I am sure I am late on the bandwagon even though fall only started this weekend. I have to say I have loved trying out different fall foods. Also none of these recipes are originals from me, but they are all tried and true. I do not want to recommend recipes without having tested them and enjoying them. Fall to me speaks of pumpkin and squash. Fall may not speak of salads to you, but these are quite delicious. Also I feel like being healthy in the colder months is not always appealing, but these salads for me are a treat. I have made this Sweet Potato & Cranberry Salad from Love and Lemons for years. Also I find that all the toppings and dressing make this salad really work together. This one does take some time to assemble, so either make the sweet potatoes and wheat berries on the weekend as part of meal prep or make the whole meal a weekend meal. I also love this Autumn Maple Salad from Delish Knowledge. This one I have made with both butternut squash and delicata. If you are using butternut squash be sure to peel it first. This is also one if you want to make the squash ahead of time the salad comes together quickly. I plan on sharing some of my favorite fall desserts soon as well. What do you like to eat in the fall?
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In the past month I read a few books, but this book was the one remarkable one. This is a nonfiction book where the author looks at how women spend their time. Specifically she looks at women who make over $100,000 and have kids. She divides their time into work, family, and self. Within each category she makes observations and notes what she realized was unique or important about those who utilized their time "well". I found her analysis to be interesting. I did not agree with everything she wrote, but I found insight in most of it. I also found it gave me hope that if I want to return to the workforce I can do so and find ways to best utilize my time. I did find the ending to be a bit abrupt, but enjoyed the book as a whole.
Book Rating: 4/5 Welcome back to another tip Tuesday. I feel like sharing small cooking tips helps those of us who want to become better in the kitchen. This tip is related to food storage. Moisture and bacteria cause decay.If you want to have your food last you need to avoid moisture and bacteria. They cause rot avoiding them means avoiding your produce turning bad. One way to do this with fresh produce is to use paper towels to catch some of the extra moisture and then replace them as they dampen over time. I use this when I have chopped vegetables ahead of time, like lettuce which allows it to stay crisp rather than get soggy and start to go bad. In a bag of spinach even one leaf that is damp and soggy can easily ruin the entire bag, I typically am quite thorough in getting rid of those leaves to ensure my greens last longer.
One of the unexpected things I have noticed in being pregnant is laughing quite a lot more. People always share about pregnancy mood swings, but typically I have heard it referred to in the context of sadness or frustration. I am pleased to say laughing until I cry is something that happens more regularly. I am not sure if this is honestly pregnancy related or that I am simply able to laugh at myself more. I often find things to be humorous when I have misheard or misunderstood or misinterpreted. I am able to laugh and enjoy the moment rather than feeling frustrated at having been confused. The simple things that have made me laugh can be varied, but I really enjoy the ability to let my guard down and just enjoy all the hilarity of life even if it is something that was only real in my head. What has made you laugh lately? I find laughter to be contagious and I am looking for more laughter on a daily basis to help find the joy in all the complexity of life.
Fall has officially started a week or so ago. I have been enjoying a few fall activities here and there. I am curious what are your fall traditions? What do you do to celebrate fall? We have a few small traditions that we typically participate in every year. I have grown to appreciate the fall more and more as time has gone on. We lived in Florida for a few years and I felt like I missed the chill in the air and the changing color of the leaves. When we moved to Iowa, I took the photo below on our drive, just so excited that the leaves would be orange. I have since developed an appreciation of fall, both the cooler weather that allows for more cooking freedom, while not being too hot and as a time of new beginnings and changes. I love to celebrate all fall has to offer me. Cider DonutsOut of all of the things I make, I have yet to make my own cider donuts. If I am honest, I do not really even like cider donuts. My husband thoroughly enjoys them and dunking them into cider. We usually try to find local cider donuts and apple cider as part of our fall traditions. In Connecticut, where we grew up, Iowa, and here in New Hampshire, that means going to a farm stand and picking them out. This year we had the opportunity to try fresh cider donuts, rather than the typical cake like ones coated in cinnamon sugar and to be able to watch the donuts fry up was amazing. We will not see the donuts in the same light. Occasionally this means we also pick up an apple pie or a lot of apples. In the past, we have picked our own apples. I love getting out to see the farms and find that farm stands feel like the embodiment of fall. Look at the changing leavesWe either walk or drive and spend time intentionally looking at the trees and noticing how the leaves change color. We look for bright trees, or yellow trees, or trees that look like sunsets. This is a simple tradition and yet is one I enjoy of just spending time absorbing the world around us. Jump in Crunchy LeavesEven as an adult, when I find a patch of very crunchy leaves I take the time, even if it is a minute or so to stop and jump in the crunchy leaves. I find that it changes my mood and makes me grateful for all I have around me. Sometimes this can be hard to come by depending on the level of rain, but when it happens it just feels like magic. I no longer rake them into piles to do this a shallow layer of leaves does the trick, but as a kid I remember jumping into leaf piles with great abandon. Fall FoodsI typically make a few fall salads every year. I shared them last week here. I also typically test out recipes with fall ingredients, squashes, pumpkins, and apples in particular. I find that celebrating the season with an abundance of new foods makes me feel connected to the world around me. I plan on sharing some of my favorite seasonal desserts as well. If you have any fall recipes you love or traditions please feel free to share them with me because I am always excited to find something new. If you have any fall traditions please share them below. I would love to try out some new ways to celebrate a wonderful time of year.
Last weekend, my husband and I went to a paint bar for our date night. I had never previously been and wasn't sure what to expect. I am aware that the concept of painting along is not new, before they have places for it there was always Bob Ross and The Joy of Painting on PBS. To be perfectly honest, I did not know who Bob Ross was until a year ago when my husband received a Bob Ross Chia Pet. That worked surprisingly well as you can see below. Clearly my knowledge of pop culture is not my greatest strength. I was excited to go and spend an afternoon painting, because I assumed it would be a fun excursion. This was true, but what I did not expect was how intense I would get about the painting in general and how hard it is to add new to something you already enjoy. This painting started with the background, which seemed like a natural place to start. Adding some of these layers were simpler for me than others, but what I struggled the most with was the black trees in the front. The reality is I knew once we got to using the black paint that whatever I put on the canvas was here to stay and would ultimately cover some of the work I had done before. There is something to be said for the ability to willingly forge ahead when you are not sure how your actions will destroy what you have previously done. Life reflected back to me in the creation of art. In life I do tend to forge ahead, trusting that I can always begin again, but in the painting it felt more permanent. The reminder of what had been was present in a way it does not feel present to me in daily life. I am a forward thinking person and I struggle to be present, but I am not often wistful for the past. I enjoy reminiscing, and remembering fun events, but I do not long for it to be now. In painting I was confronted with this idea in a very visceral way. We are a result of our choices, and we can always choose differently, but we still have made those choices. Honestly, when it comes to life I can accept this, but painting was much more of a struggle. One of the things I quickly realized is that a painting is a composite of many parts, I can appreciate one and dislike another. Finding a way to work on the parts that I did not initially enjoy was a challenge. I feared doing too much and not doing enough. I did not have the skill or understanding to know how to improve on the parts I felt did not meet my standards. By the end of the experience I felt my painting was passable and interesting enough even if not how I originally intended. Two lessons emerged from this experience. The first was the fact that my husband is patient and will do anything in his power to help me, even if he is not an expert. When I would get frustrated I would ask for his help and I found he was able to consider what was going on and add productive feedback, and also provide encouragement for me to keep going. I take it for granted what a great partner he is at times and it is moments like this I am quite glad that we are together. I find him to be able to be my better half and he knows what I need even when I sometimes struggle to see it for myself. The second lesson I realized was the fact that I need to get out of my comfort zone more. Doing things that push me helps me to create vivid memories and helps to stretch what I think I am capable of or what I think I can do. I love my routines and my habits, in fact I am considering sharing a few blog posts about some of them if ya'll are interested, but having something novel is a worthwhile endeavor too. As this weekend approaches, I encourage you to get out and explore, try something new and see where it leads you.
From time to time I notice my books have themes. Recently the books I have been choosing or a few of them have been following the theme of being fairy tale adjacent. They are not genuine fairytales, there is a series of modern retellings and a book that is connected to a fictional set of fairytales.
In general I have been drawn to stories that are not based in reality. I find a fictional world allows me to recognize it as removed from my day to day life and allows me to suspend fear. I have typically been able to handle these stories better because I know they aren't real and in this stage of my life I think I appreciate the distance they offer.
On a side note, I listened to all of these books on audio and they are all read by the same narrator, Rebecca Soler, who I happen to love.
This book is a story about fictional fairytales. The protagonist's mother goes missing and in order to figure out what happened she must explore the stories that her grandmother wrote, a book of grim fairytales. The book has mystery surrounding it that she needs to learn about in order to find her mom. I appreciated that this book created it's own lore and I loved how fast paced it was and I found myself engaged wanting to know what happened next.
These 4 books form a series that I would say falls into the modern retelling genre. These books connect and intertwine so it makes sense to read them in order, top to bottom. The first is a modern retelling of Cinderella in a dystopian setting, the second is a modern retelling of Red Riding Hood, the third is a modern retelling of Rapunzel, and the final is a modern retelling of Snow White. These books are not simply retellings, but also develop a new storyline in response to the modern dystopian setting. I also appreciated that the author intentionally tried to tie the stories to places where they are thought to have originated or settings relevant to the fairytales themselves. I enjoyed the pace of these novels, but my one critique was that the main characters mostly tended to pair off in a predictable manner and I wished she had used the modern setting to give their endings a bit more nuance.
Any suggestions for more fairytale adjacent books? Any suggestions for ones I am missing or other recommendations would be much appreciated in the comments.
If you saw me walking down the street, you would probably not notice me. I am not someone whose clothing choices merit being noticed. I am usually dressed in what I would term "normal" clothes, no rips or holes but nothing flashy or particularly exciting. Starting two years ago, I determined I wanted clothing, but since I hate shopping I signed up for Stitchfix, a company that sends you clothes in your size for you to try on at home and then return the items that do not work for no additional charge. You are charged for the pieces you keep not the ones you send back. I have gotten Stitchfixes intermittently since. I realized though that I still struggle even with Stitchfix. Therefore this year I made one of my new years resolutions that I would get a better handle on my style and figure out what I want. I started this by reading the book The Curated (or cultivated check later) Closet. I have been using that book as a starting off point. I started by taking pictures of everything I wore for 14 days (not consecutively because I forgot a day or two here and there). I then looked at my outfits and my starting point and reflected on what worked and what didn't. From there I took to the internet, mainly blogs, Youtube and Pinterest to try and determine what I do like on others. For some people this part of the process is fun, getting inspired, but as I continued I realized that this whole process simply made me exhausted. I had wrongly assumed my lack of fashion sense was because I didn't care, not because it was a challenge for me. After adjusting my expectations, I continued and knew it would be hard and breaks were needed. After finding what I liked on others I analyzed the images and tried to determine what about those looks appealed to me. I made a list of those characteristics and took to the stores. That was painful too.
I am still in that process of looking in stores and trying things on and figuring out what I like on me as opposed to what I like on other people. I think that considering fashion and reflecting on what will work for me will be a process. I have taken a large amount of time to do this; not buying anything, just figuring it out. The funny thing is that most of the things I have figured out, are things my husband already knew. I have come to realize that things that surprise me or are interesting to me are obvious to him. That being said, I am not sure my sense of style has changed in years but rather I am more aware and more intentional, not as influenced by trends or what is "in". As I continue on this journey I am adding a few pieces every so often to my closet, starting with my highest priorities and going towards lower priorities. I have found that this process although painful is worth it, because I can look at clothing and tell whether or not it will work before I try it on, and I know what I am looking for. I am willing to be picky and take time to make sure each piece I add is just right knowing that the results from a lengthy search and careful choice will be better than rushed choices. This style challenge started as part of my happiness project. I am focusing on loving my body, through food, exercising and taking care of myself so that I love who I am now, not just who I "want to be" for me focusing on the ideal is putting too much focus towards the expectations rather than allowing me to be present and accepting of my life as it is. For the month of September, I am going to start again. I plan on trying to mix and match clothes I actually own. I may struggle with clothing being pregnant, but I find that when I slow down and take an extra moment or two I just feel better. I will also try to add a few items to my collection and just get more creative with what I have in a way that I does not come naturally, but hopefully with practice will become more second nature. I also plan on tracking my outfits for the entire month through an app and use another app to track the usage of my clothes and my outfit ideas to determine what is working and what isn't. If you have any ideas or suggestions, all would be appreciated. |
About MeI'm Sarah; a wife, traveler, foodie, and adventurer. Archives
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