Jennifer.kirschbaum

Interestingly enough, one of the most popular recipes I've ever posted on Chocolate & Zucchini is not for a cake or a salad, but for a personal hygiene product: it's an easy-as-pie formula for homemade natural deodorant made with coconut oil, baking soda, and starch.

I myself have been using it for two years, and I am so happy with it I sing its praises to whomever will listen: just a couple of weeks ago, I converted the sales assistant at the store where I splurged on this cute dress.

I have tinkered with the formula a bit since that initial post, and thought I would now share the latest version.

The first modification I made was to add a few drops of palmarosa essential oil. Its rose-like smell is quite lovely, and because it has anti-bacterial properties (among many others*), it reinforces the action of the deodorant on your body, and ensures that said deodorant remains uncontaminated. In France, it is easily available wherever essential oils are sold -- at organic food stores, for instance, or online.

The second upgrade comes courtesy of Didier, a resourceful and generous reader who explained at the bottom of the French version of the post that he had modified the formula to include a small portion of beeswax**, which made the deodorant more temperature-stable. Indeed, the basic formula is mostly composed of coconut oil, which is solid at low room temperature, but turns to butter then oil when the temperature increases.

This isn't much of a problem if you're staying home: you can either keep the deodorant in the fridge, or embrace the creaminess and apply it like a lotion. But when you travel, it can get messy. Last summer, we were on vacation in the Basque country during a heatwave, and my deodorant split, leaving me with a liquid layer of coconut oil at the top, and a starchy sludge at the bottom. I survived, but vowed to find a more travel-friendly formula.

And this is most definitely it: since beeswax doesn't melt until 63°C (145°F), it keeps the deodorant nice and set even at a high room temperature (even if you vacation at Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley), and prevents it from splitting or leaking from the container, so you can use it whenever and wherever you like, all summer long.

What about you: do you make your own cosmetics? What's your favorite formula?

* I often use essential oils to cure various small ailments, and my go-to reference book is Danièle Festy's Ma Bible des huiles essentielles.

** The beeswax I used was special-ordered from the guy who sells honey at the Anvers greenmarket on Friday afternoons.

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I have here a review copy of an upcoming book: Uncommon Cards by Jeanne Williamson, due for publication June 25.

This is not a knitting book, but a book that shows you how to make stationery and greeting cards with a sewing machine and a whole bunch of everyday items, found objects, and recycled materials.

The book has inserted into the back 8 sheets of card stock in different colors to get you started. The book has 52 different projects and gives you complete directions for applying different items and sewing to create one-of-a-kind cards.

There are some wonderful creative ideas in this book — like saving the plastic webbing from a crate of clementines for this clever card design:

Or how about this one, using a sleeve from a coffee cup?

This started me thinking (which I’m pretty sure is one of the goals of the book!) about what else you could save and use for your one one-of-a-kind cards. Fancy papers — I get mailers all the time from Chanel, for example, and their fancy gilt envelope liners could be recycled and reused. When you get a gift in a pretty gift bag, or wrapped in unusual paper, think about how you could use that paper. Even wrapping from items you have purchased might be usable, along with cuttings from magazines, etc. Once you start looking at items with an eye to recycling them, it’s amazing how many fun and creative ideas you’ll come up with.

Who’d like my review copy of this intriguing book?

To be entered in the drawing to win Uncommon Cards by Jeanne Williams, please leave a comment on this blog post by 11:00 AM Eastern Time on Sunday, June 2, 2013. I’ll pick a winner at random at that time.

Speaking of Uncommon

Have you visited the Signature Needle Arts website recently? They have just introduced a new needle concept: Signature Convertible Circulars.

It is no secret that I love my Signature Needle Arts circular needles. And that I dislike interchangeable needle sets because most of them have joins that don’t work for me — they invariably come unscrewed and/or have lousy joins. I gave away the set of Addi Clicks I purchased. Ditto the Knitpicks interchangeables.

This is not a set of interchangeable needles, but rather a way to convert a single size circular to different lengths. From the website:

Convert your size-specific circular needle stalk/cable combinations to easily meet the needs of your project with Signature Convertible Circular Knitting Needles. Signature Convertibles offer cables and stalks that can be changed within a size to create a new overall length when the size on the needles matches the size on the ferrules.

I personally think that this interchangeable concept is a great idea — I will continue to use my beloved Signature Needle Arts needles, and if I need a different length circular, I will not have to buy a whole new needle, just another cable. Cheaper than a whole new needle. Also, for projects that grow or shrink, I can change lengths within the project. I do find that I do that quite a lot.

If you are someone who knits all your projects on a single length circular, for example, if you find that a 32″ circular meets all your needs, you won’t find much advantage with this new concept. But if you change needle length like I do, I think you’ll be pleased with these new needles. When I am knitting a triangular shawl from the bottom up, for example, I start with at least a 32″-long needle and as I work up the piece and the rows grow shorter, I want to switch to a shorter length. I don’t like having a lot of extra needle length — I find that it slows me down. And of course when I knit in the round, I need different lengths for different items.

The joins between needle “stalk” and cable on these new needles are great — each cable is carefully crafted for each size needle stalk, they are carefully and beautifully made. The join is smooth and does not become unscrewed — let me repeat that: in my experience it does not come unscrewed, no matter what. This is a huge pet peeve of mine with some needle components. The only other needles that are in components that I have used that do not come apart are the Dyakcraft Heavy Metal needles (I reviewed these needles here a few months ago). All the others that I have used (and I have used plenty over the years) work themselves loose.

I have been testing these new convertible needles for the past 6 weeks, knitting with them exclusively. And I have done a lot of knitting: two samples full-size shawls for my Summer Mystery Shawl KAL, one full-size-and-then-some Viajante, and I am currently halfway through another Viajante. I’ve used several different sizes and a number of different cord lengths and I can honestly report that they work just as well as the old fixed length Signatures. Not only have I not had a join unscrew, but the joins are beautifully smooth. I have knit laceweight yarn with a size 6 needle and had no problem whatsoever sliding the yarn over the join.

The corresponding needle size is marked on each cable piece so you don’t get your size-specific cables mixed up.

And of course you have all the fabulous choices of needle length and point as you have with the “regular” Signature Needle Arts needles.

I want to stress that the opinions above are my own — I am honestly delighted with the new needles. While I have a fair number of fixed length Signature circulars, yesterday I ordered and paid for some convertibles. I am willingly and by my own choice spending my needle budget on this new concept.

Mystery!

Speaking of this weekend, my Mystery Shawl KAL starts on June 1! Have you bought the pattern yet? Remember, if you purchase it before June 8, it is half price: $2.50.

There is pre-KAL discussion in my Ravelry group, here.

Lucy sez:

“Such a deal!”

 

 

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I must admit, I didn’t read the whole thing, I ran out of time because it took me twenty two minutes to convince my 19 month old daughter to let me put on her shoes and then I had to literally run to the subway to make it to a meeting, so maybe somewhere near the end the author stopped to consider the fact that the subject of her story, much like every other woman living within the bounds of this magazine’s domestic subscription service, is a member of the only generation of american women to have ever lived that truly have the luxury of choice between career and full time motherhood, not to mention anything in the ever-expanding grey area that lies between that we might be crazy enough to consider attempting, and I just missed it.

Its an awesome thing to consider, isn’t it? That we actually have that choice? And I don’t know about you, but when you consider that fact it makes listening to someone like this woman prattle on about her adorable husband and giving up her gratifying pre-baby career sound a whole lot like the two women standing behind me at the coffee bar at the Tribeca Whole Foods this morning discussing wether or not they should have to pay their housecleaners extra for doing laundry, and not just because both discussions are incredibly boring.

And the idea that this woman has this luxury of choice, between career and raising their children, because she has an education? If that were true then my husband, who holds several degrees and also has a real knack for managing our toddler, would have a choice too, when the reality, at least for him, is that taking a few years off to raise our children would be career suicide, and would probably also cost him, through the rules of social norms that have applied, unchanged, to men for centuries, many of his friendships.

This woman has this choice, this luxury of a choice, as difficult and decadent as it is, not just because she has a skill or an education, but because of the generations of american women who came before her, because of the rules that they broke and the laws that they challenged and all of the frightening and humbling and brave things that they had to do, so that their daughters would have the freedom - within their society as well as within their own minds -  to choose between two equally righteous paths. How disappointing that this woman, who has "put her children first", is on the cover (in a proud pose that almost completely obscures her child, I might add) when an inspiring story about a loving, committed for life, couple made up of two women, which runs in the same issue, is not. Feminist housewife, indeed. Who here, is the courageous one, bilking the system and blazing a new trail towards equality? Or wait, what's the definition of feminism again? I'm getting confused. I thought it was something about believing in the importance of freedom of choice.

This is not a new or newsworthy debate, it’s one that plays itself out in the mind of every american woman through every phase of her life, and regardless of the side we each choose or the variation or combination of the two paths that we opt to attempt to wrangle on a daily - no, hourly -  basis, it will not be concisely answered by any one of us, regardless of trends. Each of us must do what is best for us, and for our families and our children, and like it or not, we all must choose a side, and then, in the name of good manners if nothing else, we ought to just respect, even support, one another and the decisions we each have made, and shut the hell up about it.

 

Materials needed:
1 FQ main fabric for the exterior
1 FQ fabric for the lining
2" x 17" strip of solid fabric for the casing
50" 2mm leather cord or ribbon for ties

for the label:
leather scrap about 1.5" x 2.5"
1/2" wide cotton webbing 2.5" long

you will also need leather hole punch if you're making labels
step 1: cutting fabric

from the main fabric cut two 8.5" x 10" rectangles
from the lining fabric cut two 8.5" x 10" rectangles
from the solid fabric cut two 2" x 8.5" strips for the casing
cut the leather cord in half to have two 25" cords


step 3: making the casings

Chicken, corn tortillas, avocados, lime. These are ingredients that simply love each other. Pretty much anything you make with them is bound to be good. The following soup is a relatively easy version of “Sopa de Lima” or “Lime Soup”, a specialty of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. It’s a chicken soup flavored with fiery habanero, cinnamon, clove, and tangy limes. The limes that are used in the Yucatan are a slightly different variety than what is easily available here, but standard Persian limes will work fine. The soup is tangy from limes, smoothed with the buttery richness of avocados, and enjoys a little crunch from fried tortilla strips added for garnish. It’s reminiscent of both pozole and tortilla soup, but with somewhat different spices and a strong hit of lime. ¡Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Continue reading "Mexican Chicken Soup with Lime (Sopa de Lima)" »

I was really excited when Grace emailed us photos of her wedding - there were so many sweet stitched elements, and I had to share it with all of you. So please enjoy this guest post by Grace!

Photography by Becca Dilley | www.beccadilley.com

When Andy and I got engaged, we were so excited to fill our wedding with our style and lots of personal touches. For him, this meant a fall date, great food and fun music. For me, this meant a vintage style and lots of hand-crafted elements.


Andy’s mom, a super talented crafter, knew just where I was coming from. We decided to knit shawls for the bridesmaids and hand stitch signs for the church and library reception. Certainly no small feat. Our excitement blinded us as to how large (and slightly crazy) an undertaking this was—and I’m so glad it did!

Andy’s mom, Mary Jo, stitched the larger signs for the church and reception. It was truly amazing to see her amazing crewelwork highlighting the two spaces. The signs are so detailed, personal and (as you can see) gorgeous. They added so much beauty to our day.




When I first saw all the embroidery she completed, I was so humbled. I could only think of all the hours she devoted to this project—and making my vision a reality.

I imagine all the time she spent stitching, all the while dreaming about the big day, reminiscing about Andy when he was a little kid and praying for our happy marriage. I think about how generous she is with her time, not just while we were planning the wedding, but every day. These stitches are proof to the joy and creativity she brings to everything she touches.



When I look at the photos of her embroidery now, I’m overwhelmed by my gratitude. I have not one, but two loving, supportive and joyful moms (and dads, too!), whom are my best friends. Working with them on different wedding projects was one of the best parts of the entire process, and something we’ll cherish forever.


We enlisted help from women throughout the families to help knit lace shawls for the bridesmaids—Andy's mom and aunt, my grandmother (my dad's mom), who coincidentally was the woman who taught me how to knit, and I knitted the six shawls. One of my favorite moments from the wedding was seeing all my bridesmaids together with their beautiful shawls knitted by women throughout different generations and branches of our families.


My first stitching project was an impromptu one that I took on after deciding to wear my grandmother’s wedding dress, which my mother also wore when she married my dad. I stitched our three names and wedding dates onto a blue ribbon, which the seamstress sewed into the bottom edge of the dress.

Even though this is a touch that no one could see, I loved that this small detail paid homage to my grandmother and mom—and their loving marriages—and made this heirloom dress that much more special.

I also began working on a larger project: a quote by Joseph Campbell that I found on pinterest (of course). I didn’t have a clear vision of how it would be used in the wedding, but I was so inspired and got stitching right away.


With a large scrap of Anna Maria Horner’s voile in a pretty light blue color, I used a chain stitch to create the letters, and added some subtle detail with backstitches. In the end, this sign decorated our head table. It’s one of my favorite embroidery accomplishments to date.



My other stitching projects were much more simple and smaller in scale. For the table numbers, I drew inspiration from BHLDN’s Hollyhock numbers and found the perfect silk dupioni fabric in a champagne color at a fabric store in St. Paul.

I stitched simple numbers surrounded with a floral and leaf motif, using the backstitch and lazy daisy stitch, then placed them into five-inch wooden hoops. I love how the table numbers, along with the beautiful flowers, soften the library space and add handmade charm.


About a month before the wedding, I finished all the table numbers and decided to keep stitching (I’m crazy, remember?) With the remaining silk, I created signs for our chair backs, echoing the floral motif from the table numbers and the light blue color from the Thomas Campbell quote. I also stitched a sweet phrase for the cake table with our family photos.



While our wedding would have been just as fun and special without all the stitching, I’m so glad that we took on this labor of love.

I can honestly say that it never stressed me out. Actually, it was the opposite: settling into the couch with our little puppy sitting on my feet, focusing on one stitch at a time helped me to relax and remember what was really important: marrying my best friend and the support of our amazing family.

With hand embroidery, there’s no choice but to embrace the slow pace and find beauty in your imperfections. It’s what I love about stitching any day, but especially in the months leading up to our wedding.

Thank you, Grace - for sharing your photos and stitching with us! For more on Grace, visit her blog.
All photos are credited to Becca Dilley, view more photos of the wedding on the photographer's blog.

The good news is this cake is so good the kids fight over it.  The bad news is I'm not joking, my kids actually fight over it.  Try it and see what happens at your house.

Food & Wine (March 2013)

Sometimes, you absolutely can judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, a recipe by its name.

"Fish in Crazy Water"? How could we resist making something with such an intriguing name? And it turns out, it tastes just as awesome as its name.

This Fish in Crazy Water has actually made a couple appearances in Food & Wine now. Why? Because it's Food & Wine's birthday -- Happy birthday!

The magazine is celebrating its 35th anniversary this month by doing a bit of looking back into the archive. There's the "20 Best-Ever Recipes" and a second feature, "The Legends," that features recipes from culinary icons that were orginally featured in the magazine. 

There's Julia Child, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jacques Pepin, Paula Wolfbert and Marcella Hazan. 

It's Marcella who contributed a recipe this Fish in Crazy Water back in 1997. 

The fish in this case is snapper. The crazy water? That's actually a flavorful tomato sauce. The ingredients of the sauce are basic and include the usual suspects -- tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, parsley, and red chili -- along with four cups of water. That sauce simmers for 45 minutes, then you add the snapper, cook it briefly on each side, and ladle it into bowls. If you have it on hand, the recipe suggests serving it with grilled bread -- and trust us, you're going to want something to sop up all that wonderful broth. 

That is all an incredibly simple process, but it results in an incredibly flavorful dish. The sauce develops an amazing flavor as it simmers away, and it's the perfect sidekick for the red snapper. Poaching the fish in the sauce infuses it with all those wonderful tastes, and it gives you a fish that's tender and moist and perfectly cooked.

 

 

Fish in Crazy Water
Food & Wine (March 2013), recipe by Marcella Hazan
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(This photo: Con Poulos/Food & Wine)

CONTRIBUTED BY MARCELLA HAZAN

Active: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Serves  4

1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes—coarsely chopped, juices reserved
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced parsely
1/8 teaspoon chopped fresh red chile, or more to taste
Salt
4 cups water
Four 6-ounce red snapper fillets, skin on
4 slices of grilled sourdough bread

In a deep skillet that’s large enough for the fish fillets to lie flat without overlapping, combine the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, parsley, chile, a large pinch of salt and the water. Cover the skillet and bring the water to a steady simmer over moderate heat; simmer for 45 minutes.

Uncover the skillet and boil the liquid until it has reduced by half. Add the fish, skin side up, and cook for 2 minutes. Using two spatulas, gently turn the fillets. Season the fish with salt and simmer until just cooked through.

Put the grilled bread in shallow bowls and arrange the snapper fillets on top. Spoon the broth all around and serve.

One of the challenges of entertaining these days are the many food allergies, issues, sensitivities, and aversions guests can bring with them to the table. It's impossible to please everyone, but this soup goes a long way towards universal satisfaction and joy. Made with ground cashews instead of cream and kicked up with an array of savory herbs and spices, it is the perfect thing to serve when you have mixed company.

But don't make it just because it's vegan-friendly and easy. Make it because it's absolutely, amazingly delicious.

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