January 2012
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New Blog Address- Bookmark it Peeps →
So two years into blogging and I finally make Beyond Picket Fences legit and buy my blog name address instead of using the generic Tumblr one. You’ll get to me with the old address, though, so don’t fret. Happy Reading!
http://beyondpicketfences.com/
“When I’m old, I don’t want them to say of me, ‘She’s so...”
– G. Stoddard
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savoring simplicity
With all the amazing delicious rich food I’ve made and eaten over the holidays I’ve been looking to eat more simply. Beyond the health benefits, sometimes just tasting the basic fresh flavors of your food is a treasure. A few days ago I received my first local box of the year and was happy to see a great variety of delicious winter veggies including turnips.
The simple turnip. Next to...
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happy anniversary austin!
Today is my 15 year anniversary with the amazing city of Austin, Texas. The past fifteen years have been quite a ride. I came here as an awkward, angry, depressed teenager, desperately trying to survive high school in a new school and town. The first few years here were tough, no lie. But throughout my transition from child to adult, Austin played an important positive role in the formation of who...
December 2011
6 posts
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home cooking at the office
We’ve kicked off our week of holiday cheer here at my office, and a coworker and I decided to starts things with a homemade holiday breakfast. Since we’re making it all at the office where we do not have a stove or standard oven, we had to improvise a bit. She and I made 3 different types of pancakes (original, blueberry, and gingerbread), maple sausage, nested eggs, over-easy eggs,...
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30 til 30
It is 30 days until my 30th birthday. As you might recall, a year ago I was horrified by this impending deadline day of my life and now I’m kind of excited about it. It’s a new decade, I’m employed, financially stable, more of a social butterfly than I’ve ever been before, happily single and enjoying it, confident, comfortable in my own skin, and thankful for all of the...
November 2011
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October 2011
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5 Ways to Use Your Left Over Candy Corn →
Loved this article so much I had to share. Candy Corn Cocktails will definitely be made tonight!
September 2011
5 posts
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austin bakes for bastrop - october 1st 10-2
We’re baking again! This time it’s to help out our neighbors affected by the recent wildfires. I was evacuated during the Labor Day fires, and while our home was safe thankfully, many others were not so fortunate. I was amazed by the tireless work of emergency personnel and all the volunteers from the various organizations that responded. Now let’s give back and help them as they...
ghost sighting, for real this time
Of all the performances in all the music festivals in all the cities in all of the world he shows up to the one I’m at and sits 20 feet away from me. With his wife in tow, no less. I swear I thought I got custody of Austin when we broke up. It nearly ruined the Broken Social Scene show for me, but I like the band too much to let an ex-boyfriend mess up a great musical experience. At first I...
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Torshi: Pickling, Persian Style
Torsh means sour in Farsi. Torshi is what we call any food that’s pickled since it tastes sour. I’ve been making torshi with my grandmother since I was a very little girl. It’s one of those foods that instantly brings comfort and happiness to me.
I grew up eating two types of pickles, Vlasic and homemade Persian style. I used to mimic that little girl in the Vlasic commercials,...
August 2011
3 posts
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vote for me, please →
I’m excited to present my SXSW 2012 panel submission entitled “But I Was Awesome, Why Didn’t They Hire Me?” Please take a look and let me know what you think. If you like the idea, or just like me, please set up a SXSW account and give my submission a thumbs up.
I really hope to be asked to speak at the 2012 SXSW Interactive Conference. I had such a great time at south-by...
I saw a ghost today. He haunted me throughout HEB. It’s been four years since I’ve seen this particular ghost, so I’m not sure if it was him or just his doppelganger. If it was him, you would think he would have said hello, but then again, maybe I’ve changed enough in the past few years that he wasn’t sure it was me either. Of course I could have said hello to see if...
July 2011
4 posts
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sweet independence day trifle, sans sugar
Happy Independence Day! Since I was eleven, it’s been a tradition that I make a flag cake on the 4th of July. It all got started when I saw the simple recipe in a copy of my mother’s Better Homes and Garden magazine. It consisted of Sara Lee pound cake, Cool Whip, strawberries and blueberries all put together to look like the American flag. At the time it was the most complicated thing...
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scape artist
A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to find garlic scapes in my Greenling local box. Having never heard of scapes, much less tasted them before, I hit the interwebs to figure out how to use these twisty green tendrils. Scapes are essentially sprouted garlic. Here’s a great article on garlic scapes if you’d like to learn more. They have an intense, sweet garlic flavor, but without...
June 2011
7 posts
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random fun facts about 2011
A little fun for your afternoon.
This year we’re going to experience four unusual dates. (you know I’ll be buying or already bought lotto tickets on these days) 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 and that’s not all… Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born - now add the age you will be this year, The results will be 111 for everyone in whole world. This...
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a kid's life
And by kid I mean a cute baby goat.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit Pure Luck Farm and Dairy out in Dripping Springs. I’ve been enjoying Pure Luck cheeses for many years, so I was very excited to be able to tour the farm. Pure Luck specializes in organic artisanal goat cheeses and fresh cut herbs. The tour was organized by Slow Food Austin, and we were shown around by owner...
May 2011
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long time no see
Hello, I’ve emerged from my shell.
So it’s been quite a while since I last posted anything so here is a synopsis of the past month:
My mother kicked cancer’s ass! She is amazing :o)
I am even more thankful for everyone and everything in my life than ever before
I milked a goat (more on this to come)
I’ve become a farmer’s market junkie
I hired 7 new people at...
April 2011
7 posts
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The Joys of Turmeric →
I really like this article on turmeric. I grew up with this delicious spice being added to almost every meal. To this day ground beef or lamb does not taste quite right to me without a bit of turmeric. I agree with him, fresh grated or freshly ground dried is the only way to go.
This inspires me to make chelokabob this weekend. Time to break out the grill!
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adventures in raw milk
Raw milk, aka unpasteurized milk, is so freaking delicious. I first sampled it a couple of years ago when I was in Ireland. I’ve never been a huge milk drinker. As a kid I was intolerant to cows milk and since then I’ve not really been one to drink a glass of milk. But when I tasted the deliciously creamy, earthy raw milk in my cup of coffee that first day in Dublin, I realized I love...
“Are you a fish or a drum?”
– Quote of the day.
As asked by my boss. Considering we work in HR you can only imagine the context surrounding this statement.
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Guinness-Gasm Cupcakes: The Recipe
By request, here is the recipe for the Guinness-Gasm cupcakes I made for the Austin Bake Sale for Japan.
This recipe is my variation of one I found on SF Food Wars. While my version is not quite as ‘colorful’ of a read as the original (seriously, read the original commentary), I made some tweaks to the recipe that I believe make these babies even tastier. I liked the mustache...
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Success! Austin Bake Sale for Japan
Yesterday’s Bake Sale for Japan was an amazing success! I am so proud to have been a part of it. The total amount raised at all 5 locations was over $11,000 benefiting AmeriCares! I worked the SoCo location and we made over $2k. It was a beautiful day and the generosity of the community was overwhelming.
First customers of the day.
Muffins (by moi), cakeballs and pies … oh my!
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Austin Bakesale for Japan - List of Items... →
Yay, it’s bakesale time! Check out this list to see which location(s) you want to hit up. See y’all there!
If you happen to buy my Guinness-gasm cupcakes from the south location, stay tuned for the recipe. I’ll be posting it soon!
March 2011
15 posts
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Austin Bakesale for Japan!
Come join me at the Austin Bakesale for Japan this Saturday, April 2nd. I’ll be at the south location in front of the Hotel San Jose. If you can’t volunteer then stop by and pick up some tasty treats. All items are available for a donation of your choice. Hope to see you there!
Links:
http://austinbakes.wordpress.com Twitter: @AustinBakes To give online:...
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Now and Then: This is one of my...
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WatchI just found some boarding passes, train ticket stubs and Euros from my 2008 trip to Europe in a bag that I clearly haven’t used since then. Right now I wish I could hop on a plane heading back to Ireland, England and Paris again. I think the travel bug just re-bit me.
But since I can’t stop everything and head to Europe right now, I’m making do with photos and videos from that...
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