Pretty Pearls

I performed last night for the first time - well, my first more-or-less choreographed time, at least - with my wonderful bellydance ladies. We danced to History Repeating and our costumes included fedoras and pearls. Pearls, I have (had) only a few of. Shopping!

My fedora, complete with feathers (kindly donated by a bird who got his wings clipped at work) and a few little pearls...

Jewelry... little studs from my wedding, big studs were $1 at a local antique store and needed one "diamond" replaced. The dangle was a hoop earring with a cheap pearl bead threaded on and the earring re-bent; attached to the back side of the stud. I made a ring out of another earring and bead. Necklace, $2 at the same store.

Hooray for thrifty, fun costume jewelry :) And also for an amazing evening dancing with lovely friends!

Sockarms

There are always so many cute, fun knee-high socks around. Any discount or big-box store has them, in every color, for ever season. But armwarmers? So much potential, so little to be found. Sure, there are your standard knit ones, but long, cozy ones are rare, choices slim, and they're always $10-15 or more. Enter the sock arm.

The formula is simple: 1 pair knee-length socks - toes + heel-hole = sockarms!

See? Sockarms. At $5 tops, a bargain. And ridiculously easy.

Cilantro Goes to Seed

When it comes to spices, cilantro just might be my favorite. The leaves turn just about anything into a feast. You can even freeze them for (almost) never-ending goodness.

And when the plant bolts and goes to seed in the baking heat of a Colorado summer, coriander.

Well, it's not very much. And it was definitely a pain! Supposedly, let it hang with a bag around it long enough and the seeds fall off, saving you the work. Supposedly. Apparently 1.5 months isn't long enough! I think it would have been worth it, buying seed at the store. But hey, free is free!

Green Tomato Salsa

What to do with green tomatoes...

A colorful beginning...

...stewing...

...green tomato relish.

The verdict: Pretty tasty! I used the recommended half cup of vinegar in this. What to use it for? Farmgirl Susan had some great suggestions - first try is turkey burritos. Mmmmmm...

Update 11/10: Turkey burritos were DELICIOUS!

Chocolate Chia Date Bars

A while ago, I discovered Chia seeds at my favorite Colorado grocery store (never to replace my all-time favorite grocery store!). Having heard of them while poking through a magazine in my chiropracter's waiting room, I picked some up. The chia gel thing didn't quite do it for me. Too small and crunchy when added to the granola. Chia milk, disgusting (sorry).

However, I found a winner in this recipe from Vegetarian times. I don't know what raw chocolate is (I just used Hershey's dark chocolate baking powder. I'm sure that's blasphemous.) or where to find it. And I'd likely be too cheap to pay for it in any case. But these are tasty! I made as directed, plus a bit of water and maybe a tablespoon of corn syrup- my dates were pretty dry.

Mix everything together in food processor, smush into a big pancake between 2 pieces of wax paper...

Refrigerate for a few hours, cut and enjoy!

Wrap the rest in pieces of wax paper and stick in the fridge for a tasty to-go snack.