It's Time

Do you ever get that feeling of being stuck in a thought pattern and you know you need to get out of it? I'm talking about the holidays. I've been in a bit of a funk thinking about all of the things I need to do. You know, the usual holiday stuff like endless errands, lists, finding the perfect gift, crowded places, decorating and then taking it all down when it's over, holiday travel and praying I escape the dreaded bermuda triangle of flat tire zones on one stretch of I-10. (it's happened to me twice before) Gah!

It's time to stop worrying about all of it and just enjoy the holidays. I admit some seasons I will stay in this mode and the holidays end up passing by with little to no enjoyment. I'm not going to let that happen this year. I'm officially off the obsession train and moving into "whatever will be" territory. I am going to enjoy the simple pleasures of the holidays. Care to join me?

Scenting Your Home

Look in your pantry, because you probably already have items you can use right now to scent your home. Last night I simmered orange rind in water on the stove. The scent is heavenly and smells so natural. I always save my orange rinds in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for this purpose. Now that citrus season is upon us, bring it on! You can do this with any citrus rind you like. Mix and match with lemons, limes, etc.

Now comes the fun part, mixing your own unique scent. Sometimes I add a little vanilla extract to the simmering oranges for a lovely vanilla-orange scent. You can do this with cinnamon sticks or cloves too. Almond or coconut extract would be lovely too. The possibilities of combinations are only limited by your imagination and preferences.

Something else I do instead of burning candles is to use essential oils. These are also great combined with complimenting scents of essential oils. My favorite is lavender, but I also love geranium, verbena, rosemary, orange and vetiver. If you've got rosemary, sage, spearmint, thyme or basil in your garden, you can use the real herbs instead of oils. You can either simmer these on the stove or invest in one of those warming plates big enough for a coffee cup. You can usually find them at craft stores. Fill a ramekin with water, drop a few drops of essential oils into the water, set the ramekin on the warmer and turn on the warmer. You could also use extracts in water on this type of warmer. The aroma will fill your home and it's a nice alternative to burning candles.

I also fill empty spray bottles with water and essential oils and use them as room scents. The scent does not last very long, but you definitely get a burst of the scent when you spray it. It's very light.

I've got a couple of essential oil blends from whole foods called "anxiety release" and "breathe easier". These blends are nice if you want a calming blend of oils or something if you have a cold, to help you breathe. I love scenting my home this way naturally. Don't get me wrong, I love a good candle, but I do find that mixing up something like one of these choices smells more natural and cleaner than a heavily scented candle.

Cooking at Home v. Eating Out

I'm a recent convert to cooking at home v. eating out. I'll admit, convenience used to win me over after a long day at work and we would opt to eat out. There is no shortage of excellent places to choose from where I live. I could eat out every day of the week for a year and never repeat the same place. Choices are plenty and the offerings are downright delicious. In fact, it's hard to make a case for not eating out here.

(The copper cookware above reminded me of the movie Babette's Feast and while stunning, seems a bit too advanced for me at this stage of my cooking skills).
I've discovered that it's actually fun to cook at home and try new recipes. I also enjoy perfecting them so that I don't even have to think about it. I just know it will work.

There is nothing like knowing without a shadow of a doubt your dish will come out perfect every time. I had no idea the satisfaction I would get out of this.

(Photo above of le creuset pot is always in my mind due to my indecision about going with a le creuset pot or staub pot. It's an investment and causing me to waver back and forth. This debate has been going on for some time and it's borderline ridiculous, yet I continue on.)

Some of the positive things about cooking at home are:

- you control the ingredients

- you can buy the best ingredients you can afford

- you control how fresh these ingredients are

- you clean your own ingredients so you know they are really clean

- you get to make exactly what you feel like having

- it costs less

- wine is a lot less expensive when had at home

- you don't have to leave your own home

- you are guaranteed not to be seated at a bad table, or next to a rowdy table

- you control the lighting and the music

- no waiting list to be seated

- less fear of hosting dinner parties because your skills are honed from daily practice

- you now get to frequent and obsess over stores like Williams-Sonoma or Sur la Table
My husband is going to be taking some of my pots and pans to his new camp soon and I'm thinking about what I get to replace them with. I want to make the right decision and for a while I was determined for a new set of cookware. I used to have a nice set of all-clad like this but gave most of it away to a dear friend who lost everything in Katrina. I only kept the dutch oven. Most of my pieces don't match and I've been trying to pare down my collection anyway due to my very small kitchen and limited storage. I'm now leaning toward a couple of pieces from different brands and buying only what I need instead of a huge set.

I believe it was the book Joie de Vivre by Robert Arbor that illustrated you don't need every latest kitchen gadget to be a good cook. I think he's right. I've put away my kitchen aid mixer and use a whisk, spoon or a hand mixer instead. I use knives instead of my food processor because I really hate cleaning all the parts of that beast of a machine. I'm starting to actually like performing the manual labor of chopping and grating. I like preparing things from scratch instead of buying things pre-chopped or grated for convenience (what is that white stuff on grated cheese in a bag at the store anyway).

Obviously I've gone off on a tangent here. To summarize, my intent for this post was to explain that you too can learn to love cooking at home. If I can, anyone can do it.

Butterflies and Metaphors

Above is an inspirational photo that I saved from Country Living Magazine years ago, posted for no other reason than I think it's pretty. On to the story. One day this week as I left for work, there was a pretty butterfly on the drivers side door of my car where the side window meets the door. I admired it, and thought it would fly away when I opened the door. It did not. Then I thought it would leave when I shut the door. It did not. This butterfly hung onto the car door clinging for dear life during my entire drive. I found myself talking to the butterfly to "fly away" and encouraging it to leave when I stopped, but it would not budge. It seemed to cling desperately to my car.

What was so obvious to me was that this butterfly was clinging to something that was clearly not good for it, even dangerous. It was against it's nature to cling to a surface rather than fly away and do what butterflies do. I even thought maybe the butterfly thought the car was safe and kept clinging to it because it could not see that it was no longer safe. It stayed on my car as I went into the building and I wondered if it would still be there when I left for lunch. Where is this story going, you ask?

When I went to my desk I kept thinking about the butterfly and it hit me. It reminded me of myself. There are things I cling to that are clearly not good for me, and are the opposite of my nature and personality. Some things we just keep around out of habit and because we don't know what else to do. Some of our habits need to be reconsidered as no longer useful. Without going into detail, the theme is universal and probably applies to most of us.

I guess what struck me most was this beautiful creature was not acting like the stunning butterfly that it clearly was. It was clinging to it's caterpillar past and not reaching it's true potential. When I went to my car to leave for lunch, it was gone. It made me very happy and I have been smiling a lot since then.

French Decor Books

French decor books are so inspiring. I've been checking them out at the library recently because they are not exactly inexpensive. Sometimes you can find them at large bookstores in the bargain section. I own one in particular that I really like. Provence Style of Living by Jerome Coignard. All of these photos are from this book. The bathtub above has haunted me for years. I absolutely adore the ample curtains, painted tile, carved wood, alcove and shelf area on the back. The curtain style could be easily recreated with an inexpensive fabric.

Sigh....every since my neighbor cut down the oak tree on the property line, I'm without shade in the backyard. I long for an area like these in partial shade. I've dreamed up a solution of building a pergola and growing vines up the posts and top and weaving the top slats with inexpensive matchstick bamboo like short fencing and pea gravel ground cover. Currently, it remains only a dream, but I hope to have this project finished one day. We get outdoor weather here most of the year for outside dining and the shade would be so welcome in the summer heat.

What I would not give to have this laundry room replace my scary hell hole of a laundry area. It sounds like a far away dream, but actually, a major clean out of the garage, lots of white paint, maybe even just painting the cement slab floor, and I could create something similar. Maybe? This is really simple in design and could be somewhat recreated.

This book is beautiful and the designs are really minimal. I'll have to post more photos of the bedrooms that look so peaceful and serene.

Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce

The finale of Season 3 Mad Men aired last night. It did not disappoint. I am so glad Don and Roger are friends again. Their scenes together were some of the best in Mad Men history and this spat lasted way too long. In fact, all of Don's work relationships were wrapped up last night in a good way.

Joan is back! Yes! She entered onto the scene and took control to make things run smoothly. I look forward to next season so much now that this core team is back together. I loved how they arranged the whole split and took the right people with them. I was even glad to see Pete Campbell as one of the chosen ones. I wonder if the Cosgrove and Kinsley types at Sterling Cooper will have a part in next season.

I could not have enjoyed the way this wrapped up more. I like the whole back to basics approach of the new firm. It leaves so much possibility for next season. I'm kind of glad to see Betty go in this direction. Although I have no idea what she sees in Henry Francis. I think she wanted Don to fight her on this and it was interesting when he calls her at the end and let's her go. I'm sure she will realize her mistake soon. Your thoughts?

Les Jamelles Pinot Noir

Recently I tried this sneaky good wine. I've found it locally at Whole Foods and at our neighborhood wine store, Partysist, for $10.99 a bottle. It is my new favorite go to bottle for everyday red table wine. First, it's affordable and easy to find around here. Second, it is so smooth, velvety and almost light. Juicy is the word a couple of people have used to describe this. It goes with a lot of different foods and would be a great choice if you are entertaining and need good yet affordable bottles of wine for your guests or to give as gifts for the holidays. It's an easy wine to drink with or without food.