omg5000

ok time to share some deliciousness:

for a while now i've been making a vegetable stew-soup (stoup, to borrow a rachel ray word) consisting of potatoes, carrots, odd spices, onion and garlic of course, and diced tomatoes with some stock for broth. I loooove potatoes in soup, so it was basically built around that key element.

but today while at the supermarket i spied some sugar pumpkins and squash on fall sale and had to scoop them up! The potatoes and carrots i always have on hand were calling to me, so i looked up some recipes to include the gourds and found this one to base (jump?) off.


I've already discovered how easy it is to substitute for canned pumpkin - a good 10 step process here - but it's basically: 1) cut in half or quarter the pumpkin 2) scoop out the seeds and stringy gunk 3) place in an oven safe dish/pan/casserole cut side down with about an inch of water 4) bake at 350 for 40-60 minutes and VOILA! the skin will fall right off and you can blend or puree the innards to your desired consistency!


Soooo, as the base recipe dictated, pureed pumpkin and set aside twice the amount (i love me some stoup!), then deviated: cut up half an onion and let sizzle with a splash of our amazing habanero tequila oil (sent from the gods ... or picked up at the st. john spice co. - best purchase EVER) then chop-chop-chopped the potatoes and carrots, some green beans and tossed them in with about a cup of the pumpkin water and a few more cups of regular water. I added a can of diced tomatoes as well as about a tbsp of cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, bay leaves red pepper flakes, chili spice and the pumpkin puree then let simmer for an hour or so.


OH MY GODNESS the smell was HEAVENLY!! Jake kept asking if it was done yet, and we had to keep checking via carrot-tenderness. Finally, we dug in and it was even better than it smelled!!! i don't know whether it was the oil, chili flakes, or spices that gave it such a lingering perfect spiciness, but i do know that the pumpkin puree gave it a creamy smooth texture that has been lacking in my previous veggie stoups. the pumpkin flavor combined with everthing else... all i can say is this autumnal stew-soup is going to be a top staple dinner around here for a very, very long time!

saarinen

for a while now i've found myself falling further and further in love with Saarinen, specifically Eero, the younger genius. even more specifically, i'm enthralled with his tulip base table, which is just about universally (yes, even in the andromeda galaxy, I'm sure) recognizable.

although i generally prefer the table without the matching chairs
(a little too much tulip for my tastes),
it can be made to work.

i have the opportunity to pick up a craigslist sale of the ikea docksta version for over $100 off the new price, only i'd have to drive to wheeling, wv to get it... but ooohh how i'm contemplating the possibility!


ps. not only did this icon create gorgeous tables with period-transcending powers, he's raaather well known for his architecture as well. for example, this little number to be found in st. louis:

and the surreal TWA terminal at JFK

almost Seuss-ical ... wow.

field of dreams

autumn approacheth...

we've moved!

LITERALLY!
... now, to organize ...

promises

i promise once we get settled (and have constant internets) there will be more consistent blogging going on. i SWEAR!

for now, some things that have been catching my eye lately:

this gorgeous Brunswick Stew created by Kevin Gillespie of Top Chef fame

Budapest! want to go (or live) here soon!!

this cork map satisfies so many of my needs and likes:
maps, cork, pointless wall art...

Always enticed by the thought of growing our own food despite our mobile/apartment lifestyle, this Edible Greens Kit is right up my alley! $50 too much right now? possibly. maybe i can recreate it for cheaper myself!

this shower curtain from killy & oliver's bathroom redo

Can't wait to settle down for a bit!!

cool things

so it is pretty much a fact that since we've returned to the mainland, Jake and I are rarely in one place for more than two days. In general the places repeat themselves, but living outta suitcases for over a month and a half is getting old. seriously.

that said, there have been some pretty cool developments recently!

in no particular order:

- new (used) car!! finally! vehicular freedom!!

2004 Mazda 6 - 5 speed, 5 door, 5... awesomeness.

- new computer! who knew way back when I spilled wine on Jake's fancy laptop, I MEAN IT RANDOMLY JUST BROKE I DON'T KNOW HOW! ... that it would result first in a broken G key and finally in a free new computer! We thought we'd have to have it sent out for cleaning or refurbishing or whatever they could do to make the keyboard start working properly again, but upon arriving at the Geek Squad desk at Best Buy, their computers told us to just pick out a new one! It was to be comparable in price and stats or whatever, so obviously we looked for the most expensive one they had since Jake bought the old one a year ago when we were super flush (right. totally.) and as we walked out of the store with new computer in box Jake definitely said "um, waaay better than 'comparable'" and we've pretty much been as giddy as ... well, as grown-ups with a super-sweet new laptop!

"visually inspired by the Lockheed F117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter" ... and it just feeeels so nice!

- new apartment! After a couple of attempts of finding a place to live in Pittsburgh, being very unimpressed by what's out there and contemplating moving anywhere else we finally found the place for us in the 'burgh! We've been talking it up so much to family, friends, and random tourists alike, so we felt we couldn't bail on the steel city. Everywhere gets a year (or at least the 11 months of our lease)!


so check out what will be our sweet new digs as of September 1st! Strangely, much bigger in person, even full of previous tenants stuff! Also, giant storage closet on front wall will possibly become a bouldering cave :D

- possible job! I've applied for a job and won't post details here and now, but I've been told I'll probably get it. They have got to be the S L O W E S T follow-uppers ever though. You would think when a job opening is posted, the company would be anxious to fill the position, but they sure take their time about responding and interviewing! I really should not be complaining in the least though as I am totally not in town. (Great. Now I've jinxed it and they'll want to set up an interview tomorrow.)

fingers crossed for more cool stuff ahead!

UPDATE!

OH how time flies when you're ...... doing nothing. Lots has changed in the month and a half I've let this blog languish, and you might think that means lots has been done, decided and accomplished. Well, you'd be mostly wrong. But here are a few things that have happened:

1. Jake left St. Thomas on a boat! ... then it started sinking and they came back.


2. I left St. Thomas on a plane!

3. My brother got married in Jamaica! Lots of snorkeling, lionfish, ganjaImeanlocalflora ... we all got sick. We're blaming the water.

4. I gathered all (ok, well, a lot of) our scattered, stored belongings in hopes of setting up our lives

5. The 4th of July approached and along with it, Jake approached Charleston, with fireworks to welcome the ocean-weary crews to the mainland!

Scurfing, yes, in the middle of the ocean

6. I drove down to SC to meet up with my hubby as well as recent Savannah transplant, cousin Jessie!

Charleston is cooool

7. Back up to Baltimore to hang out for a few days, then on to Pittsburgh for a whirlwind weekend of unsuccessful apartment hunting (although we did get to hang out with buddies)!

8. Aaannnddd back to Baltimore. Limbo. Lots of Industry Night (though we're stretching the industry in when we're actually unemployed), outdoor movies, baseball games and money liquidation.

could've been a great game... go O's!

movie night madness

We've got to get this life show on the road!