playlist: block after block

Block After Block from l.doan on 8tracks Radio.

1. Local Natives - Breakers
2. Passion Pit - Take A Walk
3. Icona Pop - I Love It
4. Matt & Kim - Block After Block
5. MS MR - Fantasy
6. Haim - Falling
7. Savoir Adore - Dreamers
8. Bastille - Pompeii
9. Alex Winston - The Fold
10. Sea Wolf - Old Friend
11. Major Lazer feat. Amber Coffman - Get Free

eggplant lentil curry

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant

5 vine tomatoes

1/2 cup red lentil

1 lemon

1 onion

2 gloves garlic

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tbsp tumeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground corriander

2 tsp garlic salt

fresh parsley as garnish

Directions

1. Roast eggplant in oven for approx 1 hr at 400 deg.

2. Let cool, then cut up and put in food processor and set aside

3. Rinse red lentils and cook in 2 cups of water and set aside

4. Chop tomatoes and juice lemon, set aside

4. Sautee onions & garlic in olive oil

5. Add eggplant, chopped tomatoes, lentils, spices and cook simmer for 20 minutes

6. Garnish with parsley

new things: summer clothing

spicy mango salsa

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango

1 vine tomato

1/8 cup of green onion

1 sprig parsley

1/2 lime of juice
1-3 thai chili peppers (dependent on how spicy you would like it)

Directions:

1. Dice mango and tomatoes

2. Add all ingredients together and mix

sweet potato biscuits

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mashed sweet potato

3/4 cup almond milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 sea salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp canola oil

Directions:

1. Boil sweet potato and mash, let cool, set aside

2. Mix together almond milk and vinegar and let curdle

3. Preheat oven to 400 deg.

4. Mix flours, baking soda, salt, and sugar in bowl

5. Add sweet potato and almond milk and mix

6. Add oil and knead

7. Use 1/3 measuring cup to "cut" biscuits and bake for 15-20 minutes

Makes approx. 8 biscuits.

word art d.i.y.

Although no longer available, I love this ikat-inspired print by Etsy shop ChrislovesJulia:

This print is where I took the inspiration for the background of my piece, which I painted on a canvas board using acrylic paints, in a few layers, blending the colours. After the paint was dry, I took some time hunting down a quote that I guessed would fit the size of my canvas, and then laid out the letters (1 inch permanent adhesive vinyl letters from Michael's). I had to improvise 3 or 4 H's out of pieces of other letters. You may want to count your letters beforehand to make sure that your package has enough of what you need, unless your estimation skills are better than mine.

As you can see in the photo below, I used washi tape to lay out lines to keep my letters straight, and in the top right corner you can see two vertical strips that I reused between words to keep the spacing relatively even. The obsessive compulsivist in me had a lot of fun with the project. For reals.

If you're looking for some quote ideas, I would suggest Ernest Hemingway, E.E. Cummings, Roald Dahl, or Dr. Seuss. My quote is by Albert Einstein who, not surprisingly, had many witty things to say.

apartment before + after

I was getting bored with my apartment and it felt cluttered so I got some crates and a desk which I stained and painted. I also painted accent walls and put up some new art work. 

lentil dill kofte

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup bulgar

1 medium onion

1 lemon

1/2 bunch green onion (2/3 cup chopped)

1/2 cup dill

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic salt

Directions:

1. Wash lentils and boil/simmer until water almost soaked

2. Add bulgar and salt to lentils and let expand and then cool everything

3. Cook onion (not green) in olive oil

4. Add tomato paste and cumin

5. Add this to lentil bulgar mixture once cooled

6. Add remaining ingredients

7. Form into logs

8. Bake in oven at 350 for 15 minutes

9. Eat warm or cold

five dollar art

I have been waiting and waiting for this to come in the mail! The print above is a wallpaper sample from Hygge & West, designed by Joy Cho who writes the blog, Oh Joy, one of my daily reads. I am a long way off of having my own place to wallpaper, but I love the ivory and gold peony pattern, and now I can add it to my apartment anyway.
Hygge & West charge $5.00 for an 8.5 x 11 inch wallpaper sample, and they ship for free!
Here is the design I chose, called Petal Pusher, but there are lots of other interesting ones, too. The frame is from Michael's.

new things: bracelets

Acquired some bracelets from various artisan markets while I was away in NYC. Really into gold and arrows these days.

wandering to: new york city

monday lusts: mountains & two tones

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

nyc polaroids

Etsy finds: vintage leather bags

Vintage leather bags are affordable and sustainable, and Etsy has a ton of gorgeous ones for sale! These are my top picks (I obviously have a thing for tan). My biggest tip is to take a good long look before purchasing anything because if you keep looking you might find the same item listed for cheaper or in better quality. I also love that there are a lots of vintage Coach bags, from before they started plastering C's all over everything!

1. Brown leather Coach shoulder bag
2. Brown leather cross body handbag
3. Navy and tan Dooney & Bourke mini handbag
4. Tan tooled leather purse