Where Do Turkeys Come From, and My First Pie

I made a pumpkin pie! The crust was a little overdone. Give me a break, I'm an amateur. Happy Thanksgiving!

Chia Obama

I recently saw these things in a store, and apparently they've been around since April 2009.

Here are photos of the two available versions, "Happy" and "Determined." I tend to prefer the latter; I think it's a more flattering likeness.

Obama now belongs to a select group of real people to ever be Chia-fied. As far as I know, there's just Mr. T, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. Also, Lady Liberty, but she doesn't really count. Other Chia heads have been made portraying cartoon characters, such as Garfield, Shrek, Taz, Homer Simpson, and a few others.

According to ChiaObama.com, these make a great gift! I'm putting it on my Christmas list.

Also, if you don't want to spend big bucks on a Chia Pet, here's how you can make your own Chia Pet-like thing.

More Terrarium Talk

I did some glamor shots with my terrariums yesterday.

This one with the little sheep in it is a new one. The plant inside is touch-sensitive, so it shrinks away from your hand when you touch it.

The spooky owl one down there at the bottom is one that I've had for about a year and a half, and I think I've only watered it twice. It's an enclosed ecosystem.

"Squares" Photo Show at Emerson Space Case

November's show at Emerson Space Case features two of my photo-snapping friends, John Ryan Brubaker and Jennifer Jansons. These two triumphantly use devices from a by-gone era to make images that manage to make magical compositions out of everyday scenes.


Jennifer Jansons' Holga medium-format photographs transport you into a softer world. The Holga camera has a plastic lens with soft focus around the edges.

John Ryan Brubaker completed a project called Polaroid 366, in which he took a Polaroid photo every day for a year. And not just any year - a year in which there was an extra day. On display at the space are some selections from his year of photos.

Brubaker is currently showing work at Albina Community Bank in Portland, as part of a show called The People Behind the Paper, a photo documentary project about the vendors of Street Roots newspaper. He will also be embarking soon on a journey to Thailand! I can hardly wait to see the resulting photos.

Watch Me Make a Terrarium! Learn How to Make Bacon! Listen to Live Music!

This Friday, I'll be doing a live terrarium-making demo!

Julie Sabatier contacted me a couple of weeks ago to do this, because she saw some terrariums I made that are being displayed at The Waypost. I'm flattered and a little nervous to be doing this thing in front of a crowd, although any activity that feels like being on a cooking show excites me.

I've never been to this venue (former funeral parlor) The Woods, and it looks like a lovely place.

Here's the official info:

PDX Salon and Destination DIY present

An Evening of DIY
November 6th, 8-11pm at The Woods
Tickets $10-20 (sliding scale). To get them in advance, click here.

Destination DIY producer and creator Julie Sabatier will host an event that will bring out your inner innovator: live demonstrations and interviews about how to make radio, how to make a terrarium and how to make bacon. Delicious sweet and savory treats will be served. A silent auction will include many fine items to enhance your DIY projects or spark a new one. The show will be book-ended by performances from musician Leviethan and musicians/visual artists billygoat, who will show off their gorgeous stop-motion animation and give us a window into how they do what they do themselves. Do you DIY? Step into our recording room to tell us about it and you could end up on the next Destination DIY podcast!

This event will kick off a fundraising campaign to raise money to produce the next two one-hour episodes of Destination DIY.

The Day Before Halloween, or I wish I had more excuses to make costumes

Here's a sneak peek at my costume-in-the-making! A little less elaborate than I had planned, but not disappointingly so.

It's a fox dressed up like Robin Hood, inspired by the Disney animated movie, which is one of my favorite movies of all movies.

Tails are tricky. I made one, but I wish I had some fake fur or something. His tail in the movie is so lively, fluffy, and luxurious. A dangling stuffed cone of fabric is less appealing.

Costume idea for next year: Robin Hood when he dresses up like a female fortune teller to trick Prince John. Ooh-de-lally!

We grew this squash by accident, and ate it on purpose.

Okay, so it wasn't entirely by accident that this squash ended up growing in our yard. I had attempted to grow squash in a container last year, but nothing happened. Apparently, I re-used some of the soil that had the squash seeds in it, and magically it sprouted up this year among some cilantro and spinach plants! I transplanted the squashies into the ground and let 'em rip.

So, we ended up with two squash plants with disappointing yield: one butternut squash, and one delicata squash.

But, for someone who didn't even expect to grow squash this year, I guess I'm a lucky lady!

So, here's what we did with the butternut:

Ilan found a recipe on the internet for stuffed squash. We cooked the squash and scooped out some of the meat. We mixed that with some other typical stuffing ingredients like bread crumbs, onions, sausage (veggie in our case), and herbs. Then we stuffed the two halves, and cooked it again for 20 minutes. We topped it all off with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and green onions, and a squirt of Aardvark hot sauce.

Best autumn meal so far! Long live squash.