Mixin' it Up

Things that DO NOT mix:
-Oil and water.
-Drinking and driving.
-Jake Gyllenhaal and "The Prince of Persia".
-Cancer patients and sunlight

{after my last chemo treatment, after having been in the sun for no longer than 7 minutes}

Things that MIX WELL:
-Chocolate and peanut butter
-Chocolate and more chocolate
-Good music and roadtrips
-Jeffrey and Rachel
-Delicious food for your anniversary

{the celebration begins, Friday's dinner of steamed lobster, seared scallops with garlic, olive oil, and whole wheat pasta, and roasted asparagus...yum...}

On Saturday we went to this really fun sushi restaurant called "Ahh! Sushi" where Jeffrey discovered he loves endamame, and my love for the Philadelphia roll was solidified. Sunday, our actual anniversary day, we dined on aged new york strip steaks, expertly grilled by the grill master, Jeff, along with grilled curry shrimp and roasted potatoes. Cupcakes, outlet shopping, along with lots of relaxation and such, rounded out a fabulous weekend.

Happy anniversary to me! One year down....

Urban Herbs

My neighbor is growing a gorgeous garden in a little quadrant of dirt between our apartment buildings. It's looking so good now, with tiny, spring-green sprouts starting to peek through the soil and tulips in bloom. She's a good gardener. But I, I am content for now to observe and save minuscule plants from my death-administering hand. Maybe when I grow up I'll give gardening a go, but for now I'm sticking to farm stands and a planter full of my favorite herbs (starting small is the idea here).

{the cast of herbs}

{planning, before planting}
this is a tomato plant...not an herb but especially delicious as well

{planting, after planning}
side note: it's best to either remove the plant fromthe jiffy pot prior to planting, or to tear away a significant amount of it. If leaving the pot on, also be sure to either poke a lot of holes in the bottom or completely remove it so the roots have growing space.

{the result of planning and planting}

Being relatively inexpensive-my plants were around 3 dollars each-a planter of fresh herbs is a great way to get creative. There are numerous herbs to choose from, so you can mix and match what you like and even throw in a few flowers for color. There are also many alternatives to a planter. You could make your own from scrap wood, paint a terra cotta pot, use a thrifted or an antique teapot, or even grow all the herbs separately in their own mason jars or large mismatched mugs.

The planter isn't the only way to get creative, though. Think of all the yumminess you can create with the fresh herbs! Rosemary roasted potatoes, tomato sauce with fresh parsley and basil, roast chicken with tarragon, thyme and rosemary, homemade pickles, caprese salad, oh the list goes on! I love fresh herbs!! And freshness is sooo in season right now :)

Simple Addition

What do you get when you combine giant, ripe strawberries

{strawberries, large ones}

with luscious dark chocolate?....

{super delicious dark chocolate chips}

A whole lot of yum!

{yumminess}

However, when you happen to accidentally drop yummy dark chocolate chips on very nasty gross carpet, nothing yummy happens. You just lose the chocolate chips in the splotchy sea of brown.

I'm sorry to show you, but here is my notoriously known carpet. Let's play a game. Can you spot the chocolate chip?

Any luck?

How about now?

Can you see it yet?

Psyche

It's snowing.... and sunny. That's what happens when you think Spring is here.

In honor of the weather's schizophrenia, I'm eating chocolate and if you'd like to join me, I suggest you make Chocolate Buttermilk Cake. Why? Because it's easy, delicious, and chocolate. Take that weather.




Chocolate Buttermilk Cake
from Lion House Lite Recipes

1 2/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375° F. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in center of mixture. Blend buttermilk, water, oil, and vanilla. Pour into well in dry ingredients, stirring until smooth. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan.

Spring...Finally!

Isn't it lovely?! I know, officially, the first day of spring was about a month ago, but it was snowing then and trees were showing no signs of flowering or even life.

Now, the trees are heavily laden and practically bursting in blazes of blossoms and I couldn't be more glad to see it. I brought some branches into my house-I just couldn't resist.


Maybe you'll agree with me though that this year is going by fast. Very fast. April is already almost over and I haven't even made pretzels!! Yeah, pretzels!! Wouldn't ya know April is not only American Cancer Society Month and National STDs Education and Awareness month, it's also National Soft Pretzel Month. You could take a baking break and twist up some homemade soft pretzels using either this recipe, or this one, or take the less involved route and pick up a ready-to-heat-and-eat box of Super Pretzels!

{photo credit: google}

Any way you go, just try to get it in before April ends. It will be more fun that way. I'll bet they'll taste better too...

Wohoo!

This past Wednesday was my 6th chemo treatment, which means....I only have two more left! Thank goodness too because it's getting to be pretty tough.
The quick update:
1. I'm on new nausea medication since I finally started to feel like a cancer patient and couldn't eat or move after my 5th treatment. So far this medicine seems to work :)
2. I STILL have hair! Cross your fingers for me....I have nightmares that it's going to fall out after my last chemo treatment or something.
3. The best news of all...since my cancer has stopped, yes STOPPED growing and the tumors are starting to shrink I have approximately 2 1/2 months left until I can be a normal person all over again.

Other things that are looking up...
My cousin Rhett is organizing a 5k run and 1 mile walk for his Eagle Scout Project. The proceeds are going to go towards payment for all this nasty cancer treatment I've been getting. Check out the blog and sign up if you're feeling up for it. If you're not in Utah, my Mama is organizing a little something in Ohio. If you're interested, contact her or leave me a comment.

Simplest Sketti Sauce

Lately I've been into simple comfort foods for dinner. My appetite runs the gamut of homemade mac and cheese to Caesar salad, and I'm not sure why, other than the fact that comfort foods are really tasty and usually a cinch to make. This no-fuss tomato sauce is both really tasty and really easy to make, making it something that I am capable of cooking these days.

The original recipe idea is from smittenkitchen, but comfort-food obsession or not, I have an issue with buttering vegetables or even just mixing butter with vegetables. Frankly I don't like to do it. Jeff however, loves butter, so I compromised and made a reduced-fat version that was still simply delicious.







Ingredients:
1 large (28 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes (I used unsalted)
2-3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium sweet onion, peeled and cut in half
salt to taste

Method:
In a large saucepan, melt the butter, pour in the tomatoes and place the onion halves right in with the tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low so sauce sits at a low simmer for around 45 minutes. Occasionally stir and crush tomatoes up against the side of the saucepan. When done, remove onions and salt to taste. Serve with noodles...and enjoy!

What is

So I went in for my 4th treatment today. The good news is that we're halfway done! But the bad news is that we're not really halfway done. I had been thinking that I would receive 8 chemo treatments, then get a PET scan, then possibly receive 4 more chemo treatments if necessary and then radiation if necessary. Today I found out that both the 4 additional chemo treatments and the radiation will be necessary, moving our anticipated finish date from May to late August, hopefully just in time to start school all cancer free.

And I have to get a PET scan now, in addition to one later. I hate getting scans. They stink.

This news was a bit disheartening, and unfortunately cancer will continue to interfere with our lives for the entire summer, which may end up wrecking some delightful plans we were making. But I know that it's all for the best, since all that treatment is proven to kick cancer's butt...(while possibly causing me to have breast cancer later in life, but you know, whatever. I'm being positive right now).

Don't worry though, if they think telling me about all that treatment is finally going to make my hair fall out, they're wrong! It's still in nice and tight for now. And I'm not letting the news get me down, I'm making salmon cakes and going for walks and now...off to bake Easter cookies.

Thanks for the continued prayers and thoughts.

Refabulous

I love making things my own. Whether it's affixing a sweet little brooch to a simple headband or mixing nail polish to create the perfect color, I rarely leave things as I bought them. Lately I've been into some refinishing projects, the first of which involved an old, thrifted dresser I bought for around $25. I searched for months for a dresser large enough for my needs, and while this was the perfect size, it was little more than plain old boring. With a little help from my sister and a long weekend, we flipped this dresser from drab to fab.

{krista, sanding}

Start by roughing up the finish a bit with some very fine sandpaper. You don't want to use rough or really grainy sandpaper because it will scratch into the wood and leave the surface uneven. If you're lucky like me and have a brother-in-law or someone who owns a power sander, this part is a breeze. If not, it's ok, just hunker down and get sanding!

{drawers, sanded and wiped clean}

Using a slightly damp rag or old towel, wipe down the inside and outside of all the drawers, making sure to get all the wood dust wiped away.

Next....paint!! I wanted to absolutely love everything about this dresser, so I used two contrasting paints to make it exciting; one for the outside, and one for the inside. I went with lilac and eggplant because who doesn't want a purple dresser?

{dresser, first coat}

Picking the gloss level on paint can be little tricky. I didn't want the lilac to have any sheen to it as I thought that would make it look too commercial. So I went with flat which has absolutely no gloss at all. For the inside of the drawers I chose a very light gloss so it would really highlight the contrast between the two paints.

Next up, KNOBS! Picking knobs is really fun and there are a lot of little beauties out there...making it difficult for people like me to actually make a choice.

{knobs, Anthropologie}

I finally chose crystal knobs with gold bases. The gold base of the knob reflects through the crystal and makes the knobs appear yellow from some angles (have I mentioned yet that I LOVE this dresser?!).

{dresser, crystal knobs}

{finished fabulousness}

And there you have it! Easy peasy refinishing and personalizing you can do yourself. I love this dresser, and because Jeff loves me he lets me keep it our bedroom where it's lovely princess-ness (as he calls it) and fabulous chic-ness (as I call it) can greet the both of us daily.

Love is in the Mail

{opening, and wearing, all the goodies}

{some of the sweeties, moms-in-touch group}

Good mail has been arriving with uncanny good timing these days. Love and thanks to all who take the time to put something in my mailbox.