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

braised short ribs

happy birthday to me.

thanks jp, for your surprises and your cooking, which are filled w so much love.

i love you, bubs.

vegetarians' dilemma

jp has been a vegetarian for the past four years. me, the past two.

we've been really convicted in this dietary restriction and it's been a large part of our day-to-day lives.

it also has played a significant role in our marriage. though a strict veg once, right before i met jp i was making 'exceptions' for chik-fil-a, biscuits and gravy, and buffalo wings (among other CAFO meat goodies). but being w jp taught me that it is important to be what you are, to walk the walk, to practice what you preach. if i was to keep making these exceptions i had to stop calling myself a vegetarian.

i was giving the rest of us a bad name.

i soon came around. and jp encouraged me by making veg biscuits and gravy, seitan buffalo wings, and some killer bbq tofu as well as scrumptious, healthy foods revolving around whole and fresh ingredients (think quinoa stuffed acorn squash or tabuleh salad or blah blah blah). he gave me the fried, meaty fix i (thought i) needed and also a fixin' to my principles.

if anyone is a man of his word, it is my husband.

all this said, being veg wasn't quite cutting it. we had been doing a lot of reading about foods and farming and markets and seasons (see michael pollan, plenty, barbara kingsolver, wendell berry). the more we learned about the detrimental effects of our imported produce diet the more we struggled to justify not eating meat raised sustainably in our own backyard. this was the dilemma we found our diet put us in.

we have all but stopped buying produce that comes from far far away. we have realized it is more important to be conscious about where your food comes, who grew it and with what care, then whether or not it got its life from plants or the sun. after much thought and deliberation, we decided to add meat to our diet.

local, happy, fresh meat.

these are our chickens that we purchased on friday from green grocer. they are snuggled together whilst thawing, next to jp's homebrews.

we wanted a really simple meal for "breaking veg". we invited over two close friends: zach, our most devout meat-eating friend who has eaten many-a tofu dinners with us due to our restriction, and brandon, who was in town having surprised us w a visit from denver.

jp used rosemary, thyme, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne to flavor up these big ladies. the fingerling potatoes were a butter cream variety and were the BEST potatoes i have ever had. both these: roasted.

we paired the dinner w a bottle of red i picked up outside of shelbyville on my recent trip to kentucky. it was an extremely fitting choice as the wine came from the vineyard of the daughter of wendell berry, who is a hero of ours and a huge influence in my desire to farm and raise chickens.
the meal makes it way to the table. jp is, perhaps, a bit apprehensive here about what is about to happen, but the succulent aromas from the broilers fill the house and makes our tummies grumble.

the 'dining room' table is set pretty for the special occasion.

i am reminded here of aunt augusta in graham greene's book travels with my aunt:

"you must surrender yourself first to extravagance. poverty is apt to strike suddenly like influenza; it is well to have a few memories of extravagance in store for bad times."

i'm not certain this is biblical, but seems apropos for life in 2009.

jp plucks out the oysters for us to kick off the meal. obviously, it wasn't that hard of a transition as we are licking our fingers.

we thinks ourselves pleased w this decision...

...and proceed to carve up the two hens. each of us gets a half(!).

the plateful.

i cannot get enough. i had forgotten how good the skin tastes.

all the good stuff is gone! the rest will go into the kettle for chicken stock.

i have never EVER in my life seen zach so full.

and this dude, though a polite nibbler, can pack it away.

this doesn't mean meat will become a huge part of our diet, at least not immediately. we have pretty strict guidelines for what meat we will ingest and we certainly cannot afford this rather special meat on a regular basis. but this is a start. and a mighty good one at that.

happy belated valentine's day

hello loved ones,

jonathan and i made and sent out these cards a couple of days after valentine's. due to an error involving the adhesion of the address labels, i fear that not all of them were received. i know my mother did not get hers!

so here it is. please excuse the poor scanned quality. we hope it is the thought that counts.

you are in our hearts!

all our love,

emily and jonathan power d.

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!

the coffee table that could

i had a game in milwaukee on saturday so jp and i decided to make a weekend of it. my parents are in town next weekend so we treated this as a sort of early valentine's day treat for ourselves. so we pricelined a hotel and to the hyatt downtown for fifty bucks.
we were off to a good start.

i'm always harping on jp about my 'need' for surprises and spontaneity in our relationship and, let me tell you, this man sure knows how to make something special even special-er. we left early saturday morning and our first stop was riverview antique market where we drooled over the mid-century furnishings and i coveted the oil paintings and oleo.
i am a geek when it comes to antique malls and estate sales and jp has always, first obligingly and now enthusiastically, tagged along. this stop was his first surprise for me.

we have decided--in the names of fashion and environmentalism--to not buy new as much as possible. our furniture consists of items either picked up on the side of the road or purchased for a steal at thrift stores. (the couch is an exception; twas a wedding gift from grandparents).

we've been using an old trunk for a coffee table and have been deeply dissatisfied. do not underestimate the emotional affect your interiors can have on you. so when we found this little guy in the back corner at booth 21E, you can imagine our delight. look at that wood! it's so sturdy and thoughtfully crafted and, well, the most beautiful coffee table in the world.
see for yourself:

we didn't buy it right away. we slept on it, mulling over the wiseness of making this purchase when i had just lost my job. but when we both woke up we said: we ARE buying a proper coffee table today. and we felt good about it. so we stuffed it in the car, miraculously, and drove it home back to chicago where it fits perfectly in our teeny living room.

the rest of the saturday consisted of the milwaukee art museum, reffing a 50 point blow-out at wisconsin lutheran, surprise champagne and chedder popcorn in the hotel room, hazlenut cutlets and micro brews at comet cafe and free nightcaps at the hotel bar.

sunday morning had more good meat substitutes in store for us at beans and barley for brunch.

i know. i sure am spoiled by what jp does for me and with me. but more importantly, we both have lots of fun doing what we do and doing it together. i can't think of a better field trip buddy.

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.

i've gotten a number of emails lately telling me that my application to various law schools is now complete and under review. it'll likely be several weeks before i hear back from any of them, but i've begun to get a little anxious. i'm excited to see where emily and i decide to go next year.

portland...boulder...new york...

(minneapolis is on there too, but i haven't yet wrapped my head around MN winters)

this is a massive step for us; moving our little family across the country. and depending on where we end up, we'll have to see who we know in the area. portland certainly has it's draws, but it would be a serious adventure for us to set out on our own, a long way from anyone we are terribly close with.

i love my wife, i know we're making exciting choices right now, the effects of which we'll see for miles down the road.

i don't know that i'm ready to make any big decisions just yet, but i'm sure hoping i have options.

pictures of em's new haircut and a big family dinner are coming soon, but i'm still thinking about our last camping trip. when i was warm.

tinker time

jp likes to figure things out. he will take a problem--an old sewing machine--and work on that thing and at that thing so that he can make felt cycling caps or googly-eyed stuffed monster dolls. he does the same stuff with his bikes, with brewing his beer, with concocting the most delicious meals you have tasted.

i am not a putzer or a tinker-er. i enjoy doing the things i know how to do and do well. i write letters, i make cards, i organize and plan. ultimately, i let jp do many things for us (save for the laundry). i bike on tires patched by him, drink and critque his crafted ales, devour and then rave about his good foods. i'll take care of the bills.

but my disinclination to hobbying about comes from my impatience with difficulty. i pouted at a craft party we attended because i didn't know how to use a sewing machine and i resort to toasted bread with canned soup when jp isn't home to cook me meals. i don't care about figuring it out if it doesn't come naturally to me--'it' being anything. i do not like this about myself.

i do like the idea of knowing how to sew. i don't want to pay someone a price, any price, for something i can do myself or should be able to do myself: sewing on buttons, hemming pants, making curtains. these things, though i don't know exactly how to make, are in the DIY realm; they are doable projects.

so for christmas, understanding this need to stretch my patience and my creative skills, jp bought me a sewing 101 class at the needle shop in bucktown. last night was my class and TA-DA!: i made a pillow! and a darn good one at that. you can see otto adores it.

there were two other women in the class with me: janelle, a 30-something hairdresser married with child and beth, a 20-something engaged farm girl turned big city. the class was excellently taught by caitlin, a community-minded, chest-tattooed daughter of a korean seamstress. we stiched. we bitched. we bonded over feminine mishaps and celebrations. 'twas lovely.

curtains are next.

Number One

i've never been prone to journal. i don't often write down what i do or how i'm feeling. but i think that i should, and especially so now at the start of this whole marriage thing. life is going to change a lot for us in the next handful of years i'm assuming, and i'd like to have some record of that. or at least some impetus for me to think about what we're doing with our days together.

in that spirit, here's what i'm doing, baking bagels at home while emily does her referee thing. It's been quiet evening. my weeknights tend to be on the chill side lately. the cold and dark keeps me from wanting to be outside more than to bike our commute. laziness? maybe, but what fun is being cold...

emily is home, and i'm signing off. time to eat bagels.