Homemade Fresh Mushroom Soup Recipe

Homemade Mushroom Soup by Season with Spice
Serves 2

Ingredients:
300g or 2 cups fresh mushrooms - cleaned and chopped finely (I used a mix of swiss brown and white button)
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic - chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 - 2 bay leaf
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp flour dissolved in 1 tbsp water
Salt to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
Dash of nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley or thyme for garnish

Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add butter and lightly sauté garlic on medium heat.
2. Add in mushrooms, thyme, bay leaf and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the moisture from the mushrooms disappears.
3. Add in chicken broth. Stir occasionally until broth boils, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4 Add diluted flour in, and stir constantly (while simmering) until the mixture thickens. Season with salt and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. Finally, add milk and heavy cream, and bring to a simmer. Turn heat off.
6. Serve hot in your soup bowl. Add freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with fresh parsley or thyme if you have them on hand. And warm up this holiday season!

Notes:
- You can thicken the soup by adding in another tablespoon of flour or cut down on the broth, for use in pasta or your Christmas casserole dishes.

Read more at SeasonWithSpice.com

What Kind of Paintbrush to Use

Fall is here! That is, if you count the slanted sunlight and slightly cooler nights of the last few days, as opposed to the summer-like hot days. Or if you count Labor Day having come and gone and most everyone (except those on the quarter system) back in school.

This is the time of year I think about all those fun ways to use paint - on floors, with stencils on walls or ceilings, as accents on furniture, my list goes on and on.

One thing I've learned about painting (okay, two things) it's all in the preparation and the brushes.

Working for a group of hardware stores has it's advantages, but I actually learned about brushes from AceHardware.com and Lou Manfredini:

"Paintbrushes come in two major varieties and each has a place in your toolbox:

• Natural - fiber bristle brushes are made from animal hair. The most common is hog hair, which is labeled "China bristle." These are used for oil paint and solvent-thinned finishes only, since water-based paints will absorb into the bristles and leave them limp and mop like.


• Synthetic - fiber bristles are the choice for latex paint and water-based finishes. These contain fibers made of nylon or polyester. Generally, they are less expensive than natural fibers. The fibers are hollow, which is why after cleaning they continue to leak paint-tinged liquid."

Good brushes (and the right ones for the job) will help you create the look you want whether you're painting an entire room or just a small accent.

Core Values and Funky Ties

Here's our Ocean Shore team showing off their team spirit and their core values with some seriously funky ties!

Labor Day Sale

Check out our great prices on everything you need to do your last summer DIY project!

August 31 - September 3

Come in to our San Mateo store on Saturday, August 24 for a free tasting while supplies last!

Burning Man Supplies

[caption id="attachment_454" align="aligncenter" width="529"] Image © Tanais Fox[/caption]

Ahhh, there's nothing quite like burning an effigy in the middle of the desert in late summer; and anyone who goes to burning man knows this. But what if you've never been? BurningMan.com kindly offers all manner of BM information, among it, a Survival Guide for beginners.

This guide is a great resource for any desert trip and ACE can help with some of the details. Lighting in the middle of BLM land is a big deal and as per the BMSG (Burning Man Survival Guide) here's what you need to know about lighting your way in the desert:

"...light yourself, your bike, your art, and your belongingsWELL, front and back. Consider a good LED headlamp, LED blinky lights, or EL wire – weak glow sticks and bracelets DON’T cut it and become instant trash and potentially MOOP." I don't know what MOOP stands for either. Some suggestions: Molecular Orbital Overlap Population; Museum of Ornamental Post; Means of Operator Protection; and the most likely in this instance - Matter Out of Place. I'm not a burner, so someone more experienced can certainly help me out here.

But I digress, ACE can help you prepare for Burning Man in all sorts of ways, from safety items to the all-encompassing duct tape, from hammers and nails for your project to non-obvious float accessories and parts. Who knew an elbow joint could have so much versatility?

-Jocelyn Broyles

Easy Photo Editing Site And Free Vintage Graphics

[caption id="attachment_441" align="aligncenter" width="394"] Image from GraphicsFairy.Blogspot.com[/caption]

For all you crafting fans out there, who love design, drawing and graphic manipulation - IN THEORY - but would rather be outside frolicking in the daisies than inside in front of the computer trying to figure out the intricacies of Photoshop, I have the answer to your prayers - okay, only the ones that involve easy photo editing via a replacement to Picnik and gorgeous, free, vintage graphics.

It all started with Pinterest (many fun ideas seem to these days) where I came across these little crustacean, cephalopod and fishy lovelies posted on NestOfPosies-blog.com. They looked so fresh and cute on that light blue wall I had to know more. Turns out I learned two wonderful bits of information while reading about how to make these guys. First of all, for those of you who remember Picnik before it was bought by Google, you will be thrilled to learn that there's another free site just like it called Ribbit. Oh yeah!

On top of that little life-saving (or probably more like time saving) tidbit, I learned about GraphicsFairy.Blogspot.com where apparently you can download all manner of gorgeous vintage graphics that you can then drop into Ribbit and transform into your own wall decorations or wherever else you might want to use old-fashioned drawings, say, for instance, everywhere.

- Jocelyn Broyles
Connect with Jocelyn on Google+