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Here’s a small glimpse into the last week: Lots of blue skies! I turned 28 on Monday and requested doughnuts. Woo hoo! Birthday foxgloves hand-picked by my husband. Two pounds of zucchini out of the garden! More coming daily! Craig’s mom brought over a few gorgeous locally made treats. This raspberry mousse cake was phenomenal. […]
We just had a week filled with birthday celebrating. Silas has had three separate birthday celebrations – all of them including homemade treats and cooking. I made a vanilla cake with salted caramel meringue buttercream filling. The process of making said cake certainly required the F-word said aloud more than a handful of times. It […]
The last week has been a whirlwind. While I’ve got more than a few recipes ready to show up on this little blog, the last handful of days have been long and come 10:30 at night, the last thing I want to do is sit at my computer trying to write cohesive sentences. School finished […]
Let’s take a look at the last week. It looked a little like this: A pound of garden-grown radishes. Good for soup making, coming soon. Mr. Sunshine finished up second grade. Three months of summer to be had! Homemade tortillas are so much better than anything store-bought. They’re also indicative of homemade taco night. Including […]
It’s officially summer around here. While I enjoy long summer days, filled with sunshine at 5:30 AM well until after 8 PM, already that time is flying by. I’m looking forward to meals that don’t involve heating my kitchen, or standing at the stove trying to decide whether to leave the windows closed or open, […]
I posted a recipe yesterday for homemade yogurt. The thing about making homemade Greek yogurt is, you wind up with a lot of leftover whey. Yes, like Little Miss Muffet. Whey is the liquid by-product produced by strained yogurt. It’s almost translucent, slightly sour, and really good for you. Whey is incredibly high in protein, […]
I have a knack for pinning lots of recipes on Pinterest, then like many within the world, forget about those pins entirely. Sometimes that isn’t the case. A recipe will creep into my head and reside there until I follow through with making it. For instance, these cheese-stuffed buns have been calling to me for […]
The last week looked a bit like this: Climbing roses in the rain. One of my favorite spring (or summer) scents. A cinnamon-sugar topped crumpet. A brilliant decision. A new cheesy, savory waffle experiment that I’m excited to share. It’s good for waffle pizzas, it’s great on its own, it’s DELICIOUS for chicken and waffles – […]
I have a current obsession with homemade waffles. Last week it might have caused us to eat waffles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner… Even dessert. I’m not really sorry, so hopefully you aren’t waiting for my apologies. For a while, we only had a Belgian-style waffle iron (you know, the ones that make really deep, […]
On evenings like this, where the only sounds echoing through our downtown Ashland home comes from the downpour happening outside my open windows, there’s a peacefulness. Perhaps it’s the comfort I’ve always found in water. I could spend hours in the ocean, rain or shine. I’ve never minded rain (except when I was forced to […]
The last week looked a bit like this: Some weeks certainly require doughnuts. We dug out our front yard last fall and in the process, took out many of the poppies that have always bloomed in abundance this time of year… I was happy to discover that a good portion of the bright orange perennials […]
Can a person have a “drinking career?” I was about to start this off with, When I think about my drinking career… Then I realized drinking isn’t exactly a job nor how I’d ever hope to describe the majority of my day to day life. At the ripe old age of 27, I think about my adult beverage […]
If I could eat fresh hot doughnuts every day without worrying about turning into a doughnut myself, I would absolutely do it. My birthday is in two weeks. I encourage each of you to send me your favorite doughnut. Perhaps by the dozen. (Not seriously/ completely seriously). The beauty of a homemade fried doughnut is […]
Sometime over the last two weeks, I dropped out of the blogosphere. Life happens. It moves. Time tucks itself into moments that don’t feel like they’re flying by while they’re escaping you right under your grimy garden-dirt coated fingers, or rushing beneath quick moving feet that run up and down the staircase approximately three hundred […]
For the first time in well over a year, a week has passed since I posted anything here. I have been b-u-s-y. My in-laws are here visiting. A week or so before they arrived, we decided to do a full house revamping. Meaning getting rid of my husband’s music studio and turning it into a […]
The last week has been absolutely nuts… but it looked a little like this:I actually made these almond butter dark chocolate fudge brownies to welcome our new neighbors… but they apparently went back to California before I could deliver them next door. Solution? Eat a whole 9×13 inch pan of brownies in two days… Duh.The […]
In the last few weeks, I’ve grown a deep appreciation for leftovers and nearly empty refrigerators. I’m not even being sarcastic (gasp, I know). The sparseness remaining once all the newer groceries have been consumed can be motivation to try new recipes. When I found leftover rice the other day, I knew I wanted to […]
I fully believe in putting care, intent and thought into everything I cook. That doesn’t mean I need to make an overly elaborate multiple course dinner every night, or that the meal must consist of an exhausting list of ingredients. Sometimes simplicity is both desired and necessary, but still provides a filling meal that nourishes […]
Sometimes I forget what it’s like to cook with additional little hands in the kitchen. That sounds really creepy, I know. I’m referring to cooking with kids, not miscellaneous spare body parts I’ve failed to confess to owning. I have mentioned before that I really prefer cooking solo. It isn’t that I’m unaware of how [...]
One more week has come and gone, and it looked a bit like this: Clothesline accessories. Sometimes one must bake cookies at 10:30 PM. Hopefully macadamia nut-white chocolate chip-cranberry and cherry cookies. Sorry, no recipe because I we ate all the cookies before I got a better picture than the above i-Phone shot, to post on Le’Blog. [...]
Somehow it’s already the first weekend of May. My brain tries to wrap itself around how quickly time flies, but in the midst of doing so, all I can really think about is big fat veggie burritos or tacos laden with freshly cooked beans, melted cheese and spicy sauces of every type imaginable. Then there’s [...]
Some days require baking for sanity purposes. I almost opted for pie when I found myself hoarding strawberries and rhubarb. I decided I wanted to use similar flavors, but in a fluffier, softer sense. These muffins are very lightweight. They’re sweet, tender, moist, tasty! I love to incorporate apples with strawberries and rhubarb both. Its [...]
In the last six years, the amount of meat that goes into my diet has drastically shifted. Truth is, I enjoy learning about plant based proteins and nutrients… in a very nerdy way, which has included reading about the ways vegetables break down when consumed and countless hours spent finding recipes to experiment with. I [...]
Let’s have a look at the past week, shall we? Things looked a little like this: Fresh organic eggs were delivered to our front porch early in the week. Fresh eggs were a good excuse for this breakfast-dinner. A vegetarian chorizo hash with baked eggs that’ll come your way soon. SO good. Strawberry Rhubarb [...]
I’ve never been good with diets. The first time I remember trying one I must have been nine or ten. What I remember most is a white paperback book from the late 80′s – this one, actually – and trying to follow the meals listed, word for word. It meant eating things like wheat germ and plain [...]
Recently, I was asked to share the recipe for a photo I posted on Facebook, featuring the above pancakes. “I’m starting a food blog!” said Eve, a lovely lady I grew up with on Kauai. When I received a follow-up e-mail from MouthPocket.com I knew any further reading was going to be funny, smart, and certainly [...]
It’s 4 o’clock in the afternoon. I’ve folded precisely seven loads of laundry, done the dishes four times since waking up, ran up and down the stairs in our house fifteen billion times, pulled weeds that will inevitably show up again tomorrow. I’ve worked my ass off at the gym, responded to x-number of e-mails, photographed three entirely different [...]
The past week looked a bit like this: Overcast skies are some of my favorite skies. I have no qualms about telling you I buy Yogi tea mainly for the little quote that is attached to each teabag. This particular day was a good life reminder. This week’s tea of choice? Lavender Honey, good hot [...]
At times I am nearly positive that I reside in a peculiar realm of craziness. Sometimes my days bring an overwhelming sense of urgency and half the time I am not certain what that is born out of. The days move by so quickly, it’s easy to feel like I forgot to stop and catch [...]
I try not to romanticize baking cookies, but then there are days when I wake up thinking about oatmeal cookies, the scent of butter creamed together with sugar and vanilla… and it seems futile to fight that (too hard). I’m not going to lie – part of the reason I love oatmeal cookies so much [...]
One of the most rewarding things I’ve learned from really delving into cooking is: mistakes happen. Not that I wasn’t aware of this before. And certainly in the areas of life outside of the kitchen, I’m a mistake aficionado. Life happens. You mess up. By “you” I also mean “me,” or “I.” If you’re like [...]
The most simplistic recipes often are not born out of a lack of creativity, nor a lack of skills in the kitchen. Sometimes simplicity is both competence and comprehensibility of the ingredients at hand. Knowing that you can put X, Y, and Z together and create a meal that is both satisfying and filling? It’s [...]
This week looked like this: Garlic rubbed sourdough toast with peppery egg and chives. So good. Brown eyed boy. Silas’s mom shared the pickled quail eggs she’s been pickling… delicious. Company for chips. I baked a surprise birthday cake for our friend Gary. Who says you need to be under 10 to appreciate sparklers on [...]
About a month ago, I was offered the opportunity to try Nasoya’s new vegan mayonnaise. I was told that Nasoya recently perfected their recipe, creating a smoother, creamier Nayonaise. After accepting the offer, I received a jar of original Nayonaise and a jar of NayoWhipped – the newest addition to Nasoya’s product line. I’ll be [...]
Let’s discuss something. Pineapple. And how adding pineapple to anything does not make it “Hawaiian.” For instance – Hawaiian pizza, topped with pineapple and Canadian bacon. C’mon now. Being born and raised on Kauai, I have to tell you – I didn’t eat pineapple in or on everything, nor with most meals. We saw it [...]
When it came to potlucks when I was a kid, everyone had two requests from my mom: her stir-fried beef broccoli or her fried chicken. Even writing the names of these things down makes my mouth salivate. I remember the taste of both, regardless of the fact that I’ve eaten neither in probably close to [...]
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I thought about skipping two weeks of Day-to-Day posts, but alas… I’m opting for this route instead. Three weeks worth of photos (while the number of them may seem overwhelming, they’re the careful pickings from over 1000 photos edited and navigated through!). A post-workout lunch. Beet/grapefruit/orange/celery/apple/grape juice; [...]
The beauty of being a legal adult is that you can happily indulge in sea salt caramel gelato for breakfast whenever the hell you feel like it. Granted, you wait until the kids are in school because you can’t have gelato for breakfast then tell them they can’t – for fairness’ sake. Oh, I know, [...]
Sometimes I will see a recipe while browsing food blogs at 11:30, midnight, and think I need this in my mouth right now. Then I fall asleep dreaming of said food, waking in the morning still craving what I saw the night before. When I saw this spinach and artichoke grilled cheese sandwich, it blew [...]
I apologize for the lack of recipes. Truth be told, being out of town, I didn’t cook a single thing for the last week. Granted, hotel breakfasts lend a little room for creativity. I do mean little… like plain packets of instant oatmeal that can be spruced up with added banana, brown sugar, granola, cream, and raisins [...]
Like I mentioned earlier this week, we are on the road, heading towards sunshine. Heading towards warmth that Southern Oregon isn’t offering yet. We are in San Francisco for the evening, heading to Santa Cruz in the morning, ultimately winding up near San Diego so a 7-year-old boy can take in the wonder of Legoland [...]
Whirl-wind weeks. They come and go, but damn… when they hit, it’s from every angle. I am writing this post from an i-Pad. My laptop – you know the one holding every back up of my posts here, all the poetry I haven’t sent out for submissions yet, the collection of poems I’ve been working [...]
This week looked a bit like this: Blue skies for days… At times when I’m missing Kauai particularly much, my insides crave noodles. Saimin, specifically. When I first left the islands for Oregon to go to college (on The Mainland), Top Ramen would suffice for this craving. Especially at less than 10 cents per package [...]
Do you ever have days where you’d like to demonstrate the “crotch chop” at the world and say, “Suck it!” as goes along with such an act? Yeah, I just said crotch chop. And suck it. In the same sentence. Perhaps it’s because I grew up with brothers – one of which was very (very!) [...]
Some days require baking for no reason other than to fill your house with the smell of something freshly baked. Of course baking something that tastes as good as it smells is preferred. I’ve loved banana bread since I was little. We grew bananas in our backyard, so they were always available. I don’t remember [...]
In the last few years, I’ve learned a few things about going to the gym: 1.) If I go between 7:30 AM and 11:30 AM, the senior population scattered around the place is out of control. And parking? Forget it. 2.) If I go between 4:30 PM and 6:30 PM, the after-work rush has already taken [...]
This week looked a bit like this: We drink a lot of drip coffee around here. Probably more than necessary. I went through a phase (when our coffee maker broke) of drinking a LOT of french press… but I much prefer the rich, bold, nearly creamy taste of espresso. I’ve never felt like we could [...]
Sometimes I’m pretty sure I can demolish pizza like a teenage boy. I love the versatility of pizzas: sauces of whatever variety you like, toppings galore, dessert, dinner, breakfast… Really, the possibilities are limited only to your imagination. I have very much turned into a pizza snob over the last couple of years, and eagerly [...]
Yesterday, my dad came up to Ashland for a visit. I somehow managed to not take a single photo (as evidence, or as a possible inclusion in this coming Sunday’s Day to Day Life post… C’est la vie). The last time he was here was three or so years ago and I did not cook [...]
The past week looked a little like this: Whoa, buddy. I’m not sure why, but when it came to food this week, all that ever sounded good was breakfast. And burritos. To wrap up breakfast in a burrito for dinner? Magic. These are cumin potatoes, fluffy scrambled eggs, TJ’s Soyrizo, monterey jack cheese, salsa verde, [...]
