iced tea concentrate

Here is another post with an idea inspired from a blog post by fellow Portlander Amy Karol. I wanted to share with you "The Iced Tea Plan" that has been very successful this summer.

We moved offices this summer at my day job and we did not have any hot water for tea for the longest time. Add to that the hot summer we have had and you can imagine why I have been drinking iced tea almost exclusively. However, since I cannot have caffeine later in the day, but I did indeed want it in the morning I needed two jugs of tea going at a time. As Amy also mentioned in her post, finding the space for it in your fridge is difficult.

So, after reading her post I began making very very concentrated jars of tea. My jars are kind of small. I use about 3-4 tea bags in them. I don't cold brew as she does, but use hot water, let it steep and then take out bags and put in fridge.

Sometimes I just use a little for a glass, sometimes I use half for a small pitcher. When I take it to work I put about half in a liter bottle and then fill the rest up with water.

Most of the summer I have had a jar of caf tea and a jar of decaf tea in the fridge. I have really been into using the Harneys and Sons Midsummers Peach Tea for the decaf. A flavored tea like that really benefits from some sweetner. It brings out the flavor in the tea. Otherwise, I often feel like I am smelling it, but not tasting it. It was a perfect happenstance that I recently noticed that Trader Joes carries an inexpensive simple syrup. It is perfect for adding to tea, either by the cup or the jug.

Keeping tea concentrates in jars helps you save room in the fridge and makes it a lot easier to make a quick glass of iced tea. Hope you are having a good summer. I am off to a swim party.

detours

Sometimes my household cleaning activities are not planned, but snowball out of one action. One of The Farm Chicks talked about this recently on a post and she called it a detour. I detour a lot when I am puttering around the house. Sometimes, each room I enter creates some sort of temporary amnesia in me and I begin working on something in that room instead of just looking for the thing I went in there for and returning to some work in the kitchen. I don't blame age. I have always been like this.

Anyway, about a month ago I got a new faucet in my place and since then I have had a grocery bag full of the under-the-sink contents in my kitchen. I just keep moving it around. Today I finally tackled it. I sat on the floor and went through all the items (really I had very little idea what was down there. A lot of the stuff is hardware that Steve has brought over and I have no clue what it does and am not intersted in learning. I regret to say that I am not one of those tool girls). Once I was on the floor I thought I might as well go through the towels drawer, it is too crowded. So, I weeded out some items from there and then I went to a cupboard I haven't organized in years and I rearranged and weeded out that. Then when I went to put something away in the utensil drawer I saw some of my tarnished silver and remembered the Farm Chicks blog post.

Recently The Farm Chicks blog had an entry on this very subject of housecleaning detours and in it they showed a really easy way to clean silver. I have a few pieces of silver flatware, or maybe it is silver plated, that I have collected over the years at thrift stores. I grabbed several of them and did the experiment.

You line a foil pan and cover the flatware in baking soda and then add hot water. Then you let it set for a while. Some of mine looked shinier in the pan and some did not. So, I did it again. They looked a little better, but the worst of them were still horribly tarnished. Then I just took one out and scrubbed it and the tarnish came right off, now all of them were shiny and way better looking than I have ever seem them. Here is the before:


And after:


I like collecting one-of-a-kinds of these old nice pieces. It is fun to use them for tea parties or entertaining. Sometimes they're marked. I have a appetizer fork from The Westchester Country Club and some spoons from The Palace Hotel.

another reason to wish for fall

It has been too hot here for me to bake. I just am not in the mood when the house is already very warm. But, when it cools down I really want to try this recipe.

Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar frosting sounds perfect. From Smitten Kitten blog. Get the recipe there.






















Yesterday I saw Julie and Julia with my mother. After the film she leaned over and said "Doesn't this movie make you want to cook?" I was surprised to realize that my answer was "No, it makes me want to blog" Ha! Now, I just need some fascinating content! I'll work on that. Stay tuned.

gatherings

Today I went to a meeting of the Portland Postcard Club that I am a part of. I haven't been to a meeting in a long time. It is great fun. Some people get tables and sell their stuff, others come and buy. Many of the people there are senior citizens and they have been collecting and even in the club for years.

I love hearing what people collect. Today someone mentioned that they look for postcards with sayings by a certain person who was a innkeeper. Not sure why, maybe he is related. Another person looks for real photos with ice cream signs in them. Really, it is fascinating how defined the search becomes over time. Me, I pretty much am open to lots of stuff, but I do certainly gravitate towards certain things.

Anyway, I got some great stuff today. I will write about much of it on The Cedar Chest blog and some will get listed in The Cedar Chest store. So, if you like ephemera and vintage postcards I hope you will add those sites to your lists.

So, even though this is more something I would post on The Cedar Chest I wanted to share it with you all. This is my favorite find from today:


1889! Can you imagine? This little complimentary dance card survived all of these 120 years! Maybe Fred met someone there. But, wait, if he used it it would probably not be here. Unless he asked to keep it. Maybe the ticket keeper kept it for sentimental reasons...Anyway, who knows. I have always wanted to go to a Dancing Pavilion, like orchestra style.

My window is open and it is a nice breezy and sunny late afternoon here. The neighbors the next street over are playing the best music and I don't know what it is, but it is very pleasant and kind of melancholy (this is when that shazam app would be great).

Along with the music I hear the crowd sounds and laughter of their gathering, a dog barking, sirens in the distance, the soft sound of the leaves moving in the wind, a car passing. I wish I had good recording equipment so I could do "field recording". I have always loved those.

Since I can't give you a recording of what I am hearing right now I am going to lead you to this field recording of a street party in Germany. Open a new window with this link and take a listen while you keep reading.

On the way home for the Postcard Club I stopped at the Old Country German store and got some genuine German Potato salad for the mister and some stuff for a nice german dinner for us. The real German Potato salad has meat in it. Being a pescatarian, I only make him the veggie version, so he should be very happy.

While there I was charmed into getting this pack of spaetzle noodles.


Don't you just love the name and design? I love Bavarian designs. Even more since we went to Leavenworth, WA a couple years ago. Going into the German Delis and stores in town always feels like being back there. I have never made spaetzle and I am not even sure I have eaten it.

Well, time to go spend a nice mellow evening with the mister. Thanks for listening to my stories.

I hope you all have a good rest of the weekend.

a visit to the microcosm store

I met up with Joe at the new Microcosm store the other day. They moved next door to a spot double the size of their old shop. The old shop was very small. Now there is more room and it is easier to see things.

I was happy to see Figure 8 be a part of their A is for.. display.



Drop by Microcosm if you are in Portland. It is chock full of awesome zines and books. It is located at 833 SE Main.

last weekend

The Portland Zine Symposium was last weekend. It went really good. This was the 9th year and it all seems so smooth now. People know what to expect and many people have been participating since the first year. There are many people, even ones who live in town, that I see once a year at PZS. It was so great to see so many of you and to meet new people, too. Thanks to all who came by my table and sadi Hi. I loved meeting so many We Make Zines folks.

Here is a shot of part of my table.


I did indeed get my zine finished for the event. Although, it was closer to the deadline than I have cut it in awhile. I was still stapling Friday night.

Here it is. Paper Crush #3. It is a short story about when I was 15 and I went to my first prom. It includes embarrassing actual diary entries! Also, some great illustrations from an old friend (but don't judge him by the cover - I did that).



I do not know how long I will keep this in print, so get it while you can. In the Etsy shop as of right now.

what makes a zinester

I am tired and need to wind down for tonight, but I wanted to post this while it was fresh in my head.

Driving to Kinkos tonight at 11:30 pm I thought what is it with me that makes me use my precious vacation time to stay home and make a zine? What is it that makes me stay in my house for 48 hours and work by myself on some folded pieces of paper?

I don't know of too many other things that I work this hard and this seriously on. And these are just little booklets that only hundreds of people see. This one, perhaps even less.

Why do I do it? I guess you could say ego, but I don't buy that. If it was ego why wouldn't I spend time on my looks or status or something that most people value.

Do I do it to fit in? The answer to that is no, as most of my zines do not fit the usual zinester tastes and have never really been a part of the larger zinester scene, so to speak.

I definately am motivated by a deadline. Seeing everyone this weekend and not having something to give them makes the zine symposium less fun, but most of these people I see once a year. I could easily still chat and read their zines and not much would be that different.

It is some other thing. Some strange drive I share with only a small group of people, but they do get it. They also forgo social activites, sleep and spend money to get their zine out. And when we hand each other our zines we recognize it in each other and respect it.

I have handed my zines to good friends who fold them up and put them in their back pocket or who never really read it, even though as a friend you would think they would be more interested than a stranger.

But, they just don't value it. Even when they know how much you do, they just don't. They can't.

That is why the zine symposium is so important and great. Being in such a large room with all these people who understand and value something that most of the people you know don't is amazing.

So, back to the question. Why do I do it? I think many zinesters answer to this would be different. For me it is about the zine as a finished product.

I just get so excited about getting the story, the writing, the images and the presentation all how I want it. I just can't let it go. It is not just my writing I want to get it out there. It is more a need to place it all together in the way I want. To create something that speaks to someone for a moment, that conveys a story or inspires them. And not just with words, with the whole thing. It is kind of like marketing for me. I get a little obsessed with graphic design and website like this, too.

I am still not happy with how the new zine turned out. I found little flaws, but at some point I have to let it go. I can fix them if I print it again.

major zine mode

It is nearing the end of zine season and I am not ready. The Portland Zine Symposium is this weekend and I am still writing my zine! Luckily, I have the next couple of days off, but I am really cutting it close this year.

The new zine I am doing is a memoir zine about when I was 15. It is hard to do this kind of writing after so long. I am not sure what the result will be or how long I will allow it to stick around. Grab one at the PZS, because that may be the only place it is available.

I also created some new buttons for the zine symposium and they are available now on my Etsy shop.
Hope to see you at the Symposium. Wish me luck!

vintage stationary - a freebie!

Go here to Download and print

I found this today in my stationary stash and decided I had hoarded it too long, it was time to share.

These write & fold stationary things were popular in the 70's and I had tons then and a bit of a collection now.

You would write on the other side and then fold up the top and bottom on the lines and afffix a seal to hold it together and then address on the front.

This one, as you can tell, is a winner. The whole thing is so great. Feel free to download the large size from the flickr photos and use for your personal use.

I guess technically this should be a Cedar Chest post, but I didn't want you all to miss it.

Happy letter writing!

clutch mcbastard

Clutch is one of my favorite comics ever. The man behind Clutch owns Tugboat Press and puts out really beautiful books. The last few years the zines and books have been less Clutch's and more other peoples. They are all great, but I miss a good Clutch comic.

This is a drawing from his drawing a day journal. I love what he comes up with. The theme for this one is Steel.

Tugboat Press will most likely be at The Portland Zine Symposium on July 23rd -25th, as will I.
Hope to see you cats there.