Annnnnd, it caught up with me

Mr. Terrific and I have been spreading ourselves too thin for a few weeks now. I don't want to sound all uber-cool and popular and overly social, because goodness knows we really aren't. There have been weeks (that I pine for wistfully, now) where we've had no places to be or invitations from fun people to hang out and talk about interesting stuff. But that social pendulum has swung to the other side of the spectrum -- as it is known to do, that sneaky social pendulum -- and we've found ourselves exclaiming over the opportunity to have dinner together(!) at home(!) for the first time in at least a week(!) and so forth.

Aside from the fact that it's frustrating not having regular boring dinners together because, well, we just enjoy conversing with each other, all this running around and socializing and over-scheduling has left my immune system in the lurch. I'm not totally out of commission, but my throat hurts and my muscles are achey and I've used enough tissues to very clearly get the point that, hey, I need to slow down already.

Ok. I get it.

In other news, yes, I've been posting boring old text and no photos, and I need to change it up a little once in a while. I know. There's no knitting to show (have I mentioned, maybe once or seven times, that I'm working on a super-secret project? :)), but I'll try to think of something.

I *heart* serendipity. Also spinach.

Though appearances of late might indicate otherwise, this is not a food blog. It's a things-I-like blog, and I happen to like food. In particular, I like tasty, healthy food made from fresh ingredients. And so, apparently, I blog about it quite a bit.

Yesterday evening, Sir Fantastic and I had decided to make homemade pizza. The dough for the crust was made by the time we realized we didn't have tomato sauce. White pizza it was, with an amalgamation of toppings decided on by rummaging through the fridge and grabbing whatever items even remotely made sense. And so, we ended up with the following pizza:

fresh spinach
mushrooms
carmelized onions (left over from an also-yummy dinner last week)
mozzarella
walnuts

A serendipitously delicious combination, to be sure, but my inability to properly keep track of cooking times led to another happy accident: by over-broiling the pizza, we managed to toast the walnuts to complexly-flavored perfection.

We'll definitely be having this for dinner on purpose in the future. Here's hoping we'll be able to recreate it in all its flavorful splendor.

Impatient

... for spring to arrive, so the vegetable and flower gardens can be planted.

... for my injured knee to recover and allow me to get back into a running schedule.

... to have a knitting project on the needles that isn't a super-secret gift.

... for the end of the day, so I can start the weekend and spend some time with The Awesome Fiance!

Second-string Gratitude

I had dinner with a lovely bunch of ladies yesterday, and the subject of gratitude journals came up. I think this is such a great idea: keeping a list of the elements of good fortune in your life to give yourself a little perspective. You all can probably guess the major things that are going well for me right now, so I'll spare you the full list, but here are some of the second-string reasons why I'm a lucky gal.

1. I know what's wrong with my knee and why it's been hurting. Bonus: it's (relatively) easily fixable.
2. Directly related to item 1: I once again have health insurance coverage!
3. I found what I think might be the perfect pair of shoes for a big occasion, after fearing said concept might not exist.
4. Oh, oh, just remembered that I have an awesome CD to listen to today. (Them Crooked Vultures. Check 'em out.)
5. Lip gloss with mint in it, to save me from chapped lips *and* perk me up with its minty freshness. Definitely thankful for that.

Feel free to chime in via comments with what your list would include. Second-string gratitude items are so much fun to talk about!

Hmm. Perhaps I should just buy a second basil plant...

I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while, and the day following a quiet three day weekend seems as good a time as any. We eat this for dinner maybe a couple of times a month -- pretty much as often as possible without utterly decimating our basil plant. It's simple and delicious and much healthier than traditional pesto.


Healthy, Tasty, Pesto Pasta

Use a food processor or immersion blender to thoroughly mix the following:

- basil leaves. maybe a third of a cup, packed down. the extent of my measuring is usually "the amount that'll fit in one hand to walk to the sink for washing."

- raw spinach leaves. they can be baby spinach, but they don't have to be. I use about equal parts basil and spinach.

- walnuts. traditional pesto calls for pine nuts, but I've found walnuts work just as well (maybe better), and I'm more likely to have them on hand. I use maybe a quarter cup, coarsely chopped.

- parmesan cheese. you can use the real stuff or the dried stuff in a canister (as long as it isn't, like, the synthetic stuff in a canister. shudder.), either way. the amount is flexible, but you need at least a few tablespoons, then to taste.

- garlic. I've used minced raw garlic before, and hoo boy does it pack a flavor punch. I actually prefer to use garlic powder here, both for texture and its more mellow taste.

- olive oil. I use less than a tablespoon, which I'm pretty sure is a fraction of what would traditionally be called for.

The finished product is a pretty dense paste (see above, about the olive oil amount). Stir it into cooked whole wheat rotini that's been less than thoroughly drained. A small amount of hot water left in the pot with the pasta helps the pesto to be evenly dispersed without stirring for twenty minutes. Smooshing any globs of pesto into the pasta with the back of your spoon helps too, though.

Enjoy with a big salad and a glass of white wine, if that's your thing.

Crafting minus yarn equals.... fabric!

Like I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I won't be posting any knitting updates for a good long while (unless I lose motivation on the mammoth secret project I need to finish and let my attention stray to some other diversionary project, which is entirely possible).

I do have a craft update, though: a fabric alphabet banner, given as a baby gift for a friend whose twins are thankfully not yet driving (yes, they're still babies -- I just took forever and a day to get this project finished). The letters were fashioned by a group of friends, and I affixed them to their backings and banner-ized the whole thing. Such a fun process.

And so, voila, the alphabet banner:

I AM A COOL GIRL

Meg over at A Practical Wedding says so.

(Or said so, back in November, if you want to be particular about it. I've been holding off on sharing this so as not to be all-wedding-all-the-time. You're welcome.)

Anyway, even though it's presented in the context of weddings, everyone should go and read Meg's awesome diatribe on confidence and authenticity. It's a great reminder around here as we get into the real planning stage of the process (stumbling across the perfect dress and saying that we'll compile our own music at some point between now and September are not necessarily what I'd call "real planning") that whatever decisions we make will be the right ones simply by virtue of the fact that we made them.

And, to take it a step further, it's a great reminder to take pride in all aspects of your life that have been arrived at with joy and purpose. I'm not making any Resolutions-with-a-capital-R for this new year, but if you are and you'd like to use that one, go right ahead.

But yeah, Meg's more articulate than I am on the subject, so click on over there and read and get all fired up and empowered. (She's also a little more, shall we say, edgy with the language, so if you've got shy and retiring sensibilities -- or literate kiddos near the computer -- be careful.)