Sarah
April 5, 2010
So it happened. Exactly what Jennifer’s Dad said was going to happen, happened… People asked me if that was me and Jennifer in the picture. Well those two girls are not us. We did not go to school together, same city sure, but not the same school or year. Even my own mother said “but isn’t that you in the plaid dress?” Anyone who knows me knows they’ve seen me maybe twice in a dress, my whole life. Oh well. It’s still a great picture despite the confusion.
Back to the point…I wanted to share with people out in the blog-o-sphere how to change the header on the Elegant Grunge Wordpress theme. I am not much of a techno gal, but I am semi-smart. However, this aspect of our theme had me stumped for a while.
I used Seashore (free editing software for a Mac) so that’s all I can speak about.
1. Open Seashore and select “File”- “New.” Then specify 1100 width or whatever width you want by 168 height, choose your resolution and mode, be sure to check transparent background.
2. Poof! Now you should have a little rectangle, this is your new header. Hooray.
3. Using the tools off to the left there, tinker with it to color it in and add text. The paint can colors the whole thing in and and the “T” adds text. You can insert a photo by going to “File”-”Import”- but make sure you adjust the picture before inserting it by opening a new Seashore file and scaling it using “Image”- “Scale”
4. VERY IMPORTANT! Save this new header/image as a “.png” file someplace you can easily find it.
5. Then go to your Word Press admin page and select “Media”- “Add new.” It is on this page you will get the URL. Copy this URL. Save changes.
6. Then go to “Appearance”-”Elegant Grunge”-and at the top there is the spot you paste that URL.
7. “Save changes” and your header should now be on your page. If it’s not, make sure you saved it as a png file and that the path name is correct (you know your copy and paste function worked properly)
Questions? Give me a holler, I’m happy to help if I can.
~Sarah
January 30, 2010
The tiny kitchen
Since I work full time outside my home, Saturday tends to be the day I clean the kitchen. And even though I have a tiny, pre-WWII kitchen it can still get completely out of control during the week. I manage to stay on top of the dishes everyday and four out of the seven days, I can see most of the tabletop. My entire kitchen and eating area is just a bit under 70 square feet with my available counter space a mere 20″ deep by 28″ wide. Some days I find it a bit of a miracle that I produce anything worth eating.
When my Mom brought me a tablecloth for my little table, I gave it no more thought than any other decoration. I thought, “Great! A tablecloth, that was nice of her to get that for me.” Many weeks have passed since she bought it and normally, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about decor. But the failure of my sourdough starter a week or so ago and my resulting inability to to even bake a loaf of bread had me wondering what had happened to me. Normally things don’t get me down like this. Something larger must be looming.
And then I realized what happened. I realized why I couldn’t cook and why I didn’t like my kitchen all of a sudden….it was my tablecloth.
It’s not really the tablecloth’s fault. It’s fine. White with little blue flowers. Perfectly acceptable. The problem, I realize, lies in the fact that because I have so few decorations adorning my apartment, when I do have one, it needs to be me. This tablecloth was my Mom. It was totally something she would have in her house. Now this has nothing to do with my Mom at all. It’s just that the pattern didn’t suit or reflect me.
So off to Pagano’s (a local have-everything hardware store) we went, my daughter intent on finding the perfect pink tablecloth. They had about three to choose from all of which were about fifty bucks. No way was I going to pay fifty bucks for something I was likely going to burn a hole through (did that not once, but twice). So we went across town to a chainier store and for five bucks I got a 50’s style black and white tablecloth with ridiculous red, beige and pink flowers. It’s so ugly it’s cute and the best part is… it’s perfect! It matches the flooring and it has pink flowers to suit the littlest version of me.
~Sarah
December 13, 2009
Pea soup
I was making pea soup tonight and realized that the mere mention of pea soup might lend some people to have a PTSD flashback to those seemingly tortuous evenings at the dinner table, forced to eat some nasty, green substance the cook called “pea soup.” Sadly, we could lump any number of delicious vegetables into this likely-to-be-poorly-prepared category… brussels sprouts, carrots, greens, broccoli and pretty much most canned green vegetables. Then I started thinking that it isn’t so much the pea soup’s fault as it is the lack of actual thought that went into making the food-the preparation-if you will.
Take for instance, cooked carrots. Admittedly, I am actually afraid of cooked carrots unless I have made them because when cooked carrots presented as a side dish go wrong, they go very wrong. While sitting at my Grandma’s dinner table when I was young, I remember my Father (a generally happy fellow) sitting there muttering under his breath, “there’s nothing worse than cooked carrots.”
There’s a guy I work with who will often see my lunch of leftovers and say that my kids are the luckiest kids on earth because they eat such fancy foods. What he does not realize is that the foods I cook are not fancy, they are just homemade and honest. Not that homemade and honest translates to tasty, but I make a real effort to prepare foods and dishes that taste good. No offense, but most people can make edible food from a box, but is it satisfying? I mean satisfying in a way that makes you feel healthy, nourished, loved.
I read up on techniques and tricks that not only save me money since I am not throwing food out, but because I want the food I spend my money on to be delicious. And what’s more, there’s a lot that goes into an onion if we stop to think about it. A lot of complex actions and people had to join together just to produce one onion and I don’t want to waste all that effort and energy.
Every day, I look forward to preparing and eating the wonderful, humble foods that our planet provides without complaint. I will happily share my thoughts on these treasures here.
~Sarah
