Masonic Temple in Alexandria, VA

Enjoy your weekend!

My mother makes the best sweet tomato chutney. I was missing it the other day and decided to give it a try. I came pretty close .. but you know how it is .. mom’s cooking is perfect!

Please forgive my lack of (and poor quality) pictures. I was experimenting so I didn’t have much time for pictures.

Preparation:
(serves 4)

• 1 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 pinches asafoetida (optional )
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3-4 Indian curry leaves (kadipatta) (optional)
• 3-4 dried red chilis
• 3 tbsp red chili powder
• 2 tbsp salt
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp oil 

1. Dice all the tomatoes and slice the garlic.

Cooking:

1. On a hot pan, heat oil for a minute and then add the mustard seeds and red chilis.
2. Wait until you hear the mustard seeds pop, then add asafoetida powder, garlic, and curry leaves.
3. Fry for about 1 minute and add tomatoes. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes until tomato juices start to extract.
4. Cover and cook on low heat for another 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the juices evaporate add some water to prevent sticking.
5. By now the tomatoes should be pulpy. Add sugar, salt, and red chili powder. Cook covered for another 10 minutes. Halfway, taste to see if you like the sweetness and add more if needed.
6. Serve once cooled to room temperature. {I take out the curry leaves before serving but it is purely preference.} This can also be stored for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

Bon Appétit!!

- ASH

Went to Boston and Acadia, ME this past weekend and had lots of fun!

Enjoy your weekend!

I had gone to Denver a few years back and had forgot I had taken this photo. While I was driving to Denver airport to leave I saw these massive clouds and what appeared to be distant rain. Having lived in the city for all of my life, I can’t be entirely sure; but in any case it looked cool.

Be careful today (it’s Friday the 13th) and enjoy your weekend!

Isn’t it pretty? I just love the feeling, so soft and velvety!

- ASH

In other news.. I made a necklace. I had made the purple fabric flower for a while, but never got around to making the necklace. I had a crafts night recently with my friend and so I finally put it all together. Isn’t it pretty? I love wearing it!

- ASH

Sunset in Norway. Soo beautiful!!!

Enjoy your weekend!

  
At first I didn’t think I’d like it. It was so different from the ones that come out the blue box you get for a dollar. It is more like a pie, more solid than not. I was told that this is the Guyanese version of Macaroni. Well I wanted to try it myself but didn’t have any recipes to go off of. Of course I could have called my sister-in-law and asked her but, you know, that would have been too easy. And secondly, there is nothing Google can’t find. {Seriously!} Along came this wonderful blog named Miss Gourmet Express and saved the night.

Preparation:
(serves 4)

• 1/2 Box of macaroni elbows
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Cups of whole milk, or carnation milk, or light cream
• 2 Cups of grated cheddar cheese (you can buy the shredded in the bag)
• 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
• 1/4 of an Onion chopped
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1/4 Green pepper chopped finely
• 1 1/2 Tsp black pepper
• 1 Tsp Salt or to taste
• Pinch of dry Parsely
• Pinch of dry Thyme

Topping:

• Bread crumbs
• 3/4 Cup Shredded Cheddar

1. Grate the cheeses.
2. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl and set aside.
3. Have your milk portioned off and waiting.
4. Chop and set your green peppers aside.
5. Coarsely chop your onion and garlic; blend with 1/4 cup of water until smooth.

Cooking:

1. Cook the macaroni elbows with the directions on the box. DON’T overcook it.
2. Drain the pasta when ready and return to the pot it was boiling in.
3. Add and stir all of your dry ingredients and green peppers.
4. Pour in the onion and garlic mixture and keep stirring.
5. Add the milk and then stir in the eggs making sure to mix fast. Turn the stove to low heat.
6. Add the cheddar and pepper jack cheese little by little alternating each time. Taste the pasta and make sure its cheesy enough for your preference and has enough of the seasonings.
7. Fill and baking dish (usually a 9 in square or round pan would work, but use whatever pan you have that would fit). Top with bread crumbs.
8. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees.
9. Remove foil and bake and additional 15 minutes.
10. Optional: Let macaroni pie cool for about 1-2 hours. We eat it straight out of the oven and it is just as good.

 - ASH

Don’t you just want to pull up a picnic with your favorite book and enjoy the scenery?

Enjoy your weekend!

Cathedral in Stavanger, Norway.

Enjoy your weekend!

 
The process is very simple and here are some that you can make {this is not a complete list}:

So when you go to buy the spices, buy the whole seeds and make the powder at home. If you have a coffee grinder that works for most spices. However, my parents have over time broken a few caps to those grinders. What our family has found that works the best is the Magic Bullet. I’m not being paid to endorse this product but over time it has passed the test of grinding up hard spices; especially when you are making garam masla.

If you are using the Magic Bullet, you will need the shorter blade. Coffee grinders already have the shorter blade in them.

Use the blade on the left side.

Then simply add your seeds and grind until you get a fine powder.

 Cumin seeds

Cumin powder

- ASH

The light post structures looked so pretty, I had to take a picture; taken in Old Town Alexandria.

Enjoy your weekend!

- ASH

Coil seat springs

Serpentine/sinuous/zig zag springs.

It is best that you replace the springs with the same kind the furniture being upholstered originally came with. Mine sofa came with the serpentine springs. And I was actually relieved to find that out because the coil seat springs are much more complicated to install.

To install the serpentine springs, you remove the old and nail in the new. It is really that simple. It just takes a lot more man power than I could handle.. so I didn’t do this part alone.

Before getting started in replacing, you’ll need to buy new springs, spring clips, and twine. The spring clips are what holds the springs to the wood. The twine goes across the multiple springs to balance the weight out on to more than a few springs. If these are broken, it can cause your springs to deform.

Okay, so first was to remove the springs. That was easy enough. The spring clips were metal pieces pierced in to the wood frame. It’s a bit hard to see in the picture but it is the thing pointing at you.

Next was to add the new clips. The Hubster nailed these in, I apparently lack in the muscels needed hold down a spring and hammer in a nail. We learned the easies way to do this was to go from the bottom (near the seat) to the top of the sofa. Here is a picture of a clip without the spring.

The bottom spring was attached so that part of it was pushing back on the wood frame. We replicated the original way the springs were attached. Here’s the bottom spring.

And then the spring at the top is attached on the first zig zag, like so.

We got two of them installed and took a break! It is hard work!!  

The next part is adding the metal twine to the springs to make sure the weight on the spring is balanced among the springs. They have special tools to clip the clips to the twine and spring in one step, however they cost about $45! My cheap self just used regular pliers to push together the clips. {blisters were included in the not so expensive option} 

Before adding the clip to the spring and twine, gently squeeze the clip a little to prevent it from falling.

Bend the three sides in to each other to form a tube clip and continue down the row. I added 4 rows of twine each to the seat and back springs to give it more support. {previously, it had only 3 each}

The springs part of the process had frightened me because I was worried that the springs wouldn’t get installed the right way or they would just pop right off. .. Luckily none of that has happened. Thanks of course to the Hubster for his muscles.

Things still left to do:

• Finish removing the fabric/padding.
• Inspect the springs and check if they need replacing  (The seating springs need to be replaced.)
• Decide if webbing is needed to hold shape between the spaces in the frame. (The original piece used cardboard..) (Webbing will go over the armrests and some on the back.)
• Pick fabric and order
• Get foam for backing and seating; batting and foam for springs and sides
• Start fixing the frame
• Apply webbing
• Replace springs
• Attach all padding on to the sofa
• Attach the fabric

Check out the journey up until here:
Part 1 – Starting the upholstery process
Part 2 – Ripping the sofa to the bare bones
Part 3 – Shopping for supplies

Sorry for the lack up posts in the past couple of weeks. Life happens sometimes and you have to just deal with it.

- ASH

[Photos from here and here]

Here’s an easy way to add some bling to your shoes. Get some pretty buttons from your local craft store. I got mine at Joann’s.

Isn’t that pretty?!

Grab a pair of shoes you would like to upgrade.

And sew them on to a pair of shoes, and you are DONE! This takes literally 5 minutes.

I feel like I have new shoes all over again, but without spending the money for one. Now who can say no to that?

- ASH

Building in Baltimore, not sure what it was for but it had a great structure for pictures.

Enjoy your weekend!

I found this neat website DIYUpholsterySupply.com. I was able to buy some serpentine springs that I needed to replace. As I mentioned in Part 2, the backing springs were crooked and out of shape. Also the spring wires are all broken so I invested in some of those as well. And I needed clips to hold the springs and the spring wires down so I bought some of those. But the biggest thing I bought were the foam cushions. I am getting the seating cushion custom cut to 6x24x48 (Thickness X Width X Length). And I bought two precut foams for the backing cushions, 4x24x28.

Memorial day weekend came and went. It was not too good for me as I was planning on working on my sofa for three days. Instead, I spent most of it on a bed being sick. However, I wouldn’t say it was bad for me either.

Friday of the weekend, I headed to JoAnn Fabrics for the webbing I needed to fix the armrests on the sofa. I took a quick detour around the store {always a bad idea when you have nothing in particular you’re looking for}. I noticed signs everywhere saying “Memorial Day Sale 50% off”!! When I went to the cutting area to get my webbing cut, I asked if the special order upholstery fabric was also included in the 50% off Memorial Day Sale. To my delight, they said YES! It was like finding a four leaf clover or winning the lottery. {Okay, I’m being a bit dramatic; but still can you believe it!}

The weekend before, the Hubster and I had gone to a JoAnn store near our house to get webbing. It wasn’t there, but I took the opportunity to ask his opinion on the fabrics to reupholster with. To my surprise he looked around and found some he liked. When I went to see the price on these fabrics I was slapped on the face. It read $59.99. {I’m serious, I never expected the fabric to cost more than $20/yard} So finding these same fabrics on 50% off was a goldmine.

I told the Hubster about it and he was excited to {just not AS excited as me}. We went to the store the next day and found fabric we liked. In the process of looking for the perfect one, you get overwhelmed by the amount of options to choose from. Some were pretty but not practical. We reminded ourselves that the sofa was going to be used daily so the nice, pretty, shiny fabrics were out of question. They are usually for sofas or chairs that are hardly used.

And we also had to keep each other away from the silly ones we found. Like this one with puppies all over it. {The image is linked to the fabric page, just in case you find it cute and attractive. I’m not judging. }

It came down to two fabrics that we liked. One that was deep brown with textured florals on it and another that had somewhat of a burlap base with black fuzzy paisleys. The black/burlap one seemed a bit too much and we both agreed that we’d need a contrasting color to go around the back and side of the sofa. Also the paisleys seemed to be stuck on to the burlap fabric. I was a bit skeptical that it would stay in the same condition over the years of wear and tear. The brown fabric had a nice thickness and it was soft to touch. So in the end the brown won. I needed 10 yards of it, that’s being on the safe side. Of course, when we got to the cutting counter, there was only 8.3 yards on the bolt. *sigh* We had to special order it, which meant paying $11 in shipping {which we both thought was a rip off because it is being shipped to the store}. However, we saved a ton because the fabric was *drum roll, please* $13.99/yard! Oh and to top it off this store had just opened and I had a coupon for 20% off an entire purchase, including items on sale! {I was jumping all the way to the car!} Hmm, in my excitement I forgot to mention, I also got foam for the armrests and front facing wood and decking fabric to put where the cushions go. The decking fabric is used so you don’t spend more money on the upholstery fabric for a place of the sofa no one will see but you.

Things still left to do:

• Finish removing the fabric/padding.
• Inspect the springs and check if they need replacing  (The seating springs need to be replaced.)
• Decide if webbing is needed to hold shape between the spaces in the frame. (The original piece used cardboard..) (Webbing will go over the armrests and some on the back.)
• Pick fabric and order
• Get foam for backing and seating; batting and foam for springs and sides
• Start fixing the frame
• Apply webbing
• Replace springs
• Attach all padding on to the sofa
• Attach the fabric

Have you happened upon a great deal like we did? What are some of your guidelines of keeping on task when shopping for something particular? Stay tuned to see how it all comes together.

- ASH

Pretty rainforest flower from our Baltimore Aquarium trip.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Hubster: What do you want to do today?

Me: I don’t know what do you want to do today?

The Hubster: We can go to DC.

Me: We can go to Great Falls or visit Mount Vernon.

The Hubster: *silence* … I’d like to go somewhere where there is AC.

Me: I’d like to go to a different city.

*thinking thinking thinking*

After much thinking .. one of us {not sure which one, so I’ll just take credit for it } said Baltimore Aquarium. So off we went to the Baltimore Aquarium! Here some pictures from it.

Not sure what these were called, but they had some nice color to them.

These were tiny little fish.

Seahorses were also present.

Frogs on a log.

Pretty rainforest flowers.

Not sure if these are part of the rainforest or just there to help make the exhibit look nice. Either way, I liked their leaves.

Ever seen sharks sleeping? I’ve now seen three. The one on top came in and snuggled with the other two. It was so cute. {Oh my, did I just call sharks cute ..?} 

There was a dolphin show. The dolphins was jumping over the balls.

There was a huge Hard Rock Cafe next to the Aquarium. We didn’t go but I took pictures!

Instead we had dinner at P.F. Chang’s and got some yummy chocolate cake. {Can you tell we LOVE chocolate? }

Overall it was nice but the layout was a bit poor. There were hoards of people in front of each tank and there was no flow. Oh well. The rainforest exhibit was nice though! Dinner was good. Anniversary celebration was a success.

- ASH

[Photos taken by me]

Preparation:
(serves 2)

• 1/4 cup baking chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon sugar
• pancake mix
• milk

1. Put enough pancake mix for one pancake and mix 1 tsp of cinnamon sugar, 1/8 cup chocolate chips, and 1/8 cup of cocoa powder.  
2. When the dry ingredients are mixed, add milk, enough to mix but not be too watery.            

Cooking:

1. On a hot pan, pour the batter and cook both sides.

Server with honey or maple syrup. Sorry, I don’t have the end pictures, as I was too excited to serve them.

- ASH

In celebration for my one year anniversary here is a picture from my wedding. Photo courtesy of Don Harper, Edge Photography

Enjoy your weekend!

I’ve confirmed that I still have dust allergies. I’ve sneezed up a storm with all the dust. I finally gave in on the third day and went out and bought some Claritin. Boy was that a relief!

Day 2 I started removing the back fabric and the sides. It was an interesting and sometimes dangerous task; lots of staples and weird surprise.

Yeah, those spikes were used to keep the back fabric in along with the screw.

I also in the process discovered why the armrests were so uncomfortable. They were supported by CARDBOARD!!! And the cardboard broke over the years to make a very uncomfortable sofa. You couldn’t lie down or lean against the armrests for long periods of time. Don’t believe me .. see for yourself! Oh and over the cardboard was cotton stuffing .. not very supportive when going down a hole.

Wanna see the final nekid sofa? It looks so sad and cold. I put the cushions there to test out how I wanted the new cushions to be placed. I am getting one large cushion for the seating and two for the backing. They will be placed just like this.

I have some touch ups to do before going forth and putting everything back together. Notice the springs on the backing in the picture above. Yeah they are out of shape. Luckily the seating springs are in great shape so I won’t be replacing those. However, I will have to replace the twine that holds them all in place. I’ll also be filling in some holes with wood glue.

Things still left to do:

• Finish removing the fabric/padding.
• Inspect the springs and check if they need replacing  (The seating springs need to be replaced.)
• Decide if webbing is needed to hold shape between the spaces in the frame. (The original piece used cardboard..) (Webbing will go over the armrests and some on the back.)
• Pick fabric and order
• Get foam for backing and seating; batting and foam for springs and sides
• Start fixing the frame
• Apply webbing
• Replace springs
• Attach all padding on to the sofa
• Attach the fabric

I’m getting closer. Next step, shopping! Do you think you’d do a project like this? Stay tuned to see how it all comes together.

- ASH

I made some whole wheat crust that came out soft and pretty much just perfect. Now, the pizza itself didn’t come out to be a circle per say {you can see for yourself, below} but it still tasted good.

Doesn’t that look good? I’ll share the recipe another time. I want to make sure I am able to recreate the pizza goodness again.

- ASH

It is getting closer to my 1 year anniversary!! Pictured here is not an engagement ring, it is a ring of love given to me by my love.

I hope your weekend is full of love. Enjoy your weekend!

The sofa .. my parents gave it to me. Its about 20 years old and in need of some new padding. It also needs some new fabric coverings, as the ones on it is understandably old. Of course, slip covers sold look really pathetic and they bunch up and are just plain bleh.

  Sofa with slip cover on.

My mom a few years back had actually tried doing a reupholster too. I’m sure there was a good reason, but it never got quite done.

Sofa with half of a reupholster job.

The fabric she was using is beautiful and I’ll be able to use it for other things, but it’s just not something I want on a sofa. I like dark basic colors like brown. I haven’t picked out the fabric just yet. It is advised that you take apart the sofa or any other furniture that you would reupholster prior to buying the materials for it.

So as I went along plucking off staples, I came across dust. Lots of it. The sofa is 20 some years old so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Just that I am allergic to dust so the whole rest of the night, I sniffled and sneezed my way through the work.

Lets talk springs. Usually you see coil springs in sofas. When I looked (I’m sure I’ve seen them before but never really understood that there are different types of springs) I found tension springs instead. The books I have say that tensions springs are used in “modern” furniture. I guess my sofa is “modern”! So because I was all ready for the coil spring installs, there is a slight set back as I have to go through my books again and learn about the tension springs before I start taking them off to replace, if they need replacing.

At the end of the night, roughly 4.5 hours later my sofa has made some progress; and I’m happy about it!

Things still left to do:

• Finish removing the fabric/padding.
• Inspect the springs and check if they need replacing
• Decide if webbing is needed to hold shape between the spaces in the frame. (The original piece used cardboard..)
• Pick fabric and order
• Get foam for backing and seating; batting and foam for springs and sides
• Start fixing the frame
• Apply webbing
• Replace springs
• Attach all padding on to the sofa
• Attach the fabric

What kind of projects have you undertaken that are big risks? Have you done an upholstery project? What issues did you run in to if any? Share in the comments with links to pictures of your projects.

- ASH

In this day and age we take billions of photos and for the vast majority they are all digital. Back in the day when people still did print out their photos because they had to, we had albums to place the photos in order. Or it could be that the storage was done in sections in a box (similar to a shoe box, however preferably a nicer one) or in envelopes. And because the photographs, if not put away would be taking up physical space, it was more of a necessity to organize them.

The thinking has drastically changed from “work with what I have” to that of “I can go by more if need be”. Also the sheer numbers of photos is a bit overwhelming. In one night you may take hundreds of pictures. How do you organize and shift through them once and once only?

I have root folders listed by year. Then within each year, there are many events I go to or participate in, where I take pictures. I make a new folder for every event. So for example I went to Jane’s wedding on May 16, 2007; I’ll go in to the “2007” folder and create a new folder for the wedding. I’d name it in this convention: “MM-DD-YYYY – EventName” so the folder name would be “05-16-2007 – Jane’s Wedding”.

The next thing I do is open Picasa and run through all the pictures I have in that folder. Using the favorites or star button I mark all those pictures that I really like. I usually don’t delete photos but there are some that go directly to the trash; such as ones that are blurry or way too dark. Once I am done making my favorites, I can go back to the Picasa library and select all the favorites in that folder.

Once selected, right click and select “Move to New Folder”. I usually call the new folder the name of the original with the world album appended to it. In this case, my original folder was called “duvets”. I selected four favorites and moved them to a folder called “duvets album”.

Then right click on the new folder and select “Move Folder”. Move the folder in to the original folder. So the folder “duvets album” will move in to the folder “duvets”.

Now that I have my album folder I’m ready to share the pictures. There are various options nowadays. You can:

• simply upload to Picasa online from Picasa
• upload to Facebook or Flickr
• create a SimpleViewer album using Porta Photo Album generator
• or create an online album using ZenPhoto or Piwigo 

I personally don’t like uploading to social networking sites much and perfer to host my own albums. So I create an album with Porta Photo Album and can use SimpleViewer to view the photos or upload to Piwigo or ZenPhoto. Here is are some examples of albums.

• SimpleViewer album
• Piwigo albums
• ZenPhoto albums

I hope this has helped make the somewhat daunting task of organizing photos in to a manageable one.

What organizing tips do you have? I’d love to hear from you!

-ASH

Heaven is a place where there is no evil, just calm, love,  and peace. And there are some days where I can’t wait to get there! No, I’m not suicidal; just tired of the violence and evil in the world.

May the Lord continually bless you with Heaven’s blessings as well as with human joys. – Psalms 128:5 

This Memorial Day, remember those that gave their lives for our freedom and safety And for those who actively keep us safe and allow us to be with our families, while sacrificing their time with their own families. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

Preparation:
(serves 4)

• 1 1/2 lb or 1 packet of ground turkey
• 1/2 cup finely grated Gruyere cheese
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil 

Cooking:

1. Heat grill if using. Combine the turkey, Gruyere cheese, breadcrumbs, scallions, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper together.
2. Divide the mix evenly and form patties no more than 1 inch thick.
3. On the grill place patties for 1 to 2 minutes on both sides allowing them to brown. Then move the the patties to the cooler parts of the grill and cook 5-10 minutes per side (or until done).

Here’s how it came out. Place in a hamburger bun and your favorite condiments and enjoy!

- ASH

[recipe from Martha Stewart’s Great Food Fast]

Flowers are so beautiful, both from far away and close up.

Enjoy your weekend!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Okay, I’m done being dramatic .. but seriously, tons of great books. I usually go for the books on CDs because my commute to work is an hour each way the books make it seem shorter and more fun. Anywhoo, I also go to find books on other things. Like when I wanted to start knitting, the first thing I did was look for books on it. They were very helpful and there are tons of them with FREE, yes I said FREE patterns and helpful hints. Of course, having a knitting network like Raverly doesn’t hurt either. Say you need a boost in designing your home, there are books for that. Help on sewing? Check. Crafts of other types? Got that too. The only thing is that they are a couple years or more old. But if you are looking for techniques and inspiration it is definitely a good place to start. Who wants to go buy all the books in the world and only read half of them?

The latest books I’ve been reading are on upholstery. They are awesome books let me tell you. I’m considering starting an upholstery project and because it is a bit massive in size, I wanted to get all the facts before starting. Here are the three I’ve read:

• New Upholstery by Nicole Fulton
• The Complete Guide to Upholstery by Cherry Dobson
• Upholstery Techniques and Projects by David James

Do you go to the library? How often? And what do you usually get there?

- ASH

[Photo from here and here]

One of the hors d’oeuvres that I made on Saturday was actually so easy to make that I decided to repeat it to take to the barbeque on Sunday. And I was able to finish in one hour tops Sunday morning!

So what are these yummy things called? — Aloo (potato) tikki or potato patties. It is an Indian recipe but all it is, is potatoes, peas, and onions; which is accepted by most people. So how do you make them? I’m here to help.

Preparation:
(makes about 24 patties)

• 1 lb potatoes
• 1 cup green peas (fresh or frozen)
• 2 green chilies (optional)
• 1 red onion
• 3/4 inch of ginger
• 2 tbsp besan flour (chickpeas flour, you can find this in Indian or Korean stores)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• salt to taste
• 4 tbsp oil

  Spices

• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin

1. Cook the potatoes. I prefer to use a microwave, my mother taught me this goes faster than cooking it on the stove. You can put the potatoes in a bowl and fill water so it covers about 1/4 of the potatoes’ height from the bottom. Then run it the microwave for about 4-5 minutes on high. Take out the bowl and flip the potatoes and run it again for another 4-5 minutes. You may need a third time but you are looking for the potato skin to start to wrinkle.
2. Meanwhile, cook the peas in boiling water for about 4-5 minutes.
3. When the potatoes are done, run them in cool water and peel and mash.
4. Dice the chilies, ginger, and onion.

Cooking:

1. On a hot pan, add small amount of oil and cook chilies, ginger, and onions for a minute.
2. Add the spices (turmeric, garam masala, coriander, and cumin) and cook for another minut or until soft.
3. Add the cooked peas, onion mixture, and besan flour to the mashed potatoes.
   
   

   This is the mixture with besan flour not fully mixed in. 

4. Mix content together with salt and lemon juice.
5. Scoop out potatoes in to golf size balls and shape in to patties.
6. In a frying pan, heat the rest of the oil. Add the patties in batches and fry them on each side until brown and crispy.

   Option 2: You can deep fry the patties as well. Just make sure the oil and heat are on high. If the patties start to separate in the oil, then the oil is too cold. Also when taking the patties out, place them in a bowl lined with paper towels to soak up the extra oil.

Serve this with chutney and you got your self some yummy snacks.

- ASH

Hope you are having a fantastic weekend. I surely am!!  My weekend is packed but in a good way with seeing friends and family that I haven’t had time to hang out with and doing some late spring cleaning.

Cleaning is a drag but it’s gotta be done, right? I like the feeling after I’m done cleaning .. you know the time where you don’t want to touch anything so that it stays in a pristine condition? Yea, that’s what I’m talking about. It almost feels as good as the time after rain showers.

What are those small things that make you happy? What are you doing this weekend?

- ASH

Went to a wedding this past weekend and took some pretty pic-a-tures.

Enjoy your weekend!

(I guess I need to say right here that I have not been paid by any of these companies to say the following.)

The first tool is Picasa. It is a great photo editing tool. It is quick and easy for anyone to use.

You have the basic fixes that includes straightening out of a picture, cropping, correcting red eyes, auto contrast, auto color, and fill lighting. There is a separate tuning tab for more options.

Under the effects tab there are great features like:

• Sharpen – sharpen an image
• one button sepia and black and white
• Warmify – add some warmth to a picture
• Saturation – add or remove saturation
• Soft Focus – this is my favorite, add a blurred edge around your photos (great for removing unwanted backgrounds)
• Focal B&W – Make one part of the picture colored while the rest of the picture is black and white

I’ll show you an example of what you can do with Picasa. Here’s the original picture:

Isn’t this picture cute?! It was taken by my friend Jenn Walters.

After a series of changes made to the photo, you can have a great looking photo.

Here’s the final picture:

And then there are all the sharing options. If you have the Picasa online albums you photos can be uploaded to them easily. Or you can make a collage of the pictures in the album. You can even add captions to the pictures.

My favorite option is the star. I use this feature to make a concise album of all the million of pictures I take. As I go through an album, I just”star” a picture I like and then move all of the starred pictures into a sub folder.

There is a new feature in Picasa where you can tag people and then the program will use face recognition to tag new photos as they are added.

So I’ hope I’ve helped a little in editing your pictures.  Next will be organizing and sharing.

-ASH

One good thing about living in the DC area is that we get to see the pretty, cherry blossoms! Jenn and I went early (before sunrise) a couple years back to take some pictures of the cherry blossoms. Photo courtesy of Jenn Walters.

Enjoy your weekend!

I don’t have anything significant to share just yet. But I’m putting together a series of pots about the photography tools I use. Mainly to answer the question: “What do I do after I’ve taken that awesome picture!?” So stay tuned for them.

-ASH

This picture is of the National Cathedral in DC. It was taken from the 7th floor of the building in which I work (in Arlington, VA – which is across a river in a different state for those of you unfamiliar with this area). I’m amazed at the quality I got with my point and shoot. Of course, the surrounding areas is not so great so the picture didn’t come out as good. Oh well.

Enjoy your weekend!

Preparation:
(serves 2 people *who like lots of sauce in their pasta *)

• 1/2-1/3 bottle your favorite pasta sauce
• 1-2 tomatoes (diced)
• 1 red onion (diced)
• 1/2 green pepper (diced)
• handful of baby spinach leaves (cut)

• 1-2 garlic cloves (diced) or 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp of red chili powder
• dried oregano
• dried parsley
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Cooking:

1. In a heated pan, cook the diced onions in the olive oil until soft.
2. Add and cook the diced green peppers, about 1-2 minutes.
3. Add in the diced tomatoes and garlic (powder). Cook until the tomatoes are a bit mushy.
4. Add the cut baby spinach leaves and allow the leaves to welt.
5. Once all the fresh ingredients are cooked, add the pasta sauce and mix well.
6. Add the oregano, parsley, red chili powder, sugar, ketchup, and salt; cook for about 10 minutes on low heat to let all the flavors blend together.

And that’s it, you’re done! The whole thing should take less than 30 minutes and you get great tasting pasta sauce. In case you are wondering, the sugar and ketchup get rid of the sour taste of the tomatoes. It was a trick I learned from a college friend, back in the day. It really works!

- ASH

This poor fellow had the unfortunate luck of bothering me while I was doing a photo shoot. He/She is no longer with us, and I am glad of it!

Enjoy your weekend!

- ASH

Event holder: Nrityaki Dance Group

What: Kathak Workshop by Rosella Fanelli, a renowned dancer/teacher in Italy.  You can see a video of her performing here.

When:

• Friday, April 30th (1 hr workshop)
  Beginner: 6:30PM
  Advanced: 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 1st (2 hr workshop)
  Advanced: 10:30 AM
  Beginner: 4:30 PM
• Sunday, May 2nd
  Dance performance for all workshop participants

Where: Nrityaki Dance Studio – 23230 Hemmingford Circle, Sterling, VA 20166

Prices:

• 1 hr workshop (Friday)                         $30/person
• 3 hr workshop (Fri + Sat + Show)     $75/person
• Show tickets (Sunday)                           $10/person

Seats are limited and are first come, first serve.

There will also be a henna artist at the studio.

Please send all enrollment requests to NrityakiDanceGroup@gmail.com by April 22nd.
Have Questions? Call 703-661-0789.

- ASH

But that is not what I wanted to talk about today. I have duvet covers on my mind. Remember my warm cozy duvet cover from West Elm? I want to make my own now. I can’t justify shelling out $100+ on two large pieces of cloth sewn together. I’m in brainstorm phase as to what I want it to look and how I’ll do it.

I’ve thought about buying queen sheets of some fabric and using that to make one. I have to do some research on how much upholstery fabric costs and where I can get it for less. If you know of places, do share.

For the mean time, here’s a few designs I like.

I love this modern leaf design, it is simple but it still can be used as an accent. (source)

This bamboo design is so calming. I want to fill my room with this and bamboo plants. (source)

I’m not a big fan of the black and red on bedding but the way the pattern was put together on this duvet is nice. (source) 

This paisley design calls out to the Indian in me. The look is clean and crisp, perfect for a guest room. (source)

I love the colors of these, both the turquoise and the brown. I would love to see either one of these in my house. (source)

I had to throw in a purple, being my favorite color. It isn’t really purple, but anymore than this would be too feminine for our room. (source)

I kept the best for last. I can really see myself being able to make this one. It is simple but has just enough texture to make it classy. (source)

Which one do you like?

- ASH

My dance group, Nrityaki Dance Group, is having a Kathak Workshop. What is Kathak, you might ask. Well, it is an Indian classical dance form, from the northern parts of India. Our dance group is having a Kathak teacher come to administer dance tests. She will also be holding workshops for anyone interested. Her name is Rosella Fanelli and she is renowned in Italy and has performed in England, Germany, Spain, Italy, India, and the US. You can see a video of her performing here..Consider the workshop if you are interested and pass on the information!

When:

• Friday, April 30th (1 hr workshop)
          Intermediate: 6:30PM
          Advanced: 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 1st (2 hr workshop)
          Advanced: 10:30 AM
          Intermediate: 4:30 PM
• Sunday, May 2nd
          Dance performance for all workshop participants

Where: Nrityaki Dance Studio – 23230 Hemmingford Circle, Sterling, VA 20166

Prices:

• 1 hr workshop (Friday)                     $30/person 
• 3 hr workshop (Fri + Sat + Show)     $75/person 
• Show tickets (Sunday)                      $10/person

Seats are limited and are first come, first serve.

There will also be a henna artist at the studio.

Please send all enrollment requests to NrityakiDanceGroup@gmail.com by April 22nd.
Have Questions? Call 703-661-0789.

- ASH

Here’s the first shot, with some blue tinting.

This one is of a train going the other direction as it pulls in to the station.

Green tint was used for this shot.

This one is the same as the one above but in black and white..I think I like the b&w more.

Here’s another black and white in portrait.

I think this might be the favorite, sepia with more contrast and softening of the edges.

Which one do you like?

And remember, enjoy your weekend!

Umm .. I digressed early this time. Back to my chalkboard.

I had this black, framed, plastic thingy that my sister and I had since our college days. It was used as a white board, except you had to have it over something light to see the writing. It was cool, but after the years, the markers don’t erase as well as they used to. It had been hanging around on the kitchen floor. Yea, I know what you are thinking. I have no explanation for it. I promise, my house is not as messy as it sounds .. okay just a little messy. Hehe

Annywhoo.. a few weeks ago, I was cleaning up and I finally got fed up with it hanging around the kitchen floor and I came up with an idea of changing it up to a chalkboard. I already had the paint from one of my incomplete/failed DIY wedding projects last year. So that’s what I did!

The front and back of the chalkboard.

Of course, my impatience got the worst of me as I didn’t bother to spray primer on before hand. But I jorified (jorified: my word for when I come up with a weird way of fixing something ) the process. I painted one thin coat and used a blow dryer to dry it as a base coat. Then with each coat I kept using the blow dryer to dry it until I got a nice smooth surface. It worked out well; except I didn’t get in the cracks so I have to go back.

See that slit of white/cream color, that’s the crack that I missed. 

It looked nice but it needed something more, like designs around the frame. I got this nice template of floral border designs, sorry I don’t have the link for it but you can google “floral border designs”. I couldn’t figure out a way to trace on to the frame so I free handed, while looking at it.

Isn’t the design pretty? I free handed with a pencil first.

Then painted using the paint you get at the craft store.

 Here it is half way done, with just the vines painted in.

I just used what I had on hand. I think it turned out pretty nice. I still need to gloss the frame so that it looks a bit different than the middle chalkboard.

I think it turned out quite nice!! Do you like it? I was thinking of selling it, anyone interested?

- ASH

Don’t let tax season get you all worked up. Relax and enjoy your weekend by candlelight.

The headband I started with was an elastic ribbon that came on my box of Godiva chocolates (Yummy!!! I want some now!) the Hubster gave me for Christmas. He calls me a pack rat, I call it being creative with what you have.

The other websites say to use felt as the base. I didn’t have any so I just used cotton fabric. For the flower, I have a huge stash of purple satin fabric (along with other colors like orange, red, and green) from my wedding florist. They were used to decorate our gazebo.

Photo: Courtesy of Yann Kherian

Isn’t it so pretty! My florist did a wonderful job with it!

Do you see the purple? Ahem .. I digress… Going back to the headband, you use fabric glue and start from the middle of your base. You twist the fabric along, and glue at different points as you go. Once at the end, you tuck the end between your last row of fabric and the base, glue. Wait until the glue is all dry and embellish with either beads or buttons or something entirely different. When you are done, sew it (or glue it) to the headband. And you are done!

Here’s a close up of the flower.

Do you like it? Have you tried something similar? Are you the fascinator type?

- ASH

The first thing I will share is an accessory to my bridesmaid dress. Remember my Friday Photo of the brooch from the dress? I needed a crinoline slip to take my regular halter top dress and transform it to a 1950s Marilyn Monroe dress. I bought the dress from Unique-Vintage.com and they were selling the slips for $44. I could have just gotten that and been done with it. However, that would have just been too easy. I took on the challenge of making it.

This was one way to get a sewing machine, that I really badly wanted. Shhhh.. don’t tell anyone about that, it’s our little secret. It’s not fancy but it does the job!

I did a bit of research online on how to create this slip. If others had done it before and if they had any tips. I found this excellent tutorial, by missjesswinkwink at Craftser.

Next step, get fabric. After getting a sewing machine, I went to the fabric store. I was looking for tulle like the tutorial said. Be it my luck, they were out of black or purple (my dress is purple). A lady was helping me out and pointed to another type of netting that was much stiffer. She called it cancan, but I can’t find that this is really a type of fabric. She also said that I wouldn’t need as much fabric as the tulle because it is so stiff. So I took 3.5 yards rather than 9, got some ribbon to finish the ends and make it look professional and elastic.

The first tier was simple, cut the fabric in circle according to your waist. Then sew to the elastic. After that, I took the remaining fabric and cut 9" strips as long as possible. I used 4′ of fabric for the second tier and roughly 12′ for the third. The strips were joined to create one long strip.

Each long strip was basted. Basting is a process of running stitches through your fabric on the longest stitch length and least tension. Once this is done, one side’s strings are tied and then you pull on the other side causing ruffles. Then you spread the ruffles along the whole strip and sew it to the existing slip. It really isn’t as complicated as it sounds.

When the skirt was completed, I used the ribbon to line the edges on each tier. I also put a short liner at the top where the waist is, so the fabric doesn’t scratch or itch while wearing it. Here is the final product. Now if I only had an opportunity to wear it. Does anyone want to buy it? Let me know!

And here’s a close up of the ruffles and ribbons on the bottom.

-ASH

Once I had three, I killed two with my neglect. I was left with this one stalk and have been nurturing it to grow. I found the trick to growing bamboo is to add pebbles/rocks, something for it’s roots to grab. I’m happy to see my lucky charm growing.

You can see most of the room in this picture: the bed, rug, and the blue paint. What you can’t see is the lonely brown wall. Next to the bed on the left side of the picture is the night stand and a milk crate filled with books/magazines/journal for me. I also have a spot light hanging from the bed side for when I want to do some reading/knitting in bed. On the right side is an ottoman that stores extra candles.

Here’s the other side of the room, with both wall colors. The doors on the very left are to the bathroom. And the one in the center goes to the hallway. (Please excuse my vacuum peeking out from the hallway.) The double doors is the Hubster’s closet (he doesn’t get much space).

And to have more storage for our clothes and my jewelry (I have A LOT!) we got this humongous wardrobe from Ikea. I didn’t realize how big it was until we put it together. I just hope that in the future if we move, it fits where we go. Right now its about an inch from the ceiling. I also want to put curtains in front of it so you can’t see the clothes. But for now this shall do. Right next to it is our floor lamp that was a wedding gift. It provides just the right amount of light and is controlled by a switch near the door.

This is at the foot of the bed, it hold a lot of stuff fro us. It is actually a wall shelf that I decided not to put on the wall. The two bowls are used to keep his and her keys. Baskets for other items. (Please ignore the “Mudd” shoebox there, it’s our first aid kit.) There are two black (Ikea) boxes, one for the Hubster and one for me, that keeps our important papers that we need for the month such as bills. We compete for whose box will be on top, making them more important.

The duvet cover is from West Elm and the rest of the set is a “bed-in-a-bag” from Bed Bath and Beyond that I had bought with a huge discount a couple years back. I love the duvet cover; doesn’t it look inviting?! Oh, I also got a “summer comforter” from Ikea to switch out after winter is FINALLY over.

I leave you with a picture of our Vikings that sit at the foot of the bed. Aren’t they cute?

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the turn out. It is functional and pretty. So what do you think of it? Anything you suggest changing?

-ASH

A lonely leaf on a lonely day, won’t anyone come out to play?

Enjoy your weekend!

 Isn’t it pretty!?

And here’s what I did to it. I added straps made from black ribbon that I was using for my slip and attached the hooky thing to it.

Then I sewed the other side slim enough to make it through the hooky thing. I then burned holes into the ribbon by heating up a broken sewing machine needle (there’s a purpose for everything)!

I attached both to the watch head using fishing wire.

I need to find more secure measures of attaching the straps though. Because the “hole” side of the strap ripped off somehow during the trip.

What do you think of it?

-ASH

It also seems like the month of March is just one big birthday fest. I know people who were born on the 12, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 25. That’s SIX people! One needs time to get gifts together .. sheesh!

Sooo here’s a big

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

.. to all those with birthdays in March. I’m not going to list names here, you know who you are.

-ASH

The Hubster and I went to Norway on our honeymoon. While crossing the country, we saw some gorgeous landscapes.

Enjoy your weekend!

You got it, it is a scarf with all it’s glorious ruffles.

Isn’t it pretty?! I want to make my own version of this. And it was fairly easy because there wasn’t a hard pattern to remember. Another good thing was that I found a good way to pass the time on the metro!

Project Info:

• Started: December 8 2009
• Completed: January 5 2010
• Pattern: Misti Chunky Ribs Ruffles Scarf 
• Yarn: Lion Brand – Vanna’s Choice
• Color: 108 Dusty Blue
• How Much: 2 skeins
• Modifications: I wanted a wider scarf so I calculated with the pattern for the following mods:
  • Cast on 124
  • Decrease to 62 in Row 1
  • Decrease to 31 in Row 2
  • When beginning to end the scarf:
  • Increase to 62
  • Increase to 124
  • Bind off
• My Comments: The yarn was easy to work with, and given the fact that both needle and yarn were thicker it was much easier than the first scarf. The pattern was easy to remember and I would definitely recommend this for a beginner.

- ASH

Here’s a sneak peak of her present.

Happy Birthday!

- ASH

Anywayz, I am here to share a taste good/healthy mean! Two in one, can’t beat that can ya?

Preparation:
(serves 2)

1 yellow or red onion tomato (optional) 2 tbsp oil of choice 14 oz of spinach (fresh or frozen) 1-2 cloves of garlic 1/4 tsp cumin seeds 15 oz (1 can) chick peas  salt to taste black pepper to taste

Spices (optional if you want more flavor)

• 1 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 3/4 tsp garma masala
• 1/4 tsp turmeric

1. Slice the onion in thin long slices.
2. Shred/cut the spinach.
3. Wash or drain the chick peas.

Cooking:

1. On a hot pan, add the oil and cook onions until soft (stir often). About 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and cumin seeds and stir, about 1 min.
3. If you are adding the spices, add now and stir. 
4. If adding spices, add tomatoes now.
5. Add the spinach slowly. It will condense as it cooks. Then add salt.
6. Add the chick peas. Stir about 5-10 minutes
7. If you have added the spices, add some water, bring to a boil then cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Serve with rice or roti.

This is what it would have looked like if I followed the directions.

See easy, tasty, and healthy! What do you think of it?

- ASH

Pretty chandelier at the Renaissance Mayflower hotel in downtown DC.

Enjoy your weekend!

After some lounging around we decided to hit the store. Yes, Home Depot was open. As we go there (7:30 pm, I told you we lounged around) I looked at the store hours and realized we had 30 minutes to get all our necessities!! Yikes! Lucky for us, I had made a list of all the things wee needed to do our first paint job. However the unlucky part was we didn’t have a set color in mind. We knew what we didn’t want and kind of what we did but nothing in particular.

See those two color samples on our wall? We didn’t want them, rather something in between.

As we went up and down the paint aisles I figured that at least we can prep the room with tape and such that night and get the paint in the morning the next day. Yup, that was the logical thing to do. But the laws of the universe kicked in to gear and gave me the brilliant idea of hurriedly picking two colors, get them made, and be the last one out of the store. I’m sorry Home Depot workers, i was THAT person. I also had a feeling that this decision was going to bite me later, but hey, now we had our paint and paint supplies!

Back at home, we got busy taping the walls off. The plan was to paint the wall you see in the picture above blue and the rest a brown shade.

Room is ready to paint. 

We painted our blue accent wall that night as well. The next day was scheduled for the rest of the room. The blue color was looking great .. I did well!!

The next day I was all excited and got up early to start on the rest of the painting. I finished the first brown wall and it was time to go to a family birthday lunch. I looked and looked and tried to like the brown. I just didn’t. In fact I could not see it go up on the other two walls at all.

The quick color decision cost me an ugly wall. But it was on to plan B. It didn’t look AS bad by itself; just the fact of three walls looking like this was not going to happen. At least not on my watch. We went back and got more blue and painted the other two walls the same blue color.  I compromised 1. the brown was going to stay 2. the “accent” wall was no longer the accent wall 3. at least we don’t look like we’re in a fish tank (with all four walls blue).

In the end, I like how it turned out with plan B.

What do you think? Plan B look good or should we have stuck with plan A? Stay tuned for the final reveal.

- ASH

Uuuh maybe it didn’t go that way exactly. but I didn’t like Snow White much anyways, Aladdin appealed better to my taste. What I do like are mirrors! We can make all sorts of illusions with them, which is why they are great.

Add depth to your kitchen by using it as backsplash.

(source)

Lighten a room by strategically placing it with a window.

(source)

Or just add a bit of interest to the walls.

(source)

But I’m here not to tell you how to use them. I’m here to tell you that you can get them on the cheap! I found some that could be done DIY style, take a look.

These mirrors hanging from a chain are simple but give the right amount of pop to a room. How about framing a mirror with wood, attaching a chain and coloring it with Rust-oleum. Then hanging it on the wall with a big nail.

This scroll fence like mirror has a feminine touch.  Maybe you don’t have such scroll metal lying around, but how paining in the fancy scrolls? Or if you are lucky to find an old iron scroll, give it a new life by repurposing it as a mirror frame.

This lattice mirror gives an illusion of an extra window. You could create one by gluing down some wood on to an existing framed mirror.

This tile framed mirror is a perfect addition to home. And with the use of a base board, some fancy tiles, and a mirror it can go a long way to enhancing your decor without biting much off the wallet. How about using tiles like this to add a bit of beauty on the cheap?

Nail head trimming on this mirror is simple but elegant. Creating this may be easier than it seems; use a mirror that is nicely framed and add nail head trim around.

This rope framed mirror is my personal favorite! I think this will be my project in the future. Creating this will be simple as tying a not all around a frame that will allow the mirror to sit on top. Then use old leather straps or just more rope to hang it up. You can even use jute instead of the rope if you have that handy.

Pretty sea shells make a great frame around these mirrors.You can use hot glue to make your own, or if you are more of the flower kind, user flowers to frame the mirrors.

This mirror tile framed mirror is another favorite. Use mirror titles to frame a larger one. Use wooden frames to add some pop.

I’ hope I’ve inspired you to create a mirror perfect for your home. I sure am adding this project to the list. Of course, once I get around to doing it, I’ll show you the results.

-ASH

These are my ghungroos. They are bells used in Kathak dance. (photo courtesy of Jenn Walters)

Enjoy your weekend!

Before:

Let me explain to you what it looked like (this would have been easier if I took a before photo). So the salwar looks like this, in shape. Please excuse my poor paint skillz.

(source)

Anyway, I like my salwars to be more straight, rather than triangular; like these. See the difference?

(source)

The rip occurred right above where the slit joins (where the triangle connects with the top part). To fix it, I cut where the rip occurred. Luckily it was the ideal length for a kurti top. But because it lost the weight of the extra fabric it was unflattering (when before it fit just fine). Why do I think projects like these would be easy?

To fix the shape, I tore open the seams on either side. I used a top I had already (that fit well) as a pattern and re-sewed the sides. Then I finished the edges to give it a professional look. I like the results, especially since this was my first (real) sewing project. I don’t count hems as a real project.

 After:

What do you think of it?

- ASH

Preparation:
(serves 4)

• 1 can red kidney beans (refried or whole)
• 4 tortillas
• 1 yellow or red onion
• 1/2 green pepper
• chipotle pepper (optional)
• salt to taste
• cheddar cheese
• mozzarella cheese
• salsa
• 1/2 can enchilada sauce
• oil 

1. Dice the onion and green pepper in to small squares.
2. If using whole kidney beans, grind so that it is semi smooth.
3. Grate the cheese.

Cooking:

1. On a hot pan, cook onions and green peppers until soft (stir often).
2. Add the kidney beans and stir.
3. Add salt and chipotle peppers. Stir.
4. Add some of the grated cheese. Stir.
5. Take a tortilla and line with cheese on half of the tortilla, then fill with the beans. Fold in half and place in a baking pan.
6. Once all tortillas are prepared in the baking pan, sprinkle the cheese and the enchilada sauce.
7. Bake for 10 minutes.

This can be made into burritos as well. Doesn’t that look good?

- ASH

My first bridesmaid dress. It came with this lovely brooch. I like it because it is purple and it is pretty.

Enjoy your weekend!

(source)

Preparation:
(serves 2)

12 oz fresh or frozen tindora 2 small potatoes 1 yellow onion 1 clove of garlic ginger green chili (optional) 1/2 tsp of mustard seed 1 tsp oil 1/4 cup of peanuts (optional)

Spices

• 1 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 3/4 tsp garma masala
• 1/4 tsp turmeric

1. In a microwave cook the potatoes (in a bowl with water covering 1/4 of the potato from the bottom), until tender. Then peel the skin.
2. Slice the onions (long).
3. Cut the chili
4. Cut the garlic and ginger..
5. In a small container mix all the spices with 1/4 cup of water. <picture of spices>
6. Grind the peanuts until fine. Add water and mix.

This is what it will look like after adding the water. 

Cooking:

1. On a pan put in the oil. When hot, put the mustard seeds and let them pop. (If you have never cooked with mustard seeds before stand away or cover the pan.)
2. On low heat cook the onions until soft.
3. Add the garlic, ginger, and potatoes.
4. Add the spice mixture and mix well.
5. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring often.
6. Add tindora.
7. Add the peanut mixture (optional).
8. Cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until cooked well.

Serve with rice or roti.

- ASH

Just take a look for yourself!

Pear Terrarium

Glass Bird Vases

Zen Airplant Garden

Succulent Wreath

Living Ecosphere

Succulent Cube Set

I should mention that I was not paid to write this, although it would have been nice.

Which one is your favorite? Mine is the pear terrarium.

- ASH

For our first snow storm we didn’t have a shovel so the day after we walked to the closest stores to see if anything remotely close to a shovel was available for purchase. We didn’t find any of course but we did find some nice treats to keep us warm cold and happy. Ice cream and chocolate: BIG  weakness of mine.

Enjoy your weekend!

2-D Christmas Tree

So, for the first item today is the 2-D Christmas tree. I didn’t want something big and fancy just yet. We’ll probably wait on that when we have kids. So to save some money, some space, and time I decided to make one out of foam board. You got it. Actually I didn’t come up with this idea on my own. I saw it in a Peir 1 Imports magazine back in 2008. I liked the idea and kept the clipping for later.

Here’s what you need:

• 5 pieces of poster size foam board (about 1/2′” thick)
• Fabric of choice
• batting
• glue gun
• staple gun
• exacto knife

The first thing was to glue (using the glue gun) the foam board all together. I placed 4 of them vertically together, and the 5th one horizontally on top. Not sure what I mean? Check this out:
Then I traced a tree shape on to them in such a way to maximize height and width of the tree. I used the exacto knife to cut the shape out. I exaggerated the contrast in this picture so you could see the different pieces of foam board.
The next step was to make it sturdy and stand tall. I used the left over pieces of foam board and glued them on the “seams”. This part won’t be seen. After that I laid the batting down, folded it over and glued it to the back of the tree.
The final step was to stable the fabric to the back side. I used three different fabrics but you can use 1 or as many as you like. The end result should look like this:

You’re all done! Now you can decorate with ribbons and cards like so.

Wreath

This one is pretty simple. I took a pre-made wreath and some decorations and used the handy dandy glue gun to stick them all together. Of course wreath making is much more fun when you have a good friend to help out like I did. Here are some pictures of the outcome. My favorite part is the red lantern.

Sequin Decorations

For this fun idea, the credit goes to two people. Centsational Girl and her featured guest, Living with Lindsay. I told my friend about it and she suggested doing more than just trees. So we picked up some fun styrofoam shapes and began our project. I will warn you that this take some time and patience! But the results are great.

So there you have it.

- ASH

1. A new name! I didn’t think that LPI was working for what I wanted to express and where I wanted this blog to go in the future. So I have given it a new name and new look. ASH Designs, will be what the blog will be called from now on and found here. And incase you are wondering, “ASH” is my initials.

2. I started knitting. Yaay! You read about my first knitting project and how I started the process.

3. I created a budget, space, and slightly eco friendly Christmas tree. Also, my friend and I discovered the joys of pin/sequins decors and wreath making.

4. The Hubster and I finally painted our bedroom. Most of the furniture is back in. It still needs some reorganizing prior to revealing it so hold on for this one.

5. I got my first bridesmaid dress! I need to make crinoline slip, which meant I needed a sewing machine. So I now am a proud owner of a sewing machine!

I can dream about it being one of those antiques right?

6. Before and after our wedding, we had one room dedicated to gifts that were being shipped and those we got on the wedding day. That room became a monster closet for boxes and was more commonly know as the “box room”. Being stuck at home for the weekend, due to the blizzard we had, I cleaned out the room and created a craft room for myself. It now houses all my craft supplies and my new sewing machine.

7. I’ve taken an old salwar suit that was ripped and created it in to a top. This was my first sewing project. I’m very pleased with the results.

And because seven is a lucky number and I would just keep rambling, that’s it for now, but be sure to come back and visit to see full posts on most things listed.

- ASH

Have you ever wondered how your mom could do all these things and make it look so effortless?! Since becoming a wife, I feel more responsibility in keeping the house up and running, unlike my single days where things just had to work, not work beautifully. And I’m still adjusting and finding new ways to get all my responsibilities and interests fit in to one day. Maybe it is the "I WANT IT NOW" personality in me that makes me impatient.

But enough side tracking and back to knitting. Yes, I miss the sound of the metal needles clicking when my mother would knit. I missed it so much that I went to Michaels and bought some yarn and my own pair of metal needles. I also headed over to the library and picked up a dozen books, no literally, a dozen. The Hubster asked if I was really going to read them all!

Then one day, I sat myself down and tried to follow the book so that I could learned to knit! Boy was I in for a surprise .. I didn’t understand what they meant. The illustrations were confusing at best and the descriptions left me scratching my head. I was thinking, is knitting really this hard?

Well, I wasn’t about to give up there. I headed on to my lovely computer to see what I could find on the interwebs. I was in luck, people had spent some time making excellent videos that explain how to do the basics and some more!

My fun didn’t stop there; let me tell you that even have seen many videos I had to start over 4 times before I had a good handle on the scarf I started to make. On one try I made the scarf too wide and after about 4 inches of knitting I noticed holes EVERYWHERE!! It was like orange colored Swiss cheese! I bet my friend, Miss Cheesemonger would have a heart attack when she saw such a thing!

All was not lost because after a month’s time I finally made it through my first scarf!! I made it especially for the Hubster and he loved it! Yaaay!

Project Info:

• Started: November 5 2009
• Completed: December 7 2009
• Pattern: Mini Mochi Tripled Rib Stitch Scarf
• Yarn: Red Heart Soft
• Color: 9275 Paprika
• How Much: 1.5 skeins
• Modifications: The yarn called for a size 8 needle and I used a size 5 instead.
• My Comments: The yarn was difficult to work with as a beginner (there were two fibers wrapped together). I kept mistaking each fiber as a stitch which initially created an increase in stitches. But it was good to get that sorted out on the first few attempts. The pattern was easy to follow; would recommend for beginners.

- ASH

Let me explain to you what caused me to stop blogging after only a few posts.

1. I’m a writer (not professionally), I like to write. But there’s a down side. I spend lots of time perfecting my writing.

2. Daily posts became a bit too overwhelming for me. Yes, many people do it, but between working full time, cooking meals, crafting, spending time with the hubster, living life, and trying to get enough sleep I found it far to taxing.

3. A bit about my personality: once too overwhelmed it takes me a while to come back and give a clean start.Hence, after two weeks of blogging, I stopped for four months.

Sooooo .. to make this easier on me but still be able to share thoughts and findings with all of you here’s the plan:

For now, I will post at least once a week. Once I get a handle on things, I’ll increase the frequency and we’ll go from there.

One thing I do want to tell you before I leave is .. I have TONS of things planned to share with you.

Thanks for understanding!

- ASH

Preparation:
If you have ever had the sandwich, its ingredients are:

• Pulled smoked chicken
• Mozzarella cheese
• Chipotle sauce
• Onions
• Tomatoes
• Foccocia bread.

I needed the smoked chicken, foccocia bread, and chipotle sauce. I knew I was going to make the chipotle sauce by getting some mayonnaise and chipotle chili powder. My worries were the bread and chicken.

When I got to the store, I went to the meat section and looked and looked with no luck. Proceeding to the meat counter guy (butcher), I asked if they had any smoked chicken. The reply, a laugh as if I was crazy, followed by a “Nope, but is real good.” Trying not to let that get me, I asked if he knew where I could find some, only to be suggested to go to the farmers market. It was 8 PM, there is no farmers market open!

A bit down with disappointment, I continued on my search for foccocia bread. Here again, I had no luck. I went home with deli sliced chicken and chipotle pepper powder and some tiramisu for dessert to brighten me up again.

Cooking:
The first thing I did when I started in the kitchen was to cut my salad veggies and place them in a bowl. This would take the longest part, and I didn’t want to have my sandwich getting cold waiting for me to cut veggies.

Next was the chipotle sauce. I took about 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise and mixed 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder in to it. It should looked something like this.

The sandwich was ready to be constructed. My white baguette was cut to sandwich size. The chipotle sauce spread on to both sides. On the bottom slice, I added my tomatoes and onions. I pulled the chicken slices to look like it was “pulled”, then added it, topped with mozzarella cheese.

Next step, grilling to make panini… I don’t own a panini press. What do I do? I make one out of the items I do have! As a wedding gift I received a stove top grill/griddle. The sandwiches went on that and were pressed down by a large lid. You have to make sure it is large for two reasons. One to keep it from burning your hands while you hold it down, and two to keep as much of the heat in as possible. I pressed each side on medium to low heat for about 6 minutes.

Served with a side of Greek salad it was an awesome dish! My husband said he liked it BETTER than the Panera ones!!! I was so excited. I told him that I think I perform better with challenges. My next challenge.. tofu, general tso style! The story on that will wait for another post. In the meantime you can see the pictures of how our dinner came out.

- ASH

As we settle in together, I’m rearranging and redecorating. My first challenge will be our room. The room is 15′x13′ with a tray ceiling and 8′ walls. So what’s the problem right? Well, the way the room is laid out, I only have two walls that I can work with. The other two are full of doors to either the bathroom, hallway, or closets. Yup, that’s right, we are lucky to have two closets. (Naturally, I get the bigger one. )

I’ve had the house for a year and 6 months now and have had an Ikea Malm bed (black-brown color). I also had a dresser which was over flowing and just wasn’t cutting it anymore. It has been replaced with a Ikea Pax wardrobe, as of a few weeks ago!

                                                        (source & source)

I also wanted a storage bench so that I could sit next to a window and relax. I got the Ikea Effektiv Wall Unit that works out great for us.

(source)

So there you have it. That’s what we’ve accumulated so far. Next is painting. The color choices are hard to decide on. Stay tuned for the updates on our room!

- ASH

My challenge was on. I had to make those two dishes now. I tackled the easy one first. Tonight I made Greek salad with turkey sandwich on the side. And as with most recipes I get, I make modifications. This recipe was from is from a site dedicated to healthy living, That’s Fit. Well, if you have ever had Greek salad, you know it is not the healthiest of salads, so it was actually good that I found it!

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

Dressing
* 4 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 teaspoons fresh chopped garlic
* 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
* 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoons dried dill weed (I don’t like dill so I opted out with this one)
* salt and pepper, to taste

Salad
* 1 large plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
* 1/2 cucumber, coarsely chopped
* 1/3 red onion, peeled, chopped
* 1/2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
* 1/4 cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped
* 3 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
* 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Cooking:

1. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, vinegar, oregano and dill weed until well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Combine the salad ingredients, minus the cheese. Toss with dressing.

3. Sprinkle feta cheese over top and serve.

Now for the turkey sandwich, I used honey smoked deli turkey slices. I used the leftover wheat baguettes from the night before for the bread (toasted), along with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, onions, and mustard.

All in all, took me 20 minutes max to fix it all up. Next up is frontega chicken!

Here’s how mine turned out.

- ASH

So before dance class, I headed to the store for the ingredients I was missing. When I got home, it took all of 30 minutes to make the whole thing. I was impressed with the turnout and the fact that it didn’t take long or much effort to make. Don’t you love it when things work out so nicely!? So here’s the recipe, with some modifications.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons butter
• 2/3 onion, cut into medium dice
• 1-1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 3/4 of a broccoli bunch, chopped
• 1 potato, cut in squares (optional)
• 2-2/3 cups chicken broth
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole or 2% milk
• salt to taste
• 5 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 2 ounces shredded Pepper Jack cheese (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Parmesan (optional)

Cooking:

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a stockpot. Cook the diced onion in butter until softened. Add garlic and pepper; cook for 1 minute. Then stir in broccoli and potatoes, and stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Toast your favorite bread on the side (I used whole wheat baguette)

3. Meanwhile whisk flour into milk until dissolved. Stir into soup stirring frequently until thickened. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese until melted and heated through.

3. Season with salt to taste. Stir for about 5 minutes longer for a thicker soup.

4. Serve in bowl with sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Add salad and bread for a complete meal.

Wasn’t that simple?!

Here’s how it turned out

- ASH

Thanks for reading.

- ASH