Happy New Year!

I experienced my first Rosh Hashanah last night thanks to my friends upstairs.  I've celebrated both Hanukkah and Passover before (with many thanks to Liz and her family!) but always seem to miss out on the fall holidays. I learned that Rosh Hashanah celebrates the new year according to the Hebrew calendar and everyone eats apples drizzled with honey on this particular holiday.

I was charged with picking up the apples since I drive by an orchard every day after work. So I got Jonagold, Cortland, and Gala apples for the dinner party.

After delivering the apples to the apartment upstairs I took in the scene before me...

There were so many delicious foods to take in!  From left to right: Dan's family recipe brisket , a green bean and asparagus casserole (with lemon), sliced apples with honey, both plain and raisin challah, baked butternut squash and on the very far right barley with mushrooms. Not pictured is a fresh salad.

Unbelievably good!  Especially the brisket.  Slow-cooked meats are always delicious!  We mostly just sat and ate and talked, but it was a good time and the wine was flowing.  All in all a lovely evening spent with good people.

Fall Wedding #1: Sam and Katie

The only two weddings on the docket for 2011 are both fall beauties, with the first occurring this past Saturday the 24th.  It felt nothing like fall - warm, muggy, bugs galore - much more like an early August evening and thanks be to the gods for holding back on the rain and giving us some much needed color in the sky...

 

Even with the sky turning burnt orange around us, the real color was waiting for us inside the tent.  They chose a provincial French theme (did I get that right?) with beautiful yellows, reds, and blues on every table.  The flowers were so picture perfect I just couldn't resist and ended up taking way too many photos.  Here's one of my favorites, which incorporates a lovely drawing in the corner of the menu that I believe a relative of Katie's made...

The ceremony was short and lovely, and I thought the pastor's own reading was really nice.  The reception tent was set up beautifully and the colors were, as mentioned, phenomenal.  The food was prepared by none other than the groom's father with perfect wine pairings.  And just as I had to leave (of course I had to be at work at an ungodly hour the next morning) the live music was tearing loose.  It looked to be the perfect evening for one of my favorite couples :).

I'll leave you all with a mouth-watering photo of brisket, beans, and some dee-lish cornbread...

... and congratulations to Sam and Katie Schweizer!

Create: Fall Decorations!

As I was walking past Nellie's Wildflowers in Davis Square yesterday I noticed their box of 25 cent items.  After pawing through the goods I settled on an off-white flower pot, a bag of decorative twig balls, and a lovely twiggy wreath.  For a whopping 75 cents!  I just had to buy them, so I did.

The woman at the store said the wreath was a nice thing to decorate for the season - I hadn't even considered adding to the wreath!  I was just going to hang it on the wall plain and simple!

So, I looked around the house and decided to tie on some ribbon.  Then I went outside and decided to cut off some of the dead sunflower heads and squeeze them onto the wreath.  And voila, a lovely fall decoration!

Creating fall decorations is simple and easy.  It's a beautiful season, my personal favorite, and the colors are gorgeous.  Grab some old corn cobs, tie some orange ribbon on something, fill up a bowl with beautiful apples, or get yourself a stash of pumpkins for the front steps.

Check out some of these websites and blogs for some great decorating ideas:

• Martha Stewart
• HGTV
• Thrifty Decor Chick
• The Inspired Room

Mini Golf!

Last night I got home from work at 5pm and by 6pm I was on my way to Kimball Farm to play some mini golf.  I was so excited!  I haven't played mini golf in a very very long time and I couldn't wait!  Then I found out the place is about 45 minutes away...

First things first, greasy dinner food.  Chicken fingers, fries, burgers, soda and beer.  Then batting cages, mini golf, bumper boats, and an arcade.  Throw in a few goats and chickens, top it off with ice cream, and you have the Kimball Farm experience!

This was the nicest mini golf course I have ever played.  Each hole was in great condition, there were bridges and waterfalls, stone walkways and rivers.  The whole place was sparking clean.  And the scenery was really natural.

Best of all, I was the winner with a total score of 49!  Woo hoo!

New Pillow Cases

I want to challenge you to sew!  I do realize that it is very important to have a sewing machine so I did not make this a "challenge" blog post (although everything should try to sew at some point!).  For a simple craft I made new pillow cases for my throw pillows in the living room.  I used another blog as a guide and skipped a few steps to save time (didn't round the corners, didn't finish the edges, didn't add trim).  Google "how to sew a pillow case" and you'll come up with lots of options.

I chose the pillow case project because my throw pillows are pretty ratty.  They've been around for about four years and many, many rooms and roommates.

To start, I traveled to Fabric Corner in Arlington to peruse their lovely fabrics.  After about 30 minutes of fabric matching I chose some lovely patterns, mostly in green with some blue and turquoise accents (scroll to the bottom for a photo).  Follow the blog's directions for sizing of the fabric pieces and how to cut them.  Basically, you want the front square to be one inch larger in width and length than the size of the pillow.  If your pillow is a 14" square, you should cut one 15" square.  The back will be made up of two half-size pieces that are the same length (i.e. 14") and half the height plus 2.5" (16.5").

Then start sewing!

You'll want the right-sides facing each other (the wrong sides out) and you simply sew a big square around the outside of the fabric.  I tried to keep a quarter inch of space between the stitch and the edge.  I'm not a mastersewer so please excuse my lack of terminology and knowledge!

The finished project was very gratifying and really lightened up the room.  Both of the roomies agree :).

Facebook Magic?

So what I thought was going to be a quick, painless mattress-removal project has turned into a lengthy and annoying situation.  The mattress and box spring are still sitting in my foyer and it seems my Craigslist ad is not going to work.

Here are the details:

1. I posted the Craigslist ad at 6:47pm on September 9th.
2. I received the first response at 6:56pm on September 9th.
3. In total, I have received 14 inquires via email, 5 of which I responded positively to ("I will leave the foyer door unlocked between certain hours, feel free to pick up").
4. Unfortunately, no one followed through and actually picked up the mattress and box spring.

It is now September 12th and apparently what I thought would be Craiglist Magic might end up being Facebook Magic.  I'm not sure what my last resort will be.

As of 8:02pm, I posted a "free mattress" ad on Facebook.  I hope the magic happens!


NOTE 09.13.2011

Of course, at 8:30pm the night of the Facebook posting (and just 15 minutes after finishing the blog post) my roommate walks through the living room and says "the mattress is gone!".  So I guess Craigslist worked after all.

Craigslist Magic

Hello avid readers.  Today I have a fun little game I like to call Craigslist Magic.  I am getting rid of a previous roommate's mattress and box spring.  She got them for free so I'm getting rid of them on Craigslist.  They're in great condition.  You can find my posting here.  I posted at exactly 6:47 p.m.

How long will it take for someone to:
   a) Respond to my listing
   b) Pick up the mattress and box spring

I will be sure to post again when they are gone and answer these important questions!

Jammin'

I had a blast last night crafting some delicious peach butter with Kesley!  After separately encountering the smittenkitchen blog post about peach butter, we both came to realize it was our deepest desire to create a smooth and fruity spread.  To see the recipe visit the smittenkitchen blog (or click the link in the previous sentence).  The blogger outlines the steps and Kesley and I followed along with the exception of using white peaches because that's all I could get at the orchard on my way home from work.

More importantly, to while away the time during endless boiling, stirring, and waiting periods I decided to crack open some jars of jams and spreads, slice up some cheese and bread, and taste some delicious pairings.  Kesley was on board, and we were soon joined by my upstairs neighbors.

On offer:

From left to right: peach butter I made with my Mom a while ago, beach rose jelly I made last week, strawberry jam I made in June, some fancy Whole Foods cheese, Wisconsin cheddar from Trader Joe's, apple butter I made last fall, and a baguette.

We piled on the beach rose jelly with both cheeses, mixed the peach and apple butters on bread, tried some cheddar with strawberry jam, and generally enjoyed ourselves.  Even Dan got in on the action...

Here are a few more lovely photos for your rainy Thursday.

Arguably the best part of the night was scraping the pot once the peach butter was done!  Our creation was just peachy keen, with a tart flavor that was just sweet enough.  Delish!

New Uses for Old Things

One of my absolute favorite things to do is find a new use for an old thing.  When confronted with a need I try to think of all the junk I have lying around.  What could possibly fill my need?  This not only saves me money but also grants me points on my eco-scorecard.  Most of the things I re-purpose are hidden away so no one can see the ugly box in a drawer or are pretty things that can be displayed with no shame.  I will say, I do love it when someone comes over and compliments me on my creative use of a tea container!

The following are examples of stuff I've re-purposed.  Some definitely require more effort and preparation than others.  I may have gotten a few ideas from various website, but many things I just come up with on my own.

 A previous roommate left this jar in the apartment when she left.  For a while my other roommate kept onions and garlic in it but it eventually ended up empty on the counter.  It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I realized it was the perfect container for my new collection of Sharpies!

 This is an obvious re-use: milk jar turned flower vase.  This jar was, in fact, a hot chocolate mix container.

 I began collecting corks a long, long time ago with a hot plate in mind.  I think I saw the idea online somewhere.  At any rate, after collecting a very large amount of corks I've made three of these hot plates and I really like the way they look and their excellent ability to keep hot dishes off the table. (Thanks to my Aunt Liz for making the frame!)

 Whenever I come across an interesting kitchen item at Goodwill I think about what I could use it for.  I don't remember why but I bought two boxes of apple and pear candles a long time ago.  Then I saw this tray thing (for olives?) at Goodwill and put two-and-two together.

 I will admit to buying this set of teas partially for the pretty container.  After the tea was gone I saved the container for a year until I realized I could use it for earrings and other jewelry.

 Another jewelry holder, this jar of pimentos has the perfect edge for hanging dangle-y earrings.  Plus, since it has a top, I can use it as a travel container for stuff too.

 I had a conundrum - where to keep the pens, twist ties, and rubber bands?  Then my roommate recycled her check box and I had an "aha" moment.  This box fits perfectly in one of our kitchen drawers.

And finally, one of my best ideas.  Slicing up corks has two uses: stabilizing furniture and keeping the feet of chairs and tables from scraping the floor.  For stabilization just slice up a cork and shove it under the leg/foot/stand you're trying to steady.  For a scrape-free chair I bought some aluminum tacks and attached the cork slice to the foot of the chair by tapping in the tack.  If you can recess the tack a bit it won't scrape either.  I'm sure wood glue would work as well.

In A Week's Time...

Has it really been a whole week since I've updated?  The time stamp says it has, so I must believe.

The lead up to a holiday weekend at a workplace that "specializes" in holiday weekends always leaves me exhausted.  And then I have to endure the holiday weekend.  Perhaps working at a beach is not the best place for me!  (Not to mention the skin cancer I'm bound to get, even after applying more sunscreen than three large men combined.)

On top of the preparations for the Labor Day Weekend festivities I also experienced the aftermath of an article published in the Globe that reviewed my Guided Kayak Paddle at Crane.  Check out the article here.  It's fantastic that the article was published but my work phone and email haven't stopped since last Sunday.

So, after all of my excuses the only thing I have to say is that my sunflowers are survivors!  We got just a touch of Irene but she did bend some of the stalks and cause a large "branch" to fall off one of the flowers.  But now they're all starting to bloom and they look awesome!  Check out their lovely smiling faces :)