Robin's Rantings

My mom handed me this month's issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Yum! In their valentine's ideas was a beautiful cupcake screaming to be made. I found their recipe online and made it last night. We can't stop eating them.

I am always in need of learning more recipes. My friends H and E both come from adventuresome culilary backgrounds. We planned a date on the calendar and brought our ingredients together to create a meal. The results were amazingly delicious!



H taught us how to make "Pepper-Knots", the traditional Christmas cookie from Denmark. There is also a little fun game that goes with it. Lots of eating involved! You can read more of how to play the game here.



Hubby taught us his new favorite--Coconut rice. He's been making it with almost every meal lately. I have to admit, it's really good. He also taught us a cantaloupe drink that is inspired from the Philippines.





E taught us to make Salted Chicken wings with Spicy Bake Mix (四季鹽焗雞粉) that were to die for!



I had the easy part. I made a salad and baked some sweet potatoes with a little brown sugar on them. Oh, and I had a few left over chocolate pomegranate cupcakes for dessert. I'm still full thinking about all of it.

Here are some pictures from our adventure:












Jan's Coconut Rice

4 c. jasmine rice
1 can coconut milk
Water

-Rinse rice three times with water. Add can of coconut milk and some water until it reaches the second joint of your finger. Place container in rice cooker and cook for about 30 minutes.

(Finger measuring is the only way to do it, according to Hubby).





Helle's Pepper Knots (Pebernødder) Pey-wah-new-lah
(Taken from the Danish "Joy of Cooking")

2 c. flour
1+3/4 c. butter, soft
2/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla sugar (buy at a European store)
1/2 lemon zest
1/2 tsp. white pepper
Scant 1/4 c. water or milk

-Preheat oven to 400˚. Mix flour and butter together until it forms a course texture. Combine all remaining ingredients one at a time until thoroughly mixed. Knead the dough until it comes together in a ball. Separate off a small portion and roll into a "sausage". Cut into even pieces, then roll each piece into a small ball about 1/2 inch in diameter. Place on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400˚ for 7-10 minutes until bottoms are barely browned.

I was so bummed to learn my local Target was discontinuing the Method line of fabric softener. I didn't see it on Target.com either.




Some people say fabric softener is not good for clothes anyways. Some suggest a simple tennis ball run in the dryer eliminates static. My hubby is a hard-core fabric softener guy, so I compromise on this.

I looked for an inexpensive solution online. My favorite was vinegar with a few drops of conditioner added. Whee!! What a relief. There is not sour, vinegar after-smell, according to sources. I am testing as a type.




As a bonus, here's an interesting article about chemicals in your laundry.

I thank you for your generosity while I obsess about house colors. For your feed back, yet another mock-up:

My house is lovely, but I feel it need a little extra something to "cute" it up. As you can see, the house is a standard little box circa WWII. No frills here. But until our ship comes in, it's gonna be paint and sweat labor until we can afford to add on.



My solution is shutters. I've been playing around with color ideas. Any suggestions?

Here is a mock up of my latest color ideas:

I'm adoring some of the clothing I'm seeing in my home copy of Come Home!. (As a side note, I love this magazine. I cannot get enough of it!) There are some really fun blogs showcasing this style too. I can't pinpoint how the style would be classified. All I know is that I love it, and want to buy some linen to make a shift and leggings. Here are my favorites:

GrupoGig





Gigi's





A.Room.





Born 1924

I was tired of my bright yellow bathroom. We didn't want to paint it another color until we remodeled. But we know it's going to be a while before we can remodel. I was inspired by a Design*Sponge entry on a Pierce and Ashley's Bathroom. On a whim, I penciled in my outline. Then, with a four buck paint sample, I went to work. Here are the results.

BEFORE:





AFTER:

My sis turned me onto these helmets a couple days back. They are not available in the US. Even if I wanted to buy from overseas they tend to run around £95.00. That's $156 in good old US currency. Yeah, I'll just be dreaming about this one. I'll stick with my Sci-Fi looking Target helmet for now. Please drool with me:

Tokyo


Paris


Visit their site: Yakkay

From Art.com. I have to think of a place to put it in my house.

Guys are famous for having difficulty when it comes to gift giving. My hubby is not one of them. For our three-year anniversary, he picked out a lovely rack and two paniers for my bike. Now, I can carry grocery bags! Two brown paper bags fit perfectly on my bike. (Last time we tried shopping, my bags fell apart and groceries spilled out all over the road.) Paniers were the perfect solution.