Quality Source: Ezra Cox Distillery

Late this summer, HH and I took a short trip south on I-5 to hit up a nice fabric store a few towns down.  While we were heading back home, we decided to stop at the Ezra Cox Distillery for a quick tasting. 

While tasting the samples, we found out that they would be changing their name, which was a bummer for me because I happen to really like the name.  To me, it sounds very old-timey and perfect for a small distillery.  I was just about to ask where the name came from when another, very loud/chatty patron brought up the subject.  Apparently, Ezra Cox is/was a partner in the business who was no longer interested in being involved, or something along those lines, so the remaining partners would need to come up with a new name.  That may not be entirely accurate, as the alcohol was likely working its magic on my brain at that point, but you get the gist.  Anyway, they are now Blind Pig Spirits which is not quite as catchy to me, but I'm sure the booze still tastes good. 

My favorite item was the peach pie shine, and HH liked the apple pie shine.  We thought they would make excellent additions to either summer or winter adult beverage concoctions.  I don't think either of them are for sale yet, but we are keeping our eyes/ears open so we can buy some when they are available. 

Before leaving, we decided to buy some vodka, and we got a free shot glass thrown in. 

That night, I whipped up some nectarine/vodka beverages which were good, but would have been better with the peach pie shine.  

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

This salad made frequent appearances on our dinner plates this summer.  I think the inspiration may have come from here on Simply Recipes, as many of our meals are taken from or inspired by what we see on that website.  

The greens and beets came from our CSA, and the goat cheese came from one of the creameries at the Olympia Farmer's Market.  

Fresh beets.

Aren't they pretty on the inside?

After boiling, the skins peel right off.

I see lettuce, kale, and chard, though there might be more things in there as well.

Goat cheese covered in herbs.

We dressed the salad with a lemon garlic vinaigrette, and topped it with the beets, goat cheese, toasted almonds, and chives.  Yum!

Gilligan’s Island Cookies

HH and I are aware that we are probably the winners of the Bad Bloggers Award, since we hardly ever post any more.  (Well, maybe we are runners-up to JP and Dr. JP, who haven't posted in almost a year!)  We do have some blog-worthy meals and sewing items that we made a long time ago but never posted, but the longer we go without posting them the harder it is to go back and do.  Apparently this goes for guest posts, too.  My sister sent me this post back in August (a full 3 months ago!), and I just now decided it was time to throw it at the interwebs.  I guess late is better than never, right?

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Here is a recipe for what are traditionally called chocolate chip cookies. Grandma Jean gave us this recipe.
 

She notes that in her family they called them Gilligan’s Island Cookies because they look like deserted islands jutting out of the ocean. The real recipe uses chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and heath chips, but we didn’t have all of that. But they are still great with only chocolate chips! 

 First you mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.

Next you mix the wet ingredients: eggs, butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.

Then you mix the wet ingredients together.

Then you combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.

Next, mix in the chocolate chips!

Hey, I recognize those aprons!

 Put the dough on the cookie sheet and put them in the oven for 9 to 12 minutes.

We cooked the first batch at 375 degrees but it was too hot. So we reduced the oven temperature to 275 degrees for the next batch. But that was too cool, so we raised the temperature to 325 and it was PERFECT!

Signing off,

From the kitchen, Sarah and Ronan.

Like a pro—Ruairi.

Pants Party

"Cough, look over here...I would like to extend to you an invitation to the pants party."  

Following my three-part series on how to turn a big piece of fabric into a wearable pair of pants, I proceeded to make several more pairs, tweaking the fit and details each time. 

These are the results.

I actually made these before, but they are a favorite.  Narrow leg denim trousers.

These were made before too.  Wool lined in flannel.  Just like wearing pajamas.

The Pants Diary pants. 

Bright navy, very thin fabric.

Grey wool suiting.  Sorry for the gratuitous bum shot, but these are probably the best all around fit.

Stone twill.  Replaces an old pair I had that were HUGE in the waist.

Olive twill.  Probably my favorite pair.

And there you have it.  Seven pairs of pants that fit really well that I can wear to work.  I have some camel colored pinstripe fabric to make into another pair, and I'm hoping to make some black wool pants lined in flannel sometime this winter.  Then I should be all set!