Susiej | Author Archives

About SusieJ

Married mother of 4 boys, avid reader of the Wall Street Journal, great at research -- such as finding the best way to making a $5 bottle of olive oil taste like a $100 bottle. I do yoga every day, and a lot of the things I say people think are funny -- and I didn't mean it to be funny.
Website: http://www.susiej.com
SusieJ has written 1355 articles so far, you can find them below.

Outside The Backdoor

Filed under clean, Life by SusieJ on May 20, 2013 at 11:06 pm {no comments}

It seems all I have time for this last few weeks of school, is to snap this picture. I’ve been admiring this gardening “accident” for a few days now. This was a happy accident…we planted some peony bushes a few years back in pure white. And then last year, as the peony bush grew so slowly, wanting desperately to fill that dead small space by the driveway with some low-maintenance color.

Catnip. Blooms for such a long time, in bright blue, and even though it grows as prolifically as a weed, behaves itself.

And now, instead of a dreary gray wall…the plants have grown up so nicely, all by themselves, and we have this to look at for just a few seconds before we head out the door.

Funny, how I’m thinking the same thing of my children, as I watch them gather awards, and present themselves so well in this season of so many transitions and changes… they are really becoming something grand.

Remebering You as A Superhero

Filed under clean, Laugh, Life by SusieJ on May 16, 2013 at 8:07 am {one comment}

super hero prom002

super hero prom001

As you drove away, I couldn’t help but remember, how you used to pretend you were a superhero, and ride around in the back seat of this very same car.

That Precious List

Filed under clean, Laugh, Life by SusieJ on May 14, 2013 at 7:24 am {one comment}

Every year, I find something like this laying around. The list. The big grand ideas. This list — better than any Mother’s Day gift…it’s priceless:

Allow me to interpret:

Ideas for mothers day:

~~Diamonds~~

~~Emeralds~~

Rose — connected to origami ~~dress~~

Smarties

Chocolate

Radishes (Ratishes!)

Poached egg…. maybe

Barrett

That Sting in My Eyes

Filed under clean, Life, Tears by SusieJ on May 10, 2013 at 8:41 pm {no comments}

There will be a fifth grade graduation this year — and an 8th grade one. God bless the mother who is willing to put together a video of the enitre fifth grade. She wants three pics of my fifth grader (What day, was it, exactly, that he grew up, she asked with a sting in her eyes.) Tell me, do you remember when I read The Wizard of Oz to him– and he wondered why his eyes were wet?

Or how about the time, I realized I was getting used to him being away at school? Treachery.

I was torn… I had five our six that I wanted to send.. OK — a hundred. Here are my top four:

boysUntitled-2

dw1 ] daniel o002

Crinkly Sourdough

Filed under Eat, Life, Try This by SusieJ on May 9, 2013 at 2:42 pm {2 comments}

dried sourdough004 The process of drying sourdough has been, in a few words — aromatic (what is that smell, that is somehow — appealing?!) interesting, easy and fascinating.

It all started by smearing some of my vibrantly healthy French sourdough starter on parchment paper, dried sourdough005 and just letting it sit dried sourdough003

and literally dried sourdough002 dry- out dried sourdough001

until all moisture was gone,

and I was able to crumble it up into little ziplock bags (quite fun) and send out to those who want a fresh start.

It was that simple!

I saved a small batch for myself — just in case something would ever happen to mine. (Store it in the freezer in a well-labled jar). The rest is about to be mailed to those who need a start.

Now — how do you bring a dried sourdough back to life? Quite simple, really:

Reviving Dried Sourdough Starter

2013-05-09 13:39:43

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Ingredients

Healthy, dried sourdough starter

Instructions

Reviving Dried Sourdough Starter

Soak ½ tsp. dried starter in 1 tbs. lukewarm purified or spring water for a few minutes to soften.

Stir in 1 tbs. all-purpose flour, cover and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. While not necessary, stirring again once or twice during this 24 hours will expedite the fermentation process.

Stir in another tablespoon of flour with an additional tablespoon of purified water. If the dried starter is at all viable, as it should be, you will most likely see the bubbling action of fermentation begin somewhere between about 24 and 48 hours. If not, something is most likely wrong.

Continue with twice daily feeding

If using a scale, combine equal amounts of sourdough starter, flour and water by weight. For example, feed 50 grams of sourdough starter with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water.

If using measuring cups, feed one part starter with one part water and a scant two parts flour. For example, feed 1/4 cup of starter with 1/4 cup of water and a scant 1/2 cup of flour.

Mix the starter, flour and water together and stir vigorously, incorporating plenty of air. Cover the starter with a loose lid, towel, plastic wrap pierced with a fork several times, etc. (so the naturally created gas can escape). Leave in a warm spot for 4 to 12 hours until the starter becomes bubbly.

After a few days you will have a vital sourdough starter that can be used for baking and be put on a maintenance schedule which requires minimal attention and effort.

By Breadtopia

Susiej http://www.susiej.com/

Shellac Might Preserve Fruit

Filed under Life, Try This by SusieJ on May 8, 2013 at 11:48 am {no comments}

When the big boys were little, I took them to a clay class at the community recreation center about once a week. The girl who taught the class was a vivacious Italian, who spoke with a bit of broken English sometimes. She was so delightful, and the boys loved it when she would let them use the potter’s wheel. shellac fruit002

She mentioned that she had an artist friend who liked to use fruits and vegetables in her sculptures. To preserve them, she simply brushed them with a couple of coats of shellac and they lasted forever. shellac fruit001 Fast forward about 12 years later, and I’m ready to try it. I found a bunch of lemons for $1 a bag at the grocery store … I think these would make a nice wreath.

So, I dipped them into a can of shellac, and I’m waiting for them to dry…So far, they are shinny, and gorgeous…

Work in progress…. shellac fruit004

Thinking Life Through On a Swing

Filed under clean, Laugh, Life by SusieJ on May 6, 2013 at 8:43 am {one comment}

When the seasons change, bringing new scents, new foods, new routines and new faces. swing002 And sometimes there is something different — you can almost feel a change coming through the wind as it shifts. For those times, there is nothing quite like jumping on a swing, and letting go until your feet get grounded again. swing001

Vintage Button Bobby Pins For Mom/$250 Visa Giftcard Giveaway

Filed under blog, clean, Life, Make Something, memories by SusieJ on May 2, 2013 at 8:22 am {one comment}

Since I started letting my hair grow longer, I’ve been in this constant battle to pull my hair back with something. I’ve been smitten with those vintage button bobby pins on Pinterest, signing with a “someday I’ll make those,” refrain.

Lucky me, the boys asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day, and it suddenly occurred to me, that the boys could easily make those bobby pins for me!

Turns out, this is the perfect craft for a kid. They studied the buttons, looking for matches, wondering how to make a pattern, and deciding that this button was big enough to stand on its own.

“You know,” I told them, “Many of these buttons came from my Grandma — that one is from her winter coat right there — and others came from my Mom — it really couldn’t be a more perfect mother’s day gift.”They weren’t impressed.

They glued them down, discovering that it was easy to glue the buttons first, and lay the bobby pin on top.

Finally, they were done.

They’re as pretty as jewels…

And, I have a new hair video for you. Watch these videos and enter for your chance to win. Each week, we’re giving away prizes to 3 lucky winners: one grand prize viewer will receive a $250 Visa gift card and two more folks will each receive a $100 Visa gift card! Looking good is its own reward, of course, but this is even better! To see the official rules, click here.

Hair rollers. The perfect hair styling tool — requiring very little styling after you’re done!

How Far I Went For You

Filed under clean, Laugh, Life by SusieJ on April 30, 2013 at 3:32 pm {3 comments}

Someday, when you have kids of your own, I will tell you this story:

toothfairy002

So, you lost your tooth. But you were sleeping out in the hallway, because you were mad at your brother. So, that’s where your blankets and sheets were all set up — like a little miniature campground.

toothfairy2001

So, how was I to know that the little clinking sound I heard, when I was running the vacuum over your campsite, was not a Lego, but actually was your tooth?

I didn’t realize this until hours later, when you said, “Mom, where do you put my tooth?! It was right here, under my pillow until you messed up my bed!”

Whoops.

Later that night, after you went to sleep, I opened the sweeper bag and went through it until I found your tooth.

I washed it off and presented it to you the next morning. And then, that day, you lost another tooth. So, you put it on the console in the kitchen — I didn’t know this at the time. You also put it with your homework pages, which I sorted through and put away.

Something might have fell on the floor… because later, you stood right in that same spot, and said, “Where are my two teeth?!”

I must have knocked them on the floor when I was cleaning up. And, of course, I vacuumed there too.

I will be going through the sweeper bag, again, soon, after you’re asleep.

Love,

Mom