fall

today is the perfect day for these things.

prophetic wisdom

when love beckons to you, follow him

though his ways are hard and steep.

and when his wings enfold you yield to him,

though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

and when he speaks to you believe in him,

though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

for even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.

even as he is for your growth so he is for your pruning.

even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

so shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

from the prophet by kahil gibran

photo by nancy at david wittig photography

the circus comes to palmer house

this morning we woke up to otto barking at the lion in our front yard.

he had a sidekick.

well, of course w the circus in town jp and i couldn't very well miss out. woken up an hour earlier than usual, we took these two freak shows for a nice morning stroll. as luck would have it, we ran into their frantic and exuberant little boy who looked a little lost himself.

good morning, friends!

team pegasus

team pegasus gets crunk off chartreuse

BackGarage is the jam

i cleaned out my google reader today. it was daunting to log in and, every time, have 200 unread subscriptions when i thought i had just read them all. reading them had begun to feel like a chore. i was sick of sifting through everyone's top 20 items on their wishlist or hijacked photos all of the beautiful things they would buy if they could afford them or constant dribbles of five minute music videos.
bottom line: people update way too much.

i found i am loyal to the one-a-day bloggers with a specific, select angle.

it is no surprise then that one of my favorite blogs, my go-to, is BackGarage.

she offers a weekly garage sale hotlist, which has led me to great finds including the hot water bottle jp and i swore by at night during this frigid winter (frigid, of course, being an understatement).

i had written her for recommendations on vintage thrifting in madison and she was excited to help out because, well, she didn't know. she wrote back again with some leads and i, along with my trusty tomtom and camera, found my way to some great and not-so-great places.

ALL THIS TO SAY, imagine my delight when she featured the antiques mall of madison, accompanied with the photos i had taken and my review, on her blog! you can see that entry here.

i feel famous, seriously.

go check her out and don't forget to add BackGarage to your reader.

more of our saturday...

we recently finished reading the book Plenty, and it has only spurred our urban homesteading desires further (this is a very excellent book). we love to make things, and to do so from scratch as often as possible. realizing that foods from the other side of the planet don't quite fall into the realm of 'scratch' we're pushing ourselves to source local ingredients, and be conscious of the seasons as we prepare our meal.

in the spirit of this, we headed out to oak park for a winter farmer's market. we were pleasantly surprised by a wealth of local cheeses, eggs, winter greens, potatoes, grains, and honey. we somehow resisted the urge to buy everything there, but we feel like we came home with a pretty decent haul.

here we've got (all locally produced) oyster mushrooms, whole wheat and rye flours. and what you can't see: two dozen eggs, some swiss cheese and green kale. we're thrilled to be able to buy at least a few things locally, even in the dead of winter.

once home it was time for lunch. we had some swiss chard and sweet potatoes that were ready to be eaten, so i came up with this:

simply roasted with a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette and parmesean. a perfect winter meal. as much as i enjoy a complicated meal with a large variety of flavors and textures, sometimes simplicity really hits the spot.

following an afternoon in the sun (it's february... 30 degrees and sun is about the most we can hope for right now) doing gardening crafts (see emily's post below) we dressed warmly and rode briskly to our friend kurt's apartment in the west loop. it's amazing that he lives so close to where i work, but we somehow only end up heading down there on the days i would otherwise not have to make my bike commute in the cold again.

it was a lovely evening though. more than a dozen of us showed up, varied ingredients in hand, for what became a rather successful pizza making party. we brought our oyster mushrooms, some of which we simmered in wine, which gave a lovely rustic flavor to a few of the pies.

here's emily, deftly placing one such mushroom and white sauce pizza on the stone.

the variety of pizzas created would take far too long to describe, but kurt and i did want to use one very unusual ingredient he happened to have in his fridge: caviar.

the final pizza of the night. in the center we have pesto and mozzarella. the next ring further out is olive oil and garlic base, with minced stuffed green olives, and a hard spanish cheese, the name of which i can't seem to remember. and on the outer ring, placed after baking, is caviar. it was good; the progression from the center of the slice to the cracker-like crust with caviar was quite interesting. not sure i'd try it again, but i am proud to say i've made caviar pizza.

the evening ended at gallery cabaret with some new friends, but given my enjoyment of kurt's porron, those details got a bit fuzzy.

community dinners

the lyndale and the palmer houses are trying to get in the habit of communing for wednesday night dinners. these nights are a good time to get together and reconnect with our 'village'.
jp and i often get carried away in the busyness and tedium of everyday going-ons. we remember to relax to greet each other but sometimes forget that we have beloved neighbors just three blocks away to catch up with and learn from.
these people are quite important to us. they have taught us much about marriage, parenthood, gardening, genorosity, music, service, church, fashion, gender issues, and on and on. it is their openness and honesty that we rely on to get a good idea of what life is like outside of our little family of three on palmer and to remind us of the importance of fellowship and reaching out.

we are big fans of all of this bc we love those on lyndale and also bc we love some family style cooking.

on this particular wednesday everyone came to our place.
jp was a cooking machine.

first he whipped up some homemade butter.
to do this at home, all you need is heavy whipping cream and an electric mixer, like our KitchenAid.
(oh, the joys of married life).
toss it in. mix. mix. keep mixing until finally the butter will separate from the buttermilk. ta da! half a pound of organic butter AND buttermilk for a little less than the price of store-bought organic butter.
it really is that easy.

it was soup and bread night so jp whipped up some sourdough (sorry, no photos) and this east african groundnut stew. yum-OH.
enough for everyone there and a handful of meals afterward.
here is the recipe. all i can say is peanut buttery goodness.

meet some of our family!
here is melissa, deacon and jason.
deacon loves pillows and sometimes he loves otto.
melissa and jason are all about deacon.

jp and jg model their tweed coats for us.
quite dapper we think.

please come join us sometime on a wednesday.
edit for hailey: you do not have to be married. not all of us are!

we've had a few decently warm days over the last week or so here. decently warm meaning at least slightly above freezing. this has been good for our spirits, but apparently the change has not been immediately good for my health. i've been having a bit of a rough time getting over this cold i came down with earlier this week. i'm decidedly not thrilled about work tomorrow. i am, however, thankful that i am able to work tomorrow.

aside from being under the weather, this weekend was quite enjoyable with emily's parents in town. the highlight of which, for me at least, was introducing emily's dad to sushi at toro, our favorite sushi joint in chicago. sushi can be a bit of an adventure your first few times. i think that thrill is part of why i enjoy it so much. dave was on board well for just about everything. mitch (the sushi chef/owner of toro) started dave off with a platter of salmon, ahi, fatty white, yellow tail, and talapia sashimi. dave tried it all, without hesitation. we started him out with the scary stuff, and then moved to some rolls a bit easier for a sushi novice to enjoy. it may not have been his favorite meal, but we certainly enjoyed sharing a favorite spot of ours with dave and marcie (though, this isn't the first time we'd been there with em's mother). also, emily and i were pretty excited at trying every fish on the menu in one sitting. the tako and uni, while not generally my favorites, were very nice.

we like food. a lot. we have fond memories of fabulous meals. it was good to add one to the list this weekend.

now, i'm going to take more vitamin c and sleep for a while.

seasons of change

my dear friend, jessica, told me once, when i was despairing of the rut i was in, that life is made of seasons. and that it is ok to grin-and-bear-it while something else is brewing for the future. i was planning a wedding at the time. and while i was thrilled about marrying jp, the love of my life, i was unimpressed with how i was spending my time making money and the lack of creativity in my life. after the wedding, i told myself, i would start challenging myself; i would start making more things and contributing more.

well, that time has now come. that time has been forced upon me. today i was let go from my uninspring but rather cushy job.

and after i had gotten used to the shock of losing the paycheck and the health insurance i am realizing that i now have more free time. free time to create, to bake, to read and to write, to learn, to plan for the next step. here i am, world!

so i came home with bags filled from my personal belongings from work and i moped in bed with the dog. then i went on an uplifting grocery and lunch date with the other emily and bought the succulent that you see above. this is my new-season plant that will last with me for all seasons.

tonight involves some wine with jp to celebrate this burden of complacency that has been lifted. i am pushed to action and to introspection: old friends i have not made a point of consulting for awhile.

here's to new seasons and love. and hope. there is always hope.

can you even remember what it feels like?

it's 15 degrees fahrenheit right now.
weather.com says it feels like 2 degrees fahrenheit.
it sure doesn't look like this outside.

can you even remember what it feels like to not be bundled up? to be able to walk outside without hats, scarves, coats and gloves? to be able to jump on your bike without first piling on the layers and the heavy socks and the face masks? looking at these photos of jp, otto and i --camping in northern illinois late this past summer-- i can't even remember the air on my skin not hurting.
it looks so... impossible.
(click on the photos for a complete image)

here is otto and i after an intense game of chasing.
you can see he avoided me by jumping into the creek.

here is jp preparing for dinner. we had a pitiful fire due to an insufficient stockpile of wood.
but our dinner of roasted veggie wienies and beans was DELISH.

happy chinese new year

jp and i biked down to randolph and halsted to attend a chinese new year party. yes, we understand this is about one week late; it is simply irresponsible to have as much fun as we did on a weeknight. today's sunday morning-come-afternoon was necessary for recovery.

it was at kurt's, a friend of ours, apartment.
we also met and talked with the guy who makes this comic strip. he was just finishing up his last day of this brilliant idea that he's been doing every january for three years.

we danced.
and got to hang out with melissa, zach's gf who's in town from the big apple.
jp, zach, melissa.

and like any good guests, we came baring gifts. almond cookies to be exact.
chinese almond cookies

ingredients
--2 cups flour
--1/2 teaspoon baking powder
--1/2 teaspoon baking soda
--1/8 teaspoon salt
--1/2 cup butter
--1/2 cup shortening
--3/4 cup white sugar (can add up to 2 more tablespoons, if desired)
--1 egg
--2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
--1/4 pound whole, blanched almonds (one for each cookie)
--1 egg, lightly beaten

preparation
1. preheat oven to 325 degrees
2.in large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
3. in medium bowl, use mixer to beat butter, shortening, sugar.
4. add the egg and almond extract and beat until well blended.
5. add to the flour mixture and mix well.
note: don't worry if the dough is crumbly at this point, it's supposed to be.
6. using fingers, form the mixture into a dough, then form the dough into 2 rolls 10 to 12 inches long. wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
7. lightly score the rolled dough at 3/4 inch intervals making 15 pieces and cut the dough.
8. roll each into a ball and place on lightly greased cookie tray 1 1/2 inches apart. place an almond in center of each, press down lightly.
9. brush each cookie lightly with beaten egg before baking. bake for 15 minutes to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and store in a sealed container.

voila!

bringing babylon home

when we do eat out it's bc our cupboards are bare. we typically choose establishments that serve large portions for a small bill as well as food that isn't as easy to make at home. an element of convenience is also appreciated, which is why we find ourselves at one of three places: sol del sur, little ceaser's, or babylon. unfortunately, we have discovered the secret to some damn good mediterranean. we will be seeing less of babylon.

these turned into pita












these turned into falafel









these turned into foods in our belly
(hummus + baba ghanoush + tzatziki + tahini= yummy)








jp made this entire meal from scratch. entire. silly me asked him if we wanted to buy some pitas at the store, you know, just in case they didn't turn out the way we had hoped. why do i ever doubt him? these were better than anything we have ever bought and his cooking skills, save for the california omelette he one time made with leftover crab meat from a sushi night, have never ever failed to make my tastebuds do a crazy dance.

you can tell ottoman is as excited as i am:

it's casual friday...

i'm not exactly sure the cause, but in the short time i've been at this job there have been two last minute retirements. this means two last minute retirement parties, given to me to organize.
i'm a massive fan of free beer and free food, so this is a good thing. last night was the second of these parties and, though i am not terribly close with many of my coworkers, it was a pleasant time. em came by to imbibe on the cheap, and i was able to introduce her to my colleagues. and, between the food and drink, the two of us certainly racked up a tab that wouldn't have been fun to cover ourselves! (they carry one of my favorite beers, but at $9 a bottle, i don't get to drink it often...).
we cabbed it home, which is HIGHLY unusual for us. but given the situation we thought it would be a nice treat. our pakistani driver was v. nice to talk to, it was interesting hearing about his children's arranged marriages. i must say i'm glad mine didn't work out that way, but theoretically i can see the value. expectations are different, and commitment often stronger, in that sort of arrangement.

alright, i ought to get to work. i'm making pita, falafel, and all the trimmings tonight for a friend that's coming over for dinner this evening. i'll be sure to post some pictures of what will be a very nice meal.

dancing our faces off

jp and i went to yelle last night with the rest of the logan square gang. it's fun going to shows bc i rarely went to them before i met jp and he used to work at a venue and was always around that sort of show-going culture. he goes a lot less now that i am in his life.

but yelle is quite endearing to us. and i get to dance around like a maniac and for once i don't look weird. and--better yet--jp, who is averse to dancing, even joins in! i made him sweat last night.

it's an interesting crowd there: hipsters and wannabe hipsters and lots of suburban girls dressed down in american apparel and young gay men experimenting with leather jackets and moustaches. and there we are. the old married couple. cooler than them bc we are really so uncool. not going to lie though: i put on the leggings and the short leather boots and the mini dress. i even put on some mascara. and i jabbed the air with my fist and jumped up and down on my poor feet all night long.

in the bathroom a girl asked me if i would buy her a beer at the bar. it was an 18+ show. i told her no; i just loved yelle too much to get kicked out. certainly this will teach her the importance of investing in a flask.

playing at adults

jbp looked particularly dashing in his herringbone jacket with patched elbows (courtesy of papa power). I donned a frilly top overlayed with a black vest and accented with peep-toe shoes and rouge on my lips. for our wedding we had received play money (no, really) from a dear friend, with which to use to go to the chicago theater with. the picture of dorian gray sounded intense and interesting.

we drove up to heartland cafe at 7000 n glenwood in the arts district to enjoy some pumpkin ravioli and spicy black bean burger with beer. jbp hasn't had any of his own brews in the fridge and has desperately been needing a cold one. dinner out, though expensive (especially so, since we are broke), is decidedly important for us. we find ourselves on palmer around the house a lot. I am a homebody and, by extension, jbp becomes a homebody. don't read that wrong: he goes out and about with friends without or with me. but his friends live three blocks away so even if we aren't at palmer, we're at lyndale and just don't seem to get out of logan square. when we do get out it's to target or work or the bike shop or stanley's. so even with funds low, sitting in a completely different neighborhood around different people (certainly different than the demographics in logan square) eating different food gives, as silly as this sounds, us something to talk about.

it was like the honeymoon: so much time always together or around each other and, well, you run out of things to talk about. we became that couple that sat at dinner out together and did not say a word. we weren't angry with each other or even just annoyed. we had simply shared everything there was to share. inspiration had disappeared for a while, and time apart, which was a luxury, was scarce.

so saturday we got dressed up and then sat our butts down for a served meal and a dramatic performance. we felt rather adult and the intentionality of it seemed rather funny. perhaps it's because we know we are rather content to sit home with a movie from the redbox and some doctored-up boxed macaroni and cheese.

my hangover from last night's bottle of wine was still lingering in the corner and jonathan was exhuasted from having to wake up early to go schmooz at his lsac convention. we sure were adults.

i got too full from pumpkin ravioli. but it was good.
i got too cold at the play but dorian gray was good. we had fun.