a trip to the high desert

This weekend we went on an overnight visit to the high desert. Why? Just for fun. Probably it's more typical to travel in the opposite direction for a little getaway, but it's fun to see a different locale. And the desert is beautiful it its own way. I was amazed at the lack of green and color. It was cold there too. Here are a few photos from the trip.
We could see snow on the distant mountains from the recent rains.

Dieter was thrilled to find this on the ground.
We ate a a burger place called Tom's. It's a chain that is apparently only in the desert cities of Southern California.

It was really fun! We had yummy burgers and zucchini fries.
We visited the the exotic feline preserve in Rosamond. It was really rather creepy seeing so many big and exotic cats in such small cages. Definitely interesting though.
They had a whole bunch of peacocks roaming the grounds too.
We finished the day at the playground in Lancaster. The boys loved it!

The temperature was in the low 50's and windy. Finally Rainer agreed to wear a jacket (Dieter has a luscious new jacket I got on sale from Hanna and he refused to wear it all weekend. I love to see a child appropriately dressed for the cold, but on the other hand it's not worth a major battle either. He insisted he was not cold).

This trip was one of those "we can have fun in less than ideal circumstances" situations. We specifically wanted to stay in a hotel with a hot tub/spa and we got there and it was broken (there was a heated pool, but it was not the same--being outdoors in the cold and all). We tried to go to a children's museum in Lancaster and it was not only closed but gone altogether. That sort of thing went on, but still it was fun being together and having an adventure. What was your favorite part of the weekend?

Please scroll down for the giveaway winner. Thank you so much, all of you, for your sweet response to my little giveaway and for all your kind words and interesting questions. I'll be getting back to you on those!

giveaway winner!

{winter roses}

I used "random.org" again to select my giveaway winner, and the winner it chose is #72--Its_Lily! Lily said, "So that's how you do a giveaway. Cool! I've got something I wanted to give to, but now I'll add some great items to go with it and just post it out there. Thanks for sharing this.!

Congratulations, Lily! Please e-mail me at saltandchocolate (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know where to send your parcel!

recipe favorites: peanut noodles

Thanks so much for the nice response to my giveaway, everyone! What nice comments and questions. I'll get back to you on the answers to your queries--that will be fun.

Continuing with my "recipe favorites" series (recipes to coax me out of my cooking rut) here is a yummy peanut noodles dish that is quick and tasty. Nutritious, too. Plus, it is super family friendly. Everyone likes this, even the little boys (maybe especially the little boys. I remember one round of Rainer's chemo when he wanted to eat tons of this). Faith and I have big plans to make this vegetarian by frying up some tofu cubes until they are nice and golden and subbing those in for the chicken. We've also contemplated increasing the amount of noodles (because we tend to get left at the end with just meat and vegetables). I've posted this before, but life is repetitive, right? And so are our dinners sometimes (which, when you think about it, is actually quite homey and comforting).

Peanut Noodles with Shredded Chicken and Vegetables

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ c. smooth natural peanut butter
2 T. reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 t. minced garlic
1 ½ t. chile-garlic sauce, or to taste
1 t. minced fresh ginger
8 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti
1 12-ounce bag fresh vegetable medley for stir-fry (broccoli, carrots, and snow peas) [or just buy some broccoli, snow peas and carrots and cut them up, which is what we did last time, although that pre-cut bag can be very handy . . .]

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil for cooking pasta.
2. Meanwhile, place chicken in a skillet or saucepan and add enough water to cover; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, shred into bite-size strips.
3. Whisk peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, chile-garlic sauce and ginger in a large bowl.
4. Cook pasta in the boiling water until not quite tender, about 1 minute less than specified in the package directions. Add vegetables and cook until the pasta and vegetables are just tender, 1 minute more. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Rinse the pasta and vegetables with cool water to refresh. Stir the reserved cooking liquid into the peanut sauce; add the pasta, vegetables, and chicken; toss well to coat. Serve warm or chilled.

The giveaway is still open, until Sunday night, so feel free to enter (only once, of course;).

because giveaways are fun

I decided to do a little giveaway to celebrate my third blogoversary (coming up next month) and also having 200+ followers (which is amazing to me--thank you! It's so fun to think that people are out there reading my little blog, which certainly was not the case when I started it!) Plus, giveaways are just fun. I really get a kick out of packaging up and mailing off a little parcel of goodies to someone who maybe loves homesewn goodness as much as I do.
So here is what you get (if you are the winner): a linen drawstring sack with a log cabin-ish heart and patchwork drawstrings (which actually are a little clunky to draw up but they are cute). This is a little bag for transporting your Valentines and chocolate hearts to work or school.
This book. I think my mom thrifted this for me awhile back, but it's a duplicate copy of what is contained in a larger volume that I own. I always browse through this each year for Valentine inspiration.
A very dark chocolate bar. I became interested in super-dark chocolate after reading Nina Planck's book. She mentioned cutting way back on sugar and weaning herself from regular dark chocolate to the 85% cocoa stuff. It's actually much better than you might think! And very heart healthy, of course.
A set of 6 of my photo postcards in a cloth pouch. I'm finding I really like the informality of a flat card instead of a folded one.
Okay, so that's it! To enter the drawing, just leave a comment on this post. Maybe ask me a question if you want (which I would try to answer in a future post), or I'd love to hear what you like about my blog or which type of posts you like. Or you can just say hello, of course. I heartily thank all of you who read my blog, comment, or send e-mails. I love love love the feeling of connection and belonging that blogging has brought to my life. I do wish I could send all of you a cheery parcel.

I'll keep the comments open through the weekend and draw the winner Sunday night. Good luck!

the happiness project

{the happiness project grouped with two other books that are making me happy right now: apples for jam and the grand central baking book}

I'm a pretty happy person, I think, but nevertheless, I'm so attracted to happiness research and happiness articles of all kinds--you know, things like the keys to happiness, what all happy people have in common, and that sort of thing. I do like to peek in on Gretchen Rubin's blog once in awhile, but I was particularly interested in her book, in which she details her year spent testing happiness theories both old and new. I preordered it and was thrilled when in arrived around the new year (good timing, don't you think?).

I love this book! I read it quickly through because it was so darn interesting, but fully intend to go back another time--soon--and really absorb some of the stuff she has in there. There is a lot--from historical perspectives on happiness up to modern day research--and it is all fascinating. But what is most fascinating to me is all the personal stuff Gretchen shares with us about her year of testing the happiness theories and her personal successes and challenges with it.

Some of the interesting things I relished:
::she talks about realizing that her daughter will probably enjoy what she has more and be happier with what she has if she, Gretchen, holds back and buys her less. (She gives a specific example about a book of optical illusions that her daughter was enjoying very much and realizing that it was best not to dilute the pleasure by buying more of the same types of books). This really resonated with me--as mothers we want to buy more of what our children like, but I think it is not for the best!
::Gretchen is super-honest in identifying some of her personal "flaws" or difficulties. I loved that! She talked about how very hard it is for her, in conversation, not to challenge, contradict, disprove, or "one-up" the person she is talking to. It was fascinating to me, because I am just the opposite. How interesting it was to hear the other perspective! She concludes, though, that it is better for her to avoid those tendencies and let the other person talk. Later, I was able to identify some of the negativity in my own talk and I am really working on eliminating it!
::she talks about eliminating "fake food" as one of her goals. I was fascinated by what she counted as "fake" and what she still feels okay with. For example, she eliminated foods in "crinkly packages" like pretzels and low-fat brownies, but kept Diet Coke and sprinkled her salads with artificial sweetner. I found that little contradiction delightfully human. I'd say her "down to earthness" is what makes this book so special.

I loved Gretchin's system of checklists and resolutions charts that she used to organize her project. I want to plan a similar project for myself (as she encourages us all to do) starting in March, after I get my resolutions and charts together. These ideas, and some others, will be on my lists.

Have you read the book? I'd love to hear how you liked it.

Oh, and also? Making me happy right now: my i-photo program is fixed and all my photos have been recovered. Hooray! Thanks to the lovely Apple phone support.

17

Ben will be 17 on Wednesday. We celebrated over the weekend with his favorite meal of sausage linguine plus cake and presents.
This reminds me of the same scene last year.


A special congratulations to Ben for receiving his driver's license today. We are so proud of you Ben! Happy Birthday!

(On a technical note I'm having more trouble with i-photo. All my photos have disappeared now! And no, they are not backed up. It makes me feel like getting my priorities straight, ya know? Feeling so sick and crestfallen about lost photos makes me feel like a spoiled baby.)

And thanks so much for all your messages about your wintry weather, wherever you are. It was really fun to read through everyone's scenarios. I amazed at how many have snow!

snow alternative

(Ugh! I just lost my entire weekend's photos when they didn't upload properly from the camera and I just spent the last 40 minutes hunting around for them. Here they are--many of them, anyway. I need to mellow out now by staring at these soothing images!)

We intended to go to the snow Saturday. After our rainy week it seemed like the perfect time to head for the mountains and a little snowy escape, but alas, the roads were closed. Instead, we stayed very local and went for a hike on the riverbottom and how lovely it was! Crisp and blue. A perfect Saturday morning.
As I snapped this photo I was thinking how nice it is that the little boys can hike on their own now and not have to be carried. A minute later poor Rainer did a faceplant right into the dirt. Poor little guy! He was walking with his hands in his pockets and couldn't cushion his fall at all. After that, we carried him quite a bit! (And held hands).
It was fun finding winter color.
And seeing water in the river was wonderful. It's been so very dry these last few years. It has been a treat to get some rain!
I love this wintery view.

The boys had a fabulous time throwing rocks into the water.
I loved the sound of it too.

Ken packed us a little snack. It was a great little winter hike. What is your wintery landscape like right now?

recipe favorites: steak pie

This is anything but a quick and easy weeknight meal (it's exactly the opposite in fact), but there is something to be said for cooking a homey, time consuming, special and delicious something to get one back into the cooking mood. This is the second time I've made this pie and it is so very yummy. (You can see last year's pie here). This is the steak pie from Apples for Jam. I'm very enamored of it and will probably make it every winter now. I did make a few notes for myself for next year, which I'll share with you now. Next year I'll start much earlier in the afternoon to allow more time for the steak to simmer. The recipe calls for a full hour and a half, but both times I've made it I didn't get to that last hour (but the meat would be more tender if I did). And I need to remember to brush the crust more evenly with egg wash--I have pale spots where it was underbrushed. Also, just plan on making the crust in the food processor. I tried to do it by hand, but ended up using the machine. I won't post the recipe because it's too long, but if you have the book, I highly recommend it! (Hmm, it looks like the text is available on Google Books? Try here, scroll to page 217).

{Maybe the best part: leftovers for lunch the next day.}

And next week I'll be back to posting quick and easy "recipe favorites."

"mama's bag" from Handmade Home

Over the weekend I got a delicious studio afternoon and accomplished this-- it's the "Mama Bag" from Handmade Home. I love it! True to the spirit of the book, this is made of entirely of thrifted (and old) materials. This upholstery-weight fabric is something I thrifted over the winter break and I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for. It was a dream to work with (and I have a lot more--I'm thinking fabric bucket). What I especially love about this bag is that once you have learned Amanda's clever construction technique you can apply it to so many bags of different sizes. I want to make a larger one for a summer beach bag.
Faith totally freaked when she saw it. She loves it! Luckily, I have so much fabric she can make one for herself too. I think it looks kind of like something from Anthropologie, don't you? Ken and I went out to dinner (by ourselves!) Monday night and I felt so chic with my new bag.
I highly recommend this project if you own the book. I can't wait to try more projects from it.

enjoying right now--rainy weekend edition

We had a long and rainy and very enjoyable weekend. I have much to be grateful for--we are truly blessed and lucky to live here. Here are some of the simple pleasures of the weekend:

{buying little treats at Farmer's Market}

{seeing Rainer wear and enjoy his "woolen sweater" as he calls it}

{wearing headscarves--so fun!}

{these little purple blossoms Ken unearthed in the otherwise dead cutting garden}

{a fresh batch of homemade deodorant--truly a *simple* pleasure}

{studio tea time}

{seeing Dieter create wonderful designs with wooden tiles}

{art time with the boys}

{making collages and Dieter's contributions--he selected the little girl and wrote "LOVE" across her}

:: reading to the boys this rainy day
:: watching WALL-ee on Dieter's movie night
:: cooking and sewing and baking

On Tuesday I'm off to work with a full heart.