I want: An organized craft room April 8, 2009

Uber organized craft room, from Unplggd.com

Unplggd just posted this phenomenal craft room. I love the robin’s egg blue and red (a favorite color combination right now) and the uber organized supplies. A crafty girl can dream.

Kaiser half marathon February 1, 2009

Here’s how I did:

• Chip time: 2:17:47
• Gun time: 2:22:52
• Diff: 05:04
• Pace: 10:31/M
• Rank: 4143 out of 817
• Age group rank: 307 out of 500

No DIY Orla Kiely, but I did make curtains January 13, 2009

My apartment has no storage space. There’s one tiny closet with a shelf I can barely reach, and that’s it. And I have a lot of stuff. So not long after I moved in, I bought some shelves from IKEA and tucked them in a little alcove in my dining area. Only, no one really wants to eat dinner with rolls of paper towels, boxes of my band’s CDs, and camping equipment right behind their heads.

So I bought some great fabric on sale at Repro Depot, and decided to make curtains to get my unsightly boxes, etc., out of sight.

I was hoping to have some extra fabric to make a handbag, but alas, the project used it all up. Who knew you really do need the fabric to be 1.5-2 times the width of the shelves?

Kale, pine nut, and bacon penne | Recipe-free cooking January 12, 2009

Mark Bittman’s reading tonight made me realize: I eat a lot of meat. Especially for someone who used to be a vegetarian.

So rather than finishing off the beef and dark beer chili I made last night (for bros’ night — bros + Nicole), I decided to use up the piles of kale I had leftover from when I made Bittman’s potato kale soup last week. I was thinking about his note about pine nuts in his pantry-cleaning article for the NYT. If only I had some sun-dried tomatoes, I thought. Then I looked in my freezer (to get the cubes of homemade stock, also Bittman) and found my last three pieces of turkey bacon.

I have a meal! I thought. And I did. And it was delish. Here’s the recipe. Bear in mind, that I didn’t measure anything, so all quantities are approximate (the exact quantities won’t matter, as long as its roughly in these proportions).

Kale, pine nut, and bacon penne

Serves: 3 (to serve 4, use a full pound of pasta, 4 strips bacon, 3 cloves garlic, full bunch of kale)

Time: Less than 30 minutes

• 3/4 lb. penne or other pasta
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (about a handful)
• 3 strips bacon (turkey bacon is OK)
• 1 cup chicken stock (plus some extra water, if needed)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• about 3/4 of a bunch of kale, stemmed and chopped up into small pieces
• pecorino, romano, or parmesan for the top
• salt and pepper, to taste
• splash of olive oil

1. Start boiling the water for the pasta, then cook the pasta. The rest of the meal will be ready just about when the pasta is done cooking.
2. Heat a large skillet for a minute over medium to medium-low heat. When it’s evenly hot, toss the pine nuts in, swishing them around in the pan until they are semi-evenly toasted. Set aside.
3. Turn the skillet up to medium. Cook the bacon evenly until done. Remove, chop into small pieces, and set asi
4. Splash some water into the skillet to get all the bacon drippings. Then add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the chopped garlic and cook for a minute or so.
5. Put the kale in the skillet, stirring to help it wilt evenly. Add salt and pepper to taste, and add more stock or water if necessary. You want a little bit of liquid to stay with the kale. When the kale is evenly wilted, add the chopped-up bacon and pine nuts and cook until heated through.
6. Drain the cooked pasta and put individual servings on plates. Spoon the kale mixture on top. Drizzle with olive oil, then grate the cheese on top. Add more pepper if you like.
7. Eat with a big ol’ salad and yummy bread and enjoy. Mmmmmmm.

Someday, I will learn how to get the lighting right in a food photo.

Tea Towel Bulletin Board January 12, 2009

My friend Annie gave me a set of gorgeous tea towels for a housewarming gift. I kept them wrapped up in their ribbon for the longest time; they were just too nice looking to get dirty.

At the same time, I had my old bulletin board leaning against a wall, waiting to be recovered. The pink and brown fabric didn’t match my new avocado green, yellow, and tomato red kitchen decor.

And then the chocolate dropped into my peanut butter. The prettier tea towel was the perfect size to use to recover the bulletin board. Well, almost the perfect size. I had to rip out the edges to get a little more width, then I used Fray Block to prevent the edges from unraveling.

The pink and brown fabric was tacked on using upholstery tacks, so I pulled those out, revealing the original light green fabric stapled to the foam core and cardboard. I didn’t have the energy to rip all those staples out, so I covered that with some muslin (to prevent the green from showing through), then the tea towel, stretching the fabric and stapling it into place.

This also added some depth to the board, which helped it fit better into the frame. I took some old grosgrain ribbon, tacked it into the crossed pattern with the upholstery tacks, popped it back into the frame, and hung it up on the wall. Ta-da! Bulletin board and kitchen decoration all in one! I want to change it to all red ribbon, but this works well for now.

Materials

• Thrift-store picture frame
• Foam core and/or layers of cardboard cut to fit frame
• Muslin (if using cardboard, to prevent brown from bleeding through)
• Tea towel
• Grosgrain ribbon
• Staples
• Upholstery tacks
• Hanging wire or whatever else you want to use to hang it on your wall

What to Cook for Dinner: Nicole’s Favorites January 4, 2009

My friend Alix and I were just chatting over IM about our favorite recipes, so I thought it might make a fun list. The faves are things that I’ve been cooking recently.

BTW, it affirms my assertion that the October issues of Martha Stewart Living have always been the best. Best recipes, best crafts, best covers (until Michael Boodro became editor and, really, just ruined the magazine for me).

My winter faves (all Martha):

• Apricot-Dijon Glazed Chicken (MSL, 10/04)
• Spicy Squash Pasta (MSL, 10/05)
• Pumpkin pancakes (MSL, 10/06)
• Chocolate pots de creme (MSL, 2/97)

My recent faves (my kitchen has been almost all Bittman, all the time):

• Roast Chicken with Roasted New Potatoes (How to Cook Everything, p. 359)
• Spicy Tofu with Ground Pork (HTCE, p. 526)
• Baked Ziti with Radicchio and Gorgonzola (HTCE, p. 143)
• Broccoli Raab with Sausage and Grapes (HTCE, p. 545)

On my to-cook list:

• Gwynnie’s Caramelized Black-Pepper Chicken (GOOP)
• Also, her Buckwheat Banana Pancakes (GOOP)
• Our friend V’s veggie saute: red onion, mushrooms (any kind but flavorful is better), basil, zuch, red peppers, tomato. Drizzle with balsamic, let it sit together and stew. Serve over a mild white fish or polenta.
• Smitten Kitchen’s Chocolate-Toffee Cookies
• Moosewood Cookbook’s Lemon-Anise Biscotti (this and the guacamole recipe are the only two things I make out of this cookbook anymore).
• Bittman’s chicken stock (still choosing which one)

[[Update 1/12/09]]

How could I forget my favorite chili recipe? Sooooo good.

DIY Orla Kiely November 13, 2008

Ever since I saw the first one, I’ve been slightly obsessed with Orla Kiely bags, especially the Etc. vinyl-coated fabric ones. My friend Lessley gave me the best birthday gift ever last year, a fabric Bungalow 360 bag. It’s super lightweight, has the perfect combination of pockets, and zips fully closed across the top. I love it. The only problem? It’s disgustingly dirty because it’s impossible to clean.

While eating breakfast one morning, I thought, “I could save up for an Orla Kiely bag.” But, honestly, I don’t want to. Then I looked up at the pinned-up curtains covering my storage shelves. Aha! I could use the extra from that to make a handbag! And I even have an old pattern (Vogue 7328) that has a similarly shaped hobo-style handbag pattern.

But how do I protect the fabric from stains? Scotch-Guard did nothing to protect my Bungalow 360 handbag. I’d have to find a coating, like a fusible vinyl, to protect it, which would also make it look more like the Orla Kielys. And then I found it online!

I’m going to make the curtains this weekend and see if I have enough left over to make the bag. Sadly, reprodepot.com doesn’t have any more of the fabric.

That’s How I Roll November 13, 2008

Hilarious.

Awkward Editorial Corrections: Whoreshoes in SF Chronicle October 14, 2008

Corrections can be funny. Such as this, extremely awkward one, about fellow all-lady San Francisco band the Whoreshoes.

I find it even more awkward that the editor then outed all the band members: “Only vocalist Lala Hulse is a lesbian.” The others, totally into dudes. Why do we have to know a band’s sexual orientation?

Sarah Palin: Running for Vice President or Miss Teen USA? September 25, 2008

Two softball questions, two inarticulate answers. Compare Gov. Sarah Palin’s command of foreign relations in this video clip, from CBS:

To Miss Teen South Carolina’s answer on a similar question in the Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant:

I’d like to point out that although reports of the CBS interview say that, when the interview segment was over, Couric mentioned that they double-checked Kissinger’s position on talks with Iran and Syria, and that he confirmed that he supports talks without preconditions. However, that correction was left off of the video segment on CBSNews.com.