Cancer Connection Campout VI

Want to see us freeze our derrieres off on the Northampton Old Court House lawn for a good cause? Of course you do.  

It's time for Monte's Cancer Connection Camp Out, March 14, 2012. Garth, Jim Z and I have a goal of raising $1000 on behalf of the Hope and Olive tent. Will you donate*?

THANK YOU in advance for your support. Cancer Connection offers strategies and resources, free of charge, to people living with cancer, their families, and caregivers. Here is more information:  

Cancer Connection

Cancer Connection Campout VI

I’ve visited Monte and Garth on the courthouse lawn (the photo) but not participated. I'm kind of excited and am not really sure what I've gotten myself into. Stop by if you are in the area on the 14th! 

THANK YOU!

*Information regarding donations will be posted in the comments below this message on FaceBook for friends and family.

Closing Crabapple Vintage

I have closed my online vintage and handmade shops to spend more time interacting in person with people, projects, and work. I'm very grateful for the support I've received from other shop owners and customers in this fun and educational venture. Happy customers are just the best and connecting people with objects they love has been a treat.

I have many wonderful vintage and antique pieces that never made it into the shop. I may do a few flea markets or have a sale as part of a fundraiser for Monte's Camp Out for Cancer Connection. Actual details TBD.


A few of my favorite sold pieces:

Look for these on Mad Men Season Five.

A Bench Refreshed

This fab bench has been in our entryway for years. It's one of a few cast-offs from my in-laws former tenants. I just recovered it in some lovely upholstery fabric to match the blue, white and yellow in our freshly painted kitchen.

It is, in fact, fairly easy to recover a cushion, as the online tutorials will tell you. I found this tutorial to be the most helpful.

 Before

My in-laws had recovered it in bark cloth. Not my favorite but my FIL loved it and I'm guessing my MIL found it at a thrift or consignment shop. She has a good eye for treasures.

After

Hoping it would look less grungy over time, we decided to use the back side of the fabric because it was more blue than white.

 

Seat close-up

I'm very pleased with how it turned out and look forward to having a seat for friends or which ever of us is not cooking when we are in the kitchen together.

Terrifyingly Turquoise or Terrifically Turquoise?

Welcome to our bathroom. Last Friday it got a sweet new Marmoleum floor and on Sunday it got an impromptu coat of paint. The toilet was in the tub giving me easy access to a tight corner and I could not resist the temptation.

 

 I used Sherwin-Williams Freshwater, which is one shade lighter than the color (Briny) I am considering using to cover the wallpaper border. Freshwater is more intense and turquoise than I thought it would be. I'm a little overwhelmed by it and don't think it truly matches. BUT it's fresh, fun and pretty in the afternoon light. So, I'm choosing to love it.

Wallpaper close-up.

I like it and plan to leave it alone until it begins to peel itself off the wall.

   

Sauerkraut Pizza

A lunch experiment. A good one.

My husband loves discount food stores and little odds and ends are always turning up in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. There has been a box of brown rice pizza crust in the freezer from one of his outings and last night I made a delicious pizza with it (almost the same pizza as below but with dried tomatoes instead of fresh, no kraut, dried hot pepper flakes, and minced garlic). I decided to make another today and as I was pondering toppings Red Cabbage Sauerkraut from Real Pickles caught my eye. I was planning to add vinegar but decided to try a bunch of kraut instead. Turns out, it makes a delicious pizza topping! Crust was brushed with olive oil then topped with finely chopped, raw, curly kale, red cabbage sauerkraut, halved grape tomatoes, halved olives, pickled hot peppers, capers, and rosemary cheddar from the Northfield Mount Hermon Farm Program. YUM!

Freezing Garlic

Every year I say I'll puree and freeze half of the garlic we harvest and buy in the fall. And, every year I put it off, leaving what remains in February and March to shrivel and dry out in its papery shell. Today, I finally went to look up the proper way to puree and freeze garlic (with lots of oil, apparently) and found that instead I could just freeze the cloves, peeled or unpeeled, and that is what I did. I'm hoping the VegKitchen folks know what they are talking about. It should defrost a little squishy but with good flavor. I imagine it will be somewhat like using frozen ginger.

The remains of our garlic from the fall. 

Some of it was starting to sprout.

 

Some of it looked fine but once I split the cloves I found it was sprouting.

 

Others had already started to brown and dry out. The other side of this clove was all that dark brown color -ick!

 

The garlic we'd stored in an open paper bag still had the skin firmly attatched so I did not fully peel those cloves. The garlic stored open, although in a dark pantry, was easier to peel. I suspect it was drying out faster than the garlic in the bag, but they were also different varieties.

 

There was some that had bad spots but the cloves were big enough to salvage. These I cleaned up, minced, and stored in oil for cooking today and tomorrow.

I think I caught it just in time. I took over an hour to peel them all and was a rather boring thing to do but I'm glad we got to them in time. It's too sad to find them inedible.

Roasted Chickpeas - Pinned and Made

I wanted to love these. I really, really did. They are crunchy, but they are also dry and rather bland. I could see them used in place of croutons for a nice crunch on a salad, if you use a flavorful dressing. They were so easy to make that I might try them again with more oil and different spices, like minced rosemary. Maybe.

Roasted Spiced Chickpeas

photo from Whole Living

UPDATE: I have to admit, they do make a good crunchy snack. I'm going to keep revamping this recipe until I get it where I want it. Crunch, crunch, crunch.