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Make It: Caramel Corn

amanda_lee — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 07:53:26 +0000

Last year, Bandmate Luke gave me eighty pounds of sweet potatoes before Thanksgiving. So every time I had to bring food to an event, it was a sweet potato casserole. This year, sweet potatoes are still to come. So to avoid showing up empt-handed to holiday events, I’ve been making a pretty great caramel popcorn. My boyfriend’s cousin-in-law loved it and asked for the recipe. Here it is, with modifications:

6 quarts popped popcorn [the original recipe said 5, but the caramel-to-corn ratio was really high, so I increased it. I got the best results with the multi-colored popcorn- a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00017LEZC?ie=UTF8&tag=amandaledotor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00017LEZC">here is two pounds of the kind I used and loved]
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
5/8 cup white sugar
1/8 cup water [the original recipe called for corn syrup, which I didn't have and I don't like - this was my in-a-pinch substitute, though you can probably use honey. I'll experiment with this another time.
1 cup nuts or granola [I used the latter - yum!]
1 tbsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Pour popcorn into a greased 9×13 Pyrex cake pan; stir in granola or nuts if you want. Combine salt, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and water in a saucepan. Heat until it boils; let it boil for five minutes. Add vanilla; pour the mixture over popcorn and stir. Bake in the oven for 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Let it cool before serving. The original recipe said something about storing in an airtight container, but I’ve never had enough leftovers to have to do that.

Have you made this before? Do you have a special holiday dish you always make?

Do It! Write a Thank-You Note

amanda_lee — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:23:57 +0000

I’m starting a new feature every so often. The Do It! Challenge will be like a weekly challenge – a task for you guys to complete that will hopefully push you to new heights of style, wisdom, and friendship. Here’s how it works: Complete the Challenge. Send me evidence – it could be a digital photo, a screenshot, a video, a personal reaction essay, or anything that shows me what you guys did and how it affected you. Before I post the next Do It! Challenge, I’ll post a recap of some of my favorite submissions for everyone to read and discuss. Sound like fun? Of course it does!

So, here’s this week’s Do It! Challenge:

When’s the last time you wrote a thank-you note? I really love writing thank-you notes for two reasons. First, it’s a way for me to show my appreciation for something amazing that someone else has done for me–in a way that’s typically not expected at all. And second, I’m always striving to create a stronger sense of gratitude around me–thankfulness for little, meaningful things that otherwise would go unnoticed if I didn’t take the time to tune in to them.

So, I want you guys to think of someone that deserves thanks. Maybe you have a really dedicated friend who’s always the first to say, “OMG, that dress looks amazing on you!” and constantly brings you coffee and treats when you’re down. Maybe it’s a coworker that saved your ass in a meeting last week when you accidentally missed a deadline. Maybe you need to send a card to your dad that says, “Thanks for putting up with my shit!” (I send this same card every year to my dad on Father’s Day.) No matter who it is, think of a way you can thank them for what they do. Be creative; a thank-you note doesn’t actually have to be a handwritten letter. Make them a video. Write them a song. Bake them a cake.

But thank them. They deserve it.

Okay, kiddos. Send your entries to amandalee [at] amandalee [dot] org. I look forward to seeing all the great things you’ll come up with!

How to Get Rid of Your Clothes

amanda_lee — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:56:47 +0000

Over the weekend we talked about some eco-friendly ways to repurpose your clothing. But for the non-crafty kids out there, or for anyone who just wants to be a minimalist now, I wanted to touch onall the eco-friendly ways to get rid of it all. Ready? Okay.

Goodwill, salvation army, or charity shops. They collect your gently-used stuff [not just clothing, in a lot of cases] and sell it, using the proceeds to fund job training, missionary work, medical research, or aid to disadvantaged people. So you’re helping the environment while you’re doing good things for others. A+! However, a quick note on this: these shops get thousands of pounds in clothing donations every year, and a lot of it gets thrown away or sold for scrap processing. Don’t donate anything that’s not in good enough condition to give to a friend or family member – anything that doesn’t meet this criteria can be cut up for rags or pillow stuffing. Got it?

eBay. The best place for selling your old designer, name-brand, and rare/collectible items. I’ve never sold anything on eBay [though I've certainly bought a few things on it!], but eBay themselves have put together a handy guide on how to have a great auction. Have any other tips? Share them below.

Etsy. Sell off your vintage clothing and other goods among a community of like-minded collectors. Etsy prohibits selling items that are under 20 years old, so keep that in mind. Also, you’re not supposed to sell handmade things that have been used, so that granny-square vest your grandma knitted you six years ago doesn’t qualify. Here’s a list of things to do to make your Etsy shop better.

Gently-used resale shops. In high school, I used to take my old Abercrombie stuff [yes, I know, shut up] to Plato’s Closet and sell it for cash. Larger cities have places like Buffalo Exchange, where you can sell both high-end and low-end stuff and donate whatever they don’t want to buy. Anyone who’s a thrift fiend like I’m sure many of you are knows where your local shops are; for the rest of you, this is a good start for finding a place where you can sell your old clothes.

Yard sale. Yes, it’s a little bit labor-intensive, so if you don’t have a ton of things to sell, it’s probably not your best option. If, however, you’re cleaning out your closet for the first time since 1998, this can be a great way to get it done quickly. Set a time and promote it; slash prices in half an hour before you close down to make sure that everything sells. If possible, call a local charity shop and see if they’ll come pick up whatever’s left at the end of the day.

Shelters. Homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters always have clients that are coming in with literally nothing. They’d be glad to take your loot – you’ll be helping out people in a situation where they need it the very most. Here again, don’t give them anything that’s in such poor shape you’d hesitate to give it to a friend – homeless people might not have much, but they don’t have any more use for a holey, stained tee than you do, okay?

How do you get rid of your clothes? Any other ideas? Share ‘em in the comments!

Friends You Should Value, Love, and Keep Forever

amanda_lee — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:40:49 +0000

Note: This is the second part of a two-part series. To read the first post, Friends You Should Drop Right Now, click here.

[source]

The encourager. This person’s favorite word is “yes” – or better yet, “!@$(& yes!” They support your projects a million percent – buy from your Etsy shop and drive an hour to stand at the front and center at your band’s show and cheer, no matter how many times they’ve heard your songs before. Every bit of what they say to you is complimentary and positive, and they believe it with every fiber of their being: “Your sunsuit is amazing.” “Hell, yes, I think you can get a million blog visitors a day.” “Wow, those sparkly heads aren’t creepy. They’re awesome. I want one.” Totally useful and amazing for your self-esteem, particularly if you struggle with self-doubt – this person picks you up any day of the week. Every single person I know and see regularly has elements of this, and this is why I love my friends so much. [Except I don't think any one of them would honestly say the sparkly heads aren't creepy. I mean, would you? I wouldn't.]

The truth teller. Frequently misunderstood, but completely integral nonetheless. This isn’t like the frenemy who uses honesty as an excuse for tactlessness and cruelty [which, by the way, is the best way for you to get me to cut you out of my life - I don't tolerate it at all, ever]. Instead, this person tells you the truth you need to hear – tactfully and kindly – and then helps you improve the entire situation. You know who I’m talking about. The girl who tells you she recognizes signs of an abusive personality in your boyfriend, and then helps you figure out how to get the hell out. The bandmate that tells you that you’re not great at rhythm, but instead of stalking out of rehearsal, stays late with you to work on getting it right. The latter actually happened last night during some Minor Leagues pre-recording sessions. I think said bandmate was ready to throw something by the end of the night, but he stuck it out, and I’m super-thankful.

The one who looks out for you. This friend has all the makings of a Mad Men-style secretary: she knows what you need before you need it. She shows up at your house the morning after your huge bash with Gatorade, and then sorts through your recycling and loads your dishwasher while you recover from your hangover. She sends you pictures of things she knows you’ll love and puts in a good word for you when she knows you’re job-hunting and her department at work is looking for help. She remembers to ask about your sick sister or your dog with an ear infection. A good friend of mine played this part a few weeks ago and I ended up getting three weeks of freelance work out of it – working just a short walk away from her desk and her dog.

The inspirer. Something about this dude’s personality meshes really well with yours, so when you’re together, your ideas bounce off one another and amazing things happen. “What if we had a concert where we played covers of the entire 69 Love Songs album?” “We should totally start a blog about fashion and dogs in French New Wave films.” “Let’s open an art gallery in our living room. We can call it Modern Living.” Friends like this have spurred me to start coworking events, create new musical projects, and push the boundaries of what I’m already doing creatively. This happens with Chris and TJ every day; projects we’ve come up with include a podcast called Catty Bitch [in which we talk about people and things that get our goats], a weekly tea-and-pie party where the Earl Grey flows like water and wits are razor-sharp, and a nineties-era dance band that sounds uncannily like C+C Music Factory.

Who do you love? What kinds of friends are most beneficial to you as a person?

Do It! A Bit of Harsh Honesty

amanda_lee — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:20:13 +0000

Having an SLR doesn’t make you a photographer. Knowing Photoshop doesn’t make you a graphic designer. Maintaining a kickass Tumblr where you mostly link to posts by Merlin doesn’t mean you’re a writer. And if your keyboard and turntables are covered with dust, they’re not tools for making music; they’re clutter.

Here’s the rub, kids. You can read all the blog posts on creative productivity that you want; you can round out your music collection all day, every day, courtesy of any number of mp3 blogs that offer you free immediate access to every type of sound you might want to hear. You can even craft well-written reviews of films and art installations.You can blog about blogs and write posts about other posts, linking all the blogs you love to get their writers’ attention and ensure that you never go a single day without posting. You can surround yourself with amazing, challenging, charismatic people in funny hats and skinny jeans who like to talk about exciting ideas and throw projects back and forth.

But until you’re making work yourself—a lot of work—you’re not an artist. You’re not a creative person.

Get off the Internet for a bit. Go draw. Choreograph. Take your viola or your accordion to the park and make up a song. Do sculpture portraits on the subway. I don’t care. But do something. Do it now. Go on.

A Bit of Shameless Self-Promotion

A Reiteration: Why Fashion Is Important

amanda_lee — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:24:35 +0000

I’ve touched on this before in one of my Inspiration posts, but then a couple weeks ago this happened on Britain’s Got Talent. And I think given that, it bears repeating.

How you look matters, people. And since we’re not always at liberty to change our own height, weight, bone structure, skin condition, or disability, nor is any one of us going to completely change the mindset and habits of immediate judgment inherent in every human being on the planet, the fact that it matters isn’t going away anytime soon.

And because of all this,fashion matters, too. What you wear is the only capacity in which on a daily basis you make decisions that communicate who you are, what you value, and how you feel. Obviously, every decision you make communicates those things, but think about it—does anything change as frequently or vary as much as the things you choose to wear?

Think about it. Your fashion choices demonstrate how you want people to perceive you—are you hiptastic, or do you have other things to worry about? Do you take your professional ambitions seriously, or do you have any at all? Are you confident, meek, sexual, reserved, wealthy, poor, individualistic, or a trend-follower?

What’s more, what you wear demonstrates how you perceive yourself. Do you feel good about your body, or do you dress to hide your so-called problem areas?

Fashion is a key showcase of your consumption choices and thus, your values. Do you go crazy for trends, or do you look for pieces that can be worn over and over again ten years from now? Do you pick out disposable pieces, or do you buy for lasting quality? Are you a green shopper? How does child labor and third-world manufacturing affect your buying decisions? No matter what your values are, they’re evident in what you wear. When I see a girl wearing skinny stonewashed jeans, for instance, I can tell she places a high value on current trends. Someone wearing head-to-toe organic cotton clothing and TOMS shoes likely values the environment and economic charity at least as much as fashion-forwardness. New Yorkers (or tourists!) who wear sneakers instead of heels definitely value their own comfort over their trendiness.

Also, think about it this way: it’s impossible to dress in a way that communicates absolutely nothing about you. If you dress as though you don’t care, the people around you might not be able to see how interesting and unique you are—less able than, say, if you wore your favorite colors or styles every day. If you follow a uniform code to the very letter, you’re still communicating something about yourself—your affiliation with the organization whose uniform you’re wearing [and also perhaps your loyalty to it—that you value the organization you belong to more than you value your individual expression, or maybe just that you value your job enough to follow the rules and thus not be stripped of it]. Likewise, if you choose not to wear anything, you’re making a pretty specific statement about your values and your feelings about your own body! And if you go really grungy (read: you skip on teeth-brushing and shampoo once a week at most; you wait six months or so before doing your laundry; and every item of clothing you own is stained, stretched out, and torn), you’re being unabashedly honest about the fact that you don’t give a damn about what you look like [or what anyone thinks of it].

[Sidenote: I used to know someone like this. And I'm not entirely sure how he held a job or met anyone, because he looked a hot mess all the time. I'm not talking about wearing clothing that was out of style or unflattering…I'm talking about holey, smelly, unlaundered clothing paired with once-weekly showers, if he was feeling super-motivated. Ew.]

So don’t ever let anyone tell you that fashion is dumb. It’s not.