Friday, August 3, 2012

Friday Mishmash - Bulu, Hippie, Beach!

What a great response to the Bulu Box giveaway!  Glad I had 5 to hand out - here are the winners:
Joanne
Farrah Morelli
Anita Seuss Kaushik

Congratulations!  Email me (40somethingsjourney@gmail.com) with your name and mailing address, and I'll get your info to my contact at Bulu Box - if I don't hear from you within a week, I'll draw for new winners.  Thanks for entering, and thanks again, Bulu Box, for doing such a generous giveaway!

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Sit and Knit update:  Let me just say that I'm so glad I run early in the morning - that way I've gotten my exercise done and can knit the day away, guilt-free.  Well, I still have guilt about neglecting housework to knit, but hey - at least my conscience is clean when it comes to workouts!  Last week I couldn't show you my latest windmill bag, because I made it for my mom's birthday (which was Tuesday - woohoo, hope you're still celebrating, Mom!).  Here it is, and oooh, do I love the colors:
 
And now I'm officially out of yarn to make these bags.  So either you'll never see another, or I'll just have to go shopping.  Hmmm, wonder which direction I'll go?

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Jill at The Sassy Pear was looking for a granola recipe recently, so I linked her to my Hippie Granola, only when I did, I realized that I've made some adjustments to the recipe I originally posted, so I thought I'd post how I make it now...just in case you are looking to make a yummy granola.

Hippie Granola
3 cups oats (I use Bob’s Red Mill extra thick)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
3 tbsp packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp (generous) salt
1/3 cup honey
2 tbsp canola oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line rimmed jelly roll pan with parchment paper if using non-stick pan.  Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.  Stir honey and oil in saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth.  Pour honey mixture over oat mixture, toss.  Spread on prepared pan.  Bake for 25 minutes - no need to stir.  Remove from oven – granola will crisp up within a few minutes.  Let dry, break up and store in an airtight container.
 The ingredients - dry and wet.
 Left - before baking; Right - after.
 
 My favorite way to eat the granola - on some greek yogurt with fruit.  YUM!

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Along with watermelon, my other favorite summertime fruit is cherries.  And this summer, I'm also eating them frozen - I just toss some in the freezer, stems and pits intact.  I first tried them when I was *wait for it* in California (haha, you know I can't let go of that trip just yet), and as good as they were out there, they're even better here with our crazy hot weather.  If you try this, just eat them slowly so you don't accidentally break a tooth on the pit.
Frozen deliciousness on a hot summer day!

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Jeff has been scanning old slides lately and boy have we seen some doozies!  This picture is awesome for two reasons - 1) the oil slick on my face...I remember Seventeen magazine saying you should use moisturizer under your make up and I was all, "no thanks, I make my own"; and 2) the perfect rolling curl in my hair...I had to work my old Clairol curling iron hard to get that look!  I was a senior in high school when this was taken - 17 years old.
Jeff said this picture scared him, with my eyes staring into his soul.  So naturally I made it his desktop background this week when he went out of town - bwahahahah!

And in case that picture gives you nightmares, here's a more recent one - Theresa and I were wading in the ocean when a big wave came in and splashed us pretty good:
Fun, fun times!

Have a great weekend!

21 comments:

  1. Hurray for a win! Very excited about that.

    OK, Ima break down and make your granola seeing as I have every dang ingredient. Mr. Helen loves to snack on the stuff so I'm sure that will make him very happy.

    Shelley - 1, Jeff - 0 SCORE! And yes, I did laugh right out loud just now.

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    1. After all this time I hope you like the granola!!!

      I can't WAIT for Jeff to get home tonight and turn on his computer - heheheh!

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  2. I love that windmill bag!!

    I LOVE your granola! People, it is the best granola recipe on the internets!!

    The 17 year old pic of you looks like you were doing your Farrah Faucet impression. I think its pretty. And the other pic is just fun!

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    1. Haha, you are probably right - I was trying to "model-smile" there!

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  3. Wow, that bag is awesome! How long did it take you to make? I just picked up knitting last year, so the furthest I've gotten is scarves, so I'm really impressed.

    Ha! I love that you made that picture the background! And geez, I wish I looked that good at 17. But going to an all-girls school at the tail end of the grunge era wasn't really conducive to looking pretty :)

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    1. Thanks - I think the bag took about 10 hours spread over several days? It's pretty simple to make, but it's on size 8 needles and I tend to grip them pretty tightly, which makes my hands ache, so I can only do so much before needing to switch to a bigger-needled project.

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  4. I remember trying to feather my hair like that. Hours of hard labor! I'm so glad you have that picture to treasure.

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    1. Back in the day, the only hair product I had was a can of hair spray - no wonder it was so hard to get that curl *just so*!

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  5. OMG, I had that same curling iron - love it! And Tony puts random pictures on my background too - from day to day I never know what I'll turn our computer on to!

    Have a wonderful weekend, I have a feeling you'll be picking up some more yarn! :D

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    1. I may have that yarn in my shopping cart online already... ;)

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  6. HI Shelley. I tried and tried to get my hair to "Farrah" and curl that way...I'm bowing at your feet!!!!! ah, ha, ha... Not laughing at the windmill bag. OMG, that is SOOOO cute!!!! Have a great Friday!!!!

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    1. I'm sure the picture was taken because of the good hair - that was not achieved very often!

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  7. I'm still completely addicted to your granola!! I JUST ran out of my original batch, so guess what I'm doing this weekend?!? It's Granola Time, baby!! :)

    I adore your 70s hair!! My older sister wore her hair that way FOR EV ER, it took us years to convince her it was out of date. And don't even get me started on her blue eyeshadow...

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  8. Wow, I had the same hair style in the 70's. I remember loving the way my hair looked after I flipped it out...oh the memories. I just won't talk about my perm disaster (bad memory). Also, i have heard of freezing grapes but the cherries sound so good. Thanks for the granola recipe. I know my hubby will love it when I try to make it.

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  9. Bwahahaha on the picture! What do you get called when you do things like that? John calls me a 'booger' LOL.

    I bet that granola would also be tasty with maple syrup in place of the honey! Yummy!

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  10. OMG I remember that curl. I tried so hard to make mine do that, but it never lasted more than a couple of hours, then uncurled itself into my usual straight look.

    I want to try the granola again; maybe the shorter cooking time will help!

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  11. I am curious to Jeff's response :) I love the last one, that photo has HAPPY all over it, love, love, love it.

    About the bag, I bet it's going to be another trip to the shop :) Bag turned out very good, bet your Mom was happy with it.
    I haven't knitted in weeks, during the weekend I cross stitch a lot these days and on week days I don't have much time to knit.

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    1. Fran, I heard a "thank you, Shelley" when he turned on his computer...somehow I don't think he meant it, as a little while later he'd changed the picture, LOL!

      P.S. I'm having to aim a fan at me while I knit - it's pretty hot to be knitting blankets now! Watch me take up something small to knit in the winter. I make no sense. ;)

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  12. LOL at the fan, you probably will be knitting tank tops in Winter :)

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  13. Late to the party here but I was away on vacation :-) I love those little windmill bags you make! So cute! I am on holidays this week too and I am for SURE going to make your granola!! I have greek yogurt and fruit almost every day for lunch. Sometimes I have it with granola sometimes not. I'm excited to make yours. Thanks for the recipe.

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  14. I made your hippie granola (with a few alterations...I added some dried fruit and different nuts!) and it turned out so good!! Thank you Shelley :-)

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