Fire Escape Jam

My husband and I moved into Sunnyside a few years ago in the fall. Come spring time we noticed a lot of small, dark berries staining the sidewalks. In fact, the berries were growing from a tree in our backyard. My husband said his grandparents had an identical tree that he and his brother's ate from. I responded by saying, "DON'T EAT THESE BERRIES! THEY MIGHT BE POISONOUS." Well, turns out they aren't poisonous. They are called Mulberries and they have a sweet, tangy flavor.

The first year I looked for recipes to cook with them. My pastry chef friend, Briar, suggested a clafoutis and jam. I made this clafoutis...which was yummy! Briar also helped me come up with a killer jam combo: Mulberry, Strawberry and Rhubarb. It is so delicious! This is my third year making it and it has even stirred a little following among my friends.

I use all the instructions that come with the pectin. I don't have a food mill, so I leave the seeds and mulberry steams. It is more like a preserve style.

Below is what you will need for a small batch of this jam next year. And some pictures!

Follow the instructions very carefully when you are canning!

And if you've never had rhubarb before- ONLY use the stalks. The roots and leaves are poisonous to eat.

This jam is delicious and makes a great homemade gift!

Fire Escape Jam

Ingredients:

2 cups Strawberries

2 cups Mulberries

2-3 Stalks of Rhubarb (only use the stalks)

1 cup honey

Pectin and calcium water (follow instructions of package. I use Pomona's Universal Pectin)

What you'll need for jam/canning:

Bowls

Masher or spoon to mash fruit

Measuring cup

Measuring spoons

Spoon for stirring

Pot for simmering Jam 

Canning Jars

Large pot for canning (I use my lobster pot)

Tongs

     (they make some for canning)

Rack for bottom of pot 

     (helps not to put jars directly on bottom of pot)

Simmering the fruit 

Boiling the Jars

Fire Escape Jam

Makes a little bit of a mess!

Emeril's Szechuan Spareribs-Shortcuts!

Ummm....you should make these! They are so delicious and will inspire your significant other to post sweet things about you on Facebook. Recipe can be found here. I highly suggest cutting down the five hour cook time to two hours with some shortcuts.

Short Cuts

-Completely make the sauce. Add the honey and sesame oil when you mix it all together.

-When the ribs were finished boiling, I added the sauce and stuck them in the fridge. 

-I let the ribs sit in the fridge while I whipped up some Potato Salad.

-I coated them with a brush before broiling for 5mins. 

I then took them out, added more sauce and broiled for another 5mins. 

Polka Dot Painting

You probably already know by now that polka dots are all the rage. 

My friend, Julie, just moved and wanted to make some art for above her bed. She was inspired by this blog and images on Pinterest. We started talking about a Polka Dot Painting and she told me her ideas. She wanted to do it on a canvas and we both agreed that working with potatoes stamps isn't usually successful for us. So we brainstormed and went on a trip to MICHAEL'S!

Juile picking up supplies

 At Michael's we found these amazing round sponges with plastic holders by none other than Martha Stewart. Each is a different size in the package but it had the size we needed. They are officially called "pouncers." Julie picked out acrylic paints in shades of gray, blue, purple and white for mixing.

The Cast of Characters appearing in this craft are:

Pouncer + Goomba helped with spacing

Pencil
A Canvas
Acrylic Paint
Circular Foam Pouncers (sponges)
Scrap Paper
Two Rulers or Measuring Tape
Paint Palette and Palette Knife (or could use plate, bowl, chopsticks, paper clips, etc)
Lint Roller (in case your canvas needs a little dust removal)
Painters Tape (optional)
Paint Brush (for touch ups)

First: After you have gathered your supplies and lint rolled your canvas, it is time to MEASURE! This Polka Dot Painting will have evenly spaced dots. Julie chose to have a 3" border and her dots 3" apart. With measuring tape and a ruler we made tiny dots or x's every 3" to tell us where the dots will go.

Bunny Tip: We lined up the measuring tape with a ruler and held it down with painters tape. This way we could quickly get an entire row done.  If you mess up, no worries. The pencil erases right off the canvas. AND the pencil doesn't show underneath the paint as well. 

Second: Mix your paint colors! We got a white paint to mix with the others to create different shades. Julie made each color as she went along. We tested the colors on scrap paper.

Third:  Stamp dots on the canvas! Stamp one color at a time and in random spots on the canvas. Make sure you eyeball where you are putting the dots so they are evenly spaced throughout.












Bunny Tips for using the Pouncer: 
Sometimes the paint didn't evenly spread across the sponge. Julie used her fingers or scrap paper to make sure it was evenly spread on the sponge and wasn't collecting around the sides. It isn't necessary to press the sponge all the way down, but you can. Paint will collect in the sponge so you don't have to reapply for each dot.

Some Pictures of the Process

With a few colors

Fourth: Finally, let it dry! 

The finished polka dot painting

Julie with her finished Masterpiece

Bunny Tip: When the canvas is dry, you can go over any little mistakes with white paint.

Lastly, I got a little inspired watching Julie dot away. I had a canvas laying around the house, so I tried making my own without even spacing. I randomly spaced some of the dots and clustered others close together.

A big "Thank You" to Mr. Hulse who took photos, brought us water AND washed our dinner dishes! 

I have the best husband ever.

Star Wars Scrabble Coasters

I made my hubby Star Wars Coasters for his birthday!! They came out really nice and he loved them. I had to make them very quickly while he was out of the house!

Here is a quick re-cap of how I made them and my mistakes.

Some Bunny Tips are included if you are going to make them yourself!

Materials

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun

Scrabble Tiles (Mine were a heavy plastic)

Ruler or Measuring tape

Thin Cork Board (got mine at Michael's) 

Step 1

First I measured a coaster I had in my home and planned on making coasters

with four letter words. Then I wrote out my combinations for each coaster.

 Step 2

Arrange your letters. I measured and pre-cut the cork board into coasters. 

 Step 3

I hot glued the tiles directly onto the cork board and to each other as I placed them.

Step 4

After the glue dried, I trimmed any extra cork board. 

Bunny Tips-

1) Some of the Coaster have warped a little bit. Next time I would but a heavy book on top of the coasters as they dry.

2) I ripped a couple coasters when gluing the letters on... It may be easier to glue all the letters to each other AND then back it with the cork board.

Potted Herb Centerpieces

Happy Wedding Wednesday! 

Wanted to share with you some pictures of coming up with my centerpieces. 

I had a very small budget for centerpieces and wanted to them to be "green."

We got the idea from Martha Stewart Weddings to use potted herbs. A potted plant is always 

a "green"choice (over cut flowers) and I wanted to make sure the containers were green as well. 

Bio-degradable planters!

Kmart had these very chic and sturdy bio-degradable containers...and you can see the sale sticker right there!! I ended up getting them in two different sizes in these three colors. I bought some in MA and in NY to make sure I had enough. 

Two days before the wedding my husband and I drove up to the Berkshires. We bought herbs and flowers at Home Depot/Walmart. Then we showed up at My Aunt and Uncle's house unannounced...where they so kindly fed us and got all the kids together to help us.

My family planting!

We had five generations putting together these centerpieces! We planted freely and then watered!

My grandmother-my Auntie-My two cousins-and my first cousin once removed 

(my first cousin's son). Here are some pics by my Auntie Merry!

The cutest gardener ever!

My cousin Marina

The groom...aka sticker remover

Another set of cousins drove the arrangements over to the reception the next day! 

 I was very happy at the end of the night to see guests and staff bringing them home. My friends and family kept telling me they used the basil, parley, oregano...all summer!

United States of Magnets

The Puzzle

   Mr. Hulse and I were spring cleaning when we stumbled upon this United States puzzle. Some of the puzzle wasn't looking so great and Florida was missing. We tried to clean it up but it was beyond saving. THAT being said, some of the pieces were in great condition. And we decided to save some of the States to upcycle them into magnets!

I cleaned and dusted the pieces very carefully. With my trusty glue gun I attached a magnet to each state. (I had some magnets from a previous project and luckily they fit!) Here are the photos from the project. A few of these I'm keeping or giving to friends...but the rest will be up in the Etsy shop!

The salvaged pieces

States!

My Tools

Adding some glue!

Drying 

They came out looking so fun. New York and New England went right up on the fridge!

They fit right in!