It's all in the details

Today I pulled out some old Trader Joe's bags to wrap a couple packages I had to mail and I was delighted to discover some great designs on the side. Who would have guessed some old paper bags in my garage would make such cute wrapped packages. This makes one more reason why I love Trader Joe's!

For the members of my blog fan club (all five of you:) who live near a Trader Joe's, I thought I would list a few of the Trader Joe's staples in the Scoville household in case you want to try them...

TJ's peanut butter, frozen creme brulee (delish), asiago cheese, blueberry preserves, fresh basil (so cheap!), TJ's lavash bread (use it to make pizzas), blood orange soda, chocolate raspberry sticks, ginger candy, capellini pasta, canned tomatoes, TJ's lavender dish and hand soap, Greek Pizza, spicy hummus, and a new personal fav...blue cheese roasted pecan dip. It's addicting.

p.s. Don't forget to check your doorstep, you could be the lucky recipient of one of my special deliveries!

Food Fanatic

Food fascinates me. I love to eat it, prepare it, shop for it, learn about it, smell it, and grow it. After I learned how to read, I noticed there are nutrition labels on the packaging of food. Since this discovery, I have not eaten anything without first reading the list of ingredients and nutritional information. Over the years I have read hundreds of books and articles on food, health, and nutrition. As a result, things like Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and live and active cultures excite me. On the other hand, my food paranoia has increased. I feel like hydrogenated oil is poison. I can’t eat a bag of M&M’s in peace because I feel like FD&C Blue No. 1 is a lethal cancer causer. I skip all soda (especially diet) at parties because I think the artificial flavors, colors, and sweeteners are loading me up with toxins. I love hot dogs and lunchmeat, but rarely eat them because nitrites scare me.

What do I eat? I love dark chocolate, Thai food, Persian Food, blueberries, pomegranates, cheese, grapefruit, pasta in all of its forms, mangos, lentils, seafood, olives, avocados, basil, curry, garlic, ginger, sweet potato French fries, sautéed spinach, garden tomatoes, and much more. I love trying new restaurants and buying new cookbooks. The thing that scares me most about getting pregnant again is going nine months without sushi. That was torture.

Here is a great recipe from “The New Moosewood Cookbook” by Mollie Katzen

Feta-Walnut Dip

Ingredients: 1 cup chopped walnuts, a handful of fresh parsley, 1 cup crumbled feta, 1/2 cup water or milk, 1 clove garlic (optional), 1 tsp. paprika, cayenne (to taste), a little olive oil

Directions: Place the walnuts and parsley in a blender or food processor, and blend with a series of quick spurts. When the nuts are ground, add remaining ingredients except olive oil and oregano, and puree until smooth. Transfer to a small serving bowl, cover tightly, and chill. Just before serving, drizzle the top with a little olive oil, and garnish oregano. Serve on sesame crackers, toasted pita wedges, or as a dip for raw vegetables.

Makes a great Sunday afternoon snack!

Ecclectic Cast of Characters

I love crazy people. They crack me up. Of late, my favorite place to get my dose of crazy is a reality TV show called Top Design. I can’t get enough of it. It is not a comedy, but when I watch it I can’t wipe the smile off my face. I also frequently burst into laughter. Crazy people are so funny! What, you might ask, is Top Design? Simply put, it is the American Idol for interior designers. Designers compete, and every week one is kicked off the show (with a "see ya later decorator" from Jonathon Adler).

I have learned some great things from the show. I have also found some links to great websites. I used to love walking through all the high-end design stores on Melrose, but I felt like the whole world was staring at me and wondering what a commoner in Target clothes was doing in that neck of the woods. I much prefer the virtual window-shopping I can now do thanks to all of the product placement on the show. Hooray for the internet.

Hi Everybody!

I just wanted to say...

Thanks Grandma Mac for the new outfit, it fits great!
Thanks Great-Grandma Mac for the new shoes, I love them!
Thanks Oscar and Lily for the valentine, I miss you guys!

Housewife Hysteria

Lately I have been thinking about the women of the 50's and 60's. They were the perfect housewives. They made home cooked meals everyday from scratch, their houses were clean, their children were well behaved, and they always looked fabulous.

I am not the perfect housewife. I am not even a good housewife. I have finally figured out how to get dinner on the table at an hour when dinner is supposed to be eaten. It has taken me months. Most days I wear lounge clothes, my hair up, and no make-up. I can never seem to keep my house as clean as I'd like it to be. My yard is a disaster. All of my closets need to be organized. I never have time to sweep my porch. I can never decide what should be a higher priority, folding laundry or reading to my baby...as it seems there is not time for both. One more day has passed and I have not checked anything off of my to-do list. Right now I'm so tired my eyes are burning and instead of tending to my housewife duties, I'm blogging.

I can't help but think, how did they do it? I asked my grandmother how she did it and she told me that she woke up at 5 a.m. everyday to shower and get ready before her babies woke up. I feel very lucky if I have time to shower during Max's morning nap. I thought being a stay-at-home mom would be a life of little stress, but oh how I was wrong. When I worked in Beverly Hills I used to laugh at the stay-at-home mothers who had housekeepers, nannies, cooks, and drivers and still ran around completely frazzled and stressed out. Now I get it. This is not an easy job! I haven't had a nap for 3 months. Every day I look at this picture on my computer and dream of taking a nap in this chair. Right now I'm off to find it...

Botanical Booty

It's an addiction, really...however, this is the last purchase. I'm finished! No more antique botanicals for me or my house will end up looking like a botanical forest. I couldn't resist these 1872 fern lithos, and I got a really good deal. Now I just have to figure out where to put them, as we all know I have little skill in the design department.

Sarah, this next shot is for you. Sorry it's not more exciting...


I have many blogging stations. Our main computer niche is "under construction" (another one of my ongoing projects). I spend most of my time with this laptop by my side. Sometimes I blog on the couch, sometimes in bed, sometimes on the floor while I'm playing with Max, sometimes in the kitchen while cooking and surfing for recipes. Yes I have an internet addiction! The internet is my portal to the outside world, as I rarely leave my house other than to go for a walk or go grocery shopping. Happy blogging!

p.s. my shoes look really weird because they have silver reflectors that were illuminated by the flash.

Confession:

I'm a paranoid person. When I was a little girl, every night I thought our house was going to burn down. Every time I walked near a cliff I was terrified I was going to fall off. Every time I went camping I was sure I would be eaten by a bear. Every time I went swimming at the beach I was positive a shark would attack me.

Now I am paranoid about different things. When my baby wasn't crawling by 5 months I was sure something might be wrong. When he wasn't crawling by 6 months we started crawling therapy. J-P also spent a lot of time crawling around the living room to make sure he knew what to do. When he wasn't crawling by 7 months I felt really sad. I felt like he was way behind other babies and might never catch up. He just turned 8 months and is still not crawling! What's worse is that he manages to get around, but only when I'm not looking. I turn my back for 2 seconds and he is across the living room tearing the books out of the bookcase. I think he might know how to crawl, but only does it when I'm not looking to torture me.

Is it bad that I let him tear up our books?

It keeps him happy and gives me 5 minutes of peace and quiet.

Maybe I need to relax and enjoy not having to chase him around the house yet.

In memoriam

My house is largely undecorated. Why? I cannot commit to a design style. When I lived in west L.A. I was into modern, form/function, minimalism. That's where I bought my modern bedroom furniture. Now I hate it. Next I decided shabby chic was the style for me. That style landed in my kitchen. I got tired of it very quickly and settled on traditional style for my living area. Now I like a little bit of everything and I have decided that eclectic style is the way to go. Right now my house looks like someone with amnesia decorated it. There is a different style in every room. I'm working on achieving a more cohesive look so I can invite people over and not feel self-conscious. My kitchen will be receiving a face lift sponsored by the U.S. government (our tax return). Although I will miss it, I am ready for a new look. As a tribute, I will post some pics of the shabby, grandma cottage of a kitchen and events leading up to it's creation.

The Inspiration: A suit I bought at Ann Taylor on the way to a job interview in Arizona. I fell in love with this color and decided to use it as a kitchen wall color.
We selected Martha Stewart's "hellebore green" paint, as it was a close match to my suit. J-P's cousin was looking at our photos online and noticed the source of my inspiration. He superimposed the above photo to a photo of J-P painting the kitchen and posted it for the whole world to see. He said he couldn't resist. I was so embarrassed.

Next step: the curtains. I am such a sucker for fads. I found a red toile fabric in the textile district in downtown L.A. that I had to have. I had to convince J-P. This was my pitch..."Come on, toile is timeless, I'll never have to change it." Now every time I tell him I want to change it he retorts "I thought toile was timeless." I had a great time bartering with the Persian millionaire whose children I probably taught. We settled on a price and I was off to make curtains.

The finished product:

Now that I've paid homage to my kitchen I don't feel quite so guilty changing it after only a year and a half.

Latest Hobby

I have been spending way too much time on ebay lately. I love watching and bidding on the antique botanical prints. I never win any auctions because I am so cheap, but I finally won one... This is a rare 1901 Botanical chromolithograph from the NYS Fish and Game Commission annual report. I love it.

Mr. Independent

Max likes to eat, but only under one condition. He insists on feeding himself. During breakfast and lunch we play tug-of-war with the spoon, but at dinner I give up and let him go for it.

There's one problem. The food goes everywhere but his mouth.
His favorite place to put it is on the floor. Here's the finished product...

He thinks messes are so much fun. At least one of us is laughing.

Time To Start Blogging

Max is finally starting to cut his first tooth. To celebrate, I bought him some teething crackers. The only problem is that I love them. We play the "one for Max, one for Mommy" game. I'm telling you, these things are fabulous. I call them my mommy biscotti. Here is the box...it's empty now. This is what happens when you decide not to keep anything sweet in your house, you steal your baby's snacks! Looks like my "fit back into my clothes" diet backfired again. Moderation in all things, right?

I did find a fantastic minestrone soup recipe. Here is the link:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/11569

I would suggest substituting spinach for the cabbage and ditalini pasta for the potatoes. It has been cold and rainy all week (rare for AZ) and this soup is great comfort food for rainy weather.

Toys!

Max has a short attention span. He will play with one toy for about a minute before he loses interest. In order to buy myself 10 minutes I have to surround him with at least this many toys.