lots of noodles

Peanut butter noodles, aka sesame noodles, have been devoured in our house for years....
People ask me for this recipe all the time, as it really is yummy.


Cold Peanut Butter Noodles

This is a combination of several recipes that I have used and have fine tuned to get the best sauce. Serve over cold pasta (as in Cold Sesame Noodles from a chinese food place) but I like shape, instead of the long strands. Good garnishes are thin strips of cucumber, and / or carrot, and sesame seeds.

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I use a natural one, with no sugar added)
3 Tbsp sesame oil
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
4 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 large clove garlic, minced

Mix everything together (add 1 thing at a time and mix well) and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve over cold noodles (cook then rinse in cold water to remove starches). Long strands, like linguini, are good, but shapes are easier for kids to manage.

Top with strips of veggies- cucumber, carrots, red pepper, etc. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Keeps in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.
Makes enough for about 1 pound of pasta.

yoga workshop

I am sore in all of the right places. a good thing. I did three days of classes with Doug Keller and it was great. I love going to the workshops as they really get in depth into much of what we do in practice. Doug is amazing in his knowledge of the anatomical aspect of how we function and how we need to be in certain asanas to have them really be done the right way. I did love the workshop that Betsey Downing taught too. She was fabulous.

With Doug I learned so much, and am hoping my practice can reflect that, and that I can keep much of it present in my head, as I keep working with yoga.

(megan's back with henna that I did)

new website

I am trying to get my henna website going...
it is slow going! As they say- the cobbler's kids have no shoes... yeah, well.... Adam does fantastic websites. He told me not to use a site builder or template, that he would do it.... I can work on it and upoad things and know a little bit of html coding and all of that, but need him to actually get it set up and do the pages, then I can figure it out from there. But he has only done the front splash page and that's it. So... hopefully a gallery and more pages will be there soon.

It needs to be done. I have been handing out business cards like crazy and have been getting more and more work. I also need a banner ad for being listed on the henna page website. There are no artists in CT on there except for Heather and someone else, but really they are in Providence. So I would love to have a banner on there and be able to get some business from that site!

Hopefully it will be done soon. I will be raffling off a full hour henna appt during Eggstock


Hopefully I will glean many names from that raffle of potential customers. This is certainly the season though with warm weather and more skin showing. Word of mouth advertising is good, and I am always showing some henna on me somewhere!

Megan's back

I did this one the other day.. I liked it. Meg went to the drive-through at the bank an hour later, and the teller there could see her shoulder in the camera. She asked her to get out of the car and turn around so that she could see the rest, and then requested a business card to be sent in the tube with her deposit! I guess I'll be going over to the bank to follow up...

picnic cookies

Emmett's school picnic was fun. The weather was fabulous, and the kids played for ages in the sun. Everyone seemed to want the recipe for the cookies I brought. These lemonade cookies are yummy and have a taste reminiscent of lemon squares. (recipe below)

Lemonade cookies

Lemonade Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cups powdered sweetened lemonade (ie: Country Time or similar)
an additional 1/4 - 1/2 cup lemonade mix to roll the dough balls
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and 3/4 cup lemonade mix until fluffy.
Beat in the egg, vanilla, and grated lemon rind.
In a seperate bowl, stir together the flour and the baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the batter, beating until thoroughly combined.
Pour about 1/4 + cup of lemonade mix in a shallow dish.
Form the dough into 1-inch balls (I use a measuring teaspoon to scoop) and roll them in the lemonade mix, then place them 2 inches apart on a foil lined cookie sheet.
Bake the cookies until the edges just begin to brown, about 10-12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes on the foil before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen + cookies

emmett and friends

he dumped water on his head, then spiked his hair as much as he could, and loved it!

neighbor's henna

my neighbor came over yesterday for some henna on her foot. I think it came out great! She had tattoos and was not even remotely hesitant to have me paint on her. I started on her foot, then added more on her ankle and just kind of had fun painting!

She stopped by today to show me how it looks today, and it seems pretty good and dark. I think by tomorrow it will look great.

Mowed

I bought myself Bocce the other day. Been wanting it for years, as I much prefer it to croquet. But then we couldn't play it since the grass was so long. So I pulled out the old reel mower. I love using it for several reasons... including good exercise, easy, quieter than the power one, and earth friendly not using up resources.


I started to use it, then Emmett took over, and soon we were doing lawn mowing, not bocce. But we did get around to playing, and it was great. quick games, and easy, and I took turns playing with each of the boys. Glad I got the bocce. It is far simpler than croquet, and we will have to find something to make it more challenging for Eli than how we did it so far.
and glad to be mowing with a reel/real mower!

sunny riding

Went riding yesterday with my friend Olivia. It was sunny and beautiful. We rode on a trail over to a huge pasture and worked the horses there.

I was riding a 4 y.o. horse named Choctaw. He is good, but falls on his forehand alot. It has been so long since I have really ridden though, on a consistent basis. Frustrating. I felt like I was able to settle in a bit after 20 minutes of riding, to where I could start to pay attention to my position, and what exactly I should be doing to get the horse to do what I wanted him to do. I did get some nice transitions out of him, and it was just a really nice afternoon ride.

Now, if only she lived about 1/2 hour closer to me...... Damn. I'd ride every day. She has 3 horses she needs worked, and I need to ride! We are a good combo. It would be fabulous if she didn't live an hour away. but at least I get to go every now and then, and it is heaven for my head!

henna on a horse

Need to figure out more about this....
if I had remembered to bring some henna with me, Olivia would have been up for having me try some on one of her horses. I have tried to hunt stuff down about it on the internet to no avail. What I am wondering is: how long does it last on the horse? Since it is dying the hair, maybe it lasts longer (?). wish I knew and wish I could find someone who has done it. I welcome people who are hunting this or who have done it to please leave a comment about it. Thanks!

first baby belly henna

I had the opportunity to henna my friend's belly yesterday. Gina is 6 months pregnant and was willing to be my first 'baby belly' henna.
I was very proud of how it came out, and she seemed happy with it too. It made me happy to see her glowing.
My camera has a light leak in it though, so the photos came out kind of streaked. bummer. I guess I am off to get a new camera! my Canon Powershot has been great. Think I will get another.

summer already!

It has been hot all of a sudden! Emmett has been dying to use his kickboard and go to the lake, despite me telling him that the water is still so cold. But... since it was about 85° yesterday, we went down the road to our little beach*.
He waded in with his Spongebob kickboard in tow, and kept pleading, "c'mon Mommy, come in the water. it's nice." So I waded in a few inches next to him, but.... damn! It was cold! I didn't venture past my ankles, but Emmett was persistant, and was soon in up to his knees. He told me it was not so cold when you stood in it for a few minutes.
Then he eagerly lay down on his kickboard. The water flooded around his little body, and the chill hit him quickly. He stood back up, and announced, "it's kind of cold. I think it will be better tomorrow." and that was that.

He then got busy digging and creating a sand castle. He was loving being at the edge of the water and digging in the sand.


*this is 75% of our little beach:

good book....

This book is coming out in 8 days.... yeah. can't wait to see it. Hers is one of my favorite blogs to read. it was one of the first I got hooked on reading, and I still love it. I am looking forward to picking up a copy. I recommend it. She writes so well, and the photos on her site are exquisite. She is inspiring in many ways.

henna on my hair

henna on my hair
Originally uploaded by lindseystarr.

I colored my hair with henna a few weeks ago. I am done with having chemicals sit on my scalp for 30 minutes at a time. After having cancer 9 years ago, I don't feel like I want to have all the chemicals seeping into my skin that way.
So, since I do plenty of henna now, I figured it was worth a try. My natural haircolor is a brown with lots of red in it. I read tons on the hennapage about it, and gave it a shot. I mixed up a batch of henna with indigo mixed in, globbed it on my head, left it for a few hours, and then spent ages rinsing it out. It immediately looked so much better. It is so healthy and shiny now too. A bit more reddish than I thought, but I kind of like it. No greys either! :)

soccer again...

Eli hasn't played on a team since last spring. And even then, it was hockey, so it wasn't running around on a field for an hour, it was skating- totally different.
He had his first game today, and he was tired. Way more running than he is used to! It was good for him. They lost, but it didn't bother him as much as it usually does. yeah! and it is so good for him to be part of a team. He has needed that for a while. I feel like he is in a much better place now- both mentally and physically. So glad we pulled him out of the magnet school and put him back int o the local public school. on so many levels.

And Emmett had his soccer, which he loved! He was smiley and happy and had a great time. It is his first organized sport, and the first thing we are doing for him, as opposed to having him schlepped along to something for Eli. Not that skiing wasn't, but it is just different. We were on the sidelines cheering for him! a nice change.

It was good to get out, and see the throngs of parents that are all on the soccer fields on the weekends, and to be a part of that.

heavenly

Put me near some horses and I am in heaven. I appreciate each time I have the opportunity..... which I had today. yeah!!


It was a heavenly beautiful day!!
My boys are away(Adam took them to visit his mom in DC for a few days), and I have had the luxury of no obligations, and taking my time doing things I don't usually have the chance to do.

Thursday I went with a friend to IKEA. We stayed so long I was even getting tired! about 3 hours, including a 45 minute lunch there. I got a bunch of things, and then we had to drive home and assemble some of what I got. It was so good having another person with me, doing all of these things too. So much fun.

Today- I had the opportunity to drive down to visit a new friend from my business class. She has a barn and 5 horses. The property is 26 acres and backs up to a wildlife preserve with miles of trails. I arrived there at 10am- it was a 50 minute drive- if it were closer I think I would be there every day!

We pulled 2 horses out of the paddock, groomed, then rode for 2 hours. It was warm, and sunny, and so beautiful to be out. We stopped and had sandwiches by 1:30 (with chopped red peppers in the tuna, and avocado spread onto the rye bread- killer combo!). We sat on the porch in the sun for a bit, and enjoyed the surroundings in a wonderfully lazy way.


Then went out to the paddocks, and brought in the two little black ponies. We groomed them, then tacked them up for driving together. They haven't really got the hang of being driven together, so they needed work. We took them next door, as the neighbors have the driving reins that we needed, and a round pen to work them. I finally dragged myself away from there at almost 6pm! what a fabulous way to spend the first really beautiful day of the spring.