Under the Tulip Tree

Daffodil Drama

I woke up this morning, the sun streaming through the dining room window, and was wowed by the light that was soaking the daffodils I'd picked yesterday from my neighbor's yard. I couldn't resist snapping a photo of these lovelies as they looked ready to take a bow on stage. The sun was so bright, that to keep the petals from being overexposed, the rest of the room had to go as black as night. Kinda cool.

Recipe Talk (and a Recipe)

I have, over the years, learned to be an alright cook. Cooking doesn't come as naturally to me as it does for my mom and sisters, but I make a few dishes that make some people happy. I always follow a recipe, though. I modify them to my liking but I always, always have to follow some sort of instruction when I cook. To help keep me on track, I've come up with a little routine that seems to work.

First, there's my recipe binder. This is where I keep the recipes that I've collected from magazines over the years, as well as the ones that I've typed out on my computer. What goes in this binder are the things that are tried and true. I don't put anything in here that I haven't tried first so it's almost a sure bet that each meal is a keeper.

Next, to help with my meal planning, I made up these weekly grocery list/meal planners and I use them religiously. They were really simple to design—grocery list on the right, menu by day on the left—and had them printed at Kinko's and bound into tablets. I sit down on Saturday night and go through my recipe binder and my cookbooks and make up my menu and grocery list for the week. I like having the menu with me while I'm at the store because I'm just better off knowing what I had in mind for all of those ingredients on my list.

And, last, I try to shop only once a week. I plan my meaty meals in the beginning of the week (or freeze the meat if I have to) and make the non-meaty ones at the end of the week. I do usually run out of something mid-week so there's usually a quick run to the market for extras. For whatever reason, this little routine keeps me on task, and within budget. Do you have a routine that works for you?

Okay, so are you ready for a recipe? Let me ask you first how you feel about Chicken Tortilla Soup. Do you like it? I really, really like it. I was (and I guess I still am) a very picky eater so it surprises me that I like this soup so much, but I do! I adapted this recipe from one I just found in the quarterly newsletter from my credit union. I made it last weekend and it was so, so yummy. And, it most definitely makes the cut into my recipe binder.

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

• 8 cups chicken broth
• 1-1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 medium yellow or red onion, diced
• 1 large jalapeno pepper (or more if you like it really spicy)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 T fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 15oz. can of black beans
• 1 15oz. can of fire roasted tomatoes, include liquid
• 2/3 packet of chicken taco seasoning (or your own blend)

In a large pot, bring broth to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat oil then add onion and pepper; sauté until soft and getting brown around the edges. Add garlic and cook for about a minute more; remove from heat. Add onion mixture, rice, corn, beans, spices, and tomatoes to broth and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes (or until rice is cooked). Add chicken and cilantro; simmer until heated through (about 2 minutes). Serve with tortilla chips and top with cheddar cheese and sour cream if desired.

Enjoy!

Not Much to Say

Only that you would have been 65 today.

And I really hate that you're not here.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Spring Porch Clean-Up

We have had the most gorgeous string of warm, sunny weather here. They say it's ending today and I think it is already raining so I guess that's that. It's very hard to remember that the rains will most certainly return when you've been out in the garden, three weekends in a row, in a t-shirt. But I'm not complaining. It was lovely, and it was just the boost we needed to get through to spring.

On another note, when I was out working in the front garden, I was sidetracked by this most unfortunate sight:

WHAT THE H?

That does not say springtime to me. That is some of the most broken-down, depressing outdoor furniture (among other things) that I've seen in a long time. You know when you walk by something a million times a day that you don't even notice it anymore? Well, that's been my front porch.

We are not in the market for new patio furniture so I had to improvise. Firstly, the wicker chairs and ottoman had to go. Wicker is not my favorite thing. Last summer, I painted it all black and it didn't even last one season under cover. Bad.

The green chair in the corner is over 100 years old and used to belong to my grandparents. We called it the "Monk Chair" growing up because it has a carving of a monk on the back of it. My grandpa chopped the legs down so that their little dog, Tiko (they named all of their dogs Tiko), could jump up on it more easily. Someone painted it gold, then black, then dark metallic green, and I've continued to take excellent care of this rare antique by putting it out on my porch under a leaky gutter. But that's another problem for another day. At least the paint will be easier to scrape off now.

Luckily, we had some cuter furniture on the back patio that I thought would brighten things up out here:

Better, right? A little more inviting, I think. The ferns in the pots were getting lost out in the back garden so I put those here, too.

You see that brick planter box behind the chairs? It runs the length of the porch and the length of the house and nothing grows in it. It's under the eves of the house so it is bone dry and completely in shade. I was thinking of taking out the soil and filling it with river rock this year. Can you think of anything better to do with it (besides tearing it out completely)?

Off to ponder what to do with the empty back patio…

Simple Belted Dress

I made this dress for an opening that Michael and I went to this weekend. It's Butterick 5211 and it was mucho fun and beyond easy. The fabric is a strange polyester blend that looks like woven wool (it was from Jo-Ann's in the business suit-y section). The pattern was very straightforward and true-to-size for me. Meaning, I made the size I usually do. Does anyone else sort of not pay attention to the measurements on patterns for sizes? The Selfish Seamstress talked about the bizarro world of pattern sizing here and I've found it to be totally whacked myself. I've wasted so much time and fabric on things that were four sizes too big because I followed the size measurements on the pattern. Now I just ignore them and make my usual dress size and that seems to work way more often than not. Except for pants. Pants patterns never work for me. And if they actually fit, they look like slacks, and nobody wants that.

Anyway, I made the size I usually do and adjusted the skirt so that it was a little more a-line than the pattern called for (which was not at all). I also lengthened the skirt a generous two inches or so because I don't like my skirts above the knee. The hip pockets seemed like too much extra baggage so I left those out, too.

But that's it! I do believe it's one of my faves and I plan on making this pattern many times over again this spring and summer, and next time I'm going to try a cute print.

Tenacious Little Tulip

You know spring is coming when plants start making their way through dime-sized holes in recycling bins. A reminder of just how easily plants grow out here in the Willamette Valley. Not only can you underwater, underfeed, and generally deprive plants of almost all of their basic needs, you can put a large plastic box of them and they'll still grow. I hope this blooms. And I hope you find a little spring in your weekend, too!

Perry's Room

Let's talk decorating, shall we?

My little guy doesn't like to throw anything away. He even gets mad at me when I recycle his old homework. I save all of the good stuff but old math worksheets? Come on! His room was getting a little out of hand so I put it on my list of rooms to reorganize.

More trim painting in this room, too. I am so over painting trim, I can't even tell you. I got these wood shelves from the now defunct, Hold Everything catalog. We've used them in rooms all over the house and have even used them as room dividers. Everything is labeled for the little guy, and this system has worked for a very long time.

ANY

The Legos were sorted and divided by color and shape, and put into these silverware organizers (Container Store). The organizers stack on top of each other and we keep all of the instructions manuals together so when he wants to work on something, he just pulls it all off the shelf (rug from Garnet Hill).

ANY

ANY

His closet was absolutely nuts before the big clean-up. He doesn't have any hanging clothes so we use his closet to store all of his big toys and games. I put up these metal Elfa shelves and luckily I had this matching metal drawer unit just wasting space in the garage. Yay!

I made this bulletin board from an old frame. I painted it white, removed the glass, wrapped fabric around the cardboard, and presto! (not sure where the fabric is from).

ANY

Nothing in this room really goes together but what can you do. The dresser was my dad's when he was a kid. I'd like to paint it red but it's already been painted so many times, I'm afraid we won't be able to close the drawers if I paint it again. I guess I could strip it down and sand it but like that's going to happen (bed from Ikea, quilt from Target, curtains from Pottery Barn Kids, and toy basket from Cost Plus).

And, look! There's even room to play on the floor now!