Compass & Coffee Spoons

Make Your Own Vanilla

I admit. I had no idea 1.) how vanilla extract was made or 2.) that it could be made in one's home.  Then, my wonderful cousin Lauren surprised me and other family members with these:

Aren't they the cutest? And it turns out Lauren was ahead of none other than Ms. Martha! Because I opened Martha Stewart Living this month (Christmas gift!), and this is what I see.

Lauren is so cutting-edge. What really surprised me is how EASY it is. I'm going to shorten this, but basically, you take vanilla beans, scrape out the seeds, and stick the pods in bottles with vodka...and then shake them every day for a month or two. That's it! I'm so going to try this one day once Lauren's runs out. I'm wondering if I can do the same with anise extract!

Spaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Two weekends ago, my lovely mother treated me to a massage at the spa at Nemacolin Woodlands, a mountain resort about an hour from Pittsburgh. The spa was very serene, and made me relax, which is a HUGE accomplishment. Well done. This was the very Zen fountain at the entrance.

 

After our blissful relaxation, we had a somewhat greasy but good tasting lunch at their pub restaurant, which features a huge aquarium that must be cleaned by a dedicated marine biologist. You think I joke?

Here's the thing about Nemacolin. It was a pet project of a rich woman (wife of 84 Lumber founder) with not much better to do (heard this from a coworker who worked for them but then again, it's not a huge secret). And, if you ever go, you'll see that her every whim was entertained. Such as creepy dolls everywhere.

 

I mean, how freaky is that? And the little "Main Street" inside of a conference center...

  

I personally like the pack of stuffed dogs guarding the picket fence thing. The whole thing is like a mish mash of everything, from Versailles to live zebras (no joke). Picture Theresa from Real Housewives of New Jersey ("Everything is onyx and marble!"). But, the spa is lovely and I recommend!

Cruisin' the Open Road

The pinnacle of the second day of my weekend was the ride in Dad's '38 Chevy. I haven't ridden in it for years because it was engineless for awhile. This is his baby, and my dad is never so happy as when he's in his '38. The car features prominently in many memories from my childhood because we'd ride it to car shows. My brother and I would alternate who slept on the floor and the bench seat in the back on our trips. There were no seat belts. The floor would get crazy hot and inevitably, your legs would start sweating. We'd then either fight or play games. One trip, we were stuck in a torrential downpour. If I remember correctly, the wipers weren't working (or were working as well as they did in the 30s), and water was streaming in from the windshield as my mom and dad tried to sop up the mess with some towels. Good times.

My dad has the new engine in. It's a pimped out ride now--and will soon have operational a/c and a stereo, at which point he can use the iPod I bought him to bring the oldies but goodies along with him.

Here's dad waiting for me.

And we're off!

 

 Past the Peaches & Cream Ice Cream shop onto Route 30.  

  

Dad's commanding the wheel...

  

Country roads, take me home...

  

   

 

 

 

When we got back, Sammy got to go for his own ride--but just around the block...

...because we had to get home to eat the delicious Swedish meatballs my mom made: my favorite!

I then hit the road for a much less fun ride. The one home to DC!

Saturday in Pictures: Vintage, Steel, Donuts, Dogs...

I had a full weekend at the parents. The drive home on Friday was horrendous with the rain, but today and yesterday was fun. Saturday, Mom and I stopped at my favorite Salvation Army where I got some more vintage selections to sell on my Etsy site. I've only sold 3 things there, but considering that my inventory was 5 items, that's not bad! As usual, I'm tempted to keep the stuff, but you know...no space! Here's a peek:

 

I got a fun, vintage tablecloth with jaunty orange stripes, a set of 2 groovy flower mugs, a mushroom mug from the same era, a bubble-covered glass bowl (this one may make it to my cabinet...), a pretty plate, a small toile tray, and a darling pink depression glass style dessert glass.

My favorite thing about this particular Salvation Army store is that they are very good at merchandising. They set up the home goods and clothes by color, and have a little themed section up front (was Halloween this time).However, despite this set up, they're still cheap enough.

After the thrift store run, we continued on to Homestead, PA to check out exhibits at the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area visitor center. I am going to do a separate post on this because I think it's very interesting and have a lot more to say than can fit in one post!

We had a bit of a hard time finding it--aided by the fact that we didn't print the address. I erroneously thought there would be a sign or something. I guess that Homestead doesn't get that many tourists. Anyhow, we made several wrong turns, which brought us to the South Side and an ice cream stand where I made mom buy us a banana milkshake. Divine! I'm saying this because she was mad at me for taking the picture. Fellow customers (not pictured) gave us a better idea of where the center was.

The visitor center has some rotating exhibits as well as a collection of artifacts and information about the Homestead strike, a major point in the history of the labor movement. It also has a brick with our family's name outside. My mom bought the brick for her sisters/brothers for Christmas one year. It must not have been a far-reaching development campaign, because there were only a few bricks.

As I said, I will write more about steel heritage later. On to more important things: food. There is a doughnut bakery across the street. True to form, we had to stop. Mom has to take most of the credit this time. Our family--those of the brick fame--probably knows every bakery in about a hundred mile radius. Seriously, if you saw Homestead, you'd be like "I'm not stopping and EATING anything here." But, the doughnuts were indeed delicious.

 

I finished off Saturday with dinner with Lori. I met her dog Rex beforehand, and he took to me...as dogs will.

We then went to a great local Italian joint, where I had some pretty good gnocchi. Lori was going to the fireman's club for some 95 cent beer, but I thought I should pass on that one. Hope it was fun, though!

   

 

In Which I Have Fun With My Mom...

It's not often that a hurricane comes along with your mom's name. I rolled my eyes at my dad and brother's jokes about it before it hit, but I have to admit that it's pretty funny reading the headlines when they leave the "hurricane" part out:

Dolly’s Impact on Gulf of Mexico Oil

Dolly Destroys Texas Cotton, Sorghum Crops

Dolly Weakens to Depression Over Texas

Bush Declares Disaster in Texas After Dolly

Twister Spawned by Dolly Over San Antonio

Dolly Blows, Levees Hold Despite Rain

 

 

Hee hee hee. Love ya, Mom.

Happy Birthday America!

From the Capital's 4th of July Parade...

And from the Folklife Festival...celebrating the cultures of Texas, NASA (don't know), and the kingdom of Bhutan.

Christmas Roundup

Christmas in Greensburg was hectic but relaxing at the same time. We did Christmas Eve at Tom's followed by "midnight" mass at 10 pm. Next morning, PRESENTS! I love giving gifts and receiving them. So, incidentally does my brother's dog Sammy. He woke us up at 7 am.

Here he is with his new stuffed hot dog...

And digging into a gift given to him by Erin's dog Ferris...

Opening gifts is exhausting, even for dogs, so he took a break...

And, took some time to enjoy a break by the fire...

Santa was good to Sammy, but was also good to me. Here are a few highlights:

A Fiestaware cannister to store my coffee in, a grill pan/panini press and cookbook, and a pair of amethyst and silver earrings which are already proving to be a favorite. I got many other wonderful things--we went overboard as usual.

Hope everyone had a cozy, happy holiday!

Christmas 2007: Cousins' Dinner

Jennifer started an excellent new tradition last year: getting all of our cousins together for a dinner. It's great to get together separate from our parents, because, well, let's just say, the Jencos are "vocally gifted," and it can often be difficult to get a word in edgewise.

We gathered last night at Woody's, a fine Italian establishment in Versailles, PA (that's pronounced Ver-SAILs, by the way, not to be confused with the French country retreat). I had some gnocchi, which though not in competition with that of my grandpap, was still very good. A few of us induldged in some fine Elmo Pio Chianti and chatted about what's been going on. Here are some  photo highlights!

Cousins (and Alex) tucking into their meal

Lauren giving a glamor pose with Kelly in the background. And, some curious fellow diners behind her.

Leigh, with a fantastic plate of homemade spaghetti & a meatball.

Leigh and Stephanie

Lauren, me, and Jennifer

My bro and Justin

Kevin & Kathryn

Part of the decor. It's been around for years. (Lauren said when she was little, she thought he was "Woody." :) )

All yunz have a Merry Christmas!

Birthday Surprise!

I received a nice surprise in the mail last week...a package! And the great thing about urban living is that my suspense was heightened because I had to go to the post office to pick it up. On the way there, I asked my mom if she sent me something (she often sends little things), and she said no. I could hardly wait as I stood at the counter waiting for the postal worker to look for the package. When it finally got to the counter, I saw that it was from my cousin Leigh! It was a nice bright yellow box with a cute sticker of the Capitol building on it (which Leigh told me she had to implore the people at the post office to NOT cover up with their own "priorty mail" stickers).

I didn't want to open it at the bus stop or on the bus. Good thing, because the bus was really crowded, and I had to stand. That day, I packed my gym clothes in my car so that I could drive straight to the gym. I did open the package once I got to the gym parking lot, and this is what I found!

It was a box of tea-liciousness. A belated (but still very much welcome) birthday gift! A cool glass cup and saucer, a tea measuring spoon, the Book of Tea, and 2 teas. Leigh also included stickers that reminded her of our sticker books as kids...I love stickers even now!!!! I also got a packet of marigold seeds...don't know if my landlord would appreciate me planting those. Maybe I'll put them in a pot. Also note the cute nautical ribbon!

The tea she bought me is from a company I'd never heard of called Tea Gschwendner. They're the "Book of Tea" people which is essentially their catalog of tea with information about all the kinds of tea. The teas I got are spicy--Rooibush Ginger and Green Tea Spicy Orange. I had a pot of the Rooibush Ginger, which was de-li-cious. I haven't tried the other one, but I am sure I will love it, because I always love orange spice tea.

Thanks, Leigh...it was really a treat!

Happy Birthday, America! (A bit Belated)

My mom visited for the July 4 holiday. Quite the occasion here in DC. I had been feeling badly for the past week, but Mom and I managed to take in some of the festivities. We started with the parade, which was a lot of fun.

The day ended with a lovely dinner at my friend Leslie's house. She is such a great hostess. We brought hot dogs, buns, and cantalope, and she made shrimp salad, deviled eggs, and a delicious cherry and blueberry cobbler made from fruit she picked herself!

As you can see, we enjoyed it A LOT. We also enjoyed the view from Leslie's balcony. It gave us a great view of the fireworks. (The photo does not do it justice).

What was even better was the traffic getting back from Leslie's. I drove, and scored a primo parking space a half-block from her building. And, it was a fairly easy drive from her apartment back to mine. Not free from exploding fireworks in the neighborhood, but not as bad as last year either!

This weekend, Mom and I shopped on Saturday in Georgetown. Nothing too crazy, though I did go to Papersource and bought the cutest strawberry stamp, some paste, letter press cards with birthday sentiments for cardmaking, and a bone folder. Can't resist that place!

Today, Mom and I went to church and then to brunch at the Tabard Inn. I wasn't organized enough to make reservations, but we lucked out with seats at the bar. They make their own doughnuts, and they are fantastic! Mom ordered a lovely quiche, and I had a chicken salad (trying to compensate for the doughnuts). Highly recommended!

The brunch more than made up for the HORRIBLE dinner we had Friday night. We decided to go to Trattoria Alberto on 8th Street SE. Big mistake, apparently. I thought it would be one of those "locals" joints, with good simple Italian food. I was wrong. We sat down outside, and got a basket full of stale bread to start off. It just got worse from there. I ordered spaghetti with meat sauce. The sauce was flavorless and the pasta overcooked. I literally did not eat it. I ate two bites. They must be doing something else to make money there, because it can't be from the food, unless they get suckers like me eating there regularly.

All in all, it was a nice visit from Mom!