Poco-Cocoa – Page 212 – Things & Stuff

Girls’ Day Out

Today Kourtney and I were out all day, shopping and shopping and shopping. We started with a haircut by Kelly, an awesome stylist at Julian’s salon. Doesn’t she look gorgeous?

Next was lunch at Triumph Cafe…Vermicelli with curried tofu, egg roll, and fried rice with chicken teriyaki (plus mint water and a chai latte). So, sooooo good…

After that, we hit the mall. Oh, the mall. Was I supposed to make all my clothes from now on? Are you sure I wasn’t supposed to buy every cute shirt I saw? I did okay, I suppose…I broke down and bought a pair of incredibly cute shoes, but I’m not sure yet if I’m keeping them. Do I need another pair of shoes? Do I need a reason to buy a pair of shoes? I’ll post a photo of them if I decide to keep them.

I got lots of ideas for making my own clothes though…

Look at this cute top that I think would be fairly easy to create…I love the embroidery.

And this little blouse/dress thing, that would look great over jeans. Could I maybe add an extension of fabric to the bottom of a button up shirt to get this look?

I just love the fabrics that are being used now…it’s like somebody found a bunch of old pajamas and sheets and made them into cute, cute shirts. Look at these giraffes!

And these hearts!

Finally, how cool is this? These are regular tank tops, but the one on bottom has its straps crisscrossed before going over the head. Genius!

Now we’re off to Blues on the Green, to hear live music and get bit by mosquitos as we sit in the grass. What, oh what will we get to do tomorrow? Having company is so much fun.

June 28, 2006

Random Thoughts
Good times

This weekend my sister came to Austin to visit me. We had so much fun! I took her to a Sweetish Hill Bakery to check things out (you know, for research purposes), and to Toy Joy, and to Threadgill’s for good Southern food, the coolest toy shop in town, and to the Alamo Draftouse to see Nacho Libre, and to Whole Foods for sweets. This is me, my sister, and my niece having fun at Toy Joy.

My niece, Kourtney, is staying with us for a few days, so I don’t know how much crafting or gourmet cooking I’ll be doing. Tonight we’re having spaghetti with Mom’s special marinara sauce, steamed broccoli, and baguette. Yummy, but nothing to write about. Though I just did. Time for spaghetti…Happy Monday, everyone!

June 26, 2006

Random Thoughts
Links and why I love them

A semi-updated list of blogs I frequent, and why.

101 Cookbooks
Heidi has so much to say about food! Her photos are gorgeous, too.

3191
Gorgeous photos, every weekday.

Angry Chicken
Amy’s was one of the first craft blogs I got hooked on. She’s the hostess of Tie One On, a monthly apron craft circle, as well as the creator of Mailorder, my favorite recipe and paper arts club.

Austinist
Where to go to find out what’s going on in my beloved Austin.

The Baker’s Rack
Michelle bakes the most scrumptious things, and has even started to dabble in jewelry making. Plus she’s my sister.

Be Here Now
Fabulous, inspirational poetry.

brooklyntweed
If you like to drool over beautiful things made expertly with beautiful yarn, this is the place.

Chez Pim
Wonderful food writing and beautiful photos.

Chocolate and Zucchini
This is where I go for impeccable food writing and a taste of Paris…Clotilde is so inspiring!

Culinary in the Desert
I love Joe’s site because he cooks so darn much, and he uses a lot of Cooking Light recipes, which I tend to use more, too.

Curious Bird
Leya’s crafts and vintage finds are spot-on with my tastes, and her two kitties, Motown and Mortimer, are super-cute.

Cute Overload
The place to go for super-cute photos and lots of happy thoughts.

Everybody Likes Sandwiches
Kickpleat shares lots of simple but delicious-sounding recipes, and has a helpful recipe index as well.

Finslippy
One of the first blogs I started reading. Alice is one of the wittiest, funniest, and most talented writers I’ve found…every post is really entertaining. You HAVE to read this one.

Food Beam
Lots and lots of fabulous food photography, great recipes, and wonderful descriptions.

Funky Finds
Jessica finds so many fun handcrafted things…she does a good job of bringing attention to great websites and designers.

Hello My Name Is Heather
All of Heather’s creations seem to have such fun colors and clean lines…they seem so well-made, but still inspire me to try to make my own. She’s been kind enough to provide free patterns for some of her crafts.

Hop Skip Jump
I visit this place simply to drool over the gorgeous, amazingly crafted softies created by Fiona.

Inside a Black Apple
I just love Emily’s paintings and collages…beautiful, fun, and yet a bit haunting.

julie ree
Julie is so, so talented, and is kind enough to share photos of her fabulous fabric crafts.

Kuidaore
Jaw-droppingly beautiful food photography. Enough said.

Life Love Chocolate
My friend Connie in Boston writes this lovely little blog, full of food and chocolate and fun.

Modish
Jena does a great job of finding the coolest, newest, cutest shops and designers.

Nosheteria
Gorgeous food photos and well-written descriptions…this site always makes me so hungry.

Obachan’s Kitchen & Balcony Garden
I love popping in to see what kind of cooking Obachan is doing on the other side of the world.

Oh Joy!
There is always something on this blog that i want to buy. It’s a dangerous one.

Orangette
Fabulous, fabulous food writing.

Overheard in New York
When I need a laugh, I come here. I’m constantly amazed at how ignorant, funny, and/or crazy people can be.

Pandora
Take advantage of this while it’s free…a music finder that plays streaming audio. Just type in something you like, and Pandora will find other music that’s similar.

Paper Forest
For my fellow paper lovers.

Ruhlman
Michael Ruhlman has such great insight into the food world, and as an added bonus, Anthony Bourdain occasionally writes a post.

The Sartorialist
I could spend all day looking at these photos of incredibly stylish people.

Say La Vee
What can I say about Blackbird? Witty, sarcastic, fun…and just plain real.

Shim and Sons
Go visit Sally. Right now. So she can amaze you with her crafty talent and beautiful sons.

Simply Breakfast
Gorgeous photographs of one person’s daily breakfast.

Simply Recipes
I love this food blog because it has gorgeous photos and the recipes are do-able for the everyday home cook.

Soulemama
Amanda’s was one of the first crafty sites I frequented. Now she even has an online shop where you can buy her handmade goodies.

Tokyo Street Style
A weekly-updated gallery of the latest fashion in Tokyo…so much fun! Click on one of five areas (on the left) to see the fashions.

A Veggie Venture
All veggies, all the time. Alanna does such a good job of culling out great vegetable recipes.

Veggie Way
I love to see Isil’s wonderful Turkish meals and recipes.

Wee Wonderfuls
Hillary is amazing with softies. You won’t believe your eyes.

Whip Up
This site has lots of different authors who write short articles about every crafty thing under the sun.

Wise Craft
Lots of sewing here, with lots of photos, too.

Wish Jar Journal
My source of simplicity, thought-provoking questions, and honest-to-goodness hope on the internet.

June 23, 2006

Uncategorized
If you like pina coladas…
Am I a dork because I like that song? Do you know what other song I love? Brandy by Looking Glass. “My life, my love and my lady…is the sea…doo doo doo doo dooo doo doo doo…”

So while we were cleaning out the kitchen in preparation for the arrival of The Dishwasher, we found quite a few doo dads that we just didn’t need. It was difficult for me to get rid of things, as I’m very attached to my lovely little kitchen and all its wonders, but I managed to do it. Until…Justin pointed at the stuff stored on top of the fridge and said, “You never use that ice cream maker.” Oh, stab to the heart! It was true! But no way, no how, was I ready to get rid of it. It’s a Cuisinart Double Ice Cream Maker! Hello?!

So, to justify keeping the semi-large appliance, I promised myself I’d make ice cream more often. Thus, we have this lovely gelato.

It was amazingly easy to throw together, and turned out perfectly. Justin loves the little chunks of frozen pineapple, while I adore the smooth coconut cream. Ha! I doubt he wants to get rid of that little appliance now.

Notes: I used lite coconut milk, and about 2 cups of pineapple from a 20-ounce can (that’s all I could find). This was a little too much to fit in one freezer can, so I had to divide it up between two.

Pineapple-Coconut Gelato
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 (15 1/4-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
- 2/3 cup coconut milk
Combine sugar and water in a large saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; cool completely.

Combine pineapple and milk in a large bowl; stir in sugar syrup.

Pour mixture into freezer can of an ice-cream freezer, and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon gelato into a freezer-safe container, cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm.

Makes 4 cups.

Source: Cooking Light magazine.
June 23, 2006

Recipes
For Weezie…

Per request, here is a photo of our new dishwasher. It’s a Danby DDW396W.

It holds 4 place settings (theoretically, if you were to dirty four dinner plates (up to 11″ in diameter), 4 bread plates, 4 fruit bowls, 4 cups & saucers, 4 forks, 4 knives, 4 salad forks, 4 teaspoons, 2 serving spoons and 1 serving fork, it would hold it. But it’s just two of us, so we just fill it up with whatever.

It uses very little water, it’s fairly quiet, and so far everything has come out very clean. We rinse the dishes before loading. It only uses 1 – 2 teaspoons of detergent. (And it has this cute little compartment for it, as well as an extra one for the pre-wash cycle and one for rinse agent.)

It has a pre-wash (6 min), a normal wash (42 min), a short wash (29 min), and a rinse (20 min), and you can choose to use the sani-wash option for hotter water. Even without it though, the water gets HOT.

It hooks up to your faucet and drains into your sink, so about the only down side is that you can’t use your faucet during that time, and you have to be around to disconnect it when it’s done. It doesn’t have any kind of alarm when it’s done, so you either have to keep your eye on it or set a timer. If you don’t disconnect it after it’s done, it will flood/leak.

It should fit on the counter under most cabinets (about 17 1/2 inches tall), but ours are too low, so we put it on a cart that rolls so we can get back there if we need to.

I got most of my information before we bought it from epinions.com. Even with the monopolizing of the faucet and the big-hunky-appliance look, I LOVE it. LOVE it.

June 21, 2006

Random Thoughts

Girls’ Day Out

Good times

Links and why I love them

If you like pina coladas…

For Weezie…