Commonplace

Untangeling the Mess

In a flurry of activity upon the realization that vacation (such as it was) was drawing to a close, Niall and I undertook a few projects around the house this weekend.

Remember the living room and all it's flood-damaged glory? Well, we came one step closer to being able to call it finished. (As much as an architect and a graphic designer can ever call anything finished.)

We hung pictures.

I moved into this house seven years ago this week and yesterday we hung artwork on the walls of our home for the first time. (I have some commitment issues).

As it is want to do when anniversaries approach, my thoughts turned to that new year's week in 2002 when I moved in here with my three and a half year old boy. Newly single and completely clueless about what would happen next, I was determined to make a home for him. I stayed up nights painting cheerful colors and listening to Shawn Colvin sing about a Whole New (Me):

...you have the right
to shake the loneliness and shine the light
take all your tears and save 'em for a rainy night
go and wish on every star that's fallen
shake your head and wonder when it's all to good to be true
like a whole new you
so don't lose the way
you can do no wrong
and don't spend your days just trying to be strong
when you don't know your name
you know it's okay, you can do it...

Having no real plan and taking countless missteps (many of which I am still—I should say we are still—accounting for) I trudged forward blindly. I entered tentatively into a new relationship and three different jobs—just trying to make sense of my own abilities and desires. Fast forward seven years (filling in the blanks with some older posts and some yet to be written) to hanging pictures and untangling the garage mess with my husband of three years and our seventeen-month old joy-baby. Meanwhile my now-ten-and-a-half year old is out skiing with his dad. Metaphor? Perhaps. Or, more likely I think, just the next chapter.

 

For those of you who visit here to see the crafty scenes from my life, I'm binding the first quilt of the new year and hope to have photos within a day or so.

Thanks for visiting.

A List in Celebration

While considering for a moment what I might resolve for the coming year it occurred to me that such resolutions often seem to serve only one purpose: to remind me of my failures over the past twelve months. So tonight, on this last night of the year, I'm going to look back. I have a dangerous habit to go quickly to my shortcomings and examine only my inadequacies. This evening I'm going to celebrate my successes.

A gift of confirmation to myself. Join in and confirm your successes — if you're so inclined.

This year I:

Wrote. I'm listening to my voice and learning how to write it down.

Breastfed my baby joyfully.

Joined in.

Was calmer in my parenting. (Please don't misunderstand this to mean that I was calm. But I was calmer.)

Made new friends.

Maintained an effective relationship with Jake's father. (I prefer not to refer to him as my ex-husband although that is in fact what he is to me.) I now even consider him a friend.

Lost all of the weight I gained while pregnant with Quinn.

Finished old projects.

Learned new things.

Began a journey back to gainful employment.

Trusted my instincts more than ever before.

And even though it is much easier to compose those other lists (the ones with all the broken resolutions from last year), I'd say all in all, I accomplished quite a lot this year.

The Kindness of Strangers

To the person who found my purse in the A&P parking lot on Saturday night: thank you. Really, what more can I say. You could have taken the thirty-seven dollars and change and I would still be grateful. But you didn't. And yesterday morning while getting ready to attend the bank closing on the refinance of my home, when I realized that I had indeed not seen my purse or it's contents (including my driver's license, of course) in nearly forty-eight hours I began a complete and total melt-down. When my husband calmly suggested that I call the supermarket and ask if they had my purse, I balked. No way. Right? But there it was. And did I mention that everything was intact. Not a Luden's Honey-Lemon missing. Not a dollar spent. I picked it up on my way to the closing, continued on to the Chrysler Building in New York City, rode the art-deco elevator twenty-four stories, presented my driver's license when asked to do so, and successfully completed the refinance of my home. So, to that person who stopped in the cold dark parking lot on Saturday night and took the time to bring the bag of a stranger inside to the customer service desk, I say: thank you. Thank you.

Views Around Town

Our Christmas day was spent quietly at home. We took a walk and (for once) I remembered my camera. Here's some of what Rupert Vermont looks like at sunset in late December.

I hope yours was everything you wished for.

Ode to a Moment

Yesterday at 7:04 AM Eastern Standard Time (here in the Northern Hemisphere) the Winter Solstice occurred.

While today's culture doesn't face the same challenges that once presented themselves during the winter months, daily life here in the Northeast does take on a decidedly different tone in the winter. Modern conveniences keep us warm, light our homes and preserve our food. We understand that longer warmer days will be returning. But sill there are moments when the darkness seems perpetual. I feel a need to be indoors before it's dark. I absolutely get less done (which I admit isn't always a bad thing) and my mood is heavy. Perhaps it's a holdover in me from a time when darkness meant danger and the cold was a threat to existence.

Just to be clear: I don't hate winter. It's just harder for me. Have I loved the excitement of watching my toddler see his first snowstorm? Youbetcha. Do I get pleasure from skiing with my son? Absolutely. What about hot chocolate and slow cooked stews? Of course. But oh, how I long for those extended days and the liberation of bare feet, open windows and a lighter mood.

Since I like to include a photo as often as possible I'll point you to Alexis' blog: Knot Sew Crafty, where she posted photos of the view from her house yesterday. I live less than a mile up the street from Alexis and CMR so the view from here isn't so different. Could you go look at her photos and pretend that they belong with this post?

From this point forward (for the next six months — but we won't go there yet) the days begin to grow blessedly longer and the inevitable countdown to return of the sun begins. Hallelujah!

Fruited Pumpkin Bread

This recipe comes from Sunset Magazine and is a bit different from most other pumpkin breads I've made. It's a little spicy and includes mashed banana for extra fruity flavor.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or ground nutmet
3/4 cup (1/4 lb. plus 1/4 cup) butter or margarine, at rooom temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup each canned pumpkin and mashed ripe banana
1/2 to 1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or dates

Instructions
In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. In another large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; then stir in pumpkin and banana. Add flour mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Stir in walnuts.

Spread batter evenly in two greased, floured loaf pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven until a wooden skewer inserted in centers of loaves comes out clean (about one hour).

Let bread cool in pans on racks for about five minutes; then turn out onto racks to cool completely.

Thanks for playing along with me on Project Quick-Bread. Now the work begins. This weekend my plan is to make many many loaves of the recipes I've posted this month and the gift giving begins. My thought is that each gift will contain three mini loaves. I'm a little stumped about how to present them cleverly. Jessica suggested baking boxes, which I like, but need to locate and don't want to spend too much money on. If anyone has any thoughts, please share them — I'm open.

From the weird files:

This is a blanket with sleeves. It's called a Snuggie and Jake wants one for Hanukkah. No way am I purchasing one of these but since I've never seen one in person I'm having some trouble figuring out how to make it. Anyone?

We're in snow day mode here and this Mama can't wait. My plans involve taking Quinn for his first snow walk and serving hot cocoa to Jake while he sits at the kitchen table in his long johns and wet clothes dry on the heater — pink cheeks all around. I'm heading into the garage now to look for the sled. If I'm not back in a few hours, send in the troops!

Oh, one more thing: happy birthday Niall. I love you.

Stay-On Toddler Hat (and My Favorite Banana Bread)

Quinn is against hats. (He doesn't much care for shoes either, but that's a different post.) So I knit a pilot-style cap thinking that a tie at the chin would be enough. Wrong. Enter necessity, the mother of invention.

(It's hard to take a photo of an unsteady, newly-walking toddler.)

I'm calling this an Astronaut Hat and so far his objections have been limited. Here's a link to the pattern if you're so inclined. I've written it in two sizes 'cause that's just the kinda gal I am.

On to Project Quick-Bread.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to quick breads. There is oil or shortening as a 'wet' base or a dairy (i.e. buttermilk or yogurt) ingredient. After years of trying different recipes I've concluded that for my money, sour cream is the way to go in a banana bread. You can't beat the moistness and it adds just the right kick. As loathe as I am to admit it, Martha Stewart's recipe has become my go-to. And without further ado I give you my favorite banana bread recipe:

Oven:
350 degrees

Yield:
1 loaf

Ingredients:
1/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe banana (about three bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I leave these out)

Instructions:
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well. Sift the dry ingredients together and combine with butter mixture. Add the bananas, sour cream and vanilla. Stir in nuts if using. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (about one hour). Turn out loaf onto cooling rack.

Tomorrow: Fruited Pumpkin Bread

And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

So last night my husband (not so) gently said "Honey, this carrot raisin bread recipe posted on your blog is getting old. Don't you need to post something new?" Truth is: I'm not much for the holiday season and I often try and glide through it without actually acknowledging it's occurrence. I was kind of afraid to admit that here to you my festive, holiday-loving friends but couldn't think of a way to post at this time of year without acknowledging it. After years of considering why I feel this way, my conclusion is that it comes from growing up in a household where Christmas wasn't celebrated (if you've been reading for a while, you know I'm Jewish). On some level I always felt left out and a teeny tiny bit resentful. Over time I've reconciled it and found ways to participate in the spirit of the season, but my general distaste for the commercialism of the holiday has remained. We do what we can to "put the Christ back in Christmas" as it were, but that's all the more difficult when you don't actually celebrate Christmas.

So, that's why I dropped off the face of blog-land. And thanks to those of you who checked in on me. I'm probably going to hold my breath until January at which point I plan to come up for air and be really really cheerful. In the meantime, let's rejoin our quick bread project already in progress.

Today's recipe comes to us courtesy of Andrea from The Little Collection. This is her Orange Nut Bread recipe. Thanks Andrea.

Oven: 350 degrees
Yield: one loaf

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unsifted flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
2 tablespoons water
1 cup chopped nuts (Andrea's mom used walnuts, but she prefers pecans)

Instructions:
Grease and sugar a standard loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine eggs, butter, orange juice, zest and water.
Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir to combine. Add nuts and incorporate.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (about one hour). Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Carrot-Raisin Quick-Bread

This one is just a cake in bread's clothing.

Oven: 350 degrees
Yield: Two loaves

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar plus 2 tablespoons
3 eggs
1/4 molasses
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded carrot
3/4 cup golden raisins (or walnuts or both)

Directions
Sift dry ingredients into a medium bowl
In a large bowl, combine oil, sugar, eggs, molasses and vanilla. Add shredded carrot and raisins and mix to combine. Pour dry ingredients into carrot mixture and stir until combined. Pour batter into two prepared loaf pans and bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (about an hour).

I've always thought that this one would be delicious with a cream cheese frosting...
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
5 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
Mix all ingredients together EXCEPT the sugar until well combined
Add sugar slowly and beat until light and very fluffy

Project Quick-Bread: Buttermilk Cinnamon Loaf

I can't remember where this recipe comes from. It's printed on a yellowed ragged torn piece of newsprint that lives in the front of my recipe journal. It's simple delicious goodness.

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla

For cinnamon swirl:
2  tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions

In a medium bowl, sift dry ingredients together and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Stir in dry mixture and buttermilk alternately just until combined. Divide one-third of mixture between two greased loaf pans.

Mix together swirl ingredients and pour a light dusting over each loaf. Swirl through batter with a knife.

Add remainder of batter divided into both loaf pans. Sprinkle swirl over top of loafs but don't mix into batter.

Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only moist crumbs attached (about an hour).

I've always meant to try this with a delicious glaze drizzled over the top. Maybe maple-sugar or a simple buttermilk glaze... but I always eat it before I can bother.

V over at Bumble beans (one of the most talented and creative quilters I know) posted her favorite Pumpkin Bread recipe as part of Project Quick-Bread. Thanks V!

Tomorrow's recipe: Carrot Raisin Loaf.