Yellow Door Art Market

I'm very pleased to announce that you can now find Sloe Gin Fizz at the Yellow Door Art Market in Berkley.

I had such a fun time thrifting for and planning the space. I have lots of other little tweaks I want to make to it, so I plan on it being a constantly changing beast. Having a more permanent space also means I can offer a whole slew of framed pieces for super convenient grab-and-go gift giving. Stop by if you're in the area and let me know what you think!

Book Business Tuesday: Small Craft Skillshare

This month's Small Craft "skillshare" gathering is happening in Ann Arbor in the picture perfect event space at local flower and garden shop, pot & box. It's happening Saturday, February 8 and the afternoon features wonderful crafty book lady Amanda, of Dang Argyle fame, showing the crew how to make book sculptures!

She’ll show us how to cut, fold and glue unwanted paperback books into attractive sculptures. Books, scissors, X-Acto knives, glue guns and glitter will be provided but feel free to bring along your own books, tools and supplies. There will also be hot beverages and homemade vegan baked goods. And it's all free! Hooray for Small Craft!

Inspiration: Anne Siems

Happy Friday! It's a snow day here and I leave you this week with a wonderful image from Anne Siems. I discovered her through this week's Tiny Showcase and fell hard for this gentleman rabbit. I hope you'll go a have a look through Ms. Siem's portfolio of work: It is a wonderfully magical way to start your weekend.

Challah Bread

Isn't she a beauty?! I can't help it—I am pleased. This is one pretty loaf of bread that came out of my oven.

I've been wanting to try baking challah for ages. I was working my way through overwhelming stacks of food magazines over the holidays and came across this recipe in Saveur that I decided to give a shot. I took it to a holiday party so don't have any photos of the inside, but it definitely held its own and was fantastic for a first go-round. Lots of oohing and ahhing. Cuz it's dang purdy.

The original recipe had you braid four portions, but … what?!? How does that work? Go for three, it makes life easy. And really, challah is not harder than any other bread as long as you can braid. Kneading, rising, shaping, proofing, baking. Try it. You'll like it! And then there's the french toast. Need I say more?

Challah Bread

Adapted from Saveur

Makes 1 loaf
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. milk, heated to 115°
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. active dry yeast
4 tbsp. unsalted butter,
melted, plus more for
greasing
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 egg yolk
Sesame seeds, to garnish

Stir together milk, 1 tsp. sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Let sit until foamy,  about 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together butter and eggs. Add to yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add flour, remaining sugar, and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. 

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a lightly greased large bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let sit until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Uncover, punch dough down, and re-cover; let sit until slightly puffed, 30 minutes.

Uncover dough, divide into 3 equal portions, and roll each into a 18"-long rope. Align dough ropes side by side, and pinch together ends farthest from you to form one end of loaf. Braid ropes and pinch ends together  and fold under slightly to seal.  Transfer braided loaf to a parchment paper—lined baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap; let proof for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°. 

Stir together egg yolk and 1 tbsp. water in a small bowl and brush all over surface of loaf; sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds. Bake until loaf is dark golden brown, 30–35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes before serving.
 

Book Business Tuesday: Better World Books

Big and green with "books" written all over it … hmmm? I recently noticed this large bright green donation box in the local Meijier parking lot. Intrigued, I looked it up online and discovered Better World Books. 

Better World Books collects and sells books online in order to donate books and fund literacy initiatives around the world. With stock of over 8 million new and used titles, they match every book purchased with a book donation. From a used copy of Design*Sponge at Home for $14.93 to a brand new copy of The Shadow of the Wind for $16.00, they have a great selection—and all books ship free worldwide! 

To date, Better World Books has donated over 5 million books to partner programs around the world. Their four primary literacy partners are Books for Africa, Room to Read, Worldfund, and the National Center for Family Literacy. 

They have a handy map of donation box locations. In Michigan, it looks like most Meijier's now have boxes as well as quite a few additional locations. 

So if, like me, you've finally finished your new year's cleaning rituals, you may find yourself with a stack of books just waiting to be donated. Now you know where to go! 

A day at the zoo

I firmly believe everyone should—on a regular basis—take a day off to visit the zoo. I took advantage of a sunny afternoon last week to do just that. I'd never been to the Detroit Zoo and had to be in the area that morning. I figured it would count as "reasearch," yes? Being winter, there were very few visitors. The air was crisp and cold, but the sun was a constant ally. You can't help but come away from an afternoon like that with a smile plastered on your face. … and a deep desire to have your very own red panda.

The tiger looked regal as could be. He marched around and even roared a bit. Though he looked like he could use a friend.

The lemurs were super cuddly and especially playful.

While the meerkat stared straight out to say, what the *#!?&* are you looking at, lady?
 

 You don't often see the backside of a peacock, do you? It's gorgeous in its own right.

This fellow got his lady friend knocked up. She was in the next room over with a January 28 due date. I can't wait to come back to visit the baby giraffe!

2013 Calendar sale

Procrastinator's delight! My 2013 illustrated wall calendar is now on sale on the shop. Half off. YES. That's right. Half off while supplies last.

Chicken Tinga Tacos

This is the perfect Sunday afternoon dish. A hearty pot of chicken braising in a mildly spicy tomato-based sauce that heats the house with currents of warm air and wafting sweet smells. There will be plenty of leftovers whose flavors ripen over the next day or two and countless ways of re-imagining and presenting the tender morsels of smoky shredded chicken and sauce. On the first night, have tacos. Next, add some shredded monterey to make smoky quesadillas dolloped generously with sour cream and sprinkled with scallions. I can't decide which I liked more.

The baking dish size may seem large for the amount of chicken, but it makes the layers of sauce surrounding it caramelize more during cooking. If you use a smaller dish, the cooking time will be longer and you may want to remove the chicken once it is cooked through and let the sauce continue to darken and cook in the oven.

Chicken Tinga Tacos

via Food & Wine

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 pounds trimmed, skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 canned chipotles in adobo, coarsely chopped
1 cup chicken broth
24 corn tortillas
2 ounces Cotija cheese, crumbled
Sliced scallions and chopped cilantro, for garnish

Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large nonstick or cast iron skillet. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until well browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and pour off the fat in the skillet.

Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet along with the onion. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is lightly browned and softened, 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juices, the chipotles and the broth and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and slightly reduced, 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Transfer the sauce to a food processor and let cool for 15 minutes. Puree until smooth and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Bake the chicken uncovered in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes, until the meat is tender and the sauce is very thick and darkened around the edges. 

Wrap the tortillas in foil and warm them in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the chicken from the sauce and shred the meat; discard the bones. Return the chicken meat to the sauce and heat for 2 to 3 minutes to be sure chicken is hot. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of chicken onto each tortilla and sprinkle with the crumbled cheese. Garnish with scallions and chopped cilantro.

Book Business Tuesday: The fiftyfifty.me challenge

Fifty books. Fifty movies. One year. One you. Over the weekend I signed on to the fiftyfifty.me challenge of reading 50 books and watching 50 movies in 2013. I usually average about 30 books a year (that I keep track of here on the blog) and thought it would be fun to try to up that number this year and also to keep better track of the movies I watch.

The challenge comes with a well-designed web site where you can keep track of your lists and includes great community components for sharing book and movie recommendations. I'm off to a strong start with three books and three movies under my belt.

Here are a few great resources to help with the challenge:

Goodreads: Keep track of what you're reading, what you want to read, recommendations from other users/readers and more.

What should I read next? Exactly what it sounds like: Type in the name of a book you like and the site will generate a list of recommendations.

The New York Times bestsellers list

National Book Award winners

How about you? Wouldn't you like to join in the fun?

Elephants at the Grand Rapids Art Museum

The weekend before Christmas the boy and I took a quick overnight trip to Grand Rapids with his dad and stepmom. I was itching to see the Real/Surreal exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum before its closing on January 13, 2013. That show was dark, brooding with just a couple of stand out pieces (to my mind), but the entire trip was worth it if only to see Elephants by Adonna Khare. 

This enormous pencil drawing was the grand prize winner of the 2012 ArtPrize and it just took my breath away. The scale and detail of it is incredible. I could have stayed and examined it for days. It is three paper panels which Khare embellished in the installation with little details bridging and surrounding them: a giraffe scales the air vent next to the installation; a billy goat walks a wire between two of the panels; the water scene extends to the floor. 

If you ever have the opportunity to see this, take it. You will be astounded. It makes me want to draw. REALLY draw: big and sumptuous and detailed and thriving.

Book business: Books as shelves

Tada! That's how I felt when I finished this sweet little book-as-bookshelf DIY project, so I thought what better way to start the the 2013 Book Business column? While I missed the boat on the concept of the shelf's hidden brackets until I had finished the whole thing (the brackets should point up so that a couple of books stacked on top cover them rather than being visible below), I still consider it a great first go-round and can't wait to tackle a few more for around the house. (The adorable plate hanging above the shelf is from the talented Janae Easton of Platypusfile.)

It started when I saw this photo on Poppytalk. Drool … slurp … gawk. The Poppytalk post linked to instructions by Meighan O'Toole on Wired, which are the ones I used. However, I would recommend having a look at this version on Instructables, too.

I think one of the most important notes was to put in the screws inside the back cover by hand, rather than a power drill because it is very difficult to keep the pages from twisting with the drill.

All-in-all, an easy fun project that I managed to use as an excuse to pick up a few silly books from the thrift store. Doesn't my terrarium from The Foraging Florist fit perfectly? Let me know if you try this yourself. And stay tuned for another little DIY next week (there's a sneak peek of it in the top image. Can you guess?)

Paris Mushroom Soup

Happy New Year! It was so nice to take a little internet break and soak up the snowy days nestled on the couch with a few great books and not a few roaring fires. I feel rested and ready to dive into the new year head first. How about you?

I've been cooking up a storm, too as I tend to do this time of year. I know many of you enjoy that most about my blog and my recipe posts were few and far between toward the second half of last year. Thanks so much for following along regardless. My plan is to post at least one recipe per week in 2013.  I added a recipe index at the beginning of last year and I hope to refine it this year to make it a bit easier to navigate. I've also been itching to update the look of the blog, so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I thought it would be appropriate to start the year off with a soup recipe: It's comforting and healthy all rolled up in one. This soup is velvety smooth with a rich yet clean flavor. It comes from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table and includes a little "salad" of thinly sliced mushrooms, scallions, parsley and chives that you pour the soup over just before serving. You could skip this part but it really does make the soup all the much better. Don't forget to season it! And again, you could use black pepper over the white, but the white pepper is just that much better with a more subtle flavor.

Paris Mushroom Soup

via Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 large onions, coarsely chopped
3 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
1 1/2 pounds white button mushrooms, trimmed, sliced
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 parsley sprigs
1 rosemary sprig
6 cups chicken broth or water

6 large white button mushrooms

2 scallions, thinly sliced (optional)

2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 Tablespoon minced fresh chives

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Creme fraiche or sour cream, optional

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over low heat. Add the onions and garlic and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add the mushrooms and the remaining tablespoon of butter, raise the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms start to release their liquid, about 3 minutes. Increase the heat to high and cook until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 15 to 20 minutes. Pour in the wine and let it boil until it, too, almost evaporates.

Toss the herbs into the pot and add the broth or water. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pot almost completely and cook at a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.

If you can, pull out the rosemary sprig and discard.Working in small batches in a blender or food processor, puree the soup until it is very smooth. Taste and season with salt and white pepper as necessary. Pour the soup back into the pot and heat it gently over low heat until hot. 

Divide the mushrooms, scallions (if using), parsley and chives among six soup plates. Season lightly with salt and white pepper. Ladle the soup into the bowls and top each with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream, if desired.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, all! I leave you with this bit of silly [via]. I'm off to be merry and recharge for 2013. Thank you all for making this year spectacular and for following along here with the adventure. I hope you have a wonderful and festive holiday season with plenty of time spent with family and friends. See you in the new year!

Snow Day

Take a walk with me … 

… powder and wind …

… make stripes on the trees … 

Doesn't it just make it all so festive? Hooray for snow days. This the first of the season.

Maine Lobster Float-Rope Mats

You know I'm a sucker for all things water, fish or Maine related, right? Well, earlier this month I found myself in a Maine-themed treasury on Etsy right next to this beauty: the Maine rope mat. I couldn't resist. 

The mats from Susan of Maine Rope Mats are made from recycled float-rope used by lobstermen. The rope was used to tether multiple traps together on the ocean floor but has been banned because it can entangle whales. Maine lobstermen are now required to replace float-rope with sink-rope. This has left millions of pounds of unused float rope. Susan works with the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation (and makes a donation for every mat sold) to make a dent in the stockpile with these beautifully designed mats. Her color sense is wonderful and they are incredibly sturdy. I love good design for a good cause. 

Craftermath

It's official: I've hit the craftermath. After a busy season of craft shows and making, I'm ready to dive into the disaster that is our home.

I'm still filling orders and dealing with little bits of business, but at a much less harried pace. There are bits of paper—stacked mail, punched holes, cut corners, trimmed edges—everywhere. Not to mention the dust. I'm also planning a few afternoon fires with book in hand. It does feel a bit like a treat that there is still a little over two weeks left in the year. Plenty of time to clean up, get festive and plan for the new year. Are you with me?!

But wait … there's more!

While I'm in recovery mode from a full and fabulous holiday craft show season (whew!), the festivities carry on. There is still time to check out some great local (and not-so-local) events and shopping venues. 

Ornamentacular 2012 at Naka in Ferndale

For the second year, Naka will have a festive holiday tree trimmed with ornaments from over a dozen local crafters and artists. I dropped off twelve of my recycled misprint ornaments to be included. $1 from every ornament sale will benefit the Gleaner's Community Food Bank.

212 Arts Center Holiday Art Sale in Saline

You can also find more Sloe Gin Fizz items along with work of a host of local artists and crafters at the 212 Arts Center Holiday Art Sale now through Saturday, December 15.

Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center Holiday Shop

I also have work included in the BBAC Holiday Shop which runs through Sunday, December 16.

Indie Craft Experience Holiday Pop-Up Shop
at Criminal Records in Atlanta, GA

AND … if you happen to be in Atlanta, the Indie Craft Experience Holiday Pop-Up Shop at Criminal Records runs through December 30! Monday-Saturday - 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. * Sunday - 12 noon to 7 p.m. I would love to see this in action in person, so if you go — please report back!!! 

That's it for now. I'll be getting back to a regular blogging schedule shortly, including more updates of makers, goodies and finds I've found along the craft show trail this fall and winter. 

Show time: DIYpsi

DIYpsi is this weekend! Another two-day show, Saturday 11-7 and Sunday 12-6 at the Corner Brewery in Ypsi. This is my last show of the season and it promises to be a great one: 36 vendors, plenty of beer and tasty food from the Lunch Room. Hope to see you there!

Detroit Urban Craft Fair 2012

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the Masonic Temple this weekend for the Detroit Urban Craft Fair. It was a great success and so much fun. The event draws such a vibrant crowd of shoppers and vendors and really has a party atmosphere. It was so great to visit and catch up — oh, and sell some stuff.

The five powerhouse creative women of Handmade Detroit are the reason this event is such a blast year after year. And as some of you may know, Stephanie Tardy announced that she is leaving the group. So sad. As a going away gift for Stephanie, they asked me to do this little drawing. Best of luck to the Phantom Limb in the next chapter of her crafty endeavors! … and then there were four.