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Personality Crisis!

June 10, 2010 //
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I’m having a little bit of a personality crisis. Okay, so maybe it’s more of an identity crisis, but I really wanted to use the New York Dolls as an AV aid.

Specifically, this blog is having a crisis of direction. I started writing BGH in November with the very ambitious goal of making it a nearly-daily forum for ideas, recipes, and projects. Trouble is, I don’t know what this thing has become. Back in May I had the idea to restructure and introduce new features, but I didn’t follow through. People just didn’t seem interested, and I don’t want to bother folks with things they don’t care to read.

I guess the question I have is, what should I keep writing about? Should I focus more on the food? Should I focus more on myself? Should I entertain more of the DIY projects and current-event opinions that I’ve only occasionally brought up so far? More Toronto-focused content? Less Toronto-focused content? I want to know.

TELL ME, DEAR FRIENDS!!

(……..please?)

XO Kelli

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Categories Brain, Guts, Hands

Make yo garden grow

May 26, 2010 //
0

I’ve always wanted my own vegetable garden. Trouble is, I kill things. Not people, and not on purpose, but with other living things it tends to happen.

Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration is happening here; I managed to keep Boli the bunny (the only real pet I have ever known) alive for 5 1/2 years, which is pretty solid I guess. And Rasta, the ponytail palm so named for its dreadlock-like foliage, has been my faithful half-crusted-with-brown-decay houseplant for the better part of four years (though, gotta say, it’s looked like hell for the majority of that time). Frida and Marcial, the hermit crabs I inherited from my eccentric high school boyfriend and promptly named after the villains of my mother’s then-favourite telenovela, lasted a good two months until I moved to Toronto when, entrusted to the dubious care of my younger brothers, they quickly departed to the great neon crabshell in the sky.

Still, my history with gardening is less than stellar. I tried planting wildflowers in the backyard of my university co-op house a few summers ago. You’d think it’d be easy to get what are essentially regionally indigenous weeds to take root in a roomy swath of fertile Great Lakes soil. Wrong! I decided to blame the backyard itself, reasoning that its dirt was probably too tarnished by four decades of discarded cigarette butts to possibly accommodate my groundcover. But when my friend Liz managed to cultivate a gorgeous flowerbed in the much sketchier backyard next door, my horticultural uselessness could no longer be denied.

It isn’t fair. Good DIYers aren’t allowed to suck at gardening; instead, it is our duty to reap good little urban farms out of every square inch of available dust so we can cheerfully brag about the fruits of our mega-locavore labours come the end of season. Having lost the patience to make it through an entire knitting project, I’m already a few miles behind the better members of my subculture–now this?

But I’m nothing if not tenacious, so a few weeks ago I gave the old backyard garden a second  go-around—this time, armed with the understanding that I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. I consulted with the next door neighbour, whose own infant garden (“Chinese vegetables,” he told me), seems to be planted with some level of skill, and he suggested a spot in my yard that would receive amounts of light ideal for plant growth. Then, the interwebs: I googled “How to plant tomatoes” and, from information gleaned there, dug a trench and planted some heirloom seedlings. It’s been three weeks, and apart from the one that got mowed over by my elderly landlord, my tomato plants seem to be doing well. Jon has since added some peppers and herbs to the garden as well, so hopefully come August we’ll at least have a couple of salad ingredients to show for our efforts. Oh yeah, and the pride of having grown them ourselves.

Jon calls this one "the hipster gardener." Sigh.

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Putting some fun between those legs

April 20, 2010 //
6

If my last few posts aren’t any indication of this, let me reiterate that this has been a crappy month. But tomorrow, I am going to turn that frown upside down, throw on my rose coloured glasses, and exhaust some more metaphors (kidding!): I will FINALLY be taking my new bike to the University of Toronto Bike Chain so that the good citizens of Bikelandia can help me help myself. More specifically, they will walk me through the process of making my new blue beaut rideable. Then, I shall mount my dandyhorse and ride triumphantly into the springtime smog.

On a related note, I’ve been told that one is supposed to name one’s two-wheeled ride. I neglected to do this with my old hand-me-down Schwinn, and perhaps as a result, we have had a very tumultuous relationship. I sure won’t make THAT mistake twice!

As per my friends’ suggestions thus far, at the time of this posting, here are the names in the running:

a.) Tom

b.) Lunch Box

c.) Daphne

d.) Blue’s Cruise

e.) Claudia

f.) Geraldine

g.) Killer

h.) Nigel

i.) Emma

j.) Notorious B Y K
My friends are a lot better at this than I am. How DOES one name a bicycle, anyway?

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Categories Brain, Hands

Fake fall muffins

April 18, 2010 //
2

April is a complicated month. Sure, it’s beautiful and brimming with promise for warm, outdoorsy months ahead. But let’s not pretend it isn’t a shock to the system.

Spring seems to be a stressful time for a lot of people, and I am certainly not exempt from this seasonal madness. All of a sudden, it’s harder to stay indoors and accomplish the things that need to get done, which leads to all sorts of panicky “what am I accomplishing with myself?” anxiety and fears of time wasted—a kind of self-evaluation mode that seems to become existential really fast. It’s also a time of transition as we emerge from the cozy, womb-y hibernation of winter to the super-intense social exposure of patio season. Plus, for the double-X’ers among us, there’s that whole “shit-I-have-six-weeks-to-fit-into-my-bikini” complex (I would pretend that I am above this pressure, but I totally just signed up for a pink camouflage instrument of demoralization called “Booty Camp“, so really who am I to judge?).

Anyway, apart from some daytime walks around my neighbourhood, I decided to stay in this weekend to give myself some thinking time. I saved some cash, rested up my lungs (another bronchial infection has befallen me), put Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps on an iTunes loop, and got to baking. I could have opted to make something light and springy, but I was in the mood for the more robust flavours of autumn. Plus, I had a gigantic can of pumpkin puree in my cupboard just begging to be brought to life. So I made pumpkin-banana-oat muffins.

These guys are light and healthy enough for spring (no oil! no butter! no sugar!), yet made interesting with some autumnal spice. If you’re fortunate enough to have access to the Quebec treat that is Liberté yogurt, I highly recommend topping these muffins with a dollop of the Méditerranée style in Dulce de Leche. However, a schmear  of all-natural peanut butter also works magic. Then, sit back, take a sip of coffee, and look out your window.

Fake Fall Muffins

Wet ingredients:

  • 2 cups pureed pumpkin
  • 2 ripe, mashed bananas
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup milk or milk substitute
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup

Dry ingredients:

  • 1 cup flax meal (e.g. flax seeds+ coffee grinder)
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional, but recommended)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Sift the dry into the wet and mix. Spoon into muffin tins and bake for approximately 20 minutes.


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Categories Brain, Guts, Hands

My polar plunge

January 25, 2010 //
6

Who’s that crazy girl mugging blurrily against the snow?

And what is she doing?

Shouldn’t she be in the city, practicing her choir songs?

Or making productive contributions to society?

Probably. But isn’t this more badass?

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Categories Hands

Domainski!

January 19, 2010 //
0

I’m going through a phase where I add “-ski” after words and names. Or, rather, after wordskis and nameskis. It’s kind of refreshing that, even on the cusp of one’s oh-so-adult mid-twenties, dorky phases are still possible.

Anyway, upon arriving home from a weekend of magazine production (have I mentioned I help make a magazine?) at 6:30 this morning, I decided it was time to give BrainGutsHands its own home.

http://braingutshands.com has arrived!

Ain’t she purdy?

Categories Brain, Guts, Hands

Helping Haiti

January 14, 2010 //
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My goodness, it’s been awhile! I think this is the longest I’ve ever gone without posting, and I sincerely apologize for being a lazy ol’ slackjob. During the holidays, I completely slipped out of my day-to-day routine. I’m sure some of you can relate.

A lot has happened in the last eight days. On a global scale, the most significant of these recent events has been this week’s mind-boggling devastation in Haiti. Many people in the U.S. have been donating to the Red Cross and YELE via text message, and if you’re reading from the U.S., I encourage you to do the same; texting “HAITI” to 90999 donates $10 to the American Red Cross missions in Haiti and texting “YELE” to 501501 donates $5 to Wyclef Jean’s YELE charity.

If you’re in Canada, you can text the word “HAITI” to the number 45678 to donate $5 to the Canadian Red Cross’ Hatian missions. Another organization that I would recommend supporting (actually, more than any other organization) whether you’re in Canada, the U.S., or elsewhere, is MSF-Doctors without Borders. They do really important work and are renowned for their monetary efficiency. Click here if you’re donating from the U.S., and here if you’re donating from Canada.

Prayers are nice, but aid donation is better. As they say, every little bit counts.

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Categories Brain, Hands

Supa dupa fly soap

December 28, 2009 //
0

In the world of crafting, melt-and-pour soapmaking is about as un-badass as a person can get. However, being that I suffer from delusions of rebellious grandeur, I like to think that my first attempt at soapmaking not only reached the desired realm of badassedness, but went above and beyond the call of rebel duty. To borrow from the title of Missy Elliot’s superb 1997 debut album, this soap was supa dupa fly, and you know I don’t use Missy’s words lightly.

Yes, that’s soap on that plate. Would you believe that, before I made these yesterday, I’d never made soap before in my life? It’s that easy! I thought food soaps would be a fun Christmas gift for my Uncle Stan (my godfather), for whom I’ve mastered the art of the gag gift, and I was definitely right; the whole family was thoroughly impressed. Holiday victory is mine again!


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Categories Hands

Shop local: 5 T.O. artisans (the sequel)

December 14, 2009 //
0

This is how committed I am to supporting local artists this holiday shopping season: this weekend, despite a nagging virus (Cold? Sinus infection? Lung rot?), I still managed to hit up THREE MORE indie craft shows. Erin from Coco Boudoir told me about Art-o-Rama, and while I didn’t buy any crafts there on Saturday I did enjoy some tasty mulled cider and homebaked treats from their little makeshift cafe.

Then, yesterday, I met up with a couple of fellow journo friends to check out the holiday market at 401 Richmond, my summertime internship haunt. I bought the bf a great t-shirt featuring a handsome cat’s face screenprinted boldly against a bright blue setting. The shirt came from the girls at the Toronto Cat Rescue, and the proceeds from my purchase helped to support their organization, so it was a gift I could feel doubly good about giving. Then my galpals and I went downstairs to check out Janet Bike Girl‘s studio. She’s a stencil artist and longtime cycling activist, and my friends and I were quite taken with her petite stencil-to-fabric pieces. My friend Alix bought this one:

(My friend Cristina also bought one of the stenciled fabric squares, though I couldn’t find an image for hers.)

I mentioned to Janet that I’m also into stencilmaking, and she kindly gave me some extra plastic bits to experiment with for use in future stencils. What a woman!

After 401 Richmond, my friends and I parted ways and I continued the westbound trek to City of Craft. There, I found my mothership:

I apologize for the poor photo quality (cell phone photog, c’est moi), but you get the idea. It was HUGE! So many vendors, so much excitement. I think it may have even been bigger than the Bust Magazine spring Craftacular I attended in Brooklyn this past May, which says a lot. My sole complaint was that boy-friendly gift options were few and far between. Nevertheless, I was drooling over the abundance of brilliant creations to be found–and, thanks to the internets, it isn’t too late to support these artists for your own holiday shopping if you are so inclined. Without further ado, my top 5 faves:

1.) Holly Handmade

Woodland-inspired bark-print baby bibs and plushie toadstool rattles, packaged together in a darling set. Need I say more?

2.) Shannon Gerard

I was already familiar with Shannon’s graphic art thanks to her contribution to an awesome anthology called She’s Shameless (which I had the pleasure of reviewing over the summer), but I had no idea that the quirky crocheted adornments I’ve recently been seeing around town were also her handiwork. Talk about talent! I can’t get over how much I love the idea of needleworked renditions of body parts:

img courtesy of http://shannongerard.org

Though, I must say, I am also partial to plants you can’t kill:

img courtesy of http://shannongerard.org

3.) Bettula

These guys make jewelry out of birchbark. It’s pretty sweet.

4.) Nanopod

I know, me and my thing for body parts. But seriously, Tosca from Nanopod makes anatomical heart pendants out of glass:

And axon-branch earrings:

I wish I’d paid more attention in AP Bio…

5.) Nightjar Books

Repurposed materials made into hand-bound notebooks at prices that beat your average, boring old Moleskines. Again, what more can I say?

Come to think of it, I just gave you SIX artists for the “price” (or, rather, “claim”) of five, so gold star for me. I gotta go drain my sinuses now. Toodles!

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Categories Hands

Crafta’s Paradise: The best of a handmade weekend

December 8, 2009 //
2

Besides eating delicious soup in the Polish village, I also spent this past weekend floating through the indie craft circuit. Being an eager-yet-fickle mistress of all things darling and handmade, I checked out not one, not two, but three craft shows, and yet I still managed to buy a whole lot of nothing. There were so many lovely offerings that I couldn’t make up my mind! I wound up collecting business cards from the vendors that best struck my fancy for future shopping, though. Allow me to share my favorites with you:

1.) Kid Icarus

I saw these guys at Winter Fling, and they’ll be at this weekend’s City of Craft as well, but for those of you who’ve stumbled past their Kensington showroom after one too many Delirium Tremens beers at Ronnie’s Local and wondered “what the hell is Kid Icarus?”, let me just say it’s worth the daytime visit. Kid Icarus deals mostly in paper: greeting cards, stationary, journals, and other stuff made from processed, printed pulp. Their designs are simultaneously clever, quirky, and rustic.

photo from http://movies-and-makers.blogspot.com

Fave pick:

The Great Lakes printed wrapping paper (pictured at left), a topographical tribute to my stomping grounds of past and present.

2.) Katie Muth

Also spotted at Winter Fling, Katie Muth is a local printmaker whose linoleum block prints (also known as linocuts) remind me a lot of Nikki McClure’s paper-cut art: intimate, nature-conscious, and rendered with loving attention to the everyday. I especially love how Toronto’s urban landscape features so prominently in Muth’s prints, many of which include scenes from Toronto’s treasured High Park.

Photo of 2010 wall calendar from http://katiemuth.com

Fave Pick:
Her High Park-themed 2010 wall calendar (pictured above). I want one so badly.

3.) Stitchface

I’m kind of surprised by how much I liked this stuff. I’ve never been into plushies and, apart from overweight babies and freshly-birthed kittens, I’m not particularly vulnerable to traditional “cuteness” either. But something about Stitchface’s collection of slightly demented woodland creatures makes me wish I had a quirky niece or silly little cousin to buy these for–preferably one who was old enough not to maul it to shreds. While my younger cousins are still in the drool-and-destroy phase, I might pick one of these little guys up anyway. You know, for safekeeping.


Fave pick:

This purple bunny, which is roughly what I imagine when I think of the Moldy Peaches version of Little Bunny Foo Foo.

4.) Claire Manning

I ran into Claire at a tiny artisan craft fair nestled in a Parkdale residential space. It was there that I promptly fell for her illustrations and embroideries–as well as the artist’s own kind and friendly demeanor. I love how fun and animated her pieces were, particularly a series of whimsically stitched tea towels based on the periodic table of elements. While I unfortunately didn’t have a camera handy and her website doesn’t include photos of these, this image of one of Claire’s illustrations (which I’m borrowing from Devilles Workshop’s Flickr Photostream) is somewhat similar to the towel embroideries, which were among my fave picks of the weekend:

Illustration by Claire Manning

5.) Coco Boudoir

Those who know me best know that I love classic styling. I occasionally make my own vintage chapeau-inspired feather headbands for myself and others (my female cousins on my dad’s side each got one last Christmas) and one of my most treasured accessories is a delicious chocolate-brown felt topper given to me last year by the bf’s mom. You can imagine my delight, then, when I ran into Erin Summer and her Coco Boudoir collection at the Parkdale artisan show. While she also makes feathered headbands that are somewhat similar to my own, I was most impressed by the necklaces and adornments Erin had crafted from vintage fabrics and knick-knacks. For instance, there was a sparkly silver-leaf bib necklace constructed out of a recycled Christmas ornament from her childhood home. Then, there were the rosette pieces, each rose painstakingly coiled and hand-stitched in place. I wanted everything. It’s too bad that holiday shopping is about gifts for others.

Fave Pick:

Photo from the Coco Boudoir Etsy page

This fantabulous headband: great dressy or casual, and in that warm Spring/Fall palette that goes so beautifully with my coloring (hint hint)…

Well, there you have it: five local Toronto artisans to support during holiday gift-shopping season. Enjoy!

P.S. Y’all know that the title of this post is an homage to Coolio, right? Very fitting for a blog devoted to a melange of things reflective, creative, and food-related, methinks, as the rapper is also an occasional actor and cookbook auteur (fo’ serious!)

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Categories Hands
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