Year of the Rabbit

I'm a rabbit, so 2011 is my year! Happy Korean New Year.

Rabbits are private individuals who would rather work behind the scenes than in the spotlight. The rabbit is not a recluse however, he is reasonably friendly and enjoys the company of a group of friends. He would like to be part of the gang rather than the leader of it. The rabbit is keen and plays close attention to what is going on around him. The rabbit is one of the most stylish of the Chinese animal signs and finds interest in different cultures. Rabbits also like artistic ventures. CHARACTERISTICS: keen, wise, fragile, tranquil, serene, considerate, fashionable, sneaky, obsessive...

Baby it's Cold Outside

We've had more snow this winter than any other Tennessee winter I can remember, but it doesn't even compare to what's going on up north!!! Phewee, I'm ready for Spring! I can't wait to get out in the garden and start planting.

Hoddeok

Hoddeok is a Korean dessert that I make for my family a lot. It's a traditional street food that is so simple to make and kids absolutely love it! It's kind of like a doughnut/sweet pancake/beignet type dessert. Here's what you do:

Place one cup of warm water in a bowl and add: 2 TBSP white sugar, 2 tsp yeast, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp vegetable oil. Stir until it's completely dissolved. Add 2 C of all purpose flour and mix it until there are no dry spots. Cover it with plastic wrap and a lid, and let it rise for one hour. Dough will be very sticky. Then punch it down and let it rise again for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, put 1/2 C brown sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp of cinnamon, and a handful of walnuts into a food processor. Pulse until it's all chopped up and mixed well.

Heat a couple of TBSP of vegetable oil in a pan on medium heat. Flour your hands and counter, then separate the dough into 8 parts. Flatten one of the dough balls in your hand and place a heaping spoonful of the brown sugar mixture into the middle. Then pull the sides together and seal the top so the filling is all enclosed. Then place the dough, with the sealed side down in the warm, well oiled pan.

Fry for a couple of minutes and then turn over. At this point you'll use your spatula to flatten the dough ball completely. Cook for a couple of more minutes and flip it again. Then cover with a lid for a couple of minutes. Remove it from the pan and put it on a plate with paper towels to get the excess oil off. Serve warm/hot, whatever you can stand!

The outside is crispy, the dough is chewy and the center has turned into a lovely nutty syrup. You can change out the filling too if you'd like. Nutella is delicious as a filling with some powdered sugar on top, or you can go savory and fill it with cheese! The ultimate comfort food!!!

For a video tutorial, go here:

www.maangchi.com/recipe/hoddeok

This is my favorite website for Korean recipes. They always turn out well, using simple, easy to find ingredients, especially if you have a local Asian grocery. Enjoy, and let me know if you tried it!

UPDATE: You can cook this without a filling and just drizzle honey on top when it's hot. I tried it and it's good!

Happy February

I don't decorate for Valentine's Day. I do, however, get the biggest kick out of making new cards for my kid's class parties. Last year I made the cards that have a picture of your child holding out a lollipop and they were huge hits. I've made the fortune cookies and the lollipop flowers too.

I really like these red hot gift baggies with the picture. It looks easy! The custom candy bar wrapper is pretty cute too.

Click on the MSL link on my sidebar for these instructions and much much MORE!!!

A Quick Fix

Like most people, we have (had) one of those bathroom mirrors downstairs that's stuck with glue on the wall. It has no frame and just looks unfinished, so we wanted to either A.Put a frame on it or B.Replace it. We decided on plan B because we already have an extra mirror to hang over the sink. The trouble is, taking the existing mirror down without breaking it into a million pieces is some sketchy business.

Well, I saw this tip on HGTV.com years ago and Scott and I decided to put it to the test today... and holy guacamole, it worked!!! -Take medium gage picture hanging wire and slide it behind the glued on mirror. With one person on one side, and you on the other, alternately pull each side so the wire saws right through the glue. This will save your wall and this will save the mirror. It took maybe 20 minutes.

(PS. Neither one of these pictures is my bathroom! I wish.)

Smart.

www.littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com

I love this blog! Her most recent post is about using sheet sets as curtains. I haven't done this since Scott and I first got married, but why not?! I recently bought a duvet cover on sale to make a shower curtain. I know it sounds weird, but it's all just fabric, right? The sheet set idea is even more brilliant because it doesn't require any sewing. If you want it lined, simply buy a cheap white sheet set and fabric glue it to the back! Look at Goodwill.

So I did a little search for sheet sets and found some beautiful patterns:

Check out her blog for the finished product! It's pretty amazing what you can do with sheets.

Pottery Barn: Where I Live

Hey all you renovation and decorating enthusiasts out there, here is a fun way to peak into other people's houses for inspiration without being a freak! This is an awesome series of videos that Pottery Barn put together featuring the various homes they use to stage their products. Pottery Barn has the entire series on their website, but they're also available on YouTube. I love watching these at night after the kids go to bed when I get a little down time.... and no, I don't ever expect my house to look like any of these and yes.... I know they're not kid friendly. Who cares? It's an escape that doesn't have all of the trash of late night TV and it's soothes the nerves. Lovely.

Jessica Simpson Clip In Fringe - Clip in Bangs

I used to have bangs. I've got a bigger forehead, so it was nice to be able to hide behind them... but, they were so hard to keep up with! The constant trimming, and then I cut too many and Scott made fun of me and called me a "Dutch Boy" for ever so I grew them out. I still think about getting some cut though.

The fake bangs look good on this girl, but sort of itchy. Sort of "Bumpit" like.

What do you guys think?

Paper Whites Stink

I've wanted to grow paper whites for a long time. I heard they were super easy to force indoors and so very pretty.

Anyway, this year I splurged and bought some bulbs that came with a beautiful silver pot and the magic soil disk. (It quadruples in size when you add water, it's the coolest thing ever) I was very excited!!!! I was hoping they'd bloom by Christmas but no such luck. Once they're potted, you have to keep them in a cool dark spot for two weeks. So into the garage they went.

Well, they finally sprouted and I brought them into my family room so we could all watch in wonder at how quickly they grow... and they did! Almost every day they'd grow a half an inch or so. Very satisfying! We were all on pins and needles waiting for them to bloom.... and then they did... and now we're totally grossed out because they smell like URINE!

Yucky, yucky paper whites.

The ABC's of Snowman Lacresha's Construction

A... always work together.

B... be careful not to break the carrot!

C... crying may/will occur.

Repurposing

Stacey H asked the question a few days ago on her blog, "What to do with hand-me-down tees, jeans, shirts, etc...". I was inspired after reading her post to find more ways to recycle/reuse my kids old clothes and other scrap fabric leftover from various sewing projects. While I do love the t-shirt rug in my last post, I don't have 60 plus hours to devote to any one project. So here are a few less time consuming ideas for you from my BFF Martha:

1. Using old sweaters to make baby rattles or stuffed animals. I've done this and it's so easy and super cute.

2. Cutting up baby and little clothes to make a keepsake quilt. Good for boys and girls!

3. Scrap fabric heating pads. I made one for my mom and stuffed it with rice. If you put it in the microwave for 2 minutes or so, it retains heat and soothes sore muscles. A great gift for a new mom, someone in the hospital or a crabby Korean mom with arthritis.

4. Quilted coasters are brilliant! Who doesn't have a bunch of scrap fabric from a sewing project or old clothes even. I love this.

All of the above patterns/instructions can be found on http://www.marthastewart.com/

My New Favorite DIY Projects

I found a tutorial for this awesome tshirt rug on http://www.pressurefoot.blogspot.com/

It's looks so soft!!!!







The gal from http://www.littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/ found this dresser for 20 dollars at an antique store and painted it "Billiards Table" blue from Behr. I love this table, the orange mat, the ceramic lamp and I especially love the cute little rain boots on the right of the dresser! Wet feet are some of my least favorite things!

Since Thanksgiving...

... we've been busy!!! Between decorating for Christmas, shopping, cooking, delivering, ear piercing, Pillow Pet snuggling, cleaning, DS playing, Twinkie eating, dancing, hugging, smiling, unwrapping, sewing and "And all that jazz".... I'm pooped!

Grace and I had an afternoon out. First we went to Claire's and got her ears pierced (the first one didn't go in all the way, so he had to redo it) and then we had sushi. It was the first of many special mother/preteen daughter dates!

The DS sisters.

Oliver's playing the drums behind the sparkly girl. No, the other sparkly girl... no, the other sparkly girl.

She loves to dance and she loves to fake sleep.

The girls sent Grandpa on a scavenger hunt for his gifts. I was a little nervous about it, but he was an excellent sport! All's well that ends well.

There isn't another set of cousins who know more about football than these two guys! It's pretty intense.

Uncle Gary loves his sweets!!!

We hope you all had a very merry Christmas and New Year celebrations too!

Happy New Year

I didn't post resolutions last year because I think deep down I knew I didn't have it in me/ my days would be getting much busier and any resolution would be replaced with a 5 mile list of HAVE TO's. This year I'm feeling much more optimistic.

Scott and I were talking last night about 2011 being a great year, and so far so good. As far as resolutions go, mine are always the same. "Getting in shape again, being more kind, learning Korean, blah blah blah", BUT I'm going to add one more. This year I want to earn my YW medallion. I'm sort of nervous saying it out loud because now there's a self imposed deadline, but doing this will kill 12 birds with one stone. There, it's done. I have 300 or so days left to accomplish this goal so I should probably get off the computer and start.

Merry Christmas

One of my least favorite things: Posting a really great remake of a really great Christmas song, and finding out a day later that there's a potty mouth pop-up mid video.

"Last Christmas I gave you my... what the heck?!!!!"

Ugh.

Glitter Birds on a Tinsel Branch

This is the last week before Christmas and like any other psycho, I've decided to try a few new crafts and sewing projects along with all of the other necessary things my schedule is packed FULL of. Why? It's simple. I cannot function if I only do the necessary things. I have to have a couple mindless, fun projects mixed in so I don't have a nervous breakdown!

So the other day I was looking through my Martha collection and came across this little gem from her December 2006 magazine. It's a centerpiece made out of a branch, tinsel and a few glitter birds. My husband went out back and found a branch that had fallen (cost 0.00) and I found tinsel at Target for 1.99. The only things missing were the birds. Hobby Lobby was selling a pack of birds for 1.99 and bought 2 and little Sophia let me use her glitter. Total cost, 8.00 and about 1 hour to put it together. It's going on my round dining table and I love it. Simple but kind of magical looking.


http://www.marthastewart.com/article/glitter-bird-centerpiece

Today I'm going to finish our Christmas stockings.

Cheesy Grits and Buttermilk Pie

I love living in the south. I really do! I've lived in the US all together for something like 19 years and most of that has been spent south of the Mason Dixon line. I hope it stays that way, especially because of the friendships I've made with "legit" southerners who have taken me under their wings and shared top secret personal info, like family recipes. Corn pudding for one, is a holiday favorite, boiled custard is another (I've never made it because you can buy it at the grocery store) pickled watermelon (never tried this either)... but here are two more worth trying over Christmas break. Ultimate comfort foods!

Cheesy Grits (a variant of a southern fave):

2 c water

1 1/4 c milk

1 tsp salt

1 c grits

1/2 c and 1 tbsp butter

1/3 c green onion chopped

4 oz velveeta

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 1/2 c shredded cheddar

1 can of spicy Rotel

Cook your grits in milk and water. Add salt and stir until it's thick and creamy. Add your 1/2 c of butter and stir. Saute the green onions in the tbsp of butter and then add to the grit mixture. Add both the velveeta and the cheddar until they're melted and garlic powder. Then stir in the rotel until it's completely incorporated. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes uncovered. SO GOOD WITH FRIED CHICKEN, COLESLAW AND HONEYBUTTER BISCUITS.

Lemon Buttermilk Pie:

3 eggs

1/2 c butter

1 1/2 tbsp flour

1 c buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp nutmeg

uncooked pie crust

heavy whipping cream plus one tbsp sugar

Mix well and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake 40-60 minutes at 350. While baking, whip your cream and sugar until peaks form. Cool pie and serve with a healthy dollop of cream on top (It takes the edge of the tanginess and richness of the pie)

Butter makes everything better.

GO ARMY BEAT NAVY!!!

" The Army-Navy football game will take place Saturday afternoon at 2:30 eastern time. It is annually the last regular-season college football game and one of the oldest and most storied rivalries in any sport. The Army-Navy game tradition began in 1890, when Navy won. Army won the next season, and ever since it's been a hotly contested game. There have been 110 Army-Navy games, with Navy holding the edge, 54-49-7. That edge has come about only recently, as Navy has won the past eight games. Last season, Navy won 17-3 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The game will be played in the same venue Saturday. Army (6-5) enters the game with one its best teams in a while, though. The Black Knights are headed to a bowl game for the first time since 1996, as second year coach Rich Ellerson seems to have righted the ship at West Point. Navy (8-3), however, is no pushover. Under Ken Niumatalolo, who took over for Paul Johnson, the Middies have won eight games and will head to a bowl game for the third straight season. Overall, the Midshipmen have won at least eight games for eight straight seasons. The game will air on CBS."

UPDATE: Ugh, maybe next year Army.

Tree Skirt

Every year I feel the need to make new stockings and a tree skirt. Last year I was really into burlap. Yuck! It was so messy and when I tried to stencil the kids' names on the cuff, the paint bled and looked horrible.

So, this year I want to use real fabric and real batting and not have to get both my sewing machine and embroidery machine serviced immediately because of all the nasty lint. BURLAP IS BAD. Design sponge posted this free tutorial a couple of days ago for a super easy skirt you can make in less than an hour. Check it out: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/12/sewing-101-tree-skirt.html

Jason Hinds

One of my friends sent me this video about an amazing guy she knows from BYU named Jason Hinds. Watch it, it's great!!!