Hello 2012!

It's going to be a great year, I can already feel it. It's a new day and time to turn a new page and from what I can tell, many of you are right there with me. The words that have been coming in have a wonderful balance of action and reflection. I love it!

I chose mojo this year and decided to jump right in with a long run along the Sea Ranch coast on New Year's day with Pepo and our pooch Lola bounding ahead of me as we ran towards Gualala Point. It was spectacular and invigorating. I hope to keep the inspiration fresh in my mind for as long as possible.
Pepo wanted to bundle up the core principles of happiness up in one word: basics. For him, it means doing all the simple things that result in a clean body and a clean mind. His theory is that the basics (healthy eating, exercise, water, sleep) are a precursor and important foundation to being open and available to higher level things: connection, nurturing, art, music, etc. In his words, "you can't build a beautiful garden without good soil, sun and rain."

For the first time - we've also chosen a word together: support. We hope it will serve as a reminder throughout the year to ask ourselves how we can support each other in our individual passions and pursuits as well as in our life together.

Here are a few more words that friends have shared thus far. Keep them coming! I love to hear them.
Presence
Chance
Intention
Collect
Embrace
Integrate
Friendship
Chutzpah!
Momentum
Savor
Coxin
Risk
Abundance
Hootenanny
Go-for-it!
Center
Finish
Travel
Music

Kylie's Nine Patch - Finished!

Phew! It's finally finished. Here's Kylie's nine-patch. I decided on a hearts and swirls pattern for the quilting to match Jacey's quilt and I have to say - I am really happy with how it turned out. Uncle B was of course very involved in the fabric selections, as you would expect. 


This photo isn't completely true to color, but you get the idea. The border is more pink than it looks here.

 After this quilt, I'm a big fan of white to snap the squares together. It feels fresh and younger, which makes sense since Kylie's just 3.

Creamy white beans

We were feeling a little "hibernatey" the other day - it was 36 degrees (for California that is freeeeezing) and there was the very thinnest layer of frost on the grass. Time for something warm and comforting! These beans are easy to make, but they do take a bit of time. The recipe is from Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook. 

Creamy White Beans
servers 6 to 8

Ingredients
3 cups cannellini beans
Bouquet garni of celery, parsley, thyme and bay leaf
2 medium onions
2 carrots
salt
extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon finely powdered fennel seed
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped fine (optional)

Soak beans overnight in water to cover.
The next day, drain beans and put them into a large heavy-bottomed pot. Add bouquet garni, 1 onion, quartered, 1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks.


Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, skimming any foam off of the surface. When beans begin to soften (after about an hour or so), add a generous amount of salt and continue to cook gently until they are very tender. When they are fully cooked, turn off heat and set aside.
While beans are cooking, cut remaining onion and carrot into a fine dice. Heat a saute pan, adding enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add onion and carrot, season with salt and saute on medium heat until tender. Set aside.


Puree 1 cup of cooked beans in blender or food processor with a little of the cooking liquid. Drain remaining beans, reserving the liquid, but discarding the onion, carrot and bouquet garni.
Heat a large saute pan and coat the bottom with olive oil (I used the same pan I sauted the onions and carrot in earlier). Add garlic, a pinch of red pepper and warm briefly before adding sauted onion and carrot, the bean puree, remaining beans, powdered fennel seed and rosemary. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until beans are hot. If consistency seems too thick, thin with some reserved bean cooking liquid. Taste and season with salt as necessary. Finish with a generous drizzle of olive oil and serve.


Variation: to make white bean puree for crostini, put 2 cups cooks beans aand their cooking liquid into a large saute pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring and mashing frequently with a wooden spoon, until beans begin to form a rough paste. taste for seasoning and adjust; thin with more water or cooking liquid if necessary. If you prefer a smoother consistency, puree beans in a food processor. Serve immediately on thick garlic toasts, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil.

The gift of handmade sweetness

One of the many reasons I love my husband is for his incredibly thoughtful, creative spirit. For many years, this has expressed itself in small sketches, usually around birthdays for our nieces and other holidays, like Christmas.

It's a small way he dipped a toe, and now more firmly a foot into the world of art. My most favorite part of this are the tags he makes for Christmas gifts. Over time, my name has fallen off, as has the formality of "from" and "to" - both of these replaced with various nicknames, or nothing at all.

Sometimes, just one of my favorite creatures....

Other times, sweet holiday fare. It's these small things that I hold most dear this time of year.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year. 

It's time! Choose your word for 2012

This is one of my absolute favorite times of the year. A time to gather with family and friends. A time for giving, receiving and being grateful for everything we have. It's also become an important time of reflection for me and B - which includes embracing one of our favorite holiday rituals: choosing our words for the coming year.

By now - this is old hat to many of you, but for those of you who don't know the story, this tradition goes back over a decade to a holiday dinner. We were all sitting around the table lamenting the tradition of New Year's Resolutions. We all had them, or attempted a list, but we never managed to fulfill them and it made us feel bad. So we scrapped the whole idea. Instead, each of us came up with a single word that would set the tone for the year to come. It could be anything, it just had to inspire. The idea is that this is YOUR word for the whole year - a singular rallying cry, intention, reminder, kick in the pants, inspiring thought.... use it however you like. Live it for the year. See how you feel.

This year my word came to me early. I'm going with mojo (feel free to pronounce with a little Austin Powers' flair). 2011 was a tough year for us, filled with lots of change and challenge as well as wonderful adventure. I feel I lost my way a bit - so mojo is all about getting it back. Yeah, baby!
Do you have a word? Please share!! I love to hear them.

Some favorites from this year:
Glow

Explore

Simplify

Surprise

Surrender

Thankful

Hopeful

Prudence

Cherish

Smile

Patience

Abundance

Grace

Purpose

Positivity

Change

Moment

Travel

Health

Renew

Freedom

Nurture

Finishing Touches

I can't believe it! It's been a long road, but I'm nearing the end of my third quilt. This one is for my niece Kylie and I really love the colors. Just need to embroider this little bit and sew on the binding and we'll be ready to go. Woo hoo!

Favorite squares

One of the things I enjoy most about quilting is watching how it all comes together after you build it piece by piece, one 2-inch square at a time. In the end, it comes across as a whole, yet each square is unique.
So far, all of the quilts I've made have been for my nieces - so naturally they're quite sentimental. First there was a log cabin quilt for Paloma, then a nine-patch for Jacey, now Kylie's nine patch and soon Bella's. Though the girls live in different locations and are from different sides of our family, I wanted to connect them through the quilts. So, I snuck a bit of fabric from one niece's quilt into the fabric of another's, and so on.
Some of the squares have small stories behind them.

This square is in tribute to my dear friend Leslie who is responsible for inspiring me to create this blog and for getting me to start quilting. The red and white fabric with the birds on it came from a jar of homemade honeycomb that she brought to my house over the holidays one year. The jar was tied with a strip of fabric that I thought was too cute to give away. When I started Kylie's quilt, I remembered the fabric and it was just wide enough to make two squares.

The flower and heart fabric above was also used in baby Paloma's quilt as was the sweet floral below.




Jacey and Kylie are sisters, so I thought their quilts should share many fabrics. As I decided what squares to make, I was also thinking of the afternoons they might spend trying to find matching squares from one quilt to the next. The japanese "rice" fabric above is in both quilts.


The owls in this square are from some fabric I made pajamas out of. Owls are near and dear to my heart - so I hope Kylie thinks of her Auntie Mary when she sees these little guys... but she'll have to wait until Christmas!

Happy Birthday Lil' P

My niece Paloma turns 2 today and she's starting to become quite the young lady. Paloma is particularly special to me not just because she is my sister's child, but also because we have the added fun of sharing a birthday. So I figured she needed a snappy birthday dress to mark the day. I have to say I'm pretty proud of how this one turned out and I owe a huge thanks to this blog for the pattern.


Since Paloma lives by the beach, and I was on a roll, I thought this extra fabric from Jacey's quilt, would be perfect for a snappy pair of clam diggers. Cross your fingers everything fits!
Sending you big smooches and huge hugs from Auntie Mary lil' P. Have a GREAT GREAT day!!

Kylie's quilt

Those of you who know B and I know that we're creative birds. In the last year - B has rediscovered his love of painting and drawing as you know...and now he's embraced a new role: color consultant. Most of the time I greet this with enthusiasm. True, I did endure some eye rolling when I came back from the fabric store with questionable selections.  But he really helped me narrow my choices for Jacey's quilt. I was held back from introducing colors like green and  yellow. It helped. 


Then - this morning - after I asked him to pick out his favorite squares for Kylie's quilt, I came back to find only about 5 out of 60 or so squares had made the cut. Sigh. To break the impasse, I came up with the brilliant idea of laying them all out on a white background and ta daaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Somehow - they all seem to work. Just 10 more squares to go!

Ahoy, Skull Island!

We feel a little bad that it's been awhile since we've taken up "The Dragon and the Princess". We got a dog, Uncle B started a new job... it's been a long couple of months. But finally, the story continues. As you may recall, we left the princess at the Grove of Giants where she encountered Marco, the giant blue bird. The trio (Princess, Marco, and Tofu) were off to Skull Island in their continued search for Henry the Dragon.

Uncle B took a clever close-up approach providing key fun details like the worm dangling from Marco's beak.


So naturally, he countered that with an epic landscape as the Princess, Tofu and Marco fly to the island. I don't know what I love more about this one...
  
all those blinking hungy eyes in the background, the Cannibal King's pot belly - or the sense of humor in the whole thing.


 As a somewhat responsible Aunt and Uncle, we'd been trying to keep the story light and the characters friendly. But, it would appear that Bella wanted the cannibals to attack!

We also enjoyed how she picked up Uncle B's close-up style and added one of her own.
  
To move the story along further, we decided to put Tofu and Marco in danger ... but note: the fire has NOT been lit under Tofu just yet.

But the cannibals sure look hungry. We can't wait to see what happens to Marco. Take it away Bella!

Fried zucchini blossoms

The farmer's market was crazy delicious last week. It would appear that the beginnings of fall are here - there were figs galore, heirloom tomatoes aplenty and basil everywhere. Also - quite a few stands had zucchini blossoms. So I thought - why not? It took a little work to stuff these with ricotta, but it is worth the effort. I found this recipe on epicurious and it's deeeeeeeeeelicious. 

Will the fairies become a snack?!

I know it's been awhile since we were in Fairy Land, but Uncle B decided on some pretty detailed illustrations for this next round, so it took a bit longer than expected. As you may recall - our fairies were preparing to  head over to Ivan's cave to check out his pot of gold. 


Uncle B thought it was only proper to give a nice lay of the land via this very fancy landscape. Note the ominous presence of Boris the owl - watching everything from above.


But how to show the fairies on their way? B decided a crystal ball was just the thing. The plot thickens as Boris considers what a tasty snack the fairies will make. 


I love the details - especially the "flying fairy jumble".

Happy Birthday, Pepo!

It was our friend Victoria (aka "Fearless") who first suggested that birthdays were an opportunity to celebrate your own personal new year. We were completely inspired by this and have celebrated each year reflecting upon the possibilities each year presents. Inspiration can sneak up on you in unexpected ways. Like this photo that B snapped off in a small shop when we were in Santa Fe. He didn't say anything to me about it at the time. He just noticed it because it spoke to him and he captured the moment.
Today is B's birthday (aka, Brandon, Pepo, Mr. B, Uncle B, Poopy B, Ambianzo, caro mio, and many more). I love each of these quotes tremendously and I think they are just the perfect fodder for reflection on such a day as this.

"Tell me, what is is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Happy personal new year Pepo. I love you madly.

Santa Fe

One of the best things about getting out of town is seeing and trying and doing new things. That couldn't be more true for our recent trip to Santa Fe. It was an amazing get away for many reasons – but mostly because neither of us had ever been there. After just a short plane ride, you're thrown into the middle of a dramatically different landscape, with wonderful art, food and culture. 
  
Central to any travel -  in our book at least - is food, food, food. We missed the famous chile cheeseburger at Bobcat Bite - so we already have an excuse to go back. But not to worry - our hotel turned us onto several wonderful meals - all within walking distance from the town square. First there was the unbelievable chile relleno (stuffed with quinoa and mushrooms) at  Santacafe. The next night we were literally fighting over bites at La Boca. In the end, Aqua Santa turned out to be just the perfect spot to celebrate our anniversary. Perfectly cozy and intimate, the food was terrific and our server Whitney was hilarious and wonderful at the same time. 


I think our favorite time was spent strolling the many galleries on Canyon Road. Lots of good, bad, and curious art. 


And quintessential landmarks to see in a quick day-trip to Taos.


Of course O'Keefe chose to paint the back of the church. It's the most interesting part. (And surprisingly RIGHT off of the main road.)


Above the desert... forests of aspens overlooking Santa Fe. Gorgeous.
 

Grilled Lamb Chops with Meyer Lemon Mint Compote

Borgo was here a bit ago looking for places to live. We're so excited he's moving to California - we're just beside ourselves. Naturally, we had to throw down a couple of choice meals during his visit. It was gorgeous and hot out (most welcome given this weirdly cold summer we're having) so we decided to grill up some lamb chops. 


We wanted a sauce for the chops but couldn't figure out what to do. Truffles? Something with herbs, maybe mint? Then I found this Meyer Lemon Compote with Mint and it was amazing. I recommend really packing in a ton of mint. The mint wasn't coming through for me - so I added a little bit of fresh minced mint at the last minute. Delicious!

Roasted Tomatoes with Hazelnuts and Breadcrumbs

Every year I wait patiently for heirlooms to arrive in season. They make me insanely happy. When we brought these home, I ran straight to my special stash of "most favorite recipes ever" flipping through until I came to this well-loved baked tomato recipe from the August 2009 Gourmet magazine. I think we made every recipe in that issue from cover to cover. The breadcrumbs and hazelnuts aren't featured in the pic above - but they make this dish.
Here's the recipe and it's to die for. 

Roasted Cauliflower with Kalamata Vinaigrette

I couldn't resist grabbing a couple of these little gems the other day. There's something so beautiful to me about how small they are and how perfectly the leaves curl up and around. I know cauliflower can be polarizing, but I love it. If you're on the fence - you have to try this recipe. Simple and totally delicious.

Roasted Cauliflower with Kalamata Vinaigrette
adapted from Gourmet Magazine – September 2009.   Serves 4 (side dish)

1 head cauliflower (or a couple of small ones)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small garlic clove
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, finely chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (to taste)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat over to 450˚F with rack in  lower third.
Cut cauliflower lengthwise into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Toss or brush generously with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Lay pieces flat on 4-sided sheet pan. Roast, turning once or twice, until golden and just tender, about 25 minutes.
While cauliflower roasts, mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt, then whisk together with lemon juice, remaining 2 tablespoons oil, olives, and 1/2 tsp pepper.

O! Padron!

I know. I can't stop waxing on about the Berkeley Farmer's Market and it's not just because I'm trying to hype up California for our friend Borgo who moves out here next month. 


Our latest discovery is Padron peppers. Just like the sign says, a little olive oil. A little salt. Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm!

 

Reaper buns!

I really shouldn't write about this. Seriously. It's almost too good to share.

Last week at the Berkeley Farmer's market I had a life changing experience. Feeling a little peckish, some bakery treats at one of the stands caught my attention and I had my eye on a soft pretzel. While I was waiting for the customer ahead of me, I saw a sugar-dusted thing called a Reaper Bun and asked for one of those as well.

What they should have called it was a Ridiculous Piece of Heaven! 
As I sank my teeth into the slightly dense doughy deliciousness, I think I may have let out an audible sigh. Then I noticed that a bit of caramelized sugary goodness was melting in my mouth. I quickly handed over the less exciting pretzel to my hubby Pepo.

I spent a full week fantasizing about returning to the stall (which I have since learned is OctoberFeast Bavarian breads) so that I could enhance the experience of my next bun with a perfect cup of brewed-on-the-spot coffee from Blue Bottle. This time, I noticed there was quite a line. Luckily, there were plenty of buns to go 'round.

Favorite Beets

I heart beets. They are gorgeous, colorful and so good for you. My favorite way to eat them is the simplest - just roasted with lemon zest, olive oil and salt. Really, it doesn't get better than that. I also love to toss them with little gems, feta, roasted walnuts and a nice mustard vinaigrette. Mmmm mmmm mmm.

Roasted Beets
2 bunches beets, trimmed
meyer lemon infused olive oil (or regular olive oil)
zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 45o. Place the trimmed beets in a glass baking dish, add 1/4 inch water to the dish and drizzle a generous amount of olive oil on top. Cover with foil. Bake until beets are fork tender, checking them about half-way through and giving the dish a nice shake to move roll the beets around (30-45 minutes). When cool, peel and quarter the beets.


In a medium sized bowl, toss the beets with the zest and a nice drizzle of meyer lemon olive oil (regular olive oil works perfectly too). Add salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Roasted mushrooms

This is hands-down, one of my favorite ways to eat mushrooms. Simple and totally delicious. Naturally, the recipe comes from my favorite cookbook. I forgot to add the pine nuts to the batch above (oops!), but highly recommend them. 

Roasted Mushrooms with Pine Nuts
1 pound cremini or large white mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves
2 pinches red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons roasted pine nuts


Preheat oven to 400. Put the mushrooms in a wide, shallow baking dish, season with salt and pepper and toss with the oil. Bake until sizzling, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the parsley and garlic together. When the mushrooms are done, toss them with the parsley and pepper flakes. Scatter the pine nuts over the top and serve.

Summer green bean salad

It's gorgeous out today. Perfect for a barbecue and eating outside. I don't know when I started making this salad, but it is one of our summertime staples. Easy to make, perfect at room temperature and complements almost anything grilled. (This recipe is also a terrific use for leftover grilled corn on the cob.)

Summer Salad
Generous handful green beans, trimmed 
1 cup-ish cherry tomatoes, cut in half (I prefer Sweet 100's)
1 ear corn, grilled or briefly blanched 
Mustard vinaigrette (see below)
Blanch green beens briefly in boiling salted water. Quickly cool in an ice bath and lay on a towel to dry. Slice the tomatoes. Cut the corn from the cob. Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and toss generously with vinaigrette. Add fresh cracked pepper and salt to taste. 


Mustard Vinaigrette
1 shallot, finely minced
1 teaspoon-ish mustard (I like a combo of stoneground and dijon)
Splash of red wine vinegar (1 tablespoon? more?)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground peppter
I love to make a big batch of this dressing and have it on hand in the fridge. It's excellent on almost anything. I adjust the amounts with every batch - tasting as I go - depending on how much vinegar I tossed onto the shallots, how big the shallot was, etc. I also dial up the mustard depending on my mood. Experiment and see what you think.
1) Place minced shallots in a small bowl, add a nice sized pinch of kosher salt and enough vinegar to moisten the shallots but not drown them (here's where the "eyeballing it" comes in). Set aside for 15 minutes.
2) Add mustard to the bowl with the shallots and slowly incorporate the olive oil, whisking as you go, until you reach a nice balance between the tang of the vinegar and the olive oil. Be generous with the olive oil. I usually find that I add at least 2 parts or move olive oil to one part vinegar. Let your tastebuds tell you when to stop. Adjust seasonings as you go.

Summer skirt

This weekend I got the sewing bug and managed to whip out a couple of projects that were sitting there patiently waiting to be loved. It was especially helpful to have something to take my mind off of adopting a dog - which is my other current obsession.


One of my favorite things to do is to pick out a couple of projects and do the fabric cutting. Then - when you get the bug, it's presto-change-o ready to go! This is the easiest pattern - and I just fell in love with the fabric. Outside of pajama pants, I could see myself making a bunch of these skirts to have around. 


They are great for travel, super comfortable and just plain fun.



I'm hoping my friend Leslie will see this and be proud of me for making my own bias tape.



Here it is - almost done- just waiting for a bottom hem.