pear and pomegranate salad

i love salads because they're so versatile. and they're the perfect fix for a veggie slump.
am i the only one who has veggie slumps? you know...when you run out of veggies and fruits and at first its fun to just eat pizza and pasta but after a few days you're dying for a chance to go to the grocery store and buy nothing but produce. maybe it's just me. it's a ruthless cycle.
the things i crave first during a veggie slump are leafy greens, read: salad.

i also love the fruits that are in season during fall. for some reason, there's just something so sensuous about them. maybe its because they're all so juicy and red. my favorites are plums, pears, blood oranges, and pomegranates.

so what do you get when you combine my love of leafy greens, fall fruits, and a kitchen freshly stocked after a recent produce buying spree?

pear and pomegranate salad of course!

-about half a head of lettuce (preferably romaine, red leaf, or the curly kind)
-some variety of raspberry dressing
-candied walnuts
-the seeds from about half of a pomegranate
-one ripe pear, chopped
-these quantities make enough for two people to have a dinner sized salad, but quantities can be adjusted as seems appropriate. also, if you don't have pears or pomegranates on hand, you can use any combination of grapes, apples, plums, or whatever sounds good.

+place the lettuce (rinsed and spun) in a medium sized bowl
+toss with dressing
+top with pomegranate, pear, and walnuts

to make candied walnuts:

-about two cups of walnuts (chopped or crushed into smaller pieces)
-one cup sugar
-two tbs corn syrup (or i just used vegetable oil)
-a sprinkle of salt
-half a tbs vanilla if you like
-lots of cinnamon
-some ground pepper

+in a saucepan mix all ingredients except the walnuts
+heat on low until the sugar kind of dissolves
+then boil for 5 or 10 minutes
+remove from heat, stir in walnuts to coat, turn out on a cookie sheet and allow to cool (i stuck mine in the fridge).
+serve on salad, save the leftovers in a ziploc bag for next time

on being late

as i was walking to school this morning at my customary time of 9:15, i had some thoughts (i seem to do a lot of thinking while walking to school).

what you need to know is that my first class begins at 9:00 and lasts only 50 minutes
what's more, i really enjoy that class.
it just has the misfortune of being my first class, and no matter how hard i try, i cannot seem to be on time.
i've struggled with this for as long as i've been responsible for my own arrival times.
my punctuality-loving photo teacher john has told us on many occasions "if you can't be on time, be early"
i've tried to implement this. i've tried waking up earlier, showering at night to save time in the morning, combining scripture-reading time with breakfast-eating time, setting a second alarm that rings twenty minutes before i need to be where i'm going (which is approximately a ten minute walk away) all to no avail.
this consistent lateness has caused some of my kinder teachers to applaud me when i manage to arrive less than five minutes late for class.

it seems i'm cursed.

now, if you're wondering what all this has to do with the beautiful lady in that picture up there, i'll tell you:
that is my grandmother's aunt (which i think makes her my great great aunt? not sure...juli, a little help?) in any case, her name was madeleine, and she was really close with my grandma. her first husband was killed at verdun during world war i, she re-married a veteran officer and left her dear lorraine (the region in easern france that was involved in a perpetual tug-o-war between germany and france from about 1870-1945, and where my paternal grandmother's lineage goes back centuries) to live in dakar, senegal, where he was the governor of french west africa. he was tried and imprisoned after opposing general de gaulle's invasion of dakar, and later died.
the point of all this is that madeleine faced alot of trials and losses, but from what i've gathered she was an incredible woman. i never knew her, but my grandma talks about her all the time (my grandma is the little girl in the photo), and i've always felt really close to her for some reason. i've been told we have alot in common, and a couple years ago i learned that one of those qualities is tardiness (there are some great stories about nearly missed trains and the like).


so it seems that being late is my heritage, and i suppose in that case, i'm proud of it.

seasons

this year marks my fourth fall in utah.

i have to admit, i really enjoy living somewhere with four seasons (you know...fall winter spring summer), although i do miss some of the seasons i grew up with in florida (hurricane season, jellyfish season, stingray season, rains every day from 4-6pm season, cold front season).

as i was walking to school this morning listening to my ipod (even though i gulp wish i had a zune-i know, i know, i'm a mac traitor...but seriously, who can beat unlimited music downloads for $15 a month and wireless access to download new stuff from the actual device?), i started thinking about how certain songs/musicians really embody the mood of each season for me.

here's the run down:

fall=the decemberists, regina spektor, band of horses, iron & wine, the shins
winter= modest mouse (especially the moon and antarctica), the killers, sufjan stevens, feist, bloc party
spring=neutral milk hotel, matt costa, beck, dan potthast
summer= ben kweller, bob marley, tribe called quest, sublime

rilo kiley=good for any season

yeah, so that's what i was thinking about while walking to school.
oh, i was also thinking that sometimes i whish provo were more like dickens' london, and that we could hop onto the backs of street carriages and trolleys to get places faster.
then maybe i wouldn't be late to class every day.

speaking of matha stewart...

i really want to make this:


caramel pear terrine from this month's issue. isn't it beautiful?

magazine envy

i've had magazine envy lately. i always thought that magazine subscriptions were kind of a silly wast of money. you just end up either throwing them away (ie generating unnecessary amounts of trash--especially if you live in a place like provo that doesn't seem to think recycling is a good idea) or having to make space for stacks and stacks of them.

but lately i've been looking at alot of magazines because we had an assignment in my still life class to find still life and product ads that we like and then analyze the lighting.

if had some extra money/space/recycling opportunities, i would get subscriptions to:

and i'm only a little ashamed to admit...

and if we didn't already have a subscription at work as well as every issue ever printed, i would also get pdn.

two reasons my arms are so sore:

1. i spent all day friday and saturday climbing with my dad in maple canyon. i haven't climbed outdoors since july (we went once in the alps and i only climbed two routes), and have barely managed to climb indoors since then due to lack of a partner. the result? no skills. i belayed my dad as he flew up 5.11's, while i panted up 9's and 10's (screaming take! take! far too many times along the way)...ah well. there have been times when i've been really good, i swear.

regardless, it was alot of fun being outside.

-we camped in the canyon and froze our butts off at night (i cant recall any other time in my life when i've needed to include a beanie, wool socks and a fleece jacket as part of my pyjamas, and that was inside my heavy duty sleeping bag)
-we saw deer
-we sampled the culinary offerings of mt. pleasant and fountain green.
-we had a really amusing chance meeting that is an added testimony to the small world theory.
here's a recap:
flash back to last spring, my dad and i are climbing in red rocks, just outside of vegas, and find ourselves on a multi-pitch route stuck behind a group of two or three other climbers. so we do the only thing we really can do as we cling to the rock at the belay stations: chat it up!
flash forward to this past weekend, my dad and i are parked on the side of the small dirt road in the canyon, and start pulling out our backpacks and gear. an escalade drives past, decked out with life is good stickers and various climbing logos. the cadillac stops about 30 feet past us, backs up, one of the windows rolls down and a guy sticks his head out and exclaims:
"you're a byu student, and your dad's from france! we climbed together at red rocks!" though we are somewhat taken aback, we respond with laughter and some "good to see you again" type things.
i wonder where we'll run into them next.

in the meantime, here are some photos




2. last night, i decided that i really wanted to try making pasta from scratch; ravioli, to be specific.

so i did, and let me tell you, it was laborious.

we don't have a pasta dough flattening machine yet, so me and that rolling pin i mentioned in my last post had ourselves a party. i feel like that was just as good a workout as climbing, but now i am seriously coveting one of these babies:

the red dress

i'm going to be a bridesmaid in my friend linda's wedding this december. i'm also going to be the photographer. that will be super fun. i've never been a bridesmaid before, so it's pretty exciting.

does my marital status make me a bridesmatron?
doesn't that sound like i should be carrying a ladle or a rolling pin as an accessory?

anyways, linda picked these really pretty bridesmaid dresses:
however, they're from target (good for price, bad for sizing) and they don't have them in our local store, so i had to order mine offline. since their return policy sucks more than anything in the world and i want to avoid having to deal with customer service and returns/exchanges at any cost, i whipped out the measuring tape and tried to place myself accurately on their sizing chart (which, by the way, turns size 2's into size 8's), ordered the dress four sizes larger than my normal size, and hoped for the best.

it arrived yesterday. it's very pretty. the color is great and the fabric is thick and smooth.

i tried it on. first i tried stepping into it. i couldn't get it three inches past my knees, let alone my thighs, so i tried the other approach: pulling it over my head. that worked alright.

andy zipped me up and i looked in the mirror. it was...baggy? how could this be? the skirt and waist fit alright, but the whole top section was big and billowy and puckering out in odd ways. does this mean that i'm a grossly disproportionate pear shaped woman? i thought to myself:

sigh
i guess i'll order the size underneath and see which one fits better, maybe find someone with a sewing machine and make it work?

then i tried to take the dress off.

i couldnt.

i was stuck

forever

in a red dress.

after a somewhat violent wrestling match with the red dress, the exploit ended with me sitting cross legged on the floor with my arms over my head (little kid style) and andy pulling as hard as he could. it eventually came off, and i was able to wear normal clothes to our dinner date with my dad.

what an adventure.

thank you!

so...it's been almost four months since our wedding, and we have yet to send out any thank you cards.
the guilt comes and goes...but i haven't been able to find any good thank you cards (not really a valid excuse, i know). i wish stationery were a bit less expensive, or that we just had a [several hundred dollar] stationery slot in the budget.

i really like this card, but i feel like it emphasizes the stuff we got rather than the help and support and kind wishes. would someone who hadn't bought anything for us, but who had been amazingly kind and helpful feel bad receiving a thank you card with measuring cups, cutlery, and oven mitts on it? am i thinking about this too much?

i also really like these.

in the meantime i would like to offer a sincere thank you to all of you who were so wonderful and generous... i'll put that on some stationery and mail it off to you soon!

speaking of cards, if you appreciate good design and a healthy dose of humor as much as i do, here are some things to look at:

uncooked cards
line upon line cards
mr. letters press

really really pumpkin soup weather

it's currently 28 degrees outside. the high is 46.

i packed myself a [hopefully] leak proof tupperware full of pumkin soup in my little brown bag lunch.

today definitely calls for a scarf and jacket. unfortunately, all my scarves and jackets are buried in boxes underneath our stairs. i've got to choose between hoodies and my long wool coat...

pumpkin soup weather

today has been the first truly restful and relaxing sunday andy and i have had in weeks. it's been great.

i don't know if the (freezing) weather has anything to do with it, but all we've wanted to do all day is just stay in our pj's and hang out in our warm little apartment.

here's what we did:

-sleep in until 11 or so
-i chatted it up with my dad, who's coming tuesday for our annual fall climbing trip (maple canyon this time if the weather holds out!)
-talked to my grandma in france, who just had knee surgery that will hopefully allow her to keep hiking all over the place
-got ready for church
-got to church 20 minutes late, nothing out of the ordinary there
-enjoyed all three hours of it (a big step after bordering on inactivity for months*)
-came home
-laundry
-nap for andy
-made pumpkin soup (recipe coming soon)
-baked wheat bread (recipe coming as soon as i find a good one)
-currently sitting around reading, listening to ray lamontagne, looking at other people's photographs, and being perfectly content

you just need days like this.


*we haven't really been inactive, just traveling or being sick or only going to sacrament meeting.

tragedy

i broke another glass today.

st. george weekend

andy and i went down to st. george this weekend for general conference. we got to meet our niece arvilla for the first time, and of course i took some pictures.

another baby!

congratulations to dan and emma, who had their baby yesterday around 11 am. since i don't have any pictures of sophia, some photos of the parents will have to do (because really, who wants to see a post with no pictures).

sophia was born 9 pounds 2 ounces.

good job emma!
the niece count has now reached eight.

ps: my speedy posting of sophia's birth does not mean that i love her more than arvilla! speaking of which, i have some photos of arvilla to post today. hurrah for babies!

new shoes

i bought these shoes for a shoot yesterday. we had to do a white on white for my still life class, and this is what i came up with.

i had every intention of returning them once the shoot was completed.

i didn't need new shoes, but i decided to get them in my size, just in case.

this morning i put on a white shirt. i looked for shoes to wear and nothing seemed quite right.

until i spotted the vans bag in the corner of the room and thought to myself: hm, well, i'm sure just wearing them once would be fine, and then maybe i could still return them.

after a full day of walking campus in these babies, which resulted in some lovely scuffs and scratches, i realized

you cant return white shoes once you've worn them...

or if you really like them

summer vegetable tian

not just for the summer


so, this was my attempt at replicating an amazing dish i enjoyed in provence at my great aunt and uncle's fiftieth wedding anniversary party.
i like that it looks more like the ratatouille in the movie ratatouille than real ratatouille does (real ratatouille=mush, delicious mush)

summer vegetable tian:

-butter enough to cover the bottom of your baking dish when it melts
-garlic (1 clove-ish)
-1 zucchini
-1 yellow zucchini
-at least 4 or 5 roma tomatoes
-salt
-herbes de provence*
-olive oil

+preheat the oven to 400
+place the chopped garlic and butter in a ceramic baking dish. put them in the oven (it doesn't matter if it's done preheating yet) uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until the butter starts to bubble and the garlic cooks a litle
+meanwhile, slice the zucchini and tomatoes fairly thinly
+after removing the dish, place the veggie slices vertically in the dish, alternating colors (see photo)
+sprinkle with salt and plenty of herbs
+pour some olive oil over the tops of the veggies
+place covered in oven for 45 minutes to an hour
+uncover and cook for another 30 minutes
+serve and enjoy! it goes well with creamy pasta or rice


*if you can't find herbes de provence, a pre-made italian herb mix will work fine, or your own concoction of rosemary, marjoram, basil, bay leaf, and thyme. go heaviest on the thyme.