well, the time came yesterday to harvest.

we (i) waited a little bit too long, so he was a little bitter, but still – it was a proud moment.  our first crop.  here’s to knowing exactly when to harvest the next one.

in the meantime, since nothing else is ready yet, we got a new box from fresh abundance delivered today.  it even has peaches!  peaches people!

<3

i spring cleaned my little heart out.  added a handmade (knitted?  crocheted?) throw to our buffet.  part of the latest shipment of family memories from my dad, consisting entirely of handmade items from my grandmas unknown.  i think it brightens up the room more than the old sari i was using in its place.

i ate the food i wanted to eat (mostly leftover tofu tacos and tons of fruit, ahem).

i made this little cinnamon bread recipe.

i read my next book club book (the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society).  hard to follow.  consisting entirely of letters back and forth between what seems like an endless slew of characters.

i ran some errands, and got this little gem for free at my favorite dog store, prairie dog mercantile.  who can say no to a free 5 pound bag of $19 dog food?  not me.  and maybe it will even help the sophster with her itchies (this will be dog food #4 we’re trying…).

and finally, i made this a while ago, but just had to share.  asparagus pesto.  i love asparagus, mr. halloran loves pesto.  a delish dish we both enjoyed.  make it now.

<3

i have been doing a lot of traveling for work, and on friday i found myself in othello, washington.  now, washingtonians don’t believe othello to be the nicest place in the world, but really this little town gets a bad rap.  it’s got an amazing sense of community, nice (warmer) weather, excellent ag land, and a huge latino population (and we all know how i have a soft spot in my heart for all things mexican).  one of the people we met with in othello recommended we stop at this little mexican grocery store and order a meat roll with an orange on top.  so we did (and i had to use my spanish to get it), and it turns out it is the most glorious carne asada you’ve ever tasted.  worth the two hour drive alone.

all of this comes one day after i told matt i was going to be a vegetarian.  vegetarianism starts… tomorrow?

i smell sunshine, because some nice flowers are sitting on our tabletop and we have been eating caprese salad galore.

and yesterday i made some pillows, taking our living room up a notch if i do say so myself.

<3

in other news, i made THE BEST BREAD OF MY LIFE.  scratch that.  my girlfriend jen made it better.  but this is a close second.  homemade focaccia.  amazing.  recipe at the bottom of this post.

last night i made this with whole wheat pasta with brown butter and myzirthra and balsamic asparagus.  have i ever told you i love asparagus?  i do.  matt groans every time i tell him it’s an asparagus night.  you can hear the groans for miles.

tonight’s dinner was much less glamorous.  blue corn chips with blobs of refried beans, green chiles, and a little cheese. my sister’s nacho recipe.  also delish but not so fancy.

tonight i finished a book, started a new one (both by the same author, dave eggers, a new fave), and hung out with my angus.  he looks like a gorilla most of the time.

and here it is, the moment you’ve been waiting for, world’s best focaccia.  seriously, this whole loaf barely made it 24 hours.  embarrassing and shameful?  yes.  but totally worth it.  enjoy.

Bread
3 3/4 to 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup Olive Oil

Topping
Brush dough with 2 tablespoons Olive Oil.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning on top, and 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

Directions
Stir together 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt in large mixer bowl.

Combine water and Oil in 1-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches 120-130°F (2 to 4 minutes). Add warm water mixture to flour mixture. Beat at low speed to moisten flour. Increase speed to medium. Beat, scraping bowl often, until smooth (2 to 3 minutes). Stir in enough remaining flour by hand until dough forms a ball and leaves side of bowl.

Place dough on lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking (3 to 5 minutes).

Place dough in large greased bowl; turn greased-side up. Cover loosely with plastic food wrap; let rise in warm place until double in size (45 to 60 minutes).

Heat oven to 375°. Punch down dough; shape into a ball. Cover with plastic food wrap; let stand 10 minutes. Place dough on large greased baking sheet. Press into 12-inch circle. Spoon topping evenly over dough. Make 1/2-inch deep indentations, 1 to 2 inches apart, into dough with floured fingers or handle of wooden spoon.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from baking sheet; serve warm.

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to me, cornbread is a glorious treat.  i love it with butter.  i love it with honey.  i love it with jam.  i love it with all three of those things.  but finding a good homemade cornbread recipe is hard.  look no further, friends.

• 1 c. flour
• 3/4 c. cornmeal
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 c. milk
• 1/4 c. oil

Turn oven to 400.  Mix dry ingredients, set aside.  Add the butter to your 8×8 pan, melt it in the oven, then turn it around so it coats the bottom and sides of the pan.  Mix wet ingredients, then add those to the dry until they’re just barely combined, then add to your pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Delish.  I might add a little honey next time, but otherwise perfection.

You’re welcome.

<3

here we bought a couple of kitchen things and a nice frame for our wedding photo, but somehow one of the kitchen things and the frame disappeared on our way back home.  i think i must have placed them on the hood of the car while i stopped to take this photo.  off they probably slid.  :(

we took the dogs with us to get them out of the house.  doesn’t soph look like one of the pigs from angry birds?  love that pug.

matt and i have also been delighting in a new service we signed up for – a weekly organic produce box from full circle.  i love that it’s making us try things we wouldn’t normally try.  such as, this weekend we had swiss chard, tangelos, and tiny little italian onions – all new for us.  delish.  i’ve decided swiss chard is one of the most unusual, pretty vegetables ever.

i also made an eggplant parmesan recipe from this month’s sunset.  baked, not fried.  a new favorite.  paired with the chard and a halloran family recipe, mozzarella rice.

and finally, this morning i made these almond poppyseed muffins.  they were great, not too sweet.  i added an extra egg, a dash of vegetable oil, and substituted some of the flour with wheat flour.

we’ve eaten nearly all vegetarian and organic for the last two weeks now, and it feels great.  next book in my queue to read is the omnivore’s dilemma, one that’s likely to make me even more of a crazy person about what we eat.  watch out.

i’m about to hit the books while mr. halloran is currently in his man room making some new wall art for us using some of my vintage fabric and one of our old window panes.  can’t wait to see it.

<3

nothing much else going on around here this week.

mr. halloran and i have made good use of our meal planning this week.  i find that planning meals not only helps us eat healthier, but we also waste much less food.  i only buy what we need.  we make enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day.  it’s a win-win.  my fave this week?  a roasted cauliflower and chickpea pasta with ricotta (not pictured).  it’s pretty easy – just roast your cauliflower and chickpeas at 425 for about 25 minutes, add to some nice pasta, toss with olive oil and garlic and top with a little ricotta and homemade breadcrumbs.  delish.

some of our other creations this week:

<3

put some cream in the food processor along with some vanilla and powdered sugar.

turn it on for just a minute or two.

add it to her favorite fruit.

and give her some sophie time.

a happy girl indeed.

<3

speaking of other things i don’t like very much (cheery, right?).  i have made two asian dishes this week – something that rarely happens in the halloran household because i really just don’t like asian food.  something about the odd spices and mixing of sweet and sour.  and overuse of peanuts.  (sushi however, that’s another story.  sign me up.  delish).  but mr. halloran likes it, so i tried two recipes this week.  some gyoza and some sweet and sour chicken (recipes from martha stewart everyday food).  edible but not my faves.

now let’s turn this around a little and talk about things that are great, yes?

for one, this girl.

miss nikki has been on medicine for arthritis for 6 weeks now and is like a new dog (although you wouldn’t be able to tell from this photo).  i love this girl so much.  even when she’s barking at me to feed her.  like right now.

also i love this book.

mr. halloran got this for me for christmas and it is GREAT.  it’s about a sudanese refugee and his experiences in the us as well as his life in sudan, including becoming one of the lost boys.  it is so good.  so good.  learning a lot.

tonight i’m taking a break from the asian food and making linguine with clam sauce – much more up my alley and mr. halloran-approved as well.  ciao.

<3

Do I have the brown sugar pound cake cupcake with sparkly edible sprinkles (thanks Andrew!)?

Or the fresh-out-of-the-oven Cardamom Crumb Cake (thank you Toni for the cardamom!)?

Hm, I think both!

Today I finished a gift for one of my mom’s oldest friends who recently got re-married.  What do you make for someone you don’t know very well whose style you’re not sure of?  I don’t know either.  So I settled on quilted coasters with a selection of organic teas.

And the best for last… I won something pretty sweet today.  Actually lots of pretty sweet things.  One of the blogs I follow, Gussy Sews, offered a giveaway from each of her 12 sponsors and I totally won.  Things like gift certificates to Etsy shops and fat quarters and sweet handmade things.  I’m stoked.  A great start to my week.  And look at the cuteness that Gussy Sews sells:

That’s one of her iPad cases.  I’d buy an iPad just to have the case.  So sweet.  She’s totally cool too – cute, started an Etsy shop right after getting married recently, and turned it into a full time business.  <3

What a good day.