Happy Birthday Beth!

Today is my little sister's birthday! Although she is no longer little and even owns her own house, she's still the kid who wouldn't stop talking and could talk a mile a minute, who would laughed hysterically at the banana song, loves turnips and went for years only ordering chicken fingers at restaurants, and who, thankfully, no longer steals my clothes!

Happy Birthday Bethie!!!! I hope you had a great day!!!!



In other news, yesterday was Thanksgiving in my home and native land and as always (or at least since I moved from home in 2003), I had a group of people over for dinner to celebrate. And not surprisingly we have a ton of leftovers! In order to move away from turkey sandwiches and turkey and potatoes,I'm going to throw together a turkey based soup tonight and hopefully by Friday we will be turkey free!

The day the internet ran out

Do you ever have those days when you feel like you’ve seen everything on the internet, like the internet just ran out of websites and stuff to see and do? That’s me most days, I get the urge to announce “Aaaaannnndddd done. I’ve seen everything on the internet that isn’t pornographic or violent in nature”. I don’t, of course, because that would annoyed my coworkers but I do have the urge nonetheless to stand on my chair and shout. Today happily was not one of those days – today was a great internet cruising day! Yes, my life is that full…!

So today’s internet finds come through the really great blog How About Orange (www.howaboutorange.blogspot.com) – Jessica is incredibly crafty and a lot of her projects are right at my level, beginner. Check out these two neat-o projects:

How to make a bow from a magazine page


Photo from How About Orange

Spooky packing tape transfers


Photo from How About Orange

Through her website I also stumbled upon Megan over at Plum Pudding (myplumpudding.blogspot.com) and her DIY cleaning kit! She collected a bunch of recipes for make-your-own cleaning products which are very environmentally friendly and I’m looking forward to trying them out and seeing how effective they actually are. Here’s a soft scrub recipe – I wonder what the aspirin does????


Soft Scrub for toilets and tubs (and more)
1 cup baking soda
3-5 drops tea tree oil
¼ cup liquid castile soap
2 aspirins, powdered

Mix all ingredients and add enough water to make a paste. Store in a squeeze bottle. To use, apply with a sponge, scrub and rinse thoroughly.
From Make Your Place by Raleigh Briggs, 2009.

And now to switch gears from germ removal to birthdays (a natural conversational bridge) - this is pre-emptive birthday shout out to Carisa! I hope you have a super duper day tomorrow! If you lived here in Seattle, I would bake you this cake:

A Root Bear Float Cake from Joy the Baker



Yuummmmmmmm! And Bon Weekend!

Jamie Oliver, you disappoint me...

Dear Mr. Oliver,

Can you please tell me what you were thinking when you instructed us culinary novices to add 700 grams of long grain rice to our jambalya for only 15-20 minutes? And what exactly made you think that it was a brillant idea to mix 70% dark chocolate with dark beer and cocoa powder and only use 5 tablespoons of sugar to sweeten a bread pudding that consisted of a whole loaf of white bread? Seriously? What exactly was running through your intentionally deselved hair topped head? Explain.

Not so in love with you right now,
Robyn

Ok, here's how my angry letter to young Jamie began - on Friday and as previously posted here, it was my husband's birthday. We decided to be fiscally responsible this birthday season and dine in instead of out. So in my daily scouring of The Times (London) I found Jamie's recipe for jambalaya and after reading the list of ingredients I thought it would be a great birthday dinner for Mike. Unfortunately, a well cooked jamabalaya did not result by following his directions. Apparently 15-20 minutes was sufficient amount of time according to Jamie for long grain rice to cook....well, its not. By the time the rice was almost cooked (adding an extra 45 minutes to his 20 and it was still somewhat el dante) it was 9pm, the vegetables and meat were practically pulverized and I was getting fed up. I'm not sure if the time was a typo or if the recipe was an adaption of a slow cooker recipe or if in Jamie-land rice cooks really quickly but in normal world, rice (not instant rice or with the help of a rice cooker) takes at least 50-60 minutes. I would like to try this recipe again as it is an inexpensive meal to prepare for a large group and it had really good flavour but I think I would cook the rice separately and then mix it in with the rest of the food and let that all simmer together for 15-20 minutes. Maybe that's what he meant to say but unfortunately was left out.

Here's what ended up on our plates (apologies for the crappy photo)



As for the second item in my letter - the chocolate and beer bread pudding for which I posted the recipe here a few weeks ago and put on my list of 30 things to do by the time I'm 30 - well, I can cross it off my list and out of my life - a little dramatic perhaps but it is deserved. I followed the recipe to the letter and end up with a soggy pile of very bitter and acidic tasting bread. The sauce was very lack luster and by following his directions of letting the bread sit in the cream/milk for 30 seconds, it absorbed way too much liquid and even after leaving it in the oven 10 minutes longer than what was called for, it was still very soggy. It was probably one of the least enjoyable desserts I have ever had. Truly. I will likely not attempt it again but if I did, I would use a less dark dark chocolate, perhaps 52%; I would add more sugar; I would add a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg; and I would replace the beer with either Baileys or Kahlua - probably kahlua. Anyways, here's what the yucky mess looked like (and again apologies for the crappy photo):



So yeah, Jamie is not on my favourites list at the moment. I think he and I need a time out. Too bad Jamie, we could have been great together!...

Happy Birthday to the Sailor of the Quarter

This is Mike around the age of either 5 or 6 and today is his birthday! But wait, there's more - yesterday he found out that he was named (for a second time!) Sailor of the Quarter for his command! Double whammy! I'd said his new year is starting off rather well wouldn't you? :)

As the Navy blocks blogspot.com (boo), I can reveal the menu for this evening's birthday dinner that I began to prepare last night. We'll be feasting on Jamie Oliver's Jambalaya (a recipe from his latest book), a green salad with lemon dressing, some sort of bread which I'll pick up on the way home and a chocolate cake a la Hines (there was no way I could get off work early today to bake from scratch). I'm excited and a little scared of the jambalaya - it calls for chorizo (could that be any more riddled with fat???!!) and 2 red hot peppers...H2O will be on standby. And of course, in keeping with my tradition of not always thinking things through, I'm hoping it turns out alright because I've never made this recipe before. Awesome. I'm also excited for him to open his pressies and I hope he likes them!

And speaking of birthday's today is Gandhi's 140th birthday! Shout out to him. I wonder what he would think of us and the state of the world today...?



These super cuties are school children in Bhopal, India who yesterday were taking part in birthday and cultural celebrations to mark Mr. Gandhi's big day. I think they're too adorable!The photo is from Reuters.

So Happy Happy Birthday to my Hubby and Gandhi! xo

Still in love with Chair but not with table and a little note on Sin

So on Sunday while running around for last minute birthday stuff for hubby – he’s 34 on Friday – I popped into Pier 1 in Everett to see if perchance they would have the table and chairs I posted about below. Well, happily they did and the chairs are lovely AND comfortable! The table however is poo. The lovely vegetable green colour in the photo below is not remotely close to the actual pukey mint green that adorns the base of the table in real life. Sad.

Moving along and completely changing gears, last night I came across this little gem of an article from Wired - the 7 deadly sins mapped across America! Fun! The information was collected and graphics created by Kansas State University and the accompanying intro from Wired notes “Christian clergy, likely noting the Bible Belt's status as Wrath Central, question the "science." Valid point—or maybe it's just the pride talking.” Ahahahahaha!!!! :)

Anyways, I thought this was funny and worth sharing! Note that the Pacific Northwest particularly suffers from greed, envy and pride - its like Puffy/P-Diddy once said, Mo money mo problems!

Chair love and other stuff

So I am forever pouring over websites looking for furnishings to fill our abode - its really become a sickness because I dedicate hours to this pursuit. One of my prefered websites for decor ideas and inspiration (athlough there are many blogs I love too) is Decor Pad. One of the really great features of this site is the Look for Less section - it lets a girl think some of those stunningly designed rooms may actually be acessible to those making less than a 6 figure salarie! Anyways, as much as I pour over these sites, I haven't found a particular look or style that I'm ready to commit 100% to BUT every once in while I come across something I absolutely love and I know it's what I absolutely want and the chairs and table below are it!






Both are from Pier 1 and I love the café/French farmhouse look of these chairs and as for the table, I think its unique but not so wild & crazy that it came mesh while with other styles and looks. The sad thing about the table is that it doesn’t expand so we couldn’t buy it for a dining room table :(. And the sad thing about the chairs is that they’re $119 a piece!!!! {Choke} Maybe the sale fairies will magically sprinkle sale dust on them and drop them by $50 and then we’ll all live happily ever after! Le sigh…

Aaaannnnndddddd, if the sale fairy worked her magic and I won the lottery and bought said table set, I would have these Etsy finds on my table top for those who came over for a visit - the stoic sheep would be filled with strawberries and the wicked vintage serving tiered tray would be covered in lovely little pastries! I think this would make me very popular no?





Keep Calm & Carry On bowl by Rae Dunn http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5334039



Tipsy Time Machine http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7011217

Of course it would be easier to win the lottery if I actually played it...maybe that will be this evening's activity...hmmmm...

Bon weekend!

30 Things To Do Before I'm 30

So today marks the beginning of the end. I’m 29 years old today. I find myself both sad and honestly, a little scared of what it means to be turning 30 in a year. I freaked out on my 15th birthday because I was half way to 30 and at the time 30 meant you were old. Well, I’m certainly not getting any younger but I still don’t feel like a grown up either. I still feel like that 15 year old but with an additional 14 years of experience under my belt. In effort to get myself on track for the next decade, I came up with a list of things to do before I’m 30 which turned out to be harder than I thought it would as I wanted the list to be more than tangible just lofty ideals. Drum roll….

In no particular order:

* Lose 30lbs and stick to it

* Print off photos & create albums from the last several years

* Stay in better touch with friends and family

* Go home for a visit other than Christmas

* Work towards getting my career on track

* Moisturize daily – I never do this and my skin hates me for it

* Drink at least 3 glasses of water a day – I don’t like water, its weird, I know

* Wear the skirts and dresses I own instead staring at them in the closet

* Go for walks after dinner

* Learn how to drive a standard/stick-shift car

* Use the cookbooks and food magazines we already have

* Research our new posting like crazy, wherever that may be

* Call my Nanny more often

* Buy a used sewing machine and learn how to use it

* Get back to jewelry making and my little Etsy shop

* Read more books – both the light fluffy stuff and more topical politico stuff

* Go for a walk/hike in one of Washington’s rainforests

* Visit the Oregon Vortex because I like weird stuff like this

* Go to a ballet

* Frame at least 1 of the 2 giant antique posters we bought in Brussels

* Hopefully find and commit to upholstery for our wingback – I’m cursed with my mother’s fabric/upholstery indecisiveness!

* Learn how to reupholster a wingback chair!

* Bake Jamie Oliver’s Chocolate-Beer Bread Pudding and Joy the Baker’s Peanut Butter and Bacon Cookies (this will defeat the 30 lbs lose, but perhaps they can be a reward? Hmmmm…)

* Start to acquire my ‘fancy’ tableware

* Go to the gym or do a workout dvd weekly

* Treat myself to a manicure, pedicure and massage

* Throw away clothes I haven’t worn in 4 years

* Give sushi one more chance – we’re already at 3-strikes-you’re-out, but a fourth attempt won’t kill me

* Get through my permanent residency application process without having a nervous breakdown from a) the cost, b) the amount of repetitive paperwork, c) the inevitable losing of paperwork in the system, d) all of the above – I’m not worried about the interview, we’re married for real, point finale.

* Find several missing items that have gone awol since my move from Vancouver

So here’s to 29! 365 days and counting till the next major milestone.


PS ~ A very Happy Birthday to my birthday twins Erin and Mark!