However, that’s not my point; I only say all this because I am no longer haughty about it and I still say “fravorite” much of the time. And now I have a fravor to ask of you, dear readers. In my last post I mentioned that I did not believe I would get posted in the Apartment Therapy Small Cool contest, and you can imagine my surprise when I found the congratulatory email in my inbox this morning. So, I would be ever so grateful if you would take a moment and visit my entry, scroll through the photos to ensure that you do in fact like it, and then click the “favorite” icon (I’ve already alerted them to their spelling error).

here is the link: Jessica’s Crafted Space

Thank you, and here are a couple outtakes from the photo sesh I had with my apartment last week. Now I’m kicking myself for not including a pet in any of the photos I submitted. It certainly wasn’t intentional; normally you can’t cast your gaze upon any square foot without it also falling upon some cat or dog. But, what’s done is done, and que sera sera, and all that.

From Melrose flea market. I have another that I’ll eventually put in my etsy store when I relaunch it.

I got this door at Silverlake Salvage, which is now located in Pasadena.

This photo is a reject from this year’s series of photos that I took for the Apartment Therapy Small Cool contest, which I entered again, but I have very little confidence I’ll get posted.

The little white thing underneath is an antique toy, a metal refrigerator that I played with as a kid, as did my mother (Mom, correct me if I’m wrong on that, I think it was your aunt’s too? Anyway, it’s neat).

Finally got the chance to edit down some of the photos from the magnificent road trip earlier this month. Sunshine and good friends in Ohio, snow in Kansas and Colorado, and a tiny log cabin in Utah.

And some lovely details from our friends’ wedding at the end of the trip:

I’m on a road trip, driving from the saturated air of the eastern midwest to the arid and rocky California desert. I love this drive, the way the earth kind of coddles you at first with lush rolling hills and gradually becomes violent, rocks suddenly jutting out of its surface.

Originally the intent was to stop at all kinds of odd thrift stores and museums, but weather and a desire to see friends and family along the way made other stops sort of limited. I did, however, manage to collect a few bits of inspiration along the way.

A little late for St. Patrick’s day, but today’s taste on tumblr is leafy greens (yes, I know they don’t all taste the same; just go with it). They’re good for you!

I went down to Torrance this weekend to check out the street faire that happens on the fourth Sunday of each month. It’s a fairly small market – especially compared to heavy-hitters like PCC and Long Beach – but it’s only a half an hour from LA. There is a lot of new stuff here, but there are plenty of bargains on the old stuff mixed in. The crowd is a bit older than what you find at, say, Melrose, where you would probably not hear statements like “I just subscribed to AARP” or “Everything was better back in the day” or “This would be a fun thing to have in a pizzeria!” Prices are extremely reasonable, and if you’re looking for jewelry, you might not be able to handle it.

There were some things organized not neatly:

and some tasty type treats.

The market essentially takes up most of Old Town Torrance, where there are a few small antique stores (plus a miniatures store that let me relive my childhood for five minutes). These stores open early on the fourth Sunday for market patrons, and their prices are also generally reasonable and a bit lower than market price up in Los Angeles. There is an enchanting WWII store that is stocked with every possible men’s uniform from the war, plus lots of engrossing ephemera that effectively distracts you from how claustrophobic you might otherwise feel in such a small, dark packed space. A radio display:

Overall, I’d say it’s best for jewelry hunting. There aren’t many good opportunities for clothing (though there are a few) and most of the vendors sell small things and just a few larger pieces. I’d say it’s worth the trip to look around if you don’t have any specific targets in mind; the atmosphere is fun, friendly, and laid-back.

That’s right, I let my bathtub get this awful. It was sort of a gradual decline, and like the proverbial frog in heating water, I didn’t notice just how awful it was until it was almost too late. So armed with my vinegar, baking soda, borax, and determination, I set out to win the battle this using only this natural arsenal.

Baking soda, kosher salt, and water

The claim: cleans tough stains from porcelain and tile. The reality: this worked pretty well. I tried this on half of my bathtub, shaking out a bit of baking soda on the wet porcelain, followed by salt and a damp rag. I put in a moderate amount of elbow grease, but I was still left with some semi-icky staining.

Borax and castile soap

I already use Borax in my laundry. The claim is that it helps soap and detergents work better, and this was pretty well proven on the other half of my bathtub. The same amount of elbow grease applied to borax and soap cleaned the surface much better than the baking soda, so I finished the job with this method.

Hot vinegar: more than a great band name

The claim: hot vinegar cleans soap scum from tile and chrome. The reality: truth. I used this on my faucets and my shower walls, and not only did it clean my kettle when I boiled it, but the vinegar rinsed away old soap and left everything feeling clean.

Tea tree oil (or not)

The claim: tea tree oil kills mildew. The reality: tea tree oil is prohibitively expensive. As in, over $20 for a tiny dropper bottle. So I decided that if I was going to spend any money on this endeavor, it would be to take off the mildewed caulk and replace it. So that’s what I did. Turns out replacing caulk is as simple as scraping it off and putting new stuff on.

And that’s it. Caulking is actually super easy; way easier than grouting. So what’s your favorite natural cleaner? Did you spring for the tea tree oil? Let me know how it goes.

Aren’t they lovely?

There’s a lot of talk these days about wheat gluten and how it’s probably bad for you. If you don’t have celiac, you might be considering going gluten free anyway because some people think that it makes you put on weight, or makes it harder to lose weight, or it turns to sugar which is bad, or something. You know what? I like bread. Like, a lot. I’m not saying these people are right or wrong, because I don’t know; I just know that I like bread, and in moderation, as long as I don’t down three tablespoons of oil with it, for me it’s fine.

I’ve been making my own bread lately, and it’s really easy. Somehow I ended up trying two varieties on ostensibly opposite ends of the bread spectrum: volkornbrot and white sourdough.

Volkornbrot is a really dense whole kernel bread (which is what “volkornbrot” means), typically 100% rye, that has an amazing chewy texture and rich sour flavor. It can also be made using any whole grains – quinoa, millet, wheat berries, rye berries, spelt, amaranth, or some combination thereof. I used rye and soft winter wheat berries and threw some dill in for fun, which I would do again. The process for making this bread is pretty simple, but before you get too excited about starting this tonight, let’s talk about sourdough starter.

There are already some great (and some really really involved) resources on the internet about sourdough starter, so I’ll keep it brief. Essentially, sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water that takes advantage of microorganisms in whole grain flour, water, and on your hands to promote the growth of wild yeasts. It’s a situation where good triumphs over evil: if you feed your starter every day by pouring off some and replenishing it with new water and flour, any bad bacteria present will (hopefully) eventually be taken over by the delicious yeasty kind.

Making a sourdough starter is, in my opinion, quite easy:

• Mix equal parts white flour and water (1 cup each, for instance) in a glass jar with a lid
• Every day, pour off half of the mixture and replace it with equal parts flour and water
• Tend the starter for week before attempting to use it.

That’s basically it. Keep the jar closed but not necessarily air tight – you’re not actually harnessing wild yeasts from the air. If you want to feed your starter with a different flour, whole wheat or rye work well too. Keep the flour and water mixed well and tended. Bubbles are good. Mold is bad. The starter should smell sour but not rancid, and if you can’t be around to feed it every day, it will be okay in the refrigerator for a week or two. This is what mine looks like:

You can also buy a good starter for your starter from some markets (like Whole Foods), in dry form to begin your fermentation, or order it online.

So let’s say you have a starter, and are ready to start making some dough. I got my recipe from one of those books that changed my life: Making It by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. I cannot recommend it enough. You can see the recipe and buy the book here. I didn’t have any sunflower seeds or barley malt syrup so I omitted them, and I also added a tablespoon of fennel seed with the flaxseed.

I also made a straight up white sourdough.

And proceeded to eat it immediately.

I admit that my loaf did not look like the recipe’s example from whence it came, but the texture was fantastic and the flavor was nearly perfect (flavor has much to do with your starter, and I don’t think I let mine ferment enough after its last nap in the refrigerator). Still, this instructable on sourdough has to be one of the best ever.