Bloom Where You're Planted.

We started our seedlings a few weeks ago. Hopefully we'll have our own mini farmer's market in our own backyard. We used the Mariano Sport heirloom tomatoes that Adam saved from our favorites this past summer, as well as some sunflowers and some leeks. What you're looking at are the beginnings of our sunflowers. We also planted lettuce, chard and kale outside, but I think there are some thieves living in our yard. Has anybody else begun their spring planting?

More to come....

A Twist on Baking....

I saw a recipe that inspired me to try something new in my bread machine: pretzels. I went back to my German roots today when we decided to go for it. They are surprisingly easy and fun to make. A few steps and a little time, but delicious nonetheless. Behold the pretzel making process:

Divide the dough into equal parts and roll each part into 20 inch ropes. Twist them into cute little pretzel shapes.

Boil the cute pretzel shapes in water with a little baking soda for 45 secs - 1 min.

Brush with egg white wash and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake until they're a deep, dark golden delicious.

Oh man, they are so good. You should really try these....Have a good Fat Tuesday! I know we definitely will :)

Two Things:

Tumwater Falls, Washington.

My continued attempts at sewing. I feel like I need to at least use this fabric that I've practiced my embroidery. Now it houses my thread and needles.

See, the zipper works and everything! Who knew I could actually attach a zipper?

Lovely.

Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's weekend. I did (despite being slightly ill). I woke up to sweet potato pancakes (heart-shaped) and ended the day with another wonderful meal.

We cooked Valentine's dinner together. Here's the menu:
-Chargrilled Caesar Salad
-Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
-New York Strip Steak
-And my favorite....Chocolate Molten Cake.


We're going running today. Probably a good idea considering the mass consumption yesterday. We're ending week 4 of the marathon training. Only 12 more to go....

This coming week I'm off work and heading with Adam to Olympia, WA. He has business there and I thought it would be a great opportunity to reunite with some old friends. Meredith, an old high school friend, lives there and it's going to be so good to see her! Ryan and Emily, old neighbors/friends from Jacksonville, live in Seattle and are going to meet up with us sometime too. It's nice to have friends...

Our love to all! Cheers!

Just sew.....

Okay, so this is me getting over my ego. I'm sharing some images of my recent attempts at free form embroidery. I've been reading this blog (tinyhappy.typepad.com) that my friend Carrie got me hooked onto and she does such beautiful, simple embroidery of things in nature. She sketches little drawings of things she likes when she goes out hiking and then sews them onto fabric and makes little bags or wall hangings or wallets or whatever. Maybe this will end up as a little clutch or perhaps a pillow or maybe it will just sit with my other abandoned projects...we'll see.

I made Adam sketch a daffodil for me....and I attempted a few basic stitches.....its OK. It's not quite a daffodil anymore now that I've gone over it, but I'm learning - right? I loved what I had done with the stem and the petals. Once I got to the middle, I think I panicked!

There's some great online video glossaries of numerous stitches and that was very helpful. Find that website (www.needlenthread.com).

I have attempted a few other sewing projects as of late, but I dare not show them on the world wide web. Still very much in "learner" mode, I'm not quite confident in my skills yet. But here's a baby blanket I made for a friend of mine at work who just had a baby girl. I got the ladybug fabric at goodwill for $3. There is definitely something to be said about goodwill.

The Goonies

Did I mention to anyone that Cannon Beach/Seaside OR was the site for some of the filming of Goonies? Well it is! This past summer we visited Astoria (another Northern Oregon coastal town) and drove past the house where Chunk had to do the "Truffle Shuffle". All kinds of movies were filmed out here....I guess because maybe its such a gosh darn beautiful place....

I just need to share a few more photos with all of you. These pictures almost don't look real. We took a 3 mile hike through Ecola State Park on our way out of Cannon Beach on saturday. Here's what we got to look at.....

We also did some more exploring during the morning low tide. I've never seen so many starfish or sea urchins!

We had a pretty good time. If I do say so myself.

Sea Treasures

I spent 2 hours on the beach today, just walking and exploring. The sun was out all morning through mid afternoon. It was a nice surprise for a January on the Oregon Coast. Here's a little bit of what I captured....


My camera died about 3/4 of the way through my exploration today, so I didn't get the lovely sea urchins and starfish I saw in some tide pools. Maybe tomorrow. Miss you all!