Spice Rack...

A long, long time ago in a neighborhood not very far away, the charming writer of Desperately Seeking Salem, Emily, blogged about the spice rack her husband made for her.  I was inspired by this and decided to give it a go.  I knew my sister needed a spice rack and thought this would be the perfect Christmas gift for her.  I asked her to start keeping my niece's baby food jars and hand them over (Yes, she gave me the supplies for her own Christmas gift) and started formulating a plan.

I wanted the jars to be magnetic, I planned on mounting a piece of metal flashing under the lip of the cabinet. I also wanted to use chalkboard paint on the front in order to use chalk to label each jar.  So that's what I did.



I taped off a rectangle on each jar and painted chalkboard paint within (3 coats).  I let them dry for several days between coats and removed the tape after the last coat had a couple more days to dry.

Using a high shine, black spray paint, I sprayed the outsides of the baby food jar lids. They needed two coats.  Once dried (again, several days later), I used a permanent glue to secure the magnets to the lids.




I bought my spice packets at Cost Plus and gave my sister a set of 18 spice jars, about 10 of them I pre-filled with spices and one of the jars to hold the chalk.

I also used the chalkboard paint on large glass storage jars that I bought at Ikea.  She can use these for pasta, flour, sugar, etc.

Drawback? They probably need to be handwashed.




Too bad the niece is done with baby food.  I really want a set for myself.  Might need to just buy the baby food to get the jars.

Homemade Crackers...

Inspired by the (I think) homemade crackers that David serves with his chicken salad at La Capitale, I decided to try my hand at making crackers. I had a thyme cheese ball recipe I wanted to use them with.  I did a quick search on the Food Network's web site, and decided to go with Ina Garten's Parmesan and Thyme Crackers. I made a batch with fresh thyme and a batch with fresh rosemary and they were both delicious and so very easy.  These crackers are very much like a savory shortbread.  In fact, they were so good, and so addicting, I just ate the plain.  No need for the cheese at all!

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 ounces grated Parmesan
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until creamy.
• Add the Parmesan, flour, salt, thyme and pepper and combine (I added about 1/4 cup of water after everything was mixed in order to get everything to combine).
• Dump the dough on a lightly floured board and roll into a 13-inch long log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cut the log crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices. Place the slices on a sheet pan and bake for 22 minutes.

Karma...

I'm a big believer in karma. I also believe there are a couple of different kinds of karma. Some people experience big karma, where all their dirty deeds add together and karma repays in a huge way. Then there's the other kind, the kind I experience. Instant karma, cause and effect seen within a short time span, where all the little things you do are instantly awarded with karma.

For example, I once stole a pen from a restaurant. I have a thing for good pens. I must have stuck it in my pocket upon stealing it and promptly forgot about it. Fast forward to laundry day. Upon removing almost my entire professional wardrobe from the dryer, I found blue ink on almost every item of clothing. Nothing would get that ink out and I had to go spend several hundred dollars to replace that wardrobe. I've never stolen a pen since.

Certain events in my own life have made me wonder about karma. I see people who appear to be continuously rewarded for bad behavior. Is the big karma going to get them? Is little karma already effecting them? Will I ever know? Is it for me to know? These are the thoughts running through my brain.

Infusions....

I never though I would be one to have a bartender, but I do.  Rob of La Capitale has a way of making his customers feel like they are his only customer.  He knows their names, greets them by name each and every time, and knows their favorite drinks (mine is the Hot and Cold Margarita).

As my husband said, Rob is like a mad scientist, mixing and concocting into perfection.  His specialty is infusing different kinds of alcohol with things like fruits, veggies and herbs.  That margarita I love so much?  Made from Citrus and Serrano infused Tequila. 

So I sent Rob a tweet several months ago, asking if he had considered doing an infusions class, that his loyal devoted followers would surely want to learn from his wisdom.  And, in September, I had the honor of being one of the lucky 20 to attend @robdrinkenstein's infusion class at La Capitale.

After mixing us drinks (no pre-made mixers here, only fresh ingredients), class began.  And for two and a half hours, I learned how to infuse.  I also drank and ate.  All around great evening spent with friends.


My first infusion was inspired by Rob's chocolate martini, made with vanilla rum.  I hunted down the vanilla bean, I sliced it open and added it and the scraped out beans along with the rum to my new infuser, one of the gifts from the class.  After letting it sit for 8 hours (and tasting after 4 and 6 hours), I added the required amount of sugar and was ready to make my chocolate martini.  Which turned out pretty darn good.  But not quite as good as Rob's!

Rob's going to continue to offer classes.  He's talked of doing a Holiday Cocktail class, where he teaches you how to make Christmas cocktails.  I would highly recommend it.  Rob's a fantastic teacher and a great guy!  I just might see you there!

The Dining Scene...

I have recently been called a "foodie."  According to Wikipedia, a Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink.  Wikipedia also claims it was coined in 1981.  I guess me hooting and hollering when we drove by Salem's new food pod (3905 Silverton Rd, 1/2 block west of Lancaster)  is proof enough that I am, indeed, a foodie.

A few years ago, I would have said it was very hard to be a foodie in Salem, home of the fast food joints and chain restaurants.  Recently, Salem has started to grow up and we've got a number of good and diverse local restaurants.  We've decided to not eat at non-local restaurants, that if we're going out to eat, we want our money to stay in our community (Confession: We make exceptions for our occasional fast food visit and I do frequent Starbucks on occasion).

As happy as all of the new development makes me, I wonder about something.  It seems like many of the new restaurants opening are more of the fine dining type, with dinners generally costing $15 and up.  Like most Americans today, we are saving more of our pennies, certainly being more careful with them. This limits the opportunity we have to visit these establishments.  For us, they become "special occasion" restaurants.  I do appreciate how a few of these restaurants like La Capitale, has a separate bar menu from their finer dining menu, offering a greater range in prices.

I wonder how many of these fine dining restaurants Salem can support.  I would love to see more local, modest priced restaurants that offer a variety of dining choices.  While Salem pretty much has the Mexican and Chinese restaurant scene covered, a good hometown deli that is open for dinner too or more bistro style restaurants, like Word of Mouth would be a great addition. And if they were opened in West Salem, I certainly would not complain.

So Salem, what kind of food do you want to see in Salem?

Salem Beer and Cider Festival...

While I am not a beer drinker, I do love cider and I love supporting local businesses.  This all lead to me attending the first ever Salem Beer and Cider Festival, which was created by Gilgamesh and Wandering Aengus Cider. The cherry cider from Wandering Aengus is delicious and I even found a beer that I didn't mind. 

Mission Mill is a fabulous location and it was nice to not worry about the weather, however it did get mighty warm on the 3rd floor on such an unseasonably warm day.

It wasn't too crowded, but I assumed this was due to it being the first ever Salem Beer and Cider Festival and maybe because both the Beavers and the Ducks playing.  And while I appreciated having live music, my suggestion would be to lower the sound.  When we arrive it was so unbearably loud, I couldn't hear the person who was yelling in my ear.  I enjoy background music at events like this, but it should be quiet enough that you can have a conversation with the person sitting next to you without yelling. 

It's great for Salem to have their own beer/cider festival and it would be great to see more wines included next year. I could definitely see this becoming one of our annual festivals.

Finding Inspiration...

Last night, I had the pleasure of finally meeting Mrs. Emily Grosvenor of Desperately Seeking Salem fame.  I'm not really sure when I started following Emily's blog, it was shortly after she started it, but have thoroughly enjoyed her take on Salem as a newbie.

While attending Emily's blogging class at Clockworks last night, one of the things that stood out to me was the need to have a blogging direction.  My current blog direction has been more of the personal nature and will continue to include some of that.  And of course there will be cats - if I can't get away from them neither can you.  But, I've also tried to keep it local, with photos of our city.  This is the area I want to expand, including thoughts, opinions and reviews of what is going on in my city.  I've lived in Salem since I was four.  I'm not going to do the math, but that's 30 years.  Wait, I said no math.  Grr. Anyway, I've got a lot of thoughts on where we've been and where we are going.  Stay tuned...