Pink of Perfection

One January, before I was to move into my first apartment, my mom sat me down in the kitchen and showed me how to plan a week’s worth of meals on a budget. She took an inventory of what I liked to eat (bagels and cream cheese, apparently), and listed on a piece of paper what I needed to keep in the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. Then the lessons on How to Roast a Chicken and How to Bake a Loaf of Bread commenced. Too bad, I thought, as I started writing this. I wish I still had that paper! I peeked inside the recipe box that rarely gets opened, and there it was, folded right it front. (There are some good things about being a pack rat sentimentalist!)

This lesson in economizing has been on my mind of late. I have fallen into some bad grocery-buying habits: buying too many bottles of local milk, small, expensive containers of Icelandic yogurt, and seductively rare ingredients that are used once before finding a home in the overcrowded condiments graveyard on the refrigerator door. The part of me from a line of frugal Yankee dairy farmers wanted to stop being so mindlessly frivolous at the grocery store. And the time-pressed part of me that has an intense job and a busy schedule wanted to get back to basics. It was time for another home ec lesson with mom.

Continue reading “Weeknight Solution: Pork Chops with Spanish Rice” »

You know when you’re cruising along, feeling holiday, slicing through life like that proverbial knife through the butter, and then wham-o: Stress City? I knew the other shoe had to drop: the sun had been shining for days and days, I was in an unflappable mood, and the tone at home was cheerful and almost annoyingly upbeat. And then this week came along.

On Wednesday I dropped into a nearby coffee shop for fifteen minutes before work just to sit by myself. I scribbled down the things that were weighing on me––some bills that needed paying, a meeting I needed to prepare for––and then still felt that jittery cast of negativity and anxiety. I believe it goes by the common name of stress.

So then I tried to write down a few quick ideas of what would help ease that. The solutions weren’t anything new (exercise, eat healthy food, read an uplifting blog), but I felt a little better for making the list. (And nothing, by the by, seemed quite as helpful as the old-fashioned I drank in a bubble bath that night while reading Barbara Pym.)

Continue reading “How Do You Deal With Stress?” »

Are you getting holiday yet? I blame Pinterest, but I’m in full-on feeling cozy mode. Last night I sat in a corner booth in a restaurant that sits like a beacon on a quiet street corner and feels like a lodge tucked into the woods. Over plates cheese and sausage, my book club exchanged gifts and talked about the cold wilds of Nova Scotia. And before that, I walked with my husband as he carried a Christmas tree on his shoulder back to our house. We cut the clear fishing wire netting loose and tucked lights into its branches. We listened to carols, I bought whole milk for homemade hot chocolate, and though the temperatures hover in the 50-60 degree range, I happily wiled away an hour or two making this Christmas vision board.

Who knows what does it? Sometimes we’re in the mood for the holidays and sometimes we’re just not. But even the years when I feel pretty grinchy, I can usually still manage to see the charm in a hot toddy and a digitized fireplace. What I like best is the world at large agreeing to champion the virtues of coziness: curling up, staying home, and cocooning yourself in warmth.

So even if I’ll never get excited about the jangly Christmas jingles in the drugstore or the deep discounts make me seriously consider buying things I don’t really need or want, I can get behind that: more candles on the table, vintage ornaments, and a cheerful, twinkling tree in the corner.

Where are you on the feeling-holiday-o-meter this year?

Source: traceysthoughts.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

We’re in the final flurry before a holiday weekend. Early yesterday morning I tried to put together a post a on a Thanksgiving-appropriate salad, but I ran out of time. And this morning, as we’re down to the wire, and there are bags to be packed, trains to be caught, and work to be buttoned-up before a long weekend, I thought: the salad can wait. What can’t wait before I get caught up in today’s rush and then tomorrow’s where are the cranberries? how many place settings? is taking just a few moments to be grateful. And so, at this very moment in time, I’m so grateful for:

1. The beautifully sunny fall we’ve had.
2. The orange tulips on the dining room table.
3. After each stressful day, climbing in bed with a novel. Right now: Right Ho, Jeeves.
4. A pair of jeans I really like. (OK, they’re jeggings. But they are so comfortable.)
5. The cheerful sound of the ukulele in the pitch-black evenings.
6. A new sense of lightheartedness that’s filled my days.
7. Pinterest. (If you’d like an invite, just say so in the comments!)
8. Health, home, food on the table––all of the daily necessities that I every day take for granted.
9. The time, space, and desire to live wholeheartedly and create days that are meaningful, balanced, and super delightful.
10. That you care about the very same things. Thank you so much for being a part of this community.

Best wishes to you and yours for a joyous, generous, bountiful, rich-in-love, delicious holiday!

Image: Thank you card by Dutch Door

On this very happy Friday, I thought I’d share with you a recently-discovered pretty. I found these vintage-y Frenchified notebooks in a quirky little notions shop in midtown. But in addition to the gorgeous covers, I think what I like most about them is how slim they are. The pressure is off to live big and record a lot; there are only a few pages to scribble down some thoughts about your life today. I like that, if partly because it feels less like you’re toting along the diary of your innermost feelings, and more like you’re just some smart lady who has so many good ideas for her next novel or poem or custom dress design with a peplum, she’s just got to jot them down before she flies off to a hot date at a cozy wine bar. Right?!

And so happy Friday to all of you! My new end of the week ritual is to walk down to the coffee shop in the sunshine and chat with the radiantly charming barista. Then I walk back home with my extremely caffeinated beverage and use her music choice of the day to seed a Pandora station. Last week it was Aretha, and today––bless her––it’s Stevie Wonder.

Do you have any awesome let’s-get-this-weekend-started-right rituals? Happy weekend, all!

We have not been cooking much lately. In the new age of Choose Two, a home-cooked dinner seems to be getting the short end of the stick. And, as always, I have my plans about how I will overcome: saved online shopping lists, visual inspiration of quick weeknight meals. I’m still feeling my way. But a benefit of the Choose Two era is that I’m learning to let go of any associated guilt.

So with minimal cooking going on, coming back to the same recipe twice in two weeks feels all the more meaningful. This dinner was an out-of-the park triumph.

It’s a recipe that’s familiar in its bolognese-like construction, but with unique ingredient substitutes: lamb for ground beef, kasseri (a Greek sheep’s milk cheese) for Parmesan, cilantro for parsley. (And then there’s cumin and cinnamon, oh my!) The result is heaven: an unexpected, utterly surprising explosion of flavor. On a weeknight!

Is there a weeknight recipe you’ve stumbled upon lately that’s knocked your socks off? I need additions to my inspiration file!

Continue reading “Pasta with Butternut Squash, Ground Lamb, and Kasseri” »