okay.  so i was talking to my friend on the phone about her new floor lamp friday.  i was going to go to crap-mart to check out the same model as hers because it was cheap.  we've been needing at least one new floor lamp FOR FOREVER.  gah.  they are always so expensive new and usually arrive a the thrift store broken.  so cheap floor lamp?  i'll bite.

however, i didn't make it to crap-mart this weekend.  i went to the dog park early saturday and stepped in a hole and twisted the fuck out of my ankle and knees.  afterward i didn't feel like going to crap-mart.

today b.f. and i made a thrift store run, though.  lo and behold!  i found this:

lamp before

a cheap floor lamp, no shade.  which sucked, because if you've ever had the pleasure of finding a new shade for a lamp you know they can be as pricey as a new lamp.  and a pain in the ass to find, really.  i got excited about the pricetag, though, and sprinted to the front of the store and endured the disapproving glare of an old woman sitting beside the carts to get a cart to throw this sucker into and whisk it away.

lamp price tag

what in the world was i going to use for a shade?? 

i had a two round rice paper lantern shades from a previous decorating scheme.  inspiration struck.

lampshade bottom

i cut the bottom off the shade.

new lamp off

and attached the wire insert/stretcher inside the shade to make an armature to hang the shade from.  if you look closely you can see i used copper tape to attach the wire so it looks like it's always been that way.

new lamp on

can't beat a killer new lamp that is unique and stylish for $5.50. 

(if you look closely in the background you can see another floor lamp.  i found it today, too, and it, too shall have a makeover in the future.)

with my successful batch of tempeh under my belt i decided to turn my house into a fermentation station this weekend.  this weekend i made:

tempeh incubating

another batch of tempeh.  here it is perking away.  you can just barely see the first hints of mycelium.

kimchi

kimchi or kimchee.  i have recently become besotted with korean food and you can't have korean food without kimchi.  and while storebought kimchi is nice, most of it has fish sauce [*gag*] in it.  it's dead easy to make with the correct ingredients so i made some.  it's fermenting away right now.  if only i could convey the smell wafting from this open container.  deliciously powerfully stinky.  my b.f. made loud bellicose noises about refusing to eat kimchi.  i don't mind.  more for me. 
i had some tonight.  it was delicious.  i anxiously await further fermentation, though.  yum.












and i also made a batch of soy yogurt.  i don't have a picture because yogurt's pretty boring.  but i do have a picture of a non-fermented soy product:

tofu

homemade tofu.  it's not fermented but i'll include it in this post anyway because i made it about the same time as the tempeh and kimchi and yogurt. 

after FOUR miserable, horrible failed attempts over the past year or so, i finally FINALLY finally made tempeh from SCRATCH!
::rips off shirt/runs around block::
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARR!!!!!! 

here it is after 32 hours of incubating in my gas oven over the pilot light:

tempeh

and here it is, in all its' GLORY:

tempeh!

beeeeyoteeeeeful!!!!!!!!  but here is the money shot:

tempeh sliced

gawjus.  just gawjus. 

i may have taken it out of incubation a little to early.  the mycelium (white stuff) isn't really THICK but i don't care.  it is a firm little cake, just like storebought tempeh.  it has a lovely mushroomy scent.  and since i actually didn't fail this time i can simply repeat the steps i took to make it and MAKE MORE!  woot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!