Beauty Product Roundup

Many moons ago, I used to write a beauty product review blog that has since gone extinct. That blog still gets lots of traffic — even without new posts — because apparently a lot of people are googling "Giada's nails"... and my old blog is the top hit for that. Now, I'm a grown-ass adult with future plans, and a house, and bills to go with it. I make more trips to Lowe's than to Target. So I'm not trying new beauty products like I used to. But I don't think I will ever stop blabbing about the products that I use and love.

Here's a roundup of 3 of my current favorite things:

L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes

in Waterproof Blackest Black

This is a great drugstore mascara that doesn't clump or flake on me. It gives lashes a good amount of length and volume and holds curl. Just don't expect Anna Nicole-levels of lash drama. The wand is superb at coating lashes while separating them.

Clinique Superbalm Gloss

in Black Honey

Is it a balm? Is it a gloss? Oh honey, it's both. I love this stuff because the pigment is a brownish-red that manages to look really natural. If they ever discontinue this, I will be hoarding a lifetime supply.

Nars Blush

in Deep Throat <----I am not making this up.

I have naturally rosy cheeks, so I spent many years thinking I could skip the blush. But pale skin doesn't look so good without a little color. And you can blame those Kardashian sisters for making me wonder if the right blush could give me a little glow.

Nars blush is famous for a reason: it really is that stellar. And while it's expensive, the compact will last you for years (if you're not a drag queen or a stripper). The Orgasm blush is probably the most famous, but I like the Deep Throat because it's a more natural peachy-pink. I use the Sonia Kashuk Flat Blusher Brush for application, which I also highly recommend.

Now, over to you. What are your current favorite products?

Canning Salsa (Picante Sauce)

This weekend I made salsa. I bought a huge box of tomatoes and peppers at an Amish road-side stand, and gathered the rest of the ingredients at the grocery store. This was my first time canning all by myself, and I was nervous. The hardest part for me was blanching, peeling, and seeding/chopping all of those tomatoes. I recommend having a nice glass of wine or beer around, and blaring some tunes while you work those tomatoes.

The recipe comes from my mother-in-law, Gail. She showed me how to can, and also gave me my first canning supplies for Christmas a couple of years ago.

I first had this salsa, actually, on the day that I met Rick's family. We had driven to Philly to his sister's house for her birthday, and I remember Gail putting out this salsa and everyone being excited about it. She usually brings a jar of this when they visit, and we gobble it up quickly. I'm glad I now have the means to make a good supply of it myself!

I usually prefer fresh/uncooked salsa over the stuff you buy in a jar, but this is way more amazing than any salsa you'll find in a jar on the grocery store shelves. You can taste so many flavors in every bite. I prefer it over fresh salsa, and that's saying something.

Salsa (Picante Sauce)

for water bath canning

Ingredients

• 5 lbs tomatoes, about 15 medium, or 20 plum tomatoes (I used a little more than this)
• 4 mild green chiles or 1 can green chiles drained (I use the canned)
• 2-6 hot chiles (fresh or dried) (I used 3 hot skinny peppers, I don't even know what kind they were)
• 1 large Spanish onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 large green pepper, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 medium red pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped (about 2 tsp)
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 3 T. sugar
• 1 T. pickling salt (you can use any salt that is not iodized)
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 3 T. finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Blanch tomatoes in boiling water; rinse in cold water. Peel, seed and coarsely chop tomatoes. Place tomatoes in a heavy saucepan.
2. Remove cores from mild chiles. Chop chiles. Scrape most of seeds from cores. Add chopped chiles and seeds to tomatoes or just add in a can.
3. Pierce hot chiles with a toothpick and add to tomatoes. If using hot pepper, just take out seeds and chop pepper.
4. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro and mix well. Stirring occasionally, bring to boil over medium heat. Simmer uncovered 1 hour.
5. Add cilantro and continue cooking 15 to 30 minutes until desired consistency is reached. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
6. Taste and remove hot chiles (with toothpicks) if using, or put one chile in each jar if additional heat is desired.
7. Place lids in boiling water, boil 5 minutes to activate sealing compound.
8. Ladle salsa into a sterilized mason jar (I run mine through the dishwasher to sterilize), filling to within 1/2 inch of top.
9. Use spatula to remove bubbles. Wipe jar rim, removing any stickiness. Center lid on jar and apply screw band until fingertip tight.
10. Process in boiling water bath 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.
11. Remove and cool.

Makes 9 to 10 cups. I ended up tripling this recipe because I had so many tomatoes. I think I will continue to do that, because this stuff is so good that it won't last long! I did all 3 batches at once, using a big soup pot to cook it in.

Recipe via Gail Sollman

Classic French Braised Beef

This dish is amazing in ways I don't have words to describe. It's relatively easy to make, but it smells and tastes like something Julia Child would have served.

Beef Daube Provencal

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 12 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• Dash of ground cloves
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic; cook 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf), and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles.

Found in Cooking Light, November 2004

photo source

Mindfulness and Meditation

After 32 years of trying to sift through my own mental shit alone, I recently engaged the help of a therapist. I tend to carry stress in my lower back, and when life gets very stressful I experience a lot of pain. So I was at a point where I needed to do something about it. It has been hard to confront myself in this way, the kind of hard (I suspect) that a great workout provides. It feels like I'm stretching, growing, and gaining new mental muscles.

This is one of the books that my therapist recommended. It's the first book I've read about meditation that really resonates with me. It's made me more present in the moment.

At times I get so wound up thinking about a huge line of things that need to be done, and this needs to happen before that can happen, etc. etc. I'm learning to stop and notice what surrounds me. The leaves rustling on a tree and the sound they make, the way that blades of grass move in the wind. The things that are there all the time, but I tune them out. And when I notice these things, it's like my mind gets to take a little vacation and my body feels peace and levity.

I don't know if you should read this book or not. I know that is has helped me. But it also found me at a time where I was ready to receive it.

Perspective...

This photo has been making the rounds on facebook and tumblr. It breaks me every time I see it.

We're currently undergoing a bathroom renovation in our house. We have a small house, with only one bathroom, so it has made life inconvenient for a little while. Every room is a mess of tools, supplies, dust, etc. Sometimes I get so anxious about it all. Then I see something like this, and my heart stops for a beat. How silly of me to be annoyed about a blessing in my life. We are so lucky to have a home, and not only that but we can afford to improve our home. We are warm when it's cold, cool when it's hot, and we never have to worry about having food to eat for a meal.

It's good to be humbled, and to put things in perspective.

The Obituary

It's raining today.  I have some time to sit down and get this blog started. The rain has always made me happy. I love the way it sounds, and I love how it makes the world feel clean and even a little sexy.

Over a year ago, I was part of a small group of individuals taking an intensive course on Tribal Leadership. It was life-changing, to say the least. One of the assignments we had was to write our own obituary. We were learning how to live a designed life, one of intention. Writing our obituary would help us to see where we want to end up.

I wasn't expecting the assignment to be hard, until I sat down to do it. The more I wrote the harder I cried.

I am not sure what was more emotional:

1. the thought of me dying someday, and leaving behind people I love
2. the fact that I was hiding from my dreams, staying safe by doing things that didn't challenge me and didn't make me feel alive

After I was finished, I took a deep breath. Over the next few minutes the tears gave way to an almost euphoric satisfaction. I wish I could explain how this felt, but I don't know if it's explainable. When you take the time to write down how you envision your life going — without any constraints about what you are capable of doing — there is a peace and a sanity that washes over you.

The hard part was writing it. Now, I just had to start doing those things.

So here it is. It's not perfect, and I think if I were to write it again today I would change a few things. But that's not important. What's important is that instead of seeing myself as a passenger in my own life, I now see myself as the driver. I can go where I want to.

Those of you who know me know that I did quit my job. I did start that company. It took about 1,000 baby steps to get there, and it was not easy. But I knew where I was going.

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