surprise the designer

Have you ever made jam? I think it's on the intimidating end of the cooking spectrum. Canning seems complicated. Boiling water seems...hot. But when a close friend invited me to spend Mother's Day (our moms are both waaaay outta town) whipping up a batch of strawberry jam, it seemed like the perfect excuse to learn something. Strength in numbers! It's a simple enough process: mash the heck out of some fruit, add it to lemon juice, zest, and sugar, and boil boil boil. We were avoiding pectin because of the premise that it's made from animal products (Katie is a vegetarian), but we found out that it's actually made from apples. I think it would have helped the jam jell up a bit. And I'll just say that we have some learning to do still when it comes to the canning process. All in all, though, it was a great, fun, and ultimately tasty way to spend an afternoon. Here and here are two strawberry jam recipes that look tasty. I found them using tastes...

Have you heard of Brimfield? It's a town in Massachusetts . But, more notably, it's the location of three annual humongous antique fairs . This past (sunny, perfect) Saturday we spent the afternoon winding in and out of just a fraction of the Brimfield tents. It was the perfect opportunity to play with my new-to-me DSLR camera. (The recent purchase of that camera also kept my antique fair spending reigned in... I went home with just three vintage plates.) Do you do that thing where you decide you want to buy something and then spend days/ weeks/months/years mulling over the decision to actually buy it because of the cost? I definitely do. I've been thinking about upgrading my point-and-shoot camera for a couple of years now, but have always balked at the $500+ price tag on entry level DSLR's. A few weeks ago, I spotted a slightly older model (the Canon Rebel Xs)—in nearly mint condition and at a great price—on craigslist. It still wasn't cheap, but I pounced, a...