What I'm Wearing: St. Paddy's Day

Cardigan: Thrifted, taken in by me
Tank: Old Navy
Skirt: Thrifted
Tights: Sock Dreams
Boots: Steve Madden
Earrings: Anthropologie

This morning I came to the profound realization that I own five green skirts. Then I went out to Salvation Army and bought a sixth. I can't explain this phenomenon, but at least the holiday gives me a good excuse to wear one.

Anyone else have any bizarre wardrobe over-abundances? (Or paucities?)

Today, like last Wednesday, was a beautiful un-seasonably warm sunny day. Though low-40s are predicted for Monday, I'm trying not to think about that. For the time being, I'm going to pretend I live in a place where it's regularly 64 and sunny in March.

Soon, soon there will be crocuses...

The perfect brownie

For a great while, I considered titling this post "How to Win Friends and Influence People (with brownies)."

The directions go a little something like this: bake a batch of these brownies. Serve them to your friends on a Saturday night. Bring the leftovers down to the show later, and pass them around to whomever you deem deserving. By the end of the night, you will have a new-found admirative following, a glowing reputation, a worshipful band of brownie-groupies. Were they in it for the sweets, or for more?

Let's be honest. There are times when you need to grease the skids a little. Maybe there was a workplace incident. Maybe you need to bribe your mechanic. Maybe the recently melting snows have uncovered the damage done to your neighbor's rose-of-Sharon when you backed over it with your snowblower. Whatever your trouble, when there is a need for divine over-the-top baked goods to win someone over, these are the treats to swear by.

Mexican Brownies with Brown Sugar Topping

4 oz baking chocolate, broken into pieces
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325. Line an 8 x 8 x 2" baking pan with aluminum foil.

Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a medium saucepan. Whisk together until smooth, remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking constantly. Whisk another two minutes to ensure everything is smooth, then add the flour. Whisk until just combined, then mix in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Let cool completely in pan on rack.

Topping

1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Whisk butter, heavy cream, and sugar over medium heat. When mixture comes to a boil, immediately remove from heat and whisk ten minutes, until cooled and thickened slightly. Add the vanilla. Pour over the cooled brownies in the pan, spreading with a spatula to make an even layer. Quickly sprinkle the almonds over. The topping sets very quickly once it's poured out of the pan. Let the brownies stand 1 hour at room temperature before cutting into squares. Makes 16 brownies.

Now, sit back and enjoy your new circle of friends.

Let the music sink down into your soul

This weekend, we had a little party.

We had things to celebrate. Springtime. Friends. The world premiere of Patrick's new band. An abundance of bell peppers. Folks in another band, coming in from out of town to share the show.

At 11am Saturday morning, I began cooking in earnest. The house would soon be full of music, and hungry, hungry people. Enchiladas were in order.

The Menu

Chips and two different kinds of homemade salsa

Avocado-Citrus Salad (which convenienty matched the table runner)

Rice & Black beans

Pepper-Cheese Enchiladas

Mexican Brownies with Brown Sugar Topping (recipe tomorrow!)

The hour arrived. The house filled up. Beers were employed. Everyone was happy and generous, and no one had to be told twice to "Eat!" The best guests don't hesitate.

And after bottles were emptied and plates were cleaned, we all headed down to the cafe for the show.

Patrick and his pedal steel, far right.

It was a perfect little party.

No words necessary

What I'm Wearing: The Mothball Skirt

Jacket: Tulle

Skirt: Thrifted

Tank: Old Navy

Tights: Hue

Boots: Steve Madden

Necklace: Tom's Gifts (birthday present from Patrick)

Earrings: swapped with a friend

Hello, have I heard of wearing a slip? Next time, next time.

This skirt was the darling of my most recent thrift-store excursion. It seems pretty old, and was handmade. The only thing better than thrifting an awesome skirt is thrifting an awesome handmade skirt. I get such a charge out of inspecting someone else's careful hem stitches. Call me crazy.

Anyway, after I tried it on and skipped around in circles, plunked down my $2.50, carried it home and ran it through the wash, something awful occurred to me. My house suddenly smelled like mothballs. Ack! How had I failed to run it past the nose-test before taking it home?

As anyone who's dealt with mothball-stink knows, the washing machine is not your friend. If anything, a run through the wash made the smell worse. Thankfully, a brief Google search was all it took. (God bless the internet.) Mothball-stink, though immune to water and detergent, will readily succumb to heat.

Offering up a brief prayer to the laundry gods, I chucked my Skirt of Unknown Synthetic Materials into the dryer for an hour. Mercifully, it did not melt, and now is stink-free. Huzzah.

(New boots get acquainted with pachysandra.)

(Irrefutable evidence of my husband's excellent taste in jewelry.)

This sunny, mid-50s week we've been having could go on forever, and ever, and ever...

Coming to: spring

Yesterday evening, graph paper and seed catalogs made their grand return to my kitchen table. It had arrived, one of the happiest days of the year: Seed Buying Time. There was an air of urgency this year, underscored by the rat-tat of melting snow dripping onto our basement door. It was spring. And what was I doing? Get those seeds in the mail!

As I waffled back and forth between one variety of carrot and another, and tried to justify an extra 35 cents to grow purple scallions instead of regular ones, I got to thinking. It's this time of year again. When, exactly, did I get things under way last year? Oh, the beauty of a blog. The answer was only a click away.

March 12th?! You mean, three days away? I hurriedly made my seed-buying decisions, checked out, and rushed outside to behold my cold frame:

Well, there it is. Snow-free and seemingly ready to accept a few rows of spinach and arugula. I'm thinking Planting Day might come a few days later this year-- there's still an awful lot of snow on the ground-- but come it will. I'm ready to shake off my sleepy winter slumber and get up to my elbows in dirt.

Anyone else?

Hiking in the snow

The natural result of a solidly sunny weekend was: a long drive, NPR, gas station ambiance, and wet pants-cuffs.

We headed to Oakley Forest, famous for the downpour we endured last May. Thankfully, the weather this time was a little more cooperative.

It was quiet enough to hear the nuthatches yanking away in the treetops, peaceful enough to admire the intricacies of a pinecone.

And that sun. March sun is something I could never get tired of.

Friday's post, the one where I was looking through our kitchen door and marvelling at the sun? I'm pleased to report there is much, much less snow in that view than there was!