Thursday, July 16, 2015

flat bread pizza.... or, on making dinner with what you have

posted by:  jennifer

we had a summer shindig on saturday night.   good company, good vibes, and a good time.

while we didn't have tons of leftovers, we did have among other things two pieces of lavash. so when it came time to figure out dinner on monday this is what i came up with.  flat bread pizza using the lavash.  it turned out wonderful.  

two of the items i used on the pizza came from the day after the party.  you see, neither my husband or myself ate any of the tandoori chicken and veg skewers, or the chicken shawarma wraps on saturday night.  by the time we got to the food table, they were gone. 
 which is good... it means that they were good.  and it also meant that i went and got more chicken shawarma from our local mediterranean market on sunday.   thus, we recreated a bit of our party menu for sunday dinner.   i also made more tandoori marinade, and skewered up some chicken, onions and bell peppers. that took care of sunday's dinner.

monday took advantage of what ever leftovers i had from both saturday and sunday.  and this is what was born.






on the first pizza i used:
  -chicken shawarma
  -greek feta
  -fresh mozzerella
  -onions and garlic sauteed gently in olive oil


on the second pizza:
  -pesto
  -sliced meatballs
  -fresh mozzerella
  -chopped bell peppers and onions (leftover from the grilled skewers)


here is the bread i used.


here are the onions and garlic in olive oil ready to be added.  

i baked the pizza at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until done.  they need to be watched however, because the lavash will start to brown fairly quickly.

happy pizza making!

and cheers!

Monday, July 13, 2015

the penny wall

posted by: jennifer


the penny wall is complete.

you might remember that on a weekend getaway trip last year my husband and i went to santa barbara.  while on this trip were inspired by a penny wall. or i should say a penny covered building.   it was finally time to jump into this project a couple of months ago.









it took about $250 worth of pennies, give or take a few rolls.  this amounted to much explaining down at ye old credit union.  

we decided to use all kinds of pennies.  the only ones that got put off to the side were the ones that looked like someone had taken a file to.  but oh my, the variation in pennies.
so beautiful and cool.  we put our favorite side up.  sometimes heads, sometimes tails. pennies that had been painted on, pennies that appeared to have spent time at the bottom of the sea, pennies that hailed from canada, pennies that we couldn't help but wonder how many hands, what interesting people might have handled.

and we did share all the cool pennies with each other.  my husband and i.  for the first 3/4 of the wall at least.  it did get to the point where we were done with the sharing...  our eyes were on the prize of getting the last row done.  

we used construction grade adhesive to put each penny up individually.  we then grouted, using sanded grout in charcoal gray.  i told my husband that it is a good thing that we are both messy people, because the amount of grout that rained down on the cement below would make a weaker spouse blanch.  

we added a light from barn light electric , and spray painted the vent with hammered copper spray paint.  we found pennies from each of our birth years, and inset them in the trim along the bottom. we took down the scaffolding, and now we can't stop staring.  and smiling.  we are so happy with  how it turned out.   and proud.  







  



get inspired.
act on that inspiration.
make a wish.
and cheers!

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

the fair

posted by: jennifer


a huge (nervous) smile on her face as she goes airborne
    -just for a bit on the goliath slide.

the sky ride
   a.k.a. the ski lift death trap.
   complete with a woman passed on our descent and her ascent, eyes shut, seemingly 
       saying hail marys.

stalking clowns.
   green hair
   screwdriver in his hands
   music box monkey watching.

seeing the backside of thing one and thing two as they race to the swing ride, 
   squealing as they run.

a vitamix demonstration (a la costco) in the exhibit hall.
  and in the same exhibit hall dozens of people laying on mattresses being sold.

hearing "hey mom" by game booth hecklers as they try to convince me to get swindled...
   er, i mean to play their game.

a 9-11 memorial 
  questions from post 9-11 born children on why mom is crying while looking at a pile of 
   metal debris.  a mom who was taken by surprise by said display.  who didn't think twice 
   when two seconds before she passed by a firefighter standing next to a NYFD uniform...
   and then as she looks at what she is really passing by is completely overwhelmed with 
   emotion.

   and as she is trying to explain her tears,   a group of 20- somethings
   pass behind one loudly announcing "single women.  hot stuff coming through"
   and when she finally turns her head, seeing one of the men from the group 
   carrying a man sized inflatable siracha sauce bottle, there is laughter mixed with the
   tears.

the ninja knife.

the del mar fair
  (san diego county fair officially)

a bunch of random shit.
thrown together.
wrapped in bacon.
deep fried.
served on a stick.


cheers!