Author: Stef McDonald

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Makeup Tip: Saving Crumbled Eye Shadow

I caught a few minutes of a lifestyle magazine show on a local channel not too long ago and the host was interviewing someone who claimed to be an expert in green living on the topic of eco-friendly beauty tips. One of her tips: if your powder eye shadow crumbles, you don’t have to toss it. Preventing waste–so, far so good. But her suggestion for how to save it was to blend the crumbled powder remains with Vaseline to make a creamy eye shadow. That’s where my jaw dropped; using a petroleum-based product like Vaseline is not green or eco or environmentally friendly by any stretch of the imagination. Good idea, but terrible ingredient for the task.

So here’s my tip: when a powder eye shadow crumbles or breaks, simply blend the remains with some shea butter to create a creamy eye shadow. I tried it with eye shadow that broke apart after a recent trip and it works. Voila.
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Graffiti: Johnny Loves the Lakers

Photo taken in Venice Beach, CA. There’s Jack Nicholson, easily the most identifiable of Lakers fans. It’s the off-season for basketball, but I happened to catch some of “The Shining” on TV a few weeks again, when AMC ran movies with “mad men” prior to the season premiere of “Mad Men.” Nicholson made an appearance in two of the films: “The Shining” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (the other flick: “Michael Clayton”). Good madness.

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Grilled Peaches with Ice Cream


Easiest dessert for a summer BBQ! Credit goes to Kristine, who served up this deliciousness.

Grilled Peaches with Ice Cream

Ingredients:
Peaches
Vanilla ice cream
Honey

Instructions:
Grill halved peaches, until softened.
Drizzle honey on peaches.
Fill pit holes with scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy.

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Reaching for the Stars with Casey Kasem and Teddy Roosevelt


I grew up listening to Casey Kasem’s weekly radio broadcast of “America’s Top 40,” even after my musical taste evolved and I began to broaden my horizons by listening to music by artists that did not often top or even enter the charts—usually the music was labeled “alternative” and could be found on radio stations on the left of the dial. The show aired on Sunday mornings where I grew up and I remember bringing my transistor radio—it was hot pink and fabulous—with me to the beach to listen during the summer months. Kasem ended each broadcast with this message for listeners: “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.” I loved that. During a recent visit to Teddy Roosevelt’s childhood home in NY, I found the quote that must have been his inspiration (pictured above).

And here’s the song that popped into my head when I began to write this post: “Left of the Dial” by the Replacements.

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Ugly Truth: The Story of Cosmetics

Quick: count how many personal care products you used this morning, from shampoo in the shower to lip gloss applied when you were stopped at the red light. Do you know what’s in the products? Do you know if they’re made with safe ingredients? I pull out the bullhorn any chance I get to encourage my loved ones to choose safer beauty and personal care products and point them to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics for info and the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep website to look up safety ratings of products. Now I can point to this video to help get the message across. Cheers to Annie Leonard, behind “The Story of Stuff,” for taking on the story of cosmetics.

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Still Love It: To Kill a Mockingbird

“To Kill a Mockingbird,” which celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, was taught in my high school, but my father recommended I read it prior to that; after I read through all the popular kid book series, my parents started me on classics. I resisted “To Kill a Mockingbird” because of the title. Why would I want to read a book about killing birds? (Another book I initially ignored for its title: “The Catcher in the Rye.” The only catchers I knew were on a baseball field of grass, not rye. I have since learned to never judge a book by its cover–or title.) I was a little older than the character of Scout when I took the copy I’d been given of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” off the bookshelf in my bedroom and decided to give it a shot, despite its unappealing title–and I loved it. Atticus Finch’s defense of Boo Radley–and the innocent mockingbird–still moves me. Here’s the movie scene (thanks, Dad) in which Finch explains the title.

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July 4th Dessert: Baked Apples a la Mode

With too many guests expected for the July 4th BBQ, I decided against an apple pie. But apple pie is so traditional for the holiday and thinking about it made me want it, so I went with a spin on the classic: baked apples a la mode.

Ingredients:

6 apples

1/2 cup raw agave nectar

2 tbsp. cinnamon

Juice of 2 limes

1 box vanilla wafer cookies

Vanilla ice cream

Instructions:

Peel and slice apples.

Toss apples with agave nectar, cinnamon and lime juice.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees, or until apples are soft (not mushy), stirring occasionally.

Serve with ice cream and top with crumbled vanilla wafer cookies on top.