My First Garage Sale

Or I should say 'My Boyfriend and Friends First Yard Sale, and I Helped!' since my stuff comprised less than a third of it. Most of the stuff we acquired the weekend before and was given to us by my mother-in-law; it used to belong to my boyfriend as a kid until he became an adult. Our friend, a woman with tinier feet than any of our yard sale guests, filled up the rest of her garage with treasures to sell.

Here are some of the goodies that sadly are still there since we didn't get many shoppers and we got even less sales. We'll probably throw most of the stuff away, give what we can to charity and take home a few things that call out to us:

Excuse the tequila sunrises... it was the only thing keeping me awake at such an ungodly hour.

I am not for sale but I am a little chilly in that dark garage.

What an assortment of belongings! And certainly not the largest garage sale I've seen but for our first and probably last I'd say we did a pretty good job. Next time, if this is something we want to attempt again, I'd advertise a hell of a lot better.

Birthdays Just Keep Popping Up This Time of Year:

In the next week I have two birthdays, one for my brother-in-law and one for my nephew. 

(below) I saw these felt leaf coasters on Etsy and thought to myself, "How can I change this to make it my own?". What does my brother-in-law like? And in times of question I always turn to elephants. I'm praying he never gets tired of the largest land animal because every year I get him something elephant inspired and I'd hate to have to find a new idea.

(above) When I saw this felt elephant I thought the shape was so nice I'd steal it for my coasters.

(above) I sketched out a little elephant and then made some felt cutouts; my pattern being on the bottom right. I was sure to measure a few glasses, cups and mugs first.

(above) Then I sewed them together using a blanket stitch. I chose these colors because the red, gold and green is already a big theme in their house, as well as the elephants. I added brown and purple as the extra two because I wanted it to be less like a rainbow and I thought adding blue would complete the famous arc too much, hence the brown. There are five family members altogether so I also thought only doing 4 would be a little insulting.

I gave them tassel tails just for fun and am still deciding whether I want to give them eyes of some sort. Perhaps just a simple puffy-painted golden eye?

(above) With or without eyes I think the coasters will be great additions. I have some more planned in my head I'm just waiting for the right occasion to let them escape.

(above) If you ever want to make a tassel this guide helped me out oodles. Also, for a blanket stitch guide I think this woman has the best tutorial. Her photos are step-by-step and clear as a drunk mans piss.

http://www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/2007/09/tutorial-hand-sew-felt.aspx

As for my nephew I remember him asking me to make him the Scream painting after he saw my Mona Shaira for his grandmother. These were my inspirations:

(above) The original, or one of the originals I should say. Apparently the painter created quite a few of them in different mediums back in the day.

(above) I used this Simpsons version because the lines are so much clearer. It's no wonder I am such a fan of caricature art; almost all my inspirations come from cartoons. When I was a child I wanted to be an animator but when I grew up I gave up on that dream like I gave up on so many other things I wanted for myself. 

(above) This version helped me out with the coloring because the first one is almost bland in appearance.

(below) I bought a frame from the Dollar General across the street, turned over the ugly woman smiling through her veneers and started sketching.

When the sketching was done I got my paints out and went over it:

I found this project to be so much easier than the Mona Shaira. Da Vinci has some amazing brushstrokes going on, so amazing I couldn't figure out where to put my own brush on the paper. Edvard Munch however paints like I like to: broad, clear lines going in all directions. I hope when my nephew sees it he'll like it. I'm almost afraid that he was talking about the the Scream guy from the movie Scream but we even talked about the bridge, he put his hands to his face like he was Home Alone and it was after the unveiling of the Mona Shaira so I must be right.... still, nerves really start to fuck with you this late at night.

Here are the two side by side. I know a lot of you want to compare and don't feel bad; I do the same thing more times than I could ever keep track of.

 

Finger Foods:

With Halloween fast approaching I knew I wanted to make some of the foods I've been StumblingUpon all year and this seemed like one of the easiest while still having a frightening effect. I'd even say downright disgusting at first glance:

One of the things I liked about this was it was so easy! Seriously. They are a Scottish Shortbread although you can easily make a regular shortbread; the difference being brown sugar over white.

You will need:

2 cups butter, softened but not melted

1 cup brown or white sugar

2 3/4 cups flour

pinch of salt

red icing

sliced almonds

(above) I creamed the 2 cups butter and 1 cup brown sugar using a fork. After about 5 minutes of beating it and I found all the sugar dissolved into the butter I added 1 cup of my flour to the mixture and started mixing it together.

(above and below) I would add the flour 1 cup at a time until it was mixed properly. You want the consistency to be pretty thick by the time you're done; thick enough you can knead the dough. If you need more or less flour that's okay, add enough that you can use your hands and shape it like it were Play-Doh.

(above and below) I separated the dough into two, then I took those two and separated them again. I kept separating until I had balls of dough about the size of a small tangerine. Then I would roll them between my two hands and squeeze out a knuckle area in the middle. 

I would take the non-sharp side of a butter knife and make knuckle lines and then using the tip of my knife I flattened out a spot on one end of the finger.

Then after I baked them at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes (depending on the fatness of your fingers) I let them cool off a bit. When they were warm enough to pick up and not burn me I squeezed out some red icing and stuck an almond slice on the new nail bed. I really think the image is quite shocking, even in person and find this is one Halloween treat I can't wait to make again next year.

I would love to say these were a huge hit at a party or whatnot but I didn't take them anywhere so I have a tupperware box full of fingers. Next year I'll probably bring them somewhere special but this year I haven't seen many of my friends so these poor little fingers will end up going to waste. I'm still pleased I got to test them out and realizing how easy and tasty (even if I'm the only judge) they are I'm definitely making this for the next Halloween party; even if that party is 12 months from now.

Dhalpourie:

Here is an authentic Trinidad flatbread my brother and sister made when they were here. It's more delicious than I can describe and goes great with a curry or by itself. Say it with me: dawl   purr    ee.

Dawl-purr-ee.

Dhalpourie.

Very nice!

(above) The filling is yellow split peas after they've been in a food processor with a few other things. Sadly I missed that process but I'd guess it's pretty similar to the recipe for chili cakes. Per processor load I'd say 3/4 of a hot pepper depending on your heat tolerance, a clove of garlic, a teaspoon of cumin seed, maybe a bit of onion? Who really knows? These yellow split peas were probably soaked overnight as well to soften them up. It's a shame I didn't get there early enough to capture the magic involved in this bread.

(above) The trick is you spoon a good heaping of that magic pea mixture into a dough ball; how to make the dough specifically I also don't know but c'mon, you're not gonna make this anyway. I just wanted to let you know what you were missing.

(above) As you can see, my brother is rolling out the dough balls that are now filled with that yellow mixture. It's a delicate process I'm to understand as you don't want it to be uneven, lumpy and create holes and shit. I was surprised at the amount of oil that went onto that black pan also called a ''tawah'', the 'h' being optional it seems.

(above) As it's cooking it will rise and look really cool. Mario holds down the edges with spoons to hold it on your tawa or else it would float away. Don't have a tawah? Well I guess a pan will do.

(above) The finished dhalpourie cut into quarters. It's really something I think everyone could fall in love with. You want to put a couple pieces of curry chicken in these little bitches and some rice that would be nice. You could also just eat it by itself. I ate these leftovers cold because they're still so good. If you were interested in making your own and wanted a better recipe, one that actually lists ingredients and measurements try:

http://www.trinifood.com/recipes/dhalpuri.htm

Since this is a two stepper (really like a five stepper) you need the recipe for the dough as well:

http://www.trinifood.com/recipes/sadha.htm

A gift for a friend:

I did this a few weeks ago for a good friend and I'd say it came out pretty well. I really enjoyed doing the background, perhaps because I usually don't do them?

Chili Cakes; my next endeavor:

One of the things my brother and sister made was what they called chili cakes. It was another easy recipe that just called for a lot of prep time. What I really like about this, other than the great taste, is how they're also vegan. I have way too many vegan friends who can't eat most of the food I make and I don't want to experiment with soy and flax seeds nor buy the overpriced pretend butter or imitation grass that only costs a pinky finger and my unborn first child.

I'm going to a Halloween party thrown by a friend of mine, a vegan, and when I find a recipe like this I put it to memory (and now to blog) so I can make something tasty, easy, and fatty for everyone and not just myself to enjoy. 

(above) Ingredients are pretty simple. Culantro, yellow split peas, cumin seeds, garlic, onion, hot pepper.

(above) You will NEED to soak the yellow split peas overnight until soft. Biggest step.

(above and below) A food processor is not necessary but I certainly suggest one. A magic bullet may work. Who knows? Either way you will be adding a little of all these ingredients to your food processor or mortar.

(above) You will see the mixture is mainly yellow split peas, drained. Included is a chunk of onion (spring onion is better), a clove of garlic and a good teaspoon of cumin. Salt and pepper wouldn't hurt either. The green is the pepper and you probably won't want as much as we added, depending on your spice tolerance.

(above and below) While the mixture is blending up to a crumbly mixture feel free to watch your mother and your nephew share a dance.

(above and below) The mixture when finished should resemble cold stuffing or wet-ish breadcrumbs.

While your 2 inches of oil is heating up in the pan you can watch your nephew take a new leading lady: your sister. She can't spend too long though because she's the sweetheart who taught me how to use two spoons to give them a squashed hard-boiled egg look before dropping (not splattering) them into the hot, hot oil to fry for a minute or two on each side.

Shape is hardly important though. 

Be a little quick about putting them in the pan; the first few will help you figure out how hot you need your oil to be. I'd say about 350 degrees; hot enough you're not boiling the chili cakes in oil but cool enough it's not gonna blacken them by the time you're done spooning them all in. 

You will be in an almost constant state of either flipping over the early cakes that you put in the pan and adding new ones to an empty side of the oil or you could be taking out the first cakes and laying them over paper towels. Perhaps you should try some of the first batch to make sure the inside is done enough? 

(above) They seriously only need a few minutes total until they're golden brown and ready to eat. I would suggest a sauce to dip them in, something sweet and spicy. Or perhaps you'd rather ranch? Either way they are good by themselves or with one of your favorite dips.

Just ask one of my dogs below as she waits for one of these babies to fall off the spatula.

What I loved about these were before we gobbled them all down they cooled down in the bowl. While cold they were still very good, which led me to believe they were good party food. Next week when I make my own I'm going to change the recipe to make it my own. I want to try two separate batches, one split yellow peas like the originals and one green split peas. I also want to use some bell pepper as well as hot pepper to add that flavor in there.

By the time they arrive to the party they'll be a little cold so I know they'll still be good but I'm going to try heating some up in the oven and I have a feeling they'll come out just as good. Wish me luck and let me know if you make your own, I'd love to see how they come out.