baking: goat cheese and onion tart

For some reason I couldn't decide if I was craving breakfast-y food for dinner, or more traditional fare and I just had this underlying feeling that I ought to bake something. Because, you know, it's been days since the last time I turned the oven on and that's just wrong. So I ended up on this idea of making an onion tart. I then remembered I had a log of goat cheese I'd bought in a crazy diary spree at the grocery store (five kinds of cheese, yogurt, butter and heavy whipping cream and yes I know I have an obsession but I don't intend to do much about it). Anyway back to the story at hand. There was no particular plan for this dish, and no method of attack it was just executed start to finish like a dance I already knew the steps to. And in a way that's exactly what it was; such simple and familiar steps just combine together like this. So I will tell the tale of how I made this delectable delicacy in just a few simple steps.























First I turned on the oven (maybe 375 ish) then I cut two onions into little skinny pieces and cooked them on low in a little butter with the lid on until they were clear, and then I turned the heat up a touch and browned them. Next I made simple pie or tart crust and pushed it into my pan, in this case a spring form cheesecake pan cause I figured that would make it easier to remove when I was done. I slid the crust in the oven to prebake for about 15 minutes and while that was going on I mixed goat cheese with some of the cream and Greek yogurt I had lying around in the fridge. I also added a ton of dill, and stirred it up until it was smooth and even. After that all there was to do was remove the shell from the oven, fill it with goat cheese filling and the onions I'd already cooked and put it back in the oven for somewhere between 30-35 minutes, I sort of lost track. But the point is, I knew by the smell and sight of it that it was ready. The warm cheese smell became unavoidable in the apartment, and when I opened the oven door the cheese filling was browned and had settled into a firmer consistency. The hardest part of this scrumptious treat was waiting for it to cool to dig in.

making: a more interesting corner

For some reason this weeks been, and seems it will continue to be, crazy busy. So I'm just popping in real fast here to show a quick look at a corner of my very white and empty stairway that I decided had to be covered with something. So I just went through a pile of old Polaroid's and picked all the ones with clouds and sky (that's most of them, it was sort of my thing for a while) and hung them with removable artists tape in a grid wrapping around the corner.























I really liked the result and it makes me smile every time I go up or down the stairs. One large space of white wall down, many more to go.

making: an art wall

If I could only do one thing to make a space feel like home to me it would hanging artwork. I know it's a finishing touch and seems like it should be after paint, and furniture and rearranging and who knows what else, but I like to hang artwork right away.























The new apartment is not exception, in fact with expansive high-ceilinged white walls, the need burns brighter than usual. It helps that during the packing, moving, unpacking, I unearthed a whole section of my art collection that I had previously forgotten that I had, and I really wanted to frame,group and hang some of these great pieces that had been languishing in a box for far to long.























I decided to tackle the big wall in the living room first, and with the dark and modern furniture (courtesy of my roommate who previously had her own fully furnished apartment and therefore just transferred all of that stuff here) I decided to stick with black frames only. I also figured this would unite seemingly disparate artwork, or at least that's how I hoped things would pan out.























Luckily for me I've got a whole slew of black frames in various sizes so I pulled all the plain unadorned ones and started picking work I felt I would like to see each day. Quickly a pink and blue and gray theme emerged, as well as a trend of animals, and I decided to go with that.























Now all I had to do was decide what went where, so I laid all the frames on the floor and started fiddling around with combinations. I didn't want two pieces of a similar size and tone next to each other, nor did I feel like grouping all the blue on one side, so I spent a good patch of time (about as long as it takes to bake off a batch of cookies) shuffling about, moving one here and switching these two out and hemming and hawing until I felt that I had settled upon an arrangement I felt was comfortably mixed and random without being a jumbled mess.
























After that all I had to do was punch some holes in the wall and hang it all up. I am pretty meticulous about measuring so there was only one time when I had to make two holes for one frame, and other than that the hanging of the work proceeded very uneventfully. This was the end result. I feel it's a nice balance, but like everything, I very well may move stuff around, and don't think I won't switch artwork out as the mood takes me. I could completely change all the pieces for a totally different feel, who knows.























PS: you should note the amazing vintage typewriter collection in the image above, it's my roommates and it's pretty awesome, though I have to remind myself occasionally that I cannot use these typewriters as I would so very much like to!

my new space

For a while, my room in my new apartment looked a lot like this:



In other words there were piles of stuff everywhere and it was a mess of chaos. So i got down to it and decided to wrangle in the crazy. Of course it's still a work in progress, and it is a pretty tight space so it's difficult photograph but I did my best to capture some snaps.



































As you may notice, I've put a rolling rack against one wall to hang all my dresses, as I've filled the rooms one closet with my desk. This was a nice solution because I like seeing all the pretty colors and patters, I mean why shouldn't clothes serve as decorations for a room as well as the body? It also worked out well because hidden behind these curtains is a mysterious double door that leads to the living room. I of course decided to block off that doorway as I didn't feel there was any need for it, and my 'closet' rolled into its nook perfectly.
























The wall opposite my rainbow organized dress collection is the only real wall in the room (four walls, one is windows, one is the door to the living room, one is the closet/office) so I wanted to do something interesting but not overwhelming on this wall, as it's really my only space for 'display' one might say. I went with a few of my favorite framed pieces, a four leaf clover and a pair of bird wings, all in vintage frames, and what has turned into a collection of wooden embroidery hoops. This is one of those collections I totally didn't set out to collect, it has just sort of become a collection, and I really like them empty I am playing around with the idea of stretching fabric in them as well. In the corner is a light I made by folding origami 'lanterns' out of parchment paper and putting them over white Christmas lights. I like the twinkle of holiday lights, but this dulls them down to a nice year round glow.
























I've already shared my closet work space and fun hanger jewelery organizers so that's it for now, like I said the room is small, and I'm trying not to clutter it too much. This is a far more comfortable living situation, and feels much more like 'mine' than the inside of a suitcase. However, I'm sure I will tweak it here and there, and I promise to share those tweaks as they happen.

baking: warm and cozy dinners

It was very cold all last week, and rainy with some serious wind. So I found myself pretty hungry most evenings after braving the elements on the way home, and ended up making a variety of cozyifying meals each night.
























There was a spicy stir fry with veggies and glass noodles, cheesy risotto with asparagus and sweet potatoes, a coconut chicken soup and spicy chorizo black bean soup. All warm comforting meals, all kept me cozy throughout the week.