just things.

there has been a lot of baking and cooking around here lately ... a recurring theme around here, for sure! as i write, there are raspberry-oat bars baking in the oven. i am learning a lot from this workshop and hoping to get started on finally organizing all things kitchen according to some of the helpful tips and ideas i've been given.

in other news ...i am changing my work schedule so as to work mainly "mids" (no super early or super late shifts)

i have a "dream job" interview on thursday (VERMONT.....). dreaming of my own school, should it be a co-op? also pondering getting waldorf trained.

john's dad died saturday. the funeral is next saturday. it wasn't unexpected, but it wasn't easy, either. also, two of his friends' wives just had babies. i want to knit something for each of them. not sure if any baby surprise jackets will come off the needles, but hats? for sure.

discovered a lovely tiny coffeeshop today in south jersey that offers a lot of vegan items. my coconut-avocado-chocolate muffin was unusual and delicious.

i finished the hunger games trilogy (looking forward to the first movie) and i'm waiting for the new season of Mad Men to start up, and I'm reading The Godfather (John's request so I can watch the movie with him and we can have an Italian dinner night .. hee).

bought a tiny pot with primroses and trying to keep fresh flowers around the house. still freezing outside. ....

hoping to buy a train pass and yoga membership by month's end.

trying to keep things simple but cozy while working toward our forever goals.

what have you been up to lately?

making it work ...

Heather's workshop has me inspired to finally create a more organized recipe system. An old-fashioned way of keeping track of family favorites and to-try recipes. Not sure how I'll do this yet. Still at the idea stage, I guess.

I'm still cooking up more veg lately. Kale has figured prominently in just about everything. Lots of morning green smoothies (as I sit typing eating soy vanilla ice cream out of the carton, oy). Today I made honey-miso tofu steaks and friday will roast root and tender veggies in maple syrup and soy sauce. Tomorrow, homemade white pizza with fresh mozzarella, potatoes, onion, garlic (john's request).

Sadly, the knitting needles are still mostly silent. I really also should write some real letters to friends. It's funny what being madly in love does to your brain. Not complaining! Oh, we've had our growing pains. Arguments, large and small. Wonderful to get past that with the absolute right person for you though. We learn as we go. For instance, I stay up super late and he gets up super early. Sometime in the middle, we sleep together. There were bigger things not so easy, learning to let go, accept, love unconditionally, leashing up the pesky ego. We jumped into this, so in some ways we are working in reverse of many couples. It's ok. We have no regrets, only an immense love for each other that grows by the day. Like grass in summer. :-)

There is a lot going on behind the scenes of this blog and all the foodie stuff I mostly talk about. Job searching, soul searching. Deciding big things together. Family heaviness. In short, real life. We are not really sure yet where we'll be even half a year from now. Vermont is talked about a lot, to my delight. There is even an interview for a job there. Nothing is certain. Backing up the uncertainty and fear and self-doubt is an absolute knowledge that keeping a loving, peaceful, complete home wherever home is for the moment will be the foundation upon which we build everything else to come. Or even just a safe haven to release the tensions of the moment. Hence, my nesty need to organize a homemaker's binder.

Oh, yes, there's more time being spent on the yoga mat, as well. And plans are being made for fun things, a day in the city, draft Yuengling beer, movies to be seen (sewing machine to be cracked, banjo to be played??).

I think maybe I need to start a wedding idea compilation too, binder form??

be well out there. be well toward yourself. be well toward your loved ones. they will return it, thousandfold.

xo,

karen

I started today with a green smoothie, courtesy of Heather's whole foods workshop. I'm loving being immersed in crafting meals with simple ingredients that taste amazing and, of course, are seriously upping my plant intake! Thanks so much to Heather and her guest contributors for a wealth of new opportunities in the kitchen! Fiance is helping me plan what we eat, too ... which is great, to convert over to a new way of eating is so wonderful for him.

I made a big jar of popcorn to take to work today ... try it with coconut oil (stove-popped). MMMM. serious MMM. fiance is addicted. i am addicted. This, too, is inspired by the workshop.

We will round out the week with cauliflower-curry stew, curried vegetable chowder, and maple/tamari roasted rainbow veggies over quinoa with honey miso tofu. Last night, we made Isa's vegan tacos again with a garlic-lemon-yogurt dip that I plugged into a lavash wrap for my lunch tonight at work.

Finally, we are definitely enjoying leftover cranberry-apple crumble (me with soy ice cream, which omnivore fiance does not like consistency of).

Here is the sauteed chard with pineapple and caramelized onions over red quinoa. not the best lighting but you get the gist. the gist is that this was FABULOUS!

Life is all about food lately. I'm not complaining though! Off to try some home-brewed ginger pear iced tea :-)

We also took a day trip to Amish country and another one to Cape May.

Must find time for knitting ......;-)

love and light,

karen

p.s. here's some cat love you might enjoy!

hello from new jersey

sorry for the long absence ... i've been busy moving halfway across the country. but now i've got a new kitchen set up, a new health food store to shop at, and things are generally looking pretty good now that I can cook and bake again! (I also found a great-looking yoga studio within walking distance...gonna try that out for the first time tonight)

I finally signed up for Heather's three-month long whole foods workshop. I figure it'll help ground me even further as I settle in to living in New Jersey. I bought hemp seeds and coconut oil today from the health food store. John and I just finished a labor-intensive but yummy brunch of herb roasted potatoes and onions, eggs with scallions, cinnamon raisin toast with butter, and veggie sausage patties. Tonight, I'll make vegan black bean, zucchini, and kalamata olive tacos from Isa's new Appetite for Reduction cookbook. From the workshop, I'm planning some fruit/green smoothies and greens with pineapple and pumpkin seeds over quinoa. I recently made veggie sausage lasagna and sunflower seed butter muffins. I'm feeling very inspired and just happy to be back in my element, overall. John's not complaining, either ;-)

One of my goals is similar to Heather's "think simple" plan for us ... increase the plant intake in my diet. Even we vegetarians lose that sometimes ... eating protein like tofu and bean dishes, and comfort food like eggs and cheese and tortilla chips with hummus a bit too much to the detriment of uber-healthy greens and other colorful veggies.

Last night, I made homemade iced tea for the first time. Just boiled a big pot of water, and threw in 8 teabags of organic mango ceylon (decaf). Let it sit for a while, added 1/2 cup raw blue agave from Trader Joe's, let it cool, transferred it to a plastic container, and chilled it overnight. It's fabulous! I will definitely be doing that again.

I hope you enjoy the photos. Have a blessed and simple week. Hoping to get to some knitting or sewing over the weekend. Lots of unfinished knitting in my basket from what's turned out to be a very busy winter!

from new jersey ....

stay tuned ... update coming tomorrow!

see beauty

i'm ready for this. ready to bursting.

change is inevitable.

a photo a day ...

times are busy and full around here as i dismantle things and prepare for john's three-day visit and then moving day, so maybe posts around here will be short ....

rising above the mess, i thought about future times, both dreamy and practical. there was sunshine in those places.

I'm adding to the list of new year's intentions:

Cook a recipe once a week. Chances are I'll do it way more than that once I settle in to a teaching job in the Philly area, but this one is so important to me so I'd like to make it achievable. I miss being in the kitchen more than I am now, and being purposeful yet meditative, and producing a healthy, delicious result -- and now I can do that for two! I'm so excited to cook for my love!

 Tomorrow I actually begin the physical process of packing, having already sold off a few items of furniture. I will also reserve the U-Haul this week.

To prepare myself mentally, I've treated myself to a few vintage mixing bowls ... and a cup of hot ginger-pear tea from Trader Joe's. I will post pics of the bowls tomorrow or this week sometime when the light is better (it's getting dark out now).

This is an incredibly busy time upstairs in my mind and heart. I'm hoping to figure a more regular yoga practice and daily meditation/reading into that mix to keep things (like emotions) more balanced.

Hope your week, too, is blessed with love and light.

k. 

new year, new intentions.

There's a lot of new around here, actually ....

entry steps, philadelphia art museum

 Has it really been over a MONTH since I last blogged? I guess life just has not been standing still as in years past. It's a very transitional year, in so many ways ... I said a couple of necessary good-byes, worked my first (and, turns out, last in KY) Montessori lead teacher job, went to school for my master's, obtained my master's, and met and started dating the man of my dreams!

Now ... I'm leaving Kentucky in a month. The man ... has said ... he wants to marry me! Oh, yes. I mean, we have some livin' it up to do first, but ... when you know, you know. And we both know. I'm so happy to be moving closer to him. Oh, more about him in another post ... Oh, and in case you weren't clear, he asked me. And I said YES!!! It's unofficial, of course ... I need a ring (heeeee!!) and a father's permission. But it was the sweetest, most natural, most loving, proposal ever and you know it's real when he's asking you 'cause he just can't keep it in .....

 I spent Christmas and New Year's traveling to see my boyfriend, my parents, my grandparents, and my very best friends. I saw where I'll be working in Philly. I did some knitting, not a lot, and more reading.

flowers, redding terminal market, philadelphia

 Actually, I came here to jot down, per custom, some of my new year's intentions. I try to keep it simple. so .....

write a letter or send a package once a month (i didn't do this last year and REALLY want to try this).

join the postcard project (google it ... very cool idea!).

go back to portland to visit my best friend

learn to sew (grr this one keeps getting carried over year to year!!)

faithfully save 10 percent of each paycheck

do yoga regularly

i'll add to that, maybe, but ... that's enough, for me. I'm likely to be starting a new job at some point this year (teaching, please!!) and settling in to a new part of the country, and finding a new place to nest, and making new friends, and making his friends, and figuring out where the yoga/knitting/hiking is, and riding the train two little hours to NYC (hee), and well ... that all just tends to keep one very busy indeed.

did i mention he also dreams of living in the vermont mountains one day ... ?? ah, yes, a keeper for sure ...

happy new year to you all. love and light. be easy on yourself. my big mantra for the year: go easy. have fun. live it up!!

xo xo xo,

k.

p.s. i'm getting MARRIED!!!!!!!