Very Busy Year

It's been quite a year, and with the epic fail of my old iMac (circa 1999!), I fell off my blog train. But, I vowed in this new year to jump back on...and what a year it's been. I got married, gave birth to an amazing little wonder named Josephine, and have more house projects in the works. So in an attempt to start the year off right, I introduce you all to my new family of 6. (Including Cody, Trouble & Emma of course.)

Seriously Adorable

I'm a lucky lady to have a friend that's so talented...click on the link to watch as my friend Sarah's baby films her changing his diaper.
This is so freakin' cute.

Cadence's Diaper Change

Acccgh: missin' on the fidge.

Jason and I were lucky enough to have the amazing Lacey dog living with us for the last month and a half. What a sweet and loving little dog. We gave her many nicknames during her stay at the Phillips Pet Hotel, but the most lasting was Fidget. We miss you little fidge, come back anytime.

Things I'm coveting...

this stew...
marriage-maker stew

this room (in the upper left corner)...
which is the same image I've been planning my dining room re-do based on.
The other 3 are lovely too.


and thick scratchy wool blankets, that keep toes warm on the coldest winter nights.


oh, and these chairs...
my favorite part is the web site that sells them says, and I quote:
"Please inquire as to the availability. The supply is limited, and the maker has an attitude.
(He should, the chairs are great!)"

Long and lovely (and BUSY) summer...

I was clearly a terrible poster this summer, the first half of the summer was insane on my block, which included 2 shootings and a police raid. They're all gone now, and we have new families in both of those houses.
In the meantime, we celebrated May Day with the big parade,

went camping with friends




spent the 4th of july with family at the cabin,

(henry decorated his brother ben for the holiday.)
I did some pickling with ladies,

grew a lot of tomatoes,

and we had to a whole lot of construction on the house, thanks to PPL.
(more on that to come...)

Trying Something new...

In the backyard...not sure if it works...

Happy Easter! and an update...

It's been awhile since i've posted, so this is more of an update for my mom than anything else.
Let's see, I turned 31, I said goodbye to my grandma's wonderful 2nd husband Lu, who passed away on March 1.


I got a new hot water heater installed yesterday by my amazing neighbor contractor James Brown, molehill? mountain?


and played with his sweet daughter all day,


and moved out of my studio and into my basement...
so now I just have to make a nice studio space in the basement, and I'll be saving myself a whole lot of money.

Happy Sunday...

Happy love day passed to all of you in my life. Here's the menu for the week:
Last night for valentines day we made homemade pizza with Canadian bacon, jalapenos, and garlic...so so good.
Oaxacan Potato Soup
Thai Chicken saute with cucumber salad
and
Homemade black bean veggie burgers

This week's menu:
- Anna's Vegetarian Chili
- Italian Risotto Frittata from the amazing book From Our House to Yours: Comfort Food to Give and Share
- Hearty Goulash
and
- Grilled Chicken with Creamy Pumpkin Seed Sauce

Need to get to the studio today and make some hats, and I have an idea for some new drawings ...more to come on that. Also got beautiful fabric yesterday for new bedroom curtains, and spent a very cold afternoon out on Medicine Lake at the Art Shanties.

Grrr

This is what I woke up to this morning.


and, there was something that looked like a pool of blood behind the car.
Living in the hood sure can suck some days.

Green in the Hood

Dear Xcel Energy,
please do not put 115-kilovolt above ground transmission lines through my neighborhood. We have enough things to fight, please don't make us fight you.
Because, we will--we'll fight like only poor people with nothing to lose can.
xoxo
krista

Dear Neighbors,
This is what our 115-kilovolt transmission lines could look like:

Not to mention that there seems to be quite a bit of scientific evidence that these above ground power lines increase the risk of leukemia.
Here's a really interesting report by the world health organization about a community that fought these lines in their area, and subsequently changed state law to ban them.
click here to download this report
Please go to the open houses on Thursday of this week to voice concerns to Xcel.
Plaza Verde
Thursday, noon–2 p.m.
Thursday, 5 p.m.–7 p.m.
Tell them to bury them.

Lazy snowy sunday...in the bed

We had a bit of a blizzard over the last 2 days, so what better way to spend the afternoon than in the bed with the worlds best cat & dog. Cody almost never gets to come in the bed, but I was cold, and wanted him there. I finally finished A Prayer for Owen Meany, maybe one of the best books I've ever read. And I'm 2 days into my 14 days off work!

my week in food.

On the menu...
Thai beef salad

Pork & Vegetable stir fry with Garlic Sauce

My favorite weekend breakfast:
poached eggs & roasted garlic bread


Last week, I learned how to bake bread, from journey the master bread baker.

And, I got an autoharp off Craigslist for $25!
now I just have to learn how to play it.

I'm officially the BIGGEST DORK EVER.

I am a reality TV junkie.
yes, I know it's awful, J gives me endless crap for my tragic addiction.
I am not proud.
I am a loser.
I just spent a good half hour crying, in my kitchen, watching a rich dude give his money away.
yep. yes. uhuh.
I am completely enthralled with secret millionaire.
Let the crap-giving begin.

Thanksgiving Splendor...at the Crapshack.

Thanksgiving was wonderful...nothing like good food, family, and pie. Wonderful pie.



The Menu:
Turkey, of course (1 - 22 lb. whole turkey, and 1 - 5 lb. breast)
Sage and Thyme stuffing
Green beans with garlic/mustard and toasted almonds
white trash casserole (frozen veggies w/ velveeta & fried onions)
chickpea/potato stew
garlic mashed potatoes
garlic roasted squash
fresh cranberry sauce
rolls
and
pie.
apple & pumpkin (thanks rebecca)
and pomegranate sorbet (thanks emily)


oh, and here's the latest round of hats I made...

scrimp scrampi

This weekend on public tv, Lydia Bastinsomething cooked Bucatini with toasted breadcrumbs and garlic. I tried it, but added shrimp; it turned out pretty good...a little dry, but still mostly yummy. On the side was swiss chard from the garden, and a summit bohemian pilsner, delicious.

Menu; something old, something new

unbelievably, the tomatoes just keep coming from the garden! Yes, they are mostly green...but right now I have 2, no 3 bowls full and 2 paper bags.
Also, my mom told me a story last night about how her mom used to bring her bowls of brown butter sauteed greens with a creamy bechamel sauce, after she married my dad and moved out. So sweet, so I tried googling the name my grandma called it (ein braune) ? to no avail. I found the recipe below...who knows if it's the same, but hopefully it will still honor the memory.
This week:
- fried green tomatoes
- creamed brown butter greens (with the rest of the chard)
- coq au vin (had frozen chicken and half a box of wine)
- stuffed squash (I have 4!)

Herbs for the Winter

Today I harvested the herb garden, and spent the evening washing, bundling, and hanging them for drying. They taste so good in the middle of winter, a little bit of summer's fresh flavor in my recipes. Sage, tarragon, thyme, lavender, rosemary, chives, thai basil, mint, and lemongrass (although I have no idea what to do with lemongrass.)

To the Woods...

Here's the pork shoulder...one of my favorite recipes. Even more delicious with apples from the farmers market, and homemade bread.

Menu: week of October 6

A picture of Sara toasting me with her pint, totally unrelated to this post.

This week's menu:
- green chile chicken tamales
- black bean soup
- no knead bread
- fried green tomatoes
-garlic pork shoulder

I also need to finish an order of 20 hats for sale at Corazon, (my very very favorite gift shop by the way) and get the garden put to bed tomorrow. Hopefully I'll also have time to fix the front door, and clean up the front porch a little.

J and I took a quick trip to the Global Market to grab a delicious dinner from Holyland of Rotisserie chicken, hummus, feta and olives; and to Uncle Hugo's Mystery Bookstore for a new Sci Fi book for him.
Going to bed early to get everything done tomorrow!