sunday morning

sleeping in, homemade cinnamon rolls warm from the oven, and a podcast of “This American Life.” so slow and luxurious, our only day off this weekend..

saturday night beans

as I promised myself, I did make the Amateur Gourmet’s bodega beans last night. I used the recipe as a basic outline (key points: some kind of white beans, onion and garlic, olive oil, some sort of cheese), used whatever I had in my refrigerator, and ended up with this.

Warm, creamy, cheesy, and flavorful, it was delicious today, as well, and the only thing I would change would be to soak dried beans overnight, rather than use canned, merely for textural reasons.

Saturday Night Beans:
(with a tip of the hat and many thanks to the amateur gourmet)

30 oz of Great Northern beans (2 cans’ worth)
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 a medium red pepper
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup frozen green peas
Olive oil
red pepper flakes
Italian blend of shredded cheese (parmesan, mozzarella, pecorino romano, etc.)

Add a healthy glug of olive oil to a heavy-bottomed sauce pan; turn on your stove to an easy medium heat. Mince the garlic and chop the onion, and add them to the pan, along with a few shakes of red pepper flakes. Sautée until the onions are nearly translucent, then add in chopped red bell pepper and the peas. Stir.

Drain and rinse the beans, then add them to the pan as well, along with a little more olive oil. When the beans are heated through, sprinkle in however much cheese you would like, and mix until the cheese is melted. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve warm. Especially good when topped with a little more cheese and served alongside a piece of bread straight from the oven.

saturday

It’s a slow day at work, as Saturdays always are, and even more quiet than usual, as I’m the only one here today. Generally, Saturdays are the days where I finish up any projects, and then write in my journal, or research ancestry, or other things that aren’t work-related but are the only things that I can do to keep my sanity during the very long, very slow, very empty, nine-hour shift. It’s the last hurdle I have to get over before my weekend, so sometimes it feels as though time is ticking away much slower than usual. Today is a research day, but not on ancestry; rather, it is a recipe-gathering day.

I think it’s because I haven’t had breakfast yet — I got a rather late start this morning, and went nearly straight from bed to work (with slight detours for a bath and clean clothes), but I am finding all sorts of recipes that I am eager to try. As always happens in late winter, I become lazy in the kitchen, tired of not having vibrantly fresh vegetables, tired of potatoes, tired of rice, tired of frozen peas, tired of the same old thing. I’ve had cereal for supper more times than I care to tell you (John and I agree to get our own food on evenings when neither of us are particularly motivated); and hash browns and eggs, though delicious, have become a more than just a dependable stand-by during this dark winter.

Here I am, however, trying to get some motivation, trying to pull myself out of this no-cooking rut. Well, I found the motivation, and I’ll share it (them):

+ Rachel Wharton’s Bodega Beans, via The Amateur Gourmet
+ Asparagus, artichoke, and shiitake risotto via smitten kitchen
+ Orangettes, via smitten kitchen and, oh
+ clementine cake via, yet again, smitten kitchen.

I’m planning on making the Bodega Beans tonight, and I’ll let you know what I think. I’m not a big fan of beans, especially not big beans (something about the texture), but I’ll make them with Great Northerns, and see what happens. That recipe just looked too good to neglect!

question for you knitters

how many of you knit in the Continental style (also called “left-handed style”)? When I learnt to knit, it was the English way, but after watching someone knit Continental, I was struck by how efficient and fluid it was. I’m teaching myself Continental now, and my goodness, at first, it was like trying to write with your non-dominant hand; I knew what it was I needed to do, but my hands were just awkward. I’m progressing now, but it’s still taking so much more concentration, as I’m still growing accustomed to it. YouTube instructional videos have been helping, I’m not going to lie. I’m the type of learner who needs to watch someone do it in order to grasp it as quickly as possible; if I can see someone do it, then I’ll get it; but trying to decipher the steps from two grainy b&w photos in my knitting book just wasn’t enough.

So, which way do you knit, and have you ever switched styles?

trippy

i’m terrible with subject lines

(seriously, I am. e-mail, wordpress, any kind of subject line. if I can come up with something witty, then I don’t mind them so much, but usually I sit here for a few minutes, staring blankly, fingers stilled.)

it’s been a fab weekend; last night, we went to the very first Superbowl party I’ve ever been to. I’m not a big (American) football fan, but I do get quite worked up when there’s a definite underdog (I can’t help it, I always root for them). John, however, usually favours the team who has the best chances of winning, so last night was full of elbow pokes and teasing, and everyone was very vocal. A few people at the party (oops, I wrote “pastry” first; I’m eating chocolate chip cookies for dinner, but more on that later) had never watched football before, so for once, I actually knew more about a sport than someone.

Early last week, I delved into a huge project – The Great Repainting of 2009. Our entire downstairs level (living room and eat-in kitchen) has gone from a deep “Bohemian Red’ (or “Lamb’s Blood Red,” as John called it; that name just didn’t have quite the same aesthetic appeal) to a lovely light greenish-grey colour named, quite cryptically, “Hazy Shadow.” Hazy it might be, but it’s really opened up our downstairs; we’d originally loved the red, the bold, striking colour, but I’d really felt lately as though we needed a bit of a lift – especially in winter, when we have so few hours of bright sunlight. Walking through the front door into the living room seemed as though we were walking into a cave. No longer! I painted like a madwoman for two straight days and part of an evening (I had told John that he didn’t need to help me repaint, as I was the crazy person who thought this was necessary in the first place), falling asleep absolutely exhausted. It was completely and utterly worth it, though, and I adore this colour (I actually have an entire gallon of paint left over – last time, it took us two gallons; this time, not even quite a single gallon was used. I’m not complaining, though! It’s nice to think that when we move, in a year and a half, or so, I’ll have this paint all ready for our new home). It’s light, calming, and absolutely beautiful.

In other news, John and I can now (finally) say that we have seen the “Lord of the Rings” movies. we watched all three over few days, with a few of our friends who had been horrified that we’d never seen them. They were quite alright, but then again, I’d never read all the books, so the movies didn’t mean as much to me as our LOTR-loving friends. I had attempted to read them when I was younger; I read The Hobbit (yes, I’m aware that’s not technically part of the series), Fellowship of the Ring, and then got half-way through The Two Towers, until I was in the mid of an epic battle that seemed to stretch on for a hundred pages. I put it down then (I very, very rarely ever not finish a book), and haven’t ever finished the series. That was sixteen years ago, though; so I’m giving the books another try – I brought The Hobbit home from the library a few days ago.

I’m in the middle of making these cookies right now; and they are the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that I have found thus far. I wish I’d come across that recipe yesterday, as we were to take sweet snacks to the party. I made a pan of Chocolate Chip Coconut Bars, my old stand-by, and they – fickle things that gluten-free baked goods can be – turned out inexplicably dry. I was incredibly frustrated, because I expect more from my baking than I would from anyone else. People are naturally suspicious of items that are made for “special diets,” and I don’t want my food to be just passable, or “good…for a gluten-free ________.” I want them to hold their own, to be just as good, if not better, than a gluten-filled equivalent.

I need to check on the cookies, so I must go.

In parting: For fun, go to google, type “fascist nerd,” click the “I’m feeling lucky” button. YES!

come quickly, O Spring

The weather here has been crazy lately, staying far below zero for a week at a time, and then suddenly jumping up into the forties. Yesterday was one of those beautifully warm days, and when I got home from work, I counted 18 robins out in our front yard. Poor things, it’s supposed to be colder again for a while. While I try to be content in each season (except for 100+ degree days in the Summer), and have loved Winter so far, that bit of warmer weather, that little glimpse of Spring, is making me long for Spring to actually get here, for consistently warmer weather, for new growth and tiny green leaves and pretty clothes.

Things I am looking forward to about Spring:

+ cooking with our kitchen patio door open to the fresh air

+ falling asleep with our bedroom window wide open (are you noticing a trend here?)

+ light cotton skirts and thin cardigans being enough to cut the chill

+ pretty purple flowers

+ wandering through garden centers and deciding what to plant this year

+ the early vegetables beginning to arrive

+ last year’s tulips making their appearance

+ not having to start the car 20 minutes before leaving for work (or even have to touch a freezing-cold steering wheel)

+ dinners outside on our patio

+ resuming our long, rambly walks around the neighborhood in beautiful early evenings

+ being able to wear open-toed shoes again (sounds trivial, but I am getting so tired of not being able to wear the majority of my shoes!)

+ the return of our farmer’s market!

+ having sunsets after 5:30 pm

+ early Sunday morning waffles with fresh local fruit

momentous

At noon today, I was part of a group. It was a group of about 60 others, people who would walk into our office and then pause at the sight of our tv, any thought of urgency or errand completely dismissed, standing and watching the inauguration unfold. We stood silently, occasional goosebumps sweeping over us, weighted with the knowledge that today we were, are, a part of history. When Justice Roberts pronounced Barack Obama president, the entire room burst into applause, and more than a few people wiped away tears (including me – I can’t help it, I’m an emotional beast). It was incredibly touching and incredibly human, and I felt so connected – not only to those in the room with me, but to people around the globe. Even now, hours later, I get chills when I see footage of people in Kenya celebrating.

God bless President Obama!

hello, 2009.

2009, I’m a fan of yours so far. With things to look forward to in the future, visits from family, a beautiful trip to Vermont, and the fact that Jacques was still alive when we got home (hallelujah!), I don’t have anything to complain about. Especially when we had such perfect weather in Vermont, cold and crisp, and beautiful scenery yielding photos like this one.

and this one.

how Vermont-y.

other things I’ve loved this year: falling asleep to the sounds of a crackling fire in the fireplace, learning/playing/winning/beating John in poker, luxurious days full of rambling around little (old! all incorporated before 1780!) Vermont towns, staying in the sweetest b&b ever, getting to sleep in sometimes, drinking hot cocoa, eating cheese for the first time in (nearly!) a year, navigating our way throughout the NorthEast United states with nothing more than a print-out from Google Maps (and actually making it to our destination!), not being online for five straight days, crocheting, watching “A Perfect Murder” in bed with John at a motel just off the interstate in Erie, PA, as we tried to wait out a blizzard, not getting in one of the dozens of accidents we saw on our trip, and having so many ideas of things I want to do, we want to do.

and taking pictures of beautiful places in New England.

(but I think you already figured that one out.)

nine favourites

1. Summertime At The Park – Version II, 2. the end, 3. Untitled, 4. Out in the Sticks, 5. purdy, 6. Leavenworth, WA-IMG_8602, 7. Bodi woman going to market, 8. someone is sleeping, 9. guess what?

happy thirty-ninth anniversary to mom and dad!