Let's try this

So, I've decided that I'd like to "reach out" with my cooking. That sounds stupid, I realize. But I figure if I photograph what I'm cooking and share with all those flicking through random internet pages, eventually someone will come to my page that needs a little help with cooking. I think it would be really awesome if people that aren't very experienced in the kitchen cooking or need a start at it could use my blog to help themselves out a bit. I had a guy friend tell me recently that he doesn't know how to cook. I thought to myself, "He doesn't know how?, How does anyone know how? So, instead of going to a bar and ordering multiple $5, $6, or possibly $10 drinks and then having to feed your date too from an overpriced tapas menu, why not offer simple recipes here that you could bring your date back to your place and make while you wait on the oven and make out on the couch? That sounds pretty cool to me.. I think it will be helpful to add that I'm not a Rachel Ray wanna be that abbreviates olive oil or refers to food as "super yummy." I never want to be a deep fried freak like Paula Deen either. It's important to mention that I have a tv crush on Anthony Bourdain on the Travel channel. That explains it..right? Let's start with a quiche. Start by buying a quiche pan. They're usually ceramic and under $10. You can buy them just about anywhere. Discount stores or Le Creuset...however you want to go about it. I think I paid $8 for mine. With a quiche you can add just about anything to it. You like bacon..add it. Are you vegetarian? Okay, load it up with vegetables you prefer. Have sliced ham in the fridge, okay too. This quiche that I'm featuring is simple. Eggs, good cheese, green onions, salt and pepper. That's it. (I put salsa on top of it too) Grocery list (probably $20) Eggs Good cheese (Go over to deli section and look at the cheeses. Ask the staff if they're are any smaller pieces if you don't want to spend more than $6 or $8 on cheese. I won't pay over $7 for cheese, I refuse). Green onions ($1) Pie crust ($4)(Usually come in a box of 2 next to the butter and eggs) Salt and pepper (maybe a little garlic salt too if you like?) Butter Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lay out your crust (I put a little olive oil on it too, you don't have to) Crack 6 to 7 eggs in a bowl, grate a little cheese in too, salt and pepper. On top of your crust put in chopped green onions. Pour egg mixture on top. A couple of slices of butter on top of mixture. More cheese. (Grate it if you have a grater. Or cut it into tiny cubes.) Bake for 25 to 35 minutes. If at 25 minutes, the mixture still looks like liquid in the center, keep it in the oven for 10 extra minutes. Take it out, let it cool for a few minutes. Eat.

Things are spinnin' around here for spring

Spring does something to me besides bringing pollen into my throat and nasal cavities. Maybe there is something about spring that makes me appreciative of living in the south. There is the knowing of the heat and humidity coming not far away from a few dozen breezes. Spring makes me feel again. Barefoot on the patio, sunning my feet, watching birds come and go from the building of a hideaway nest. I've been drinking wine on the porch every night. I've turned into quite the wine ambassador lately, something last spring had not known yet.

I've also been pushing myself to do more. Bake more. Go out more. I feel in doing this it will bring the movement back to my fingers to write and paint again. I've been dreaming about painting color wheels lately. So, I recently ordered a Josef Albers book on color theory after my husband suggested it.

I got offered a job in Minnesota and Wisconsin and I turned them down. The first wasn't much of a salary and the second, well, I just lost all energy to move. I was pumped for the job but when the lady interviewed me and the first question out of her mouth was "Why in the world would you want to live in Milwaukee?", it shook me up for two days after. I couldn't shake it. I couldn't find reason to say Yes. I found myself wanting to be outdoors more, exploring the new greenery and searching for reasons to stay. I did find those reasons I was looking for and so of those you that were crazy to go away from SC may not understand. But I do and that's all I know right now.

Oh, and we're saving for a trip to Europe next year. Germany, Norway, the Mediterranean? Yeah, I want it all.

Holiday Cheer

Have lots of leftover herbs?

Since rosemary can practically grow in sand, I figured it would be okay to make a Christmas wreath with it this year.
Used a wire hanger, some thin wire to wrap it, and cut some rosemary and lavender.
Then I made a bow :)

crisp bite

Morning walk encountered sun-brellas.

Not much better than fresh pesto.

I almost finished off Basil. Poor Basil. Grow!

vast as the sky

Yoga Earth is totally different than Yoga Fire.
My legs are not rubber bands. Yet?

It seems the tension will find itself a new place,
a new body to cave.
The repetition of my movements will heighten.
Yes.

Namaste


Good things about working at a revolutionary war museum site with working farm?
Picking figs and black walnuts. Smelling the musket's gun powder from across the field.
Also, watching the loom.

Autumn coats me with something spiced, warm, and full of color

Start of a butternut squash puree. Soup finale! Pureed roasted butternut squash, onion, corn, rice, and turkey kielbasa sausage soup served with fresh parsley and cream, garlic toast pieces, a cold glass of Sam Adam's Oktoberfest beer (Also, check out our new soup tureens made by a Catawba potter at Hog Hill Pottery). Dessert Finale! Pumpkin cheesecake with a pecan and chocolate graham crust.
Fall brings wonderful things to the kitchen. Well, I can't think of anything autumn brings that I don't love. Crochet hats, Oktoberfest Sam Adams, COLOR, new boots, trips to Asheville cabin get aways, and foods filled with warmth.
Also, Anthropologie's October Lookbook is a dream! Beautiful patterns, rich colors, waterside scenery/greenery, and a full bodied plum/red lip. Lovely!

Lentils, Lentils > Cherries, Cherries

Homemade lentil soup in our new dutch oven. (alton brown's recipe off foodnetwork.com)
Also, the start of a cherry cobbler (bloody cherry hands?!), I've never really been a big cherries fan, but it turned out pretty good with some butter pecan ice cream.


Now if I could just focus on revising these poems!