Boo hoo

I am incapable of doing well by you right now, my fellow crafties, so I present another flickr favorites mosaic instead:

What has happened is that the Herculean effort involved in sewing together the whole hexagon afghan in one afternoon has borked my already bork-prone right wrist, and the little bit of crocheting I did last weekend sent me over the edge. Have I said that my job is to sit at a computer and click a mouse all day? That’s why these things are so sensitive, with me. Anyway. Monday I could barely type and Wednesday I tried to knit and failed, so there is no crocheting, no knitting, and nothing involving rotary cutting to show you. Sorry.

There has been quite a lot of cooking, but unfortunately, mostly recipes I’ve already shared with you. I am reading Julie/Julia, both the book and the original blog, and watching episodes of The Supersizers while reading Austerity Britain when Julie gets to be, you know, too heavy. Or when she makes me want to try a cream sauce.

One thing I get from Julie is a sense of profound thankfulness that, several years ago when I was offered an OMGglamorous!!! job in New York City by a company that is now under investigation by the department of labor for failing to pay its employees, I said, no big cities for me thanks. Light traffic and affordable real estate are must-haves.

1. coin quilt pillow cover, 2. Peter Rabbit and crochet blanket by mammy, 3. Grannying, 4. tapestry wool, 5. Skirty 1 Detail, 6. Summerhouse Pillows, 7. Bright Pattern Cookies, 8. happy pretty lunch bento for TinySprite, 9. Untitled, 10. fabric stash., 11. starting a new plantation doll, 12. Apple Blossoms _3, 13. back.row.swing, 14. Birdie Kit, 15. Flower Brooches (Bloemenbroches), 16. trying out something new, 17. yum yum!, 18. sigh!, 19. mitred corners, 20. Tree of Life embroidery, 21. Wee Play Quilt, 22. Patchwork Pencil Case, 23. Holiday Coasters – mosaic, 24. fussy cuts!!!!, 25. Pincushions / Nadelkissen, 26. Fabric Easter Eggs, 27. my evergleam tree, with shiny brite ornaments, and no lights, 28. Shiny Brite ornaments on White Christmas Tree, 29. Vintage Deer & Ornaments, 30. Cupcakes for Fionas Grandma, 31. Children’s Lit / Quilt #4, 32. Star Cookies, 33. Strawberry Cupcake, 34. Block Party, 35. IMG_2650, 36. Red Triangle Quilt

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

The Viking has landed

A couple of weeks ago, I packed up my mother’s old sewing machine and sent it to a better home than I had given it for a long time.

My mother bought this machine while she and my dad lived in married student housing. She sewed quilts and curtains and lots and lots of clothes on it. The only picture I’ve ever seen of her pregnant with me, is of her sitting at this machine. I burned my finger on its lightbulb when I was three. I covered it in Paddington and Rainbow Brite stickers. She taught me how to sew on it when I was about nine. There are dings in it where I hit with the scissors, when it jammed and I got angry. This was my mother’s sewing machine for THIRTY YEARS.

Then, a few years ago, she got a better one and asked me if I wanted it, and in the interest of keeping keepsakes, I said yes. I sewed on it a little, but not much, and soon decided that it should find someone who would love it more. So when I read about the untimely demise of BettyCrockerAss’s 1972 Viking Husqvarna, I knew I had my mark. And she took it. And she’ll love it.

Just as good to have the memories as to have the thing, and all that. I’m glad I have this old photograph of it, though. Farewell, fond Husqvarna. You served your first master well.

Turkey kefta and Greek tabbouleh

Today, two recipes for you, because I have them both ready and because you haven’t seen either before.

First, the turkey kefta. These were a pleasant surprise… I usually make them either with ground beef or, when the culinary gods are smiling, ground lamb. I used ground turkey this time because it was all I had at home. I had expected them to be dry and for the taste of turkey to overwhelm everything else, but I was pleasantly surprised.

So.

TURKEY KEFTA
One onion, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 T of yogurt seasoning -or- 1 T dried mint
3 T dried parsley
1 t chili powder
1 t salt
1/2 cup bread crumbs -or- rolled oats
1 T canola oil
1 pound ground turkey

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl (use your hands!), then pour in about three tablespoons of hot water and mix again. Let this mixture sit for about half an hour. You are allowing the bread crumbs/oats to absorb the water, which will keep the kefta moist.

When ready to cook them, heat your largest skillet over high and put in a tablespoon of oil. Form into golf-ball-sized patties, and flatten them in the pan. Cook till slightly charred on both sides. Makes 12-16 patties. And oh my GOODNESS were they good. Next time you hit a specialty grocery, have a look-see for some “yogurt seasoning”. The bottle I have contains mint, parsley, rosebuds, and who knows what else. It really makes this dish special.

GREEK TABBOULEH
1 cup bulgur wheat
1 large purple eggplant
1 tomato -or- one pint grape tomatoes
1 cup parsley, chopped
1 T dried oregano
1 handful mint leaves, chopped
1 container of feta crumbles, I use the one with Greek herbs, nonfat
2 T olive oil
salt to taste

Dice the eggplant into one-centimeter cubes. Spread on a baking sheet, spray with olive oil, salt, and roast at 400 for about 45 minutes. As soon as you have the eggplant in the oven, pour 1.75 cups boiling water over the bulgur wheat, cover, and let sit.

When the eggplant is done, take it out of the pan and leave it to cool while you toss all the other ingredients with the bulgur wheat (get your herb chopping done now), then add eggplant. Toss. Delicious warm or cold, the feta makes this tabbouleh seem sinfully rich and filling. It’s a meal in itself, really.

Hanging around the sewing room

While I potter in my sewing room, Pudding always hangs around. She sniffs into the interesting corners, climbs on the interesting piles, and if I pay attention to her, instantly flops over and gives up the fluffy kitty belly. Given her behavior with the rainbow hexagon afghan, I think it’s fair to say that color makes her happy.

A pile of Farmer’s Market by Sandi Henderson. I am making a bunch of Spool Birds out of it, but there’s still lots left over. I’m thinking about making tiny nine-patches. Hmmmm.

My sampler of Good Folks by Anna Maria Horner is being made into a string quilt. I am working on groups of four blocks at a time… so far I have eight, I’m sure I can get twelve, maybe even sixteen? I am using muslin foundation piecing, by the way, not paper. There is that option.

Verily, the yarn multiplyeth. Between having lost my zest for knitting and having such ridiculous quantities of yarn, I’ve even lost my enthusiasm for buying or even looking at more. Really. I never thought I’d get to this point.

Fabric, though, is a different matter. That I have plenty of desire for. Here is some Picnic Parade,

And here is some Dance With Me. Yum… yum… yum.

Somebody looooooves daddy

Can you guess who?

Knitting again

I was a hard-core knitter just when it was fashionable to be so, starting around 2004 and tapering off around 2007. I suppose, to be truthful, that I can’t tell if the knitting fad has truly died in favor of patchwork and quilting and crocheting, or if I just began to like those crafts better. Anyway, I hadn’t knitted a thing since I finished Sparks’ socks last Fall.

It feels sort of nice to knit. It certainly feels nice to be using fingering-weight merino instead of worsted-weight acrylic. It’s fun to be using variegated yarn (by the way, I have NO IDEA what that yarn is. It’s tightly twisted merino, thicker than Lorna’s Laces but thinner than Socks That Rock. Does anyone have any ideas?). It is not fun to drop stitches and mis-count and have to pick back through all those increases and decreases. It’s certainly a lot less fun to cast on 72 stitches than it is to chain 72 stitches.

But I’m doing it, to satisfy my little autumn-dreaming. Maybe I’ll even have this scarf done by the time it’s cold enough to wear it.

Trying to be wise

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Right around now, every year, I start to think–just a little in the back of my mind–that the autumn is going to be nice. Right around now I start to think about my sweaters, my boots, my lush winter purse and coat… about roasted root vegetables and colored leaves… about flannel pajamas and hand-knit socks and how delightful it is to come in from the cold.

Always right about now. Just when the garden is starting to produce tomatoes, when the summer flowers are blooming, when berries and stone fruits are in season, and when it’s finally hot enough (well, most years) to swim. Perhaps, though, I am getting to be sufficiently wise that these thoughts only help to appreciate the seasons more when they actually come.

Perhaps.

The garden, July 21 2009

This weekend I pottered about in the garden taking photographs. The hollyhocks are still nominally blooming, which is incredible. The morning glories are mostly a bust, I think because I added fertilizer to the already-fertilized potting soil they were growing in. Web forums tell me that they may recover from it and begin to bloom later in the summer. Oh, well.

There are lots of green Sweet Tangerine tomatoes, which is great. This variety has an excellent flavor, medium size, and ripens quickly.

At least two of the volunteer plants are going to be yellow grape tomatoes, which is also lovely.

Every now and then, oh so rarely, I get a morning glory.

The shasta daisies are almost as tall as I am, and blooming profusely. I think I will dig these up and take them to the new house, when the time comes.

After a slow start, the persian carpet has gotten going.

And joy of joys, the lilies that I just planted this summer are blooming!

To my surprise, so are some of the Canterbury Bells, which also bloomed last year and are supposed to be biennial… hmmm…

The portulaca is doing well in some places, not so well in others.

The dwarf snapdragons are doing well, in their own way… I do wish that, one of these years, I could find regular snapdragons instead of just this tiny kind. Oh well.

The petunias are going bonkers, of course. I understand now why my mother puts petunias in her planters every summer.

There are plenty of hot peppers, and oh my are they HOT. Like last year’s jalapenos, they are barely usable. Ouch.

And this year’s surprise, sprung from one of the many seed packets I flung around in the spring, is a single, green zinnia. Why hello, Mr. Zinnia.

The hexagon afghan, finished

Yesterday afternoon I sat down on the living room floor and crocheted together all 32 rainbow hexagons. It took four hours, and my right arm aches today, but at least all the pieces are attached!

The afghan is a good size, the right size to cover the foot of a queen-size bed, or to be a double lap blanket. It would even be big enough for the top of a twin bed, I think, though it wouldn’t hang over the sides by much. It is heavy and warm and colorful. Really, this is the afghan I’ve always wanted to make. I love rainbows. Always have.

I have been thinking about writing up instructions for this and selling them. It’s a nice project for a person who is only just beginning crochet, I think–it’s all chains and double-crochets–but it produces a pretty spectacular result, and is more interesting than granny squares. What do you think? Would you pay $5 for instructions for the block and suggestions for what colors to use and how to cycle them?

Ahhh, I do like this afghan. And now I get to move on with the next one, which will be just as much fun. As soon as my right arm heals up.

My favorite Flickr feeds

One of the most important aspects of a blog, for me, is that it have yummy, beautiful, edible, plummy, gorgeous photography. Good pictures are worth more than a thousand words… and come on, I’d like all of you hard-core blog readers to admit that you are subscribed to at least one blog written in a language you can’t read, just because you enjoy the photographs so much. Come on. Admit it.

Strawberries

In honor of great blog photography, I’d like to share with you my ten favorite flickr feeds. Not all of them are attached to blogs, and the ones that are are easy enough to find, and… come on, the pictures are the meat of most blogs anyway, right? So without further ado, the ten Flickr feeds that make me happiest are:

Thorsten (TK)
Food photography the way I like it best–beautifully lit, not overstudied–or overstudied so brilliantly that it seems it isn’t–with bright, fresh colors in the background and lots and lots of delicious, plummy foods. Mostly not desserts, amazingly.

Cupcake Land by ShamsD
Unfortunately, Shams has opted out of FD’s Flickr Toys, so her pictures that I Favorite don’t end up in my Favorites mosaics–in fact, she counts for a hefty proportion of those empty white squares. She has a great formula for making and photographing beautiful cupcakes, and it gets me every time. Total eye candy.

*Heather Bailey*
C’mon, what’s not to love about Heather? Her fabric is fantastic, her stationery line is fantastic, her patterns are fantastic, and her photostream is beyond fantastic. I wish she posted a hundred pictures a day, I’m so hungry for those electric, edible colors.

sarah london textiles
Sarah’s use of color in crochet is a direct inspiration for the afghan I’m working on right now, the next six (!) afghans I have planned, and the color-philosophy of most of the quilts I have planned. The woman is just a plain genius, and I’m always hungry for more.

SandiHenderson
Another quilt fabric designer who takes luscious, edible photographs. I want to eat every single piece of fabric in those Farmer’s Market pics… *happy sigh*

Alicia Paulson
C’mon, who doesn’t love Posie Gets Cozy? I only wish that Alicia would upload all of her blog pictures to Flickr, so I could favorite bunches and bunches of them. Alicia is on-trend but with a special sauce that is all her own. I want to stay at her house. And that’s a significant statement, coming from me.

Bitter-Sweet-
Another great food photographer and another great blog. Hannah won my heart with her amigurumi and their adventures, but the food is so good that I’m still eagerly reading her blog long after it has become food-only. Her photography is lovely and her prose is just as good. It’s easy to forget that the food is all vegan. Yum.

Moline
Moline is a moving-life photographer. Most of her shots are taken inside her beautifully decorated house. They have the serenity of a Vermeer painting… they’re a nice antidote to all of the bright colors I usually like.

bossacafez
Another great food photographer, traveling as well as in-studio. Also a baker with a special interest in macarons, be still my beating heart!

Attic24
Cheerful and goofy, I challenge you to not be inspired by this crazy crochet-er and picker-of-flowers. Her blog is written in a gushing prose style that gives Americans the comfortable feeling that even they have a daffy British friend. This is my second major crochet inspiration. Check her out.

All about the afghan

I have begun to crochet the hexagons of my latest afghan together. Somebody is really, really excited about it.

Hark! Is that a kitty chrysalis I see?

Tuesday dinner

All right everybody, here’s a post worth reading: Tuesday night dinner (that was tonight!)

Here is the firecracker squid, marinating. I made this with shrimp last night, and I have to say, the shrimp is better. The rough surface allows it to hold more sauce. But the squid was perfectly tasty. This dish was inspired by The Pioneer Woman Cooks‘ firecracker shrimp. Her marinade included olive oil, garlic, salt, Sriracha hot chili sauce, and sugar. Mine is the same, with sweet chili sauce substituted for the sugar (I mean, hey, doesn’t that make sense?) For the hottest option I can tolerate, use equal proportions of the two sauces. Unless you’re used to handling chili sauce, though, I’d start with a 3:1 ratio of sweet:hot.

This morning, my mother tipped me off to Tyler Florence’s zucchini carpaccio. Yum! I kept his recommendations for sliced zucchini, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, and leeks. I went off on my own with the herbs (dried dill and fresh parsley) and the choice of cheese (chevre crumbles–remember the Goat Cheese Mind Trick). This dish was absolutely delicious, DO try it.

This IS the side dish you are looking for.

When Sparks got home, I made him a gin and tonic while he got himself settled, then sauteed the squid and pulled yesterday’s batch of Ina Garten’s wheat berry salad out of the fridge.

Dinner was served. I’m pretty proud of myself.

Office ennui

*sigh*
*tragic sigh*
*tragicaler sigh*

There is nothing particular for me to blog, even though there actually is, because I don’t have photos to illustrate things for you. I am plotting a string quilt, and a cathedral window quilt, and a marble champ quilt. I am plotting a sunburst granny afghan. I am making tiny strawberries out of the scraps of Allspice Tapestry I unearthed from my sewing table yesterday. Last night at dinner I made a modified version of Firecracker Shrimp that was *so* good, I’m making it again tonight with squid, and zucchini “carpaccio” on the side. Pudding is adorable. The garden is blooming. Tomatoes are ripening. Peppers are reddening.

For the moment though I’m stuck in my office, staring at the big green wall, and grumbling every time one of my non-office-working Facebook or Twitter buddies posts about the sock she just finished knitting or the banana bread she just baked or how she’s sitting at her pool watching her kids. Begone, leisured ladies! It’s rough enough here without you!

I’m even too grumpy to acknowledge that I oughta be glad I have a job that allows a little blogging on the sidelines. Way too grumpy. Don’t even mention it.

1. Cupcakes for a wedding!, 2. Honey Cookie, 3. simple valentine cookies, 4. autumn, 5. tomatoes2, 6. Carrot Cake, 7. Strawberry Puree and Individually Frozen Strawberries, 8. embroidery 610, 9. Twinkle laid out, 10. macarons, 11. ‘OVER THE RAINBOW’ FELT BROOCH, 12. New Fabrics!, 13. YIP 365.84 :: Nate Pillow in Oranges and Greens, 14. Orange Cheesecake Pie, 15. Creamy Lime Squares, 16. Macaron Box, 17. Strawberry Macarons, 18. Stacked, 19. Nearly 4kg of cotton yarn, 20. studio closet, 21. katie jump rope, 22. please turn around…please, 23. Sugar Hearts, 24. Hold me, 25. Knitting Bag for Mum, 26. Zingy Raspberry, 27. Granny A Day blanket, 28. CANDY, 29. teacup, 30. cupcakes, 31. china, 32. soft pink roses, 33. front porch 2, 34. Multicolor Cuts, 35. 071 – Spring colours, 36. 073 – Finished sunburst afghan

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

Chili-lime tilapia

One night last week, I made another batch of chickpea salad, this time with half black beans instead of chickpeas. Then I sprinkled chipotle chili powder and lime zest over some tilapia filets, broiled them, then drizzled them with Newman’s Own light lime vinaigrette and a handful of chopped cilantro. All of this I piled on a plate and gave to Sparks for his dinner.

He has begun to take part in the blogging process, and suggested that I really did want a picture of the food, because who knows when a slow blog day might come along. Then he suggested that we carry the plate outside, where the light is best.

And so we did, and so I did, and here it is. This is my current favorite way to make white fish into something I can get excited about eating. Should you make this and should there be any leftovers, you should eat the fish in 6″ corn tortillas (same as for pork tacos) with guacamole and pico de gallo. Yum.

Neptune double-hourglass quilt top

Oh yeah!

I am SO glad that I have some hours to myself, this weekend. It hadn’t happened in a while, so I’ve been putting them to good use. Specifically, I finally finished the double hourglass quilt, made from a Neptune by Tula Pink jelly roll.

I just love this collection, and I just love the double hourglass block. And I just love sashing! It’s so fresh and modern and and and… I love it. I have lots of Neptune fat quarters sitting around, and can’t hardly wait to find out what I’ll do with them next.

Meeeoowwwwww. Make a quilt for ME!

Sentimental media

Post-wedding, I have been scrambling around trying to re-arrange the paperwork of my life. I changed my name, so I had to change my social security card, driver’s license, car registration, car title, bank accounts (all eight of them!!!), car insurance, house insurance, medical insurance, life insurance, tax information from work, login at work, email address (seriously, I’d had the old one for eleven years, and like, who does that?), passport, and PADI certification card. I’m sure more will come up–like all of the utilities that use my eight bank accounts to get themselves paid every month–but for now I’m done.

This morning, Sparks and I opened a joint checking account. Boy howdy was that odd for me, who have never shared my banking with anyone, not in the twenty years since I opened my very first savings account. And then we got new checks and debit/ATM cards to go with the new joint account. And I get to have my paycheck auto-deposit changed.

We made reservations for our September “honeymoon” two months ago, but the airline changed our itinerary twice and after the second change, we were going to be stranded in the Detroit airport for ten hours, prior to a transatlantic flight with another connection to make at the other end. All of the flight reservations had to be cancelled and new ones made, which made me almost sick with apprehension. Fortunately, Sparks did most of the work on that one.

Post-wedding, there are all of the thank-you cards to write. Sparks has the usual handwriting of a male enginerd and no inclination for composition, so that task has devolved entirely on me–which I don’t mind. I did so like to write letters, when I was a child, and a teenager, and a college student. Somehow, though, the insidious convenience of email won me over, and though I have all those boxes of Crane stationery in my desk, the only time I write things out by hand anymore is at Christmas–and for the wedding.

It was a revelation for me that I needed to put all of his people into my address book. They’re my people now, too. And they always will be. So I need their addresses and should put them in my book. I felt, somehow, very grown up and very like my mother while I was doing it. I found myself twiddling the two rings on my left hand an awful lot.

All of this Very Serious Business had to stop somewhere, and as it turned out, it stopped at Wal-Mart last night.

25 cents. 24 crayons for 25 cents. Had to buy a box. My friends and I colored in high school, mostly as a giggly ironic thing, but even high school was more than a decade ago and I hadn’t had any crayons since. Oh my, let me tell you–crayons are joy in a box. So colorful. So sharp. Such neat rows, such a crispy un-rumpled box. Joy, joy, joy.

My first step in dealing with a new box of crayons, whether eight-count or sixty-four count, was always to put them in spectrum order, so that’s what I did. *happy sigh* There, that’s much much better.

And then I colored. And it was good.

Just not in my address book.

Summer risotto

I associate risotto with summer, even though it is the kind of hot, cooked, starchy, stodgy dish that flies best in winter. Maybe it’s because of its similarity to risi e bisi, the Venetian springtime favorite… maybe because it’s so good with peppers or zucchini or other summer garden vegetables… and certainly in part because last summer when I first met Sparks’ friends Jonathan and Laura, risotto was always on Laura’s menu.

I have a generic formula for risotto, and make it into any number of different dishes by adding different things to it. A couple of cups of shredded zucchini–a quart of sliced mushrooms–a cup of peas–a cup of pumpkin puree–cream and lemon zest–roasted and pureed red peppers–the possibilities of risotto are endless. You can even cook shrimp or other seafood into it, to make it into a well-rounded meal. Here’s my formula:

On a back burner, heat up 6 cups of water with two chicken bouillon cubes.

Finely dice one onion. Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying or sautee pan, and add the diced onion and one cup of either arborio (traditional) or sushi (emergency subsitute) rice. Stir to get everything coated in oil and to partially cook the onion. If you are using a raw vegetable (as opposed to a cooked puree, or lemon zest and cream), add it to the pan at this point.

Now, add two big soup ladles of bouillon to the pan. Stir a little to distribute things evenly, and either stand over it stirring (as I did when I was a risotto newbie) or boldly walk away for a few minutes while the liquid absorbs.

Repeat this process until the rice is no longer chalky in the center. I usually start to taste the rice after the third round of bouillon, to see how it’s coming along.

When the rice is cooked, add from one to three tablespoons of butter and about half a cup of shredded parmesan or romano cheese and stir. If you are using a cooked vegetable puree or lemon zest and cream, add it at this point. Salt to taste, and pepper to taste (I like risotto heavily peppered, to balance the starchy creaminess). Enjoy!

Mmm–zucchini risotto with pulled pork barbecue and okra pickles. Yes please.

Wonderful things

There is no shortage of wonderful things in my life, right now. I have my Sparks, my garden, my fabric, my yarn, my kitchen, my Pudding, and our house renovation, and they all make me very, very happy. There will never, though, be so many good things in my life that I can’t wish there were more… here are a few of the things I wish there were:

Twelve times as many blogs with beautiful photography and thoughtful writing

Twelve times as many magazines as good as Southern Living

Twelve times as many fabric lines from my favorite designers

Twelve times as much time to quilt and sew!

Twelve times as many people to cook for… when I feel like it

Twelve times as many comfy beds to put quilts on

Twelve times as many books by my favorite authors

Twelve times the time in the evenings, so I could do plenty of all the things I want

Twelve times as many flowers in my garden…

*dreamy sigh*

1. 10.000, 2. Do you feel her perfume? / Sentez-vous son parfum?, 3. Pulswärmer – Wrislets, 4. New mushroom, 5. Blanket-WIP, 6. Hagoita Kanzashi, 7. Arabesque Kusudama, 8. Paper Hearts, 9. Kusudama Ball, 10. Lucky Paper Stars, 11. paper heart, 12. orbit snail set 1, 13. stockpiling, 14. WIP – A lot of color for 2008, 15. Blood Oranges – Up Close, 16. re-ment cake madness, 17. Bigger Fruits Tarts Studs, 18. Storytellers Tarts, 19. Les Fleur Debris, 20. Box of Temptation…, 21. Illuminated Gingerbread Cookies, 22. Pale Blue Flower Cupcakes, 23. Mini Flower Cakes, 24. Spring Blossom Wedding Cake, 25. Babette Squares, 26. Babette Blanket colors, 27. Babette Blanket yarn!, 28. dear cups, 29. Heather Bailey’s studio, 30. Triple Irish Chain with flowers, 31. Freshcut Pincushion, 32. Pop Garden fabric Matroshkas, 33. Happy cupcakes, 34. Pink Swirl Cupcake, 35. Vanilla Cupcakes, 36. Ditsy Bird House

Wedding pictures!

Chickpea salad

Good news: Sparks is in possession of the wedding photos! Hooray! I will get to see them all tonight, and then do a nice big post with them.

Meanwhile, to keep you entertained, I present yesterday’s culinary triumph: chickpea salad

Mix two cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained, with one cup chopped parsley, one handful chopped mint, two bunches chopped white & pale green parts of green onions, 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, 2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and a heavy pinch of salt.

The creamy/nutty chickpeas perfectly balance out the other strong, sparkling flavors. Sparks and I both had to have double helpings, and I’ve only got a little scraping left for my tiffin today. Yum!