i recently came up with my own, original home decoration/storage idea 🙂
as a discrete and decorative way to store toilet paper in your guest bathroom, use a wine gift bag!
this paper one came from cost plus world market and fits 3 rolls, but being paper you don’t want to leave it where it might get splashed from sink or shower. it’s also light-weight so it won’t get damaged if my cat knocks it over, heh.
| so tasty! |
i haven’t posted on here in three months! i’ve been busy making holiday presents but couldn’t post about it or i’d ruin the surprise xmas morning, but i just made these super-tasty appetizers.
pear-brie-pecan pouches
ingredients: 1 or 2 cans crescent rolls, 1 can light pears in juice, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 4 oz brie wedge (there was enough filling for two cans of rolls and each can makes 8 crescents)
first, drain your pears and dice, then chop your pecans and mix them in with the pears. slice the brie into small cubes and set aside. preheat the oven to 375*
open one of your roll cans. you can either make the normal crescent shape with a little filling inside or, since i’m feeding 10-20 people tomorrow, i took each 2-crescent rectangle, pressed the seam together, and cut it into three smaller rectangles (to make 24 bite-size square ones out of 2 cans of rolls instead of 16 crescents).
so either with your wedge or smaller rectangle, place it on a baking sheet, spoon a little of your pear-pecan filling on one end of the rectangle, add a small cube of brie, and fold it over, pressing the sides together as much as you can. when your baking sheet is full, bake it for 9-11 minutes or until they’re turning brown on top.
then eat! they turned out really well, we’ll see how the toastmaster group likes them tomorrow, but i’m happy enough with them that i think i’ll make more for new years 🙂
[beck robert hanson, approximately one hour old]
my nephew was born at 1p mountain time today. he’s a serious little man so far. his mother, my sister lauren, is doing well and papa joel is excited. i’ve never been at the hospital when a baby i knew was being born, so it was an interesting day and, looking at his picture now, i want to be a better person for him – i don’t want to be a blocked writer with an unhealthy diet and sedentary life-style; what kind of example would that be? and obviously, he has lots of people to care about him already, so i’m hardly his only role model, but still, i should accept inspiration in whatever form it arrives.
welcome, baby beck!
 [another solstice sunrise pic i took] | i listened to another sonia choquette radio episode this morning. she likes to refer to our spirits as bright lights, she even named her spirit Bright Light. i got to thinking about the summer solstice the other day and how that is a celebration of the power of light, and i realized that the sun is a good analogy for spirit. not only is it a bright light, but it should be the center of your life, around which everything else revolves. but how many people can truly say that spirit is the center of their SOULar system? i can’t. but i think, if i tried to make it so, it would ground my priorities and create a foundation for a more authentic life. and who doesn’t like authenticity? |
i’m going to estimate that photo is from 1981, so 30 years ago! when did i get old? 😉
i think pachyderm, a term for elephants, means “thick skin” in latin, and i need thick skin this weekend as i finish packing up the old apartment before the movers arrive monday morning; both to stave off bruises and cardboard-paper cuts, and emotionally as i sort through and box all of my belongings. i’m taking the next two weeks off to finish moving and cleaning the old place, and then mom is arriving on friday and lauren’s baby is due the following monday, june 27.
i hate moving. i HATE moving. and yet it will be a good change when the dust settles and everything is in its proper place. i’m a little overwhelmed to look at the old place; a lot is packed but it just looks a mess. i’m going to try to keep mindfulness principles with me as i finish packing – work on one box at a time, one object at a time, i can’t do everything at once, focus and plow through until it’s complete. and then maybe i’ll get some fro-yo afterward as a reward :3 (what is with the explosion of frozen yogurt places in the denver area? is it invading your towns too?)
[lucy in the new place awaiting furniture, etc]
i enjoy tea, and i buy lots, but only recently have i started to drink lots. in college, i worked as a barrista and got hooked on coffee, but i don’t like the idea of being chemically dependent and yet i need a boost in the morning to get going at work. so a few months ago i switched from coffee to black tea.
i especially like rose black tea. i’ve sort of collected rose teas over the years, trying different brands and blends. i had a terrible rose green tea once but i forget the label, but i mostly prefer my green tea with jasmine and my black tea with rose.
lately, i’m enjoying this one:
golden moon tea’s rose. i love how there are actual rose petals in the loose tea. it looks like earthy mulch but smells divine. i’m not a girly-girl, but i love the smell of roses.
i try to enjoy a moment of peace while i sip my first cup of tea in the morning. the view from my new apartment helps, lots of soothing green and blue horizon.
so that is my nature moment for the morning – warm, tasty tea in my belly and greenery in my eyes.
8ofwands 