Orzo Salad

Yesterday was my birthday. I celebrated by hanging out with my two favorite boys (one little, one big) and doing nothing special, in particular. We ran some errands and picked up salmon to grill for dinner. We found a home for my new-to-me compost bin that is close enough to the back door for me to get to, even in the winter, but not so close that we can smell it doing its job. It was a stress-free, completely relaxed, productive day.  It was a perfect way to begin a new year.

Salad of the Summer

I am pretty sure someone messed with my calendar this summer and sucked out all the restful, lazy, classic summer moments one should have. Instead, it seems to be filled with unending travel, unbearable heat, and all-around busyness.  How can it possibly be August?! During the rare still moments I get these days, I'm pretty sure I'm sleeping. Food preparation in our house is at a minimum, and the grill is our best friend (except when we've forgotten to refill the propane tank).  We've been gravitating towards salads and cold grilled veggies to get us through the hot days, along with ice cream and gin and tonics.

Orange You Glad.

I attended a fun event last week at my local Whole Foods.  I, along with two other local bloggers, Nikki Gardner of Art & Lemons and Mary Nelen of The Valley Locavore received a special tour of the store, with stops in each department to chat with the knowledgeable, friendly staff and sample some special "budget-savvy", holiday-party perfect snacks and beverages.  We even received a tutorial in the floral department on creating inexpensive centerpieces for a festive table and had some fun rolling our own truffles.

Potato Leek Soup

My new kitchen is lovely. My camera is broken and my iphone photos aren't doing any justice to the space, so I've borrowed some images from So Happy Home. I can tell you that a visually clean, organized, monochromatic work space is exactly what I needed after the "uniqueness" of the old kitchen. We're slowly moving everything back in, but we're being judicious with what returns and what gets packed away for a spring yard sale. We're cooking as much as we can; I've already managed to start a fire in my oven (everything and everyone is fine) AND give myself a burn on my arm that will probably produce a scar I'll have for the rest of my life. I know you're reading this and thinking I'm being careless but I like to think it means I'm bad-ass in the kitchen. Or something like that.