A New Bathroom

I know its summer and all; birds are tweeting, flowers are blooming, wee bugs are out flying. But today I thought we should take a look inside as well as out.

My friend Tara lives in Portland, Oregon. I love it there and given the chance I'd go in a New York minute.

Tara is a talent in so many ways. She is an expert felter. She can do amazing things with a sewing machine and her gift giving talents are absolutely unmatched!

But she is also a great inspiration to me and the people around her. She has a magical heart and it shows in her little cottage. I am blessed to call her friend.

When she and her husband bought this house in the South West burrough of Portland, they knew they'd be doing some work.  Add to the list of her talents above, she is also an accomplished gardener and her interior eye is enviable!

The pictures below are first of her cottage. It's my dream home. You'll love it too. Next I'll do the "after" pics of the bathroom and finally, I'll end with before shots. They are all original photos taken by Tara.

Building more vegetable beds.

Look at this sumptuous little rain garden!

Look at that beautiful arch and the subway tile.

Medicine above, laundry below. And a deeper blue within.

Tangerine objet and a sweet little whale.

Before shots here: The difference is palpable.

Lots of storage but everything got lost in the back.

This storage spot was sacrificed to move the door.
See below.

Concatenation Mix - SRSLY!

I have a tiny bit of time between jobs. It's been forever since I made a mix and this is the concatenation of my efforts. I hope I get the job I want as the concatenation of my efforts there. See how I used "concatenation?"

Enjoy it! It's a smattering of mall jams and hipster finery all concatenated with a surprise ending! I really like that word.

Concatenation: SRSLY from poppiesandpaperbacks on 8tracks Radio.

Garlic Red Pepper Green Beans with Lemon Vinaigrette

My friends Suzanne and Brad have a ridiculously awesome garden. I am not one of those people who arbitrarily goes around humming the word awesome unless I mean it either. I mean this garden of theirs is EPIC.

Suzanne and I had our once a month outing this past weekend and she came bearing gifts. They grew mad amounts of pole beans, bush beans, green beans and we got to reap the benefits!

I opened the fridge today, and lo and behold as I stared at the bag of gifted green beans an easy and delicious recipe poured from my soul; a recipe even Thug Kitchen would be proud of.

If you're lucky enough to have a friend who brings you home grown varietals like these beans, you're lucky. If not, this recipe is equally delicious with store bought haricots.

Garlic Red Pepper Green Beans with Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 2 cups cleaned snapped green beans
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
• 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions

1. Clean, half and steam the beans.
2. Drain and cool beans, transfer to mixing bowl.
3. Crush garlic on beans.
4. Add red pepper flakes to beans.
5. Add the zest of the lemon to the beans.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk the juice of the lemon and the olive oil together.
7. Add salt and pepper.
8. Serve warm or cold - I prefer cold.

He's Crafty

My friend Rob or as you may know him, the brain behind Cockeyed, is a pretty crafty fella. I'll reserve the Beastie Boys song reference here, but only because it's about a she and Rob is in fact a "he."

At a recent visit to his house, I asked him about anything new he'd created. Somewhat dangerous territory, after all, Rob is up to cleverness with definitive frequency. After my innocent inquisition and not being prepared for what came next, he came out with an extraordinary homemade creation.

Without a pattern, and a relative novice on the sewing machine, he delineated the greatest laptop bag full of bells and whistles. He has a laptop with a 17 in. screen and as we are all generally aware of, it can be tricky to find a bag that suits a laptop of substance.

It has a front pocket for laptop accoutrements and the main pocket for the computer itself is lined with faux fur. It has a handy measured cross body nylon strap and the bag is made of eco-chic naugahyde complete with a velcro closure.

For more information, measurements and general directions, contact Rob at Cockeyed. This thing is so impressive that I think I might've shrieked with glee when he came out with it. Check it out.

Summer Sailstice

I was recently contacted by a representative for the Summer Sailstice to blog about this extraordinary event. It was started in San Francisco by John Arndt and has now grown into something magnificent.

Photo Credit: Abner Kingman

I agreed to write about the event having grown up in a very small town next to Mystic Seaport called Groton Long Point where I learned to sail on an 8 foot Seashell. Her name was Misty and she had the tiniest Jib you've ever seen. I raced her and had great success at the Conrad Sailing Camp. I learned to swim in the Atlantic and leaned to sail on the same sea.

My father single handedly restored the great Charles W. Morgan, an impressive old New England whaling ship. He spent the mornings in restoration and the afternoons sailing his own 22 foot Hobie Cat - the original Catamaran. He sailed "Fwoty" along the entire East Coast eventually anchoring in Florida where the boat capsized...my mother, 8 months pregnant with my baby brother, swam ashore for more hands to realign the boat properly in the water. Meanwhile my dad was stung to near paralysis by a Portuguese Man O' War...but that's another story....

We moved to California and I retired my sea legs to focus on my equestrian skills. But every summer I still went back to sail in Mystic Cove on bigger boats. My next vessel was a 15 foot Bluebird. It was twice the size and twice as fast. I had to recruit a first mate. Voila! My sister had a job next to me as I was skipper!

The event this year is on the 22nd of June, 2013 and had I not already committed to going to a wedding, I would be in the City by the Bay to hitch a ride on somebody's keel. I am pretty handy with a sail.

"Summer Sailstice is the global sailing holiday celebrated on the weekend closest to the summer solstice. This international event was founded in 2001 to connect the global sailing community in a fun, creative, multifaceted, multi-location sailing holiday.  Every year, Summer Sailstice connects over 19,000 sailors all over the world—cruisers, racers and recreational—to celebrate and showcase life under sail.  It has expanded to include participants from Asia, across the Americas and Europe."

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Seriously. Easy. Delicious. Fatless!

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
• 1 box cake mix (chocolate, vanilla, white - I used butter) 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix cake mix and pumpkin together.
3. Spoon batter into lined muffin tins. 
4. Bake for roughly 30 minutes.

Salted Peanut Butter Cocoa Torte

Here it is!

As you all know by now, I am addicted to Cookie Chips! I absolutely love them, so much so that I wrote the company and brazenly asked for a job (no one can say I don't have Chutzpah!). Alas, Joanne (the owner and CEO!!!!!) called me and said she would give a personal reference to her food broker who sells the Cookie Chips for Hannah Max Baking Company. As of now, you can get Cookie Chips at Safeway. If you have not tried the Cookie Chips yet, I highly recommend this recipe to get started or just go get a bag and take them on a picnic. I assure you they won't last the afternoon!

I made a Lemon Bread Pudding with the Original Cookie Chips and have now created this magnificent, ridiculous, character of delish which I call "Salted Peanut Butter Cocoa Torte." It sounds fancy and looks lovely and sophisticated but is very easy to make. Trust me, it's going to knock people's socks off!

Salted Peanut Butter Cocoa Torte

By: Gwen Akacin

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

1 3/4 Cup Graham Cracker crumbs

1/2 Cup Organic butter (melted)

1/4 Cup bakers sugar

Pie Filling:

1 1/2 Cups Organic Heavy Whipping Cream, Separated

1/4 Cup sugar

1/2 Cup Organic Milk

2 Cups all natural Peanut Butter

3 Envelopes unflavored gelatin

1 Can sweetened condensed milk

Pie Topping:

1 1/2 Cups  Organic Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 Bag Sea Salted Peanut Butter Cookie Chips

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 350.

2. Mix graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar in bowl. Shape the crust into the pan using the bottom of a cup. See that it's as even as possible.

3. Bake crust for 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven; set aside to cool.

4. Beat 3/4 cup whipping cream with a mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar until peaks are stiff.

5. In a medium sauce pan at medium low heat, combine milk, the remaining 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream, peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk until liquid in consistency and fully combined.

6. Add gelatin to peanut butter and whisk constantly until dissolved.

7. Fold peanut butter mixture into whipped cream until smooth.

8. Pour filling into crust and refrigerate until set about 1 hour.

9. In a mixer, combine whipping cream, sugar, vanilla extract and cocoa. Beat until stiff. 

10. Top cooled, set pie with cocoa whipped cream "frosting."

11. Crush whole bag Sea Salted Peanut Butter Cookie Chips with a rolling pin and sprinkle evenly on top of pie.