I want to do better with this whole blog thing, so I’m playing around with some ideas and design and improving my photography, and just generally figuring out how to make time to do more here. So please don’t mind random changes in the look of things around here, and I hope I don’t get too rambly with my posts while I figure all this out.

Today I give you some random links:

Why have I never heard of this before? Art Project by Google. High-resolution images of prominent works of art from the best museums in the world. You can even walk around the galleries, Google street-view style. When I lived in Northern Virginia, I spent as many of my days off as possible visiting the museums on the National Mall and all around town. I was pleased to see that one of my favorites, the Freer Gallery, was included! Although the National Gallery is missing, which was another favorite. The Sunday night concerts there were one of my favorite D.C. events.

The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, by James McNeill Whistler, The Freer Gallery

I think I need to start saving up for one of these bags. Is that yellow one not just perfect?

I just got this book (by this blogger/photographer/chef), and I love it. I can’t wait to work on my food styling and photographing. It’s a challenge, since during the week I’m not home during daylight hours long enough to spend any time taking pictures, and I do most of my eating at work. While I enjoy the spontenatity of iphone photography, I’d like to improve my regular photography (not to mention my food-stying skills, which are currently non-existent).

The first words out of my mouth when I saw this were HOLY COW. And then I bought the pattern. Three of my favorite things-quilts, knitting, and bees (or at least honeycomb), all colliding in one, enormous, clever, beautiful project. It may take the rest of my life, but I am going to start making hexipuffs whenever and wherever I can.

Photo by Tiny Owl Knits

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It's too darn hot for outside projects, and I'm getting the itch to completely re-do everything in our house. I don't have the time or the funds for any huge undertakings, so I'm sticking with little bits and pieces for now. Sometimes small projects have just as much impact as big, is what I'm thinking. 

This corner used to have a big clock that didn't work. It was the sort of thing that we didn't even see any more and it was just a greasy dust collector. Meanwhile, I had a knife rack kicking around forever, and never managed to get it hung up. It's just a cheapie ikea purchase (they don't seem to have the same one any more, but this is similar). I took it to the hardware store, but for once didn't get very good advice. They guy sold me a pair of toggle bolts, which were complete overkill and I realized when I got home that if I used them the holes I would have to drill in my wall would be bigger than the spacers that came with the rack. 

It occured to me this week that I could probably just use some simple, little plastic anchors that I already had in my neatly organized toolbox. I also had a newly purchased hook from the Anthropologie sale bin that I could hang the same way, so I got out my drill and in about 10 minutes I had a knife rack and a towel hook conveniently located near the sink. It's so nice to just grab a knife when I need one instead of rummaging through the drawer where they used to be, with their ugly paper sleeves protecting the blades and making it hard to tell which knife was which.

Of course a new hook meant I needed some nice towels, so I rummaged through my scraps of linen, and found a few pieces that were appropriately sized and hemmed them up. It didn't cost a cent, and I they are just perfect. I added little loops of cotton tape to the middle of one long side on each towel, and they hang quite nicely for drying your hands. 

I think this will help my paper towel usage considerably. I'm feeling quite smug for using what I have and being so practical. Each towel is a little different, and I even found a piece of fabric with an edge bound in a cute 30's calico print. It's got a seam down the middle, and I have no idea what I was making, but I'm glad it found a new life as something useful.

Of course, I'm currently fighting the urge to completely re-paint my kitchen, but this new little corner will keep me happy for the time being. 

Next up I think I will tackle the front door. It needs paint and a curtain, and I think I might have come up with a good idea while I was rummaging through my fabric stash.

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I am not a fan of summer heat, but I am happy to tolerate it when I can enjoy summer produce! Yesterday was one of those days when I didn't get home until 8 pm. I was hungry and tired, but not so hungry that I wanted a regular meal. Sometimes that means berries and cream, but I didn't want anything sweet, so I whipped up this little concoction and it was just perfect.

I've looked up gazpacho recipes before, and they always seem to have a long list of ingredients, or they make a really big batch, so I don't often bother. I don't know why I thought I had to follow the rules, so last night I didn't. I just rummaged around and threw what looked appealing in the beaker that came with my immersion blender, and whipped it up. 

Here's what I used:

A small, Persian cucumber, coarsely chopped
A couple Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
A clove of garlic, crushed
A dash of each of the following: cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, parsley, and ancho chili pepper 
A glug of olive oil

I blended it all together and then topped it with a small, chopped avocado, a drizzle of olive oil, and a little ground pepper. Perfect! The only thing I would do differently next time is to keep some of the cucumber and tomato seperate, chopped them finely and stir them in at the end for a little more texture. Bell peppers (any color), radishes and celery would probably be nice additions if you like them. 

Lesson learned: don't worry about finding the perfect recipe, if you've got good produce, there's a good chance you'll end up with something delicious. 

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I've been wanting to write this post forever, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. Food, eating, weight, nutrition, they can be such sensitive topics. Earlier this year I started reading and learning more about these things, and have discovered some stuff that has really helped me a lot, so I wanted to share. I'm sure there are others out there with similar experiences, so if this can help even one other person, it will be worth writing this all down here!

A favorite breakfast: slow scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, sliced tomatos, red onions, and capers

Last year I talked about trying to eat less meat. I didn't become a vegetarian, but I did greatly reduce my meat consumption. I made up for that by adding lots of pasta, bread, and soy into my diet. I gained back a lot of the weight I had worked hard to lose a couple years before, I was feeling tired and depressed, and in a nine month period I was sick three separate times (as in stay in bed for a few days, fever, achey, sniffley, sick), for most of my adult life I am pretty sure I have also suffered from IBS. I was feeling like there was no way I would ever be a healthy weight, unless I starved myself (and how is that healthy, mentally or physically?), and I was destined to be tired and have a crappy immune system for the rest of my life. After all, I was eating "healthy," right? 

In March, I happened upon a book called Why We Get Fat, by Gary Taubes. Coincidentally, Netflix kept recommending a documentary called Fat Head, in which Taubes is briefly mentioned. I read the book and watched the movie, and found myself going down a nutrition rabbit hole that I still haven't crawled out of four months later. I am not good at explaining science, so I will mostly just give you lots of links to things that explain things better than I can. 

So first of all, Why We Get Fat, despite the title, isn't a diet book in the sense that it gives you meal plans, it's more about the science behind how our bodies use the food we eat. The theme of the book is basically that the conventional wisdom we've all been hearing for the last thirty years (low-fat! healthy whole grains!) or so is completely wrong, it's not as simple as calories-in-calories-out, and it's not dietary fat that makes us fat, but rather sugar (in the form of HFCS and other sweeteners, grains and other carbohydrates) that is the cause of our current obesity epidemic. He cites lots of studies, so he has the science to back up all his ideas.  In Fat Head (be aware, the documentarian is very much a libertarian, and while there is not a lot of political content, it is there. I tend to be libertarian-leaning, but I keep politics away from my blog 🙂 so I didn't mind it, but if you have strong, differing views, I just hope it won't keep you from all the other good information), there are some great bits explaining all this too, and also some stuff about cholesterol, and why it's not quite so evil as we might think. 

Homemade Pho

Next up, I found the Weston A. Price Foundation, which is all about eating traditional, whole foods, like raw dairy, natural meats including organ meats, eggs, and of course fruits and vegetables. There's tons of nutrition info on their site. 

I also bought a copy of Real Food by Nina Planck, that I'm still reading. She was a vegetarian and was becoming increasingly sick and gaining weight, but now embraces a similar diet to the Weston A. Price Foundation. Speaking of vegetarian, I am also reading The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Kieth, which is very eye-opening. She was actually vegan for 20+ years, and her health has suffered drastically because of her diet. She looks at all the arguments for not consuming animal products, and explains, logically, why she no longer supports those arguments. I'm not done with that one yet either, and I don't know if I will agree with everything she says, but so far she has made some very compelling points. 

At the sushi bar: field greens with tuna sashimi

Of course I also watched Food, Inc. and another documentary about the corn industry, called King Corn. Both of which are very educational about the sad, sad state of the industrial food industry in this country. Cows should not be eating grain, for one thing! And chickens shouldn't have to grow up in such deplorable conditions. We need to support local farmers as much as possible, there are better ways to raise our food. I knew all of this already, but I don't think I let myself realize just how bad it was. It's become very important to me to not participate in that any more. I wish I lived near Polyface Farms, they are doing some amazing things. All that is really another post, however, so I'll save it for another time. 

All this led me to all the various incarnations of the paleo diet (caveman diet, evolution diet, primal diet), and I read The Primal Blueprint. I liked the philosophy in this one, it's very much just a blueprint, you decide exactly what you want to eat within certain guidelines (no grains, no processed food, limited dairy-depending on your sensitivity, and carb consumption is based on your goals, but definitely under 150g per day, everything as natural and organic as possible), and try to stay within those guidelines 80% of the time. No calorie counting, no strict menu or stringent meal times. It's not a Diet-with-a-capital-D, it's just a way to eat that will nourish your body and help you make the switch from burning sugar for fuel to using fat as fuel. There's also more about exercise (avoid chronic cardio, move slowly, lift heavy things, and play!), but again, no strict regimen to follow.

Almond-crusted chicken Parmesan with zucchini noodles

I started following these guidelines on April 1: no grains, no seed oils (canola, soybean, corn), no soy, no legumes, limited dairy. There were a couple weeks of carb flu-I was tired and felt foggy, but even with those negative symptoms, everything else started feeling so much better, things that I didn't expect. I slept better, my mood improved, I didn't wake up with my sinusus full of snot, I was full and satisfied with the food I was eating, and the minor sweet cravings I had were easily satisfied with fruit or dark chocolate (Green & Blacks 85% dark is my favorite!). I have been a sugar addict as long as I can remember, and I feel like I've really kicked the sugar habit.

So far this summer I've suffered very little from allergies, even cleaning my dusty shed hasn't sent me into never-ending sneezing fits like it normally would. I'm reserving full judgement until early fall, when my seasonal allergies are generally at their worst, but I'm feeling optomistic. And that IBS? I don't know how to put this delicately, but it is nearly 100% gone. I feel like what I am eating is so full of nutrients that my body is using almost everything I put into it, so there is very little waste coming out. Was that delicate enough? And you know what else? Gassiness is almost non-existent. I've also heard of lots of people seeing improvement with things like migraines and arthiritis by eating this way, so please consider this if you suffer from those problems.

I really think that diet and nutrition have far more to do with our health than we realize, and getting all the vitamins and minerals we need to function well from real food is far more effective than taking pills or supplements. I didn't expect to see such dramatic differences so quickly, but it has been amazing to see so many changes in the way I feel.

Salmon with basil mayonnaise, grilled zucchini, and sauteed spinach

So what do I eat these days? There are a few pictures in this post, and you can see more here. I eat two or three eggs nearly every day, I have big salads full of seasonal vegetables, doused with lots of olive oil and good vinegars, topped with various proteins. I buy grass-fed beef as often as possible. I regularly eat fish, and pot roast, and roast chicken-including the skin, with mashed cauliflower and vegetables over which I pour the pan drippings. I eat sushi (the rice is a once-in-a-while treat), and when I'm craving something sweet, I'll eat a yam. I don't eat things that have a list of ingredients on a package. About the only things I eat that come in cans are tomatoes and coconut milk, otherwise I'm just shopping the perimeter (excluding the bakery, of course!) of the store. 

Some days I eat three meals. Some days I eat two and a little snack of berries (with raw heavy cream, if I have it). Some days I might just eat once. I'm not constantly hungry like I used to be, and I don't get the 3:00 pm munchies like I used to. I'm eating and enjoying good food, but I'm not obsessed with constant thoughts of food any more. Saturday I spent the day running errands, and at 4:30 I realized I hadn't eaten and was starting to feel it. There weren't many good options nearby, so I went to Bob's Big Boy and ordered a burger and ate it without the bun (I did nibble some of the french fries, not the best since they were probably fried in seed oil, but I just considered them a rare indulgence and suffered no ill effects) and I was good for the next few hours. 

I'm sure there will be cooking posts in the future, and I'll share some of these delicious recipes I've been making. I probably won't be bombarding you with diet posts, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! This has made a huge difference in how I feel, and I think it could benefit a lot of people. Oh yeah, and weight loss? It's not pouring off of me like it does for some, but I've lost nearly 20 pounds over the last few months. I have more to go, but I feel confident that it will keep coming off almost effortlessly, as it has been.

And now for some links!

Paleo/Primal sites:

Mark's Daily Apple (by the author of The Primal Blueprint)

Latest in Paleo (a podcast I sometimes listen to)

Robb Wolf (author of The Paleo Solution, which I haven't read)

Cooking Sites:

The Primal Palate (they just announced they are publishing a cookbook, and it looks really beautiful)

La Tartine Gourmand (Not specifically paleo, but I've made several of her recipes, many of which are just naturally gluten-free, and her stories and photography are beautiful.)

Everyday Paleo (I don't have her cookbook yet, but it's gotten some good reviews)

Whole Foods Advocates:

Food Renegade

The Weston A. Price Foundation

Balanced Bites

Nourished Kitchen

There are tons more, but that's a lot to get you started if you're interested. 

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A list (this post is brought to you by Instagram (and Magic Hour)):

1.Summer hair. I'm growing mine out, but when it's hot I hate it on my neck. I've been doing this a lot, although I obviously need to work on my bobby pin placement:

2.Summer nail color. I'm pretending I'm trendy and wearing this lavendar on my fingers and toes. I've only just discovered Essie, so obviously I'm not really up on any trends. It's formaldahyde-free (as well as missing some other yucky chemicals found in most nail polish), and there are so many great colors. You can get some at Target.

3. Summer reading. What are you reading? I've got a stack of books to enjoy, but I'm re-reading Harry Potter just for the fun of it, and I just finished listening to A Game of Thrones, which was epic and brutal, and kept me entertained on my drive to and from work for nearly three weeks (it was 34 hours long!). I'm not quite up for the second book in the series yet, so I took a break and listened to a Stephanie Plum novel, which is definitely a guilty pleasure. In the stack on my nightstand I've got a copy of Centuries of June, which the publisher sent, so I need to get on that soon. It sounds highly entertaining, so I'm looking forward to that one. Also there is a gift from my sister-in-law, called Enslaved by Ducks, which I suspect will hit very close to home, as it is the story of a couple who adopt various animals and the hijinks that ensue. I can't tell you how many times I've watched all the little creatures in our yard, and thought about the comedies (and tragedies) I see and what great stories they would make. 

4. Summer farm. My garden has not materialized as I hoped, as we have had some crazy weather (frost, in June, triple-digit tempuratures earlier this month, followed by another frosty night last weekend), so I have to be content with nurturing the two new little hens I brought home last week. They are month-old Buff Orpingtons. My buffs were all stolen in the Great Chicken Robbery of 2009, and I've missed having some in my flock. These two are sweet as can be, with that same mellow buff personality that I love. 

5. Summer crafts. I have been cleaning out our disaster area of a shed in the hopes of doing some more wood-working type projects, but until that gargantuan task is finished, I am contenting myself with some smaller crafts. I may even put a few things in my etsy shop again soon, who knows! Last weekend I made some tiny mushrooms for some tiny terrariums, because what could be better than a terrarium? A teeny, tiny terrarium, of course! I've got some moss to add to these, and hopefully enough chain to make them into necklaces. 

6a. Summer food. Do you know what season it is right now? Fig season! They are one of my favorites. This is a good way to make them: slice in half, and wrap each half with prosciutto. Then drizzle with good olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Grind a little pepper on top, and enjoy!

6b. More summer food. There was also some yellowtail tuna caught by some co-workers who went on a three-day fishing trip and graciously shared their haul. I sliced up a piece and coated the slices in olive oil and herbs and just seared the outside. Served with agrodolce relish (tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, minced garlic, all sauteéd in olive oil and finished with a spoonful of red wine vinegar and a spoonful of sugar), coconut basmati rice, and arugula. 

What's on your summer list? 

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One of the best places to spend a summer evening is on our porch. This is just a corner, but it's coming along nicely. I have a few projects planned for the coming months, like sanding and repainting that chair 🙂 Our house is little, so I want to use more of the porch, it's really like having an extra room or two. Yesterday I took a lunch hour trip to the nursery and picked up just a few little plants. The largest pot was already planted with mint, sage, and a lemon scented geranium.

We have lots of bits of wood around the yard from our oak trees that all died and had to be cut down. One log in particular caught my eye the other day. It was completely hollow in the middle. A squirrel had used it as a hiding place recently, driving the dogs crazy, since they couldn't reach inside to get it out. I put it outside the fence to allow the little bugger a chance to escape with his life, and wouldn't you know it, he was still there the next day. We have a few grey squirrels and some of their homlier brown cousins living in various trees in the yard. They're cute, but they torment and tease the dogs, and eat my tulips, so I am not a huge fan. I didn't feel too bad about turning one of their little hideouts into a planter for my porch. 

Most of the bark was already off, to I just pulled off the remaining bits and gave it a quick sanding to smooth away some of the roughness. Then I just popped a little pot of lemon thyme in it. I love it!

I've also been cleaning out our shed, and found that little green basketweave California pottery piece. I like the contrast with the golden oregano.

The other pot has a rue plant that I hope will fill out and blossom soon. I also added a little straw flower for some color, and a succulent in a broken teacup to my bright yellow table.

I like the mismatched look of all the different pots and plants. My next woodshop project will involve a planter for more succulents to sit atop the table on the other side of the porch. I hope it works out so I can show you that soon!

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It's been awhile since I've seen a photo app that I've really liked, and that I think is really original and worth adding to my screen full of photo apps, but I recently discovered Magic Hour, and it's been my favorite app lately. I thought I'd better tell you about it pronto!

 

Like lots of photo editing apps, it comes with a bunch of filters that you can just tap to apply to any of your photos. There are two things that set it apart, however. First, you can create your own filters by adjusting and adding a bunch of different elements: curves, saturation, brightness, contrast, vignettes, textures, and frames. Second, you can save your filter and share it with all the other Magic Hour users in the Marketplace. Filters are free to download, so the possibilities are endless. I've made a few to share. The one above is called Sunny Fade (you can search for it in the Marketplace by name). It looks nice on photos with lots of pinks & greens. Another one I called Dutch Mastered, I like it for cool greens and blues. I think it's a nice, painterly look:

This next one is really useful, I think. It's called Subtle Spotlight, and that's just what it is. It doesn't scream, "I put a filter on this photo to make it look cool!" It just adds a little something, and lightens a dim photo nicely (this one also has a little tilt-shift effect on it too, but that I added with Instagram): 

I wanted a filter to turn a bright blue sky to a faded turquoise, so I made this one and called it County Fair. It's very green, so it works best over photos with lots of blue, I think: 

The app also crops your photos square, so it works really nicely with Instagram when you don't want to use the same old filters when you share your photos there. Have you used Magic Hour? Do you have filters to share? Tell us in the comments! 

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