nat nests

about that headboard post...

2010-09-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

oh gosh, sometimes i think i am losing my marbles.

i had planned to stage an epic photo shoot in my bedroom. the sun was going to shine just right, and the photos were going to be amazing, and we were all going to be enlightened on the benefits of vinyl sticker headboards, and ooh and ahh over my west elm knock-off bedspread from the targets.

and then i switched dog food brands on peter pan and, let's just say, poop. on the bedspread.

so i took the bedspread to the local wash & deliver and they said "we'll call you when it's ready."

have they called me yet?

no.

has it been over four days?

yes.

are they a bunch of turkeys?

and how.

so, post delayed. i know, i am such a tease!

but if you want to bide your time until the post finally comes, you can enter a petunia picklebottom giveaway on my main site, HERE. (wish me a happy birthday week while you're at it, that sort of thing is just good karma.)

apology accepted?

nyu law

2010-09-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

today i am feeling ultra inspired by the foyer of the nyu law school.

i mean, can you get over that?

when your headboard is a sticker

2010-09-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

stay tuned, photos of our bedroom to come soon!

a kitchen fit for a queen

2010-09-17T22:15:00.000-07:00

this is my teeny kitchen, fit for a teeny queen. possibly a mouse-sized queen?

it is really, really small.

and this is what any proper new york city stove is used for:

storage.

come on in

2010-09-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

i have fallen hard for my little central park apartment in the sky.

it is teeny. teeny tiny. and completely filled with magic!

and also frustration. putting together a home from nothing is hard.

(but now we have an a/c. so the frustration is at least manageable.)

the apartment is by no means finished,

but it is furnished.

and i think i'm ready to show you around.

in the meantime, that is my door knob.

have you ever seen a more delicious door knob in your whole life??

abc carpet & home

2010-09-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

have you ever been to abc carpet & home? it (along with the christmas tree shop in milford, ct) is my mother's favorite home decorating store.

it's on east 17th street in manhattan and it is a gargantuan place of wonderful inspiration. oh, you can buy things there, sure, if you're a millionaire (or you're crazy), but mostly it is a place where you wander in a deep spiritual ecstasy and try to figure out how to reproduce what you are seeing on the cheap. oh but it is a fabulous place.

we visited the store a few weeks ago when my mom was in town on a hot, drizzly august day. it was just after i'd applied for an apartment and just before i found out if we'd been accepted, so i was a bundle of nerves. i was also trying desperately (unsuccessfully) to not let myself get too carried away with decorating the apartment in my head.

i snapped this photo knowing full well that it would give my poor holbshusband a heart attack. he hates clutter like this. oh, but this clutter makes my heart burst with loveliness! what i wouldn't give for all that glass!

and then we had burgers at goodburger, and i died and went to beefy heaven.

do you prefer minimalism? or maximalism?

(i'm with jonathan adler on this one, i'm a maximist all the way!)

my green palace bathroom in the sky

2010-08-31T21:11:00.001-07:00

i have written a love letter to my green bathroom here.

soon,

(when furniture starts arriving and it is not too hot to think a coherent thought)

i will give you the grand tour!

what you would call "a bummer"

2010-08-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

i cannot stress enough the importance of a measuring tape, my lovers.

today on a whim we measured the corner of the bedroom that i had designated my "crib corner." i had in mind this lovely little number above (and i had even sewn up some sheets and a bumper, get a load of that!).

i was even going to get free shipping!

and then, it turns out, no room at the inn.

how tiny can a new york apartment get? really!

so a few tears later, we are ordering this crib, instead.

it's the smallest crib they make in the universe, i am pretty sure.

(how difficult would it be on a scale of 1-10 to cut and hand stitch my crib sheets to fit mini crib specifications, do you think?)

post update: for everyone who asked, the crib up top is the jenny lind crib (oh how i love it!), and the second crib is the bloom alma mini crib, coming in at a whopping 37"x19". let's just hope my baby stays tiny for a while, shall we?)

sending out a french industrial s.o.s.

2010-08-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

basically i will kill for this coffee table.

(but i would much rather someone just tell me how i can get one for the basement price of $100. anybody?)

one step, and then another

2010-08-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

today, i ordered this sofa from macy's.

it gets here in two weeks.

(you should see the luxury throne my husband constructed out of luggage and towels in the meantime for my poor pregnant self.)

then, i made my husband a turkey sandwich, in my kitchen, from food i had in my fridge.

it's happening, people!

a new (york) couch of desire

2010-08-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

dearest urban outfitters,

a few months ago this thing happened which i never ever thought could ever be possible: urban outfitters, i got pregnant!

we had been trying for two years, dear urban outfitters. two years! can you imagine the emotional toll that could take on a girl! please.

then, once i got pregnant, i promptly turned very sleepy. oh so sleepy. all i wanted to do, all day long, was sleep on my white ikea karlanda couch. oh i loved that couch, urban outfitters, i really and truly did. we were best friends, that couch and i, for three whole months.

we had a regular rendezvous at 11am, again at 2pm, and then even again around 7pm!

i named that couch my couch of desire, because it was all i desired. all i desired and more!

i had to sell that couch, dearest urban outfitters, so i could follow my husband to the big city for his big dreams of world domination via tax law. (tax law, urban outfitters!) and i am now without couch.

and guess what! my little living room/kitchen has juuuuust enough space for a couch! isn't that so exciting! isn't it marvelous what a tape measure will tell you when you decide to be "precise" instead of guessing about things?

seventy-six inches, urban outfitters.

i would like to make this couch my new (york) couch of desire.

what say you?

(i think it would be perfectly lovely with this coffee table, but what do i know?)

yours always and truly,

nat the fat rat

(p.s. i don't know how i feel about those rompers, though, dear urban outfitters.)

nat's new (york) nest

2010-08-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

i am exhausted, but i wanted to show you the quaint little view from my new nest.

it sits along the trees of central park, on the upper west side of manhattan.

it is little, it is dreamy, and it is all mine.

fun posts to come soon.

xoxo

natalie's perfection buttermilk biscuits - a repost

2010-08-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

i spent hours and hours and hours today searching apartment listings online while the little holbsfetus kicked me mightily.

the good news is, i think we have some contenders.

the bad news is, a lot of them involve something which is called a "kitchenette," which apparently consists of one small sink, a half-sized fridge, and a microwave.

people, please!

for the sake of this recipe i will entertain no such nonsense!

with this on my brain tonight, here is probably my favorite, easiest, most fool proof recipe ever. i originally posted it in the winter-time, when dense carbs are most essential to your life force. it is delicious no matter what you do to it. but probably you cannot make it in something called a "kitchenette."

(also don't ever use wheat flour. sad, but true.)

you wanna the recipe?

thought so.

natalie's perfection buttermilk biscuits

3 1/2c flour

3/4t baking powder

1/2t baking soda

1/3c sugar

1t salt

12T cold butter, cubed

1c + 2T buttermilk

preheat oven to 375 degrees.

mix dry ingredients and butter in mixer.

add buttermilk and beat till dough comes together.

roll out dough on floured surface till an inch and a half thick.

cut with a three-inch biscuit cutter.

brush with melted butter and sugar.

bake 15 minutes or until tops are lightly browned. (i always, always try to underbake these, otherwise they can turn to hockey pucks.)

(bonus points if you serve them with home-made caramel sauce, grilled stone fruit, and heaps of whipped cream.)

rosemary mustard chicken, a repost

2010-08-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

i am blogging to you from my father-in-law's house in utah, where there is no air conditioning in the kitchen, and also no plates, utensils, or food, really. we're living the life of bachelors here, and it sure is something else.

if i were home (i don't have a home) this is what i would have made for dinner tonight. because i'm pretty sure this time-this time!-my chicken aversion would be cured. i'm optimistic that way.

so, chicken.

i know the point of food blogs is to make your recipes look appetizing and all, but i have thought about it and it turns out i am all for keepin it rill in here. and the rill dill is, this recipe is delicious but chicken is gross. you know? chicken is gross and life isn't fair.

i came across this Martha Stewart recipe somehow, and i scribbled down the recipe and told myself that this would be it, the chicken recipe to break me of my chicken aversion for once and for all, the recipe that would hold the holbs off from complaining about all of the vegetarian meals i make him eat.

but remember the roasted chicken? i would say to him and then his eyes would glaze over and he would say, mmmm, roasted chicken . . .

so you start with quartered red potatoes and whole peeled carrots in a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. while those are roasting you prepare the meat.

the recipe calls for chicken drumsticks, and i thought that sounded pretty nice, since the drumstick is my favorite part of thanksgiving and all. how bad could this be? but why do we call them drumsticks exactly? chickens don't play the drums. those aren't musical instruments, those are chicken legs, little chicken legs. people, come on now.

and then the recipe tells you to rinse them. give them a little bath.

gross!

while i was there i decided to skin them, since nobody really needs that fat, am i right?

turns out i shouldn't have, because skinning chicken calves is just about the ickiest thing i can imagine a chicken-averse person ever doing.

(not to mention these little suckers are exactly the size and shape of my dog's hind legs. really brings it home, doesn't it?)

ew!

then you dump the legs into the marinade, like so.

and toss.

at this point i started to think maybe i was being a little too hard on those fatty chicken legs, because suddenly things started smelling really delicious.

next, add your marinated chicken legs to the roasting vegetables and let them bake for a forty-five. your kitchen starts to smell like heaven right now, it really does.

despite all the drama this came out really tasty. really, really good. the next day leftovers weren't nearly as good, so make sure to eat this piping hot and fresh. if you like your chicken, you will love this. if you don't like your chicken, well, i hear you sister, but try it anyway, it's only gross until it's tasty, i promise.

rosemary mustard chicken

1. roast whole carrots and quartered red potatoes in a drizzle of olive oil and salt & pepper to taste in a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes

2. prepare your marinade:

1/4c dijon mustard

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2t rosemary, roughly chopped

2t olive oil

3. rub marinade over eight little chicken legs

4. add chicken to baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes

the verdict?

this was really good. we ate it fast (hence, no finished product photos) but still. i am still chicken averse.

(i am also pork averse, but basically that hardly ever comes up in my life so i don't sweat it. and bacon isn't pork, it's bacon.)

the only meat i am not averse to is beef (i like mine bloody!), but there exists no vegetarian classification for people like me who eschew white meats and only eat the reds. i think that's lame, if you must know. i'm a real person with real food-labeling needs, world! seriously.

nesting elsewhere

2010-07-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

in a few short hours

i'll be a bird without a nest.

with any luck

in a few short weeks

i'll be a bird with a new nest.

a very tiny nest

in a giant,

concrete

tree.

until then,

i'll be posting some of my old favorites.

but watch this space.

i'm about to get nesty

in a whole new tree.

and doesn't that sound like fun?

how to sell all your belongings in one fell swoop

2010-07-20T23:06:00.000-07:00

it might not seem like having a yard sale would be very difficult, but actually there is a lot of work involved, the majority of which should be done beforehand.

here are some tips and tricks the holbseller swears by.

(except he doesn't swear.)

(i do, but the holbs says it's "not very lady-like.")

1. get $100 from the bank the day before in various combinations of twenties, tens, fives, and ones. lots of ones.

2. take the time to price everything beforehand. everything. plan on accepting as low as half the price you are asking.

3. research your market by stopping by a few yard sales in the weeks before you have yours.

4. if your yard sale starts at eight, it actually starts the minute you get things outside. be prepared for this.

5. keep your items grouped together by type as much as possible. if your yard sale looks more like an outdoor sale from a store, people will be more likely to buy.

6. try for high volume at low prices. we priced everything low and then accepted some even lower offers, but we sold it all.

7. remember your sunscreen and your fluids. you won't have any time to run indoors to get something you forgot.

8. grab an apron to wear to keep your cash in. regular pants pockets won't cut it.

9. if it's not for sale, don't have it outside. if your wife says it's not for sale, IT'S NOT FOR SALE, HOLBSY!

10. advertise your sale on craigslist and get as specific about what will be included in the sale as possible.

do you have tried-and-true methods of unloading all your belongings in one fell swoop and making a little cash while you're at it?

spill!

public service announcement

2010-07-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

i do not know if you knew it, but i have been featuring oldies but goodies from my first go-round in the big city over at my big blog, natthefatrat.

because i am dying of a stress cold and there are too many piles of things in my house to warrant a coherent post about anything homemakery, i am going to direct you there.

because at least it is interesting over there, you know?

(the holbs just asked me how much diapers cost per month. um. a million dollars? is that close? i know nothing, you guys. crap!)

m o v i n g

2010-07-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

my mother-in-law (who has had to move something like twenty times in her married life) shared this little moving tip with me the other day, and it has saved our dishes. if you layer a Hefty disposable foam plate between each of your dishes, wrap them in newspaper three dishes at a time, and then stack sideways in a small box, you can fit 12 dishes in one box, and they are virtually unbreakable. (knock on wood!)

if you are a holbsmover, you like to sell as much of everything as you possibly can. take nothing with you! if you are a natalie, you fret in the kitchen over every sentimental thing, remembering where you were and what you were wearing when you found each item, while your husband bullies you into "moving on," "replacing," and "saving space." whatever, this is not about logistics, this is about emotion!

somehow, i think everything will make it to where it needs to be. though i may end up trying my holbsy's patience to the very very bitter end.

(isn't that possibly what wives are for?)

do you have any moving tricks for me? tried and true packing methods?

are you like me and you need a million lists to even function during times like these?

are you married to a husband like mine who has an extreme allergy to list-making?

spill it. your hints could save my life. you never know.

hospital corners

2010-07-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

while we were playing hookie from moscow for a couple weeks, my grandpa turned 81. he and my grandma and all of my aunts and uncles came up for the weekend to go to the coast and eat a lot of cake.

i watched my mom get the house ready for her visitors the whole week preceding their arrival.

she went outside and trimmed all the hedges (even the 15-footers lining the back yard).

she bought flowers and planted pot after pot after pot of mums, daisies, and geraniums.

she scoured local stores for party decorations, planned menus, and went to costco approximately thirty million times.

meanwhile, i sat there in awe. i will tell you something, my mother puts every man, woman and child to shame. (your mom included.)

and then i got my act together and made up the guest bedroom for my grandparents, since my mom was obviously otherwise occupied (mowing the grass and supervising the carpet cleaner).

so i had the chance to practice my hospital corners. i don't usually care about such things at my house (we don't even use top sheets - my husband is a sheet kicker), but i learned how to make them from a pro (my mother) who learned from the ultimate pro (my crazy granny goose). hospital corners are very, very important in my family. a good hospital corner will show your guests that you know what you are doing, and also that you care.

okay, so maybe my hospital corners aren't all that great.

anyway, i guess i take more after my dad.

(he's been reading a book on the couch all afternoon.)

my kingdom for a layette

2010-07-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

now, i don't consider myself a baby newbie. as the oldest of four who grew up around dozens and dozens of cousins, i have seen and held and cared for my fair share of newborns. but compiling a layette for my coming dude is proving to be a whole new territory for me. especially: baby clothes

i remember being newly married and attempting to buy something for my cute holbshusband and realizing i had no idea how to shop for men.

well, i am a newlywed all over again here.

so, how do you compile a wardrobe for a newborn? how many pants do you think is enough? how many pajamas would you say a little dude really needs? how long will he be in 0-3 months, anyway? i'd love to hear your suggestions.

in the meantime, here are some of the things that have made me really excited for this squishy little baby on the way.

sold out pjs from giggle.com dwell studio union suit from target.com

my retro baby rebel onesie

mymarketstall's brown bear hat

camo 2-pack from punkbabyclothes.net

okay, let's discuss this.

i've decided

2010-07-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

people! everything is going to be okay!

i have a plan for how i am going to survive this crazy summer of extreme unplannedness while pregnant and hormonal and most likely having a tragically small kitchen. the best part? i think i might make it out alive!

my summer goal is to make all of these meals. well. all of the meals not involving shell fish.

(pregnant or not, shell fish scares me.)

check out the insanely inspirational article HERE, and tell me what you're most excited to try.

cravings

2010-06-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

lately i have been reviewing my pregnancy cravings. i am sorry to say, they have been pretty boring.

in my first trimester i couldn't get enough cold milk. 1%, please.

(i am usually a stickler for skim, but something about that first trimester, man.)

then it was mexican food. specifically burritos. BURRITOS. ohhh burritos.

then beets and cottage cheese (with salt and pepper - TRY IT), the old standby bagels and cream cheese,

and then for about three weeks it was frosted mini wheats.

but lately it is all about this sandwich.

it is called the holiday, and i buy it at stax sandwiches here in moscow as many times as week as my poor beleaguered holbs will allow.

(big word, beleaguered!)

it's turkey, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, and cranberry cream cheese on wheat bread and it makes my in-utero boy go kick-boom.

(it comes with a side of potato chips, which i try not to eat, but inevitably a few make it past my mouth. tricky potato chips.)

have you been pregnant, or know somebody who is?

let's talk cravings.

i think i need something new to obsess over.

how to make bread like a hero

2010-06-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

it finally happened. i finally found my bread recipe.

it is so good and so easy.

the best wheat bread ever

ingredients

4c whole wheat flour

1pkg yeast

2 1/2 c hot tap water

1T salt

1/3c oil

1/3c sugar or honey

1 1/4T bottled lemon juice

2c whole wheat flour

(try substituting with 2c rolled oats, or 2c bran flour, it's good)

method

1. mix together first three ingredients in mixer with a dough hook. add water all at once and mix for one minute, and then cover and rest for 10 minutes.

2. add salt, oil, honey (or sugar) and lemon juice and beat for one minute.

3. add last flour, one cup at a time, beating between each cup.

4. beat for 6-10 minutes until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This dough will be sticky.

5. preheat oven for one minute to warm up and then turn off.

6. turn dough onto oiled counter top, divide, and shape into loaves in oiled bread pans. (i use pam with flour) let rise in warm oven for 10-15 minutes, until dough reaches tops of the pan.

7. turn on oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.

this is what my house looks like today

2010-06-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

(the living room)

(our bedroom)

(the office)

(the view from my room of dreams)

what does your house look like today?

basil

2010-06-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

about two months ago i was wandering around the rosauers in town, contemplating carrots and pondering potatoes, you know, when i came across a basil plant.

it was wrapped in plastic with a root ball at the bottom and three long basily arms. it was exactly the same price as a clamshell of basil, and even though i routinely kill any green living thing i bring home, i decided to give it a shot. i stuck it in a juice glass and filled it with water and then hunted around for something to do with it.

two months later and this thing won't stop! it's a basil machine! i went out of town for a week and even then i couldn't kill it!

when it starts to get insanely overgrown i make pesto. i'd never made pesto before but i will tell you something, pesto is EASY, and it is GOOD.

just, careful with the garlic. i learned this lesson the hard way.

pesto!

2c basil, packed

1/2c grated parmesan cheese

1/2c olive oil

1/3c pine nuts

3 garlic cloves

(next time i am only using two, because, dudes.)

salt & pepper to taste

basically you cram it all into a food processor and process the heck out of it until it looks good and creamy.

(we've done pesto pizza and, of course, pesto pasta. what do you like to do with pesto?)

crust quest

2010-06-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

we're talking about pizza today.

sigh.

you guys, all i want in this life is to be able to make a decent whole wheat pizza crust. is that really so much to ask?

it used to be that i'd make homemade pizza and it would turn out like a cracker with toppings. depressing. and the other day i discovered my problem: bad yeasting!

yeast is probably the scariest thing to cook with in the kitchen. don't you think so? i definitely have a tendency to overheat my yeast. yeast that gets too warm will never develop, and then your pizza tastes like a brick. this crust came out the best ever (i finally wised up and used barely lukewarm water, there is something truly wonky about my kitchen i am telling you), but it was still a little . . . dense.

so, here is my crust recipe. read it, tell me your favorite recipe, tell me what i'm doing wrong. please!

whole wheat pizza

2 3/4c whole wheat flour
1pkg yeast
1tsp salt
2T olive oil
1/2tsp honey
1c warm water

1. combine honey with warm water till dissolved. add yeast package and let sit until yeast is activated.
2. mix dry ingredients with olive oil. (use a dough hook in the mixer if you have one.) add yeast and knead (or mix on med-low) for 5 minutes.
3. cover in oiled plastic and let sit in warm environment for 45 minutes.
4. roll out dough. top with toppings and bake for 10-15 minutes in a 450-degree oven.
(i like thinly sliced zucchini, spinach, arugula, and mozarella. add fresh tomatoes (and avocado if you have it!) and don't forget lots of cracked pepper.)

okay friends. any advice for me?
alternatively,
what's your favorite pizza toppings?

minestrone for a blustery day

2010-06-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

i just do not know what i am supposed to do with myself here, people!
it is JUNE, it is CLOUDY, it is MUCKY, and every time i try to get myself out for a walk the skies open up and dump on me.

i think the world is sending me a message.
i think that message might be: make some soup.

i like to make minestrone soup because it is literally the one recipe you can never, ever screw up.

just to prove it, we're not going to include a recipe, and i am going to let you wing it.

does that scare you?

don't be scared.

it's just soup.

my basic recipe for soup (all soup) goes like this:

1. root vegetables simmered in olive oil

2. additional ingredients for flavor and texture and nutrition

3. some kind of liquid base

4. seasonings

5. s-i-m-m-e-r

my favorite root vegetables to toss in my soups are always onion, garlic, carrots, and enough celery to kill a person. sometimes i'll toss in potatoes, but only if it is a heavy soup.

for minestrone, the extra ingredients you want are all different kinds of beans (canned because who really has the time anymore?) whatever pasta noodles are speaking to you at the moment, diced tomatoes, and some sausage if you're feeling particularly meaty. toss in a low sodium chicken broth or some vegetable broth, and then spice that sucker up.

i don't know what is in this pot but it smells italian-y.

is it oregano or is it basil?

whatever it is, i used a lot of it, plus salt and pepper and also some red chili flakes, because i like to make my holbshusband gasp and say, "why is this so spicy?"

it is so spicy because that is how the baby wants it. i can't help it!

you just sort of toss it in like this

and then you stir it and taste it until you shout, like brother brigham,

THIS IS THE PLACE!

it's super easy.

souper easy?

no, we'll just go with super easy, i don't have that kind of pun in me today.

and then you let it simmer while you hang out with barney

15 minutes ought to just about do it.

see? easy.

p.s. nat the rat is looking for sponsors for nat nests

do you wish to sponsor?

email me at natalielovin{at}gmail{dot}com

for rates and packages.

g-r-i-l-l

2010-04-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

the holbs pulled this sucker out of storage the other day and the fetus instantly messaged me with this request:

hot dog with mustard and sauerkraut!

tell me, what do you like to grill in the summer time?

de-clutter

2010-04-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

to sell a home one must de-clutter one's spaces.

so says the real estate agent.

it's okay. i guess i can live like this.

this is the holbs's clandestine lover.

the end.

pineapple, upside down

2010-04-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

we were invited to spend the easter holiday with our friends the smiths (and hallelujah too, because what else would we have done? huh?) and for easter dinner i was assigned dessert.

and i was thinking . . . easter, easter . . . dessert . . .

and i was drawing this really righteous blank.

and then the fetus told me to make a pineapple upside down cake, which i thought was a really strange idea given the fact that 1.) i've never made one, 2.) i've never wanted to make one, and 3.) i don't even like pineapple upside down cake.

but, you know, the fetus wants what the fetus wants

(is my new motto)

so i googled a recipe and made the first one that popped up, with a few adaptations

(because it is physically impossible for me to actually follow a recipe all the way)

and what do you know?

it was really good!

pineapple upside down cake

adapted from simplyrecipes.com

topping:

1c firmly packed brown sugar

1/2c butter

1 can pineapple slices

cake:

1 1/2c flour + 6T

6T cake flour

3/4t baking powder

1/2t salt

1 3/4c sugar

1c softened butter

4 large eggs

3/4t vanilla extract

1/4t almond extract

3/4c light sour cream

method:

1. make the topping. melt butter and brown sugar over medium high heat, stirring until completely dissolved and bubbling (will take a couple minutes - don't walk away from this!)

2. pour topping into 9" round pan (i didn't use all of it, so just eyeball away) and arrange pineapple slices so they look purty

3. make the cake! combine all wet ingredients and then add dry ingredients

WARNING: this batter is thick. i kind of wondered if i was accidentally making sugar cookies, it was that thick. go with it, friends, go with it

4. spoon batter over pineapple and topping in cake pan to the very top (this cake didn't rise much for me, so you shouldn't have a mess) and smooth out with a spatula.

5. bake at 325 for an hour to an hour and fifteen (my oven is hot, so mine was in there about 45 minutes)

6. let cake cool for 10-20 minutes, then carefully turn out onto cake plate or platter.

7. i refrigerated mine over night and enjoyed it cold with a little whipped cream, cause the fetus told me to.

doggervention!

2010-04-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

mondays are cleaning days, and oh boy my house has needed it. i haven't felt terribly . . . what's the word . . . energetic lately, and things like dusting just sort of fell off my radar for a (long) while. but it's back to the grindstone for me! maybe i'll even start cooking dinners every once in a while? who knows!

just now i cleaned piles of dirt and grass from the bedroom duvet (courtesy my lovely furry babies who don't belong on beds) and as i was formulating my plan of attack for the front half of the house, i happened a glance over my left shoulder and see . . . what is that . . . is that . . . poop? poop on my sofa? how did this happen? how did it get there?

then suddenly i had flashbacks to all of the times my dogs had raced to be first to get their muddy paws all over the couch after being outside to potty.

and all of the times a neighbor kid would walk past the house and peter would straddle the back of the couch to get a better view.

and all of the times barnaby macduff had come inside to snuggle on the couch after enjoying a buffet of poop in the grass outside.

and all i could see was poop.

poop poop poop!

and dog butts.

and then i had another thought . . .

i thought of a brand new baby nursing with me on that sofa.

a brand new baby, in the middle of the night, snuggling in our muddy bed with those poopy dogs.

and something clicked in my head.

so i am very deeply sorry, sirs pan and macduff, but you have both been relegated to "just dogs" status. i am staging a doggie intervention.

a doggervention.

please, if you have pets, can you tell me what works to teach your formerly human but presently canine pets to stay off of the furniture in such a manner as to not break their fragile little hearts?

(or mine?)

much appreciated.

but where is peter pan today?

2010-03-03T21:46:00.000-08:00

if ever you're looking for petey,

this is where you can find him.

why don't you make yourself a dang quesadilla?

2010-02-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

something has occurred in my brain and suddenly i am obsessed with making quesadillas.

i really think it has to do with the uncooked tortillas from costco.

those things, i swear to you, they are the most ridiculous things ever.

one time i made them three days in a row.

on day three i apologized to the holbs and he said, "whatever!"

that is boy speak for "i really like your quesadillas, hot mama!"

right?

first you heat up an uncooked tortilla.

(the magic heat setting on my electric burners is five and a half)

then you have some crudite. cause it beats a handful of m&ms!

when it bubbles up, it's time to flip the tortilla over.

sprinkle the following onto one half:

canned corn

canned beans (black please!)

cheese

more cheese

avocado slices

cheese again, why not?

then quick as a whip, you fold the sucker in half, smash him down with your spatula, and move him to a plate.

then make more. you will need more.

(i like to douse mine heavily in tapatio and sour cream.)

bonus:

cook up a tortilla and dust it softly, lovingly, with cinnamon and sugar.

i call these "notchurros,"

cause, they're not churros.

duh.

schmac 'n' cheese

2010-02-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

the other night i had a huuuuuge hankering for some mac 'n' cheese.

it was 11:45.

the last thing i needed was a bowl of cheesy pasta.

i knew it,

my butt knew it,

but my heart . . .

emotionally, i really needed some mac 'n' cheese.

you know?

it haunted me the entire next day,

so this is what i came up with.

(it's almost healthy.)

(a monkey could have come up with this recipe, also.)

nat's schmac'n'cheese

4 cups whole wheat pasta

1T butter

1/2c sour cream

as much cheese as you can physically withstand

salt & pepper

1. boil your pasta

2. drain your pasta

3. toss in your butter and your sour cream and your cheese

4. stir till combined

5. salt and pepper that sucker

(the holbs likes his mac 'n' cheese with slices of chicken and gouda sausage on top.)

bonus:

if you add a can of tuna and a cup or two of frozen peas

you'll have a julie lovin classic,

"mac&cheese&tuna&peas."

i was raised on this stuff.

it is not nearly as disgusting as it sounds.

monday is "wash the dog" day

2010-02-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

barnaby macduff has this new thing.

where ever peter pan has peed,

barney has to pee RIGHT THERE.

it must be a boy thing.

lately barney has decided to save time and just pee in the same spot as peter, at the same time.

this means barney gets peed on a lot.

cute, huh.

cru-di-te

2010-02-12T00:27:00.000-08:00

crudite: a traditional french appetizer combining sliced or whole raw vegetables which are dipped in vinaigrette or another dipping sauce. (thanks, wiki!)

i mean, you could call it a veggie platter,

but saying "crudite" makes you sound smart and maybe also prententious, and that's always fun.

in case you are wondering how i am doing on my new years resolution - have a platter of crudite in the fridge at all times - the answer is, just fine thanks!

granny squares on a wednesday night

2010-02-10T17:49:00.000-08:00

this is what a bout of creativity looks like at my house.

lots and lots of diet coke is always involved.

(or in this case, diet pepsis and a diet dr. pepper)

fuels the creative process, you know.

i just learned how to make granny squares.

i am obsessed.

i think i'm making a blanket?

(there's really no telling.)

please note peter pan, stage left.

peter pan is totally scoping out granny squares that he will try to steal and snuggle with.

the way he is sitting (erectly, patiently, like a "good boy") totally gives him away.

soft babies are his m.o.

(this is how i know whether it is a barnaby macduff disaster or a peter pan disaster. people always ask me that and i'm all, please, i know my own children! peter pan disasters always involve food and/or soft babies, barnaby macduff disasters have no rhyme or reason whatsoever, they just happen.)

learn how to make granny squares here.

(it took me seven tries before i got it right!)

sour cream pancakes, and a nntfrdd request

2010-02-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

i had never made a pioneer woman recipe before tonight.

mostly because i value my jeans,

and my butt fitting into those jeans,

but when i came across ree's recipe for sour cream pancakes on the smitten kitchen blog, i just can't explain it, suddenly i had this insatiable craving for flapjacks.

confession:

of all the flavors in the world,

i do not much appreciate the flavor of maple syrup.

it is gross.

have you read the nutrition information on those suckers?

do you know how much sugar is in maple syrup?

do you

???

i do because i lived in korea as a kid. 1988. i was six, amanda was two, and there was no american food anywhere, 'cept for a mcdonald's down the way, and also you could buy really 'spensive bananas at the grocery store if you were desperate.

so one saturday morning my dad decided he wanted some pancakes.

with syrup.

obviously you can't just buy syrup in seoul. not back then. so my dad did what real men do and made his own syrup on the stove from scratch.

i remember watching him as he slaved away for that syrup. simmering the sugar and stirring and stirring and stirring so it didn't stick or burn. honestly i have no idea what he put into that pot but at the end, we had syrup.

it took a lot of sugar.

that's one of my most special memories.

my dad going well out of his way so that he could make some pancakes for his daughters.

(that one's for you, olivia)

the holbs doesn't really like pancakes.

(between the two of us we're basically unamerican, i know.)

but these pancakes were really good.

even the holbseater liked them!

for the occasion i even busted out the sugar-free syrup.

(basically it is brown chemicals that taste vaguely mapley.)

i had to add a little water to get the batter to the just right consistency.

there are few things i hate more in this world than fluffy pancakes.

i do not know who edna mae is, but i think i might sort of love her.

i would totally make these again,

except now the rim of my diet dr. pepper tastes mapley.

that syrup, i am telling you . . .

edna mae's sour cream pancakes

slightly changed from the adapted version by smitten kitchen, originally from the pioneer woman cooks

whew!

7T flour (i used whole wheat)

1T sugar

1t baking soda

1/2t salt

1c sour cream

2 eggs

1/2 vanilla

2T water

heat pan over medium heat.

whisk ingredients together.

pour batter in by the 1/4 cup full.

when the pancake bubbles, turn.

eat with your fingers and dunk them in your syrup, if you're like me.

the first pancake never turns out good. it is some kind of law of physics.

tour nat's nest, day five

2010-01-29T12:15:00.000-08:00

do you know what is just the greatest thing ever?

northern idaho in june is!

if you have never been to northern idaho in june then you have just never lived! the snow finally melts, the sun comes out, all the world is in bloom, and my little house becomes the most quaint, magical little cottage of delight!

while i've been fluffing up the inside of my nest, the holbs has been getting his hands dirty outside, tidying up the yard.

our first summer here he built me this fence with his own bare hands.

sexiest damn thing ever, is what that is.

then he knocked out the wall in the back of the house to install a door. southern exposure for my little slice of heaven.

he even painted it apple green for me, to match my front door.

then he dug up the grass and laid me an enormous patio, fit for a queen!

(niiiice)

(baby barney)

so that i could put furniture out like this,

and throw parties like this!

is there anything the man can't do?

he can plant trees

he can landscape

he can tend to green grass

he can rip it up again

the man is a genius, and that is that.

thanks for buying this house with me, holbs you big old stuuuud!

i couldn't imagine a better roommate in all of god's green earth.

tour nat's nest, day four

2010-01-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

the great and terrible snowstorm of 2008

this little shoe box of a house has a whopping three bedrooms crammed into its cozy 1100 square feet. can you imagine that? it is a sad fact of life that of those three bedrooms, approximately none of them belong to the holbs. he has no space of his own. we share a bedroom, and then i hogged up the other two rooms. the man has no man cave. it's really terrible. it was never meant to happen that way, and i do feel bad about it. but, he has betsy the flying potato, and she's woman enough to make up for it, i'm pretty sure.

this is the very long hallway, which takes you directly to . . .

the back end of the house!

you've seen the master bedroom (though there is nothing terribly masterful about it, except for our love). the other two bedrooms are as follows:

the studio

this is where i spend most of my days. this is also where i usually write.

ikea's best product ever of all time.

ikea's best model of all time?

shipping supplies for onesie-twosie

dog.

my room of dreams

(under disguise as a guest bedroom for my parents last year)

chandelier made by those geniuses over at urban outfitters.

the framed drawing on the right was sketched up quickly by my dad during sacrament meeting one time when i was a kid. it is one of my most treasured possessions.

i found this dresser at an icky little thrift store in pullman for twenty bucks. it smells like a nasty old smoker, even after a million coats of paint.

i got this chair at the d.i. in sugarhouse with the holbs back when we were dating. i am in love with this chair. the holbs thinks it has fleas. i will love it until i die.

oh, and this is our bathroom.

i needlepointed these myself!

pretty, aint she?

feeling like you might want to buy her up yet?

tomorrow:

the outer limits!

(like, the back yard)

tour nat's nest, day three

2010-01-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

oh, the kitchen.

the kitchen is my favorite place to be in the house, when it is clean. when the kitchen is clean i feel like a queen in my little domestic castle. i feel like a woman. i feel like my mother. when the kitchen is dirty i feel depressed. i feel irritable. i feel like my mother.

just kidding mom!

the kitchen was the part of the house where i actually had to cross my eyes and use every bit of imagination to tell myself i could ever make it my own. the cabinets were kind of a 70s golden brown with an exaggerated wood grain. the hardware were these awful 1-inch concave orange bronze discs. light blue formica. dingy beige walls. flourescent lighting. it was having an identity crisis, the poor thing.

so i called my parents and had them bring the family over to play "let's paint my cabinets!" in one weekend we took everything down, painted it ralph lauren country stove white, swapped out the hardware, and bought a new sink faucet. and then taduh! she was a brand new girl!

here she is! isn't she cute?

i got my glass jars from walmart on the super cheap. for two months there it seemed like i had to buy another glass jar every time i stepped foot in that walmart. everything else in this kitchen is thrifted, or handmade, or is my kitchen aid mixer that i love more than i love anything in this whole wide world of sports.

except for the ampersand, which i bought at urban outfitters.

this is my kitchen window.

this is my stove!

that cake plate is one of two thousand that i have stuffed in every crevice and teetering perilously from every horizontal surface.

i have a rule about cake plates. if they are cute and they cost less than $20, they are mine.

i don't break this rule, which is what gets me into trouble.

next to my stove is the piece de resistance! the plate wall.

i am so in love with this wall. i am proud to say that the holbs and i eat entirely off of horribly stuffy, dressy, fancy, chipped china that i've found over the years. it's all delightfully mismatched and odd, and the best of the best get to live on the wall.

just don't slam the door!

oh, here's the door.

(and the laundry area)

(this is also where the doggies eat)

i found this dude at the antique mall and for some reason felt compelled to bring him home. he holds the leashes and is very helpful. the holbs was none too sure about him at first. his name is mister ernst.

on the other side of the stove lives my chalkboard wall. i was just browsing through the walmart one day and i saw they sold chalkboard paint and it was like lightning! and i knew. i knew it should be this wall.

this is the bathroom off the laundry room. it is teeny weeny tiny, but i love that cute little sink! i found all those frames at thrift stores and antique malls and slapped some fabric in there. the paint color is a reject gray color from the bedroom. it was too bright and lilac-toned, but it works just great in a cramped tiny bathroom.

the queen in her domestic castle

tomorrow:

what i lovingly refer to as

"the back end of the house"

yes!

tour nat's nest, day two

2010-01-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

when we first moved into our little shoe box of a house on b street, i knew we were in for some hard work.

our house was built in 1964, has zero southern exposure, had muddy beige colored walls, and some very low, very popcorny ceilings.

so, in other words, paradise.

one of the first things i did was paint the front of my door green. i really can't tell you why i needed to paint it green, but somehow i just really felt that i did. it doesn't match anything and honestly, i think that's why it works.

when we first moved in we took a weekend and tore down all of the brown 1-inch trim around the windows and doors in the house. the holbs and my dad got out their saws and drills and lumber and made up some custom frames and a new fireplace mantle for me. then we spent about three million years sanding, priming, and painting them all a glossy white. it seriously took forever, but in the process that little shoe box became my house!

then i dumped a whole lotta white paint on the walls.

my reasoning was thus:

low ceilings

low natural light

i love white rooms

i am prone to loving colorful odds and ends, and needed a sparse background for cohesion.

people gave me looks as i bought my gallons of white paint at the home depot - you're going to paint your house plain, boring white?? - but i laughed. ha-ha-ha! like that. i knew i was onto something.

the most difficult room for me to spruce up was going to be the living room for sure.

it is deeper than it is wide, which has this really strange effect of making the room feel like a room and a half. then there is the matter of the little brick fireplace. he is off center to the room. what is that all about? he is too tall for anything of real girth to fit on his mantel, and he has what i like to consider "charming" details. i knew he would either be the highlight or the eyesore of the whole place.

after buying the bones of the room at ikea, i spent the next three years scouring local antique malls, thrift stores and the clearance section at urban outfitters. here is the room over the years. and get ready cause i'm about to tell you where i got everything, in excruciating detail.

august, 2008

the three framed pictures on the mantle are photos i took when we were in new york. the holbs picked them out and then printed them up and slapped them in some walmart frames, zip zip!

the rug is from urban outfitters. ohh, this rug. this rug is the physical manifestation of my inner neuroses. i loved it so much i bought three, because i literally could not stand the thought of having it ruined. one is in my "dressing room" and the other is in cold storage and will likely never see the light of day. it is practically a security blanket at this point. as long as i know i have that back up, i will be okay. (the holbs laughs at me and says i am a hoarder. um, have you seen that show? not funny-ha-ha material there, holbsy)

august 2008

the fireplace mantel is where my milk glass collection lives. i moved to idaho and God said "let there be milk glass!" it is everywhere here, and it is cheap! the owl is from ross. um, i kind of have a thing about owls. the ceramic antlers are from west elm. (antlers, too.) those roses on the coffee table? they're fake. from target. seven years ago. peter pan has tried to eat them fifty-seven times, no big deal.

april 2009

apparently i also have a thing for maps. (milk glass, owls, antlers, and maps. and zebra rugs.) both the globes are vintage scores from antiquing jaunts.

the biggest map was a gift from our friends in brooklyn (hi matt and heather!) and the smaller two i printed off google maps. they are maps of brooklyn. i like them because i can point out the street corner where we lived and pretend like maybe i still live there.

april 2009

okay. milk glass, owls, antlers, maps, zebra print rugs, and bird cages. that cage there is one of four or five i have stashed around places. it's a sickness.

no, i'm a collector. okay?

those chairs are from walmart and they are show stoppers! twenty-five bucks each, thank you very much! the coffee table is thomas o'brien from target. i have three of his pieces, his stuff is amazing.

then one day i found all these vintage letters! (vintage letters.) you see how these things start to happen? the big h i bought at michael's and gold leafed. it's basically my pride and joy. the metal antlers were a gift from the holbs. (oh, and antlers.)

yes, antlers. my mother in law was shocked to see these. they are hit and miss with people who come to visit. the ones seen above i grabbed from an antler bin in a trapper store in wallace, idaho. six dollars a pound, baby. one of them still has a tuft of fur attached? bonus! (it is so weird to me, i am completely against hunting and yet . . . ) i found that lamp at the goodwill for five bucks. two months later i stopped back in and happened to find its mate just sitting there, which made me light headed with giddiness.

i ordered this credenza (credenza? sideboard?) from target (also thomas o'brien) and i've filled him up with my vintage teacups.

(let's not bother keeping track anymore.)

the green chair is also vintage, picked up off the side of the road by my bosomest, anne. and i made those pom poms, thank you. sometimes the holbs will complain that it looks like a sad tea party nobody came to in our living room. pom poms seem to be lost on the male species.

another thomas o'brien. the bunny there is the white rabbit from alice in wonderland. i spotted him from the car at a garage sale on my way to church. i totally pulled over in my sunday finest and broke the sabbath for him. can you blame me?

because . . .

i also have a little collection of alice in wonderland items.

okay okay, here is where i clear the air:

i believe decorating it is all about collections. definitions. groupings. items that go together. things you love.

i'm not going to defend myself!

sometimes i like to bring out all the throws and pillows i own just to enjoy the way the colors clash. this is one of three slipcovers we have. this one came with the couch, then i later bought a white cover and a tan color from bemz. the tan slipcover has since shrunk, which made me cry.

how cute is that rosebud pillow? vintage. i'm afraid it'll fall apart if i look at it wrong.

yes, owls. that tree is rocking awesome, and she's from pottery barn kids. the dresser i got off craigslist. i use him to store all our slipcovers and pillow covers and the holbs's board games. the chair is vintage. the carpet is gross.

tomorrow:

the kitchen!

A Place For Dreams

2010-01-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

welcome!

this is our house as it looked in august of 2006.

we've worked really hard on it.

let's start inside, shall we?

this is our bedroom

i looooove this bedroom.

the paint is pebble beach by benjamin moore.

i do not mean to exaggerate but pebble beach is the best paint color EVER.

the room was this awful mud green when we first moved in.

we experimented with beige/gold tones before settling on the gray.

gray wins times a hundred!

(see?)

(cute husband)

the dressers and tables in the room are from the hemnes line at ikea.

when we first moved to idaho we had zero furniture. we had sold everything before moving to new york city, and when we pulled into moscow we had absolutely nothing to put in our teeny house. so, we went to ikea.

$1,500 later and we had bought everything.

sofas

tables

chairs

beds

dressers

odds&ends&bric-a-brac

serious as a heart attack about that ikea.

the antique game trophy over the head

once belonged to a deer.

i found him at the antique mall on washington and he now belongs to me.

his name is bambi.

bambi's first week at home was very confusing for peter pan.

at night he would cower under it,

not sure what to think.

(most people aren't sure what to think about bambi, but i love antlers, as you will see later.)

the chair is from goodwill and he was five bucks.

i recovered his seat with some linen, and now he lives in the living room.

we found these blue stools at pier 1 in lewiston one day

when we were shopping for fencing lumber at the home depot

and i said "buy these for me, holbsy!"

(that was the one time in my entire life that that line actually worked.)

i'm really happy with how this room turned out, i gotta say.

tomorrow:

the living room

(some befores, so you can truly appreciate!)

isn't this fun?

spicy vegetarian chili

2010-01-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

here is a recipe that will knock your socks off!

it can get a little spicy

if you're not watching your cumin,

so be careful.

(cumin has a tendency to get carried away with itself,

you know.)

a little mexican cheese on top

(or parmesan if you're low on supplies)

and suddenly you're having a party!

excuse me, a fiesta!

spicy vegetarian chili

ingredients

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

splash of olive oil

celery

carrots

2 cans diced tomatoes (unseasoned)

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can kidney beans

any other beans you feel like

1 can corn

1 (small) can hatch green chiles

cumin to taste

salt & pepper to taste

corn tortillas and cotija cheese, for fun

method

1. saute diced onion and garlic in olive oil

2. add chopped carrots and celery

(the more the merrier, for me)

(a good, heavy, rough chop for me, please)

3. add canned items. let soup come to a boil.

(please do not drain! use all juices.)

4. start with 1T cumin, salt, and pepper

then work your way up

5. Let soup simmer 10-15 minutes

6. if you'd like you can use an immersion blender for a minute

to get the chunks out

but i like mine super chunky.

7. nuke a corn tortilla for 45 seconds, sprinkle with cotija cheese

(or parmesan, whatever)

in the span of two hours i:

2010-01-13T22:22:00.000-08:00

bought groceries

groomed the dog

walked my eight-year-old buddy to adventure club

ran 2 miles

took a shower

made dinner

ate dinner

left a plate for the holbs in the fridge

bought a diet coke at mcdonalds

got to work on time

now

behold your dog!

red velvet

2010-01-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

every second sunday

our ward's yw program has something called

cake day.

tell me, can you think of anything more delightful?

the girls get in a long "hug" line,

wrapping around the young women's room.

whoever has a birthday that month

goes down the line giving and receiving

hugs.

pretty rad.

i was in charge of cake day today.

i got grand visions in my eyes last night

of baking my very first cake

from scratch.

and then, to add grandeur where none is necessary

i decided it would be red velvet.

right?

did you know that 2 oz of red food coloring is eight

EIGHT

of those little vials?

i only had about half of one vial,

so i dumped in a bunch of red sanding sugar

in place of some of the white sugar.

it sort of helped?

so,

"mauve velvet"

is what i called it.

it was pretty tasty, if you ask me.

i sort of feel like a real woman now,

if you must know.

RED VELVET CAKE

ingredients

1 1/2 c butter

1 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

2T cocoa

2oz red food coloring

1t salt

1t vanilla

1c buttermilk

2 1/2 c cake flour

1 1/2 t baking soda

1T white vinegar

method

1. cream butter, sugar, eggs.

2. make paste of cocoa and food coloring in separate bowl.

3. add paste to creamed ingredients.

4. mix remaining ingredients, minus the vinegar and baking soda.

5. add vinegar and baking soda, stop to oooh and aahhh at the way it fizzes up, then fold into cake batter.

6. bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. (15 minutes for cupcakes.)

(my oven cooks really, really fast. or something?)

7. be grateful you aren't the type to really care about things turning out perfectly red.

taduh!

like i said, not half bad.

old-fashioned tips & tricks

2010-01-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

(image from the internet)

i am a total sucker for old-fashioned tricks your grandpa uses.

for instance, one time my grandpa informed me that

a little baking soda in water

helps an upset tummy.

just three minutes ago the internet informed me

that 2 teaspoons of organic unpasteurized apple cider vinegar

clears up acne,

stops acid reflux,

cures sore throats,

gently cleans your colon,

and helps you lose weight.

well, by golly.

of course everyone knows you can

clean your whole house with a 50/50 solution of white vinegar & water.

it's non-toxic and your house will smell like a fish 'n' chips truck for an hour after.

bonus!

but did you know this?

if you dissolve a few tablets of aspirin in water,

apply the paste to your clean face and let sit 2 minutes,

then rub it in to exfoliate and rinse,

your skin will look like heidi klum's?

true story.

i know, you're welcome.

come on, you guys have got to know some more.

spill.

i could eat this for the rest of my life

2010-01-07T12:24:00.001-08:00

just a little note today

to tell you how very much i am in love

with fiber 1 cold cereal

in rice milk.

yum.

happy thursday.

(go texas!)

how you know it's time

2010-01-06T17:45:00.001-08:00

peter pan spent twenty minutes tonight flat on his belly

his nose stuck under the oven

trying to retrieve some something.

something very important, obviously.

he had whipped himself into a

panting,

neurotic

mess.

i got down on all fours to see what was so appealing under there.

leftover steak from dinner?

a toy?

it was . . .

a pistachio.

weird dog.

(old photo from his bladder surgery in may)

obviously it is time for me to clean under my oven.

(gross)

portraits of a home on a dreary rainy day

2010-01-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

we are going on day two of absolutely zero sunlight

it is like living in a bunker.

last night i made chocolate chip cookies for visiting teaching

and left the oven on

all night long.

and then i slept in till eleven.

it was really sort of nice.

only now i am having a hard time getting going

(it doesn't help that this guy is still on his christmas break)

(husbands are messy.)

ready, set, go

2010-01-03T23:33:00.000-08:00

it is a new year out.

closets are cleaned and rooms are repurposed.

the house feels lighter.

i am ready to get back in the kitchen.

i am ready to get back in the studio.

going forward this will be a space for pretty things,

for inspiring things,

and of course,

for nesty things.

it's gonna be a lot of fun.

curry

2009-12-17T00:30:00.000-08:00

What happens when you take a Christmas junkie, give her a part time job, and let her open a second Etsy shop against everybody's better judgement? Your housewifery skills start to get laaaaaaame. Your uberhomemaker blog goes to seed. Wild, untamed weeds! Spider webs!

I am not going to sugarcoat it. I have not cooked, cleaned, organized, or scrubbed anything in three weeks. My house is deliriously unkempt. There is a dead moth stuck in a crevice of the lamp shade and he is probably going to be there to ring in the new year with us. Part of the problem is that The Holbseater is studying for finals and so his eating schedule is all off, so he basically grazes in the kitchen all day and I have eaten nothing but peanut butter and honey sandwiches for a month.

So, here is a recipe. How you do you feel about curry? It is so easy to make, it is so delicious on a cold evening, it can be as spicy as you need it. The best part is there is practically no measuring involved. It does involve the chopping of onions, hence the extremely fashion-forward goggles. My brother got these for me for Christmas one year after my family spent a week at our house and witnessed firsthand the ridiculousness that is my eyes on onion crack. My eyes roll to the back of my head, tears gush down my face, and oh it hurts. Blake thought he was all clever and funny buying me pink onion goggles, but in all seriousness these have saved my homemaker career. I love them. Best kitchen gadget on the planet. Two thumbs up!

This is the recipe that once caused my mother to proclaim "Natalie, you're a good cook!"

Natalie's Curry Fantastico

Ingredients

Onion, Garlic, Olive Oil

Carrots, Celery, Potatoes

Lots of Curry Powder

(I like at least 4 Tablespoons, you should start with one and see how you feel.)

Extra Firm Tofu

Lite Coconut Milk

Frozen Peas

Unsalted Peanuts

Salt & Pepper To Taste

(Red Pepper Flakes And/Or Rooster Sauce)

Method:

1. Quarter some red potatoes and boil them for a bit. You don't want them mushy. This little step shortens the simmering process considerably.

2. Sautee chopped onions and a couple garlic cloves in some olive oil in your biggest sauce pan.

3. Add celery, carrots, boiled potatoes.

4. Add your curry. Start small if you're unaffiliated with the curry as of yet.

5. Grill up some tofu.

(Here is my secret for tofu. Slice it in half horizontally, so it is half its thickness. Salt and pepper and garlic powder on both sides, stick it in a George Foreman until grill lines appear, slice it into bite sized pieces.)

6. Add 2 cans of Lite Coconut Milk to the sauteed vegetables. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add more curry here. You're going to want to.

7. Add a couple handfuls of frozen peas.

8. Toss in your cubed tofu.

9. Let simmer for a bit.

10. Garnish with some peanuts.

11. Red pepper flakes and/or Rooster sauce = BONUS

So, You Wanna The Yamma?

2009-11-30T23:51:00.000-08:00

Candied Yams, Stage Left

Sometimes grocery shopping is a surprising thing. You enter the produce department knowing exactly what you need only to be completely waylaid by a flirtatious stranger fruit you never expected to want. And then you just have all these yams. Which aren't actually a fruit, but let's not get confused here.

If you must know, I prefer the yams to the sweet potato because I dislike the weird yellow color of the latter, preferring the deep rich orange of the former. Gotcha?

Now that we're comparing apples to oranges, you should also know that this recipe turned out to be far superior to the pumpkin pie. (And it was a Costco pumpkin pie we're talking about here too, which is like the God of the pumpkin pies, wouldn't you agree?) At first I thought it simply couldn't be, but then every time I thought the yams tasted better than the pie I made sure I really meant it by tasting the pie again. And every time the yams told me unequivocally that they tasted better! Finally I had to believe them. Also, have you noticed how filling pumpkin pie is? It just sort of sneaks up on you. Are you with me? One minute you're fine and the next the pumpkin pie has rebelled on you and you need to lie on the floor a bit to recover. it is the strangest thing, I know I am not alone in this.

Next time I am baking these yams in a pie crust and calling it dessert. Yam Pie? But isn't that the most unromantic sounding name you've ever heard? Surely I can come up with something better. Something worthy of its delicious orangeness and browned-mallow top. Surely!

As-Yet-Named Yam Dish

Seven Yams, Peeled, Sliced, Boiled

1/2 Cup Melted Butter

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

2 Eggs

3/4 Cup Sugar

3/4 Cup Buttermilk

Marshmallows (the more the merrier I always say)

Mix all ingredients until smooooooooth.

Bake in greased baking dish (or pie crust, uhh, pre-baked pie crust?) at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Remove and top generously with marshmallows.

Bake another 10 minutes (up the oven to 400 if you're brave).

You should know this recipe filled a 9x13 and then some, so look out!

(This is really good cold, friends.)

(It just might change your life.)

Rosemary Mustard Chicken, Keepin It Real

2009-11-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

So, chicken.

I know the point of food blogs is to make your recipes look appetizing and all, but I have thought about it and it turns out I am all for keepin it rill in here. And the rill dill is, this recipe is delicious but chicken is gross. You know? Chicken is gross, it is! Chicken is disgusting, life isn't fair, and we're all going to die. I make no apologies for the confusion you are about to experience as you feel simultaneously grossed out and also really interested in making this recipe. Because life is like that you know, and I'm just keepin it rill.

I came across this Martha Stewart recipe somehow, I can't remember who shared it with me or what magazine it was in or who posted about it online, but I scribbled down the recipe and told myself that this would be it, the chicken recipe to break me of my chicken aversion for once and for all, the recipe that would hold The Holbs off from complaining about all of the vegetarian meals I make him eat.

But remember the roasted chicken? I would say to him and then his eyes would glaze over and he would say, Mmmm, roasted chicken . . .

So you start with quartered red potatoes and whole peeled carrots in a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. While those are roasting you prepare the meat.

The recipe calls for chicken drumsticks, and I thought that sounded pretty nice since the drumstick is my favorite part of Thanksgiving. How hard could this be? I was feeling pretty good when I picked up my chicken bits, until I had a good hard look at them in the meaty aisle. Drumsticks? Chickens don't play drums! Those aren't musical instruments there, those are chicken legs, little chicken legs! People, come on now.

And then the recipe tells you to rinse them. Give them a little bath.

Oh my gosh, gross!

While I was there I decided to skin them, since nobody really needs that fat, right?

Turns out I shouldn't have bothered because skinning chicken calves is just about the nastiest thing I can imagine ever doing.

Not to mention these little suckers are exactly the size and shape of my dog's hind legs. Really brings it home, doesn't it?

I mean, it's just wrong on so many levels.

SKIN. Barf.

Then you dump them in the marinade, like so.

Then you get all up close and personal with your chicken legs and you schmear 'em up right good.

At this point I started to think maybe I was being a little too hard on those fatty chicken legs, since things were starting to smell all kinds of delicious.

Still disgusting looking, but not disgusting smelling.

You add your marinated chicken legs to the roasting vegetables and let them bake for a forty-five. Then your kitchen starts to smell like heaven, it really does.

Despite all the drama this came out really tasty. Good beyond anything chickeny I've ever made in my life. The next day leftovers weren't nearly as good, so make sure to eat this piping hot and fresh. If you like your chicken, you will love this. If you don't, well, I hear you sister, but try it anyway, it's only gross until it's tasty, I promise.

Rosemary Mustard Chicken

1. Roast whole carrots and quartered red potatoes in a drizzle of olive oil and salt & pepper to taste in a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes.

2. Prepare your marinade:

1/4 Cup Dijon Mustard

4 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

1 1/2 Teaspoon Rosemary, Roughly Chopped

2 Teaspoon Olive Oil

3. Rub marinade over eight little chicken legs.

4. Add chicken to baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

The verdict? Still. Still chicken averse. Not changing. I am also pork averse, but basically that hardly ever comes up in my life so I don't sweat it. (Bacon isn't pork, you guys, it's Bacon.) The only meat I am not averse to is beef (I like mine bloody!), but there exists no vegetarian classification for people who eschew white meats and only eat the reds. I think that's lame, if you must know. I'm a real person with real labeling needs, World! Seriously.

PostScript. My favorite herbal tea is still the Peppermint. Ohh, Peppermint. I have tried the Raspberry Leaf and an herbal sort of chai knock off but so far nothing's stuck. I will keep trying, and I will keep you posted!

Tea Time

2009-11-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

I have loved reading through everyone's suggestions in the comments of the last post, and it has got me to thinking more about tea; tea as a ritual, tea as a soothing agent, tea as a social experience, tea as a health food. I think I am becoming converted.

For the rest of this month I, Nat The Fat Rat, will try to swap out my usual morning crack of Diet Coke for a hot steeped cuppa. As I drive about town I will occasionally skip the fountain and dash in instead for a coffee-house herbal. I will tell you how I take it, how I pair it, and how I liked it, mixed in with the usual recipes and other nonsense drivel I usually toss about in here.

Should be fun?

Shown above is a Natalie (not so) Original.

Lemon Wedge and Honey

Steeped in Hot Water

Paired with a single Chocolate Truffle

(It rocked my world)

As tea inspiration strikes you,

won't you consider sharing with me?

Cream Or Sugar?

2009-11-09T22:35:00.000-08:00

Nighttime these days generally finds me in thick socks, a woolly sweater, and a book. I have been working my way through the Anne of Green Gables series (I love it I love it I love it and my life has finally found meaning) and P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins. (And also Taking Charge Of Your Fertility but let's just not go there, because then we will be talking about Cervical Mucus and you are a nice person and I would hate to have to do that to you.) Something I have noticed as I've spent time with these ladies is how much time they seem to be spending taking tea.

Tea. Let's just talk about this for a minute. Served with plum cake, or bread and butter, maybe biscuits or scones with clotted cream, on your grandmother's finest china and a linen tablecloth. If you are anything like me you have died and gone to Heaven just imagining this, am I right?

I did some research and found that there are actually three kinds of traditional tea in Britain, afternoon tea taken at four, cream tea, which is involves rich treats, and high tea, which is actually a dinner. But what I am interested in is breakfast tea.

When I wake up in the morning I want something spicy, something rich, something low on calorie and high on warmth. In the wintertime my go-to breakfast of Diet Dr. Pepper just feels too chilly. I need something I can pad to on bare foot, let steep while I day dream, and sip slowly until my tired toes feel ready to brave the world. Is that too much to ask?

Being Mormon makes things touchy. I know many a tea snob and not one of them got there by drinking the herbal. Most herbal teas give me a funny mouth afterfeel. What I need is some good herbal tea recommendations. From you. What do you think?

Here is an exhaustive list of the herbal teas I have enjoyed drinking:

Peppermint

. . . uhhhh

Oh! I like Chocolate Smooth Move, too. Is that embarrassing?

So, teach me! I am your herbal tea student; an herbal tea novice.

What should I try?

How should I try it?

My sleepy winter mornings thank you in advance.

Shhh.

2009-11-08T23:16:00.000-08:00

It's been quiet in here lately. Too quiet.

Check back this week, I aim to rectify!

Biting The Hand That Feeds You?

2009-10-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

From the Too Gross To Eat? files comes this little gem from Not Martha. I would love to try and make it but I love meatloaf far too much to not be able to enjoy eating it, and something tells me I wouldn't actually be able to enjoy eating this. I don't know.

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes is a Nat The Fat Rat classic. It is hands down my favorite food. Whenever I go home my mom whips me up a pan of her meatloaf, and her meatloaf is really good you guys. My freshman year of college I suddenly came down with a ravenous hankering for some meatloaf and nothing could quench it. I decided to be a big girl and learn to make my own, so I drove to my Aunt Gini's house, raided her pantry, then called my mother for her recipe. Uhhh, she said. I don't really have a recipe, I just sorta throw stuff together and somehow it always tastes the same. So in that spirit, here it is.

Your Mama's Meatloaf

Ground Beef, As Much As You Want

About A Slice Of Bread Per Pound, Ripped Up Into Pieces

Chopped Onion

Diced Garlic

An Egg Or Two, Depending

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Salt

Pepper

Worcestershire Sauce

Mix everything together with your hands (it's COLD!)

Spread mixture in 9x13 pan

Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes

Douse the sucker in ketchup

It doesn't sound like much, it doesn't look like much, but in reality it can cure all the world's problems, especially if you add mashed potatoes from scratch.

But this is what we'll be eating on Halloween night, something light and healthy to balance out all the Halloween candy I always end up eating all by myself. One acorn squash, cut in half, seeds removed, baked in foil belly-down, 400-degree oven, 30 minutes. Butter, salt, pepper, delicious.

For Halloween, A Truly Scary Story

2009-10-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

I happened across this article today in the Opinion section of CNN.com and it hit me deep in my bones. Full disclosure: We eat meat at our house. When I visit my mom she bakes me a giant meatloaf and I eat it straight out of the pan. But this has me rethinking what we eat and why we get sick and the way I plan to feed my family.

I try to keep our house vegetarian 75% of the time, and I notice a real difference in how my body feels when the food I eat comes from the ground. I went all vegetarian for a few months and enjoyed it (meatless cooking is a breeze!) but I wasn't dedicated enough to stick to it when we went out and really, there is nothing better for a broken heart than a good rare steak.

But there's a paragraph in there about stomach flus vs. food-borne illness and I think he might be onto something there.

And Swine Flu? Avian Flu? Foot-and-Mouth Disease? Mad Cow Disease? Dudes.

At the risk of sounding preachy, we need to be careful about what we put into our flesh walls, cause these are the only ones we'll get, you know.

READ IT THERE, discuss it here. What do you think?

Here In The Palouse We're Real Proud Of Our Lentils

2009-10-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

cold weather at our house means

i start making a giant batch of soup

once a week.

soup is healthy

it's real fun to make

it keeps for forever.

a reader emailed me and asked me to post my lentil soup recipe,

and so I am obliging,

without an interesting story to go along with it

(because how interesting can lentil soup really be?)

and without interesting photos, either

(have you ever seen a bowl of lentil soup?)

(it's really brown)

i send all my warmest wishes

that your lentil soup turns out

as delicious

as mine

did

Lentil Soup

One Pound Lentils

8 Cups Water

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Cup Chopped Onion

1/2 Cup Chopped Celery

2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Can Diced Tomato

1 Can Vegetable Stock

1 Teaspoon Coriander

1 Teaspoon Cumin

1. Bring water to a boil and cook lentils, 25-30 minutes.

2. Sautee onion, carrot, and celery, and olive oil in large pot on medium heat.

3. Drain cooked lentils and combine with sauteed vegetables.

4. Add spices and salt.

5. Add tomato.

6. Add vegetable stock.

7. Simmer until things get soupy.

8. Mash the crap out of it with a potato masher, or whatever blunt instrument you have.

(We like ours chunky, but you can also use an immersion blender or cuisinart if you'd like something creamier.)

9. Serve with tortilla chips for bonus points.

Up And At 'Em

2009-10-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Monday is cleaning day at the little shoe box of a house on B. I throw on my gym clothes, haul out the white vinegar, start from the back of the house, and I scrub from top-to-bottomus until it glitters like a sequin.

My favorite thing to do is change the sheets. It used to take me all day to change the bedding but now I can do it lickety-split, like a champion! (Pardon the brag) This is because last year I wised up and kicked the top sheet habit. I love the idea of a top sheet but in practice it's like sleeping with ankle shackles. They just get all over the place and then they fall off the bed and who needs it?

Since I like a white bed and I have two stupid dogs, changing the bedding out once a week becomes a necessity. And since I like a white bed the fix was super easy; I grabbed all the white top sheets I owned and sewed them together to make back-up duvets. I keep them in the linen closet with the fitted sheets and the whole shebang takes something like three minutes to swap out.

Like I said, like a champion! (Do pardon the brag.)

Do me a favor and if you haven't already, tell your top sheets where they can stick it. Trust me. You don't need them.

Now I want to know, what is your championship housecleaning event?

Want the recipes? At your service!

Under Mountains Of Laundry

2009-10-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think, considering we're just two people in this house, our mountain of laundry is insane. Between church clothes, work out clothes, lounging clothes, every day clothes, and work clothes, we go through some forty-odd costume changes during the week. Every Monday I haul out the hampers and soak and spin and tumble and fold, and then sometimes by Thursday The Holbs is out of underwear again and I wonder how much time do I spend doing this and how much money are we zapping every time I turn on the dryer?

I came across this letter, instructions from a pioneer mother to her daughter on how to do laundry, on the Segullah blog yesterday and I knew I had to share (all original spelling intact). This puts my lousy efforts at homemaking to shame I tell you, to shame.

Build a fire in the backyard to het kettle of rain water. Set tube so smoke won't blow in eyes if wind is pert.

Shave one hole cake lie soap in biling water.

Sort things. Make three piles, one pile white, one pile cullord, one pile britches and rags.

Stir flour in cold water to smooth, then thin down with biling water.

Rub dirty spots on bord, then bile. Rub cullords but don't bile. Just rench and starch. Take white things out of kettle with broom handle, then rench, blew and starch.

Spread tee towels on grass. Hang old rags on fense.

Pour rench water on flour beds. Scrub porch with soapy water. Scrub privee, seat and floor with sopy water caught from porch scrub.

Turn tubs upside down.

Go put on clean dress. Smooth hair with side combs. Set and rest a spell and count blessins.

Count blessins indeed!

TI-LA-PIA

2009-10-22T00:07:00.000-07:00

As the smoke alarm went off for the second time tonight I started to wonder if maybe it was bound to be a cold-pizza kind of night. The Holbs had a service activity at 6:00 and Stella was still here and the clock was edging toward 5:45 and while the smoke alarm went off again I poked the fish and it just wasn't cooking. Frustrated I shouted at The Holbs to fix it so he opened the foil packets and hiked the temperature on the oven up to BROIL. Five minutes later they were done, and they were delicious. So, there you have it.

Hobo-style cooking is really easy. If you camp much then guaranteed you've made a hobo-style dinner. It's just ingredients slapped together and tossed in some foil and wrapped up all together, like a hug.

Tilapia, Potato & Onion, Hobo Style

1 Clove Garlic, Chopped

2 Baby Red Potatoes, Scrubbed & Sliced Thin

1/2 Onion, Sliced

2 Tilapia Loins

1 Tablespoon Butter, Softened

Half A Lemon, Sliced

Olive Oil, For Drizzling

Salt, Pepper, And Red Pepper Flakes, To Taste

I like to roast my potatoes first for thirty minutes in a 400 degree oven, then throw everything together, potatoes followed by onions followed by garlic followed by seasoned fish smeared with butter and lemons on top with a drizzle of olive oil.

Broil for 10-15 minutes or until fish is flaky and eat right out of the foil.

Bonus: NO DISHES.

Not even one!

The Taco Tuesday Is A Success!

2009-10-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Anybody who knows me knows that Taco Tuesday has a long and storied and tragic history. Every Tuesday it rolls around and every Tuesday I find some way to screw it up.

One time the corn tortillas were too dry and The Holbs made all these faces, another time the fish was too bland and The Holbs made sweeping conjectures regarding my emotional maturity in the kitchen (you remember that too?), one time I made quesadillas instead and the avocado I sliced caused things to get very slippery and it ended up a disaster as Peter Pan ate more than half of it. Taco Tuesday and I do not get along and it is just such a tragic waste of good alliteration.

But finally, finally, I nailed it.

Here is the winning combination, from me to you.

Taco Tuesday!

Corn Tortillas

(must be nuked a full minute)

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

(I used the Jamaica Me Crazy spice rub, grilled on the George Foreman*, shredded with a fork)

Grilled Red Bell Pepper

(Toss it on the Foreman* after the chicken is done and push down as hard as you can for about a minute to get some good grill marks)

Canned Pineapple Chunks

(Trust me)

Liberal Amounts of Tapatio or Tabasco Sauce

Shredded Lettuce

Fat-Free Sour Cream

Limes squeezed all over the place

I am almost afraid to have another Taco Tuesday now because there is no way I will ever live up to the magic and wonder of this Taco Tuesday. Pray for me, friends. There is nowhere to go now but down.

*I am in love with my Foreman. I am so in love with my Foreman. You need a Foreman. Do you have a Foreman? I love my Foreman. I love my Foreman SO HARD.

Mediterranean Bean Burgers

2009-10-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

I have said it before. If you love me, eat my bean burgers. I've made these twice now and both times the cumin sends me into delicious spirals of bliss. Cumin, you're my favorite. This recipe feeds a family of six once or a family of two thrice.

Mediterranean Bean Burgers

1/2 Cup Cooked Couscous

2 Carrots, Chopped

3 Scallions, Chopped

3 Celery Stalks, Chopped

15oz Northern Beans

1/4C Plain Bread Crumbs

1 Beaten Egg

1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin

Salt & Pepper

Serve With:

Whole Wheat Pitas, Halved

Sprouts

Natalie's Tzatziki Knock-Off

Hummus

1. Cook couscous according to directions. Pour cooked couscous into a bowl.

2. Mix remaining ingredients.

3. Form into patties with your hands (a little flour helps with stickiness) and fry lightly in pan with a little olive oil until heated through.

5. Stuff into halved pitas that have been schmeared inside generously with hummus (I use store bought) and tsatsiki, and throw a good handful of sprouts in there while you're at it.

Natalie's Tsatsiki Knock-Off

1/2 Cup Fat Free Sour Cream

Lemon Juice To Taste

(Trust me, it does the trick in a pinch.)

What We Are Eating This Week

2009-10-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Something look tasty? Check in this week!

Pumpkin Sage Pasta

2009-10-15T00:00:00.001-07:00

Full disclosure. I made this recipe up out of my own head. Thus, my measurements may not be very precise; I tend to eyeball amounts and toss things in as the spirit moves me. Proceed with caution.

We've been eating this a lot at our house. This is the third batch I've made in two weeks and I have started to make a ton of it when I do so that we can have a lot of left overs. It is the perfect meal for a crisp autumn day. It works equally well for comforting on a dreary rainy evening. The Holbs loves it, and he's my toughest critic!

Here in Moscow, canned pumpkin is hard to come by. Last month the aisles were stocked and now you kind of have to hunt around. (Apparently there is a shortage?) (That link is hilarious.) It got so desperate around here that I nearly made this batch with canned yams instead, but then my local Wal-Mart pulled through for me and we were golden. (Though I'm guessing yams would actually be delightful.) I bought a ton of pumpkin when it was available and so I'm guessing we'll be eating this a lot more, along with pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin granola . . . ooh, pumpkin granola!

Pumpkin Sage Pasta

3 Tbs Olive Oil

3 Tbs Butter

2 Cloves Garlic, Diced

8 Leaves Fresh Sage, Chopped

1 Cup Canned Pumpkin

1 Cup Reserved Pasta Water

Salt and Pepper To Taste

Red Pepper Flakes To Taste

Four Handfuls Whole Wheat Pasta

Parmesan To Taste

1. Sautee garlic and sage in olive oil and butter in a pan over medium-high heat.

2. Add pumpkin and pasta water.

3. Whisk together until combined. Add more pasta water if sauce is too thick, more pumpkin if too thin.

4. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.

5. Pour sauce over drained pasta and stir to combine.

6. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve with a hefty garden salad.

(Makes for really good left overs and tastes really good cold.)

My Theories On Baking

2009-10-13T00:00:00.001-07:00

Picture of the Banana Bread I was going to make tonight but didn't would go

HERE

Recent discovery: I love to bake.

This is funny to me because I used to hear people say they love to bake and I would think, come on, what could be so fun about measuring things and dumping them into a bowl? Now that I actually bake I think I've figured it out. It's not about the teaspoons and the cups and the mixing, it's the small victory of an end result that matches what you envisioned. Oh, and when other people eat it and like it. And tell you how amazing you are.

I know there are some people who like the science and predictability of baking. I am not one of those persons. In fact I think I could throw out there that science has never been something I have ever taken any pleasure in. Besides, that idea that baking is a science? Like you hear people say? I don't buy it. (You shouldn't either.)

I say baking is soulful. Baking is instinctual. Baking is personal. I like baking because I like dumping stuff in and seeing what comes out. I like that I can take a recipe and change it into whatever in the world I'm craving. I like that I will fail miserably sometimes and who cares? It's baking! Safe risks. You know? I dig that.

One of my favorite things to do with a recipe is take out every last fun thing and replace it with something boring and then feed it to people, and then after they tell me how much they like it I tell them how I tricked them into eating basically grass. Because I'm a quantity over quality girl. I want to bake something vaguely sweet and mostly healthy and then eat it all in one sitting. But doesn't everyone?*

Natalie's BranFabulous Bread

1/2 cup whatever you have; banana, zucchini, pumpkin, etc.

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup bran

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

chocolate chips to taste

Throw everything together and mix it.

Pour into greased loaf pan.

Bake for 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

No oil, no butter, hardly any sugar, and bran! BRAN! Please people but there is nothing that makes me happier than a diet full of fiber. Basically if you took the chocolate chips out of this bread it would be illegal in most Southern states for lack of indulgency.

Natalie-style baking invites you to take your recipes and do whatever the spirit moves you to do. You could even take this recipe and add all manner of whatever the heck you want back in; more sugar, bacon grease, mashed potatoes, I mean, knock yourself out.

Because baking isn't about the recipe. It's about you.

Isn't that fun?

Please to enjoy THIS.

*It should be noted that The Holbs does NOT approve of bran and your husband probably doesn't either.

Wednesdays With Stella Blue

2009-09-25T00:36:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get really wistful when I think of all the fun times I am missing with my non-existent eight-year-old daughter. Oh sure, in my imagination we're having a grand old time, having tea parties and hitting on the boys with no shirts on at the skate park (inappropriate?) but in real life I have no such daughter and so all the time I have taken to sighing into things. Sighing into my oatmeal, sighing into my cookie dough, sighing into the mirror as I look at myself for hours on end (a trick I picked up from my sister, who gets prettier the longer she looks, while I just get vainer, but I'm waiting for it to kick in someday - Hello Nurse!). And then my luck turned and my formerly voluntarily bald friend Brit needed somebody to take her precocious first grader for a couple hours a week and I realized this could be my chance to strap her down in a chair and practice my mothering on her.

She came over on Wednesday and we popped popcorn and watched Ginger Rogers dance with Fred Astaire (I introduced her to a movie with the words "Gay" and "Divorcee" in the title, I mean really, how shocking!) and then I convinced her to craft with me.

"Can you teach me to embroider?" she asked me with her big brown eyes all filled with pleading and sincerity.

"No, I want to make flower bracelets." I am so mean to little kids.

She complied and I taught her to stitch up the seams like so, add a button this-a-way, and then she picked out three yellow silk flowers and I hot glued those suckers to the lace and ta-dah! she was the imaginary daughter of my dreams (though maybe too blonde to really be mine).

In the movie there is a plot line regarding a male prostitute and one of those misunderstandings that can only really happen in a movie where they're dancing on a sound stage with a fake ocean in the background, and I found myself having to explain to Stella whatis a prostitute and why did she hire him ("so that she can get a divorce" duh) and when The Holbs came home to our black-and-white supposedly wholesome moving picture and asked what it was about he got to listen to a six-year-old's rendition of why people split up and fake "relations" with other men, all the while his eyebrows remained suspended in midair.

Relations, I taught her that word.

Good gravy!

Then she went home with her flower bracelet on her cute little wrist and I returned to sighing into my Peanut M&Ms.

Suds

2009-09-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

I washed the dog today. I think this earns me points in heaven.

Washing Barnaby MacDuff is like tap dancing down a stair case in a frilly ball gown. It's fun, you smile a lot, there are funny concentration faces involved and at the end you both stand there with your hands on your hips laughing at the gay time you just had.

Washing Peter Pan is not at all like tap dancing.

See? I almost lost my thumb. (NOT from teeth, true story.)

Like I said, points in heaven.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Oatmeal

2009-09-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

When it is 1:00 and your name is Natalie, you are probably surfing blogs and you are likely eating a rather big bowl a oatmeal.

When Alex came to live with me I introduced her to my lover the big bowl a oatmeal and she promptly lost four pounds.

The Holbs can't eat oatmeal with me unless there will be a bathroom within short distance afterwards for an hour. (He does not have my iron constitution.) (Don't let that scare you away!)

In fact I think I will tell you right now that my perfect morning consists of a giant DC (diet coke) or DDP (Satan's nectar) for breakfast and then a giant heaping bowl of oatmeal at exactly 1:00. I could (and likely will) eat this for the rest of my life, you know (variety is super overrated.) And then four Peanut M&Ms and a Cinnamon Bear and I'm ready to knock over some fat third graders, ya know what I'm sayin? (NO?)

(Does somebody care to explain to me the new Shakira song because for the life of me I just... you know?)

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Oatmeal

(Serves One)

1c Water

1/2 Oats

1T Anyflappingthing In Your Kitchen

It's super easy:

Boil water on stove on High heat

Add the oats

Stir for a minute

Reduce heat to Medium

Stir for a minute

Reduce heat to Low

Stir a minute

Reduce heat to Simmer till desired texture

(Oatmeal texture is a very personal thing)

Add a tablespoon of everything but the kitchen sink

Some ideas:

Walnuts, Banana, Soy Milk, Cinnamon

Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Kashi, Raisins, Soy Milk, Cinnamon

Fiber One, Raspberries, Honey, Soy Milk, Cinnamon

Whole Almonds, Blueberries, Soy Milk, Cinnamon

My dad's favorite:

Pecans, Brown Sugar, Butter

(my dad is in it for keeps!)

My current favorite:

Fiber One, Banana, Shredded Coconut, Flax Seeds, Soy Milk, Cinnamon

Knock yourselves out, kids.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

2009-09-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

I hauled out my white slip cover today.

Heaven help us all.

Natalie's Perfection Buttermilk Biscuits

2009-09-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

Please pardon my brag but the facts is, I have become quite the little baker. My husband thinks it's sexy the way I can whip up a good oatmeal chocolate chip cookie on command and fry up a deadly delicious donut on demand (also he thinks my alliteration is pretty hot!) But last Sunday I think I pulled off the coup, the greatest baking accomplishment of my short life so far (no height jokes please!)

Lloyd Smith asked me the other day what I was doing in such ridiculous high heels (six inch wedges!) and I had to tell him the truth, that it was the only way I can reach the bowls on the top shelf. In reference to my height, let me just say, I don't want to talk about it.

I do however gladly wish to discuss the light fluffy deliciousness that I came up with in the kitchen the other day when we were reheating that old vegetarian chili for the fourth night in a row and I was about bored to tears with it. It was Sunday, and this chili needed something faithfully indulgent, and that's how I happened upon it.

And now you know that story.

You wanna the recipe?

Thought so.

Natalie's Perfection Buttermilk Biscuits

3 1/2c Flour

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/3c Sugar

1 tsp Salt

12T cold butter, cubed

1c + 2T Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients and butter in mixer.

Add buttermilk and beat till dough comes together.

Roll out dough on floured surface till an inch and a half thick.

Cut with a three-inch biscuit cutter.

Brush with melted butter and sugar.

Bake 15 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.

Do not eat this with honey. It tastes simply too, too good.

(Bonus points if you serve this with caramel sauce, grilled stone fruit, and heaps of whipped cream.)

In The End It Was The Writer

2009-09-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Writers are all a little bit crazy, but aren't they? I wouldn't know a thing about that, but that's what they say, you know. I know a writer who every year at the dawning of October contemplates the drastic. She and at one such October came to church bald. Or maybe that was in June? But such is the life of a writer. Not that I would know. What I do know is the life of a homemaker. And in the life of a homemaker there is nothing more important than a party.

(As I type up this little doodad I am watching The Burbs. Ohmygosh do you love The Burbs like I do? Cory Feldman's best work, I should think.)

We had a murder mystery party over the weekend, a most mysterious murder mystery in the back yard, which we dressed for the occasion as a cruise ship. I finally got to use my mix-and-match china settings. After six years of marriage I got tired of saving my wedding china for special occasions and I decided to set it free. Now we use our china for sandwiches and whatever else I feel like. Sometimes I use it to defrost chicken. You know, whatever. (It classes up my chips and salsa quite nicely.)

The guests brought hors d'oeuvres and I whipped up this little concoction:

Mini Cornbread Muffins

(served with Blueberry Jalepeno Jelly)

1c Medium or Coarse Grind Cornmeal

1c Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

4 tsp Baking Powder

1 Egg

1 c Nonfat Milk

1/4 c Butter

Preheat oven to 400.

Sift together dry ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat until smooth.

Pour batter by the Tablespoon into greased and floured mini muffin pan.

Bake for 9 minutes.

* * * *

Oh, I played the French foriegn exchange student. Should I be upset at how I am always typecast as the moody/snobby/beautiful type? Hmmmm?

A Little Sweet, A Little Spicy

2009-09-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

When The Holbs and I were fresh-faced babies living in Utah we used to like to go to this one sandwich place we discovered called Hogwarts Deli.

Actually it is called Hagermann's Deli but we called it Hogwarts on account of The Holbs is adorable and thought the H in the logo looked like the H in Harry Potter, and also Hagermann's sounds something like Hogwarts, though admittedly not much like Hogwarts, but it stuck and we went there a lot and here is why:

Jalepeno Jelly.

Have you had their turkey sandwich with the jalepeno jelly?

Goodness to heavens it is one of the best things in Utah.

I had made plans last year to drive down to the Utah parts to visit one Ms. Kalli Keister and also to bask in the fertility capital of America and maybe get my downstairs parts a moving and also also to buy a jar or two of the jalepeno jelly from Hagermann's because it has haunted me lo these many years since we hitched up our wagons and moved away from Zion.

Whew.

I didn't get down to Utah right away, and I never did meet up with the Verbeck, but I did get to family reunion in the valley and when I was there, I did it, I dragged my whole family plus my Aunt Gini to Hagermann's and I bought me some jalepeno jelly. I was so excited to bring it home to The Holbs. We were going to eat like kings!

But then the lady at airport security took it from me because it was over the 3 oz limit and it wasn't baby food.

I tried reasoning with the woman.

I tried begging.

Please, it's from Hagermann's! I wailed pathetically.

I know, I love this stuff, she said back.

It was tragical. And I cried. I actually, literally cried, all the way from security to the terminal. (I think I was PMSing?) You guys, it was hard on me.

But then, at the Farmer's Market a few weeks back, my eye happened to catch a greenish glow emanating from a small jar in a booth, and I just knew it, I knew before I even got there, I knew that it was going to be jalepeno jelly, and that it was going to be mine. (Door closes/window opens sort of thing.)

It was good but it was missing something, I'm still not sure what.

Dinner with Annie Pies this week yielded a little treat, just for you, I mean me.

You see, Anne's boyfriend is the manager of a restaurant in town, a restaurant that just happens to have a delectable jalepeno jelly concoction of its own, and get this, this manager boyfriend of Anne's just happened to have given in his two weeks' notice, and so this manager boyfriend of Anne's was particularly pleased to divulge in a little top secret of his own, if you know what I mean.

I promised never to tell their recipe for jalepeno jelly so long as I lived.

So of course here it is:

A Top Secret Jalepeno Jelly Recipe

Brought to you by a disgruntled almost former employee,

I won't name names, you can't make me!

(Robert!)

One small jar of your favorite fruit preserves. (The restaurant uses boysenberry. I tried sugar-free blueberry and it was out of this world. Apricot, peach, huckleberry, raspberry, these all sound good to me, too.)
2 oz Hatch's canned sliced jalepenos (about half a small can)

1. Add jelly and sliced jalepenos to cuisinart

2. And blend and blend and blend

3. Serve chilled, preferably with the mini cornbread muffins I made for a party recently

(I'll tell you more about this one later)

It's easier than you'd think, and so good.

Stick it, Airport Woman!

(The Holbs tried the jalepeno jelly with peanut butter, a little PBJ with a kick.)

(He says it was on purpose, and that it even tasted good.)

(I have my doubts, I like it with turkey.)

Notes On A Kitchen Window

2009-09-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

It is 11:27 a.m.

The temperature outside is perfection.

My kitchen is clean.

The hydrangea out front popped out three lousy little blooms.
Two bushes, two years in the ground,
three measly sad stupid little blooms.

But aren't they pretty?

I picked them today, and while I picked them I sang a little song (because that is just what us uberhomemakers do, you know).

And then I plip-plopped them into the three matching bud vases and dispersed them throughout the house.

One of the three is already dead.

But these are mine, my homegrown hydrangeas.

It Seems Like A Rather Blustery Day Today

2009-09-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

School has been in session for one whole week and already Moscow is happy to oblige. A fierce wind blew in over the weekend, upturning empty garbage cans and dusting the streets in leaves, leaves that have started to turn, get this, red. I woke up to the sound of my garbage can rolling down the street. Dressed in my pajamas and my 'round the house clogs (every homemaker needs a pair of 'round the house clogs, preferably ugly and floral and super comfortable), I went out to retrieve my errant can and had to pause on the drive way to take a huge, deep breath.

Ahhh!

Smell that?

(It's Fall!)

Moscow is hilariously on-time with the Fall season. (Not so much with Spring and Summer, derp derp.) The minute the kids go back to school, the Moscow chills right up. The winds come in and immediately sweep the last of the summer weather away. The pool is forced to close early and the kids can wear their back-to-school sweaters almost immediately.

It is instant gratification.

It is what made me fall in love with Moscow in the first place.

It happened last year and the year before that and the year before that and now it's happening again, the fourth time, the last time. I feel like it is God's gift to me, Autumn baby though I am. Suddenly there are gourds in people's yards and I'm wearing a stripey cardigan and making plans for books in the park with steamed milk and wiling away the afternoon hours with my camera, catching for forever my very last Autumn in Idaho. (God willing!)

And I just had to let you know that I am just so, so happy today.

Looking outside and seeing the changes coming on, wearing my A-pocket Sevens, the jeans I can only wear when I'm on the lower end of my four-pound swing (my canary in the weight-gain mine, if you will), I'm just feeling... peaceful.

There it is, that's the word.

I am not pregnant, I do not have a job, I have no clue where we're going next year and there is an upcoming Put The House On The Market black cloud looming in my future February, but check it:

It's a blustery day, and my soul is at peace.

Would you like a button? I made a passel of them over the weekend. HERE.

Happy nine-nine-ohnine!

Uberhomemaker, The Lemon Meringue Edition

2009-08-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

Photos by Blake!

I did not know that meringue was spelled with an i until my prim and apronned self performed a quick Google search. Meringue with an i and not with an e. These are the types things you learn when you become an uberhomemaker. These are the things you learn when you Google "Lemon Merengue Pie" and then Google goes, 'Did you mean... meringue?' and then I go, "Yes, I did mean meringue," and then I click on the clicker because a recipe spelled incorrectly is bound to be really gross and I am not above a little spelling chastisement. Right?

It was only one week in and already I was learning soo much. Like that if you put a lemon meringue pie into the oven on broil to lightly brown the top and then you forget to watch it you will totally char your fluff.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

I wanted to make a lemon meringue pie because I was sitting in my parent's ward in Tualatin and the Sunday School hour was a little boring that day and as my mind wandered in and out of Doctrine and Covenants and that afternoon's possibilities I could suddenly taste the tart lemon on my tongue. The longer I sat there the more convinced I became that I could do this, that it wasn't too hard, that it'd turn out okay, I mean, my macaroons are sure a hit, and then suddenly the seed of my idea began to germinate until I decided that it was not a question of could but now it was turning to must!

I must conquer the pie!

(Boring hours of Sunday School are the dangerous catalyst to most of life's bad ideas, wouldn't you say?)

Once I got home and changed and had eaten copious amounts of toast with butter I was ready to get serious about this pie thing. I had never baked a pie afore. I hadn't even warmed a frozen pie in an oven, really. But I've eaten my fair share and I have a deadly arsenal of wickedly sinful taste buds and I honestly felt like I could bake just about anything if I set my mind to it. (Learned that in Elementary school, thanks!) So I asked Mr. Google how to make this sucker and after a quick spelling adjustment Mr. Google told me how to add the egg yolks, zest the lemons, and whip the egg whites just so.

I was feeling rather smug until I remembered that from scratch means I hafta crust the pie crust myself. I asked Mr. Google So how do you make a pie crust now? And then I went Oh, shoot.

It turns out that pie crust is really, really hard.

Don't let me put too fine a point on this, now. It's really, really hard.

Scary hard.

I followed the directions to the letter and wound up with the pea-sized ice-cold butter just like they say but then the rest of it was like unto flour dust. Just, dust. I stared into the Cuisinart feeling dejected and it was then that I pouted.

(In my short experience as an uberhomemaker I have come to really to respect the time-honored tradition of pouting in the kitchen.)

Divided into two piles, I added icy water to one pile until it looked how I imagined pie crust dough should look, and then I stuck both piles into the freezer with much huffing and slamming and grouching.

That pie crust dough was being so rude to me!

A half hour later I rolled them both out sandwiched between plastic wrap. Both looked crustish, but only one survived the baking. So we had our contender. I liked the idea of weeding out my pie crust, I like that my pie crust had to work for it, cause you know, not for nothing or whatever but I make a real mean custard.

And it came to pass that the rest of it whipped up real easy and I installed it all together and there was much giddiness and happiness and We're About To Eat Pie Dancingness... and then I burnt it in the broiler.

The lesson? In life, sometimes you make dumb mistakes.

But it turns out that meringue char is very easy to peel off.

The lesson? Some mistakes give you a chance for a do-over.

My dad hauled out his propane torch. Never let it be said that my dad is not helpful in a pinch!

Synchronized noses!

By the next morning, all that remained was an empty pie tin, a fork, and traces of crumbs.

The lesson? Some mistakes turn out to be really delicious anyway.

Uberhomemaker, The Fish Taco Edition

2009-08-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

Fish tacos. Tell me, is there anything more sublime? How about homemade fish tacos? Am I making anybody hungry?

Not my husband, it turns out.

He walked in the door at 5:30 sharp and the table was dressed for the occasion. Salsa, homemade guacamole, chips, and in the pan, Tilapia loins. Do you love saying "Tilapia loins" as much as I do? I love Tilapia loins, they are fishy without being too fishy, they season up real tasty, they cook super fast, and boy howdy are they cheap! They are the perfect fish! At least, I've always thought so.

Did you know that Sea Bass isn't actually Bass? These things, I tell you.

And so the husband walked in the door and I exclaimed "Taco Tuesday!**" Being that it was Tuesday when I declared this, it was appropriate.

"Taco Tuesday!" The Holbs exclaimed in response and then I gave him a smooch on the mouth.

I tell you this because it is a new house rule that you must kiss upon entering or exiting the abode, if you are either 1.) Nat The Rat or 2.) Holbs The Red. (If you do not fall under either of these categories, kisses are strictly optional.) I promise I am not trying to gross you out with talk of kissing needlessly (ew, gross!) just that I am establishing the back story, see?

Anyway so there was smooching. (Church tongue.) (Not really.) And then there was the manly sauntering over to the kitchen to see what was a'cooking.

Tell me, does your husband do this too? Saunter over into your sacred kitchen space while you need to be in there moving at a hundred miles an hour? Does this irritate you like it does me? Look, my kitchen is teensy weensy, and my husband is not. He takes up some space, you guys.

(The Holbs is not fat, but highly masculine.)

Goodness I do not know where this is going.

Right. He saunters on over and peers into the pan and goes,

Oh, hold on, the door.

Dish TV salesman! I kindly told that Dish TV salesman that we did not receive channels on our television box and liked it that way, thank you. (He complimented me on my dog training skills after I told Barnaby to "shoosh." Fancy that! This man is obviously not trained in the art of spotting well trained doggies.)

Right. He saunters on over and peers into the pan and goes,

(this next part is very important)

"...Oh."

Right?

Then he says, "Next time, can you make it with meat?"

And I say, "Fish is meat?"

And then I pouted.

Tell me, does your husband say "... Oh" when sauntering through your sacred kitchen spaces? And does this make you 1.) irate, 2.) weepy, or 3.) all of the above?

It did me, friends. And for the rest of the time it took to fry up that fish and plate up those tacos I was suddenly cooking much louder than before.

(I know you do this too, I don't even have to ask. Loud cooking is feminine behavior one-oh-one.)

And so, the fish fryn (made that up just now) (as in: the fish, it has been fryn), we sat down, the blessing was blessed, the food was eaten. The food was... bland.

(It is clearly a work en progresso, my friends.)

End Of Report

FOOTNOTES
** Do you believe in designated day-of-week meals? I do. Sunday is Snachos and Tuesdays are Tacos and Saturdays are Homemade Pizza that Holbs never feels is meaty enough for his manliness and Fridays are "Take Me Out Please!" I feel that designated day-of-the-week meals are a surefire way to give off the impression that one is "Homemakery."

Nat Nests

2009-08-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Now that the summer is basically over and I'm getting ready to go back to Moscow; now that I'm in Portland where it's rainy and chilly and summer clothes just don't feel right somehow, now that Michael's has Halloween decorations up and Target has the Back To School sales, well, I'm getting kind of deliriously excited.

The beginning of fall is the very best thing there is. I mean, don't you think? That crisp smell in the air, opening the tupperware and setting loose your most trusted sweaters, caramel apples... leaves! Decaf chai and simmering soups and husbands studying and butternut squash, oh my!

I've reopened the big fat To-Do List file on my desktop for a quick review. I had some pretty serious designs going on before I was whisked away for a summer of trying everything on at Target. A few of my projects were obviously going nowhere and it felt good to delete delete delete. Then, I added to the list: 80. Make a quilt, 81. Blog redesign, 82. Visit the temple in Spokane once a month until the snows come in. Other changes: Edited "Lose three pounds" to reflect current reality: "Lose five pounds." Have I told you about the Summer of Processed Food yet? Ouch.

My new big thing for the fall is to become an UBERHOMEMAKER. Managing the grocery supply, making tasty dinners, keeping on top of the dusting, these are all the things that a regular homemaker does, but making mayo from scratch, hosting regular ironing days, making homemade jam and freshly baked bread and keeping track of when the tub was last bleached to within an inch of its life? This is the stuff of an UBERHOMEMAKER. I want to be an UBERHOMEMAKER for many reasons: First, there's this kind of romanticism about the old style of homemaking that is really calling to me right now. You know, the whole pearls and matching china and rotating out the window treatments kinda stuff. Then there's the economy. Yes. Also there's the fact that I'm unemployed? I gotta earn my keep somehow, and I've been told law students don't really need muses and nobody is hiring for "neurotic conversationalist" which is something I should rightly be paid for I sometimes think. But really, it's the satisfaction revolving around a beautiful home that I'm responsible for that I've really missed this summer that's spurring me on to home-ec greatness. A warm treat in the kitchen, a soft clean duvet at night, a homemade blanket to snuggle up with for a Sunday nap on the couch, meals prepared from scratch, and that peaceful feeling you get when you walk into a home that has obviously been cared for. Now, ideally I'd have chickens popping out fresh eggs out back and I'd compost and have a garden and hang all my clothes out on a line but let's get real people, I'm the type to put off laundry until all I've got left that's clean is mismatched socks and a nightgown and the last time I cleaned a toilet I was still single, so... but let's put that away for a minute and let's talk homemaking. What can you remember your mother/grandmother doing? What do you do? What do you wish you could do?

Let's have a right proper discussion here.