This is paradise… (Taken with Instagram at Russian river)
Lemon beignets (Taken with instagram)
Cheese! (Taken with Instagram at Cowgirl Creamery)
Happy friday (Taken with instagram)
Taken with instagram
Taken with instagram
Peach-apple crisp.
Wabi sabi. Love, love love this.
Pumpkin spice granola. The perfect way to start a day.
The mean reds
So yesterday I had a bad day. I don’t really know why, it was just one of those bad days that’s really not attributable to any one thing, but that leaves you dissatisfied with life (even though I know I have it pretty good). I just finished Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s and you know what? The “mean reds” is the best description for it – it wasn’t the blues, it was the mean reds.
When I feel like that, often the best thing (besides a good cry – really, it’s so therapeutic) to do is to bake. Or cook. So I did both: chocolate chip lime scones and chipotle beef tacos.
And you know what? I felt pretty good after that, made myself a cup of hot milk and read until bedtime. Take that you mean reds!
There’s a lot going on in this crazy world. Watching/reading the news isn’t exactly a calming, heart-warming experience, relationships can be beautiful and challenging and sometimes we just don’t like where we are in life.
But food is a universal experience; it can be healing and draw people together. It can be a lifeline, or a bridge between two people. Of course it can also be destructive and painful, but I think when it comes down to it, it’s really all about love.
So maybe that was why making these dishes felt so good – I found a place of love on a day that didn’t feel so great. And isn’t that really what it’s all about?
On that note folks, I highly recommend The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. If you love to eat/cook and have ever fantasized about having super powers, this is the book for you. It’s charming, real and a nice little fantasy book for a cozy Saturday or your morning commute. So happy reading, and happy cooking. I’m off to get another taco…
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Hell hath no fury like a woman with scorched granola
Do any of you have that one dish that just never turns out right, no matter how hard you try? Well, I have a confession to make: The baking albatross around my neck is - of all things - granola.
Only the Lord knows why, but every time I try to make granola I burn the shit out of it (sorry Grandma!). I dutifully chop, mix and spread out my oats, honey, nuts, whatever, gently place them into the oven and then lovingly coax it into…a mass of burnt, bitter, nasty granola. Every single time, people!
Today’s Craft of Baking recipe was toasted granola and I was so determined not to burn this batch. I carefully measured and mixed, made sure my crazy-hot oven was at the right temp and then created…a mass of burnt, bitter, nasty oats and nuts. FML.
It wasn’t edible - I really tried - and the thought of throwing all those ingredients away, well it just made my wallet ache. But today was going to be the day, I decided, the day I would triumph over the dreaded granola! (Insert pic of me looming over a bowl of blackened oats and nuts with a long, shining sword.)
Something kinda like this…
So I tossed out the bad batch, took a quick breather, then returned to the kitchen to face my doom.
