Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 348
April 21, 2011
Winning Sweet Potato Recipes
I recently helped judge the North Carolina Sweet Potatoes Recipe Contest, which was a delicious task, and with three finalists in each of three categories (kid-friendly, sugar-free, and vegetarian), a pretty filling one, too. We sampled everything from sweet potato cheese straws (a great party snack) to sweet potato mango cake to sweet potato "pasta."
Here were two of my favorites, which also happened to be the winners in their respective categories.
The sugar-free category was tough—contestants weren't allowed to add any additional sweeteners like honey or agave syrup, so at first taste each dish was lacking the level of sweetness we're accustomed to. But these Sweet Potato Date Scones really won me over—incredibly moist and full of spices, this is something I intend to make at home. I also love that they're drop scones, so there's no need to roll out dough or cut out shapes.
In the vegetarian category, the Sweet Potato Linguine With Browned Butter and Sage blew me away. First of all, though it looks and tastes just like pasta, it actually isn't—those are just long, thin strips of sweet potato cut to resemble linguine. Amazing! And second, not counting salt and pepper, this recipe calls for just three ingredients—sweet potato, fresh sage leaves, and butter. The most difficult part of the recipe is simply slicing the potato thinly enough (you should probably use a mandolin for this, but watch your fingers). Finally, this dish is gluten-free, too. Once I get over my fear of mandolins, I'm going to cook this recipe, serve it to guests, and see if they realize that they're not eating pasta.
Want to get more sweet potato recipes? See the full list of contest winners and runners-up here.
Air-Dry Your Clothes to Save Energy and Prevent Shrinking
Many clothing labels recommend air-drying in order to prevent shrinking or damage to delicate fabrics. But skipping the dryer is an easy way to save energy as well. According to calculations done on TerraPass's blog by air-drying just half of your loads of laundry you can save about $64 in energy costs and conserve more than 1,000 pounds of CO2.
To make skipping the dryer a little easier, check out these drying racks:
WindowDry Clothes Drying Rack, $50
, $13
Real Simple Adjustable Drying Rack, $40
How often do you skip the dryer and hang your clothes to dry?
Related:
10 Painless Changes You Can Make for a Greener Home
6 Simple Energy-Saving Home Fixes
What Book Won the May Poll?
Hi, Bookies:
Your pick for May: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark's classic tale of an outspoken teacher at an Edinburgh, Scotland, school for girls whose unconventional relationship with a select group of students would be her undoing. In the coming days, May book-discussion leader Amy Feezor, the copy director of Real Simple's marketing department, will introduce herself. Until then, have a happy Easter!
If you wish to comment, please click here.
If You Love Easter Eggs and Cupcakes...
...then I've got the man for you.
Turns out we have a bona fide Renaissance Man working in the photo department at Real Simple. His name is Brian Madigan, and he is our photo archivist. That means Brian does about a million things here (which is true of so many of the talented folks who work in these halls), although it does not mean that he teaches knitting to anyone on staff who wants to learn. But he does that too. So far I (and a handful of other staffers) have had three knitting lessons with Brian. He is much too polite to tell you that I have made absolutely no progress. And he's much too humble to tell you that for the last lesson he brought in an insane chocolate cake that he had made from a nearly impossible recipe the day before. It had chocolate glaze icing and a giant chocolate bow on top. We were impressed, and grateful.
Today Brian shocked us again. Before we began what looked like an ordinary meeting in the art department, Brian opened two plastic containers that he had brought from home. Inside were eggs. But not just any eggs. Check this out:
Crazy Renaissance man Brian read this blog and decided to do it himself. And to share the results with the rest of us. Brian being Brian, he was very critical of his results (should have warmed the frosting; should have considered dying the eggs before removing the insides), but honestly! I just think the whole thing is a miracle. As is our very own Renaissance Man. Happy Easter!
Are you reading this via an e-mail or RSS feed? If you wish to comment, please click here.
Spend Earth Day With Matt & Nat And Naya
Double-whammy Earth Day shopping!
These two companies are not only donating money and resources to Earth-friendly causes, but their entire collections are green (and I don't mean the color).
Matt & Nat--our favorite eco-friendly and vegan (meaning that don't use any animal byproducts in the making of their bags) company is donating $21 from every purchase of their limited edition Ikat bags to benefit Charity:Water (which is a non-profit organization that brings clean and sade drinking water to people in developing countries).
And why $21 you ask? It parallels with Matt & Nat's longtime practice of using an average of 21 recycled water bottles to create each socially responsible peice in the line.
So, just to break it down: for every 1 bag sold, 1 person will be provided with drinking water. Simply amazing!
And you'll need a fabulous pair of (eco-friendly) shoes to go with that bag, right?
Well, Naya shoes has teamed up with Nordstrom to celebrate Earth Day by planting 5,000 trees in support of Plant-It 2020, a US non-profit organization founded by John Denver. The companies will plant a tree for every pair of Naya shoes purchased at Nordstrom from April 15, 2011 - May 3, 2011.
Happy helping!
A Clever Way to Ask Friends to Be in Your Wedding via OhHi Shop
One of our favorite crafty design bloggers, Laura from OhHi Shop, recently got engaged. And, of course, she came up with a creative way to ask her friends to be a part of her big day. Check out the invites she sent them.
They look pretty simple, but what until you see what's inside.
In addition to a card asking each person to be one of her attendants, she included information about the dress colors, and a little write up about the rest the other people she was inviting to be part of the wedding party. I think it's a great way to introduce friends who might not already know each other.
Check out Laura's blog to see more photos of her bridal party invites and other crafty wedding projects.
If you're married, how did you ask friends to be part of your wedding? If you're not yet married, would you consider something fun like this to invite your friends and family to be your bridesmaids?
Related:
15 Gorgeous Bridesmaid Dresses
Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Mail a Paper Thank You Note...
A couple of weeks ago (well before Earth Day) I raised the question on this blog of whether traditional thank you notes are becoming obsolete. A few readers may have noticed my gentle attempt to sway opinion when I suggested: "So maybe it has become wasteful—or, dare I say, impolite?—to cut down another forest so we can mail anachronistic paper thank you notes."
"Wrong!" you answered (pretty much universally).
Many, many readers wrote to me or posted comments, offering their support for paper thank you notes. The reasons included:
"It's tradition."
"It says you made an effort."
"I love to receive them, so I should send them."
"I like to pick out pretty matching stamps."
So...I figured I'd quietly back off my super subtle "let's abolish paper thank you's" campaign before anybody noticed I had launched it. Why invite more criticism when I'm still recovering from some of your more outraged "how dare you wear your mother's mink" comments?
But then, this morning my 8th grader came into the kitchen excited about Earth Day. All her friends are going to wear green or blue! Or brown. Anyway, she started humming the "Mother Earth" song she learned when we lived in Northern California, where they are serious about recycling, and so I decided to give the anti-paper argument another shot.
I have a friend, Bea, whose household generates no garbage. Zero. No food scraps, no broken toys, no old shoes, no pizza boxes, no cast-off couches, nothing. Ever. A year or so ago I wrote a newspaper column about Bea's life in Mill Valley, California. She has a meat jar she takes to the butcher to avoid paper wrap. She uses a brass gum stimulator with a rubber tip to avoid disposable dental floss. She owns one pair of jeans (this is true—I was in her closet).
When it comes to dealing with all the paper waste that mail creates, Bea's philosophy is simple: Don't let it come into your house in the first place. Refuse, so you don't have to recycle later. She phones catalog companies to ask them to take her off their mailing lists. She saves cardboard boxes and re-addresses them. She mails back videos in their Netflix sleeves.
And when it comes to thank you notes, Bea wrote me recently:
"I think that on some very special occasions they are needed (if meeting the Queen of England, for example, or my grandma who does not have email). But for most occasions, an email will suffice (it's a step up from texting)."
The exception, Bea wrote, is when someone mails you a paper invitation. "When you receive a paper invitation, you get a return address on the envelope," she said. Save the envelope. When it's time for a thank you, write a note (Bea makes her own paper, from recycled pulp, by the way) and send it back in the same envelope.
If you want to know more about Bea's zero-waste philosophy—and believe me, it's comprehensive—she has a zero-waste blog that I love to read.
Happy Earth Day, everyone!
Have I persuaded you yet? Or do you still believe paper thank you notes are a non-negotiable sign of civilization?
(image via RealSimple.com)
April 20, 2011
Opt for Eco-Friendly Nail Polish
When it comes to chemicals in your cosmetics, nail polishes can be some of the worst offenders. So when you can, opt for polishes that don't have ingredients like formaldehyde and toluene.
Here are some brands to look for:
Scotch Naturals, $15 per bottle
Zoya nail polish, $8 per bottle
SpaRitual Nail Polish, $5 for the mini bottle, $10 for the regular size
Related:
Best Nail Care Beauty Buys from InStyle
New Rules Will Give Flyers More Disclosure, Better Service
Planning your summer travel and hate the idea of flying? Take heart: The U.S. Department of Transportation approved new rules today that will ease some of the burden. Here are the highlights.
1) Better comparison shopping: Airlines must now include government taxes and disclose all other fees when advertising plane fares. This should be especially helpful to folks flying overseas, where various surcharges can greatly boost prices. (Meanwhile, watch out for this sneaky airline trick.)
2) Better compensation for bumping: If a carrier bumps you off a flight and you arrive at your destination within one to two hours of your planned arrival time, it must pay you double the price of your ticket up to $650. (The time frame is one to four hours for international flights.) But the airline must pay you four times the value of your ticket -- up to $1,300 -- if you arrive more than two hours after your originally scheduled time (four hours for international flights).
3) No more tarmac nightmares: Foreign airlines must release passengers stuck at U.S. airports after four hours on the tarmac, or be fined up to $27,500. (Last year the DOT ruled that U.S. airlines must release passengers after three hours.) Carriers must also provide adequate food and water to stuck passengers after two hours, as well as working lavatories and any necessary medical treatment.
4) Reimbursement of Fees: If the airline loses your bag, they have to refund baggage fees.
5) Easier planning: Passengers can cancel reservations within 24 hours of a booking without penalty. Also, airlines must notify consumers of delays of more than 30 minutes.
Personally I'd love to see something about having real food for sale when a flight lasts longer than four hours and takes place over lunch or dinner. I flew to Arizona in January and the $6 fruit and cheese plate just didn't cut it for me.
Anything you would add to the DOT's new regulations? What's your worst flying experience? Would these rules have helped you avoid the situation?
Easy Eyeliner Tips from a Makeup Artist
Recently, I was at an event where Make Up Forever's makeup artist and national educator, Jessie Powers, shared four easy tips on how to apply eyeliner. I had never heard these tricks before, so I wanted to share them with all of you!
The Best Way to Apply Eyeliner
1. Draw a thin line of liner centered on the upper lash line directly above the pupil.
2. To create the liner "tail", choose the end point of your tail slightly above and outside the natural lash line. Then, with your eyes open and focused forward, draw a line from the tail's end point down toward the outer corner of the lash line. [You can adjust the length of "tail", depending on how dramatic or subtle you want your look to be.]
3. Next, with the eyes open and focused forward, draw a line from the end of the tail connecting it to the liner on the center of the upper lash line. Continue these strokes until the tail is completely filled in.
4. Finally, draw a line from the inner corner of the upper lash line to the middle of the upper lash line, connecting the two sections.
To inspire you to try these Jessie's tips, here are some suggests on my favorite products to use for eyeliner.
Best Pencil Liner
To buy: $17, sephora.com
Best Liquid Liner
To buy: $20,
Best Cream Liner
To buy: $10 each, ulta.com
What are some of your eyeliner tricks that you use regularly? Share your own tips below!
Related:
How To: Apply Eyeliner (Video)
InStyle's Best Eyeliner Beauty Buys
Reader Question: How Do I Keep My Eyeliner from Smudging?
