Signing Off

Truth be told, I've been putting this post off for... about 3 weeks. Although it's time, it's been difficult to go through with my decision. 

I'm signing off. 

Why?

One can't predict the twists and turns that are going to happen along the way in life. One twist my life has taken this year is I've decided to write a book. Another is I've lost some passion for food blogging. I'm not saying I'm going to be gone forever, but I will be gone for an indefinite amount of time. Until the book is done I've decided and I just don't know how long that will be. A month, 2 months, 6 months, a year... who knows? All I know is this is best choice for me now, especially with it being summer. Between the garden, the yard, the house, my book, family and friends, I don't have time to devote to blogging like I used to. And time it does take.

May 2017- So far!

Ugh, what am I? The worst blogger in the world? Probably 😂

I admit, my posts have been more sporadic than even I intended. I'm just so in the zone working on my fiction piece. I keep thinking I've got it finished, and as I go to do my final read, I usually decide I want to add more and write furiously until I think I've finished again. At this point, the cycle repeats itself. It's quite the process, trying to write a book. I've been doing research online to see how many words adult novels are supposed to be and I've found quite the wide range of answers. I've read 55,000 words would be considered adult fiction while other sites state that's way too short. Some say 110,000 words is the maximum amount of words a novel should be, but then I discovered some of my most favorite novels are way longer than that so-called ceiling. 'Gone Girl'? 145,700 words. 'Big Little Lies'? 142,600 words. 'The Martian' hits 124,000 and 'The Da Vinci Code' comes in at 138,000. I think my new goal is 90,000. I vacillate daily from thinking I'm utterly crazy and destined to fail, to believing I can do this while pumping one fist in the air. So, to quote what has become my official party line, I apologize for the lack of recipes and posts. I've barely been cooking while in the zone, let alone working on any photography.

Just Checking In

Hello, hello! I'm sorry to have been away for a week and a half, but I swear, life be cray-cray around here. As most of you know, I've been working on my fiction writing. With a single-minded determinedness on that, I've been enduring all my other chores, chomping at the bit to write more. The story is coming along well. I'm at the point where I've decided to muck it all up. It was a short, sweet story and but now, plot changes are a-coming. Today should be a much slower day than the last couple, so I'll have plenty of time to work today.

A Day In the Life: April 2017

I haven't done a "Day in the Life" post in forever (since February of 2013!!), so today I thought I'd have some fun. I'm also changing the format of the traditional "Day in the Life" post, just cause I can 😜

I woke up yesterday with the intention to blog. It was one of those mornings where I felt completely uninspired and couldn't come up with anything to say. I wrote out a post and then I reread it. Even I was bored. Deleted. One of my intentions since coming back from my break was to share quality work, not just sharing work for the sake of sharing. So I decided to take the day off from posting. To work in the garden. To do some yoga. To enjoy my pups. It was then that I had the idea to do a "Day in the Life" post so I decided to take some pictures throughout the day.

Oh yes, it's definitely time for a fun post! Let's get started-

Jalapeño Popper Pizza

It's Friday and we're going to talk about pizza. As such, I hereby open with this quote,

"You can't have Thanksgiving without turkey! That's like Fourth of July with no apple pie, or Friday with no two pizzas!"

I bet you can guess what show that quote is from... 

If you guessed 'Friends', you guessed right 😜 What can I say? I was picking up the house this morning, doing my normal chores, making the bed, and thinking about what I was going to write today. I started thinking about pizza... and that it's Friday... and the quote just popped into my head. Quotes from 'Friends' strike my mind every day in almost any situation, and while we won't be having 2 pizzas this Friday, the quote still made me smile. 

It's Almost Spring!

Actually, I guess it is spring. 

Hello!

I know it's been awhile, but I'm feeling ready to get back in the swing of things. There's something about spring that's just so inspiring for me, I'm starting to burst from wanting to share recipes and photos again. Winter is my least favorite season, it always feels bleak to me. I know there's many wonderful things about winter, and I appreciate them... for awhile. But then I'm ready for renewal. I love when the early daffodils pop, when there's buds on all the trees, when I start seeing juvenile cardinals and gold finches at the feeders again. It's magical. I have a few items in my garden that just pop up all on their own, like little gifts from nature. Such as my chives, above. They just burst from the ground one day, green and beautiful, full of hope.

2016: By The Numbers

Summer 2016; Wine in the garden

Well, well, well. Here it is the first day of 2017 and I'm going to wrap-up the year of 2016 before I even wrap up the month of December 2016. Why? Because I want to. Because I'm a rebel. But mostly because, as per usual this year, I'm running behind. The story of my life 😄

Now that the holidays are almost over and the hubby and I are tucked back into our own house again, it's time to make it a better year. I mean, there's no election this year so we already know it's got to be a superior year, right? 😉 Right. I'm going to save my New Year's goals (and 2016's learning experiences) for another day, and simply talk numbers. Here's 2016 by the numbers-

Wrapping Up November: 2016

How is it December??

This year has simultaneously dragged on, and in the same inexplicable breath, flew by. Where did 2016 go? November was a pretty busy month for us, as it is for most with the Thanksgiving holiday. December is set to fly by too, as the hubby and I are leaving for Oregon in 15 short days!! I'm so excited, I haven't spent a Christmas in Oregon since Christmas 2009. It's definitely time to head home for a holiday!

But in November-

Wrapping Up October: 2016

Ok, I just really wanted to start the post off with a cute puppy picture. Mission accomplished 😁🐶❤️

Can you believe it's November already? In 6 short weeks, the hubby and I will be leaving for Oregon! I'm in shock. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was telling the hubby it was time for a Christmas in Oregon. And now it's almost here! Unbelievable. 

But for now, now it's time to wrap up October! In October...

Untraditional Green Bean Casserole

Look at me! Making my goal of posting twice in one week! Woot woot 😁

Really, I figured I better post this one since I had so much interest from the September Wrap-Up. The people want this recipe. The people clamor for it. And so, I shall share it-

This recipe takes me back to childhood. While I was growing up, I thought this was Green Bean Casserole. I had no idea that traditional Green Bean Casserole was a concoction of cream-of-something soup and crunchy onion straws. The moment I found out was when I spent Thanksgiving with a friend when I was about 17. I had heard that they were having Green Bean Casserole with Thanksgiving, and I was excited. Puzzled, as I wasn't sure why anyone would serve Green Bean Casserole on Thanksgiving, but nevertheless, excited. 

Wrapping Up September: 2016

Is it really October? This cannot be!! I cannot believe how fast this year is flying by. September was yet another whirlwind month. In September...

Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish

All right. Here's the deal- 

Over the next couple of days, I'm going to be crafting a recipe with my alpine strawberries. I know I said last month that my strawberries were starting to peter out, but I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, WRONG. They are still going and I'm collecting about 20 berries every 2 days. Something needs to be made with these lovely little berries...

Over a year ago (geez) the hubby and I went to Oregon for our 2015 trip. Whilst on our fantastic trip, my brother's girlfriend whipped up a couple of desserts for us. Her parents own an upscale hotel and restaurant in Ashland, OR, and it's safe to say cooking skills and knowledge were passed from parent to child. She made a delectable homemade raspberry tart with the most amazing filling. One of the best parts of the tart, however, was the crust. Oh, that crust. I asked her for the recipe and I've had it in my back pocket for well over a year now. I'm guessing you know where this is going...

It's Not Always Pretty

What is our obsession with everything being perfect? Why do we feel we must hide those vulnerable parts of ourselves that aren't glossy, flawless, and magazine-worthy? 

The garden has been amazing therapy for me for a couple of years. The lessons I've learned in nature have been every part as valuable as what I've learned out and about in our consumer-driven society. I have control issues, I know this. I hate feeling out-of-control. I call it "feeling twirly". There are many things I can assert my dominance over- I control the cleanliness of my house, wiping and polishing any evidence of dirt away. I blow-dry, straighten, curl, and battle daily to get my hair into submission. Having a bad skin day? Concealer, foundation, and a layer of powder will solve that. 

Dad's Cucumber-Dill Salad

Does anyone still have cucumbers left??

Good, let's do this! 

I made this salad all the way back for the 4th of July. Almost 2 months ago. Remember how I said this was one of the downfalls of taking a long summer break? You miss posting cucumber recipes at the height of the season. And this is a good one, too. My dad sent me the recipe at the end of last summer, and it took me all the way till this summer to get on it. 

See Dad? I don't just delete all those recipes you send me. They get filed away until it's almost a year later and you forgot you even sent it to me! I get to them eventually 😁

Enchilada Stuffed Poblanos

So... funny story.

I'd always thought poblanos were mild peppers. I'd never cooked them before, I'd just read recipes using them, plus I've had them in Mexican cuisine. I'd just never prepared them myself. Well, a couple of weeks ago, with the hubby gone on a business trip, I decided to stuff a bunch of peppers for quick, easy dinners while he was gone. While I normally stuff regular bell peppers, this time I opted for poblanos. I've been trying to grow poblanos all season, but my plant never fruited. It blossomed plenty, but no luck. Darn it all. My father-in-law's did though, so we received peppers from him throughout the season. It was just a lousy season for any kind of pepper at my homestead. 

Garden Veggie Pasta Soup

Happy Saturday everyone!

I was going to post yesterday, but you know what? I wasn't feeling it. While still trying to be my most authentic self, I just didn't feel like putting fingers to keyboard. It might still be the writer's block a little bit. It might be because the hubby's on a business trip and I've become obsessed with findings on Netflix. It's true, I discovered "Stranger Things" and nothing was done for 8 hours while I binged. If you like sci-fi, you'll like that one. Then I stumbled on "Shameless". Oh man, I'm deep into that one too. There's nothing like watching a show about a huge family with lots of problems when you have an empty house 😜

So, to set aside my TV bingeing for a moment or two, let's talk about the opposite of TV bingeing- gardening!

Basil For Days (And 3 Pesto Recipes!)

Summer may be winding down, but no one has told my basil that. I don't know about you guys, but I've got it coming out of my ears! If there's one crop in my garden that never fails to produce, it's that large-leafed Italian favorite, basil. I normally plant plenty of it in my herb garden, but this year I went a bit further. I read that it's a great companion plant for tomatoes, keeping hornworms away and infusing the tomatoes with even greater sweetness. And I can confirm, I've had little problem with hornworms this year. In fact, since the basil has exploded and grown, I haven't see a single hornworm. I'll be pairing these two together from here on out!

Since I've Been Gone: August (So Far)

Ok friends, let's wrap up this time period of me being gone forever and a day. I've finished up talking about July, so let's talk about August so far. August has been pretty typical around here, lots of humidity (oh lord, the humidity) and heat. Also, lots of rain. I'm happy with rain in the summer though, we get such crazy downpours that I don't have to water the garden for 2 days. Talk about shaving some time off the chore wheel. But honestly, when you are talking about August in the garden (at least for me) there's not a lot to do. This downtime feels so crazy after the frenzy of landscaping the hubby and I did during the early summer. I can't complain though, it's a lovely contrast. I much need the rest after having such a full house. And August of the family's stay here was pretty busy-

Since I've Been Gone: July

Hi friends! It's been soooooooooo long. I didn't even mean to take such a long break, it just kind of... happened. I've had a pretty full house since I've been gone, but sadly, it's now empty. My family came to visit for almost a month, and it was AWESOME. Awesome to see and have all my family here, but I did suffer a touch of writer's block. I meant to post the week before everyone got here, but each day was crammed with chores to get the house ready for family. It seemed like every night I went to bed before their visit with a to-do list for the next day pounding in my head. This left little thought for writing.

Backyard Update!

Yesterday I shared some pictures on my personal FaceBook page showing the backyard update, so now it's time to share the pictures with the rest of the blogosphere! We (and by we, I mean the hubby) have worked our butts off on the yard, and it has paid off. I am so incredibly pleased with the yard. 

So, for a reminder, here's what the backyard looked like in December of 2012: