Pepper Jack and Onion Stuffed Mini-Burgers.

My friend Clay bought 1/8 of a cow his sister raised and slaughtered. He gave me 1 of his 25 #s of ground beef and today I used it to make mini burgers stuffed with onions and pepper jack cheese.

HOLY YUM.

PS – I'm missing my brother today.

Chris Payne - Asylum.

My friend Ruth turned me on to this photographer Chris Payne and his Asylum images a couple weeks ago. The colors are amazing. I really love old, abandoned buildings so much for some reason. This is a room of old file boxes...

I think the peeling paint is beautiful... some of the details in the architecture, amazing. This marble staircase...

And these Eames chairs kill me. What a collection of colorful seating in this abandoned autopsy auditorium. You could design a whole house based on the color palette of the chairs alone. I'd love to raid a place like this to see what I might find.

Isn't this bathtub so Girl, Interrupted? All these pictures are so creepy, but beautiful. They evoke an almost physical response in me.

So, it was an odd coincidence to see this next one hanging in my boss' house at a party last weekend. Her's was by David S. Alee. Two different artists, but capturing very similar images – of asylums as the subject. Apparently they photoshop'd a gurney out of this one, as it was off-putting to potential buyers, which I find a shame. If I remember correctly, this was a pharmacy.

The central glare is from my camera flash, but on my computer at least, the rest of the colors are pretty true. Oddly pretty and interesting.

I need to be doing this.

On a pool deck so hot it almost hurts to lay down. For hours. So my skin is still warm even after the sunlight starts to fade and we're firing up the grill.

Image by and via Freckle Farm.

Cinco (Ocho) de Mayo.

Went to the annual Cinco de Mayo party at Kris and Eric's last night. I have a really nice hibiscus margarita headache to prove it. I don't think I should have had 45 of them. But they were so good. Eric cooked the entire meal from scratch while we watched, which is a huge part of why this party is so fun.


THE MENU
Three salsas: A tomatillo, a pickled chipotle, and a pacilla pepper.
Guacamole
Cucumber Salad
Cactus Salad
Poblanos & Cream
Tacos: Vanilla Shrimp, Skirt Steak, Tongue

Habiscus and Guava Margaritas
Carte Blanca

Dessert: Guava sorbet and Chocolate Chipotle ice cream

A super highlight were the fresh handmade tortillas Katy and Steve picked up from La Cabanita on our way there. They came raw and Steve fried them up as we were eating. I never want to eat a tortilla that is not like this ever again. YUM.

Another real treat was this Poblanos & Cream (+ white onions). He roasted the poblanos on the burners on the stove, sliced them and sauteed with onion, then added this cream that is like sour cream but way thicker and less "sour". So good.

This vanilla shrimp was also very good. I had never seen vanilla paste before. And the skirt steak was perfect.

I took pictures* but couldn't bring myself to post the tongue. I've never seen anyone slice a 3 lb. tongue into patties before, or watched it get cooked up on a grill. It tasted very good, with more flavor even than the steak, but I can't get the sensation of the texture of it out of my mouth. I am feeling it in my teeth right now as I write this. Then there's the visual of what it looked like as it was prepped, which was equally fascinating (I couldn't stop looking) and vile (and turning away in disgust).

Loved the spicy chocolate ice cream, and the chunks of sugary Mexican chocolate it was made from.

*You can see more pics, including the tongue, on my Flickr.

Pouring down rain.

It's storming like crazy. Finally. It's been brewing for the past 6 hours. My plants must be so happy. I love it when the house shakes with a thunder and then everything lights up.

Weekend plans.

These are some nice brushes. They remind me of a book I read once about a painter who was so particular about her brushes she wouldn't even let her assistant touch them. At the time I was like, That's obsessive? They're just brushes? But now I sort of get it. I've had the majority of my brushes since college, and I have definite favorites. Some of them are starting to fall apart. The ones I really love are sort of irreplaceable? Like really broken in tennis shoes or blue jeans.

Anyway, this image makes me happy. I really need to do something creative that's not done on the computer. It might be cleaning out the garage and rehauling the studio. I feel the need for a major purge and reorganization. I also really need to nap in the hammock. After I mow the lawn. I love laying there smelling the freshly cut grass.

Image by The Mountain Label, via A Thing For, via Lobster & Swan.

Love. Love. Love.

I see interiors all over the worldwide daily that I admire and am inspired by, but this one breaks my heart. The walls... The floors... The doorknobs... The fireplaces... And this bedroom! I mean it, this bedroom literally makes my heart ache.

And of course I'm sure it's in Italy. It doesn't say it is, but it is right? Just to make it that much more – what? – impossibly incredible? I can't take it.

Images from B&B Italia - Maxalto via Solid Frog. Coincidentally, I work right above Maxalto, which might make it pretty easy to get my hands on a catalog... like, tomorrow.

An odd overlap.

I know I've mentioned Crossfit over here in passing before, but I got a nice surprise when I looked up the workout on my gym's website today. These pictures of Emily.

Am I crazy or are they pretty beautiful?

These to me look very quiet and peaceful. The lighting with the early morning sunrise, the solitary act of the exercise, the graceful positioning of the body right down to the toes? The stocking feet match the time of day and make it feel even more like she's in pajamas and just woke up, yawning – an incredible contrast to the almost invisible physical exertion going on in real life. I also quite like then seeing the hard edges and true "weight" of the barbells on the floor, that you almost miss while busy looking at the seemingly weightless, floating figure above them.

Is it just me? I'm trying to find out who took these and then I'll give appropriate credit.

Things happening in my yard right now.

Daffodils planted in the front yard? A bit of a disappointment. Of the 80 I put out 40/40 over the past two years, who knew that so many would come back without a blossom? I refuse to hate on them tho, because the ones that showed up were THIS PRETTY!

Backyard is another story and where I spent my time this weekend. (I think that thermometer in the direct sun was reading about 80º. It was really about 65º).

It's so Spring-y here this year. Everything is blooming and not getting destroyed by rain in the process. Like these little delicate blossoms...


And all this shaded green stuff... I swear someone is making up for last year. And it's happening so significantly in the past few weeks, I honestly feel we're making up for lost time. In my opinion, last year was such a drag weather-wise that we've practically already made up for it in nice days.

I feel like we are in for an incredible Spring/Summer season. Surely this tree outside my bedroom window is optomistic!

My Mom Does It.

Click any image to enlarge.

Just before I went down to my parent's for Easter, Lisa over at A Bloomsbury Life did a post on A Well-Layered Room. My Mom totally does this. So while I was there, I snapped shots of a couple rooms. She does it outside too, as you can see above (dang those redbuds are pretty!). I regret not getting the family of stone rabbits on the shelf under the grill. Oh well... here's her sun porch. Note the collection of McCoy pottery in the shadows on the shelf above the windows.


And next a kind of overall shot of the living room, kitchen table, and hints of the kitchen. There are endless things to look at everywhere you glance. This style is not for everyone I know, but she has a definite knack for putting a room, full of little vignettes, together. (I'm not sure if you can see it – click to enlarge – but the wall to the right in the kitchen? She even hand painted a plaid pattern on it).

Here she is playing solitaire... with original, beautiful and personal stuff all around her.

I mean, this is her LAUNDRY room, where I'm pretty sure she pretends to "work" but doesn't really.


I swear this stuff is basically in storage, waiting to be rotated into the main living areas when their time comes, but still, it's set up like this in this little room no one even sees.

Not to be outdone, my Dad actually even does this in the garage. This is in case he, or anyone he knows, doesn't have time to make it to the local Wal-Mart and finds themselves in a fishing "emergency". The other side of this wall is likewise full, and there is another whole wall like it I didn't photograph. Behind it you might notice meticulously organized tools underneath a valance of fishing lures, and it's surrounded by collections of maps, baseball hats, and stacks of outdoor/fishing/golf magazines – all at your disposal in case you "need" them.

These 'collections' are ways I find that make a house a home. Rotating them around your living areas to look at every day is a wonderful way to express yourself, your passions, and to keep life interesting. At least, I think so.

Baby Girl Piglet.

For Jr. & Jess's little girl.

Go-to Pasta.

I made this one up. I can't remember if I've ever talked about the love I've had for sausages lately (or over the past year and a half). Just writing that sentence makes me think probably not because I can't get over the concept of how saying I'm loving sausages sounds. Whatever. I'm over it. When I go the AMICI Italian Market, I can't NOT get the Sicilian Sausages. Last time I got four, and froze them in sets of two. Because undoubtedly I need to make this recipe at least once a month. Normally when I'm making this, I use spicy Italian turkey sausage. That is of course unless I'm splurging on these Sicilians. They are outta this world.

So last night after a week of attempting to eat Paleo, the big reward (even though I'd had a few cheats along the way) was some really rich, really decadent pasta for dinner. My pasta go-to. Normally I break up the sausage out of the casing and brown it first. But while it was thawing, I started with the vegetables. A red onion, a green pepper, and a red and/or yellow pepper (or in this case, what I had left of the red and yellow pepper slices in the fridge). You can totally scale this up or down, with more or less of any of these ingredients, depending on how much you want to make.

Slice these up and cook them in olive oil over a medium-low heat until they are brown and sorta caramelized. Soft, not crisp. I do this on a low enough heat that I can leave the stove for 10 minutes at a time and then return to stir them up. It takes me about 30 minutes to get the effect this way. Set aside.

In the same pan, squeeze the sausage out of the casing and brown the bite-sized pieces. About 5-10 minutes. (See those red pepper bits? You don't get these with Jenny-O turkey sausage. This is the Sicilian version).

Return the vegetables to the pan and mix them all together with the sausage.

Add the sauce. This is where I totally cheat, and I don't feel bad about it one bit. I use sauce from a JAR! Seriously, my favorite is the house brand Arrabbiata from Safeway. No kidding. If you can get your hands on this I highly recommend it as my favorite jarred sauce, but really, just use your favorite sauce from a jar. Add enough that the sauce-to-meat/vegetables consistency is to your liking.

You can stop there and add your pasta, but if you want to go all out, add some heavy cream or half/half. Again to your liking for color/consistency.

Then add your favorite cooked pasta. I prefer rigatoni or linguini. Top with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Voila. Better – or comparable to – anything you could get in a restaurant. (In my humble opinion).

Around the World Wide.

This one moved me.

More here.

Via Even Cleveland.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

St. Patrick's is one of those holidays kinda like New Year's and Halloween that really does nothing for me. I do love that it's celebrated so enthusiastically every year for at least a week by the people who love it.

Would you get a load of these three kids? They are the sons of friends of mine and I got this card in the mail yesterday. I go around and around and around the picture – they are all my favorite!

(And they're standing right in front of my building).

Things are growing!

Now that I have my own yard, I think I've developed a true love of Spring – previously for me a rather ho-hum season. Mostly because it always ticks me off that it takes so long for it to get HOT out once we see the forest thru the trees and a subtle end to winter.

Seeing these things growing helps me tremendously.

I definitely think it will still snow, and our temperatures in the 50s will suddenly plummet again below freezing. But signs like this give me hope. I LOVE that "new green" color. And when the dead branches on things in the back yard finally bud, after looking like it's impossible for them to do so for so long, my heart might swell and burst with joy.

For now, I can look forward to the day when, long before we hit 80º, the 80 daffodils in my front yard sway their golden heads in the breeze. Good times.