Bookworm Baby Shower

I’ve been pretty quiet on the blog lately, but I have not been slacking on DIY projects. Quite the opposite! For the last few weeks I have been obsessively planning a baby shower for my brilliant and talented author friend (and karaoke club co-president) and I didn’t want to spoil the surprise. But the shower was Sunday so now I can share with you my fun menu and projects. As usual, I forgot to take pictures, but hopefully I’ll get some from the mother- and grandmother-to-be. For now, forgive the poor presentation and half-eaten dishes - at least you know they weren’t inedible!

It was my first time planning a shower, so I went to my trusty and knowledgeable friend, Google, for inspiration. I knew I wanted to do a children’s book theme, since the mom-to-be is a children’s author herself (or is “youth author” the more appropriate term? “age-challenged thought provoker”?) A lot of my inspiration came from Martha Stewart but there were also other great blogs by designers, moms, and crafty DIYers showing off their shower skills. So here’s my contribution to the blogosphere. 

The set-up

The Menu:

For my Bookworm Baby Shower menu, I first thought of some of my favorite books, then “pun-ny” dishes to go with them. (I’m a huge dork). Everything was pretty easy to make (deceptively so) and looked good on a platter (when I had one). There actually wasn’t much cooking involved, and it was low maintenance during the party which made it the perfect party menu. I also tried to keep it relatively healthy...unless you count the NINE different types of cheese used.

Stinky Cheese Man Cheese Platter

Peter Rabbit’s Garden Crudite and Dips

The veggies were arranged in a garden bucket I picked up at the Christmas Tree Shop - my old favorite store from the Cape, now all over "the mainland". I put a plate on top of a coffee can inside so that you didn't have to dig around in the bucket to get at the veggies. I adapted these recipes for the Ranch Dip (used just dill and added more sour cream) and the dairy-free Edamame Dip (used cilantro instead of basil). The carrots are from my farm share! I left a little bit of the tops on the carrots and radishes so it looks like they just came from the garden - just the way Peter Rabbit would like them.

The Giving Brie

Who knew something as delicious as baked brie was so easy to make! I took a wheel of brie, sprinkled some brown sugar and cinnamon on it, and wrapped it up in some pastry dough. Popped it in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes, et voila! The Giving Brie! served with green apples. (Awesome name credit goes to Cara).

Goldi-lox Bites 

I made up this recipe, but I don't think it's anything groundbreaking or original - cucumber rounds topped with creme fraiche, a little smoked salmon, and some capers.

Greens, Eggs, and Ham Strata and Vegetarian Green, Eggs, No Ham Strata

Strata is like a savory bread pudding, perfect for brunch parties because you can make it the night before and just put in the oven right before guests come. It's cheezy, eggy, and satisfying. I adapted the recipe from here, although you can really make it with any veggies and meat you have on hand. I made mine with collard greens from my farm share and really good thick-cut bacon. The veggie version used swiss chard and a farm share summer squash. And the secret to the deliciosity? I used 4 kinds of cheese! Shredded swiss-gruyere combo, grated parmesan and grated pecorino romano. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Tea Sandwiches 

Yes. Those are sandwiches arranged in the shape of a caterpillar. He has a tomato head, blueberry eyes, and cucumber mouth. The tea sandwiches are traditional cucumber and curry chicken salad. I learned the secret to cuke sandwiches is to butter both sides of the bread to protect them from getting soggy. Then I added a layer of whipped cream cheese mixed with dill, then very thinly sliced cukes. Also, before you assemble the sandwiches, you should lightly salt the cukes and let sit for 30 minutes, then pat off the water. This leaches out the water so your sammiches don't get too soggy. 

The curried chicken sandwiches were courtesy of Ms. Stewart. I had never poached chicken before and it came out tender and juicy. I added a bit more curry and turmeric to make it really yellow.

I used Pepperidge Farm "Very Thin" Sandwich Bread. Perfect for tea sandwiches! It comes in white and wheat.

Blueberries for Sal-ad

I loved this book as a kid, but apparently no one else knows it unless they grew up in New England (it takes place in Maine). Anyway, it made for a lovely salad - mixed greens, real Maine blueberries, feta cheese (because the mommy is Greek!), and a simple vinaigrette made with fancy ingredients I have on hand and never use (because I hate salad) - white balsamic vinegar, grapeseed oil, whole seed mustard, a touch of honey, and salt and pepper.

Goodnight Moon Pies

Yum yum yummmmyyyyy! These were delicious and easy to bake, although sadly people were so full from the other stuff they didn't have much room for dessert. There is some internet debate about what a moon pie actually is. Southerners say it is a specific brand of cookie from the south, with graham cracker cookies, marshmallow filling, and covered in chocolate. Others use "moon pie" interchangeably with "whoopie pies", which are cakier, creme filled, sandwiched desserts from New England. Or maybe Amish country. But whatever. They're awesome. I used this recipe from Gourmet, but there is also a whole cookbook with recipes for different flavored cakes and frostings, including a salted caramel cream. Droooollllll.

And don't you love that cake stand?

Winnie the Pooh’s Greek Honey Delights

 

I can't take credit for these beauties - homemade baklava from Eleni's mom (a.k.a. Yia Yia). The whole reason I agreed to do this shower was to have some of these! Nostimo!

Zuckerman's Farm Fruit salad

Fruit salad...in the shape of a bassinet. Very cute, and solved the problem of not having enough serving dishes! Instructions for carving the watermelon can be found here (very easy, btw!)

James & the Giant Peach Cocktails

Mom-osas (non-alcoholic mimosas)

Whipped up a batch of bellinis (white peach puree and prosecco) and non-alcoholic "mom-osas" - orange juice with sparkling cidar. Good deal note: I got the Ikea glasses 6 for $4.99, as opposed to buying a bag of plastic ones from iParty for $25!

One thing I did realize hosting this party – I need to invest in some serving utensils. We were serving cake with rice paddles and scooping strata with an ice cream scooper. This is one of the problems of single homeownership – you don’t get to register for all the servingware you need to throw a fabulous party like Martha Stewart.

The Décor:

The main piece of décor was a banner I made (inspired by Kojo Designs’ blog http://kojodesigns.blogspot.com/2010/10/storybook-baby-shower.html). Before the shower, I asked all the guests to submit their favorite children’s book. I then downloaded and printed out the book covers, glued them to colorful card stock, and sewed them to a blue satin ribbon. I was happy to find that my mom’s sewing machine still works (albeit a bit dusty) and the seam is sturdy enough that Eleni can use the banner in her nursery. During the party, we also had Eleni guess who picked which book – I think she got most of them right!

Banner in Progress

Brightening up my bare walls!

I picked up some flowers at Trader Joe’s on a whim and made my first flower arrangements. I think they came out pretty nicely!

Eleni’s friend Tiffany (and my co-bridesmaid at her wedding) came early to help set up. She also brought onesies and fabric markers for the guests to draw on for personalized onesies. Some of them came out very artfully! Of course, I don’t have pictures of the finished products, but they look cute hanging from the mantel.

We also played a Greek name game, where you had to match the Greek name with its proper definition. However I did not include my favorite name that I came across during my research: “Ptoophagos”, meaning “glutton of Poon (in Boetia)”. Watch out future Baby Boy Do-Clooney. That could be your name!

Party Favors

I got to indulge my new chalkboard paint obsession with the party favors. I picked up these mugs at the Christmas Tree Shop for only $0.89, and with the help of some friends, painted a strip for writing people's names on. I filled the mugs with a bookworm bookmark, some gummy worms, chocolate, and tea bags. Cheap and cheerful!

Thank Yous

Despite the title of this blog, I didn't do this all by myself. I have to thank my friends who helped me cook, clean, and decorate the place for the party. And of course, I have to thank Eleni and John for having this baby and letting me throw him a shower!

Let Them Eat Cake! Off a Tiered Cake Stand

A few months ago, I had a craving for cucumber sandwiches which then made me want to have an afternoon tea party. Then I decided I needed to have a tiered cake stand to serve all my cute tea sandwiches, scones, and cakes. And of course, being ME, I had to make it a DIY project.

I did some research on the internet and found this tutorial on how to make a cake stand with a plate and a candlestick. I like the idea of using repurposed materials, but I was nervous about drilling a hole in the middle of a ceramic plate. Would it explode in my face? blinding and maiming me forever? Power tools scare me. Ideally, I envision myself as a bold, independent woman capable of making anything from the most delicate lace baby sweater to the sturdiest coffee table. And I did make a coffee table once in a woodworking class at the Boston Center for Adult Education. But it was terrifying! Table saws are terrifying. Power tools are terrifying. I don't even like electric toothbrushes. And not to put down my DIY mentors online, but a lot of them have these great projects, but they send their husbands out to do the power tool work (except for this amazing woman  who builds all her own furniture and puts up tutorials so you can too). Is that really Doing It Yourself? As a single woman and a single homeowner, I am faced with doing the scary stuff alone. But don't feel too bad for me! Because now I have conquered my fear of the power drill. I gots drill skillz.

There are other online tutorials where you can glue the parts together, but of course I liked how it looked the harder way. Luckily, I found some extra support from an Etsy store, Teatime Creations, that sells special drill bits, hardware and step-by-step instructions. So i took the plunge and bought the kit.

It was really easy. The hardest part was measuring the center of the plate to drill. Other than that, it just took a steady hand and lots of patience. I tested out my drill skills on a plate that I bought at Boomerang's in Central Square for $1. (Actually, I bought two for 50 cents, but one of them broke in transit).

There's a hole in this plate!

 Then I disassembled a candlestick that I bought for $1 in Brooklyn. There is a long screw holding all the pieces together, so I unscrewed it and then reassembled it with the plate in the middle.
 

Candlestick Cake Stand #1

After my first successful plate drilling attempt, I went out and bought three more plates. Here's the first one:

Here you can see how I marked up the plate with masking tape. I found it easier to mark the center of the plate on the tape, that way there weren't little dots all over the plate where my center measurement was off. Then I stacked a few more pieces of tape around the center so the drill bit wouldn't jump around on the ceramic. The bowl in the corner is filled with cold water to cool the drill bit every few minutes because it gets very hot!

The Finished Product!

And here's the finished product! After drilling the three plates, I just had to screw in the hardware and it was done. Super easy, super not-scary.

Time to eat cakes and sandwiches! Cheerio!

Beets! Give them a chance

There hasn't been much activity on the blog, because I have been busy with some super top secret projects. Top secret because they are for a baby shower I am planning for my good friend and karaoke co-president. And also because they could completely crash and burn. We'll see!

In the meantime, I will spread the gospel. Of BEETS! Poor lovely yet maligned beets. No one wants to eat them because they associate them with those gross smooshy canned beets we had as kids, before the golden days of eating everything fresh and local. But beets are really delicious. and nutritious. But more importantly, delicious. They just need new marketing. Like, "Beets. The Candy Potato." Because that's basically what they are. And who doesn't love candy or potatoes?

Here's a pic of this week's farm share:

Beets, baby bok choy, swiss chard, snap peas, summer squash, zucchini, cucumber, raspberries

My CSA share buddy is off banging drums in Senegal, so I gave some of the goods to my co-workers. I made a tasty omelette with the swiss chard, and then I was left with the beets, zuke, and snap peas. I knew I could do a stir fry with the zucchini and snap peas, but could I make an Asian-y beet salad with the beets and beet greens? A search of my favorite recipe databases was not very helpful. So this is what I eventually came up with.

Orange "Asian Sauce" Beets
Bunch 'o Beets
Bunch o' Beet greens
1 orange
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp juice from the orange
2 tbsp olive oil or other salad oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
sprinkle of sesame seeds
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp ginger - I didn't actually have any, but if I did I would have thrown it in. Also chopped green onions.

Trim the beets but don't peel them. Give them a scrub, then wrap them in tin foil. Roast the beets in a pre-heated oven at 450 for 45 minutes. My beets were relatively small, so it didn't take long. I also put it at high heat because I was hungry and wanted them to cook fast! I think in general, most recipes are around 400 for an hour and a half. But this worked for me this time.

While the beets are roasting, wash and chop the beet greens. Bring water to a boil and add the beet greens for about 2 minutes. The greens should be soft, but not too overcooked. Drain and run under cold water for a few minutes (or blanch them in a bowl of cold water if you're fancy like that).

Peel and section the orange. Squeeze out about 1-2 tbsps of juice and whisk together the "Asian sauce" ingredients. I call it "Asian sauce" not to be insensitive to the fact that there are several different countries, cultures, and cuisines which make up the continent of Asia, but because when I want a little Asian flavor, I basically use the same ingredients in varying proportions - soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sesame, garlic, ginger, green onion. My mom is the same way. I will ask her for a recipe for anything - bulgogi, chicken wings, apple pie - and she always uses the same ingredients. Ok, maybe not for the apple pie.

Anyway, for this recipe, I added some orange juice to the dressing to complement the oranges in the salad. I also added a little extra olive oil to cut the acidity and because I find sesame oil to be a little too strong sometimes. Bad Asian, I am!

Take out your beets and let them cool. Run them under water and the skins should rub off easily. If they don't, they may need to go in for a little longer. Toss everything together and enjoy your Asian beets! Hey, and don't you feel good about yourself that you ate the whole vegetable, from root to leafy stem?

Beets hot out of the oven

Orange Asian Sauce Beets

I enjoyed these beets with my house guest Charles. Charles is Puppy's new favorite person. Here he is, having sneaked into Charles' room one morning before we left for work. aww.

Puppy loves me no more

But it's ok because Charles got me sneak preview tickets to see Harry Potter 7.2 last night and IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

DIY Upholstered Dining Chairs

Finally! I have completed a DIY project appropriate for this blog. And it wasn't that difficult.

Remember these chairs that I got from my Craigslist windfall?

Well, I wasn't a fan of the rush seats, and they were a little dusty and squeaky. So I did a little google research, and it didn't seem like it would be that hard to upholster them without completely tearing apart the seat. I went to Fabric Corner in Arlington, MA. They have an amazing selection of fabrics, notions, etc. and the salespeople were really helpful. They had a great section of these quirky Japanese vintage prints in linen cotton. This is the one I picked up:

Did you know? Birds = Crafty!

I forgot to take pictures of the process but it was really quite easy.

1. Cut 1" foam into shape of the chair seat.

Some online tutorials start with taking off the seat, but since mine is attached to the frame with the rush, that wasn't really an option. I traced out the chair seat on some scrap fabric, then cut that out and traced it onto the foam. The guy at Fabric Corner recommended using a regular kitchen knife to cut the foam. Just make sure you have a cutting board or cardboard underneath so you don't scratch up the surface below. I used scissors to cut out the round corners of the seat. It wasn't a perfect match, but good enough. This was definitely the hardest step!

2. Cut fabric with about a 3" allowance around the sides of the seat.

i.e. you need enough fabric to cover the seat plus an additional 1" for the thickness of the seat, 1" for the foam, and another 1" margin of fabric to attach to the bottom of the seat.

3. Cover seat with fabric and staple gun to bottom of chair.

I folded the corners under and then just stapled all around the bottom of the seat. It was as easy as that!

Of course, I don't know how long the fabric will really stay attached to the seat like that. But I'm hoping it will make it at least through the baby shower I am throwing for my friend in a few weeks. So far, it has managed to stay put even with my butt parking on it.

Et voila! My first posted DIY project!

It was super easy and didn't take that long. Cutting the foam was the most labor-intensive part. I had also toyed with the idea of painting the wood on the chairs, but couldn't decide on black, white, or restaining it a wood color. Plus, I had a deadline. Luckily, the staples are easy enough to remove that if I feel like rehabbing the wood, I can just redo the seats. And I have enough fabric left to do the four other rush seats I bought off CL - or placemats, a runner, purses...the possibilities are endless!

One more shot of all the chairs around the table:

Best. Day. Ever. Brooklyn-Style

I went down to NY this past weekend to pick up Puppy and chill-ax in my old neighborhood of Red Hook in Brooklyn with Molly (Puppy's Other Mother). The result? Best. Day. Ever.

First we dropped off at the groomers for a much-needed summer hairdo. Doesn't he look handsome?

While we were waiting, Molly and I went to get groomed ourselves at a new nail place on Atlantic. It was awesome. Not only did we get to practice our rusty Korean, but we got free hot stone massages on our legs and necks. I got my toes done in blue in honor of our nation's birthday.

Next, we went to the Red Hook soccer fields for tasty South American food! This is hands-down the best thing to do in the summer in Brooklyn. You get delicious, authentic, and cheap food plus you can take in an intense game of futbol (soccer). Hot guys and hot salsa! Hot damn!

Beef tacos

Grilled Mexican corn

Grilled Mexican corn sounds a little gross but is so delicious. They cover it in mayo and butter, grated cotija cheese (like parmesan), cayenne pepper and a bit of lime juice. Creamy, tangy, spicy and corny!

Pupusas

Pupusas are like El Salvadoran Hot Pockets. They're basically really thick corn tortillas - almost like empanadas - stuffed with cheese and meat. And fried. Ohmygoditissodelicious!!!! There are 2 Red Hook vendors who sell pupusas. One always has a ridiculously long line and the other is practically empty. I always feel bad for the second one, because it's not like most of the gringo hipsters in Red Hook can really tell the difference between the two. But I guess none of us are willing to risk a sub-par pupusa when the best one is right there. Sorry amigos! The pink stuff is some kind of pickled cabbage like sauerkraut. Actually, now that I think of it, this dish is very Korean. The pupusas are like a savory hodduk with kimchi on the side!

After lunch, we went across the street to take a dip in the community pool. I know that sounds kind of gross, but the pool is actually quite clean and orderly since they seriously enforce all their crazy rules. Every 2 minutes someone makes an announcement over the PA. You can't bring anything into the pool area - food, chairs, not even shoes. You can't wear anything but plain white t-shirts (I assume to prevent gang flare-ups). And my favorite admonition: "No touching in the pool! No male-female touching, male-male touching, or female-female touching! Absolutely no touching!" Of course, this caused me to immediately jump on top of Molly (who hates being touched).

After taking a nice leisurely nap with Puppy, we headed out for a late supper at Ferdinando's on Union St. and Columbia. This is a really old school Sicilian restaurant - allegedly Sinatra ordered platters of arancini (rice balls) for a party in the Hamptons. We had panelle (chick pea fritters with ricotta and tomato sauce), ensalada de pulpo (octopus salad), and pasta con sarde (pasta with sardines). Delicious! Of course, I was so excited to eat that I forgot to take pictures. This is all that was left:

Pasta con sarde - we licked it clean!

After dinner, we went to see Bridesmaids. (Yay, women are funny!) Thus endeth our Best. Day. Ever. With a lot of laughs. And Jon Hamm. And full bellies.

BEST. DAY. EVER!!!!!

Postscript: I took this picture of a bike that had been "yarn bombed" in Dumbo. It was the day after the BDE, and that was a pretty good day too. But not the best, because I had to leave Brooklyn.