Friday, March 18, 2011

waiting for spring


Sigh, I have neglected the blog terribly over the last couple of months. My excuse? I haven't taken many photos lately, haven't developed my roll of B&W film that I shot on my manual SLR, and have been busy with birthday festivities and the like.

It's also been quite dreary in Seattle as of late. Daylights savings has made me tremendously happy though - driving home at 7 the other day while it was still light outside was a euphoric experience.

Given the lack of original content to post about, I'll leave you with an assortment of links:

-The events in Japan are saddening and sobering. Please consider donating to Doctors Without Borders or another one of the charitable organizations that is helping out with the situation.

-I made this delicious chard & onion panade the other day and it was the perfect comfort food. Bread, greens, cheese & broth magically combine to form a rich and flavorful dish. I substituted kale for the chard without any detriment.

-My roommate recently received Melissa Clark's amazing cookbook as a birthday present and I promptly fell in love with it. Reading through the table of contents was enough to make me drool, and all the recipes I have tried so far have been great (blood orange olive oil cake anyone?). I also conveniently just came into possession of an oven-proof All-Clad skillet, courtesy of my brother, which I intend to use once I find a recipe worthy of it! I have visions of roasted chicken and braised greens...

-I just finished reading Rocket Boys, which I picked up secondhand. A funny & inspirational memoir if you're looking for a good read.

I hope to have more to post in the next few weeks - have a good weekend!    

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

whirlwind days

Oh my goodness, it's March already? Where did February go? This past month has passed by in such a whirlwind that I'm still catching my breath. 

In all the hubbub and hoopla of February (birthdays, weekend trips, and visitors, oh my!), I haven't been able to do much Seattle exploration lately. I actually found myself missing my weekend coffee jaunts and photo walks...they provide much needed time for me to recharge and quiet my mind.  Can you tell that I'm an introvert? :P

Nevertheless, having a visitor in town was a good excuse to stroll around in Ballard last weekend. Ballard is full of little restaurants and boutiques and cute children, probably comparable to Park Slope in Brooklyn, but less self-consciously cool - it is Seattle, after all. We had a wonderfully quiet and delicious brunch at Volterra, where I refueled for the rest of my busy weekend with a big cup of coffee and some comforting brunch food. 

I've been shooting some old film rolls leftover from a college photo class, so I'm hoping to develop some of those soon - I kind of miss the anticipation of waiting to see how a roll of film turns out! Shooting digital has really spoiled me, but there is still a certain satisfaction in getting a good shot on an old-fashioned SLR. In the meantime, happy beginning of March!