marys

How delicious do those look? Unruly little things is a talent.  I'm always wanting friends over for Sunday brunch but have to get over not wanting to shower or tidy from the night before.  Maybe I'll just have to get over myself 'cause I really want to make these.  The dill salt rim really makes it for me.  Someday soon y'all will have to come over.

{photo and illustration by me}

Charred Chard

I'm finding so many great things on the old interweb right now.  I've found some really great food blogs that I actually want to read.  So many are kind of ho hum to me but I'm totally digging those with super spectacular photography or illustrations.  Can't get over how much these Claudia Pearson illustrations make me want to cook.

Love this Gang

The Anti-hate Blogger Gang

I haven't experienced any haters yet but I have sure seen them.  This great gang has been created to combat the negativity.  Love it.

Bubble Gum (Medicine)

This has been my poor little dude for most of this week.  Fever, vomiting, eye strain, neck pain...the works.  Not the flu.  Strep.  Yep strep.  Poo.

But, he gets bubble gum medicine.  That was the best part of ear infections for me as a kid.  Love that stuff.  Tastes like pink carnivals.  Like these pics.

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Thankfully this is what he feels like now too.

The Loverly List

Everyone in blogland has a love list with a fancy name.  I keep imagining my dad's mom, Nana, singing the chorus "wouldn't it be loverly."  So, that's where this title was born.  I think it'll help me clear out all those great list of things I was saving to post about for an individual post but might never get to.

And the big elephant in the room is that you haven't seen me post as regularly as I had in the past.  I hope that's ok with you.  I'm in the midst of possibly the busiest craziest time I hope to have in my little families life.  Me with two little sweeties and two or more PT jobs, husband working FT/graduating law school/taking the bar/developing projects.  I look forward to a slightly more loosened schedule.  It'll be here soon enough.  Until then, I hope to see you a few times a week, if only one blog date a week. :)

Introducing my loverly list.  I hope you like it.  I have listed below 10 of my lastest and greatest finds.  Enjoy.

1. I want to make this. I'm sure I won't.  Still fascinated by sewing but don't have the patience and time just yet.

2. That grey kick pleated skirted table.  Love love love it! 

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3. Chelsea's Leopard Sperry Top Siders.  No way. I'm not into leopard usually but this is the perfect juxtaposition.  {Tea Talk}

4. Homemade party in a box.  For those of us without much time but want that special feel.  I love this.{Acme Party Box}

5. This toddler high chair.  One of my favorite color combos. {found here}

6. This kit house.  Backyard yoga studio, play area, art studio, meditation room, reading room.... {kitHAUS}

7. That shelf that I wish were a giant bench.  I just can't stop looking at it.  Beautiful.  {found here}

8. This t-shirt from local etsy seller. Perfect Valentine's Day duds. {Finley and Oliver}

9. This shower curtain.  Our master bath is always lacking something to me.  Maybe something like this would do it. {saw it here}

10. Oh Joy's pickle pic.  I'm salivating.  I really want to learn to can/preserve this year. {pic}

Gushing Sweetness

I just landed on the most adorable blog that will be my new favorite for a while.  Pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com.  Head over there.  You'll love it.

While there, I saw this video collection of pregnancy photos for their last child and I can't get over how fun it is.

Here you go, I know you wanted to see it.


Magic- A Belly Grows from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

Chow Bella

Today and every Tuesday I'll be over at the Phoenix New Times' Food Blog Chow Bella.  I'll be featuring local produce and what simple lovely things you can do with it in a weekly series called In Season. Today I'll be talking about kohlrabi.

Back to the future

It was a tired Friday evening when we walked into Five Guys up on Bell.  We'd order our food, I like the small cheeseburger with grilled onions and mushrooms.  We sat down to settle in with our peanuts and I noticed the new monolithic coke machines.  Yes!

It felt a little back to the future for me, 'cause Patrick was in his Marty McFly vest.  "Whatdya do? Jump ship?" Tee hee.  I love that movie.  Aaaand, Huey Lewis was playing in the background.  See why I felt like I was in the movie?


Having worked for Coke for almost 4 years as my first job out of college, I was so excited to try it out.  When I started in 2000 being the "coke lady" for folks like Joe Johnston at Joe's Real BBQ (when that had first opened).  At that time, Coke machines had just switched to Bag-in-the-box (those 50# giant boxes of syrup) from those pre-mix canisters.

Pre-mix system (image)

Bag-in-the-box system (image)

It appears that the new Coke machines connect the same way with drains and water and ice machines but the guts are so so much cooler.  I got an Orange Vanilla Caffeine Free Diet Coke.  Wowza. Here's how the experience goes:

The dispensing area is super sleek and clean.  You choose one of the non-greyed-out flavors (they get greyed out when the syrup is out I guess).  Once you choose your flavor, you have the option to choose to add a flavor.  For the Caffeine Free Diet Coke, there was the option to get cherry, lime, orange, vanilla and raspberry.  So so so fun.  Other base flavors have other syrup flavor options.  Sean got a Strawberry Sprite Zero. Click on the pics to be able to read my notes.

It tastes perfect (probably because the added flavorings aren't sugar free).  I had learned from one of my trainees when I was first working for Coke that if you just put a splash of regular coke into a full cup of diet coke, that it makes the diet "funk" go away.  It works, try it!

It was also perfect because I bet it is always perfectly calibrated (syrup to water ratio) and probably has a built-in water purifier.  The machine is so amazing.  I was lucky to be able to watch the Five Guys employee change out the syrup.  It's just like changing out printer cartridges.  The syrup must be super duper concentrated to be so small now.  He swiped the cartridge over this little Coke bottle symbol to open the door.  Whoa! Then he peeled off two little tips and pushed it in to reload.  After closing the door and pushing a few buttons on the touch screen, he was ready to go again.

This is the future folks, it's awesome and I hope you get to try one out soon.  I head that Pei Weis are getting them too.  Check it out!

Now Open: Prescott Valley Farms - Phoenix New Times Food - Chow Bella

I can't wait to check out this new spot for local meat down the street.  Don't you just love the Chow Bella blog? ;) I get so much great info on the local food scene.  Really, it's where I learn all the great tips and tricks.

{image: Carrie Wheeler}

So you wanna join a CSA

If you don't have these things in your kitchen already, you're gonna need to get them.  If you don't have the right tools, it's just too much of a pain in the rear to prep the veggies.  I haven't listed sheet pan and pots, you know, the usual suspects.  These I assume you have.  I suppose I assume you have a knife too but you really need to get a good quality knife and keep it sharp.  You'll appreciate that when you're hacking into you winter squashes. I also have listed a good cutting board, a veggie swivel peeler and a mandoline.

Do you already have what you need?

Cooking Tools by OXO
Kitchen Knives by Wusthof

Trying to be a photographer

This was the finished product yesterday.  I am really proud with how it turned out.  However, I tried my darndest not to completely lose my mind at the kids.  I think mine are especially needy.  Maybe they're not, but I feel very challenged in the area of having them play by themselves.  They always need to be engaged, and so, when I engage myself in something else, it generally makes for some creative thinking on my part.

I broke out the pack n play and cookies and balls and ran to the other side of the backyard to quickly set up the veggies, the tripod, the camera and shoot away.  I took probably 30 pictures in various forms of the above picture.  In between those 30 pics, Patrick was hanging on me, the tree, the tripod, and anything else he could find that was nearby.  Not the balls, the slide, the trike, the sandbox, the grass, or anything I wanted him to play with.  Gretchen was screaming, trying to crawl in the dog poop sprinkled grass to the fallen oranges, sticks and bugs.  When I held her, she was using her Inspector Gadget spring loaded arms to grab the camera strap.  See? Stressful!!

Well, it's over and I'm happy overall and the CSA Coordinators will have a new picture to use to put on their websites/brochures/etc.

Here are a few of the outtakes:

Restoration Hardware paint color matches

I am excited to have a link to these supposed matches to RH paint colors.  I love love RH Silver Sage, I've bathed a few walls and got meeself matching drapes a few years back.

It's a little green, a little grey, a little blue.  It's the perfect paint color.  It's just nice and pricey.  So, this list is great for us folks on a DIY budget.  Thanks Jaimee Rose for your tip.

Punch and Pie

Punch and pie are the new cool foods.  Boy, that makes me happy.  I'll have to save pie for another blog post, 'cause it deserves it's own post.  However, I recently saw that darling Ree tweeted this simple sweet punch recipe.  I want to make a note of it here on the blog so I don't forget it for Gretchen's first birthday party in May when it's already gotten hot again.  This will really hit the spot.

thepioneerwoman: Punch Recipe: 2 liter bottle Hawaiian Punch, 2 liter bottle Ginger Ale, 1.75 quart carton raspberry sherbet, and a sweet tooth. Mix. Enjoy.

I'd love to serve it with some swirly straws in my mason jars I might never use if I don't break them out for this use {mental note: gotta make that orange marmalade before too long}.

If your in the mood for a more seasonal punch and you're a drinker {too bad I'm not}, this Smitten Kitchen milk punch recipe sounded scrumptious.   Just saying the words milk punch make me want it.  It's like egg nog's cool kid sister who listened to Mumford and Sons before anyone else.

My favorite media outlets Sunday Morning and NPR have featured punch stories.  You'll find in that punch came about from party-loving British sailors having trouble with their beer spoiling on long voyages.  So, in come the creative use of local ingredients found in India and Indonesia.  Punch has gone in an out of favor several times since its invention.  For me, punch makes me think of anything served in a punch bowl - with a kick.  My mom gave me this great punch bowl that has a spout and handle built-in.  I'm absolutely doing to use it for our next get-together.  I will do my part to make it cool again.

Being a kickless drinker, I'm going to start experimenting with some reworking of some vintage recipes. This might be a fun one to start with, since it's cold out.  Maybe I'll sub out the rum and brandy for pineapple juice and almond extract or molasses.

Here's Charles Dickens' Hot Punch from The Splendid Table:

Charles Dickens Hot Punch

Adapted from The Charles Dickens Cookbook by Brenda Marshall (Personal Library, Toronto, 1981).
This is taken from a letter Dickens wrote in 1847 where he gave his recipe for punch. Lynne changed one or two directions given in the original recipe that she felt may be dangerous to do today. This is a strong punch. Serve it in small quantities.

• Zest of lemons, cut into several pieces each
• 1 packed cup brown sugar
• 2 cups dark rum
• 1/2 cup brandy
• Juice of 3 lemons
• 4 cups very hot water
• More sugar to taste

In a 4-quart saucepan combine the lemon zest, sugar, rum, and the brandy. Warm over low heat. Be sure there's no exhaust fan running. Stand well back as you light the liquid with a long match. When the flames have gone out, stir in the lemon juice and the water. Taste for sugar. Bring the punch to a very gentle bubble, cover completely and cook 10 minutes. Remove the lemon zest. Set aside up to 3 hours, or refrigerate overnight. Serve warm, ladled into handled cups.
Note from Lynne: My own touch here would be a few cinnamon sticks added with the lemon zest.

stovetop kettle corn

I totally made this kettle corn recipe today and totally loved it.  I want you to have the recipe too.  Here you go: stovetop kettle corn recipe.

You're welcome.

Movie night at our home will never be the same.

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How to crack a butternut

Butternuts are not a tough nut to crack.  They are so easy to chunk up and plunk on a sheet pan to roast all toasty crisp on the outside and smooth in the middle.  I made a little photo collage to show some of our CSA members how I do it.  Here it is:

You will find these little pear shaped friends all over the markets these days.  Don't do what I do and stare at it lovingly but never actually get at it.  Easily one of my top 5 favorite veggies and I forget how easy they are to handle.  See above.  Just blast these salted and oiled chunks in a hot oven at 425 for 20-30 min and devour.  I tend to nibble on them like crackers or nuts just off the sheet tray.  We do the same thing to our broccoli and call them broccoli fries for a pre-dinner snack with my kiddo.  We love 'em.

 Tell me, do you all already know this method?

French Wine Barrel Chairs

Love love these.

Repurposed lounge chairs by Barrelly Made It. So slick.  I want one!

image and chair spotted on thrillist via Studio Surface