So now it’s time for you to help me help you.

Tell me what you want to see! More projects, posts to other cool things happening in the blogosphere, more photos, or more personal-style diary entries?

What will it be?

My future plans for scoochmaroo.com include a running feed of Instructables I post, a commerce division where you can buy cool stuff I make, and relevant ads for you from adsense. It’s like a real blog now!

I’m really looking forward to hearing from you in this new year, and all about the resolutions you’ve made, and the great new projects you’re working on. Let’s hear it!

Happy new year, one and all.

Best,

Sarah

Magic Shell!  It takes two ingredients and you can make it in five minutes!  Plus you can make awesome flavors like chocolate mint, creamsicle, butterscotch, and peanut butter (chocolate optional).

What brings this lovely treat back into my mind is that I made up a fresh batch of the Vegan Dark Chocolate this morning and legged it over to the corner store.   I’ve secretly been harboring fantasies of becoming a runaway ice cream shell celebrity with crazy twists like Chipotle Chocolate or Milk Chocolate Bacon topping.  So today I took a step.  It’s a small step, sure.  But if this one batch gets a good review from the lovely people at Le Beau, then I might just consider taking a bigger batch to the SF Underground Farmers Market!

How much would you pay for a jar of designer Magic Shell?

For more details, go here!

While I have been busy experimenting with new projects to share with you, it’s not the entire reason I’ve kept you waiting so long.  The honest truth is that I’ve just been sad.

Sad for Clicquot, my feline companion of the last 11 years, who had to be put down after a week long struggle to survive the sudden onset of squamous cell carcinoma.  We pet her sweet little head until the very last moments of her life.

While it happened quickly, and I suppose death is always a surprise when it happens, I knew each day of those eleven years just how lucky I was that she had chosen me.  Through endless cross-country moves, she rarely left my side.  Everywhere we lived, she made herself welcome in all the neighbor’s homes, but would still come running when I called to her.  She was a stealth napper who would deny ever having crawled under the duvet for comfort, preferring to spend most of her time at your head, both asserting her dominance over you and endlessly grooming your hair.

She was the politest cat you ever did meet,
though she would drink from your water if she thought you weren’t looking.

Her favorite toy was a button on a string.

She liked to nuzzle.

She will be missed, and there is a tiny cat-sized hole left in our lives.

I promise to resume my postings soon, and appreciate your time and patience.

Love to you,

Sarah

It’s called Stained Glass Jell-o, and it’s super easy (if a bit time consuming) to make.  Not only is it visually impressive, it’s super delicious too!  All you need to do is make up some flavored Jell-o, but with half the amount of recommended water.  Once that’s set, cut it up into little cubes, and toss them in a cake pan.  Then take some gelatin, mix it with water, add some sweetened condensed milk, and pour it over the cubes! 

Now, you have to let that all set!  Cut it up and you’re ready to go.  Get all the details here. Enjoy!

Ok, maybe not ALL of them, but the basic principle: baking soda + hydrogen peroxide, is no tasty treat enticing me to brush my teeth more.  So I made up my own!  This recipe makes me want to brush twice a day and after snacks.

A  simple mix of baking soda, vegetable-base glycerin, hydrogen peroxide, and (most importantly!) cinnamon oil, is all it took to whip up this yummy toothpaste in no time.  Check out the full instructions here.

Dill Pickles

Sweet Chili Mint

Rosemary and Sage

The top batch is the traditional method of making dill pickles. They’ve been heat-sealed and need to sit for 8 weeks before we can try them! Cruel.

To offset this, I made three other batches that only require 24 hrs – a week to reach maximum deliciousness.

Kieran likes spicy. So I started his batch with hot red pepper flakes (mainly because aforementioned corner shop doesn’t seem to carry fresh hot peppers). To give this recipe a Thai twist, I added a bunch of mint and a hint of sugar.

We went out on a limb with the batch on the bottom – rosemary and sage in an apple cider vinegar. It looks pretty anyway.

Ice Bath

First the tiny cukes get a 2-hr ice bath.

Herbs

Then I gathered a bunch of crazy herbs and mixed them up with some garlic and onions.

Bottled

These got stuffed in jars along with the sliced cucumbers, and drenched in various vinegar baths. After 24 hours, we sampled the ones we could. Turns out Kieran’s favorite was the refrigerator dills (not pictured), and mine were the sweet chili mint pickles! Who would have guessed? And the sage and rosemary pickles are quite subtle and elegant. I think they could use another week to fully develop their character, and will turn out to a surprising hit.
What would your favorite pickle be?

sugar-free, low-carb deliciousness in a salt-rimmed glass

It’s Cinco de Mayo, and what better way to celebrate than with a frosty Margarita (sugar-free and low-carb, of course!) and a sloppy plate of cheesy enchiladas!

the cheesy goey goodness is baked in!

Enjoy this great recipe for tasty skinny Margs! I nabbed this enchilada recipe from allrecipes.com and couldn’t resist making it my own by subbing sauteed zucchini and peppers for chicken. Yum!

¡Celebración feliz!

And the Red Velvet is more than you ever dared dream red velvet cake could be.

If you’re in the Austin area, be sure to get a custom package made up and delivered to your door, or check out their selection at Whole Foods. Stacey Bridges is definitely on to something here.

If you haven’t tried one of Austin Cake Ball’s tiny treasures, you haven’t experienced everything that cake can be.

p.s. this is not a paid advertisement. trust me, once you try these, you’ll be telling everyone about them too

don't believe the reviewers. this is not good.

Allrecipes.com, you have let me down. Last night’s meal was an abomination.  So bad in fact, it was determined inedible, and we had to instead cobble together makeshift tacos from leftover ingredients.  A trip to the corner shop was briefly discussed, but it was already after 9pm, and the shop was closed.  Pizza would certainly not arrive before 10 at the earliest, and we were hungry.

I suppose I can’t lay all the blame on the folks at allrecipes or even Campbells, who sponsored the recipe in question.  In retrospect, this was an avoidable debacle, had I stopped to consider what the ingredients called for might taste like once combined.  And I can tell you now, with all authority, chicken in tomato soup tastes like. . . chicken. In tomato soup.  Not even that good, actually.   And when paired with rice pilaf from a box and frozen Brussels sprouts. . . need I say more?

I figure in the law of averages, this day was bound to come.  We manage to cook up some really amazing meals in this San Francisco-sized kitchen of ours, on an almost daily basis.  This was our smack-in-the-face wake-up call to stop taking it for granted!

Lessons learned:

• Take some time to consider the flavor profiles of your raw materials in order to get at least a vague idea of what the finished product will taste like.  (in my defense, I did try.  I was just terribly wrong this time)
• Never again use a corporate-sponsored recipe.  Ever.  I’m sorry honey, I don’t know what I was thinking.
• No amount of convenience is worth a repeat of last night’s dinner.