Old Mother Hubbard, went to her cupboard...

...which was totally empty so she made rosemary pasta.

A must have recipe for those days, like this Thursday, when you're too tired to go to the grocery store and your cupboards contain only pasta, oatmeal, one can of tuna and seaweed sushi wrappers.

Found this recipe on Stonesoup, and it really is tasty. The rosemary is so aromatic, when I opened my tupperware to eat some leftovers for lunch the smell wafted up and made me smile.

It made me get out the Cooking with Olive Oil book my parents got me, it's so simple and Italian.

I ate it curled up on the couch watching the lovely sunset. I am going to miss these windows! Then I went back to measuring things and making list. I move this weekend. Oh my. This may be the last you'll hear of me for a bit, not sure what my internet situation/LIFE will be like next weekend! Plus my lovely adoring parents will be here and you know my mom, she doesn't like to share me ;-)

A Little Late...

This would have been perfect to post of Mother's Day, but I only found it while packing today!

My Mom in college: "Pat's transportation alternative during the gas shortage!"

And me in Middle School...

Think we're related??

εὐχαριστέω

It isn't Thanksgiving but I have a lot to be thankful for. I guess my tamata has been working overtime lately!

I signed the lease for my new apartment on Friday. It was a lovely spring day and the walk over to my new place was just beautiful, a bit windy but this is Chicago, what did you expect! I wandered around my new neighborhood for a while, lots of little stores, cafes, restaurants, a lovely park etc. And only a ten minute walk from my old apartment and I can still use my grocery stores!

I'm getting the keys later this week and will begin The Great Schlep of 2011, aka the laziest move I've ever done. I can take weeks if I'd like! But the lovely P Units are coming up in two weeks and my Plan is to have it mostly done by then. I have only a few car loads of stuff after all! After signing the lease I took loads of photos and measurements of the place, and have spent most of the weekend making plans and lists and scheming away in my wee brain!

And here it is! My little studio in the heart of Ravenswood:

I'm on the third floor, with my windows facing North onto the vacant lot to the left of the buildings. The place has a great Mock-Tudor style, faux-fireplace in the hallway and everything!

I'm not sure on the date of the building, I'll try to find out though. There's also a tiny tiny elevator, in which you can reenact the lift scene from The King's Speech!

Erm, this is not quite to scale...the rooms on the left need to come in by a few feet...but it gives a good idea of ALL THE DOORS in this place. It's a French farce. So many doors!

Door of the first closet, main door and kitchen on the right.

The door to the second closet/entry to the bathroom on the left with the nooks and windows of the main room.

The kitchen has no counter space. At all. And the oven is wee (16" wide!) and doesn't push back any further due to the placement of the gas line. But...

...there is plenty of space for a small table and/or kitchen rack sort of thing for counter space and food storage. And look a that little door! You can't open it due to the moulding along the floor, but perhaps it was for an ironing board?? Or Narnia??

I can't wait to put my schemes into action and I can assure you that there will be more photos as things progress! I already bought those little sparrow salt & pepper shakers as a present to myself. And only $8 so they were hardly a splurge ;-) (see previous post)

Speaking of money, I also got my 2 1/2 yr raise, which will make my new rent easier. A lot to be thankful for indeed!

And of course it's Mother's Day so I hope you thanked your Mother/Mother Figure/Motherly Friends today. I have to wait two weeks to hug my Mummsie but I did have Miss Cait and Lisa over for tea and cranberry cornbread muffins, and they're very dear friends indeed.

What are you all thankful for right now?

"Can you call me with the recipe for Molly Wizenberg's Scottish Scones?"

Miss Lizbeth wants to makes scones today! She borrowed my copy of Miss Molly's A Homemade Life (Read it.) a while back and it's still chock full of her bookmarks! Which, honestly, I kind of like since it reminds me of her!

While most of the recipes found in the book are also on Miss Molly's lovely blog Orangette, there is some slight variation...thus the text this morning for a recipe. And I figured you all might as well benefit too. And I have yet to make these scones but Miss Lizbeth, who is an authority on all things Scottish, says they are fantastic. I'll take her word on it and so should you.

Scottish Scones with Lemon and Ginger

From A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

2 c unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbs (2 oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes

3 tbs sugar

2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/4 c finely chopped crystalized ginger

1/2 c half-and-half, plus more for glazing

1 lrg egg

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, whist together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour mixture, squeezing and pinching with your fingertips until the mixture resembles a coarse meal and there are no butter lumps bigger than a pea. Add the sugar, lemon zest, and crystallized ginger and whisk to incorporate.

Pour 1/2 cup half-an-half into a small bowl or measuring cup and add the egg. Beat with a fork to mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and stir gently to just combine. The dough will look dry and shaggy, and there may be some unincorporated flour at the bottom of the bowl. Don't worry about that. Using your hands, squeeze and press the dough into a rough mass. Turn the dough, and any excess flour, out onto a board or countertop, and press and gather and knead it until it just comes together. You don't want to overwork the dough; ideally, do not knead more than 12 times. There may be some excess flour that is not absorbed, but it doesn't matter. As soon as the dough holds together, pat it into a rough circle about 1 inch thick. Cut the circle into 8 wedges.

Place the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Pour a splash of half-and-half into a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the scones with a thin coat to glaze. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool slightly, and serve warm, with butter, if you like.

Note: If you plan to eat them within a day or two, store the scones in an airtight container at room temperature. For longer storage, seal them in a heavy plastic bag or container, and freeze them. Before serving, bring them to room temperature. Either way, reheat them briefly in a 300 degree oven. They're best served warm.

Lizbeth's Note: Or sub half the half-and-half with buttermilk, with orange zest and craisins softened in hot water.

Happy Saturday my lovelies!

"You must retrench!"

"Retrench? Retrench! How may I retrench?! A baronet must be seen to live like a baronet!!"

One of my favorite rainy weekend things to do is drink tea and watch Persuasion. I've been thinking about that particular film a lot recently as starting now I am Retrenching. Not in Bath like Sir Walter Elliot, but (soon) in a new apartment! A wee place of my own! So perhaps it's more like the Dashwood Ladies, a simpler and less extravagant life in a cottage by the sea...except I'll be in a studio apartment in Ravenswood, Chicago.

Unfortunately a studio has a much higher rent than what I'm paying now, so some budget Retrenching is called for. I hardly spend like a madwoman as is, but taking a good look at my expenses is called for. I've done more math in the past few days than I'd like to think about.But I also feel like I've got a better grasp on my money use, which really is my biggest problem.

Money comes in, money goes out and I'm only vaguely aware of it. It's a numbers thing. My brain doesn't care for them. Growing up I'd "launder my money" by leaving bills or even checks in my pockets which Mom would find when she washed my jeans. As a grown up I may check my bank accounts daily and have even set up an online budgeting tool but it does little good. The numbers on my screen still remain vague symbols nothing more.

And so I'm going old school folks. I'm going to write everything down. I'll be like Mr. Bennet in his study having a night cap while tallying up the ledger book. I've got a calendar laid out with when my paychecks come in and how much they'll be, when rent/utilities/fixed expenses etc go out, and I will record grocery and other expenses as they happen. Miss Cait, who I've taken to calling my Financial Advisor, sent me an article from this website, Wise Bread (bread!!) which has lots of excellent advice on wise money use. Miss Cait and Lisa have adopted a Cash Only budget for dining out/entertainment and I think it sounds like a good idea. After all, once cash is gone it's gone! And I've stopped putting mine though the wash ;-)

Not surprisingly, I spend a good part of my money on food. I KNOW RIGHT!

I've already begun to be creative on my grocery trips. By shopping mainly at my local Mexican grocery not only am I saving money but eating more fruit and veg too. Score! Whatever I can't get there I'll buy at the Jewel, trying to get things on sale or with coupons. Having a Walgreens around the corner is a convenient and dangerous thing, so I've been sticking to one trip a week.

As to what I'm buying, that couscous has become a favorite as half a box makes up almost three meals. Madness! I love tuna on buttered toast (a less freaky take on the classic sardines on toast) which is great because tuna is damn cheap. Cornmeal is also damn cheap. I'm scheming to whip up some dried cranberry corn muffins this week. Oh! and did you know that fiori pasta cooks up to be like twice it's original size? I had Miss Ashley over for dinner a few weeks ago and seriously over estimated how much I would need to feed two! Loooads of leftovers. Do you have any secret weapons in your Makin' It Last Arsenal? Any stone soup style recipes?

Speaking of stone soup, a few weeks ago I was reading the blog of a fashion designer who likes ajeweler who made a tasty looking potato and rosemary pizza which came from a blog calledStonesoup. And at Stonesoup I stayed for several hours pouring over her loads of amazing recipes and guides for a healthier, money saving, less wasteful, and more Aussie life style. Some top picks:

7 Unusual Tips for Reducing your Food Costs (My friends and I run into the produce waste a lot due to unreliable schedules, but see! Frozen Veg is ok! The Aussie lady says so!)

18 Tips for Minimising Your Food Costs

7 Golden Rules for Freezing Food (I can't wait for summer and the "berry glut"!!)

10 Tips for Optimal Vegetable Storage

Lots of ideas and schemes! And honestly it's kind of a fun challenge. I used to do technical theater after all, which really boils down to making something awesome out of a whole lot of nothing. My family calls it Sandin Ingenuity. It must be a Swedish thing, coming from a culture centered around this untranslatable idea of 'Lagom'. Which thanks to my recent trip to the Swedish American Museum's exhibit on the Smorgasbord as well as watching the No Reservation's Sweden episode I've become aware of. An idea that what you have is just right. "Making do" without the negative connotations. Finding joy in the simple, sometimes even free things. Like tuna on buttered toast. Public Parks. And good friends.

Fortunately, I'm not a baronet with social expectations to uphold. Retrenching is not going to force me to rent out my ancestral home and move to Bath or anything like that. It's just getting me into a new apartment, which I just got approved for!