Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn fame. I am a stalker of hers, so I am delighted she has not 1, but 2 (!) projects in this book.

Super cute cover, huh? Time to get my needles out. After I sew that outfit. The list is growing. . .

brownies from a new book

I just received this new book, Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share, and the timing is difficult with me limiting my sugar and all, but for research purposes, I had to try out a recipe. Notice I have switched to limiting my sugar, not cutting it out all together—cause, well. . .that's not going to happen. But I am thrilled to report that smaller sized pants were purchased last week! Moving on—

These are coconut brownies that actually have very little coconut swirled in. I am not a huge coconut fan but wanted to make something different and not completely tempting. They were immediately frozen to send to a friend with an upcoming birthday and the rest went to Pete's work, where I hear they were well received. I did try half of one and it was amazing. This was with coffee before 8:00 am when I think all chocolate should be consumed.

The book is very pleasing. It's a soft back and includes this great visual index which is so handy. The inside photos are mostly full bleeds, sparse and well done, and the text layout is really minimal. Lots of white space on the pages. Of course the recipes look wonderful as well. I have a feeling I will use it often. Hopefully not too often, if you know what I mean.

oh the drama.

Okay, I haven't read this book but it's on my list and I am very excited for the movie as well. . .

I was fascinated by the Tudors series over the summer (or was it spring?) but I had to take a break and my viewing was sporadic, using my mom's HBO and all. I recently read The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and also have been reading about the Tudors over at Grammie's (she kept all her college texts—dang that woman underlined a lot.) and can't get enough.

Sounds like, from the description of the The Other Boleyn Girl novel here, this portrait of Anne is not so flattering. But, in The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, she is portrayed very sympathetically. There are so many differences in the historical facts—they seem like completely different stories. Hmmm. At any rate, I love this stuff, so tragic and horrible and interesting—all in great clothes. And, what I want to know is, does Natalie Portman have a 6th finger!? Come on!! Cause Anne did, I'm just saying.

Speaking of highbrow entertainment, we finally watched Superbad last night after having the DVD from netflix for probably 2 months. I don't know what was funnier, watching it or watching Pete laugh at it. I think at one point he almost fell off the sofa.

 

happy monkey day to you

We have another flurry of small people birthdays coming up and I can't seem to hand-make anything right now, it's just too crazy around here—but I love giving books. These are my 2 new (old) favorites to give. If I were smart I'd buy 3 copies of each, because it seems this one above is out of print (?) but that would involve too much planning ahead. They are I'll Be You and You Be Me and A Hole is to Dig, both by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Marice Sendak. It's hard to describe how magical and amazing these books are.

We first read them from the library last summer by accident. They ended up in my bag and I don't even know who found them and put the them in there. The drawings are diminutive and charming—in a detailed black and white, pen and ink style that I love. The text is written the way children really speak to each other—nonsensical yet sweetly formal, which is how my kids talk. They are just so heartwarming to read. Ruth Krauss has many more books too, but these are my favorite. I think she actually just quoted kids directly for the text in these books.

    
I could barely read these at first, I was too distracted by the drawings and all the small details. The illustrations are grouped in a very unique way, often with little hand drawn borders and lots of white space. The clothes the kids wear in these pages are classic—the books are from the 1950s and I love this style of dressing.

Here's some info about Ruth Krauss and her husband, Crockett Johnson (best name ever?) of Harold and the Purple Crayon fame. I am sure many of you already know about these books and love them as well, but just in case. . .they are golden. (Here's Powell's, too.)

books I have been reading-

I love that Nick Hornby column in The Believer about books he is reading (or has bought and hasn't read)  and in this last issue he even admitted to starting but not finishing a book. And he never plans on finishing it. I didn't start doing this until a few years ago (Have I already blogged about this??) I decided that if a book is getting on my nerves and I feel like I have given it a fair shake, then I'm done with it. It's so liberating. Almost as crazy as the cereal graveyard. This works best with books from the library, obviously. I put about 5 on hold at a time, pick them up, and usually end up reading 3 or 4 from the bunch. So, here's some random ones. A lot of guilty pleasures here, sorry. My literary tastes have slid lately. I just need my books to be NOT real, you know? I feel like an escape is what I need, not some very intense and emotional tragedy. So, having said that, I did not finish The Kite Runner two summers ago. I know, the horror. I suck. But it was so heavy handed and so. . . well, you know what I mean.

To the Tower Born. I liked this a whole lot. Um, these reviews are going to suck, by the way. It's either a thumbs up or down. This is a big thumbs up. I heart historical fiction a lot.

The Subtle Knife, which is the second in the His Dark Materials series. I loved this. I enjoyed it more than the first, which I also loved. I am scared for the movie of the first one. How can it be good? or as good as the books? They are so brutal. . . I can't imagine the movies capturing the pain in these novels. (boy, I make is sound like a fun read, huh, but they are so good!) Big thumbs up.

The Debutante Divorcee. Okay, this is so fun and so silly and just the best beach read ever. I read it right after I had Liddy when I was tired and so out of it and loved every second of it. Bug thumbs up. (Mildly embarrassed, but why?)

There's more, but I need to save them for this posting everyday thing.

cake & spice drops

We are done with our family birthdays for the year (well, there is a new niece or nephew coming in less than 2 weeks, so that's a huge birthday) but I mean we are done with kids b-days. Whew.The middle child is now 3 and it was so great. She asked for chocolate cake with light blue frosting. I used the chocolate cake recipe from my cheat sheet and the frosting was just a basic cream cheese frosting tinted light blue. The spice drops are my go-to decoration for cakes because the girls can help and the spice drop flavor is really good with the cake-it's like after cake mint. yummy.

She actually ate 2 pieces! (Not this big, ha.) She never normally eats cake--we were thrilled.

Earlier in the week, on her actual birthday, we had a few neighbor friends over for a low key cupcake decorating party. I made chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and light green and light blue frosting. The kids got to pick a cupcake and decorate it. Only one got dropped on the floor and the mamas ate more than all the kids combined. It lasted about 45 minutes, which I think is ideal for a 3 year old party, you know? And even though this seems like a sugar overload, the kids actually didn't even eat much. I think having the decorating be the craft project made them less interested in freaking out on the sugar and consuming it. The ice cream probably was the sugar freak-out, now that I think of it.

The adorable fabric for the tablecloths I quickly stitched up is from the Barefoot Roses collection.

And it matches so nicely, I have to show this lovely book, Cherry the Pig, that came for Delia from her lovely Auntie. The illustrations are outstanding. This artist, Utako Yamada, is new to me and I am in love. The story is sweet, too.

excitment

It's not out yet (May 1st or there abouts) but it's coming. . .and I am so excited. The second built by wendy bookis all about sewing garments from knit fabrics. Bomb. I can't express how brilliant I think this is. I need to work with knits more. I don't very often mostly because finding good quality knit yardage can be hard. . .but I am going to start stockpiling now. Knits are so forgiving so sew with, I need to get back on that horse. And you don't need a serger to sew with knits, I know many people assume you do. Having said that, my serger rocks (babylock) and handles knits like a dream. I loved wendy's first book a ton so I have high hopes for this one.

And Mix Tape Zine issue 2 is out and I think is almost completely gone already-take a peek and snatch one up if you can. I love reading this over lunch while the girls are playing. God, remember zines?? It's so nice to get this great content NOT on a computer. This issue makes me want to start making soap again. (Almost.) And thanks for the sweet review of Bend-the-Rules, Justine. I am very flattered.

This posting everyday thing is working out for me so far. I think limiting my posts to one item a day--that's my speed right now. I made a list though, because I have forgotten that one thing a few times already. . . (And today there were 2 things, I'm tricky!!)