This is my life right now. I couldn’t dream it to be any better. Our kitchen is beautiful, and I’m on the plum spot of putting it together for the first time.
I’m trying to cherish each of these small moments (lining up spices in the pantry!).
I have so much more to say, but not the time … yet.

You know what this means? French macarons for the first time a year.
I looked around today and felt lucky that each person in my Durango family — two brothers, Mama, Papa — is in a place in life that allows us all to gather at home. In the middle of the day. In the middle of the week.
Surely this time will burn up quickly, and we’ll return to overly busy, over-scheduled, hectic lives. And then we’ll feel lucky to have the few moments on the few occasions we can gather.
But not today. Today we are reading books, watching Dirty Harry, meandering to a workout here or an errand there. Today I did a lot of blog-reading and inspiration-pinning.
Wanna see some things from today’s Pinterest collection?
From left to right, top to bottom:
» Joseph Jagger: DIY rubber stamp Rubber eraser = rubber stamp. Mustache optional.
» Dispatches from Whitcomb Street: Half-square quilt I can absolutely imagine dedicating myself to a sewing machine for hours and hours, over the course of weeks, to make such a simple, pretty quilt.
» Daily Garnish’s Ginger Currant Scones First, I love those flavors together. Second, it would be a chance to try moistened chia seeds in place of eggs. Adventures!
» Sarah’s Threads: The Versalette, a Kickstarter Project … half of me wants to buy this; half of me wants to figure out how to make it.
» Angry Chicken: Marshmallows I HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE MARSHMALLOWS!!!
» Dandee: Christmas in a Jar. Sweet, sweet idea.
» That Kind of Woman: Christmas wrapping Package & label … perfect.
» Annie’s Eats: Recipe Organization tips and tricks If you read Annie’s blog, you are not surprised at all how incredibly detailed her recipe organization habits are.
» Now Without Salt’s Cocoa Nib Coffee Cake Have you ever eaten cocoa nibs? They’re delightful little crunchy bursts of chocolate-chocolate. And the batter for this coffee cake … heavenly.
» Desire to Inspire: Kitchen organization Of all the things to be drawn to in this home spread, the one I most like is the simple hooks-for-mugs detail.
OK, so obviously I haven’t really caught onto a new rhythm while Patrick and I are in transition before we move into our house at the end of the month (and we are moving in! Barring some unpredictable hiccup, we’re scheduled for the 29th!).
Some things that I’m doing:
» Making bread! And granola, pound cake (and more pound cake!), graham crackers! We’re eating just a little less scratch-made food than we were before our big life change. I drool at the thought of the delicious foods we’ll make in our new kitchen (the food will taste better; I can tell already). We’ll have a gas cooktop for the first time! I cannot wait.
» Reading lots and lots of Sherlock Holmes. On my phone. Do you know that the hard-back volume sat on my shelf for years? And I never cracked it open. Then I discover Google Books on my phone … the pages are tiny! They go quickly! I’m nearly done with the stories. I read them out of order — my final story will be Holmes meeting Moriarty. Happy accident.
» Running errands with my Mama. Grocery shopping. Realtor duties. Getting stuff done. Lots of gossip along the way.
» Buying Christmas gifts! With some luck, I ended up in Durham last week for The Rock & Shop Market. I’d thought, “What a great place to window-shop.” And then I thought “Fool! You must buy these things! For everyone!” I was blown away by the vendors. I found something for literally everyone on our gift list. And something special and fitting. I’ll find it hard to do it any other ways for holidays future.
Some things I’m not doing so much:
» Writing about all this stuff. I blame … myself. Is there anyone else to blame? Or any other thing? Not really. Sure, I’m knocked out of my normal schedule; we aren’t living in a place that is our place. But it’s whatever importance I place on those facts that’s the real culprit. Of course, I wouldn’t really trade this time for anything, either. It’s been a great chance to see my family and during the holidays no less! And the safety net that home provides is comforting when so many other things are changing.
So there.
Good morning, What I Ate Wednesday friends! Life is returning to some kind of normal. For example: I’m writing this little entry from a bakery window seat, sipping coffee and keeping watch over my … bike! Patrick and I road here together and he went off for a seriously long ride. It was nice to get back on muh Stinger. And now, a day of food …
What a normal day. That’s nice sometimes. Eggs-and-toast breakfast. Something-or-other-leftovers for lunch. Quick egg dinner. Coffee, twice.
I like the rhythm of foods I eat over and over again. I like getting the timing just right to prep the toast, egg cracked into the pan, salt, butter, spread, flip, plate, eat.
And then I get to repeat the familiar happy feelings of biting into the half-cooked yolk, sopping it up with bread, savoring the final bites of buttered toast sprinkled with coarse salt. Happy, happy, happy.
Egg and toast, bitten.
This is real, and sometimes the egg looks gross.
We ran out of Counter Culture! Trusty instant, it is.
Because, guess what? I went to the gym. It was weight-lifting class for me, and it did that thing … where it hurt good.
A little bowl of yogurt (hiding), granola, and clementine slices. So refreshing for a tired-out girl.
My taste buds were pretty confused. Mexican? Italian? Pasta? Pizza? Taco? I like using up leftovers for lunches, so I sauteed mushrooms and added leftover pasta sauce, then drizzled that over some tortillas crisped up with cheese. These were messy and yummy but didn’t taste like anything in particular since they tasted like so many things.
To fuel afternoon granola-making.
Clementine, just because it’s so darn cute.
Inside this bowl of stuff is a broken frittata made with swiss cheese, leeks, and red potatoes (Read a quick run-down below*). Everything came together in about twenty minutes; we just need more practice depanning.
So I erased the ugliness of dinner by making my dessert extra cute. A tiny slab of pound cake, with a little chocolate on top. I zapped it in the micro so Miss Chocolate would get all melty. Aptly simple and decadent.
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- Boil two red potatoes and dice. Set aside.
- Heat oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add one thin-sliced, cleaned leek and cook until softened (about five minutes).
- Meanwhile, mix six whole eggs with one-third cup grated swiss, one-quarter teaspoon salt and one-quarter teaspoon black pepper
- Add potatoes and two tablespoons fresh parsley to pan, and stir to coat. (We used one teaspoon dried parsley since we didn’t have fresh. Not the same, but it’ll do.
- Pour egg mixture into pan and stir until bottom starts to set. Swirl pan, lifting cooked egg to allow uncooked bits to stream to the pan bottom. Continue until most of the egg is no longer runny.
- Put pan in the oven and finish cooking until egg is completely set, about five minutes (maybe less depending on your oven). Depan immediately. Maybe do a better job than we did.
Granola, finished off with dried cranberries.
Patrick and I haven’t bought cereal since we began making our own granola a few years ago. In that time we’ve adapted the recipe (from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook) only slightly.
And my recent adjustments have been just to explore the subtle light crunchiness of coconut oil (though olive or canola oils work just fine); and to pump in some extra flavor (cinnamon!).
Without further ado, a simple recipe to make you lots and lots of granola.
This already looks yummy.
Coconut oil, solid. But with about 45 seconds in the microwave ...
... coconut oil, liquid.
Coconut oil and honey. I like to use a scale to measure these messy ingredients (fewer dishes to clean!). They come to 6 oz. each by weight.
I think this looks a bit glamorous.
I always sneak a bite from this bowl. I even like the extra chewy challenge of raw oats.
Here's the granola before it goes in the oven ...
... and once it's come out.
Granola recipes make for perfect little cooking labs. Adjust the spices and oils as you wish. Play with different mixes of nuts and dried fruit. Throw in some brown sugar to see what happens!
4 cups oats
2 cups sweetened coconut
2 cups almonds
2 cups pecans
1 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup coconut oil (about 6 oz.)
1/2 cup honey (about 6 oz.)
3 cups dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a baking mat.
1. If you’re using coconut oil, melt it in the microwave. This shouldn’t take more than about 45 seconds (amazing!). Mix oil and honey; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, measure out oats, coconut, nuts, and spices. Pour honey/oil mixture into bowl and mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. (If you’re using coconut oil, the oats etc. will look less glossy; if another oil, more glossy.)
3. Spread granola evenly over baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes*, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven when granola is dark golden brown. Let it come to room temperature.
4. Break up the cooled granola and return it to the large bowl; mix with dried cranberries. Store in air-tight containers (we keep ours in the fridge and find it stays nice and crunchy until it’s time to make another batch!).
* Yes, that’s a huge time span! But I’ve found — having used different ovens to make this recipe — that with the variations in oven temps plus the somewhat delicate nature of coconut and pecans, it’s important to find the time that’s right for your particular, unique oven.
Not enoughs and too muches.
Somewhere in these numbers, I suspect, is the key to my sudden Sunday grossness.
Click for more detail.
For the second time in a month, I woke up feeling mysteriously nauseated, followed by my head over a toilet, followed by not being able to stomach much of anything for 24 hours.
Now, I suppose this could be a 24-hour bug, but mostly I was just nauseated (and had a headache from all the reclining I did trying to avoid feeling nauseated).
Or stress. But I don’t generally react to stress, and if I do it’s a familiar headache accompanied by nothing else.
And no, I’m not pregnant.
So it comes down to my diet. I suspect it’s too little water, too few vegetables, not enough exercise — and maybe all that makes for a poor foundation for a celebratory beer here and little treats of cheese and sweets there.
I find it remarkable (and sure, I’m still guessing at this point) that my diet could so swiftly affect my well-being. And that just a few months of healthy eating and exercise would be enough to reset all my defaults to You Must Eat Healthy Or Else.
So could it be? Was my body rebelling against my poorer choices? Hey, Body … I can totally get behind you on that. Thank you. No really. I’m glad you care so much.
So I’ll treat you right.
This morning I woke up and ate my trusty egg-and-toast breakfast. I headed to a morning weight-lifting class (that kicked my butt! I loved it!). And I’ve been sipping on water all day.
More of this, please.
Hey, it’s a beautiful Friday. The sky is blue here in North Carolina. I made biscuits this morning for my family (the ones you’ll see linked below!); there’s bread rising on the counter; Patrick and I are getting ready for a trip to Tennessee to see Beeson family and for a bike race this weekend.
It’s time to pause, look around, and be very, very happy.
How about some delicious links to celebrate? As always, you can check out all my pins (and maybe you’re especially interested in my foodie pins?).
» A Cozy Kitchen’s Brown Butter Buttermilk Biscuits These were delicious and went in about a half-hour in the Durango home this morning. The outside was crunchy and the inside was fluffy. Perfect with butter and jam.
» Eat Live Run’s Elephant Ears I think they speak for themselves.
» Joy the Baker’s Pickle Fries What pushes these over the edge is using little tiny mini pickles.
» Food Loves Writing’s Satsuma Layer Cake Is this not the most adorable layer cake you have ever seen? And seems to me it would be refreshing and not too sweet.
» A Cozy Kitchen’s Cinnamon & Sugar Crackers Would it be wrong to eat this from a bowl with milk?
» Artist Mamma Andersson on Booooooom House work.
» Miss Jones’ pottery on Oh Joy! What a good reminder to include whimsy in your home life.
» e.e. cummings on Daily Pep Talk From a Best Friend “it takes courage to grow up and become who you really are”
» Holly Farrell paintings on SF Girl by Bay I love the record of home from this painter. And her lines and colors.
This is how it gets gone.
I can’t take too much credit for this recipe.
Pound cake — though you can probably find dozens of books using different ratios — is fabled to rely on a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour.
I borrowed the ratio, cut it in half, and added a smidge of salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract.
The finished cake is buttery but not dense; subtly sweet; a good companion to coffee or jam or both.
With such simple ingredients, the most important thing to consider when making this cake is method. Specifically, how well you beat together the (softened) butter and sugar before adding your other ingredients.
You want to completely blend the butter into the sugar and whip tons of air into the mix. It sets the foundation for a smooth, strong, light batter.
The rest of the method goes like this: Scrape down your bowl before adding the eggs and vanilla. Once added, mix the batter just long enough to break up the eggs and mix into the butter/sugar (it shouldn’t take more than about 15-30 seconds). Scrape down the bowl again. Finally, you add the dry ingredients at a low speed until the flour is moistened. Then slowly increase the speed to fully incorporate the dry ingredients and fluff up the batter one last time. To play it safe, you can scrape down the bowl once more and give the batter a final quick, strong mix.
Here’s the method in pictures …
Half a pound of butter, half a pound of sugar.
Butter and sugar in its clump phase.
It's just coming together, but the butter and sugar is nowhere near creamy, light, and fluffy. And I found out I made a mistake starting with this big bowl. In the next photo you'll see I changed it out for a smaller one so I could do a better job beating the mixture with a hand mixer.
Look how different! You know it's ready when it's light and fluffy, whiter, and no longer translucent.
I mixed it just long enough to break up the eggs and incorporate them into the butter/sugar mixture. Because I was using a hand mixer, it only took about 15 seconds. If you're beating by hand, count on it to take a little longer. But notice that this doesn't come together at all. That's fine! The batter will smooth out once you add the dries.
I'd added the dries while mixing at the lowest speed (so flour wouldn't get flung every which way). Once the dries were moistened, I turned the speed up on my mixer to fluff up the batter. I beat it for no more than a minute (and probably closer to 30 seconds).
Light and fluffy, full effect.
Whatever size pan you have, fill it about halfway or two-thirds with batter ...
... and this is what you'll get!
Stand mixer or not, you can do this! If you mix by hand, you should be creaming the butter and sugar until your arm gets tired. Fair warning.
Just waiting for a cup of coffee.
8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. (1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp.) granulated sugar
8 oz. (1.5 c. plus 1.5 Tbsp.) all-purpose flour
8 oz. (5 large) whole eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease one 9-by-5-inch baking dish or two small bread loaves (I used butter!).
1. Sift together flour, salt, and powder. Set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl.
3. Add eggs and vanilla; mix until eggs are broken up (15-30 seconds). Scrape down bowl.
4. Add dries and mix until light and fluffy (scrape down bowl and mix again if needed).
5. Bake for 60-70 minutes (less if you’re baking two smaller loaves).
Enjoy! This loaf went in about 24 hours in my house …
Good morning, What I Ate Wednesday friends! Long time no see, right? I’ve been busy helping myself and my man move to North Carolina — specifically into our temprorary home with my parents in Greensboro. Now that we’re here and pseudo-settled, I’m ready to document my food life again! It’s nice to be back.
Monday (my Day in Food day) was the first that felt like I was returning to a normal daily menu. Before then, it was all I’m-Working-Hard-Packing meals and Let’s-Celebrate-Our-Move treats.
Fried up in "real" butter.
Dad-made eggs and toast! Thank you, Poppa. My dad has his morning routine worked out, and apparently it includes making breakfast for all those who want it. This usually means one of two things: He makes all our plates and leaves himself for last; or, once he’s all done with his food, he gets up and makes more breakfasts for other folks. He’s kinda nice, right?
Happy little coffee mug.
Husband-made coffee and cream! I’ve got it made, right? I just come downstairs in the morning and my day is kick-started for me.
Power bowl!
Durn but I love food bowls. And I just tried to enumerate the reasons, but I came off as such a corny sap that I decided to leave it at that: food bowls are good.
This one was all earthy, whole wheat pasta with sauteed mushrooms, avocado, hard-boiled egg. So tasty. So filling.
But of course I left room for a taste of coffee and chocolate …
Chocolate lady, we meet again.
Instant.
I believe in enjoying the highest quality when you can, especially for things you love — coffee among them. It’s why we keep Counter Culture beans in the Beeson pantry. But I also believe in not getting in your own way when, maybe, you find that you also like the down-home version of that thing. Hello Nescafe. I didn’t know I liked you so.
The photo does not do this meal justice. And the potatoes were like dessert.
OK, so I did indulge in a “treat” meal today, but it was pretty durn healthy: I ate half this black bean burger and sweet mashed potatoes from Foothills Brewery, a brewpub in our new soon-to-be hometown of Winston-Salem! They make their own ketchup and mustard:
House-made!
And what were we celebrating? A beautiful home in Winston-Salem that might very well be ours come the end of the year. And it’d be in walking distance to Foothills. Which is why I drank all of my Double IPA. I’m swooning …
Double IPA.
Slightly sweet.
My dad kept stealing bites of my granola dessert. “I thought you put this out for everyone!” Sure, Dad. Sure you did. In any case, how can I complain when my day started with Dad-made breakfast?