by Krista | May 17, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
Happy Monday, dear ones! How was your weekend? You inspired me with your “simple pleasures” on Friday, and I hope you each found time to indulge in at least one thing that made you happy.
My weekend was a lovely hodgepodge of solitude and company, sunshine and gray skies, rest and hustle.
Friday night was grand fun with a jolly Classic Movie Night with a gang of dear friends. We popped corn and settled in to watch that hilarious John Wayne classic, “The Quiet Man.” I grinned all over again when I found this collection of Memorable Quotes from the movie.
Saturday dawned gloriously sunny and I slept in luxuriously. The rest of the day was spent with beloved rellies. We had such fun exploring our favorite discount stores and emerging with all sorts of treasures. I was especially excited about all the new herbs, soil, and containers I found, and had such fun expanding my little garden with English thyme, variegated sage, spearmint and all sorts of lettuces.
I kept my food simple but delicious this weekend, drawing from my herb garden for inspiration. With fresh basil and gorgeous tomatoes at hand, I could think of nothing better than grainy bread spread with pesto and topped with diced tomatoes tossed with garlic, olive oil, and sea salt. Mmm. 🙂
I was tempted to be overwhelmed today, my mind racing with all the things on my to-do list, but decided that stressing out was not a good option. So I thought through everything and reckoned that papers could be sorted another day, vacuuming could wait, and learning how to use Adobe Elements could definitely be bumped down the list. Instead I had a beautiful day of puttering: cooking interesting things for my lunches, reading a good book in a puddle of sunshine on my bed, taking a nap on the creek bank. It was just what I needed and I feel ready to face a new week with a rested, happy me.
What is one thing you’re looking forward to this week, luvs?
by Krista | May 14, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
Hello dear ones! I’ve truly missed you these last few days as I’ve scrambled to put together a semblance of a blog after much fuss and bother with my last one. There is still work to be done, but I’m so happy to have a place to put down my blog roots for a good, long while.
How have you been? How was your week? Are you so excited for the weekend?
With so much craziness in my life this week, I’ve been delighting in very simple pleasures: reading on the creek bank, one foil-wrapped Dove dark chocolate each evening, and, on a particularly beautiful day, a stroll in the woods.
I love the above trail so much. 🙂 I felt sure that it would lead somewhere quite delightful if only I had time to follow it.
I think this branch got blown down in one of our recent windstorms, but isn’t it lovely against the green?
Wildflowers were everywhere! Teensy tiny ones carpeting the forest floor and clinging to the banks of the stream. These little ones are so perky, aren’t they?
My happiness with simple things has extended to my food as well. I was too tired to muster up anything exotic, so I took a cue from Tracy at
Amuse-Bouche for Two, and turned to wine and pasta. Tracy waxes poetic about pasta, rendering it so dreamy and wonderful that I simply had to see what all the fuss was about. A glass of chilled Aussie white was the perfect accompaniment…
…to simple whole wheat thin spaghetti dressed with pesto, fresh tomatoes, and basil from my garden.
What simple things are delighting you this week, my friends?
by Krista | May 14, 2010 | Bits 'n' Bobs
Good evening, dear ones!! I’m in the process of transitioning to a new blog, fumbling and fussing as I go. Yipes! This is just a little test to see if everything is posting smoothly. I will be back tomorrow with a real post. Sleep tight!!
by Krista | May 11, 2010 | Spring
After our hair-raising adventure just over the border into Bosnia, we were delighted to find our road emerge into gentle, rolling hills, some smooth with closely nibbled pasture, others carpeted with thick forests. I was glued to my window, scarcely wanting to blink lest I miss some beauty of this amazing country.
I delighted in the dome-shaped haystacks, shepherds prodding their sheep, children romping in the grass with their dog. I wanted to pull over at every home, magically be able to speak Bosnian, and sit and talk for hours learning about their family and national history. But I couldn’t. All I could do was smile, wave at cute little kids strolling along the highway with sticks over their shoulders, and grin at the dapper old men taking the air in flannel trousers, blazers and hats.
My heart lurched as I saw hillsides covered, absolutely covered in headstones, both Muslim and Christian, women clad in black carrying armloads of flowers. I know every town has a cemetery, but usually the stones are old, covered in lichen, almost hidden by grass, a few new ones noticeable by their glossy marble and fresh flowers.
But not here. Here they gleamed, almost has if they had been erected yesterday. Row upon row of white crosses and black marble pillars. Hundreds of them in tiny mountain towns. My heart ached for the intensity of their loss.
Even as I soberly reflected on the devastation war has wrought on this place, we turned a corner and my heart again lurched, but this time for joy. A jewel of a lake tucked between forested hills, glistening and still, exquisitely reflecting everything around it. We pulled over and just stood there, staring, drinking in the peaceful beautiful of this unexpected place. After a bit some of us clambered down the bank, squelching our way through marshy grasses accompanied by the deafening chorus of thousands of frogs singing their hearts out. We couldn’t see them, but we heard them, and smiled. 🙂
by Krista | May 10, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
A Washington summer is so beautiful, so exquisitely clear and sunny and green, that we happily (cough, cough) endure months of dreary winter rains and the random hail storms of spring. This weekend brought those glorious sunshiny days at long last. I unpacked my sundresses and wore sandals for the very first time this year, my nose and shoulders are sunburned and I feel absolutely wonderful. 🙂
It was so good to have my friends here for a couple of days. We spent many a happy hour on a blanket by the creek, the sun beaming down upon us as the water gurgled by and the wind shushed through the trees. We sipped water and ate strawberries and talked of writing and cooking, travel and good books, drawing and treasure hunting in junk stores. It’s so fun dreaming and scheming with kindred spirits. 🙂
This morning we had brunch as we waited for the sun to rise over the trees and flood the meadow with sunny warmth. We had French toast made with fresh French bread from the Dutch bakery in town, slathered with extra thick sour cream, topped with super ripe strawberries, and drizzled with Dutch syrup I brought back from Amsterdam.
Mmmm, SO good, especially accompanied by salty slices of toasted prosciutto.
After they left, I sat down with some Cheetos and dark chocolate and stared out the window for a while, processing our talks. These friends inspire me, challenge me, empathize with my freak out moments, laugh at my EUREKA! ones, and draw out talents and dreams I didn’t even know were there. I’m so grateful for good friends today. 🙂
What are you grateful for, dear folks?
French Toast Krista Style
1 loaf French bread, sliced thickly
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups fresh strawberries, washed and sliced
1 bottle real maple syrup or Dutch syrup
Directions:
- In shallow, wide bowl mix eggs, milk and cinnamon until egg is well incorporated.
- Quickly dip both sides of one slice of bread in mixture and place in well-buttered skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook 1-2 minutes each side until nicely browned. Repeat until all slices are cooked.
- Spread French toast generously with sour cream, top with strawberries, drizzle with syrup and eat heartily.
Toasted Prosciutto
Ingredients:
Prosciutto, sliced thinly
Directions:
- Turn on broiler.
- Place prosciutto slices on cookie sheet. Place under broiler for 2-3 minutes until edges begin to curl. WATCH CAREFULLY.
- Remove from oven and flip prosciutto slices.
- Broil another 2-3 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove immediately and serve.
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