My Banana Slugs

A couple years ago I started an Etsy store that I have since generally stopped using. One of the products that I made was a banana slug hair clip--which was actually my best seller. As a child I had a fascination--or, rather, obsession--with all things creepy crawly. The Banana Slug Hair Clip was something of an adult manifestation of my great childhood love. In a sense, I've never truly given up my obsession with creepy crawlies, I suppose I've, rather, kept it to myself--my personal secret; my old love.

Despite my store being "closed" for a little over a year now, I received a message the other day about my hair clips. It was from a woman whose son--a first grader--has been studying the banana slug as part of a project for school. He wanted to buy one of my clips for his teacher. I thought, how appropriate that a child with a fascination would want to buy something that signifies a childhood fascination of my own?

Since I'm not going to be in school this summer, I thought I might re-open my shop for a couple months. I've been wanting to get back into my "art." We'll see.

In the meantime, here's my shop.

And here're my Banana Slugs.

Sushi!!!

Have I mentioned how much I love sushi? It's pretty ridiculous, I eat it just about every day. Not the most flattering meal, of course, since I tend to stuff the whole thing into my mouth. I haven't figured out how to eat sushi in pieces. And all the flavours combined are sooo wonderful. I don't think I want to learn how to eat it any other way.

These pictures are from last summer in Astoria park. The second it gets warm enough, Nick and I like to take daily walks around Queens. On that day, we stumbled across a carnival in the Park and decided to stop to eat not twenty feet away. It was very loud, but everything was so blissfully green.

In these pictures, I'm eating the spicy tuna and Nick is delicately consuming a California roll. Nummy.

Same Accessories, Different Day

Went for a stroll through Central Park in the rain today. I will always love rain, even while miserable and soaked.

Recipe for Jalitos! (Beer Battered and Baked Jalapenos, stuffed with goat cheese)

 Ingredients
1 pound small jalapenos
2 cups beer of choice
1.5 cups flour
2 cups seasoned breading
Goat cheese (portions may vary)

 As always, since I base my creations on taste and smell rather than recipes, I'm never sure what the exact measurements are, so use your judgment, food should be played with. Don't take it too seriously.

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the heads and tips off the Jalapenos.

2) Slice lengthwise and remove seeds. I usually use gloves during the gutting since jalapenos tend to burn my hands for hours after preparation.

3) Stuff each pepper with goat cheese--use however much or little cheese you prefer. The best part is licking the spoon afterwards; the leftover cheese is super spicey with jalapeno juice. Sooo good.

4) Pour beer of choice into bowl and mix in flour. I tend to prefer darker ales (avoid porters and stouts, they tend to be far too sweet). My preference is the BrouCzech Dark, it's only about $1.99 a bottle (in my grocery store at least) and has the perfect amount of tang to go with the peppers. Mix the flour and beer together with a whisk, add spices to taste (I used garlic powder, salt, and black pepper).

5) Dip Jalapenos in beer batter.

6) Roll the newly dipped peppers in the seasoned bread crumbs.

7) (Optional!) Because I tend to have lots of leftover batter and bread crumbs (and also because I love a nice thick crust) I tend to dip and re-crumb the jalapenos a couple times.

8) Place jalapenos in baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes, or until crust is slightly golden.

These guys make really great party food and, of course, being both battered with beer and spicy, they go very well with, well, beer. Veggie friendly, and can easily be made vegan with the substitution of imitation cheese. This is probably one of my favorite recipes, so please, treat it well :O)

Feathered Halo

M'darlin got me a lovely new camera for our anniversary this year, meaning I can start posting fashion stuffs as well as food. This is (hopefully) the first of many.

I love textures and the combination of brown with greys and black (like shades of ash in a forest). With texture comes layers for which I am partial and tend to use it quite often in my ensembles.

Feathers, though, are my staple. I've found myself compiling something of a collection over the past couple years and have made myself several headbands. The one pictured here is striped pheasant on a tan colored leather band.

A Love of Mushrooms

Who cares, I love mushrooms (especially portobello). Also, they were the cutest two mushrooms stuck together, ever.

More Epic Sandwiches...

Sandwich making should be an art, one should not just lather mayo on Wonder Bread with packaged lunch meat and a slice of American cheese. A sandwich should be assembled with care on bread sliced from a fresh loaf and meat from the deli.

This is ham, bacon, mushrooms, cheese (one is swiss the other goat cheese), and roasted red peppers on ciabatta bread. They would have been made perfect had I some arugula, but I was out :O(