date day

{beautiful Burbank}

{my future countertops, I hope!}

 Ken and I were able to get away for a little date day this morning. We needed to pick up a couple bookcases at Ikea and my parents graciously watched the little boys. It was really fun to be free and loose on a weekday and drive down the road engaging in adult conversations with no interruptions from little ones.

We love the Covina Ikea for its size and beauty, but for a quick trip we go to Burbank. It's compact and some of the displays are different (I'm obsessed with the "Our 400 Square Foot Home" setups).

After Ikea we stopped in Thousand Oaks for lunch at Cheesecake Factory.  I had the "lunch portion" of herb crusted salmon but it was huge (I brought home half) and do you see how I got my cheesecake in a to-go container?  The best way!  Then you can eat some at the table and save the rest for home--double the pleasure.

I always go for the Oreo cheesecake.  What's your favorite??

New Scenes From The Weekend

I feel like I "pulled it off" this weekend. My goal was to have a balance of relaxation, fun and family time mixed with some chores and laundry.  It worked!  It still felt a little jam packed--like I would have liked even more unstructured time with the boys, playing games or something, but I realize with only two days in a weekend, some may be more quiet and others will have more outings.  I'm really caught up in pondering the weekends right now, so bear with me.

One really nice thing is that I have found a Saturday morning yoga class that I love.  I think I am going to make it a regular thing and I'm thrilled about that.  It is at our athletic club so it's "free" (in a way), and I can relax by the pool afterwards.  Ken and the boys met me there for a family swim.  Just about my idea of a perfect afternoon.  Other things we did:  out for frozen yogurt, a "late night" errand to Trader Joe's (the boys had an awesome time going around the store together looking for "Clark the Shark"), a beach trip, making cookies (not macaroons, alas, but those will be next weekend), and making a nice steak dinner at home on Sunday. 

How is the start of the week treating you?  I'm happy to say I got in a short walk today after work, so that is a good start for me.

dreamy :: practical

Hooray for getting through another week!  Sorry to drone on about counting down the weeks of the school year.  I never used to do that.  My job is more stressful now than it used to be and I feel like getting through each week is a huge accomplishment.  I need the weekend to unwind!  Another thing that throws me for a loop each year is Back to School Night, which was Wednesday this week.  I commute to work, so staying late for BTSN means I can't go home in between.  These last couple BTSNs I decided just to crash at my parents' house on that night  to save commuting home late at night and then having to get up at 5 the next morning just to drive straight back.  I feel like I'm still recovering!

Are you ready for a dreamy/practical list?

Dreamy
:: throw a popsicle party in the back yard!  Ken has invited a million families as usual.  It should be wild!
:: eat toast with honey and drink tea.  The boys like drinking Bedtime Tea with me in the evenings now.  So cozy!
:: be entertained!  I always have this as a goal in the back of my mind, but we rarely get to watch a show or movie anymore.  By the time the boys crash, I am exhausted.  Nonetheless, I'd love to watch a show on Netflix or bring out the Jane Eyre movie I bought ages ago but haven't watched yet.  (Ken can't stand period pieces, but maybe Dieter will watch it with me.  He watched Pride and Prejudice with me over the summer and we had a blast).

Practical
:: throw a popsicle party.  Ugh.  I'm the hugest introvert, so these parties actually take a lot out of me.  (But the kids love them).  I need to make a couple cheese balls and some popsicles and buy some popsicles too.  (And I'm going to remember to "fake it 'til I make it!")
:: do my cleaning routines
:: wash the car Sunday morning with one of the boys
:: ready myself for another full week and get my head together.  Get back on track!








 Bye bye!

PS--I'd love to hear what you're up to this weekend!

New Christmas Sewing Already!

I'm so happy to have gotten started on a bit sewing for Christmas giving. I'm making little stacks of "dinner white cloths" for people. These are excellent for giving because they are quick to sew, and if the recipients don't want to use them as informal dinner napkins they also make great towels for drying dishes.

I'm normally not inspired to start so early on Christmas presents, but Ken reminded me that our weekends in November are filling up very fast,  so last Saturday was my first and best chance for getting a chunk of sewing done.  He took the kids so I could accomplish these.

I'm so happy to have a good start on Christmas.  When the holidays finally come, I want to be super organized and "done" with everything, then just bake, eat cookies, play games with the family, and read holiday books to my little ones.  My mind is already humming with ideas for New Year's Eve.  That's how far ahead I am thinking.

A big thanks to Ken for helping me get started on these!

New December Inspiration Board

I'm so motivated and determined to work ahead on Christmas this year that I decided to skip a November inspiration board in the studio and go straight to the December board. Don't worry--we are still totally fall/turkeys/Thanksgiving in the rest of the house, but this board will help me stay focused on the holiday season that I want to have--peaceful, with little white lights and reindeer and red clothes to wear.

PS--that photo of the young woman sitting under a tree with a skirt and bare feet and a red top--clearly that's a Southern California December.  ;)

PPS--Loved getting all your emails today.  I've briefly replied back to most of you and will be  working on your envelopes over the weekend.  Yay!  I'm really looking forward to it. 

festival weekend

We spent pretty much the entire weekend going back and forth to this storytelling festival.  We've attended this festival many times over the years, but this is the first year that the boys were really old enough for us to commit to the entire weekend--songs and stories from Friday Night through Sunday midday.  It was truly fun, and I was thrilled that John McCutcheon was one of the tellers this year.  I never knew that he worked the storytelling circuit (he's more of a folk singer, or so I thought), but we loved his stories just as much as his awesome singing and instrument playing.  He is amazing.  Otherwise, there was tons of eating out, playing, reading to the boys, and we even had a little Mother's Day celebration since I'll be visiting Carrie next weekend.

And now we are down to the last 6 weeks of school.  Crazy! And oh so welcome and exciting. 

dreamy :: practical

Hooray for making it through another week! This was our first "normal" 5 day week of the year. It was hectic, but it's done.  What are you up to this weekend?  I'm in the mood for another dreamy/practical list.

Dreamy
:: drink coffee with half and half in the morning and lots of cucumber water the rest of the day
:: go to Saturday morning yoga class
:: plant a calla lilly bulb with the boys (I bought a kit at Trader Joe's today)
:: make waffles
:: take a day trip to Santa Barbara (zoo?  natural history?  art museum?)
:: read my current book (I'm reading this and I'm really enjoying it)
:: give myself a home pedicure

Practical
:: do a big clean-out of the pantry.  I'm looking forward to this, actually.
:: car wash Sunday with Rainer.  It's our routine now, since I got the new car
:: laundry!
:: home routines.  This week's zone is the kitchen.

What's on your list?

scenes from the weekend

How was your weekend?  We had a very dreamy, stay at home weekend.  I forced myself to do some chores and cleaning too, but there were many dreamy parts.  Dreamy highlights:  my very favorite thing was when we sat down to dinner on Saturday night and Rainer let out a contented sigh and said, "I love it when it's dinnertime."  Then Dieter chimed in and agreed he loves dinner.  Oh my heart!  We had a lovely afternoon on Saturday.  I went to a 1.5 hour yoga class then read my book by the pool and later Ken and the boys joined me there and we spent most of the afternoon swimming and cooling off and I read a lot too.  Very fun and just my idea of a relaxing weekend.  Also Saturday--in the evening we got ice cream downtown and walked to the park and the boys played in the dusk.

On Sunday, Dieter helped me wash the car (it's usually Rainer who goes) and that was very sweet too.  The boys watched Alice in Wonderland (classic Disney version) on Netflix Instant while I worked in the kitchen.  I was successful in cleaning out the pantry.  We did not make it to Santa Barbara that day, as I had hoped, but we will in the future.  I have in mind taking a Sunday day trip every week, but that's not very realistic.  Maybe every other week is more like it.

I have in mind that each weekend is a study in how to do weekends.  I can tweak and refine to my heart's content and apply what I've learned to the future.  If you posted about your weekend too, please leave a link and I'll pop over!  Happy Monday, everyone.

cookies--christmas and otherwise

I never fail to be delighted by the simple roll-and-cut cookies we do every year at Christmas. (Of course my children are delighted by them as well).  I've blogged about them a gazillion times before, but couldn't resist showing you this year's batch.  I love how they turned out.  I was lazy and only dyed two colors of icing, but it's sort of nice to keep the palette simple.  I've posted the recipe here.  The recipe for the icing is here.

And I wanted to let you know about the oatmeal-walnut-fudge cookies I also made.  They didn't really "work" for me as a Christmas cookie (not Christmassy enough! so hearty!), but I love them as a "granola bar" of a lunchbox cookie.  They are so toasty and walnutty and the fudge center is fun and a little different.  I found the recipe here.

english muffin toasting bread

I love toast. When I came across this recipe for English muffin bread (via Pinterest), I knew I had to make it.  This weekend I finally remembered to buy the bread flour it calls for and I whipped this up on Sunday.  It's a truly easy recipe--I love the soft bread dough recipes, the ones you stir up with a wooden spoon and that require no kneading.

So my honest review is that this tastes delish, but it really bothers me that it will not brown up when toasted.  No matter how long I toast it, it will burn at the edges before really becoming brown and toasty.  That almost makes this a non-repeater for me.  I want my toast to be toasty!  That said, this does have a deep, toasty flavor that truly is reminiscent of an English muffin.  Also, the texture is super crisp and crunchy, which I love.

I want to do a side-by-side comparison between this vs. this bread as toast.  My mind is already turning towards summer when I can bake a lot of bread recipes and compare them as toast.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been stopping by and commenting.  It's so nice to still have readers, despite my infrequent posting.  Thank you!

PS--this article is a fascinating read about the toast craze that is sweeping San Francisco.  Do read it--it's more about mental illness and the lack of support there is for mentally ill adults, but it is also very inspiring because this particular woman has found a way to survive and thrive.  I loved it.  The same story as a podcast is on the current episode of This American Life (episode #520--"No Place Like Home"  (listen through to the end--it's the last story).

awesome granola that clumps!

 I am so happy I finally figured out how to make granola that sticks together in clumps!

When I visited my friend Carrie in Kansas over spring break, we bought the most delicious granola at her local health food store.  It's the kind of granola that holds together in big, texture-y chunks.  I'm crazy about that texture in a granola.  I became a little obsessed with duplicating it at home.

I honestly wonder why all granola recipes say to stir the granola every 10-20 minutes while you are baking it.  Because it turns out that if you don't stir, you will get a big sheet of granola that can be broken into chunks of whatever size you like.  So easy!  I help it clump up a bit by patting the granola mixture firmly into the pan before baking it.  Use a low temp and bake until it's a little bit golden.  When you remove it from the oven don't stir it then, either.  Just let it cool completely in the pan.  When it is completely cool, break into chunks.  You can make very big chunks and they are practically granola bars.  This type of granola is great for snacking and packing into lunches.

I've been slightly experimenting with my old reliable recipe.  Obviously "anything goes" with granola, but here is my latest version:

Sweet Granola*

4 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. sesame seeds
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1/4 c. toasted wheat germ
2 T. brown sugar
1/2 c. of chopped almonds (I've been chopping them pretty small for this)
very scant half-teaspoon salt (or actually a slightly rounded 1/4 t.)

Mix your dry ingredients together in a bowl and then add:

1/3 c. neutral oil
1/2 c. maple syrup
1 t. vanilla

Mix it all together until the dry mixture is thoroughly moistened.  Pat it all evenly into a large baking sheet (you can spray the sheet with cooking spray if desired.  It helps keep the edges from sticking).  I pat it down pretty firmly.  Bake in a low oven (about 300 F) for 40-ish minutes.  Start checking at 30 mins.

Remove from oven when golden.  Allow to cool completely without stirring.  Then break into large or small chunks and store in an airtight container.

*so named because this is sweeter than the honey version.  For the honey version omit the brown sugar and the maple syrup.  Use 1/2 c. honey.  Definitely start checking at 30 mins and adjust your oven temp if necessary.  The honey version browns much more quickly than the maple version.  (It also holds together even more firmly).  I've been alternating types until we figure out which is our favorite.

wonderpot!

You guys, I came across a bunch of "wonderpot" recipes on Pinterest and I was so intrigued.  They are "pots" of food cooked together all at once on the stovetop.  Some of the photos made them look so yummy and I'm all about easy family meals that are made more or less from scratch.  I kept my expectations low and decided to make the Spinach Artichoke wonderpot because I was so curious. 

Well, as expected I was correct to keep my expectations in check.  This was pretty plain and bland.  Not horrible, though.  I sprinkled some shredded mozzarella on mine and that helped a lot.  I think the main problem here is that the dish is virtually fat free, vegan, and low in salt.  That combination is bound to be pretty not-so-great in my opinion.  But I will say it was very fun tossing everything in the pot and only having to worry about stirring every now and then.  It was very low stress but just domestic enough to hold my interest.

I actually still have some curiosity about these recipes and want to explore other, higher fat wonderpots.  Something with meat and/or cream would be ideal.

What about you?  Have you seen these pins going around?  Are you going to try one?

Link to recipe is here.