Lifestyle. {aka: What Makes Life Fun}
This lifestyle section is the toy box of my life. The things I like to do for fun, like garden, travel and try new restaurants. Heck, try new things in general. I might talk on of the rad cookbooks on my shelf because I mean really, you doesn’t love a good cookbook?
It’s a place I might share a photo that I like. Like this header photo, for example, that I took in the Swan Falls area in Southeast Idaho just as the season was starting to change.
Mainly it’s about all the things that round out what I like to think is my kick ass Idaho lifestyle.
that one time at blog camp
The last time I went to camp was so long ago I barely remember more than rustic accommodations, archery lessons and crafting a dreamweaver. But I just returned from a weekend at Camp Blogaway – a self billed "boot camp for food and recipe bloggers" and boy has camp...
Smoky Cheater
The title of the book jumped out at me from the bookstore shelf. One-Hour Cheese. I've been learning how to make cheese now for over a year and besides a very few – ricotta, mozzarella and goat cheese – most endeavors are whole evening affairs – if not longer – so a...
the blackberry project
I consider myself lucky to live in a place where garages aren't the face of the neighborhood. Those neighborhoods where people hit the opener as they are pulling up and again when they have pulled in – living a life where a big metal door is between them and...
a bitty bit of Bittman
If there's my one go-to cookbook, it's How to Cook Everything. As you might have concurred by the name, it's a book filled with solutions for almost, well, everything. The problem with naming a cookbook, or any book for that matter, with this kind of definitiveness is...
sneaking a peek at the new mode lounge
I like a good lounge. One that is dark and plush – filled with sofas, and high-backed chairs and maybe a touch of velvet. Where they aren't bartenders – they are mixologists with an apothecary of jars and droppers from which they masterfully concoct a drink from...
the silkiest carrot soup. ever.
There's a soup swap that we've been invited to the last couple of years and while "swap" may sound innocent enough, my husband Devin and I both translate this into "competition". You can read about how the event works here but what's most important in our minds is...
state & lemp
The past few years, there's been a lot of doom and gloom. Heartbreaking stories of lost jobs, businesses and homes. Perhaps that's what makes it all the more special when two guys go out on a limb and open not only a new restaurant, but a totally new concept to the...
the day I met ruth reichl
For the size of city that Boise is, the art and culture offerings never cease to amaze me. And it's not just that there's quantity – there's definitely quality. The Idaho Shakespeare Festival presents live theater in the most gorgeous setting under the stars all...
spiced pear & goat cheese tarte with mustard cream
Each month I've been trying to take one of the cookbooks that I've never made anything out of down off the shelf and finally do it some justice, but I have to admit, I've been a bit lax this summer and there's really no excuse. There's still lots of opportunities –...
having a ball – concrete landscaping spheres
My husband and I are stalking a house a few blocks away. We are always finding reasons to add it to our route even though it's out of the way of most anywhere we go. There's all kinds of things to admire there, from the landscaping to the pool area that we peek at...
back to the betty basics
My husband jokes that he doesn't think I ever make the same thing twice and while that might be a tad of an exaggeration, it's probably closer to the truth than not. Sure, there's favorites that get made time and time again, but with the shelves full of cookbooks and...
avocado? in my cocktail?
It all started when a client showed up at my office a couple weeks ago bearing a signed copy of Maneet Chauhan's new book Flavors of My World. While I didn't know anything about this chef (I don't have cable – it's really a blessing as if I had Food Network I may...