I have read and listened to many a reflection on the power of gratitude in a person's life. I have believed, on a for-everyone-else level, that gratitude can reset your perspective, giving you energy and rest in the midst of challenges. I have longed to believe in and accept the restorative power of a grateful heart in my own life, but have never quite been able to grasp it.
Until now. I am finally settling into a new life that I embarked on 2 years ago: marriage, graduate school transition, apartment living. As my new job feels more comfortable and invigorating than scary, and as I enjoy having evenings to recreate and enjoy time with my husband, my mindset is changing. The quiet, still voice that can identify and praise blessings has found it's backbone again. I find my default thought patterns shifting from downtrodden, exhausted frustration to rose-colored hope and thankfulness.
I don't know if it's the financial security associated with a 2nd income, the ability to enjoy activities with friends with newfound funds and time, the end of the constant evaluation of graduate school, or the warm welcome of the coworkers in my new job-- but something about the past few weeks has wiped away the grime from my viewpoint and given me a fresh, hopeful outlook.
In addition to the many little things I find I am grateful for in the quiet moments of every day-- I am most grateful for the deeper paradigm shift that has allowed me to live from a place of gratitude.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
May 2012 Adventures: 3 of 3
Adventure 3 of 3: Namakagon Get Away
As a celebration of graduate school completion and my 29th birthday, we escaped to the north woods for some R&R on Lake Namakagon.
The weather was comfortably cool in the evening- giving us a great excuse to get a cozy fire going in the wood stove.
An ice-free view of the point...
and Warm sunlight at dusk illuminating fresh greens on the forest floor.
Swimming right underneath the deck I was laying on...
A noisy fox whose hiccup-like yelps made tracking him much easier.
As a celebration of graduate school completion and my 29th birthday, we escaped to the north woods for some R&R on Lake Namakagon.
The weather was comfortably cool in the evening- giving us a great excuse to get a cozy fire going in the wood stove.
By day, we were able to enjoy temps warm enough to warrant lazy reading on the dock. It was nice that the boat wasn't in yet as we were able to catch the action in the weeds off the other side of the dock.
There was plenty of nature awakening to spring, including a still-fuzzy fiddle head fern...
Purple-tinted trillium, a sure sign of spring...
We enjoyed some great animal sightings including plenty of baby ducks...
A coyote enjoying a stroll through our peninsula on the lake while being cautiously chased by...
May 2012 Adventures: 2 of 3
Adventure 2 of 3: Escape-artist Sourdough Starter
Okay, so this is a rather lame adventure. But it was a frequent occurrence throughout the month of May as Jake received new sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour as a birthday gift the month before. I think the growing heat and humidity in our apartment helped the starter grow faster than it did over the cooler winter months.
Below is the starter, which began by filling an old glass applesauce jar about halfway to the top. Here it has completely overfilled the glass jar, cascaded down to fill the pyrex glass bowl the jar sat in, and is in the process of spilling over to the plate. Pretty nuts!
And also pretty delicious. Here's a shot of the end result of the starter used for a sourdough circle loaf. Love the circle lines on top!
Okay, so this is a rather lame adventure. But it was a frequent occurrence throughout the month of May as Jake received new sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour as a birthday gift the month before. I think the growing heat and humidity in our apartment helped the starter grow faster than it did over the cooler winter months.
Below is the starter, which began by filling an old glass applesauce jar about halfway to the top. Here it has completely overfilled the glass jar, cascaded down to fill the pyrex glass bowl the jar sat in, and is in the process of spilling over to the plate. Pretty nuts!
And also pretty delicious. Here's a shot of the end result of the starter used for a sourdough circle loaf. Love the circle lines on top!
May 2012 Adventures: 1 of 3
Adventure 1 of 3: Wood Duck Housing
As a Father's Day gift, we put a wood duck house up on one of the ponds in my parents backyard. Unsure of the likelihood that it would be used in it's inaugural summer, we waited to check on its occupancy status until a month later.
May 5th Jake and I walked down to the house, talking loudly on our approach and then gently tapping the house and makeshift metal squirrel deterrent on the post. When there was no response from the house, we figured it was unoccupied and pointed a small camera in the hole to see if it'd had any visitors.
We visited again on May 13th. This time "scaring" the mother enough from a distance to give her plenty of time to poke her head out of the house and fly away. Counted at least 9 eggs!
We approached again on May 22nd, and discovered that the mom was out. It's likely that she had left for her breakfast run. We were having such a warm spring/summer, I'm guessing her down cover was plenty of insulation to keep the little eggs comfy.
May 30th-- the last visit that had eggs still. We figured the eggs would be hatching in the next few weeks and wanted to be sure that mom felt safe enough to lead the ducklings out-- so we stopped approaching the house. (We did check again at the end of June and found just 1 unhatched egg with bits of shell around the down. It looks like a successful stay! We'll empty out the down and clean the house later this fall.)
As a Father's Day gift, we put a wood duck house up on one of the ponds in my parents backyard. Unsure of the likelihood that it would be used in it's inaugural summer, we waited to check on its occupancy status until a month later.
May 5th Jake and I walked down to the house, talking loudly on our approach and then gently tapping the house and makeshift metal squirrel deterrent on the post. When there was no response from the house, we figured it was unoccupied and pointed a small camera in the hole to see if it'd had any visitors.
We visited again on May 13th. This time "scaring" the mother enough from a distance to give her plenty of time to poke her head out of the house and fly away. Counted at least 9 eggs!
We approached again on May 22nd, and discovered that the mom was out. It's likely that she had left for her breakfast run. We were having such a warm spring/summer, I'm guessing her down cover was plenty of insulation to keep the little eggs comfy.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Woullet Bakery's Princess Torte
My birthday treat, purchased with one of the groupon-style deals, was the Princess Torte from Woullet Bakery. I first tried this amazing dessert this fall in an internship and fell in love instantly. I honestly think it is the best dessert I've ever had in my life. It's worth every penny and is a great way to mark a special event!
Straight from the website: "Raspberry and Bavarian Cream layered with genoise (egg-rich golden cake) and wrapped in pastel marzipan." There are sliced almonds around the outside for a salty kick and the beautiful frosting rose is edible and actually tasty. Overall? Soooooo good.
Straight from the website: "Raspberry and Bavarian Cream layered with genoise (egg-rich golden cake) and wrapped in pastel marzipan." There are sliced almonds around the outside for a salty kick and the beautiful frosting rose is edible and actually tasty. Overall? Soooooo good.
Pesto Turkey Meatloaf
This was a delicious, healthier take on meatloaf. Last summer I took advantage of cheap, fragrant basil at the farmer's market to make a substantial amount of pesto. We've been chipping away at our frozen stock with pizzas and pastas, but needed to change it up. I took some liberties with the recipe and wished that I had adhered to the baking instructions calling for a roasting pan instead of a loaf pan. It still worked, just ended up pretty juicy.
Pesto Turkey Meatloaf
adapted from Kayln's Kitchen and Culinate
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb lean ground turkey
1/4 cup basil pesto
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/4 cup marinara sauce
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a roasting pan with draining slits (or 9x5 loaf pan, if you don't mind the juice) with olive oil.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 7-8 minutes till slightly brown. Add the garlic, lower heat and sauté 2 minutes.
Combine turkey, onion, garlic, pesto, parmesan cheese, salt, and breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl.
Form mixture into a loaf and set on roasting pan or into your loaf pan.
Look at that yummy pesto!
Our final results weren't pretty, it didn't hold together in slices at all, but it was quite tasty. If it was called "Crumbled Turkey with Pesto," I'd have nailed it. Crumbled or sliced, it's pretty fantastic with baked potatoes on the side.
Pesto Turkey Meatloaf
adapted from Kayln's Kitchen and Culinate
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb lean ground turkey
1/4 cup basil pesto
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/4 cup marinara sauce
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a roasting pan with draining slits (or 9x5 loaf pan, if you don't mind the juice) with olive oil.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 7-8 minutes till slightly brown. Add the garlic, lower heat and sauté 2 minutes.
Bake for 40 minutes. In the meantime, mix balsamic vinegar and marinara sauce. Brush sauce over meatloaf until fully covered. Bake another 5 minutes until cooked through, 160 degrees. (It takes awhile, the original blog says one hour and twenty minutes until done.)
Corn Chowder
Cook's Illustrated is the best. No really- I've never been let down by one of their recipes. I haven't even had a mediocre recipe from them. Here's one of my favorites. There's plenty of steps and lots of work, but it was totally worth it. Even with grocery store corn on the cob trucked in from who knows where. I can't imagine how wonderful this would be with fresh Minnesota sweet corn!
Lighter Corn Chowder
from Cook's Illustrated magazine, July August 2011
8 ears corn, husked
3 Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped finely
4 slices bacon, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tsp minced fresh thyme *we actually had this and it was SO good in the final soup*
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup flour
5 cups water
3/4 pound red potatoes, cut into 1/2 pieces
1 cup half-and-half
Sugar
3 Tbsp fresh basil *didn't have this, didn't add it and it still worked*
Remove the corn kernels from the cobs and set aside. (A chef's knife works alright if you stand the cob up in a large bowl to catch the flying kernels. Otherwise OXO makes a great corn kernel stripper that we've invested in and love. It's much quicker, less messy, and seems safer in my opinion. This toy is featured in this recipe write up in the magazine.)
KEEP THE EMPTY COBS! This is the cool part. Using the back, dull side of a butter knife, scrape down the empty cobs over/into a medium bowl. You'll end up with about 2 cups of pulp. Strain out the pulp pieces using a kitchen towel or cheesecloth and set aside the resulting corn juice.
Now, all the other stuff. We cooked the bacon slices separately, so we could remove the grease and have even "lighter" chowder.
Cook the onion, thyme, 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large pot. (Add bacon if you didn't cook separately beforehand, otherwise add after flour below.) Stir frequently and cook about 8 minutes or until onion is softened and sides are beginning to brown. Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes.
While continuing to stir constantly, slowly add water and bring to a boil. Add the corn kernels and red potatoes. Return mixture to a simmer and cook 15-18 minutes over medium heat until potatoes have softened.
Process mixture in a blender or using an immersion blender. (Another fun toy that means you don't have to wait for the soup to cool fully or clean out a fully dirty food processor/blender!)
Add half-and-half and return blended chowder to a simmer. Remove the chowder from heat and add that odd corn juice you strained earlier. Add any remaining salt or pepper the soup needs, add sugar if you feel it needs it. Serve with basil garnish, if desired.
I think the odd, magic corn juice is really what sent the chowder to the favorites list. This was a hearty, filling soup that actually tasted like corn, not nondescript cafeteria soup. We're stuck in a continuous heat wave this summer, so when our local corn is ready, we may tried a chilled Corn Chowder. I'll keep you posted.
Lighter Corn Chowder
from Cook's Illustrated magazine, July August 2011
8 ears corn, husked
3 Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped finely
4 slices bacon, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tsp minced fresh thyme *we actually had this and it was SO good in the final soup*
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup flour
5 cups water
3/4 pound red potatoes, cut into 1/2 pieces
1 cup half-and-half
Sugar
3 Tbsp fresh basil *didn't have this, didn't add it and it still worked*
Remove the corn kernels from the cobs and set aside. (A chef's knife works alright if you stand the cob up in a large bowl to catch the flying kernels. Otherwise OXO makes a great corn kernel stripper that we've invested in and love. It's much quicker, less messy, and seems safer in my opinion. This toy is featured in this recipe write up in the magazine.)
KEEP THE EMPTY COBS! This is the cool part. Using the back, dull side of a butter knife, scrape down the empty cobs over/into a medium bowl. You'll end up with about 2 cups of pulp. Strain out the pulp pieces using a kitchen towel or cheesecloth and set aside the resulting corn juice.
Now, all the other stuff. We cooked the bacon slices separately, so we could remove the grease and have even "lighter" chowder.
Cook the onion, thyme, 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large pot. (Add bacon if you didn't cook separately beforehand, otherwise add after flour below.) Stir frequently and cook about 8 minutes or until onion is softened and sides are beginning to brown. Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes.
While continuing to stir constantly, slowly add water and bring to a boil. Add the corn kernels and red potatoes. Return mixture to a simmer and cook 15-18 minutes over medium heat until potatoes have softened.
Process mixture in a blender or using an immersion blender. (Another fun toy that means you don't have to wait for the soup to cool fully or clean out a fully dirty food processor/blender!)
Add half-and-half and return blended chowder to a simmer. Remove the chowder from heat and add that odd corn juice you strained earlier. Add any remaining salt or pepper the soup needs, add sugar if you feel it needs it. Serve with basil garnish, if desired.
I think the odd, magic corn juice is really what sent the chowder to the favorites list. This was a hearty, filling soup that actually tasted like corn, not nondescript cafeteria soup. We're stuck in a continuous heat wave this summer, so when our local corn is ready, we may tried a chilled Corn Chowder. I'll keep you posted.
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