Goodbye . . . and Hello

Dear ones,

I shan't be writing on this blog anymore. But I will be writing . . . on this blog, specifically: http://homespunblog.com.

It was time to do something different and create something more in keeping with who I've become.

See you there!

Andrea

Thankful

Dear ones, today...today, I am grateful for a fabulous new (to me!) apple computer with some pretty fun photo editing software.

Blue and White China

I love how much mileage I'm getting with my mismatched blue and white china pieces.

I've been doing some experimenting with photography and props, and I love how the blue print elevates without making it prissy. Maybe it's because the combination of blue and white is so clean-looking.

All Things Beautiful: A Relaunch

Not long ago, I find myself in the ER. My sweet baby boy has an allergic reaction to a vaccine. I am distraught - could I have known earlier? Is he in pain? His little body is covered in red bumps and the injection sight is angry and swollen red, and my heart just breaks for him as Christ must break for me when sin (mine and others) causes me pain.

A Break . . .

Dear Splendid Folks,

I'll be taking a break for a while so I can focus on other things for a while. I'll be back soon!

Love,
Andrea

Thankful . . .

 

For brown craft paper,

Tea Party, Anyone?

I've been thrifting. Like that really needs saying at this point.

I bought this crisp white and blue china set and some coordinating pieces and now all I can think about is throwing a tea party. Does that sound antiquated? Does anyone else feel feel like the tea party is in need of some modernization?

You know what I'm envisioning? I'm seeing some nice fall-ish sort of teas with some spiced applesauce cake, not served on pristine china plates, but on mismatched, coordinating pieces. Like, these, for instance. I'm feeling a shoes-off-feet-up-on-the-ottoman kind of party, with some jazzy piano music (Vince Guaraldi?) in the background, and autumn light streaming in with children playing in the background. That kind of tea party.

But I haven't the space to throw a tea party... so I just bought these china pieces instead. This makes complete sense in my head.

Chewy Brownies

I realized the other week that I am no longer "cool." All this came about in a conversation with my brother who is, coincidentally, "cool." He was playing his music and I was listening like the awesome big sister I am and I asked him if people could krump to it. That's right. Krump. Because I thought krumping was what youngsters were into these days.

And I glanced at him and he was laughing and trying not to show it, and I was informed that krumping is no longer a thing; people just dance. 

I referenced a thing as though it were cool while blissfully unaware that said thing had ceased being cool. It's happened, world. I have crossed the line into irrelevance . . . at least where pop culture is concerned. Aaannnd given the rise of the twerking phenomena, I'm finding I am actually totally okay with this. 

But you know what? After a long search, I have found a recipe for a chocolaty, chewy brownie that will rock your world . . . even if it's a world in which krumping does not exist. And personally, I think that's pretty cool.  

Of Pain

I was able to leave the house early the other day. I wore some awesome new red corduroy pants, so my day was inevitably going very agreeably. I went to Panera to pick up my favorite tea and a sweet snack that I can afford due to my job, and then I drove to work in a car. A car that was lent to me freely.

I stopped at a light and noticed a man holding a sign. The sign said that his wife had cancer, and that he needed work. He was an older man, but not an old man yet. He had whispy graying hair and wore a faded shirt. The light turned green, but I pulled out some money and gave it to him. "I hope you find a job," I said, and I looked him straight in his weary blue eyes, and I saw him.

Thankful . . .

 

For morning skies.

Thankful

For orange stripedy shirts and khaki shorts,

Challah Bread

The longer I look at this, the more it looks like a swaddled baby. Is that weird?

It's that time, y'all. The weather is crisp and cool and this means we can now - at last! - start baking like the secret baking fanatics we are. At least, that's what I do. And man, let me just say here and now that I have great baking plans for this winter. Plans that involve donuts and french bread and maybe even some bread pudding if we're really being honest about expectations. 

But for now, let's talk challah. And before you think me all pretentious, I need to confess that I don't know how to pronounce "challah." Is it with a hard "CH" or is it a just a gutteral "ch"? This is really the kind of thing I should know since I'm about to give a tutorial about it, but despite the fact I have the entirety internet at my fingertips, I still have no idea. Mostly because I decided it's far more important that I know I can make it than to pronounce it. Priorities, people.

Thankful...

For the last shells of summer.

About That Scar . . .

I think we can all agree that life is just sucky sometimes. You look through your closet full of clothes and can't find a thing you feel like wearing, or you get cut off in traffic by some idiot talking on a cell-phone who doesn't care two hoots they're that idiot talking on a cell-phone, or you could be just miffed that your chocolate temper broke while making truffles. Hey, now. That totally happens to people.

Thankful . . .

that I'm his mama.

The Saga of the Truffles: Part 2

So, this is one of the truffles I entered in the competition. This somewhat pitiable truffle was the result of much travail and stress and general unease. You see, I had made several batches of truffles - all of which had tempered chocolate - and most of them turned out splendidly. They were marvelous. Marvelous, I tell you.

Thankful . . .

For when two glorious magazines arrive on the very same day, 

The Saga of the Truffles: Part 1

Hi there. Long time, no see. How are you? Doing well, I hope? 

It's been a while. And by a while, I mean a few days. And I don't know about you, but these last few days have been crazy. Insane, actually. Off the hook. I've been given a job, I've been doing many a church-related thing, and we've been having a nasty bout of teething-related, uh, unsettling gastro-intestinal disruptions. And by "we" I mean a certain smallish, excessively smoochable blond fellow. I have done so much laundry, people. SO. MUCH. 

So yes, we've been busy. But you know what else I've been doing? 

Thankful . . .

For chopped chunks of chocolate (I may have stolen one or two), 

On Awkwardness

Please note this picture has nothing to do with embarrassment. Just enjoy the pretty flowers while I talk about less pleasant things.

I was thinking this week how much I hate being awkward. Have you ever noticed that the more you try not to be awkward, the more you become awkward? It's hard being human.

 

For as much as I hate being awkward, I'm well nigh an expert in it. Not by choice, I might add. So I thought I might share some stories from the distant, distant past.

Caramelized Nectarines

I've come to a realization. I'm a person of extremes when it comes to cooking. Either I end up making a meal with elventy kabillion diminutive steps, or I throw something in a pot, turn up the heat, and forget about it for twenty minutes. This recipe is one of the latter.

Thankful . . .

 For half-price veggies from a farmer's market,

Lavender and a Wee Vase

Cuteness is directly proportional to size; the smaller a thing is the more adorable it is. Hence, this teeny vase I bought at Walmart. I plucked some cilantro flowers and lavender from the garden, filled my vase, and thoroughly enjoyed my tiny bouquet.

Zucchini-Squash Bread

 We went to a farmer's market the other day and brought home two discounted bags of slightly overripe and banged up vegetables, some of which happened to be squash and zucchini. I was faced with a choice: vegetable gratin or zucchini squash bread?

Thankful . . .

 For tousled blonde hair and a big baby boy who just learned to stand up,

Thrifting: Pottery

I am completely in love with this blue glaze. 

I've developed this thing recently where I go into a thrift store and buy every handmade piece of pottery I can find. I call it treasure hunting. A certain brother who shall remain nameless calls it an addiction.

Easy Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, when I was a senior in a college and trying ever so hard to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I ate a lemon cookie in the cafeteria. It was chewy, moist, and replete with lemonyness. I've been trying to re-create it ever since, and I stumbled upon this recipe in the process.

Thankful . . .

For garden-fresh fruit and herbs on weathered wood, 

Cinnamon Swirl Rolls

It's summer. I know. We're all supposed to be lying face down on our couches with the AC set to precisely 63 degrees while imagining cold things like Frosty, sno-cones, and the Alps. We are not - under any circumstances - supposed to turn on the oven. But then I thought of puffed, delicious dough, swirls of sugary cinnamon, and sweet! thick! icing! and promptly forgot all of that oven nonsense. 

Thankful . . .

For how it's somehow necessary to sleep with your nose covered,

Hector the Betta Fish

Slightly fuzzy pic, but very blue, no?

Upon entering Walmart, I had no intention of buying a fish. I went in for one thing - just one - and came out with several: two bottles of nail polish, a fish, face wash and some random tomatoes. Retail therapy works wonders for me, but I'm thinking I might need to be concerned that my particular version of it entails fish.