a condiment gun!

omg.  i totes need to get this for my boyfriend.  we just moved into a sweet place with an amazing grill.  he’s been grilling left and right!  he would get a kick out of this:  all i need to find is a holster! :)

<3 kt

4th of July BBQ leftover ideas

everyone is going to BBQ this weekend for the fourth of July.  however, what in the world are you going to do with all of those leftovers???  i’ve searched high and low for some budget friendly ideas!!!  check them out:

1.  leftover hot dog & hamburger buns

i love chopping buns into little cubes, dousing them with olive oil, a little minced garlic, fresh grated Parmesan, and a dash of red pepper flakes.  after preheating the oven to 400, i throw them on a cookie sheet and bake them for 10 minutes.  presto!  homemade croutons!!!

2.  leftover sausages, hot dogs, and brauts

slice these up and toss in an omelet, spaghetti, on a pizza, or in a burrito.  or slice and freeze them for a quick meal down the road!

3.  leftover corn on the cob

you can always toss them back on the grill to reheat them.  you can use the kernels in some homemade salsa.  i love cutting the kernels off of the cob and adding them to a pasta salad!  here’s my favorite whole foods recipe:

Corn & Roasted Tomato Salad

Ingredients

4 ears corn, shucked, kernels removed
6 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups chopped spinach
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 pound dried penne or fusilli pasta
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

In a medium skillet, dry-roast corn over medium heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Place in a large mixing bowl with tomatoes, garlic, spinach and blue cheese. Set aside. Cook pasta according to package directions and drain thoroughly. Add hot pasta to bowl with corn mixture. Stir to wilt spinach and blend ingredients. Drizzle with lemon juice and oil. Toss with walnuts, season with salt and pepper and serve.

feel free to send me your ideas for BBQ leftovers too!  hope you had a great 4th!

<3 kt

Book alert!

While browsing the craft section of my local Borders at lunch today I came across the most awesome of books

Fashion Geek: Clothes Accessories Tech

Ah, a perfect marriage of technology and DIY fashion. I flipped through the book and was blown away by the projects, everything from a digital locket to a flower USB necklace to a hoodie with headphones. All easy enough for someone with basic sewing skills and soldering iron. I was even more excited when I realized that the book was written by one of my favorite Project Runway contestants Diana Eng from Season 2! I loved her geometric patterns and how she really thought about taking clothes to the next level and incorporating technology into fashion. Unfortunately she was booted off far too early (I think that maybe just the time constraints of the show didnt allow her genius to shine) because I wouldve loved to have seen her final show in Fashion Week.

This is one of the designs in the book, it uses magnets to activate lights in the buttons! How cute!

The book is on sale now for about $20 at Borders and I highly suggest picking it up if you want some fun cute projects to try out. If youd like a sneak sample project head over to etsy as they feature Diana and the instructions for one of her projects in this weeks How Tuesday!

<3 seanalyn

Red Snapper in a Spicy Coconut Sauce

Last night I tried out a new recipe I had found on www.self.com and as usually I modified as I went along and ended up creating something wonderful (not that the original recipe didnt sound wonderful). I hardly ever follow recipes, except for baking, because I like to let my palate guide me. I usually will use recipes as a reference or jumping off point, I get a basic idea of the ingredients and the order and proportion and adjust and add as I go along. What started as Coconut Spinach Snapper ended up as Red Snapper in a Spicy Coconut Sauce! So in my usual fashion, the following recipe is a rough estimate of what I made, I tried to remember the exact amount of each ingredient but I very highly encourage you to taste and alter as you go along!

Red Snapper in a Spicy Coconut Sauce

INGREDIENTS

Olive Oil
2 snapper fillets (about 6 oz each)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 cup diced white onion
2/3rd to 1 can of light coconut milk
Juice of 2-3 limes
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce (I highly recommend Safeway brand soy sauce…I cant explain why but it has the best flavor)
About 1/2 tablespoon of Sriracha (adjust to your spice preference)
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 bag (10 oz) spinach, washed (not dried)
1 broccoli crown chopped

Heat a bit of oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Season fish with salt and pepper and cook 2 or 3 minutes per side or until the fish is cooked but not too flakey. Remove fish from skillet and cover to keep warm. Return skillet to heat; cook garlic, ginger and onion until tender. Add coconut milk, lime juice and cilantro and bring to a boil. Add soy and sriracha; simmer 1 minute. Heat oil in a separate, large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté remaining the bell peppers and broccoli, season with salt and pepper. Add tomato and spinach and cook until greens are just wilted. Plate the veggies then top with the salmon and sauce. Garnish with a bit of lime.

I served this dish alongside some mild curry spiced rice but any rice or quinoa would be excellent. Bottom line is have fun with this recipe, you can play with the flavors a lot and really make it your own. If you come up with any tasty variations please share!

<3 seanalyn

Knitted Unicorn Hat

Who hasn’t dreamed of being a unicorn? Terrorist that who. So unless youre a terrorist you are going to want to knit yourself your very own

Unicorn Beanie

The idea for the unicorn beanie came to be when Craftster user KrisCreates was having a playdate with her kid and a friend’s child and the little girl started admiring KrisCreates’ son’s mohawk beanie. The little girl of course wanted a beanie of her own, but she wanted hers to be a unicorn hat. So KrisCreates adapted a basic mohawk beanie pattern to include ears and a horn and voila…unicorn magic!

“The hat is knit in the round and for the earflaps and ears I picked up and knit the stitches onto the hat. The horn was knit separately in a smaller gauge, stuffed with a little bit of poly-fibre fill and sewn on.”

Unfortunately she did not post up an exact pattern, but all one would need to do is modify any mohawk style beanie and youve got your own magical unicorn hat. Now go knit yours quick or else the terrorists have won!

<3 seanalyn

Tetris Pots

I think its apparent by now that we here at Domestic Geek LOVE Tetris. See Exhibits A, B, C and D. Well now we have another item to add to our growing list of awesomely geeky domestic products.

Tetris Pots

25 year old French artist Stephanie Choplin is an Industrial Design student working on her Master’s degree. Her work is clean and practical with a modern twist. Unfortunately it doesnt look like any of it is for sale as of yet, but hopefully Ms Choplin’s beautiful creations will be gracing store shelves sooner than later. Be sure to check out all of her work on her website.

[link via Current]

<3 seanalyn

Paint By Numbers Dress

Remember those paint by numbers books you had as a kid? Well now you can paint by numbers….on your clothing. Clothing designer Berber Soepboer has created a dress that lets you do just this.

Colour-In Dress

The dress created in conjunction with graphic designer Michiel Schuurman is made so that the buyer can use textile pens to fill in the colors in any way they want which can create an infinite number of patterns and styles. Soepboer’s other design work is similar in that it encourages the wearer to be creative and unique modding their clothing as they see fit.

“Life exists of many choices based on expectations, desire and the available time.
When everything is still possible the world seems an incredible place.
I translate these endless possibilities in my design.
A start to realize the ultimate dream in daily life.” Soepboer

Personally, Im in love with this dress and the whole concept behind it. Not only is the idea of creating a unique and beautiful dress intriguing but the cut and pattern of the dress is just phenomenal. I would love to leave it mostly black and white with just pops of color to create a new pattern. You can purchase the dress from Soepboer’s webpage by clicking here. It retails at 238 Euros and will include the textile pens. Its time to take fashion into your own hands!

[link via Current]

<3 seanalyn

Best $600 you will ever spend

Its not often I find reason to shell out $600 for a sweater, but if I had some spare change right now I would definitely drop it on this amazing hand knit (thats the key here) sweater from etsy seller elf518.

Robot Pixel Mash-up Fair Isle Sweater

This awesome sweater is hand made tailored to your measurements, color choices and each one has a slightly unique pattern.

“the floral motif in this sweater is taken from a german lace chart published in 1597″

Of course that old German lace chart has been given a hip modern twist with robots and other pixely goodness. $600 may seem like a steep price but when you consider that each sweater is handmade without a machine, unique and takes 8 weeks to make…well, $600 doesnt seem all that outrageous.

<3 seanalyn

Tetris scarf

For a while now Ive been wanting to make a Tetris scarf but have been too lazy to chart up a pattern and also have been stumped on how to make it look good from the front and back since Intarnsia knitting looks a mess from behind. Low and behold, someone on Craftster solved the problem with a simple solution….making it double sided.

Tetris Scarf

I love that it just looks like a mosaic pattern at first glance but then you recognize the shapes and instantly know what the scarf is. Truly chic and geek ;)

The woman made the pattern and had her mom knit it up and unfortunately she doesnt seem to have posted the pattern, but another poster linked to a Tetris chart for making a baby blanket that you could easily adapt into a scarf. You can download that here.

Here you can see how wide the scarf is before its doubled over. A great way to make the scarf visually appealing from all sides!

<3 seanalyn

Artsy ladles

Ladles are are one of the most practical utensils in the kitchen, but unfortunately they are confined to either a drawer, a tin with other utensils or if they are lucky, a hanging pot rack. Well one designer has created a beautiful and striking way to store and display your beloved ladle.

Free-standing Ladles

Designed by Mikiya Kobayashi these ladles have a flat bottom which allows them to stand upright on a plate or any other flat surface. Perfect for creating a whimsical element in your kitchen. Unfortunately I cannot really read Japanese so I have no idea who much these cost or if they are even on the market, personally I would love to own one.

[link via tokyo mango]