Fun with Graphics

Warmer weather has turned me off to making cold weather coziness, but the sun has inspired me in other ways.  New in the shop are these notebooks.  Hand embroidered with rad graphic bursts.  As fascinating to create as they are to look at. Check out the full selection here.

Brown Sugar Scrub

Happy soft skin that's not embarrassing to show off in warm weather dresses... hooray. I made a brown sugar scrub today! This stuff is usually ridiculously expensive ($16-$60 for a small tub), but the ingredients are minimal. The sugar (or salt) exfoliates and the oil moisturizes. I love my skin after using this stuff. Make some for yourself and some extra for a super lovely gift (ahem... Mothers day?).

What you need:

• a jar or container with a lid (wide and shallow is best if you have it)
• 2 parts raw sugar to
• 1 part oil (apricot, sunflower, almond...)*
• a few drops of essential oil of your choice

*I used some massage oil that I knew I would not otherwise be putting to use to great success.

Mix 'er up and store in a container with a lid.

Scrub, rinse, and be amazed obsessed with the softness of your own skin.

Desktop Gallery Love

Always looking for something silly and creative to do, I made new icons for my most used programs, creating a mini gallery on my desktop. I used photoshop to remove any unwanted backgrounds which makes the images really pop. And what's more... each time I click the icon to open the program it hops up and down in excitement, amusing me to no end.

Click the images for a slightly larger view.

Maple Apple Crisp

morning crisp, originally uploaded by m a v.

An abundance of apples on hand had me craving a simple warm crisp. I added maple for a fun twist and the results were fantastic. Read on for the recipe...

I didn't follow any exact recipe, but here's what I did to great success:

• Preheat oven to 375°F (180°C)
• Peel, quarter, and slice 4-5 apples. I had Granny Smith and Gala on hand. Combine apples and about 1/3 c Real maple syrup and place in 8 x 8 baking pan.
• In a separate bowl combine 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c brown sugar, 1/2 c oats, and 1/4 c cold butter. Combine with your hands until everything is mixed and crumbly. Sprinkle on top of apple mixture.
• Bake about 30 minutes or until golden on top. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
• Delight in your stomach's happiness.

The Unlikely Nest on Facebook

The Unlikely Nest is now on Facebook.  Become a fan, it comes with a number of benefits:

• Be entered to win a $30 Gift Certificate, redeemable in my online shop.
• Be invited to special events.
• Exclusive sales and promotions for Facebook followers.
• Exclusive giveaways and freebies.

Spread the word.

Find The Unlikely Nest on Facebook

Thanksgiving inspired brunch...the followup

After expecting eleven guests to my Thanksgiving Brunch, I entertained just one. That's right...ONE. Nearly everyone canceled in the two days previous and one party called me two hours after the table was cleared to apologize for not making it. After I was over my initial shock and sadness I got to work, pouring my whole heart and love into our gemütlich(cozy) little celebration. And seeing as I don't ever host parties here, I am oh~so~excited about it and wanted to share some shots of the details with you. It's not as evolved as a Martha Stewart celebration, but I find it quite charming and hope you do to.


I love the silver tealight "log" I found for 99¢. It's pretty, sweet, and slightly elegant. And I made some whimsical little blooms out of yarn leftover from previous projects.


Paying homage to some staples. No pecan pie, but I did set some out to be crushed and sprinkled over our delicious pumpkin pancakes. And I managed to find fresh cranberries here, though they were ridiculously expensive. Aside from the maple-cranberry butter I made some sugared cranberries that sparkle like small jewels a pop delightfully with flavor when bitten into. In fact, excuse me for a moment as I move the bowl of them away from me... I just can't stop.



The sweet little "happy" tags I found and downloaded from this blog over a year ago. Though now I can no longer find the original post and download. It's a shame as they come with coordinating round tags featuring leaves and acorns that could be used as stickers or to make a garland. Hmmm..


Oh and the potatoes. The potatoes! Were so delicious. They were sprinkled with tiny bits of butter, sea salt, toasted coriander, and creme fraiche.

I would say about 99.5% of you didn't know me in my childhood so I think I should clue you in on something. I have always HATED potatoes. As a child I was told I had to try everything. Not clean my plate. Just take a bite of each item offered at the table. And every evening it was a ten minute dramafest as I took the smallest possible bit of potato, maybe the size of a coarse grain of salt on the tip of my fork, looked at it with the most deep and true disgust, eventually putting it into my mouth. What then followed was a series distortions of the face and grunting sounds which would only end when I chased the potato down with half a glass of milk. I can tell you, my heart would still be racing from the stress for many minutes after I had a "try" of the potatoes.

So back to today...


A happy face and one huge chunk of potato. I had three servings. And later, at the Christmas Market, I ordered a giant plate of bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) and cleaned the plate. What do you say? Can I claim "mission accomplished" on integrating fully into Germany?

Thanksgiving isn't just about the food/meal. It's about the people you spend it with. I am happy that I got to celebrated this Thanksgiving with my rockin' roommate, Anne. She is kind, funny, and easy going. I am thankful to have her around, she always inserts a bit of sunshine into a gray German day. We had a fantastic morning eating then "working it off" by walking through the city for hours and hours. Stopping for my first Gluhwein of the season. :)

I am thankful for you too, dear readers. Thank you for joining me along the way.

Calendar Winners...

In the end there were only two entries for the custom printable calendar. So, drumroll please...
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Chantal... Karen... You both win!! I will contact you by email. Have a look at my photos on Flickr and choose twelve you really like. I look forward to collaborating and making your calendars.

I really enjoy keeping up this blog and love it when you stop by for a visit. My premade calendar printables are still in the sidebar for download for everyone else....

Holiday Shopping at The Unlikely Nest

All orders placed in the shop through December 15th receive free worldwide shipping! I will be adding some items this weekend to build up my inventory so keep checking in. I am open to custom orders as well if you see something in my sold items you fancy. Just convo me. :)

Vegan Chai Cupcakes

These cupcakes are moist and have such a fantastic flavor! I topped them with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, so they aren't actually vegan, but you can search for a vegan buttercream recipe on your own if you are. I also found these fantastic coffee bean shaped chocolate-mocha bits. Totally cute not to mention delicious on top of these cupcakes.

I am out of eggs but was craving something spicy, soft, and sweet. I haven't tried a lot of vegan baking, but I haven't often had success when I do. Usually, that is, when it is something like a cake that usually uses eggs as a binding agent. Many recipes call for egg replacer and, seeing as I am not actually vegan, that is not something I am going to go out looking for. If I have eggs on hand, I use them. If not, I seek out alternative recipes. This one, however, was a great success. I found the recipe a long time ago and haven't noted where, so I am afraid I can't give credit. But here it is for your enjoyment. I made a few small changes from the original. Recipe after the jump......

Vegan Chai Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup soy milk or vanilla soy milk
3 or 4 black tea bags
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Heat soy milk and steep tea bags for 10 minutes. Discard tea bags. Whisk in vinegar and let sit a few minutes until curdled.
3. In a large bowl stir together all dry ingredients (Flour through sugar).
4. Add soy milk, oil, and vanilla to dry ingredients. Mix until blended.
5. Pour batter into 12 muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake 20-22 minutes on 375°F or until pick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack before icing.

*NOTES*

• I used 3 teabags and, instead of steeping them in the milk, cut the bags and added the tea to the flour mixture.
• I have made these with regular milk before to great success.
• I didn't use any cornstarch as it's not available here (that I know of) and just added 2 Tbsp flour instead.
• I added 1/2 tsp anise and 1/4 tsp ginger to the mix because I am a sucker for both.
• The mixture will be very runny. Don't follow any impulses to add more flour. I did and they turned out slightly tough. They would have been perfect otherwise.
• Once cooled, top with a vanilla buttercream icing or it's vegan alternative, of course. YUM.

~ENJOY~

2010... are you prepared?

Last year I created a printable calendar highlighting some lovely sights around Münster. I had a grand time choosing the images and have decided to make another one for 2010. Of course, my second year abroad has been a bit more eventful in the area of traveling. So this year has some highlights from Berlin, London, Scotland, and Ireland, and Salzburg. Choosing just 12 images was entirely too difficult so I made TWO calendars.

The first is a desktop calendar, sized to fit into a cd jewel case cover. The second can be framed, bound, or hung individually as you wish. You can decide which you like best. Just download the PDF (links are in the sidebar>>>) and print onto heavy white cardstock (two months per page). Below are the images used in each (click on image for larger view):

Contest Giveaway

Winners chosen

And there's more! One lucky winner can choose their favorite twelve images from my Flickr pool. to be added to the calendar of their choice (jewel case or regular) and the font and font color of their choice. There are loads of great photos of architecture, nature, historical sites, and graffitti from my travels to choose from. Don't want the custom calendar for yourself? Enter anyway and you have a lovely give to give.

How: Leave a comment on this post.
When: Comments open through Thanksgiving (November 26th). A winner will be randomly selected and announced November 27th.
What better way to launch the holiday shopping season that getting something for free? Please leave a way for me to contact you with your entry (a link or email address) or I will be forced to select another winner. All past winners on my blog are very much invited to enter for this contest as well.

*Reminder... this is a printable. I don't send you a finished product. But why is this so great? You can print loads of them to give as gifts. Simple, convienient, and gunstig!*

gunstig~ inexpensive

say "good morning, autumn": Banana Cinnamon Pancakes

Photo originally found here, uploaded from Flickr by Hungry Hungry

The colder weather has moved in, nearly all trees are bare, and the sky is always some variation of grey. I am prone to nest in general, but the present weather is turning me even more especially inwards. I am reading more, drinking lots of tea, crocheting, and am very inspired to cook, cook, cook. This blog may begin featuring more and more recipes in the coming months as a result.

I used to make Banana-Cinnamon Waffles all the time. Usually I would make a double batch when I had some overripe bananas then wrap and freeze all the extras for a much healthier and tastier alternative to an Eggo waffle. These are sweet, nutty, moist, and ohsovery delicious! I was lucky enough to find some maple syrup here in the American foods section. Labeled on the back, of course, with "Product of Canada". I don't have a waffle iron here, but the recipe works just as well for pancakes. The perfect autumn pancake, I would say. Even my roommates, who are skeptical of a fluffy American pancake, raved. Recipe after the jump...

If you don't have whole wheat or buckwheat flour on hand, just substitute all-purpose flour... though I don't recommend it if you can help it. They lend a nutty flavor to the pancakes as well as some added health benefits. Don't let the word "healthy" throw you off though, these are far from drab.

Banana-Cinnamon Waffles/Pancakes

Makes about 16 Waffles

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 large ripe banana, mashed
Cooking spray

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, flaxseed, and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Combine milk, butter, and eggs, stirring with a whisk; add milk mixture to flour mixture, stirring until blended. Fold in mashed banana.

Preheat a waffle iron. Coat iron with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter per 4-inch waffle onto hot waffle iron, spreading batter to edges. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until steaming stops; repeat procedure with remaining batter.

Recipe originally found in Cooking Light, May 2005

risen from the depths

Hellooooo. My absence has been a combined result of voluntary seclusion and technical difficulties. But I am back online now... physically, socially, mentally, and technologically. I am not a fan of back tracking, catching up. But let's say that the weeks I have been amiss have been hugely transformative, though subtely so. It has been weeks full of one epiphany after another. These "aha" moments couldn't be more timely. I am loving the life I have created, love where I am at.

A handful of randomness from the time of my absence:

My daily commute has been divine. I much prefer the path along the canal to the busy sidewalk along one of the main traffic arteries into/out of the city.

I am flirting with girly-ness and made a lovely new asymmetrical ruffly cloche. It's a bit over the top for my usual day to day fashion of jeans and a t-shirt, but I am slowly falling in love with it. I am determined to own more of my femininity.

Random, and hilariously clad, samba group playing as we sat for coffee one Sunday afternoon on the Harbor.

Before the leaves turned and the cold came in, I retreated to the woods, on the hunt for moss. I harvested a bit and made a few little bowls to set about the house. Surely I can keep moss alive...



What have you been up to?

This soup kicks where it counts... Thai Curry Chicken Noodle Soup

Ahhhhhctober. That means longer evenings, chilly walks, hot cocoa, and October nose. October nose is, for me, always fluctuating between runny and stuffy, yet never landing in that happy in between place. Though there is no official research that I am aware of to back up this claim, I have found that spicy foods seem to help clear things up, if only just for a day or two. Colder weather always calls for a steamy bowl of soup, so I whipped up a batch of my Thai Curry Chicken Noodle Soup to battle the cold and the nose.

I tend to experiment with food and always try something new, but this soup is one thing that I whip out often. It is also one of the first things I learned to make when I decided to actually learn how to make. It's fast, easy, and oh so yummy. I no longer follow any kind of written recipe or even exact measurements, I just throw things in the pot. But if you are curious I have reconstructed the recipe just for you after the jump. Sniffles be gone!

Ingredients:

*ingredients found very cheaply at your local asian supermarket.

• 1 Tbsp red curry paste*
• 1 tsp turmeric powder*
• 2 1/2 cups coconut milk, divided*
• 2 cups chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 4 Tbsp soy sauce*
• 4 Tbsp fish sauce*
• juice of one lime
• salt & pepper to taste
• chinese egg noodles*
• green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions:

1. Add 1/3 of coconut milk to a large heavy bottom pan. Cook over med-high heat until it comes to a boil and begins to separate. Add curry paste and turmeric, stir to make a paste.
2. Add chicken and stir fry 2-3 minutes, making sure all bits are coated with paste.
3. Add remaining coconut milk, chicken broth, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5-7 minutes, until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
4. Stir in lime juice, salt, and pepper. Serve over noodles. Garnish with green onions.

Serves 4-6

Follow me there...

Teresa Flowers, the talented artist behind Sleepictures, has a new blog. And yours truly has posted over there today. Go check out the adventures of Giraffe Girl and be sure to check out her website and Etsy shop.

A Plum Good Idea:::Plum Cardamom Coffee Cake

I was browsing the most drool inducing website on the net and came across a recipe for this lovely coffee cake. Plum cake is something of an early fall staple here in Germany so I got totally stoked on this more Americanized version, making a coffee cake. You know I always like to get my bake on and darlings, this one is divine. The sweet and spicy caramelized sauce balanced nicely with my slightly tart pears and the cake... oh the cake! It was moist and light and had a nice balance to it.

No photos of the finished product as it's getting dark earlier and earlier. And flash is not a friend to food photography. Want the recipe? Just go ahead and continue reading...


CARDAMOM PLUM UPSIDE-DOWN COFFEE CAKE

FOR SAUCE:

• 3 tablespoons melted butter
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  
• 15-18 small-medium plums such as Italian, quartered
  

FOR CAKE:

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1/2 cup orange juice

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line with parchment paper a 9” or 10” round tall cake pan.
  
• SAUCE: In a small bowl combine sauce ingredients (melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ground cardamom) and cover the base of the cake pan using a pastry brush. Starting from the outside perimeter and working your way towards the center, line your cake pan with quartered plums.
  
• CAKE: Combine flour through salt in a bowl, set aside. In a medium-large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light – approx. 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla. Gradually flour mixture and orange juice to butter mixture, alternating. Mix well for 3 minutes scraping the sides and bottom down half way through. Add cake batter to the top of plum pan and spread the batter evenly.
  
• Bake for 1 hour or until done. When cake is done, allow the cake to sit on the countertop for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides of the pan with a knife and flip it onto a plate. Remove parchment paper. Serve warm or room temperature. Enjoy!

The recipe was originally found HERE.

I heart Fauxlaroids

And I heart fun webby toys.   I have been playing with Poladroid, a fun program I found on the web, which transforms your photos into a polaroid.  It also has some kitschy features.  Instead of using a regular window, it's a cute little polaroid camera on your desktop.  Just drag and drop a photo and it even takes a few minutes to slowly develop, just like the real thing.  And you have to "load new film" (restart the program) after every 10 shots, just like the real thing.  I am such a sucker for those kind of details.  So go off and have some fun with Poladroid.  

Some of my fauxlaroids can be found here on Flickr.

post: packaging

I have a HUGE pile of post to ship off tomorrow after work. Things I have been meaning to ship for a month but never got around to buying packaging. So yesterday I just decided to make my own. I heart reusing.

Remember when I melted plastic? Yeah. That was fun. So I did it again and made some mailers. I melted together a few layers then used another strip for the seams.  

For packing nuts I took hundreds of tiny strips from an old catalog and accordion folded them.  I have no patience to make a meal and nourish myself, but I somehow find the energy to spend hours folding paper.

Apfel-Gurken Salat

Mint Cucumber Apple Salad, originally uploaded by Delairen.

I have been a very bad friend to my health lately so I decided to treat my body to something healthy, refreshing and delicious this afternoon.  Using the little food I had around I created this yummy salad.  Overall I am pleased with the results, but I will experiment in the future with a different vinegar or other things to throw in.

• 1 Cucumber very thinly sliced
  
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
  
• Some small mild onion, finely chopped
  
• Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, and Honey (experiment with the amounts)

Mix it up and let all the flavors meld together for a few hours. I am thinking walnuts would be a great last minute addition.  Maybe I will have a few other suggestions after it has sat for a day.  Certainly throw in your thoughts if you have any.  I do love a good salad.  Enjoy.

Lila

If I were to ever get a tattoo it would be of the word, Lila. 

There is an old Sanskrit word, lila, which means play. Richer than our word, it means divine play, the play of creation, destruction, and re-creation, the folding and the unfolding of the cosmos. Lila, free and deep, is both the delight and enjoyment of this moment, and the play of God. It also means love. Lila may be the simplest thing there is- spontaneous, childish, disarming.

The above quote comes from the book Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch. It's a word I keep in mind for those times I feel stuck and I have now put it above my light switch as a daily reminder of how I wish to approach my life.

Free Play, subtitled "Improvisation in Life and Art", is one of my all time favorite books to revisit.  I originally had to read it for a college course while studying dance and sort of dreaded the whole thing.  I was living a creatively nearly every moment and wasn't open to it's true message:  that we get stuck.  That there are some parts of life that seem utterly devoid of the possibility of creativity.  A few years later, after leaving the dance program, I was much more available to absorb what the author was saying.  It's a book on creativity not just for "artistic types", but talks about unleashing creativity into our everyday routine.  Where we find inspiration and how to tap in to it.  It's a simple book, yet I learn something new each time I open it.  If you want a comprehensive book on creativity then GO BUY THIS NOW or maybe check your mailbox because I just shipped off a few copies to some unsuspecting souls.  :)

Rasterbation

Remember me talking about a time consuming art project I hoped to have finished by this weekend? Well, this isn't it. I planned on some grand hand drawn poster, but laziness got the better of me when I happened upon this awesome website and a little program called the Rasterbator. I know, sounds sketchy, but I promise, it is completely safe.  


Upload any photo and turn it into a pixelated image. Print it out on multiple sheets of paper then put the puzzle together. It's super easy and a cheap way to make an impact. 


I played around with a lot of shots and ended up with this one for starters, mostly because it took the least amount of paper.  I have two images I am debating about for the wall where my bed sits, both of them from Salt Lake to bring a little hometown lovin' to Europe. If I am ambitious I may have something to show off next weekend too.