I bottled my coconut porter today. It won't be ready to drink for at least two weeks. I'm hoping that it tastes just half as good as the coconut porter we had at Maui Brewing.
I read an interesting beer fact on my "beer a day" calendar a few weeks ago. The phrase "rule of thumb" comes from the process during which yeast is "pitched" or added to the unfermented beer known as wort. The temperature of the wort must not be too hot or else the yeast will die. If it's too cool, fermentation will not begin. Hundreds of years ago, brewers would stick their thumb in the wort to determine the temperature, hence the saying "rule of thumb." Since everything that comes in contact with the wort must be sanitized, this is not a good practice. Luckily today we have thermometers to determine the correct temperature.
I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's Eve. I offer this toast..."Here's to our friends as long as we're able to lift our glasses from the table." But remember, don't drink and drive.
We ate at a new restaurant tonight called The Dubliner. It's yet another restaurant on Washington street...I think we've tried all of them now with the exception of Wasabi which is a sushi restaurant. The Dubliner is a true Irish restaurant, not just an American version of an Irish pub. The food was really good. I had the salmon and Bill had the ribs braised in Guinness. We each tried a Double Dragon ale which is a Welsh beer brewed by Felinfoel. We also had a Guinness because you just can't go to an Irish restaurant and not drink a Guinness.
OK, so I don't usually get too political here on my blog (unless you count the time I told everyone to vote Republican...hee hee hee) but I just can't close this post without saying, "Saddam's dead, he's dead, the SOB is dead." I guess it's not very Christian of me to rejoice in his death but I can't help it. The man was a monster.
On a lighter note, I worked on a new ATC (Artist Trading Card) design for a swap I joined. The theme of this swap is sparkle, shimmer and shine. When I saw that, I just couldn't pass it up! I need to borrow a stamp from my sister in order to finish the design. Yes, I know that I have a bunch of stamps, too many if you ask Bill, however, she has one that will be perfect for my design. I'll be sure to post a picture when it is completed.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I know I did. Spending time with family is the best part of Christmas.
Now that Christmas is over, I decided that my stamping area needed to be straightened and reorganized. It's so much easier and more fun to stamp when everything is in its place. I actually love the task of organizing. I should have been a professional organizer!
I stamped a thank you card for a friend yesterday. I used three of the new "In Colors"; Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp and Marigold Morning. I used Best Blossoms for the focal image and Linen for the background. The leaf stamp is actually from a set called Flower Factory but it fits well with this flower image. Both the sentiment stamp and the word "friend" are from the Simply Said set.
This is only the second time I've used any of the Hodgepodge Hardware pieces and I've decided that I really like them. The set I bought is antique brass and it seems to coordinate with most of the Stampin' Up colors.
Only two more days until another three day holiday weekend...whoohoo!
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve...all of the cards have been sent, all of the presents have been wrapped, all of the cookies have been baked. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the holiday!
This is the family Christmas card I sent this year. I was inspired by ornaments from my childhood. They were glass and the tops were capped with sparkly snow. I still have some of these ornaments but, of course since we don't have a Christmas tree this year, they're packed away with the rest of the ornaments.
We're spending Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's house and then we'll all spend Christmas Day at my sister and brother-in-law's house. Even my mom and dad's dog, Amber, will be joining in the celebration!
Here's my first attempt at a "tall" card. It the size of a regular #10 business size envelope. It certainly gives me a lot more canvas to fill.
I really love Cranberry Crisp and Mellow Moss. It's a great combination and is one of my current favorites. In fact, I've made several cards utilizing these two colors. I also love the Jingle All the Way stamp from the Alphabet Soup set and, since this was a Sell-a-bration set from last January, I didn't really have a chance to use this particular stamp until now. For the background, I used one of the snowflakes from Snow Flurries and highlighted the middle of each one with Crystal Stickles because you can never have too much sparkle...hee hee hee. I used faux stitching on the strip of cranberry card stock running the length of the card.
I actually used a piece of the Hodgepodge Hardware! That's the cute little "clip" holding the ribbon. I tend to want to save cute little embellishments rather than using them because I'm always afraid that I'll use them up and won't be able to buy replacements. Anyway, the ribbon is the special release stitched cranberry ribbon from Stampin' Up. I'm definitely going to have to purchase more of this ribbon before July when it will be gone forever!
I still have a few more Christmas cards to share and will do so before Christmas, I promise!
It's me, it's me...I can't believe it. I'm the Person of the Year for 2006! Woohoo. OK, actually the person of the year is anyone who has content on the World Wide Web. This includes websites, videos, blogs, etc.
The aroma of toasted coconut is filling our house and I haven't even begun to bake Christmas cookies yet. Actually, I toasted the coconut to add to the Porter my sister and I brewed two weeks ago. I transferred the beer to a secondary fermenter and then added the coconut. The beer will remain in the fermenter for at least a week and then I'll bottle it.
Speaking of Christmas cookies, I finally decided which ones I will be making this year. I'm making eight different kinds which consist of some yearly favorites plus a few new ones. I'm also going to make Hello Dollies because I love them and haven't made them for years. I think they contain about 1000 calories per bite but, what the heck, it's Christmas!
I drove home from work today with the top down and Christmas music on the stereo (Captain & Tennille's CD to be exact). It was about 60 degrees so it was a little chilly but I turned on the heat and it was just fine! It's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow!
OK, the recipients have received the cards so I can finally post some of the creations I've hinted at in previous posts. This first one is for my niece, Sarah. I have seen quite a few cards designed to look like Santa's suit and the words Ho Ho Ho stamped on it so I can't take credit for that. I did come up with the button design though and I actually think it's quite clever. I punched out three black circles using my 1/8 punch and then I put Crystal Effects on top . I then embossed a strip of paper with gold embossing powder and punched out 1/4 circles with 1/8 circles in the middle so that they sort of looked like small gold donuts (I also cut the buckled out of the same embossed paper). I placed the little donuts on top of the Crystal Effects once it was dry. This created a little domed button with a black center. I added Dazzling Diamonds to the polka dots on the letters for extra sparkle.
For my niece, Amanda, I wanted to come up with something a little more sophisticated as she will turn 11 in January. I love sparkles and I love my new snowflake set I bought so this was a perfect combination. I stamped the large snowflake with Versamark and silver Pearl Ex on Night of Navy card stock and then embossed the smaller snowflake on Bordering Blue card stock. The small snowflake was then cut out and mounted using foam mounting tape to give it some dimension. I then mounted the large snowflake on Bordering Blue card stock and used the notch punch on the corners. I added silver cord and then mounted the image on Night of Navy card stock. Narrow silver organdy ribbon completes the design.
It's difficult to come up with card designs for my nephew, Josh. He's 12 1/2 so the design can't be too childish and it definitely can't be "cute." He hates "cute." I decided to stamp the snowman image in the jar as if someone captured him like a lightening bug. I think it's pretty funny but maybe that's just my silly sense of humor! Bill said, "The snowman is going to suffocate" and I said, "That's what makes it so funny!" Hee hee hee...anyway, I cut out a transparency sheet and attached it to the jar to give it the appearance of glass. The snowman has some sparkle to him, of course.
Why don't we have a Christmas tree?
Greta...she's the reason we don't have a Christmas tree. We attempted to assemble the tree yesterday afternoon but within 5 minutes, we realized that it was a futile attempt. Greta was chewing on the branches and nothing we could say or do would stop her. Our first kitty, Maggie, was content to lay under the tree and gaze at the lights and ornaments. Not this one...her mission is to not only climb but to eat the tree. I can't imagine that it would be very tasty!
This picture is deceptive. She appears to be so sweet and innocent...one minute later, she was attempting to eat the wreath.
Oh well...not having a Christmas tree is not the worst thing in the world. We love our kitty!
We ate dinner at Modesto tonight. It's a tapas restaurant located on The Hill just one block from Charlie Gitto's (Tommy Lasorda's favorite St. Louis restaurant). The food was great and I've officially added Modesto to my list of favorite restaurants!
For dessert, we ordered the Churros which are Spanish fried doughnuts with cinnamon hot chocolate sauce. Yummo!
They had one of my new favorite seasonal beers on tap...2 Below from New Belgium Brewing (their new summer offering, Skinny Dip, is also favorite of mine as is Fat Tire and 1554 Black Ale). It was a perfect pairing with the various dishes.
We'll definitely visit Modesto again soon.