Inside the Sweetnicks’ Mailbag

When there are questions in the comment section of posts, or in my e-mail box, I try and answer them right away, but I get distracted easily.  It happens to the best of us.  Forgive me!  So I thought I’d tie up some loose ends and answer some of the recent questions here, and share a little Sweetnicks’ link love to boot.  Here we go.

Where did you get the curtains in your living room?
I received that question a few times after I included a picture here, and given how hard it is to find the right curtain, I totally understand.  I’m still on the hunt for the right curtains for the office and playroom and, at this point, it might just have to come from making bed sheets into curtains, one of my favorite tricks that my Mom taught me.  Ok, so the living room curtains came from Bed, Bath & Beyond.  The line is called Paris, and the color is Oyster.  I love the pinched pleated top, making them look really rich and lush, without the matching price tag.  Because the living room and dining room are next to each other, and open to each other, I wanted to find a curtain that would work in both rooms.  I needed a total of ten panels, and once I found the curtains, I collected a handful of Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons so I could use one on each panel.  This is the direct link to the curtains online.

Where did you get Madeline’s tutu from her first birthday?
Wow, she looks soooo different in those pictures, doesn’t she?!  Baldy!  I love that tutu, and right now, it’s hanging in her bedroom.  I found it on Etsy.  That one I bought from this seller, Trinity’s Tutus; I loved her pictures, and she was very easy to work with, customizing a few things on the tutu for me along the way.  If you do a search for tutus on Etsy, there are tons of other great sellers too though – almost too many to choose from; I had a hard time narrowing it down!

How many cookbooks do you have, and what do you do with them when you don’t want them anymore?
I used to have a crazy amount of cookbooks, but every time we move, I try to whittle down the collection a bit more.  Hopefully there are no more moves (knock wood!) – I’m staying put!  On the last move in August, I thought long and hard about each cookbook I put into a box.  I only wanted ones that I loved or really would use.  I don’t just want to collect them just to collect them, you know?  I’ve got my collection down to four bookcases now, and it’s much more manageable.  My clippings, on the other hand, is a work in progress.  As far as what I do with them when I don’t want them any more, it runs the gamut.  I sell some on eBay, Craig’s List and Cash4Books.net.  I also donate a bunch to a local hospital that has a used bookstore, and also to our local Freecycle chapter.

What is your favorite recipe?
Oh my gosh, that’s like picking a favorite child, I couldn’t possibly.  And equally important, tastes change.  I couldn’t pick a favorite overall.  I mean, maybe a favorite recipe in each category.  Maybe.  The recipes on my OMG list are still pretty much my OMGs, but lately I’ve been trying to make an even bigger effort in making more new recipes than repeating old ones.  I still, of course, have a cache of recipes that I do repeat, but also trying to mix it up a bit with new ones as well.  When we entertain, I usually have a few tried-and-true recipes and some new ones.  A nice mix, that way if the new ones bomb, we’re still covered.

What blogs do you regularly read?
My bookmark list is all over the place.  I have a short list of food blogs that I regularly go to, and a much longer list of ones that I pop in on sporadically.  When I first started food blogging, there was a large group of us, but it was still small enough that I felt like I knew them all or had visited their blogs.  Now, flash forward nearly five years later, there are so many, it’s seriously hard to keep up.  But amongst my regular reads list, I also read a bunch of photography blogs (like Ashley Ann and Karen Russell), decorating blogs (like Apartment Therapy and Ohdeedoh), crafting blogs (like Joy’s Hope) and more all-purpose blogs (like Meg’s and Darby’s).

Where did you find the kids’ superhero capes?
I love those (you can see them both here)!  I think everyone should have one!  I discovered them on Etsy and the kids’ capes come from Superfly Kidz.  I got Nick his for his 5th birthday, and Madeline’s for her first.  I love when they wear them together and race around the house.  So cute!  I got my niece, Sophie, hers when she turned one, and it’s only right that her sister, Sadie, get hers when she turns one this summer too.  A family of superheroes.

Does the lightscoop camera accessory you mentioned require special settings or is it really pop on and go?
It totally is just pop on and go.  I’ve used it on all the different settings, and like the settings without the lightscoop, there are slight variations.  But really, it is as easy as it sounds.  It just slides into the clip on the top of your DSLR and away you go.

Ok, I still have a bunch more e-mails to go through, but this is a good dent.  Now some links to finish us off.

Although it’s too late for your Super Bowl party, it’s still too cool to not share.  ABC News ran an article last Friday with Top 10 Super Foods for Super Bowl Sunday.  And the Buffalo Chicken Dip (and picture!) I talked about last week made the cut.  I was thrilled when I got the email from my friend, Mona (thanks again, doll!), and you can check out the article here (I’m on page 7).  Even though the Super Bowl is over, many of these recipes would be great for your next party, whatever the occasion.

I’m really late in mentioning this, but since I finally added the button to my site, it’s high time.  Saveur magazine (yes, Saveur!!) picked Sweetnicks as one of their Sites We Love.  So fun!  A great list of sites ranging from food bloggers to the New York and LA Times, any time you want to discover a new favorite go-to food site, this is a fun list to peruse in your free time.  They chose Sweetnicks for a Bacon Candy recipe I mentioned from our 2008 Bacon Party.  I’m thinking it might be time for another Bacon Party.  Maybe after our upcoming Valentine’s Day party, we get through Madeline’s Birthday Week, my sister’s birthday, Chinese New Year, St. Patrick’s Day… April sounds perfect and is the two year anniversary of our last one.

Project 365
February 8, 2010, Photo #38

Madeline loves balloons. It’s been awhile since I bought her one, so I kind of forgot how much so. This afternoon, she took a break on the couch, and grabbed her balloons and put them on her lap. I have to be careful when she’s playing with them though, because she tends to get all tangled up in the ribbons. Thank goodness the latex ones are now skimming the floor and ripe for the garbage can tomorrow morning. When she’s not looking, of course. Balloons? What balloons?