Blank Canvas

And by "canvas," I mean "wall."
One big wall in my dining room, to be more specific.

What, you didn't get the memo that the latest thing in chic dining room decor is a battery-powered baby swing? ;)

Since we moved into our house nearly two years ago, our dining room has been a sort of catch-all afterthought. In a fit of motivation before hosting our first Thanksgiving in 2008 I finally got around to painting the walls from the previous owners' selection of red -which was very nice, but didn't go with the rest of our decor/style at all- to the current color of slate blue (a color with which I am happily in love). I hung some basic curtain panels, displayed our china and glassware in the beautiful built-in hutch... but this long wall across from the windows has remained blank and bland.

I've brainstormed various things to hang there, but nothing has really seemed just right yet. I bought an old oil painting in a pretty, ornate frame for $5 at the Lancaster Flea Market with the intention of hanging that on the empty wall... but after resting it on our (then empty) living room mantal, I decided I liked it better there. What I would really love to hang there would be an aged, large-scale mirror, like the one in this dining room that I tore out of House Beautiful a while back.

I haven't found the right mirror yet, either in antique form or as something new that could be craftily faux-aged, and I'd like to get something up on the wall at least as a placeholder until I do.

I think the popular frame gallery is a good solution, but I waffle between a collection of mis-matched frames, hung artfully, a la -

and a nice neat grid of matching frames with coordinated images, a la -

And what to put in the frames? I bought a bunch of old maps to potentially hang in frames in the nursery before we knew that Phee was a girl (not that maps are only for boys... I just had a different vision for a girl's nursery), so I have those sitting around collecting dust. I thought maybe selecting some of the countries that my husband and I have visited together and framing those as a collection would be nice... maybe with select photos of the two of us or photos we love from those trips? I've also toyed with the idea of some vintage botanicals... but those are getting pretty ubiquitous. And I recently happened upon some beautiful butterfly images, courtesy of the New York Public Library's digital collection, which I could easily print out and frame. Hmm.

I'm so indecisive when it comes to hanging things on walls. When it comes to paint colors, I am 99% spot on with my choices and totally happy with the results. When it comes to furniture or bigger components of a room, I know what I like and what I don't without hesitation. But I always have a problem with the decor details... carefully crafted vignettes on tabletops and shelves, just the right throws and accent pillows, artfully placed knick knacks, and - probably the most difficult for me - wall decor.

I'm determined to figure out something to fill this wall. Spring is the season for projects, so I'm going to experiment and then bravely make a decision! Stay tuned...

{unfortunately/embarrassingly, I don't know the source for the two gallery wall photos - I snagged them somewhere online way before I ever thought I'd need to use them for anything other than my own little file of home decor inspiration...}

Extra, extra!

Our beautiful, sweet, silly girl slept through the night last night for the first time! Hardly a peep from 10pm to 7am. Of course, I was up every hour waiting for her to cry (and worrying about whether our basement was flooding and dreaming up different plans of attack to keep a stream of tiny ants out of our house)... sigh. At least one of us had a restful night. :)

Lunch, Day 2

For the lunch challenge today, I decided to try a version of another favorite sandwich from another deli in NYC. I actually can't remember where I had this sandwich, so unfortunately I can't give proper credit, but I do remember it being in the flatiron district. I was a bit skeptical when I first ordered it, wondering whether all of the different flavors would work well together. No need for worry - it was delicious.

The original sandwich consisted of an herbed mayo (yes, I will eat mayo if it's dressed up and spread lightly enough on the bread), peppercorn turkey, jarlsburg cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and avocado (if you see a trend, yes, I do love avocado on a sandwich) on a whole wheat roll.

For my version of the herb mayo, I settled on italian parsley, mint, and basil chopped in the mini-prep and mixed with half mayo and half plain yogurt. I just put in generous handfuls of parsley and basil and a smaller amount of the mint, and what amounted to probably about three tablespoons each of the mayo and yogurt. There's plenty of extra mayo for sandwiches over the next few days.

I decided to help keep the calories down by assembling the sandwich on one of these new-fangled Arnold Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins, which are basically a cross between bread and an english muffin. I spread the herb mayo concoction on one side, then layered on a slice of jarlsburg, a few slices of peppercorn turkey, one oil-packed, sun-dried tomato (cut into strips), and a quarter of an avocado. Delish.

Menu Review: Week of 3/21

Some really good dinners from this past week's menu! Definitely some keepers to make again...

After a week of beautiful weather, we were hit with a few chilly gray days and were in the mood for something comforting but not too heavy. The Bistro Braised Chicken was the perfect recipe! Honestly, I could eat anything over egg noodles, but this really was delicious. We had a lonely parsnip leftover in the fridge that I threw in with the other veggies. Normally I'm not a big fan of chicken thighs, but they were great in this. It was rich and comforting, almost like a chicken stew. I could have eaten the entire pan myself.

We also really enjoyed the Lighter Chicken Enchiladas from Everyday Food. When we lived in NYC, a frequent date night activity was dinner and margaritas at a small Mexican restaurant a few blocks from our apartment building. These days our Mexican restaurant options are far more limited and our time available for date nights out of the house is pretty much non-existent... so I decided to turn this dinner into a date night at home. I mixed up a batch of easy and quick short-cut margaritas to serve with the enchiladas and we had a fun meal together reminiscent of our old date nights in our old 'hood (and old lives). When I was pregnant, the only time I ever missed drinking alcohol was over the summer when all I wanted was an icy cold margarita. So this was a long overdue treat and made dinner a bit more festive. :)

To make the short-cut margaritas (which are really good, even if they do contain high-fructose corn syrup), mix in a small pitcher:
- half a can of frozen limeade concentrate (I refreeze the other half in a small tupperware)
- one and a half cans full of water
- half a can full of tequila
- half a can full of triple sec
Pour it over ice, salted glass rims optional.

In keeping with the Mexican theme, the Smoky-Spicy Black Bean Quesadillas from Vegetarian Times magazine were also a winner. I try to make at least one of our meals each week a meatless one and we always have good luck with recipes from Veg Times. These were a nice change from typical quesadilla flavors and the bean mixture would be delicious on its own as a dip (I've filed that idea away for football season, for sure). I used pre-packaged Mexican blend (not taco seasoned) shredded cheese for these.

My husband is a huge meatloaf fan, so it's not surprising to me that the Meatloaf Burgers from Everyday Food were a big hit. The ketchup in this recipe was especially delicious. I may never use bottled ketchup again considering how easy this was to throw together with ingredients I always have on hand.

The other recipes (chicken stew, noodles and pork, sweet potato and lentil stew) were fine but forgettable. I'll probably keep the chicken stew recipe on hand because it's always good to have a supply of slow-cooker recipes. Overall it was a great week of dinners.

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What we're eating this week:
Pot Roast Carbonnade
Caramelized Asian Pork Chops + Sizzled Ginger Rice
Greek Chicken and Pita Casserole

Refocus

I just finished reading the latest entry on Far Beyond the Stars about refocusing on what is important in your life. I found it to be very timely, considering I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately with balancing what I want (and in some cases, need) to be doing and what I feel like I should be doing... and, admittedly, often what I actually am doing (mindlessly surfing the internet, watching the TV simply because it's on, etc) doesn't fit into any of those categories. Like so many people these days, I imagine, I would have a lot more time - or at least feel like I have a lot more time - in each day if I really focused on what I truly want and need to be doing. I'd probably have so much free time that I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Maybe I'd even have time to take up any of the 1000 hobbies that I've wanted to give a try over the years.

Read the full entry here. Here are my personal favorites from the 32 suggestions:

1. Slow down. The best way to refocus on your priorities is to slow down. Take 10 deep breathes. Walk slower through life and appreciate every moment. You’ll start to see clarity when you take time to appreciate every moment.

14. Sit in silence. Simply sit in silence for 30 minutes. Don’t worry about meditating. Sit on a comfortable pillow, or in a chair, close your eyes and let the thoughts pass through your brain. A time-out like that can change your thinking and help you refocus.

17. Throw out the plan. Plans are just guesses. Too many people spend 80% of their time planning and half of the time they never get to the actual execution. I’d like to let you in on a secret: execution is everything. The plan isn’t necessary if you don’t do anything. In most cases you can do something without a plan. Cut out the preparation and start making things happen.

31. Eliminate obligations. People tend to collect obligations like we collect junk. The problem is that sometimes we don’t take stock to see if we’re getting anything out of them. Take a moment and make a list of everything you’re obligated to do every week. Now strike out everything that you hate doing. This can free up a huge amount of time.

I'm off to refocus.

Springy Sweaters

These days pretty much every outfit I make starts with one of these, so the best way for me to feel stylish and pulled-together is to put a cute cardigan over it. I have lots of plain button-front cardigans in classic colors that have lasted me many years and many seasons, but I was itching for some bright and/or more interesting options for spring. Enter the recent 30% off sale at Old Navy. For next to nothing, I picked up these two lightweight spring sweaters and I'm so happy with both. I'd love to have each in every color available, but I'm content with just the colors I chose. The details are reminiscent of pricier sweaters offered up at J.Crew and Anthropologie, both favorites of mine, and will add a lot of oomph to my otherwise utilitarian spring wardrobe. :)

{crochet trim cardigan in flight of fancy}

{ruffle trim open front cardigan in georgia peach}

Lunch, Day 1

To kick off my "take back lunch" challenge, I decided that I wanted to try and recreate a sandwich that I know I like very much. Back in 2001-2002 I was working for a small company with its office in the Empire State Building (cool, right?). Since that's a huge tourist destination, the majority of the dining options in and around the building were fast food. So my coworkers and I (and our respective wasitlines) were thrilled when Circa deli opened in the neighborhood. We lunched there at least twice a week, grabbing one of their delicious whole-wheat crust personal pizzas, signature salads, or a quick sandwich or wrap. My absolute favorite thing to have for lunch at Circa was something called a California cheddar cheese sandwich. If I remember correctly (and remembering anything correctly these days is tough with my post-pregnancy, usually sleepy brain), it was baba ghanoush, roasted red peppers, avocado, and cheddar cheese on an onion brioche roll. So delicious.

So I decided to try and recreate this sandwich for my husband and me to enjoy for lunch today.

I have never made baba ghanoush before. In fact, the only time I've ever even eaten baba ghanoush was on this sandwich nearly ten years ago. What I could have done was skipped over to one of the many excellent middle-eastern groceries that pepper our neighborhood and picked some up, but I decided I wanted to try to make it myself. I found this recipe online and it sounded good and relatively simple. It was, and it was. I just blended everything together in the mini-prep. The raw garlic is a bit strong so I'd probably roast that with the eggplant to mellow it out a bit if I were making this as a dip.

If I were still living in NYC, it probably would have been easier to track down some onion brioche rolls. But now that I'm living in the 'burbs, shopping at large chain grocery stores, I picked up the closest I could find - Kasanof's Onion Rolls (which are soft and very tasty). The rest of the ingredients were simple - avocado, roasted red peppers, and cheddar cheese. Vermont extra sharp white is our cheddar of choice, but I definitely recall the shredded cheddar on the original sandwich to be bright orange. One of the things that drew me to the sandwich in the deli case in the first place was that it was pretty to look at.

A delicious lunch for this Friday afternoon.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Buns

For the seven years prior to living where we do now, my husband and I lived in New York City. Every year for my birthday, he would come home with four cupcakes from the Buttercup Bakeshop, which was near his office in midtown Manhattan. Two red velvet with cream cheese, two yellow with chocolate frosting. One of each for each of us. Yum.

Shortly after tasting my first treat from Buttercup, I discovered their cookbook at Barnes & Noble - The Buttercup Bakeshop Cookbook - and, of course, I had to have it. It's been my go-to cookbook for baked goodies ever since.

Admitedly, I'm not a very good baker. I think partly to blame are all of the old ovens that I've had in every home I've called my own since graduating from college (although it's my sheer laziness that's stopped me from getting an oven thermometer and adjusting my settings accordingly), but mainly it's my lack of attention to detail in the kitchen. I have a hard time using exact measurements, mixing things for the exact times called for in a recipe, and sticking to sizing guidelines for things like cookies... a recipe may say it yields three dozen and I'll end up with 15. And things I bake rarely look pretty even if they may taste good. I think I may have been the only formerly engaged woman out there who didn't add the big-ticket Kitchenaid Stand Mixer to her wedding registry, simply out of fear of never making anything worthy of its stately presence on the countertop.

I always have good luck with the recipes in this book though. One of my favorite cookie recipes of all time is the one for Peanut Butter Heath Bar Pecan cookies, which are (in spite of being ridiculously fattening)  heavenly, and each year I attempt to make Buttercup's red velvet cupcakes and cream cheese frosting for my husband's birthday. Mine never live up to the original, but it's the thought that counts, right?

It's rare that I find myself itching to bake something, but today just seemed like a good time for using the oven to make something yummy. One recipe in the cookbook I hadn't tried yet is the one for Raspberry Cream Cheese Buns, so I decided to whip up a batch and bring some of them to a morning get-together with some good girlfriends and their little ones tomorrow. The ingredient list is simple and short, the directions easy to follow. They are supposed to be baked in a 1-cup capacity muffin tin, but I only have smaller 1/2-cup capacity tins so I ended up with 24 buns instead of 12. And that means I can have two instead of one. Lucky me, since they are very good. :)

Since I'm too lazy to type out the recipe, I just asked my best friend Google to find one out there already online for me... leading me to a rave review from the blogger-baker at Bake or Break. She posted the recipe in an April 2009 entry (thanks!), which you can find here.

Coming up roses...

Thanks to a birthday gift from a friend, I am now head-over-heels for the line of rose-scented products by Korres. I've been a fan of some of their other products, namely their eye cream and quince body butter, but hadn't yet tried anything from the rose line.

I admit that in the past I've actually steered clear of rose-scented products because they always seem to be so artificial-smelling and overly perfume-y. But the rose scent Korres has come up with is exactly like sticking your nose deep into a bouquet of real roses - perfectly natural and floral without any connotations of over-scented decorative bathroom soaps.

My friend is a veteran mom and as such she is well-aware of how rejuvenating a simple shower can be when you're taking care of a new baby. The rose showergel has basically turned the stolen moments of my day in my tiny bathroom into a spa experience. Simple pleasures...

Korres Japanese Rose products available at Sephora.

Practice Makes Perfect...

Lest you think this blog is all about me, someone (finally!) managed to soothe herself to sleep by getting and (more importantly) keeping her tiny thumb in her mouth. She's been working on this for a few weeks now, and has been so determined, so this is a big accomplishment!

Taking Back Lunch

I have a problem with lunch. I always have (at least since high school), but it's been the worst since I started working from home several years ago. When I worked outside of home I had to prepare in advance what I'd brown-bag or I'd buy something from a local deli or restaurant. So at least lunch was a respected part of the day then - "lunch hour" was a time for me to eat something delicious (or at least healthy, sometimes both!) while catching up on personal email, chatting with a coworker, or soaking up some vitamin D outside.

Now "lunch hour" doesn't exist and the meal is rarely a meal at all. Sometimes I eat leftovers of what we had for dinner the previous night (usually cold). Sometimes I scavenge random things here and there to tide me over from breakfast to dinner. Sometimes I find something to put between two slices of bread, but that something is usually a basic (read: boring) tuna salad or plain old peanut butter. It's a sad state of affairs.

I know that part of the problem is that I've never really liked sandwiches all that much. Reason being, I don't really like condiments. Mustard makes me gag. Mayo simply spread on the bread? I shudder at the thought. As a child I actually told friends' parents that I was allergic to mayonnaise so I wouldn't have to suffer through its presence between my bread. I also don't like raw tomatoes, which tend to be something of a sandwich staple. My plate at a restaurant will always have sad, lonely raw tomatoes left on it if a sandwich or salad was on the menu. My sandwich preference? A fluffernutter. Preferably with Fritos smooshed in there. Every now and then I'll treat myself to one of those, but in general I do at least try to eat healthfully (and like an adult). So my attempts to make healthy sandwiches often fall flat - some turkey and cheese between (dry) toast or the above-mentioned tuna salad or peanut butter.

The other part of the problem is that I am seldom prepared come lunchtime. I put a lot of thought into what we eat for dinner in any given week and I always make sure to have my breakfast favorites on hand for the essential morning meal. But I never really remember to take lunch into consideration when making the grocery list. If there isn't anything lunch-friendly in the house, how am I supposed to give this meal the attention it deserves?

I realized today, as I chased a handful of peanuts with two slices of American cheese at the lunch hour, that something needs to drastically change here. I can't suffer through another day of listening to my stomach grumble angrily while I race to prepare dinner (which I will then wolf down in a matter of minutes). I can't waste any more time idling in front of the fridge as noon rolls around, hoping that appealing foods will magically appear in there. It's downright unfair to my body, which is trying its darnedest to nourish two human beings right now. So I'm challenging myself to make lunch a meal worth enjoying (perhaps even in a leisurely manner, maybe even outside!, like the good old days) for 30 days. This will require some research and some planning and some willingness on my part to give some new sandwiches (and maybe even condiments - gasp!) a whirl. The days probably won't be consecutive.

I have a recipe folder labeled "lunch" that needs to have the dust blown off. Stay tuned!

photo credits: top, middle, bottom

Yawn

It's a two-cup kind of morning.

Thoughts on 'Life'

My husband and I have been eagerly awaiting the start of the new BBC series, Life, which started last night on the Discovery Channel. The series was produced by the same people who did Planet Earth and it's proving so far to be just as spectacular. These series are the reason HD was invented (and the reason I'm ok with having the giant television my husband purchased years ago for our small-scale living room). We pretty much sit on the couch staring at the television, mouths agape, shaking our heads in disbelief over all of the amazing things that exist in the world.

My one gripe so far is the choice of Oprah as the narrator... I just don't think her narration is suited to the footage. It could be that I'm just too biased towards the narrating genius of David Attenborough, whose voice I first fell in love with while viewing the BBC's Blue Planet series. I guess I can understand the decision to choose a recognizable American voice to narrate the United States network release of these BBC series (Sigourney Weaver narrated Planet Earth, and was better suited to the narration than Oprah but still pale in comparison to the original), but David Attenborough just adds something extra to an already top-quality production. Thankfully we can purchase the series, just as we did with Planet Earth, with Attenborough's narration. I'm just disappointed that we have to listen to Oprah as we watch the series live every Sunday night, but the incredible footage is still worth it.

Everyone should be watching!

What's Cookin'

Now that we have a newborn's (erratic, unpredictable) schedule to take into consideration, I find that being organized is one of the best tools I have in my arsenal when it comes to dinner. I always look forward to sitting down and planning out our weekly meals and what we'll need to make them, and planning ahead increases the likelihood that we actually will. There are so many recipes out there to try that we rarely make the same thing more than once (unless it's an absolute must-have-again favorite). It will be nice to keep track of what we've made each week here, so I'll post the upcoming menu and notes on what was worth making again on Sundays.

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What we're eating this week:
Lighter Chicken Enchiladas
Smoky-Spicy Black Bean Quesadillas
Szechuan Noodles with Pork
Spicy Chicken Stew
Meatloaf Burgers + homemade sweet potato fries
Bistro Braised Chicken with Egg Noodles
Spicy Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Stew

Welcome Spring!

What better day to start something new than on the first day of spring?

I'm a 30-something, new first-time mom living in New England, and the official start of spring is a day that has been long-awaited in my household. Being cooped up with a newborn on gray, chilly, windy, sometimes very wet days has been difficult and, to say the least, uninspiring. I love to be outside, to be creative, to make things... and I have long been looking forward to sharing these loves with my daughter, Phoebe, as she grows up. I hope to use this space to keep track of and share our adventures and projects - which will very likely be small, commonplace, everyday... but still special and very worth remembering - but I'm sure there will also be a fair amount of random rambling, inspirational images and ideas, recommendations for little things I love (especially in the areas of affordable fashion and home decor), and very amateurish photography. Welcome!

The weather this past week has been wonderful - the perfect way to usher in the new season. For the past few days I've treated Phee to some time outside on a soft blanket in our backyard, but today my husband and I took her on an adventure in the stroller to a small park in our neighborhood. Sitting on the grass as a family, watching Phee smiling in the sun, I realized that I'm happier now than I ever have been in my life. I think this photo captures that feeling pretty darn well.