Pieces of April

reading: A Three Dog Life, a memoir by Abigail Thomas (sooo sooo good)

listening to: Half Moon by Portland band 'Blind Pilot'. We saw them in concert here in Missoula last year. I love every single song of theirs. Pure musicalpoeticgenius.

watching: this 3-minute video - I want all of my girlfriends and my daughters to watch it.

eating: an entire half of our first watermelon of the year (store-bought)

dreaming of: visiting my newest nephew Noah, born a mere three days ago. I wish Texas wasn't so far away or that airplanes went super fast but never left the ground

welcoming: the goldfinch to the growing clientele at our bird feeder. On a side note, last year we had a yellow warbler couple decide to nest in the tree outside Emma's window. We had such fun watching them build their home, watch over their eggs and finally feed their three frail children. Emma even lucked into seeing the very moment one fledged (as a 12-day-old! oh how soon they leave!) I posted some photos and wrote a poem about it here.

thinking about: taking a sewing class, making a terrarium, taking Glucosamine to see if my hips and fingers feel better

fretting: that I may be developing rheumatoid arthritis at 43

asking: "what can I do to help?" after watching this


What's up in your neck of the woods? 

Bits of found things

Our first daffodil of the year and a deer promptly trampled the poor little thing and bent the stem so it was left staring at ground rather than the sun. Happily I swooped in for the rescue and gave it a new home in living room where it gets lots of attention.

I heard this song on the radio yesterday afternoon as I sat parked outside the school waiting for the girls. "Me likey," I said to no one in particular and I wondered if it was Josh Ritter but the announcer didn't say. Found it online today and I was right — it's Josh, and I've been listening to it all day. Mighty fine tune.

I also found my favorite tea, Madagascar Vanilla Rooibos (red bush tea), after almost a year of looking. It was like the tea company quit making it for a while or maybe African red bushes had a year of terrible production. Who knows. But I was parched with thirst for it, living off the memory of that delicious brew . . . then I steering my cart around the Good Food Store and viola! there it was (and on sale no less). I snatched four boxes just to be safe, but now I'm thinking I should go back for a few more just in case it goes missing again. I started drinking it years ago when I was reading a lot of Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books (his website - linked with his name here - is fun). I loved those books and the way Precious Ramotswe talked about her refreshing pots of red bush tea. All her yammering about it made me thirst to try it. So I did and I was hooked. It's naturally decaffeinated so you can drink it day and night, which I have pretty much been doing these last few days.

Just finished Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin and I really enjoyed it. I'd never read anything of hers before but I'm sure I'll read more now. Atwood's writing was lovely (and her vocab large, I grabbed a dictionary more than a few times). The story itself was very engaging. Hmmm, how would I describe it — part mystery, part tragedy, part romance, with a twist or two, and people and place I could vividly see in mind's eye. Yum, I do love a good book. 

Question: I'm looking for new linens for my bed. A summer quilt. Some pretty 100% cotton sheets. Shabby chicish, maybe white, maybe with tiny flowers. Anybody know of good online sources for bedding?

Happy midweek adventure to you all.

p.s.
Oh bother, I keep meaning to tell you that I've added a button so you can follow me on Bloglovin' now. I guess Google is eliminating their blog-following services in a few months. It's easy-peasy to set up an account with Bloglovin' and they even import all the blogs you were following with Google.

In my neck of the woods

. . . I am thankful for red berries to brighten our drab landscapes


 . . . it's still cold, but there are more and more songbirds flitting around, singing and gathering on branches and power lines.


. . . I am thoroughly engrossed in The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.


. . . it seems that Emma inadvertently touched the flu beads. Phooey. Poor thing is in bed as I type this.


. . . I've been on a classical music binge the last several days.


. . . we had a refreshing cucumber salad for dinner last night:

~ slice cucumbers
~ mix in a bowl with white wine vinegar, lots of dill, a few dashes of salt and a shake or two of sugar.

The whole family loved it. It felt summery.

. . . everyone is dreaming of Spring.

Dear Spring,
The groundhog said you were arriving early this year. Are you on your way? What's your estimated arrival date?

We are all so looking forward to seeing you!

xo

Busy as Elves

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Things are busy, busy, busy . . . and the snow arrived Friday night to add an extra dash of holiday spirit. I rallied everyone out of the house with a trip to Dairy Queen for ice cream and a drive around the neighborhood to look at all the Christmas lights. We opened the front door and found a full-on blizzard outside. The short drive to Dairy Queen was quite an adventure — large drifts, cars cautiously navigating unplowed streets. At one point it was blizzarding sideways. Just a solid whiteout heading from West to East. I loved it.

All of the houses in our neighborhood are gussied up with lights and wreaths and some have those crazyhuge blow-up things — 10-foot tall Santa balloons and whathaveyou. It's fun to see all the different styles and tastes in lighting and decor.

After that little adventure we hunkered down for most of the weekend, only venturing out when necessary, although the girls did gather their friends for a lot of sledding and snow play. Being one who isn't too fond of the cold, I was waiting indoors (where it was cozy), prepared with hot chocolate when they came piling back inside.

The polymer clay snowmen I made are now standing in my Christmas village. I am pretty proud of how they turned out. They stand about 1-1/2 inches tall and have real twig arms from the spirea bush out front.

Kate got bit by the creativity bug today and got busy melting chocolate and crushing candy canes (results in marshmallow photo above). She hummed Christmas songs while she worked — sweet girl.

And Izzy? Well she just follows me all around the house asking "Now what are we doing?" "Where are we going now?" "Can I eat some of that too?" "Should we take a nap together?" Oh, that FACE.

And a short pause

{or How I spent a few days gearing up for the coming of December}

skimming Poetry books and watching Larry David make a mess of things in old episodes of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'

cooking up a batch of turkey noodle soup

hanging a few wintery/holiday things

trying to be Alicia Paulson (it's hard! dang, she's good)

 











 
doing dishes while Izzy lays at my feet (there's a heat vent under the sink kickboard)

enjoying my new oil lamp (purchase inspired by my pilgrim obsession of last week)

walking by this downtown apartment window (just as it asked to be photographed)

impulsively purchasing some deliciously retro fabric — vintage Santas and folks strolling festive city sidewalks — then grabbing some polymer clay because I suddenly felt like making tiny snowmen

~

I'm easing myself into the Christmas season. If I rush in too quickly I tend to grow weary by the time the actual day rolls around, so I'm taking it slow . . . humming along with the tunes in the stores, browsing the gifts, but not buying too much yet.

I'm also decompressing from watching the entire 2nd season of 'Downton Abbey' while my mom was visiting. I was in a British WWI-era fog for several days, dreaming of wearing exquisite gowns and attending dinners with Matthew Crawley. Oh dear. Thankfully, the effect has worn off and I'm back to my old self again.

~

See those poetry books? Remember my "Poetry Workshop" class? Well, let me just say this — analyzing poetry is kinda hard and boring. It seems the more I think about HOW to write it the WORSE I get at actually writing it! Aaack!

BUT - the Ken Burns documentary on the Dust Bowl was on last week and it was really fantastic. Thus concludes my class on the Dust Bowl. I gave myself an 'A' for participation, effort and knowledge retention. :)

What are you up to these last November days?

Pilgrim Dreams

This weekend was just what the doctor ordered. I got lots of R&R and whipped that nasty cold into submission. I'm feeling nearly 100% and rearing to get busy plotting and planning for Thanksgiving. Just a little over a week to go, folks!

This year's Thanksgiving Day Players:

~ Me - the chef (although Gary gets the turkey in the pan because I really hate to touch raw meat)

~ Gary - Guitar strummer, football watcher, turkey slicer

~ Emma & Kate - Macy's Parade watchers, lounge-abouts, chat-n-munch duo

~ My mother - arriving from Texas in just two days. Assistant chef. Crazy laundress (as post-traumatic stress from having 6 kids she is constantly doing laundry. She will wash any swatch of cloth she encounters, short of yanking the clothes off your body)

~ My mother-in-law - lives in town, pie-maker

~ My sister - flying in from New Hampshire . . . and 

~ Her boyfriend

Yippee! Bring it on. 

I've always loved Thanksgiving. The parade, the day spent fussing around in the kitchen, the mashed potatoes, the pumpkin pie, the family, football announcers, laying on the floor like a lump after dinner.

Plus, I had ancestors on the Mayflower so I kinda like to think of myself as a true pilgrim . . . deep down. A soap-making, embroidering, reading-by-candlelight kind of pilgrim.

Of course anyone who knows me knows that I would have made a terrible pilgrim. I think I would've complained a lot and needed quite a few naps. The long, cold winters spent milking a cow, hand washing laundry with lye and schlepping chamber pots outside would've put me right over the edge. I would've either died of exhaustion, starvation (from refusing to eat the salted meat from the barrel) or the other villagers would've taken me on a long walk and "accidentally lost" me in the woods.
 
Lucky for me I don't need to test my pilgiming skills. I just need to make a dinner and eat an excessive amount. Now THAT, I can do.

For now I'm trying desperately to hold Christmas at bay until the last of the leftovers have been stacked in the fridge and the dishwasher is running. It seems such a shame to overlook the holiday of "giving thanks." 

That said, I have a tiny confession (you know I love to confess) I found myself listening to a little Christmas music while I worked today. I love Christmas music with all my heart — Bing, Nat, Ella, Frank, Glenn Miller . . . I can't get enough of that stuff! 

Hope your Monday's been groovy. As always, I soooo appreciate you dropping in. It means a lot to me.

Sniffle, cough, snort, moan

{or "Boo Hoo For Me, I Have a Cold"}

I feel like crap. I have one of those colds where you can feel your brain banging around on the inside of your skull and every time you stand up you feel like you're going to faint. I'm wearing lots of layers, resting when I can, drinking lots of hot tea with honey during the day, and drinking my fair share of Nyquil at night.

A cold front moved in today and began spitting bits of snow. Tonight the real storm hits and we should have snow falling for the next three days. Sounds like a jammies-movies-crocheting-hot tea and soup kinda weekend.

Other things I'm doing when I'm not sniffing:

~ Reading "Let the Great World Spin" by Colum McCann. It's really good. Heartbreaking, but good.

~ Crocheting lots of white granny squares with no specific use in mind, just piling them up (?!)

~ Thinking about Italian Wedding soup. My friend Crystal over at The Skillet blog posted the recipe and it reminded me of my sister-in-law, who comes from an Italian family from Yonkers, New York. It's a tradition in her family to serve this soup as a first course before the big turkey dinner. She made it for us when she came for Thanksgiving several years ago and it's sooooo tasty.

~ Daydreaming about learning to quilt.

~ Listening to this song. I love Zooey Deschanel.

~ Giggling a little as I watch these poor children who think their parents ate all of their Halloween candy. I love the little kid who just drops to the ground.

What are all of you up to this week?

 

Muffins 101 ~ Cappuccino Muffins

This weekend I attended the first session of my self-taught Muffins 101 class (see here to find out what the heck I'm talking about). I'm happy to report that it went really well.

As a historically horrid baker I felt a bit tentative, arriving in class a bit sheepish with my hands in my pockets and my expectations low but as soon as things got underway I felt better. 

Result: Tasty, moist and light, not too overly sweet (you can adjust chocolate chips to taste - I may even leave them out sometime).

Grade: A
(I enjoy this homeschooling bit ~ when you grade yourself you always feel like the grades are fair.)

The Recipe: (copied from my neighbor Wendy, who is known by the neighborhood children specifically for her delicious baked goods)


Cappuccino Muffins 

2 cups flour
3/4 c sugar
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 T instant coffee

1 c milk
1/2 c butter, softened
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c chocolate chips

Mix dry and liquid ingredients separately then stir all together just until blended. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full (I used cupcake papers 'cause I'm lazy like that). Bake at 375 for 17-20 minutes.

 

Sunken Cake Blues

My dear husband turned 46 so I whipped up one of my special cakes for him. When I say "special" I really mean more like "special needs." Honestly, I really shouldn't bake things.

Despite the fact that this cake appears to be fine it's actually completely sunken-in in the middle of each layer. I covered the sunkenness with the frosting and blueberries. My baking is so predictably disastrous that I've gotten quite creative in my salvage techniques.

~ Once I made a cake that never rose and came out of the over looking like a large pancake.

~ Once I made a cake that collapsed into an enormous crumb pile as soon as you touched it with your fork. 

~ Several times I've made a cake that completely adhesed to the sides of the pan with barnacle-like strength.

In each of these cases I was using a BOX CAKE and I followed the directions. Is used to cry, now I just laugh and shake my head. The kids shake their heads too and say "Wow, Mom. You've done it again."

Tuesday Tip

Did you know that the lid from a Parmesan cheese container screws perfectly onto a glass canning jar? Well, I just found that out, and now I have this awesome sugar shaker. I love how it looks "casual country" and the handy flip top has a side with holes for shaking and a side with an opening large enough for a spoon. Perfect!

Bookworm Wednesday

Summer is only six weeks away! It occurred to me today as I scowled at the weeds in my flower beds and shook the kitchen tablecloth off in the warm breeze out the back door. It got me in the mood for summer food. Tiny sandwiches, barbeque chicken, potato salad, cool drinks, watermelon (oh how I love watermelon! Once I ate an entire large one in a single day!). And when it comes to summer food in my house one cookbook gets a lot of the attention: The Summer Book by Susan Branch.

More than a decade ago I discovered Susan Branch's cookbooks and I quickly bought them all. Let the record show that I don't own many cookbooks and that I am not much of a cook, but I do own all of these for one simple reason – they are beautiful. Each page is handwritten Susan's perfectly happy penmanship and decorated with the loveliest little watercolor drawings throughout. Susan selects the sweetest quotes about the seasons, friendship, food, tea, happiness, and all things good. She lines the edges of the pages with these words and decorates the borders. Each book is like a treasury of "home." I often open one of her books to a favorite page and display it on my cookbook easel as a piece of artwork.

The recipes themselves range from quick-n-easy (my style) to more complicated and exotic (not my skill level) but I must say that every one I've tried has been delicious.

As a bonus for me personally: Susan lives in Martha's Vinyard in an adorable white house and I love all people who live in Martha's Vinyard or anywhere in New England really. Naturally, I'm completely convinced they know a lot about how to live an amazing life because I'm quite sure the grass IS greener there. :)

Auntie MP's Asparagus & Garbanzos Over Rice

My dear, spunky Aunt MP lives in Virginia. She and her husband, AC, lived close to my family during my middle school years and they've made little imprints on my heart. I love them in an adoring, soft way. My Aunt is the owner of Bookwrights Design & Publishing and she and I work together on projects here and there. It's so much fun to be her niece and her coworker.

Aside from being talented in so many ways (they once built their own home with their very own hands!, my uncle plays a meeeean piano, my Aunt is a gifted writer and artist) they are vegetarian and have oodles of tasty recipes to share.

This is one I cooked up last night and I thought I'd share it since asparagus is in season and ultra-tasty this time of year. It's a loosy-goosy recipe as far as portions go, but I've found you can just wing it and it turns out marvy every time.

Asparagus & Garbanzos Over Rice 

(Basmati is best! But brown rice is good too)

A bunch of asparagus spears, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 large carrots cut into small 1/4" pieces

A pat of butter

1 can of Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans 

Rice

1 tsp or so of Corn Starch

Soy sauce

Spices: salt & pepper, turmeric, hing powder (I don't own this so I never add, but I'm sure it's good)

1. Melt butter in a frying pan or wok, add asparagus, carrots and spices and stir fry until crisp tender. 

2. Meanwhile, cook your rice according to package directions

3. Add the can of beans, juice and all, to your stir fry and let simmer for several minutes

4. Mix a small amount of corn starch with a tiny bit of water to make a thin paste and pour into your mixture. Stir and simmer allowing the sauce to thicken. Turn to low and simmer until you're ready to serve.

5. Serve over rice. Sprinkle with a little soy sauce to taste.  YUMMY!

(This recipe served 4 good eaters but you could easily increase. It also saves nicely for a tasty lunch the next day.)

Sidetracked

Yesterday I fully intended to go grocery shopping, as the cupboards were more than a bit sparce (stewed tomatoes and dried beans anyone?). I called Gary to see if he'd like to meet for lunch and he said he would - in 45 minutes downtown at the bagel place. Perfect! But that wasn't nearly enough time to grocery shop and I kept hearing this little voice calling "Jenny, the antique mall is downtown. Please shop!" and I suddenly found myself roaming stalls of antiques. Joy!

Here's what I discovered - there are hoards of antique embroidered linens in the world! How come I'd never noticed this before? They were everywhere – so intricate and delicate. I snapped a few pics. Isn't that alphabet sampler just amazing?! What a ton of work.

Just seeing all those hankies and dishtowels and tablecloths so carefully embroidered made me think about the woman of days gone by, rocking by the fireplace in the evening, humming a little, and lovingly stitching embellishments on cloth. Women from Colonial days, the Victorian Era and those traveling West to find land to farm. Post-WWII mothers stitching their children's initials into their underwear and socks before sending them off to summer camp.

Learning this old skill makes me feel a tiny connection with those women, who were FAR more industrious and hardy than I'll ever be. Remember Ma in "Little House in the Big Woods" - when she hit that bear on the butt, thinking it was Sookie the cow? How about in "On the Banks of Plum Creek" when Pa got lost in the snow and was gone a whole night. Ma just sat by the fire, calm as can be, stitching and waiting. Even when her children showed concern and asked if she was worried she held her composure and gently sent them back to bed. I would've been freaking out, crying "Dear God, Pa's dead! What the hell am I gonna do? A lone woman with three children?! We're all gonna starve here on this piece of crap farm in the middle of nowhere!" But not Ma. She just stitched the night away.

By the time I met Gary at Bagels on Broadway (best bagels in town) I was giddy to show off my new purchases – a beautifully embroidered pillowcase and two cloth sugar sacks. As you would expect from a man, he was super excited (not!).

We split a turkey, cream cheese, cranberry sauce, sprout and sunflower seed sandwich on an everything bagel. It was so delish I wished I'd just gotten a whole one to myself.