new recipe

I have been getting Woman's Day magazine and I have no idea why. I usually flip through it, it's a tad old for me. But in this past issue they had some slow cooker recipes. We recieved a slow cooker for a wedding presend and I have yet to use it. I don't really know any good recipes, but since I'm getting yhis magazine I might as well get some use out of it, and use my crock pot at the same time!

And it just so happens that I'm a fool for barbeque pork sandwiches, which was one of the recipes! I wasn't too crazy about the sauce, I can't really put my finger on what was wrong with the flavor, but I think it turned out pretty good for my first venture with the crock pot! :) And instead of making them sliders and using small rolls, I just used regular sized buns. I also left out the scallions, maybe that was the missing ingredient... Here is the recipe:

South Carolina BBQ Pork Sliders

Serves 8 
Active: 15 min 
Total: about 8 to 10 hr on low

1 slow-cooker liner (we used Reynolds)
1⁄4 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp each paprika and dried minced onion
1 1⁄2 tsp salt-free chili powder
1 1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄2 tsp garlic powder
1⁄2 tsp allspice (optional)
4 lb bone-in pork shoulder roast
3⁄4 cup apple cider vinegar
1⁄2 cup sliced scallions
24 small dinner rolls, split
Accompaniments: hot pepper sauce, coleslaw

1. Line a 4-qt or larger slow-cooker with liner. Mix 1 Tbsp of the brown sugar, the paprika, minced onion, chili powder, salt, garlic powder and allspice. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp into bottom of slow-cooker. Rub remaining mixture over pork. Add vinegar and remaining brown sugar to slow-cooker; stir to mix. Add pork.
2. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours until pork is fork-tender. Remove pork to cutting board and pull into shreds. Return to slow-cooker; add scallions and toss to coat.
3. Put about 1⁄4 cup onto each bun bottom. Top with bun tops.

Projects lately

Well, I can't get my scanner to work, so I can't show you a painting I did this week, so instead I thought I'd share with you some projects I've done recently.

A little branch thingumbob, I made it from branches and some baubles on ribbons leftover from wedding decorations. The base is a piece of styrofoam I painted black ( I recycled!) and the vase is also a leftover wedding decoration. The rocks and shells are things I picked up on our Pismo Beach honeymoon. This is really easy to make, I just picked up some branches and spray painted each side white. You need to get a good mix of thin and thicker branches. Then I stuck them in the styrofoam and tied the ribbons to them randomly. It's a little raw-looking, but I like it that way. Because there are elements from our wedding and honeymoon, it's kinda like a memory piece, I dont know what you would call something like that though...Before- a boring Target bookshelf with no life and no personality....blah!

After- a totally unique fun bookshelf! With wrapping paper from target, no less! I didn't realize that until a while afterwards, and I am pretty easily amused so, yeah...

Mother's Day

We had a nice trip up to Washington to visit Ezra's parents this weekend. I made my mother in law a yummy pound cake with caramel frosting. I have been in such a baking mood! I hardly ever bake anything, as Ezra isn't much of a dessert person. But I think while I have the eggs, I'm going to make some more. I pretty much hate eggs as a food, except when baked into something. I think might just make some scones this week...

My Cake

Anyway, back to mother's day-goodness!- It was nice, the men of the church in Renton made a wonderful lunch for the ladies, some amazing carne asada with amazing salsa, and a ton of fruit too! Still, I wish I could have seen my mom...she's all the way in Chicago. But she got to go to the arboretum there and have a picnic with my dad and sisters, so of course she had a nice mother's day even withou her oldest daughter. Sorry you couldn't have some cake mom! I know how you feel about cake... Well, I know I'm a day late, but I just want to say thank you mom for having me and being such a great mother and everything, I love you! And thanks, Marlene, for having Ezra and letting me marry him and being a great mother in law!

Robert's Family

The cards I made for my moms

paper flowers

The past couple days I've been making paper flowers, so I thought I'd share some of them with you here. I based these off a tutorial by Jeffrey Rudell on craftstylish.com. I had to adapt the project because I dind't have glue (gasp!) and I used tissue paper and it came out fine, I really like it :) I made another bouquet out of colorful magazine pages. Putting those pesky ads to work!

You can find the original project here.

Star trek cookies!

To celebrate the release of the Star Trek movie today, I

made star trek cookies!

These little bits of goodness were almost too cute to eat. But they tase as good as they look so it's ok. I was originally going to make them for a potluck at work we were having today, but I got my schedule changed at the last minute so, more for us! I think I was almost more excited about the cookies than I was about the movie.

Making sugar cookies is hard, now I realized why we hardly ever made them when I was growing up. I actually atayed up till about 2:45 making them, cause I was too excited to sleep lol

I used my grandmas recipe and, since there is no such thing as a star trek cookie cutter, I just printed out the insignia, cut it out and used it as a guide, cutting the dough around it with a paring knife. Surprisingly, it held up through almost 4 dozen cookies. It did get pretty soggy, but worked great for just a piece of computer paper. I did see this tutorial about making your own cookie cutter, but that's more work than I ever want to do...

Anyway, enjoy, hope I inspire someone to use their imagination to make special "outside the box" cookies for a special occasion!

invitation inspiration

I just recieved my friend Janel's wedding invitation , and was so delighted by the pattern. It's damask! I just love damask, to me it's so timeless and classic. It feels like a little piece of luxury, like a princess would have her rooms decorated with damask. If I could, I'd surround myself with damask patterns. Well, that would be a little overkill, and I'd get tired of it really fast.

Currently the only thing I have with the pattern is a pink and brown portfolio that hides in a drawer, and the invitation, which graces my bulletin board. I think I really need to go shopping and find a lamp shade or something that will to fill my life with luxury. I am about to attack my living room anyway, why not have a piece or two?

Congratulations Ryan and Janel! I can't wait for the wedding, which I will be a bridesmaid in and wear a beautiful dress :)

Well, I'm off to work now, but here's some more damask to feast your eyes on:

The pattern on the left is actually a rug!

Damask galore

Damask Stencils!

Limeaid

Today I made limeaid for the first time. I've only ever had it at sonic (oh how I love thee..) Apparently Ezra's grandma makes it a lot. We don't have a juicer, so I have Ezra squeeze them all by hand (heehee). I was soo good and refreshing, one sip and I was instantly transported to a world of summer and warmth and lazy days. Ah, lovely limeaid. I think we need to get some more limes. And a juicer. And a bigger pitcher. 

I'm adding my little recipe just in case:

4 limes

1quart water

1/2 cup sugar

Squeeze limes and swoosh together in  a pitcher. I added some lime wedges and ice to the pitcher. 

Why Serendipity?

So, this is my first venture into blogging. I must admit, I've neen wanting to put up a blog for a long time now. I would always get these great ideas to post, and think "I need to set up a blog already!" But I never got around to it. Now that I have, I don't really have any idea what to say! Maybe because it's late at night....

Well, as my blog title implies, I love to be spontaneous! I think I just like the word serendipity... But I also like what it implies, to me serendipity means finding something new every day. Every day is so short, and after this day is over I'm not going to get to live it again, so I want to make the most of every day and squeeze all the wonderful  life out of everyhing so I don't miss a thing! 

This little blog is a place for me to document all those beautiful, wonderful things I see and do. I hope I can inspire someone to live all thier days to their fullest.