YUM! YUM! YUM! I am still trying to use up all that tart and delicious in season rhubarb here in rainy Seattle, and after exhausting a huge majority of strawberry rhubarb combos, I decided to go with tropical fruit. June weather is just plain depressing around here, since we don't really see temperatures above 65 until after July 4th, so pineapple is the perfect tropical treat to lift our impatient spirits. In the midst of boiling down the rhubarb, I realized that I was OUT of sugar. Unheard of with tart rhubarb dessertness, so I opted for some honey to improvise. Man, it ended up sooooooo delightful.
First, chop about 2 stalks of rhubarb into one inch pieces and put in a medium saucepan. Add about 1/4 cup of water.
Boil this over medium heat until it gets pretty chunky and starts to soften. Add about a cup of finely diced fresh pineapple.
Boil until the rhubarb is super soft, and blend together using an immersion blender. You can use a regular blender here too, but if you don't have an immersion blender GO buy one. They are SO amazing.
Stir in 3 Tablespoons of honey, until the honey is completely melted. Add about a 1 and 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Let cool completely.
Pour this rhubarby pineapply delight into your popsicle set
Add the lids (or popsicle sticks) and freeze overnight.
Wiggle the cicles out of the popsicle set and eat up! I was super excited about these straw/spout things on my popsicle set, but they didn't serve any purpose at all. Hmmmmm......
Popsicles are such a great way to use up extra fruit from produce bins, or enjoy a healthy and unprocessed at home treat! I actually had a ton of leftover juicy goodness, so I added the rest to some ice trays for some popsicle ice cubes (utilized later with a boozy cocktail recipe I'll be sharing soon). Check out my recipe for pineapple rhubarb caribbean rum, or check out more tasty recipes here.
Enjoy!
OK, what chick out there doesn't have some adorable flat black lace-up shoes, that are in DIRE need of a pick me up? No chick my friends, no chick! The easiest solution: add some bright white laces! I actually decided to go with some white ribbon rather than real shoe laces, to add that extra cuteness factor to my worn in shoes.
Here are my shoes PRE jazzing:
Very cute with the black ribbon, but if you look close up they are getting pretty old and drab:
Just pull those old laces out, and use them as a measuring tool for cutting your white ribbon. You may want to cut just a smidge longer than your old laces, because ribbon can fray pretty quickly when lacing through some teeny holes.
Lace up your shoes and VOILA! You've got jazzed up adorable shoes.
I love the contrast of the black and the bright white, but this is really a great way to easily change the look of any lace up shoe. Try adding some turquoise to some lace up white shoes, or some red ric-rac to some gray shoes. The possibilities are endless here. Check out more crafty ideas here.
Have a great day friends.
Hello Sunday morning. How I love you. I love Sunday, June 24th for allowing me to relax, enjoy my coffee, read my magazines, cuddle with my pup, and lounge in pajamas. Although I am finished with school, I've got an egagement party to plan! I know it's been 5 months since I got engaged, but geez louise I've been crazy busy. Also, somehow every weekend from now until the end of August is booked. This Sunday morning is a much needed few hours of escape. Now for some life according to my camera:
This last one is my fiance making goofy looking grins with his 3-d glasses on at Prometheus (which I super liked by the way!)
Anyways...... coming up this week: popsicles, fabric covered pots, spiced up shoes, granola bars, and delish cocktails. Enjoy your Sunday!
I am soooooo ready for summer my friends. I've been dreaming of pina-coladas, mai tais, mojitos, oh sheesh the list goes on! It's my first week out of school (YESSSSSSSSS!) and I couldn't think of a better way to treat myself than to make my own homemade infused booze. We still have a sh**load of rhubarb left (expect more recipes!) and are trying to think of ways to use the stuff up. I made some pineapple rhubarb honey popsicles (recipe to come in a few days) and some pineapple rhubarb caribbean rum!
Here's how:
First, gather your ingredients:
pineapple, rhubarb, rum. Not a long list here people.
Then, cut the pineapple and rhubarb into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces.
mmmmm........ Pour your bottle of rum into a larger bottle (or drink about 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottle if you're feeling the urge). I used a growler from a local brewery for a fifth of rum. Add chunks of fruit to your rum until there is about a 1/2 to 1 inch layer of rum above your fruit. Make sure that your fruit is completely submerged in the rum so it doesn't rot in your cupboard (eiw.).
This picture actually isn't a great example, because I had to push those pineapple pieces down. But you get the idea. :)
Give it a good shake and place the bottle in a cupboard, or a room temperature area of your house
Shake this caribbean goodness about once a day for about 5 days. Strain using a fine mesh sieve, mashing the fruit with a potato masher to get all of that boozey booze out of that fruit. This rum is sooooooo tasty. Seriously. Seriously seriously. I haven't made a drink with it yet, but it is amazing just the way it is over some ice.
Enjoy friends! For more tasty goodies check out these. Stay tuned for some homemade pineapple rhubarb honey popsicles and a recipe for the best concoction I can come up with for this tasty booze.
Guess who made the cover of Seattle Weekly last week? None other than Seattle's up and coming uber-villain, Rex Velvet himself.
My heart fluttered a bit when I saw this cheeseball cover in a stack of weekly Seattle newspapers that don't normally rouse any real emotion. (Read the article here) Could it be true? Is Seattle really embracing this? HALLELUJAH! I keep wondering when Seattleites will wake up and realize that this is so completely ridiculous, ludicrous, fake like an orange tan, overdone (I'm lookin at you Kick-Ass, but I still love you),...........and yet fabulous, rockin, amazing, unbelievable, and just plain inspiring! LOVE this Seattle trend, keep it comin Rex Velvet.
Oh how I heart this real life comic soap opera. This "people's villain" has gone from nonexistent to covermodel in just a month and a half! Between his snarky and ridiculous comments and his shockingly movie-quality youtube videos (the first of 3 seen here. MUST watch them), he is awesomely winning over the hearts of Seattleites (we are some strange mother effers aren't we?). Where is our love for Phoenix Jones, Rex Velvet's reason for being, well, Rex Velvet?
Will we ever see the two finally battle? Will Rex Velvet overcome his fear of cats? So excited to see what you do next Rex Velvet! You are one Velvet Goldmine I can't wait to follow.
Sorry, Phoenix. :)
mmmmmm........ cheese and nuts and mint..... and pasta shells.
This mint pesto is super-duper delish my friends. I found this recipe in the June issue of Sunset Magazine, and knew I just HAD to try it out. Mint has become a staple in literally everything I make lately, drinks, salads, soups, sandwiches, and now pasta!
First, gather your ingredients.
Mint, olive oil, salt and pepper, parmesan cheese, mascarpone cheese, gorgonzola cheese (tons of cheese!), garlic, and walnuts.
Blend together 2 1/4 cups mint leaves, about a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 cup walnuts (if you are using salted walnuts, omit the salt in the recipe), 3 garlic cloves (be careful these aren't monster cloves, this is raw garlic people!), 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (don't go overboard here, you will add a TON of cheese later), about a teaspoon of pepper, and about a half a cup olive oil in a food processor. Blend until you have pretty tiny chunks of nuts and leaves, you want this to be pesto-y, not sauce-y.
Get out your spatula and transfer that pesto to a big bowl. Stir in about 3 tablespoons each gorgonzola cheese and mascarpone cheese. I added a couple of dashes of crushed red pepper for some kick, and a little extra salt and pepper to taste.
Blend with your favorite pasta (I used large shells) and stir in about 3/4 cup chopped mint leaves and about 1/2 cup chopped green onion. Garnish with a mint leaf and you have a wonderful minty, cheesy, nutty pesto pasta!
This recipe made a HUGE bowl of pasta. My fiance and are still trying to finish it off, but it makes fabulous leftovers.
For more delicious recipes, check this out. Thanks for stopping by!
Time for some Etsy Lust my friends!
Check out these awesome jelly-fish plants. I've been eyeing these cute little monster goodies for months and months (someday I'll post a pic of them in my hallway. fingers crossed), and thought I'd share the love. Etsy shop, PetitBeast is full of great little airplants with some super rad flair. How could you not want to snatch up one (or a billion) of these mini-jellies????
Buy a handful for yourself or be a best friend to somebody and delight him or her with a Plant-o-Gram today. The shop owner will gift wrap and ship these fantastic little guys with a special little note.
LOVE this Etsy Lust worthy shop. Check out more cool stuff for your cool place here.
This stuff is heaven heaven my friends! The strawberry infused vinegar from last week ended up to die for. I've got a whole bottle, and predictably the first thing I do is make a fruity dessert. mmmmmm.......
Some Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries drizzled with strawberry infused balsamic vinegar. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah siiiiiiigh. So easy and so delicious. Make this strawberry vinegar yourself here, or check out other tasty treats to make at home here.
Now time to eat my dessert...... yesssssssss!
Food junkie, kitschy crafter, music lover, comic book nerdo, and vintage fashion fiend
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