The Way We Travel

When I look back over the travels of my life, the most memorable journeys have yielded new or stronger friendships and oftentimes were not expected to be SO significant. One would think that travels to foreign and exotic lands, or the ones with the most luxurious accommodations would be reason to rank a trip in the top 3. For the Carpenter and myself, there are 3 common themes in super successful sojourns: 1. When we meet some cool, new people that turn into lifetime friends. Shout out to our super special airbnb hosts/now friends from Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Colorado,… Read More

Asian Inspired Kale Salad

We have all been in a pinch to prepare a shared dish at last minute’s notice. Kale is my ‘wing man’ in the kitchen. My tried and true ingredient that I can always count on to help me out in a bind. I am confident with kale by my side that I will get rave reviews on my dish and show my guests what is possible with this leafy green. This Asian Kale Salad is one of those dishes that the ‘I don’t eat kale’ folks will even try and come back for seconds. This superfood for the masses can… Read More

Linger a little…

When was the last time you lingered? Do you even know what lingering feels like? To not have every moment of every day accounted for and planned. To allow space in your life to just exist. To leave time in your schedule for sitting, being and bathing in the moment. Lingering is not laziness but rather defined time to purposely not be productive and accomplish tasks. At first read you might balk at the thought of lingering because you just don’t have time for it. What I propose is to truly evaluate what we spend our time doing. Many of… Read More

Stand at the Crossroads and Look

I would like to think my days of self-imposed chaos are gone forever.   You know the craziness of life that ensues due to the false need of hyper-productivity that whispers in your ear… to take on just one more obligation, to make you feel like you are worth something. The hidden pride that sneaks up on you because YOU contribute to society, and by goodness you get things done! Before I met The Carpenter I truly believed that my value as a person was the result of my accomplishments.  I wasn’t necessarily conscious of this belief and value system… Read More

Simple Life Meanderings

The Carpenter and I have frequent discussions about living a ‘simple’ life and the many ways in which we can simplify. Neither one of us likes to collect ‘stuff’ and we have been on the path to minimize for the last few years although I have been on the journey my whole life☺ Having lots of possessions has always seemed to way me down a bit on the inside and I’ve been known to go through the house on a monthly basis and collect things for Goodwill that I no longer think we need. I still remember the garage sale… Read More

Blueberry Picking Agriventure

The highlight of our weekend was visiting the farmstead of Mary’s Berries to stock up on enough blueberries to freeze until next summer.  I ordered 10 lbs. of blueberries this summer from the local Kiwanis fundraiser, thinking that 10 lbs. would get us halfway through the winter of making our morning super-power smoothies.  I don’t know what I was thinking because we are not even through the summer and I have drained my blueberry supply.  Thankfully in central North Carolina we have an extended blueberry season and there are u-pick places within 20 minutes of our home. I was connected… Read More

A Taste of Inspiration

I am hosting a contest at work in which co-workers have one Powerpoint slide to respond to the question ‘What Inspires You?’  As I have been pondering my own answer and a way to articulate how FOOD actually inspires me, I came across a picture I took from my New Zealand trip last Fall that certainly screams inspiration to me.  I have next to zero photography skills, let alone food photography skills but despite my lack of an artistic eye the picture of my meal below stands out nonetheless.  The meal was SO well composed that a rookie photographer couldn’t… Read More

Rustic Reclaimed Wine Rack

If you have been following this blog for any time at all you will notice the element of simplicity that flows through most of what we cook and build.  This wine rack is no exception; simple design, materials and functionality.  This is at least the 4th or 5th wine rack that the Carpenter has built but by far my favorite.  He constructed this out of reclaimed hickory and wooden pallets.  Hickory is a very hard wood and is oftentimes used for furniture making and architectural elements.  According to Wikipedia there are woods that are stronger than hickory and woods that… Read More