good eats

i seem to have taken a lot of photos of food lately... is my subconscious trying to tell me something? do i harbor an uninhibited love of good food? can i think of nothing better to do besides eat and watch movies when it is 105 degrees outside? am i beginning to stress eat already at the thought of the impending end of summer? do i want a pizza right now? yes. so, i decided to share my cravings with you! tip: do not eat all this food in one day! or do, i won't judge.

for breakfast: a french-inspired classic of brie, fruit, and cracker (between you and me, i'd much rather have the brie and fruit accompanied by a big chunk of french bread than a measly cracker). a rare luxury of summer when i actually have/make time to eat breakfast rather than grabbing a quick protein shake to drink on my commute to work.

for lunch: a visit to one of my favorite lawrence locales... 715. love the four-cheese pizza and ginger brillante (candied ginger in sparkling wine)! they also have a list of yummy appetizers, refreshing salads, delightful atmosphere and they re-use old menus for coasters!

for an afternoon snack, or with dinner, or whenever you like: blueberry peach salsa. this is an adaptation of a mango salsa recipe i found in a magazine, but i just happen to have peaches on hand more often than mangoes. ingredients: blueberries, peaches, red onions, red peppers, jalapenos (fresh or jar), pinch of salt and sugar. serve with black bean burritos (a la black bean burrito with pineapple salsa from texas star in manhattan!), with chips, or atop grilled chicken or fish. yum.

for dinner: my attempt to recreate the sweet potato chorizo hash from the hutson's favorite brunch place in lawrence (mirth). as we sat down to eat, kirk gently reminded me that the original recipe features scrambled eggs in the mix. oops. here's what i used in order of addition to the pot:

2 tbsp butter (to sweat the onions, peppers, sweet potato, and garlic)

chopped onion

chopped red peppers

cubed sweet potato

minced garlic

low sodium chicken broth

spices: cumin, cayenne, curry powder, cinnamon

corn

kroger turkey sausage links (instead of chorizo)

chopped jalapeno

fresh spinach

shredded cheddar cheese

in hindsight, there was a little too much cheese, and it would have been good with eggs, maybe a little less sausage. ah well. next time. this is why i don't use recipes... i change it up each time anyway!

spring

this is a lovely little screenprinted book my sis sent to me for my birthday. i decided to share some of the clever illustrations with you, especially those that reflect my mood lately...

i have been thoroughly enjoying getting outside with my camera, taking walks downtown for brunch, and basking in the sun this spring, but...

...it does come with a price.

approaching the end of another school year and i am deeply needing a...

alas there is no rest until june 2. 29 days of school left, and counting...

here are a few shots from around my yard and on the walk between my house and downtown:

i have a few single tulips that spring up every year. i really ought to plant some more bulbs to fill it in a bit. a single tulip seems a little depressing.

i found this winding vine-thing (honeysuckle maybe?) to be really curious. i like it.

favorite things - lawrence/holiday/Olympus Pen edition

well, i survived the first half-week of the 2011 spring semester...barely. so, in honor of it being the weekend (!), this post will celebrate some favorite lawrence places, activities, holiday moments and traditions, and show off a few more photos from my new camera...prepare yourselves. this is to be the MOST random and unrelated list of items you ever did read:

*good idea for brunch in lawrence: Mirth. kirk and i frequent Mirth almost every saturday and always order the same things. for kirk: a "short" stack of honey whole wheat blueberry pancakes and coffee. for me: a half order of vegetarian biscuits and gravy and a half spinach and pear salad (yum!). downside? smelling of roasterie and onions (rather like the famous "Radina's smell" from our fave coffee shop in Manhattan).

*good idea for a family tradition: making homemade pizzas. growing up, my family made homemade "buchheister pizzas" which was only appropriate considering mom and dad met when they worked together at pizza hut during college. my personal journey with pizza has continued with kirk's family tradition of making a dozen different types of pizza at christmas: pepperoni pizza, bbq chicken pizza, veggie pizza, chicken and bacon alfredo pizza, shrimp pizza (not MY personal fave, but it seems to be rather popular with everyone else),you name it. just make sure you come with a ready appetite!

*good idea for a game night with friends: settlers of catan (nerds, i know). the davidsons and hutsons have a fairly competitive, yet amiable, board game relationship as you can see.

*good idea: visit a local movie theater that shows indie films. in lawrence, that would be liberty hall. really i just wanted to share photos taken with my new camera.

*good idea for a movie night: and my favorite movie of perhaps the last year: the fighter. christian bale...so good. marky mark (i don't think he still goes by that name...), also wonderful. definite favorite.

and to complete this post of celebration i must acknowledge that the chiefs made a most improbable turnaround this season and are heading to the playoffs for the first time since 2003! although i am still reeling from the shock of our heinous performance last week against the raiders (did our offensive line conspire with charlie weiss against matt cassel or am i being paranoid??), i really believe that the equation for success against baltimore is not outside of our reach. my keys to the game (by the way...my journalist cousin, josh, despises amateur bloggers that charade as sports writers, so i make this disclaimer: i am not claiming to be a professional sports analyst or journalist! i promise, josh! just my opinion! plus, i am too scatter-brained to keep a sports-only blog, as my reader friends all know). anyway, back to my keys to the game: run, run, run the ball. involve d. bowe early in the game. stop the run (baltimore's passing numbers are not great so we HAVE to stop their running back, ray rice...he is the biggest threat against us). no excessive going-on-4th-down decisions (ahem. todd haley). no turnovers. these are the strengths that we have shown in our wins this season, and really, this is not breaking news or rocket science, just really good ideas. go chiefs!

new camera

i am a proud new owner of an Olympus Pen, a micro 4/3 (i don't really know what that all means...i'm a self-taught photographer so the terminology is lost on me, i'm afraid). here's a few experimental shots i've taken as i'm learning. i'm still trying to discover how to take the best shots possible and how to create interesting images or effects using just my camera (minimal editing). is this being too idealistic? i don't know. i feel like i've been stuck in a bit of a rut for a while, relying on my limited knowledge and a well-worn copy of National Geographic's Field Guide to Photography. i want to learn some new techniques. so, photographer friends out there: tips? suggestions? do you have any favored techniques that you've found to be tried and true? please share!!

tried to go downtown to snap a few shots but frozen fingers do not create good photos (cold = impatient photographer).

visit to Burlington to spend time with kirk's family for christmas:

wind farms in southwest kansas (taken from the car, while moving, on the way to my grandmother's house in dodge city...yee haw!): used the pin hole or grainy setting on the camera, bit of fun. notice the "mistake" when kirk slammed on the brakes...instead of a picture of the wind turbines on the horizon i accidentally snapped while my camera was tilting up toward the telephone lines...haha! i rather like it though!

"family" cookout

every summer, friends from our church get together every few weeks in a downtown park to grill dogs and burgers, snack on chips and desserts, and play soccer or frisbee. we drive around the hangout spots downtown to invite local lawrencians and the homeless to join us in a "family" cookout. we started doing this 3 years ago after making friends with a couple that was homeless and hearing them describe how it feels to be looked down on, or worse, overlooked; to not have friends, or even friendly conversation; and to never be touched. my good friends casey, jon and i decided we may not be able to do much to thwart poverty and hunger, but we could at least be friendly and welcoming to people who don't often feel welcomed among friends. hence, the cookouts. here's a group of us last saturday. even though it was stinking hot, we had a good time!