27 Feb 2007: A Day in the Life
My pal Mo is always doing the 12 of 12, and I'd like to do it regularly, if only for her, but I never remember. Add to this guilt the fact that I recently told one of my authors how boring a photo diary of my workday would be (computer screen, computer screen, electric kettle, computer screen), and you can understand why I've had the whole 'Day in the Life' idea going through my head. So here it is:
The rest is behind the cut.
Continue reading "A Day in the Life" »
25 Feb 2007: Snow Day
It appears we've gotten some snow. A whole dogsworth of snow, as you can see from that picture. It took me a solid hour of shoveling to clear the paths, sidewalk, and driveway, and even then I was trapped. I backed my car about three feet into the alley before it became stuck. A bit of forwards-backwards-left-right-ohc'mon and I had it safely back in the garage. So, right, trapped.
Luckily, my mom was able to get down here so we could both go to the grocery store -- without her, there would have been no Sunday soup making, and I would have had to just cancel the week altogether. Whew, close one.
The snow outside is as good an excuse as any to stay indoors and tidy things up. I recently threw out most of an aging boquet, holding back these orchids, which have now outlived several flower arrangements. They're from my housewarming, over five weeks ago, and they show no signs of dying. I love this little area above my microwave; I put up the framed photo of Jamal yesterday. I had the frame floating around for a while, and these photos somehow ended up in the kitchen, so it seemed like a good match. I hope it's not too morbid to hang pictures of pets who are no longer alive. It's such a nice photo.
My mom asked me if I still liked the colour of the kitchen walls, and how could I not? I'll admit that I was unsure about it as I was putting it up, but I've grown to love it more and more every day. It manages to be both energetic and relaxing at the same time. If I ever have the kitchen remodeled, I'll have to tell the workers to be very careful for the walls!
23 Feb 2007: Happy Days
Do you think it's possible to look more comfortable and relaxed than this?
That's one happy cat. We've all been very happy lately, because the weather has been lovely. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday all saw highs above 40F -- I can see some of you shivering at the thought of that, but believe me, it's sweet relief after weeks of below freezing and minus-degree temperatures. It was only a brief respite -- it's getting colder again -- but it was such a wonderful taste of the spring to come. As I often say, spring in Minnesota isn't just nice; it brings with it a 'thank GOD we survived again' sentiment.
Minnie and I have been taking nice, long walks, and Booty has gone out into the (fenced) yard a few times to roll in the dirt. He always finds the biggest patch of uncovered earth and twists and turns until he's absolutely filthy. Whatever makes a cat happy, yeah? Of course, I lock the bedroom up -- I'm not letting him curl up to my blankets in that state!
I've started a new side-blog, so you can look at pictures like this whenever you want:
It's called Lunchtime at Twelve22 (One of my many ten-year plans should be to open a cafe called Lunchtime at Twelve22. We'll mostly serve spinach, asparagus, and broccoli. It won't be for everybody.), and it's nothing fancy. I really started to enjoy taking photos of my lunch, but I know there's a limit to the number of lunch photos I can post here before people decide to stop reading. Taking photos makes me think extra hard about putting together something interesting and keeping up the variety in my diet. The omelette in the photo above, by the way, was ridiculously tasty. I could hardly believe I made it!
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are the healthy bricks in my daily diet, surrounded by chocolate mortar. Okay, not entirely chocolate. But I do have such a sweet tooth these days. I made some nice sugar cookies a couple of days ago:
I put quite a bit of cinnamon in these, so they're actually like snickerdoodles. Snickerdoodles with chocolate frosting! Drool.
20 Feb 2007: Matchy Matchy
Remember the little patchwork pouch I made a while back? Now I've got a complete set:
I made the purse several days ago now, but I held off posting about it, because I knew it had to grow on me. I wasn't quite sure I liked it at first -- it wasn't *exactly* as I'd seen it in my mind's eye. But now that I'm used to it, I've decided it's nice.
I've been using the girly little purse for a while now, and I liked that I could tuck it under my arm and not worry about it getting in the way, but it was just a little bit too small. This new purse is a bit taller, but more or less the same size, otherwise. Perfect.
But really, I'm most excited about the little notebook/organizer! I first discovered binder rings in a little stationery shop in Edinburgh (sigh). They're nothing spectacular and are available at most office stores, but I was very excited when I found them, because it meant I could create a notebook that I could add pages and pockets to as I wanted. I'll have to take a photo of the notebook I used in Edinburgh, as I did take it everywhere with me. That one was pretty basic, but this is clearly a step up! Inside the front cover, there are pockets for all my extra cards:
I've got so many membership cards or cards that I almost never use (NOT credit cards, I should say -- I've only got two of those), so this'll keep them out of my wallet (wallet! Must make a matchy wallet next!). I made custom little dividers, although they're not really dividing anything of importance yet:
And the back has a zip pocket as well as another little pocket, for checkbooks and receipts and things. And yes, I really do clip coupons! That's part of my Sunday ritual. It's not so much about the 55 cents I save, it's the spirit of the thing! And the 55 cents.
You can see in the very top picture that it closes with a fabric and elastic band. That didn't work at first, because I had elastic at only one end. I grumbled about that for quite a while until I realized I could just tear out the stitches and add elastic on the other side as well. What am I, too good for seam ripping? Puh!
18 Feb 2007: Full Day
I hate the feeling of having wasted an entire day by sitting on the sofa (or similar), wondering what to do. Even worse is having ideas, but no spark to get started. But then there are days like today, when you kick back as the evening draws near, and you realize how much you accomplished with hardly any effort
I love Sundays, because Sunday is when I do my grocery shopping. I enjoy restocking the shelves and planning out the week ahead. And there's nothing better than slowly making my way around the shop, knowing I have nothing else to do. After I returned, I decided to make peanut butter bread, an idea that had been kicking around my head since, well, yesterday (some things gestate fairly quickly!).
It's alright, but slightly disappointing. I cut back on the sugar, figuring the peanut butter was sweet, but the bread really could've done with that extra quarter cup. Oh well, you can't win 'em all on the first go. I'm thinking it'll still be pretty good warmed up/toasted with a little butter. I'll have to try that, in the name of cookery science.
My parents came over just before noon, dropping off the last of the boxes that had been living at their house. Several of them contained model horses, including this one:
That's my very favourite one -- has been since I got him ages ago. I collected Breyer horses far past the age where it stopped being cool. The china hutch that's now in my kitchen used to stand in my bedroom and housed the collection. They've lived in boxes for quite some time now, but I think this one will have to stay out. Every time Alicia posts about her own collection, I have to e-mail her, because I like to think the model horses are a link that knows no distance.
Moving on, then -- I joined my parents in visiting my grandmother. I had another milk carton for her; she turns them into planters for starting her seeds each year. I like when I can pretend my rubbish is a lovely gift for somebody else. It's so easy!
I spent this afternoon making soup. Half a batch equals seven servings for me; I freeze some and then have a bowl with my dinner each night. I also boiled some eggs for the next few days. I really like hard-boiled eggs, but I usually want one now rather than twenty-five minutes from now. So now I've got three in the fridge, ready to go at a moment's notice. I like the idea of Sunday as preparation for the coming week.
I basically used the same recipe as last time, except I added an extra cup of vegetable stock and half a cup of water (I added the water near the end, because the soup seemed too tomato-y/salty). I also left out the potato and macaroni and added lima beans. Soup! It's very satisfying to know there's nothing but vegetables, herbs, and water in there. I had the first bowl for dinner tonight, along with a piece of the 'no knead' bread my mom left for me. Yum!
And it's only 6:00pm. I wonder what ELSE I'll do before the day is out!
16 Feb 2007: Variety Plate
So, last week I mentioned that I had torn this photo from an old issue of MS Living. I was inspired by that image, not to try the recipe, but to eat in that fashion. I'm always trying to get the most 'bang' for my 'buck' when it comes to food -- meaning a lot of food and a lot of variety, but not a lot of calories. The resulting Variety Plate Theme was a huge success for me, and I hope maybe you'll be inspired by the following photographs, as I was that original one.
Monday: Black beans, rice, steamed broccoli and asparagus, spinach salad with sesame seed dressing and citrus, apple bread.
Sunday evening, I did a little preparation for the week. I made a batch of brown rice and a batch of black beans (sauteed with onions, garlic, and chili powder) and put them in containers in the fridge. I also chopped up a grapefruit and a blood orange for with my salads. I didn't mind having the rice and beans in most of my meals, because other things varied. If I had insisted on completely different plates every day, this week would have been impossible (and expensive!).
Tuesday: Black beans, rice, steamed broccoli and asparagus, 1% Greek yogurt with honey and granola, sliced pear.
I won't lie -- eating fresh veggies and demanding a lot of variety in one meal WAS more time consuming. Even with my prepared rice and black beans, even though I steamed the broccoli and asparagus in the microwave, it still took more time than many people are willing to spend. But there's nothing fancy going on here; it didn't take a lot of effort. Surely it takes more time to preheat the oven and cook a tray of french fries!
Wednesday: Grilled Tofu, rice, steamed broccoli and asparagus, spinach salad with sesame seed dressing and citrus, sliced apple.
The very fact that I get excited about simple cooking feats probably proves what an amateur I am, and it's true -- although I'm completely happy creating new cookie and bread recipes, it's only recently that I've begun to feel I can play around with the savoury, cooking side of things. For my tofu, I sliced off two pieces from the block, wrapped them in paper towel and pressed under a cutting board to get out the extra water. Then I marinated them in a quick mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, ground ginger, chili powder, and minced garlic. I love tofu in most forms, but I really loved this! And the best part -- I made it in my panini press!
Thursday: Burrito with black beans, spinach, sour cream, and salsa, green beans, blood orange segments.
The above meal was actually the least satisfying of the week. The burrito was really tasty, but it seemed like there was so much. . . white space on the plate! One of the things I discovered this week is that the number of foods makes a difference, not the quantity of those foods. The amount of rice I had with my meals, for example, was quite small, but it still left me with the feeling of having et rice. I know it sounds a bit wacky, but it was more satisfying and felt more filling to have a little of a lot rather than the other way around.
Friday: Grilled tofu, rice, steamed broccoli and asparagus, Greek yogurt with honey and granola, butternut squash.
I've never willingly et squash as an adult, and I've certainly never prepared it, so this was an experiment for me. I halved the squash and scooped out the seeds and baked both halves for 30 minutes (at 350F). Then I sliced and peeled it, chopped it up, tossed it in a mixture of olive oil, fresh parsley, dried oregano, salt, and pepper, and I roasted it (at 400F) for maybe 15 minutes. Yum!
Rob was grumbling the other day, because he spent years trying to get me to eat the things he loves -- namely, oatmeal, dates, and hummus (not together, mind you!). I dug in my heels and always refused, and in the last month or two, I've suddenly discovered that I like all those things. So now I'm trying to discover what else I've been wrong about.
One last thing: If you'd like to try my apple bread, you can download the recipe by right-click-and-saving here. Since I made myself keep track of changes as I made them, I haven't had anybody test this out yet, so do let me know if you spot any mistakes!
16 Feb 2007: Circles
So, even though people keep laughing when I tell them this, my theme for this week has been 'variety plate'. What? You don't have weekly themes for your meals? Well, neither did I until last week, and yes, I suppose it's a bit of a joke, but I've been having the most fantastic lunches this week. Consider this a warning: tomorrow or the next day, I'll be posting pictures of what I've et for lunch all week, AND I'll be talking about it. Just what they tell you not to do in Blogging 101!
I went to a recording for an MPR show this evening and had two cups of free coffee too many, so now I'm feeling driven to post pictures and write words, whether or not they're of interest to anybody. The above is from my lunch preparations today, which (as promised) I'll talk more about at a later date. I liked the in-progressness of this photo, though -- it's what I'm loving about 3191: the capturing of a moment, rather than a prepared scene.
Another snippet of my day:
I have my afternoon tea at 3:00 every day, and it must be one of my favourite 'meals' -- right up there with breakfast and dinner. . . and lunch. . . and elevenses (and don't forget second breakfasts). There's nothing like a nice bit of cake, eh? I had a gifted box of Jiffy 'Golden Yellow Cake' sitting in the cupboard, and it's times like these when I wish I had friends 'round more often -- to help eat cake. I should mention that I didn't eat that missing wedge in one sitting! I baked the cake in that white glass Fire King pan, which I bought (with the lid) for $1 a couple of months ago. What a deal! Perfect for baking and storing. Though, if I had my way, there'd be very little need for the storing bit.
14 Feb 2007: Patchwork Pouch
Just a quick little post about some actual crafting. A new patchwork pouch:
It's just big enough for my passport and a few other odds and ends. I've been planning to make a new purse for a while -- making little piles of fabric on top of my bookcase, seeing what goes well together. I've come up with a mixture of Liberty prints, some swatches of coordinating fabric from the Cloth House, and a lovely (cute!) Japanese print from superbuzzy. And linen.
Purses and bags always take a long time to make it from my head to reality, because I want to come up with a new design, find just the right fabric, and plan it all out before I start. I almost never write anything down, so I have to sort of 'memorize' all the details and get it all straight in my head. But making this pouch was easy and straightforward, and it's given me a boost to get working on the matching purse. Because I just want to see it now!
11 Feb 2007: Some Favourites
I was recently pawing through my bookshelves, when I came across Feynman's autobiography. It's one of my dad's books which made it onto my shelves for some reason, and I'm loving it.
The animals have been helping me read. Because the bed is officially Booty's territory, he's much bolder, and Minnie is quite submissive when she's up there. Right after this, Booty tried to bite Minnie. Sigh.
Another book recommendation: I heard about Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire when Rafe Esquith was on NPR (or was it MPR?) a few weeks back. Education is one of the many subjects I have an idle (yet surprisingly intense) interest in, and I'm loving this book. I've read only the first few chapters so far, but I imagine it should be required reading for all teachers and highly recommended for parents. And nice if you just wonder how we could arrange it so there are most decent, clever people in the world one day.
Since I'm in a recommendy mood, I might as well mention the BNL album Barenaked Ladies Are Me. The 'second part' (BNL Are Men) was released last week, but I'm behind the times and have just now got the first one. So great. I've been a BNL fan for at least a decade now, and some of the songs on this are already right up there with my favourites.
Okay, last thing -- I couldn't decide if I should just wedge this in here, and now it looks like I'm going to:
I've long had a problem following sewing patterns, preferring to come up with my own designs and methods. And baking has been going that way, lately. Yesterday, I got to thinking about whether it would be possible to make a fruit bread with yogurt instead of oil, so I sat down this morning and came up with a recipe. I wasn't sure if it would work, as it involved a lot of me thinking, 'So, if I use a half cup of sweetened yogurt, I shouldn't use so much sugar. Will I need to cut down on the milk? Hm. Maybe a little less milk.' Despite my experience with sweet loaves (banana bread, graham bread, zucchini bread -- that sort of thing), I still feel it's sort of a miracle this came out.
So I give you apple-date-vanilla-yogurt bread. That first slice was pretty tasty, but I'm going to see how it holds up over the next couple of days before I decide whether the recipe is worth posting. It'll be a tough few days of scientific testing.
11 Feb 2007: New Design
Just a couple of photos and a quick post because -- whew -- putting up a new design can be tiring! I was just in the mood for a change, wanting something a bit simpler and light, so here you go. (The about page will be updated once Webmaster Rob is around, as I can't overwrite that file from MT.) And now those photos:
These are really hanging in there! They're the same flowers I bought two weeks ago today, for only a dollar a bunch. Value for money. And speaking of getting the most for your dollar(s), I've been carrying around my new teacup, admiring how lovely it looks no matter where I set it:
So, one redesign, one update -- and all before I've even had my breakfast! Which I'm going to go see to now.
07 Feb 2007: I've Been Working on the. . . Craft Room
Poor old craft room. To start with, I wasn't spending much time in there, because I was too busy with home renovations to get on with crafting. Then, once I started firing up the sewing machine again, I was in and out as quick as I could. The mess was piling up in there, and it was just so easy to shut the door on it! But I've made some progress today:
I owe an eternal creative debt to Sally. I would have never come up with creating a patchwork with pockets and stretching it over a canvas frame. I really hope she doesn't mind that folks have started copying this idea (probably inadvertently -- and in masses -- since that Martha Stewart Living pocket feature); it's just too fantastic to pass up. Sally, a tip of my hat to you!
I think I'll hang the two cork tiles along side this pocket board, and then cover and hang the other canvas I bought on the other wall. Having these colours on the walls will really make a difference! Another big change came in the form of curtains:
These big bookcases used to belong to my parents. They're quite sturdy, solid things! I painted them white, but ran out of time (and energy and motivation and. . . ) before the open house, so the shelves inside are still oak-coloured. And although I love to see stacks of fabric at the quilt shop, I don't so much want to be faced with the messy piles in my own home. So curtains! White on white seersucker, hung on little tension rods. I used/am using the leftover fabric for the inspiration boards.
I love those type cabinets. I didn't like the idea of having them up on top of the bookcases, on display, until I heaved them up there; now I think they look great! See how the drawers aren't quite shut? That's because the type has shifted and gone everywhere, like so many lead flakes in a pine snow globe. My response to this has come mostly in the form of squeezing my eyes shut and plugging my ears, but I may have to give in and survey the damage soon. Anybody out there with a strong desire to sort multiple fonts in multiple point sizes into their correct spots? No? I didn't think so.
Lastly, a food photo:
I was clipping out photos from oldish magazines yesterday, and I tore this photo from MS Living. This week is all about eating up that soup I made on Sunday, but that is going to be the theme for next week. Big bowls of veggies and protein (tofu!). The thought of having five or six different things in one meal is so exciting to me! I'm not so much a foodie as a food geek, you see -- I just get really enthusiastic about random things.
Like the mini tortillas above. So easy and nothing special, but they made me so happy! AND I made them in my panini press, and you know how I feel about that. Whee! If I had a food blog (properly), I'd call it Cookery Geekery. And I wouldn't blame people for being bored by it.
06 Feb 2007: Pretty Cabinet
I bet people who only flick through furniture catalogues have easy lives. They see a set up they like and then run to the store (or click the mouse) and have it straight away. When you draw inspiration from Japanese books and interior style magazines which feature antiques, it can get tricky. It might be cheaper, though. Take this little cabinet:
I saw something similar in a magazine recently and spent a while wishing I had something like it for my bedroom. You should imagine that I pace around my house muttering, 'Bedroom. . . could be prettier. . . must make prettier!' Because that's what I do.* I hit the thrift shop in search for something else, and I came across this little cabinet. Of course, it didn't look like that originally; it looked like this (it actually had the lattice in both doors, but I didn't think to take a 'before' until after I started swinging the hammer around). That's why it was only three dollars. Three dollars! A few coats of paint later, and it's looking good:
The little eagle at the top looked gaudy when it was brass against the wood, but I think it's quite sweet now it's all white. Clearly, this cabinet is stuck by the seaside, with the little horses and seashells and whatnot. Do Moda still have their Seaside Rose collection of fabric? Not that I need to make another quilt. . . and it's quite a let down to open the shades to see even more snow, if you're hoping for the sea.
I have so many little knick knacks; it took about three seconds to find the bits and pieces to fill this. I wonder if the cabinet originally had little drawers in the bottom -- it looks like it, doesn't it? Now I just need to find a prettier switch plate for the wall. Must make prettier!
*In my mind.
06 Feb 2007: Odds and Ends
Look at these nice roses:
That photo is a couple of days old now. They were just starting to wilt yesterday, so I've got them hanging upside down to dry. The stems look so great against the new 'rag' rug in that photo. I bought it specifically to drape over the radiator in the kitchen, so Booty can lie on it. He approves.
But wait, what's this? Fabric? Thread? Combined to create. . . some sort of finished product? Yes, friends, it is crafting! My grandma has been after a little purse like my girly purse (which I never gave away OR sold, and now use quite often). Since her birthday is tomorrow, I whipped this up yesterday and brought it over when I visited her today. It was very well received (of course, I also brought her used milk cartons to start her seeds in, and she seemed pretty excited about those too. . . )! The little flower jobby was made from pieces of wool felt that Lyn sent ages ago. Pretty!
And as if a spot of crafting wasn't enough, I've also been cooking. Soup! Well, soup-ish. It's supposed to be minestrone, but it's not very soupy, as you can see. I kept it covered the entire time it was cooking, AND I added an extra half cup of stock near the end, but the veggies+beans+pasta just soaked it up. It tastes fantastic, regardless. I've got a bowl left in the fridge and four sitting in the freezer, to be thawed and et during the week.
I fear I'm becoming fanatical about my soup, much in the same way I live for cereal in the morning. I only ever eat boring sorts of cereal -- Rice Krispies, Rice Chex, stuff like that -- but I can't imagine anything better. Even the thought of warm waffles or pancakes is a bit of a let down if it means I can't have cereal. I'm slightly mental about it.
Okay, that muffin is totally cheating. I was given some Jiffy/Betty Crocker type packets of things, so all I did was stir in some water and pop it in the oven. I called them birthday muffins and gave them to my grandma! I really wanted to stick seven dozen candles in one, for the full effect, but that was deemed a 'bad idea.' Bah.
02 Feb 2007: Bagels
Look, another update, and with nary a pet photo in sight! I actually hesitated to bother writing about the bagels I made today, because they're so. . . uninspiring, but I had such fun making them that I just don't care!
I'm planning on making soup on Sunday -- a nice big batch to last me, well, however long it'll last -- so I was paging through two of my favourite cookbooks (almost all of my cookbooks are 'favourite' ones, come to think of it): A Beautiful Bowl of Soup and The Bread Book, since I'd need something to eat with all this hypothetical soup. Ever since I got The Bread Book, I've been fascinated by the idea of making either bagels or pretzels at home, so I thought I'd give the bagels a try today.
I knew going into it that there was a chance they wouldn't turn out, since I was using all purpose flour instead of strong white flour meant for bread. So maybe it was that, or maybe I didn't boil them long enough; maybe I just need to practice (despite -- or due to? -- not having extensive experience making bread, I'm of the opinion that it is an art that requires quite a bit of practice!). Anyway, they don't look like bagels you'd buy in a shop.
But! They taste very nice and have a great chew to them on the outside while remaining soft on the inside. And they toast up nice and crisp. And they're small enough that you can have two and a time! And that's success enough for me.
01 Feb 2007: Quilts and Cats
Lah-tee-tah, folding up my laundry. Hmm, wonder where Booty is. . .
Oh well, guess he's in another room.
I've been having trouble deciding what exactly to do with the quilt squares I got the other day. It's much harder than starting from scratch, especially because I can't just run out and buy more fabric if I mess these up! I've finished the center checker panel for now.
White cotton in a quilt always looks so. . . blah when it's pieced but not quilted. Blurg. Melph. But then you quilt it and it looks fabulous! I put all my favourite blocks in one corner. Usually my strategy is to spread out the best prints, so there's a little bit everywhere you look. But as I was folding a quilt the other day, I was wishing I could somehow show off this block, and that one, and that one too, and they were all on opposite corners. So I shun my previous strategy in favour of a quilty popular corner!