Acting like it's July.

It is finally hot enough this week to call it late July! (We have had such a wimpy summer thus far). So we got up to some fun with the garden hose today.
Usually it starts innocently enough, Greta watching me water whatever plants I am killing at the present. Then it's "Ooh! Hands in the water?" Then, "Want to have?" And once she takes possession of the hose all pretenses of watering the plants vanish and it's time to spray, squeal, and "SPEE-ASH"!
I hope you are able to get out and enjoy the sun as well!
Happy Weekend!

*Splash!

Lucques Olives

One of our new favorite little food discoveries lately has been Lucques olives. Holy smokes, these are good.
I didn't think I liked green olives. But when they aren't packed with pimento sketch, or swimming around in a jar full of brine, and probably more to the point, when they are Lucques olives they have me whistling a happy tune.
I kind of came across them at Trader Joe's by chance. They were the only olive on the shelf that weren't already pitted. (Apparently, pitting olives and putting them in a jar to swim for an eternity makes them taste, as Jamie says, 'Orrible.)
So I picked these up to be daring and rushed back the next week to grab a few more jars just in case the world went topsy turvy and there came a day when I was out of these olives.  Don't let's think about it.
Best part being, a nice sized jar is only $3.99!
A honey of a price for what is largely considered to be "The best of all".
So, my suggestion is if you are looking for a new tasty treat, dash on over to your Trader Joe's quick like and pick up a few jars. (Unless, you and I share a TJ's, in that case you best find some somewhere else.)

PS- My favorite way to eat them is all bashed up in a bowl with squished cherry tomatoes, olive oil, dried oregano, fresh basil, salt pepper, and a swig of balsamic vinegar. Maybe over pasta? Maybe over mozzarella? Maybe I'm getting hungry?


Image: Hand built Olive Jars by Clay Swan

A Food Revolution.

We are nuts about Jamie Oliver at our house. I got my first Jamie cookbook in High School when his Naked Chef show was on the air and I'd rather watch him rip herbs and stuff em in a fish than anything on MTV.
Soon after I got my first mortar and pestle as a graduation present from my parents, and I felt like nothing could stand in my way of the greatest culinary feats! My mom and my Granny are both outstanding cooks and the love of food has always been a part of how we operated as a family.
But there was something about Jamie's fun and careless approach I think, that kick started my love to cook...not just eat.
Alas, life happens. In particular college, where I was too poor to eat anything outside of the cafeteria meal plan. Then early marriage, eating boxed pasta on the floor for lack of funds and furniture comes to mind. Things started to look up though, we bought a table and chairs and then we started to host quite a bit! But, if there is anything that takes the fun out of cooking it's a new baby. Suddenly sleep and this squirrely thing in your arms is way more important than hitting the town for new and exciting ingredients, or standing over some stove.
But as mentioned, we are experiencing a bit of a food revolution around here. The wind is back in our sails and food has seemed funner than ever. Once again I'm dusting off the old mortar and pestle, grinding spices, using fistfuls of fresh herbs, buying balsamic, and bringing home those obscure grains and root vegetables that I used to let intimidate me. (Don't you look at me like that beet root. I know how easy you are to cook.)
And it all points back to when we came across Oliver's Twist on Netflix last month.  It is now our current late night watch and a daily kick in the pants to try something new.
I might share a little bit of the fun here, but how about you? Have you picked up one of those dodgy looking veggies lately and made something fun with it?

Shop Announcement!

It's been too long since I last added a new author to the fold. But I am happy to announce that Mr. Robert Frost will be joining his colleagues in my Etsy shop this week.

Leavenworth.

While Kent's parents were here we decided to do one day in Leavenworth.  Leavenworth is a sweet German town nestled in the Cascade mountains. It's a total tourist town (super clean, endless shops of knick knacks, and so dedicated to the German theme that it's almost a little Disneylandish). I haven't been since I was a girl, but it's just as enchanting and friendly as I remembered. The old lederhosen wearing bear was still there on the same park bench (if not a little worse for the weather), the schnitzel & spaetzle was wunderbar, and we had a great afternoon enjoying the company of our east coast family who we don't see nearly enough.

The Zoo

Kent's parent's are visiting us this week, so we are filling our days with all kinds of fun excursions! Today we went to the zoo. This is the first time Greta has been since she has become old enough to appreciate it. And so far it seems that her favorite animals to watch are the same as mine.

The otter tank is where it's at.

Just remembering...

The first time I ever saw Kent he played the drunk in our college production of Macbeth, but I didn't really see him until later that night at our college's equivilent to a talent show. Every kid and his roommate had a band and it was a string of the same loud covers until this skinny guy came on stage with one electric guitar.
Instantly I felt nervous for him. Poor guy all alone up there. He had guts to try something solo in front of 1,000+ people, but I remember feeling so nervous for him and hoping that there wasn't going to be any jeering.
The first few minutes he just stood there quietly playing as if to himself.  Then the talk and laughter mumbled to a hush. He sang this song.

Since then the sound of a telecaster (Kent had made one to match his distinct sound) and especially this song, is 9 years ago.  And we were strangers, and this was one of the most beautiful things I had heard.

Golly, I'm all sentiment today. Just one of those Lovesplosions I guess. I was thinking about this as I was driving home from Costco today. And having nowhere better to put it, I thought I would remember it here. Life is so bustling busy and sometimes its easy to think that we just always were, and now and tomorrow is all there is. But Jeff Buckley reminds me otherwise.

Happy Independence Day Weekend!

Click image to enlarge

Via: VA Home Loans

The Final Frontier: The Results are in!

Back in May we started on the Final Frontier of our home renovations...the bathroom. 
Back story: We bought a fixer upper a little over a year and a half ago and have since been chipping away at making it safe, clean, and very much our own. No surface in this house has been left untouched. Every square foot down to the outlets has been redone. All that was left was the bathroom and it's my joy to say that we have now finished that too!
(Huge sigh of relief) And a big thanks to my hardworking boy, and handyman dad who worked so hard helping us with this!
 We are so pleased with how it turned out, and we are already starting to forget what a pain it was to do. But without further ado...

It's a happy place now.