sourdough sketch.

Do you think the forks look similar? Maybe not. It's OK. I'll get better!

I took a non-credit drawing workshop class at PCC put on by Jill Goodell and I spent three hours shading a pomegranate the size of a volleyball. She said, "Well, I am just so impressed that you took on such a huge project!" Code: Who do you think you are, Picasso?

She led a great class and one of the best tidbits of advice she gave us was to draw during normal daytime activities - like breakfast. Hence the fork.

What I am eating on the above plate is a new staple that I have incorporated permanently into our diet: The Sourdough Starter.

I made a jar of starter at a DIY fair in November and, miraculously, it is still alive! My first attempt met with failure. About two years ago, I made a big batch of starter and mixed it into a big mason jar on the counter, covering it with cheesecloth and leaving it to do its work. I felt so domestic! About an hour later, I heard a weird sound coming from the kitchen. I assumed that it was the dishwasher and promptly forgot about it.

A while later, I heard the sound again. Curious, I walked into the kitchen and there was the starter, which was bubbling out of the cheesecloth and had covered the counter in a gooey floury mess, even dropping onto the floor. In my excitement I had made too much and covered it too tightly. Sorry, Sally!

But this starter has been much more of a success and has become a great pal in the kitchen. Starters are so fun - you can subtly change the flavor, the amount, and use different things to feed it with depending on what you have on hand.

I found that my sourdough pancake recipe and starter feeder most similarly resembles Kimi Harris' at The Nourishing Gourmet, so rather than type out another recipe that is pretty much duplicating hers, I'll send you to her site: Sourdough Pancake Recipe .

Interested? Sarah from Sarah's Musings also has a great "'Definitive' Guide to Sourdough" that is helpful and entertaining.

Happy Fermenting!

Simon's Woodland Friends

My friend is expecting her first baby - a boy named Simon - and although I contemplated making something OTHER than a baby blanket, which has been my staple, I got inspired after talking to her on the phone before her shower. She has always been naturally creative and decorating her son's room has proven to be no different. She took a bunch of her husband's old flannels and cut them up to make a big wall hanging, and to go along with the flannel patterns added a "woodland creatures" theme. Her husband grew up in a small forest/country community about 20 minutes from town, and as I spent most of my time out there as a teenager (we went to the same youth group and had the same friends), I knew almost exactly what she was envisioning.

I went to Fabric Depot and picked out some earth-toned flannels to make a patchwork blanket, and decided to add some embroidered woodland creatures. Everything came together seamlessly, except for a bobbin emergency at the last minute, which threatened to keep me from even going to the shower. Procrastinators will know this feeling.

That brings me to a funny story.

It was about an hour or so before the shower when I needed to put some more thread on the bobbin. For some reason, it just wouldn't take, and the zig-zag pattern turned funky and loose; I could not figure out why! I unthreaded and rethreaded, looked frantically for the manual, troubleshooted online, but to no avail. So I called Mom and got straight to the point, no chit chat. "Mom, I have a huge problem, you know the blanket...." and I explained my issue. She listened attentively, and apparently, had a look of concern and worry on her face, because my Dad and Caitlin were sitting with her and thought something terrible had happened. They stopped what they were doing to see what the bad news was, and when my mom finally said, "Well, did you rethread the needle?" They looked at each other and went "awhhhh!!!!" They thought somebody had been in an accident, died, etc.

But it was an emergency!

I had threaded the bobbin the wrong way. I fixed it, and was not the last one to get to the shower - a win in my book.

merely a trifle.

Clue is my favorite board game; it has been ever since I was a kid. Although I enjoyed the process of figuring out who "killed" who, I enjoyed much more imagining that I lived in the Clue mansion and could sit in my big Clue library or throw a dinner party in the Clue dining room.

I found this "trifle" at an estate sale last Saturday, and while I was thinking of putting them up on Etsy, I think I'm going to keep them for something. Looking at the cards took me right back to being a kid - I could just imagine hosting my dinner party with those pretty floral dishes...or talking to my BFF in the lounge on that awesome retro phone!

And while I have recently been going "treasure hunting" at estate sales, I've learned a good lesson about accumulating too much stuff - whether for a collection or just for sentimental reasons. The last few I have been to were sales of bona-fide hoarders.

It all ties together as I am reminded that one of the best quotes about organizing life comes from Sherlock Holmes...

"You see," he explained, "I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones." (From "A Study in Scarlet")

So, my Clue cards are merely a trifle, but as Holmes also says, "It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles."

My crockpot hates me.

It's official.

My crockpot hates me. Or I hate it, rather. Doesn't matter - the bottom line is that it's just not working out between us.

It's been a rocky relationship from the get-go.

When I had my first experience with the crock pot, which I had eagerly registered for in a cheery red color and received at my bridal shower, I decided to make chicken and broccoli.

Do not, under any circumstances, put broccoli in a crock pot, especially not for 8 hours. My friend was laughing about it the other day and said, "Your house smelled for the rest of the time that you lived there!" - - putrified broccoli. Strike 1.

Then, I decided to cook a whole chicken in it, like mom used to do. I imagined it simmering away while I was at work, so juicy and tender with the carrots and the onions, etc...you know, like mom used to make! Lo and behold, when I opened the lid after I got home from work, there was no chicken left! It had disintegrated into a pile of herby mush. Strike 2.

Today, I had some butternut squash and a recipe for crockpot butternut squash soup. Woke up early, cut the apples, made the bouquet garni full of cloves and coriander, and came home to a very pleasant smell. Blended it up and poured myself a bowl. Ick. Just plain not good. Strike 3.

You're out.

Anyone need a crock pot?

cranberry upside down cake

Cranberries and those who sell them to us are really good at peer pressure. When winter rolls around, red and cheery bags of crans show up on grocery store shelves...and they make you feel like you *have* to buy a bag and do *something* with it, even if it just be cranberry sauce that nobody really eats.

This year was going to be different! Cranberries are not only delicious, but chock full of antioxidants and detoxification properties. Granted, the sugar content of cranberry desserts may nullify the good properties, but doesn't it feel good to think about all that while eating a big piece of perfectly spicy cranberry cake with homemade vanilla whipped cream? Let me tell you - it does! I took the cake to a Christmas party and it was well received.

I have a great holiday baking Everyday Food magazine that I've used for the past few years. You can also find the recipe online.

If you have a bag of crans lying around (although they freeze well!), I'd suggest giving this cake a try.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

From Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 3/4 cups cranberries
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with butter. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon and allspice. Sprinkle mixture evenly over bottom of pan; arrange cranberries in a single layer on top.
• With an electric mixer, cream remaining 6 tablespoons butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well combined. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, until well combined.
• Spoon batter over cranberries in pan, and smooth top. Place pan on a baking sheet; bake cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert onto a platter.

p.s. - Thanks, michael! This video made my day so I just had to share it!

no two snowflakes are alike.

Although we missed out on a white Christmas, snow is finally falling in Portland - it took us 45 minutes to get home when it usually takes 15 - and I had the pleasure of watching it fall all afternoon through the huge windows at the coffee shop where I work. It made me think about how unique each snowflake is - millions and millions, every single one different.

Last night Andy told me about Wilson Bentley, a nineteenth-century farmer who captured his first photo of a snowflake in 1885 and spent his life taking over 5,000 photos that show the intricacies of snowflakes and ice crystals. What a miracle!

http://snowflakebentley.com

festive wrapping and shipping paper (cheap).

I keep my Trader Joe's paper grocery bags under the sink...

and VOILA!

festive shipping and wrapping paper!

And did anyone notice that stamps went up to 44 cents? If you received a Christmas card in the mail from us, I have some serious affection for you.

kitchen cheer.

Winter makes me want this kitchen featured on Design Sponge even more! It's small but it looks efficient, bright, and well-organized (I see you, Ikea racks!)

I've been up to things...sewing, edibles...but no pictures yet.

simple spiced coffee & some stiff upper lip.

We usually go out to breakfast on Saturday mornings but this past Saturday morning we stayed home and made breakfast instead. Sourdough waffles (from a starter I've managed to keep alive, more about that another day) and spiced coffee.

Trader Joe's featured their own brand of holiday spiced coffee that they had on sample a while ago, and it was so good that I went back for seconds, although it is hard to maneuver a shopping cart down teeny aisles in a crowded store while sipping a hot beverage from a dixie cup.

We made our own version using the french press.

What you'll need :

French press (or drip!)

Fresh coffee beans

1 - 2 tsp. cinnamon, 3-5 whole cloves, and a few red & white peppercorns

Grind up the spices with your coffee and brew how you like it. You can adjust the spice level according to your preferences after you make the first pot.

Well thank you, I will.

by Claire Owen Illustration

Portlanders who love Christmas AND vintage finds!

Found, The collective shop that Poppy & Ivy is a part of (love her blog!) is hosting Santy Claus tomorrow night! I heard from One Gal's Trash (love hers too!) that there might be champagne too...I'm so there! 4743 NE Fremont St.