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Right Now

Right Now, September

Making: Sewing a new tank top, fixing the skirt I made last weekend
Cooking: Vanilla bean blondies
Drinking: Juice, juice, and more juice
Reading: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay by Michael Chabon
Wanting: More time
Looking: At fashion magazines, for fall inspiration
Playing: Lots of terrible music
Wasting: Energy worrying
Sewing: A skirt, a shirt, another skirt, so many things
Wishing: For a speedy recovery from this whole wisdom teeth removal thing
Enjoying: The surge of creativity and domestic energy I’ve been feeling
Waiting: Patiently.
Liking: Independent pattern makers and crafters
Wondering: How to be more disciplined about my writing.
Loving: That boy who is taking good care of me right now.
Hoping: That this forward progress I feel is real, and doesn’t stop
Marveling: At how wonderful it is to live in a time when so many people get to put their creativity and their ideas out in the world and have them appreciated.
Needing: Fewer books, or more space
Smelling: Gauze and black tea
Wearing: Purple pants and a navy striped tank top
Noticing: When I need to speak up.
Knowing: That I can accomplish difficult things
Thinking: Writing, and data management
Bookmarking: Clothes.
Opening: Packages.
Giggling: At all the goofy pictures of my niece, Eliana. 
Turning: Upside-down

fall, recipes

Braised Chicken with Capers and Green Beans

Tomorrow I’m having my wisdom teeth removed, and resigning myself to a few days of liquid lunches. And not the fun, Mad-Men-martinis-at-lunch kind of liquid lunches, either. I have planned to make a bunch of juices and smoothies for these coming days, but before the pain begins, I wanted to make something very delicious for dinner, a kind of tasty send-off for my taste buds. This piquant, slow cooked chicken fit the bill perfectly.

Continue reading Braised Chicken with Capers and Green Beans →

My New Favorite

My New Favorite Water Bottle

Every now and then, a new and delightful object enters my life. Perhaps it’s very bourgeois of me, but I have a fondness for lovely things. They make me happy. And if they make me happy, there’s a chance they might make you happy. My new favorite water bottle is one of those things.

I got this from the Title 9K race I ran two weekends ago. It’s a custom designed bottle from Liberty Bottleworks, in Washington State. I am always on the lookout for a good water bottle, because I’m picky. And this one is so lovely that my search may have ended. It’s a nice hefty metal bottle (no weird plastic chemicals!), that is nice and smooth to the touch. The design is actually embossed on the bottle, which I think is a nice touch. I think one of my favorite parts is the threadless, leakproof cap. It closes super tightly (no leaking in my bag), and the lip is smooth and not too wide, so it’s easy to drink from.

They have tons of cool designs, and you can have them custom designed if you like that kind of thing. They are entirely recycled, and made with food safe materials that won’t leach weird chemicals into your bevvies. Plus, they are made entirely in the United States. Which is pretty cool.

If you are also picky about your liquids containers, check out their website. Supposedly you can buy them in some stores, but they don’t say where in their website. But you can order directly from them, and shipping is only $3 per bottle.

No one paid me to say anything at all about these bottles. I just like mine, a lot. And I thought you might, too.

fall, Friday Favorites

Friday Fall Favorites

It’s official. My favorite season has begun. And to commemorate, I’d like to share with you some of my favorite Fall recipes. These are all recipes originally shared on Kitchen Illiterate, my other blog.

I’m definitely a cold-weather cook. I’d much rather serve up hearty stews, hot casseroles, and roasts than light and crisp summery salads. I think it’s the midwesterner in me. When I think of the coziest thing I can imagine, it’s being in a warm house while the rain drips outside, a baked good and a cup of tea at my side. Preferably, a pot of something delicious would be simmering on the stove at the same time. I have my fingers crossed for lots of cozy days in the coming months. And here are some of the things I’ll probably be making:

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fall, recipes

Classic Spaghetti Sauce

I love fall. Love love love it. And I always have. I was that geeky little girl who was excited to go back to school. I was that geeky college student excited to go back to school. I love the crispness in the air, and sweaters and scarves, and fires in the fireplace. In New England, I always felt that fall was the only season that was bearable. And while it might not be quite as breathtaking here in California (we make up for it with the rest of the year being so phenomenal), it still makes me smile. We got our first acorn squash from our CSA last night, and I almost got giddy.

I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling excited for fall when I saw several recipes for slow-cooked , meaty spaghetti sauce popping up in my feed reader this week. Meaty spaghetti sauce is totally not a thing you cook when it’s high season summer. Meaty spaghetti sauce is fall food, and I fell for it, hard. Last night, it was the only thing I wanted for dinner. I scrapped my existing plans (I think they called for a lot of summer vegetables or something), and instead set about making my whole apartment smell garlicky and tomatoey and amazing.

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Suggested Servings, summer

Simple Dinners for Busy Times

Everyone has these pockets, where time seems to speed up and we can’t catch the rhythm of the normal, smooth-running routines we’re used to. September seems to be a magnet for this kind of chaos, as last minute summer vacations are squeezed in and the school year is beginning. The seasons are changing and I’m hoarding the last of the tomatoes and cherries and peaches, while simultaneously getting weirdly excited for potatoes.

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goals, summer

Summer Bucket List Check In

An image of the beach and ocean, box with text that read Summer Bucket List

In early July, at the prompting of Joy the Baker and Tracy Shutterbean, of the Joy the Baker podcast, I created a Summer Bucket List. I thought long and hard about all the things I wanted my summer to be, the things I wanted to accomplish and the laziness I wanted to indulge in.

It is hard to believe summer is almost over. It went so fast! But it was full of all the wonderful things I dreamed up when I created my list, so I can’t even be sad. Let’s check in, shall we?

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Right Now, summer

Right Now

I stole this idea from Alison, a.k.a. Spinstah. Here’s what’s going on right now.

Making: A baby blanket for my new niece, Julia
Cooking: Merquez sausages, tomatoes, eggplant, corn, honey bread
Drinking: White tea, East Bay wine, Spoonbender coffee
Reading: Mosses from an Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Wanting: A sunlit open space for sewing, cutting, pasting, painting, photographing, and maybe some yoga
Looking: At beautiful craft papers
Playing: Does dancing count?
Wasting: Time
Sewing: I’m trying to decide between my first quilt and a skirt
Wishing: For next steps
Enjoying: The imminence of fall
Waiting: To get on a plane and touch down in San Diego on Thursday
Liking: Being busy at work
Wondering: If I’ll ever go back to school again
Loving: My growing family
Hoping: That I’m making the right decisions
Marveling: At how much I love Oakland
Needing: New cross trainers, and more running
Smelling: Someone else’s lunch
Wearing: A new polka dotted shirt that I love
Noticing: Moods
Knowing: That love is a decision that you make
Thinking: About linked data and library holdings and making libraries better
Bookmarking: Recipes. Always recipes.
Opening: An account online at Gaiam Yoga Studio
Giggling: At the ridiculousness of Dawson’s Creek
Turning: The calendar pages over to September, one of my favorite months

recipes, Suggested Servings, summer

Suggested Servings: Eggplant and Smoked Mozzarella Pasta

Most nights I throw together dinner based on what’s in the refrigerator and the pantry, cooking by the seat of my pants without a recipe. Sometimes these are the best dinners I make, and I want to share them with you. There are no proper recipes for these dinners and what I share is merely a suggestion. If the idea appeals to you, run with it and make it your own. Share your variations and the unique spin you put on it, and have fun in the kitchen, cooking without a book. 

We’ve been getting a lot of eggplant in our CSA this summer, which initially presented a bit of a challenge. Sean has never been a big fan of eggplant, so I had to find a way to make this sometimes tricky vegetable appealing to him. I’m pleased to say, I think I’ve succeeded in making him, if not an eggplant fan, at least a passing acquaintance. And this pasta might have had something to do with it.

Continue reading Suggested Servings: Eggplant and Smoked Mozzarella Pasta →