Strong, Sexy & Stylish

Hello! I would like to introduce you to a few people. These lovely ladies are, from left to right, Karen, Laura and Sally. Sally is a friend of mine, which is how I came to meet Karen and Laura last week.

For a little while now, this trio has been in cahoots under the name Strong, Sexy & Stylish. Their goal is simply stated yet quite complex: teach women to love themselves. Their approach is threefold: write a blog, host a podcast and get out there and talk to/with people.

Last week, they hosted an event titled 9 Steps to a Happier You. Now, I am not normally one for the self-helpy stuff, but these ladies do it well and sucked me in with their humor and enthusiasm. Their steps/suggestions were logical, doable and all based on solid knowledge about fitness, sexual health and the intersection of body image and style. For me, their approach sends 2 consistent messages: 1. You are wonderful as you are. 2. You should take care of yourself in a way that honors that notion. It is important, worth the effort and likely to cause a domino effect of awesomeness for you.

Karen, Laura and Sally really care about their mission. This collaboration builds off of what each of these women do. They each have their area of expertise. Karen represents the strong, Laura the sexy and Sally the stylish. It also helps that they are funny and obviously have fun doing this together!

You can learn more about their backgrounds on their site.

In addition to being strong, sexy and stylish, these women are smart! I look forward to watching their movement of self-love grow. When they take over the world, I will be able to say I was on board from the start. If you want to check them out, they make it easy for you with a podcast, a blog, a facebook page, and more events to come. Linky link for you here.

Soup Swap 2012

Maybe you weren't aware of it, but this past Saturday was a very important holiday in the United States. It was National Soup Swap Day!

I joined a vibrant group of women for a soup swapping and potluck party. The potluck contributions and the soups were plentiful, varied and homemade.

We snacked, chatted, imbibed a bit, even! I spent much of the night talking to these wonderful women, Melissa and Megan.

Holly was our hostess and she wowed us all with her scissor pizza cutting ways and with her truffle oil mushroom pizza. More, please.

Holly's daughter Lydia was in charge of the number selection process we used to determine our soup swapping order.

Fourteen of us brought soup, with most people bringing 6 quarts each. Some people brought 2 or 3 kinds to make up their 6 quarts. That is roughly 84 quarts of soup with around 17-20 different soups!

It was important to browse the soups and recipes, so you could make your selection wisely when it came to your turn.

Before making our selections, we took turns pimping our soups by explaining what we made and boasting about anything that made it special.

Everyone listened very intently.

I took these pictures, which meant I forgot to pay close attention to what people brought. It turns out that enough people brought vegetarian options, that I had no problem coming away with a wonderful variety of vegetarian soups.

A lot of the people at this event know each other from a mothers' group, so there were a few tiny cuties at the party. This mom is a good multi-tasker!

More soup pimping...

And....Holly in her domain!

What a wonderful swap! Thanks to Holly for hosting us and to all of the attendees for the soup that I will get to eat throughout the next few months of the winter.

Nobody is Safe

It is winter here in Minnesota, which means when the sun is out, it is bright white. But, the days are short this time of year and not all of them are sunny. When it comes to taking pictures, natural light is pretty universally praised. So, what can you do when you don't have the natural light you'd like? You adjust! I've heard having the right lens can help. After a bit of research, I decided on the Canon 50mm f/1.8. I brought one home this weekend and from that moment on, nobody is my house was spared from the camera.

Not Tchazo.

Not Fanny.

Nor Jack.

Not even Paul, who was the only one whose objections had any chance of being heard. Although, it did help my case that I snuck up on him while he was cooking so he didn't have much time or attention to spare.


So far I am having a great time playing with it and am trying to relearn how close I need to stand to my subject. I guess I had grown really used to having a zoom function!


What about you? Do you have any favorite camera lenses? What does your favorite do well?

Further Lovely Connections

Remember when I told you about the Beckoning of Lovely event? Well, the video of that day is now available! It is great fun to relive the day in this 11 minute and 11 second format. And, of course, now it means you can share the experience, too!

You can see me cast on the red scarf while Amy talks about the project at 3:40.

I have been waiting for this video to be available so that I could share it with Gale Zucker. If you are a knitter, you may know Gale by her sheepy photos in Shear Spirit: Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns, and Miles of Yarn. In 2009, I met Gale when I took one of her knitting focused photography workshops. Through the wonderful world of the internet, we have crossed virtual paths many times since then. It was from Gale that I learned about the Red Scarf Project. I knew I needed to let her know what a wonderful trickle down effect her suggestion caused.

The red scarf that you see me casting on in the video is currently on its journey. We knit it that day at the bean, I knit on it a bit when I brought it home and now it is out there in the world. A series of lovely knitters are each taking their turn knitting a part of the scarf and then mailing it on to the next knitter. Our goal is to have it finished and to the Red Scarf Project organization by 12/12/12. I contacted Gale to thank her for her part in providing my little bit of Beckoning of Lovely with a fitting end.

So, what did Gale have to say about the project? She was excited and, to add another delightful happenstance to the mix, Gale's newest book is called Craft Activism: People, Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In . I had no idea that the timing would match up so wonderfully! Gale shared my letter to her on the Craft Activism blog.

The number of links in this post is representative of the wonderful connections, virtual and physical, I felt surrounding my involvement with this project. A little bit of reaching out to connect has ended up circling back in a most smile-inducing way. Serendipity is a wonderful thing and I am so grateful I was open to letting it work its magic.

You know, if you feel like it, you can honor the spirit of Beckoning of Lovely by doing something to bring a little lovely to someone's day. After I shared this project with her, my sister went to the supermarket and bought a few bouquets of flowers. She and a friend headed to a city sidewalk and offered them to strangers along with a wish to have a good day. She said the reactions she got and knowing that she helped make a part of that person's day out of the ordinary were well worth the money she spent on the flowers. So, go ahead! Be playful!

FO: Bit by Bit Rug

Exactly 2 years ago, I cast on for what I thought was going to be a blanket. My plan was to knit strips in different color families and then seam them together for a blanket. After working on it for a bit, in a bit-by-bit fashion, I realized the fringe was going to be too much for the overlapping join I had envisioned. I also recognized that it was a great width and color for a spot in my house that needed a rug.

After many, many, many hours of linen stitch, I recently bound off the Bit by Bit Rug!

It was a really fun knit that allowed me to use random balls of yarn and leftovers from projects. I chose yarn that was in the blue/green arena and randomly switched colors on each row leaving a tail of yarn on each side. Every 2 rows, I would tie the fringed edged together to secure them.

I was able to make it the exact length I needed it to be to fit the spot. I hope the pets don't find the fringe too alluring! I still need to get to the store to buy one of those rubbery mats that go under rugs to prevent them from slipping around.

I knew from the start of this project that it was going to take a really long time. A ridiculously long time. I made peace with that. However, what I didn't know is how addictive this project would become. The basket full of yarn and the work in progress has accompanied me through 2 years. This project regularly filled in when I was craving a stress-free knit. It often provided a much needed contrast to a long expanse of stockinette in a solid color. As it went on, it was slowly eating through my stash while reminding me of past projects, past knitting excursions and my first attempt at hand dying.

Someone at my LYS was shocked to hear that this project was destined to catch the mud, snow and salt from the boots and shoes that come into my house. I see her point. But, personally I am happy to have all the bits of yarn come together with a purpose other than sitting uselessly in my yarn cabinet. I think I may just cast on something similar soon. I have already been missing my basket of random bits!

Crafting in the New Year

May you relish 2012!

Crafting, chatting and sharing delicious food has become my favorite way to welcome in a new year. Luckily for me, I have a great group of crafting friends who are willing to celebrate with me! I didn't capture any pictures this year, but I do have the memories of a great brunch filled with interesting conversation that spanned from religion to health to crafting with children to pet personalities. Thank you to Jill, Mary Margaret, Casey and Jessica for helping me start the year as I mean to go on.

We also welcomed in 2010 and 2011 in this same fashion.

Jars of relish are the Cucumber Relish from Canning for a New Generation.

A bit older and a whole lot of spoiled.

"Don't make plans!", Paul says each year around my birthday. In our relationship, I am the one who tends to plan things for us, so it has taken some getting used to over the years to let go of that role. But, at this time of year, Paul takes charge and he does an amazing job of it. Each year I tell him that it is ok to celebrate modestly and each year he assures me he celebrates it how he wants to. And, boy, he does not do it modestly!

To us, birthdays are the holiday most worth celebrating. Honoring the day you were born is a way of honoring your existence. Last year, I wrote about my mixed feelings on how much Paul spoils me on my birthday. I think I am getting better at letting go of that baggage and basking in the awesomeness of whatever that day brings for me. Between Paul, my family and friends, it is definitely a time of the year where I feel the love that surrounds me. It is a wonderful feeling.

So, on to the story of the day/s of my 33rd birthday:

My morning started by when I awoke and went downstairs to find a breakfast in progress, a bouquet of flowers and a lovely letter about Paul's plan for the day. He had planned a day around celebrating aspects of me and the things I love. Of course, that included a lot of food related things!

We started by baking cookies together. He knows how much I like to swap food and with the MPLS Swappers swaps on hold, I haven't had a chance to swap in a while. He had found a vegan cookie swap and signed us up. He had also picked a vegan cookie recipe and had bought the ingredients so we could bake them together. Later in the day, we took our cookies to a vegan boutique and swapped cookie for cookie. I can't say that I love vegan cookies, but the experience of baking with Paul and knowing that he really pays attention to what gives me joy was a wonderful thing.

After baking cookies, we set out for the Science Museum of Minnesota. I haven't been to the museum since I was a kid, which means I hadn't seen their new building. It is a beautiful space, with tons of exhibits to explore. We were there to check out the Identity exhibit. In keeping with the theme of the day, we learned about what shapes a person.

The museum would like for you to know that you are so smart!

I took many, many pictures of plates of food throughout the day, but chose not to post them. I never know if others like to look at pictures of plates of food as much as I do! Regardless, you should be assured that I ate amazingly well that day. We had lunch at Cafe Ena before the cookie swap.

After a stop home to meet up with my Dad, take care of the dogs and get dressed up, we fought the downtown sports and holiday parade traffic in order to get to Cosmos for dinner. In advance of my birthday, Paul had sent me a list of entree choices he had pulled from a few restaurants he was considering. I got to pick my entree without knowing the restaurant. I think we chose well! Cosmos was beautiful and we both had delicious meals that were just the right amount of filling.

Notice that I have a million wine glasses! I ordered one glass, but asked a few questions before making my selection. Our waiter took it upon himself to bring me tastes of a few other wines just to make sure I was happy with my choice. He had me tasting different wines with different parts of my meal. For someone who typically has had no more than a few sips of alcohol here and there for quite a few months, the wine had quite an impact!

Paul enjoyed his food, too. I shared some of my wine with him, which is how I think I shared my cold with him, too. Oops. That is not a very nice appreciation gift from me!

All of the stuff above took place over the weekend, with my actual birthday being a few days later. On my actual birthday, he made a wonderful curry dinner at home and gave me my gifts. His gifts were immensely generous and extravagant this year! I received an ereader mostly prompted by its usefulness on our upcoming international vacation. Paul and I are also taking an intensive cooking class together next month. And.....the gift that made my jaw drop....a VITAMIX! There have been many wonderful smoothies coming out of that blender.

Once again, Paul demonstrated that he listens when I talk about the things that make me excited. He notices the activities that I enjoy and figures out a way to tap into them. I am looking forward to learning and cooking and traveling with him this year. My partner is a keeper!

At long last: The Kefir Post

Well! It is about time! Kefir has become an omnipotent part of my life for the past 6 months so it about time I give it some space here.

I obtained a kefir grain from fellow MPLS Swapper and (now) friend, Holly, after the June swap. It quickly made itself at home and starting growing and growing and growing. For the uninitiated, kefir is a form of fermented milk. It is fermented using something called a grain, which looks and feels a bit more like squishy/rubbery cauliflower.

Here is what I have been doing to make my kefir: I place the grain in a canning jar along with my milk of choice. I have tried cow (various percentages of fat) and goat milk. I then loosely screw on the plastic canning jar lid. I found the metal rings weren't holding up well against the fermenting kefir, so I switched to the plastic lids that are made for canning jars.

After the loosely covered jar sits out for a day or two, depending on the temperature, I pour it into my ceramic strainer. I have heard it is better to avoid contact with metal when you are handling fermented foods, so I use my ceramic berry bowl strainer.

Sometimes the kefir is bubbly! The fermentation is also said to produce a tiny amount of alcohol.

Depending on what I am planning to do with the kefir and my desired consistency, I can use it as is or strain some of the whey off.

But, no matter what, the grains need to be put back into another batch of milk right away. Sometimes I rinse them between batches and sometimes I don't. The grains grow a bit bigger with each batch, which adds up quickly when each batch only takes 24-48 hours. This means that my kefir grain has grown to over 10 times the size it was when I first got it! The bigger the grains, the more milk they process, too! As my grains have separated, I have given some away to others and plan to give some more away soon. Fortunately, I have figured out how to "rest" it in the fridge for a break. I have definitely needed the break on more than a few occasions.

Kefir Cheese in straining (jelly) bag

Being able to control the consistency of the kefir by straining off whey has made it such a versatile ingredient. Leave it as is and you have a buttermilk substitute. Strain a little whey off and it behaves like plain yogurt. Strain a little more off and you have a mayo replacement. A little more than that and it can be used like sour cream. Keep going and it is a spreadable, tart tasting cheese. Plus, straining the whey off means you also have whey you can use!

Using whey is a new thing for me. I have greatly enjoyed the lacto-fermented carrots I made recently. Paul and I are both looking forward to making lacto-fermented pickles with our next cucumber crop. I have been poking around for other ideas, but I have to confess, most of the whey has gone into our compost pile. I am not sure how to use it in large quantities, so any suggestions you have are welcome!

The kefir-as-buttermilk substitute has opened a door to so many lovey baked goods. The yogurt consistency mixed with a little vanilla extract and maple syrup poured over granola has become a common breakfast. In the past month or two, I have made many modified versions of this baked oatmeal to use up kefir. The baked oatmeal makes for delicious leftovers. Sometimes I even reheat it and then pour some kefir over it. All of this kefir has been a delicious curse.

Here is a round-up of some recipes I know I have followed with kefir subbing in for the dairy products:

Cornmeal Buttermilk Pancakes (We have made this many times. They are great as cold leftovers with jam.)

Banana Blueberry Buttermilk Bread (I used frozen raspberries instead of blueberries and I didn't mash the bananas very thoroughly. Yum.)

Cranberry Buttermilk Loaf (I made multiple batches over Thanksgiving. This was delicious with frozen or fresh cranberries.)

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins (Made with apples my dad grew!)

Baked Oatmeal (Mentioned above. Play with the combination of fruit and definitely add in minced candied ginger.)

Lemon Dill Deviled Eggs

Cucumber Salad with Tarragon Cream

In the warmer months, I blended the kefir with all sorts of things to be eaten as smoothies or frozen into popsicles. I also tried mixing it with fruit and turning it into fruit leather in the dehydrator. That received mixed reviews.

I am looking forward to continued experimentation with this ingredient. In addition to the versatility and the tangy taste, kefir is purported to be full of great health benefits. A quick google search for "kefir" and "health benefits" brings up a ton of positive claims including that it helps boost your immune system and, in many cases, is easily digested by people with lactose intolerance.

Last but not least, if you are local to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and this kefir thing piques your interest, feel free to get in touch with me by email or through the comments. I would be happy to pass on a grain to you! Be warned, though, when I give a grain I call NO BACKS!