I made a batch of these as a birthday gift for a friend.
It’s so easy! You just follow the directions to make the cookies on the back of your favorite chocolate chips (mine are Ghirardelli) then go crazy with the mix-ins!
I used peanut butter chips, chocolate chips and pretzels.
Next time toffee bits and hazelnuts?
YUM!
No, it’s not some infomercial gadget! It’s just a simple technique that really works, I tried it last night.
Amazing!
A tip for those of us without strong meaty chef paws: place the garlic head under a towel and use your body weight to assist you in smashing it.
As you know, I love the internet. I this series I’ll introduce you to the bloggers, vloggers and sites that inspire me.
Meet Heather Armstrong aka: Dooce
She started her blog years ago and gained many followers with her irreverent style and shocking honesty about her life as a single girl living in Los Angles. All went swimmingly until she wrote about her employer and a few co-workers. She was fired from her job in LA. She was, as we say now in the blogosphere, “Dooced”
Fast forward 10 years, she’s still writing and continues to be the most talked about blogger on the internet.
Heather inspires me because she’s one of those rare individuals who turn her own adversity into lessons we can all learn from.
I could go on and on, but I won’t bore you with my rendition, go see her blog for yourself.
Whether it’s her honest assessment of motherhood, her work with Every Mother Counts, or the hilarious recounting of her life and career in Utah, I know you’ll love Heather too!
This is a great way to use up all those summer season veggies that won’t last for long.
Vegetable Risotto
1 1/2 cups Risotto/Arborio rice
6 cups Chicken or Vegetable stock
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Small Onion (finely chopped)
1 cup White Wine
1 cup Carrot (thinly sliced)
1/2 cup Fresh Corn Kernels
1/2 cup Chinese Peas (chopped into thin diagonal strips)
1 package frozen Artichokes
1 tablespoon fresh Thyme
1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt & Pepper
Heat up the chicken stock in a large sauce pan and set aside.
In a large heavy bottomed saute pan heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the diced onion, cook until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and thyme.
Add the rice and stir to ensure it gets coated thoroughly in the oil. Toast the rice for about 3 minutes.
Add the wine and stir in the carrots. When the wine is all absorbed you can start to add the stock one ladle full at a time.
Laddle the hot stock into the rice by half cup increments, stir and wait until all the stock is absorbed until you add more. Continue with this process until the rice is fully cooked and tender. About 20-30 minutes.
You might not need all the stock, I always give the rice a taste every 10 or so minutes to test for doneness.
Right before you add the last couple of ladles full of stock add the rest of the veggies, you want them warmed through but still crisp. Lastly, stir in the parmesan cheese.
I love book safes! They’re so clever and cool, I love giving them as gifts. It comes as no surprise that I’ve always wanted to learn to make one myself. I’ve lost the link to the site where I got the instructions from (of course) but I’ll do my best to explain.
You will need:
1 Book (at least 2 inches thick)
White Glue
Water
Sponge brush
Parchment paper
Weights (for drying time)
Exacto Knife
Box Cutter
Tweezers
“Stash”
First find a book that is large enough and thick enough to be carved out. Next, mix up a solution of 50% white glue and 50% water.
Saving out a few pages in the front of the book, paint the glue solution onto the outside of the pages of the book. The glue will seep into the book about 1/2 inch and once dry will provide a hard shell to carve into. I glued the back cover of the book to the pages to add stability.
Place a piece of parchment paper between the glued portion of the book and the pages you wish to be loose. Allow to dry 8-24 hours. I weighted my book so the moisture of the glue wouldn’t make the paper expand. (Anyone who’s dropped a book into their bath knows what I’m talking about)
After drying, the pages should be rock hard at the edges and still loose at the center. Pencil a line about a half-inch to an inch in then, carefully cut along that line with an exact-o knife or box knife. I carved it out about an inch. Yes, it makes a giant mess and the corners needed a lot of digging and picking. On retrospect I think I should have maybe gone a little further in before cutting.
Turned out quite nice I must say. Now I have a place for my “stash”… ahem.
Dear America is a photo project to celebrate the launch of the new online Zara store. If you’re of a fashiony bent this news was squee worthy, however, I think this photo gallery is more lovely.
The Burning House is a website that asks: If your house were burning down, what would you take with you. Aside from love ones that is, we know that part.
All ages and countries are represented. It’s fascinating to me, it’s a sort of modern anthropology study.
From practical to sentimental, so many people choose similar items.
What would you take?
My Son was now safely and easily in Denmark. The carry-on luggage idea worked well as he didn’t need to fetch his bag and could just breeze through customs. He was all set to have a nice visit.
One of the things that adult travelers don’t have to think about with is whether to bring their credit or debt card. It’s generally agreed upon that you’ll get the latest exchange rate plus most credit and debit cards are accepted abroad.
But for our teen traveler this was more complex as he’s not allowed to have a debit account until he is 18. Gift cards like the refillable kind you can get here in the U.S. don’t work abroad, and sending him traveling alone with great gobs of cash wasn’t an option for obvious reasons.
The solution, after a bit of digging, was to get him a BillMyParents card. It’s a refillable card that works internationally. He could use it as a debit or credit card, and at any ATM. The fees are small and the service allows you and your teen to check spending online or receive text/emails alerts if the card balance gets under a certain amount.
He told me when he got back the card really saved his bacon when they ran out of cash while out and about in Copenhagen.
(Pat on the back for Mom)
We did send him with a bit of cash and he exchanged it at the airport when he got there. His girlfriend knew where the booth was and helped him with translations. Had she not been on hand to help we would have exchanged his Dollars for Krone here before he left.
It’s easy to do. Just ask at your bank or call the main branch and ask for the details. They might need a up to a week to get the foreign currency ordered, so don’t leave it until the last moment.
I think that covers it. My son had a great time in Denmark and made some great memories!
If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below.
Cozy sweaters, hot cocoa, bonfires, colorful scarves…I’m ready for Fall!
Photo via Sartorialist
Photo via totokaelo.com
Photo via fossil.com
Photo via Pinterest.com
And for a special treat, 100 years of fashion in 100 seconds!
When last we left our intrepid teen adventurer and his anxiety stricken Mother, we had figured out the air travel, passports, talked about getting a temporary international cell plan, and which stalking…er, tracking apps were my favorites.
Which brings us to packing. Those who have read this blog for a while know of my past packing disasters and the effort I’ve made to reform my ways. One of the advantages of having male offspring is they are uncomplicated creatures, regarding fashion anyway. It’s jeans and t-shirts. Boom, done! He allowed one addition, that of a dress shirt for a fancy(ish) dinner he had planned for he and his girl. (AW!)
We decided it would make it easier going through customs, and he could skip the baggage carousel altogether if he just took carry on luggage. So we bought him an inexpensive 20 inch roller suitcase for clothes and he had a back pack for his laptop and books. He had access to laundry facilities so he only took 5 days worth of clothes.
That’s my best packing light tip. Always figure out where the laundromat is or stay in an apartment that has a washer/dryer.
For toiletries he only took his 311 kit and went shopping when he ran out of something.
Buy a plug adapter kit.
All the countries have different plug-in portals because the household voltage is different. If you by a kit like this you’ll be all set for several countries. The guide in the lid will tell you which one you need plus there are online guides you can consult.
All of Kellen’s chargers for his phone, computer and electric razor ran between 100 and 240 volts so he could get away with using just the smaller country specific adapter. Had they been been just 110 volts he would have used the large transformer plus the adapter.
Here’s where you can read on your appliance charger:
Well, I’ve been yammering on about plugs and packing so I think, to keep things tidy; I’ll talk about money conversion apps and other money related solutions in Part 3.
Stay tuned!
Kathleen Rear 