Blog Posts

Super Bowl Sunday Food Fixins vs Movie Night Munchies

January! The time of year when our thoughts turn to the Super Bowl. Time to gather friends, family, and come together, to watch the big game. And what better way to celebrate than in your apartment at Willow Hill with good friends and good food. And football should be watched with plenty of food at hand but if youre just not really into football, what about watching a movie instead? Here are some fun food ideas for whatever you are tuned into Sunday afternoon, be it the Super Bowl or swooning over the lead in your favorite romantic comedy. Football Finger Foods because who has time to go to the dinner table when the game is on? With everything from Tater Skins to Buffalo Wings, these tasty finger foods will be a hit at your next football game night. MyRecipes.com has some great ideas for eating in style with essential foods like Sausage, Bean, and Spinach Dip --served with chips or chunks of bread, its a warm filling dish for a winter day. And for the health conscious football fan, Everyday Health has some healthy options for your game day goodies. There is no need to give up taste for nutrition. Serving Truffled Popcorn with Rosemary and Garlic, doesnt even sound like its something on the healthy side --but it is indeed. Bon Apetite! What better way to enjoy a movie than to invite friends over for a tea party prior to the movie. A quick search on Pinterest yielded about a gazillion ideas. Choosing just one could prove difficult. A few suggestions are the Cucumber Cupcakes with Hummus ; but a description doesnt do it justice, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Rachel Ray has some great options for healthy eating. Find them here . Or do a breakfast for dinner themed gathering. Whipping up pancakes or waffles is easy, and its nice to relax and eat them instead of being in a rush to get out the door. Or try German oven pancakes for something a little different. These Mini German Pancakes would be perfect to serve. And as you share the goodness of friends and food. Did your team win? Please feel free to leave a comment and share what recipes you tried. Happy January!

Local Winter Rentals

New year resolutions often include goals to take up new hobbies. And because of the proximity to winter, sometimes that includes exploring the colder side of the pacific northwest. But for those that want to try it out a bit before the commit, and let unused gear gather dust in the warmer months, you might be wondering what your options are for local rentals. Below, weve decided to highlight a few places you can do just thatalong with what they offer. Local Winter Rentals Though you might need to globetrot a bit, the following locations are still pretty darn close. Were featuring a wider reach in case one is on your way to a snowshoeing, skiing, climbing, or winter camping spot. Wed recommend the following. REI REI in general is a great place to start, especially with so many locations nearbyincluding in Tacoma. By the looks of their website, theyll rent skiing gear, tents, backpacks, snowshoes, mountaineering gear, camping stoves, and sleeping bags and pads. You can explore more details here and give them a call for more information. Feathered Friends Seattles Feathered Friends provides high quality mountaineering gear for relatively affordable rates. Youll be able to rent anything from warm alpine down jackets and pants to snowshoes and poles for trekking the nearby trails. You can explore their pricing over here . Other Recommendations Sports Authoritys myriad of nearby locations also offers snowshoe rentals for both children and adults. Seattles Outdoor Research and Second Ascent also offer a lot of the mountaineering gear mentioned above in case other rental stores are out of what you need. And although student resources at local universities are usually reserved for students, its worth giving them a call to see what theyd recommend.

Homemade Kombucha, part 2

Making resolutions to eat a little healthier, smaller things can influence other bigger decisions when it comes to eating better. Just like youre more likely to pair something healthy with kale, kombucha is a kind of drink thats just as good for you as it is on your day-to-day willpower with food. But since kombucha doesnt come cheap, we thought wed help you learn how to make it yourself. In our last post, we laid out what youll need to make your own batch. Next, well zero in on how to make it come to life. Homemade Kombucha Making the Base First youll need to make the tea base for your kombucha. Simply bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once thats happened, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sugar until its dissolved. Next, drop in your tea of choice from earlier and let it steep until the water has cooled. Since this can take a few hours, you can also place the pot in an ice bath to speed up the process a bit. Finally, once the tea has cooled, take out the bags or strain out any loose tea and add in your starter tea to make your base acidic. Transferring to Jars Once youve added the starter tea, you can pour the liquid into a one-gallon jar with your scoby using clean hands. Wed recommend covering the jar with a couple layers of tightly woven and clean cloth and securing it over the jar with a rubber band. This will help keep fruit flies out of the mix. Next, youll want to move the jar to a room temperature area that will be out of sunlight, and an area where it wont be moved, for the next seven to ten days. Note that its okay and normal for the scoby to move around a bit. After about seven days have passed, pour a bit into a cup to taste test. Once its reached a blend of sweetness and tartness thats to your liking, youre ready to bottle. Bottling Your Kombucha Finally, youll want to transfer your kombucha to plastic bottles with a filter. Be sure to leave a half inch or so near the head empty. Store in a room temperature area again for one to three days until it reaches a healthy carbonation level. It should feel solid in the plastic bottle once its ready. Transfer to the fridge to stop fermentation and carbonation and drink within a month. You can also save a bit of starter tea before you bottle, along with your scoby, to make another batch.

Homemade Kombucha, part 1

For those that have made resolutions this year to eat a little healthier, its the little things that can influence other bigger decisions regarding healthier eating. Take the kombucha craze for example. By opting for a drink thats known for its abundant probiotic benefits, youre more likely to pair it with other foods that are just as good for you. Since kombucha can cost a pretty penny, making your own can help you with your financial resolutions this year all the same. In two posts, well outline what youll need to do to make your own in the comfort of your apartment this winter. Homemade Kombucha Ingredients + Equipment Outside of the tea starter, youll need a few things to get the job doneand either a storebought or homemade scoby. As alien and gross as scoby might look to the untrained kombucha eye, its what gives kombucha is signature taste. You can learn more about making that over here . Make sure you also have the following in tow to make a gallon: - 3 quarts of water - 1 cup of sugar - 8 bags of black tea or green tea or a mix - 2 cups of neutral and unpasteurized storebought kombucha starter tea You can also have about one or two cups of chopped fruit, three or four cups of fruit juice, or flavored herbal teas and honey to flavor your kombucha as desired. To make it all come to life, youll also want to make sure you have the following equipment on hand: - Stock pot - A gallon glass jar or two two quart glass jars - Tightly woven cloth such as clean napkins or tea towels, coffee filters, or paper towels to cover the jar - Six sixteen ounce glass bottles with plastic lids, swing-top bottles, or clean soda bottles - Small funnel Once youve gathered everything you need, youre ready to follow along with the steps outlined in our second and concluding kombucha post. Which means kombucha is just around the bend. And youll find its a whole lot less intimidating than you mightve thought.

Ornament Repurposing Ideas

December is the time of year where many decorate their homes for different holidays. And for those that use ornaments to bring in the charm of winter, and celebrate the end of the year, there comes a time when even the most treasured emblem needs to be retired. But before you throw any broken or past-their-prime ornaments out, consider the list of ways you can bring new life to your older ornamentsall while making more room for new life on your holiday tree. Ornament Repurposing Ideas 1. Try using old ornaments to string together a wreath that you can hang on the inside or outside of your apartment door. While ornaments that match in both color and shape are most appealing, dont be afraid to try out monochromatic or other color schemes. 2. Holiday dinners can be that much more classy with the right table centerpiece. By taking a glass bowl and filling it up with similar colored ornaments, youll have something thats simple and effective in no time. You can achieve similar results by using a silver tray and pairing your ornaments with a few candles. 3. For glass or plastic ornaments that have a fatal crack in them, you can place it in two ziploc bags and use a hammer to crush the ornament into smaller pieces. Then you can take the top off of a clear glass ornament, fill it with modge podge craft glue, and add in the crushed ornament. When it dries, youll have a glittering new addition to your tree. 4. If you have a holiday chandelier you like to use this time of year, you can hang silver or gold ornaments from the chandelier using ribbon or string. Just be sure that the ornaments are in good enough condition to be hangingand that they arent the kind that would hurt anyone if they came untied and fell. 5. Tiny ornaments that are still intact can be used very easily in gift wrap. All youll need to do, once youve wrapped your gift of choice in parchment or wrapping paper, is use a bit of twine to tie the ornament to the gift. Its a great way to add a thoughtful touch to your gifts this year.

Hot Chocolate Bar

Though this neck of the woods has its fair share of coffee shops with your favorite hot chocolate goodness, nothing really beats the taste of making it at home. For those that feel like bringing friends over to catch up over cocoa and your favorite winter movie, weve got what you need to make a grown-up hot chocolate bar below. Hot Chocolate Bar To really set up a good hot chocolate bar, a simple trick is using mason jars to hold all the toppings and add-ins guests can put in their hot cocoaalong with paper tags tied with ribbon so they know what each jar holds. Its also a way to add a simple but classy touch. Heres a list of ingredients you might want to include: - Dark and white chocolate chips - Cinnamon sticks or powder - Small toffee bits - Peppermint sticks or small candy canes - Pocky chocolate stir sticks - Caramel or a flavoring of your choice - Fresh whipped cream - Sprinkles of your choice We just did a blog about making your own homemade hot chocolate, which wed highly recommend. You can have that simmering in a pan on the stove or a crockpot on low next to the ingredients. If youre planning on spiking your hot chocolate, you can also include peppermint schnapps, Baileys, Kahlua, or similar spirits for taste. Its best to have guests bring their own mugs from home. That way they can use your sink to clean their own dishes before they head home for the night. And thats really all there is to it. But what about you? Are you planning on utilizing the above ingredients and add-ins? Or would you swap anything out? Do you have a favorite hot cocoa recipe youd use as your base? Let us hear about it all in the comments below!