Weekend Round-up

nice weekend, over too quickly. Full of friends, food, flowers, food...and some more food.

Friday night I had 2 lovely, lovely girls to my home for dinner. I was one of their Community Group leaders for a long time and have seen them grow into beautiful, mature Christ loving women. All 3 of us have had hard years so we ate good food (basil pesto and pork tenderloin, preceded by Mark Bittman's Rosemary-Lemon White bean dip. It was delicious, healthy and so easy), and talked and lamented and laughed. I loved it.



Saturday started at Pepper Place, my favorite summer activity. It is berry season in Alabama and I bought some big, juicy Blackberries as well as peaches and blueberries. Berry season makes summer in Alabama worth the heat...almost! Spent a few hours working for our One Day Sale, which was not as bad as I thought it would be. How can it be bad when I am surrounded by books?

Saturday night found Amanda and I cooking yet another recipe from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper (highly recommended); Salmon Pan Roast with Garlic Shavings and Basil on Fresh Greens and Warm White Bean Salad with Fragrant Garlic and Rosemary. Oh. My. Goodness. It was delicious. Both having purchased new SLR cameras with our incentive money, we walked to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens to practice a bit. It was a humid night when the greens are so green and the colors pop. Took some good shots I think. Finished the night with fresh fruit and homemade whipped cream (good despite the fact that the peaches tasted a bit like garlic having been cut on the same cutting board...oops).



Sunday started having brunch with a new friend at my favorite place, Chez Lulu. He and I talked about food and books and Southern culture. Had the brunch special (Ham and Brie cheese Strata beside garlic cheese grits and fresh fruit) and ordered both Blackberry and Blueberry pies. the best in town in my opinion. Go get some quick-the blackberry pie is around for a very limited time. As in, this batch of blackberries and that's it. I may go back this week for more! Spent the rest of the day napping and hanging out.



I should be at church right now, but I am not. I am not sure why I am so reticent to go these days. Maybe the fact that everyone knows me and my story? Lately I find myself yearning for anonymity. The past 3 years have been painful and that is no secret at church, as much of the pain has had to do with the church and it's members. I know that is what happens when you live in Community, but I am not loving it right now. I am hopeful that this is a stage and I will be back soon. I have gone and left so many times recently that I am sure noone is surprised!



well, the first weekend of summer was a success. I hope that yours was as well.

If you are what you eat I am an Al's Gyro

My body is Pissed off at me. Something is wrong with it, and it is not happy. I used to run to the doctor anytime anything felt off. Now, I am starting to realize that perhaps not every malady needs a prescription. Please don't misunderstand me-I go to the doctor for serious things. I currently take 2 prescriptions daily...I love the medical field and community. I just don't happen to think that I need to cover every symptom, or every malady with chemistry.

I have been feeling off for a little while now. Looking at the symptoms, it seems like they are all over the place...acne, fatigue, thyroid levels off (I am on meds for this, don't worry!), digestive problems (like not being able to drink coffee and feeling as though every meal were laced with acid), dry skin, etc. At first I was putting extra lotion on and drinking tea and avoiding tomatoes and using Witch Hazel on my face. Today I started wondering...are they all related?

YES. A little research showed me that they are, in fact, all related. A disrupted digestive system can cause all of these things (the studies are still out on the Thyroid thing, but I am taking meds for that). I never would have guessed that was the reason for my acne, or dry skin, or foggy memory lately. A little more research showed me the foods that most often cause digestive distress...all foods that are in my diet. I was so amazed at how what I eat can really effect how I feel. Other things obviously come into play(stress,hormones, etc), but this is the thing that I can exert control over. And this is the way that my body is telling me that things are out of whack.

so, for the next few weeks, I am going to be carefully watching what I eat and the way my body reacts to it. I am also changing my diet pretty drastically. Goodbye sugar, Goodbye flour and wheat, goodbye dairy (except goat milk), goodbye starchy veggies. Goodbye most fruits, chocolate and coffee.
Hello fresh veggies, spelt, millet, lentils, fish, eggs, goat cheese(!), herbal tea, nuts and seeds. hello herbal supplements.

I am hopeful that this will work. Some may laugh and call me a hippie...go right ahead. I want so badly to believe that my body is capable of healing itself and that giving it the right food will help.

I'll keep you posted. I will also keep you posted on what the hell I am going to eat for the next few weeks! No more peach tarts or risotto.

Sigh.

Weekend round-up

Here it is Sunday night, the end of another Spring weekend. I love Spring, but I am always so afraid of it's departure. One day soon I will wake up and it will be full on Summer. I am not looking forward to that. I love living with the windows open (i haven't closed them in a little over a month) and the doors open and cool nights and chilly mornings and warm days and new flowers. sigh.

ANYWAY, back to my weekend...

Friday I came home from an exhaustingly busy work week and baked a peach Tart (more on that in another post). I am not a baker, but am determined to bake something new every week. The Tart was a success. It was sweet and tart and soft and warm...like any good tart is. Friends and I devoured it in one night amidst laughter and silliness.


Saturday, I started at Urban Standard with Carrie and John, followed by Pepper Place. There I procured radishes, peaches, goat cheese, eggs and an alien looking vegetable called a kohlrabi. I love going there and talking to the farmers and sampling the honey and cheese and asking them about their farms. It feels very communal and connected. I also took a bunch of photos (many people asked me if I was a photographer with my fancy new camera!). Had lunch outside with a friend which was surprisingly delightful, to catch up and talk about life.


After all of that, I thought a nap was in my future. However, an idea had popped into my head that simply begged to be listened to. So, I called Jenn and she agreed that it must be done. So, we packed a little picnic of red wine (in a Nalgene bottle!), plastic cups, hard boiled eggs, water and books...and headed to the botanical gardens. After I took about 100 photos of the rose garden, we found a little place where we could read and hang out, quietly drinking wine that is strictly forbidden there. It was lovely. People kept coming by and asking if we were students, to which I replied "No, but thank you for asking!". It was really fun. I took a little nap in the sun and we saw some lizards and birds.




A good day.

Sunday I slept late, cooked breakfast and chilled. Some friends stopped by and we talked about food and farms and gardens, topics I never tire of. I decided to go back to the Gardens, not realizing that it was apparently "bring your bride and photographer day". There were 2 weddings, 2 brides walking around having their pictures taken and a perfect looking couple about 5 feet from my favorite swing taking engagement pictures. it was sad, but did not bother me nearly as much as it would have a month ago. Progress, slow and steady. It was actually a very enjoyable afternoon spent on a secluded little swing, reading.
I left there for church. Tonight in my little church we welcomed new members, baptized a beautiful boy and prayed for a former Pastor. It was, to me, a striking picture of the Gospel. Hope and brokenness, all mixed up together.
Tonight i made some yummy hummus and now am going to drift off to sleep.

I hope each of you is enjoying the Spring.


This is a kolhrabi! crazy looking, huh?

Weekend round-up

This weekend round-up is going to be a bit redundant, as I've blogged a bit this weekend.

Friday night, I did what I do almost every Friday night. Not a thing. I came home, ate and took a little nap. Awoke and putzed around the house, showered a read until bed at midnight. This is my little routine on Fridays and I find myself looking forward to it starting every Wednesday.

Saturday I spent the day in Waverly, AL. See last post for more on this.

Sunday was a lovely, lovely day. Breakfast with a dear friend at V Richards. We normally only spend about 45min to an hour, but today it was nearly 2 hours. I sorely needed the encouragement and fellowship. Thanks Charlotte. I came home, grabbed a blanket, book and glass of water and headed outside. I laid on the ground and perused the Times Book Review. After about an hour, I realized that the backs of my knees were sorely sunburned (oops) and I headed inside...to finish my nap. It was a heavenly rest with the breeze and the smell of fresh earth and the birds chirping. Next up was a grocery store bike ride, where I was nearly run over by the many, many, many people in my neighborhood for the Earth Day free admission to the Zoo and festival at the Botanical Gardens. I had planned on strolling over to the gardens later, and promptly decided that was a terrible idea.
I have found that a great way to talk to my neighbors is to park my bike somewhere. Everyone wants to talk about it, or reminisce about the time they rode a similar one, of how badly they want to start riding again. Today it was an older gentleman who told me that he belonged to, and helped start, the Birmingham Bike Club. He described the bike he used to ride (flown in from Japan!) and the good times the club had. He fondly recalled the picture that the inagural group took and described it to me in painstaking detail. It was certainly a refreshing, surprising conversation for a balmy Sunday afternoon.
Went to church and was again delighted at how at home I feel. It is such a gift. Scott K. gave a great sermon and music was, as always, inspiring and worshipful.
Home to cook. Sat down on the kitchen floor, with NPR's The Splendid Table podcast (a Sunday night ritual) playing and cookbooks spread around me. I decided what to cook for dinner (summer squash), and blanched some green beans to make a green bean salad in the morning. I love looking through each cookbook and seeing what strikes my fancy. Today it was Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan as well as Provence: The beautiful cookbook. Both highlight the flavor of vegetables with simple preparation. Planned some meals for the week, ate the one prepared tonight and dreamed of a trip to Italy. Instead of Italy, I opted to do laundry. What an exciting life I lead! Just like those single women on Sex and the City...or the complete opposite.

Well, off to read Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt:The River Run (do you sense a theme in my life?!). I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable weekend. Sweet Dreams.

Cooking the heart

It is amazing how much food and cooking go along with life. What I mean is, how cooking a certain meal can make you feel great, or feel gross, or feel guilty, or whatever other feelings you feel while eating. Food invokes emotion. I can't eat a quesadilla without thinking about my Abuelita, or sausage without thinking of dad, and Rice pilaf of Mom and holiday meals. It is nearly impossible to eat a crawfish without reminiscing about childhood crawfish boils (my first memory) and beer and sun in college.
Cooking denotes care as well. Soup when you are sick, a fancy meal for a special occasion, meals for new parents...we do it out of care. To nurture and love. Taking the time to prepare a meal for someone is giving a bit of yourself.
Lately I have turned to cooking as a time to slow down and rest. It has also been a wonderful comfort to me. Last weekend after a long week, Dad met me with a cooler full of crawfish. That night I sat at my table, paper towels nearby, beer in hand, G love playing as the skies dumped rain and the alarms sounded. It felt like home. All felt ok for the moment. The smell of a roasting chicken takes the sting out the phone call from Bed Bad and Beyond inquiring about your registry, and the zillionth email from Martha Stewart Wedding (btw, if you register anywhere they sell your name, so you get every wedding related thing ever. beware). Lunch of homemade risotto makes the windowless cubicle feel a bit more homey.

Such is the case today. I had a lovely day in Waverly at the Old 280 Boogie. I sat in the sun, drank beer, listened to music, hung out with friends and bought some T-shirts. My kind of day. As I was swaying my head to the beat, I saw Scott's brother, Jake and his girlfriend (fiance?) and his cousin. I was genuinely glad to see them so we chatted a bit and hugged a bit and laughed a bit. I told them the story of dancing with Scott in the Print shop last May, and wanting him to ask me on a date so badly. It was a nice surprise.

On the way home, sunburned and exhausted, I began to sadden. Scott and I planned to go to the festival this year, and we had such a fun time last time. At some point, we talked about how that night was the one that made us both really dig each other. The people I saw today were to be my family. So I got home, showered and headed to the kitchen. Dinner was (semi) Homemade spaghetti sauce with buffalo meat. Delicious and filling and comforting. Good, fresh ingredients and a tried and true recipe. It warmed me. My sadness has softened to a dull ache. Thankfully.

I will leave you with a recipe. This has been requested since I posted about it last week. It is a meal that was redemptive for me in so many ways, so seems fitting to post tonight, when I need reminding that God doesn't leave me.

Risotto with Fried Egg
from Apples for Jam

3 tablespoons butter ( I prefer unsalted)
4 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Shallots ( i used a 1/2 cup chopped white onion)
1 and 2/3 cup risotto rice
1/2 cup White Wine (I used White wine vinegar, and it was a bit tart, but the eggs help with that, as well as the cheese)
4 cups hot Vegetable Broth
Freshly grated nutmeg (didn't have so used Herbs deProvence)
Salt
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Grana cheese
About 8 fresh sage leaves
4 eggs, at room temperature
Grated Parm cheese to serve
Freshly ground black pepper to serve

Heat half the butter and 2 tbs of oil in a heavy bottomed pan suitable for risotto ( I used a large saucepan). Saute the shallots over low heat until light gold and then stir in the rice with a wooden spoon. Stir for a few minutes to completely coat the rice and let it cook just a bit. Add the wine, and when it has evaporated, add all of the broth. Add a few good grinds of nutmeg and taste for salt (broth is probably seasoned enough). Simmer uncovered over high heat for about 15 minutes, or until the rice has completely absorbed much of the liquid (you will need to stand around stirring it pretty frequently). If it seems it needs a bit more liquid, add some hot water. Remove from heat and stir in remaining butter and the Parmesan cheese. Taste for salt, adjusting if necessary. Leave with the lid on so that the steam continues to cook the rice.
Heat the remaining oil in a nonstick frying pan and briefly fry the sage leaves until crisp. Remove with tongs. Gently break the eggs into the pan and sprinkle a bit of salt on the yokes (I must recommend fresh farm eggs...there is really no better tasting, smoother egg). Cook until the edges of the white are a bit golden. Cover the pan with a lid and fry until yokes are just slightly opaque on the surface but still soft on the inside (they are best when the undersides are golden and a bit crisp).
Scoop the rice onto serving plates and top each serving with an egg and couple of sage leaves, being careful not to break the yoke. Serve with a sprinking of Parmesan and a few grinds of black pepper.

I served this with a side of asparagus and a few pieces of bacon. It was wonderful. Sweet, tart, salty, creamy. The Asparagus shined and the bacon was a wonderful, sweet counter to the tart risotto. Enjoy!

Dirt manicures preferred

I have been spending my lunch break reading Farmgirl Fare, a blog that chronicles a 26 year old (then married) woman's journey from urban Cali to a huge farm in Missouri. See also Writings from Woodridge Farm, the newsletters from the very beginning.

I want to follow her. My coworkers make fun of me because I want a goat and 2 chickens. Really badly. My back porch has no room for a table with all of the pots of vegetables growing. My Dad laughed when he saw the tray of seedlings growing on top of my washer (hey, it's warm there!).

As I consider the Great Wide Open and where life may take me (both physically and emotionally) in the days and years to come, I am starting to wonder if I need to go where the Buffalo Roam (or the Lemon trees grow...whatev). Can I do both...urban and country? do I want to?

I don't know where God is leading me, but it seems that it is somewhere where the air is clean and people don't scoff at bike commuting and maybe, just maybe, a chicken coop in the backyard is ok.

Freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose

Here are a few things that I have noticed lately:

1. If you live alone and oversleep, no one is around to wake you up. You just keep sleeping. Then you are late for work. Again.

2. There is a lot of emphasis on the word Are in my life right now. An example:

Me: hello
them: Oh hi. How are you?
Me: I'm ok
them: Are you? That's great, that's really great. I'm praying for you every day and sacrificing things on your behalf...that is how much of a good person I am. Are you sure you're ok?
Me: Well, besides the fact that people seem to have forgotten that English is my first language, so they don't have to talk slowly...I'm ok. Thanks for asking. Oh, and stop telling me all the time that you are praying for me. It is freaking me out.


or something like that.

3. Men look at breasts first. They just do. I have accepted it. I think that if I went to another planet, and they had an arm in the middle of their head, I would look at it all the time. I think it's sort of like that.

4. The Beatles are awesome. I don't know how I went my whole life without truly grasping this.

5. Fresh food is better. Better tasting and better for you.

6. I don't like women who find their whole identity in their children. I hope that if/when I have some, that I can talk to people about other things and not parade them around as though they are a new handbag, making them do tricks and hug everyone they see. I do not need your kid to hug me. Please don't say "Give Miss Elisa a hug". Don't get me wrong, I love kids and hugging kids...but your kid hugging me is not going to make my life better. Especially when they are being forced to do it. They are not prostitutes...stop treating them as though they are. Hug Miss Elisa and get a treat...gross

7. I love my apartment. It just happened. One day I came home and realized that I really love it.

8. I have great friends. Even when I feel alone, I know that. I wish that everyone had a community that is as wonderful as mine. truly.

9. People read stupid stuff. I look at our bestsellers and am amazed at how much crap is on it. utterly useless, inane crap. The book equivalent of reality TV.

10. I will do anything to avoid working on my screenplay.

I need a little place in the sun sometimes

A visual of my little garden stoop:




Come summer, I will have so many tomatoes, greens, lemons and beans that I may set up a stand on the side of the road. Or invite friends over to share in my bounty, eating tomatoes over bread, drizzled with olive oil and fresh basil. Beans steamed immediately off the vine, with a dash of fresh lemon vinaigrette and accompanied by a glass of wine and conversation. Dessert of sweet strawberries and whipped cream. A taste of heaven. A respite from the brokenness of this life.

Lovely

Termites and crack...or Elisa's First day of Spring

Yesterday was a good day. Got a ton done at work, although never as much as I hope. My friend let me borrow his car as mine is still in the shop, the sun was shining. Scott's family came for a little visit and brought me the rest of my new bedroom furniture (before and after pics soon), and I planned to have CJ over for a new recipe (a rendition of Urban Standard's Orzo pasta salad) and a beer to celebrate Spring the start of Kitchn: The Cure, which we are both participating it. And, she and I signed up for a veggie CSA with Grow Alabama. All good things to celebrate!

I get home and start to cook. Tender Orzo boiling on the stove, beer freshly opened, when I notice a little bug. I thought "Well, that's what you get when you cook with the door open" and killed it. Then I noticed another...and another. I determined that they were coming from the water heater closet. I opened it up to find TERMITES! EVERYWHERE! There was a crazy swarm of them. I instantly freaked out and started doing an insane "get the hell away from me" dance and armed myself with the only chemical left in my house: bleach. I sprayed them as though they were out to kill, yelling things like I hope this burns your soft, soft underbellies (what!?)and You will not ruin my Easter!!. About this time CJ came in. Witnessing my meltdown, she quickly decided we must go out to eat. On our way to a Mexican joint for Guac, we saw Nabeels...and quickly pulled in.
It was wonderful. We feasted on stuffed grape leaves and feta, Taramasalata dip (the aptly named 'crack' dish of caviar and greek yogurt) and fried potatoes. Accompanied by wine of course. My termite problems were soon forgotten in an hour long conversation about food (seriously, we talked food for an hour). We dissected the flavors and nuances of each item and their pairings and potential. It was refreshing. It was also decided that we now must start a tradition of Greek food on the First Day of Spring. After literally eating the dip with our fingers after running out of crudites, we decided it might be time to go home....to the TERMITES.
they had all perished in a chemical induced frenzy and lay waste on my kitchen floor. A quick run with the vaccuum and the evidence was gone.
This easily could have been my undoing. I am just starting to like the apartment, and this incident could have turned me off of my kitchen and my home completely. But it didn't. I cleaned up, drank and beer and laughed about it. After Ant Wars 2008, termites are a breeze.
When I got to work today and told my 'cellmate' about it, a coworker from a few cubes away piped up "When are you going to call someone about getting your hex removed". I need to get on that...

A visual of the horror: