flying

This month of January is already flying by so quickly that I can hardly stand it. The promises I made to myself to step back and slow down even more have been difficult to hold to, but thus far we've persevered. :-)

It is easier to do so in our new Homestead, where life in the country has a naturally slower pace. Where our daily schedule follows those of our new neighbors---morning tea coincides with the AM rush at the birdfeeders; the rosy glow in the lounge window means it is time to start building the evening fire. I LOVE living here. Just as my loft apartment in the city was the perfect spot for me in my twenties, so is the Homestead for me two decades later. :-)

So how have we been spending the first days of this glorious new year? Mostly at home, in the quiet, playing games, cooking, and enjoying the company of visiting friends. We continue our commitment to healthy, homecooked (and tastier) foods, and long walks in the woods are a treat, feeling not a bit like the dreaded exercise. There has also been a fair bit of reading, writing, baking, and talking. Oh, and napping. :-)

There has not been as much knitting or other crafty making going on---I think my hands needed a bit of a break after the mad rush to finish the family's Christmas presents. I will be starting the gift making way earlier this year, but even with the crazy knitting crunch during the holidays, I am so glad we decided to go homemade this year. :-)

I also have dusted off the yoga mat and started the 21-day yoga challenge sponsored by Yoga Journal yesterday. Yoga has been a part of my life now for at least 12 years. Sometimes it is a more regular companion than others, but I always return to the mat because it feels like home to me, no matter where in the world I happen to be. :-)

I have made only a handful of goals for myself for 2012 because I've learned not to fall into the trap of trying to accomplish EVERYTHING in just one year. The biggest challenge I've set for myself is to eliminate much of the global media/Internet surfing/mindless distractions from my life and only allow myself to focus on local news and community events. It's not that I don't care what is going on in the rest of the world. I have come to find it all so overwhelming to bear at times, especially when there is very little one can do to change a situation or eliminate the suffering; thus, I want instead to channel my energies to problems and projects that are relevant to our neighborhood and home township and the people who live here. I am curious to see how my life will be affected by this change in the coming months.

I have also committed to a Photo 365 (366) challenge specifically for iPhones. I still love my Canon, but truthfully when I am out and about, I prefer to use my iPhone than lug around a heavy equipment bag. The vintage photo apps are tremendously fun to explore (and reasonably priced too), and I simply love the looks of the photos I've been taking (like all seen in recent entries). Most importantly, though, iPhoneography has revitalized my interest in picture taking/making, which of course forces us to pause and step back to have another look at the world around us. And THAT is never a bad thing. :-)

exhale

Like so many of us, I have spent hours this week reflecting on the past 360+ days---and how far I've come (and gone) since this time last year. Four addresses, three continents all have been my home at one point in 2011. Is it any wonder that my most of my well-intentioned plans for the new year never saw the light of day.

But what I did see! And the places I have been. The people, the smells, the changing skies and rhythms of daily life I could have never imagined as I sat curled up on the end of our sofa last December, pen in hand, charting the course for the new year.

Because just halfway through January, a job offer came along that was the right one for me and my family. It took us from our quiet routine in the Spanish mountain village we called our home for almost ten years to the austere Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to the insane bustle of Mumbai, India, to our final resting spot not ten miles from where I grew up.

Because of the timing and logistics, my family spent most of 2011 apart, something we never intend to do again but understood would be necessary and thus soldiered through, grateful to the wonders of Skype, which allowed us a glimpse into each other's world daily.

For the last month, however, we have all be together under the same roof---my only wish for this holiday season. Although I find our home in an area strangely familiar (even 25 years after leaving for university and the Big City), it is new to the rest of us, and it is wonderful rediscovering places through their eyes.

And despite the fact that the majority of our worldly possessions are on a container ship somewhere near the Panama Canal instead of the Port of Philadelphia, where they should be, I, for the first time in many months, am able to exhale. To feel the weight of our one pooch against my hip as he sleeps beside me. To look across the room and watch my husband's chest rise and fall as he too enjoys an afternoon siesta. To watch the kitty leap from one window sill to another as he explores his new world. To watch my favorite girl skip through the crisp fallen leaves just as she did as a young pup back when it was only the two of us in the City.

I have many wishes and aspirations for 2012, and am looking forward to putting the ideas and plans I had for last year into place in the coming months. In particular, I am excited to return to this blog, to writing, to sharing our lives and our journey as we begin to spread our roots in a new soil.

Rachel will be back making in 2012; please stop back when you can, OK?

 Best wishes to you for a peaceful & prosperous new year!!

the news

So I got the job offer. Which means I only have a few more weeks of this guy sitting on my lap at the office. The upside---I get to go to India for four months. And I know he'll be keeping my desk chair warm until I return.

week in review

Wow, things are a little crazy here at the moment, which is why the photo I've added here from yesterday's Rachel's 365 Project is of pins and needles. But I'll explain more about that further on. :-)

This past week has been very productive on many fronts. Work-wise, I started the new editing project, but chapter files are slow coming from the client. This is slightly irritating because I'll only have more pressure once they do arrive to make the deadline in a few weeks. Fingers crossed a whole heap of manuscript lands on my desk tomorrow!

I continue to make good progress with James' sweater, too. The front is almost finished now, too, so I still have almost two weeks before his birthday to finish the sleeves AND piece it together (never one of my favorite parts of the process, I confess).

Also on the knitting front, I also signed up for a 2011 project that popped up on Facebook. A friend posted "I promise to send something homemade to the first 5 friends to leave a comment here. In turn, you must post this and send something homemade to the first 5 peeps who comment on your post. *the rules: all gifts must be personally handmade by the giver and delivered sometime in 2011*" I signed up right away because I thought it was a great way to connect---for real---with a few people I mostly engage with only on the Internetwebtube.

Hope you enjoyed the soup recipes! I know we sure did, although we are taking a soup break today as the husband just baked up a delicious-smelling spinach quiche. :-) My review of the tempeh soysage that I was planning to make last Sunday---two enthusiastic thumbs up. I followed the recipe with just a couple small additions of garlic powder and brewers' yeast, and made a total of 10 patties, a bunch of which I froze for later.

Happy to report I've still not missed a day of Rachel's 365 Project, woohoo! Well, "woohoo" until the little counter on the official 365 Project page tell me I've completed 4% of the 365 days. But it's been great fun playing with the camera again. My favorite photo from the past week is this blurry one of the cyclamen James has been loving back to health. I'm not sure if I prefer the blurry photos because of their abstract qualities or my own crap vision, but I found this one rather sweet.

So anyway, before I go, let me explain a little about the pins and needles reference. Back on day 1 here I mentioned I worked from home, which I love, but was also considering a career switch. A career switch for far too many reasons to go into now. That said, for me to give up something I love, it had to be something pretty special. All I'll say for now is this---about seven weeks ago I applied for a pretty special job that would both take me really far from home for a little while but ultimately would allow us to move much closer to friends and family. Two weeks after the interview, I had another telephone discussion about the position, as well as a couple follow-up e-mails. Then nothing. For a month. Thursday I gave up hope and deleted the interviewers' addresses from my contact lists because I hated seeing them every time I checked my messages. Friday night as I was shutting down my computer before going to bed, I noticed an e-mail just came in from the boss---would I be available for a phone call Monday morning? "Of course," I sent back. Which is why I've been fretting and fretting about fretting for much of the past forty-eight hours. If I do get this job offer, the next few months are going to be CRAZY, in a good, adventurous, scary profound kind of way, followed by a nutty transatlantic move before finally settling down not an hour from where I grew up. See now why the pins and needles? One phone call tomorrow can change everything.

I'll see you back here tomorrow with the lowdown. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

lentil soup

And to wrap up soup week, here is one of my absolute favorites, lentil soup. :-)

Here's what you need:

2 Tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped into little cubes (for some reason I think they taste better that way)
1 potato, chopped into little cubes (same reason as above)
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup lentils (pardina, the little brown ones)
3 Tsp, red wine vinegar
6 cups, veggie stock (or chicken, if you prefer)
2 cups, spinach, chopped
Pepper
Heat the oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven, and when medium hot, add the onion, carrot, potato, and celery, sauteing for about 7 minutes, until tender. Add the vinegar to the pan, using a wooden scraper to loosen any brown bits from the bottom. Then add the broth and lentils, bringing to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for about 40 minutes. Stir in the chopped spinach, and continue simmering until the leaves have wilted. Finally, a few twists of the pepper mill will finish the soup perfectly. Serve with cornbread.

Happy Friday---TGIF, TGIF!!!

vegetarian chili

Ok, ok, so chili is not really a soup, but it falls under the soup/stew/stoup category, sort of. We've had a chilly week, so the timing seemed right anyway. :-) We are a mix of meat eaters and vegetarians here, and this is one meal everyone enjoys.

Here is what you need:

Olive oil, 2 T
Garlic, 6 cloves, minced
Onion, 1 medium, chopped
Tomatoes, 3 medium, chopped
Red bell pepper, 1, chopped
Green Italian pepper, 3, chopped
Kidney beans
Garbanzo beans
Faux ground meat (I used Quorn-brand mince)
Pureed tomatoes
Tomato paste, 1 T
Corn (frozen or canned)
Cumin, 1 T
Red chili peppers, 3, small
Fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, chopped onion, for garnish

Like I've said before I use dried beans, but canned work just as well. If you use dried beans, don't forget to soak them overnight and cook until soft ahead of time. :-) I used one 16-oz. jar of pureed tomatoes that we canned ourselves; obviously, store-bought is also fine. We grow many varieties of chili peppers each year for our cooking; if you are not sure what Scoville level you can tolerate, you may want to skip the fresh chilis and play safe using basic chili powder.

Saute the chopped vegetables and faux ground meat in the olive oil until onions and peppers are soft. Add the remaining ingredients (save the garnishes) and simmer for 40 minutes. While cooking if you find the chili too thick or thin, add a little water or corn flour, respectively. Enjoy!

tomato soup therapy

What chicken soup does to ease the common cold, I think a bowl of tomato soup, along with a grilled cheddar sandwich of course, does the same to comfort an overworked and harried woman when she finally gets a moment to sit and relax.

Which is why there is a pot of this tomato and bread soup simmering on the stove top in the kitchen for Soup Week. The afternoon skies are cloud-filled and gray, and a dose of tomato soup therapy will provide the color and warmth of spirit needed on an otherwise dreary day.

A personal suggestion: a dollop of crème fraîche on the tomato soup = divine. :-D


Painting is Campbell's Soup Can by Andy Warhol.