"Salt dough ornaments" written by Heidi on estrip.org

01/04/15 07:53 - 35.ºF - ID#59719

Salt dough ornaments

(e:Dianne) likes painting ceramics, so I thought she'd enjoy making salt dough ornaments. They're much more free-form artsy yet employ all the same techniques.

First, we made the dough - 1:1 flour:salt + enough water to make it like dough. This was almost a cup of water with one cup each flour & salt. We had also made chocolate chip cookie dough, molasses cookies and sour cream sugar cookie dough that day, so we put it in the fridge to cut & bake later.

The next day, Tanya helped us roll out the cookies and cut them. Then we baked them for nearly two hours, turning halfway through.

They sat for a few days while we finished up the other cookie baking and gathered paints, glitter, mod-podge, brushes, and pretty paper. (A filled loyalty punch card at Hyatt's gets you at $20 gift card!!)

Christmas Eve, Tanya came over and we started the decorating process. We sanded first - definitely recommend this step, it was surprisingly helpful to have smooth(er) surfaces to work with. We painted, decoupaged, glittered and otherwise manipulated the ornaments. Having lots of ornament hooks handy was very helpful as we painted both sides. Paint - dry - paint - dry - modpodge - dry - glitter glue - dry ... Note: mod-podge THEN glitter glue! We got quite a few started and nearly complete.

Christmas Day we hosted the afterparty from Brena's Misfit Christmas Brunch and people created more interesting ornaments. The lady with the dress is from that session.

We went to NYC Saturday to late late Tuesday night, so we couldn't finish until yesterday. I was still tying string on ornaments today. I like nylon invisible thread, and we also used some really nice stretchy gold string. We ended up throwing some unpainted ones away because we just couldn't keep occupying the kitchen table with this project.

Here's the entire set. As much work as they took, I keep expecting there to be more of them!

Permalink: Salt_dough_ornaments.html
Words: 389
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 01/04/15 10:29

Category: work

11/12/14 03:01 - ID#59573

My office

So pretty!

Permalink: My_office.html
Words: 5
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 11/12/14 03:01

Category:

11/12/14 02:58 - ID#59572

moving

I think my body has decided it has had enough... I moved twice in 12 days and (e:Dianne) was sick in between. (e:Dianne) and I officially moved in together, just days shy of our second anniversary. I'm so excited to finally be building our life together instead of tenuously holding it all together. Our new apartment is gorgeous and filled with light. It's also bigger and has free laundry!! we were invited to take the apartment by a neighborhood friend and that feels good too :-) the timing wasn't great but it's still very worthwhile.

On Monday, Terry and I moved (e:AllenStreet) two blocks south on Franklin street, above Allasen Carpet. We went from six people jammed into less than 600 sq ft to everyone having their own office (plus Dianne's study attic) in more quadruple the size. It is also gorgeous and light filled. Can't wait to have an office warming party!

Permalink: moving.html
Words: 154
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 11/12/14 02:58

Category: food

10/18/14 09:47 - ID#59494

Mac & cheese

We made mac & cheese tonight to accompany our packing.

8 oz. (=1 3/4 c.) dry elbow macaroni
2 c. shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 c. mozzarella shredded
1/2 c. smoked gouda
2 c. milk (we'll try evaporated next time)
1/4 c. butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 1/2 T. flour
salt & pepper
dried mustard
-- topping --
2 T. butter
1/2 c. bread crumbs
paprika

1. Cook the noodles. Drain.
2. Shred cheeses.
3. In heavy saucepan, use a bit of butter to saute the onions. Turn down the heat. Add the rest of the butter. Slowly stir in flour to make a roux, stirring constantly. Stir in milk. Stir in cheeses, salt, pepper, and mustard, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted. Turn off heat, stir in noodles. Pour in baking dish (8x8 pan or 1.5 qt dish, we used the same heavy saucepan).
4. Melt butter, stir in breadcrumbs. Spread over top of mac & cheese. Sprinkle with paprika.
5. Bake at 350F for 30 min. Let cool 15 min. Serve.

Permalink: Mac_cheese.html
Words: 152
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/18/14 09:47

Category:

10/05/14 05:15 - ID#59448

the personal is political

"Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with absolute truth."
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

anaylsis of women's perspectives challenging male hegemony in the university

similar point as reflected in pop culture writing

a man's awareness of gender inequality

Permalink: the_personal_is_political.html
Words: 77
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/05/14 05:15

10/03/14 04:53 - ID#59438

Stolen bikes

May the fortunes that returned Basra to the 24 return our bikes to us. They were stolen last night from our back yard, where they were u-locked together and u-locked to a 4" diameter pole. We're crushed, as we use those for our primary local transportation. (e:Dianne) is especially heartbroken - the bike represents her independence and one of the first big purchases she made on her own, and she doesn't have the resources to replace it (neither of us do). She couldn't ride for about 10 months - it was hard on both of us because we enjoy it so much. Last weekend we took a short ride over to MLK Park.

(e:Dianne)'s blue & silver Trek 820. We just got a rack and a new seat for her. Her seat was stolen the 2nd day of school :-(

My mid-1990s black Schwinn Frontier with racks, a seat, and my precious streamers D got me for my birthday last year. I bought a new u-lock just last week.

Our lack of bikes this morning.

Permalink: Stolen_bikes.html
Words: 179
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/03/14 05:09

Category: love

09/29/14 10:55 - ID#59430

for Lee and Walt

7/6/2013

Permalink: for_Lee_and_Walt.html
Words: 2
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 09/29/14 10:55

Category: food

08/30/14 04:53 - ID#59339

Lemon Blueberry Bread

Lemon Blueberry Bread

1/3 c. butter, melted
1 c. sugar
3 T. fresh lemon juice
2 eggs
1.5 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 c. milk
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
2 T. grated fresh lemon zest

Glaze
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. butter melted
1 c. powdered sugar (+/- based on desired consistency)

In a large bowl, cream butter & sugar. Mix in eggs. Add add lemon juice, spices, baking powder. Mix flour and milk in slowly together. Fold in blueberries and zest.

Pour into greased, floured 8"x4" bread pan. Bake at 350F for 55-70 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in pan, then remove from pan and put on wire rack.

Glaze: combine ingredients, drizzle over warm bread. Let cool completely before cutting.

Note: if using frozen berries, keep them frozen until you need to put them in the batter. Also, putting flour on fresh berries before putting them in the batter will help to keep them separated.

Permalink: Lemon_Blueberry_Bread.html
Words: 163
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/30/14 04:53

Category: friends

08/06/14 12:01 - ID#59272

happy birthday, joe!

Casey won bocce, squeaky wheel got clean, and Dianne got to play street fighter. the best kind of night.

Permalink: happy_birthday_joe_.html
Words: 23
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 08/06/14 12:01

Category: love

07/20/14 07:59 - ID#59220

camping

a week of vacation (mostly) with my beautiful fiancee... so sad to be heading back to reality, even tho I love my everyday life. this week we did a lot of work toward integrating our space and stuff. unfortunately, there is very little space so it was hard to add much of Dianne's stuff. what she does have is more present and I packed away some stuff. We also went to Canandaigua for Phish and ended the week camping at landrus and a 9am meeting today.

Dianne's first surgery was almost exactly a year ago. We took this leap of faith, a blind jump into each other's lives, because we both wanted and needed each other more than we could imagine being apart for an unknown, unpredictable amount of time. We thought she might be staying with me for a few months, and then in a couple of months, we realized that we wanted to live together. here it is July and we're just now able to implement the plan. We realized we can't get a bigger apartment right now, we're gonna be here a bit and Dianne's starting school in late August. and we have a wedding to plan!

We have a date, an officiant and a location! I love you, beautiful!