by Roxanne -

Homemade Ginger Ale

Photo HuffintonPost.com

With the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had recently it feels like summer is just around the corner. For many of you it may already be here!

Makes me think of homemade ginger ale. Remember the original ginger ale? It’s a cool, fizzy drink that’s not too sweet. This ginger ale recipe was given to me from a friend who owns a restaurant in downtown St. Paul.

Grab your staw hat, find a chair in the sun and sip slowly . . .

Ingredients you’ll need –

Ginger Water: 1 cup peeled, finely chopped ginger, 2 cups water

Simple Syrup: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water

Club soda, lime juice, lime wedges

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add ginger. Reduce heat to medium low and let ginger sit in the simmering water for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer. Discard ginger pieces.

2. In a separate saucepan, make the Simple Syrup by dissolving 1 cup granulated sugar into 1 cup of boiling water. Set aside.

3. Make individual (tall) glasses of ginger ale by mixing 1/2 cup of ginger water with 1/3 cup of Simple Syrup and 1/2 cup of club soda. Add a few drops of fresh lime juice and a lime wedge to each glass. Add ice.

Makes four servings.

Photo R. Meshar

Adapted from the original post on 3-23-11. You may also like Picnic in a Jar, Frozen Custard, Ice Cream & Gelato, Walking Chicken BBQ and Easy Summer Travel Wardrobe.

by Roxanne -

Flexible Living Room

Why am I so interested in flexible furniture? The gifts of the world are given to all. What I have doesn’t belong to me alone. My resources, including my home are not just for my own use. They are also for the use of the wider community – those working for justice and those in need.

Therefore, my home must not only serve my own needs, it must also serve the needs of others. It must be available for meetings or to house overnight guests, for example, or facilitate conversation and idea sharing. In order for my home to function this way furniture must be flexible.

But utilizing flexible furniture is useful in other ways too. Downsizing or moving to a new location is easy with flexible furniture. Flexible furniture adapts to new activities or new people without spending more resources ($) for new furniture – saving resources for other purposes. Flexible furniture with many uses is likely to last longer, more likely to be passed on to others and is less likely to end up in a landfill.

So here’s another idea for flexible living – instead of a large, heavy sofa or love seat try four movable chairs.

Source unknown
HouseBeautiful.com

Armless chairs that could be used separately or combined to create a sofa would be even better. Endless combinations become possible . . .

Photo Houzz.com

You may also like Simple Furniture and Fabulous Furoshiki.

by Roxanne -

Small is Beautiful – Bonsai

Take a virtual walk through this amazing bonsai exhibit. From the miniature red apples to the carefully tended moss beneath, each one is a unique, living masterpiece.

Photo R. Meshar
Photo R. Meshar
Photo R. Meshar
Photo R. Meshar
Photo R. Meshar
Photo R. Meshar

You may also like Six Word Novel and Miniature Art.

by Roxanne -

Consider Color

Need a sofa or chair – but what you find on Craigslist or at garage sales isn’t the neutral color you were thinking about?

Consider working with it anyway. Adding color can be fun. In one larger piece or even in small doses, like the cups and saucers below. I remember long ago, newly married, we purchased a pink, orange and red sofa with modern lines. In fact it looked much like the sofa below.

I wish I knew then what I know now. With lots of white you can work with almost any bright color. It could have looked very fun. Our apartment was a tiny two-room dorm apartment. It had a tiny kitchen on one wall of the living area. Located on Lexington Avenue just off University in St. Paul, it had a beautiful view of the I94 freeway on-ramp 😉

alvhemmakleri.se

When I was 18 years old and lived on my own, I purchased from a friend’s garage sale a entire set of original Fiestaware dishes complete with handled soup bowls, wine decanter, water pitcher and lazy susan. The colors were bright, cheerful and full of lead (yikes!).

Instead you can watch for something safer and equally colorful – like these tea cups. Color can brighten our environment and make us smile – always a good thing.

Caravane.fr

You may also like No “Big Scream” TV, and Just For the Fun of It.