erm, hello???

Hi. Is this thing on? I think it's been turned off for a couple of months. Ok, I blame the holidays. I also blame un-inspiration. I simply have not felt like writing.

I sometimes get overwhelmed with the amount of amazing information & inspiration that is out there on the web. It sometimes renders me paralyzed as I compare my silly blog with three readers to all of these incredible and arty sites. The really great blogs have fairly narrowed focus and style, I've surmised. They have a hook. They have a central idea. Meanwhile, I'm all over the place with recipes and photos and rambling musings.

I've also discovered that there are a ton more aesthetically pleasing and free blog hosting options.

ATM I am buried under the mountain of amazing sites, trying to sift through, looking for the best parts and trying to figure out what my focus should be. I still don't know.

All of this, is the blessing and curse of a Gemini brain, of which I am a proud owner.

Every now and then, however, a rabbit hole appears. One site leads to the next and they are all amazing and inspirational. It doesn't help me find MY focus, but at least it makes me feel like there is some continuity and a glimmer of a path that I choose to create on my own.

So, today, I fell down this rabbit hole while following a Facebook post about a Bohemian Balinese wedding. Amazing on every level.

First, Swoon shares photos of the beautiful wedding:

http://www.loveolio.com/swoon/2011/02/a-bohemian-wedding-in-bali/

Just LOOK at her wedding dress and headdress! Makes me want to get married again. But married again to Todd. and in Bali. Is this too much to ask?

next, I read an article about the bride, her art and her fashion blog:

http://www.corridor40.com/2010/12/we-are-stalking/we-are-stalking-mandy-of-oracle-fox

I then look at her blog, which has the insane name of Oracle Fox. Who DOESN'T want to be an oracle fox?

http://www.oraclefox.blogspot.com/

I go back to Corridor 40 and find something she can't live without. This ring:

http://maniamania.bigcartel.com/product/immortals-ring

now look at the rest of this amazing jewelry!

Then, back to Oracle Fox, look at some of the raddest photos for a jewelry catalog, and find THIS! omg!

http://www.bjorgshop.com/cms/

Finally it's back to the original Swoon site and follow the link to the photographer for the wedding. insane. gorgeous. wow.

http://jonaspeterson.com/

ok, maybe shooting weddings here and there would not be such a bad gig. especially if they were in Bali.

So, there you have it. See why I am rendered useless after seeing all this awesomeness? I am inspired, for sure. I just have to figure out how to take all this inspiration and funnel it into one direction and go.

peace be with me. and also with you.

Girl, I'll Sparklehouse You!

Todd and I have been into making and enjoying music since forever. As posted earlier, I just came across Soundcloud as an amazing social media site for sharing and discovering music. (WARNING: geeky technical vernacular ahead. Please jump straight to the link if you just want to hear the music.)

Traditionally, T and I have used Serato to DJ, which involves using control records so you can DJ your MP3s with the look and feel of vinyl. It's been fantastic in that you don't have to haul crates of records around if you are playing out.

This year at Burning Man, the DJs at our camp decided to go all digital so no one had to risk their turntables in the dust. This was the first time that Todd or I had DJed exclusively digitally and I loved it! There was no worrying about peeps bumping into the tables and making your records skip and no worries about vinyl drift. When we got home, we decided to buy a MIDI controller and Traktor software. It has been a dream! It is so much easier to focus on the art of selection and blending without the worries of vinyl. I just love it.

I've been going crazy mixing and recording. I can't stop. Here is my latest house mix, titled "Girl, I'll Sparklehouse You!" There are a couple other mixes on my Soundcloud page. Download and enjoy!

http://soundcloud.com/sparkletrot/girl-ill-sparklehouse-you

Halloween Chili

Halloween Chili

by Suzie

The masses have been calling for my recipe for hearty vegetarian Halloween chili! In the spirit of The Great Pumpkin, I'll share my secrets with you, my special friends. This recipe has a bit of Mexico in it with the addition of cinnamon and a dark chocolate bar! It'll warm up your little (and big) ghouls and ghosts before a long candy hunt through the 'hood!

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, diced

1 (or 2) red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small can of green chilies (opt)

*1 diced jalapeno, seeded and diced (* see below!)

1- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

6-8 cups of cubed fresh butternut squash (2 - 8oz bags of pre-cut fresh squash)

1 quart veggie broth

2 - 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 - 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 8 oz can tomato paste

3/4 cup dried bulgur (omit for gluten-free recipe)

2 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (omit for a vegetarian recipe)

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3-5 garlic cloves, minced

4 Tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin (or more to taste)

2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more to taste)

1 Tablespoon paprika

1 10 oz dark chocolate bar (64% or more)

1 can of corn or 1-2 cups frozen corn (thawed)

salt and pepper to taste

*I don't use jalapenos, because it can make it too spicy for the kids. Add if you want more kick to your chili

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add carrots, onions, bell peppers, and jalapenos (if using) and sauté until onions and carrots are almost tender, about 5 minutes.


2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, beans, green chilies, squash, honey, maple syrup, Worcestershire (if using), bulgur or hominy, vinegar, garlic and spices. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer, uncovered until bulgur is tender and mixture thickens, or for about 20 minutes. Stir often.


3. Add corn and chocolate bar and stir until chocolate is melted. Add salt and pepper to taste

Serve over brown rice with corn chips (like Frito's) and accoutrements such as cilantro, green onions, sour cream, and corn bread.

Rain Makes Soup

Fall has fer shure arrived here in Seattle. Brisk, sunny days are followed by buckets of rain.

We visited with some friends who were in town from LA this weekend. They flew in on Friday, which was gorgeous up here. They were greeted with blue skies peppered with white fluffy clouds, temperatures in the high 60's, & a few dots of reds and oranges in the maple trees. We met up with them that evening in a pirate (yes, pirate!) bar. She and I discussed the reality of the rain here in Seattle.

her: I wasn't sure what to bring as far as clothing: rain boots? rain jacket? Gortex?
she glanced down at my grey high heeled Miss Mooz boots.

her: ok, so those are super cute . . . I didn't think something like that would work here in the rain. I've only been here in the summer, when it's gorgeous.

me: well, when it rains here, it mostly drizzles. Sometimes it will downpour or shower for a minute, but it's mostly just drizzle.

flash forward to Saturday.
early morning: drizzle
mid to early morning: showers
11:00am: commence downpour
downpour continues & continues & continues, until . . .
. . . Sunday, around 4:00 pm: downpour tapers off to a light drizzle and a quick sunbreak from 5:00pm to 6:00pm

Sorry, friend. I misled you.
It's really hard to say how the weather is going to go here. It's unpredictable in the fall (ok, and also in the winter, spring and summer for that matter).

The good news is that the rain and drizzle and occasional downpours that keep us stuck inside can really get Seattle-ites to innovate.

It makes me want soup.

Sunday evening, I trolled through the pantry and refrigerator for random ingredients to make a healthy and cozy soup. Our bones need defrosting after 2 days of soccer games in said downpour.

Here's what I found. The soup turned out super yummy and hearty. I even got requests to make it again from all members of the family.

Red Lentil Vegetable Soup

By Suzie

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups chopped carrots

4 medium zucchinis, sliced and then halved

3 cups broccoli

1 15 oz can chopped tomatoes

1 8 oz can tomato paste

2-3 garlic cloves

2 teaspoons “21 season salute” (from Trader Joe’s, or sub no-salt spice mix)

1 t turmeric

1 t oregano

dash red pepper

2 cups dried red lentils

7 cups total liquid (I mixed 3 cups vegetable broth with 4 cups water); *more if needed (see instructions

salt & pepper to taste.

Serve over wild rice

Directions:

1. Heat oil up in large stock pot over med-low heat. Add onions and carrots and sauté until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini and sauté another 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes, broccoli and all seasonings including garlic (salt and pepper can be added now or at the end of cooking) and stir to coat vegetable mixture with seasonings. Cook together about 1 minute.
2. Add the red lentils, tomato paste and liquids and stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are soft. *Add more water while cooking, ½ cup at a time, if soup looks like it needs more water.
3. add salt & pepper to taste

This is really great served over Lundberg brand wild rice blend. I make the wild rice with a low sodium vegetable broth. Lundberg makes a few types of rice blends that are all fabulous.

I just threw in vegetables that we had sitting around in the fridge. You could try this with different seasonal vegetables. I would definitely suggest that you keep the onion and carrots as your base veggies however.

Black Bean & Pumpkin Dahl

With the start of fall, all my food ideas are leaning toward soups and stews and how I can add pumpkin to them! I adapted a recipe for yellow spilt pea dahl to make it much more fall-ish and pumpkin-ful.

This recipe is vegan and gluten-free. It's also super easy, hearty and super yummy!

Sorry, I didn't take a photo of it.

Tell me if you try it and what you think!

Black Bean & Pumpkin Dahl

by me

Ingredients:

2 cups dried yellow split peas, rinsed and sorted

1- 15 oz can of light coconut milk (about 2 cups)

4 cups water

1 large onion, diced

1-15 oz can of pureed pumpkin

1-15oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 Tablespoons of Garam Masala

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Salt & pepper to taste

Cilantro (optional)

Fresh spinach (opt)

Serve with basmati rice

Directions:

1. Rinse and sort the yellow peas. Cover them with water and soak for 10 minutes
2. While the split peas are soaking, sauté the onions for about 10 minutes or until just starting to become translucent and soft.
3. Add garlic and spices to onions and sauté about 1 minute more, or until the spices become fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Bring water and coconut milk to boil. Add the peas and the pumpkin stir and turn down the heat to low.
5. Stir in the onion & spice mix and cover. Continue cooking on low heat for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. While the peas are cooking, cook the basmati rice
7. Stir in the black beans and continue cooking for about 5 – 10 minutes, or until the peas are soft.

Serve over rice and add cilantro on top.

Another serving option is to put the rice in the bowl, add fresh spinach, and then top with the dahl. The heat from the dahl will cause the spinach to wilt perfectly.

Serve with basmati rice

Ok, Fall.

All right, Fall. Looks like you're beelining your way into my future whether or not I'm ready for you.

Today was the first bone-chilling soccer game we've had all season. It took me 2 hours and about a gazillion layers after we got home to shake the cold inside.

I'm starting to see the leaves change into the glorious reds, yellows and golds.

We are beginning to plan out costumes for a Halloween-themed wedding.

I'm seeing the hiatus quickly approaching of my early morning dog walks as our mornings get darker and darker.

Fall is actually my second favorite season. Sometimes I just have a hard time adjusting to the change when my first favorite season, summer, abruptly gets up and walks out of the room without a good bye of any sort. how rude.

But Fall, I think I am ready for you. Cozy coats and blankets and books and hot tea when it's windy and crisp outside. Belly-filling stews and soups and red wine. Golden and rouge leaves and clear bright blue skies.

Ok Fall. You can come. But only if you bring your hot friend, Brussels Sprouts.

http://honestfare.com/maple-glazed-brussels-sprouts-hazelnuts/

found: lovely poem by P

I could build a house with all the paperwork that comes home from my kids' school. A couple months ago, we were clearing out some paperwork and ran across this beautiful poem by my daughter. She is a very talented poetress and writer. This gem on nature was written in October 2009, at age 10.

A Nature Poem, by Paloma

escape.

to a scenic place.
escape.
follow.
fascinating lily pads to a willow tree.
follow.
create.
a sculpture of the scenery.
create.
scattered.
across the ground with leafs.
scattered.
climb.
to the top of the tree.
climb.
descending.
down the tree from the crescent moon.
descending.
conscience.
Ignore it.
nature will sweep you away sometimes, but it is okay.
conscience.
escape.