#11 Same Kind of Different As Me

Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent.  
I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down.  Another book for my book club - someone has good taste.  I was really captivated by the characters (though they are actually real-life people they came off as characters because of their unique circumstances) and enjoyed the way the authors arranged the chapters, alternating between voices (same as in The Help).  Although my one negative about that technique was that some of the chapters did not alternate, which threw me off for the first few paragraphs of that chapter.  This book centered on faith, friendship, and death, and it got me thinking about my marriage and how precious my time is with Nathan.  It is pretty much inevitable that one of us will pass away before the other. And although "life" (dishes, dirty diapers, having to be somewhere on time, etc.) sometimes gets in the way, I really want to try to cherish every moment that we have together.

#10 If You Could See Me Now

If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern.
This book was not as good as Ahern's other book, PS I Love You.  In the end I wanted a little more for the main character, and the plot was a stretch, an adult imaginary friend that she and her adopted nephew could only see helping her through her tough times - Really?  But I got out of it what I wanted -  a quick read over Christmas vacation.

#9 The Girl with the Pearl Earring

Book #2!  Just finished this book for my book club.  While I usually enjoy more modern fiction, I was captivated by this historical novel of a maid and her life working in a painter's house in 17th century Holland.  I'm not too keen on writing book reports, so I will not use this blog to summarize the book (there are far too many already on the web).  However, I would recommend it if you are looking for a quick read.  I would also recommend checking out the book's website to view the actual paintings that are described in the book.  I imagined them while reading and then was able to see what Vermeer actually produced.

I was even more inclined to read the book faster because I accidentally checked out a large print version from the library.  After going to the gym with it, I realized large print is so much easier to read while working out.  This mistake was both good for my waste-line and my reading!

The Contemporary Science Center

This is a short video giving you some insight into the Contemporary Science Center.  I am currently working here as an educator.  Over the last few months I have been training and learning the ropes, and in January I start teaching full-time filling in for the current education director (Alice, seen in the video) while she is on maternity leave.  I have really enjoyed my experience there so far and think that it is a great organization.  The goal of the Center is to present an authentic experience in real science through day long field studies developed in collaboration with a local bio-tech or pharmaceutical company.  During these field-trips students follow the narrative arc of solving a problem that the companies are currently facing like developing a drug or combating crop destruction by the corn root-worm through genetically modifying corn.

Fallon

While I don't watch late night TV, I find myself watching more clips of Jimmy Fallon's show than any other. Love his impression of Neil Young. Hadn't seen him slow jam the news before, but this one was worth it:

Santa

Have you been

Naughty

or

Nice?

Elizabeth thinks she is a dog.

Pancake does not approve.

#8 Quilted pot holders

I have found another use for my scraps of fabric: quilted pot holders   This was so fun and easy that I already have plans for making a whole set!

#7 a visit to the Nasher Museum of Art

I am always looking for new things to do for Elizabeth and I especially in the early evenings before Nathan comes home.  It seems like this is the time that we both begin to tire of being with each other all day.  I was so happy to find that the Nasher Museum of Art has free admission on Thursdays after 5pm.  I thought the museum would appeal to her investigative nature, and I would enjoy it as well.

We arrived right at 5, and Elizabeth quietly viewed all the art work from her stroller.  She was a little hesitant at first, like she always is.  Instead of looking at the art she began by checking out the Duke students who were clearly there for class credit and enjoyed looking at the skylights.  When we entered their permanent collection she was taken by the extremely large (~5ft) and life-like sculpture of a man's head.  She stared at it for at least 3 minutes trying to take him all in.  I am always intrigued by this sculpture. I was really glad that she was not afraid of him since his brow is furrowed and he looks a little mean.

We then visited their exhibit on The Vorticists.  To me, it looked like cubism.  She begin to point to some of the artwork and "talk" about what she was seeing.  I think the bright colors and strong lines were very interesting to her.  She was really taken by a sculpture of a small fawn.  She pointed at it and was clearly more intrigued by it than by any other piece she saw in this exhibit.

After that, Nathan joined us and we entered an exhibit call "The Record" - the first museum exhibition to explore the culture of vinyl records within the history of contemporary art. The artists used vinyl records in interesting ways to make art work.  They also integrated music and a lot of reinterpretations of album covers.  Elizabeth especially liked the piece where they had stuffed birds as the needle for the record player and the albums were of bird calls. She didn't get the irony but did enjoy seeing the life-like birds up close.  She also enjoyed wearing the 3D glasses that allowed you to see a life-sized 3D image of a recording studio.  Isn't she cute?

Cooking... Sweet and Sour Beet Saute

The beets in the local grocery have been tempting me, and I finally gave in and purchased a large bunch.  We chopped off the tops for salad greens and washed the roots.  I was surprised that a little beet can go a long way!  We boiled a few to use in salads but still had several roots left.  So we decided to make a sweet and sour beet saute and worked from this recipe. 

2T olive oil
2 beets peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 onions sliced
2 mashed garlic cloves
1/4 cup raisins
2T honey
2T lemon juice
1T OJ
2T soy sauce

Heat oil in skillet; stir-fry the beets, onions, garlic, and raisins for several minutes over medium-high heat until onion is brown. Add the remaining ingredients; lower heat. Toss well to combine. Cover and steam until the vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes adding more OJ or water if too much evaporation occurs.

Decking the halls - Toddler style

During the last two months Elizabeth has gotten into EVERYTHING! When she is downstairs we close off all the doors and allow her only in the main rooms- the kitchen, dining room and living room. We had to move our couch to block the stairs so we don't spend all of our time chasing her up them. We locked all the kitchen cabinets except one which she has successfully found and tries to open at least 5 times every day. We moved all extraneous furniture and even our plants upstairs since she started to topple them over and munch on them like they were crackers. We finally thought we had child proofed the house.

Except now it is Christmas, and I really must have a tree. We discussed our options and decided upon a small tree on our TV stand. To make it more secure we tied it to the wall with fishing line. Here's hoping that we can keep it this nice for the next month.

No longer a baby...

Today Elizabeth is a toddler!

Elizabeth took her first unassisted step on Monday, November 22 in front of both of her parents while she was visiting Nathan's office for lunch. Today, November 28 - one day after her first birthday, she has decided that she is a toddler. Our little girl is growing up!


Toddling from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

#6 First Birthday Button Onesy

For Elizabeth's first birthday party with our friends this weekend, I made Elizabeth this little shirt.  I ironed on a cut-out "1" and then added buttons of different colors. She seemed to like it. And as you will see from another post, she hardly got a crumb on it, so I think she will be able to wear it on her actual birthday.

#4 Allen Toussaint Concert

So this is not a craft, but it fits into my description of "artsy"...  

On November 7, Nathan and I went to see the famous jazz pianist, Allen Toussaint with special guests Nicholas Payton & the Joe Krown Trio feat: Joe Krown, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, & Russell Batiste.  The whole first act (~1hr) featured only the "special guests", and I didn't think that they were that special.  I was very close to asking Nathan if we could go home, but I am so glad we stuck around.  During the second act they rolled out a grand piano, and Toussaint wowed the audience.  He was very chatty which I always enjoy.  I love to hear back stories about inspiration and context of the musician work. It also gives you a little insight to who the person really is. Toussaint is really interesting and his work is great.  I can't believe that he has a catalog of over 600 songs! 

Here is a sample of him playing Southern Nights

Cooking... Moroccan Curried Couscous

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup raisins
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can of chick peas
1 cup couscous
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 lemon grated
1.5 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Combine chicken broth, raisins, chick peas, curry powder and cumin in medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in couscous and green onions. Cover and let sit 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork; cool. In a small bowl combine lemon peel, lemon juice and olive oil; blend until thoroughly mixed. Toss cooled couscous with dressing to taste.

Adapted from this. 

Cooking... Minted Pea Purée

Inspired by a dish from our dinner at Pop's on Friday, we made minted pea puree.  It was a little like baby food - ok a lot like baby food - but had good flavor.  To lower the calories and fat I left out the butter and only put in enough milk/cream to make it tasty.

Minted Pea Purée
*three 10-ounce packages frozen peas, thawed (we only had 2 bags and used them frozen)
*1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
*3 tablespoons half-and-half, or to taste (a mix of milk and heavy cream to taste)
*3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits (didn't use)

In a large saucepan combine the peas with 1/4 cup water and the mint leaves and boil the mixture, covered, for 4 minutes, or until the peas are tender. Drain the mixture well and in a food processor purée it with the half-and-half, the butter, and salt and pepper to taste. The purée may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated.

$10 worth of fabric

On Sunday the Scrap Exchange was having their bi-annual fabric sale. Elizabeth and I went and picked up a big bag of fabric remnants for only ten dollars! I put them on our kitchen floor to remove the tags before washing them and snapped this picture with Pancake to give some perspective to how much we actually got! Some of the pieces are quite large and are really sweet designs like a few from Laura Ashley. I hope to make some outfits for Elizabeth. If I had more time or I didn't have a baby strapped to my front in the Bjorn, then I might have gotten a second bag. Oh well, there is always next spring - and I know that I will probably not get to all of this in the next 6 months (or ever!) anyways.

#3 Heart shaped sachet with cross-stitched bird

I decided I wanted to do a sampler for Elizabeth for her room, but first I wanted to do a quick craft to make sure I was up for cross-stitching a whole project.  After checking out several sampler books from the library, I was inspired to make this little pillow as a Christmas ornament. 

Baking... Chocolate Pate and Raspberry Coulis

For Nathan's birthday I made a chocolate pate with raspberry coulis.  It was so simple and extremely delicious if I do say so myself.  Imagine a dessert that is a mix between a fudge and a mousse.  It was super rich but still light.  And... it only took about 20 minutes (maybe less) from start to finish!!

Chocolate Pate

• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Whipped cream

1. Line 8 x 4-inch baking pan with plastic wrap. 
2. Combine 1/4 cup whipping cream and egg yolk in small bowl.
3. Combine morsels, corn syrup and butter in heavy-duty medium saucepan. Melt over lowest possible heat. When morsels begin to melt, remove from heat; stir. Return to heat for a few seconds at a time, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Add cream mixture to saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Let cool to room temperature.
4. Beat remaining cream and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. Pour into prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or freeze 3 hours.

Raspberry Coulis

• 1 bag of frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup sugar

1. Put ingredients into a sauce pan and boil until raspberries break-up and sugar melts ~10 min.
2. Press through a stainer to get rid of all the seeds.  It should look more liquid than a jelly, but not too watery.

I got my recipe from here:  http://allwomenstalk.com/15-ingredients-and-directions-of-chocolate-pate-with-cranberry-coulis-receipt/

#2 Happy Birthday Banner

While thinking about what I want to do for Elizabeth's 1 year birthday, I decided I wanted to make a banner to hang from the wall like these. I've seen a few other people do it, but I swear, I've been thinking about doing it for a while :)  I guess these are the new "in" things for birthday parties.

I had all the materials - my trusty box of fabric, Steam a Seem to fuse the letters onto the flags, and ribbon.  My sewing machine has been broken since early August, and this was a great inspiration to go get the part so I could start sewing again.  Twenty-five dollars later, I had a functioning sewing machine and starting cutting out the flags.  I ironed the ribbon in half and sewed the flags to it.  I cut out the letters and ironed them on.  I was trying to get it done yesterday, because today is Nathan's birthday and I hung it up last night after he went to bed to celebrate.  I'm a little disappointed at how the H and the Y flags look with the letters; I was hoping they would stand out more... oh well. You can still read it, and I think it looks cute.

These were two great projects to start out with.  They were very easy and quick which just inspires me to do more!  Any suggestions for my next "act of 30"?