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Good Things

written by katrina 3 Comments

Just a few items that are making me smile these days…

1. Paula Deen’s Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread, with or without nuts. We’ve been getting zucchini in our weekly CSA boxes. Lots of zucchini. We’ve grilled it, we’ve breaded it, we’ve topped it with parmesan cheese. But the truth is, the best way to eat zucchini is in the form of Zucchini Bread. It’s like a bread that’s actually a vegetable. A vegetable filled with chocolate chips. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) At this very moment, I have five zucchinis sitting in my fridge. Several of them are going to find their way into this recipe this week (I leave out the orange zest, in case you’re curious). And our freezer will be filled with yummy chocolate-vegetable-bread goodness.

2. A few months ago, I posted about my new desk, which I still love. And recently, my husband hung an awesome modular pin board above it (see my Instagram photo). I love it. I’m slowly filling it up with pictures, a monthly calendar printout, forms for school, Bible verses I want need to internalize, and anything else that needs to be displayed or kept handy. Call me weird, but several times a day, I just look at my pin board. Yes, I like it that much. I’m sure the novelty will eventually wear off, but for now, it’s one of my favorite things.

3. Sweet Tea Mio. I’ve been attempting to drink more water. I’m not always very successful, but every day, I try again. And after I get tired of “plain old water,” I turn to my stash of Sweet Tea Mio. [Mio calls itself a "Liquid Water Enhancer," which sounds a bit pretentious if you ask me, but hey, it does the job.] It’s calorie-free, but one squirt in my glass makes my water taste a tiny bit like sweet tea. (It could never compare to real sweet tea, but when you’re going for healthier…you take what you can get.) I’m sure that because it has color and flavor but no calories, it probably also has some chemicals I’d rather not know about. But perhaps it’s marginally healthier than a Diet Coke. Maybe. And it’s helping me drink more water, so it works for me.

4. The new “Ready” foundation from bareMinerals. I am not usually a person who gets excited about makeup. But this new foundation is pretty awesome. I’ve been using bareMinerals for several years because it’s light, quick to apply, and doesn’t cause breakouts (which in my opinion, shouldn’t be an issue for someone my age, but alas, it is). This new stuff is all that, and has way better coverage. It now has a permanent spot in my makeup drawer.

5. This Origami Workstation Case – for iPads and bluetooth keyboards. Confession: I love my iPad. I love using it to surf the Internet, play mindless games, read books (on my Kindle app, of course), check email and/or Facebook, and look at photos. But I’m not too crazy about typing on its virtual keyboard. I mean, it’s fine if you’re just writing a quick reply or status update. But for any serious typing (such as, for example, a blog post), it’s just not practical. I have a bluetooth keyboard that works well with the iPad, but I didn’t have a good way to set them up together while remaining super-portable — until I found this case. It holds the keyboard safely and then, when you’re ready to use it, it also converts into a stand for the iPad. Perfect for a morning at Panera. Or Starbucks. Or at the kitchen table while enjoying some Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread.

***

What recent discovery has you smiling?

Posted on September 11, 2012 and Filed Under: Food, Random Home Stuff, Tech Stuff 3 Comments

Hobby Focus, Revisited

written by katrina 12 Comments

Back near the beginning of this year, I wrote a post about my intentions to be more intentional in the area of hobbies. I talked about how I’m a dabbler, and that while there’s nothing wrong with dabbling, I thought it would be nice to devote some more focused time to a few hobbies, to dive a little deeper, to see if a hobby (or multiple hobbies) would become more of a passion — something in which I could excel.

So. How has it gone?

Very much like you might expect, if you remember that at heart, I am a dabbler.

I did choose a hobby for January and another one for February.

And I did devote more time to those hobbies than I might otherwise have done.

But…I did still feel restless, called to dip my toe into other hobby waters, discontent to stick with just one. I made progress, but not as much as I had hoped, perhaps.

January’s hobby was knitting.

The good news is, my husband got a scarf out of the whole deal, and he seems to like it very much. He wears it regularly and has told me on numerous occasions how glad he is that I made it for him. I know that if I hadn’t been very deliberate about setting aside time to knit, the scarf would never have been finished. It would still be “in progress,” and most likely sitting — in its unfinished state — next to my favorite seat on the couch.

I also made a hat for C.(13). While he thanked me and seemed pleased, I know it’s not a great hat. It was a rather plain hat (since I have rather plain skills when it comes to knitting). And my fitting and finishing abilities are greatly lacking, so it’s a little big and not the most sturdy of items.

Finally, I began a baby hat that promised to teach me a variety of knitting skills since it contains multiple panels, all done in different stitches

Notice I said I “began” a baby hat. It is unfinished. What can I say? January ended and I was on to the next hobby. I do still plan to finish the hat, but I’m not making any promises as to when.

Things I learned during my month of knitting:

  1. Knitting can be a relaxing way to spend an evening. It gets me off my laptop and is a nice way to pass the time if I’m hanging out with someone who is watching TV.
  2. I have no desire to knit large items. Afghans? No thanks. Sweaters? Nope. Any knitting I do will most likely remain small-scale: hats, scarves, etc.
  3. I do not have a deep and abiding desire to master knitting. It’s true. While I enjoyed the process and the results, I didn’t approach my knitting with zeal or excitement. I think it will remain, for me, a nice pastime, something I’m glad to know how to do, but not something I truly love.

On to February…

February’s hobby was bread-baking.

I do not have a bread machine at this time, so I divided the month between using the method from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and making sourdough bread from a starter I purchased from King Arthur Flour. The results of both approaches were yummy and satisfying. I’m growing more confident in baking with yeast (something I feared for many years), and my guys were always excited when another freshly-made loaf came out of the oven.

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Unfortunately, I like bread. A lot. And a fresh loaf is practically irresistible to me. I want nothing more than to slice it and slather it with butter. All of it. Which, as you might imagine, would not be the healthiest choice I could make. So admittedly, as the month went on, the frequency of my bread-making lagged a bit. But only because I was trying to make wiser food choices…and sometimes that required me to not make bread.

Things I learned from my month of bread-baking:

  1. I genuinely enjoy baking. I knew this before, but this month of extra baking just reinforced it. I definitely get more fulfillment from a loaf of bread than from a knitted baby hat. Don’t ask me why; I just do.
  2. Baking with yeast isn’t so bad. Yeast doughs can be a bit temperamental, but if I don’t get hung up on precise times and volumes and doubling and so on, and just work with the dough a bit more…I can still get very good results.
  3. I think my guys prefer bread to knitted products as well.

March is just around the corner. So what is next for me?

It’s an aspect of the hobby I kept dabbling in during January and February (while I was supposed to be focused on knitting and baking): Photography. I haven’t been able to put my camera down. One reason is because I’ve committed to doing a “picture a day” scrapbook again this year. But another reason is that I really do want to improve my photography skills. It’s something that interests me, appeals to my detail-oriented nature, and allows me to better capture life with my favorite people.

I’ve already taken an online class in basic photography, so in March, I’m going to explore “post processing” a bit. In other words, I’m going to learn more about how to use Photoshop to enhance the color, white balance, contrast, etc. in the photos I take. I must admit, I’m rather excited.

Maybe this hobby — the one that’s been calling to me so far this year — will be the one I settle in with and stay with for a while. We’ll see.

Posted on February 28, 2012 and Filed Under: Craftiness, Everyday Life, Food, Photography 12 Comments

Casserole Wars

written by katrina 12 Comments

No, I am not using this post’s title to refer to a new show on Food Network.

Instead, I am referring to a quiet little war that brews in our house.

It’s a battle between me and my five-year-old.

Here’s the breakdown:

I like making the occasional casserole. I like casseroles because they typically require few pots, pans, and baking dishes (i.e., less clean-up for the win). I like them because they make it easy to sneak veggies onto my kids’ plates. I like them because, while there is great variety in the world of casseroles, they rarely require fancy cooking techniques, and they fit into busy mom-life pretty nicely. Easy to make ahead, easy to store as leftovers. Basically, the benefit list is long.

L., my five-year-old, adamantly dislikes casseroles. I can’t seem to get a straight answer out of him as to exactly why he doesn’t like casseroles. I know it’s not the veggies — he’ll often happily eat whatever veggies I serve. And I don’t think it’s related to the flavors — I try to keep things tasty without being “too adventurous.”

To be honest, I think it has something to do with the fact that in a casserole, all the food is combined into one dish.

L. prefers to have the different parts of his meal — the meat, the veggies, the additional starch or other items — to be conspiciously separated upon his plate. No touching allowed!

And in a casserole…it’s all touching. It’s all intermingled. Quite simply, it’s impossible to separate.

As a result, L. is not pleased.

We’ve fallen into a routine wherein I make a casserole every couple weeks — after days and days of doing the whole “food conspicously separated upon the plate” type of meals. The thing is, 3/4ths of the people who live here actually like the casseroles I make, so I’m not prepared to just give them up because of a certain kid’s food preferences. And yet, despite the fact that we only put very small amounts of the food/casserole on L.’s plate, and despite the fact that the casseroles are so rare, and despite the fact that I truly try to make the meals kid-friendly…L. is still not pleased.

He knows better than to complain loudly about food Mom prepares. But if you could see the look on his face — the look of sadness and distaste and do-I-really-have-to-eat-this-horribly-combined-food — you would see that my attempts at converting him to a casserole-lover are failing.

L.’s preschool teacher has been wonderful about encouraging the kids to try new foods, or even old foods that they think they don’t like. She tells them that tastes change as kids grow, and even if they don’t like something the first time…or the second…or even the third…well, who knows? Maybe they’ll love it the 15th time they try it!

Now, if we tried to explain this same principle to L., he wouldn’t believe us. But he does seem to believe his teacher.

In fact, just last week, L. gave Tomato Soup another try (soup is another “not-so-great” food in L.’s book). After finishing an entire [tiny] bowl of soup, he admitted that this time was definitely better than the last time he tried tomato soup (“Last time I felt like throwing up after I ate it; this time I didn’t.”) See? Improvement.

So I guess I’ll just keep making the occasional casserole, despite any looks of horror they might inspire, and hope that next time…or the time after that…or maybe in the year 2019, L. will finally look at me and say, “You know what? That casserole wasn’t so bad.”

Posted on February 27, 2012 and Filed Under: Family, Food 12 Comments

Hobby Focus

written by katrina 19 Comments

I didn’t really make any New Year’s Resolutions this year. In part, because we were traveling on December 30th & 31st, and I just didn’t have the time to get alone, sit quietly, and articulate my hopes and goals for the coming year before January 1st struck. And in part because I’m not convinced that I do a very good job with New Years Resolutions.

Don’t get me wrong — I can’t help but approach a new year with that “fresh slate” feeling, full of dreams and ideas of how things might look if I would make some key changes and commitments. But sometimes, when I write out grand-sounding “Resolutions,” I become rather all-or-nothing about them. And then, somewhere around January 20th or February 17th or April 5th…when it becomes apparent that I have not attained the goals I was shooting for, I tend to give up completely.

So this year, rather than a list of resolutions, my approach is simply to implement a few small changes in a couple areas.

One of those areas is my lifelong tendency to dabble.

The truth: I am a dabbler.

I love to research and I genuinely enjoy attempting new things that intrigue me. But it seems that I often jump from one thing to another, especially in the realm of hobbies. I learn just enough to feel like I’ve made progress and then it’s on to the next thing. I end up feeling a bit like a “jack of all trades, master of none” when it comes to hobbies.

Some things I’ve dabbled in:

  • knitting (I believe I’ve completed about 3 items — all baby hats)
  • sewing (one pair of pajama pants and one backpack completed)
  • photography (took a photography class and played around)
  • baking bread (one fall season of learning, er…attempting, to bake bread)
  • computer programming (barely stuck my toe in the water there)
  • writing (wrote magazine articles ages ago…then let it go)
  • learning Adobe Illustrator (lots of playing around, but little lasting knowledge)
  • gardening (one summer wherein I was mostly defeated by the local bunnies)

While each of these little hobbies have been enjoyable in their own ways, I regret that I haven’t stuck with any of them long-term. I don’t regret the time I’ve spent with them — they are all good skills to have.

But I decided that this year, I want to spend some time going a little deeper in a few of them. I want to bring a bit more focus to my hobbying.

What am I hoping to gain?

First, I’m hoping to become a bit more proficient in a few hobbies. I don’t need to be a professional, but it would be nice to feel some level competency in the things I really enjoy.

Second, I want to discover which of those hobbies I would truly enjoy long-term. I believe that along the way, I might realize that some of them were nice to learn, but I don’t want to invest hours and hours into them over the long haul.

And third, I might come to the conclusion that for me, hobby dabbling is just more fun. And that’s okay too.

But for now, I’ve decided that each month, I’ll focus more deeply than usual on one of my hobbies. I’ve given myself permission to continue with a hobby for multiple months if I end up having tons of fun with it. But the bottom line is that I want to dedicate a good chunk of time to one hobby each month.

January’s hobby?

Knitting.

My husband, Chad, had asked for a knitted scarf for Christmas. Since he made the request in December, you might well imagine that…well…it didn’t exactly happen in time for Christmas. But we still have a few cold months left, so I dove into knitting last week:

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I finished the scarf last night, but don’t have a picture of the final product to show you. However, Chad is very pleased with it. And I’m pleased that I have another project, and some more knitting experience under my belt. Now on to the next knitting project!

How do you approach hobbies? Are you a dabbler like me, or do you have a few that you remain committed to?

Posted on January 9, 2012 and Filed Under: Everyday Life, Random Home Stuff 19 Comments

Turkey Trepidation

written by katrina 6 Comments

So.

I have not made many turkeys in my life.

I think the grand total is 2.

For the vast majority of my 30-some years, we had Thanksgiving dinner at either my mom’s or my in-laws’. Both my mother and mother-in-law are very good cooks, and I usually showed up with some kind of side dish or dessert, feasted on all the delicious preparations, and didn’t think beyond that happy little routine.

Those two turkeys I mentioned above? One year we found ourselves having a quiet Thanksgiving, just the three of us (this was before L.(5) was born, obviously). I bought one of those turkey oven bags and just followed the directions. The turkey was “fine,” but nothing special. Another year, we ended up just having my mom over. Chad and I attempted the famous Alton Brown turkey. While it was good, it seemed that the stoneware pan we used (as opposed to the metal sheet pan called for) didn’t cook the underside of the turkey enough (a fact we didn’t discover until the carving process was just about done). No one got food poisoning, but I was more than a little nervous.

In recent years, my in-laws have taken to spending the cold months in a warmer climate, and we often don’t see them until Christmas draws them back home. And with my extended family growing, if we’re spending Thanksgiving with my side of the family, it makes sense for us to host the gathering. Which is no problem at all…except that the turkey-prep usually falls to the hostess.

Let me interject that I know my mom would be more than happy to come to our house early on Thanksgiving to prepare the bird and start the roasting process. But I want her to be able to enjoy a leisurely day.

And besides. It’s about time I learned to cook a yummy turkey, don’t you think?

So a couple weeks ago, I began my search for The Perfect — And Also Foolproof — Roasted Turkey Recipe.

I wanted one that was, naturally, delicious. A little different. Easy. And did I mention foolproof? I’m not bad when it comes to baking, but my cooking skills are just mediocre.

Finally, I settled on this one: Maple-Roasted Turkey with Sage, Smoked Bacon, and Cornbread Stuffing.

Here’s why:

A) It got a lot — a whole lot — of five-star reviews, many of which mention easiness, differentness, and yumminess (see above).

B) It involves bacon. And let’s face it: Even if everything else goes completely wrong, bacon can make things better. Right? That’s what I’m counting on.

So as I type this post, there is a turkey thawing in my refrigerator, sage growing on my windowsill, bacon chilling in the fridge, and more fixin’s for a Thanksgiving dinner stashed in random places throughout my kitchen.

Here’s hoping everything goes well!

Do you have a foolproof turkey recipe? Are you chief turkey-maker in your family or does that job fall to someone else?

Posted on November 22, 2011 and Filed Under: Food 6 Comments
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