Instant Satisfactions

Often it seems that the projects in my life have such a long way to go and I need some kind of pay off NOW! So, I work on little things with immediate pay off here and that to quiet my need for accomplishment. Instant gratification I think they call it. Et vous? Well, the next time you feel that need, I hope you'll try some of the instants that have made me happy: reading, knits, cooking, decorating or share some of your own at the bottom in comments section.

Become a follower of my blog, we'll both enjoy it. I welcome comments on this article, just leave one where this article ends. Thanks.

Quite naturally, my favorite place for reading instant gratification is the micro fiction

found at http://pentenscribes.ning.com/

This site offers and excellent collection of short stories all told in 10 sentences or less. Oftentimes, you will leave feeling as though you read a very short book. A favorite quote there is "It is my ambition to say in ten sentences; what others say in a whole book."~Friedrich Nietzsche

Pieknits shares this little wrist pillow knitting pattern and several others for free. I actually use this little pillow for my elbow oftentimes and make them from scraps of yarn and stow them away to give as gifts. Organic yarns and other soft yarns make excellent candidates for this project. This little project is where I learned to knit short rows, well, sort of. It was my intro to the technique but I learned to turn short rows at Knitty.com. Knitting short rows is a technique which creates a bump out in your knitting like what you'd need for the heel of a sock or in the bosom area of a garment.

My favorite instant gratification at dinner time is Egg Foo Yung. I order this often at Asian restaurants and discovered in a miniature cookbook that a friend gave me: It literally takes about 5 minutes to prepare and can be filled with whatever vegetable or cooked meat which you have handy. I've used mushrooms to replace meat in this dish as well as shredded carrots for variety. This can be a complete meal if you want low carbs or serve over a bed of rice or try it with angel hair pasta or rice stick noodles for a light fare. The angel hair and the rice noodles cook for about 5 minutes so you can begin boiling the water before starting your foo yong, foo yung, foo young...whatever way you spell it.

As for instant decorating satisfaction, I like to accessorize with paint and little unconventional

items. For instance, I am in love with this burnt orange paint color at the moment and niche's and nooks at my house are sporting this warm and friendly new coat. Little things though, which require even less time that I play at are putting tassels of all kinds on each door knob. I just keep an eye out for them when ever I'm shopping, only buying them when on sale and hang

them like earrings from any knob or just from an antique key which fits nothing. I like ornate tassels and there was a time in my life when I would have just made one and would have used the Boutique Tassel instruction found here. I also like to put flowers around for instant pick me up. I am not a great arranger of flowers so I keep it simple and try to use unique bud or color for impact such as this little display here with deep purple calla lily and white fringed tulip. Maybe you are more creative in this area. Hey! leave me a comment or suggestion and be sure to support my sponsors by clicking on a link... that and best wishes for an excellent day =)

Schmokin'!

Father’s day is upon us and I think it’s the perfect time for ladies to pick up that tool they’ve wanted for themselves, hehehe but this has me thinking about BBQ and such and I wanted to share some uniqueness with you.  First off, BBQ - smar-B-Q, yeah, yeah - let’s talk about something SMOKIN!  That’s it - I want to talk about smoking your food.  Some already smoke their meats and that’s nice - here’s your cookie.  Ever smoke your potatoes?  It rocks!  You should try it.  Some ideas are to blanche your fries then smoke, blanche potatoes used in potato salads and smashies.  Smoke polenta, sweet potatoes, eggplant, Gnocchi and or rutabaga - whatever that is.  My point is try smoking something besides your beast and transform something regular into a delicacy.

You can infuse smoked flavors into eggs, also.  Eggs are porous and capable of absorbing flavor.  Eggs can be smoked but something else to do is; using raw eggs in the shell, rub with seasoning power like a hickory spice and wait 12 hours before cooking them.  Or, store with truffle mushrooms.  Try fresh herbs, citrus zests, jalapenos, miso, ground chili and of course you should experiment with the tastes you enjoy.  Imagine the possibilities! After the process use your cooked eggs in salads and enjoy as people wonder what is this unique flavor sensation.  All of this brings me back to tea... (after having to cut back on my coffee) use fruit woods or cedar planks in your smoker of course but try something different by adding 1/4 cup black tea leaves to your smoking embers ever half hour.  

What? You don't have a smoker?  Weeeelll now, let's talk!  The Alton Brown Flower Pot Smoker This baby doesn't take up much room and you can  toss it into storage when you're not using it.  This ceramic cooker will cost you less than $50, I know you're cheap.  hehe, me, too.  You can make this soon and use it on the Fourth!  Construction is a piece of cake but finding the parts is the important thing: think Home Depot for the terra cotta parts, Walgreens for heat element and Super stores for grill grates but it's likely that you have grill grates already at home.

Sushi

My friend Ejay loves sushi and I told him that he could make it at home.  He thought I meant raw fish sushi...uh, no.  Sushi means seasoned rice, the other ingredients are up to you.  At my house we use scrambled eggs a la microwave oven, cream cheese, smoked salmon, cooked shrimp, all sorts of vegetables.  My 10 year old is the best at rolling sushi or creating sashimi after showing him only once.  He often uses lettuce and sorts of cheese slices with his and adds wasab before rolling.  One thing I like to do is take a tablespoon of cooked sushi rice and put it into a plastic sandwich bag, then take a small piece of smoked salmon and little cream cheese and place on top of rice and squeeze it together in bag into the shape of an egg.  They look like rice eggs and when dipped into wasabi soy sauce blend I like them.  Please give this video a try.  I found everything I needed in the common grocery store but it's fun to explore the local Asiana market.