Heartburn, resentment, and milk.

Today my sister woke me up from my nap (yelling my name throughout the house as sisters often do,) to ask if I could go buy some milk from the store-which she'd just come from-because it was a necessary part of dinner and she'd forgotten it. Resentment bubbled up inside of me like heartburn. I thought about going off on her (everyone knows not to disturb my naps,) I thought about how she could've asked mom or dad who were both outside, I didn't say a word...I felt sure that in a few minutes I could still say many words if I still wanted to, and I was sure I would want to. I put on my shoes, grabbed my purse, her keys, the debit card, and I said nothing. I swallowed my words just like I would tums...and just like they work on heartburn, my resentment slowly disappeared. I thought about how small of a deal it was for me to drive a mile down the road to Kroger. Admittedly I thought about how dumb it was for her to leave the milk and how much more intelligent it made me since I was going back to get it--shhh don't tell anyone that one. I thought about how dinner would be almost ready when I got back.

When I arrived home with the milk my sister expected me to be upset. It felt good to walk in quite the opposite. She smiled her "I-owe-you" smile, y'know the one we all have to smile once in awhile? Well, I smiled right back, a genuine, no-longer-sleepy smile. 

I will try this more often, it felt better than looking back on what happened and getting angry all over again, and it felt better than looking back and realizing how petty I was. Dinner was great, and I had not a HINT of heartburn.

Cuban rice recipe

Last night I made Cuban rice (a variation) for dinner for the very first time, and it was a such a huge success that I decided to put the recipe up here. Now, I have to tell you I'm a very vague cook, so bear with me as I don't give exact measurements most of the time. This is why I can't bake by the way, because when you bake a cake everything must be exact and that's not my way. Whew so lets get to it.

You will need these ingredients:

Canned black beans

Brown rice preferably (but you can use white)

Pineapple chunks (preferably fresh, but I used canned)

Fresh jalapeño peppers--definitely must be fresh

Sausage or ham

Onion

Garlic

Oil

Even though the original recipe called for ham, I used sausage. First cook the rice, it's best if it's been cooked and has cooled by the time you start. Pour oil in the pan, and chop up your onion (I used only one) and sausage (I used a package and a half) and jalapeño (I used four because I love hot food) into the oil. Let them sauté and soften up then add in your rice. The longer you let the jalapeños cook, the less spicy they'll be. When you're ready, add in the rice, turn the heat down low here because the rice likes to stick and you may have to add a little oil. I cooked my black beans in a separate pot (about two cans) because they wouldn't fit in with the rice without spilling over when I stirred it.You're going to want to season the rice mixture in whichever way you choose--I used some seasoning salt and crushed fresh garlic. Add your pineapple (I used one can) just long enough for it to get nice and warm...And now that the rice mixture is nice and steamy, pour it into a big bowl and add in your black beans (which are seasoned too I hope--get the ones on the latino food aisle they taste best) and you're ready to eat. The pineapple adds a great little sweetness to an otherwise salty spicy dish. I made enough to feed seven people who gorged themselves in such a way that they had to take a walk after dinner lol. Here's what the bowl looked like when we were almost done eating :-) Make enough for leftovers! 

<3 Elisabeth

To do...to do...done?

Aghh...so much to do and so little time! Do you ever feel like you're running running and never catching. Like my hamsters used to be. They'd get on their little wheels and run like someone was after them. I wonder if in their little hamster minds they realized that they weren't? Occasionally they would stop and look outside the wheel (almost as if they were expecting the scenery to be different-after all that running it should be!) I'm going to apply a verse to my life this week. "Let every man prove his own works and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another." Sometimes I'm not sure where I'm headed with all this sewing, I suppose to make some money, but in a way I believe it's also to prove something to myself and others. Really, I'll be okay when I prove to myself that I didn't go to college for nothing, that I can make money from what I love doing with a little hard work, and that other people do like what I make :-)

To-do list:

1. Go to Hancock Fabrics
buy:
snap tape
elastic thread
NOTHING ELSE! DON'T EVEN LOOK :-)
2. Go to the bank
3. Go to the post office
Be nice to the workers-would hate to work there (long lines alllll day with rude anxious people in them)
4. Check money and buy something fast food for lunch regardless.
5. Drop off application at schoolbox
6. Sewsewsewsew

What does your to do list look like?

Elisabeth

Southern Recipe: Fried Green Tomatoes

First of all, if you're in the south you can possibly go outside and pick a tomato, or run down to the vegetable, if you're not, you can possibly get a green tomato in the store or at a farmers market. If you want the tomatoes to be crispier (and less soft on the inside) get one that really green, if you want one with a crust but soft on the inside, go for a tomato starting to turn pink.
You will need:
A tomato
Enough flour to batter it in (a few tablespoons)
Salt and pepper/seasoning salt/preferred seasoning
Oil to fry them in

First, season the slices of tomato on both sides, then dip them in the flour until its covered, then give it a gentle shake (to get rid of excess) and place them in the pan of hot oil.

They'll look like this at first...

Almost done...

Let's EAT!

So far everyone I've gotten to try these have loved them (providing they actually liked tomatoes in the first place.) Hopefully if you've never had them you'll become addicted to this summer treat just as I have.

Elisabeth Arona

Hair is the issue: I'm black.

ME THE FIRST TIME I WORE MY HAIR COMPLETELY NATURAL TO CHURCH

I am not my hair by India Arie


Little girl with the press and curl
Age eight I got a Jheri curl
Thirteen and I got a relaxer
I was a source of so much laughter
At fifteen when it all broke off
Eighteen and went all natural
February two thousand and two
I went on and did
What I had to do
Because it was time to change my life
To become the women that I am inside
Ninety-seven dreadlocks all gone
I looked in the mirror
For the first time and saw that HEY....

[Chorus]
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations no no
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am a soul that lives within

[Talking:]
What'd she do to her hair? I don't know it look crazy
I like it. I might do that.
Umm I wouldn't go that far. I know .. ha ha ha ha

[Verse 2]
Good hair means curls and waves
Bad hair means you look like a slave
At the turn of the century
Its time for us to redefine who we be
You can shave it off
Like a South African beauty
Or get in on lock
Like Bob Marley
You can rock it straight
Like Oprah Winfrey
If its not what's on your head
Its what's underneath and say HEY....

Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person?

Does the way I wear my hair make me a better friend? Oh

Does the way I wear my hair determine my integrity?

I am expressing my creativity..
Breast Cancer and Chemotherapy
Took away her crown and glory
She promised God if she was to survive
She would enjoy everyday of her life ooh
On national television
Her diamond eyes are sparkling
Bald headed like a full moon shining
Singing out to the whole wide world like HEY...

I am not my hair, I am not this skin, I am not your expectations no...

Robin the news anchor a few years ago when she took off her wig and walked the runway while battling cancer.

Although normally I don't listen to a lot of songs that aren't gospel, this one is one of my favorites. While listening to it today, I realized that this was my next blog post. You may or not realize it, but one of the biggest problems black girls have is their hair. You can get picked on if you can't grow it long enough, you get looked down on if you decide to wear it natural and it's too kinky, you get talked about for being ungrateful if your hair is long and you want it cut because "everyone wants it" and you don't. I believe that hair is one of the top causes of self-esteem issues in black girls. Since I'm not White, Latina, Middle Eastern, or any other ethnicity I don't know the top problems with their hair, complexion, or bodies, so I'll speak on what I know. 
If you are black, "good hair" and "bad hair" are well-known terms. The harder it is to run a comb through your hair, the worst your hair is. The kinkier your hair is, the more likely you are to get a relaxer at a younger age, the more likely it is that your hair will break off and be short, and the  more likely that you'll wear weave or hair you paid for. I won't even get into how the main reason hair breaks out is from incorrect hair care which women then pass down to their children and so on I'll go this route instead...

Being you is in. I love the song above (especially the verse in bold) because it celebrates the fact that being you isn't about hair. Yes, people comment and touch your hair when it's straight and long, but no it doesn't make friends for you, and yes it's generally more trouble than it's appears (which is why so many people cut their hair.) Your personality, confidence, kindness, empathy, and belief in God making everyone unique and special is what earns you friends. Look around you, a few years ago I could only name one person that I knew who was growing her relaxer out. Now? Oh um, including myself, I personally know eight, and there are others that I know of, but don't know personally. Girls don't have to grow out their relaxers to embrace their ethnicity, that's not what I'm saying, I'm simply saying that more black girls are realizing that their hair being kinky, curly, or bushy isn't a reason to be sad or ashamed...and that's worth celebrating. *Side note* Watch out straight-haired girls, curly girls are taking over the world! --ahem, what was I saying? Oh yeah, your hair doesn't make you who you are...
"I am not my hair, I am not this skin, I am not your expectations no!" :-)


Elisabeth

Card-making day!

My rendition of a pregnant lady with a gathered ribbon "collar" and one that simply says It's a shower and has ribbon and a paper quilled ducky :-)

I thought this one was cute. It's of an old-fashioned baby carriage with button wheels. I free-handed it so it's not quite as perfect as I would've liked. 

On the left is just red scrapbook paper with "she's expecting" (a stamp I bought for like a dollar at michaels) and ribbon and polka dot paper at the top. On the right is a simple pregnant lady profile (free hand) and a square of cool stripey paper cut out with cool zigzaggy scissors with "she's expecting" stamped on it.

Feedback please! 

Elisabeth

2 am and she calls me 'cus I'm still awake...lol

So it's late at night. I make a Christian chat room on etsy.com and start chatting away. While I was there yesterday someone told me I "really need more stuff" in my shop. I agree. I've always thought so too, so why not get to it? Tonight I was sketching while I chatted and someone said "You should do more illustrations, y'know some of your own, not just custom ones." It confirmed a few things for me. Maybe I'm just dense, but for me it was a lightbulb moment. Sooo feeling extra inspired I got off of chat and picked up a few nice-sized scraps from among my project fabric and first made a ring, and then a cuff/bracelet. It's late, and it's cooling down upstairs (where the A/C broke down) and the hum of the sewing machine made me sleepy, but being inspired kinda counteracted that. :-). Please let me know your honest opinions about what I whipped up. 

Elisabeth