Home of the $200 Tomato

I'm proud to present my most recent project.  And one I actually finished.  Wait, can you ever consider a garden finished before harvest?

The friendly Home Depot delivery guy was kind enough to not just dump forty 60lb blocks on the curb.  But I did have to haul them one at a time to the side yard.  Because I am weak, Kacey had mercy on me and hauled the last eight.  To be fair, I did not collapse in a quivering mass of expended muscle.  He stepped in after I gave myself a minor concussion with the hand truck.  Don't ask, I'm not really sure how I did that to myself.

Did I mention that I split concrete blocks with my bare hands...and tools

Lettuce and peas are planted.  Veggie starts are ready to go in.  Drip irrigation is next.  Those first carrots and peas will taste extra good.  Keeping the organic fruit and veggie delivery probably would have been less expensive.

So much to do. So I do nothing.

My  hermit-hibernation-world-avoidance tactics began much earlier than usual this year. Without going into details, let's just say I had a summer that started with great intentions (hence reviving the blog) that got derailed. Withdrawing has been one of my preferred coping mechanisms. I have always chalked it up to gloomy northwest seasonal affective disorder. Taking to ones bed at the height of summer could not be attributed to winter blues. I realized I needed to work out my shit. Admittedly this is a work in progress. So I'm working my way through some self help books, much to my cynical self's dismay. I'm surprised to find that the journaling and reflective exercises do seem to be helping my head. I'm feeling more productive and less overwhelmed. I'm wanting to tackle projects again. And instead of looking at these tasks as some sort of checklist of my failures, I'm using projects to re-engage with the world. I'm trying to fake it until I am back to being excited about new challenges.

I decided to start this new year by doing one new, rejuvenating, or creative thing a day. Hopefully more than one "thing" most days. But I believe in attainable goals, so I aimed low. So far, so good.

January 1: Made full on dinner including a new roasted potato recipe. Delicious.

January 2: Got back to pilates floor work. The hundred, when did you get so tiring?

January 3: Hot yoga. I think I sprained my belly button. Seriously. The rest of my abs feel fine. I had forgotten that blissful place my head becomes when I'm focused and quiet for 90 minutes.

January 4: Tackling a handbag project I started two years ago. I'm remembering why I set this one aside. The directions are in a negative 8 font, printed on a bright background. Amy Butler's designs are lovely but this pattern book may give me a migraine.

Link Dump Time

Or better known as how I waste time...

This was the first pic where I saw my
hoop in action.  Nice!

Mood Hoops.  If you have never been able to hula hoop, these will inspire you.  We ended up having a hoop inspired dance party at the family camping trip!  I also learned that my friend's second grader can hoop much better than I can.

Huff Post Cats.  Because cats deserve their own news feed. 

Humble Bundle offers games, music, and book collections and you set the price.  You pick the proportion of your payment that goes to the authors/developers and to charities such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  Book downloads have gotten much easier since the first Bundle.

I have a nephew this would be perfect for.  The Sound Track train set allows little ones to compose while they play.  Not out yet, I'm hoping it will be in time for Christmas.

Note: my version looked not nearly as pretty as this.

Made pasta primavera last night with this recipe as inspiration.  I could eat the tomatoes with balsamic sauce as dessert.  

I finally decided to go to my high school reunion. Actually just the cocktail hour because I don't want to be trapped at a buffet without ready access to the bar.  I've been reading these reunion horror stories to inoculate myself.  

Sausage and Kale Soup with a Banana Bread Chaser

We are fortunate to have a farmers market at the end of the street once a week in the summer.  This usually means that I buy a ton of local produce with the best culinary intentions in mind.  Fortunately the Mr. makes an amazing veggie stir fry that consumes much of what I purchase.  I had some kale that needed used up and remembered a soup recipe that I had seen over at the Ginger Kitchen.  Go check out Liz's site for this and other great recipes.  I ended up going to the little market to get some sausage to make the soup.  

 I love the Tacoma Food Co-op, but sometimes the the selection is a little sparse.  They are still building up inventory, but I must admit this find was the best:

You can find these online along with other fantastic Tacoma art at tacomamakes.com.

So back to dinner, I ended up with chicken red pepper sausage rather than ground pork sausage, but the combination with kale, some potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic really worked.  

Since I had one cooking victory I decided to make a somewhat healthier version of my stand-by banana bread recipe from Betty Crocker.  I substituted whole wheat flour for white and used agave nectar instead of brown sugar.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bottom only of a 9x5x3 loaf pan.

2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup agave nectar (you can also use honey)

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1/3 cup milk

1 egg

3-4 mashed ripe bananas

Mix all ingredients  beat 30 seconds.  Pour into pan.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly and then remove from pan.  Supposedly you allow the bread to cool completely before slicing.  But I find it much more satisfying to cut a thick piece and smother it with butter.

This was a baking win!  The taste and texture were as good as the white flour original.  And I feel less guilty after eating half the loaf in 24 hours. 

Easy like a Thursday morning.

Recharge, Restart, Revitalize

One of my coworkers put it best; working a school district schedule means you get three opportunities to start over each year.  While New Years is when the majority hit the reset button, us school folk have a fresh start to our personal lives as summer begins and professionally in September.

One of my personal restarts was to get the blog going again.  What was once a space to post pics of handbags has evolved (or is being reborn) as a place for all sorts of creativity.  And probably a fair share of musings and rants.  

Here are some of the things I would like to accomplish this summer:

Personal Health

• Walk/Jog 100 miles--I'm using the Run Double Couch to 5K app on my phone to keep track of my distance even though my knees often won't allow me to run consistently.
• Lazer Tag with my nephew Cameron
• Wild Waves with the nephews
• Master Hula Hooping and get an LED hula hoop
• The Electric Run 5K  in August

Craftacular

• Reclaim my craft room.  The laundry and ironing has taken over!
• Make this dress
• Finish up the Amy Butler bag I cut out TWO years ago.  This is how bad I procrastinate.
• Get back to designing handbags.  I used to do this all the time.

Home

• Re-tile the entryway
• Build raised beds for the side of the house 
• Sort out the bookshelf situation.  We have SO MANY BOOKS.

Just for Fun

• Re-read some of my childhood favorites.  I already finished Harriet the Spy.  Such a smart book.
• Meditate.  I always have good intentions to do this every morning and then I hit the snooze button.
• Go the The Grand more often.  Local cinema at its best.
• Play games.  Cribbage, Backgammon, plus I would love to do more board games with my family.
• Host more gatherings at our house.  Because that's the whole reason we bought the house.
• Regular Wine and Whine with my girlfriends.  Seriously crucial.