le blog

Last week on Facebook, my long-time friend challenged me to post photos of my life for seven days. The rules were simple; the photos could not contain people, there could be no explanations, and they had to be in black and white. I had been viewing her pictures daily and secretly hoping she would name me in the challenge, and on her last day, she did.  So here they are, and true to the challenge, I will refrain from captions or explanations and just let the photos speak for themselves.

It is nearly mid-October, and I have just one question: why am I still running my air conditioning?? I despise the heat and humidity. Neither agrees with me and the heat in particular aggravates my migraines. Needless to say, I have been very discouraged (not to mention annoyed) by the unseasonably warm weather in my neck of the woods. October has, thus far, felt more like August and I am too pale to wear shorts, so I suffer in long pants (yes, that is shallow, but trust me when I say you don't want to see my neon-white legs). Each morning, I longingly stare at my stash of sweaters and wonder when I will be able to snuggle into them.  As Lila and I have been out on our walks over the past two weeks, I have eagerly searched out signs that fall weather will be here any moment. This reminded me of a game I used to play with my children when they were younger and I was trying to pass time and/or distract them and so I have been playing daily rounds of "I Spy" as a means of...

I have been searching high and low for inexpensive pink and lavender dish towels and came to the conclusion that such a thing does not exist. So I decided to remedy this by purchasing plain white flour-sack towels and dying them myself. I did not want to use harsh dyes and looked to a more natural method - tea staining.  begin with inexpensive 100% cotton flour-sack towels When you think about tea staining, shades of brown and tan most likely come to mind. That is your traditional tea staining approach that uses some form of black tea, like Orange Pekoe. I decided to take a non-traditional approach and use an herbal blend to capture pink hues. It was (mostly) a success. What You Will Need: 100% cotton flour-sack towels (I bought a 12 pack) you may wash them ahead of time, but do not use fabric softener on them as it interferes with the staining process 1 box of Tazo Passion Tea distilled white vinegar latex gloves (optional, but recommended) Process: Step 1:...

One of the positives about being home full time is that I have more opportunities to bake. For the past four weeks, I have baked fresh bread each Wednesday. And while there is definitely a learning curve involved, there is also something incredibly therapeutic about the process.  I love that the dough forces me to be patient and wait for it. It gives me great pleasure to watch it double in size, and sheer delight to deflate it so it can rise again. I can be gentle when I turn it out onto my floured countertop, or more aggressive when I cut, knead, and slap the dough. I can be creative when I shape the loaf...I can turn it into a boule, a loaf, a baguette, a bâtard, some rolls - why, I can even braid it! (still working on the braid...last week's braid looked more like a blob!) The possibilities are limitless. And even if you mess up and it is ugly, you still get to eat it and it will (most likely) still taste yummy. This week's rosemary olive bread was my most succes...