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Awesome old measuring cup finds a purpose

July 18, 2011 by shaggerty

During the last few years of her life, my grandmother would open the china cabinet each time I visited and make me choose something to bring home with me. She always seemed amused when I chose small, weathered items over intricate crystal and silver.

This glass measuring cup made it home with me a few years ago. It’s got clear engraved markings and three pouring spouts.

I certainly did not need another measuring cup, but it’s got character. And judging by my husband, friends and decor, I LOVE character.

It’s been holding my inexplicable collection of dried cherry pits for the past four years. (Hint: Don’t ask.)

I recently had overnight guests, and both adults were coffee drinkers who took real sugar AND cream, thus giving me the opportunity to set out the sugar dish that totally matches my plates. I did not, alas, have a creamer container. (For that matter, I did not have any creamer, but there’s no reason I can’t serve my 2-percent milk all fancy.)

I did, however, have a charming little glass measuring cup. Voila. It was finally pressed into service for something besides pit storage.

Best of all, I now know why I brought it home.

Posted in Family, Home, Photographs | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Craft time: Souvenir conversion

July 11, 2011 by shaggerty

I finally got around to turning my Metropolitan Museum of Art admission buttons into useful souvenir refrigerator magnets. I simply glued a small, round magnet onto the back of each button. Yes, they’re metal and the magnets would have stayed attached without glue, but they would have also popped right off the magnets when anyone picked them up off the fridge.

Points for using junk-drawer souvenirs that would have eventually been thrown away.

And more points for using the glue gun without incident.

Posted in Crafts, Home, Photographs, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

I finally found a ‘duh’ place for my headphones

July 8, 2011 by shaggerty

Oh, Lion’s Head Garbage Can. You are as useful as you are treasured.

Posted in Home, Photographs | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

U2 in concert: just as epic as you would think

July 5, 2011 by shaggerty

So if I had anything as organized as a bucket list, seeing U2 live would definitely be at the top of it.

Check.

More about this later. I’m still processing. And recovering.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Peanut butter-banana ice cream: Experiment No. 3

July 3, 2011 by shaggerty

After the grand pineapple-rum-banana ice cream failure, I was hesitant to add anything new to my frozen banana ice cream, but curiosity won.

After returning from a long weekend drive, I wanted peanut butter. I also wanted banana ice cream.

I was afraid the addition of peanut butter (not even an entire tablespoon) would make the bananas mushy, but instead, the frozen banana slices seemed to freeze the peanut butter during the processing. The bananas and peanut butter ended up with the same texture.

I will be making this again.

Posted in Eats | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Learning to love coleslaw

June 27, 2011 by shaggerty

True confession: I didn’t eat coleslaw for nearly 30 nears.

For someone who grew up in the South, that’s quite an accomplishment.

The coleslaw I remember from my childhood was a gloppy, mayonnaise-laden mixture that I could not imagine eating. For one thing, it was incredibly crunchy, although I can’t tell you precisely WHY that was so off-putting to me. I’ve never been anti-mayonnaise, either, but those tiny bits of cabbage coated in it were uniquely unappealing.

At some point, however, I discovered vinegar-based coleslaw.

This. Yes. This made sense.

Flavored with vinegar and a little salt and sugar, this brand of coleslaw was more akin to a fresh salad than the heavy blob of a side dish I remembered. I was old enough by that time to be over the fear of crunchiness, too.

I still didn’t venture to make my own coleslaw, however, for a while after that. For one thing, I knew it was a dish that my sometimes-picky husband wasn’t going to touch.

When I joined a CSA, however, I suddenly found myself facing a head of cabbage every couple of weeks. I was also armed with a brand new food processor, complete with a shredding blade.

Oh yeah.

I quickly found a Rachael Ray recipe for Oil and Vinegar Slaw on FoodNetwork.com and went to work. It calls for a 16-ounce bag of shredded cabbage mix, but I just substituted 16 ounces of the head of cabbage (I just chopped off a chunk at a time and weighed it) and ran it through the shredding blade. I never looked up what else might be in cabbage mix, but what I’m making is delicious as is.

Oil and Vinegar Slaw
(Recipe by Rachael Ray)

  • 1/4 cup red wine
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
  • 1 sack, 16 ounces, shredded cabbage mix for slaw salads
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Salt and pepper

Mix vinegar and sugar. Add oil. Add cabbage and season with salt and pepper. Toss with fingers to combine. Adjust seasoning. Let stand 20 minutes. Re-toss and serve.

Posted in CSA, Eats | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

A scar worthy of a ThunderCat

June 23, 2011 by shaggerty


Yang’s ear not only straightened out when the stitches were removed, it split apart into a tough-guy notch.

A friend noted his resemblance to Azrael from The Smurfs.

Brilliant.

Posted in Cats, Photographs | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Pineapple-rum-banana ice cream: Experiment No. 2

June 21, 2011 by shaggerty

I figured out what you can’t add to banana puree ice cream: 1 ounce of cachaca and most of a 4-ounce cup of pineapple chunks.

A friend suggested adding rum and pineapple to the ice cream, and it seemed like such a great idea that I immediately refrigerated the pineapple and inspected the rum supply, which was running unexpectedly low. I grabbed the bottle of cachaca instead, since it’s very similar to rum.

The combination completely ruined the texture of the final product, but I’m the only person in the house who enjoyed a refreshing bowl of banana-pineapple daiquiri for dinner.

Posted in Eats | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Strawberries + white chocolate = new summer cookies

June 18, 2011 by shaggerty

Even after making jam, I had at least a quart of strawberries left yesterday. Enter Facebook, where one of my friends had recently posted a recipe for White Chocolate and Strawberry Cookies. They were reported to be pink and delicious, and while I’m no great fan of pink food, I am quite fond of all things delicious.

The dough turned out a bit thinner than most cookie dough I’ve worked with — I think it’s difficult to add strawberries to some foods without watering them down. Thus, the cookies spread out a bit during baking more than I would have liked, but they were still delicious.

They have more of a cake-like texture than your average cookie, and the white chocolate chips almost make them cloyingly sweet, but not quite. I’m tempted to make them without the chips, but I don’t think the strawberry flavor will shine on its own.

I used the shorter baking temperature for softer cookies.

White Chocolate Chip and Strawberry Cookies

1 1/2 cups strawberries, cleaned
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Clean, trim, and slice berries.
  3. Crush strawberries with a potato masher. (You should end up with 3/4 cup of crushed strawberries.) Leave some larger chunks if desired; set berries aside.
  4. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars.
  5. Beat in one egg at a time.
  6. In a separate bowl whisk flour, salt and baking powder.
  7. Add dry mixture to creamed mixture, about 1/2 a cup at a time.
  8. When well mixed, slowly add berries, about 1/4 cup at a time, while mixing at the same time, ensuring berries are spread well throughout.
  9. Add the white chocolate chips and stir to combine evenly throughout batter.
  10. Drop batter in tablespoons about 1-inch apart on a greased baking sheet.
  11. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 to 12 minutes for soft cookies, or up to a maximum of about 14-15 minutes for crunchier cookies, watching the edges to ensure they are lightly browned.
  12. Cool on wire racks.

Posted in CSA, Eats, Photographs | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

As Pictured Below: Pump up the jam

June 17, 2011 by shaggerty

The first CSA delivery of the season contained a ridiculously large basket of strawberries, so I needed a quick way to use a lot of them.

I remember jam-making and jelly-making as a hot, time-consuming process, but I also remember my grandmother switching to the easier “freezer jam” method at some point, so I don’t feel like that much of a cheater for using it.

I’ll find out whether it worked in approximately 17 hours.

Posted in As Pictured Below, CSA, Eats, Photographs | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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