A Special Letter to My Brother on His Birthday

Dear Big Brother,

Today is your birthday. Your secret worry about aging is apparent in your constantly mentioning how close you are to 30, but I know you have nothing to worry about. After all you’re a lot like cheese, a little smelly, but better as you age.

I’ve always admired you. Since the first 15 months of my life, when I sat on my baby bum not needing to learn to walk, content just watching you run and play and joke and laugh, you’ve always been able to entertain me; you’ve always had a knack for entertaining our entire family. No one could make Grandma laugh like you could. It was infectious, when you were your goofy self, doing any and everything in attempt to make her laugh, everyone would look up and watch, and you’d make laughter catch and spread like wild fire.

But you are so much more than the provider of family entertainment. You have a deep thoughtful side made all the more awesome because of the rarity in which you present it. You have this unique ability to advise without pompous judgement, to subtly point me or others in the direction we weren’t aware we wanted to go. The way you care for each of your family members, with your unique, steady, peaceful, but powerful love. Your method of caring, is perhaps the thing I love most about you.

And yet it’s hard to choose just one character trait as my favorite when there are so many things to love about you. Your smile, your consistent quest for knowledge (not just for facts but for how your loved ones feel), your fierce love for all animals but especially dogs, your intelligent thoughtfulness, your not-quite-but-almost narcissism, your self-control, your desire to be as healthy as possible so you can continue to live your life with your arms wide open- the way you always have.

It’s your birthday today. So I’ve seized the opportunity to tell you and my small corner of the internet, about how lucky I am not to have big brother like you, but to have you specifically as my big brother and dear friend. There is no one else in the world like you, Erik. You are wonderfully special and I love you immensely. Happy Birthday.

Love,

Frankie

A Big Brother’s Birthday Cake

Tomorrow is my brother’s birthday. Last weekend we celebrated. I asked him what kind of cake he would like, and he said, “Reese’s or Butterfinger. if you can pull it off.” And just like that, I was on the receiving end of a baking challenge. I decided to go for it and make him a Reese’s inspired cake. It was a success! 

I used the my go-to chocolate cake recipe, Number 11 from Ming Makes Cupcakes, but used two nine-inch cake pans to bake it, and adjusted my cooking time accordingly. If I do it again, I’d probably lower the cooking temperature to 325 also, because the cake was the slightest bit dry. For the frosting,I used a basic chocolate ganache recipe, trading in half and half for the cream and omitting the rum. Then I made my own peanut butter filling. I eyed my measurements, but it was about a cup of smooth peanut butter, a cup of powdered sugar, a tablespoon of vanilla, and a third of a cup of agave nectar. I added in a bit of milk at a time until it was spreadable.

To make the “E” for Erik, on the top, I used Reese’s pieces. Originally the design included some brown ones, but they looked bad so I had to swap them out. Other than the ganache not being as smooth as I intended, the cake looked pretty good, and most importantly, it tasted delicious.

Since discovering the joy of baking, making birthday cakes has quickly become one of my favorite enterprises. I’m sure I’ll make this one again, but perhaps next time, I’ll use chunky peanut butter instead of smooth.

What’s your favorite birthday cake to make or eat?

DIY Trellis for Climbing Plants

When it comes to gardening, one of my biggest influences is my nonna (Italian Grandmother). She utilizes all the space that she has, and she doesn’t grant aesthetics any undo importance.  (Her garden is the one place where appearances don’t matter to her.) She has a cucumber plant growing in a mini bed on the plot of grass between the road and the sidewalk and tomatoes and fava beans flourishing in the flower bed beneath her front windows. It doesn’t matter to her that vegetables are traditionally absent from view from the road. She’s taught me to value functionality in gardening above all else.

So when it comes time to give my beans something to grow up, I don’t waste money purchasing a trellis. Instead I create my own, using materials we have on hand. My father and I keep a collection of sticks, that we collect when they fall from trees during storms; these sticks plus some twine make a perfectly functional trellis.

To make the trellis, plant the beans (or other vine/ creeper) in two long rows. Then place a row of sticks on the outside of each row and one row of sticks between the rows. Then weave the twine around the sticks to create a web, on which the beans can grow. Some people might describe my trellis as trashy or cheap, but I adore its old country, rustic appeal. Besides, when the beans begin to take over, the trellis will disappear into one giant bean bush.

How do you feel about store-bought trellises versus DIY? Do you plant vegetables in your flower beds, or other unusual places?

Vegetarian Barbecue; Southwestern Black Bean Burgers

When I first stopped eating meat, the thought of summer barbecues made me sad. I knew summer gatherings where barbecues were involved, would never be the same. And they haven’t been, but I’ve learned that with a little bit of extra effort, they can be just as enjoyable. With that in mind, over the next few weeks I’m going to share some of my favorite recipes for a Vegetarian Barbecue. Whether you’ve invited a herbavoire to a barbecue and are at a loss for what to grill, or you’d just like to stray from the customary meaty barbecue, I hope you’ll enjoy the recipes I share.

The Southwestern Black Bean Burger

Ingredients:

2 15 oz Cans of Black Beans

1.5 Tablespoons Cajun Seasoning (Taco Seasoning Works as well.)

Large handful of cilantro

1/3 a cup of corn (fresh or defrosted)

1/4 cup of chopped red pepper

1 small onion, chopped

1 or 2 cloves of garlic

1 egg

3/4 cup of bread crumbs

Drain and rinse one can of beans. Put into the food processor, with the egg, seasoning, cilantro and garlic. It should be sort of soupy when you remove it. Put it in a big mixing bowl. Add half of the other can of beans (rinsed and drained). Mix together with remaining ingredients. Form burgers.  (You should be able to form patties, but if it’s not thick enough, add additional breadcrumbs.) Grill for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. I devoured mine with arugula, avocado, tomato, and Colby jack cheese, but you can serve it with anything you’d like.

Grill Tip: When making any type of burger, always remember to toss your rolls on the grill for the last-minute, so they can get toasted. This one little step is easy to forget but definitely worth remembering!

Friday Letters

Dear Three Day Weekend,  I am SO HAPPY you’re here. I can’t wait to curl up with a good book, shop some sales, and bake a certain brother a birthday cake.

Dear JCrew, Please stop sending me promotional emails. I did not need to know that I got an extra 30% off sale items, because I most definitely did not need to purchase THREE new bathing suit tops.

Dear All Old Jeans, Be prepared to be made into something new and fun over the next few weeks. I have some fun plans for you!

Dear Birthday Brother, When you said, “If you can pull it off” about baking you a Reese’s Cake, I took that as challenge.

Dear Articipate, I’ve been working on my Memorial challenge a little bit every night. I guess you really have achieved your purpose of getting me to create.

Dear Cheese, You are delicious, but I ate way too much of you last night and now I’m ridiculously bloated. Um Thanks.

Dear Kindle, You’ve created a monster. I now gave myself a monthly budget for books. I wish it wasn’t necessary but it so is.

Dear Glee, I was quite pleased with how you ended this season. Watching Finn and Rachel get married immediately after graduation would’ve been too much for me.

Dear Dad, Thanks for being my garden buddy. I love the time we spend checking on the garden’s progress every night, even if you told me weeding today was mandatory.

Dear Friends, Have an incredibly happy and wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Giving Old Jeans New Life

We all have them- jeans that we don’t wear (even though they fit) because there’s something we don’t like about them. I have quite a few pairs like this- jeans that fit, but weren’t getting worn for one reason or another. I didn’t wear the pair above because the too-light color and the flare-legs bordering on being bell bottoms. Instead of giving them away, and spending money on a new pair, I decided to give this pair new life.

My first goal was to fix the almost-bell-bottom legs. With Deb’s sewing machine and her help, that goal was accomplished in a few simple steps.

1. Undo the bottom hem.   2. Put the Jeans on inside out.   3. Pin them to where you want them, only taking them in on one side.*   4. Draw a vertical straight-as-possible line along the pins.   5. Sew along the line.   6. Cut the excess fabric off.   7. Resew the bottom hem. 8. Repeat for the other leg.   9. Adjust if necessary.

Once I’d achieved the desired skinny jean look, I needed to tackle the too-light color. I like faded jeans, but I have another pair in a nicer shade of blue, so I wanted to do something different with these. Inspired by my recent obsession with colored jeans. I decided to dye these purple. After all, I already had pink, red, green, and yellow.

Dying clothing is such an easy and inexpensive enterprise, thanks to RIT dye. I’ve used RIT dye before, and I figured that with their mostly cotton content, the jeans would take the dye quite nicely.

All you need to dye clothing is RIT dye, hot water, a bucket, salt, and gloves**. Chopsticks are optional. Immediately before I dyed my jeans, I put them through the wash. When they were just out of the wash but still entirely wet, I submerged them in the bucket full of previously prepared dye. To prepare RIT dye, mix the powdered dye, very hot water, and salt in a bucket (this is where I used the chopsticks). Soak your item until it’s your desired color. I made sure to mix the jeans in the dye using the chopsticks for the five minutes they soaked.

I let the jeans hang outside for a bit so they’d really absorb the dye. Then I ran them through another wash cycle by themselves to remove any excess dye. I don’t think I could have been happier when I saw them out of the dryer. I love the bright purple color. These jeans were going to get donated, but it makes me so happy that I was able to breathe new life into them! They make me smile with pride whenever I put them on.

*Note: My nonna (the seamstress) made sure I knew that sometimes you need to take in the seam from both sides when you alter pants. For these, I definitely didn’t need to, but if you decide to try this, make sure your newly sewn pants look good on, before you cut off the excess fabric.

**Note 2: Obviously, RIT dye will stain your clothes. That’s kind of the point, but it also stains skin, and that’s why you need the gloves!

An Afternoon on the Boat

The first time I went on a boat, I went on a fishing trip on the ocean with my family. We saw pigs swimming in the bay. I clung to the sides of the boat, fearful of falling in and being eaten by a shark, or a swarm of sharks. The second time, Jon came along and as he tells all interested parties, I made him seasick. It was very choppy and looking at the horizon did not help to quell my nausea (nor his).

Since those first experiences, I’ve come to really enjoy going on my dad’s boat. Boating on the lake is far superior to ocean boating, the water tends to be much calmer and my galeophobia doesn’t extend to freshwater. The perfect weather on Saturday made it the ideal first boating day of the season. I tossed on a bikini and grabbed my watercolors and a sketchbook and we were off.

It was Tex’s first time on the boat. He really enjoyed it, until he could no longer cross his legs, and whined until we went to shore so he could relieve himself.  For the most part, I just sunned myself, but I also did some quick paintings. They aren’t anything special, but I really enjoyed the process. Sitting on the bench of the boat, with Tex leaning up against my bag and the sun shining down on us, was pure contentment. I look forward to many more afternoons spent on the boat this summer. What is it about a body of water and some sun that breed happiness?

Because it was Tex’s first time on the boat, I learned a bit about boating with dogs which I thought I’d share. Next time, I’ll remember to take something for him to do. He can’t roam, so I think he’d have been more content with a bone or a stuffed animal to chew. We brought him water, and gave him as much as he wanted. Next time, I’ll limit how much water he gets,so his bladder won’t fill up as quickly. The boat doesn’t have any shade and Tex was hot, I’ll make sure to bring an umbrella or something for him next time.  If you have a tip about boating with dogs, please leave it in the comments! Advice is always appreciated here. Happy Wednesday!