A Lovely Package Exchange

This is the first year I'm participating in the {lovely} PACKAGE EXCHANGE graciously hosted by Danni from oh, hello friend.

Nearly 200 lovely bloggers signed up to exchange pretty presents by mail and I was matched with Carrie Koehmstedt from Carrie Loves and Sweet Faerie Designs. And oh happy day, her thoughtful gift was one of my favorites from Etsy: a Gourmet Sea Salt Kit from Cook Outside the Box.  

My offering was a bracelet from Wish by Felicity and little Moleskine notebook set since Carrie's favorite colors are turquoise and pink and she put the most adorable photo up on her blog:

[photo by Carrie Koehmstedt]

Thanks, Carrie and Danni for the holiday cheer!

A Week of Foodie-ness

Some people object to the term "foodie", but how else can I explain my obsession that has led me to start cooking and baking again?  That's a mesclun salad with blackberries, raspberries and fingerling potatoes with lemon sesame soy dressing.

More berries for triple berry muffins and Lemon Berry Pitcher Punch from 101 Sangrias & Pitcher Drinks by Kim Haasarud of Liquid Architecture.

Food Bloggers: I commend your ability to take gorgeous shots while you're in the middle of everything: I'm either too messy, or forget, so here's a Chocolate Carmalua cake from a recipe by Mrs. Fields cooling by the window, but without the caramel sauce.

I finally found the cord to my rice cooker and made some Korean namool: sesame seasoned spinach, shiitakes and zucchini.

Koru Kate and I had a lovely dinner by the water at Trinity in Hoboken: here's the chicken pot pie and a Panda's Dream cocktail. 

Louise and I had a WONDERFUL dinner at Kin Shop with a delicious menu by Chef Harold Dieterie: my fave was the Warm Sliced Snap Peas with Diver Sea Scallops, Crispy Shallots, Pea Greens & Toasted Coconut. We also had Aquatic Vegetables, Fried Pork & Crispy Oyster Salad, Stir Fried Rice Flakes with Rock Shrimp, Massaman Braised Goat, fabulous cocktails made with house-infused ginger mekhong, guava nectar, thai basil and rum, and tasty Galangal Ice Cream and Calamansi Sorbet...amazing...

Next day I prepped for a lunch for my aunt and her husband.  You can see Mila being very helpful in the background.

No time to iron the tablecloth!

We started with tomato, basil and mozzarella with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I tried my hand at some huge scallops from The Black Dog Summer on the Vineyard Cookbook.  No pic here of the smoked chili cream, but it was quite tasty.

And we finished with Lepore's Home Made Chocolates.

Since I was being a hostess I didn't make it to my parents' trip to Valley Shepherd Creamery but my Dad sent me some pics of baby sheep, alpacas...

and some very nice looking wool.  I want to go back and take one of their cheesemaking classes!

At the end of the day there were some leftovers for me.

And my aunt brought me some pink pasta and a pink spatula she won at a raffle for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Wonder what I'll make with these...we'll see.

Last Weekend I Gave You My Heart

Last Valentine's Day was pretty different in lots of ways.  Not making pretty pink soap this year, but been busy spreading the love.  A wise blogger advised me to not make my posts too long, but, well, consider this warning now!  It all started last weekend.

[copyright Amy Mitten]

After I made Rachael early morning brownies for her birthday we went out to support Emergency Service for the release of their very 1st music video: Feel Your Love.

Then it was time to get cooking for my Aunt Liz's birthday.  I posted a prep shot here cause I was overwhelmed by all the ingredients, but I was getting help from Bon Appetit, Ina, Giada and Peggy Fallon.

First I ironed a heart onto my apron with double-sided fusible.

Then tackled Broccoli Rabe with Pignoli: Giada's recipe called for raisins, but I found a dried cranberry cherry mix instead.

And browned onions for Peggy Fallon's Caramelized Onion Dip.

Trying to slice carrots into a "medium dice" for The Barefoot Contessa's Chicken Stew with Parsley Biscuits wasn't as hard as finding frozen baby onions (had to go to 3 stores).

And I used to have a rolling pin or 2, but couldn't find either one, so used a bottle to roll out the biscuits, probably like my Italian grandmother used to do.

I tried to stay organized.

And Mila tried helping, but...

I had to frost the cake myself too.

Everything seemed to take forever, but at last it was all done, including Giada's Lemon Spaghetti, and my Mom brought Ina's Roasted Winter Vegetables.

And still there was more to do: valentines for Etsy's Share Your Love.

and for family and friends

all sealed with love.

Then today on to a Valentine's Eve Menu from Martha Stewart and James Villas.

Had to use the 5 major V-day Food Groups: bacon, butter, cheese, chocolate and cream!

And made Swiss Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Gruyere Cheese from The Bacon Cookbook.  Seriously, is there a title that can make you happier than that?

And Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes.

Good thing I got some movies to watch too.

I'm overdue for drawing the winner for my 100th Post Giveaway, thanks to everyone for entering and Happy Valentine's Day!

Let's Get this Party Started!

Ahhh....I am solely responsible for turning all of these ingredients into a lovely multi-course meal for 7 people tomorrow!  Those who know me have been very amused by my attempts at cooking, so we'll see what happens.  

Maybe Mila will help when she wakes up.  Happy Birthday, Aunt Liz, love you and see you tomorrow!

11 Craft-O-Lutions for 2011

"For last year's words belong to last year's language 

and next year's words await another voice." -- T.S. Eliot

I'm loving the New Year's Resolution Reviews popping up, from Heart Handmade, Sandy A La Mode and others, so I've made a few changes around here: a Facebook fan page, Tweets and more event listings.  Let me know if you hear about any more!  Here's what I want to do in 2011:

1) Ballet classes, took the 2nd one in 6 years last week at Peridance, very inspired by Black Swan!

2) Cello lessons again, it's been about 11 years now! also very inspired by this Korean horror movie

3) Jewelry class, maybe at Make Workshop or 3rd Ward

4) Sell something at a craft fair, so many to think about, now what to make??

5) Cake decorating, been years since I've done this too, so I got my last bday cake at Magnolia 

6) Get another flower arranging job, cause the first was lots of work, but really fun

7) Visit event vendors: like a baker, florist, stationer, designer...and a few others I have in mind...

8) Get another tattoo: already chose the place, thinking about the design

9) Sew a dress

10) Keep cooking, cause starting this year off with Korean dumplings was pretty tasty

11) And do a better job of keeping in touch cause, well, it just all around makes me happy

Good luck with your resolutions, crafty or otherwise!