Steamed Mussels in Wine

My friend was kind enough to haul me out of bed a few Sundays ago so that we could go check out the new farmers market. I am glad I went, because the selection was great. In addition to picking up some grocery staples, I found myself standing in front of the Aquaculture stand totally mesmerised. I picked up a 2 pound bag of mussels for ten dollars.

I brought home my mussels and scrubbed them off with a soft bristle brush. Then I placed them into a colander covered with a damp cloth and slipped a bowl underneath to catch the excess water.



I made a broth of butter, thyme, garlic, onions, lemon and white wine, plus a dash of red pepper. Once it was boiling, I threw in the mussels for about 6 minutes.



After the mussels had finished steaming, I threw in some browned andouille and roasted some potatoes into the broth with some parsley.





We sloshed the whole mess into big bowls and scooped up the broth with crispy warm French bread.

Halloween Party

I totally lagged on getting these up, but the party rocked.








We had tacos, and beer and a bunch of other yummy stuff.



It was our best year yet.



I am already planning next year.

iZombie

Just another reason to love Long Beach.

Zombie Walk 2010.

Invitation embellishments

I decided to embellish my store-bought invitations bit before they were sent out. I embossed them with a spider stamp and used the circular labels from Paper Source. 





They turned out quite nice.

Creepy wreath

This was an easy Halloween craft project. As soon as I received the October issue of Living, I knew this was something I had to make. All you need is a grape vine wreath, hot glue gun, some black acrylic and spray paint, spanish moss (optional) and some creepy crawly plastic toys. I purchased everything at Michaels.

I hot glued the moss to the wreath and then spraypainted the whole thing with flat black paint.Then I painted the bugs and spiders with black acrylic paint.



I hot glued the spiders and bugs to the wreath, and wove the snakes in.



I am really happy with the results. I think it is a subtle, yet very creepy decoration for the front door.

It is time...

The invitations have been ordered:

the decorations are coming out:




creepy crafting has commenced:



IT IS TIME FOR HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

"What flower would you like to be?"

"I don't know. One of these maybe."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because they're all alike."
"But they're not! Look, see, some are smaller, some are fatter. Some grow to the left, some to the right. Some, even, have lost some petals. All kinds of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world's sorrow comes from people who are this yet, allow themselves to be treated as that."

urban homesteading

Lately I have been looking again at generations past, for inspiration in functionality and frugality...

I'm using homemade deodorant:

and its the best stuff I have ever used.

I've also been air drying my laundry:

and clearly I am not the only person feeling notstaligc about my clothes line-

from this Washington Post article:

"Sunshine is the single most powerful natural resource we have," one Australian friend said. "Why should we dig up fossil fuels to dry our laundry when we have a renewable source that costs nothing?" 
 
the "right to dry"

up next.... homemade underwear. 

Bailey rolls her eyes at me.

Island fever

Maybe it is because I really need a vacation, but I have been thinking about Hawaii a lot this past week.


I miss the whales, the rain, and the beaches.


I especially long for the delicious food we ate--I really love Hawaiian cooking. It is such a wonderful blend of so many ethnic flavors. My favorite Hawaiian cookbook is by Sam Choy, which I found at a bookstore. Though I have never eaten at his restaurant, I really like the dishes in the book. They are decadent, but fairly simple to make.

 

For dinner, I decided to make a plate lunch; one of my favorite meals. The Mister had never had one before our trip to Maui, and now he is a loyal fan.



For our version, we chose to make a dual meal of chicken katsu and teriyaki beef; served with macaroni salad and coconut rice.

it was a nice weekend.

I found some awesome treasures for me.



and these killer vintage shirts for the Mister.



I tended to my garden.



I read a few chapters from this book.

I roasted a chicken for Saturday supper.
(I didn't take a photo since you know what a roasted chicken looks like. Trust me, it was very tasty.)

caught up on our favorite show.

it was nice. I need another day..

bread and other things.

Bread has always been one of those things on my culinary list that I really wanted to try. I have made several haphazard attempts to make my own bread and failed every time, so I decided to put that goal on hold for a while...



Then a few weeks ago, I bought this book, after hearing great reviews about it over here. The book's photographs look amazing, and it presents an easy approach to baking your own bread. I was excited to see if this method would produce better results.



I made a batch of the first recipe in the book, known as the Boule or basic dough. Like the book suggests, I bought a large plastic food storage container, and mixed all the ingredients right in the bucket. I let everything rise for a few hours and stuck it in the fridge.




The next day, I was super excited to make a loaf. However, the day got the best of me and somehow I never got around to making the bread. Instead, I flipped through the book and decided to use the dough to make pizza. I flattened a ball onto a peel and topped it with tomato paste, cheese and some veggies.




After 12 minutes, I got this...



smoked mozzarella. caramelized onions. roasted red peppers. bacon.



jesus christ. it was good. After 20 minutes of moaning and licking the plates, we officially declared that homemade pizza is superior to all others. The book has already been worth the purchase- just for that one dinner.

what were eating.

In a nutshell, we're kinda eating a lot of the same stuff over and over- not because we are in a funk, but because we have a good mix of recipes and they are pretty tasty.





I have really gotten my hummus making skills down now, so it seems like every weekend there is some dip- either roasted red pepper variety or a cilantro version. It is so damn easy to make and it is delicious the second and third day.



We cannot keep our hands off the guacamole either. The weather is warm and the guacamole just seems to hit the spot lately....



I remade these kick ass ribs. The sauce is delish!



Hopefully this weekend we will be ready for some new recipes!