Giving thanks, in review

Thanksgiving! I hope you all had really lovely holidays, and that you got a break from whatever you needed a break from. We headed to Tennessee on Wednesday night right after work. My family are all there, and I hadn't spent more than a weekend there in awhile. It's been a strange few years for my family, but it was so good to just be around everyone again. There was the usual cooking (and eating), napping, reading, chasing dogs. And there was also a lot of catching up and meeting new additions! I forgot my real camera, so these are all iPhone which means they're pretty crappy. I'd spend time telling you how annoyed I am, but that would seem a little out of place in a holiday/Thanksgiving post.


I posted this on Facebook before the holiday, my favorite Thanksgiving-ish NPR story. A nice reminder that as much as it's our job to help one another, it's also our job to be helped. "I've only slowly come to realize that good givers are those who learn to receive with grace as well. They radiate a sense of being indebted and a state of being thankful. As a matter of fact, we are all at the receiving end of a huge gift simply by being alive. Yet, most of us are no good at being helpless, humble or indebted." Onwards to Christmas! Where's my tinsel?!

Exile on Sunnyside

A+Bro=Bromance

A+TinyBabyTyler=no, we are not yet procreating

Homeward Bound, Saturday

Aunt's house

Turkey Bowl Beginning

Dad+TinyBabyTyler (don't step in that puddle of my melting heart)

Love, real love, y'all

A+Bro+K=Bromantic Bromance

**Lastly, we saw Lincoln when we were in town. Daniel Day-Lewis, of course, right? Of course. But Joseph Gordon Levitt, get that scenery outta your mouth, you're chewing it all up!

Chemex Brewing

I'm off today, so it's an extended weekend! I've been mesmerized by this video from The Sprouted Kitchen about Chemex brewing your coffee. Yes, that's two mentions of Sprouted Kitchen in just as many blog posts! Be back tomorrow, hope your Mondays are rolling along!

Pecan Walnut Butter

I picked up a copy of The Sprouted Kitchen cookbook this weekend. I'd been planning to grab it from Amazon soon, but I saw it on the shelf and just snatched it up. And I'm so glad I did! The book is full of great recipe ideas, some of them simple and a few that are more complex. As I flipped through, I immediately wanted to make a riff on her Almond Butter.

Pecan Walnut Butter

I used a mixture of walnuts and pecans and stirred in a bit of honey, some coconut oil to hold it all together and a few dashes of salt. I think you could play around with the combo, mixing in whatever you have around or especially like. I used a super strong raw honey here, so you might prefer more.

1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pecans
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon honey
2 pinches salt

Place walnuts and pecans in food processor. Process until a sandy texture. Add in coconut oil and honey. Pulse until desired texture is reached. You may need more oil. Finish with salt and pulse a few more times. Place in airtight container, refrigerate until ready to use.

Weekend, in review

It was Homecoming weekend at my alma mater, so there were lots of friends in town and lots going on. I spent most of Saturday at a work-related event, but it included lots of time outside so it wasn't so bad. I caught up with some old friends, listened to some nice live music and remembered why I generally avoid the campus after 10 pm. Sunday was spent saying goodbye, writing postcards, experimenting the kitchen and napping while catching up on Boardwalk Empire (yikes!) Pics time!

Postcardin'

Cocoa + hemp seed milkshake

Sunday view

Experimenting

Look at this dog!

Let me sleep

Destination: friend breakfast

Cold Care

In the office early this morning, and the cold I've been trying to avoid the past few days is here now. Sniffles, coughs, but it's not so bad. Mostly a little annoying! This tea is doing the trick, but that name needs some work Just call it Cold Care, all the soothing sips and none of the offensive language.

Be back tomorrow with some pictures of food. I know what you like!!

Peeking in

Just to say that this rose syrup seemed odd when I picked it up, but it's become a favorite. Drizzled over yogurt, mostly. Now that it's colder in the mornings, I'll try it on oatmeal. Also good whipped into a cake batter! You can buy it here: www.junetaylorjams.com

Weekend, in review

This weekend was spent mostly with family and lounging on the couch. We shared some very messy food with friends on Friday, and it was pretty good. On Saturday it was all family, all the time. 3-year old soccer, shopping fun, a nap and then a retirement/birthday dinner. On Sunday, I watched two  movies with the theme: "Woman Does Evil, Mean, Nasty Things to Another Woman/Her Family". Single White Female and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (both made in 1992!). Snaps are below!

Family

frittata makings (Yukon Golds, baby kale and a mustard/pesto mash-up)

Noahman and human jungle gym

Basically gross. Sorry I'm not sorry for posting this!

Champion

My flawfree queen, my flawfree Coke Zero

Recipe hunting

Welcome to Fall!

So, it's been a few months! Earlier this week a friend of mine asked "Is your blog dead?" Well, no! But, it's a fair question. Life's been busy and a little heavy lately. Some trips were taken, and some thing needed to be taken care of. But, now we're settling in for some travel-free weekends, some weeknights at home and out and about in Jackson and I'd like to say Hey! Let's talk more often! Below are some iPhone snaps from the past few months. We'll start back up next week with weekend posts, nail polish conversations, bread recipes and the merits of fall/winter sangria.

Spillway Sunset

Cactus margarita (somewhere in the Mississippi Delta? Or maybe in Tennessee?)

Beginnings of Apple Spice Muffins

Noahman and A, New Orleans

A and some snouts, snuggling

Gambling!

Herbs for dumplings

Best friends bring each other the best gifts

Green Frog Coffee in my hometown (drank over a much needed catch-up session with my brother)

On the Road to Providence

Post-travel madness baking session with Bailey to supervise

A blurry but delicious anniversary dinner (grilled veggies, risotto, the best white wine and plenty of jokes)

Summer Drinks

I thought it'd be nice to share some favorite summer drinks we've shared over the past few months. Pretty much all of these are best reserved for the weekends, unless you have a particularly forgiving work/school schedule during the summer. I generally stick to wine or beer during the week and mix up a pitcher of one of these to enjoy (and share!) over the weekend.


Pimm's Cup -- You need a bottle of Pimm's No. 1 and Ginger Ale or some kind of Lemon-Lime Soda. 1/3 Pimm's, 2/3 mixer. Top with cucumbers and strawberries. Or don't, it'll be delicious either way. We generally make these in a big pitcher to share with friends. Use plenty of ice, the Pimm's is a lower alcohol content so this is nice for day drinking (sorry, Mom, but yeah, day drinking).

Cherub's Cup -- recipe is here. Delicious, I like it with unflavored vodka best, but have had it with Hendrick's and that's pretty good as well. Also a good "pitcher" drink.

Dark and Stormy --2 oz dark rum, 3 oz ginger beer and a squeeze of lime juice. I use whatever dark rum A's got around, since this is the only time I drink it. A quick Google search tells me that people want you to use Gosling's Black Seal, so maybe try that? Don't used spiced rum or light rum. Make sure you get ginger beer not ginger ale. I like the Fevertree Ginger Beer. The whole thing is a little spicy and a little sweet.

Summer Sangria -- I just mix up: a bottle of white wine (nothing expensive or fancy), 1 cup of St. Germain or 1/2 cup of Hendrick's gin or 1/2 cup of Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka, and a bunch of sliced up summer fruit. Especially peaches. Depending on how you mix it up, maybe not a great day drink. Or a perfect one, I'm not here to judge you!

 

Weekend, in review

All iPhone photos again! I promise to take the nice camera for a walk this week. I have some nice snaps to share, but it's too nice around here to sit at the laptop. This weekend we hosted a grilled cheese brunch, cleaned up our yard (a total mess post-travel), took Bailey for a haircut, spent an entire day watching Justified and drinking wine with friends, and I played with nail polish with a buddy. Photos below! (Not sure why, but they're posting out of order)

Brie, spinach, apple, onion grilled cheese

Green water (more coming later, super simple)

A and Bailey, chatting between Justified episodes

Orange Fizz, a little less red in person

Puppy cut!

Summer drink

Return!

There's much to catch up on! I've been on a few trips and been in the hectic pace of a workplace in some transition. To review:
I spent a magical weekend with my best girlfriends on the Mississippi coast, eating donuts, drinking coffee, playing with nail polish, cuddling a sweet pup and sipping a delicious white wine/vodka/berry concoction. Being with those girls is always the best antidote for anything that ails us!

Just last night, we got back from a vacation to Vermont with A's family. The lakehouse is on Thompson's Point at Lake Champlaign. All of A's siblings, our nephew met his grandmother at the lakehouse for four days of sitting in the breeze, splashing in kayaks, swimming, wandering around downtown Burlington, eating mountains of ice cream, and making trouble with all of his Vermont cousins and their children.

I seem to have forgotten to take any photos my coast weekend, but I'm going to pull some from my other friends and put them up tomorrow (these sweet girls are too beautiful to not share!). For now, here are some Vermont snaps.

All photos are from the iPhone/Instagram, Noahman's the only kiddo pictured because I didn't ask permission to post any of the others, but there were seven other children between the ages of 3 and 10 all chasing A and his brother around. I preferred to drink beer and offer some post-crazy hugs and rocking.

Morning run path

Granny+Belle

A+Noahman, exhausted

Maple syrup cotton candy

View from the porch

Burlington Church Street

Cookie Love cookie sundae

Homeward Bound

A+Noahman at Burlington Farmer's Market (my favorite photo from the trip)