six months

we've been married six months. thats longer than we officially dated. yeah, we know. we're crazy.
its been a wonderful six months, and stretched us both. i know i couldn't have imagined anything better. all the good and bad wrapped together. i am so grateful for everything we've shared so far and what we have ahead. we celebrated on friday at pizzeria delfina. we rode our tandem, and then pushed our tandem, up filmore but it was definitely worth the effort to fly back down later. we stopped in browser books and wandered a bit before sitting at their bar. it was fun and cozy and i enjoy seeing everything go on. the pizza crust was some of the best we've had, crunchy, crisp and flavorful, but the meatballs were incredible. soft and juicy with a unique sauce. topped off with homemade gelato, it was perfection. i'm so glad i got to celebrate with him.

amy

it was so good to have amy with us over the holiday. we had a great time eating at dynamo donuts, they had both coconut and apple, maple, and bacon flavors. my two favorites. we checked out sightglass, an incredible cafe that was started by guys who worked at blue bottle, but they definitely took it up a few notches. the coffee was incredible, i'd never tried chemex made coffee before, it was very bold and flavorful. we stopped by the farmer's market to pick up some food for the week and found some of my favorite flowers ranuncules. it was wonderful. we made stuffed peppers from this recipe, which we loved and you should try. amy is such fun to be around from taking walks to reading harry potter and waiting for the turkey to cook, it was great to catch up and feel that a bit of our families was with us over the holiday. we can't wait to be home in a couple of weeks!

holidays

thanksgiving was lovely.



i loved decorating our little studio.



the turkey was very tasty.


we cooked all day and took a couple of walks and had wonderful company. i even got to skype with my family! i just always wish there was more.you should definitely try this recipe for sweet potatoes.
what a great beginning to the holidays.

thanksgiving

the rush of holidays is about to begin and i can't wait. but i'm very grateful to sit down and start the holidays right with thanksgiving. while we can't be with our families this year, which makes me sad because its the best holiday in the mosley household, Amy, jacob's sister has joined us and we're doing it out right with turkey and sides and friends from jacob's work. i'm brining the turkey now, so finger's crossed its tasty. it apparently roamed around with other turkeys and got pretty good food so it better. i have a lot to update about since we've done some exploring with amy but i'll wait till after the holiday to do so. i'd love to hear what your thankful for, i know it's cheesy but since you can't all be around my table i'd love for you to share here. happy thanksgiving!

a foray into dried beans

ive heard they're better but its been hard to convince me that soaking and boiling are worth my time. but i bought some white beans and tried it last week to make this hearty minestrone soup and it was a feat i'll repeat again. it lasted a while even though it said it only made four servings, and it tricked me as well because the cook book, food and wine 2010, had two recipes for minestrone soup one with a picture and one without, and while i thought i was making the one in the picture i soon realized that it was actually the one without. obviously this soup and i were fated to come together and i am very glad we did.

1 1/4 cup dried white beans, i used cannelli
3 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
2 oz pancetta, finely diced
2 medium shallots, i left this out
2 large celery ribs, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
1/2 fennel bulb, cored and diced, i'd never used a fennel bulb but it smelled like licorce and was a nice addition
1/2 teaspoon crused red pepper
2 bay leaves, i also left this out , i don't understand why you put something in only to take it out, i just don't feel it must be very necessary, but i should give it a try one of these days
2 tblsp tomato paste
1 14 oz can plum tomatoes, juices reserved
1 qt low-sodium chicken broth, i used half this amount maybe, and substituted water
salt and pepper

in a large pot, cover the beans with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until tender about two hours, add water as necessary to keep the beans covered. ( i soaked them for longer so i only boiled them for 1 hour)

meanwhile, in another large pot ( i hate using another pot so i did the beans before and then put them in the bowl they'd soaked in and used the original pot for the next steps)heat 2 tblsp of the olive oil. add the pancetta and cook over moderate heat until the fat has rendered and the pancetta is crip, about four minutes. add the shallots, celery, onion, carrot and fennel and cook, stirring occassionally until the vegetables are softened, about 6 minutes. add the garlic, crused red pepper and bay leaves and cook, stirring until fragrant about two minutes. add the tomato paste and cook. stirring, until it sticks to the bottom of the pot, about two minutes. stir in the plum tomatoes and chicken broth, bring to a boil. simmer over low heat until the vegetables are very tender and the soup is flavorful, about 1 hour. add the beans and enough of the reserved cooking liquid to thin out the soup. discard the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. now that the weather is changing its the perfect winter soup.

SFMOMA

its been way to long since i've visited the modern art museum here. about three years to be exact and the other day at work a woman who works there gave me a free pass. so when jacob said he wanted to see the henri cartier-bresson exhibit i knew we had to go. it was a beautiful exhibit. as you know, i love photography and henri is a brilliant example of the capturing of life that photography allows. he often used a small leica camera to be discreet and was not afraid to take shots of the mundane or emotional. he traveled the world during such an influential time, he captured the great depression, wwii, ghandi, mexico, indonesia, africa, china and developed the art of photojournalism. i was very empowered to continue to look for unique ways to frame and compose a photo as well as the importance of taking photos of people. the skill of setting people at ease is not gained easily but is something i need to master. we finished off the day with cake and coffee at their rooftop blue bottle coffee bar. it was very inspiring.

my butternut squash addiction continues

i love smitten kitchen. i've said this many a time in know but i can't get enough of her recipes accompanied by her candor and humor. not to mention that she's been blogging for awhile now so she has many different variations of key ingredients, such as butternut squash. this is one such recipe. delicious, savory and sweet. the perfect combination without being a typical soup. it was a bit complicated but worth the time as she states in her description.

here's my input on an already perfect recipe. i substituted gruyere cheese for fontina and would suggest that you try the orginal, while gruyere was good, fontina might add more flavor, i just had some on hand already.

and then we get to the pie crust. i've tried a few different pie crusts lately but this was perfect for savory items, with the lemon and sour cream it fits wonderfully and is worth the effort. though i did skip some of the more mundane steps, i do keep my flour in the freezer, which helped things along.

my biggest pet peeve with recipes lately though is serving size. many online don't have them at all or i feel that they are very arbitrary. who sets serving sizes anyway? for example this says it serves 6, jacob and i ate it for two meals and he ate accompanying food as well, and my stomach's a little weird so i didn't eat as much as usual. i think it would serve three maybe with a salad or sausage as the case may be. There should atleast be a differentiation like, for dinner this serves two but as a side you can easily serve six, or 1 hungry man but 3 girls at lunch. atleast the arbitrariness of this would be identified and i think it would relieve a lot of frustration.

brandi

charlie is feeling a bit better and has very much appreciated the care he's received from my family and others. this photo is an example of that. from jacob's family beagle to mine. thanks furrs!

sparks

i've joined a group that encourages each other to take risks to make themselves a better person or the world a better place. i have felt strongly about the importance of where food comes from and how for awhile. it became most evident since reading animal, vegetable, miracle by barbara kingsolver in my contemporary biology class.

but i've been a coward about acting on the conviction. i don't want to spend too much, i don't want to go out of my way and i definitely don't want to be a problem or make other people uncomfortable. but i can no longer push away the inevitability of taking action. i have to act on the knowledge i have and not live in ignorance of the system in place. its daunting sure, but i want to make known that i don't like how animals are treated in our factory farming system, nor do i deserve to pay only pennies for the food that fuels my body. its a luxury to have access to ethically raised, organic food yes, but its also a luxury to shop around and buy the cheapest food possible. i don't want to be apart of this system of food anymore and i want to make other options more available by talking about it here, not too much i hope, don't worry, and asking for it in stores. this is definitely outside of my comfort zone and already at a store today my wallet gasped in horror at the prices of well tended food but i'm beginning to think that that's my false assumptions about food not the overpriced butcher's fault and talking about it is a step in the right direction. we'll see where this risk takes me.

charlie

{not actually my dog but looks very similar}
charlie is my dog at home in texas. he is a very good dog, we got him as a puppy and he loves to run out side and be petted as he sits in a chair next to you. his favorite thing is a good walk though, but last night he was attacked with my dad, who's okay, on their normal walk around the block. he's out of surgery now but they went through a lot. i miss them both and am very sad i can't be there during this terrible time. things like this make the distance seem even farther. i'm just glad my dad was there to take care of him. please be praying for my family as he's recovering.

comitted

this year has been full of thoughts and discussions about marriage naturally since i got married in may. why do we do it? why are there so many rules around it? what does a good marriage look like? how do i make sure mine works? i finally read this book and feel much more sane about my qualms about yet need to be married. she sheds a historical, philosophical and of course humorous light on our practice of marriage and its place in our life.

cheesy bread

this week has been out of the ordinary since the family i work for has been out of town. we've had a little more free time in the evenings but varied constraints throughout the day, and the dogs sleep with us. enough said. but its been feeling like fall, and we've spent some time in the east bay where some of the trees are actually changing color, and had good times with friends old and new. my soup this week was butternut squash, it was very savory, almost to much since i adjusted the spices for dried and overcompensated i think, as in i dumped in what looked right and so i'd just stick to her measurements if at all possible. it was a good twist on a normally sweeter soup. we didn't try the croutons but i did make this recipe for gruyere cheese, pull apart bread. here's the recipe from food and wine 2010:

1 1/2 sticks cold, unsalted butter, cube 1 stick
1 lg onion, finely chopped, i probably did about a 1/4 of the onion which wasn't quite enough but still really flavorful, i might suggest trying 1/2 an onion
1 tblsp poppy seeds
kosher salt and pepper
3 onces Gruyere cheese, coarsely shredded, {1 cup}
2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

preheat the oven to 425. butter a 9 by 4 1/2 inch metal loaf pan. In a large skillet, melt the 1/2 stick of uncubed butter, pour two tbls of the melted butter into a small bowl and reserve. add the chopped onion to the skillet and cook over moderate heat. stirring occassionally, until its softened, about 8 minutes. stir in the poppy seeds and season with salt and pepper. scrape the onion mixture onto a plate and refrigerate for 5 minutes, until cooled slightly, then stir in the coarsely shredded gruyere cheese.

meanwhile in a food processor, or i just used a fork and then my hands, pulse the 2 cups o flour with the baking powder, baking soda and 1 teaspoon of salt. add the stick of cubed butter and pulse until the butter cubes are the size of small peas. add the buttermilk and pulse 5 or 6 times, just until a soft dough forms.

this is the tricky part guys.....turn the dough out onto well- floured work surface and knead 2 or 3 times. pat or roll the dough into a 2 by 24 inch rectangle. spread the onion mixture on top of the bread. cut the dough crosswise, in as close to the same width strips as possible. mine weren't and began to wobble in the next step. stack 9 pieces onion side up then top with the final piece onion side down, after about the 5th piece it began to wobble, so i put it in the loaf pan sideways and added the other pieces side by side. carefully lay the stack in the prepared loaf pan and brush the top with the reserved melted butter.

bake the loaf in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, until it is golden and risen. let the bread cool for atleast 15 minutes before unmolding and serving.


this was amazing, super filling and perfect with the soup, worth the time for sure. especially if you don't have a dog in the house and leave it on the counter. you fill in the gaps.

and i must credit jacob's amazing skills as dishwasher to make this kitchen possible.

i'd love to hear anyone else's twist on their favorite soup...

lake tahoe

our vacation wiped me out apparently, i've been very busy since coming back and haven't gotten to sit down and write anything yet. we had a lovely time. it was breathtaking to be up in the mountains, in the crisp, cold air. we so appreciated getting to run an errand for the family i work for. we hiked around and marveled at the lake. its truly amazing, none of my photos captured it so i'm leaving you with a photo we took on a hike by their house. it was so nice to just absorb some of the quiet and the colors of fall.