This weekend I was a cooking fiend! A friend came over Saturday and after some shopping we headed to my place for some cooking, baking, drinking and movie watching. Phew! We decided on Horseradish Mashed Potato Pie for dinner (NOT a 30 min endeavor I don’t care what Rachel says), and bacon chocolate chip cookies. In our infinite wisdom we decided that since we were making one batch of the mashed potato pie, why not double the recipe and then each have some leftovers. Now, the recipe called for 5lbs of mashed potatoes… why it didn’t occur to us in the store that 10lbs of potatoes is an insane amount of potato, I still can’t figure out. We decided on ground chicken instead of beef and got a pack of soup veggies instead of what was listed, although it was a pretty close match. We made our own bacon bits for the cookies so thank goodness we didn’t double that recipe! Holy bacon. After what seemed like hours of chopping and making bacon, we were finally ready to start cooking and baking. Of course we had to do both at once so it was utter chaos in the kitchen. Thank goodness for the kitchen aid. And thank goodness for the huge stock pot D bought us ages ago. Let’s just say that I don’t want to see another potato or another piece of bacon for a good long time.

This weekend I was a cooking fiend! A friend came over Saturday and after some shopping we headed to my place for some cooking, baking, drinking and movie watching. Phew! We decided on Horseradish Mashed Potato Pie for dinner (NOT a 30 min endeavor I don’t care what Rachel says), and bacon chocolate chip cookies. In our infinite wisdom we decided that since we were making one batch of the mashed potato pie, why not double the recipe and then each have some leftovers. Now, the recipe called for 5lbs of mashed potatoes… why it didn’t occur to us in the store that 10lbs of potatoes is an insane amount of potato, I still can’t figure out. We decided on ground chicken instead of beef and got a pack of soup veggies instead of what was listed, although it was a pretty close match. We made our own bacon bits for the cookies so thank goodness we didn’t double that recipe! Holy bacon. After what seemed like hours of chopping and making bacon, we were finally ready to start cooking and baking. Of course we had to do both at once so it was utter chaos in the kitchen. Thank goodness for the kitchen aid. And thank goodness for the huge stock pot D bought us ages ago. Let’s just say that I don’t want to see another potato or another piece of bacon for a good long time.

I pulled this gem out to play on my new iPod Touch. If you haven’t seen the Fatboy Slim Weapon of Choice video with Christopher Walken, have a seat and enjoy.

For as long as I can remember I have been reusing plastic shopping bags as trash can liners. A little trick my mom passed on to me. The designer in me desperately wants to buy nice neat bags that will look good in the trash cans but I can’t in good conscious do that. Well finally someone has come up with a trash can that uses the plastic grocery bags but hides them so you don’t have to look at the ragged handles or the fact that they are yellow… Now when can I buy one? via

Chinese New Year is almost upon us. February 8th begins the year of the rat. I have a ton of fabric lying around and this seems like a perfect way to give some away as a gift.

I saw this great idea for a backslash today on Materialicious. I love to cook from recipes, but I hate the idea of printing them out because I am not good about saving them which means I print them over and over. I am not sure I like the idea of having this right over the stove. I think all I would end up with is grease splatter on the chalkboard and chalk dust in the food. But this would be perfect next to the stove. Then I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about all the little slips of paper I am using to keep ingredients handy or risk losing my laptop to a spill. via

Apparently we are mere weeks away from IKEA Red Hook. I know I shouldn’t be so excited about this, but I am. I have read all the cons to having this Swedish Mega Giant move into Brooklyn. I am aware that you buy stuff at IKEA which is something I need to cut back on. I know I know. But I can’t wait. Can I just say that while you can say a lot of bad things about the fact that IKEA is coming (whether you like it or not) they seem to be trying to do the right thing at every turn and not always because they were being forced to do so. They did a major waterfront improvement which helps to extend the NY Greenway just that much more and today I read that for the next 3 weeks they are only hiring people in the 11231 zip. Bringing jobs to the community sounds like a good thing to me. Apparently they are only accepting applications online, so for those without computer access or access to the library, Red Hook Works and Red Hook Rise is offering free computer access and assistance. I say välkomnande. via

On this blog I know it seems like I can’t really make up my mind between consumerism and minimalism. I think it is because I know the right thing to do (consume less) but I am a consumer, although I have come a long way. Does that make me a hypocrite? Maybe. I am learning to deal with this dual personality aspect of myself. Sifting through the layers of trash on the property is helping me see where my consumer ways are going to lead me if I am not careful. Today while clicking around I saw this great product. Bear with me here, it will all come together. I have an iPod Shuffle. If you have one as well, you know that they come in a plastic box which seems way too large for the shuffle. I kept mine because it seemed a shame to through away a perfectly good plastic box. Well in Japan someone has come up with a use for this plastic box. You can purchase a DIY kit that turns your shuffle packaging into a speaker! Tah dah! Now as a speaker it is a nice size for traveling and it has a use again. Come on America, get with the program. We are running out of space to dump stuff. via link US link.

Irene over at Bloesem got herself a Gocco PG5 for her birthday! Lucky girl… I can feel my resolve weakening… I am not sure I am going to be able to hold out until my craft diet is over. Must be strong… must be strong. You know, it wouldn’t be violating my self imposed craft diet if someone else were to buy it for me. Hint hint, Honey, hint hint. It is ok to get your loved ones gifts when there is no birthday or anniversary near. Really it is.