The Feral Pumpkin

Since I was laid up for a good part of the spring with Lyme Disease, I really didn’t put that much effort into our vegetable garden this year.  We threw in some peas, beans, tomatoes, potatoes,  various squashes, and a variety of herbs, but no one bothered much to weed, or even water, for that matter, early in the season.  Once I had the energy to actually give my plants a helping hand, I noticed a thick, green vine with huge leaves creeping out of the compost bin.  Actually, it was more like charging out of the bin, at full force.  I knew it was some type of squash plant by the leaves, but wasn’t exactly sure what kind of squash it might be.  As the summer went on, this plant (well, two plants to be completely accurate) took over an entire corner of the yard.  In fact, one of the tendrils even managed to rip off a side of the compost bin!

This Voracious Vine Tore Off the Compost Bin Door

Jack and his Beanstalk be damned, here comes my feral pumpkin!  The leaves were about 4 times the size of the leaves on my zucchini, summer squash and spaghetti squash.  But, for all the effort it was putting into its amazonian foliage, there was no fruit to be seen.  Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I spotted a small squash that has turned out to be a pumpkin.  Its now about the size of a soccer ball, and still going strong.  And, this morning, I noticed another little pumkin-let growing on another tendril.  I’m crossing my fingers that by Halloween, we have a nice crop of feral pumpkins to carve into Jack-o-lanterns!  I will certainly post a picture, if we do!

Twenty Five Feet of Pumpkin Vines

Colorful Powders to Celebrate Holi

India is such an enormous, diverse county, it was hard to decide where to start. Since it was lunchtime, we headed straight for the cookbook and whipped up a batch of banana (kela) lassi. Of course, mango lassi would have been more traditional, but we had to work with what we had in the kitchen.  You can check out our yummy recipe at the end of this post.  We decided to focus on food (of course), folklore, and festivals.  We checked out two books from the library which I would recommend.  The first, The Indian Storybook by Rani Singh tells 8 different Indian tales and gives a quick overview of some of the Hindu gods encountered in the stories.  The second, Festive Foods! India by Sylvia Goulding mixes simple (as if any Indian recipe could be simple!) recipes with culture and heritage.

Since we spent the weekend in NYC, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to eat authentic Indian food on 5th Street in Manhattan.  Basically, the entire block between 1st and 2nd Avenues is is entirely populated by Indian restaurants.  If you are lucky (as we were), you can listen to live sitar music as you eat.  We stopped in at Raj Mahal, one of our long time favorites, although I don’t think you can go wrong with any of your options.  If you haven’t taken your kids out for Indian food yet, don’t be intimidated by the spicy dishes.  There are plenty of mild options that our kids love.  You can try chicken kurma (chicken in a slightly sweet, almond sauce), mulligatawny soup (turmeric spiced soup), and an order of vegetable pakoras (fritters).

We really wanted to celebrate Holi, the festival of colors, but the weather hasn’t cooperated.  During Holi, celebrants throw colored powder and colored water on each other to celebrate unity and the beginning of spring.  We thought this sounded like a really fun idea, but definitely an outside activity.  Even though Holi was officially celebrated last month, we might have our own celebration later in the spring.  We plan to make our ‘colored’ water with kool-aid, and use flour colored with dry kool-aid or jello mix for our colored powders.  I’ll update this post to let you you know how it turns out!

Banana or Mango Lassi

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana or 1 mango
• 2 cups of full fat plain yogurt
• 2-4 ice cubes
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• optional – pinch of cardamom
• optional – fresh mint

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend well.  Garnish with a sprig of mint and a bit of crushed ice.  Enjoy!

Next stop, Japan!

Pirate Girl

With Halloween only two days away, I thought I would post instructions for a super easy last minute Pirate costume.  My daughter and I made her version of the costume to wear to the Harbor Festival in Wickford Village earlier this fall.   This costume  involves no sewing and can be completed in less than 10 minutes, so it is great for a last minute costume party!

Materials Needed:

• 2 old t-shirts
• 36″ of ribbon
• scissors

Optional:

• Pirate Hat
• Old Skirt
• eye patch
• head scarf

Instructions

1. Cut t-shirts along green dotted lines as shown in the photo below.  The first t-shirt will be the “Pirate Vest”; the 2nd t-shirt will be the undergarment
2. Place vest over the undergarment
3. Lace ribbon through the holes in the vest as if you were lacing a shoe
4. You now have your complete pirate shirt!

Cut Along Green Dotted Lines

Closeup of Pirate Vest

Variations & Tips

1. This method can be used for either a child or adult; for adult, you may want longer ribbon for the ties
2. Use a white undergarment, black vest and red ribbon for a real “piratey” effect
3. Instead of a pirate hat, pair the costume with a headscarf and be a gypsy!
4. Cut a square neck on the vest for a different effect
5. Make more or fewer holes for the lacings for different effects
6. For a boy, use the same design, but do not cut holes for the lace up ribbon; leave the vest plain
7. I found that smaller size t-shirt work better since they stretch out when cut

And, since you are in the Pirate mood, here is some fun Rhode Island Pirate history for you.  Have fun dressing up!

A Very Cute Little Gypsy!

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, which means scores of people will be flocking the streets for parades, drinking green beer, and, for the most part, partying up and down on a Wednesday.

Celtic Knot Bag

I think my most memorable St. Patrick’s day was way back in 1995/1996 when I was living in New Orleans.  My god, they know how to throw a party in good ol’ NOLA!  We were drinking at the Parasols block party by noon, and then hit the French Quarter for the parade.  If you’ve never been to a St. Patrick’s Day parade in New Orleans, it is suspiciously like a Mardi Gras parade — except they throw vegetables off the floats in addition to the beads.  Seriously…I kid you not.  You are highly likely to get hit in the head with a potato or chunk of cabbage if you don’t pay attention.

Anyway, although I will be driving my pre-schoolers around to their various activities, rather than drinking green beer this year, it seemed appropriate to post my article on Celtic Knots to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day.

Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction

In June 2001, my cousin and I visited Scotland, and I bought a really cool book called Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction by George Bain.   A large part of the book is focuses on the Pictish designs from Ireland and Scotland.  From an artistic perspective, the best part of this book is that the author gives very detailed, step-by-step instruction of how to create the intricate knot work and spiral patterns.  He starts with the most basic  traditional patterns and shows how they  grow into extremely intricate designs used in architecture, embroidery, calligraphy and metalworking.  I tried taking a few pictures of the book to give you an idea of the step-by-step construction.  I know its hard to see, but take my word for it, it’s pretty cool!

The designs seemed so complex, it was a little daunting, so I never actually began any projects incorporating the knot work theme.  This March, the Etsy Hookers team is sponsoring a contest for Irish/St. Patrick’s Day themed items.   So, I figured this was as good an opportunity as any to try my hand at a Celtic Knot design.  Here are photos of three items that I’m working on.

Celtic Knot Backpack

Basically, I’ve been crocheting a bag or bowl in 100% wool.  Then, I crochet a very long chain in a contrasting color.  I then stitch the chain onto the item in a knot work pattern.   Finally, I felt the entire item in the wash a couple of times.  I’m pretty happy with how the handbag and backpack came out.  The bowl is not done yet, and I’ve included “in progress” photos to show the steps.  The designs that I chose are from the Pictish school and are actually some of the simplest ones in the book.

I like the concept that the one continuous line is a symbol of continuity or eternity.

Bowl - After One Felting, but Before Knot Work

Bowl - After Knot Work Design Has Been Pinned In Place

Bowl - Drying After 3 Feltings

Along with Valentine’s Day, myriads of people around the world will be celebrating Chinese New Year on February 14th.  This year, the Chinese Calendar will be entering the Year of the Tiger.

Chinese Inspired Felted Bag

When I lived in New York, I always looked forward to the huge Chinese New Year celebration that took place downtown every year.  We would bundle up in our warmest coats and hats, take the subway in from Brooklyn, watch the spectacular parade, and hit our favorite restaurant for dim sum.  I even have a packet of red money envelopes left over from a few years ago.  They are really quite pretty, with a picture of a girl embossed in gold leaf.   I am the first to admit that I don’t know much about the traditions that lie beneath the celebration, but I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to experience the festivities.  Now that I live in Rhode Island, I won’t be able to go to the parade this year, but I thought I would show a parade of items from Etsy artists that have a Chinese or Tiger inspiration.  Enjoy!

A few  years ago, I went through a soap-making phase.  I wasn’t serious enough about it to really sell anything, except a few bars to some of my husband’s very supportive friends.

Valentine Soap

But, I did manage to make enough to give to everyone I knew for every holiday that came to pass.  And, I did manage to accumulate a pretty big stash of soap-making supplies.  When it came time to decide what to give my daughter’s teachers for Valentine’s Day, I remembered my chunks of olive oil & goat’s milk soap and my little vials of essential oils & aroma oils.  Thus, began a very interesting foray into soap-making with a 4 1/2 year old.

I won’t go into instructional detail about how to make melt & pour soap, because, frankly, you melt it — then you pour it.  Pretty straightforward.  OK, I guess it is a little bit more involved than that.  If you are interested, here is a very informative article on the melt & pour technique.   Instead, I’ll just share with you some helpful hints that I’ve learned along the way, and share some fun photos.

Stirring the Soap

Checking out the Molds

Filled Molds

Hint #1 – Bees Wax – Use a little bit of bees wax.  It will make your soap last longer and its good for your skin.  You can buy the little yellow pellets at most soap supply companies.  I don’t really measure, but I use about a tablespoon or so to a batch of 2-3 smallish bars of soap. (I know, I know, I should measure!)  When we did this project, I just let my daughter throw in a handful.  Beeswax melts slower than soap, so pre-melt your beeswax and then add the chunks of soap base.

Hint#2 – Color – I read somewhere that you can use melted crayons for colorants.  I tried this and found that it didn’t work very well with opaque soaps such as goat’s milk, but did a nice job with transparent soaps like olive oil.  For this project, we tried the crayons, because it was fun, but I ended up using Wilton’s gel food coloring to brighten the color.  I’ve also used powered soap colorants, but always had a hard time getting them to blend in.  All and all, food colorings always seemed to work best for me.

Hint #3 – Molds – For this project, I we used silicone heart-shaped muffin pans and rubber heart-shaped ice-cube trays.  I found them in the dollar bin at Target last year.  They were so much easier to use than the plastic soap molds I’ve used in the past, and they were much cheaper.  I’ve also used bread pans lined with saran wrap.  Just pop out the ‘loaf’ and slice it.

Hint #4 – Supplies – I’ve always had good luck buying soap base, bees wax and aroma oils at Brambleberry.  They have an enormous selection and a helpful site.  I used to buy great essential oils from a company called Cedar Vale, but they don’t seem to be around anymore.

Hint #5 – Making It Kid-Friendly – Obviously, you need to be very careful when dealing with hot, melted soap around kids.  Some of the things I let my daughter do were to pick out the colors and aromas, put the cut up of chunks of soap base into the bowl, squeeze an eye-dropper of essential oil (filled by me) into the melted soap, and stir the essential oil into the melted soap base while being carefully monitored.  She also had fun popping the soaps out of the molds when they were hardened.

The Finished Product

When we were done, we ended up with some really cute heart shaped soap in pink, orange, yellow and blue.  We bundled them in pink tulle and plan to bring them into school later this week.