I am excited to announce the release of our first comic book title!

Please join all the folks with Geek in the City Comics as they premiere their first title, La Brujeria, at Bridge City Comics on Saturday January 15.

A bizarre tale of a “gifted” temp that accepts yet another boring job. But, with Werewolves, Elementals, & a diminutive Chupacabra as co-workers; Althalia learns the Golden Bought Pawn Shop is anything but typical. With old powers and even older adversaries waking up on and under the streets of Portland, nothing will ever be the same.

Hang out with creators Aaron Duran, artist James Sinclair, and editor (plus letterer) Jennifer Alvin as they talk about the book. Or, just hang out at the fantastic Bridge City Comics.

It all starts at 6pm on Saturday, January 15, 2011!

I’m back! Illusionaire Design is on a semi-permanent hiatus, but I want to keep a journal of my DIY adventures, so the page gets a new template and on we merrily stumble.

Current projects are a Batman knit cap for my soon-to-be brother in law, getting my  container veggie garden underway, sewing curtains for my niece, learning to make pickles, and sewing a BBQ grill cover and matching chair cushions for our patio.

Started pumpkins from seed, which is going well.  Found a variety that is supposed to do well in containers. Also experimenting with an Earthbox for tomatoes.  In the two years I’ve tried to grow tomatoes, I’ve gotten one fully ripened tomato out of the deal.  Supposedly the Earthbox produces a bounty for anything grown in it, so I’m reading up on how to can tomato sauces if I get lucky.

Made another batch of mint chip “ice cream” tonight, but my hand slipped with the mint extract so the flavor is overly strong.  Still not bad, though.  Taking a footnote from the vegan play book to make it – Silken Tofu + 1 banana + soy milk + sweetener (if needed) + flavor = yummy frozen goodness that tastes decadent but actually isn’t too bad for you. Calories are about 230 per half cup serving, but it is low in fat and sugar.  Most of the calories come from the banana.

Also playing with a dehydrator.  Made a double batch of Spam jerky this weekend.  Brought a plate of it to work and labeled it “Mystery Meat.”  It was gone by noon.

Completely and utterly in love with our garden. The touch of rural living added to our urban existence makes me very happy. Nearly every meal I’ve prepared in the last week has included something from our garden, which has the added bonus of getting me to eat more vegetables.

The three tiers of lettuce are growing like mad, which means lots of salads. The hail storm last weeked knocked my pea plants over and broke a few leaves on our meyer lemon tree, but so far everything is recovering nicely. The cilantro I started from seed is ready for its own containers and we have much more than we need for the time being. I’ve let a few friends know that we have extra cilantro plants if they would like one for their garden.

The worms in our bins appear to be very happy. We are starting to get “worm juice” and the bottom tray is about halfway processed. I have a large plastic container filled with fruit and veggie scraps in the fridge, and we’re currently producing more scraps than the worms can handle. (Artichokes produce a lot of worm-friendly scraps.) I added a second tray with a lot of shredded paper last weekend. I swear it’s the world’s best identity theft prevention — just feed the paper scraps to the worms. I don’t think there is a scam artist savvy enough to pull any of my personal information once the worms have gotten to it.

We purchased an additional upside-down planter for an Anaheim Pepper plant we picked up at the opening day of the neighborhood farmer’s market last Saturday. The only other plant I think we’re missing right now is the jalapeno. I’m trying to get the patio organized so that I have a bin of dirt from last season that needs to be recycled, and a second bin with fresh dirt and earthworm castings. Container gardening definitely has its challenges, but I am finding I prefer it to traditional gardening because we have much better control over the soil, and it is easier to keep a handle on any weeds. If I could change one thing about our setup, we would have an outdoor faucet and hose for our patio. Lee Valley has some nice ones that look like they would work well for patios, but our watering can works just as well.

Attended a used book sale last year and picked up a vintage cookbook of United Nations recipes. Contains a lot of really cool international recipes (including from a number of countries that no longer exist!) and foreword notes to Americans encouraging them to broaden their tastebud horizons.

Friday night I made Saudi Arabian cabbage rolls from the UN book. (Actually, there were cabbage roll recipes from at least 6 countries.) Paired it with falafel balls from mix (would make from scratch next time), dill cucumber yogurt salad, and a carmelized onion – tahini spread that is a recreation of one of my favorite snacks from Arabian Breeze. I am completely in love with their veggie mezza platter. Made a very popular meal, especially the cabbage rolls!

Saturday night a friend and I paired up to make a chicken pineapple thai curry, as adapted from a curry recipe in the book. The recipe calls for us to make our own coconut milk, which was a highly entertaining experience that I am glad I tried once but will not attempt again. Broke a cleaver trying to get the coconuts open. We ground our own curry spices in our molcajete, and cut fresh pineapple for the curry. Paired it with jasmine rice steeped with whole cinnamon and cloves. Diverted enough pineapple and coconut milk to make the best damned pina coladas I’ve ever had in my life. Three and half hours to create not counting the hour or so spent wandering the aisles at Fubonn and admiring their selection of pig snout and duck feet.

I was really impressed with the Iron Artist Benefit for SCRAP on Saturday. Well organized, whimsical, and a lot of fun. I really hope they were able to reach their fundraising goals.
Their mission is a noble one: keep usable art materials out of the landfills while supporting teachers, classrooms, and artists. Whenever I stop by there for materials, I am continually impressed with the unique stuff that I am able to find. While I think it is terrific that America is undergoing a craft revolution where knitting, scrapbooking, and other DIY activities are cool, I would love to see more communities embrace programs like SCRAP. The box craft marts carry good supplies and encourage folks who wouldn’t ordinarily craft to get creative, but I believe trying to find new uses for recycled items fuels the imagination much more than following instructions from a kit.
Billed as “one part Iron Chef, two parts Junkyard Wars,” the Iron Artist Competition pitted teams against each other to create the ultimate masterpiece from the supplied boxes of materials. Teams (and bystanders) were encouraged to attend in costume, and a great number of people did! Very colorful. A carnival took place inside for the kids, and a raffle was held for a number of snazzy prizes. The emcee continually reminded the teams that the refs and judges were bribable with drinks from the beer garden, and chotchke gals worked the crowd selling temporary tattoos, patches, and other event souvenirs. Overall, a very fun afternoon of hijinks and hilarity.