gazpach-no

Last week I made this Tex Mex Gazpacho from Real Simple.  Didn't like it.  I wonder if I just don't like gazpacho?  Gasp.  I desperately wanted it to be Campbell's Tomato Soup.  Actually, I wanted it to be Campbell's Old Fashioned Tomato Rice Soup, because that's even better.

We made quesadillas too though, so not all was lost.

let it be enough

"I think the real trick to finding that sense of satisfaction is to realize you don't need much to attain it.  A window-box salad garden and a banjo hanging on the back of the door can be all the freedom you need.  If it isn't everything you want for the future, let it be enough for tonight.

Don't look at your current situation as a hindrance to living the way you want, because living the way you want has nothing to do with how much land you have or how much you can afford to spend on a new house.  It has to do with the way you choose to live every day and how content you are with what you have.  If a few things on your plate every season come from the work of your own hands, you are creating food for your body, and that is enough.  If that hat on your head was knitted with your own hands, you're providing warmth from a string and that's enough.  If you rode your bike to work, trained your dog to pack, or just baked a loaf of bread, let it be enough."

-Jenna Woginrich, Made from Scratch:  Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life

I'm trying to take this to heart and remember it when I'm feeling most frustrated.  Sometimes it's about the tiny steps, ya know?  Small windox-box garden, homemade ice cream (yes, you'll learn more about this later) or a simple wedding quilt (patience, friends, patience).  I may not have 10 luscious acres or goats or an old pickup truck, but I've got a few things going on. 

What tiny (or huge) steps are you taking to reclaim the thoughtful, handmade, homespun life?  And if you tell me that you either spin your own wool, weave on a loom or bake bread in a wood-fired oven, then prepare to have a new stalker and/or slightly clingy house guest.

v + m

I'm starting the weekend a little bit early because my friends Vanessa and Mike are getting married today!  They have been there for each other through thick and very thin and they deserve every second of bliss and joy that comes their way.  They also host the best damn Beer-B-Q this side of the Mississippi.  Congratulations you two :)

So I know I want a farmhouse in the country...

But tonight, as I rode my bike home from a free Boyz II Men concert on the riverfront (!), stopped and chatted with a friend, and then found the boy sitting on our stoop with his guitar... city living feels pretty good.  Ya know?

lettuce time

We decided this year to commit most of our gardening space to leafy greens.  We still have herbs (sage, basil, cilantro, chives, rosemary, mint) and one poor decision purchase of a stevia plant.  Our two main windowboxes, however, are engaged in a leafy greens grow-a-thon.  This has a leafy lettuce on the left and a mesclun mix on the right. 

 This windowbox is all spinach, baby.

And I knoooooow they both need to be thinned out immediately and I'm getting to it.  When you only have two windowboxes worth of garden... tearing out healthy little lettuce plants just hurts.  I'm waiting just a few more days and then I'll thin them out and make a mini baby salad with the rejects.  I'm going to start more lettuce seeds in a third windowbox, in hopes of having another fresh supply once these guys are gobbled up.

Edit:  I actually took these pictures a few days ago and I still haven't thinned them out but the lettuce is positively overflowing and if you stare at it really hard, it almost feels like I have a garden :)

two pies i must tell you about

I made these pies last weekend and you should make them too.  Both recipes come from Epicurious.  I'll confess my shortcuts-- store-bought crusts on both, and instant pudding in the PB Banana Cream Pie. 

Chocolate Mousse Pie

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 3 cups whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• store-bought Oreo crust

1. Combine chocolate, vanilla and salt in processor.  Bring 1 cup cream to boil in a small saucepan.  With the processor running, gradually pour in hot cream process until chocolate is melted and smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl.  Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
2. Beat 2 cups cream and sugar in large bowl to stiff peaks.*  Fold into chocolate mixture.  Pour mousse into prepared crust.  Chill until set, about 6 hours
3. Garnish with berries, whip cream or chocolate shavings.  I had cherries and strawberries, so I used those.

PB Banana Cream Pie

3 tablespoons orange juice, divided

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Peanut-Butter-Banana-Cream-Pie-352677#ixzz0rdVUC0un

• Vanilla instant pudding packet
• Milk required for that
• 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 4 firm but ripe bananas, peeled and sliced diagonally

1. Make the instant vanilla pudding according to directions.  Pour into crust.
2. Arrange enough banana slices in single layer over vanilla filling to cover completely.
3. Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar in medium bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla, then peanut butter. In another bowl, beat cream until firm peaks form.* Fold whipped cream into peanut mixture gradually.  Spread peanut butter layer evenly over bananas. Chill at least 3 hours.
4. Arrange remaining banana slices around top edge of pie.

* This step is particularly fun when your mixer breaks.  I bet the Amish don't make whipped cream often.  Or if they do, they have killer arms to show for it.

happy father's day

happy father's day.

(photo:  dad & me)

this land is your land

Pretending I'm on an epic road trip...

 

Photos courtesy of the doc, who landed in Portland a week ago today after driving clear across the continent.  I'll have to scan in my own cross-country pics sometime, back when Dad & I drove from Sacramento to New York.  I was 16 and only had a driver's permit.  Don't tell the authorities.

Happy Weekend.

wedding wrap-up

I've put a few wedding pictures up in a special flickr set.  I don't want to overshare my sister's special day, though, so I edited them down to just a handful of favorites.  If you are someone I know in real life and want 'em all, holla at me (is that still what the kids say?) and I'll send you the full link.

Shout out to mama for doing all of the paperie & printing for the wedding-- invitations, programs, seating cards, menu, etc.  Way pretty, trust me.  Speaking of pretty, how pretty is that bride?!

Ok, this wraps up the wedding posts and we will now resume normal operations :)

kimono-style robe

I made this bathrobe TWO YEARS AGO.  Almost exactly, I think.  When we first moved into our apartment, I didn't have a job yet and so had about a month or so with lots of free time.  A sweaty, anxious month to in our brand new apartment until I started my current position.  I did a fair amount of sewing, and this was one of the projects I completed.  I can't believe I haven't shared this sooner, because it gets the most use out of almost any of my sewing projects.  I wear it every day in the warm weather.  I think I initially didn't share it because I wasn't too sure about posting pictures of me in my bathrobe.  A little too much, ya know?

The pattern is from Amy Butler's In Stitches, and although I sewed it awhile ago I do remember really liking the pattern and finishing it in just one unemployed day.  The sleeves are long for me so I cuff them once.  I think I also took a few inches off the hem as I do to most patterns made for regular-height adults, but the pattern produces a very short bathrobe anyway so I probably didn't need to.  If you are looking for more coverage, take that into consideration and buy extra fabric.  I absolutely love this print, and think it's most perfect for a kimono robe.

asian sprout-y stir fry

Another sprout recipe for you.

Ingredients:

• tofu, chicken or steak (we used tofu)
• bell pepper, sliced thin
• carrot, shredded
• red onion, sliced thin
• mushrooms
• sprouts
• soy sauce, or stir-fry sauce, or teriyaki or whathaveyou (we used a store-bought jar)
• udon noodles

Directions:

1. Cook the tofu (or chicken or steak) in a large skillet.  Bonus points if you have a wok.  We don't.  (If you use tofu, remember to dry fry it first to get the moisture out and prevent a soggy stir fry mess.)
2. Add in the bell pepper, carrot, red onion, mushrooms and sprouts and cook until all are tender.  Meanwhile, cook the udon noodles according to the package.  Ours took about 4 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
3. Add in your sauce of choice, in the quantity of your choice.  Easy directions, right?
4. Combine noodles with the vegetables and simmer for another few minutes.

We added a fair amount of honey to our stir-fry sauce, which made it divine.  We didn't marinate the tofu because we didn't think of it soon enough, but I'm sure that marinating whichever protein you choose ahead of time would really up the ante.

big news!

I have been keeping a really great secret for... oh about ten months now. My Simple Lunch Bag pattern is being published! In a BOOK. With pages & a cover & a bar code, etcetera.
Wahoooooo, right?!
The pattern is now part of Lunch Bags: 25 Handmade Sacks & Wraps to Sew Today, the second book in C&T Publishing's The Design Collective series. My little bag has come a long way since its inception and now it has a swanky new home in a bookstore near you.
Them's my lunch bags, right there in that basket. Just hanging out, looking good.

Release date for the book is set for mid-July and of course I'll keep you all in the loop. I may even host a book giveaway right here so one of you lucky bastards can spend the whole summer making lunch bags for everyone you know.

(There are two lunch bags lingering in my Etsy shop, in case you just want the fish and not the fishing lesson.)

upcoming announcement

Stop back in on Monday for a pretty awesome announcement. Until then, make a big pitcher of sun tea, a peanut butter, cucumber & sprout sandwich and enjoy your weekend :)

this week on tumblr

A few recent favorites from my tumblr...

(design is mine via darlingdexter)

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(The nutella Cheesecake via Instructables)
OMG.

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“ If a bank is too big to fail, it’s way too big to exist. If an oil well is too far beneath the sea to be plugged when something goes wrong, it’s too deep to be drilled in the first place."

Op-Ed Columnist - Our Epic Foolishness - NYTimes.com

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(market mash via Design*Sponge)
My type of floral arrangement!

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(Bicycle rush hour via Cup of Jo)

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(Upside-Down Crops Are Growing in Popularity via NYTimes.com)
Anyone have any experience with ‘em?

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And as always, you can find more of my finds & inspirations from around the web at my tumblr page.

lentil burger

We came upon this recipe from an unintentionally-hilarious cooking segment on one of our local news stations. This guy absolutely cracks us up, but his recipes are always intriguing so I guess he wins.

We made lentil burgers the night we harvested our mung bean sprouts. Our recipe is adapted from our homeboy's segment here.

Ingredients:
Lentil Burgers

• 1 cup brown lentils
• 1/3 cup oatmeal
• 1/4 cup finely diced onion
• 1/4 cup finely diced peeled carrot
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup diced mushrooms
• Breadcrumbs as needed
• Canola oil
  
• Whole wheat buns
• Sprouts

Chris' Cucumber Yogurt Dressing

• Plain, Nonfat yogurt
• Cucumber
  

Directions:

1. First, make the dressing by julienne-ing (?) the cucumbers (I just learned what that word means, basically slicing it into thin, match-like sticks) and adding them to the yogurt. Set aside and refrigerate.
   
2. Cook brown lentils in 2 cups of boiling water, covered, for 15-20 minutes and drain. At the same time, cook the oatmeal in 2/3 cup water until done.
3. Saute the onions, carrot, garlic, mushrooms and a handful of sprouts with a splash of oil until softened.
4. Add lentils, oatmeal and sauteed veggies to a large bowl and mash it all together.
5. Sprinkle a handful of dried breadcrumbs and mash in until the consistency is nice and sticky for shaping the patties. I probably used a cup of breadcrumbs.
6. Saute the patties in a nonstick pan with some oil until they are browned on both sides and heated through.
7. Serve them up on a whole wheat bun with a dollop of cucumber-yogurt dressing and some more sprouts on top.

(Note: I've also seen a lentil burger recipe that uses sprouted lentils, so if you want to get crazy...)

twist & sprout

After almost a full year of curiosity about sprouting, I finally gave it a go last week. Given my limited gardening space, I was really hoping that growing my own sprouts would fill the gap between my wee window-ledge garden and the farm of my fantasies. So I (unnecessarily) bought a sprouter jar at the co-op (I mean, obviously you could just put a piece of screen or mesh or cheesecloth over a regular jar, but whatever I wanted this one) and some mung beans from the bulk aisle.

I think I started with a half cup of mung beans. Or a cup. (I know that's a huge difference, and neither the boy or I can believe that I didn't document it as accurately and neurotically as I do with everything else, nor do I have a picture of just the plain beans in the jar so I can't even guesstimate properly. Listen, it's been a crazy few weeks and I'm impressed that I even started sprouting at all!) So anyway, I put either 1/2 cup or 1 cup of beans in and filled the jar up about half way with water and let them soak overnight.

On Day 1 of official sprouting, I poured out the water in the morning and gave them a rinse. That just means that I filled the jar up with water and then gently overturned it until all of the water dripped out. The sprouting gurus tell me that it is really important to get as much moisture out as you can, to avoid The Mold.


After work I went to give them a second rinse and they already had little baby sprouts! Satisfying.

By Day 2 of sprouting I had already become a firm sprouting advocate, especially as a hobby for impatient people who need immediate results. From what I read, the majority of sprouts are ready to harvest within a week. A lot of them are ready to eat in only 5 days.


Day 5, the harvest. We came back from sister's wedding to a sprout invasion and apartment takeover. I could barely get them out of the jar they were packed in so tightly! I gave them one last rinse and then transferred them to a ziplock and threw 'em in the fridge.



Tips & Thoughts:

• I used mung beans, which are perfect for stir-fries, Asian dishes and on sandwiches and salads.
• You can use mung beans, soybeans, lentils, peas, alfalfa seeds, clover, wheat, barley, rye, almonds, peanuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and apparently even broccoli, arugula, flax, cabbage, radish, garlic and onion.
  
• Here's a great resource for sprouting: Sprout People.
  
• Sprouts have more nutrients per calorie than any other food. Allegedly. I'm thinking Ben & Jerry's ice cream is a close second.
• Most days, I rinsed the sprouts twice. Once before work and once after work. I think many resources recommend rinsing three times a day for mung beans, but it seemed to work out anyway.
• Keep your sprouts in a relatively dark, cool place. If you are making alfalfa sprouts, they like a few hours of sunlight right before you are about to harvest them.
• I stored my sprout jar on its side, so the little buggers could spread out and drain better.
  
• Sprouts prefer temps in the 70s-low 80s, just like me. So if it's super hot where you are... um, just take warning.

Stay tuned for our first bean sprout recipe!

wedding flowers

Congrats to sister and her hubby! They're married!

As more of the photos come in, I'll share 'em here and on flickr but for now let's chat about the flowers. That we did ourselves.
DIY flowers: not so hard. Kate had ordered flowers en bulk that arrived on Thursday morning. Friday afternoon we brought them over to the hotel suite (bigger than my apartment!) and got working. First, mom & sister tackled the bridal bouquet. We had white roses, purple-y roses and calla lilies. We had originally envisioned using mostly purpley roses and calla lillies but once they got going, a beautiful mix of all three was born.Then we assembly lined the centerpieces. Kate picked the roses, I cut them and Mom arranged them and tied the bow. We added some greens for an extra splash and, at the risk of sounding too proud, I think these are the most classic & gorgeous centerpieces. Simple and perfect.

Once those were done we decided we needed more flowers and drove to the grocery store. Love it. We grabbed a bunch of bouquets that matched our colors and that was that. The bridesmaids bouquets were assembled using a perfect mix of the new blooms and a few of the original roses.
We even stuck a mum right in the center of Kate's bouquet.
Moms and grandmas got long-stemmed bouquets. One of sister's bridesmaids rocked the boutonnieres. Everything was wrapped in ribbon, nice & pretty, and put back in water. The next day, my big sister got married to her sweetheart and we celebrated into the night.

(The first and third photos are by Sarah Opiela Johnson, the lovely photographer. The rest are by me.)

what's up doc?

My favorite med student is now my favorite doctor! As you read this, he's making his way across the country to his new home in Portland, Oregon. Now I have the perfect excuse to get myself out there, besides the fact that I hear they have doughnuts with fruit loops on them.

Anyone have any good Portland food/drink/shop/see recommendations for the new doc? In case he ever finds himself with some free time, that is.

Couldn't be prouder. Couldn't be more excited for him.

sister's wedding

I'm signing off for a few days to celebrate my big sister's wedding! Even though I'm just the Sibling of the Bride, I feel just like George Banks in this clip:

Be back next week with pretty wedding pictures :)

(Sister, back in the day.)

garden tour

So, I really need a better place to garden. Like an actual garden. Or small patch of gravel, even.

26.2 (divided by 2)

This weekend we drove on up to beloved Burlington, ate some good food, ran into an old friend and then woke up the next morning and ran a marathon.

Technically. If you combine our mileage, we did cover 26.2.

But, ya know, I ran the first half and then El Chico took care of the second half.

We were relay partners for the 2 Person Relay at the Vermont City Marathon. Which was sweet, but also a little strange because it meant that for most of the morning we were just hanging out by ourselves while the other person suffered through a half marathon. But it was fun and I only ran it a few minutes slower than my last one even though my "training" had been Not So Structured Or Consistent. My trusty relay partner ran it super fast, so our combined time looks much more awesome than it would if I ran the whole thing myself (3:54:52).

Cloudy & cool weather. Great crowd. No major troubles. I was feeling like a champ for the first 7 or so miles, really flying* through the course, but then there was a big hill at mile 8 and that just sucked the godforsaken energy right from me and I slooooowed it down and chugged through the rest. There was a water stop at mile 13 and I swear to you I almost stopped for a leisurely drink before I thought, "Dude, are you freaking kidding me? You can practically see him waiting in the relay transition area, WTF are you doing? Just finish this damn thing and then have some water." So, I skipped that water station and ran the last .1 mile. Probably a good call.

We went to Skinny Pancake for Veggie Monsters and Poutine. Then we parked ourselves outside Speeder & Earls with iced coffees and sore legs before heading back home.

*Relatively speaking.