the weekend: mushrooms and winemaking

The wine is coming along. And we are having so much fun. And with a little luck I think it just might taste alright too.

***

A new addition to the house. Deer skull and antlers against a lovely piece of otter fur, hand tanned by my man.

***

A day of driving, walking in the woods and a little rain brought us to this lovely sight. A bowl full of clean chanterelles. And let me just say, there was more then one bowlful.

That bowl full led to this full refrigerator, which led to some very yummy meals.

Hope everyone has been enjoying their fall weekends!

a lovely weekend

this weekend was pretty great, in part because it included:

My first fly fishing lesson (in the backyard, but still super fun), homemade pound cake, an amazing homemade meal of steak, asparagus and mushrooms (half the fun of which is the act of cooking together), 2 bottles of wine (shared), dancing in the kitchen, sleeping in, a warm fire on a drizzly day, just a touch of solitude, journaling, 2 baths, plans for making myself a fantastic tooled leather belt (in a grassy pattern), and pizza for fathers day.

What made up your weekend chickadees?

say happy mothers day with flourless chocolate torte

I don't know about you, but my mother is a chocolate lover. So as one of her Mothers Day treats I made a flourless chocolate torte for us all to share. If you like your chocolate dark and rich, you will LOVE it.

You will need:

12 ounces dark chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon dark rum

1/4 cup strong brewed coffee

5 large eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup heavy cream

whipped creme

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Coat the inside of a 10 inch pan with butter. Wrap the outside of the pan with a double thick layer of aluminum foil. Also chill a large mixing bowl.

Place the chocolate, vanilla, rum, and coffee in the top of a double boiler. Whisk over simmering water until the chocolate is smooth and has no lumps. Turn off the heat and remove from the hot water. Transfer chocolate to a larger mixing bowl and let cool.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the eggs and sugar. Beat until the eggs look pale. Add 1/4 of the chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated. Pour the egg mixture into the remaining chocolate. Stir until combined.

In the chilled mixing bowl whip the creme until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped creme into the chocolate mixture. Instead of creme here I used plain soy milk, and it worked a-ok.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Cover the top with foil. Place the pan into a roasting pan. Pour enough hot (boiling if possible) water into the roasting pan so that it comes halfway up the outside of the cake pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until small cracks appear on the surface.
I ended up baking mine for more like 50 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Add berries or whipped cream or whatever you like.

The rest of this mothers day weekend included a peace lily, chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and real maple syrup, bacon, lots of rain, flowers, an amazing 5 course Moroccan meal, sitting around a fire pit in my friends back yard, 3 loads of laundry and a pine wood derby.

Hope all you mothers out there had a wonderful, love filled day.

bread and blue skies

The blue skies were yesterday.

Today we got some good ol' Oregon rain.

baking bread and balance

The other day my sister and I decided to bake a little bread.

We used this recipe and just went for it.
And let me tell you it is GOOD.

It had been years since I had made bread so I was a little rusty, but as soon as I got that dough in my hands it all came back to me.

They are a little misshapen maybe,

but that doesn't make them taste any less amazing. :)

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Very few things make me feel as pioneer woman like as kneading dough.

Good times.

In other news,

there is snow on the ground.

I'm drinking a mocha and using coffee shop internet.

I've been painting rocks

and watching the first season of Bones.

I'm 50 pages from the end of Outlander.

The skies are blue and the mountains are covered in white.

I have a job interview (for a job in Utah) tomorrow.

I didn't bring anything fancy so this afternoon I need to find something to wear for said interview.

I miss my cat.

Things don't always work out how I want them to and I have been letting go a bit, of expectations (and hopes maybe) and I suppose my attempt at control. Letting go of that does make it easier to be content with life as it is. But it also drives out motivation. And I worry about letting expectations get to low. Balance always seems to be the right answer. I guess I'm working on it.

seeing past the rain splattered window

1. Looking through a rain spotted window.

2. Searching for the perfect yoga studio.

3. I made three medium albums that will dry overnight

and then be ready to ship off tomorrow.

4. I am researching new cameras.

I adore photography and have only had a little point and shoot for too long.

So I just might get one.

Merry Christmas to me. :)

5. A trip to the post office where happily the line wasn't TOO long.

6. I will soon have dinner with some friends at a rib place

that is apparently owned by Snoop Dog's uncle.

The food sounds quite promising.

7. I was also lucky enough to be the winner of this lovely calendar HERE.

Thanks Cathy!

the weekend

This weekend was just the right

balance between eventful

and quiet.

It included painting,

the city,
driving with the windows down,
blue skies,

good reminders found in unlikely places,

brunch and dinners

and good conversations,

driving under and over bridges,

baking,

spontaneous visits,

some necessary alone time,

new friends,

a feeling of potential

and possibility,

and

friendly people.

a feast for the senses

home made raspberry jam.

yummo.

it doesn't get much better.

an especially big thanks to HER for creating this splendid summer treat

and to HER for organizing the SWAP.

You girlies are the greatest.

***

And one of my favorite scents of all time.

Lavender.

This particular bunch was a gift from a man on the street at an art fair

in a few days ago in North East Portland.

Sometimes

its nice to be reminded

what a wonderful world

we live in.

:)

it arrived!

now i need to make lots and lots of books...

dinner. mmm.

Vegetables can be so pretty.

I just want to mention that whenever I feel I am at the end of some sort of line or rope or what have you, if I stop and breath and write out whatever unpleasant feeling is welling up in me its like the feeling flows through my hand and my pen and onto the page and then I can just let it go. Its almost as if because I know it is recorded somewhere it is no longer precious to me. It no longer needs to be saved and kept close. I think often I am under the misguided impression that what I feel is somehow overly important. Its not. Especially the painful stuff. Better to just let it all go and be forgotten. The writing it down helps me with that part.

today cant be too bad a day because I am going to buy some silver.

"Most of all, he did not want to be defeated as most people in the world were, that is, simply by not really living, eaten by the termites of a half life semi-lived." ~John Knowles

I want to really live.

It looks like this is going to be a kind of purple summer…

But that is just fine because I really like purple. :)

so you know those times when you meet someone and you immediately feel drawn to them? Well I am the type to follow those types of feelings and I would just like to say that I love when that happens. When you meet a new friend and feel like you have known then for some vast amount of time and you also feel that they have an uncanny understanding of you.

I really like that and am thankful for the times it has happened to me.

Also here is my yummy dinner.
Zucchini, chicken, a turkey burger and salad.
mmmm

and...

the death of a soccer ball

Margo got it. :)

(This one lasted almost 6 months, so its not bad!)

Saturday mornings are great

We are leaving town again this weekend.

It will be a day and a half full of :
Driving through West Virginia,
late nights with friends in a very fancy hotel we got very cheap on priceline,
good barbeque,
a place called Hill Billy Hot Dogs that we saw on the food network

and are going 45 minutes out of our way to find,

and good times.

I think there may also be a casino involved.

Yesterdays bit of self care was a relaxing dinner with some friends at a favorite restaurant and then going to bed early instead of getting sucked in by the pressure of everyone else’s plans for the evening.

Now I am off to pack, get the animals and house ready to go and make a quick trip to the post office to ship some beautiful albums and a ring to some beautiful people.

Have I mentioned I love etsy?