RECIPE ALERT

Chai Bars with Honey Ginger Icing

Holy Tamole! I'm making these bad boys ASAP! I know Chai is one of those acquired tastes that is definitley not for everybody, but Tony and I are Chai addicts and these are the icing on the cake, well actually if these are the cake... eating them would be the icing? Either way I'm glad I'm a glutton who spends hours a day looking at food blogs, because recipes like this make up for the strained computer eyes.

Here is the recipe from savour-fare.com link here

Chai Bars with Honey Ginger icing
For the cookies:
1/2. c. brown sugar
½ c. white sugar
1 cup butter, softened.
1 egg
2 c. flour
1 pinch salt
1.5 tsp ginger
1.5 tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp. cloves
¾ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp ground star anise

Mix butter and sugars in a mixing bowl until thoroughly combined. Add egg and mix well. Add flour, spices and salt, and stir until the mixture is thoroughly combined. Press into a 9X12 baking pan that has been greased with Baker’s Joy (or buttered and floured) and smooth with a spatula until the dough is even and flat. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until the cookies are a pale golden brown. Let cool.

For the icing:

Mix 2 T honey, 1 t ground ginger, and 1 c. powdered sugar together in a bowl. Add water until the icing is at a spreadable consistency, and spread over the cooled cookies. Cut with a pastry cutter or pizza wheel. It will take several hours for the icing to become firm enough to transport, so plan accordingly.

STUNNING

Simple yet absolutely stunning! Canvas artwork using paint and thread. I may just borrow this idea for my own projects. There rest of Gillian Bates "textile art" is on her website : www.gillianbates.co.uk

WHY I BUY OLD STUFF

It's not that I don't like new things, in fact I love new things and shopping is one of my favorite past-times, but I just can't convince myself to spend money on new things that I know will only last me a year or two. For example: IKEA. The idea is simple, and fantastic. Yet extremely wasteful! Buy this cheap- it looks great now and it will be in style for the next few years! Then, throw it out when the styles change! Buy new cheap stuff because hey, you only pay $10.00 for it! But this idea is so flawed and wasteful that I probably couldn't fit all on my reasons into this one post. So, I buy old stuff! Mainly because A.) if it's 50yrs old- it's probably going to last another 50! B.) I'm not going to go out and see the exact same thing in somebody elses home or on another person C.) There is no packaging or excess wrapping that creates waste, and last but not least D.) Usually it's cheaper!

So if I could encourage everybody to stop buying... I don't know, paper towels and use dishcloths instead, or buy tins and mason jars instead of Tupperware, I think I'd be a happy girl! So with that said - look at this awesome vintage cake carriers- yep no saran-wrap/ frosting tragedies here folks!

CRUSHING ON: TYPEWRITERS

For sometime now I have been coveting the idea of owning and using (on a daily basis) a retro typewriter. As a kid we had one or two and I remember my sisters and I sitting and typing for hours simply because we loved the noise and the motions of changing sheets out. Weird, I know... but still something that I thoroughly enjoyed, and to this day I am a hard clicker on my keyboard because I just simply like the noise it makes. Check out those vintage babes above (swoon).

VIA foxtreemiscellany on Etsy.

CUTE CALENDAR

From Linea Carta- A graphic calendar depicting weather patterns typical for each month. I love how February and November are lighting and rain- pure misery!

TATTOO

Cool idea, kind of creepy. Maybe you have seen this before?

SOWA ART WALK

Next Weekend : 5/16-5/17! Boston is going to be insane that weekend because I'm pretty sure that all 50 colleges and universities in Boston are holding their graduation ceremonies that weekend too!

Peter Bjorn and John

I'm in love with this video, and this scene right there is the highlight. In a few words: Japanese greasers doing choreographed dancing. AWESOME!

WHEN WE MOVE TO MIAMI

These pieces would be perfect for our home. In fact this whole collection would be wonderful! Right now however, not so much. I couldn't justify having something so beautiful be hidden for 8 months of the year.


VIA Lekker, Heath Ceramics Seasonal Collection

I KNEW IT!

Someday I knew that a designer would create a wreath that I would want to buy. It was only a matter of time! This powder-coated steel cut mod wreath is schmazmitaztic! I'm making up words I'm so excited! I can't afford it of course (although at $60.00 it's not bad at all), so it may just be a new item to tack onto my "to do list".

Pic: Mod wreath by Kenneth Winngard.