Recipe: Lime Sugar Cookies

I don't know about other places, but I certainly know that my grocery store constantly has limes on sale. It seems like its almost to the point where they're going to start paying me to take them off their hands. I love citrus, and limes are one of my all-time favorite fruits. They're versatile like lemons, but provide their own special flavor along with their tartness. I use them in soups, salads and everything in between. The only area I was never really able to work the limes into was baking.

Sure, I have recipes for key lime pie, cupcakes, and cheesecake, but what about the regular old everyday, run-of-the-mill lime? How come he is always shoved aside so his fancy cousin from the south can get all of the attention? I searched for recipes for the little guy, but nothing really caught my eye. Most were recipes for glazes ice creams, and sorbets (which are all well and good), but its the middle of winter here in New York, my ice cream maker is packed away and I want to bake something.

Then I remembered a recipe that a co-worker gave to me about a month ago. She is just the sweetest woman ever and we're always chatting about cooking, fashion and other such topics. I don't remember how this all came up exactly, but I know it involved her giving me a cookie (always a good thing) and me immediately asking for the recipe because it was just that fabulous. Now, I have no idea where this recipe is originally from, so I can't give proper credit, but I am certainly not trying to claim it as my own. Regardless, it results in some fantastic cookies...

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LIME SUGAR COOKIES

MAKES: 30 cookies
PREP: 15 minutes
CHILL: 1 hour
BAKE: 20 minutes

 INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup sugar (set aside an additional 1/2 cup)
• zest of 2 limes (about 2 heaping tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 large egg yolks at room temperature
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups flour

Beat butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and lime zest on medium speed in an electric mixer until lightly creamed. Add sour cream, and beat just until blended. Stir in egg yolks and lime juice, scraping down sides of bowl. Add salt, baking powder and flour, and beat until blended. Chill dough 1 hour.
 
Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.* Place remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar, and place on baking sheets.**

*Instead of parchment paper, I coated my sheets with Pam Spray for Baking.
**This dough can also be chilled and rolled out if you prefer to use cutters.

Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until edges begin to brown; bottoms will look golden. (For crispier cookies, bake a few additional minutes.) Remove to wire racks to cool

Enjoy!

 

mmm... zesty
(sorry, i just really like this pic)

Project: Beaded Key Chain

My mom and I have always shared a love of arts and crafts. Several years ago we discovered beading and jewelry making and have been hooked ever since. For the past few months we have had some great crafting sessions where we turned out some fantastic beaded projects: jewelry, bookmarks, and now today’s creation… key chains.

My mom purchased a beaded key chain a while ago and thought, “Hey, we can make these!” And, as it turns out, we can! Ours actually came out about a million times nicer than the one she purchased, but that’s just my (honest) opinion. I wasn’t able to get any photos of my mom’s lovely creation, as the good light had already left my impromptu photo shoot location by the time she was done. And it’s not worth posting a photo of a craft if it doesn’t do the project justice. However, I will try to snap one or two the next time I’m at their house. The following photos are of my key chain creation. Now my stylish MINI has a stylish set of keys to match!

Pink & Black Beaded Deco Keychain

I am nothing short of amazed at how quick and easy this project turned out to be. With the right tools and a little planning, you can produce these beauties in no time. The ability to make these into unique works of portable art is as broad as your own imagination. There are endless combinations of chains, beads, medallions and crystals.

My mom found the deco chandelier medallion at a local craft store along with the chain and a majority of the other beads. We have amassed such a large collection of beads over time that I’m not even able to begin to guess with any accuracy as to where half of them are from.

However, a good place to start is your local craft store and Fire Mountain Gems. When first starting out it is best to see beads in person to get an idea of standards in shapes and sizes. Beads are measured in millimeters and the slight variances can be tricky to visualize without a physical point of reference… and checking out the millimeter markings on your ruler is not very accurate.

It is helpful to buy a few basic beads in common sizes and shapes. Separate them into marked bags by size and pull them out for reference before placing any orders online. For example, if you were trying to decide between 8mm and 10mm bicones you would pull out those two sized bags and compare the two bicone beads. This is also helpful when trying to match varying sizes and shapes of beads for a project, since you can get an idea of how the differences will look together.

For the key chain, everything was strung together with sections of silver, composite chain. This is strong, yet lightweight since it is not solid metal. I have never used it before so I will have to report back on how it holds up to daily wear and tear. I recommend using a chain with links that are not soldered. This way, they are easy to assemble and disassemble… just make sure to securely close them so you don’t lose any of your beads!

It was great to finally get a project accomplished after the past few weeks of an artistic void. My mom and I have been planning to make these for months, but kept getting delayed. This is definitely going to be one of my favorite accessories, even though it is more functional than decorative. However, you could make these to attach to your purse or use the technique for a charm bracelet. With beading, I always feel like there are always endless possibilities for any project.

Personal Thoughts on This Blog

Well then, sorry for the brief absence… MINI Coopers on the brain and whatnot, but more about that at another time.

I have received a surprising amount of positive feedback about my little blog. I honestly didn’t start blogging again with hopes that anyone would read, or even care, about what I sat down and typed. I was just so fed up and frustrated with all of my own thoughts that I needed an outlet that would help me gain a sense of organization. In the past I had always been an avid blogger, and it always did help to add a glint of clarity to my otherwise chaotic life.

All that aside, I received an amazing Facebook message from a friend, regarding my blog, that just opened my eyes and completely made my day. I obviously won’t just copy and paste it onto my blog for the entire interwebs to read, but the general point of the message was that she could relate.

Her message got me thinking about why I really started blogging again, and it felt great to know that there was at least one other person who could relate to my own awkward, little existence. It isn’t just me that is made up of a million different sides and personas, and has 5,000 items on her to-do list on any given day… half of which are lofty dreams and aspirations that seem so close, but are just SO hard to attain. And I’m not the only woman who isn’t boxed into some old-fashioned and cliché social group.

My response to her initial message really lays out what I, and this blog, am all about…

I feel like there are tons of bloggers out there who are geared towards moms, homemakers, workaholics, artists, etc… but none for the little niche that I’m in. I can’t relate to the moms who stay home, raise children and do homemaker stuff, or to the NYC ladies who work all day and then hit the posh bars and clubs at night. I want to do my crafts, cooking and wifey-type things, but I’m not about to pop out a baby and quit my job… AND I also want to do my art, shopping and metropolitan type things, but I’m not about to get divorced and move to the city. I just feel like I don’t fit into either of the lives that I’m stuck between.


This past summer I really found myself again… as cliché as that sounds. I hacked off my hair, dyed it pink, got tattooed, started being true to myself and not putting on the good-girl “walk all over me” persona that I used at my job for the prior four years. I was happier than I had been in a very long time, but people looked at me like I was a freak (and not just because of the pink hair). It was more like I wasn’t behaving in the way that a wife should behave. I heard, “What does your husband think of this?” about 100 times with each change that I made. And each time that I answered with, “He’s thrilled that I am finally myself again,” I either received a response of understanding or disgust. Luckily, it was more understanding than anything else, but I was still given the side-eye about the changes for a long time.


I can honestly say that what other people think doesn’t bother me in the least, but every now and then I step back and think, “Am I really the ONLY wife who is like this?” and “Why can’t I do all the different things that I want to do?” Yes, I love being married, having a home in the country and doing the homemaker thing, but why can’t I do that while being a left-of-center artsy type? I can fold fancy napkins and turn out crafts just like Martha Stewart, but I can also get tattooed, hop into my MINI and race around with the boys… and no, my husband doesn’t have a problem with that either, thank you very much. What I can’t do though, as stupid as it sounds, is exactly what I want to do… everything!!

So now I’m rambling on my blog about something that is the hardest thing to explain… who I am. And I might not be able to classify myself into a standard social mold, or be the same person from one day to the next, but I know that at least I’m not alone. I’m not the only one with a million goals, a job, a husband, friends, a home and only 24 hours in the day.

So to all the “different” girls out there: Rock on. And to all of girls who fit into the groups I mentioned, you rock too… just to a beat that is different from my own. No one’s lifestyle is right/wrong or better/worse than the other. Actually, I guess we’re all “different” girls when you look at it that way…

The First M.I.A. Apology

Whoops… seems like I’ve been missing in action for a little while.

I’ve been hard at work on Hudson Valley MINI related things… and once I get MINI’s on the brain I get a little carried away. Rest assured though, I have a new little seedling of a post growing in my brain. And as soon as I have the time to sit down and write it all out, I’ll be back in action.

Sweet Tranquility

I’m so fickle. I just discovered that I have an adorable, half-designed website and logo sitting around, complete with hosting, email and a matching domain name AND etsy account. I started building the site nearly 2 years ago when I had an awesome idea for a little side-business for myself. I won’t give away the specifics because I still might get around to opening it at some point, but the site is almost too cute to let go to waste until then.

So, in light of this little discovery, I’m thinking of changing around my little blog. The new (err… old) name is slightly geared towards a theme that my blog isn’t really following, but I can make it work. So please bear with me while I redecorate around here.

Put the Past Behind Me

I finally closed down my old blog. *tear* Well… I’m not really THAT sad. I felt like every time I started updating on a regular basis, my motivation would inevitably die for several weeks. Then I’d start again with some new theme or idea that was “sure” to keep me on track with blogging. Not so much. It was a vicious cycle.

I had posted in my old blog back in December saying that (once again) my resolution was going to getting back on track with blogging. That, of course, jinxed me… so I’m just calling a spade a spade and starting fresh without making any promises to myself about post frequency, theme, or whatever. It seems to be working so far, so we’ll see how it goes!

This is lucky blog #7 for me, so goodbye bad blogging karma!

Take Two and Call Me in the Morning

Well, I guess I have even more reasons to give this whole “domestic” thing my best effort… I have been ordered by my doctor to work from home at least twice per week. Apparently a commute really can kill you. Okay, I guess it can only “kill” you if you’re in a car accident, but it can cause serious health issues (other than accident-related ones).

To summarize:

I have these wacky extra bones called cervical ribs. They are located in my neck and grow out from the last vertebrae at the base of my cervical spine… which surprises some people, since they associate the word “cervical” with “cervix.” I’ll admit, it’s a little misleading, but I can assure you that I do not have ribs growing inside my girl parts. Anyway, they inhabit the tiny little space in-between the v-shaped bone structure of my clavicle. That area, however, is also home to tons of delicate nerves, muscles, vessels and arteries.

Most people who have cervical ribs don’t even know it, since they are small and tend not to cause any problems. Most people also generally only have 1 cervical rib. I, however, am not most people. I have two (just like all of my other ribs), but the one on the left is causing me excruciating pain.

I have been fighting a 2-year battle with this pain resulting in dozens of ER trips, doctors visits, pills and tests. After being told by a few doctors that there was nothing wrong with me, I have finally found a sane neurologist who doesn’t write me off in his book as a complete liar. I have been seeing him for a couple of months now, and have made more progress with him than in the year or so that I was previously trying to deal with the issue. Unfortunately, we have pinpointed driving as a direct source of my pain.

Right around the time I began experiencing the pain 3 things happened. I purchased a MINI, moved to NY and started my 100-mile round-trip daily commute. Unfortunately, all 3 are things that I cannot, or will not, change. So for now, I am attending physical therapy three times per week, waiting for my insurance company to approve a CT scan of my neck and taking some pretty hefty pain meds as needed. And now, as an extra measure, I have been instructed to work from home at least two days per week and to limit, or eliminate, all driving* other than my remaining commuting days.

*A huge, defining portion of myself is dedicated to all things MINI Cooper. I co-organize a local MINI club, attend lots of meets and rallies, and just adore driving my MINI. The winter helps cut down on and/or eliminate MINI events, but the race is on (no pun intended) to get this fixed by spring.

MINI laments aside, I am going to be spending a lot more time around the house than I have in the past. So now is as good a time as any to really shake off the corporate dust and get all touchy-feely with my domestic self.

2010 Resolutions

Let’s talk about resolutions, since that’s all you seem to hear about at this time of year. Whether it’s complaints about crowds from my gym-going friends or complaints in the office kitchen about how there shouldn’t be treats present since everyone is dieting, resolutions are never a positive topic. This is quite ironic, since resolutions themselves are positive changes to what we deem to be negative aspects of our lives.

So why do we hate them so much?

Is it really THAT hard to change? Are we disturbed by the fact that a resolution is an admission of a flaw or failure in our lives? Or is it just seasonally-stylish to complain about them… like hating fruitcake at Christmas and shore traffic on the Parkway in the summer.

Well, whatever the reason, we all do it. However, this year I have made a resolution that will literally stop the complaining (at least on my end): This January 1st marks the first drama-free decade of my life. I’m saying goodbye to toxic people, not getting mixed up in problems that don’t affect me, and just cutting negativity out of my life.

Now, I’m not delusional like some resolution-makers. I’m going to have successes and failures. This isn’t a change where, if it doesn’t happen by February, I’m going to give up. I’m a mouthy, opinionated, stubborn person. My life isn’t going to suddenly be sunshine and unicorns, but I’m really sick of the drama. Especially since the majority of drama and negativity that came into my life was from other people’s problems that sucked me in.

No more. I’m always here if someone needs to vent or chat, that won’t change… but that’s where it stops. I don’t want to sit and hear your gossip over the same little issues that have been going on for years. I’m not going to be the spokesperson for injustice anymore, unless it is my own problem. I’ll gladly listen and advise, but everyone is fighting their own battles from now on.

I’m learning to view the world in a positive light and constant gossip and bullshit isn’t part of that view. I can see the toll it has taken on me and, for my own sanity, need it to end now.

So this is it… I resolve to cut the drama and negativity and turn my life into something more positive and enjoyable. Maybe I’ll actually accomplish all the things I’d like to do in life instead of wasting my time on meaningless chatter. Isn’t that the point of this blog: my desire to find my inner homemaker?! Well, this is Step 1…

The Infamous First Post

Have you ever had one of those days where you pick up a home magazine and think, “How on earth do these women do it? they run businesses, manage companies, travel, entertain and still have a home worthy of glossy photographs… while I sit behind a desk from 8 to 4 and still can’t find the time to pick up my pants that are lying right next to the hamper.” Well, that’s me. Not the domestic goddess with the gorgeous home, I’m the one who is too domestically inept to navigate the hamper.

Don’t get me wrong… I can cook, bake, sew, craft and clean like you wouldn’t believe (actually, most people don’t believe it). I just have motivational issues. I desperately want to be like all the women i see in magazines, or whose blogs i follow, or that I read about on thenest.com. I really, really do. I just feel like there is a dimmer switch in the “domestic” section of my brain that just needs a little bit of tweaking to reach its full capacity.

I don’t want to look at those pants next to the hamper and say, “Meh, I’ll pick them up when I come back. no big deal.” I want it to be a big deal. I want it to be the end of the freaking world. Okay, so that’s a little melodramatic, but you get my point. I want to find my inner “Country Living” magazine self and give her a hug and welcome her into my life.

This blog is the chronicle of my journey to find my inner domestic sweetheart, and to turn our chaotic house into a tranquil home. There will be a lot of whining and complaining along the way, but I’m determined to find her. I suppose I should pick those pants up before I do…