Play it again, Sam

Taken 12/31/09.

Last Batch

Last Batch of homemade holiday cards...sent out in early Jan.1/4/10.

Ghost Cat

taken 12/9/09.

Merry Christmas...everyone.

And Two

cards made 12/21/09.

Two more handmade cards -- the first came from holiday envelope kit that I made at RAH last year, and the second is partially-recycled from a card received last year ('08). I've been holding on to holiday cards that might have the potential to be chopped up and recycled...

Big Pink

taken 12/20/09.

A few nights ago, after the winter storm, our sky turned pink and lavender. Unlike our normal sunsets, the light was reflected (by the snow) onto everything, intensifying the color. I saw the sky change while in our front room & had to rush to find the camera before it passed. At work the next day, a co-worker said she had done the same (little RI!). These photos don't capture the color perfectly, but they're close. And they're entirely untouched.

12/20/09.

Snow and Snow and Snow

Sunday's snow storm. Taken 12/20/09.

baby yaris in the snow.

Now that's a storm.

The end.

Deer cards

Two more deer cards (& envelopes made from paper bags). 12/19/09.

Homemade Yarn Tree Card

Yarn Tree Card 12/13/09.

I think I saw this in a holiday magazine last year. Wavy yarn gives the tree a bit of texture, but you could use just about anything. I sewed through the green cardstock, but you could glue each piece of yarn down, horizontally as well. Only made one of these, since they take a while.

Messy back, but this gets glued down onto the card.

Homemade Snowpeep Cards

Snowpeep Cards 12/15/09.

I think Martha Stewart has a version of these somewhere. One tip: thread the scarfs through the paper instead of gluing them between the buttons. This way, the scarves look as though they're actually around the 'neck' of the snowpeep.

Snowpeep with a fancy scarf.

Snowpeep cards in process 12/15/09.

DIY Crinkly Scarf

Linkshare: DIY Scarf Instructions (and photo) by Jennifer Juniper.

Now if I could just find a single free evening...and keep my eyes open long enough to remind myself how to work that sewing machine...and then grab some fabric and... and... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Holiday Cards for 2009

Handmade Holiday Cards, 12/13/09.

Finally! A relaxing weekend with plenty of down time, little to no stress, and a chance for Chris and I to waste away the day watching movies. Since I can't sit still watching t.v. for very long, I dragged my box of scrapbooking paper downstairs and made cards all day. I doubt I'll be able to get many more done...there are still the envelopes to make (if I can find enough paper grocery bags), but I enjoyed every bit of this.How To: This was very easy to pull together. With a Google image search, I found a clip art image (here) of a deer/fawn, printed/cut it out, and used it as a pattern to trace onto various patterned papers. Mount the cut-out deer onto another rectangle and mount on paper that has been folded into a card. Done and done.

I heart wood-grain.

14 and counting...

Tree Up

90% hokey handmade ornaments. love. 12/12/09.

3 Down...50 to go? Homemade Holiday Cards

A short holiday playlist. And a few handmade cards.

The stocking came from a gift tag on a present last year.
Gotta love hambly.
My favorite so far. 50 to go.

Warmly "Shedding Light on Homelessness"

Taken 12/6/09.

I've been sooooo excited to share this. The Street Sights staff recently received our first-ever sweatshirts. Hoodies, actually. They're soft and warm, they're printed and designed well (designed & printed by teens!), and the staff is representin'. Even the hood has "Shedding Light on Homelessness" printed up the left-side. Ever seen a hoodie like that? I doubt it. We've received a number of requests from non-staff members asking if they can purchase one, out of suppor...may be an early 2010 fundraiser!!

First Snow

12/6/09.

These last months have been flying by. When that happens, I know I'm too busy or that I need to stop pushing myself so hard. I'm exhausted when I get home and crashing earlier and earlier. this is not working! Somehow it's December and I'm sure 'tomorrow' it'll be over. Anyway.
Above = our first snow, last Saturday night/Sunday morning. We had just picked up our giganto xmas tree...waking up to our first snow fall the following day? Good timing. Before I even had a chance to post these photo of our snow dust, we were dumped on this morning. And this, of course, called for the spontaneous singing of snow-themed songs. ...Until I get in the car and realize I need to drive all the way to Woonsocket. And I have to do it every day we receive these gifts of snow dumps.

12/9/09.

12/9/09.

Thanksgiving

After a week of fighting a cold, I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll be back at work. Sadly I was too sick for us to make it to my aunt's Thanksgiving on Saturday. Stupid cold. But on Thursday, we had a very nice Thanksgiving in Queens with Chris' family and family friends. It's amazing that even friends of the family feel like my family -- a reminder that "family" includes all kinds of relations.

This holiday season, I feel fortunate to have such a large family of people who are so kind and generous.

Muppets

Paper flowers & pages

Taken 11/22/09.

Easy-to-make paper flowers from last week's scrapbook weekend with mom. Make a bunch and create a wreath. Instructions are at miss fancy pants.Started a 'my first garden' book on the weekend with my mom. Beginning pages above.

new hair

11/23/09.

Overly dramatic snowman photos

Home sick from work today. Ribs, knees, even my armpits ache...unless I sit perfectly still. This past weekend my mom flew out and we spent 3 days at a scrapbooking weekend getaway (run by Right at Home). We kicked ass being crafty and made snow people out of glass jars. cute! I worked on a mini-book of my garden & mom worked on Halloween photos. More photos to come.

We made 3, this is my favorite. Taken 11/24/09.

Snow people made by others in the class. Taken 11/21/09.

Cloche

Today I'm crushing on this hat. Of course, it's (too expensive) includes wool, as do most hand-made hats. Fingerless gloves from Craftland? Forget it. Wool wool blended-wool wool. For all you wool wearers out there...I get that wool is warm. If I wear anything close to wool my skin bursts into flames. Then again, when I come in contact with a lot of things, I feel like my skin is on fire.

Hat (and photo) found here.

Christmas tree up at work. Loving it.

Recipe Rursday: Sweet Potato Spaghetti

Spaghetts 11/11/09.

With our very last item from Scratch Farm's CSA, a lone sweet potato, we made this odd little dish -- Sweet Potato Spaghetti. We will definitely make this again. The only thing I'd change is to add more rosemary, which adds a nice compliment to the sweet potatoes. I held back, and without the garlic, it would've been bland. But, another winner from Real Simple.

Spaghetti with Sweet Potato and Ricotta (Real Simple, October 2009)

• 12 ounces spaghetti (3/4 box)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch pieces (we used one large)
  
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 shallots, sliced (skipped the shallots, used minced garlic instead)
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (or dried - I used 1tsp. to avoid overdoing the rosemary, but next time I'd amp it up to 1T)
  
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)
• 1/3 cup ricotta

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 1⁄2 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes, 3⁄4 teaspoon salt, and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the shallots (garlic) and rosemary and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Toss the pasta with the potato mixture, Parmesan, and the reserved cooking water. Dollop with the ricotta before serving.

** For more recipes, check out the RedPepperFlakes Recipe Archives.

Dad Highlights

For fans of my media-loving father (in Better Investing mag & on CNN), you might also enjoy:

• His voice mail inquiry about the band Coldplay (April 2009)
  

• This video of him demonstrating how to play a digerydoo (November 2008).
  

Green Green Green

More forgotten 2009 photos: Before heading to Ben & Saida's wedding in September 09.

cookey. 9/19/09.

Recipe Rursday: Spicy Seafood Stew

Taken 11/2/09.

Sometimes I crave chunky seafood dishes. The Shrimp & Scallops recipe posted on Dooce's partner's website (way back when) is a good example of an easy, chunky seafood dish. Chris has been making stews left and right as a way to get through the heavy cooking greens (chard & kale) from our CSA. This particular recipe was his idea and led to a gigantic pot of hearty spicy goodness - perfect for a winter evening. He started with a slow-cooker recipe in Joy of Cooking, but took the preparation quite off-book. Note: the pot was so big, it fed us both 2-3 dinners.

Spicy Seafood Stew (variation on a recipe in Joy of Cooking)
The original recipe uses a slow cooker and no actual clams.

• 1T Olive oil
• 1 Medium white onion
• 1-2 chopped carrots (not used in Joy)
  
• 1 medium celery root, diced (A very new CSA vegetable for us, Joy uses a celery rib)
• 1 jalapeno pepper (we skipped)
• 2 -3 garlic cloves
• 1 28 ounce of canned whole tomatoes, broken up with a fork (Joy uses crushed tomatoes)
• 1 container of fresh clams & the juice inside (Joy uses 2 C bottled clam juice)
• 1/2 C dry red (or white) wine
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (more to taste!)
• 1 lb. of skinless cod fillets, cut into 1 in. pieces
• 8 oz. of medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Cook the onion, carrots, celery, red pepper flakes, and garlic, over medium heat until the onion is translucent & carrots have softened. Stir in the tomatoes, clams/clam juice, wine, oregano. Cover and cook on low for at least a 1/2 hour.

Turn the heat to high and add the cod and shrimp. Cook and cover until the fish is opaque & the shrimp are starting to become opaque (12-15 min. but checking periodically). Season with salt & pepper, optionally with 1/4 C chopped basil or parsley).

** For more recipes: RedPepperFlakes Recipe Archives.

My Dad: Rocking all forms of Media

Riding on his recent national television fame on CNN, my dad has recently published his stock evaluations and recommendations in a top-selling investment magazine (Better Investing). He's such a media hog these days....sending me autographed copies of his articles and whatnot. Enough dad!! (click page below, to enlarge)
Page 2 of the article (below).