Thrifting

My friends Mary and Marja love to shop in thrift and second-hand stores. They find the most amazing clothes and furniture and other treasures for a fraction of the price you'd pay in regular stores. Even so, I have to admit at first I was a little put off by the idea - not put off by the prices they paid, or the beautiful things they found, but you know, mucking through all that "junk"! Well, I am now a devotee.

This week we were all in Santa Cruz and of course we went thrifting. Here's the best item I found...it's the start of my Halloween costume! It was $18 and you're right, it's a Viking helmet - you knew I was half Norwegian, right? So I've decided to be Hel, the Norse goddess of the Underworld. The girl was half dead, half alive, half her face was skeletal, half was beautiful, etc, etc. She was often shown as half black, half white....sure leaves lots of room for innovative makeup!

That wasn't all I found! Here's a nearly-new Cuisinart panini press for $12. Since I'm crazy about grilled cheese sandwiches, it's perfect. Not to mention I can never resist kitchen gadgets.

And here are some fancy wooden supports for a cool new shelf in my bathroom. I know how much these cost new - I've looked all over for some interesting ones at selvage yards, at drapery stores, online, and they can run $150 to $200 or more. These were $10 for two. What a deal! They're in great shape and they're more gorgeous than any of the other more expensive ones I found! I'm going to paint them white with just a little distressing, and use them as supports for a similarly painted wooden shelf that I'll put colorful fluffy towels on. Too cute.

Not bad for a day of thrifting, huh? And I spent $40. Amazing.

Dill Pickles

I put up three jars of dill pickles today. My mom made the best dill pickles ever (I love dill pickles), and this is the first time I've ever made them. It was so easy and fun!

1. Sterilize your jars and tops in boiling water.
2. Wash and slice 8 small cucumbers, or cut them in spears, or leave them whole. I sliced them.
3. Bring a mixture of 2 cups apple cider vinegar, 1 cup distilled white vinegar, 3 cups water, and 1/4 cup kosher salt to a boil.
4. Stuff the sterilized jars with cucumber slices, fresh or dried dill, peeled garlic cloves, crushed red pepper flakes, and a few black peppercorns.
5. Spoon the hot vinegar mixture into the jars with a ladle until they are full to within 1/2 inch of the top.
6. Twist the jar tops on. Let cool.
7. Store in a dark place for two weeks before eating.

I learned how to do this from a wonderful book I got for my birthday from Allie - it's called The Homemade Pantry, and it has some pretty good-looking things in it (like homemade catsup and mustard and marshmallows). This speaks to me, I love to make this kind of stuff from scratch. I'm pretty proud of my pickles.

So after the two weeks are up, I'll let you know how the pickles taste. Hope they're yummy!

Loafing at Lake of the Woods, Oregon

Wayne and I just got back from Lake of the Woods, OR, where we went to celebrate the wedding of the beautiful Ashley Shult, now Mrs. Ashley Langdon (Andy). Ashley is the daughter of our friends Doug and Lee Shult who were my next-door neighbors when we all lived in San Mateo. I've known Ashley since she was two years old.

What a gorgeous spot for a wedding, and also a great spot to kick back and relax, which we did!

 

The wedding took place in a gazebo on the shores of the lake, just a little to the right of these red chairs. The groom and his groomsmen and all of us waited there, while the bride and her posse - her bridesmaids and her mother - arrived on an African Queen-style boat, with a wonderful air horn and a flag, tooting away festively across the water.

It was very cool. Ah love! Congratulations, Andy and Ashley!

The Best Bloody Mary

OK, so I've been bartending a lot this summer at a resort swimming pool. Guess what the most popular first-drink-of-the-day is...you got it! It's a Bloody Mary!

I will admit that other drinks take over in popularity as the day goes on and early evening approaches. But from opening time (usually Noon during the week and 11:00 a.m. on weekends) until about 2:00 p.m., the Bloody Mary reigns. Here's a photo of a Bloody at opening time - first one of the day on an sunny Friday morning.

 

And here's how to make The Best Bloody Mary:

Fill a tall glass (plastic at poolside) with ice.

• Add 2 oz. vodka of your choice. We use Hangar One, which is a locally made vodka.
• Fill with canned tomato juice (not Bloody Mary mix, you'll notice)
• Add a tablespoon Worchestershire sauce (or more)
• Add a few drops Tobasco Sauce (or more)
• Add a good sprinkling of ground pepper
• Add 1/4 teaspoon of prepared horseradish (or more). We use Beaver Extra Hot.

Stir very well to mix in the horseradish.

We garnish with olives and a lemon wedge. Celery sticks are traditional. Lime is also good, as are pickled green beans and peperoncini. You get the picture, be creative with the garnish, although savory works better than sweet.

Here's the view from my bar. Pretty cool, huh?

A thought for this day, September 11, 2012: When we fight hate with love, we win.

"The Sale": Revised

I've posted a revision of a piece I wrote a few years back called "The Sale". You can read it here.

The story is about my sister-in-law's garage sale in South Dakota, but really it's about going home. South Dakota isn't exactly home (Minnesota was my original home), but it's right next door. I left there a long, long time ago for adventure in California, and of course still have family and friends there, like my brother Jim and sister-in-law Marlys and their family. I'm pretty crazy about them. Some of my high school girlfriends and I still keep in touch - that's part of "home" too. We get together somewhere every other year and spend a long weekend laughing, talking, eating, and drinking wine. What a hoot!

Anyway, going home, wherever it is, is interesting. Maybe you know that.

BTW, "The Sale" is also published in an e-anthology (that's a collection of stories published as an e-book, just in case you need to know!) that my writing group, Townsend 11, published last year. It's a wonderful book called "No Definite Plans" - here it is on Amazon - check it out!

Giraffe Skirt

Here's the giraffe skirt!

Isn't it a fabulous fabric? I love the brick-y color. And, of course, the giraffes.

 

It's a simple Amy Butler pattern, and really easy to make. There's an "apron" in the pattern too, a piece I would call a peplum instead of an apron. I think I'll make that out of this fabric, and see how it looks with the skirt.

I envision wearing this skirt with a longish black scoopneck t-shirt and maybe black  tights. Here's the pattern. I've made two other skirts from this pattern, and my daughter-in-law Allie has made several too - she's the one who turned me on to it. Thank you, Allie!

 

 

 

Cooking up a storm

Cooking is another of my passions. How many passions is one allowed? Ten? Maybe twenty? I hope so. I am a woman of many interests ... ahem, passions.

You may not know I write a cooking column for the online newpaper Examiner.com. If you've ever scrambled for a new idea for dinner, or wondered what in the world to do with an excess of bell peppers that are going to go bad soon, you might want to take a look. I write about food I make for dinner. Usually I take a photo of the food as I cook it or as I put it on the table, and then I put the recipe up if it's a keeper.

Here are a couple of recent recipes, one for sauteed peppers with brussel sprouts and potatoes and another for Mabel's Calico Beans.  Well, Mabel's beans at least should resonate with readers from my old home place in Minnesota - it's exactly the kind of thing we used to hope would appear at the church suppers our moms dragged us to. Not to mention Mabel was a South Dakota girl, so kind of in the "neighborhood".

Tonight I made pizza for the first time in years. The crust was fabulous. The toppings could be improved. What are the best toppings for homemade pizza, my friends? When I get it down, I'll share.

BTW, I finished the giraffe skirt. I'll show you a photo tomorrow.

Animal fabric

Much Life has come between me and my blog, dear readers. But I am back! Of course, Life goes on thankfully, and in force. Some of Life is work and for the past few months I've been working as a bartender slingin' drinks at the pool bar of a nearby luxurious resort. What fun! What a lot of work! Now summer is waning, although the best weather of the year still remains here in northern California. I'll be working fewer hours but still (wo)manning the pool bar until at least mid-October. Perfect. It leaves me more time for all those other things I love.

Like pillowcases. Honestly, I have a passion for cute pillowcases. Here's another one I made...can you see the little monkeys on the blue part? Love them.

And then there's the Ant Skirt. It started out to be a pair of crop pants, but I seriously over-estimated my girth when it came to alterations to the pattern. Yes, it happens to all of us! When I got these pants put together, they were ginormous. Seriously. After a good laugh with my boyfriend Wayne over huge pants with ants, I cut off the legs and the crotch pieces, and sewed up the front and back. Voila! An adorable Ant Skirt. Here it is:

And here are the ants!

Isn't that about as cute as it gets? Now I'm working on a giraffe skirt, which I'll show you soon.