Friday, June 29, 2012

byTavi





















So we've been super busy this week, doing lots of fun things-one of which includes selling some purses!

I have been selling bags for my friends down in Cambodia! Katy and Alan moved there almost a year ago and have been working with Center for Global Impact. (check out their blog on life in Cambodia)
CGI has a program called byTavi that sells purses and scarves. They work with women who are at risk to work for a living wage.
These bags are totally legit and these amazing ladies get 100% of the proceeds.
You can get involved by either having a party, or purchasing a bag yourself. If you are interested totally get ahold of me and we can work something out.

I have been selling for a couple of months, but they also have a website!
Check out http://www.bytavi.com/ to purchase straight from the website or to learn more about what CGI is up to!

*Jenny G

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Butta Butta Butta





















Last night I made cookies.

And then, I took Trader Joe's Cookie Butter and made a sandwich.



And it was EPIC!


So Cookie Butter has been talked about ALL OVER the blog world, not to mention that Joy and Tracy keep talking about their love for it I knew I had to try some for myself.

But, there aren't any Trader Joe's in Boise, or Idaho......or within a 100 miles of Boise. So when Mr. Gill and I started planning our trip to California I made a stipulation that we had to stop by a TJ while out and about.....

and we did.....

twice.

Once for our camping goodies and a second time for yummy stuff for home. On that second trip I picked up the Cookie Butter, Coconut Oil and Dark Chocolate Covered Ginger (OHMIGOD Sooo Good!).

Back to the cookies......the filling is so buttery and spicy like creamy gingersnap awesomeness that I decided to just make some shortbread cookies to create my sandwiches.

This shortcake recipes uses butter, powdered sugar, flour and cornstarch. The orginal recipe didn't call of vanilla extract but I wanted to give the cookies a little more flavor so I threw a little in the to mix.
It was really easy to put together and kind of fun to roll into balls and flatten out w/my palm....because the dough reminded me a little bit of play-dough.....must be the cornstarch.





















These are nice and buttery, and the recipe makes 24 sandwiches so plan on sharing!

Melt in your mouth Shortbread Cookie Cookie Butter Sandwiches-adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

  • 2 cups butter, softened
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • splash of vanilla extract
yield of 2 dozen sandwiches.
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  2. Whip butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Stir in the confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and flour. Beat on low for one minute, then on high for 3 to 4 minutes. Drop cookies by spoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, or roll into balls and flatten w/your palm.
  3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Watch that the edges don't brown too much. Cool on wire racks.
  4. After the cookies have cooled spread generous amount of Cookie Butter (or peanut butter) on one cookie and make a sandwich w/another.
  5. Eat and share with a friend over coffee or afternoon tea!

*Jenny G

Sunday, June 17, 2012

30 before 30

So about a month ago I turned 29.

29.....as in 1 year away from 30.


And, I did not freak out....but in true Jenny fashion I made a list.




















a 30 things to do before I turn 30 list.


Some of them are pretty awesome, some are pretty normal....some are easy to cross off and some are kinda hard to quantify....but I want to share them w/you and let you know as I cross them off!

1. Run another 1/2 marathon
2. convert blog into a *mostly* food blog
3. can tomatoes (hopefully from our own garden)
4. try my hand at painting
5. tailgate a BSU game
6. knit something in the round
7. make my own nut butter
8. 30 days of skirts/dresses
9. refashion something from a thrift store
10. try mountain biking
11. attend musical/ballet
12. go to the Shakespeare festival here in Boise
13. 1 whole month on budget (LOL)
14. infuse some liquor
15. make my own vanilla extract
16. sell something I make
17. eat entirely local for one week
18. attend a festival
19. host a backyard concert
20. get to know our neighbors
21. hike in sawtooth mountains
22. make my own marshmallows
23. paint the bedrooms in our house
24. drive through a redwood
25. attend a Powwow
26. take a day-long bike trip
27. be a good aunt/uncle
28. become awesome at making homemade bread
29. get myself a fancy-schmancy camera
30. dress 50s vintage for something special/important


So obviously I have crossed some of these off-















The above photo is a picture of me at the Renaissance fair that happened this weekend in Eagle!
We got to see some pretty interesting things, including the King and Queen. I was asked to "make way" for them...


This is a photo of Mr. Gill, Bosley and I preparing to drive-thru a Redwood tree when we went on our camping trip in Northern California (SO FUN!)





















Not all of these things will be easy to photograph either....but I'm super excited to work on all of these them!
It makes looking forward to turning the Big 30 a little easier to handle, and hopefully I'll be more awesome for completing these goals.
Are there any fun thing YOU want to accomplish this year?
Throw it up and we'll do them together!



Love

Jenny G

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Eating Ferns for Dinner

Long time no see people!

Sorry.

Its totally my fault.

We've been busy.....

With fun things like traveling and singing and cooking and working!

Today though I want to throw up a post I've been planning for a while.

I was at the Farmers Market a couple of weeks (or over a month) ago and came across Fiddlehead Ferns!





















How crazy right?

Fiddlehead ferns are usually a foraged item; "Fiddlehead greens are the furled fronds of a young fern,[1] harvested for use as a vegetable. Left on the plant, each fiddlehead would unroll into a new frond (circinate vernation). As fiddleheads are harvested early in the season before the frond has opened and reached its full height, they are cut fairly close to the ground. Fiddleheads have antioxidant activity, are a source of Omega 3 and Omega 6, and are high in iron and fibre." source


So I had to purchase them.

I did a quick google search to get an idea of recipes, and it looked like most of them were stir-fry-ish things so I made my own.

























To start things off I made a pot of brown rice. We all know how brown rice is better health-wise for you than white, but I just LOVE the chewiness of brown rice. Mmmm, yum!

Anyway, onto the feature of the dinner....We had some shrimp in the freezer, so I sauteed a little bit of onion, garlic and bacon until it was done, added the ferns, a couple of handfuls of fresh spinach and after a few minutes added the thawed shrimp.
After the shrimp was all nice and pink in a separate pan I melted some butter, added some flour and let that get brown.....also called making a roux.
Into the roux I juiced a nice big lemon and stirred the sauce into the stir-fry, and plated it up onto a big place of chewy brown rice.




















Some big shreds of Parmesan cheese on top a sprinkle of kosher salt and ta-da!
Pour yourself a big glass of red and use a fancy napkin and you've got a pretty darn good dinner for two!

Ok, real life... this was Sooo Sooo good!
The ferns really reminded me of asparagus/grass.....but in a good way.
And in all honesty, if you didn't take a bite of JUST the fern, you'd just taste the spinach/bacon/lemon wonderfulness.
Mr. Gill really liked this dish.
So-if you see fiddleheads at your local market-pick them up....just remember to at least cook them slightly, because they have a little bit of toxicity if they are eaten raw!





















And if you don't have a farmer's market but DO have a Trader Joe's, Mr. Gill and I saw some there when we were in California.
So check them out!

Jenny G