Deda Notions

Potatoes, leeks and corn chowder.
Seriously good comfort food.

1 bunch leeks, chopped, white and light green only
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
32 oz. Chicken broth, homemade or boxed
3 to 4 cups potatoes, cut into 1″ pieces
1 can corn
4 oz chopped green chilis
1 package county gravy mix
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese.

In 3 1/2 qt pot saute onions and leeks in olive oil over low heat until tender, 5 minutes.
Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a simmering boil, reduce heat, cover and cook until potatoes are tender, 20 minutes.
Add corn and chili, stir.
Mix milk and gravy mix, stirring out lumps.
Stir the gravy mix into the soup.
Blend in the cheese.
Cover and remove from heat.
Let sit for about 5 minutes.
Serve with bacon bits on top.
Enjoy!

I’m so over this snow.

I think I could learn to love it *if* I lived here.

Haiti’s been forefront in the news for the last several weeks. The tragedy unfolding is horrendous. The suffering unfathomable. It’s heart warming to know that so many have donated to the relief efforts, little kids giving spare change and celebrities giving millions. Average people, like you and me, giving just for the sake of giving.

I want to tell you about another way to give, a way to make a real difference in someone’s life. Sort of short circuiting the viscous circle of poverty and devestation.

Kiva.org

Through Kiva you can choose your loan recipient. Read about how the few dollars you and others will loan to them will help them to buy much needed equipment for their small business. Buy seed to grow veggies for their market. Purchase bolts of fabric to expand a clothing shop. All of this in some of the poorest places on Earth.

Your loan will help them become self sufficient, both personally and as a community.

You can loan as often as you wish, as many times as your heart and pocket allow.
I tie my lending to specific purchases I make for my own business. Each time I buy shea butter for Deda Notions I make a loan.

Will you join me? Make a loan that will change someone’s life.

I don’t live in a world of shiny stainless appliances and granite countertops.
My world is not so grand, it’s functional, practical and a teensy bit whimsical.
My world is colorful with a touch of chaos.

Yesterday Kevin knocked out the old pantry that took up all of the wall separating the kitchen from the dining room. We built these simple Ikea Gorm shelves anchored them to hold our larder. There’s a spot for the microwave, places to hold my pots, enough shelves to hold our food and some way cool baskets to hold the little things that usually get lost.

My kitchen is tiny. I mean itsy bitsy. But it’s big enough for me.

See, it’s just enough, no more, no less. To me it’s perfect.
Except for the dishwasher, but I’m looking for a new one, in white, of course.

The best part of my kitchen? Visitors. Sometimes they are of the furry variety.

I know lots of soapers, IRL and from soap forums. Everyone calls their ’spot’ something different. You know, the place you go to create whatever it is you create. Mine is actually 2 rooms, upstairs is a home office, it’s also my sewing room. It’s filled with books, folders, fabric, yarn and all my other crafty things.

But soap needs it’s own home. Fresh air, good lighting, emergency exits and lots of running water.

This is my ’spot’.

It’s got tons of storage, and easy access to my supplies, oils and molds. My tools are at arms reach, and my safety equipment is front and center. Everything, ready to go.

Supplies like micas, clays, herbs, botanicals, oxides and ultramarines are organized by type and are kept labeled in clear containers, making it easy to see when I’m running low and need to add to my ever growing shopping list. A microwave just for soap makes melting oils and waxes fast and easy.

I culled my fragrance and essential oils down to the ‘essentials’, and housed them in these acrylic boxes my dear husband fastened to the wall. All my current oils and butters are stored in buckets, along with lye, waxes and acids. Unopened bags, boxes and buckets are stored in the garage until I need them.

Once the soap is made, unmolded and cut it needs to dry for several weeks. HDPE lunch trays on these Ikea shelves hold tons of soap. Cardboard baseball card boxes keep cured soap and make transport to the Farmers Market simple.

All in all it’s a great place to make soap, the laundry room is just through the doorway, along with a huge laundry sink and a floor drain. I can work in peace, keeping the turmoil contained to a single room. Close it off from little hands and furry paws. Crank up the music and make soap!

So now that you’ve had the 5¢ tour, what would you call it?
Soap Studio? Soap Kitchen? Soap Room?

Could you just curl up next to her and go to sleep?

Growing up in South Florida I never saw snow. Ever. It’s still magical when those those first few flakes start to drift down.
Even better when I wake up to the snow on a quiet Saturday morning.

Our dining room window was just made for a cup of cocoa and the morning paper (or Google News on the laptop).

It’s hard to get any work done when I’m daydreaming looking at the view from my office.

All in all I can’t think of better way to spend the day than to snuggle up with my sweetie, my kitties and big stash of yarn waiting to be knitted and crocheted into cozy, colorful socks, afghans & frippery.

Enjoy the snow, everyone!

…said the big hairy black widow spider Kevin found when he was dismantling the skateboard ramps on our tennis court.

Sorry the pic is kinda not that great. My hands were shaking and I was sure he/she was going to jump up and bite me.

I’m so glad we found this now, and not later after it bit some kid who was moving those ramps around.

The TF (StateTen Boardshop’s Training Facility – as the kids called it) is no more.

The fence is coming down this week, bobcats will rip up the surface soon after that. By next spring we’ll have grass and a garden.