opie

I adopted my orange angel when he was 5 weeks old. He cried whenever I put him down, so I held him until he learned to follow me around.

I can't believe how tiny he was!

Six years later, he still follows me around, and he always wants to snuggle.

At 18 1/2 pounds, he doesn't quite fit on my shoulder anymore :(

waffles

1 3/4 cups flour (unbleached, whole wheat, or a combination)

3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil or applesauce

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs, milk and oil (or applesauce) and mix well.

Bake on a hot waffle iron. Top as your imagination inspires!

Forget those styrofoam Eggos! These freeze and reheat well in a toaster or toaster oven ;)

I prefer the texture of waffles made with vegetable oil and unbleached flour, but the whole wheat version with applesauce is a tasty & healthy alternative :)

r.i.p., mirror

I awoke to find that one of my cats had knocked the mirror off of my mantle and smashed it to smithereens. It's my own fault for leaning it against the wall instead of insisting it be hung properly.

I loved this mirror, a perfect mix of gold and silver, which looked perfect above the mantle. It made my living room a more elegant place.

Did I mention that I found it on clearance? Clearance. 75% off. I'm sick.

54 saturdays ago

On the Cliff Walk in Newport, RI.

trash to treasure

I found this bike at the curb on trash night and asked Jeff to show it some love.

I've always wanted a black English bike, so he made me my very own rescued from the trash faux Pashley!

Final cost was about $175; a new Pashley costs $1395.

individual crumb cakes

I wanted cute little cakes to serve with tea, and so I baked these individual crumb cakes!

About $2 for the batch, and they're bakery good :)

2 T canola oil
4 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 pinch + 1/2 t salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 t vanilla extract
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 t cinnamon
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
powdered sugar

Grease and flour a large 6 cup muffin tin and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, white sugar, baking powder and 1/2 t salt. In a seperate large bowl, whisk together egg, milk, canola oil, and vanilla; fold in the dry ingredients.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups; they will be less than 1/2 full.

Combine the remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Pour the melted butter over the mixture and toss with a for or spatula until large crumbs form.

Sprinkle the crumbs evenly among the muffin cups. Bake 18-2o minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack. Remove the cakes from the pan and dust with powdered sugar.

To cut the fat content, I sometimes double the cake portion of the recipe, half the crumb portion, and increase the cooking time by about 5 minutes. They're still delicious.

diy chinese takeout

I've lived in places that have craveworthy Chinese takeout, but this isn't one of them. We've got a fabulous sitdown Chinese place, but it's too spendy for casual consumption at home with boxed wine. Not to mention they don't deliver, which is practically the entire point of takeout!

So, I've taken matters into my own hands. Tonight we're having homemade veggie egg rolls and fried rice.

Egg Rolls

12 egg roll wrappers
1 t salt
1 t sugar
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 T soy sauce
1 t sesame oil
1 lb cole slaw mix
4 green onions, sliced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
water
vegetable oil

Whisk together salt, sugar, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil; set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the cole slaw mix, green onions and celery. Add the sauce mixture and stir until all of the veggies are well coated.

Layout an eggroll wrapper with on of the points facing towards you, so it looks like a diamond. Place about 3 T of the veggie mixture in the center.

Fold the bottom point up over the filling and roll once. Fold in the left and right points. Brush the top point with water (to make it stick) and finish rolling. Place it on a well-greased cookie sheet and finish the rest.

Brush the tops of the eggrolls with vegetable oil, then bake at 400 for about 20 minutes, turning halfway through.

Veggie Fried Rice

3 T peanut oil
1 cup brown rice, cooked
1/2 t salt
4 green onions, sliced
3/4 cup mung bean sprouts
1/4 cup shredded cabbage (I use cole slaw mix)
2 carrots, shredded (optional if you're using cole slaw mix)
1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
cubed fried tofu (optional)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 t soy sauce
1 T sesame oil

I cooked the rice in advance and kept it in the fridge until I was ready to use it. I like brown rice, but I'm sure white would work, too.

Heat 3 T peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cooked rice and saute until lightly golden. Add the green onions, cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, peas, salt, and tofu. Stir fry about 5 minutes, until the veggies are tender, but still crisp.

Hollow out a circle in the center of the skillet and add the egg. Cook, lightly scrambling. Stir the cooked egg into the rice mixture, sprinkle with the soy sauce and sesame oil, and stir to combine.

Less than $1 per serving!

where i play

Two and a half years ago, my culinary repertoire was limited to Manwiches, Old El Paso Gordita Kits, and if I was feeling really fancy, manicotti.

Then, we remodeled our ugly kitchen, and I found inspiration!

It was an early 90's cave!

We did almost all of the work ourselves. We hired a tile guy (for the good of our marriage), and a granite fabricator (because we had to).

The old cabinets were solid wood and still had plenty of life left in them, so we refinished and reconfigured them. Yay for reusing and keeping things out of the landfill! It also helped ease my guilt about laying new walnut floors.

We learned plumbing, sheetrocking, electrical, how to lay a wood floor, how to install french doors, and how to install and vent an industrial hood. After the hard stuff was done, I sewed roman shades for the windows.

It took us over 2 years of nights, weekends, holidays, vacations, and stress to get this far. We're still missing the crown moulding, and we need to replace the cabinet hardware, but I'm calling it "finished" for now.