Shop My Open Sky

Who do you think you are?

30-something mother, wife, lawyer, writer, design junkie, craftaholic, cook

likes: clever tools, snazzy colors, working for justice, kid wrangling, Meyer lemons

dislikes: inefficiency, civil discovery, most shades of purple, Tori Amos

What? You want my life story?

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Monday
08Mar2010

Tortellini! Recipe and Video Tutorial


Photo © 2010 David Mandel // Ampersand Industries

A few weeks ago, my dad gave me a hand-crank pasta machine that he hadn't used very much, hoping, perhaps, that a new machine would cure me of my curious wafflemania. It worked like a charm. I am now totally pastamanic.

This weekend, while fiddling around with the machine, I decided to make filled pasta. But there was one problem. I had no ricotta, no ground meats, no beautiful vegetable purées with which to fill my pasta. But there was a fresh carton of plain, whole-milk greek yogurt. Why couldn't that be a filling for tortellini or ravioli? Friends. Friends! It can be a filling for tortellini. A gorgeous, silky, tart filling. When both my husband and my son (he of long months of entrenched mistrust of all things pasta) devoured it and asked for more, I knew I had a winner on my hands.

And so my husband and I put together this wee (ok, "wee" is a bit misleading, since this thing clocks in at 20 minutes) video tutorial illustrating from start to finish how to make the semolina pasta dough I used (no eggs!), the filling (eggs here!), and the classic tortellini shape. This was our first crack at making a video. I hope you guys like it. But be forewarned. There is a fair amount of 1) me talking and 2) my ghostly pale skin throughout this video; only the brave should venture forward:

Click here for the recipe and video:

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Sunday
28Feb2010

Calendars: Part Deux

Did you think I would let you down? I promised calendars by the end of February (after hinting they'd be ready by the first week in January. Whatever!). And now, here it is the end of February, and I HAVE CALENDARS! Trust me, no one is more relieved than I.

If you want to read my natterings about the process of designing these (and my relief at finishing them), there's more than enough nattering to go around (just scroll below the thumbnails). But without further ado, I give you July through December:

Continue Reading . . .

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Sunday
21Feb2010

My Open Sky

Ever since I started Cottage Industrialist (well, really before I started it), I have dreamt of opening a shop—in a cottage, of course—that would corral all of the craft and kitchen products that I use and love, and that would be a source of community to get to know others who share my interests.

But real life always makes itself apparent, and my dreams have been shelved in favor of more pressing issues like paying the mortgage, putting dinner on the table, and giving most of my energy to my real job as a public defender.

Until now.

I first learned about OpenSky a few months ago when Amy Powers launched her shop—a shop featuring craft products she uses and loves, some of which I'd never even heard of. A few weeks later, Michael Ruhlman followed with a shop full of the cooking tools he uses every day. And I got curious.

Continue reading . . .

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Thursday
18Feb2010

Wafflemania

Friends, I have sacrificed in the name of waffles. And by sacrificed, I mean, I have made waffles every weekend for a month in a quest to suss out the greatest home-made waffle I could make. Which is to say I have gained 5 pounds in a month. 5 tasty, tasty pounds.

Continue reading Wafflemania . . .

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Wednesday
10Feb2010

My Funny Valentine

Ok. I swear this is my last Valentine's Day post. (And, yes, for the last time, YES, July through December are coming on the calendars! End of February, I promise.)

I'm really not such a big Valentine's Day person. I tend toward the sardonic more than the saccharine in my personal life. So in the spirit of keepin' it real on this here blog, I'm offering up three printable cards that are in line with my personal romance philosophy. These are definitely tuned to my sense of humor—your mileage may vary.

I don't know about you, but I sometimes I think a little menace adds necessary spice to boring old love. To wit: feeling preppy & vaguely stalker-y? Go with alligators.

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