Faeries? In MY woods?!

I had so many other things I needed to be working on yesterday, like reading academic journals like a mad woman. But nope. I did this instead.

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup (Thick, too!)

A couple of days ago, I was all ready to have a real June Cleaver evening. I made some fancy red potatoes for dinner and planned on making green bean casserole with fresh green beans to complement it. I got the beans out, was all hyped on how awesome I am, and then...FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! I don't have any cream of mushroom soup. I ALWAYS have cream of mushroom soup on hand. Guess we used it for one too many cop-out pork chop dishes. But it was too late to turn back, so I was like hmm, I bet I can make my own, and indeed I did. And it was a real, bona fide success. I'll be making it instead of buying the canned stuff from now on. You can find slightly simpler recipes, but I wanted my soup to turn out really thick like the canned stuff. So, without further ado, here's how you do it:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
~6 whole fresh cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 tbsp corn starch
a pinch of garlic salt
a pinch of onion powder

How to do it:
*In a buttered pan, brown the mushrooms. You can also add some fresh onions here, if you prefer that to onion powder. Cook for about 5 minutes or until mushrooms reach your desired consistency.
*Mix the corn starch into the milk, then add that mixture to the pot. Stir for a couple of minutes.
*Add the sour cream and seasonings.

Voila! You've done it. Add more corn starch to make it thicker, more milk to make it thinner. This makes about the equivalent of one can of soup. I used mine in fresh green bean casserole and it was absolutely to die for. Great fresh approach to a typically canned-tasting dish. Bon appetit!

Owls - Here to Educate you About Beer, Tea, and...Hooting, I Guess.

Woof. Today has been a doozy. I've been snowed in for about four days, which has been AWESOME, but somehow I ended up with a cold. So, I've been sneezy and achy from that, and then this morning I was all excited to emerge from my snow cave and get some things done, then - BAM - migraine. So I haven't done anything today, but my weekend in and the really unseasonably cold week before were great for getting some solid work done. I'm proud to present, the Very Owly Guides to Beer and Tea! I love them; my kitchen is by FAR the cutest room in my house.

Tea blending!

It's no secret that I love tea. A good portion of my doodles revolve around tea, and I consume tea daily on the British schedule: an Earl Grey in the morning, then tea at 10, 12, 2, and 4. I don't really mean to, it kind of just happens. I drink all kinds of tea: black, oolong, green, herbal, you name it. My favorites, though, are the vanilla-infused black teas. It's surprisingly hard to find a good vanilla tea, especially given how many people love vanilla. A friend and I have an ongoing obsession with the lovingly-deemed "crack lemur tea," which is a Trader Joe's seasonal tea sold around the holidays (don't laugh, it's awesome). I recently realized in horror that I only had a couple of bags left and the tea had already fled store shelves for the season. Unable to find an acceptable substitute, it suddenly dawned on me that making your own tea blends at home is an option. If I can cure bacon, I can probably blend tea, right? So I did. I found this recipe and decided to do this plus half a stick of cinnamon. I headed over to the bulk section of my favorite market and picked up some ingredients, threw them in a tin, and have been shaking vigorously every day for a week. I'm not sure if the vigorous shaking part is wholly necessary, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something. I'm pretty psyched about it! It smells INCREDIBLE, even through the tin. I can't wait to try it!

UPDATE!! Ok, so the tea has been in the tin for six days. I couldn't wait any longer, so I tried it. The verdict: it smells phenomenal. It tastes like...English breakfast tea. Either I need to use more oil and less actual things or it hasn't been in there long enough. One thing I did do differently was that, instead of putting vanilla extract directly into the leaves, I put it on a cotton ball and threw that in. A tea forum I read suggested it, but I'm questioning it now. I'll let you know if my tea is salvageable!

ANOTHER UPDATE! About two weeks later, the tea was pretty damn good. The verdict: Leave it in for longer than the recommended week.

Tiny paintings

Sometimes, bigger isn't better. Sometimes tiny is better! Itty bitty canvases are a guilty pleasure of mine, and plenty will be popping up in my Etsy shop soon. Here's a peek!