Signs, Signs, everywhere are Signs-Palm Springs, CA

When you buy a new car, do you start to notice all the ones that look like yours? Of if you happen to break up with someone, do you suddenly start noticing everyone else that’s holding hands, smooching and in love (and want to punch them)?
When I’m on tour, I get on these kicks of photographing a cool signs which makes me then see more and more signs. But, I’m glad I do-they inspire me. The colors chosen are typically eye-catching. After all, the signs are advertising something and are trying to grab your attention. The color combos, fonts and text placement influence my creative decisions, whether I like it or not.
 

The signage at the Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs was weathered but bright. The paint was chipping off the five foot letters in a haphazard-but-we-meant-to sort of way.

These colors together inspired me to have Harold in my bathroom. Yes, yellow and bits of red can coexist without looking campy.

 

Our room number. The wood against the adobe made the sign feel warm, aged and homey. This sign inspired me to make a Cedar Christmas Garland from cross sections of a tree.

 

The color combo on this hotel inspired me to do make Pretty Paper Christmas Trees in a bold red and robin’s egg blue combo for Christmas. Granted this sign is more tangerine and aqua-but it was the beginning of a mind shift for this gal.

 

I loved the sleek black on the rough wood. It reminded me of our leather headboard behind our master bed with barn wood floors.

 

The vintage feeling of this sign always inspires me to use cutesy stars and fonts whenever I can. Cutesy is my middle name, you know:
Rebekah Cutesy Greiman.

I am inspired by signs, what inspires you?

Pickled Jalapeno Peppers

After making enough Jalapeno Pepper Jelly to feed a small army, I still had more jalapenos than I could handle. I then dehydrated a large freezer bag full and then blanched another freezer bag full.
But, I still had at least six more pounds of jalapeno’s to deal with. Since you can pickle cucumbers, okra and just about anything else, I decided I would try it on my jalapenos. So stinkin’ glad that I did.

(This tutorial may look like a lot of steps, but I am also showing the canning process that is applicable to any type of water bath canning-just in case you aren’t familiar.)

 

Pickled Jalapeno Peppers are tasty, a little hot and still crunchy. Throw a few in your chili, on top of nachos, hot dogs or even a pizza to add a little pizzaz. (If you don’t want them to be hot, simply remove the seeds and membranes).
The best part? They look fancy inside a mason jar and make inexpensive gifts!

 

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own Pickled Jalapeno Peppers (this recipe makes the 4 quarts shown):

3 C Water
9 C Distilled White Vinegar
2 TBS Kosher Salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
8 cloves of Garlic, peeled and left whole
6 Lbs Jalapeno Peppers-green & red (that’s about 180 small peppers or 60 large)

4 Quart Jars with lids and rings
Canner & canning utensils
Gloves

 

First things first, wash your jars, rings and lids in soapy water.

 

I am super particular about bacteria, so after I wash my jars, rings and lids-I put them in a large pot of boiling water, turn down the heat and let them simmer while I am making the jars’ contents.

 

Slap on your rubber gloves and de-stem the jalapenos. At this point, if you want less hot jalapeno’s, cut out the membrane and the seeds.

 

Slice the jalapeno’s to be about 1/4-1/2″ thick.

 

Peel the garlic gloves and apply slight pressure to each clove with your thumb. Don’t smash them to smithereenes-this is just to release a bit of flavor.

 

Now for the brine: Pour the 3 cups of water into a large stainless steel pot. Place the pot on a large burner on the stove.

 

Add the 9 cups of vinegar to the pot.

 

Add the 2 TBS of Kosher salt.

 

Finally, add the 1 1/2 tsp of ground Cumin.

Whisk all of these ingredients together and bring to a boil. Stir until the Kosher salt dissolves completely.

 

While you are waiting on the brine to boil, remove the hot jars, lids and rings with tongs.

 

Also, while you are waiting on the brine to boil, fill the canner up with water, about 3/4 of the way up. Turn the burner on high, set the canner lid loosely on top-don’t screw the lid on as pictured here!.

 

Put a clove of garlic (or two if the clove is small) in the bottom of the sterilized jars.

 

While wearing gloves, pack each jar completely full of jalapeno pepper slices.
 

Place the canning funnel over each jar. Fill the jar full of the hot brine, leaving a 1/4″ at the top of the jar.

 

Use a knife to remove any air bubbles.

 

Remove any excess liquid from the mouth of the jar with a clean cloth.

 

Place the lids on the jars and hand tighten the rings.

 

Using tongs, place the jars inside of your water bath canner.

 

Place the canner lid and process the jars for 10 to 15 minutes.

 

Remove the jars with the tongs, and set on clean dish towels on the counter. As the jars cool, you can hear a ‘ping’ which tells you the jars were processed correctly.

 

Store for 3+ weeks in a dark area. This allows all the flavors to get to know each other, mingle around, have some alone time and in turn-makes your jalapenos super yummy.

Keep opened jars for 6 months in the fridge-use only clean utensils to remove peppers. No fingers, please.
Keep unopened jars for a year.

This means you can make Pickled Jalapeno Peppers this summer after the jalapeno harvest and give to that special someone as Christmas gifts months later.

Easy, peasy, cheap and pleasy.

The Frontier House-(PBS)-My Current Obsession

During the first year of our marriage, Biceps and I were strapped for cash. We lived in a small duplex (that eventually blew up), had a musician’s lifestyle of touring, pinching pennies and being creative on dates.

And of course, this lifestyle meant no cable t.v.. We only watched what we could get with our rabbit ears.
I remember coming upon this PBS series almost 10 years ago. We were fascinated by it, and stayed up almost the entire evening watching episode after episode.

Just recently, I rented it from the library while my family was in town over Christmas. We couldn’t watch it fast enough. My mother dreamt about it, my father dissected the personalities, I coveted the lack of bra-wearing….

PBS was way ahead of its time with The Frontier House Series. The show was long before reality shows were commonplace, scripted or full of hot tub scenes.
The show stars three no-name families from various walks of life–let loose on the frontier of Montana at the peak of Spring. It sounds romantic and beautiful.

But, there’s a hitch. They had to live as if it was 1886. This meant no cell phones, dishwashers, housing (for some) or modern medicine.
The girls had to milk the cows, wash the clothes, cook the food, heat the stove..well, you get the idea.
The men were in charge of chopping the wood, building the cabins, cutting the hay….again, you get the idea.

What is so captivating about the series is watching the progression of each family and the community as a whole as each of them immerse into an 1886 lifestyle.

What the women had hoped for in the experience was thrown to the way side in order to survive. No quilts were sewn, no running through the meadows.

The men became empowered and invigorated seeing a definite end result to their hard work.

Before I tell you anymore-you should just ask your local library if it has a copy. You won’t be disappointed.

To dream a little dream-Pennsylvania

Biceps and I have a dream that has been formulating over the past year. We lease a coach (like the one we typically tour in) that houses 12 people, complete with toilet, shower and sinks.

Since both of us have our CDL and are used to driving 45′ Prevost’s, we would take our families throughout the east coast for a fall leaf tour.
We would pay for everything-their airfare to get to us, the food each time we eat out, any horrible souvenirs they must have-everything. And we would drive wherever we wanted to go.

 

It would look a little something like this.

 

Except with a few of these weirdos on board…

 

…along with several more from this side.

 

We would be sipping coffee as we pass by this type of landscape, talking of what we will eat for lunch…

 

…which of course would naturally progress into what we are having for dinner.

 

My dad would talk about the, “Beauty of God’s creation”-one of his favorite things to say.
And Bicep’s dad would be curious about “how fast can a bus go?”.

 

No matter what, we’d be together, drinking coffee and making memories. At least, that’s how it happens in my dream-world. What’s your dream?