Spring Break

Spring Break

Washington D.C.

The Cherry Blossom festival was going on during or trip to D.C. and they were absolutely beautiful.


Kathryn took us to the butterfly exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

Daffodils

In college, Kathryn and I used to stop at every single daffodil on Middle path and say hi to it. It was a wonderful surprise when I woke up to find daffodils blooming in my butterfly garden. When you move into a house at the end of summer the littler surprises in the Spring are wonderful. Our backyard is beautiful and green and there are peonies beginning to grow by our Dogwood tree. There is also a patch of daffodils that popped up on our property line.

Tea in the morning and afternoon sun

I have an obsession with pitchers and 50's and 60's table clothes. oh...and tea.

Vegetable Garden

In the first section of my vegetable garden I used the lasagna gardening method, but soon realized that it cost waaaaaay too much money. So, in the next three sections i will just add amendments and some compost from the zoo. Luckily, I have a wonderful somebody who built a deer fence around the garden. He was very proud of it and I think it looks wonderful. I am so excited to cook with all the wonderful things in the garden in the summer. So far I have planted shelling peas, snap peas, arugula, butter lettuce, beets, and radishes. I still have room for a few rows of early spring plants. I started several seeds in a mini-greenhouse like thing. Hopefully they will all work!

Scones, Danger, and My Cat

In an attempt to replicate a scone that I had at Cake Flour in Louisville, I have been crazily testing out every scone and biscuit recipe I know. Just cream tends to make things a little chewier, more bread like. Just butter doesn't do the job either. So I have decided a combo of cold unsalted butter and heavy cream do the trick. What I loved most about this infamous scone is that it was not sweet. I don't like sweet at all. Even when a piece of fruit is too sweet I spit it out. I have this whole theory that my body is trying to ward of diabetes, which runs in my family, so it rejects anything excessively sweet in attempts of saving my life in the future. Yes I know, strange. Anyway, above are the biscuits I made for dinner. Tomorrow, I will add some scone like ingredients such as lemon zest or chocolate chips in an attempt to recreate the deliciousness.


I feel as though the weekends fly by and I don't have a moment to do much of anything. It is a huge challenge for me to step back and relax at the end of the day given that my daily to do list tends to be longer than what most people consider humanly possible. Maybe I should start there and limit myself to no more than 3-5 things a day. Regardless, Reese and I went on a walk in the woods past a DO NOT ENTER: DANGER sign. People often think I am crazy when I tell them where and when I go walking. I walked every single day of the ice storm, including through it. I just love to be outside.


And here is my kitty Bleu (like the cheese). Today she got to go outside and was the happiest kitty on earth. I think the temperature and sun today provided a much needed dose of nature's antidepressant.

Snow/Ice Storm Day 2

I have never seen an ice storm before in my life! I just want to run outside and photograph everything.

Yesterday, I got my "Cooking with Ms. Katie" class all together. Ultimately, being a Montessorian, it is very hard for me to imagine not allowing the children in my class to experience every part of making pancakes. So, i have decided to go with a step by step process that allows the children to make their very own batch of pancakes, or in this case three. Good thing I like math, because it took me a solid hour to convert three pancake recipes into individual portions. Regardless, I am hoping that it is worth it, as each child will be able to create their own masterpiece.

Snow is beautiful. It reminds me of the book Snow by Uri Schulevitz.

Happy Snow Day!

First Sewing Project of the New Year (well, actually, ever)

So after fighting with my borrowed sewing machine for approximately 3 hours, finally getting the bobbin and thread in the correct places, I am embarking on my first sewing project of the new year (well, actually, ever). I know it appears that this blog is devoted to cooking, but ultimately what inspired this lovely little idea to learn how to sew all by myself came from the blog Montessori by Hand (now Sew Liberated). I am beginning cooking classes as an after school activity and I was inspired to learn how to make the Montessori Aprons on Sew Liberated. I have enrolled in a sewing 101 class (um, online) and I am attempting to get good enough at sewing to learn how to sew these aprons. With no further ado, HERE I GO!