sabjimata

Goodnight, Sabjimata

sabjimata — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:29:46 +0000

Thank you for all the blog love over the past 4.5 years. I am moving on from Sabjimata. The content will stay up at this address but a new blogging identity awaits me at a new URL. Please visit! If you are reading this before December 1, 2011, do note that the new blog is still being built. But feel free to snoop around and see my blog in it’s not ready yet state. Yup, my blog’s in its underpants and the curtains are open!

New Blog @ cottageid.com

See you there!

Macintosh Modern. Not Just for Apples.

sabjimata — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:06:02 +0000

Macintosh pulls kick the style butt of Mad Men Don Drapers everywhere! They are like the cro-magnon pull of the modern era. Check it out, Betty!

Tipster: How To Unload Your Home In A Buyer’s Market

sabjimata — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:31:23 +0000

Yup. The real estate market hasn’t recovered but you need to move. Been there, suffered through that. How can you get the most from your sale without slashing the price? You may not like the answer.

Read on…

Happy Halloween

sabjimata — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:06:24 +0000

Right now it is raining in Alachua. Rain on Halloween? Well, it’s certainly better than SNOW!

Today the husband went to work with a little something sweet for his nurse compadres:

Carrot juice + chocolate naturally color the festiveness of these cupcakes.

The kids got dressed up Thursday for their school's fall festival. Kitty sewed her own skirt.

Vm was batty for his costume. Hopefully we can pull it all together again tonight.

Enjoy the day! I’ll be cleaning up my kitchen from all the buttercream.

Tipster : Easy Chocolate Leaves

sabjimata — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:24:29 +0000

The new issue of Martha Stewart Living featured a really ingenious idea–cabbage leaves covered in chocolate to use for ice cream bowls! At first I was all fart face about it, until I realized that you peel away the cabbage after the melted chocolate hardens and before you serve the ice cream. Oh yeah!

Since it is Halloween/Fall Festival time and I am a mom of 3, I took this idea and ran with it….all the way to my cupcake decorating station. Do I really have a designated cupcake decorating station in my kitchen? Oh yeah!

I used basil from my garden as my leaf molds, melted semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave (going for easy here, don’t judge), and got my paint brush sharpened (not really).

Basil leaves are a natural, non-toxic chocolate mold! A slight hint of basil was left behind; I found it rather pleasant. Mint would also be a natural choice.

After I painted the leaves, I set them on parchment paper and stuck them in the fridge overnight. The next morning, I peeled back the leaves and was left with a delicately detailed chocolate relief. Or should I say, chocolate re-leaf. Guffaw.

Isn't the detail amazing? I go the best results from painting the chocolate on the underside of the leaf since that is the veinier side. I stuck the leaves, at a fun and jaunty angle!, into the piped buttercream on le cupcakes. Unfortunately, those pictures were not worthy of this blog. Sadness.

Interview : Orion Horton Henderson, Owner of Horton Brasses

sabjimata — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:56:04 +0000

Orion Horton Henderson, Top Brass @ Horton Brasses Hardware

Yes, I shill for Horton Brasses. But that’s because, since using their hardware in my first kitchen remodel and loving the hardware and the personalized customer service, I’ve been their #1 fan. Corny, I know. But when a brand wins my heart, baby I’m yours!

My latest celebrity interview is with Orion himself! It’s way more interesting than you would think an interview with a cabinet hardware manufacturer would be, partially because I ask such provocative questions and partially because Orion and his business are just really interesting subjects.

Honestly, I think Orion is a gem and I always love talking with him. Conversations with Orion make me feel like I’m auditing a really good class in an MBA program. If you are interested in small business in America and keeping the personal touch in an increasingly depersonalized online world, keep reading.

Recipe : Eggless Pumpkin Pie Perfection

sabjimata — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:20:46 +0000

Looky here! Bindu's wearing a gnome hat! Nope, we haven't gone Waldorf. Just it's finally decided to cool off in Florida. Well, at least in the wee hours at the crack of dawn.

Brrrr! and loving it. Yesterday my kids had Sewing Studio and I was the snack mama. Since I do take requests, I fulfilled my children's fantasies and whipped up one fabu-f'ing-licious pumpkin pie. So good, it would never be confused for a Teresa Guidice Joint.

What's my secret? An extra flaky, super easy pie crust that defies convention and sucanat--the brown sugar with the mostest!

Check out the recipe here. XO

Quality Control : Waiter, There’s A Dead Scorpion In My Apple Cider

sabjimata — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:46:53 +0000

Tonight my husband came home from work and went to pour himself a refreshing glass of Ziegler's Old Fashioned Apple Cider. Apparently "old fashioned" means "with a dead scorpion floating in it."

IKEA : Disposable Design For All

sabjimata — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:03:53 +0000

“IKEA stores, like Chihuahuas and cilantro, provoke extreme reactions.”

Have you read Laura Collins’ New Yorker piece on IKEA? Highly recommend, although the full version is not yet available online. Subscribe, suckas! Cause the New Yorker is one of those rare print mags that actually contain lots of print! Check out my reaction to it here and leave your feedback on the culture of disposable design. XO

Earth Balance NYC Trip!

sabjimata — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:34:57 +0000

My Winning Dish: Tamarind Peanut Rice Noodle Salad

Remember when Earth Balance crowned my recipe the winner of its Spring to Life Contest?

Well, last week the husband and I collected the grand prize. A trip to New York City!

De-planing @ LaGuardia Intl Airport

To live vicariously through the non-stop excitement of my ridiculously jet set life, visit Sabjimata on Facebook, give me a Like and check out my trip pics! XO