Apr 7, 2008 "Life is rushing by like a mad, swollen river"
Off to see Billy Collins tonight to be awed by the way he arranges scene and reflection and color and detail all in one poem so alive that it reaches out of the page and grabs my heart.
etc Mar 30, 2008 A week of brutally early mornings and long long days dumped me into the weekend. All I wanted were long indulgent brunches and empty days to offset the fast-computer-deadlines compressing my brain. So I:
Ordered lemon gingerbread pancakes at our favorite restaurant down the street. Took a blustery beach walk with the dog. Made butter. Weeded the garden. Ended Sunday in the bathtub with a glass of rose. Victory! A weekend of supreme satisfaction.
Here's the butter drill, from this gorgeous and inspiring book that I want to crawl inside of and live every page. I did feel a slight tinge of cheating as I made this in the food processor, but I got over it pretty quickly. I used the best cream available to non-farmers in San Francisco: Straus Family Creamery.
As the instructions said, it whipped up quick and thick and I almost abandoned the project to find a pile of fresh strawberries. It took a little longer than I thought, but it finally separated into butter! and buttermilk. It looks a little pukey at this stage, but do you believe it?
I even rinsed it as the directions told me, like the butter was a precious sweater. This apparently helps the butter keep longer. Just add ice water, whirl it around in the processor, rinse and keep repeating until the water loses its milkiness.
Finally, I slathered some over a piece of french bread and packed the rest into a jar. Our Puritan ancestors might roll in their graves that this only took 15 minutes, but they'd probably have the same flush of awe.
make Mar 22, 2008 
for easter and the arrival of spring. delicate litte egg toppers, with instructions here.
make Mar 18, 2008 
There’s something deeply satisfying about making pillows. For starters, they’re a snap to put together. And they sit at the intersection of design and comfort, so they’re perfect fodder for sewers like myself who fancy luxe fabric and patterns -- but lack fancy skills.
This used to be covered with a zebra fabric that I thought was the pinnacle of cool when I bought it for my freshman dorm room...but in the intervening 15 years, it took on a pretty dingy and dated pallor.
I updated it with two different patterns, a 2” wide grosgrain ribbon and solid fabric on the back. The back is envelope style so you can remove the cover and wash it ( learned a few things since my dorm room years).
This pillow form is 24” square, but you can resize these instructions to fit any existing pillow or form. Just remember when you’re making new calculations to add a seam allowance to each piece of fabric, not just the overall dimension. All fabrics used here are cotton. Be sure to wash, dry and press even though it's a pain.
For pillow front:
1. Measure, mark and cut 9" x 25” piece from first pattern fabric.
2. Measure, mark and cut 15" x 25” piece from second pattern fabric.
3. Pin long edge of first pattern fabric to long edge of ribbon, right sides together.
4. Sew with ½” hem.
5. Pin long edge of second pattern fabric to other long side of ribbon, right sides together.
6. Sew ½” hem. You now have the front of your pillow cover.
For pillow back:
1. Measure, mark and cut two pieces of 17” x 25” fabric.
2. Fold one long edge over ½” and press into place. Fold again and topstitch along the fold (sew very close to the edge of the fold).
3. Repeat with second piece of fabric.
To assemble pillow:
1. On a table, lay both pieces of the pillow back right side up, and overlap topstitched edges by 4.5” Check that width of the square you just make with the two pieces is 25”.
2. On top of pillow back, lay pillow front with right sides of fabric facing. Pin every couple inches around perimeter of pillow
3. Stitch around all four sides of the pillow. Clip corners, turn inside out and insert pillow. Lounge.
make Mar 17, 2008 
I usually freehand my canning sessions, and this was no exception. I started with a recipe from Alton Brown, but then improvised as I went. I had a stash of Myer lemons from a friend’s tree (see still life below), but I forgot to zest them before juicing. And I kind of hate zesting, truth be told. So when I read that part of the recipe and realized my mistake, I skipped it. Also, I don’t like my jams to taste like hummingbird food, so I cut the amount of sugar and upped the lemon juice.
This made for fresh and gorgeous-tasting curd, but it's pretty thin. This isn't a disaster because it truly tastes great, but I did some more research and have this expansion to offer with the recipe: The simmer should be high enough to actually thicken the curd to the consisency of hollindaise...but not so high that you cook the egg. I realize now my simmer was too low. Also, I seem to remember reading something about how you need enough sugar to thicken the jam (or curd in this case).
Still, it looks and tastes like spring. And runny or not, I love gazing upon these little gem-colored pots.
make etc Mar 10, 2008 
Let’s be honest here. Life doesn’t always look like this. Yes, this sudden still life on our kitchen island is so gorgeous and saturated that it makes my brain vibrate with all its yellowness.
But there are breakfast dishes just out of view, careers to keep pushing in the right direction, websites to build, happiness to be maintained, and it’s only Monday morning.
When a slant of light hits this scene and sets the room on fire, yes, I step into the vignette and everything seems ok.
But I don’t live there.
And this is ok by me.
etc Mar 10, 2008 
You can’t hear this picture, but if you could you would hear the sound of kid joy: screaming and laughing and the slap-slap-slap of jump rope on pavement, all set to Van Halen’s Jump.
This rush of Monday morning happiness is just one of the unexpected perks of living across the street from an elementary school.
etc Mar 7, 2008 Is there anything more alive and sunshine-y feeling than mist rising up when you're watering the veggie patch out back and the spring light hits green leaves so new and so tender that they're almost transparent?
More examples of being alive:
Mike to our little mutt puppy with her bright eyes:
Look at you, you're so alive right now you could fell an antelope.
grow Feb 29, 2008 I am and forever will be a deadline girl. I have a scant few hours to conceive of and execute a kickin' couple entries for the design sponge DIY contest.
Macaroni on construction paper, anyone?
make Feb 24, 2008 
This looks like something you'd hatch sea monkeys in, but think of it as the rainy day version of sun tea. I'm steeping some rosemary, thyme, lemon and ginger in hot water for an herby tonic on a wet weekend.
make Feb 20, 2008 come on. my local coffee shop is now putting THREE teabags in a cup of tea. is this because we're so amped up that we want the flavor now now now instead of waiting the couple minutes it takes to brew?
a refresher:
http://www.artoftea.com/learn_about_tea/brewing.htm">http://www.artoftea.com/learn_about_tea/brewing.htm
etc Feb 17, 2008 
this is a dark little corner that's tough to photograph, but this 10 minute project cheered the place up. the recessed nook was screaming out for some color and pattern, so I simply cut a piece of cardboard to fit, neatly wrapped it in gift paper, and pressed it into place.
make Feb 11, 2008 
seasons are much more nuanced here on the west coast, but if you pay attention, spring is just as tender as back east. it comes with a rush of cherry blossoms that smell light as air and fava bean blooms in the garden.
etc Jan 30, 2008 make 
