This past week Jeremy and I intended to go mushroom foraging at our favorite spot tucked away deep in the woods near the homestead. But contrary to the typical northwestern spring, we’ve had rays of glorious sunshine for days upon days, and the heat has thwarted our hopes of foraging since there likely won’t be many mushrooms to be found. So while we wait for the forecast to grace us with spring showers, I made some delicious shredded mushroom teriyaki bowls with a wonderfully jammy sift boiled egg that have quickly become a new favorite around these parts. Now, I know what you might be thin ..read more

Well hello again dear reader. I’m writing you about something that I wish I knew more about early on in the design process, and that’s what bits of a home are expensive to design + build. I’m sharing this in hopes that if you ever decide to build or remodel a home, you’ll have a better idea of what you can shift to meet your budget limitations. I want to preface by saying I’m SO incredibly happy with where the design of the homestead is now, and that I definitely was (and still am) very green when it comes to architecture + building, so I had very lofty ideas of what was feasible, only to be ..read more

Hello, friend. I’m squeaking this recipe in right before western Easter, in hopes that if you’re scrambling for a last-minute bright + springy treat, this coconut lemon curd cake could be the hail Mary (no pun intended) that you’re searching for. It’s got a rich crumb thanks to the coconut flour, lots of moisture thanks to the coconut milk and butter, and a bright zip due to the lemons both inside the cake batter *and* in the lemon curd generously lathered on top. There’s also candied lemon slices as an extra lemon-y treat for garnish (and for a bit of fancy showiness), but they’re completely ..read more

Well hello again. Apologies for the several week lapse in posting, it’s been a wild few weeks packed with a flurry of activities, and as such I wasn’t able to make + shoot anything to share with you for a bit. But as the days have gotten longer over the past few weeks, it’s made it easier to shoot later into the day, and so now I have this lovely blueberry almond cake to share with you today. I’m feeling very invigorated, because as I type this the sun is streaming in through the window after several days of rain and clouds, and I find myself basking in the relief of spring. It has arrived ..read more

Parsnips are one of those vegetable that you tend to forget about. They look a bit like carrots that have been out of the sunlight too long—hiding indoors all winter long, stark and pale and haggard around the edges. But their flavor is wonderfully unique, and when you taste it, it begs the question “mmmm what is this?” and that’s the spicy and sweet magic of the parsnip. Even though it looks a bit plain, it packs a real punch in the flavor department. If you eat them raw, they’ve got a spicy heat to them that’s kind of similar to horseradish, but much more mild. But when you roast them, all ..read more

This morning I woke to the sound of freezing rain pelting against the glass skylight above our bed, and was reminded that we are still deep in the thralls of winter. Dreams of garden-fresh tomatoes be damned. But, we do have plenty of delicious produce around this time of year, too, even though it might not be as shiny and glamorous as the juicy tomato. Instead, I present to you the humble carrot. A bit dirty, sometimes lumpy, and with stray stringy roots going this way and that. But it’s so crisp, SO sweet, and is packed with nutrients and flavor that help us eke our way through the cold mon ..read more

Those of you who have been here for the long haul know that when we remodeled our kitchen several years ago we went with a vintage gas Roper range from the 1950’s. Well, over the years that decision became a liiiiiiittle bit of a liability. While we loved the old-world look of a vintage range, we started having safety issues with gas leaking from pilot lights randomly going out for the burners on top of the stove. Yeah, not great. And then the oven part was match-light only, so anytime I needed to use the oven I’d have to get flush to the ground and reach under the range with a lighter. So, t ..read more

Remember when I mentioned those winter storms the other week? Well, they arrived with a vengeance and turned my garage photo studio into a large and lovingly furnished icebox, so I don’t have any recipes to share with you today. But that’s a good thing! Because it’s the motivation I needed to sit down and update you about the flurry of activity that’s been going on at the homestead since I last wrote you about it in September. At that time the loan was freshly approved, and the earth had just began to be peeled back in an effort to make the foundation of our home. In short, it was the start o ..read more

I hope you all had a lovely holiday + happy new year. Jeremy and I spent it here in Oregon with my family and copious amounts of baklava, as can be expected at any Greek Christmas gathering. My dad still insists on making it in restaurant volume (30+ years of having a Greek deli will do that to you), so we’ve just now finally finished off the last of them from the refrigerator. As such, I haven’t been motivated to make anything sweet as of late. So I’m waltzing into the new year with an old recipe, one that I’ve been hanging onto for a few months now. I’ve had this elderberry tiramisu in my b ..read more

Hey! It’s me. Pushing right up to the acceptable holiday cookie baking cut-off date and sliding into your screen with a steaming plate of these wickedly tasty orange and espresso gingerbread cookies. Orange? Espresso? Has she finally lost it? <- What you might be asking yourself at this very moment. But I promise, this is not all one elaborate typo. I do get it, though, the thought of those two together sounded very strange to me up until two years ago. That was when Jeremy stumbled across an Italian man’s youtube video about homemade ’44 liqueur’, which involved stabbing an orange 44 ..read more