This Year, I Want To Practice…

Published on January 1, 2010 in about me. 5 Comments

This post started with the title This Year, I Want To Learn…, but after thinking about the things I want to focus on, I think it’s more about practicing.  Maybe I already know how to do them, but I need to start doing them.

1.  Meditation.  I want to slow down for a few minutes a day and clear out instead of running in a million directions. I’ve been inspired by Karen Maezen Miller. (thanks to Erin for the link)

2.  Speaking Chinese.  Now that I have a job that takes me there, I really want to be able to say things like, this food is delicious, and what a beautiful garden, thank you for your hospitality and where is the bathroom?  Last time I was there, it would have helped if I could have said “I need more toilet paper”, as housekeeping couldn’t figure it out while I was calling them from the bathroom floor at 3am during a bout of food poisoning.  This may be the first phrase on my list.  (note the best cure for a yucky tummy, red sugar and chopped fresh ginger in hot water, instant recovery!)

3.  The science of food.  Big area, maybe I’ll start with cheese.  I think fresh mozzarella would be the BOMB.

4.  Listening.  I’ve noticed so much hate and narrow mindedness this year, I think people have stopped listening? I truly believe listening inspires things like respect and confidence and understanding.

5.  Sunday Suppers.  Local food cooked and enjoyed with family and friends.  We need to spend more time together, and when we are together, we should be eating good food.

6.  Peace.  I’d like to think it’s contagious.  And with my brother and other family members on duty in hazard zones, I can’t help but wonder what their lives would be like if the world were a more peaceful place and everytime they sent a photo, there wouldn’t be an automatic weapon and full body armor in the photo (with a tank in the background), it would be a photo of them with their wife and kids. (Not that their service hasn’t been rewarding, I know my brother is an amazing ambassador and has made friends all over the world, no doubt it is an incredible and fantastic experience.)

What are you going to practice this year?

Boo!

Published on October 31, 2009 in Halloween. 0 Comments Tags: .

Trick or Treat

What a day.  Wow.  SUGAR OVERLOAD.  Out we went in to the craziness of Trick or Treating in a business district.  We had to empty the pumpkin almost 2 times, it was getting so heavy! SHEESH.

Trick or Treat

It was an unbelievable haul.

Then we had to get ready for part 2.

Trick or Treat

Iz was a butterfly, I was a flower and Superman was Superman.

Trick or Treat

So many doors, so little time.

Dear Halloween Monster

Iz went through her stash and got her goods prepped for the Halloween Monster.  See, the Halloween Monster takes your extra candy so you can Trick or Treat next Halloween.  If you don’t leave her any candy, she won’t let Halloween happen next year.  But don’t worry, Iz has quite the stash.

Hat Love

Published on October 29, 2009 in etsy love, favorites and inspiration. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

etsyboat

The Enchanting Marie Celeste Ship Hat

I Want A Pink Room

Published on October 14, 2009 in about me and color. 1 Comment Tags: .

Pink is one of my favorite colors.  I used to see an acupuncturist and the wonderful room I would visit was the most amazing shade of pale pink. Remembering it makes me want a pink room.

pinkroom

Picture found at The Selby.

I Love Covers

Published on October 12, 2009 in video. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

While I don’t listen to Beyonce on a regular basis, I do like Single Ladies, and I’m totally impressed by her performance. And I love this cover. Enjoy.

Love

Published on October 9, 2009 in love. 0 Comments

love

Rustic Tarts So Easy A 4 Year Old Could Make It.

Published on October 8, 2009 in food and recipes. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

I love our Farmer’s Market.  We bought a flat of strawberries this week.  They are so delicious.

Strawberry Tart

Izzy hand picked a big pile for our tart.  She carefully checked each one, turning it around and around, making sure they were the right ones, red and delicious.

Strawberry Tart

We poured our cut strawberries onto the rolled out dough.  She folded the edges of the dough over the strawberries. And we popped it in the oven.

Strawberry Tart

This was totally delicious, and so easy a 4 year old could make it (with a little help from mom).

Rustic Strawberry Tart

Tart Crust

  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 egg separated
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 4-5 tablespoons ice water

Filling

  • Lots of fresh strawberries, sliced

Preeat oven to 400F.

Put flour, butter, egg yolk and sugar into the food processor and pulse until the mixture turns into little balls, like course meal.  Slowly add the cold water until the mixture forms one big ball.  (Watch the amount of water you put in, too much and the dough gets too wet).  Remove ball, wrap in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this by hand too! Make a mound of flour on a work surface, then make a well in the center of the mound and put the butter, egg yolk, sugar, and 3 tablespoons of the cold water into it.  Mix the ingredients in the well with your fingertips, then begin incorporating the flour in until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal. Add 1 tablespoon water and continue to blend, adding water 1/2 tablespoon at a time as needed to form a workable dough, gathering it into a ball. Add a little flour to the work surface and knead the dough two or three times with the heels of your hands. Take care not to over knead. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Remove the chilled dough and place on a floured work surface.  Roll out to desired thickness and size.  Brush egg white over entire dough surface.  Pour cut strawberries onto the center of the dough.  Fold edges up over strawberry hill.  Brush egg whites over the dough edges. *Optional, sprinkle entire tart with sugar (we did not and it was just fine!)

Place tart on flat sheet.  I lined mine with parchment paper.  Cook for 30 mins until crust is a golden color.  Let cool for about 15 minutes before cutting.

We used just plain fruit for the filling, nothing else, and it was perfect for us, not too sweet.  We’ll be making these tarts with the fruit we get each week from our Farmer’s Market, and it’s something Izzy can do a lot of by herself, pick the fruit, pour the ingredients, pulse the food processor, roll the dough, brush the egg whites, fold over the dough, and of course, eat it.

Aunt Ellie’s Beer Bread

Published on October 7, 2009 in food and recipes. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

Beer Bread

I remember the large black wood cook stove in our kitchen in our farmhouse growing up.  It heated our whole drafty 200 year old log cabin farmhouse throughout those cold Bucks County winters.  It kept us warm and cozy.  Mom also cooked on it. And in it.  One of our most favorite treats was beer bread.  OH MY GOODNESS.  It smelled so good, it just filled the house with bready sweetness.  We’d stand there and wait for a whole hour, checking on it constantly.  Finally, it would be done and come out of the stove.  I’m sure we had to wait 15 minutes before we cut into it, but I remember the hot slices all steamy, in my hands, then gone!  The bread never made it to the table.  The butter was close by, and spread on each slice.  HEAVEN.

If you haven’t made beer bread before, you are missing out.  Seriously.  It is a simple and amazingly delicious treat.  You will eat it standing up at the oven hoping it has had enough time to cool off so it doesn’t burn your mouth. Super delicious alone, but some butter makes it even more delish!

Aunt Ellie’s Beer Bread

  • 3 cups Self Rising Flour*
  • 3 tablespoons Sugar
  • 12 oz beer
  • pad of butter
  • sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375F.  Put a healthy pad of butter in a 8″ loaf pan and place in the oven so the butter melts in the pan.  Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.  Pour in the beer.  Mix together so dry ingredients are no longer dry.  Carefully remove hot loaf pan, sprinkle sesame seeds over the melted butter.  Pour in the dough.  Bake for 45-60 mins.  Bread should be crispy on the outside and moist and chewy on the inside.

*Don’t have self rising flour? You can make your own: for this recipe:

3 cups of Flour, 1 teaspon Baking Powder, 1 teaspoon Salt

Notes:

3 tablespoons of sugar makes this bread pretty sweet.  If you want a less sweet bread, try 1 tablespoon of sugar.

It all started….

Published on October 4, 2009 in Creating, Iz Sewing, birthdays, craft, family and sewing with kids. 1 Comment

when she was mad and she slapped my arm.  Hard.

Ouch.

I let her know that it hurt and it was not ok to hit me or anyone else.  She did it again.

I told her the same thing again and let her know that there would be absolutely no movie tonight.  You see, we have a bit of screen time before bed time.  It’s our way of slowing down a bit before getting into bed and reading books.  Not long, but long enough to sit still.

But not tonight.

You know if I could spend the rest of every minute in my life sewing or making something I would.  So what did we do instead?  We got out the fabric box and sewing machine.  In a few days it would be cousin Siena’s 2nd birthday, and what were we going to make her? (our goal is to make as many, if not all, of our gifts).  Izzy wanted to make her a doll.  GREAT!  Let’s draw a picture of what we should make, no mom, I don’t need to.  (So me before I decided I had to absolutely plan everything out.)  Ok, I could do this without a plan…so first we looked at the fabric and she suggested we start with a triangle.  I cut a triangle (on the fold).  Then I cut out rectangles for arms or legs.  I got out the bag of feathers and Iz sat at the sewing machine.

Sewing Project

Sewing Project

Once the body was all stitched up, I cut circles out and she worked on the eyes.

Sewing Project

Sewing Project

Voila!  Siena’s Owl.

Siena's Owl

I was pretty proud.  She was too.  We had so much fun together (we always do…).  She loves to make as much as her mom and dad do.

MMMMMMM Pumpkin Soup

Published on September 21, 2009 in food and recipes. 2 Comments

You know, I’m not quite ready for summer to be over. Perhaps because I’m dreading rainy days, I much prefer the sun. I really like the sun and the heat, and I really like being able to open my windows and let the warm breeze wash through the house. Oh summer, where did you go?

That’s not to say that Autumn doesn’t have a wonderfulness that I love. I love the changing of the leaves, the crispness in the air, the smell. I’m excited about my sweaters and thinking of making a new poncho (LOVE THEM). And well, the food is of course, fantastic.

I got very excited about a Pumpkin Soup recipe I found, and turned it into my own.

Pumpkin Soup

(adapted from SmittenKitchen – be sure to click over, the pictures are so beautiful)

I think making this the day before you want to eat it really makes it a more flavorful soup.  I had to change this from my inspiration, as I didn’t have the same ingredients on hand.  The pumpkin (the variety escapes me!), is not a pie pumpkin and has green seeds.  I was really worried that it was not the “right” kind, but was actually perfect!  When I picked these up at the Farmer’s Market, she told me she’d actually never cooked this kind before!

1 small pumpkin (with nutmeg and olive oil)  or you can use a can of pumpkin puree
1lb dry beans, soaked and boiled until ready to eat
1 28oz can plum tomatoes
1 red onion, sliced into smiles
8 garlic cloves chopped
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup dried mixed mushrooms (I used the wild mix from Found and Foraged Edibles, which I can get at my local farmers market)
3 to 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Garnish: sour cream or greek yogurt and coarsely chopped lightly toasted pumpkin seeds

Make the Pumpkin Puree. Wash the pumpkin, slice the top and bottom off, cut into quarters, scoop out the guts (save these). Sprinkle with nutmeg and olive oil and place in a pan on one side.  Place 1/2 the red onion and chopped garlic under the pumpkin slices.  Sprinkle with Olive Oil.  Roast at 400F until tender, about 45 mins.  Remove and let cool slightly.  Scrape the roasted flesh off the skin.  Combine the pumpkin flesh, roasted onions and garlic in the food processor.  Puree.  Pour into another bowl.  Set aside.

Chop mushrooms into bite sizes. Put into a bowl, cover with boiling water.  Let sit for about 10 minutes.  Set aside.

In a food processor coarsely puree beans and tomatoes. Set aside

In a soup pot cook onion, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper in butter over moderate heat, stirring, until onion is softened and beginning to brown. Stir in bean and tomato puree. Stir in broth, pumpkin, mushrooms, and wine until combined and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 30 mins, until it thickens up.

Just before serving, add vinegar and simmer soup, stirring, until heated through. Season soup with salt and pepper.

Serve soup garnished with greek yogut or sour cream and toasted pumpkin seeds.  (To toast your pumpkin seeds, preheat oven to 375F, rinse and remove all the pulp.  In a bowl pour a bit of olive oil and some salt.  Spread mixture out in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  (I did this, but on top of parchment paper).  Sprinkle with a little bit more salt.  Put in the oven.  After 10 minutes, stir up the seeds.  Cook for about another 10 minutes.)