Mother's Day Brunch

My sister-in-law and I hosted a Mother's Day brunch for a few of our friends this past Saturday and I had such a blast. The initial idea was inspired by Coffee+Crumbs, and while I didn't use any of the materials they provided, I was so grateful for the idea.

From the beginning, I envisioned it being somewhat multi-generational (we have a family friend who is turning 94 this year and has not only great-grandchildren, but great-great-grandchildren!) and full of delicious special food, the kind we make for our girlfriends (never wasted on little people). 

I was really proud of the planning and execution of the party. At this stage in my life with tiny people, it can be a challenge to strike a balance between having all those special touches and also living in the reality that I simply don't have time for every detail. This is where other people pitching in helped make it happen.

First of all, it was a potluck, so I didn't have to do all the food. I did a cheese platter, a caprese salad, my mom's veggie cream cheese and bagels, and a fruit-infused water. I really wanted a carrot cake to happen but it was one of the things that got dropped at the last minute, until David graciously offered to make it. Insert all the heart eyes.

(Others brought: tuna salad, egg salad, deviled eggs, yam and sweet potato galette, fruit salad, quinoa salad, sesame soba salad, shakshuka with sous vide eggs.)

Kathy and I have been playing around with watercolor lately (mostly her, and I've been inspired) so I asked her to help me incorporate some fun touches. Together we made floral patterns on name tags, food tent cards, and some stationery. She even made a bonus piece on a small canvas.

The day was bright and beautiful and the group of ladies who came were spectacular. We had fun conversation (I think everyone felt threatened that Diana would give them our "conversation starters" if they didn't come up with conversation on their own, lol), and did I mention the food was amazing?

To someone (or someones, because I think I can speak for Diana on this, too) whose love languages are food and quality time, this was all the Mother's Day present I needed: the opportunity to host and eat with my friends.

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And now for the meta-notes I need for the future. (I actually went back to another post I wrote when I needed help remembering my own party planning tricks. Most helpful for me are: (1) write down everything, in as many different types of lists as possible - don't evaluate yourself as you're planning, just do it the way your brain works; (2) drop the stupid stuff and weight of dumb expectations; (3) plan on some stuff you're really excited about, even if it seems somewhat frivolous. I think now I can add to this list: (4) trust that it will all work out, and maybe even let people help you with some stuff!)

For this party in particular, it was helpful to:

• have everyone bring a dish (sign-up via Evite; I made generic suggestions in the What To Bring section, which helped make sure there were enough drinks and a balance of sweet and savory dishes)
• have someone bring and set up a 12-cup coffee maker half an hour before the party. (Plus, amazing Vanilla Bean syrup...)
• use our 6' table to set-up food so the kitchen counters are free for prep, which - in an ideal world, not mine obviously - can then be wiped down to look beautiful during the party. One day I'll get there. (Christine, this was something I noticed at your events in February which makes such a big difference!)
• have tent cards available for guests to label the food they brought and any relevant allergy notations

When Diana and I talked about what we would change if we did it again, I couldn't think of anything (other than maybe invite more people next time). All she had to say was, "More meat." ;p

A bit of both

Hi!

When I start to slip off the blogging bandwagon sometimes it's hard to tell if it's because I'm feeling bummed about life or if it's because I've been busy trying to make a great life.

Lately it's been a bit of both.

This (and having my sister-in-law close by) saved me last week during the Week From Hell. (Alex, Wednesday night was the highlight of my week (maybe year haha!), but somehow it made Thursday and Friday just that much more unbearable!)

I could use a Vacation from my Problems!

But my Real Life is also pretty sweet.

And here are some random paradoxes/tensions I've been thinking about lately:

accuracy vs. precision
self-hood vs. community
submission vs. autonomy
being like everyone vs. being unique
feeling content vs. striving for improvement
grief vs. gratitude/pleasure
being conservative vs. having an abundance mentality
feeling hopeful vs. being realistic

Finally, interesting article and cute item.

And also, I need this. But not at that price. It's not OK.

Heart and soul

As I was hot-gluing scraps of coffee sack burlap onto an old binder I use as my planner, my sister-in-law texted me this link to Passion Planner.

Oh. Em. Gee. How did this lady break into my brain, heart and soul?

Can you have a planner crush on someone?

Gimme gimme gimme, I need, I need, I need.

Anyway, full disclosure, I am sharing this on the blog in order to hopefully win a free PDF of the 2015 Planner, but it also just looks like an amazing project and I would be remiss to not share it.

So go check it out!

You can even download a free print-out of the weekly layout here.

Call us overachievers

I apologize for the hiatus. We've been really busy over here, having early Thanksgivings both in California and here at home in Seattle.

You could call us overachievers.

This year we experimented with having Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night. I once overheard a co-worker say that his family did it that way. It seemed brilliant to me - get all the hard work done on a day everyone is working anyway, and then enjoy all of Thursday off, when everyone is home from work and school.

So we tried it this year. Knowing that I would have an almost 11-month old on my hands (and under my feet), I started preparing almost a week in advance.

A new rug I couldn't resist getting to spruce up the place for the holiday. My father-in-law called it Theo's magic carpet.

So last week my friend Karen came over for dinner* and we hashed out menu plans and decorations. I told her that I'm not into the "newfangled stuff" - I love brussels sprouts (not being sarcastic), but in my opinion they do not belong on a Thanksgiving table.

We agreed on a classic menu of turkey, gravy (two boats, just being realistic here), mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, peas, and rolls.

Sketching out which serving dishes I plan to use helps ensure I'm not stressing about it at the last minute.

Karen offered to bring appetizers (spanakopita (!) and eggrolls) as well as Connie's Corn Casserole, which turned out to be the most amazing thing we had ever had. At the table, Kenny dubbed it "corn butter."

"Corn butter" on the bottom right. David generously offered for it to be placed next to him.

With everyone at work/school and a baby who doesn't nap very much anymore, I knew I needed to plan ahead as much as a could, down to the details.

David and I broke down the cleaning and set-up tasks and spread them out over the days before The Dinner. When we finished an item we got to move the post-it note to the back. (Ah!)

This was by no means the complete list.

And I didn't stop there. I also made an Excel spreadsheet. Yes, you heard that right.

I totally nerded out and it was awesome.

Planning ahead allowed me to develop shortcuts that made the day of so easy. Here are the things I would do again next year in a heartbeat, whether or not Thanksgiving was on Wednesday or Thursday or in the middle of November:

• prepare all the vegetables for the stuffing the day before. When I cooked the stuffing, it was like a cooking show as I dumped already chopped veggies into the pan. (BTW, Mom, everyone loved your stuffing recipe.)
• start the stock for gravy and stuffing in a crockpot the night before. David also set the turkey in the roasting pan and in the fridge the night before so all I had to do was pull it out.
• make the mashed potatoes a couple hours before dinner and keep them warm in a crockpot. (Karen lent me hers so I had two to work with.)

Also, next year I'm definitely asking my sister-in-law to bring dessert again. She made the most amazing pumpkin cheesecake ever!

Diana thought she made a mistake and put "too much" sugar in the crust, but we just proclaimed that PAULA DEEN MADE A MISTAKE when writing the recipe and didn't include the amount Diana used.

We had a lovely dinner with way too much laughter. I asked Kenny to serve the mashed potatoes. He kept trying to give people HUGE portions. By the end of the meal, we were calling Kenny a "potato pusher." Karen caught David "trying to go horizontal" after the meal. We ended the evening with drawing names for our gift exchange and sharing what we were thankful for. (Kenny was - you guessed it - thankful for potatoes.)

I called my parents this morning. They were on the road driving somewhere for breakfast, and because my mom and I had hosted our Thanksgiving there two weeks ago, my dad named us the two most relaxed moms on Thanksgiving day.

Karen said it best when she said that having our dinner last night was like "getting our homework done before it's even Saturday."

I'm looking forward to this day lounging with family and eating leftovers. On the menu so far is turkey pho for lunch (!!!) and turkey enchiladas for dinner (!!!!).

My mom got these cute animal placecard holders on a missions trip to Africa.

So I heartily commend to you having Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday nights. 

Happy Thanksgiving all!

_______________________________________

* We had a true Dave Ramsey dinner, beans and rice and torn-in-half napkins. Actually, truth be told, Karen tore off and used the "less used" portion (her words, not mine) of a paper towel David brought back from the hospital cafeteria. I tried not to feel too embarrassed, but in actuality I have to love the shared frugality Karen and I have. 

Safely say

We really did it: a whole week of Mexican food. Caldo de pollo, carne asada tacos, lots of beans and tortillas. 

I even did a copycat of my favorite dish from a local Mexican restaurant. I'm not sure I should call it my favorite dish, because technically, I've never actually ordered it before. As I reached over to pick off of my sister-in-law's plate (on my birthday, I should add), I told my friend Coleen, "This is a dish I feel too guilty ordering, but not too guilty stealing off of someone else's plate."

Pollo ala crema

But aside from all those yummies, I was most surprised and delighted by a simple recipe from Liana Krisoff's Vegetarian for a New Generation. Her chipotle potato tacos were easy to make, full of flavor, and very satisfying (to the belly and the wallet as well).

Purple potatoes from our CSA box

It's actually very economical to eat one type of cuisine for a whole week because you don't waste ingredients. In the past we have thrown away bags of tortillas, wilted (let's be honest, rotted) cilantro (it's the worst), and other such odds and ends. But this week, nothing was for naught. Our Mexican week ended (or has it? Kenny wonders) with homemade tostadas and refried beans.

I can safely say we consumed almost 100 corn tortillas this week.

Can I blame Theo? Actually, this picture was from the summer, when Kathy made flour tortillas from scratch. The recipe is a good one.

At some point I want to tell you about the BEST SHREDDED BEEF TACOS EVER but I think that will have to be a post of its own. So for now, you'll have to be content with potato tacos. (Carbs on carbs is always a good thing.)



Chipotle Potato Tacos
adapated from Liana Krissoff's Vegetarian

I kept calling these "chorizo potato tacos" because "chipotle" and "potato" was such a tongue twister for me. But of course David laughed when I started to tell him, "I really want to make this recipe from the Vegetarian cookbook, these chorizo potato tacos..."

2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1 inch cubes
3 T oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 t ground cumin
1/2 t Mexican oregano
2-3 T minced canned chipotle peppers*
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
sour cream, for garnish
optional garnishes: cherry tomatoes, queso fresco, limes
corn tortillas

Par-boil potato chunks: cover potatoes with cold water (I added salt) and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, until just tender.

Heat up 2 T oil in a pan, then add onions and a pinch of salt. Saute until onion is nicely browned. Then add cumin, oregano, garlic, potatoes and last tablespoon of oil. Cook until they are hot and as crispy as you would like them. Finally, stir in chipotle and taste for salt.

Garnish with lots of cilantro and serve with tortillas and sour cream


____________________
* Liana's trick to pre-mince a whole can of those chipotle peppers at once and store them in a glass jar in your fridge is brilliant. Can you imagine how delicious they would be on eggs for breakfast?

The most whimsical thing

Yesterday my friend Chelsey called me last-minute to see if we wanted to join them at The Farm in Snohomish.

I am a homebody to the core and normally do not love to go out, especially at the last minute, but I'm so glad we decided to go.

There were piglets. (!!)

We shared the most delicious apple pie, and overheard some girls talking about xiao long bao. I had a "squirrel moment" and turned around and asked, "Did you just say xiao long bao?" Haha. 

On our way there we drove past a literal (i.e., not-yet-picked) pumpkin patch. The picture below doesn't quite capture it - we were driving - but it was the most whimsical thing I had seen in a long time.

Best of all, we got to take home some pumpkins.

Thanks, Chens! We had a wonderful time with you. :)

Blame the food

As promised, I'm here to tell you about ratatouille.

It's terrible, I know, that I don't have a picture of the final product, but that's mostly because it doesn't last very long on the table.

I'm blaming the ratatouille.

I'm not even going to post the recipe here, because the original is perfect as written. Francis Lam (it's Lam, right?) is a hilarious recipe writer. I once heard someone say that it's like he's standing right there in the kitchen with you.

(Wouldn't we all like our moms to be there while we cook? "How much of [ingredient of choice] should I use-- like, is this enough?)

So check it out.

However, if I were to dare add anything to his perfect recipe, I would say that if you can get your hands on Chinese eggplant, use that instead. 

I also dared to say I would make it with eggplant only-- "I don't care for zucchini or summer squash," I said at the dining table, but then I got a look from one of our guests. I'm an anomaly, I guess, but, if you are weird like me, too, just know that everything - even zucchini - gets an amazing lift when roasted at 450 degrees. 

Yes, I ate a few of them right off the roasting pan, like chips. But in my defense, they do shrink a lot when roasted. (All that evaporation is what concentrates that delicious flavor.) 

That's my excuse, at least. 'Cause it's so much easier to blame food than to take responsibility.

Do we do anything around here other than eat?

Nope. Now, stay away from my bottle.