Home: Part I

Found here

I'm feeling a little nostalgic about home today for various reasons (some of which are secret). Sorry I can't be specific quite yet but when I saw this today I got a huge smile on my face. Because Tad Carpenter (whoever you are), I couldn't agree more.

There will be more ramblings on the subject of home in the weeks to come (hence, Part I). Where is "home" for you? What makes it that?

Happy Monday...and some gifts from Skye

As you know, my dear-and-oh-so-beautiful friend Skye Bonney came to visit me a couple of weeks ago. It was beyond lovely to have her in Nashville for a week. The ease at which we play together is remarkable. When we went to visit a friend of mine for juice and a chat she told me a week later that I looked 10 years younger with her around. Now that's the kind of person you want to keep!

We did lots of cooking things, crafty things, adventure things, and relaxing things. But most importantly, just as we used to do every night when we shared a house together, we listened to lots of new music things. Skye has always been my introducer to fine music. She stretches my boundaries and ideas, she pushes me to love things that I may not normally love, and when we see live music together man oh man do we dance up that floor!

Here are some tunes that I would love to see live with her (or anyone for that matter). I choose to share with you the ones that I had not heard of at all before her little visit. Maybe they will be new for you too!

Happy Music Monday!

Bran Sunday Muffins

When boyfriends go away for a week, a lot can happen. Dinners that are normally well thought out and planned turn into frozen pizza and veggie burgers, Glee suddenly becomes your most watched show on hulu.com, and afternoon walks with the dog are longer and often quite faster. I'm not saying I hated the solitude. Having lived alone all last year there was something really beautiful about sleeping diagonally across the bed each night and blasting the radio alarm when my time goes off (15 min before his). But still, when I picked him up from the airport on Sunday- damn was I glad to see him.

Spring was here in Nashville... and now we are promptly back to winter. Temperatures in the low 40's and  have made this a house-bound-welcome-home-weekend. We did manage to take the pup to the dog park and meander through the farmers market... walking back into the house with frozen toes and fingers because we were dressed as if we were living 3 days earlier.

So, now Sunday afternoon has turned to evening. I'm still cold, the dog is chewing a bone, and the idea of leaving our heated little home sound dreadful. Then I realized- Muffins! Why didn't I think of that before???? No better way to welcome a loved one home then freshly baked goods. And this recipe has been growing mold I haven't used it for so long. My friend A gave it to me...at the top she wrote Bran Muffins (Revised). I do not know where they are revised from, but in my humble opinion, they are perfect. The stud muffin of a boyfriend thinks so too.

Bran Muffins (Revised)

In One bowl, place...

3 cups All Bran cereal

1 cup golden raisins

1/2 vegetable oil 

3/4 honey ( if you measure honey in same cup after oil the honey slips out beautifully)

1 cup boiling water

Stir and let cool

In a large measuring cup, place...

2 cups buttermilk, beaten with

2 eggs

In a large mixing bowl, measure dry ingrediants

2 1/2 cups flour (if you can use half whole wheat, half white)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add All Bran mix alternating with buttermilk to dry ingredients,

stirring until just blended.

You may cover this mixture and refrigerate it up to three weeks. 

Fill muffin cups (spray with Pam) and bake at 425 degrees, 20-23 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and cool on rack or serve hot.

A Friday poem

Lark & Merlin

I.

By Tom Pickard

a wren,

perched on a hawthorn

low enough to skip the scalping winds,

sang a scalpel song

seafrets drift

sheer along shorelines

listening to hail spray glass

and wine

and a waitress laugh

in a cafe without customers

I fell to fell thinking

I've been thinking a lot about the ocean this week. Then I read this poem during my morning coffee and it all seemed to fall into place. There have been a lot of oceans in my life over the years. But, this one mostly reminds me of a small town on the Oregon cost. A small diner perched onto of a bluff. Gray skies, strong wind. Good people, hot coffee.


I would love to teleport myself there this weekend...this poem and picture found here helps.


Happy weekend daydreaming!

Brooklyn love

James Gulliver Hancock

Mason Jar Music

Bakeri

For some reason all the fun things I keep finding are coming out of Brooklyn these days. Delicious bakeries, beautiful art, and incredible music. Having a couple of dear friends that live in that borough, I'm feeling a little jealous. Or, in hopes to take advice from my friend Emy and be more position this spring, I'm feeling joyful that they are there for me to visit.

For now I will just have to transport myself into this little studio (click here!) to hear these wonderful men rock my music loving soul. Good thing they are playing in Nashville next month... so I can give my own city a little lovin' too. Until then, maybe my Brooklyn buddies will send me a pastry from the goodness that is that spot Bakeri (hint hint, nudge nudge).

Hey neighbor- Happy Spring!

It's the first day back at school from Spring Break today. Needless to say, I'm behind. But it's the first day of spring and the day after my favorite neighbor's birthday. So in honor of Mr. Rogers and the lovely 80 degree day that Nashville is having, here is a little song to make you smile...

Won't you be my neighbor?

What I learned at the Jack Daniels Distillery...

every day they make it, they make it the best they can

checkers and whiskey go hand in hand

it starts out clear

jack was only 5'2!

the whiskey soaks through coal...that's what makes it TN whiskey!

clean spring water makes the whiskey...that's why jack chose Lynchburg

the chili is really just Campbell's tomato soup!

 and my friend Skye is really beautiful.

And all of that without one sip of whiskey...that's what happens when the biggest distillery in the world is in a dry county. 

Oh Tennessee, sometimes you feel pretty special. 

The evolution of a Skye Bonney pasta sauce

It all began with some Roma tomatoes and shallots...

It was a really beautiful dinner. Almost as beautiful as having her in town for a whole week.

Next on the list...homemade pizza with that sheep's milk feta. And, a  St. Patty's day feast is on the horizon. 

Digital Park Bench Monday

After watching this video (found here) I know why when I started this blog the boyfriend said to me, "Oh Nell, I've never seen something that is so perfect for you ".

I love how Schuman calls blogs and the internet our "digital park benches". A place where I can sit at any point in the day and reflect on the world and the action going on around me. The way people are dressed, the things they have to say, the food they order, and the kitchen utensils they buy, and the thoughts that run through their head while walking down the street. It is a little bifocal on humanity that satisfies every curious bone in my body. Some may call it creepy... I call it fantastic!

Needless to say, I love my park bench. Especially this one on Mondays...