Soap Queen

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We’re Adding to the Family

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

What's in there mama?

“Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.” – Marc Brown

Ultrasound

Pretty soon Jamisen will find out what it’s like to be better than a superhero! We’re expecting a second little Bramble Bump who is due to arrive in May. We are over-the-moon excited. For those of you doing the math, that means the siblings will be 25 months apart (almost to the day!). This pregnancy has been surprisingly easy. I haven’t been sick that much and other than the normal, first-trimester-tireds and the expanding waistline, it’s been a way easier than pregnancy compared to the first. Soon, our little family of 3 will become a family of 4. We can hardly wait.

Nov 2012

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Puddle Jumping Jamisen

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”
-John Ruskin

Halvah Cheesecake Part Two: The Cake

Filed Under: Soap Queen Cuisine

Here’s part two of the Halvah Cheesecake from my dad’s 25 year old IOU! Check out the full story of the IOU and how to make Halvah from scratch tutorial here.

Header

Ingredients:

16 ounces of softened cream cheese
3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 tablespoon spelt flour or all-pupose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped halvah [Read more…]

Budding Chef

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Jamisen in the Kitchen

“When you are truly comfortable in your own skin, not everyone will like you, but you won’t care about it one bit!”

-Unknown

Curiosity

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Curiosity Mosaic

“Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.”
-Samuel Johnson

Dedicated

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Dedication

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”
-Vince Lombardi

Quinoa Feta Burgers

Filed Under: Soap Queen Cuisine

We’ve been having a bit of a burger-off in our household. It all started with my sister-in-law Cheriss making an amazing veggie burger. From there, the entire family became obsessed. And now, every time my folks visit, I whip up a big batch of burger mix on Friday and we feast on Saturday. So far, these burgers are tied with Cheriss’ for the number one recipe. They have a full 14 grams of high quality protein (thanks to the Kidney beans and Quinoa) and are chock full of delicious flavor. I adapted this recipe from Whole Living magazine.

Quinoa Feta burgers

Quinoa Feta Burgers

15 oz. can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 shallot, minced

1 carrot, grated finely

2 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup dry quinoa, 2 cups water for cooking)

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

5 Tbs crumbled feta cheese

1 tsp coarse salt

3 egg whites, lightly whisked

2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil or Coconut Oil for grilling

[Read more…]

From Washington to Washington

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Wow, has it been a busy last 4 days. In the last 4 days, I’ve flown to Washington DC and back, made halvah from scratch and a from-scratch halvah cheesecake (yes, recipes will be posted! Until then, you can feast your eyes on this photo), spent a day with my family and participated in the annual Mastermind Business retreat. I am energized and tired, all at the same time!

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Washington DC was an efficient, productive trip. Though there are no cosmetic-legislation bills that have made it out of committee this legislative session, it’s important to continue educating lawmakers and their staff on our handcrafted industry and urge small business exemptions for any future legislation. Lawmakers were receptive to the message that small business does not function like a large, mass-scale-production line and that it’s important to preserve over 200,000 jobs in the U.S. by including small business exemptions in any upcoming legislation. New to this issue? Lots of historical information at these blog posts here (going back over 4 years!). [Read more…]

Firsts.

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

 

Jamisen's Hair

On the eve of Jamisen’s first haircut…

“Every goodbye is the birth of a memory.” -Dutch Proverb

Butterscotch Pie Recipe

Filed Under: Soap Queen Cuisine


My Dad speaks fondly of the Butterscotch Pie that his Mom used to make him. I have tried to recreate many of his favorite childhood recipes (remember the Triple Decker Caramel cake? Recipe here) and this is another try to make his childhood memories come true. It turns out that this is a much more sophisticated version than his Mom made (he suspects she used a pudding mix for the filling!) and, as adults, is more rewarding. The browned butter gives this a deeper taste. The filling is not very sweet so on first bite, it doesn’t seem like a winner. Take the second bite. You’ll be surprised at how addicting this recipe is. [Read more…]