we plan, we cook, we eat

We've been seriously winging things lately in the dinner department. The question "what should we eat for dinner" has been met by... crickets lately. What the heck. I mean, we go food shopping in a given week more often than I'll admit, plus we have a bin of beautiful produce (what we can't grow here) delivered on Thursdays.... plus there's that VEGETABLE GARDEN out back. Dude. The only thing I know how to do in situations like this is Make A List.

Commence meal-planning.

Mon :: Taco Nite w/spicy pickled carrots, onion & jalapeños

Tue :: Shrimp and Chive Dumpling soup w/steamed bok choy (soup in summer you say? hello, San Francisco.)

Wed :: Southwestern Turkey Burgers (served w/pickled onion & jalapeños from Mon)

Thu :: Jamie Oliver's lamb & pistachio kebabs (served w/homemade yogurt & garden lettuces)

Fri :: Skirt steak, veg & potatoes of some sort (Toby's beloved week-ending steakhouse-style meal)

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And... since we were away from home for a week, today was a serious Catching Up With Ma Ingalls type of day. I'll never ever get sick of a day spent in the kitchen, assisted (when awake) by my favorite helper.

Today's kitchen 'did-do' list:

- vegetable stock (for Tues dinner)
- bread dough for 3 loaves (will bake on Tues morning)
- pickled veg for Mon & Wed
- roasted beets for random lunches
- pot o' black beans for Mon and rest of week
- yogurt (part one; on Tuesday we drain, Greek-style.)

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What are you eating this week?! Any good recipes? Need more data.

a week on the lake

Lake Almanor, CA

:: photos by Toby ::

smoothies!

hey, it only took me half a glass to remember a photo!

I kinda forgot about smoothies for a while. Duh!

Maybe I OD'd on them in college: San Luis Obispo is, as you all certainly know, the birthplace of Jamba Juice (known then as Juice Club... fancy).

So, it had been a while. But, our usual Saturday breakie routine reminded me of it: we always make blueberry sourdough pancakes and have some of Toby's homemade breakfast sausage (the best ever; I'll post soon)... which is a delicious start to the weekend.

But a couple of weeks ago, it just seemed that we might balance out all that Saturday morning bready, meaty goodness with some, ya know, vitamins. We needed to drink some berries!

Am I the only one who sort of forgot about smoothies? Well, if you're in my camp, consider this a gentle prod. They couldn't be easier and seem to please the little ones. Especially if they're allowed to help dump in the ingredients. My little man was thrilled the first time the blender screamed to life and buzzed up a pretty pink treat.

This is almost too simple (I see your eyes rolling!) to write up as a recipe, but again... just a reminder!



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Simple Berry Smoothies
made 2 pint glasses and 1 kid cup

2 cups orange juice
2 cups frozen mixed berries (yes, it's berry season, but if you use frozen, you can omit ice)
1 ripe banana
big scoop of yogurt (we use Fage--full fat)

Buzz in the blender till smooth. Drink with straws. Ahhh, ice cream headache.

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Extra credit: freeze this mix as popsicles!

just like jane and lizzie

Is anyone else out there a huge Pride & Prejudice nerd? Kristen, I know you are. You turned me into one. But, anyone else?

Dumb question, I know: it's awesome. The book is magnificent... but what I'm really talking about right now is the BBC adaptation. I'm such a nerd for it.

The costumes, the music, the manners, the sly put-downs, the Colin Firth.

Kristen is really the one who got me hooked on the 6-part miniseries when we lived together, and one of the scenes we both liked best is a small, simple one: when Lizzie and Jane have come in from a Summer day harvesting lavender and other herbs and they're having Important Girl Talk (proposals, mansions, the like) while they hang pretty bundles of herbs for drying. Of course they've been wearing bonnets and have on  delicate floral dresses (if memory serves), and they brought their haul in with perfect English baskets. Sigh.

Last week, as I hung up the masses of herbs I had to harvest before departing (they were taking OVER), I couldn't help but smile a sly smile. Just like Jane and Lizzie.

sage, thyme, lemon verbena

wordless wednesday

a taste of home

Maybe some of you are in the same camp as me: some of my favorite types of vacations are not in interesting or decadent hotels (though I will take that). They take place in rental homes or flats. Toby and I have done this a few times, including Barcelona twice. It can be a little more complicated: shopping for food (which I love), cooking (which I love), sleeping till whenever (pre-kids)... or maybe being awoken by water flooding in from the upstairs flat (Barcelona. Really. My high school Spanish was tested.).

Anyway, our current trip falls in this category, although the in-laws have rented the place (no complaints). We're staying in a pretty lakefront house about 4+ hours North of SF. It's be comfy and relaxing. But, you know what's the icing on the cake? Bringing a taste of home.

Because we can pack as much crap into our car as we want, along with wetsuits, embroidery projects, magazines and books, we've toted some homemade bread, pickled asparagus, granola and meyer lemon/rose petal marmalade. Also not pictured: homemade pesto and the best batch of yogurt I've ever made. (I need to post about it.)

We also volunteered to make a couple meals: Taco Night (our Monday usual) and Pizza Night (Toby's making a batch of dough at the house).

Should be delicious and fun. What about you? Do you like cooking & tending while on vacay? Or are you firmly off the clock? :)

PS: Happy Fourth!

heading out

The bags are packed (almost), the cat-sitter arranged, the garden-sitter prepped (thank you Kristen!). It's time to head out for some classic Summer relaxification. Cloud-watching, drink-sipping, lake-watching, the usual business.

I can't wait. I have some serious nothing planned, but also a few fun projects. First of which is some embroidery. A certain little someone in our house may be receiving a farm-themed quilt for his eventual Big Boy Bed. Shhh, don't tell.

Farm fresh quilt, from this awesome book.
Did you know she has a great blog?

And, I'm at kind of a turning point with my New Career Thingy (I like to keep you in the dark, sorry. I'm a Scorpio, just too dang private.)... like, been doing lots of designing, about to launch into making. This is a great time to pause, think, plan, refine.

I can't think of a better, prettier place to put these thoughts than in these new Rifle Paper notebooks from Chronicle Books that my dear friend Kristen designed. Gasp--they are perfect, no?

The colors, the gold. Love.

And, please stop by again next week. I've decided to be a bit more of a grown-up blog proprietress. I've scheduled some posts to run while I'm busy ditching my farmer tan :)