Gretel

Hello again, Blogfroggers! (these names are getting dumb)

Back so soon, you say? Well, the year is finally winding down in ballet-land which means more time for, well, everything! We had a great year at SCB. That's Saratoga City Ballet in case you're interested. Last weekend we presented our production of "Hansel and Gretel" to wild critical acclaim. Well, not exactly the critical acclaim part, but everyone seemed to love the show and the kids all did a great job.

In the months prior to said show I spent every waking moment it seemed trying to find the right costumes for the lead characters. Turns out you can't buy a german-type girl's costume without going the not-so-family-friendly slutty Halloween costume route. Fantastic! I finally found a wonderful woman named Linda who runs German Import Haus out in CA. She had traditional lederhosen and dirndls (that's German for dress) for very reasonable prices. So I ordered up and this was the "Gretel":

Donker-shane, Linda!

It also came with an adorable white eyelet apron:

For all it's cuteness, though, it still looked a little plain.  I removed the black trim from the bottom of the dress and went digging through our costume closet for something better.  I love hunting around for stuff back there.  You want lime green paillette trim?  You got it!  Pink tassle fringe?  Check.  Here's what I unearthed:

Good ole Wright's Trim

I found some sweet eyelet trim and the cutest tulip ribbon trim.

Gotta love the price.

I started by sewing on some antique lace trim from my own stash to replace the black I had taken off.

I then added the eyelet just above and decided the whole thing needed more color.  This is THEATER after all, people.  I found some ric-rac at the craft store along with some really cute daisy trim.

Then I decided to sew that tulip trim to the bodice of the dress to break up the black a little bit.

And there you have it!

She's all ready to wander around the forest and nearly get eaten by a witch!

Although I complain about not having a life outside of ballet, I do love my job.  When everything comes together on stage it makes all the headaches and hot glue gun burns worth it.  It's kind of magical.

 Hansel & Gretel with The Witch, played by William Otto, SCB faculty and former member of NYCB.

Byeeeee!

Around The Yard

I took some "glamor shots" of the things blooming in our front yard a couple weeks ago.  It was that magical time in upstate NY when spring finally arrives and everyone gets out of their winter funk and is nice to each other.  Well, for a week or two at least.

First specimen: Apple blossoms

Cherry blossoms

Forsythia (the plant that makes you sound like you have a lisp)

We had this pretty shrub that I don't know the name of.  Anyone? Anyone?  Bueller?

An actual honey bee (yes, they still exist) enjoying the last of the rhododendron.

The one plant that really thrives in our yard.  Anyway, I don't care what anyone says.  I like dandelions.

The first buds of my favorite yard plant: lilac.  Unfortunately, this year's crop was pretty thin.  Anyone else have the same problem?

What could this giant leafy thing be?  I'll give you three guesses...

WRONG. Just kidding.  It's RHUBARB!  My mother does not like rhubarb but I'm trying to turn her on to it.  I never even had rhubarb until I was an adult.  Now I'm obsessed!

I can smell the pie already...

Now what's this strange plant??

Uhoh, it's a big giant dogface!

Pip says, "Stop taking pictures of plants, do-do."

"I'm so much more interesting."

Oh dear.
Byeeeee!

My Friday Night

Hola Los Blogamigos!

So in case you might have thought that I spend the free time that I'm not teaching going out to clubs and getting my drink on, let me set the record straight.  Most Friday nights I'm home--with the dog--doing the million other things that I need to for my job as a ballet school director.  This past Friday night was definitely a wild one though.  My task: make fake candies for our upcoming production of Hansel & Gretel.  Partaaaaay!

So in case you ever need prop candies for a stage production (and let's be honest, who doesn't?) listen carefully.  Get thyself to the craft store and over to the florals section.  Find styrofoam balls.  They come in all shapes and sizes.

You can "ligar" 'em!  You can "épinglez" 'em!  Wunderbar!

Next, get yourself some cheap craft paint.  They usually cost $.99 per tube.  Stick a toothpick in one end and start sloppin' it on.

Obviously my wild lifestyle does not leave much time for manicures.

Here's a great use for those cumbersome styrofoam thingies that wrap most medium sized appliances.  Prop candy drying stand!

It almost look like some abstract art installation.  Almost.

So after they're dry get yourself some plastic favor bags, also available at the craft store.

And wrap em up!  I used some thin wire to fasten the ends but you can use ribbon if you are feeling superior. 

Reminds me of those giant jawbreakers that you got while on vacation which eventually left your tongue bloody and devoid of tastebuds.  Ahhh, the memories...

What wandering German kinder could resist such a temptation?  More updates on Hansel & Gretel to come. 

Alf Veederzane!

Bandana Bread

It's finally SPRING, dear Blogophiles!

The above is an illustration by Charley Harper.  I absolutely adore his style.  Don't you love how the bird is holding a bit of newspaper that says "spring"?

Anyhoo, I've been very busy lately with work things but that doesn't mean I haven't been crafting and noming.  I've been doing quite a bit of both but have not gotten around to blogging about it.  So here's one exciting project that I've been working on.

Doggie Bandanas!  As you know, my friend Sara owns a cute, hip dog boutique in downtown Saratoga.  A couple weeks ago, she and I were trying to think of some thing to do for St. Patrick's Day that didn't involve bringing in some cheap, crappy shamrock toy made in China to sell.  We had done bandanas for Halloween before but they were just triangles we (plus DAWGDOM sweatshop worker Christina) cut and hemmed that the kids decorated themselves.  We decided to do it right this time and really design a functional and, of course, super cute bandana.  So we fired up the DAWGDOM sweatshop again and got to work!  Sara wanted a bandana that had a little channel one could slip a collar through.  That way you wouldn't have to worry about tying it, having it come untied or having your dog decide to eat the tied ends.  It happens.  I traced out a little pattern and made some demos.  The tricky part was making the channel wide enough for a 1" snap collar to fit through but not have it too big so it was flopping all around.  After much trial and error I came up with a pretty perfect size and shape.

There was nothing of interest in the Week in Review, btw.

And Sara picked up the cutest fabric at Joann's.

Irish-y fabric! 

So then it was just a matter of cutting and sewing.  We used two different prints on each side so they could be reversible. 

We ended up ditching the top stitching (that rhymes!) because we felt it was an unnecesary step.  And we're lazy.  We just pressed the seams and it looks fine.

Fold over the bottom edge, sew across and VOILA!

Perfect fit!

I ended up making a larger pattern and an itty bitty size for the little guys.  We are selling them for $7/$8/$10 and donating one dollar per bandana to local rescues and shelters.  Clever Christina came up with the name "Knot-me-not Bandanas".  I think it's great.  No knots necessary.  And even greater, people bought them! 

Now that St. Patty's is over we are starting to make lovely spring patterns.  Here is Sara's dog Fred working hard to sell them.  No really.  He wants me to stress how hard he is working.

When's my break??

You must come and buy one. OR ELSE.
Byeeeeee!

Playing With Fire

Ahoy there blogmates!

You may be asking yourself, why is Julie blogging about food? Is she done with her horrible sounding cleanse? The answer is, sadly, NO. I'm still on the cleanse and I chose to live right on the edge by baking today.

I am on week 4 of my delightful colon/body cleansing. Week 4 is the "hardcore phase". That means, NO FOOD, dear readers. None. Nada. The only things I'm allowed to consume are water, fiber/clay shakes (can be made with water and fruit juice), and icky herbal supplements. That's it. I never thought in a million years that someone like me (that would be someone who enjoys eating food) would ever be able to pull something like this off. Well, I'm on day five already of this final week and I haven't touched a single piece of food. Seriously. I can't believe it myself. After this week I'm done but am supposed to "ease back" into food. The cleanse's definition of easing back in would be to consume only fruits and vegetables for another week. I doubt I'll be doing that. Maybe the first couple days.

So anyway, back to the baking. Since I have a whole produce section worth of fruit and veg up in here from the previous weeks I also have some things that are starting to go off. There happened to be four blackish bananas hanging around and since I needed a little gift for someone that means banana bread! This certain someone is Dave, husband to Sara who owns the dog store downtown. This is the store I often frequent, sometimes helping out, but mostly just loitering and (I hope) keeping Sara company on the slow days. Dave happens to make a living by roofing, a good friend to have. We sprung a leak in our back porch and he kindly came over the other day and spread what he calls "monkey sh*t" on it to seal it up. I don't know the technical term for this "monkey sh*t". Maybe that is the technical term. Anyway, it seems to have worked like a charm and I hope the banana bread is a worthy enough thank you for a huge favor.

Now I know that everyone and their mother has a banana bread recipe. I'm not trying to change the world here.  This one is adapted from a recipe by Nigella Lawson, one of my favorite foodie tv people. The nice twist in this one is the raisins soaked in rum (mmmmmmm). I think it adds a little somethin' special.
Here's what you need:

First thing you need to do is tackle the raisins. Put 3 tablespoons of rum into a little pan. Light, dark, whatever. Mine was called "gold". You could use bourbon, whiskey or even orange juice if you are a teetotaler. Plunk your raisins in the pan and bring it to a boil. Then just switch off the heat and in about five minute you'll see that the raisins have slurped up all of the booze and are now acting quite belligerent. Just kidding.

You'll need to melt some butter and throw it in with the sugar.

(I could have stuck my face in this bowl)

Beat, add eggs, add nuts, raisins and gradually beat in the dry ingredients. And here's what you've got:

(no lickies!)

Pour the batter into some loaf pans. You could make a big giant loaf I supposed but I don't mind these smaller, slightly squatter loaves. Much better for sharing with roofers and still having some for yourself (or not if you are on a @#*%-ing cleanse).

About 35-40 minutes later and VOILA!

They came out beautifully.  Since I could not do a taste-test I had Pip try some for me.  He approved although he doesn't have the most discerning palate. 

(dat's pretty good.  i try more to be sure.)

Oh, I could eat this entire loaf.

And this one, too.

Byeeeeee!

Banana Nut Bread
Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess, p.33.  I converted her metric measurements to American measures so they may seem like odd proportions but they worked for me.

1/2 cup golden raisins
1 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 stick plus 1 tbs salted butter, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, light or dark
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 bananas, mashed (My bananas were on the small side.  You can use three larger bananas.)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Bring rum and raisins to a boil.  Turn off heat, cover, and lit sit for at least 5 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 325°.
3. Put the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl, and combine well.
4. In another bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended.
5. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add in the mashed bananas and vanilla.
6. Stir in the walnuts and drained raisins.
7. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each addition.
8. Pour into a 23 x 13 x 7cm greased loaf tin, and bake for 60-75mins. I made two smaller loaves in standard loaf pans. Came out smaller and flatter but nice for smaller pieces. Bake for about 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Sweaters or Jumpers?

Nothing new here today, blogpods.  I am still on the cleanse and doing pretty well.  Pretty well means I haven't passed out from lack of good food or tried to eat my dog.  Here's a funny little video that artist David Shrigley created for the famous Pringle Company of Scotland.



Byeeeeee!

Crafts and Cleanse?

Hello Blogofriends!
I know, I know.  I've been completely AWOL lately.  I told you that Nutcracker consumes my life from about November until December, but you didn't believe me did you?  Then it takes me at least three weeks to recover from all the tutus and tears.  Well, now all of a sudden it's January and there's really no excuse for such a long absence.

My favorite image taken from this year's Nutcracker.
Photo: John Sullivan

The other lame excuse I have for not posting is that I am currently attempting to do a detoxifying cleanse.  I've done cleanses before but this one is hardcore.  Here are just some of the things I cannot eat:
Meat
Dairy
Eggs
Refined Sugar
SALT
Wheat
Rice
Soy
Beans
Legumes
SALT
Black or white pepper
Oats
SALT

Did I mention salt?

You know, it's going to take a lot less time telling you what I actually can eat rather than what I can't.  Here goes:
Fruits, any kind
Vegetables, any kind
Herbs and spices (except SALT)
Sunflower seeds and almonds (soaked)
Potatoes (no more than 3x/week)
Quinoa (no more than 3x/week)

And that's about it.  If you thought that was bad, I also have to choke down this disgusting shake of food-grade clay and fiber three times a day. 

I really won't go into the icky details with you right now.  Suffice it to say that I'm in foodie hell but it really is a hell of my own making.  I've been abusing my digestive system for a while now and this fall it finally fought back.  I was so out of kilter that pretty much every time I ate I'd get an upset stomach and all the wonderful things that go with that.  I decided to do something drastic and my good friend had recently done this particular cleanse with much success.  I'm hoping it will get me back on track and able to indulge in all things baked, broiled, fried and SALTED.  I really want to weep for lack of salt, dear readers.  What is the point of life?  I think I'm going to go out and get that book Salt today.  I completely understand why people have fought and died over it.  Did you know that people used to get paid in salt?  Hence the word "salary". 

So it looks like there will probably be more craft posts rather than nom posts for the time being. You really don't want to know what I'm eating.  Has anyone else ever done a cleanse?  Was it worth it?  God, I hope so.

Byeeeee!