Taming the Chaos

When K first came home from the hospital, the only evidence of her presence outside of the nursery was a little stack of receiving blankets next to the couch, and a little canvas bin with diapers and such in our windowseat. Times have changed. Not only can she climb on almost all the living room furniture, it looks like her toys are reproducing each night. Our living room is blessed with high ceilings and abundant light, but cursed with absolutely no built in storage or closet to contain her mess.

Courtesy of the Container Store and Ballard Designs, there is a little more living in the living room, now that it looks a little nicer.

I've instituted a five bin rotation of toys. Each day, K gets an new bin filled with a variety of toys and books. It makes picking up after her so much easier, and she doesn't seem to notice that she's only playing with a fifth of her toys.

Now that she can touch everything, I've had to move books and remotes to a safe space. That's where the Ballard Designs shelves come in handy. I will post a picture, but they hang out right over one couch, and provide a safe space for the books I want to read - and another place to display photos of her. I'm ordering two more to be installed further down the wall. I shopped around for a while at Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and West Elm before going with Ballard. I loved that they don't charge tax if shipping to California, and thought they were the best value around.

How do you stay organized? Any other toy/clutter containment ideas? Her bedroom and bookshelves are a whole different story :)

Coffee Talk

I don't actually like coffee cake in the morning. It's too rich and sweet. I feel the same way about doughnuts. I love both as desserts or as an afternoon snack, but they are just too rich for breakfast.



That said, I bought raspberries at the store last week and didn't want to toss them. It's also about 60 and cloudy here, so I didn't really feel like eating them plain. A friend had emailed it to me months ago, and it sat in my recipe file. I stared at it, thought about it, but somehow always ended up making something else. Not anymore. Courtesy of a package of raspberries that I did not want to go to waste, I present to you a very delicious cake:

It is from confessions of a tart - a beautiful blog that I just discovered and am very much enjoying! http://http://confessionsoftart.blogspot.com/2009/03/raspberry-madness-coffee-cake.html

I made a couple changes to the recipe - I added nutmeg to the streusel topping - because I like it. I also added all the raspberries that I had - I think it was closer to 3 cups. Because I added a lot more fruit, the dough became a lot wetter and I had to extend the baking time by about 15 minutes. Because of all the extra fruit, I ended up with beautiful pink cake studded with tons of raspberries and a very crisp streusel on top. Just how I like it. The problem is that it's sitting in my kitchen calling to me as I sit and type this. I think this would be delicious with blackberries or another tart fruit?

Fall Wishlist

We really did not have much of a summer in Los Angeles this year. So, it could be that September and October are hellishly hot, and I keep wearing summer clothing for the next few weeks. However, the fog rolled in last night, and it hasn't lifted. Baby K and I baked some raspberry coffee cake and enjoyed pizza for dinner. Fall is on the way.



Now that I have a toddler, I'm looking for comfy clothing that allows me to chase her around outside and inside, but that isn't just lululemon pants and hoodies. Don't get me wrong, if you run into me out and about doing errands, that is what I'm wearing most of the time, but I want a look for fall that is a little more together.



I have finally embraced the leggings and tunic trend, so here are some of my favorites:



Jcrew tunic - for a warm day at the park and farmer's market

A slightly more stylish tee for kicking back with jeans and boots during the day, and maybe cute enough for dinner with friends later.

I am obsessed with cable knit sweaters. I tried one on at Free People that had such potential, but it was the least flattering thing ever on. This one from Bloomingdales looks like it would be sleek and slimming, but still comfy and easy to move around in.

I'll have to do a separate post for Miss K. It's a little hard for me to find the traditional, smocked dresses that I like for her out here, but I think I've found some good contenders for fall.

The times, they are a changin'

Yikes.

I have been way too lazy about updating lately. It's not that there is much exciting to report around here - it's just that when you get out of the habit, it is hard to get back in the groove. But, I miss having an activity that is just for me. So much stuff lately is for baby K, the family, the cats, friends - you know. I was flipping through the blog and realized how fun and inexpensive all of my little cooking projects were, and how very happy they made me.

It's cool here today. The fog has not burned off, and it definitely feels like fall is around the corner. It's a good time to savor the last strawberries of the season and to start gearing up for apples and pears. I generally am not a huge berry person. I'm happy to eat them, but I don't often get thrilled about them the way I do about chocolate or peaches and plums. This strawberry shortcake recipe should change that. It's the best. It is weird and a little scary the first time you make it - but it works. I made it for two dinner parties this summer, and both times, everyone had seconds. The secret - balsamic vinegar. It makes the strawberries somehow more strawberry. It was great with local fruit, and I think it would even help jazz up sad and tired grocery store fruit as well. Please, give it a try. The shortcakes are amazing as well. I'm thinking of serving them with sauteed plums in the fall, and later with pears, or as some sort of topping for pear crisp?

Shortcake:

2 c. flour
5 TBS sugar, divided
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. chilled unsalted butter (diced) I cut up the butter first and pop it into the freezer until the last possible second.
1 c. chilled heavy whipping cream
1 large egg, beaten (for the glaze)

Berries:

2 lb strawberries, sliced and washed well
6 TBS sugar - divided. Pay attention to how sweet your berries are!
3 TBS balsamic vinegar. You may want to start with one TBS and work up to three - I tell you it's worth it
1 large pinch freshly ground black pepper. The secret ingredient!!!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425. Grease baking sheet or line with parchment. Mix flour, 4 TBS sugar, baking powder and salt in food processor - pulsing till blended. Add butter, using pulses until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Add cream and pulse again until clumps form. Dump onto floured work surface and smush into a ball. Pat out to an 8"x4" rectangle and cut into 8 squares. Place shortcakes on prepared sheet and chill in fridge 15 minutes. Then, brush shortcakes with egg glaze and sprinkle with remaining TBS sugar - I really like using sugar in the raw for the sprinkles. Bake about 15 minutes. Cool on cooling rack.

Berries - mix the berries, sugar, vinegar and pepper in bowl and let sit. I let them sit about 3-4 hours. The recipe says 30 minutes, but I found the longer you wait, the more juice they make and the better they taste.

Serve with vanilla whipped cream and enjoy. Courtesy of Bon Appetit magazine - here is the link to their recipe http://http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Strawberry-Shortcakes-with-Balsamic-and-Black-Pepper-Syrup-359412


What are you all cooking? And, do any of you have a slow cooker? Do you use it? Do you like it? Would you recommend a brand? I am teetering on the fence, and would like some more info and guidance.

2000s Recipes + Menus: Gourmet.com

2000s Recipes + Menus: Gourmet.com This is the recipe I'm talking about - please give it a try!

Musing

"the days are long but the years are short." I just read the "Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, and I loved it. And this quote, which was featured prominently, just seems to fit the stage of life that I'm in right now.

It really got me thinking about what makes me happy and how I can do more of those things and to just generally have more joy. August is a month for savoring summer and gearing up for a darker season, so I'm going to try and share a little of the things that make me happy this month.

First off, nectarines and plums :) This cake made me so happy that I wanted to share it - it's from Gourmet Magazine's August 2009 edition. (Sniff, I miss you!) It's in the following post - I'm still as tech unsavvy as ever.

still here

just very busy wrangling a toddler. here's a shot of her at the beach the other day - quite a different creature since last summer.