Homemade Butter

Homemade butter is so incredibly easy to make, it almost feels silly to buy it after you make it the first time.

INGREDIENTS:
Whole Cream
Sea Salt
Love

Step1:
Pour whole cream into a pint-sized jar (or any size jar) with a tight fitting lid. We usually fill it about half way.

Step 2:
Shake it! It takes about 8-10 minutes of shaking, so be patient. Of course, you could just use a mixer, but what fun would that be. For Kennedy we bought one of the cheap plastic containers from Target (the one with the plastic straw and lid with a hole) and used a regular Kerr/Mason jar lid on it. Keep shaking! There will come a point where it wont feel like the liquid is moving anymore, keep going! It will separate into a large lump.

Step 3:Separate the Buttermilk from the Butter. Don’t worry about getting all of the liquid the first time. We don’t generally cook with Buttermilk, so we often just throw this away, but if you do make sure you have a jar or something to save it in. After separating, you will want to add water to the jar and shake it again (a few times) until the rinse water runs mostly clear. You don’t need to shake it long, just a few seconds.

Step 4:
By this point, you have officially made butter, now you just need to do what you can to get as much of the the liquid out as possible. We generally will put it into a large strainer (not necessary) and then put it into a large bowl. You can turn the butter with a spatula or wooden spoon, and strain off the excess liquid as you go; do this until most of the liquid has been removed.

Step 5:
All that remains is to add in any salt/herbs/honey that you choose (or nothing at all). We bought these four wide-mouth 8oz. Kerr Mason Jars for less than 5 dollars from Target. The one 1-liter whole cream container managed to fill two of these, with a little to spare. We love doing this as a family and we hope you will too.

Low-Carb Summer Garden (Zucchini) Pasta with Chili Shrimp

(Serves 4-5)

INGREDIENTS
2    Large Zucchinis
1    Med. Yellow Onion
5    Sweet Peppers
½   Pound Snap Peas
2    Cups Cherry Tomatoes
5    Cloves garlic
1    Lemon (zest)
1    Bunch Cilantro
1    Bunch Green Onion
1    Pound Med. Shrimp
2    Tbsp Thai Chili Paste
1    Tbsp Sesame Oil
2    Tbsp Rice Vinegar
2    Tbsp Fish Sauce
1    Cup Vegetable Stock
Salt/Pepper to taste

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Spiralizer
Zester

PREPARATION:
Use Spiralizer to create long zucchini noodles
Mince Garlic
Slice Peppers and Green Onion
Julienne yellow onion

DIRECTIONS:
In a large pan, sauté yellow onion, peppers, and cherry tomatoes on med-high heat for five minutes. Add garlic and sweat for an additional two minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Sauté shrimp with chili paste for two minutes. Add Vinegar and reduce for one minute. Add fish sauce, sesame oil, and vegetable stock and combine with previously cooked vegetables. Add zucchini noodles and cover. Allow the zucchini to steam for 2-3 minutes. Split the zucchini between four plates. Top with the shrimp, vegetables, and broth. Finish with fresh cilantro, lemon zest, and green onion.

This is easily one of my favorite low-carb dishes that Matt makes at home (I made him write it down). Try it, and let me know how it turned out. It should not disappoint. Total prep and cooking time is less than 30 minutes.

Dearest Monday

Mondays

When I worked for the California Department of Public Health, I worked on the fourth floor. Ironically, anyone that worked in this building had to take the elevator to, at least, the second floor. From there you could decide to walk up an additional few flights to your office (if you were a health conscious stair-taker), or you could stay in the elevator to your destination (like most pre-caffeinated workers). Prior to working for Public Health, I always took the stairs. After working there for 2 years, my love for the stairs has only increased, at least on Mondays. Why? Because inevitably, every Monday without fail, someone in the elevator would have to make a sad remark… that would go something like this:

Me:        Good Morning.
Them:   (Audible exhale) It’s Monday.
Me:        (Internal dialogue) Please. Just quit your job. Please.
—————————————————–

Me:        Morning.  (Sip coffee, look busy)
Them:   Morning. How are you?
Me:        Me? Oh, I’m okay, just waking up…
Them:   Oooooh, you have a case of the…
Me:        (Please don’t say it…)
Them:   MOOOOOOOOONNNNDAYYYYYYYZZZZZZ
Me:        Sigh
——————————————————

This often leads to me having to faux-snicker at their sad wittiness, kill them with kindness, or pretend I didn’t hear them. Usually, I chose the second or third option, but ideally, I would have just been able to choose the stairs. Anyhow, here are eight things from around the web that didn’t give me the Monday blues (aside from the potential of making my wallet thinner):

Love this sweet cotton poppy baby/toddler quilt from Little Unicorn .

This Space Invader Vintage Berber Carpet makes me feel all sorts of happy. I love it when designers merge childhood nostalgia and adult aesthetics.

This DIY Mid-Century bed frame tutorial makes me want to jump in the garage and get to work.
I’d jump down a rabbit hole to find out who makes these shoes, but I haven’t been successful yet.

This Where the Wild Things Are birthday cake is so magical.

These storage bins for flour, sugar (etc…) should come standard in ever kitchen.

I would not have considered painting a wood floor in a kitchen but…

Hello SOLD OUT Marc Jacobs Kiltie flats.

California State Fair

I really had no intention of going to the California State Fair this year, but after being handed a couple of passes and a parking voucher, I felt guilty just letting them go to waste. First, I tried to pawn them off on my son; I was sure that the lure of bad food would override his dislike for amusement park rides (nope!). Then I offered them to a few friends, all of which promptly responded with, “pass.” So, it was settled, Kennedy and I were going solo and we were going to have the best time ever.

It’s not that I dislike the fair, necessarily; I just feel like every year I wonder why I went, and this year was no exception. My main motivation for going, aside from the free part, was to take Kennedy to see the animals and go down the big slide (on my lap) one zillion times. We arrive right at 10 AM, before the rides and carnival attractions opened, in hopes to avoid the heat and pushy fair goers. Kennedy ogled the Alpacas from a safe distance, “no mommy,” and saw her life flash before her eyes at the sight of the huge bulls, “nooooooooo mommmmmmy.” Once we hit the lambs I was sure that we were going to get to make our introduction (hell, Mary had one, remember) but she b-lined toward the exit and that concluded or animal experience.

From there, we had a bit of time until the fair rides opened so we meandered over to the photo booths, and I tortured her by making her sit in a dirty, confined space while I made stupid faces to a reflective piece of glass (see exhibit “A” above).

Just up the hill from the photo booths, and easily the highlight of our State Fair experience, we listened to the Street Drum Corps and grabbed some ketchup with a side of corndog (see above). After drinking her weight in ketchup, I walked Kennedy over to one of the random measuring sticks and was excited and surprised to see that she reached the 36” minimal requirement for rides, so I bought a pack of tickets from the booth and we headed toward the fairway.

I had a list of the family friendly rides and tickets in hand, and when I approached the Dumbo ride, the carnie pointed me toward a height sign, in which I put Kennedy next to and she was too small. Odd, I had just measured her a few minutes prior and she appeared to meet the height requirement. Hrmmmm. While I was annoyed, and a bit confused, I figured we could easily blow our 25 tickets on the carousel and slide, so it wasn’t a huge deal and we moved on. After what felt like forever, “up, mommy, up,” we got in line for the carousel.

Well wouldn’t you know… “You must be 36” to ride this ride, even with an adult.”
REALLY!? FOR THE (expletive delete) CAROUSEL!

I’m sure you can guess what the sign at the slide said too.

With our lower lips extended and after handing off our tickets to a random bystander, we put our tails between our legs and made the long walk back to parking lot Z; we were home by Noon. Part of me wants to say that we wont go next year, but in truth, I know she will be big enough and a whole different version of herself by then, so it is entirely possible that I will be suckered into another year.

First Attempt at Painting a Peg Doll

A few months back I bought this set of peg dolls and some paint on Etsy with the thought of painting many of our family and friends for Kennedy to play with. This first painting of a peg doll was really entertaining, but definitely a trial and error process. I wasn’t trying to do anything fancy or paint anyone in particular; I just wanted to get a sense of how it would go. The peg dolls themselves are fairly smooth, but could use a nice going-over with fine sandpaper before starting. I really liked being able to use the small paint kit, so that I didn’t have to deal with a lot of set up preparation or clean up after. Overall, the process was fairly straightforward: Sand. Sketch. Paint. Polish. I really liked the way that the head turned out, but will certainly put more thought into the clothing portion next time. I’m really excited to try to make people that I know, more than anything. I do think that I will buy some Kokeshi peg dolls, which have a larger head, because I like the finished look of them better. Once I have painted a few more and feel like I have the process down, I’ll post more about the details (like not selecting the part of the doll head that has a big ole crack in it), but for now I am excited to see what I can come up with.

Pop-up Camper Restoration

Let me just say, what I really want is a vintage egg camper with a cute-stripy awning that I can restore and love forever… but that isn’t going to happen right now for many reasons. Aside from the fact that I rarely go camping, can’t justify spending the money, and don’t own a truck to pull it, I really should start small (and cheap) and work my way up (right?). Unless you have one just sitting in your driveway that you think you want to give me, of course. Since that is not likely to happen, I have been stalking craigslist for an old, yet charming, pop-up camper that I can have as a project.


I found a few through Craigslist that I like (see above), but squealed in delight at the yellow one before reading the dreaded “SOLD” in the post. Perhaps this whole thing is just a passing phase after having a weekend away in Mendocino, but I would be so happy to have a large project top occupy my time, even if in the end I just turn around and sell it. I would like to think that after months of putting time into it, that we would be inspired to take some impromptu overnight trips in it for marshmallows and late nights at the lake. I’m really not sold on any of the ones I have seen just yet, but I did manage to find this awesome number while searching for pop-up trailers on ebay:


That will have to do for now.

Kennedy’s 2nd Birthday – Mendocino, CA.

A few months back I got this wild idea to invite my and Matt’s parents to come and stay with us in a cabin in Mendocino for Kennedy’s birthday. Matt’s parents flew in on Thursday morning from North Carolina and we spent most of their first day packing for our trip to the beach. Friday morning, Matt loaded the dogs and his dad into the old Volvo (odometer stopped at 189k), and I had Nana and the kids in my car. Overall, the drive was unremarkable and we arrived at the Bay House in about four hours. We arrived at the house around 3:00 PM and were completely taken aback by the beauty of it all. The front yard was perfectly landscaped and once you walked around the porch to the back of the house, you found yourself staring at a simple wooden bench on top of a cliff. Much of the rest of our Friday was spent settling in, cooking some fish on the BBQ, playing Spades, and staring off into the expanse of the ocean.

Saturday we woke up early (thank you Kennedy) and made our way into Mendocino to walk around the shops. Right off, Kennedy threw an epic tantrum that landed her on my back in the Ergo carrier. Luckily, it wasn’t long before I had coffee-in-hand from Moody’s and she was fast asleep. Having spent many summers in Mendocino, I tend to have my trip fairly well rehearsed and mostly look forward to stopping at Rainsong Shoes  (for shoes, obviously) and Old Gold for some of the most beautiful jewelry I’ve ever seen. After that, I’m happy just strolling through the shops until I get to have the most messy-great mango curried chicken pita from Cultured Affair Cafe. The rest of the evening involved some BBQ chicken, the dogs at the beach, and a late night Spades rematch.

Sunday was another early morning (again, thank you Kennedy) and her actual birthday. The afternoon was spent wandering Fort Bragg (I found a black pair of Miz Mooz sandals that I love-love and Kennedy had an epic slice of pizza) and sitting down on the sad, now-commercialized, Glass beach. In the evening, Kennedy opened her gifts and looked on in amazement and joy as everyone sang her happy birthday (my favorite moment of the weekend). Overall, the trip felt both calm and chaotic. It felt good to actually spend the weekend away with my parents (I cannot remember the last time I spent so much time with my father), and together as a blended family. I am hoping that the terrible parts of the terrible twos are gentle, and the rest is slow moving, or at least, that Matt is nearby and I can say, “Not it” when I need to.

GIngham Jacket | Gap, Yeah Sweatshirt  | Mini & Maximus, Skirt | Misha Lulu, Strawberry Shoes | Mini Melissa, Sandals | Saltwater

Paper Elephant

I love Legos. I love Legos in a – buy them in secret and wait until all the kids go to bed – type of way. I remember when the Lego Simpsons and the VW T1 Camper van came out, I avoided going into the Lego store at the mall for fear I could not control myself, or worse, that Nivek would want one and I would’t get to have the coveted experience of putting them together by myself (See also: alone); I still have not had this pleasure. So, when when I saw the collection of paper trophies by Paperwolf, excited was an understatement.

The kit is delivered in pre-cut pieces made of thick paper (color of your choosing) with the folding lines already perforated. The perforations come in two patterns, and depending on which pattern it is (dash-dash-dash or dash-dot-dash), is whether you fold the paper toward or away from you. In total, this paper elephant took me roughly 8 hours, spread over a few nights. Recently Paperwolf started offering some of the trophies in black, which add a new dimension to the experience, seeing as you cannot visually see the perforations. Each piece will need to be held up against the light to see the line, and compared to a printed pattern that is included with the order. I definitely would not recommend starting with a black one, but I can’t wait. I just need to decide which one.

Bucket List

I really like the idea of a bucket list, except that I really am not a list-follower. When I go to the grocery store, I usually make a list of items I need, and most often it is forgotten on the kitchen table. It is not to say that I don’t like making lists, I make them all of the time, but once I have written something down, I might as well just throw it away. Sometimes I make lists within lists, which really makes it hard when I’m staring at the sour cream in the grocery store and trying to visualize how many cups I needed to make the cheesecake.

I started writing a bucket list a few weeks ago, but I would be lying if said I intended on following it. I would like to think that one day when I’m ninety, I will find it cleaning under the refrigerator, and smile because I did remember, and didn’t ever need the list anyhow.

Bucket list

  1. Maintain a successful (it’s all relative) blog
  2. Adopt the oldest cat/dog at the animal shelter
  3. Fly first class
  4. Own a business
  5. Live in NY or SF for a year
  6. Have a small farm (or big garden) on the countryside for a year
  7. Always have fresh flowers on my kitchen table
  8. Buy a 1970’s 2002 Series BMW
  9. Spend 6 months traveling
  10. Publish a kids book
  11. Play an instrument (passed the embarrassment stage)
  12. Become Vegetarian (for good)
  13. Volunteer for Death with Dignity or a similar organization
  14. Pay off all debt (even for just one moment)
  15. Have a 1 Million (or greater) life insurance policy

Painting in the Backyard

This last weekend I decided to revisit painting with Kennedy. A few months back we started painting with watercolor, and that was great, but I should have known that finger painting would have been a total disaster. I think it was one of those situations where I was really excited to have her finger paint, and she was completely against it. The minute the paint hit her fingers she kept saying “dirty” and getting really upset, so we had to throw in the towel. For whatever reason in my brain, this manifested to me believing that she really didn’t like to paint. I was so relieved when I put out a plate of paint in Sunday and she just went for it. I think she asked for me to reload the plate at least four times, and she probably painted every other page in the notepad. It could also be that Wish bear and Tenderheart bear (her muses, of course) helped a little too.