Wisdom of the Moon

Weird Adult Wednesday- Best Day Ever

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:12:00 +0000

This picture is of Joey after we heard that the Wiener Mobile was in town.

Strangely enough, though, today's story isn't about her. Mainly because she was not the one who was excited to tears by the whole experience.

(Here's the conversation between me and Jenny and Aurora, as best as I can remember.)

Aurora: Today is the Best Day Ever! I went to the grocery store and I saw the WIENER MOBILE! I didn't want to run right up to it and seem too excited, so I decided to go shopping first. But then I started to freak out that by the time I was done they might be gone. The whole time I was inside the store I kept saying to myself, "Be cool, be cool."

Wendy: You were crying weren't you?

Aurora: I was trying not to.

Aurora: So I finished shopping and asked the wiener mobile people if I could have a picture. The lady didn't understand and thought I wanted to take it of just the wiener mobile. So I had to explain that No, I wanted a picture of me standing next to the wiener mobile.

Aurora: Then I asked for a wiener mobile whistle.

Jenny: I didn't know there was a such a thing.

Aurora: Of course there's a wiener mobile whistle. But she said I needed to sing the song for it. But I was so excited...

Jenny: and crying by this time, right?

Aurora: Oh yah, totally. So I was so excited (and crying) that I couldn't remember the words, so they had to whisper them to me every other line. But I got my whistle!

Wendy: Probably because they thought you were a special needs person. After you left, I'm sure they even remarked on how high-functioning you were.

Aurora: Yah, something like... Oh good for her. She almost remembered all the words to the Oscar Mayer wiener song.

Love you, Rora. Your enthusiasm for life really does make you special.

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:05:00 +0000

When I found instructions for a Mad Hatter costume on Threadbanger, I immediately decided that someone in our family needed to to make it for Halloween.

Our brother Tommy went for it (with some help from his big sisters, of course) and it was fantastic! He was even done with it for a party 2 weeks before Halloween.

Craziness.

One Note about their instructions if you want to try this yourself... in the video, they suggest using thick material to stretch over the form for the hat. Don't do it, unless you want to end up with unwieldy wrinkles (something I discovered as I attempted to hot glue the entire thing together for the first time. Grrrr). Use something stretchy instead. Jenny and Tommy found a gray knit shirt and a black stretch lace shirt at the thrift store to cut up and use.

Also, instead of using wire to create the brim, Jenny had the brilliant idea to just form the top part of it right over a black velvet cowboy- or pimp- hat. Amusing that I can't tell the difference between the two. I guess when you're dealing with black velvet, everything takes on nuances of pimp.

Since Tommy ended up staying in and watching scary movies on the actual night of Halloween, I got to borrow the costume.

Joey completed the theme as the Cheshire Cat. I am so kicking myself for not thinking to use glow in the dark face paint for her smile. Then she really could have disappeared in the dark just like he did.

I love Jaden and Aurora as Coraline and the Other Mother. Notice the black nylons stretched over a pair of circular glasses for the button eyes.

And Kam was just about the cutest Max that ever there was. His Gram D made his costume using McCall's pattern #5956. And a cut down, spray painted, inside-out Burger King crown worked perfectly to complete the outfit.

Oh, sweet boy, "I'll eat you up, I love you so."

Halloween Meringue Cookies

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:33:00 +0000

I'm just going to pretend like I haven't been away from this blog for an entire month. If you all could just enable me with this charade, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

What I do have for you is a very kid-friendly project that could easily be adapted for any time of the year.

I made up a super quick batch of meringue batter (... dough... whipped air?- I have no idea what to call this stuff) from this Cook's Illustrated recipe. Then let the girls have at it with piping bags, instructing them to make everything about an inch tall.

Note- Closing the top of the bag with a rubber band is way helpful for little ones, as well as those of us who are not so little. Heh hem.

The girls chose to ignore my advice against writing words and instead focused their efforts to create 3 layers to make them tall enough so that they didn't burn. This one was definitely a success, even though it was only about half an inch tall.

Using a #2 tip, I piped a bunch of brains, like from Martha's cupcakes, but from this angle at least, they look a bit like toupees.

And here's a little slug and a pile of poo.

What collection of Halloween cookies would be complete without those?

Contest Winner and Potato Foot

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Congratulations!!!

Seville83 has left a new comment on your post "A Giveaway!":

And I'll be making the produce bags for a friend of mine too. He's going to love them :)

Send me an email at mamagay74 at comcast dot net to get the ball rolling on your new stamp.

Also, I thought you all might like to know that I've sprained my ankle, a word which does not do justice to the initial snapping sound I heard (and felt) when it happened (along with the crying and cursing) nor to the swelling, bruising or general inability to put the least bit of weight on it. No, to me the word sprained is equal to "tweaked" or "mildly injured and unable to jump on a trampoline" kind of injury. Not the "lying in bed with my foot constantly elevated" and "yelling loudly from the bedroom for simple things like refills of water and can you please bring me some Kleenex?" that my incredibly patient family is now experiencing.

I'll be honest, the first 24 hours of this (along with hours of uninterrupted time to read) was pleasant enough. But I'd like to be done now, thanks.

I'm so frustrated with my crutches that I've taken to crawling from room to room on my hands and knees. Strangely it keeps reminding me of this scene in Top Secret.

K, that's enough for today. My potato foot (Joey's accurate description) is starting to throb.

Watch Out it's Like Farting Again

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:27:00 +0000

Whenever Kam sees Joey shuffling cards, he lays down in front of her and asks her to shuffle on his back.

And since they spent the weekend playing with some inherited games from our childhood (this Sorry game is from 1964), there was plenty of shuffling to be done.

Apparently he likes it for the sound effects.

Fart jokes. Always popular with the kids.

How to Clean Vintage Pyrex

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:44:00 +0000

So in addition to Mason jars, I also have a bit of a thing for older Pyrex.

If it's a reasonable price, I will buy it no matter how grotty it looks.

I know that there's a good chance I can clean it up with a cleanser called Bon Ami. I've seen this stuff for sale at the grocery store and the health food store and even the hardware store, so there's no need to buy it from Amazon. I just needed a link to show you what it looks like. It has a baby chicken on it. Who, apparently, is your good friend. And also French.

We've used this stuff for years (for the sink and the stove and pots and pans) and I thought I was so clever to have figured out how well it works on marked up Pyrex and other plates and dishes. I honestly didn't even notice the endorsement by the Pyrex people until I took this picture.

Because I am just that observant.

This bowl was pretty bad and I wasn't actually one hundred percent sure I could save it. But you can see the part of the bowl that I did clean compared to the part I left alone.

(And yes, after I took this picture, I actually went back and cleaned the whole thing. Why do you ask?)

What about all of these darker lines on my favoritest green bowl? They look like scratches, don't they? Oh, but they're not.

Like magic I tell ya.

One note- I would recommend that you rub very gently and not make a habit of this because even though I haven't noticed any problems while using it, I can't imagine that these glazes could stand up to maniacal scrubbing.

OK, one more picture (this time of a halfway cleaned bowl) because I'm diggin the infomercial-type vibe I've got going here.

But not the kind of commercial where they cut to the black and white video of the totally inept cook who can't even manage to flip a pancake... oh, if only she had some kind of device that could hold the top of the pancake as she flipped it... that would make her life ever so much better... only 19.95 (plus shipping and handling).

I may be inept, but I can flip a pancake.

Wait, what are we talking about?

Do I Look Crazed or is it Just my Imagination

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:16:00 +0000

Every time I look at this jack-o-lantern, I can't help thinking that it looks like I'm about to go for somebody's throat.

Note- In case you think this project is ridiculously complicated, I've also got some tips that will make it easier to use the simpler templates they sell in kits at the store, if you'd rather stick with those. (Also, just so you know, my early attempts at carving faces were far from perfect. It definitely gets easier with practice.)

This project has brought me such amusement, despite the fact that I almost gave up after just an hour into it because my chin was starting to remind me of the movie Mask. When I informed Jeff, he wanted to know which movie I meant, the sad Eric Stoltz one or the funny Jim Carrey one.

But I kept at it and it turned out more like librarian Medusa and less like Rocky Dennis (only a slight hint of a goiter left). Since finishing, I've sat and stared at it for minutes that have probably added up to hours. And you wanna know what my favorite part is? The nose piece on my glasses. I know. I'm a dork. But that little detail just does me in every time. Because it totally looks like the nose piece on my glasses!

(It starts to get trippy looking at yourself for this long. And talking about trippy, just how huge are my hands?)

If you'd like to try this, I suggest reading the tutorial here to get yourself familiar with the process of carving pumpkins this way. What follows are my modifications and tips.

Tools
-Metal pottery scrapers work really well for cleaning out the inside of the pumpkin and getting it to a nice, even surface.
-Champagne cork, needle and pliers (or just a pushpin)
-Linoleum cutters or wooden carving tools are excellent for working the design.
-Don't forget that little knife that comes with the standard carving kits. Despite its cheapness, it is actually pretty useful.

Clean the Pumpkin
-You know, cut off the top, remove the guts, smooth the inside.
-The part that you're carving should be about half an inch thick and a fairly consistent thickness.
-It's not a bad idea to cut an inch-wide hole in the bottom back of the pumpkin and a big one in the lid for airflow, especially if you don't have a lot of white space in the design.

Create the Pattern (I had forgotten that a good chunk of this part originally came from Photojojo. Thanks guys!)
-It's best to have a high-resolution photo with a dark background. (Aurora took this one while I was weeding, during our garage sale, modeling a vintage sports coat, oddly enough.)
-Using photoshop Jenny helped me convert the picture to black and white and cranked up both the brightness and the contrast.
-Then used the poster effect in the Filter Gallery.
-You might need to mess with the levels a bit in order to get it to something you think you can carve.
-A level of 3 will give you black, white and one shade of gray; this will be the easiest to carve.
-My picture below was a level 6, with some black, some white and four different shades of gray. This makes it much more complicated, but also, much more realistic.

Awesome Tip #1- I printed this out on a laser printer (but a Xerox copy would work too). If you want, you can go ahead and print it with a regular inkjet and just tape it to the pumpkin, but it might be worth the time it takes to get it printed up at the copy center (if you don't have your own laser printer). That's because laser printer ink is not soluble in water and, here's the important bit, it does not smear when it gets wet. Which allows you to mold the pattern perfectly over the pumpkin. Like so.

(Spray the paper evenly with water, let it soak in for a bit and then gently form it onto the pumpkin, pressing it into the cracks. It works best if you can find the smoothest pumpkin possible, without deep grooves. Also be careful not to rub it too much or you'll rub the design right off. You can do this with most of the store-bought patterns out there. To test it just lick your thumb and run it over the ink; if it doesn't smear, you're good to go.)

After the paper is molded to the pumpkin, you can either let it dry or just tape over the entire thing with clear packing tape. If you try to poke holes directly on the wet paper, you will rip little tiny holes with each pin prick. Makes it hard to follow the pattern.

Awesome Tip #2- In years past, I've just used a pushpin to poke the holes around the pattern, but this year I created this poking tool using a champagne cork and a needle. I just shoved it right in there using pliers. You wouldn't believe how much more comfortable it was to use this thing. It does make smaller holes, which was good for me because of the detail involved. But if you have a hard time seeing the holes, you may want to try a thicker needle or just stick (heh, heh) with a pushpin.

Transfer the Pattern
-With the needle, you'll want to poke holes around the lines that separate the various colors.
-This one was way complicated so I didn't poke holes between a lot of the different shades of gray.

While I had the pattern still stuck to the pumpkin, I went ahead and skewered the white circles of my eyeballs (like literally, with a wooden skewer). You can also use a drill, but I couldn't find mine and this worked fine (after I poked the plastic a few times with the needle to get it started).

Carving (you can see what it looks like unlit here)
-Leave the skin intact for all black areas. I lightly carved around these using the smallest blade on the lino cutter.
-Remove all white areas completely with the little saw. If the area is particularly small, I'd suggest going around the inside of the line with the smallest lino cutter blade and then following that line with the saw. It'll be much cleaner that way.
-Use the gray areas on the pattern as a guide for how thin to carve the flesh (the lighter the color, the thinner the flesh). This is where the carving tools will come in super handy.
-Once you're mostly done (or having any trouble in a particular area), add some candles, sit in the dark and refine that way. You'll be able to easily see where it needs to be lighter.
-If, overall, the entire thing looks too dark, just take the pottery scraper and from the inside, thin it out evenly.

As soon as I saw this one in the dark for the first time I actually cackled, making exactly the sound that you'd expect to come from someone with eyes like that.

And unless you live with me (or have talked to me on the phone) you have no idea how much this thing cracks. me. up.

ADDED NOTE (Sept 27)- My integrity has just been called into question. And instead of being offended, I'm taking it as the best compliment ever. Yes, it is a real pumpkin. No, it is not a photoshop fake.

But thank you!

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A Giveaway!

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Just a quick note to let you know that I've updated the portrait stamp tutorial with a new trick for transferring the image. It gives a much cleaner picture to carve from.

And since a couple of you seemed less than 100% confident about your ability to carve a portrait stamp, I've decided to make one lucky winner their very own stamp. From their very own picture.

How exciting is that?

(Really, how exciting is it? I have a hard time judging these things. I am easily amused and often excited about things that no one in their right mind would find interesting.)

Um yah. Anyway. To enter the contest, just leave a comment here telling me if you've actually tried any of my tutorials or if there's anything that you plan to try one of these days. Or feel free to let me know that you don't like any of my tutorials, but just want a free stamp, damn it. (I'm pretty sure the random number generator won't hold it against you.)

I'm going to keep the contest going for two weeks, ending on October 7th at midnight. You can enter once a day, but you've got to list a new project for each comment.

Good luck and tell your friends (I've decided to give you an extra entry if you link to it)!

Also- Remember to leave your email if your comment doesn't link back to your website. Or just be sure to check back here after the contest is done. Just in case you're the wiener.

Marinated Zucchini and a BZT

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:32:00 +0000

My garden isn’t quite as bounteous as I’d hoped it to be at this stage in the game. I haven't harvested enough tomatoes at once to make a single batch of Finny's Best Tomato Sauce Ever. Which is sad, because that stuff is incredible.

The one saving grace are the zucchini plants which, despite their tiny size, are doggedly producing pounds and pounds of fruit. If I walk away for a couple of days those suckers can go from several inches to almost a foot.

And my favorite way to serve these guys, you may be wondering?

Sliced and marinated in a homemade vinaigrette. It’s that simple. And so very tasty.

Jenny’s man came up with the original recipe and I’ve tweaked it a bit based on my preferences. The key is to slice them very thin, almost translucent.

They’re great in salads and absolutely fantastic on sandwiches (they add so much flavor in fact, that you can even skip the mayonnaise).

Even the kids in our family will eat these just plain as a side. And you can adjust the flavors to go with the rest of the meal. Jeff’s dad, who hates zucchini, even claimed to like them, but it might have been because the kids were listening. You never can tell with him.

The best use of these marinated zucchini that I've found, though, is as a replacement for L.

What follows is a recipe for the zucchini, not the BZT because of the simple fact that most people know how to stack ingredients on a piece of bread, which makes a recipe somewhat unnecessary. (I must point out, though, the lack of mayo on this sandwich. You won't miss it. Trust me.)

Ingredients (for standard recipe)
-2 T red wine vinegar
-pinch of salt
-a couple of grinds of black pepper
-2 T olive oil
-1 medium sized zucchini

How To
-Slice the zucchini super thin and put in a bowl (or a mason jar if you have one, which I always do).
-Sprinkle with salt, pepper and any other herbs or spices you’re using.
-Drizzle with the vinegar and stir (or put on lid to mason jar and shake) until it’s all well coated.
-Let sit for 5 minutes or so and then drizzle with the oil. Stir again.
-Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more oil if it’s too sour, more acid if it’s too bland and more spices as necessary.
-You can store this in the fridge for several days (see aren't you glad you used that mason jar?). I suggest making smaller batches of different flavors every now and then.

Variations
-Instead of slices, you could cube them. These are really good on salads. You'll need to let them sit longer in the vinegar this way, shaking every now and then.
-Instead of the red wine vinegar, you can use another acid like lemon juice, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar- all will work, depending on the flavors in the rest of the meal.
-Instead of the olive oil consider more neutral oils like canola and grapeseed. Extra virgin olive oil doesn’t always play nice with other flavors.
-Try adding other herbs and flavors like the one below.

Mexican Variation (this is based on a recipe by Rick Bayless)
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. vegetable oil (I don’t like olive oil in this recipe)
Pinch of dried oregano
Half a clove of garlic, minced
Pinch of chili powder
1/8th t of adobo sauce (this is the sauce that chipotle chiles come packed in)

Portrait Stamp Tutorial

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:18:00 +0000

It seems like no matter what craftiness I have planned, the only thing I'm motivated to do lately is carve stamps. I just find them so very satisfying.

I've graduated from bookplates and little produce stamps to an actual portrait.

What on earth made me think that I could pull this off? I honestly have no idea.

But as it turns out, it wasn't actually that difficult (maybe because of all the practice I've had making bookplates for presents). It did take a few hours to complete, but I managed to get it right on the first try, which doesn't always happen around here.

I think it was helpful that I used a Mastercarve block this time, which was much less crumbly than the Speedy Cut brand.

There are 3 main steps...

-Change the original photo to look like a stamp using photo editing software.

A high resolution picture with a white background works best. I used this one that Jenny took, but I could have removed that chair in the background and made it a bit easier on myself during the carving.
Crop the picture to the area that you want to turn into a stamp, choosing dimensions that are the right size for the block of rubber you'll be carving.
Apply the stamp effect. In my software, Photoshop Elements, it's under Filter -> Sketch -> Stamp.
You'll want to mess with the Light/Dark Balance as well as the Smoothness in order to get something that looks reasonable to carve. Remember you'll be removing everything that is white, while leaving all the black areas.
Now is a good time to create a horizontally flipped copy in addition to the original. This second, flipped image will be much easier to use as a reference when carving and you can print them both at the same time. (Image -> Rotate -> Flip Horizontal)

UPDATED INFO
-Transfer original image to block using the same directions as in the bookplate stamp tutorial or if you have access to a laser printer or Xerox machine you can try using acetone (nail polish remover) which gives a much clearer transfer.

Print the image on a laser printer and let dry. Cut around design, leaving a half inch border.
Wet a cotton ball with nail polish remover, squeeze to remove all excess liquid.
Place the paper ink side down on rubber and tape in place.
Quickly, with light to medium pressure run the cotton ball over the image. Do not go over any area more than once.
Remove paper immediately.
If it is smeared, you can remove the ink from the rubber by rubbing with the cotton ball. Let dry before trying again.

(In this picture the one on the right is the original image, which shows up reversed on the block. The one on the left is what I used as a guide while carving.)

-Carve away all the white.

This video is an excellent resource (and also happens to be what inspired me to try stamp carving in the first place).
Start with an easier area like the outline of her hair and move to more difficult areas like the thin black lines of her jawline and eyelids.
When you think you've got all of the white areas removed, test your stamp. It'll be pretty obvious where you've missed.
Continue carving and stamping until you're happy with the look. If you start to get tired or frustrated, you should stop immediately and come back to it later. It doesn't take much to really mess one of these up.

And I guess that's about it.

Now to figure out what I'm actually going to do with this.

Any ideas?

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Related Posts
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Isadora

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:05:00 +0000

Last week was an incredibly rough one. Our sweet little kitty died. She was with us for exactly one year, one month and one day.

And it wasn't anywhere close to being long enough.

Her cup tipping aside, she was just the best kitty ever.
-When she was younger she would stand up on her hind legs just like a little Rory Calhoun (or for those of you who don't get the Simpsons reference, like a meerkat).
-She was the most un-scratchyist and un-bitiest cat I've ever known, at least when it came to people.
-She preferred drinking out of our wishing well to the watering bowl with pump we'd bought her for Christmas.

-Whenever Joey cried, Isadora would come to see what was wrong.
-A friend once said about her, "If all cats were like this, I'd actually like cats."
-When she wanted to get down from the window above our bed, she'd meow politely at Jeff and he'd roll over to give her room to land.
-Sometimes in the middle of the night, I would wake to the sound of her playing with Joey's trashcan.

-She was a goof, so she fit in well around here.
Stuck in the ceiling
Under the carpet protector
Playing with a balloon
-She loved to sit on my lap whenever I was on the computer. She'd then lay her paws and chin across my arm, despite (or probably because of) that particular pet peeve of mine. And I totally let her. I actually looked forward to it. And I am missing it desperately today and every day I've sat down at the computer since she's been gone.

Goodbye, Sweetheart. We miss you so very much.

Growing Tomatillos- FAIL

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0000

OK, boys and girls, it’s time once again for another helpful Don’t Do What Donnie Don’t Does. Garden version this time.

Don’t plant only one tomatillo plant in your garden. Because apparently, they tend to need at least one other friend to cross-fertilize with. I say ‘tend to’ because it isn’t always the case. According to this, sometimes a plant will have the right genes for self-fertilization, in which case you’ll be fine with just one plant. Some of the time, though, it won't have the right genes and you will therefore need two of them.

What you’ll end up with, if you are unlucky enough to get the kind that does need a friend to pollinate it, is a ton of empty little lanterns, but no fruit. Which is exactly what we have.

Sad.

But at least now we know for next year.

What I'm trying to figure out now, in order to make the most out of this crap situation, is how to string these puppies onto lights or some other equally ridiculous use of my time.

I Think I May Have a Problem.

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Hello, my name is Wendy, and I’m addicted to Mason jars.

They are just so handy for so many things. Every time I see them on sale (and they’re always on sale at this time of year), I pick up another dozen.

-I prefer using Mason jars for leftovers in the fridge because they don’t get all stained and grotty like plastic does. And the glass never absorbs smells. Even if they’ve harbored some science experiment gone horribly wrong, I can actually sterilize them in boiling water. Also, everyone can see exactly what is in them, which actually encourages them to eat it. After a couple of days in the fridge, if it doesn’t look like it’s actually going to get eaten, I pop the freezer-safe jars directly into the freezer.

-Whenever I buy a bunch of fruit on sale, or for some other reason end up with lots of it about to go bad, I freeze the excess for smoothies. I've found it's best to lay the fruit out flat on a cookie sheet and freeze first, then put the already frozen fruit in the jars- it’s much easier to remove this way. You can use as little or as much as you need.

-It’s also great for storing particularly stinky items in the fridge, like pieces of onion or opened cans of wet cat food. Those lids really keep the smells contained.

-I love to store things in the freezer that would otherwise go bad because I use so little of it at a time. Most of these are ingredients that I use as flavoring when I cook. I keep whole ginger (that I grate on a rasp as I need it), rolls of bacon (3 strips stacked together, rolled up and frozen flat), cubes of chipotles in adobo sauce, cubes of tomato paste, left-over Parmesan rinds (to add to soups) and left-over wine for deglazing pans (which never completely freezes, so you can spoon out the slushy stuff as needed).

-I always use Mason jars to freeze liquids like soups and stocks. Whenever I have left-over stock (homemade or out of the can) I put it directly in a jar and into the freezer. The soups I put in half-pint jars for lunches remembering to leave an inch or so of headroom because the water they contain expands when frozen. Note- It's important to make sure to use freezer safe jars because the expanding liquid can easily crack the glass otherwise.

-They're great for storage, both cold and at room temperature. I keep dry goods that tend to go rancid (like brown rice, nuts and shredded coconut) in mason jars in the top shelf of my fridge.

And I have several shelves in my kitchen with things like beans and lentils and grains.

I also use the tiny mason jars to store the extra whole spices (that aren't on the door) in the cupboard.

Seeing all of these beautiful ingredients can sometimes get me going when I’m in a cooking funk.

Sometimes.

Chula & Nate

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:27:00 +0000

Thought you all might enjoy some pictures (ok, a ton of them- but it was next to impossible for me to narrow them down) from the wedding of our friend Chula, who you can't seem to take a bad picture of.

Seriously, how gorgeous is she?

Jenny and Brad have been friends with her family for quite some time, long before they moved into the same neighborhood and she began babysitting Kam. He adores her and gets so excited whenever he gets to see "Chu-wa". It's no wonder, as she is one of the absolute sweetest people ever.

Her side of the family is Cambodian, so there were lots of traditions to follow. Although, as one relative explained to me, this was actually a shortened version. Back in Cambodia, it lasts 3 full days, instead of the one and a half days of near constant activity that this one entailed.

My favorite part was the blessing ceremony that took place the night before the wedding.

(Joey and Kam preferred the view from above since it was easier to see everything that was going on.)

The day of the wedding, we walked from their house to the reception hall, carrying plates of food and presents.

I had no idea how heavy a plate of mangoes and lychee fruits could get.

They had two wedding ceremonies that day and then fed us some of the tastiest food ever. We loved it and our kids loved it, but the three other Americans at our table passed on most everything that was served, even the jell-o that, I swear, tasted like chocolate.

How sad for them.

By the end of the night, the kids were on stage dancing in front of the strobe lights, the girls twirling and shaking their booties, the boys doing the robot.

(Joey never again gets to tell me that she's shy if she can get on stage and do this.)

All in all, we had a blast.

More pictures can be found in Jenny's Flickr photostream.
Cambodian Buddhist Blessing Ceremony
Wedding Day

Produce Stamps

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:24:00 +0000

Woah. I stepped away from my computer for a couple of days and, I guess, just forgot to come back. How’ve you all been?

I can’t even say that I’ve been busy with interesting craftiness, mostly just end of summer chaos.

In fact, the only thing remotely creative that I’ve managed is a set of produce stamps. For this project, the hardest part was drawing the originals; carving them was a cinch. Seriously, stamps are such a satisfying project.

Because I was going off of Stefanie's great idea and stamping on my homemade produce bags, I had to do a bit of research about how to keep the designs colorfast. I found that the ColorBox brand is permanent if you iron it (I used the medium setting for 10 seconds).

Another good thing about this brand is that it doesn’t bleed like some of the cheaper ink pads do.

And the best thing about ColorBox… they’re just so purty.

I bought mine on sale at Michael’s for 40% off and considering all the colors that it comes with, I’m super happy with the purchase. Now I’m thinking that I need to head back and pick up the earth tone set.

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Related Posts
Personalized Bookplate Stamps (this has links to stamping supplies)
Cheap & Easy Produce Bags
Customized Portrait Stamp

Weird Brother and Weird Kid Wednesday

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:11:00 +0000

Warning- This post contains violent, comic book images rendered in stuffie form. Just thought you should know in case you're squeamish about that sort of thing.

This is my little brother. Not Tommy, the one I've mentioned before, but his twin, Matthew.

In this picture, he is using my sewing machine to make a birthday present for his girlfriend's daughter, Raven.

Raven loves a comic book that, frankly, scares the crap out of me. It's called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and was created by Jhonen Vasquez, the same guy who did Invader Zim.

If it strikes you as odd that a kid who could write such beautiful and tear-jerking poetry would also love such a twisted story, it shouldn't. Raven is bizarrely creative. And that's what we love most about her. I once watched her play a song using our wall as an instrument.

True story.

So without further ado, may I introduce you to Nailbunny, complete with abdomen hole and removable nail.

Click here for a ginormous version of the picture to see this guy up close and check out the awesome nail channel that I helped Matthew engineer.

(Huhm, it says that my spelling of 'ginormous' is an actual word. Who knew.)

And I'm not sure who is top of the weirdo list for this post, the kid who loves a comic book with a dead bunny nailed to the wall (and who also happens to be a vegetarian because cows and pigs are cute) or the grown man who decided that a dead bunny nailed to the wall would make the perfect stuffed animal for a 12 year old girl.

I guess you can decide for yourself.

Homemade Deodorant, yes, I am that person

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:09:00 +0000

About a year ago I made my first batch of homemade deodorant from a recipe of Amy Karol's. In theory I liked the idea of natural deodorant (to avoid the aluminum that may, or may not, be linked to Alzheimer's because why tempt fate) but in practice, I never really used the stuff.

So, I gave it to my sister, who loved it and used it all up. It worked so well for her that she convinced me to make another double batch and to actually try it myself this time. So I made a second batch, using the same recipe as the first.

And I loved it too. It isn't antiperspirant, just deodorant, but it takes that job seriously. I've had zero stink. Yes, I still sweat, but I did that with regular deodorant/antiperspirant anyway. I actually have less issues with odor now than when I was using conventional deodorant.

I did have 2 problems with the original recipe, though.
1) It was really stiff. To use, I had to scrape up a little pea-sized ball with the back of my fingernail and rub it around until it melted.
2) Halfway through the batch, the texture became more and more gritty, which started to irritate my underarms. I think the baking soda settled to the bottom half of the container before the melted oils had a chance to cool and solidify.

So, I devised one solution to both problems... our Kitchen Aid

Ingredients
3 parts Shea Butter (chilled slightly)
1 to 2 parts Baking Soda
2 parts Cornstarch
Vitamin E Oil (use a couple of squeezed gel caps if your measured parts are Tablespoons, more if you're making it by the cup)
2 parts Cocoa Butter (melted and then cooled, but still mostly liquid)
Essential Oils (enough to make it smell good, but not overpowering- I used tea tree, lavender and wild chamomile- it's very nice. Make sure you've used these before directly on your skin to avoid any sensitivities.)

Instructions
-Put the metal bowl of a standing mixer in the fridge until chilled.
-Remove from the fridge and add the shea butter, baking soda, cornstarch and Vitamin E. Using paddle attachment mix at med/high until it is lighter in color (almost white) and somewhat fluffy.
-With mixer running, slowly drizzle in cocoa butter.
-Mix on med/high for a couple minutes until nice and fluffy.
-Place bowl in fridge for 5 minutes.
-Repeat those last two steps as necessary until the mixture has cooled to room temperature.
-Add essential oils and mix until blended thoroughly.
-Spoon into lidded container, making sure to clean the mixer bowl immediately because someone in your family is guaranteed to come along and sneak a taste without realizing that it's deodorant.
-Apply a generous amount to clean underarms, making sure to rub it in well.
-Do the happy dance because you at least your deodorant isn't going to poison you.

Important Note- Make sure to store this below the melting point of 75 degrees or so. Once it melts, the texture will be the same as the original recipe.

Museum Wax

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:56:00 +0000

Subtitle- How to foil an itty, bitty, shitty kitty.

Actually, our kitty is incredibly sweet. She doesn't bite or scratch. Well, she did lay down 3 pretty decent claw marks about a month ago, but it was only because she's rather clumsy and was falling off the computer desk, scrambling for purchase when she found my forearm. I don't hold it against her.

She does, however, love to knock over vases and cups of water, which is more irritating than you can possibly imagine. Seriously, all the sweetness in the world doesn't matter when you find a soaking wet library book in a puddle of water next to an empty cup on its side.

So we've become super conscientious about leaving out cups of water. But I was still left with the fact that I couldn't have vases of flowers, which made me very sad.

Luckily, one day I found this at the art supply store.

Museum Wax is made to prevent expensive museum pieces from tipping over, even in an earthquake.

But it works just as well for my purposes.

I attach the vases to plates instead of directly to the table because it's difficult to completely remove from the surfaces without running hot water over them. I have seen the Museum Putty and Museum Gel which look like they might be easier to remove, but haven't tried either of them.

And, yes, I'm sure most of you don't have the same kitty problem that I do. However, this stuff holds so well that I'm positive you can find other uses for it. I've been thinking of letting Joey use it to attach shells and rocks vertically to the back of a shadow box.

I mean really, what *can't* you do with something that does this?

Things I Am Not Proud Of

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:05:00 +0000

Originally, I wrote this post focusing on many of the things in my life that are, well... less than ideal lately. Not really to complain, but because I find it all rather amusing. And just as I was about to hit publish, I happened to hop over to Flickr and find some beautiful pics that Jenny took at my house in the very areas I was complaining about. It's amazing how much beauty she was able to uncover by simply focusing on it.

It also made me think about our mom, who could walk across a dry field of grass and emerge at the other end holding a bouquet of wildflowers. Her ability to do that always amazed me.

So in the spirit of both full disclosure and unashamed optimism, here are seven things I am not proud of (and a few things that I am)...

Background Info- I've been preparing for a multi-family garage sale and getting ready has used up all spare time, space and energy.

1) I wrote most of this last Wednesday, and am just now editing and posting it.
2) I was just looking at a video from Sunday, and I can see that I was wearing the same t-shirt that I currently have on.
3) I have a patch of thistles in my backyard that is almost as tall as I am.
- Those thistles did create a lush green background for some of my favorite flowers, though.

4) When I woke up with a sore throat today, my first thought was, "Ah, I can postpone that damned garage sale."
5) The state of my living room, dining room and laundry room. That picture shows the living room and part of the dining room. I know. It looks like a crazy person, no, a pack of crazy people lives here. (Feel free to click on over to Flickr for a fun Eye Spy game of crapulence.)
- Just out of frame of that picture, though, are my orchids, which I've managed to keep alive and blooming for many years.

6) I had removed a couple of containers full of old leftovers from the fridge and instead of immediately emptying and cleaning them, I forgot them on the counter. They've started to bulge menacingly and I'm worried they will soon explode. I've actually considered throwing all of it away, containers and all, because I feel that the situation is beyond my ability to deal with. And each hour that passes makes the situation that much more dire.
(But I think I may be over-reacting here.)
7) I walked around with peanut butter in my hair for several hours. Jenny insisted on taking a picture of me before she told me what she was laughing at. And I let her.

And the final thing that I'm happy with is the family of volunteer flowers (sweet peas, violas and snapdragons) that are growing out of the rocks in the back yard.

So, here's hoping all of you can focus on the flowers and not the weeds.

And thank you, Jenny, for helping me to do just that.

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Let the beauty we love be what we do.
-Rumi

Flower Cupcake Toppers

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:31:00 +0000

What do you do when one of your kiddos will be leaving for camp on her birthday?

You make birthday cupcakes for sharing with her friends of course.

Randa, our lovely middle daughter went off to camp this weekend and thanks to the brilliant suggestions by Anitra and Lenetta (who, after seeing my sugar fireworks, thought that the technique would work well for making flowers) I did just that.

It took me two tries to get these because, once again, I didn't cook it long enough and they were droopy. People, when will I learn my lessons? My guess is never.

Jeff (who is by far the best baker in the family) whipped up a batch of banana cupcakes and then dipped them in a dark chocolate ganache. I piped little spirals of vanilla buttercream on top because it seemed to make the leaves stand out more.

Also, hello, piping instead of frosting cupcakes... awesome and wonderful. I may never frost another cupcake again.

When it comes to making these guys, luckily I remembered to add about an inch of stem below the leaves, which helped to anchor them when I shoved them in the cupcakes.

They remind me of little kids' drawings of flowers. Since you can't control exactly where the sugar's going to fall, there's a messy simplicity that is really fun and sweet.

(In case you're interested in the specific recipes... the cupcakes and ganache recipes came from Cake Love and the vanilla buttercream from Baking Illustrated which, I think, is the easiest and also the tastiest buttercream recipe out there.)

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Related Posts-
Fireworks Cake Toppers

We're All in This Together

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:37:00 +0000

One of my absolute favoritest things about this blog is knowing that something I've made has inspired someone else. The first time I saw that another blogger had actually printed out one of my posts, I honestly got a little teary. (I feel I should remind you at this point in time what a dork I am.)

With that in mind, I bring you my newest category.

First up is from one of my good friends from high school. When Defne isn't using fluorescence microscopy to discover the mysteries of the world, apparently, she's pretty handy in the kitchen. She sent me this picture of the fantastic fireworks cupcake toppers she made after reading about mine. I love how she alternated red sprinkles and the toppers. And also how perfect is that red table as the background?

And then there's Stefanie from Nutmeg Stamping who took my pattern for the sheer produce bags and decided to add stamps of fruits and veges. So brilliant! I cannot tell you how excited I am to try this. I just bought some permanent ink pads, and am ready to carve myself some stamps.

Anyway, this post is just a little FYI in case you've been inspired by anything I've done and would like me to show it off here. Just send me an email or leave a comment somewhere.

Really and truly, the best part of seeing these pictures is the fact that someone followed my directions and it didn't end in a giant, smoking wreck. That truly makes me feel like I've accomplished something.

If that's a sad goal to have, please don't tell me.

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Also, for those of you who read this via a feed, I've changed out my Tutorials, Tips & Recipes to something a bit more summery, including some Margarita Jell-O Shots that you probably ought to go try.

;)

Gumpaste Frogs- A Tutorial by Kam

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:49:00 +0000

Recently, Jaden's favorite movie to watch is The Triplets of Belleville. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a kids' movie, though. It's really dark and weird and well, yah, you'll have to watch it yourself (plenty of it on youtube). But, what can I say. All of our kids love it too.

So, of course, she chose that as the theme for her birthday. For the cake, Aurora decided to cover a sheet cake with frog pieces. Once again, hard to explain if you haven't seen the movie. (Though if you watch from about 4:05 on this link, you'll get the gist.)

We all sat down to sculpt them out of gumpaste, but Jenny was the only one who was able to make anything presentable. My frogs were so ugly that I squashed all of them and made tadpoles instead. And even those managed to look more like sperm than tadpoles. Aurora's attempts were a bit better, but still, Jenny kicked our butts on the frog sculpting front. Then again, she's awesome like that (in a very 'perfectionist, keep going til it works' way, while my personal style is more along the lines of 'meh, good enough').

And guess what, I've got a Don't Do What Donnie Don't Does for you. Don't leave a bunch of gumpaste figures out in the garage during a rainstorm without first double, no, triple checking that your roof doesn't leak. Because ours leaks. And I had no idea that it did. And I actually cried when I saw this.

(And for those of you who are wondering why I would put these in the garage... here's my reasoning. We have a naughty cat and I didn't trust her to not eat these. I thought of putting them in the oven for safe keeping, but I was sure that someone would turn it on without realizing they were in there. Most likely me. No one goes in the garage, so I figured they'd be safe out there.)

So my wonderful sister came over the next day and re-sculpted a cake full of frogs. Isn't she sweet? And I think the second batch turned out even better than the first.

And while she was re-making them, Kam was nice enough to give a tutorial for just how to make this frog. We used cocoa to keep them from sticking and also to give them a nice "fresh from the swamp" color. It totally worked.

Aurora whipped up a sheet cake with some brown/pink cream cheese frosting and we just plunked the frogs down on it.

And this last picture... technically that is one leg and one arm, but I stuck them in there like they were a pair of legs.

Don't tell Jenny.

Note- I'm closing the comments on this post because I've been getting a ton of spam on it for some reason. It's all been in Japanese, which I find pretty amusing. But well, I've got zero tolerance for spam. If you're interested in commenting on this, feel free to email me.

Thanks.

Do I Hear 20?

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:38:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine invited me to an auction. Bright and early, we headed out to the warehouse to have a bit of a look see.

We wandered around for some time and I found a ton of stuff that I wanted, but only a few things I actually have room for. As cool as it would be, I decided against the school nurse’s exam table.

Eventually, I bid on, and won, a bunch of vintage Pyrex bowls for $20. The bidding process was almost as exciting as the bowls themselves. (And I'm pretty darned excited about the bowls.) Though, I am convinced that the auctioneer wasn't saying actual words between all those numbers. I was desperately afraid that I would somehow misunderstand what was being hollered and end up paying 200 dollars or something.

(I have no idea what I'm going to do with those little, rectangle baking dishes, but I adore them anyway.)

Once I got home, I spent several hours searching through all the auctions in our area. I found auctions for a liquor store as well as a day spa. I also found one for a tree farm. While I wasn’t interested in the trees (they had ridiculous things like non-fruiting pear trees- why on God’s green Earth would anyone want that?), they did have some great landscaping stones. Unfortunately, from the pictures, I had no way of telling how big they were.

So Jenny and Kam and Joey and I made the hour drive to the farm to see for ourselves.

(Kam helped with the tape measure.)

(And Joey had to personally test each stone to see how it held her weight.)

The bidding was on a Saturday, and only online, which wasn’t nearly as fun as in person. Also, I lost my bids in the last half hour of the auction, so bummer.

I’m not terribly disappointed, though, because after the weekend that Jeff and I had (we began to convert one zone on our sprinkler system to drip, which left both of us tired and achy) I didn’t feel like moving any large rocks.

But I now know those auctions are out there. And I’m keeping my eyes peeled for things I could use.

Maybe you should too. Just don’t bid against me. K?

A Few Random Things About Me- 51 thru 55

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:39:00 +0000

So, today I am officially 35 years old. Somehow I think I feel older than I should.

Makes me think it's a good time for another installment of 8,452 Things About Me.

55- I am a storage whore. And I will drag home from the curb just about any bookcase, cubbies or shelving-type piece of furniture that looks like it might help organize any of our crap.

54- I cannot stand it when I’m under the covers and someone else sits on the bed on top of the covers. Drives me fracking bonkers.

53- I majored in molecular biology in college. So, yah, Joey gets a lot of science in her homeschool curriculum. This explains why, when her older sister Kenzie was complaining about the high-school standardized testing and how she and most of her friends didn't know what asexual reproduction was, Joey did.

52- If I need to type more than 2 numbers in a row, I use the ten-key pad, not the numbers at the top of the keyboard. I am wicked fast on the ten-key. (Which is what years working in warehouses and managing databases will get you.)

51- I find speaking a foreign language (or even just speaking with a foreign accent) incredibly hot. When I saw Jamie Lee Curtis in a Fish Called Wanda, I thought, Glad I’m not the only one. Luckily, Jeff likes to learn random bits of foreign languages and he can also do a mean Russian accent. Sigh.

(Jeff was singing this song yesterday with the accent and I had to seriously restrain myself.)

A Little Help in the Kitchen

wendy@wisdomofthemoon.com (Wendy) — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:03:00 +0000

At least I didn't need to make breakfast.