Author Archives: Liz

Rebuilding Haiti, One Gift At A Time

Posted in Gift Ideas by

My favorite gifts to give and get are those that have a story behind them. Something that makes the present thoughtful and special beyond “I picked this up at a department store.” That’s why I love Etsy, where everything is handmade, so much.

This weekend while in Miami for the Blogalicious Conference I learned about a wonderful campaign Macy’s is doing called Heart of Haiti, which is bringing beautiful, hand-made Haitian art to the US.

Despite the horrific earthquake that devastated Haiti this year, many of the countries most talented artists are using raw materials to create beautiful works of art.

Macy’s recognized the potential these artists have and purchased 20,000 products up front, with help from Fair Winds Trading and the BRANDAID Project, to effectively get money into the hands of the artists quickly.

Check out some of the amazing gifts including items made from recycled scrap metal:

These hand-painted, pieces of art.

And even gifts made from old recycled oil drums.

You can browse all the Heart of Haiti gift items on Macy’s website.

With gift-giving season just on the horizon, I can’t think of any other practical, unique gifts that tell such a compelling story than the items for sale through Heart of Haiti. Even better- they’re cheap! Nothing on featured above is more than $60.

How amazing would it be to be able to tell someone that the gift you bought them was hand-made by a Haitian artist who is using his/her artistic ability to help rebuild their country?

I hope you’ll consider making some of your holiday purchases from the Heart of Haiti collection!

On The Road Again

Posted in Liz's Life by

Hi Friends! We’re back from a week in California!

Our vacation was really fun and we pretty much did everything I wrote about in my pre-Cali blog post. I am in the process of uploading pictures and promise to share some of my favorites with you next week.

I wish I had more time to expound upon everything we did, but I’m actually headed back to the airport today for another trip! This time I’m going down to warm, vibrant Miami, FL for the Blogolicious conference.

Blogolicious is very similar to the BlogHer blogging conference I went to in New York in July, but it’s focused on multi-cultural bloggers.

Although I know less bloggers going and none of my co-workers are joining me, I am pretty excited to spend the weekend in Miami at the Ritz Carlton, South Beach no less! Just check out that pool — not that I’ll be sitting beside it AT ALL ;)

I’m pretty excited to meet and get to know some new bloggers that I haven’t worked with before. Something tells me Miami is a great location for all of us to let loose and bond.

Who knows, maybe I can convince some of them to join me for a trip to Dash (the Kardashian sister’s clothing store. Yes, I admit to loving the Kardshians. Khloe is my fav! ) before dinner. :)

What do you guys have on tap for the weekend?

Le Dinh Hon – A Vietnamese Engagement

Posted in Wedding Planning by

Hi Batty Life readers! Thi here, again.

It’s been a while, but I’m a friend of Liz’s and wrote a guest post about a year ago. A lot has happened in that past year…I got engaged, had some parties, showers, a bachelorette and fast, fast, fast forward…am getting married in about 10 days!

Tea, anyone?

My fiancé Cory and I were doing our video e-sesh last Friday (I know, what’s a video e-sesh?!? We’ll soon find out). Our videographer Caleb Condit asked us to talk about all the events and celebrations we’ve had during our engagement. While we’ve enjoyed so many special times with our closest friends and family, we spoke most proudly about our Vietnamese engagement tea ceremony.

As a first generation Vietnamese-American, I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to celebrate to very distinctive ceremonies. From the beginning, Cory and I knew we wanted to incorporate Vietnamese traditions into our wedding planning. For my parents, it was as important to host a tea ceremony at our home for friends and family as it is for Cory’s parents for us to get married in a church. So, while most were enjoying their Labor Day BBQs, we were enjoying some engagement TEA!

The Ceremony – Le Dinh Hon

A Vietnamese tea ceremony is typically held to announce an engagement or to celebrate a wedding – but in both cases, the rituals are the same. The day starts with the groom’s family processing their home to the bride’s home. They come bearing seven (a lucky number in Vietnamese tradition) gifts  such as jewelry, tea, alcohol for toasting, cakes, fruit and usually a roasted pig, which they offer to seven representatives of the bride’s family before asking permission to enter the home.

While I was in hiding, my parents invited Cory’s family and friends into the home and respectfully accepted their gifts.Cory’s family shared their intentions and asked for permission for Cory to propose to me. My dad, a man of little emotion, tearfully accepted Cory into our family and offered his blessing. I’m bummed I didn’t get to see this first-hand.

Afterwards, my mom walked me out to the ceremony, where Cory saw me for the first time wearing the traditional Vietnamese ao dai (which he was wearing himself). He and his family offered me gifts of jewelry and we were…tada, engaged again!

As a sign of respect and appreciation, we offered our parents and family members tea. In return, family members shared their blessings with us in support of the union.

The Reception

After the ceremony, we enjoyed a light brunch at my parent’s house. Then, in typical Vietnamese fashion, we were off to a local Chinese restaurant a short 30 minutes where we enjoyed a lovely seven course meal!

I’m feel so incredibly lucky to have shared such a special celebration with my parents and Cory’s family. It was so important to my parents and I was so touched to see how respectful, open and proud Cory and his family were to take part in such a unique tradition.

Have you ever celebrated a special wedding custom? Please share with us. I’d love to hear about it!

Seven of my favorite photos from the day:

Getting ready with my mom…

Cory’s family and friends come bearing gifts…

I come out for the first time…

Cory “re”-proposes…

Cory and I offer tea to my parents…

We took a few photos after the ceremony…

Our dads share a few speeches at the reception…

(Photos by Audra Buchanan)

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Posted in Sunday Supper Series by

Yesterday was one of those rare Sundays where I woke up with absolutely nothing on my to-do list. It was wonderful to be able to spend the day doing things I wanted to do vs. things I HAD to do.

I decided that I was in the mood to bake something “Fall” themed to go along with a pot roast for dinner. I opened my favorite book of cheesecake recipes “I Love Cheesecake” by Mary Crownover and fell upon the Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Cheesecake is a delicate dessert that really requires a full 4-8 hours to perfect, so it was great I had my day free.

To start, set all your ingredients out until they reach room temperature. This is important as it can really mess up the end result. Also, preheat your oven to 350.

The recipe I had called for a sugar cookie crust, but I wanted something with more spice to match the pumpkin, so I bought some ginger snaps.

Run 20 cookies through the food processor until crumbly then combine 2 cups of the cookie crumbs with five tablespoons of melted butter until it has a thick texture.

Then press the crust into the bottom of a greased spring form pan until the entire bottom is covered.

To make the filling, start by beating 32 oz. regular cream cheese, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup regular sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla and three tablespoons corn starch until smooth. Next add four eggs and one egg yolk one at a time, beating thoroughly after each egg.

Once smooth, stir in 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves. Then stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract. This is the step that gives the cheesecake a TON of yummy fall flavor, so don’t skimp on the spices!

Finally, fold in 8-10 oz pumpkin filling. I prefer a less sweet and more savory cheesecake, so I opted for pure pumpkin filling vs. pumpkin pie filling. The difference is about 20 grams of sugar!

Pour the filling on top of the crust and spread around until even with a wooden spoon. Place it on a cookie sheet (spring form pans can leak) and place in the oven for 30 minutes.

While it’s cooking, whisk one cup of sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to make a yummy sour vanilla topping. Don’t skip this part…it really takes the cheesecake from good to WOW!

After the 3o minute timer goes off, take the cheesecake out and pour the sour vanilla topping on top. Carefully spread it around as far as you can to the edges. Don’t worry if it messes up that “perfect” cheesecake look…it’s more important that it TASTES good!

Turn the oven down to 200 and place the cheesecake back inside for 2 hours. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to prevent the cake from cracking while it cools.

Turn the over completely off and let the cake sit in it for another 2 hours. Chill for 4-8 hours or preferably overnight.

We couldn’t wait that long (of course) and cut into ours about four hours into chilling, but the end result was still amazingly delicious.

The rich, spicy pumpkin taste perfectly crossed with the sour vanilla topping to create a lovely fall celebration in my mouth. I was so impressed with this cheesecake, I’m planning to make it again at Thanksgiving!

I can’t wait to get home to eat that last piece I saved for left overs. :)