Four Favorite Fragrances

Victoria's Secret Amber Romance

Lush Karma

Lush Vanillary

La Vanila Laboratories Vanilla Grapefruit

 

 

5 second shots

Is each shot given five seconds of consideration? Or only a second each and there are five? Regardless, here are five low-quality photos of rather spectacular subjects: delicious salad for two last night and two kitties.

monterey jack added to romaine, spinach, avocado, tomato, carrot, celery, cucumber, red pepper, dried cranberries, dried apple, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and balsamic vinaigrette

 

side of pita with spinach & artichoke cream cheese and rosemary and basil

 

little cat

 

 

little cat

 

 

 

little cat bugging big cat

 

Vanilla Update

The vanilla extract has turned a beautiful deep amber color.

I purchased amber-colored Boston Round bottles from Specialty Bottle. The bottles are very reasonably priced and high quality. Shipping is a bit steep unless you’re ordering a few, but they arrived in a small box protected in a larger box full of packing peanuts, and each bottle was separated with corrugated cardboard. I can’t imagine them breaking during shipping based on the quality of the bottles and care taken during packaging. I also purchased two tea storage tins with hinged latches which run just under $2 (it seems most specialty tea tins I see in stores run closer to $10!). I’m also impressed with their quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I poured vanilla extract in three 2-oz bottles and two 4-oz bottles and added a few vanilla beans to each. I might add a ribbon, but otherwise they’re ready to go to their new homes!

How to make vanilla extract

My fingertips smell delightfully like vanilla.

Step 1: Obtain vodka

Easy – I bought Sobieski, which I was told was decent-tasting for its $11.95 pricetag.

Step 2: Obtain vanilla beans

I conducted a thorough search of local specialty grocery stores and found, at best, 3 Madagascar vanilla beans for $9.99. I needed 25 beans so I purchased Madagascar Bourbon beans from Vanilla Products USA via eBay. I received 55 Madagascar Bourbons and 10 Tahitian for $17.05 including shipping.

Step 3: Slice vanilla beans lengthwise to expose caviar

Step 4: Place into bottle

Step 5: Repeat

Step 6: Remove excess vodka displaced by vanilla

Step 7: Cap, shake, and photograph before storing in cool dark place. Wait 6 months, shaking occasionally.

 

PS – This is a tattoo placed on beans to identify its plantation.

Vanilla Bean (too many links, not enough pictures)

scary vanilla from Mexico

I love vanilla.. actual vanilla, not default plain ice cream.

Breyers Vanilla Bean ice cream

I also love hazelnuts, macadamias, almond-infused scents, and nearly anything nutty. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate with 30% hazelnuts is one of my favorite bars.

I add vanilla extract to pancakes, jams, and nearly anything I bake.

I’ve breezed past a few posts about making vanilla extract, but it wasn’t until this one a few days ago that I realized how easy it is!

I bought my bottle of vodka last night (I was recommended Sobieski by the friendly folks over at Friar Tuck: cleaner tasting AND $11.95), and I have 35 Madagascar Bourbon beans and 10 Tahitian beans on their way to my house.

How perfect are these labels?

And these little bottles? Perfectly giftable.

I’ll also love to make the Vanilla Syrup recipe I linked to nearly a year ago!

Finally, once the vanilla pods have left their last bits of flavor behind, I’ll recycle the little nibs into Vanilla Sugar. :)

I’ll be sure take pictures.

If I had a bunch of money I would buy these somewhat reasonably-priced items

 

Lucky Brand Holly Skirt, $31.68

Lucky Brand Ikat Printed Jingo Wrap, $45.05

Jessica Simpson, $34.80 (ouch)

Frye Paige Loop Pull On, $397.95 (double ouch!)

Steve Madden Kobbe, $29.98

Steve Madden Karmma, $35.97

Steve Madden Dedee, Black Suede, $39.98

or taupe?

maybe blush

 

I’m hoping by posting these here it will diminish my desire.

What’s too low for Illinois anyway?

If you don’t live in Illinois and haven’t tracked the drama following Governor Rod Blagojevich’s dismissal from office, it has continued in the most recent election. The race is stuck at Quinn 1,721,208, Brady 1,701,647 (difference of less than 20,000 in 3.5 million cast) according to the latest report I’ve seen. Yesterday the margin was closer to statistically insignificant 8,000.

We might have an official governor-elect soon but until we do I propose the following:

I’m an Illinois Governor…  Get Me Out of Here!

The Illinois Executive Mansion, home to (most of) the Illinois governors past is a 16-room house and the perfect set for the reality show featuring the dramatic interactions between Illinois’s new co-governor-elects and their families a la Real World.

What do you think?

• Illinois needs revenue.
• Illinois politicians need accountability.
• Reality TV needs something new (and realistic?).
• Illinois tax-payers need to feel like the state is in capable hands (call-in votes on bills?).
• This could be the actual definition of bipartisan leadership.
• Blago needs something to do until his retrial date is set (think the goofy neighbor that doesn’t actually have a home).
• George Ryan (former governor, currently serving time) would appreciate visitors to the pension-supported “retirement community”.

I think it’s brilliant. Besides, what’s too low for Illinois?

Putting Up Peppers

The threat of a soft frost earlier this week prompted a quick rescue operation of the mature peppers. All were picked, washed, halved or quartered, seeded, and frozen on cookie sheets. They’re then transferred to resealable baggies to take up less space in the freezer. Bell peppers don’t need to be blanched for freezing. They’ll be added to soups and stir-fries and the base for stuffed peppers throughout the year.

Apple Dumplings

I went hiking on Saturday with some friends and somehow got sucked into a small town apple festival along the way. While there weren’t many unadulterated apples to be found, the festival was teeming with booths featuring gems such as these:

Of course there was also the trio of middle-aged women singing uninspired Christian lyrics to a CD. “God’s good! Yes he is! Sooo good! Absolutely, positively good! God’s good! Not just some of the time, but allllllll the time! God’s good!”

A couple of the girls split a plate of apple dumplings. They were literally balls of dough encasing whole peeled & cored apples. Tasty but heavy.

Fast-forward to Sunday

I successfully made tasty pumpkin pancakes on a whim and was feeling a bit like I had baking Midas touch. My bag of apples from last weekend’s apple picking adventure stared me down as I opened the cookbook to this:

Hmm.. why yes, I do have 6 Jonathan apples and a bit of shortening somewhere around here.

So I made apple dumplings:

I used 1/2 cup shortening instead of 2/3 and half the sugar.

They were delicious. :) The apples turned to a delightful mush and the dough remained relatively light. I prefer mine.