PopBetty

A Love Letter to Pop Culture

D.I.Y. Idea: Tree Branch Hanging Rod

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D.I.Y. Idea: Tree Branch Hanging Rod

From left: branch clothing rack idea from Love Aesthetics; branch clothing rack from Apartment Therapy.

Long ago, I posted on D.I.Y. decorating ideas that use tree branches. Here’s one more idea: suspend a painted branch from the ceiling for use as a clothing rack. I’ve seen three versions so far, two of which are above. Here’s the link to the third, which has the most detailed tutorial I’ve seen, and here’s a variation on the idea: a tree branch curtain rod. It’s a simple and inexpensive project, with striking results.

Recipe: Basic Beef Daube

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The following beef stew recipe is a family favorite, and is perfect for colder months. It’s an altered version of this Cooking Light beef daube recipe. I’ll admit: I like this dish without loving it. Other people always seem to enjoy it more than me. It’s tasty, don’t get me wrong, and the meat comes out incredibly tender, but the flavor isn’t as rich or complex as I want. So I’ve also included potential improvements in the Notes section, and will try them and post an update.

Beef Daube

Basic Beef Daube

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup red wine
2 cups chopped carrot
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Dash of ground cloves
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt & fresh ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
2. Increase heat to medium-high. Season cut beef with salt and pepper. Add beef to pan; be sure to cook in batches to avoid overcrowding. Turn meat frequently to brown on all sides. Remove browned beef from pan & set aside.
3. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, and the remaining ingredients, plus salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a boil.
4. Place beef mixture in a slow cooker. Cover & cook on high for 5 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving; serve with French bread, mashed potatoes, or egg noodles.

Notes

By far the most time-consuming & difficult task is cutting and trimming the chuck roast. Here’s a video showing you how; I’d budget at least 35 minutes for it. That said, don’t buy precut stew meat! It’s inferior quality meat to begin with, costs more, and meat surfaces degrade quickly once exposed to oxygen.

Go very light on the cloves. A “dash” means just that; I’ve overdone the cloves before, and regretted it.

Use a decent red wine. Burgundy is traditional.

Consider adding any or all of the following: mushrooms, potatoes, and corn starch or flour at the end to thicken the sauce. Also consider substituting baby carrots for the chopped carrots, and dusting the beef lightly with flour before browning. Finally, you might lightly brown half a pack of bacon (cut into 1 inch strips), and use the resulting fat to then brown the beef (the browned bacon also goes in the stew). I do this for boeuf bourguignon, and it adds a lot of flavor.

Halloween Week: Spooky Coasters D.I.Y. Project

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Spooky coasters header (2)

When I saw this Guinness ad campaign, I knew I had to try a D.I.Y. version because, well, look at it:

Guinness Halloween coasters

Cool, right? The campaign originally ran in Romania as a low-budget way to promote Guinness during Halloween. It was a success.

I decided to copy the ghost coaster (without fingers, as the material I used, cork roll, isn’t suited for detailed cuts), and then design one or two coasters of my own.

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Halloween Week: Scary Reads

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Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party

Do you read holiday-themed books? As a bookseller, I always wondered who the audience was for them (especially around Christmas, when we’d get 26 copies of Dating Mr. December).

Well, turns out that audience includes me. In anticipation of Halloween, I picked up Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party for 10 cents. The purchase got me thinking about good Halloween reads, and about making a short Halloween book list for the blog. Being a book nerd, my “short” list quickly turned into 50+ titles.

Halloween Book List

So I’ve created an Amazon aStore of my recommended Halloween books. I approached this list as a former bookseller, meaning it contains both books I love and books that aren’t really my thing, but might appeal to others (for example, I don’t like zombies, but zombie books are on the list).

I’ve also divided the list into 6 categories (see the left hand column) for easier browsing. And I’ve included only one or two titles per author (e.g., there’s only one title by Stephen King), trusting you to fill in the blanks. Click the image below to visit the store.

PopBetty Halloween Books aStore

Disclaimer: I made an aStore because it’s the easiest way to make a book list with images, links & reviews. That said, I’m an Amazon associate, and do get a tiny percentage of the profit when you buy something through the aStore. It’s a teeny-tiny amount, though, and I encourage you to shop around. Remember, there’s the library. There’s Paperbackswap.com. There are your local bookstores. There are free eBook versions of all public domain titles. And of course, there are your local thrift stores (my Halloween book was 10 cents!).

Bonus: Online-Only Treats

Here are a few more scary links that I came across before I decided to make an aStore:

Emily Carroll - Margot's Room

Emily Carroll’s work: Carroll (who also wrote the disturbing His Face All Red) has a new webcomic called Margot’s Room. Each Friday leading up to Halloween, a new part of the story comes out, with the link to that story part hidden somewhere in the room above.

Teeny-Tiny & The Witch Woman

Teeny-Tiny & The Witch Woman: An animated version of Barbara K. Walker’s book, Teeny-Tiny & The Witch Woman is a classic, and one of my childhood favorites. I linked to it in the aStore (and still think children will love it), but it’s also on YouTube if you want a quick nostalgia fix.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - Cheek Spiders

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: I’m not going to lie–this book (also in the aStore) scarred me as a child. As Brian Miggels put it,

“That sh*t damaged me. Honestly, that picture of the girl with baby spiders coming out of her face haunted me for years.”

And it’s not just the cheek spiders, it’s the whole book. If you don’t believe me, here are more scans & comments; that Scary Stories has been one of the ALA’s most banned/challenged books for more than 20 years is another testament to its power to disturb. Be sure to get the out-of-print versions illustrated by Stephen Gammell, however; his illustrations make the book.

Halloween Week: Costume Ideas That Don’t Require a Bikini Wax

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October is a cold month, and platform shoes and low-cut bustiers (and sleazy dudes) are a party-going nuisance. Unfortunately, retail Halloween costume options for women still consist mostly of “sexy” this or “naughty” that. Which means you’ll probably want to make your own.

Here are some of my favorite costume ideas, most of which are no-sew:

1. Pop Art/Comic Book Character

Comic book heroine

So cool. It’s a popular look, but the makeup is time-consuming enough that it’s not been overdone:

2. Celestial Beings

Celestial being

Pair an elaborate star (made with foam glitter stars & wire) or moon headdress with simple dark clothes:

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