Chicken Breasts with Sauce Supreme.

Here's a dish that I've been making since 2003 (according to my notes). I'd sort of forgotten about it and so it hasn't been a part of my weekly dinner rotation. It's pretty easy to make but does turn out a tasty and rather elegant meal. I served it with steamed broccoli and leftover penne. I would have preferred it over a nice thick noodle like fettucini or pappardelle but in a pinch the penne worked out. I'd think this would also be delicious with the sauce spooned over mashed potatoes. The recipe came from here.

My only changes are that I used chicken cutlets so that the cooking time for the chicken was shorter. Also I feel like the cutlets made for a more tender dish. Also I like mushrooms so I add a whole carton of sliced mushrooms instead of the 1/2 cup the recipe calls for.

PS. Finely chopped onions can be used in the place of shallots - I haven't had much luck in finding organic shallots at my local market.

In unrelated news: I've been hanging out a bit over at pinterest. Their format makes it faster/easier for me to share stuff that I used to do more of over here (graphic design stuff with links and credits, etc.). Come and take a look.

me (at 23 weeks) + leftie + jr. on Peaks Island, Me


daddy + leftie at Fort Williams Park near Cape Elizabeth, Me



We took a long weekend up to Portland, ME last Saturday through Tuesday. It was wonderful! I've always wanted to explore Portland because so many blogging artists/designers whom I admire live in the area. And after spending a few days there I can see why they do.

Unfortunately having so much fun while juggling a toddler left me with few photos to show for my trip. I finally remembered on our last two days to pull out my camera and snap a few shots. Some of my favorite moments - alas - are left undocumented. I made a list of them though (I feel like I'm forgetting some):

Watching and playing with m and leftie in the hotel pool.
The charming sleepy downtown in Bath, Me. I think we got there on a slow weekend. Nearly everything seemed closed.
The lovely beach where I wish we had worn our bathing suits at Ferry Beach.
All the amazing food we ate.

To wit:
Duckfat in Portland which is basically a pressed sandwich joint but oh do they make the most amazing fries! I could have eaten all my meals there.

Ditto The Good Table in Cape Elizabeth. The best breakfast I've ever had. Ever. Leftie was surprisingly uninterested in the freshly baked (in-house) blueberry muffin we ordered for her so m and I ended up splitting it between the two of us. Even though I was stuffed to the gills. Stuffed, I tell you!

I also need to make special mention of the beans (called "Lisa's Beans" on the menu) that came with m's Maine Guide Breakfast. I would love to get a recipe. As I type this I am contemplating the 2+hr drive it would take for us to get there from Cambridge so I can enjoy another meal. We only got breakfast, imagine what their other meals must be like!

Solo Bistro Bistro in Bath which had a wonderful sounding prix fixe menu which I now regret not ordering. I opted for their miso glazed cod instead and wowsers! It was love at every bite.

Gilbert's Chowder House in Portland (on the waterfront) where we enjoyed clams three different ways (in a chowder, fried and steamed). I also ordered a lobster roll. I was on vacation. It felt necessary.

Lois' Natural Marketplace in Scarborough where I picked up the best tasting mediterranean "mezze" plate. M's Thai peanut chicken wrap was also quite divine.

We need to go back to try more food and take more photos. M still laments that we did not make it up to Maples where they make organic gelato in small batches. We might be able to console him with some local ice cream this weekend.

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

nice

Just got wind of this decorator's online magazine called Laura Day - Making Rooms for a Living. Beautiful, thoughtful content (eye candy galore anyone?). Haven't had a chance to read any of the articles - I'll be back though.

But what really caught my eye was the creative and fun navigation of the website. There's a lot of information on each page but the it's laid out so well that they successfully crammed a lot of info into a fluid manageable way. Just super. Creative, good flow. Well done.

Unrelated: I am sort of obsessed with that deep berry colored background of the website.

my brother cracks me up

He's got new, um, business cards. Check 'em out.

On a frustrated day in L.A. years ago, I actually had a similar idea - but with bumper stickers. He pointed out that bumper stickers would cause damage. How true, how true.

Amazing drawings.

Yes! Drawings! By Swedish artist Gunnel Wåhlstrand.






See more and read the story here.

cute wedding!

I just had to come out of blog hibernation to mention this. Such an adorable wedding theme. I wish I had the guts to be as creative as these two. Check it out.

I love this photo

Found it on the Sartorialist's site. Please go take a look and read the story behind the image. Or stare at it for a few minutes to pick out the awesome details. Like that glass of milk at her side. Or the gentleman in the mirror taking the photo (obscured by the flash).  Or the jeans she's wearing - apparently they are men's jeans and women from small towns simply did not wear men's jeans. Love it!

shameless

I've been spotty on the posts for the past three months with a few skimpy recipes to show for it. And now here I am shamelessly using the blog with the hopes of winning a contest. Not just any contest, though. I want to win this organic mattress for leftie's crib. Have you heard of the Green Baby Guide? I can't remember how I stumbled upon it but I am so stoked that this site exists. Reading it makes me feel normal. Like, these are my people.

So here's the link to the giveaway. You should take a look at their site if you don't already know about it. They have lots of great ideas and tips for green (and cheap) living. These gals totally get me.

weird but compelling and cute

I can't get over how weird and cute these photos from Grand Old Bestiary are.

Ack! I just noticed the bunny on the right is nibbling on a carrot. That's too much!




If I look at them too long, they sort of creep me out just the tiniest bit. But then I flip-flop back and love them again. See more at the etsy shop.

(All images from Grand Ole Bestiary)

oh. my. god.

I can't tell you how long I have been waiting for something like this!!


(saw this on Poppytalk)

Here's some more info regarding customized plates (scroll down the comments to read what Michelle the LifestyleCrafts creator has to say).

I checked out the website to get more info. And at $149.99 it's pretty affordable. Although I'm hesitant to shell  out the bucks until I can get my paws on some customizeable plates. Between this and gocco (or the other offshoots of home screenprinting that have sprung up in the last few months) I could open up my own printing+design studio! Or dream about it at least for now.

crochet necklace

I don't wear much jewelry. I forget that part of getting dressed in the morning. Most days I feel like if I walk out the door and I'm not naked I'm doing a good job. But if I were to begin buying and wearing more jewelry I'd love to have one of these:

(image from wrenhandmade)

Isn't is just the prettiest thing you ever did see? Laura Normandin crochets these unique little charms by hand. Her crocheted flower pins are also pretty freaking awesome.

See more of Laura's work here. Her shop is here.

the gift of giving

I struggle with gift giving. Probably I spend too much time thinking about it and this subject deserves its own post. But for now I wanted to direct your attention to this neat idea:

Notice that the special someone in your life (like everyone) seems to have a never ending list of items on their to-do list? Little things that they forget to get around to but just hang out in an annoying way? What if you adopted their list for a day or a weekend and took care of those things for them? Examples from my life would be: Take that box of files down to the basement for storage. The stack of pants that need to be rehemmed to the tailor. Hang that picture that's been sitting in its frame for weeks on end.

Make a list of the items you'll do and send them to Paperfinger a Brooklyn based calligraphy and illustration studio. Bryn will create a custom illustrated card with the item on the list written out and box up the whole shebang into a gift set she calls Peace of Mind Gift Card Set. You're better off looking at her website to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Now this is the kind of gifting that I can get into.

(Heard about this from swissmiss)

reinvention

Minneapolis/LA design studio (I think) Space 150 reinvents their business identity every 150. Yowsers!

Letterpress info here. Studio info here.

too many hobbies

Today I am obsessed with Sashiko embroidery and Hawaiian quilting.

soul sistahs

I just found out about this blog called Grandma Club. Dudes! These gals are totally my kind of people. They made their own granola bars and homemade marshmallows! I will definitely be going through the archives and checking out more of their grannie-like exploits. If you enjoy any of my crafting and cooking experiments, I bet this blog will speak to you too.

the nerdiest

I'm a little behind on my feeds. Today I just learned that one of my nerdiest (and M would like me to say: stalker-i-est) endeavors has come to fruition:

Video here. The socks come in at 2:42.

If you've been following along on this ole blog, you'll remember those socks. If not, you can jog your memory here.

color study

I just stumbled across this yummy site by Grant Hamilton. It's a portfolio of his SX70 Polaroid photos - a veritable feast for the eyes. I mean just check out the graphic from the main page:

Slick, right? Love that type treatment. Be sure to browse through the rest of his images and don't forget to read his clever titles for each one -- they elicited a chuckle from me more than once.

I am amused to find that my socio-political views lay closer to anarchist-communist than I'd ever imagined. Anarchist? Really? Me? Take the political compass test to find out more about your social as well as political leanings. Then you get to see fun charts like these:

The red dot indicates where my beliefs lay.


A simplified explanation of the graph.


Famous contemporary leaders and their socio-political leanings.

battle in the kitchen

You have to check out this photo set on flickr by SuperJared. I clicked on his icon because the photo looks like it's of my sweet chubby Och. Clicking around to look for a larger pic, I found this set called Kitchen Kung-Fu. AWESOME! Note kitty on the bottom right in the last photo. Thank goodness the worst fighting I ever encounter in my kitchen is chicken skin stuck to a pan. I'm not ninja enough to take on this kind of battle.

jean beaumont

My french dad, Jean Beaumont a retired engineer keeps up a blog and recently posted a bunch of awesome photos from his childhood in the Loire Valley (and some of his courtship in Nantes). I've asked him to include more info under each photo since there aren't any at present. I've been able to glean some info with some of my favorites here:

Jean Beaumont with (I believe) his older sister Nicole. She is beautiful and has the most amazing eyes.


Nicole (?), cute dog and JeanB. I love their clothes and the way they are standing.


And speaking of cute clothes, aren't these costumes amazing?? I think this is JeanB and his sister Nicole again.


JeanB with two cousins?


Fast forward to the college years. JeanB with Jacqueline his future wife. Too bad this photo is blurry, it's probably my favorite. I love the lines of their clothes, her hair, the movement of the figures on the steps.


I *think* this is before they got married. JeanB and Jacqueline.

I'm sick today and it was a nice treat to look through these photos with inauguration coverage playing in the background. Check out more of my french dad's photos here.