big day

i love my friends. we threw a big bash for jon's big birthday the last weekend of august and all our good friend's came out to enjoy the sun, live music, lots of treats baked by me, and each other.

good morning

*bottom photo film* 
i am not a morning person. i've always had a hard time leaving the warmth and coziness of my bed and as the days get shorter and colder, i find it even harder to get up early and get going. what i do love about mornings is the quiet. most days i start work late, after the rest of my house has been up and showered and gone. i find myself waking up to the front and back door closing as jon and my housemates venture out into the early morning work world.

i love these hours by myself. moments of perspective and solitude. i slowly get dressed, i open the curtains and make my breakfast and eat it at the table looking out at the yard. i catch up on the internet or finish a chapter in my book. i make a phone call. i put on lotion and some days makeup.
in a busy world, moments of quiet are so important. they are worth getting out of bed for.

i'm back! i needed to take some time away and come back with a new look and new perspective. and now i feel very refreshed and excited about this space again.
i hope you aren't sick of produce shots, because i just can't help myself. i know i have many more pictures from the farmer's market sitting on rolls of film that i haven't developed in weeks. maybe these ones here will make up for the fact that i never followed through on taking pictures of my weekly csa. it's already so much work to pick it up, unpack it, store it properly and eat it all that i just couldn't get myself to stop and take pictures between all that. forgive me.

some things i've been thinking about lately:
low-top rain boots for seattle winters. (i can't decide if i like the men's or women's better)
brian's autumn mix
apple torte with breadcrumb hazelnut crust
watches

that's all for now.
happy monday!

carrot cake

hi there.

i'm still working on the layout here. my goal was for my pictures to be bigger, but i have work to do on the proportion of everything. i couldn't stay away too long, though, so bear with the mess while i share a recipe today.

i've been so in love with all the different carrots varieties this summer. i find myself buying purple carrots most weekends at the market just to slice them open and revel in their beauty. they are purple on the outside and bright, contrasting orange on the inside. it is fabulous. last night i made my favorite carrot cake recipe with a mixture of orange, purple and yellow carrots. this recipe is my dad's, it is extra moist from the pineapple juice and it is perfectly textured with coconut and a mixture of raisins and walnuts. last night i made a point of making this machine-less. if you're in need of some simplicity, this recipe is easy to do make with just a bowl, wooden spoon and box grater.

tom's carrot cake (with some anna notes)
1-1/2 cups sugar (this time i used 1 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs

1-3/4 cups flour
2 tea baking soda
1/2 tea salt
3/4 tea cinnamon

3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple
1/2 cup drained pineapple juice
1 cup coconut
3 cups grated carrots
3/4 cup raisins or toasted walnuts
(sometimes i do one or the other, sometimes i do a blend of both)

mix the sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl.
in a smaller bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
add dry ingredients to oil mixture and mix until just smooth.
add the remaining ingredients and mix until incorporated.

pour into a 10" cake pan or two loaf pans that have been buttered or sprayed with spray oil.

bake at 350 until top is firm (i had to call my dad and beg for an estimate on when i can look for the top to be firm. it ended up taking 45-50 minutes with the cake pan. if using loaf pans, i'd check it at 30-35 minutes)

this cake really doesn't need all the frosting of a normal cake, it is dark and colorful and beautiful on it's own and it is certainly rich and flavorful enough. if you were to add icing, however, i recommend the smitten kitchen maple cream cheese frosting.

enjoy!

under construction

doing a little remodeling around here.
be back soon.
**

bbq

no words today, just summer barbecues.

this weekend i've been doing a lot of catch-up reading on books i wanted to finish over the summer. i read through the art of the story, edited by david halpern, which features some of today's greatest writers from all over the world. reading through that anthology helped me get a taste for some people's work i haven't had a chance to read (margaret atwood, raymond carver, t.c. boyle, lydia davis) and it also pointed me to work by some of my favorites that i'd never seen before (edwidge danticat, patrick chamoiseau, colum mccann).

i finished the last in the hunger games series. have you followed some of the craze over it? yeah, it's pretty addicting and the perfect example of book candy.

now i'm onto a short story collection by aleksandar hemon. his earlier novel lazarus project hit me so hard and i have a feeling the stories in love and obstacles will do the same. (bonus, lazarus project has amazing photographs by velibor bozovic scattered through it).

anyway, books are on the mind. i'm eager to meet more inspiring authors this fall and hopefully share with you some things i've gleaned.

i was lucky enough to get one boat ride in this summer. we went up to my great-aunt's cabin on the water and took a row boat out about 20 feet. the boat was lopsided and we ended up sitting backwards in it to level the weight. jon was rowing backwards, the wind was blowing and rocking us, and i was frantically trying to get some shot without dropping my camera in the water. so, even though it was actually sort of stressful, i'm still glad we got a little boat time.

a new seattle company called urban bee shows how they gather their hives and extract honey:
video (sorry, it's a link to facebook. they don't yet have an external website)

september

september is...

apples and honey
the new year
harvest
a fast
crisp
family dinners
darker
socks
pears
plums
last bits of tomatoes
a wedding
a birthday
more tea and music and candles in my home

and for you?