Cue the shoe dreams. I am officially obsessed. Oxblood is clearly the color of fall 2012, seen on nails, corduroys, shoes, peplum tops, scarfs – it is everywhere. I am definitely on board and even more ready to be in a relationship after seeing these shoes.
Via Asos, the Dune Balmoral Metal Toe Cap Court Shoe ($170).
Come to me, you gorgeous shoe, you.
xx
-h
If you’re as obsessed with succulents as me, pinterest, and the rest of the world then you’ll be just as smitten with this adorable succulent tealight set from Leif ($14).
Seriously. So cute.
xx
-h
If there are 2 vegetables I do not particularly like they are carrots and brussels sprouts. When we were kids, our lunch consisted of sandwich or tortilla rollup, apple, carrots, juice box and fruit snacks. Do you know how hard it is to trade carrots for cheetos in the lunch room? Now, I thank my mom for instilling good eating habits in me, but due to the excess amount of carrots consumed at a young age. I can’t seem to munch them raw very often anymore. Until recently that is, I’ve ventured back to carrots after trying some of the newer varieties. We can thank the heirloom vegetable movement for that.
My mom forwarded her friend Jane’s photos of her solar yellow carrots that are from her garden in the Spokane, Washington area.
photo: JB
They truly look like tiny space ships.
She also sent a photo of her brussels sprouts and cabbage.
photo: JB
And although I never cared for steamed brussels sprouts plopped on my plate as a child, while living in Park City, I had the opportunity to experience the Talisker on Main Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad. I am now singing a different tune. Could be the bacon….mmmm bacon.
Here is the TOM recipe via their FB page:
Ingredients:
Sautee and render out the fat of the bacon. Add brussels sprouts petals and shallots. Sautee for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Add sherry vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste and finish with the pomegranates and any optional fruit. Serves 4.
Enjoy!
xx
-h
What’s not to love about a great chai tea? Most coffee shops make chai tea with similar ingredients, one specifically-chai concentrate. Chai concentrate makes for creating a delicious chai tea quickly. It contains a blend of teas accented with sweet cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and vanilla. After it is combined with steamed milk, it creates a hard to beat combination-or so I thought.
Here in Kenya, they make their chai just a little differently. It seems to be a staple throughout the country. Dormans Coffee for one, provides chai tea for a morning and afternoon teatime every day for all employees. It is made in massive amounts and no one misses it when teatime rolls around.
Although chai concentrate makes a killer chai, I personally believe the fresher the better. If you want to try the Kenyan way at home, check out this recipe (this is a large batch and from one of the amazing women who makes it at Dormans):
Ingredients:
Directions:
Teatime Chai at Dormans
Maybe you can drink it with the Chai Shortbread Cookies with Pink Salt recipe H recently posted.
xoxo
-s
Aw Fall, time for Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin anything. To be honest, I love pumpkin flavored things and I’m especially a sucker for those lattes, but sometimes I get a little burnt out on the pumpkin. When I was tasked with bringing dessert for family dinner the other night and knew we were having pasta, I went with cookies. I figured they would be a *little* lighter then anything else.
S and I have been able to talk pretty frequently while she is in Kenya via imessage or email and she reminded me what a huge part of the culture chai is there.
So, thinking of S, when I found this recipe for Chai Shortbread Cookies, I was excited to test it out.
I used Caffe D’Amore Chai Serenity Mix that my friend K gave me awhile ago, but any chai powder mix will work.
When I tasted the cookies once they were done baking, I didn’t think they had super strong chai flavor, so after spreading the chocolate on top I decided to add a pinch of the powder plus a sprinkle of salt. For the salt, I used Pink Himalayan from World Market because it has a milder flavor and I like pink.
The sprinkle of chai mix on top added intensity, but using actual chai tea leaves would make it even more flavorful.
Think I’ll eat one of the extras over an afternoon tea tomorrow.
xx,
-h
I’m a little obsessed with the GoPro YouTube channel. I know this video is older, but I love the part where young Lily interviews Kelia. “What’s it like to be beautiful and famous?”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSJPZ_DQooo]
xx
-h
MAN, I love a dog in a Halloween costume. It is hilarious. I saw this picture of my friend Katie’s dog Walter on her Tumblr recently and fully LOL-ed.
I just googled ‘Extra Large Dog Costumes’ and nothing inspiring showed up. So I went to Etsy next. No cool full costumes showed, however I did find this awesome halloween dog bowtie from the Charlie Hearts Diesel shop. They have a ton of really neat dog accessories including dog scarfs (adorable) and high end beds (made out of recycled soda boxes).
Wouldn’t Judge look stunning and so very festive in that bowtie?
xx
-h
Yesterday I went to a place just outside Nairobi called the Giraffe Center. It was a beautiful place with many giraffes roaming around to see. If you google “Giraffe Center”, you will find many pictures of people’s up close and personal contact with the giraffes. I admit, after doing some research and seeing pictures of people getting their faces licked by giraffes, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get that same opportunity. There were a lot of people there, so the giraffes needed a lot of coaxing to come close. Although I didn’t get my face licked, I did get to feed a 7 month old giraffe named Abraham. It was pretty amazing being so close to these creatures, I think they are truly amazing.
Feeding Abraham
Beautiful area for the giraffes to roam
There were warthogs too, but they aren’t quite as breathtaking as the giraffes…
I love this picture with the shadow of the giraffe
xoxo
-s
I started work here in Kenya on Monday and am already learning so much about the coffee industry. Like all new jobs, the first week starts the same; meeting, greeting and following. It’s always overwhelming to meet so many people at once and remember their names. In the meantime, you get shown around and fed with a firehouse of information which you try you’re hardest to retain as fast as possible. The facility that I will be working in is incredible and I want to bring in my camera to take pictures soon.
I have already started working on some process flows for the roasting and packaging areas and look forward to what else there is to come for me while here.
I always say, when life gives you Jalapenos, make Jalapeno Jam. Wait, I never say that. But when your coworker gives you a huge bag full of spicy jalapenos, and another bag full of thai chiles, you can’t just eat them raw. You’ll die. Well maybe you won’t, but you won’t be comfortable or happy. So, take those peppers and add a bunch of sugar, some vinegar, and some pectin and you have jam.
Seed and slice red and green bell peppers into chunks.
Wash and pat jalapenos dry.
Half jalapenos and remove the membrane and seeds on most of them. I left some in tact to add some extra spice. When you are doing this I would recommend wearing plastic gloves. I did not do that and regretted that decision later.
Here’s my secret ingredient. Half and take the seeds and membrane out of one thai chile. Whew those babies are spicy. In a food processor pulse the peppers together until everything is juicy but some peppers are still small dice size.
You will need 1.75 oz of pectin, Sure-Jell sells it in packets this size, but I decided to buy this because it was cheaper, so I weighed it out. Oh snaps, I forgot to take photos of the rest of the process. 
I finished the jars with labels from Cottage Industrialist.
Judge wants to know what 1000 Wonderful Things is up to and if he can have any. He’s pretty food obsessed, and no Judge you can’t have Jalapeno Jam.
Recipe adapted from My Kitchen Addiction.
Jalapeno Pepper Jam
Makes 16-4 oz jars
Prepare a boiling water canner, sterilize jars and lids.
In a large pot combine ready peppers and vinegar. Gradually stir in the pectin and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Add the sugar and salt and return the mixture to a boil. Cook this for an additional minute or until the sugar is dissolved.
Pour into prepared jars, wipe rims, and put lids on. Process in boiling water for 15 minutes.
Let it sit overnight or until all the tops have popped. The lids popping is by far the best part about canning things.
If you’ve never used a water canner, be sure to read up about what the best strategies are because it’s not exactly as easy as making a grilled cheese.
My favorite way to serve this jam is with crackers and cream cheese. The cream cheese cuts the spiciness of the peppers, same reason everyone tells you to drink milk if your mouth is on fire from hot sauce competitions with your siblings. Oh, you never did that? Huh.
The final product will have some chunks of the peppers and have a golden color.
Enjoy
-h