Domestic Goddesses

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

It Takes a Flock to Make a Nest

Which One Are You?

Seven Chicks Every Homegirl Needs (from Nesting: It's a Chick Thing)
The Jackie. This chick can tell you immediately whether toile is out and silk is in. She knows how to match colors you ddin't even know existed and her elegant flair for coordination would shame a Hollywood stylist. She can convince you to give your old heap of a sofa the old heave-ho without hurting your feelings, and she has the ability to help you accentuate the positives. When you need a remedial style course, she's your teacher.

The Green Gertie. She has ten green thumbs and toes to match. This organic chick can cleaer a rosebush of a thousand voracious aphids, save your dying oak tree, and get rid of those pesky rodents using only her trusty squirt bottle and a secret potion. She can tell you where to put it, how to grow it, and when to cut it back. Flowers seem to blossom bigger just because she smells them. When it's time to get down and dirty, call on Gertie. The Martha. With a little nip and tuck she can rework a plain curtain to that it's worthy of Versailles. With a slight furniture rearrangement she can create space you never knew you had. A little cluck-cluck over a recipe, and it's instantly gourment. She practices the domestic arts with the intensity and diligence worthy of an Olympic athlete. Don't even think about making a nest without her advice.

The Bargain Betty. She can smell a good deal a mile away and then squeeze an even deeper discount out of it. Her gracious demeanor belies a shrewd deal-maker and treasure-seeker with an eye for the fabulous amid the foul. With her touch a roadside reject can be refashioned into a gleaming showpiece. Whatever your heart desires - goose-down pillows, heirloom-quality antiques, wall-to-wall carpet - she can get it for you at the absolute best price. This gal should be a regular on Antiques Roadshow, but you're lucky she's not famous yet and is free to shop with you.

The Fix-It Fanny. This chick has a tool belt that takes do-it-herselfing to new heights of fashion. She might prefer Prada to Levi's, but she can hammer out a solution to your domestic problems without putting a nick in her French manicure. A real power chick with the tools to match, she can take on projects that would make Bob Vila call for reinforcements. From the gutters to the basement, this gal's got you covered.

The Neighborly Nellie. The original girl-next-door, she is the best thing about living in your neighborhood. Her door is always open to help you with those last-minute emergencies - an egg, a cup of sugar, a spot of milk, even a shoulder to cry on. She's like having your own marriage counselor and handyman in one. You can't get your fire alarm to stop blaring? Run to her house! If you don't have one of these chicks on your block, consider moving.

The Mother Hen. A veritable fount of wisdom, this chick was home improving when DIY was just a twinkle in Home Depot's eye. Always there to offer up loving, or pointed, advice when you need it, she knows it goes down easier with a spoonful of sugar. Whether she's soothing your ruffled feathers, swooping in to rescue a recipe gone bad, or doling out fix-it advice, she's the one you can call on any time for good, honest, down-home counsel.

Book Review: Nesting: It's a Chick Thing


My next foray into the book world is Nesting: It's a Chick Thing by Ame Mahler Beanland & Emily Miles Terry. I love the subtitle: 100 Tales, 1,000 Tips, and Endless Inspiration for Women Who Seriously Play House & Garden (and Hold Pink Poker Nights). Who wouldn't fall for that title?

I'm still reading it, but I am LOVING it. There are so many fun ideas in here and I love that it's all about girlfriends helping out to create together. I may have to buy multiple copies of this book and pass them out to my fellow Domestic Goddesses this holiday season. Any book with a section entitled "Hand Me A Screwdriver (and Hold the Vodka) and tells you how to throw a garden party minus the garden must have a place on my bookshelf.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Bathroom Martha

In my neverending attempt to transform my apartment into something I'd read about in Real Simple magazine, I grabbed a few books from the Library and set to work.

No Place Like Home: Staying In, Kicking Back, and Living It Up by Michelle Kehm is good stuff. It's called a "nonfiction addition to the ChickLit library" by Publishers Weekly and to me, that is a good thing. It goes down nice and smooth, and has some great ideas. For someone like me, who appears to be developing an allergy to supermarket cleaners, she's got some awesome recipes for cleaners that are gentle to the earth and hopefully won't give me awful hives. At last, I can use the baking soda in my fridge for something! Kehm gives all sorts of good and fun advice from decorating with fake fur (and new tips for first-time sewing afficionados) to growing an herb garden (I may well as for the Chia Herb Garden from Santa this year). Love it!

So far? I've managed to hang a spider plant in the bathroom - something I've thought about for ages but just didn't get around to doing. I can't believe how a silly little plant just lifted my spirits. It looked so sad, dying in my living room. Here in the bathroom, it looks like it may have a chance. Maybe the nice steam from the primordial soup-like showers I take will rejuvenate it?

Then I set to work on the hamper, which I decided to cover in a pretty bluish-gray contact paper (see the contact paper post a couple of posts ago). I did one side of the hamper, so I can see whether or not it sticks (again, thanks to the primordial soup-like showers). If, after a week, it's not falling off, I'll do the whole thing. Baby steps... baby steps.

I'm already thinking of how to skirt the awful black and gold marble-look vanity that I've loathed since day one - who does that to a bathroom sink? I know there will be some Velcro and fabric involved, but I want to make little gathers so that it looks like an actual skirt rather than some psychopath who duct-taped a yard of cloth to a sink. Anyone?

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Lemony Shells with Edamame

Mmm... tasty lemony goodness from March 2006's issue of Prevention magazine... and it's good for you, too!

See? A mere mortal made this!

Lemony Shells with Edamame
Prep Time 4 minutes
Cooking Time 11 minutes

8 oz med pasta shells (I've also used farfalle)
2 cups frozen, shelled edamame (soybeans), thawed
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 oz Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

In deep pot, bring 8 oz water to a boil. Cook pasta, stirring occasionally, 6 minutes. Add edamame and cook until beans are tender and pasta is al dente, another 3 minutes. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of pasta water.

Meanwhile, place lemon zest (scrape thin outer yellow layer) and juice into a large bowl. Add reserved pasta water, oil, and 3/4 of the cheese, and mix well. Add edamame and shells to lemon mixture and toss to coat. Serve in bowls, sprinkled with remaining cheese. If desired, add side salad or steamed spinach.

Makes 4 servings

Per Serving (Weight Watchers, give it 7 points): 372 calories, 18g protein, 53g carbs, 9.3g fat, 2g sat fat, 7 mg chol, 5g fiber, 119mg sodium