got corks?

wine corks, that is! I had tons that I'd been saving forever. I saw a similar project at a wine festival a long time ago and recently decided to make my own.

I still need to make a pretty bow for it (talented sister, are you reading?). Overall, I'm very happy with how it turned out. And before you start to worry about (or judge) my (our) drinking habits, I've been saving these corks for years. Some of them are from our wedding 5 years ago so it takes awhile to accumulate enough good ones for a project like this.

Too cute to resist

I was planning to post a project I recently completed, but this was too cute not to share. Yesterday's mail contained a small package for Jackson, from his "cousin" Inga....

Delicious Dinners

I made this for dinner last night:(picture from MarthaStewart.com)

It was delicious and very filling. But also time-consuming - don't try making this after work when you're starving! I will admit that using dried black beans gives a better, less mushy, consistency than canned. However, I think you could sub canned black beans for the dried and it would still be good. I plan to try that next time. I usually like to follow a recipe exactly the first time I make it and then tinker with it later.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/brown-rice-and-black-beans