October 18, 2017

Spiced Brown Sugar Pound Cake

We can show our support in many ways. It doesn’t always have to be in big & bold ways. A series of small acts can really add up, especially in our current state.

Support can mean volunteering at school. It can be hosting a group of people who inspire action to share a meal. It could be gathering a group of people to help a family in need. It could be writing letters to help advocate for change. It could be dropping a cake off to first responders who worked tirelessly through trauma. It could be really listening to what someone has to say.

This Spiced Brown Sugar Pound Cake with Molasses Glaze recipe comes from Julia Turshen’s latest book, Feed the Resistance. Inside the book, you’ll find many recipes to help fuel your gatherings, ideas for places to reach out as well as things you can do to help that take less than 10 minutes. This book is here to help inspire ACTION.

Because honestly, food has the power to unite us all.

How did this cake turn out? Really well. So well in fact that I thought to myself…hmm this tastes like a pumpkin spice cake but I can’t believe there’s no pumpkin in there, let me have ANOTHER (and another) piece to make sure I’m really tasting what I am tasting.

I made this cake to share with my neighbors. Because community + support starts in your own neighborhood!

LISTS

October 16, 2017

Intentions for the Week

It’s MONDAY! Wahoo. Cooper has school off today. He’s had a 5 day weekend so our schedule has been thrown off, to say the least. I had hopes of accomplishing a lot last week but the fires made things a little complicated. We’ll be getting out of the house more this week. THANK HEAVENS. This week is going to be quite hectic.

The good news is that I already have a head start on laundry and I completed a little meal prep action last night that includes:

Meal prep this week includes:

Salad dressing (from (Mom’s Green Salad)
Maple Olive Oil Banana Bread
Granola
Tuna Bean Salad (I used garbanzo beans)
Lemonade
Mint Iced Tea

This Week’s Intentions

do a face mask (can you recommend one? I’m on the hunt!)
make it so I have two eyebrows instead of one
deep clean bathrooms
meet with Madeleine
try to eat more salads
try to drink more water (this is helping)
LAUNDRY
photo for Tillamook
doctor appt for Coop
research health insurance + try not to feel hopeless
make a recipe from Feed the Resistance
make a recipe from Ready or Not!
finish putting away summer clothes
school field trip
write letters
catch up on social media
GO TO YOGA
take care of myself/get better sleep
go through the archives and find good Fall recipes
figure out what to work on during ladies craft night
figure out what’s due at the library

Last Week’s Intentions:

catch up on writing letters ( I AM SO BEHIND)
~~take pen pal photos/post on @thehandwritingclub~~
~~bookkeeping~~
~~catch up on social media~~
meet with Madeleine (rescheduled)
~~playdate with classmates~~
~~school conference~~
make a pasta dish for the blog (didn’t)
figure out a new pumpkin recipe (didn’t)
plan another ladies craft night (having one this weekend)
go on a hike/do yoga/EXERCISE (went for a long walk)
~~return library books~~/find two rogue library books (found 1!)
~~LAUNDRY like a mofo~~
~~research plants for~~ front
~~drink more water (this is helping)~~
clean up workspace (couldn’t. there was a cat living in there)
keep the sink CLEAR this week (tried. failed after 3 days, oh well)
~~return Stitchfix order~~
~~continue working on morning pages/artist’s way~~
don’t eat bread/crackers (didn’t)

Mantra for the Week:

What about you? What are you up to this week? Any intentions you’d like to share to help hold yourself accountable?

my everyday life, Photography

October 15, 2017

My Everyday Life: Week 41

Here’s what this past week look like- My Everyday Life Week 41:

We’re about a 40 minute drive from all of the fires in Sonoma County/Napa/Calistoga.

Our family is safe. Thank you to everyone who checked in on us!

We’re experiencing a lot of smoke and a bunch of flying ash where we live.

Our family in Calistoga had to evacuate. They came over to stay with us.

I got to color with my niece!

What a crazy week.

Oh, and we are cat sitting their cat, Lily!

LISTS

October 13, 2017

I LOVE LISTS

Welcome to I LOVE LISTS. It’s Friday, here’s a list for you!

Not sure how I feel about this….
Tips for talking about mental health/depression
Things I want to eat: apple cake /mint white chocolate ice cream shell
When your favorite is problematic.
Freelance achievement stickers. LOL
Swedish Death Cleaning is the new Marie Kondo
Important read: how smartphones hijack our minds
More important reading: The New Midlife Crisis
Let children dawdle & dream
A perfect dress for Fall.
Regrets you may have in 10 years
Puerto Rico 100 years ago
Animal facts you never learned in school.
A skillshare class I wanna take
Pins: for the introvert/ for someone doing their best/ for the designer
RIP AIM
The line between fact & fiction is def blurred on the internet
Ways to make realistic fake blood– just in time for Halloween!
Weeknight dinner across the US.
Life Lessons from Anthony Bourdain
Kinda creepy/kinda interesting
For the procrastinators.
To put in the freezer: homemade pizza bagels

recipes

October 11, 2017

Pork & Scallion Wontons

My kid devours dumplings, wontons and pot stickers. They’re all a perfect vehicle for soy sauce….which is one of his favorite things. Instead of going out to a Chinese restaurant to satisfy our cravings, I made these Pork Scallion Wontons at home.

Appetizer turned dinner? SIGN ME UP.

I can’t wait to experiment with fillings!

Inspiration, LISTS

October 9, 2017

Intentions for the Week

Happy Monday! Writing this Sunday night. Listening to Led Zeppelin and drinking iced tea. It feels too good to close my eyes. That’s how tired I am. We had a full weekend with family and it was awesome!

We were in the city with family for Fleet Week and we spent the whole time eating and drinking. This is why I am not on the Whole30 plan right now. Is anyone on it? Maybe I’ll start soon…

This week is a catchup and get organized week. There are some trouble dumping zones around my house right now that I have to clean up. The pantry is looking a little rough and I need to do some straightening.