Eat more cornbread.

Made some cornbread this weekend. I haven't baked in a while so I didn't want to hurt myself ;-)
It makes a fantastic breakfast, pre-dinner snack, dinner side, pre-bed snack...

While kick ass on it's own, a little maple syrup drizzled on top takes it to a level of pure down-home goodness.

In my case literally as I have a bottle of syrup from my hometown.

I started a 5 week jewelry making class this week and I now know that I suck ass at cutting metal. I bent a saw blade and everything! Yay for lots of metal files to de-jank my project. And studio time to practice...

I also went dancing this week. In a club. With people. And fog. It was awesome. 

This weekend has been full of weekend foods (aka frying pan food), cups of tea, and starting up knitting again.  I'm also now on season four of Law & Order: SVU.  Not sure what the logic is behind having L&O: CI and L&O: SVU on instant queue and not the original. Anyone seen L&O: UK???

I can feel baking season creeping in,  and I'm already adding some hearty-ness to my diet.

Meat sauce mmmmm.

Not very challenging though.  I'm reading a book on Victorian cookery and it's making me feel like a slacker.  I may need to try something a little more complicated this week. Not too complicated though, I flatly refuse to boil any cow heads for soup.  I am clearly not fine Victorian lady or maid material. I don't want to eat it or make it.  Ramen packets are just fine with me. :-)

Rosemary is for Remembrance

This is one of my favorite times of year.  The days are still sunny and bright but the nights call for sweaters and scarves.  It's golden grass, Queen Anne's lace and cornflowers.

I keep thinking back to the summers my family spent in Cape May when I was in middle school.  We rented an apartment a block from the ocean, it was a classic seaside place: lots of white oil paint, faded quilts, and wicker furniture.   Days spent on the beach were great but for some reason the nights really stuck with me.  My bed was right under a dormer window and I could hear the ocean while I snuggled tight under old quilts and blankets.  I can't hear the ocean now (just the gentle hum of traffic) but the chill air feels the same when I fall asleep.

That chill also legitimizes spending the whole day snuggling under blankets with a book and a cup of tea.   Last weekend I was lucky enough to have a lazy day cuddle buddy! Hello Miss Dottie!

My friends were out of town for the holiday weekend so I watched their Dottie dog. We went on long walks along the boulevard, watched the Create channel together and played fetch.

Because who can say "no" to THAT face! Oh my goodness!!!  Plus the sight and sound of that little dog careening down the hall, bouncing off walls, nails clattering after a tennis ball is hysterical.  I'm not ready to add an animal to my life but borrowing one for the weekend was quite fun! I got to make another four-legged friend this week, Misses Cait and Lisa got a wee dog, Rico, who is so small he goes about in a purse.  Freakishly cute.

This weekend was quiet too, but I did manage to get some things done.  Cleaned my apartment, turned pureed curried cauliflower into fritters (yum.), and drank a stein at Octoberfest.  Walked around Renegade craft fair, made some new friends, knocked a screen out of my window trying to kill a fly and bought a mint plant for 99 cents.

I get a kick out of urban gardening. I used a wood spoon as a trowel and keep potting soil in my closet.  I scored my mint at a garden sale and was kicking myself for not having more pots when I found they were so cheap! Don't worry, next year, I will be ready!! Maybe a red geranium, or more herbs.  I've already made minty hibiscus iced tea and am looking forward to tisanes.  

It's strange. This change of seasons, this day so full of the past. I was busy today but now, when it's quiet it's hard to not remember ten years ago. I'll gladly take the comfort of a cup of tea and a blanket today.