There’s a great bar in the town that I used to live in that has a dart board in the basement. It’s a really popular place to hang out on the weekends, so there’s always tons of people there, writing all over the walls and ceilings in the chalk that they give you to mark your score. Most of the time these sayings and signatures get written over or erased, except for one. Above one of the dartboards, someone has written “cupcakes on your mother”. For whatever reason, I always thought that was hilarious.
I’m kind of obsessed with baking cupcakes. You can make them so fun and colorful and garnish them with silly things and they’re basically like edible happiness. So I decided I’m going to write a little cupcake cookbook. Not with a real publisher or anything, and I might just publish it myself, but it’s fun for me to make up recipes and then bake the cupcakes and photograph them and then of course, eat them. Above we have Jimmy Buffet cupcakes with cream cheese icing and Maple Spice cupcakes with brown butter icing. Yum!
More free downloads for you to enjoy – this time of an old children’s encyclopedia from the 60′s. I love the illustrations – they are so colorful and the artwork is just great, not to mention the variety of things that they chose to illustrate. Find more of the letter N here.
It’s no secret that I love bacon. Prosciutto is a bit more sophisticated version of the breakfast staple, but when baked in the oven it becomes crispy and delicate and is more the essence of bacon than the fatty real thing. I could eat these all day, every day, for the rest of my life. And best of all, they are super simple to make.
Ingredients:
10 slices prosciutto
1/2 c. fig goat cheese (if you can’t find this you can just combine regular goat cheese and fig jam)
chives (for garnish)
Cut prosciutto slices into thirds. In a mini muffin tin, lay the pieces of prosciutto into the cups – basically, like you’re lining them. Pop into a 400 degree oven for about 8 minutes or until mostly crispy. Pull out of the oven, put a dab of goat cheese in the center (the prosciutto cups will be slightly shrivelled but this just helps them hold their shape) and sprinkle with chopped chives. Pop back into the oven and bake for 3-5 minutes or until goat cheese is a bit bubbly. Serve and enjoy!
If you’re planning on planting a garden anytime in your life, why not make it a historical garden? Heirloom seeds offer fruits and vegetables that have been untouched by agri-business, which is great, but you also get a lot of variety that you wouldn’t otherwise find. I mean, who wouldn’t like to eat a white carrot? Or a purple tomatillo? We’re very used to heirloom tomatoes, which are beautiful and delicious, and imagine having that for your entire garden. There are some communities that have greenhouses that primarily grow these heirloom varieties, but if you’re not living in one of those places, you should try Victory Seeds. They are dedicated to keeping these unique varieties alive.
Same goes for these as the European ones – I’m not sure about the licensing but if you used it for personal work or really changed it I’m sure it would be fine to use them.
I just love the color in all of these pictures – simply amazing! Click here to see all of the pictures and download the full-res versions.
One of my favorite things about fall is all of the funny little gourds and squashes that you can get at the market. Some of them are pretty normal colored, but some of them are warty and strangely shaped and well, just plain ugly. But, they are fun to draw!
I broke out my watercolors and had some fun. One of these ended up with my grandmother for her birthday – I hope that she likes it!
Hello everyone – are you excited for the weekend? Do you have any fun plans? I’m going to go look at houses today, but other than that, I’ve got nothing going. I really wish I was going here:
This lovely little French hotel offers cooking classes and wine tastings – sign me up! I can think of nothing better than eating and drinking in an environment like this. Stimulating for all of your senses!
1. You know that I love anything made from recycled materials, so this lamp made from wooden hangers by Organelle totally floats my boat.
2. I’m not sure if it is a fall thing, but I’ve been really into felt lately. This necklace transforms a staple craft material into something more sophisticated and modern. And of course, the colors are just perfect for the changing seasons. Find it at Gugaw.
3. Hooray for bunting! This little pretty is a great fall decorating accessory, and the double-sided flags mean that you can hang them just about anywhere. I like Knitty Bitties‘ shop especially because of all the great fabric choices.
4. It’s a little bit macabre, but I’m constantly picking up bones and stuff that I find in the woods. I think that it’s because of the archaeology training. If you don’t want to go searching for them yourself, you can find something like these lovely moose antlers at ReDesign Technologies. You can also find paper clip chandeliers, which are a little different than moose antlers, but still awesome.
We’re looking at buying a house, and I’m finding that I really gravitate towards those houses that have a large piece of property attached. I’m a little less concerned with the house, because those can be fixed, whereas most of the time, it’s hard to make more land.
Part of the reason that I want a big yard is so that I can practice a little bit of urban homesteading. I love the idea of having a huge vegetable garden and being able to have a goat and some chickens, and maybe a dog or two. Canning all of my own food for the winter. It’s always something that’s been really appealing to me, and now it’s starting to gain a foothold in mainstream society.
There are a few interesting articles that my friend Robyn recommended, and I’d like to pass that along to you all. Here is a great article about off-the-grid living, and how it can range from hippie earth berm houses to palacial mountain estates. This article is most useful for people living in the Bay Area, but provides a good introduction to the practice of urban homesteading. And sometimes, it seems like you can learn a lot from your grandparents – at least according to NPR.
Are you an urban homesteader? Do you can or grow your own food? Are there some awesome resources we should be checking out? Let me know!
I’m kind of obsessed with baking cupcakes. You can make them so fun and colorful and garnish them with silly things and they’re basically like edible happiness. So I decided I’m going to write a little cupcake cookbook. Not with a real publisher or anything, and I might just publish it myself, but it’s fun for me to make up recipes and then bake the cupcakes and photograph them and then of course, eat them. Above we have Jimmy Buffet cupcakes with cream cheese icing and Maple Spice cupcakes with brown butter icing. Yum!
This lovely little French 
1. You know that I love anything made from recycled materials, so this lamp made from wooden hangers by 
