Images that Soothe

I'm still sick.  Poo.  Ah, well, what's a girl to do when she's sick, besides ingest lots of Robitussin, drink lots of water, eat chicken soup, sluggishly try to entertain her daughter, rest and read?  Look at pretty pictures, of course!  I just took a peek at Etsy's Get the Look: Decor, which features Margarita Lorenzo's really cute London house.  She also has an etsy store filled with eco-friendly handmade pillows, which you can see here.  I should add "look at pretty pictures" to my cold remedy list.  It seems to help. 

 

 

The Home-Maker

 

I love this painting: A Kitchen Interior by Harold Harvey.  It's on the cover of the latest Persephone biannually.  I was excited to receive it earlier this week all the way from Persephone Books in London. It's a good day for a book.  It's overcast and wet outside.  Raining lightly.  It sounds nice and looks pretty.

I'm also sick.  Actually I'm more than sick.  I have a miserable cold.  This is the worst cold I've had in a long, long time.  I feel like my head's going to explode, and I might loose my voice--and quite possibly a lung--with the next coughing attack.  I've reached the stage in my cold where I have those annoying coughing attacks from that irritating, dripping tickle--you know, the kind that make you start sweating and feel like you're going to pee your pants you cough so much?  That kind of cough.  Miserable, I tell you!

I sound like Marge Simpson, and I look like a smurf in Andrew's big ol' blue fleece robe.  Mama smurf. He doesn't wear it because it makes him sneeze for some reason, so I wear it instead.  I have my own robe, but I prefer his.  I even have a new, cute robe from Anthropologie that he gave me, and for no occasion, just because (it's this one).  Very sweet, he is.  Maybe he's just tired of seeing me look like a ridiculous smurf in his (even though he tells me I look cute in it, which I don't believe).  But his big blue robe is just sooo snuggly.  And the pockets are big enough to neatly hold the roll of toilet paper I carry around with me so I can blow my nose every 5 minutes (I've used up all the puffs so I've had to resort to TP). Something about schlepping round like this makes me feel like Charlie Brown.  So, you can probably see why it's a good book day.

One book I bought in London at Persephone Books was The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fischer.  I'm actually finished with The Home-Maker and onto another book, but being in a book mood reminded me I haven't mentioned how much I liked it.  I really, really liked it.  I can't say it would make a top 10, but it's very good.  I really like domestic novels and this one is a really good one.  It isn't for everyone, though.  Or, I should say, you can't give this book to just anyone.  You'd have to be careful about who you give it too.  Once you know what it's about, you'll understand.  It was written in 1924, but the themes are still so relevant today.  It challenges the traditional idea that mothers make the best home-makers--and should be happy doing so--and it explores what happens when a husband and wife change roles.  I like so many things about this book, but maybe especially how well Dorothy Canfield Fischer shows you the world through a child's eyes.  It's a good read.  You can find out more about the book here.  Time for me to make more tea and smurf up to another book while Lois finishes her nap. (Cough, cough. Blow nose. Repeat.)

Ava's Rule

 

Winter may be approaching here in the states, but summer is on its way in Australia, which has prompted Ava's mom, Sheye, to create a postcard called "Ava's Rule"--a reminder to be vigilant of your children and teach them not to enter a car alone.  Please share this with anyone you know who has small children.  Click on the postcard to view it larger.  And you can read Sheye's blog post about Ava's Rule here. 

My Favorite Soup

I'm not sure that this is my tippy-top favorite soup, but it's easily in the top 5.  I love, love, LOVE this soup!  I'm not totally sure where the recipe is from.  Andrew thinks it's one of Deborah Madison's recipes, but I couldn't find it in the one Deborah Madison cookbook we have.  Andrew's been making this soup for years now and no longer needs to look at the recipe.  Every time I make it, though, I have to ask him to go over it again just to be sure I don't leave anything out.  Even though we started dating in the summer, for some reason this soup sticks in my mind as one of the first things he cooked for me, but I think that has more to do with how much I love the soup than when he actually first made it because I know he wouldn't have made hot soup during an Atlanta summer.  In any case, it's perfect for fall.  And it is . . . butternut squash lentil stew.  This recipe is Andrew's rough version of it, so keep that in mind and feel to tweak it.

Everything you'll need:
3 tbsp olive oil
2 jalapenos
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder or paprika
1 medium butternut squash
1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz can)
1 cup lentils
2 cups kale
4 cups chicken stock
Crème fraîche or sour cream
(This makes a pretty big pot of soup.)

Heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add diced onion, garlic, and jalapenos (seed the jalapenos first).  Gently sweat those together for about 7 minutes.  Add the cumin and chili powder.  Stir and let those cook together for about another minute.  While that's cooking a bit, peel the butternut squash and chop off the bulbous end where the seeds are and compost it (or save it for something else).  Cut the butternut squash into bite size cubes (this requires a pretty good, big knife).  Add 4 cups of chicken stock to the onion mix in the pot (we use Better Than Boullion and really like it).  Add the can of tomatoes.  Add the one cup of rinsed and drained lentils (we usually buy the little green ones).  Stir that up and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.  When the lentils are just a bit tender, add the butternut squash cubes.  Cook for about another 20 minutes.  Once the squash is tender, add the chopped kale towards the end and just let it cook for another few minutes.  We like the kale tender but not mushy.  Along the way if you feel like it's too thick, just add more chicken stock or water, depending on the flavor--if it needs more salt, add chicken stock; if it has enough salty flavor, add some water. Add a dollop of crème fraîche, or sour cream, and that's it!  It is sooooo good.  The jalapenos and the chili powder give it a great kick. 

Behida's Hats

This may be reason number bazillion that I love etsy: Behida's hats.  Handmade.  One of a kind.  Beautiful.