new blog!

This is not just any new blog... this is an instant favorite!  Lulu of LuluDK design is blogging and what a treat.  Feast your eyes on her Trail of Inspiration!

LOVE at first sight

These pitchers are lovely.

 

  

via: remodelista

a spoonful of sugar

Last night was tax night for me. I like to get it done as soon as I can, and despite the ease that TurboTax brings, I always dread doing my taxes.  Fear of not having all the documents or miss-typing a number creeps in.  So, to make the medicine go down better, I made this amazing recipe: Northern Italian pasta sauce.

 

(not an actual picture of MY sauce, but it looked just the same)

What's the big deal?  Just pasta sauce, you say?  NO, cries Erin!  This is amazing!!  The trick: simplicity.  This is the easiest sauce ever (put on my radar from my wonderful friend Leesh).  I used my home-canned tomatoes from this summer, butter from Mooville Creamery just outside of GR, and an onion from Hudsonville (via Horrocks Grocery).  Plus, have I told you about our 25-lb. box of linguine?!  About 6 months ago I bought it at our little Italian grocery, Russo's, on clearance for $14 not realizing just how much 25-lbs of pasta IS.  I'll tell you what it is: amazing.  While we try not to dip into it too frequently, D. and I have taken to calling it our everlasting box of pasta.

Even if you don't have your own everlasting box of pasta, try the recipe.  You'll be amazed how well it pairs with the dessert of a good tax return!!!

mini break

January means interim or J-term at the school where Daniel and I work, and it's tiring and busy and endless.... until now!  It just ended!  Celebration is in order, so off we go to Chicago.  The new semester will start Monday, so we have to live it up while we can...
Generally when we take trips anywhere we try to do a lot while still allowing time for wandering (my favorite thing to do in life, really.  I wander through grocery stores, libraries, bookstores, books, knitting projects, recipes, blogs, my neighborhood, my workday... It's way better than charging through or power walking or stopping all-together).  Here's my list for this time:

• see brother Edward at his Hyde Park apt.
• Probably I'll hit TJ's
• Spend as much time and money as I'm allowed at the Chicago French Market.  Oo la la!  With vendors selling local grass-fed meat, cheeses, truffles, bread, wines... the list goes on! I won't be able to drag myself away.

• Ikram's annual sample sale... not that I afford anything anyways.  But I have an excuse to take a look!
• Maybe this movie at this theater.
• Try Longman and Eagle Gastropub (2657 North Kedzie Ave.) with it's 60 bourbons and daily menu based on local goods.

17 Degrees

17 degrees F is the "high" for today.  When I walked to my lunchtime yoga class all the way across campus, my face started hurting.  The very bright side of this is the sun is out and it's most welcome!  For today, I wish I was wearing these Plush tights...  They are fleece lined and look amazingly warm without being super bulky.

GReat City

I've lived in lots of different cities, and I have say, there's a lot to like about Grand Rapids.  And it just got better.  The lovely and creative Joy'l of Papernest Designs is planning an amazing event called GR Unveiled for this March 11th.  This is a local-artists/businesses wedding show that will be stunning.  I can't wait to go - and not just because my very very favorite Michigan company, Palazzolo's Gelato, will be there with samples.  The vendor list is amazing (and if you are local to Michigan and are interested in joining, please do so here!!), and it's connecting the dots for brides and grooms who want their special day to be rooted in a sense of place and celebration within the community here.

When Daniel and I married in 2006, I would have LOVED to have a resource like this show.  We wanted so much to have a personal wedding reflective of the place we call our home, and I think we did.  It took some work though.  When planning an event like a wedding, the possibilities are not only endless but mind-boggling.  Apart from finances, where do the limits begin?  All these ideas about perfection get thrown around in ways I'd never imagined.  This is why I love the idea of a "locavore" wedding.  Geographically limiting your options can be a great starting point, and imagine if even half the couples celebrating their unity did this this year... Michigan's economy would feel the difference!  Plus, a good place is like a good family: perfect in its imperfections.  Like, while I would have loved to have orchids all over for my flowers, the lavender my neighbor grew and let me buy in bulk was so lovely.  Now, the smell of lavender blooming every summer by my front door reminds me of the warm night air, the glowing lights, and the feel of Daniel's linen suit under my fingers as we danced at our wedding. 

(a VERY blurry picture - sorry!)

New year, new beauties, new mercies

Hi friends. It's been a while since I've blogged. I'm resolved to do this a LOT more. Here's my reason: I love blogs. I cannot tell you how many times a blog has made my day. My favorite blogs remind of the beauty of everyday life and the little tender mercies that await me at every turn. We all live our respective life just focused on what's in front of us... the prison on the urgent. But blogs allow me to see life through someone else's eyes for just a snapshot. So, I am committed to looking for the beautiful in my own life and sharing those finds with you via this space.

To start off...
Lonny Magazine may just begin to fill the Domino Magazine shaped-hole left in my brain... It's online only and WONDERFUL.
Two amazing etsy finds that I want to put on my walls as promises to myself...

This

And This

The winter blues are hitting hard around here - despite a little break in the cold (it was almost 40 yesterday!).  The grey skies, dark mornings and afternoons, lack of green scenery, cold corners in the house, salty pant-hems, dirty snow... I'm on the hunt for light, warmth, color, brightness, and shorter pants!

lovely craft project

Oh, I can't wait to try this necklace!!!!

Christmas time is almost here

And working at a Dutch-American school, maybe I could find someone going to Amsterdam this season to buy me some of this sweet wrapping paper

I'm a sucker for online gift guides, so I will be prowling the net for the best of the best to post here... not that I can afford many of the gifts on the guides for my friends and family - so don't get any ideas, friends and family! You're all getting these this year in honor of Goofus and Gaylen. ha! "The perfect gift for every child on your list!"

the outnet

http://www.theoutnet.com/
Oh, why must this site exist? It brings ridiculously expensive and equally beautiful pieces of clothing just above my level of affordability. When I look at the out-net the conversation in my head goes like this...

Oh! A Rick Owens dress for $359!
I have $359.
I could look good in that and I could wear it so many times it'd be like .30 cents per wear!
Hmmmm, only size-4 left... I could do that cereal diet and lose some weight. And then skip lunch for a few months. And then...
LOOK AWAY! You don't need this! Click on the NYTimes tab: now.

Sigh. A girl can dream.

canning what i can

Finally, I got to some good canning today! I did Dilly Beans for the first time, a few jars of tomatoes (from my garden!), a repeat of that Peach-Rosemary Jam with the last of this summer's peaches, and some "Cheeky Chilli Chutney" from Jamie Oliver. Whew! Oh, and during all of this, I slow roasted some sweet grape tomatoes - another first for me. They're pretty great. Daniel loves sundried tomatoes and these are similar.




Our garden is starting to show signs of the end of a wet, cold summer. It's finally warmed up, but too late. The blight that hit all of Michigan got the tail end of my tomatoes, so I have a plethora of green tomatoes. Any recipe ideas? Peppers are in and amazing, and I still have lots of chard coming along. But that's about it for produce for us. For a first summer of gardening, I'd say we did well. I'm already dreaming of a big herb garden for next year and maybe a nice green beans tower.

post it love

Just back from florida this week. What a state of heat and humidity. Michigan welcomes us back with gorgeous, balmy sunny days in the 70s. No place like home!

french diapers

This strikes me as just hilarious and fun! I mean, who wouldn't want to invest in these Provence inspired diapers?!

jams! part deux

I didn't have any of my pictures up before when I posted about jams...


Daniel made a lemon pie the same day as my jam... double trouble!

speaking of canning

This blog is amazing! An absolute treasure trove! It's called Food in Jars. She has an amazing round-up of recipes from all over, instructions for preserving, even info about drying herbs. I mean, Tarragon-Garlic Pickles? I can't wait to try!!!

jams!

So far this summer I have just started canning some of my wonderful Michigan produce. This week I did sweet cherry jam and an amazing peach rosemary jam. The peach one turned out very very sweet. I made it with last summer's frozen peaches (in an attempt to clean-out those final 2 bags from my freezer!). Once peach season hits, I'll try it again with a little less sugar...

Peach Rosemary Jam (via Martha Stewart Living)

Makes about 1 quart

* 3 pounds yellow peaches, peeled
* 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
* 4 3/4 cups sugar
* 4 large sprigs fresh rosemary

Directions

1. Halve and pit peaches, then cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Transfer to a large bowl. Add lemon juice; toss. Add sugar and rosemary; toss. Cover; let stand, tossing every hour, for 4 hours (sugar should be completely dissolved).
2. Put peach mixture into a large, wide pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until liquid is syrupy, 12 to 13 minutes. Crush lightly with a potato masher, leaving one-quarter of the wedges intact. Skim foam from surface. Discard rosemary sprigs.
3. Seal and process: Fill hot, sterilized 4-ounce jars with hot jam, leaving 1/4 inch space in each jar's neck. Wipe rims with a clean, damp cloth; cover tightly with sterilized lids and screw rings. Transfer jars, using tongs or a jar clamp, to the rack of a large canning pot filled with hot water, keeping jars upright; cover with water by 2 inches. (Jars should be spaced 1 inch apart and should not touch sides of pot.) Cover; bring to a boil. Process jars in gently boiling water 5 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool 24 hours. If lids pop back when pressed, they are not sealed; refrigerate immediately, and use within 1 month. Sealed jars can be stored in a cool, dark place up to 1 year.

I ate this jam on crackers with Gorgonzola cheese... WOW.
Next I'm going to do more cherry but this time with tart cherries.

beautiful destruction

Earlier this year, Vogue featured beautiful photos of nearly dead flowers. Somehow the decay of the flowers was pretty and powerful in its own way. These photos of bursting bubbles from Richard Heeks remind me a little of those, and they are so wonderful!


(via A Cup of Jo)

september come soon?!

Well, not REAL september, but I cannot wait for The September Issue, a documentary about Vogue editor Anna Windsor, to be released at the end of August! Check out the preview... *sigh*

spam mail put to good use!

Oh, Daniel and I cannot stop laughing about these from Elliot Burford! He's made amazing and hilarious illustrations from headers to spam emails. Who knew dirty spam mail could be so redeemable?! ha!

candles in a jar

At our wedding, Daniel and I created some mason jar candles by hanging glass jars with wire and placing tea lights in them. We hung them at all different lenghts throughout the tree branches in my parent's backyard. They were beautiful. Now Alyssa Etinger in her infinite creativity has created the most beautiful porcelain mason jar candles! A good anniversary gift? (photo courtesy of Jen Sliker at laboratorycreative.com). You can find her creations at etsy here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26824982