First Sign of Spring

I wasn't even looking for it yet, but all of a sudden this afternoon I saw snowdrops!  It's only a few short steps from snowdrops to bikinis, right?

Working on My Jewelry Wardrobe

I only just began to wear gold.  Up until last year I thought I only looked good in silver jewelry, but it turns out I was wrong. While fantasizing about having a few hundred dollars to snap up a rare pair of Ted Muehling earrings on ebay (right), I found the online shop of Peggi Li, a jewelry designer who's work has been featured in TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy, Without A Trace and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.  She has created a very affordable version of the Ted earrings that you can find here. 

 I was thrilled to find them and I love to wear them--but as all my other jewelry is silver (and I don't enjoy the look of mixing silver and gold) I never had anything to wear with them. 

Until now!

Many of you know that I love Etsy.  I have dreams of operating my own Etsy shop--but about zero time to feed that dream, so my little (well designed, thanks Ocean Front Studio!) shop lays empty.  But everyone has time to shop on Etsy, so last week that is what I did.

I picked up three "layering" necklaces from Edor's Etsy shop--all for under $20 a pop!  In the picture above I'm wearing all three necklaces, but I think that I'm going to save the little "Fleur" charm to wear alone because I think it makes things look too cluttered.  

The two round ones look perfect layered, I think, and they're the perfect balance to my earrings.  Yeah Etsy!

Sweet Emily's

When and if I go off my diet this weekend it will quite likely be caused by "the simple comforts of a well-made cocktail" or the yummy decadence of " American comfort food with latin influence" . . . or at least that's my plan.  Last week Sweet Emily's opened in Hell's Kitchen and I've been itching to go try out my namesake's food and libation.  According to Eater

Sweet Emily's hopes to appeal to the Hell's Kitchen/Theater District neighborhood with its savory cuisine, genuine hospitality, and budget friendly prices (all entrees are under $20). Menu highlights include Bacon Mac & Cheese Croquette, Shrimp Mojito, Plaintain Crusted Tilapia and Smoked Pork Chops."

I will report back as to whether the restaurant lives up to my great expectations.

Heather Ross: February Girl-Crush

I've hauled out Amy's sewing machine for a refresher course because next week I'm starting a three week skirt sloper class at Purl! (A sloper, in this context, is a template, unique to one person, from which a whole range of different patterns can be created.) I'm excited about the prospect of making my own clothes (especially since I'm almost as thin as I was in college again!) but I'm also delighted to be taking a second class from one of my own personal girl-crushes, Heather Ross.

Heather is an amazing fabric designer and illustrator. Above is one of my favorites from her Mendocino fabric line from Free Spirt. All her work is sweet and whimsical with absolutely nothing pretentious about it.

I met Heather when I took her class on making a simple sundress last summer and after the 3-hour workshop I could have easily hung around for 3 more hours just listening to stories of her childhood in rural Vermont and all of her experiences since then working with amazing craftswomen like Natalie Chanin. Heather encouraged me to buy the Alabama Stitch Book because of my love of hand sewing and (although I haven't actually completed a project from it) the book is amazingly inspiring.

Ms. Ross has a new book out this winter which I'm anticipating getting my hands on this weekend. It's called Weekend Sewing and it's described on her website this way:

Heathers first book is a guide to integrating sewing into ones home and lifestyle in a stylish and practical way. Among its 40 projects readers will find an entire weekend wardrobe, including more than ten dress and skirt styles as well as some basic fashion design lessons about proportion, fit, and fabric.

I gather that she and her husband have recently transplanted themselves from the California coast to New York City. While the prospect of having her here to learn from on a more consistent basis is appealing, her work and her presence make me want to run off to some quiet little cottage in the woods with a good internet connection so that I can still read her blog and buy her fabrics. 

Maybe next year . . .

Recession Chili

So, I recently lost 25 lbs. in a relatively quick time without doing much more exercise than normal (other than my usual walking everywhere).  It wasn't very hard, but I realize it's not for everyone because in order to make it work you have to like keeping obsessive records like this:


But, one thing that everyone can do is cook more of their own food which allows you to control what's going into it by picking organic produce, using sources of fat that are low in saturated fat, and reducing the amount of sodium.  This also fits in with the very now trend of being economical.  (It makes it more fun if you think of it in the same category as 'what all the kids are doing these days', like sexting.  That's aimed at you, Ms. Freund).

My mother has become obsessed lately with Super Suppers, and I understand the appeal.  However, as I'm just one person, not a family of 4, I just do it on my own at home on a smaller scale.

Behold, First Grade Chili:

The recipe is pretty simple, and it may seem odd to use tomato soup instead of actual tomatoes, but the recipe is aimed at getting children to like a food that is often spicy and intimidating to neophobic palates (hence first grade chili) and it's dear to my heart.

First Grade Chili:

1/2 lbs. ground chicken or turkey (lean)

1 large onion

1 can condensed tomato soup

chili powder, to taste

Cayenne pepper, to taste

garlic powder, to taste

salt & pepper, to taste

1 can kidney or chili beans

1/2 lbs. chopped carrots

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 bag frozen corn

any other veggies you have on hand 

Brown the meat with the onion and season lightly.  Pour off any fat (although there probably won't be much, especially if you're using chicken meat).  Season lightly with chili powder, garlic powder, Cayenne, salt & pepper (you'll be layering the seasoning, so think of this as just a first go). Add the soup, beans, and one soup can full of water.  Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Add the carrots and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes.  Add the peppers and continue to cook on low an additional 15 minutes.  Taste & adjust seasoning.  Add the corn and simmer just until heated through (unless you're using fresh corn it won't need to cook much more).

Now, it's ready to eat--but it's a lot of food, so here's what I do to enjoy chili in perfectly portioned increments.  I calculate the nutritional information (you can skip this step if you're not crazy like me).  A great resource for this is the USDA Database of Food.  Then I create little labels in Excel that I print out onto sticker paper.

That way, even if I'm take some chili out of the freezer months from now I'll have the info I calculated about it today readily at hand.

Once I've cut out all the stickers I use my food scale to portion the chili out into freezer bags.

And then I lay them flat in the freezer to freeze while ignoring the Hagen Dazs.

To thaw I tend to just take a bag out and leave it on a few sheets of paper towel in the refrigerator overnight, but if you want to get it done quickly, just 10 minutes or so in some hot water should do it.  Once defrosted you can just heat, garnish (I recommend pepper jack & avocado) and eat.

Morning in Washington Heights

It sucks to have to leave beautiful things behind on Monday morning, but perhaps these will still be blooming and fresh on Friday. I can hope at least.

February 14th: Lost & Found

(text: My Dears, The garbage goes in the garbage can. This is a Relay Box. Thanks)

Found this note on my street this morning. I don't know if it's a coincidence that it's attached to a latex glove. You may draw your own conclusions.