The What's Goin' Down Episode

BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO REALITY

2012-01-26T12:36:00.001-05:00

Hi! This week I've been eating well. Hell, I eat well alot. BUT i've come to the serious realization that I stopped eating with my health and weight in mind. I sort of stopped giving a damn. For many months in a row. So imagine my horror to see the continue pile up of post holiday pounds....the kind that don't stop piling! i siad CONTINUAL! Check Yo Self time.

Hence really good food. LIKE NEWSFLASH CHEILA...you do NOT have to eat a sandwich for all three meals per day. YOU DON'T? No. no.

Like today. I'm having a delightful chicken salad with dill on top of boston lettuce nestled next to curried roasted veggies and green apple slices. ALL LEFTOVERS. (i'm patting myself on the back)

Earlier in the week we had fish. I made it with a lemon butter white wine sauce and threw in some capers too. Even earlier in the week Nate baked some fish with cornmeal coating and I made us a cabbage slaw that puckered the tongue. So...back to life, back to reality.

and the thing is...good food taste SO DAMN GOOD. and good for you food looks SO DAMN PRETTY. even after it's gone and all that's left is a puddle of scarlet. Wish me luck. eating healthy takes alot of work. I have to remember how much i enjoy it. then just cook. just freaking keep cooking. you enjoy it, remember?

VINYL BRUNCH CLUB 10~ ASIAN FUSION EDITION

2012-01-18T18:53:00.002-05:00

Back to BRUNCH! For our 10th get together we decided on an Asian Fusion theme and the hosts were Jess and Chad. What a lovely spread they prepared. I surely felt like they put on an full-swing event and that's no joke.

Chad and little Eleni were side by side in the kitchen quite often. Can you stand her pig tails?Maybe she'll be top chef someday?

Here are some of our other children eating fresh rolls with dangling noodles hanging from their mouths.

and here they were, prepared with love and bursting with flavor. accompanied by a delightful peanut sauce.

Next was my Tom Yum which I learned to make way back in 2007 from a lovely Thai friend of mine.

The Kings made a curry to beat the band!

and the McGrann's made crispy lettuce wraps with turkey meat and other delicious niblings in them.

Later on there was birthday cake in honor of ME and TULIA!

and to the probable horror of Brandy Keener and definite delight of ALL children and some of the adults, there were TWINKIES! this was tulia's first twinkie ever.

Come on Brandy, how can you be mad at the ol' Doc?

Actually at one point, (as I have done at many a brunch) I stepped back and watched my friends talk to each other, help out their kids, kiss their mates and eat and laugh. I pulled Jeff to the side with me and we watched them and took it in and remembered that even though there was a little chaos, we cherish these times.

I'm glad we do this brunch club. I'm so glad, because I love them.

TULIA's 7th Birthday and Fridays at Longwood

2012-01-13T19:04:00.000-05:00

HI! This week Tulia Luna turned SEVEN. I'm one proud mama! AND my proud mama made tulia this cake. Belgian Chocolate with Peanut BUtter frosting! Hot dang!

We kept it low key with a family partay.

Hey, I'm not shy to say this....Tulia Luna is the BEST GIRL IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!

Here she is making her very best dearest wish. I hope it comes true.

Look at Longwood. Yes I'm beginning to go there all too often. I'm very pleased about this. AND since

x-mas is over, a whole new design set up is in the process of being installed. what a glorious site too. (ps, look at the girl drawing and painting the flowers!)

Today we say LOTS of yellow, pink, blue and purple. Gearing up for spring maybe?

Let me tell you this: today was an especially AWFUL january day where the wind was chapping our cheeks and we couldn't get into the conservatory fast enough. Denise (my permanent longwood chaperone) and I ran from the main building, teeth chattering, cursing the cold.

Don't these blooms look like Q-tips?!

Also look at how many ways you can look at one perfect flower.

Playing with focus

and noticing the bee's view.

I ended the visit sitting on a lovely wooden chair over looking the fountains, gazing at birds of paradise, feeling blasts of warmy-hot air from the floor vents, basking in the sun....ON A 32 degree winter day. What an escape from the january mundane. and what a nice start to the year. Happy birthday LUNA!

Winter Thinking

2012-01-08T19:46:00.000-05:00

Hello again. It's been a little while since I've posted. The holidays flew by in a whirlwind of gatherings, celebratings, eatings and presentings....and it was great....and we are still tired. But I don't want to really get into it and talk about Christmas because well..i have some coolness to share.

and the coolness is Radiolab, the podcast.

So I've known about it for years. years? Yes years. My friend Denise told me about it and I even listened to several episodes thinking, yeah, this is cool. But lately? Lately I have a slight...well more than slight obsession with it and I've come to think that maybe radiolab has changed the way I think, given me opportunity and TIME to think and has heightened my enjoyment for listening to a story and heightened the process of just, well, thinking exponentially.

See, I have this routine. I suit up, clip the dog onto his leash, plug in the ipod to the earbuds and walk through Blossom Hill for 30 minutes to an hour several times a week all while listening to what I might call PROLIFIC radio. And when I picture myself, walking outside in the cold of January I smile because I've caught myself laughing outloud, grimacing with disgust, glancing quizzically in question, and even crying real salt tears.

Back to the photo above.

Today I listened to an inspiring bit about the theme of "words". There was a musical break, I was walking down a huge hill while the music swelled. I looked up at the sky only to see the sun in that afternoon rich yellow-orange color. A huge flock of birds scattered across the sky, soaring, just like the music. By the time I reached the bottom of the hill I had this feeling like life had just given me my own theme music. It was great.

Oh and if you want to hear an episode that's really wonderful, start here.

CHRISTMAS IF

2011-12-20T08:44:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday....WE WENT TO LONGWOOD AGAIN!!! This time is was with both families, so that meant that the Husbands came too. I was so excited to get a second chance to photograph and take night shots with the three of us. HOWEVERRRRRRRRR....when i pulled it out to take my first shot, the battery had DIED. straight. Up. died.

So I'm posting shots from last time and you can just imagine them as IF they were in the dark for yourselves, only it won't ever be as amazing as in real life. ever. **Side note** On Sunday, there were Decked out Christmas Carolers singing traditional songs right here at the entrance. They were A+.

Imagine these at night. all glassy looking at the entrance to the Bee Tree House. love it.

Bee Tree.

Inside tree.

Now, close your eyes and and see IF you can imagine this tree lit up to the nines. there. better.

Anyway, one thing was clear. My daughter and I like Longwood more than Nate.

Mostly because on Sunday we were like cattle being herded through the place, shoulder to shoulder and it was hard to be leisurely and peaceful....oh and also everyone was STARVING.

So we left and got Mexican food. which was also pretty fun.

The End.

Christmas Bloggery

2011-12-15T08:39:00.000-05:00

My dear friend DD has only heightened my love of Longwood Gardens this year. We usually go every year, maybe every season but Denise and I are like kids in a candy shop when we go there. I'm talking gasping and clapping and insatiable merriment, EVEN outside in DECEMBER! If only we could manage the membership! Anyway, I'm so grateful that she coaxed me to go not once but twice this month so far.

Tulia and Adeline are like little sisters.

and my dear darling and I decided to skip school for a day of Longwood last week.

AND COME ON! It's worth it. I asked an employee there if she liked working there and she smiled and replied "I love it. I wake up everyday excited to come to work to be in such a beautiful place with such wonderful people". Man, I totally want to work here. and so does Denise. so if this music therapy thing falls through, I'd totally do it.

And lastly, here is a shot of the cookie baking that me and my neighbors whipped up. I won't say HOW many cookies I've eaten but let's just go ahead and say that it's too many. oh too many.

FIRST WEEKEND OF CHRISTMAS-ING

2011-12-04T18:36:00.001-05:00

It is the first weekend of December. You know, when people get their trees and decorate. Amazingly, Nate and I got our tree and did our lights LAST weekend mostly because it was the 5th Annual Blacksmith Extravaganza this weekend. Anyway, this year I'm totally into it. Maybe more than ever before. I'm even considering doing a "CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY" sort of deal with the family where we try to be in the spirit of things at least once a day. SO....long story short, while the men hit metal, me and Denise took our girls to Longwood gardens....AT NIGHT! and it was the best thing on earth. I love Longwood Gardens maybe just as much as Denise does and we were both freaking out over every single plant and every perfect detail. Sadly, I forgot my camera. DAMN IT.

Recently, I was looking online for tips on how to decorate and the one thing that stuck with me was the idea of having a little bit of Christmas in EVERY room. So, kitchen advent calendar.

I've never had one of these. But this morning at Denise's house, Adeline got to open a little token present and it was totally sweet. So I decided that we'd make our own when we got home. Nate helped out with the numbers and cutting while I wrestled with making the bows and hanging things up. Just between us, Nate spent like an hour making that 25...and it looks awesome. Oh and I did forget to mention that certain numbers have chocolate coins on the back of them.

In other news, Tulia had her holiday play with the 4 girls and GG. She got all dolled up and went to see Alice in Wonderland at the Fulton Opera House. So while Nate was away and Tulia was away, I cleaned the house all day :(

It was ok though. I love a clean house.

I did manage to snap a few photos of Tulia and Adeline. I plan to do THIS silhouette project as a gift for Denise and maybe make one for Tulia with the photo below.

I mean why not? She's a doll.

And lastly, VANILLA MINT CHOCOLATE POPCORN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DUDE, WE KICKED IT ON THANKSGIVING.

2011-11-26T19:37:00.001-05:00

So...you wanna know what went down on thanksgiving this year? Well it was basically PERFECT. Don't get me wrong...there was doubt, scorn, a round table argument, there was trouble making and there was DEFINITE GLUTTONY...HOWEVER... relief, expressed emotions, success, humor, laughter, insane dancing in the kitchen and family comradery were also present.

there was a bad ass turkey brined, stuffed and cooked to perfection (minus a slight panic and a re-cook).

There was desperate dog begging.

Here is nate checking on that precious bird.

There were pomegranate martinis.

Tulia rocked out the place setting cards.

I rocked out some unusual sides such as baby roasted beets and balsamic pan fried pearl onions topped with crispy leeks and dollops of chive chevre.

We were absolutely having a great day.

there were even a few photos taken of me.

There was pumkin pie AND pecan pie. my 2 favorite autumn pies.

The night ended with us all snuggling on the couch under an enormous comforter like a pack of well fed Thanksgiving wolves....who just happened to get sucked into a ridiculous marathon of

"How I Met Your Mother" episodes.

A wonderful Holiday indeed.

Thank you family.

I adore you all.

Tulia and Liliana Have an Art Show

2011-11-21T08:52:00.001-05:00

Here she is. Adorable and proud. My artist daughter, age 6 at her first show.

A friend of my mom's bought this one within minutes of entering the house. We were so excited!

Here are a few of her other paints of which I am equally proud! This one happened to get alot of compliments.

And almost the best ever was that we got to take this one home with us! I'm so glad. it was my personal favorite.

My mom also had some wonderful new work to show.

It was amazing and wonderful to see them both all happy and excited, especially my mom.

She loves having exhibits and she throws EVERY dollar and every OUNCE of herself and her life into preparing for them, so it was really sweet that she did it all with Tulia.

If you came to the show you may have been lucky enough to get a slice of these lovelies which my mom made, of course.

Here is Tulia in her blue velvet leggings and rolling stones tshirt (she declined the suggestion of a new dress) signing her own book.

In the end, Tulia sold 3 paintings! We were so touched by everyone who came, especially the Lancaster friends. It meant so much that you made the time and traveled the extra miles to be there for us! we'll do the same for you any day! Congratulations Mom and Tulia! I am such a proud mother AND daughter.

AUTUMN~ NOW I Feel Ya

2011-11-18T10:45:00.001-05:00

As you know, I resist the seasonal change, especially the cold seasons. In fact, I heard a line recently from my latest television obsession "FRINGE" where the character Peter said, "You know what I hate worse than being cold?...NOT MUCH". and I wholeheartedly agree. HOWEVER, the coming of Thanksgiving and the awesome produce at Central Market this morning sort of "got me going". I felt like I was carrying a Cornucopia in my market bags and that felt good. Above is a selection of ingredients that I'll be using for Thanksgiving dinner. Pearl onions. How cute! Meyer lemons and pomegranate for drinks, fennel and squash which I've already done a test run on...

Here they are raw and ready to be cooked. The colors looked so fresh I decided to photograph them. Just oil, salt and pepper. that's all i did. But the best part was the final result. The combination of flavors was INSANELY AWESOME. The small butternut squash sliced thin and baked with roughly chopped fennel was perfect. I didn't think it could be so perfect. In fact, nate and I declared that we could have eaten this side dish alone AS the meal and been totally satisfied.

Now Russell, if you are reading this, please don't panic. I plan to make Dad's stuffing with WHITE ITALIAN BREAD and mashed potatoes and Nate will make a brined turkey that will blow minds...BUT I will have interesting sides for the more refined and tolerant palate ie... me, nate and mom. And for anyone else that is interested in the wine photo let me just relay this tip...Hurry to the spirits shop and find this in the Latin wine section. It's so darn lovely and it's only $8.99. Don't worry about pairing red wine with poultry. Who cares. It's Thanksgiving. No one gives a DAMN. Happy Thanksgiving Early.

CAT HUMOR

2011-11-14T08:57:00.001-05:00

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT the HELL is this?

Oh it's the inside of this sort of shabby looking side table.

Look again though. Upon further investigation...there seems to be a CAT in there. right next to the ear wax removal "system".

DATE NIGHT

2011-11-14T08:27:00.001-05:00

After plans fell through with some friends for an out of town getaway, Nate and I mulled over our choices for what felt like weeks. Should we go away anyway? Should we stay in town but go out to a nice restaurant? should we just forget the whole thing? In the end we hosted our own date right at home.

After hanging Tulia's art show (here is the image for their exhibit card), we headed right back home to start cooking.

I took photos because I wanted to remember our night and here are some highlights. We started out by going shopping for food. We went to Mr. Bill's seafood and happened upon their raw oyster bar which nate and I decided to be brave enough to sample. Results? I liked them. very much! except that they are actually alive and i didn't realize that until much later and then I was grossed out. also, do you spy our new toothbrushes?

Scallops were the main dish. of course they were fantastic. roasted fennel and brussel sprouts on the side.

There was salad. There were 2 cocktails, French 75s and a whiskey and black currant cocktail.

There was NEW vinyl straight from Good Will!

and there was chocolate from the Miesse chocolate shop, handpicked by us both.

There was a great feeling of optimism and an unending TREAT YOURSELF vibe in the air like we had gone out instead of staying at home. It was a great date. It's nice to know that little simple nights like these make us so darn happy to be together. Nate, if you happen to read this, thank you. I had a wonderful time.

RANDOM GOINGS ON

2011-11-11T16:08:00.001-05:00

So what's been going down? Lots of things! It was Halloween! We had some of the best Halloween trick or treating ever. Tulia was am M&M zombie for the party and then stole my rock star costume for the real halloween night.

Nate and I were insane.

and so were these fools.

Moving on....to ISABELLA! my new favorite baby newborn. Congrats to Beth and Chris. They have an adorable darling baby sweetheart. Got to see them and visit the new mommy. lovely.

Next up...Chad Martin, the potter. What a great line of pots inspired by sculptural high fashion...so darn cool! Congrats on being a fabulous artist Chad.

Actually Tulia took the show photos because I was busy being the record spinning DJ. didn't i feel sort of cool? yes. and there are NO photos to prove it darn it all.

Luckily I snapped a few "in focus" shots and was so happy to support our dear friends that night. Happily the night ended at their house with wine and tons of lovely conversation and proclamations of never ending frienship love. OH MY GOD, we're hippies.

THE END

LAST MINUTE GARDEN SALVAGE

2011-11-03T08:11:00.000-05:00

Before the STUPID snow fell last weekend, we scrambled up the hill to our gardens and salvaged what we could.

Given the fact that we were robbed of a proper spring and mid-summer harvest due to the stupidest groundhogs in the world, it was like Christmas in October when we pulled up an entire row of carrots through the protective wire tent nate built. AND let me just say, these carrots are DARLINGS!

Ranging in size from pretty big to itty bitty, we gladly tasted several and were totally excited that they were sweeeeeeet!

Here are some of our larger specimens.

This one was the biggest.

and look at that PRIMO soil. yes it was blended with sand to give those carrots a bit more of a chance.

Tulia was super excited to be picking. she pranced around like a little rabbit.

We picked the swiss chard next and then hacked the dill. We've got so much darn dill and we don't know what else to do with it. dill is so strong and wonderful but it can overpower quickly. I had already harvested the hot and bell peppers a few days prior and the tomatoes are completely done. So yeah, that was it.

The last basket of the season. There was still an enormous amount of dill left and the house-side herb garden was left as it was. Sadly the next morning it snowed for the entire day and night. All that might have been saved was killed by the snow. ALSO all of my tropical canas were plummeted to the ground for an early death. They were cheated out of at least 2 more weeks of life. Some were around 10 feet high so imagine my despair when I drove home to see that the canas that line my entire house and patio were smothered, bent and broken, bleeding red blossoms, suffering under wicked white stupid 9 inches of snow. I had just recently accepted fall and now look, WINTER. What. the. hell.

2011-10-27T13:39:00.000-05:00

2011-10-27T13:36:00.000-05:00

PUMPKINS

2011-10-24T07:50:00.000-05:00

We had one heck of a week jam packed with overnight guests. So on Sunday when we were just a trio again, we carved pumkins from brooklawn farm. Nate of course went above and beyond with a TULIA carving.

Tulia carved her own little girl with a BEARD!

and a nice little message on the back.

I almost always carve a mean smiling pumpkin. It's easy, fast, sure to glow etc... Overall the pumpkin carving took more than an hour. Mine from start to finish took about 10 minutes.

Our whole family stayed in our pajamas all darn day and we didn't change out of them until it was time to change into fresh ones.

At night mine glowed the brightest for obvious reasons but nate and tulia's were by far the coolest....for obvious reasons. Jack-O-Lanterns, check. Next up making our Halloween Costumes for the Harris Partay.

The Hike

2011-10-18T07:44:00.001-05:00

We went to Kelly's Run for a hike on saturday and spent about 3 hours walking in the woods. I always hesitate to go. I'm not really sure why I hesitate, I just do. Nate on the other hand is a non stop hiking machine. One great perk though is the pictures I capture. This is the best of the day. Sunlight reflecting off the stream water onto Tulia's beautiful face.

I asked Tulia to give me an unposed photo and this is what she gave me. love it.

She also took her fair share of photos including several of us.

A tree had snapped in half making this little window which we couldn't resist peeking through. Later another tree actually fell over very close to where we were hiking. We also almost stepped on a huge black snake, much to my total horror.

I suppose one of the reasons a hike like this is a sweet thing to do is that you are fully immersed in the outdoors. The fresh air, the colors and the plain old exercise make it great.

Plus you notice the small stuff. like these black little mushrooms.

or a red leaf.

the gathering of bright yellow in the creek bed.

the bright blue sky.

or maybe you notice your parents, arm in arm, leaves in their hair walking home and content.

Kathleen Came Over!

2011-10-13T14:05:00.000-05:00

Kathleen of Grosgrain came over today and I forgot to take photos! She had on the most lovely dress and of course she was as stylish as ever. Anyway by the time she left, all I could do was photograph what remained...evidence of cookie baking and tea drinking. I had found a great recipe on Orangette for what she claimed to be the best Salted (!) Peanut Butter cookies on earth and I wanted to give them a try plus make them for Kathleen as a treat since pregnant ladies deserve the best treats. As it turns out, these may actually be THE best cookies on earth. I don't really like to admit that because I have a pretty good recipe in my back pocket. BUT these are loaded with salt. like a tablespoon plus a teaspoon and salted peanutbutter is used too. SO...all my saltaholic friends and relatives (ah hem, jessica king and russell huettner), you might want to try this out. Beware though, there are more than 2 sticks of butter in this recipe!

But back to Kathleen. She's only been gone a short while and I'm already blogging about her. What a great woman. I'm so glad she's my friend. It was awesome to just sit around and talk about shows and blogs and food and books and nyc and husbands and kids and houses and millionaires and comedy albums...thanks Kathleen for a great afternoon.

VINYL BRUNCH CLUB~ ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

2011-10-10T07:53:00.000-05:00

Hello! Welcome to the ONE YEAR OF VINYL BRUNCH CLUB Blog entry.

The fantastic Keeners hosted and broke out the enviable turntable that had us (me especially) completely jealous! Plus Brian has the best record collection of us all and so it was like a treat for the ears.

This little blue sweetheart stacks 10 records and plays them all while you sit on the patio

and sip THESE! Rum, cinnamon, blood orange juice, lime, cointreau etc.... Wonderful...which reminds me....

The theme for the brunch was cinnamon. perfect for the season and challenging enough to come up with some interesting eats.

Starters included toasts with melted cheddar cheese and cinnamon apples made by Keri

I made a turkey sage sausage with pickled pear slices

After the kids had eaten, the adults all sat down (side note there were 17 of us total!!!) for some family style eating because by now, the brunch club feels like family.

There was mixed berry cinnamon french toast....so good.

There was also an egg and chicken sausage gratin dish...also so good!

The kids were wonderful as usual! Here is a good one of my sassy tulia.

It was also miss Sophie's birthday!!!

All the brunch club girls (minus little celia)

Keri brought apples for bobbing and I have to say, the kids LOVED it! It was a treat to watch them bob.

I had to include this shot of John as he was the one brave adult to try it too!

Sweet little Jonesy.

The wonderful Eli.

The delicious Apple cake.
There were over 100 photos taken. I wish I could have posted more but blogs can only be so long. I found myself again being really happy during brunch club and that my friends, is the cinnamon spice of life. Cheers to the next one and many more ever after. ah anniversary.

FIREPLACE PAINT AND ONION RINGS

2011-10-04T18:04:00.000-05:00

I've wanted to paint our fireplace since we moved in. It's a dated look and we needed a change. Luckily I've got plenty of time this week for small projects.

SO here is the end result. Nate and I both think it might be too white. I tried to paint it a less intense white but somehow it came out gleaming which I wasn't exactly going for...BUT I've spend a crap load of money on paint lately (which reminds me, I painted my bedroom and I need to post that sometime soon too.) paint with primer adds up. You might not think so but this small fireplace used over half a gallon of paint (the kind with primer in it).

Lastly I'd like to announce that I ate my first real food that required chewing tonight. I wasn't really able to go whole hog and eat pizza as I'd wished, but the soft and delightfully fried onion ring was almost just as indulgent. I made a tempura batter straight out of "The Joy of Cooking". At first I thought it was a terrible recipe but upon gently resting the first ring in the fryer, I realized that this recipe was PERFECT! A PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT times PERFECT recipe. I did use alot more beer and added some milk to thin it out but OH BROTHER! i mean HOLY CHEESE AND CRACKERS! I paired it with a sour cream and homemade "red hot" sauce that I made from the peppers out of my garden. IT was insane. I'm sure it was mostly because it was the first "chewable" food I've eaten in days but I was very happy. next stop, work. boo.

QUILTING & BOREDOM

2011-10-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hello again. Let's talk about Quilting and boredom. As the 4th day of post surgery rolled around yesterday, I began to feel stir crazy. and still do. I'm just really really tired and all I do is watch TV. I've watched the following shows... "Up all Night", "Walking Dead", "New Girl", "Pan Am", "Top Chef Desserts", "Project Runway" and "SNL" oh and a bunch of HGTV. Not too shabby for entertainment BUT i've become incredibly BORED!!!!!! I'm not working and really only have enough strength to do a few things before collapsing from dizziness and/or fatigue. I'm quite surprised at how long this recovery thing is taking. I'm going to celebrate the accomplishment of being able to close my mouth without biting my swollen cheeks with PIZZA. can't wait. Ok QUILTs. let's go.

3 or 4 years ago I started this stupid quilt. I was going to make it for Tulia and honor my dead cat Jack by appliqueing a big kitty at the foot of it because he used to love to sleep on this very bed at the foot of it. and he died there doing just that. HOWEVER....quilts are tedious! And they are BORING! There. I said it. TONS of hours of work and then you just have a big rectangle that you can't even wear. (Not that I wear any of the clothes I make for myself anyway but...) But as I mentioned, I was BORED and I needed something simple and time consuming that wasn't tv. So i decided to finish this quilt once and for all. Turns out, I was almost just as bored making this thing as I was watching TV.

But anyway....I found this sheet at TJ Maxx for 15 bucks to use for the back of it and I love the color. Then I went to Joanns and got the batting which by the way is expensive as hell! no wonder quilts cost so much! AND THOSE AMISH! how can they stand it?! it's so darn technical and precise! that part drove me crazy...which is funny because there was absolutely NOTHING technical about this quilt. I eyeballed everything. it is absolutely the most ghetto quilt style ever. about 15 strips sewn together to make a long one. fold that in half, cut it and sew it side by side. then cut that in half and sew side by side again. SO in essence, you make a big long strip four times as wide and much easier to piece together by cutting and sewing in a certain way.

The one really cool part of this thing was that every single scrap I used to make it came from something I already made. So I can point out pieces and tell you what I made from them. For example, the brown houndstooth was a kid dress i sold on etsy. The yellow birdcage fabric was a yoga mat bag. The red polka dot was a guitar strap and the goldfish fabric was a dress for Tulia.

So even though I have not actually sewn any quilty lines all over this thing, I'm pleased. Pleased enough to post it on this blog. Pleased enough to spread it on the guest bed. But if you ask me if I'll start another quilt anytime soon, the answer will be hell no.

What's Goin' Down With My Mouth, Swiss Chard and Edgar

2011-09-30T04:34:00.001-05:00

hello
bullet style
here is my jaw post wisdom teeth removal
i am swollen but I think I'm getting better.
Bloody mouth is gross and the pain has been terrible
pain killers make me nauseous
ALSO I'm STARVING

so....Speaking of food...here is one of the latest surprises out of the garden. Nate had planted swiss chard this spring and plenty of it. Sadly the groundhog had a swiss feast and we never got to eat any...until recently! This is the second batch of chard I've cut and its super good! I chopped these up for Tulia's favorite soup early this week.

And lastly, some comic relief. Edgar strikes again. Claiming the dining room table as his daily nap spot. i don't have the heart to kick him off.

My Daughter and I

2011-09-26T08:12:00.004-05:00

My daughter is an artist. really. she is. But before going into her greatness, let me tell you about our mother-daughter weekend. Nate was away camping and fishing so she and I got some MUCH needed time together and it was wonderful. We went to the annual Bloomingdale development yard sales and walked for 2 hours, eating egg rolls and buying treasures. The best deal of the day was paint. New tubes of acrylic paint for 2 bucks. deal! Right after the yard sales, we walked across the road to the Landis Woods Art Show. We listened to live jazz, ate chicken corn soup and cookies and browsed the conservative artwork. Tulia told me then and there that it felt like the best day of her life.

My dear sweet sweetheart then decided to use the new paints to make a painting. And here was one of the highlights of my weekend because she was amazing. My mom has been giving her painting lessons recently and so watching her was like watching a mini liliana. She spewed out art philosophies, she stood back and looked, she mixed, she cleaned her brushes with an old rag....I heard her say things like "we don't paint real things, we paint what's inside. I don't really know what I'm painting. Something will just come out of it. Let's take a break so we can see what needs fixing." I was seriously impressed. She wanted me to watch her do it too, which was sweet. I made myself be an observer so as not to influence her work but it was so hard!

Here she is adding some final touches. The rest of the weekend included several walks, the movie "Dolphin Tale" (i cried the whole time), and apple pie for dinner. Seriously minus me being sick with a cold, it was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing daughter and could it be possible? I love love love her even more after this weekend.

End of the Growing Season

2011-09-23T07:47:00.000-05:00

Hello again. Let's talk. Here is a little batch of tomatoes I picked from my garden this week. These have ripened despite the terrible never ending rains we've been having. However, they are all sort of wacky don't you think? Like they've been through alot. Strangely colored and scarred almost like dolphins in the sea. Water has some amazing effects. In fact we found that out first hand in our basement during the floods. Up to my ankles in water...not fun. But it all drained away or evaporated and dried out with a little help from the dehumidifier. So really things are returning to normal even though it's been raining again for the last 3 or 4 days. In a way all this weather drama is like my life lately. Sort of stressy, out of sorts...not quite normal...probably mostly because of the crazy amounts of dental work I'm having done. Does that sound dumb? Well it isn't. I am really nervous at the dentist office and in the past 3 weeks, I've been there 4 times. Plus next week I get my wisdom teeth taken out. It's sort of like doom's day over here in my mouth. But hopefully in another 2 weeks, the clouds will part and the sunny side of life will spill forth and be great again. Until next time,

Cheila

END OF SUMMER COCKTAIL PARTY

2011-09-13T11:19:00.000-05:00

Ok. let me stretch out, sigh and crack my knuckles before beginning our tale. Pictured above is the set up of mixers and some of our snack provisions for our grand finale cocktail party. Last summer it was the "Summer of Wings" and we ended it with a wing-off so naturally this year's "summer of cocktails" should end with a fancy cocktail party right?

One of our British friends informed us that cocktails in general are a VERY American concept and that mostly, Europeans don't really go for cocktails. Like they don't really offer them in EVERY drinking establishment to the degree that we Americans do. I wonder if this is pure BS or if he's right. could it be? I've never been to Europe so I just couldn't say, but if you, the reader have, please leave a comment and let me know.

Alright then. Onto the biz at hand. This is the winner of the night if you ask me. It was made by Courtney and Ryan and included some delicious mango juice, passion fruit rum brought directly from Puerto Rico, mint and chili powder dusted on top. I loved it. Love-loved it. I spoke to several others who agreed it was a great way to start off the night.

Next up, a little number called the "Hummingbird" which was very smoothie tasting. It included such ingredients as fresh bananas, strawberry mixer, rum (?) coffee liquor and sweetened condensed milk. It was definitely a dessert like cocktail, made by Sarah, my dear sweet trainer and friend. Also, just to explain things, each person mixed up a batch of their own cocktail and then made sample sized portions for everyone to be able to try them. GENIUS NO?

You can see there was PLENTY of citrus around. In fact, these lemons made up a fantastic whiskey sour.

Here is Emily drinking one with "extra whiskey".

I think everyone had a great time. My only wish is that I could have spent more individual time with my friends. I kept jumping from one to the next snapping photos and drinking lots of water and sampling when I could.

The night was warm so we lit up the patio and opened the doors. Mr. Brian Keener made some wonderful "Poquito Picantes"

He was quite the pusher, handing me that big glass in the middle then subsequently, more samples before retiring for the night. These little unassuming S.O.Bs. pack an enormous punch including, gin, cointreau, cilantro, cucumber, JALAPENO, lemon and simple syrup. I really love this drink. it reminds me of MRS. Keener who I also love.

There were so many more drinks including a "Dirty Spicy Martini" by Leigh, "Blacksmith Beer cocktails" by Matt, "Concord Grape Cocktails" by John and Mara, the "Affirmative Action" cocktail by Emily and Guy, the "Apple Basil Chili Cocktail" by me and nate, a "Cucumber Peach Cocktail" by keri and jeff and who knows what else.

Oh I remember what else. This one was called "The Anniversary" and I made it to go for Denise because it was her actual anniversary and she was the driver. So, if you read this Denise, I hope it was good the next day.

Here are Nate and I with some of our dearest oldest friends. And for all of you who didn't make it, I am sorry because I am tired of mixing cocktails and of drinking them too. It was fun while it lasted but next summer I need to pick something that is a little healthier for us. Plus I've started to feel a little too "alcoholy". But besides all that, it was fun seeing all my friends together, toasting and being happy and chatting and snacking and mixing and just seeing them all together, like a great cocktail party should be. So, goodbye summer. I will miss you so dearly. but cheers, Autumn. I've missed you too.

SPECIAL WEEKENDING

2011-09-06T18:04:00.000-05:00

This is what you end up with if your mom is named Liliana Arias and it's September.

EEEK! I love PIE!

This is what you end up with if you have a husband who can't sit still and needs to pick grapes and it happens to be September.

See these grapes?

See him carrying them?

This is what my mom remembers from her childhood. Rice cooked in a clumsy metal pot, covered with banana leaves and rocks to hold them down over a wood fire.

the taste was great. and special. and wonderful. and sentimental.

This is what you end up with if you have a cuter than ever daughter who picked herself a big fat apple. or two.

See these 2 big apples?!

This is what happens when there's a hurricane. Tons of this happens. And it's a waste because they don't sell these. and they are PERFECT!

See this hurrican apple damage?

Do you see how happy we are eating apples together?

Vicious apple biting! and it was amazing!

Now we have a million apples and I'll be making pie just like the first photo. See how cyclical life is? do you see?

CANAS AND MORNING GLORIES...a review

2011-09-02T06:45:00.000-05:00

When I come home I enter my sanctuary through a garden gateway....my arbor. I've blogged about this arbor before but I wanted to take a step back and appreciate the progress that took place over one short summer.Let's reflect.
At first it looked like this. Plain white. not much going on. Canas bearly coming up. NO MORNING GLORIES.

My canas took off but mostly just at the top of the steps. I planted them all around my patio but they didn't cooperate fully. You see, canas are little bastards. you just never know what they'll do.

The glories quickly grew to like the arbor. I helped them along by transplanting a few sprouts at the base of the arbor and each day nate and i would gasp at how much they had climbed! You see, morning glories are also little bastards. I would even say EAGER little bastards.

So then it was like a race because the canas were kicking ass! they grew to the height of the arbor!

But then BLAM! The morning glories clustered up and made a fat nest of vines and flowers all over the damn place!

Now the canas are towering over the arbor with big fat tropical leaves and I feel like NOOOoooooooooo don't go! It's almost fall! NOooo. You're too young! It's too sooooon!

Hence the post devoted to my plants. They'll be leaving us soon and it's tearing me up. i suppose I'm also torn up now that nate and tulia are both back at school. It was wonderful having them around all summer and now it feels a little lonely without them. I sort of don't know what to do without them because you see, I'm also a little bit of a bastard.

NATURAL DISASTERS WEEK!

2011-08-31T08:20:00.002-05:00

So last week there was an Earthquake AND a Hurricane. Hello planet earth. Hello people of the world. Start taking care of the environment. If the increasing amount of natural disasters doesn't scream "warning" in YOUR mind, they we are all screwed.
But anyway let me tell you about what we did during the hurricane. We had a sleepover staycation at Denise's house. Nate and Dan flew a kite...like even at night at peak hurricane hour. I thought it was ill advised.

Ads and T were unfazed and played outside in the rain for hours.

In fact, we sort of all checked out and played...clue....

and air hockey!
and my favorite leisurely activity, SITTING on the front porch. In fact, I got in a record amount of sitting on the front porch. It was quite nice until the wind whipped up stinging rain on me.

But good party times ended sadly because when we went home, there were 4 trees and one bush that were damaged on our property. and by damaged, I mean that we had 3 dump truck loads of tree debris to get rid of and that only covered ONE STINKING TREE'S worth so far! This tree came out of the ground and landed in our neighbor's yard.

Another huge limb on our biggest tree, split off and landed right on my dear sweet cherry tree breaking it in half. Another tree by the woods fell on my bushes and another rose of sharon bush was snapped in half. Most of the other neighbors had little to no damage whatsoever. Which sort of makes me....jealous....and pissy that we got hit so hard. We actually had to buy a chainsaw (halfsies with Chad and Jess). So now we are co-owners of a big old saw.
I'd like to just throw this out to the universe....
Ok, please no more disasters for a long long time k?

11 Years and Counting...

2011-08-26T12:09:00.000-05:00

I'm counting because I want to see just how long Nate and I are going to RULE SUPREME in the marriage category. My prediction???? FOREVER. yeah, i said it.
Nate and I had thought of several ideas to celebrate our anniversary last week. This year we wanted to keep it simple. We thought maybe a trip to Philly and a museum...or maybe one great meal at Maison. And since we just got back from Maine, we hadn't even planned anything until 10pm the night before. Which brings me to the uncorking Nate is pictured doing above....In our hotel.

We decided against a fancy restaurant and chose a fancy hotel...plus casual Peruvian food. And by fancy I mean right downtown in our fair city of Lancaster PA.

The room was hella ROOMY! and modern and comfy and perfectly wonderful.

WHen we first arrived, we watched a thunderstorm complete with lighting at eye level from 15 floors up. And guess what?! when you're that high up you can see how the wind whips the rain upward in great gusts. THAT was awesome. Later when it stopped raining we hit the streets for some excellent latin food at La Costena and then hit up a great outdoor hipster country music/bluegrass concert right across from bins park. It was great being "away" and being so close to home.
***shout outs to the burkholders for watching tulia and pb***

The next morning we slept in and ate an amazing breakfast at the Penn Grille downstairs. We watched all kinds of cable tv and sighed at our gloriously sunny view. The Historic brick filled city filled with trees and tons of charm really struck us from up high. We were smitten with Lancaster, yet again. Happy Anniversary Nate. I love you.

VINYL BRUNCH CLUB~ Episode 8 at Keri and Jeff's NEW HOUSE!

2011-08-21T10:40:00.000-05:00

So here's the sad news before I tell all the excellent news. Ok. Brace Yourselves. There was NO BRUNCH NOR VINYL. We settled on 2pm and the record player was busted. But that's totally ok. You see we've been on VBC hiatus and it felt so over the top wonderful to be around some of my favorite friends that my heart was welling up. When I took the above photo I almost got misty with sentimental wonderfulness because i love these people and we were all eating so deliciously together under the trees and our 11 count total of children were running around the farm out of sight and not bothering ANY OF US!

The Theme was LEMON LIME. I made a spanish potato salad with lemon, herbs, cumin, chili peppers and olives. DELISH.

Mara made lemon bars that ruled and a wonderful lemon slaw.

Fancy granny Brandy made a lovely lime tart that made mouths super happy.

Orange Lemon Lime Tonics were sipped by everyone .

in cool bottle glasses.

Here is Keri and Stella in their dining area. Notice all the space in the background. I love their new house!

Outside you see the barn and other great buildings of the neighbors who happen to be Keri's cousins. It's such an enchanting property. We could have stayed all day. Oh yeah, we did. Nate and i were the last to leave sometime around 9:30 i think.

I had to snap a photo of Keri in front of the kiln she MADE when she was younger. She's already an amazing potter but I'm imagining her being amazing plus amazing with the space and time that this new move has given her.

Look at how relaxed we got! Chad took the cake for ultimate relaxation posture.

Charming.

although you can't see it, Brian's t-shirt has a record player on it. The only vinyl of the day. oh and in Olivia's arms is BLACKO. yes BLACK-O.

Little eleni.

oh yeah, and we found a recipe for Yucca Lime chips and made a huge batch for the tons of guacamole that was served. TAAAASTY!

kids.

more kids. my dear darling soon to be first grader and eleni. I can't believe summer is almost over. Thank You Jeff and Keri for giving us one of the best VBC get togethers yet. love you all. sincerely i do.

I was in MAINE last week!!

2011-08-16T15:22:00.003-05:00

And here are some of my favorite shots. please enjoy. and enjoy life.

Bathroom Renovation and FP (front porch) Spruce Up!

2011-08-01T08:07:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, the bathroom/laundry room looked like hell...except for those darling curtains I made ;)

sticky tiles on the floor, ugly paneling on the walls, dark red and tan trim paint. not my cup of tea at all. In fact, Nate and I had the same vision for this room. Our ugly laundry room just felt dirty all the darn time. SO...our vision was white. bright white. GLEAMING white. which made things super easy as far as painting. HOWEVER, we did this over the weekend on those 100 degree days and let's just say it was grueling. I think my whining about the job may have only been exceeded by the tremendous amounts of sweat I was dripping.

But look at the results! Fresh beadboard, white paint for the trim, fresh white coats of paint on the ceiling and whew! this place feels fresh like bleach!

The photos were sort of difficult to take since it's such a small room. I didn't include the utility sink, because it's still ugly and stained. Nate and I are imagining a metal sink at some point. but who knows. and as far as the floor goes....

just don't look down! it's in terrible shape. peeling those stupid sticky tiles was torture....and it was my idea. in hindsight, we shouldn't have taken them off just yet. they were tolerable at least. But hey, maybe the ugliness will give us a push to get real tile in there sooner

In other news, we're continuing the FP spruce up. I got this cute little rug at Ross and mom gave me this patio set that she had recovered last year. It's added comfort and dimension to the porch and we are spending record amounts of time out there. New furniture combined with the ceiling fan has us all feeling like front porch junkies.

Take a peek at the before set up. The porch swing took up all the room!

now, even though there's sort of a crazy amount of furniture on my porch, it seems bigger. Notice the swing on the far end? it's a vacation scene out there and it's a happy thing.

Hey Guess What? Surprises, Flowers, Peppers and Renovations, That's What!

2011-07-29T08:27:00.001-05:00

You'll never guess what this handsome devil did with our gorgeous daughter last week.

Here's a little hint.

and here is the full hint. HOmemade ROOTBEER! Perfect for picnic lunches at Landis Woods. A "vacation everyday" sort of activity.

Even Peanut Butter Huettner liked it. Tulia shared hers with him and put that bottle right back into her mouth to finish it up, despite my requests to the contrary. In fact she popped that soda right back in her mouth while looking right in my eyes and smiled.

Now let's talk flowers. They've been suffering alot lately. no amount of water has been able to quench their thirst like a real rain. Luckily it rained 2 times this week including one downpour which made my flowers smiley again. Also i know many people hate morning glories because they are impossible to get rid of and they strangle everything in site, but i'm crazy about them climbing inches a day up my arbor giving me presents of deep purple blooms each morning. i really love that.

i mean come on.

Ok moving on, peppers. These will be nice red peppers soon and i kind of want to roast them and maybe freeze some so that i can use them at any time in the future. Yeah, but knowing me, I won't be able to do that. I'll need to appreciate them as they are. fresh and perfect.

Speaking of fresh and perfect, check out the hot pepper crop. I've got jalapenos and cayenne and a TON of habaneros. Spicy times coming up soon. WOOO HOOOO!

And finally, bathroom/laundry room upgrade. Here is a before shot. Nate has decided to keep plugging away with renovations and spruce up the downstairs bathroom. The gross paneling and ugly ass wallpaper had to go. HAD TO. New Bead Board and white paint for the red trim will really make a difference i think. Someday we'll tile it too.

Here's a small hint of what it will look like. I'm being assigned to paint the red today. Wish me luck. It's a darn hot sticky day for painting.

All sorts of things and SUMMER OF COCKTAILS again

2011-07-26T09:17:00.001-05:00

So the groundhog didn't eat my ONE squash that actually grew despite constant attacks to all things squashy. and the tomatoes are ripening on the vine like mad. we've been eating tomato sandwiches on white bread with mayo non stop. I'm only now just starting to think we should maybe make something different with them.

The recent heatwave has been a MUTHA! So we spent our vacation weekend with the King-Martins at home instead of at the beach camping. Above is a sweet little note chart on the vintage autoharp the girls were playing with. Super sweet.

There was very good homebrew and lots of (yes too much) junk food.

we mixed up a drink so as to stay true to our commitment to the cocktail. This one was a lemonade/watermelon blend.

Last week we found Yerba Mate soda at cheapo Amelias grocery. It's like Brazilian tea or some darn thing. I remember my dad bringing it home with a mate gourd vessel and metal straw contraption to drink it out of long ago when we were little. Anyway, the soda is pretty cool. Its got that latin soda taste that you can't quite duplicate or compare to any American brand. It was mixed with rum and lime and was mighty refreshing on the rocks...but perhaps a tad too sweet for me and nate.

During the mixing of the yerba mate drink, we decided to infuse some vodka with ginger for future use. My original idea was to make a molasses cocktail with ginger infused vodka and then perhaps add cream or something to mimic a ginger molasses cupcake. BUT we had a ripe plum in the fridge and i thought ginger and plum would also be very tasty, sooooo I made this one. Btw, ginger infusion was simple. In fact, all infusion is simple. Just slice up some ginger and soak it in vodka or slightly smush up some fruit and do the same. they say a couple weeks for a whole bottle but we just put some in a jar and it took 2 days for it to be almost TOO gingery...which could be remedied easily by adding less.
By now you must be thinking, JEEZ guys! you're soooo into this cocktail thing! BUT, I must just say, I'm sort of sick of cocktails. I know it sounds like a crime but I am. Since we've been making them so much, I feel a little too "DRINKY" and not quite impressed with the spontaneous drinks i've been conjuring up. Dare I say "BORED" with cocktails? How super snobby is that?! But really, too many cocktails makes fancy cocktails not special anymore. Nate and I agreed sunday night that we need a cocktail break. so we'll be slowing down a bit on the mixing. it's for our own good. plus we don't want to turn into alcoholics.

WHAT'S BEEN GOIN' DOWN

2011-07-19T19:41:00.000-05:00

Hello Lancaster Pennsylvania! Let me be a bit blunt and just say that we have been eating GOD DAMN good up in this house lately and it's all due to the bounty of the county. CAN I GET A WITNESS!

Last year our tomato crop was hit with some terrible blossom rot etc so imagine our joy when now that we're bombarded daily by RICH, (sigh), JUICY, SWEEEEEET tomatoes. I pick them each day. We eat them EVERY DAY. and i'm not sick of them AT ALL. and that's amazing considering that I wasn't always a tomato fan.

Tyler Florence has a pretty damn excellent recipe on the food network site for fried green tomatoes using corn meal. We grated parmesan cheese on them and used lime and a fresh mexican red sauce to compliment these bad boys. BEST fried greens EVER.

Now on to the block party. It was bigger and better than last year for sure and the neighbors came together to celebrate summer and for many to meet each other for the first time. It felt pretty rewarding to be the organizer. Pictured above is my fantastic co-captain. I love her dearly.

plus don't we look cute side by side?

The kids had a wonderful time with punch balloons.

The New Yorkers all sat together and the fun lasted into the evening.

and by evening, I mean till almost 2am! SHEESH! what a party!

but don't worry, I'm not burnt out on cocktails just yet. I managed a cucumber, cantaloupe, mint ditty at some point this weekend.

ALSO in still OTHER news, my flowers are amazing. These are cornflowers, aka bachelor's buttons. I ADORE these. AND the amazing part is.... I DID NOT PLANT THESE! WHAT!??? Yep, a gift from nature as my friend Denise would say.

We're harvesting candy onions much to my sheer delight.

and just in case you wanted your socks to be knocked off, here is an old pumpkin shell that i smashed only to find seedlings sprouting out of. so ive been watering them and i think we just might get some pumpkin action out of them!

Lastly, my stargazer lilies are blooming. Plus, i think July is going to be a great month. Some great things have been happening and I have hope in this crazy world that wounds can heal and neighborhoods can come together and that somehow, these summer nights and hot steamy days should be cherished. Instead of staying in tonight, I think I'll sit in the dark with nate and enjoy my life....here on lititz pike and cozy up with some fireflies and night breezes. g'night.

HEY! GUESS WHAT!?

2011-07-15T11:26:00.003-05:00

Every time I get a box of junior mints candies, I eat them all. Almost all at one sitting. Because i can't stop eating them. It's one of the few candies that never gets old. Even when i really don't want anymore, I will eat them until there ARE no more. now you know.

FTW Dinner Party

2011-07-11T12:45:00.007-05:00

Saturday night Nate and I got dressed up with 4 other couples and cooked our asses off. The fancy dinner party was a grand slam if you ask me, and I'm no baseball fan so forgive me borrowing the sports term. I shan't sports talk again. We kicked off the cocktail hour with the watermelon birthday party cocktail from my previous post. Ryan took all the photos with his impressive camera. Thanks to him for all the photos in this post!

CHEESE glorious Cheese. Nate made french spiral cracker loaves of bread. Crusty and salty. Perfect for the cheeses I picked out. Linden Dale Farms Chive Chevre which I rolled in fresh herbs, Buttermilk Blue, Rembrandt Gouda and a White Sharp Cheddar. We also placed some guava paste and fresh cherries out for nibblin' hour.

The first course was a plate of grilled platanos (very sweet and ripe and from COLOMBIA!) topped with my fresh Colombian Salsita.

2nd was a watermelon and avocado salad. You might remember this from the dinner I made for my mommy. It's popular in this house.

The main course was Seared Scallops and Shrimp with Red Pepper and Yellow Summer Squash topped with a Fresh Mango Mint Chutney all resting in a Tangy Pureed Cilantro Sauce. I have to say Nate and I have come a long way since our first days in the kitchen where we bickered over who made what. We worked it out together and prepared so much in advance that our courses were only a matter of tossing ingredients together, cooking, seasoning and plating.

Here i am offering a toast to the guests in my apron...note to self, TAKE OFF YOUR APRON CHEILA!

Look at these 2 art teachers!

and lastly look at the glossy pool of boozy rum flan that ended our night just right. Nate happens to be a magnificent flan maker. I have never even tried to make it because there is no need to mess with flan destiny. I really don't ever think it will be necessary.

In fact one person enjoyed this flan so much that he ate 3 slices. WHOA! that's a flan fan. The next morning I woke up with a terrible sore throat. One that closes your throat so tightly with inflamation that it makes life miserable. HOWEVER, Nate and I were so wildly pleased about how smooth the dinner party went that my sickness was backburner to our satisfaction. And that is a true victory flag. We're grown ups, cooking like we mean it and with our whole hearts for great people who love and appreciate food...and forgive me if i'm wrong but I think times like these are the spice of life.

SUMMER OF COCKTAILS~ WATERMELON BIRTHDAY PARTY!

2011-07-07T20:58:00.000-05:00

Here is the drink that speaks SUMMER! and since it is Nate's birthday, it also speaks Birthday Party!

Nate suggested that we sink the garnish into the glass. I guess he was dead wrong.

The most wonderful thing other than the refreshing watermelon qualities is the chili rim. We loved this. our chili of choice is this little packet which is not a super severely spicy chili...perfect for a little kick in each sip only not a super drop kick, if you know what i mean.
We'll be serving these up this weekend for some friends that are coming over for a fancy dinner. More on that in another post if i get photos. until then cheers.
2 oz tequila
1/2 oz gran marnier OR jalepeno infused Cointreau
1/2 oz simple syrup
lime juice
muddled watermelon
shaken over ice and strained.
chili rim
watermelon slice garnish

Why Don't You Like Longwood Gardens?

2011-07-05T18:53:00.000-05:00

Why?

Is it because these flowers are too painful to leave behind?

Is it because you've been blown away too much by nature's gorgeous flower miracles?

Is it because your children's sense of wonder takes your breath away like me?

IS it because the bathrooms are personal one room bathrooms in a hallway lined with plants and ferns?

Maybe you're scared of the treehouse beehouse?

Well those reasons aren't good enough. Longwood Gardens is like paradise. My daughter told me so. And i believe her.
Now let's toast. thank you. good freaking day.

SUMMER OF COCKTAILS~ Lovely Hours at the Courtneys

2011-07-01T16:04:00.001-05:00

Once upon a time there was an especially nice and long lovely hour. In fact it started a little later than planned and ended MUCH later than planned. Mostly because, well, you see, the Courtneys mix stiff drinks.

Courtney made a really tasty and refreshing drink with Limoncello and sparkling white wine and threw in some crushed red raspberries for the win. One word sum up? Lovely.

Teagan and Tulia put on a fashion show which then turned into a dance show. too cute.

Nate took a much needed break from terrible grad class work and relaxed for the evening.

The glasses clinked, the company was great.

It was a great kick back to kick off the holiday weekend.

With sparklers

and even smores. wonderful enjoyment. thanks courtneys.

Pianos in Lancaster

2011-06-28T12:16:00.001-05:00

Today I had to go into the city to cash some checks and while I was at it, I stopped at market because let's face it, we've been eating like CRAP around here. A delightful surprise was waiting for me around the bend. In fact, before i even saw him, i heard his thunderously bluesy voice bouncing off the historic brick walls of our dear lancaster central market.

The music for everyone pianos are back (much fewer to my dismay) and this is the second time I've witnessed beautiful music making on the city pianos. A few weeks back we drove by a family who was playing an improvised Beethoven piece. a little family. it totally shocked me that they were young and in the hood and playing classical music. what a treat.

But back to Benjamin. That's his name. I listened for a long time and i dropped a couple bucks in his glass bowl after talking to him about music and telling him how great he was. Too bad he's not from here. I'd go see him play anywhere in a hot minute. Of course he's not from here. For sure from another world. His music drew huge crowds because his voice was strong and pure and LOUD and awesome and it almost commanded people to stop and pay attention....and that's what real music is about. I'm so glad people gave a damn enough to listen rather than walk by. It was my best market experience yet. definitely music therapy for the common man and woman.

SUMMER OF COCKTAILS~ HONEY LAVENDER SIDECAR

2011-06-24T12:51:00.006-05:00

sOOO. Let me introduce you to my little cocktail girlfriend. her name is Honey Lavender Sidecar (insert fireworks and applause).

Just a few hours ago our friends Jess and Chad came over fulfilling our weekly commitment to the drink. Jess captured the making of our latest cocktail creation as I mixed only two at a time, for authenticity.

Here I am adding bitters to the sweet and lovely dream-boat HLS (honey lavender sidecar).

So where did we get the idea for this one? Lots of chit chatting, lots of brainstorming, lots of book looking and a little internetting. It all came together when we found a recipe for Lavendar honey syrup and I knew it was going to be a little somthing special. Like I almost want to put high heels on this cocktail and go out on a date with her. except I'm not gay and you can't go on dates with mixed drinks. let's just say she's a classy lady of a drink.

mostly because of Gran Marnier and Galliano.

the cheers pic was irresitable. As you can see, the sweet pea blossoms were brighter but that's only because the above photo was made yesterday as a trial run and the day old sweet pea blossom in my window sill had faded into a perfect lavender shade. I have to admit that a faded sweet pea garnish sort of made me feel clever.

afternoon cheers on a friday before both families go on their respective vacations. They are Finger Lake bound and we are beach bound. so we talked about that and then about philosophical topics such as the human mind, human conflicts and their relation to creative thinking and art making. I love these two. they make me feel like we're talking about really meaningful things. which we are.

Tulia and Esme were too busy bursting water balloons to be photographed easily. Meanwhile Eleni charmed us with her interest in sweet pea flowers... To be continued next week.

Please do enjoy one of these asap. I have to say, it was really something special. I'd serve it with something salty or tart or as a dessert drink.

Honey Lavender Sidecar (makes 2 drinks)

2 shots of Gran Marnier, plus a splash more.

Juice from ½ a lemon

A good splash of Galliano (not too much)

1 ½ shots of lavender honey syrup

Dash of bitters

Shake vigorously in an ice filled shaker and strain into to a shallow ice-filled fancy glass.

Honey Lavender Syrup

Make one cup of water hot enough to brew ½ a handful of fresh lavender in it. Add ½ cup of honey to it. Done.

PISTACHIO ICECREAM UNCUT FOOTAGE!!!!!

2011-06-22T12:54:00.004-05:00

ok, Take a LOOK! you see, this is the Hollywood photo. all nice and pretty and bright and perfect and delicious and Bloggy. soak it up cuz there aren't any other polished photos in the rest of this entry!!! What you are looking at is Pistachio Gelato/Vanilla Ice cream...I'll explain the combo later.

Let me introduce you to the ice cream makers. Nate and Me. and the photographer for everything else below (other than a shot of the pistachio paste) is my 6 year old Tulia.

I wish the lighting had been better because she got some really cool shots. but the blurry took over. BUT, don't worry about that ok? Now, are you itching to make pistachio ice cream? cuz we were. but we don't have it down pat yet. there are several trouble spots. First of all we needed pistachio paste in a hurry and there was none. anywhere. so i made some. GASP! yep, totes did. and it was awesome. and i made exactly the right amount. somehow! So go get a 6$ bag of pistachios and start shelling.

then while you shell, tell someone to go get the icecream machine out of the basement because Tis the Season to dust it off.

ok, so look behind nate's tattoo and notice the ihome i scored on ebay. i love it and we just installed it yesterday. double yay!

oh and if you ever thought i was too fancy for my own good, look at this shot. I am scumbly. sticky in the humidity and i hadn't changed out of my 6am gym clothes. picture taken around 2pm. ew. un-fancy!

don't forget your ice cream cones OR whole milk OR half and half. you'll need all that and eggs too.

also, get the big bag of ice. it's worth it. you'll use it up in a flash.

NOW, before it's too late.

Go here for the Pistachio Gelato recipe. you know who will be there.

then look up any old vanilla ice cream recipe online or use your favorite one.

then do something different than we did.

You see, when we made the gelato, we found that it was TOO pistachio-y. like way too much. could it be my crazy homemade pistachio paste? probably. so instead of eating concentrated gelato, we diluted it with another batch of plain and sweet vanilla ice cream.

To summarize there is 1 problem and 1 major plus:

Problem= It never really froze properly. I don't know if it's good policy to blend ice cream and Gelato.

Plus= The result is SO F-ING GOOD that it doesn't even matter how frozen it is. I could eat it all day long, at dusk, into the evening, throughout the night and then again at dawn and then repeat that infinitely.

so do what you will.

and if you wanted to see the paste, this was it.

1/3 c pistachios

1/3 c powdered sugar (but use less. this was too sweet)

2 tablespoons of water added after the first two are processed to almost a powder.

k.thanks.bye.

Mint Juleps Pack a PUNCH!

2011-06-21T07:36:00.004-05:00

When you hear of a mint julep don't you sort of think southern belle, front porch, plantation mint on the plantation in Georgia or somewhere? Maybe a lady and gentleman sipping on loungy chairs in white clothes and big hats? So in my mind, the mint juelp was going to be like drinking a little peppermint candy. sweet. minty. refreshing. light. not too hefty and so on.

HOWEVER, when I found out that basically all a mint julep consists of is WHISKEY...well it was another story.

Jessica did a fantastic job of choosing the drink and compiling the ingredients. She even instructed us to wear white for God's sake!

Here was the test run. a loaded clay tumbler filled with much much wiskey, ice, sugar and muddled mint.

chad made us cucumber strawberry sandwiches much to my hand clapping delight.

then we toasted to the first of many summer cocktails together.

and what could have been more perfect than a BUTTERY pecan pie from the plainly named "The Bakery" in remote Lititz, PA?

The afternoon ended with a garden tour that made me almost freak out with awe. The Alley Garden is in high gear this year and it shows. I can't tell you how cool it is to see a huge community garden in the hood. I will also tell you that Jessica King is a really awesome Julep gardener. She was digging up garlic in her white clothes and kissing the bulbs.

the kissing photo was actually too blurry to post. probably because i was laughing and a little minty.

PARIS? oh please oh please

2011-06-16T13:22:00.002-05:00

want to win a trip to paris? so do i!
http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to Publish Post-paris/

NEW SUMMER THEME~ THE SUMMER OF COCKTAILS

2011-06-15T12:14:00.004-05:00

In addition to our new "Vacation Everyday" mentality (which by the way is really awesome), we've decided that documenting our cocktail concoctions just might be the best idea for this summer's new theme.

Plus a little strawberry, mango, mint and lemon margarita at lunch can't do you wrong...especially with a repeat of yesterday's sandwich and a front porch for premium lunching. I should also announce that my friends Jess and Chad shall be joining us for the cocktail summer. We've agreed to sip weekly...not to a ridiculous level mind you, but to experiment and have fun making really tasty drinks.

I leave you now with puppy dog eye candy. his head is resting on the front porch table. oh he's a special little prince.

Sandwiches Just Got MORE Enticing!

2011-06-14T11:50:00.005-05:00

I have been sort of dying to pickle....well pickle EVERYTHING. but i wanted to pickle onions first because of a series of toasts that are in the latest Bon Appetit Magazine. One of the toasts boasted smoked trout, creme fraiche and pickled onion...MMMM! So after googling pickled onion who did i happen upon but the NOTORIOUS David Lebovitz who pickled onions years ago on his blog and happened to have a really easy recipe.

I didn't actually have a whole red onion so i sliced up 1/2 of a red one then searched in my fridge for one of the countless onion halves i always have hiding in drawers and on shelves. One onion basically fills a small jar and it keeps for months, so they say.

But I doubt these will last. In fact after some mayo, turkey, cheddar cheese, basil, parsley and sundried tomatoes, the few slices shown above just weren't enough. I piled them on high and I sort of felt like I was eating a brand new sandwich, like maybe one that was wrapped in paper and left under the christmas tree....and kept in a cooler for freshness. hot damn it was good.

The LOVELY Hour

2011-06-08T17:28:00.002-05:00

My dear husband fixed our grill much to my relief. Tonight is one of those really terrible hot nights and cooking inside just would NEVER do. PLUS, we have wings to cook. So while I was in my last music therapy session of the night, I started thinking about grilling and possibly having a "Stringer Bell" cocktail.

A low budget version no doubt since who happens to have Gran Marnier on hand other than my mother? Triple sec instead.

It's a tad too lemony but it's ok. I'm about to enjoy the "lovely hour" before dinner with Nate patio-side. A term introduced to me by my great friend Courtney who told me a story about Fire Island (i think?) where the rich dilly dally all day and at dusk retire to their homes to spark it up with a proper stiff cocktail before dinner. Courtney and I talked about adopting the term and the mentality of the lovely hour for our own. Nate and I talked about it just now saying hmmm, doesn't it sort of feel like a vacation day? and why shouldn't it? we're so happy tonight, just us, toasting the lovely in our lives. We've decided to make as many days as possible feel like summer vacation. Many people followed our "Summer of Wings" theme last year. Perhaps this year will be the summer of "Vacation Everyday". who knows. i might change my mind tomorrow. until then, chill a glass and enjoy a low budget Stringer Bell too.

Blueberry Vodka

Triple Sec

Fresh Lemon Juice

Powdered Sugar

and blackberries

WHAAAAAAAT?

2011-06-02T20:02:00.004-05:00

So there are things o' joy to report and some catastrophic terrrible things to report. Yes, Terrrible with 3 R's. First of all let's start with the good news. I can't believe this one. The other day nate came home and I was in a terrible mood. TeRRRible. and he had a trunk full of crap from his mom's house. so that made things worse. i hate clutter. and crap. BUT this time he had one good crap item. in fact, it's not crap at all. A ceiling fan. AND the best part about this fan is that we put it on the front porch ceiling. LET ME TELL YOU THIS...it's the best thing ever. It fans away bugs, it's elevated the porch experience exponentially i tell you!! wooo hooo ceiling fan. and then nate folded his arms and said..mmmm hmmm. told ya.

Now on to the TeRRRible news. So our garden is awesome. BUT we have a groundhog that lives in our neighbor's yard. AND HE EATS ALL OF OUR GODDAMN VEGETABLES! its so maddening that nate has suggested killing it which i refuse to do. i just won't. SO...I've had to get creative. After a cayenne pepper solution spray around and ON the plants (which FAILED) we tried better fencing supports (which failed). So today I tried, at my mom's suggestion, a radio of all things. I put tulia's tropicana orange shaped radio in the garden and so far the terrrible beast is staying out. The true test will be tomorrow. I've turned it off for the night. we shall see. So instead of picking a little lettuce here and there, I've picked whole heads.

because i love my lettuce and that groundhog can't hog it all.

let's go back to the ceiling fan. I sat under it last night and typed my progress notes for work. it was seriously enjoyable.

phew. the end.

My Mommy Turned 60!

2011-05-27T12:07:00.010-05:00

My mom Maria Lilia Arias turned 60 on Wednesday. The photo above was the beginning of our evening of eating. In addition, I spun a sick soundtrack of my mom's favorite records from when I was young including Andres Segovia, Joni Mitchell and Colombian Cubias.

My sis made the cake in true Liliana style and it was fantastic. Raspberry mousse layer cake with chocolate ganache and fresh red raspberries on top. DE-LISH!

and speaking of berries, here are the little gems of the evening. I bought two containers of these at Kreider farms around the corner. and here is the thing. I've been waiting all year to eat these. the farm ONLY sells strawberries as a side business and they are the most wonderful sweet and juicy things ever. My heart skipped a beat this week when i saw the sign up saying they were up and running. There are two problems with Kreider strawberries though. The first is that they cost 6 dollars a box and i don't care...I will spend 1o dollars a box if need be. which adds up. Secondly, you are RUINED for any other strawberries. RUINED. none can compare.

but just look at my smile. don't you think it's worth it? i mean really.

Next up was our Avocado and watermelon salad topped with fresh herbs and a balsamic dressing.

I loved it. Generally I cringe at the thought of the local dutch folk here in Lancaster sprinkling salt on their watermelons and cantaloupes as a general practice, but with avocado bringing up the rear, it all seemed right.

Third was a small plate of crispy chickpeas with a side car of tangy lemony sour cream sauce to cut the spice.

We nibbled away for hours I think. In fact, I planned it that way so that we could cook, eat, enjoy, then cook again. I think it makes the meal more enjoyable in that the hosts can rest a little between courses.

Fourth was a roasted asparagus and curried shrimp dish. My mommy loves shrimp so this one was especially for her.

Peanut Butter Huettner was underfoot and under the table begging as usual. During dinner we all told a story about our childhood. Nate started it off by telling us about the time he got is arm caught in an old wringer washer. OUCH. Russell told a story about jumping off of two story high hay bales in the barn. Mellie told a story about a bird she and Russell caught and I told a story about catching snakes with my dad. By the time we got around the table for my mom's turn, tulia managed to lose her cool with her scooter and slammed into the table accidentally smashing a glass right onto my mom's leg causing her to bleed. WHOA. what was that about?

Don't worry, she's fine and she got to eat these wings before the event occurred.

Now cleanse your blog reading palate with this pic. I think this is an insanely funny photo of nate. I caught him pre-bite and the look he's giving is so hysterical to me.

The dinner ended nicely with a song, candles and my mom who stopped us all so she could think of a good wish. I'm so glad we did this for her. I think I had as much fun as she did and I'm so glad about it.

Do you like my Arbor?

2011-05-25T07:13:00.002-05:00

i got this arbor at a yard sale. i turned the corner at the sign and i said to nate, hey, maybe they have an arbor for sale. then THEY DID!

So i shall harbor a rose bush aside my arbor.

I might drink arbor mist under my arbor.

I will walk through it and feel like i'm entering something. which i am. and will be.

DUDE, WHERE'S MY GARDEN?

2011-05-20T08:05:00.004-05:00

we have peas that are climbing!

full on view of the two.

beginning of our bamboo support efforts.

tulia's garden corner. berries, lettuce and tomatoes.

our tomatoes!

cats like to scratch within the garden perimeter.

beginning of our carrot patch!

lettuce and dirty fingernails.

the overgrown but promising beginning of the "garden beautification area"

Even our grass is growing. and why shouldn't it? it's been raining non-stop for an entire week.

GRILLED VINYL BRUNCH 7~Mara & John's House

2011-05-15T18:26:00.008-05:00

Whoa nelly! What fun we had at the 7th edition of the Vinyl Brunch Club!

I didn't get to peruse the record collection this time around but I managed a quick photo of it and we were plenty pleased with the selection of great vinyl.

In attendance were 4 families including 9 children total. Does it sound chaotic? No, it was flawless. Keri and I are smiling proof.

I walked on the scene in a grouchy mood (pre brunch cranky times) but soon indulged in some

great snacks and a tasty blueberry drink made by nate.

The McGrann's proudly displayed their kick ass table,

their green egg,

and ULTRA comfortable vintage lawn furniture.

after setting the table

and cooking some grilled cheeses for the kids,

there was a nicoise salad with grilled Tuna...YUM!

A dessert of grilled plantains with a salted butter rum raisin sauce over icecream was our last course and really did me in. I loved it. I'd been craving rum raisin anything for such a long time. sincerely. it hit the spot.

Here are the plantain leftovers being passed around once more.

happy nate and the rest of the crew debated what to do for the next round in June and i'm excited to say that some excellent ideas were tossed around. I won't say just what, but if we can pull off next month's idea, this could be the best vinyl brunch ever.

Here we are posing for the camera at end of a fantastic day. I'm so glad we have continually committed to the brunch club. It gives me the perfect reason to keep in touch with some of the greatest people I know while eating and listening to music. win-win-win. Vinyl brunch club gives the McGrann's and A++!!!

EVERYONE'S Got An Attitude On Mother's Day

2011-05-12T07:30:00.000-05:00

ONCE upon a time on MOther's Day Sunday, the whole family got together for late lunch on the patio which turned into lunch until 7pm. We had a great time but after looking over the shots i took that day i noticed that all the characters in my family, including me, had expressed a little "tude" in the photos. Here is Russell holding an open flame towards Tulia. Actually she took alot of the people shots.

My mom always grimaces and squints in photos anticipating a flash as it really bothers her glaucoma, but here she is sort of smirking with a raised eyebrow which i thought was sort of funny and attitude-ish.

HOw many forehead lines can you count? 35? cuz that's how old i am.

what about nate? why isn't he smiling? he smiles 97% of his waking life? Attitude.

WHAT? Tulia? you too?

I present you with the pursed lipped Micaela who's got plenty of sass.

even peanut butter huettner sort of looks like he's had it.

BUT...actually there wasn't really any attitude at all...nothing out of the ordinary that is. We've got so much comradery these days. it's great. Here is a photo of mom cheering on Tulia and Russy on a sit down skateboard ride. Not pictured are the wounded knees, ankles and feet of nate and mellie who BOTH fell off the board.

there was RICE! of course there was.

there was strawberry rhubarb pie for god's sake!

there were my favorite stuffed mushrooms!

and there was simcoe. great mother's day with the family for sure.

the end.

It's Barely MAY

2011-05-03T13:57:00.003-05:00

I met the season of Spring face to face and we've become best friends. My Strawberry patch told me so.

So let me show and tell about all the hard yard work i've been doing and let me also say that i've been dreaming about what to do with it next. like gazebo in the woods, swings in the trees etc... For now the back bed is a blanket of phlox, azaleas lilies and other pretties.

the garden got a head start and we're currently growing onions, peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes, squash, peas, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers and herbs.

my herbs are always closer to the house for cooking purposes. I've got them right outside the back door. Parsley, sage, thyme, oregano, cilantro and chives....basil, dill and lavender coming soon.

the tramping of our grass via recurring doggy potty breaks left us a little disheartened. You see, we've never been able to grow grass ever. In the city it was impossible. we had no sun. I've only just started to pay attention to what good grass can look like now that i can grow it. Nate planted some seed a few weeks ago and look at it now. who knew!!!

I'd also like to take a minute to introduce the blog world to my new umbrella. My neighbors GAVE this to us. It's bigger and better than any umbrella i've ever owned and it's perfect for the patio. Perfect i say. it gets mighty sunny out there and the more shade the better. what an amazing surprise to say the least!

And lastly let me admit that trips to my favorite greenhouse Shenks have been another guilty pleasure this Spring. My patio urns are set. Let's watch them fill out till october. In fact, let's sip a chilly white wine some time out there and call it a night.

YARD SALE

2011-05-01T09:12:00.005-05:00

First off let me have a "Landis View" correction from my last post. This is the current blooming view and I plan to drink my second cup of coffee looking at it in a few minutes.

So now on to the yard sale.

About 7 families came together with our junk and we all sold it at the Peach House right next to the church on our road. Mr. and Mrs. Gaston were great sports! The location was perfect and we all sold some stuff before getting rid of ALL of it via Ed Diaz's van trip to the good will.

My dear tulia was a bake sale soldier. She came up with the idea of doing a lemonade sale for charity but it morphed into a bake sale to benefit a student from their Elementary School who is going through medical struggles.

This part was the most gratifying to me. Having the kids do something charitable and meaningful together as neighbors was so sweet to see. I told them over and over how proud I was that they were donating all the money and how important it was.

My spontaneous family decided to join us for the sale and their company was so much fun.

Also representing were Ed and Aida

Sarah and her boyfriend

and sweet Emily just to name a few.

In the end I didn't make a fortune and I didn't expect to. I was mostly happy to have all of us together doing something as a neighborhood and I think alot of the neighbors felt the same. AND i was happy to get rid of two car loads of JUNK!!! Next up Block Party?? we shall see.

APRIL

2011-04-27T07:45:00.008-05:00

This tornado weather is a little insane isn't it? These clouds rolled in just as i was getting some photos to go with this post. Alas I'll have to take more when the rain stops which should be today! This weekend is supposed to kick ass in the sun and should be perfect for our neighborhood yardsale. Can't wait to get rid.

As I was saying..this post is about the magnificence of spring and the real joy i find in being outside in my yard. my dogwoods bloomed this week and they are perfect i tell you.

the side of my house is so darn cute. i need to organize my beds a little though because the perennials have spread in crazy directions and are taking over where they should not. I noticed that there is a vine-like plant whose name i can't remember that is all over the ground so i'll be transplanting those to hopefully cascade over the patio wall near our table.

This year the flowers are knocking my socks off. ,

I am in awe of my tulips and hyacinth, my forsythia and the daffodils all of which are now fading making room for the peonies which are filling out, the cherry tree that is blooming and the phlox in the back yard that is busting with lavender flowers. Hello. cheila? the garden nerd society just called. they want their president back.

We've been spending alot of time on the front porch because the "Landis View" is just amazing. The red buds are in bloom across the street and the grass is kicking it's green self up in style.

In addition, the garden is off to a great start. Nate planted 70-something lettuce plants yesterday and i went ahead and put in the tomatoes, onions and peppers. Carrots and peas are also in. In addition to the addition, there is a great strawberry patch and a new fleet of about 10 THORNLESS raspberry plants that went in. I've been moving plants around, splitting up hostas and weeding like mad. I'm so happy in the soil. truly. It feels awesome. Perhaps one of the most gratifying feelings is too look at a blooming and tidy flower bed. now if i can only stay away from all the easter candy binging.

All i blog about is food

2011-04-14T08:01:00.003-05:00

The front porch is a favorite place of ours to eat dinner. As you can see, the view is awesome. we look out onto landis woods and it's a sweet dream. BUT it is ALSO right on top of Lititz Pike, one of the, if not THE most traveled roads at dinner time. it's so loud that it sort of cramps our dinner time on the porch style...but not enough to stop dining there.

On Monday it was 80 degrees plus. A teaser of a day. It rained hard for the next two days and only today has the sun dared show it's freaking face. naw, i get it. rain is great. we need it. but after the teaser, it was like a slap in the face. Luckily we took advantage of the day and skipped the gym to indulge in the first "Spring Wing". I'll never be over making chicken wings but we do not intend to make a theme of it this year. we are however open to suggestions for a new theme.

I marinated the wings in heavy amounts of vinegar, lemon juice, curry, salt and garlic. no spice because of tulia. BUT we broke out the reserves and had a taste test. we tried each kind of hot sauce pictured above on their own and then combined several to see if there was a winning combination. Valentina came out on top. i was shocked.

Left over beans and a quick salad, perfect wing companions.

little peanut butter huettner joined us on the porch for some classic sad pug eyed begging.

nate saluted the troops of the bone yard. i can't actually look at this photo without laughing.

his boneyard was bigger than tulia's and mine put together. but that's what happens when you eat really good chicken wings.

the end.

VINYL BRUNCH PART 6~ AVOCADO THEME

2011-04-11T06:33:00.008-05:00

VINYL BRUNCH 6! Brunch for SIX MONTHS! This has really been great and a wonderful way to see my friends from the Co-op that I used to see everyday and now never do...except at brunch time. First of all this record player is wonderful. Brian is the most avid collector of records I know and it's awesome going through his ever growing collection.

But let's let the story begin and talk avocados.

Once Upon A Time...the vinyl brunch club was pressured into an avocado themed brunch.

I think the avocado may just be my favorite food. I love them plain with a little salt, as guacamole, in salads, in sandwiches....for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Always a pleasure. So why not brunch it avocado style?

Amazingly, Weis markets by the home depot has pretty great and always ripe avocados. I've scored really great tropical fruits there lately much to my delight. How do you pick out the perfect cado though? just make sure it's sort of firm but also has some give to it. Like pick it up and squeeze it gently all over. If it pushes in a little, it's probably good. If it's really soft and seems to feel mushy inside it's probably rotten and there is no greater avocado horror than slicing one open to add to your taco and having a brown mess on your hands. ew.

The avocado platter with tiny squeeze of lime and a sprinkling of sea salt.

the keeners hosted our brunch and provided an array of cheese, tortillas, sour cream and cilantro along with the fixins for incredible margaritas.

The mix master fresh made insanely perfect margaritas. and later as per our experimenting request, we made a batch of "Blended Avocado Margaritas". The result was drinkable, but only in small doses. they were so rich and thick that they were sort of like avocado smoothies. pretty good at first but then just too much. too filling. probably won't make them again.

my little queen of the scene was happy and well behaved as were all the rest of the kids. they are such great children and they get along so well. it's so darn easy!

mrs. keeener's place settings were absolutely adorable.

plus her knack for color combinations made me smile at her table more than once.

A storm of a plate lead to big mouthfuls of tasty latin brunchy times to remember.

Menu?

Turkey Sausage Tacos

Colombian Beans

Salad with Avocados, Dill and Cilantro

Avocado Slices

Carrot Muffins

Avocado Margaritas

And they all lived happily ever after.

CEILING FAN MAKEOVER

2011-04-10T07:40:00.004-05:00

i HAD an UGLY celing fan in my bedroom. it was outdated, cheap looking and nasty.

So as per my interior designer's advice, I painted it flat black and hammered silver.

slowly but surely....the bedroom is getting better. up next paint. probably. but maybe not for like a month.

DAY OFF IN BALTIMORE

2011-04-09T07:24:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Nate took the day off for an old fashioned trip to Baltimore. We stopped by Tulia's classroom so he could be the "mystery reader" before we went and Tulia was pleased as punch. how adorable was it that the whole class ended up hugging her goodbye!

We met up with the King-Martins and headed to my favorite museum. The featured exhibit was called "What Makes Us Smile". perfect theme to counter the drizzle and rain.

It was really great to be in a bigger city and just be all up in it...like even driving through it was sort of fun. I'm pretty sure I belong in a city.

I had never been to the 3rd building of the museum which is a shame. why not? It was really great. Check out this enormous sculpture of a bird and nest. see? awesome. told ya.

the cool part about the visionary museum is that everything is freaking quirky. You won't find tame art anywhere. It's generally executed by pretty bizarre non traditional artists and reading about them is as entertaining as looking at their work.

How bout a bra ball? It's made of more than 1,800 bras. I got a kick out of this one.

Of course there was food. I believe we may have all been HANGRY and although taking photos of my food in restaurants isn't my strong suit, i managed a few low budget shots for record keepings sake. Above, sushi grade seared tuna tacos.

Enchiladas verdes.

The rest of the dinner was somewhat of a blur as we all sort of stuffed our faces and drank margaritas in hurried fashion. the food was really good i must say. I definitely want to come back on a sunny day and take more time to wander through the city.

What a good start to the weekend.

THIS WEEKEND

2011-04-04T07:31:00.003-05:00

Hi. what a weekend we had! A fine spring day arrived yesterday with dry enough weather for some outside work as well as some inside work. My forsythia are in bloom and the blue row of hyacinths are on their way too. i'm encouraged.

so we got dolled up. (oh i mean just me) and hit the lancaster streets for first friday and I must say that it was the best first friday we'd attended in YEARS. we started at the Patio where Mara and John kicked off the season with their annual awesome first friday patio party. Wings on the green egg and tasty beers. need i say more? well there was more! sweet live Parisian style music, great patio items including the hippest retro modern patio furniture ever. Someone's got good taste, and it's Mara.

Besides the patio, we visited a few galleries and they were win win win. Like eye catching, skilled art work that didn't bore me to peices. Interesting and well executed! i was amazed. i really loved this photo. this guy's work was amazing. and i mean it.

Later this weekend it was yard time. Chet was in full blown affection mode. even outside.

i didn't go to the grocery store all weekend. which is insane. i usually go at least 3 times. somehow I managed to put together a lovely breakfast with an english muffin, chive goat cheese, an egg and wilted arugula with pesto. i didn't love it. nate did.

one of the more exciting tid bits of the weekend was the new raised bed. Nate borrowed a chain saw and went into the woods to cut some logs from trees that had fallen. it took us a while but we managed to built a pretty cool and even looking bed frame. i vote this be our lettuce bed.

and here is a view of both beds. ready, sort of for planting.

let's not forget the chicken pie nate made. humorous and delicious and darn awesome.

and enough chicken filling was left over for me to make chicken and waffles last night. one of my favorite foods. yes, i've turned a little dutchy in lancaster county. who cares. i love this stuff.

LEBOVITZ FAIL...

2011-04-01T06:20:00.004-05:00

Hello. here is tulia in a sweet little apron i made.

And there we were. last week or so. making brownies. I would call this period of my recent life, the frantic baking days. and i think my mental status concerning my cut of carbs from my diet was at it's craziest, fighting to bake, fighting to bring back the carb...against my better efforts. and even though i was eating pretty true to the diet on most days, my biggest problems with low to no carbs are these. Fatigue. enormous fatigue. cravings. larger than life obsessive cravings. for sweets. so crazy were the cravings that frantic baking occurred more than usual. which is ALOT! and so i'm sort of back to my regular diet. which includes carbs but i feel alot more aware of them and if nothing else I can kick start a little weight loss here and there when my baking gets out of control. ok wait. this is not a weight loss blog. back to the LEBOVITZ.

Everyone should probably know by now that nate and i are sort of obsessed with David Lebovitz. and during the frantic baking period, he was my go to. ALSO i have a deep rooted love for peppermint patties and junior mints. superior characters in the candy world if you ask me. So when good old Dave posted a recipe for Mint Brownies I got a little dizzy....and maybe drooly.

The recipe was pretty intense as far as it's promise for a brick heavy, millionaire-rich chocolately brownie but what sold me was the mint. MINT! Peppermint patty mint! so tulia and i strapped on the aprons and got to work.

batter and melted chocolate. check.

the blending of the two was a little thrilling. I was building myself up for something fantastic. like oh man, these were going to be the very best brownies i'd ever made. oh god. the suspense.

The recipe warned NOT to overbake them. 35min! that's it! with a don't you dare and don't forget it-type urgency. so i took heed. 35 minutes. and they looked right. the top layer was sort of hard but i knew that there was goodness inside. in fact the recipe warned that the toothpick test would prove deceiving as it would pull out with goo on it. fine. not worried.

so i let them cool and I started to cut only to find a world of mint chocolate lava, unbaked...but too unbaked. and when you interrupt cooking and let things cool only to try and cook them again, well that's almost a fail right then and there.

My mistakes? I think i should have used a larger pan. I used a 9x11 i think. and i kept taking them out and seeing if they were done and recooking them. so in the end i could only salvage the middle, throwing away the sides and by that time I had eaten almost a whole pound of peppermint patties and 2 pounds of the 10 pound brownie, trying to test the texture.

Needless to say I got sort of sick in the end. Like my stomach and mouth can sort of still taste them 2 weeks later....

I also got the stomach flu the very next day followed by a cold for the next few days after that. So anyway i think the flu combined with my brownie overdose has me on hold as far as baking goes. which is HUGE! i'm almost relieved. i guess i was a little out of control.

back to balancing it the old fashioned way.

BEDROOM INSPIRATION

2011-03-31T14:30:00.007-05:00

Ok so this is probably the worst photo of Kathleen on earth (no offense kathleen. you are a super cute darling. this photo just doesn't do you justice!) BUT here she is...or was rather and she's really left a bit of her crafty stardust lingering in the air because just by her being here and offering design and style suggestions, she's left me all excited about doing things. creative things. she's such a great inspiration. and if you haven't seen her blog recently, just go there and don't forget to close your jaw from time to time because everything she makes really DOES turn to gold!

Which brings me to my bedroom. AND HER BEDROOM!!!!

i could not stop thinking about her curtains and basically every other thing she did to her bedroom. VERY chic. but anway... i digress. this is MY bedroom. and i like my curtains. i do. but they weren't finished and if I would have had enough money I would have like to have gotten double the fabric and made panels instead of one per window. BUT...perhaps I had enough fabric after all?

yes indeed. with the addition of some simple cream colored shades, and a simple thick ric rac trim around the side, the windows looked much more finished. I cut each large panel in half and made six of them...and it worked great!

totally cute. and that's just the start. i'm taking a very slow and gradual approach to the bedroom. there will be paint AND wallpaper. there will be new lamp shades. there will be a ceiling fan makover. there might even be a new duvet cover. depends on the budget and when i feel like doing things. either way, kathleen offered up some awesome suggestions that hardly cost anything at all and are all super reasonable. YAY i'm excited!!

Complaining Cheila blogs the most boring blog of all time.

2011-03-27T09:39:00.002-05:00

What has happened to my blog!!!! I just spent 26 minutes reading random old posts on my blog and I must say, my life seemed much more interesting then. i think i was alot more creative. less tired, writing music, sewing more, inspired more. now all i do is work out and bake cookies and remodel kitchens and go broke. I'm just gonna go ahead and say it. again. i miss living in the city. i do. i love our country house. i do. my family actually comes to visit us here. it's great. the yard is killa, the school district is bank, the neighbors are great. but still.....i want to walk to the bank, to market, to Sakura, to the colombian bakery, to bins park fountain, to jessica king's house for god's sake.

too bad cheila. looks like you want it all again? oh yeah, yeah that's right. i guess i do. duh...see photo above. my sister would kill me dead if she knew this photo of her was on the interslice. oh my god. what have i written.

Even So

2011-03-21T07:47:00.002-05:00

Even when she's crying, she is more beautiful than i can describe.

i'm so glad we're happy and healthy again.

COCONUT MACAROONS~DIPPED IN DARK CHOCOLATE!

2011-03-10T08:52:00.003-05:00

sOOOOOooooo. A few days ago Nate wanted cookies. and why shouldn't he? we've been doing some low carb and sugar style eating and the cookie craving was at an all time high. i mean seriously, we make cookies like once a week at LEAST around here. So i've been saying NO! and stomping my foot and dreaming about cookie eating until i just couldn't take it anymore and tulia and i hopped in the car and bought coconut and chocolate and eggs and zoomed home to make, ahem, chocolate dipped coconut macaroons from non other than David Lebovitz's cookbook, Ready for Dessert.

I couldn't really decide which photo i liked more, so i posted them all. food is sort of hard to photograph. to really capture it's deliciousness...it's a challenge.

so basically the recipe is insanely simple. i altered the recipe slightly by using sweetened coconut and cutting the sugar by more than half. I think they turned out sweet enough, maybe a little undersweet but still very tasty.

and finally i topped them all with a salty smoked almond because let's go ahead and face reality people, smoked almonds rule.

VINYL BRUNCH PART 5

2011-02-27T18:17:00.005-05:00

Let's start with Dessert shall we? Our vinyl brunch ended with a David Lebovitz recipe that I thought was the perfect birthday cupcake for a beer fan in late feb...almost march.

Guinness Gingerbread with a Lime buttercream. and fancy cupcake paper to boot.

Sadly, I forgot to take many photos. I was too busy hanging out. but I did manage to get a crappy shot of the tasty mac and cheese that Mara brought....so good!

Arriving last were the Keeners. they actually went to the wrong house. heh. suckas.

Nate was of course a gracious host and Brian ordered him around with his index finger. not really. but these shots i got deserve some humorous captions.

The kids had their own table. notice how big they are all getting! also notice tulia's sideways ponytail?

It sort of hit me today how great it is to share a meal with friends and make an afternoon of it. we're all so darn busy and just planning a brunch with a couple families seems impossible sometimes. BUT it's so worth it.

There he goes with his index finger again...

And look at brandy. is she not the sassiest?

Side note: John brought excellent Vinyl over...i forgot to photograph it but it was perfect for today. wonderful in fact. cheers for the 5th time.

love you guys.

DUMPLING SUCCESS

2011-02-24T08:09:00.004-05:00

several weeks ago i scored big at Tj Maxx, a Susanna Foo cookbook....for TEN DOLLARS!

A great cookbook overall, really simple recipies, (i think so, so far). The first thing I wanted to make was the dumpling recipe on the very first page. Wild Mushroom Dumplings.

I had to consult with my sources about dumpling cooking techniques, folding etc...I ended up also watching youtube videos on how to fold several ways. so that's what i did.

Yesterday I steamed them up with a little stock and some water in a pan, next time I'd like to try plunking them in a rolling boil and the time after that I think i'll stick them in my veggie steamer as I do not have a bamboo steamer...(for shame). My only regret is that the dumplings didn't really keep their perfect little shape. Regardless, the taste was FABULOUS and none of the filling leaked out. woo-hoo for my first dumpling attempt!

I even made a dipping sauce that tasted almost exactly like the sauce I get from the vietnamese market. And THAT is awesome.and let's all just take a minute to face facts, dumplings rule.

VINYL BRUNCH PART 4

2011-02-06T19:03:00.006-05:00

Once upon a time, there was the 4th edition of our vinyl brunch club. It was hosted by the zany jess and chad shown here making fun of the bread they baked...which they reported as being sort of "heavy" but was actually pretty tasty.

Their amazing house was a dream to hang out in as usual and the Little Eleni ♥ watched the goings on while snacking.

We arrived early for once and Nate helped cut the cheese, so to speak. and what cheese! a Mandros custom order...you know, where you go into Mandros and tell the guy what food you're eating and he just gives you what he wants and it's always great?

The vinyl was fitting. and i must admit this is the second time the old Mediterranean Cruise record has made an appearance at an eating event.

These brunches are always so kid-easy. They all play so great together. Stress-free.

Now let's make some comparisons and ask some questions below.

Who frowns better? Stella?

or Peanut butter Huettner?

Are these two not identical?

Is he wary of me?

is she amused or is she contemplating?

did we just get out of bed or are those permanent bags under our eyes because we're 35 years old?

Where is Peanut butter hiding?

Phew. enough questions. More about the food! and more olives.

Don't you think this is a good orange cucumber shot?

The cheese made such interesting combinations with the breads and spreads.

the simple color and beautiful plates were so pretty to look at.

Jess melted my heart with Almohabanas from the Colombian bakery.

I really love drinking from the mugs at Jess' house. every one is a treasure to drink out of.

Great company, great food, great kids, happy stomachs. It's what brings us to the table with a little record playing in the background. it makes our hearts happy. thank you jess and chad.

Getting Close to the End

2011-01-14T12:18:00.002-05:00

Things are shaping up well. but now we are beyond broke and seriously in debt. ah, the american way. The kitchen shall remain on hold as far as any spending goes, but we've managed to pull together a reasonable work space and a fine looking arrangement if we do say so ourselves. all i can say is that i am incredibly lucky to have such a handy husband.

lighting in.

side eating bar in.

free craigslist dishwasher, check.

and this is what we'll be working with for at least a few months. i love it. i spend every minute in here. i'm even typing here now. It's so close to the end. and speaking of ends, i've been considering ending this blog. i never thought i'd want to end it. perhaps i won't. i might just leave it up and let it ride until i've gotten 1000 posts up, which isn't too far off. i do love this blog. it's almost an encyclopedia of our lives. I've even looked stuff up on it, but i'm finding it uninspired as of late and a chore to post on which is a common reason for ending blogs, or so i read. we'll see. until then, i'll be cooking and cooking and cooking some more.

toodles.

HAPPY NEW YEAR/ HAPPY NEW KITCHEN

2011-01-05T08:50:00.003-05:00

Is it me or do i look slightly man-ish with that mini top hat on?

Anyway, thanks to my vinyl brunch clubbers, we managed to get both families together for a big old sleepover new years style.

I scored some real live sugar cane at wise markets for mojitos...which i'm sort of done with but eh....they did the trick enough for me to stick my shoe in my mouth more than once. what can i say. overall very sweet little new years. thanks to the hosts who never read my blog anyway.

NOW let's talk about the island. This kitchen island is huge. it takes up so much space. BUT i love it. love it love it! it's our pantry now and the surface work space is worth it's weight in....well in Quartz, which is what this heavier than life stone is.

another area of extreme coolness is my fridge and wine cubby area. i'm really motivated to squirrel away wine now...ya know, for looks.

and here is the earlier stuff.

we tiled.

we painted.

5 strong men loaded and unloaded cabinets for like 8 hours.

and nate and his dad hung up cabinets. It's a great start. we're in the space, using it like a real kitchen. Our electric should be finished this week and then we do more finishing, like the breakfast bar, trim framing and painting, tile backsplash...it's gonna be magnificent.

UPDATE: Kitchen Makeover,OVER Christmas

2010-12-21T15:36:00.006-05:00

Several weeks ago, nate and some amazing helpers started putting walls up. This was a big step. A great step... Accompanied by the token train wreck of a mess that ends up everywhere there is work done. it's ok.

but this time poor natey hit a wall. literally. he needed to open a hole for our stove vent and ended up going into our bathroom where there was a mountain of loose insulation that rained over everything in our mud room. it was a dark moment for nate. he wanted to throw in the towel i tell ya. and the mess is a little of what you see here covering my patio. poor poor patio.

but back to the walls! here they are. plywood where the cabinets will go and drywall for the rest. easy right?

well not too easy. you see, walls must be smoothed and patched and sanded and then patched again and again and again and sanded and sanded again. and the dust is incredible. it's overwhelming and also slowed our momentum down to a CRAWL....because you see, it's christmas time....and there are parties and events and trips and birthdays and stomach flus AND family things going on and even after all the sanding and patching is done, YOU HAVE TO PRIME IT WITH PAINT!!!!! SO.......

much later, there are sanded walls.

primed walls. a new shop vac and

the mess of a bathroom

the remains of what my stove used to be.

a makeshift cooking area

a god awful dining room slop fest

and plastic by the coat chair...i mean dog perch.

but hey wait. there have been cookies, beyond cookies actually. More cookies than ever before.

and there has been consistent cookie gluttony going on. Beyond gluttony actually.

and there are tasty packages and artful cookies and Warm 103 the Rose playing christmas music all the time. In fact, i think it's served to quell us a tad, or maybe hypnotize us. we seem to forget how crazed we are when john tesh yaps all night long about his health tips between the Charlie Brown Christmas song "Christmas Time is Here" and Wham singing "Last Christmas" and it makes us feel like we'll get through the season this year, kitchen and all.

Best Wishes and Real Warm Hugs to you for reading this and Merry Christmas.

Sweaters For My Sister?

2010-12-01T08:45:00.002-05:00

So for Christmas, i decided to try to make alot of my gifts again. This might be harder this year as we're busy with the kitchen but i've decided to get going and here are two sweaters that i worked on yesterday.

The black and blue one is a direct copy from Kathleen of course! Check out the tutorial along with a whole month of sweater embellishments. she really inspires me and her blog gets me into the sewing room to attempt trying out her ideas more than any other of my how to books.

here is the second one. i really changed this one so i hope my sister will like it because if not, i am so wearing them myself.

I started out with an oversized ugly while sweater as seen below.

I then cut off the bottom, sized it to fit, gathered under the bust with elastic, added a ruffle collar, new buttons and trim in the front along with a string of black curled leaf shapes for some extra flare. i think next time i would make twice as many leaves and really puff that part out. i suppose i got lazy. either way, i like it...even if my daughter, brother and husband all told me that my sister won't like it due to her extreme pickiness.

VINYL BRUNCH - 2nd Edition

2010-11-29T13:18:00.007-05:00

A big thankyou to Keri and Jeff for hosting our second vinyl brunch get together. it was a marathon hangout lasting all day and i kid not. we ended up eating dinner there too. WHAT?! yep. we so did.

and of course i had to take photos of everything. i mean it was so special and pretty and the bounty of treats and eats deserved being recorded right?

look at these savory potatoes!

can you hear the sizzle of this bacon!?

how about these incredible blueberry cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven!

and what of the gentle and simple clean style of Keri Weaver's earthy decor. very welcoming and so darn artistic.

even the butter bowl was pretty.

it sort of felt like thanksgiving all over again....but in brunch form.

and what about the vinyl? well well well. Guess who had a hidden record collection that made me totally jealous? Jeff did that's who.

with comic numbers such as this.

we sat around and planned future get togethers....planned inviting our whole brunch club to other people's houses and bringing another family in to join us from time to time...oh this brunch thing is definitely happening in an ongoing manner. trust this.

brian told us about his recent trip to Honduras where he worked in a children's hospital. Kudos for the humanitarian work Brian.

Brandy planned a get together for the girls where she'll be showing us how to make a christmas flower arrangement and do a cookie trade...i'm really excited about this.

and my nate and i smiled and laughed the whole day...because these people are so great and fun to be around and our kids got along together all dang day with no drama and most of all brunch and vinyl brought us together.

cheers my mates.

CONSTRUCTION ZONE

2010-11-27T20:48:00.004-05:00

mostly i've been too depressed to blog about the construction of the new kitchen. it's been way to crazy and i have decided that i'd like to run away. every time we take a step towards something, we have to take 5 steps back. it's frustrating. like this bathroom. we actually had to tile the bathroom floor because it was leaking into the ceiling below. not good. so that is what we did this week. and nate has been incredible. i think it looks great. and tile belongs in a bathroom anyway.

the old wood floor was pretty but it was incredibly worn and there were cracks in it that allowed tons of water to leak through. here is peanut butter helping nate as usual.

ok so the run down is this. we took out the old cabinets, sold them on craigslist and then talked to our electrician who insisted that we tear all the walls out. this did not make me happy. tearing out walls and getting rid of 50 bags of plaster and lath was the dirtiest and most horrible job i've ever done. and again, nate did so much more than me....like ALL of the demolition. i just hauled stuff away....which took 2 days.

Nate and his dad love building things together. it's when they feel the most comfortable around each other and it really shows.

Here he is making arrangements for our cabinet sales.

peanut butter still helping with tulia too.

here i am in the pit of despair.

all this crap sucks.

after demo on the walls, we had to peel back the layers of flooring. SIX FREAKING LAYERS. it was terrible. then i pulled several thousand staples out of the floor with vice grips for a whole day.

Nate and our neighbor Chris have started rebuilding though. and the electric is getting all set up too. next weekend we drywall and i hear it's an exciting step. it will look so much more like a real room....and i can't wait.

all i'm hoping for is that santa huettner will buy me one appliance. just one. a good one. like maybe a fridge. but that's a lofty and most unlikely sort of christmas wish. i'd actually settle for being able to afford to buy my huettners and arias' all their presents. eeek. christmas already???