Raspberry Sorbet Fail

Heap o' raspberries.

I'm thinking the cuby part
isn't supposed to be sitting
directly on the base.

It's been a bumper year for raspberries at Le Jardin du Curly Girl. Koko and I have been eating as much as we can right from the bushes and I've been harvesting the rest. This week I decided to try making sorbet. I borrowed an old ice cream maker from the-best-neighbor-in-the-world since I didn't have one and just learned that you need one to make sorbet. TBNITW had never used it as it was handed down to her and had been since sitting in her basement. I even found the user manual online, read up on what I needed and I thought I was good to go.

I love this juicer! It's from my mother's
house and goes perfectly with the
color I painted my kitchen.

I don't even know why I have paper cups
in the house, but I'm glad I do.

I went out and picked a heap o' raspberries, juiced an orange (ok, it was a Cutie, but since I only need a couple of tablespoons it would more than suffice), zested a lemon and combined all the prepped ingredients in the freezer bowl of the maker. I then layered the ice and salt in the maker to the top like the instructions said. Turned it on and zippo, immediately realizing that there was some major piece of the ice cream maker that was missing. I think it needs the blender bottom part between the base and the maker cube. TBNITW wasn't home and wouldn't be for the rest of the day. What's a Curly Girl to do? I broke out the paper cups I happened to have in the house and the bamboo skewers I happened to have in the house and (hopefully) rescued my failed sorbet by making popsicles. It'd be a damn shame waste of a quart of lovely, fresh-off-the-vine, organic raspberries if they don't work out. We'll see in a few hours...  Next up: Raspberry Buttermilk Cake!

Today's Reality Check: Starvation in Somalia

"Two-year-old, Aden Salaad, looks up toward his mother, unseen, as she bathes him in a tub at a Doctors Without Borders hospital, where Aden is receiving treatment for malnutrition, in Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, Monday, July 11, 2011. U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres said Sunday that drought-ridden Somalia is the "worst humanitarian disaster" in the world, after meeting with refugees who endured unspeakable hardship to reach the world's largest refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya."
(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Here are some organizations you can donate to (clickable):
Doctors Without Borders
UNHCR
The Kenya Red Cross
Oxfam 
The World Food Program

I've Been Waiting All Year For This

This photo was taken moments after they were picked from the backyard
and seconds before they were eaten for my breakfast. Ah, summer.

Easy Peasy (Matching) Coasters

Yeah, I'm one of those people who still uses coasters. I have a lot of wood furniture and water rings make me sad. Here's a simple, fast, crafty-type project to make matching (or not) coasters.

I recently (ok it was last year and I'm just now getting around to this project) renovated the little sunroom in my house. The floor needed to be leveled and because of the space between the floor and the bottom of the door, I needed to use peel-and-stick tile. There's lots of nice looking options out there and most people think what I used is real tile! With projects like this, you always have left over bits of tile from going around doorways and such. I thought it would be cute to make coasters for the sunroom from the stuff I would just end up throwing out.



What you need: bits of tile, scissors, pencil, sandpaper and cork coaster rounds from the craft store. I happen to have a tin snips and used that to cut the circles apart, but that's not necessary.

Trace out the cork rounds on the back of the tile and cut the circles apart. Cut out the circles as smoothy as possible with the scissors. This tile cuts pretty easily. I found cutting just inside the drawn circle was the best fit. Once cut out, peel the backing paper off and carefully place the cork round and smooosh it down.

This is when I went back and trimmed any little edges that needed it.  I decided not to just peel the backing and place the cork first, then cut it out because this can be a bit sticky and it's easier to chew up the edge of the cork this way. Next, I used the sand paper to smooth out the edge. I found using an across and downward (towards the cork) motion best as it kept the sand paper from pulling up the paper layer of the tile.

Next, go pour yourself a cocktail and place it on your new coaster. Enjoy.
That's it. Easy peasy! All four (including picture taking) took maybe 20 minutes. The tile I had/used is a bit thicker because the tiles were 18". I'm guessing 12" tiles might be thinner. Any tile could be used. Mix and match! Go crazy!

That was Crafting Corner with Judi for today!

Today's Laugh

Catastrophe So Immense

I can't. Wrap. My brain. Around. It.

If you haven't yet seen these before-and-after shots,
this may clarify the enormity of the devastation.

Today's Reality Check: We've Only Come So Far

Words on the face of a protester commemorating International Women's Day in Mexico City read: "For being a woman, I am hit, I am raped, I am killed."

Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP / Getty Images

Beautiful Glass in my Home

These are a couple of the glass pieces I have in my home. These photos do not do them justice. Both pictures were taken on winter-in-Portland less-than-sunshiny days.
The top photo is a lovely housewarming-gift mobile from Leah Pellegrini (her Etsy shop is here). I have it hanging from the archway between the living and dining rooms where is catches light from both sets of windows (and no one is in danger of bumping into it).
The lower picture is a fun stained glass banner made by Megan Klepp of Ta-Dah (her Etsy shop is here). While in a perfect world I'd have the perfect in-a-window spot for it, I don't. It currently resides on a wall in my sunroom (I got it specifically for the sunroom). Because it is fairly opaque glass, the wonderful colors aren't lost without the light coming through.
I'm so happy that I know both these delightful ladies and can see these beautiful works of art everyday!

Spring's On The Way

 

 A sure sign of spring at my house is planning for the garden. Last year was the first year that Karen and Chip - the world's greatest neighbors - and I planted this plot. It's my side yard and a fairly big area for people who don't really know a whole lot about gardening. We planted lots (post about it here) by guess and by golly, and we did OK, but not great. This was partly because of our never-ending cold and wet spring last year and partly because we didn't properly amend the soil before planting. Some things didn't grow, some grew weird and others did just fine through no fault of our own. We learned a lot. This year, we're using the whole plot, are planting less crops but more of what we liked, and have figured better placement for things (Karen's a great one for planning out everything). AND, last Saturday - when I was playing hooky from the opening day of the Saturday Market - we had 4 yards of a compost and sand (the soil is very clay-y) mix dumped in the driveway and the three of us spent four hours wheelbarrowing it from the drive and digging it into the soil. I'm still tired! We are very excited to get started. In the next couple of weeks we will begin plotting it out and planting the earlier crops. 

The twiggy things in the back corner are raspberry canes that are already starting to bud out. Since last year, I've also built and installed the two rainbarrels and put in the composter. Almost looks like a real garden!

Just 'Cuz

Prong Setting

Being a self-taught metalsmith means that a lot of what I do is trial and error. Unfortunately mostly error! When I do try something new, I often make silly mistakes that a teacher would (hopefully) warn me against. My latest "learning experience" was one of those little mistakes: I tried a prong setting with a tiny little 3mm (did I mention it was small?) cubic zirconia. I eventually succeeded, but the dents in the wall from throwing tools illustrates why you should learn this technique with something a bit larger. The frustration level got pretty high while trying to solder the prong wires in a tiny space, hold the bitty CZ while trying to place it, and set the prongs on the little stone (did I mention it was small?). When will I ever learn to think these things through just a bit before I start off on these adventures?

That said, this cute, little (did I mention it was small?) Sweet Heart Necklace is now available in my Etsy shop.