Are we there yet?

I want to make this photo into a postcard set. These two dalmatians remind me of an old couple driving together. Don't ask me why; although, it may have something to do with their facial expressions.

This photo was taken right outside of Franklin, TN. I wish I could remember the name of the park, but when it comes to me I will link to it. We were taking a walk in this park after exploring downtown Nashville all day. As pm and I are walking to the trail head we see these two dogs. Well, allow for me to rephrase - we hear these two dogs. They were barking super loud; it was so loud, in fact, that you could hear them through the closed windows. I think they were making so much noise because their owner had decided to drive with them to the park only to leave them in the humid vehicle until he/she returned. Torture! [Side note: Why even own animals if this is how you are going to treat them. Dogs get excited about going for walks. Leaving them in the parking lot while you enjoy nature hardly seems fair. It'd be like going to an ice cream parlor and not ordering anything, but then having to watch everyone else enjoy it in front of you.]

This photo was snapped in a moment of silence. Once pm took out the camera and pointed it at them they stopped barking. They must have been curious as to what was going on, or wanted to be sure they made the perfect pose. (Which they did!). Once the shutter closed the barking continued.

Hope you enjoy this one. I also hope I was wrong about their owner and these two guys got their walk in too.

tropical banana bread

We can never eat bananas fast enough around here, yet we continue to buy them every time we go to the grocery store. Do I mind? Absolutely not! I love bananas, and I especially love baking with bananas. There are just too many good recipes.

Last week we had some pineapple left over from a mango/pineapple salsa we made. We thought about making a tropical beverage out of it, but we just aren't quite in the right season. So, instead, I made some banana pineapple bread. As you can see by the photo, I added chocolate chips. It was a little bit of an experiment, but the bread turned out great. It was a little too moist in the center, but it did cook all the way through. It may have made a better layer cake than bread, although good nonetheless.

I've got about 6 frozen bananas in the freezer right now and another 2-3 getting on the ripe end for eating. What should my next recipe be? Any good suggestions?

On a related note: Did you know that bananas risk extinction? Yeah, it's scary. Maybe that is why I want to enjoy as many of them as I can now before it's too late.

Sidetracked & how to drink a beer.

I had every intention of writing something on here earlier today, but then I got sidetracked. That has been happening a lot lately. I make a "to-do" list and before I can even start it my day is booked. I guess I could be sitting around watching soaps and eating donuts, so it's not all bad. (Someday, even if it's not my style maybe I will do that :P). I just really want to finish everything on my list. Maybe tomorrow?

My plan was to post a recipe and tutorial for making Spanish tortilla today. Too bad we didn't have all the ingredients at home. (This is sad since the recipe is so basic. You'll see soon enough just how simple it is.)

As I am thinking about "to-do" lists, I got to thinking about the photo above. First off, New Belgium makes a darn good Mothership Wit. Perhaps the best part - it includes directions on how to drink the beverage. It's not just a pour, sip and enjoy. It is now a pour, swirl, pour, sip and enjoy. Is this too many steps for the thirsty? Well, it's worth it; so, just do it.

On another brewing note. I hate to confirm it, but I think it is officially too warm in our apartment to brew over the summer. That is unless we don't mind keeping a bath tub full of ice cubes through the fermentation process. Hmmm... tempting. We could always just shower at the gym, right? I am curious though - how "hot" is too hot? Obviously you run the risk of bacterias and other pesky "added flavor" components with the heat, but if you are diligent about running a clean ship does it matter? I'd love to know.

And that is all for my Wednesday ramble. Look for the recipe later this week. Cheers to beer instructables!

New collection.

It seems like it has been awhile since we posted photos of our creative endeavors. Don't be deceived - we still have been using our creative powers to make things; we just haven't been very good about sharing them.

I have been humming away at my sewing machine a lot lately. I've been making all sorts of envelopes (mostly black like in this past post). I've used various different thread colors and have also been experimenting with different sizes.

I am still undecided if I will actually try to sell any of these envelopes, since it takes me a good 20-25 minutes to make one. (That's if my sewing machine behaves!) Not sure I could price them in such a way that someone would actually want to buy one. Maybe they will pop up on our Etsy page soon, so stay tuned.

Anyway. I needed a solution to a problem I know many of us suffer from. Too many bags! I am always trying to use reusable bags when we go out shopping. I do this partly because we have more than enough plastic bags to use for the garbage for the rest of the year and I think it is a huge waste to always need a *new* bag. The area for "bag storage" under our sink was getting a little overwhelming. That is when I decided to make some envelopes out of brown paper bags.

These envelopes are surprisingly durable. I like how some of the bag graphics peak out of the top (like in the photo on the right from a Trader Joe's bag). I am working right now on a design to match for stationary. Once that is complete I will get more photos up.

This has been a good solution to an excess of bags. It's also been a fun recycling / up-cycling project. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box and sometimes you need to think outside of the bag.

Reflection.

Some of my best thinking comes from sitting in front of water. I enjoy listening to the movement of water - the waves crashing up against the shore, boats rocking back and forth in the water... It was nice to enjoy the lake this week.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the many natural (and man-made) disasters that are occurring simultaneously right now. We can't seem to listen to the news without hearing more about the BP oil spill and the effects it will have on the environment and fishing industries. While the photos certainly help paint the complete story of the repercussions ahead, it bothers me that some of the other natural disasters that have recently happened have stayed off the national airwaves.

Aside from the oil spill, there have been deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma and the severe flooding in Tennessee. I wonder why we haven't heard more about these events? Is it because there aren't as politically charged as the oil spill?

I recently came across this YouTube video of the floods in Nashville. It really caught my attention because (a) it brings up a very valid point: there is no violence or looting happening right now because of the flood and (b) it truly is newsworthy: people have lost their homes and there is a need for rebuilding and recovery efforts.

I often wonder if, to some extent, the natural disasters of the world are human induced. Oh well. I realize I could write a whole lot more on this topic, but instead I'll leave it how it is. It's just some food for thought for the weekend. Off to ponder some more...

Say "ahhh"

Nope, we are not sick; we are just recovering. We are recovering from packed, in fact over-packed, schedules these last few months. Looking forward for the warm breeze and the chance to relax (perhaps with a homebrew) outside by the lake.

We took a leisurely walk down by the lake this evening. It was wonderful and so nice to see so many other people doing the same thing. I sometimes forget that we live in a big city after being surrounded by our very quaint neighborhood away from the hustle and bustle. It sure is nice to have a balance of both worlds. At some point this summer we are going to get some shots of the sunrise over the Chicago skyline.

Well, back to unwinding and relaxing.

+ I love the above photo from Festifools. I think I love it so much because I so often stick my tongue out in photos. This helps remind me how ridiculous it looks sometimes. It also makes me laugh. :)

solace (does it = beer?)

It's a black and white kind of day. Not for any particular reason, it just is.

We've been a moving target for the past month. It almost seems like we haven't been around at all on weekends, and when we are we have to play catch up from not being around. Through it all we've managed to keep our shelves stocked with homebrews (to the tune of 200+ bottles).

We're getting nervous as the summer approaches, as our place may be too warm for brewing. We just have to wait and see. We got a Dunkelweizen kit at Northern Brewer this weekend, and are hoping to at least add that one to our collection.

Yesterday we went to the AHA Homebrew Rally at Lakefront Brewery. Not only was the beer good (as always!), but it was nice to meet other homebrewers. I was surprised by the diversity of homebrewers. Folks of all ages. So refreshing to see so many beer lovers. Perhaps the best part: Getting free wort (Riverwest Stein to be exact) from Lakefront. Woot, woot! We just paid off our membership for the year with that wort. We cannot wait to enjoy it.

All this talk about beer is making me thirsty. Cheers to the start of a new week!