My son has been begging for rainbow pancakes ever since we made them the first time over a year ago. When I realized so much time had passed, I knew I could not keep putting it off, so I decided St. Patrick’s Day would be the perfect day to hold the 2nd annual Rainbow Pancake Day. It was fun, but kind of rushed because it was a school day. Next year I declare Rainbow Pancake day will be the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day.

Extremely rushed pancake designs, clockwise from top left:
Corporate logo pancake
Little Old Lady Who? pancake
Disfigured Hot Dog with Mustard on Bun, Cross Section pancake
Digestive System pancake

I tried out the all natural food colorings. The result was kind of dull compared to the fake stuff. I guess that was to be expected. I am sure I could figure out how to use them better, though. Maybe use more coloring and a lower flame to cook the pancakes? Another downside is that they are really expensive. I probably would not have bought them if I was paying attention to the scanner at the grocery store. It does feel better using colors derived from real food instead of crap, but for the price, I wish they were organic too. Since we had limited time before school, I didn’t have much time to get artistic. Just blobtastic.

And now, my 1/4 Irish self must venture out to procure the proper provisions for tonight’s holiday feast. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

In case you like to take a looky at some cookies:

I can’t wait to grow way too many things to possibly fit in my little tiny backyard this summer. For the first year ever I’ve got a good head start on getting some seedlings going. I’ve been sowing a thing or two for the past few days. My popcorn babies have already emerged! I’ve got some fancy heat mats and some fancy grow lights. However, my set-up is not so fancy. I need to assemble something more sturdy. Right now those lights are quite precariously perched. All of the seedling pots are made from recycled stuff. There are some berry containers and some origami newspaper pots. I found out by trial and error that a nine inch square will make the perfect sized pot to fit six of them in a rectangle Chinese food take out container. Click here for the instructions I used. There is one tricky step, but it’s really not that hard and once you figure it out these fold up rather quickly. One nice thing about making these is that you don’t have to be precise because dirt doesn’t care. Make sure to use newspaper printed with soy based inks. You don’t want toxic chems in your veggies!

This is going to be popcorn one day! I hope they don’t get bored just sitting around growing. Well I guess they can occupy themselves with that crossword puzzle. I find it thrilling just watching the corn grow. I keep checking on them. It only took two days for them to peek a boo! When the other things pop out I am going to go crazy just staring at all the cute little babies. I have a grand dream of one day growing all the food that my family will eat. I wonder if that will ever be reality. It would definitely have to involve a greenhouse. Maybe our whole house could be a big greenhouse. That would be cool.

nine grain bread
banana slices
homemade peach schnapps cream cheese

it was so delicious
nine grain bread
veggie bacon
red onion
fresh basil
lettuce
pumpkin puree (prepared with a little salt and butter)

I ate some sandwiches. Isn’t that exciting? Well it was for me. I have two big projects going on and they are secret for now, so there might not be many new plush pictures around here for a while. Most likely to appear here in the next few months: pictures of food I made and things I am growing. I am planting lots and lots of seeds. I am going to fill my little urban garden to the max this summer! If you’d like to see some more sandwiches, hop on over to this silly blog I came across: SCANWICHES

Shortbread in the shape of elephants. I wish I had given them faces. Next time.

It went nicely with some sweet cheese I made.

One chilly evening not that long ago I decided I would like to have a comforting beverage. I somehow concluded that warm milk with a shot of peach schnapps would be the ultimate in liquid cozy delight. WRONG. Curds and whey formed. I became nauseated and dumped it. But then soon after I put on the cheesemaker hat and reenacted the same technique which resulted in a sweet and peachy yummy spreadable! I let it strain for about a week and only ended up with about 1/4 cup, but I am so proud of my first little cheese. My recurring dream of being a cheesemaker is now reality. I can’t wait to try this again. Perhaps I shall consult my friend “Googy” for tried and true methods. Did you know that it takes a lot of milk to make a little bit of cheese?

The elephants went to school in the snack cup with some raisins. I was tempted to entitle this snack “elephants and their droppings” but I resisted and asked my son to think up a name instead. He said “elephants and ants.” Much better.

Hey I missed my 4th blogiversary last month. Can I still celebrate even though I don’t write here very much at all? Do people who lead boring lives still count their birthdays? YES! Well then whoop dee doo! Hooray for four!

I went to the embroidery party at Gallery Hanahou. I love everyone at this gallery. Always a nice time. The show is up until the 27th and the work will be available online on the 11th. Definitely check it out because there is a lot of beautiful, interesting and fun work in this show!
galleryhanahou.com

It’s doubly exciting when something blooms in the winter. This guy stretched out his neck really far in search of scarce winter sunlight, before deciding to open up. This is my favorite color, as you may have guessed.

I stitched some Happy Hearts for an exhibit called Forget Me-Not. It was quite an enjoyable project and I am so happy to be a part of this show. I can’t wait to see the rest of the work at the reception. And now for the official announcement from the gallery…

Please join us on Friday, February 6th for a show on love, embroidery, and new interpretations of both.

gallery hanahou presents
Forget Me-Not

embroidered love from the new craft movement
February 6 – 27
Opening reception: Friday, February 6th, 6-8 pm RSVP info@galleryhanahou.com

gallery hanahou / 611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC / galleryhanahou.com

For generations, women have expressed love of family through the painstaking art of embroidery. This February, gallery hanahou presents a new generation of embroidery artists using needle and thread to depict love in broader terms, whether idealized and simple or brutal and complicated. Curated by Kristen Rask, this group exhibit of affordable artwork will win your affection in more ways than one. A meaningful alternative to waxy chocolates.

In conjunction with Forget Me-Not, gallery hanahou will host a special Valentine embroidery workshop on Saturday, February 7th, at 1 pm. Space is limited, so please contact info@galleryhanahou.com asap for details!

Artists

Aimee Ray, Apol Lejano-Massebieau, Diem Chau, Emily Eibel, Emily Katz, Heidi Kenney, Jenny Harada, Jessica Marquez, Joetta Maue, Kate Durkin, Katherine Shaughnessy, Kayte Terry, Kris Garland, Kristen Rask, Mary Yaeger, Molly Dilworth, Nicole Licht, Orly Cogan, Pamela Davis, sam*skiart, Sarah Horton, Shanna Fiorucci, Shannon Rankin, Vanessa Lauria, Vivienne Strauss

All of the artwork in Forget Me-Not will also be available for viewing and purchase online via galleryhanahou.com beginning February 11.

gallery hanahou
611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC
[7th Floor of the Cable Building, NW corner of Broadway + Houston]
Mon-Fri noon-6 pm, Sat by appt only
646-486-6586
info@galleryhanahou.com
www.galleryhanahou.com

I miss my camera dearly. I usually take lots of pictures every day, but now it’s in the shop. I am addicted to it I guess. I like to document my life, even if I never look at them much or share them with anyone. When I was little I used to imagine that a great invention would be made where anyone’s memory could be fully recorded and replayed like a VCR. My mind is always so full of ideas and thoughts bouncing around. It never rests really. It’s loud inside my brain and I have trouble falling asleep. I think that this invention would allow my mind to rest a little. I could let some things go. Let them bounce right out of my head! It would all be there on tape, and could be accessed at any time. So taking lots of pictures is my closest way to replicate this dream of mine. You’d think video might be better, but it’s it’s too hard to take and keep track of IMO. I’ve been using my husband’s camera whenever I get the chance, but it’s not the same. I am so happy that I might be able to get it back tomorrow! I’ve never been great as steady blogging, and without the camera, its generally rather improbable that I might even come here. Well despite that, here’s a little something just because I felt like popping in.

I’ve been making candied orange peels around here whenever there are peels to be had. It’s much better than throwing them out and it’s way better than eating crappy junk food candy. I wouldn’t say these are healthy, but they are organic and pure and simple with no scary ingredients. I like to call them REAL candy. The kids gobble them up. It’s amazing this photo even happened. Four out of sixteen remain and didn’t last much longer after this snap. Got the recipe from Martha with a tip off from Sarah. And the syrup that is left over in the pot is useful for sweetening your tea or anything else that could use orangey sweetness.

The creature pile is building up in the corner. When I get my camera back I shall start adding them to the shop. Other than that, I have two pretty big exciting projects that I just embarking upon. For now, they will remain a secret. But just for fun, if you like, you can peek at my page of sketches that I scanned and compiled to help gather my thoughts for one of said projects.

Please send good wishes that I will be reunited with my dear camera soon. I know, I am really lucky that this is one my most pressing worries at this moment.

I got some pink embroidery hoops. The pink is so strong, that it gravitationally pulled all the other pinkish things in the room to them.

Testing out the pink hoops.

Made this with Obamicon.
I am feeling pretty inspired by our new president. He makes me want to work hard and get things done. Yesterday was a very happy day. But that bow just touches me in special way! It makes me wanna put huge awesome bows on everything!

I played a game today that I saw on three different blogs. Here it is word for word:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me. It will be about or tailored to those five lucky “victims.”

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well, if you expect me to do something for you!

Well I got all piggy wiggy oink oink and like ME ME ME! on three different blogs, and so I feel it’s only right to pay it forward thrice. So the first fifteen folks to chime in below (if that many people indeed do chime) will have to 1. have their own blog and repost and 2. email me their address at jh *at* jennyharada *com*. You only have to do 5, not 15 though! I don’t know what fic is so I probably won’t send you fic. And I have a few things I owe some other folks right now, so I probably won’t get to it for at least a month or two. But we have all year!

I am really missing my camera. Luckily, I have a huge backlog of photos to share. Photoless blogging just doesn’t feel right to me.

Sweet potato cracker dough killed my grandma’s rolling pin.

The “crackers” came out more like little Bobolis. (Don’t know what a Boboli is?) I always loved when my mom made Boboli for us. So the next logical step was to make little pizzas. I forgot to take a picture after cooking. Too hungry, got distracted by eating them. Do you know of any good cracker recipes?

Yawn. Good morning. I’ve just crawled out of my cave. The cave of holiday hiblogernation. Decemblur, as Teresa so aptly named it, was a blast of yummy lovey times in the Harada household. Well all the decorations are long packed away and now it’s time to make big resolutions and work on living up to them. Last year I made one little resolution – to draw every day. I didn’t keep it 100%. Maybe 50%, but I think that’s still pretty good. And a bonus unexpected thing came out of it – I actually started keeping a sketchbook in 2008! I’d tried many times in my life to keep a sketchbook, but it never really worked out. Strange thing about that is most of my drawings have been of clothing designs, not of creatures! Hmmmm… new directions in ’09? What? It’s the 20th already? Janublurry! Well there’s a lot of snow and the ground and that is nice. What’s not so nice is my poor dead camera. I hope it won’t be long before it comes back to me in tip-top shape. Camera fixing elves, make haste!! Ok so here are two pictures of Daisy dog, taken last month.

This is Daisy.
Daisy lives with Lauren. (snackmountain.com)
Once there was a real live Daisy and although I never met her, I bet she was way cuter.
Daisy can hug and lick.