creamy leek & pumpkin soup

1 large pumpkin, pureed, or two large cans of pumpkin puree
1 pack of maple smoked bacon
butter or olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
5 large leeks, mostly white part, chopped and rinsed
32 oz chicken stock, plus more to cover vegetables for cooking
salt and pepper
cinnamon
ground cloves
nutmeg
almond milk, or heavy cream for stirring in at [...]

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an autumn scene.

umbrella, always. red jacket, of course. smart shoes, definitely. damp air and cozy homes… the best part.

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last days in greenwich.

well, come 11am tomorrow we’re outta here. that is, if the estate agents have collect the keys on time. they don’t have the best track record in the organizational department.  I’m still in shock that a whole year has passed since we moved in.
the last few days have been a blur of packing, coloring, painting, [...]

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Django Reinhardt – J’attendrai Swing 1939

Living so close to France this past year and having not visited has been at the front of my mind… well, tonight, we take a coach from Victoria station, and tomorrow morning, wake up in Paris!   I have a feeling it will have been worth the wait.

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on the road

2 hours south of london, through the ancient woods of the new forest, ponies on the road, grass-fed cattle (80% of cows in england are!), car sickness healed by a fry-up from little chef & a story about snow white, little villages tucked into the trees, the sweet reward of a moody [...]

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to the seaside

Maggie and I are headed to the seaside…
Will be back next week with a recipe for chocolate hazelnut cake. YUM!

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not bread pudding, and a salad

since I have been cooking a lot (mostly) from scratch the last couple years, my health has greatly improved, but it is really time consuming some times!! not to mention all the dirty dishes… and we don’t have a dishwasher in our tiny apartment. not the best set up, but what can you do?
so, to [...]

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Chocolate-Coconut Ice cream

To celebrate our 4yr anniversary, I surprised Noah with a chocolate flavoured coconut ice cream. It’s dairy-free and only uses a few tablespoons of honey for a sweetener.
For the cream:

2 cans full fat coconut milk
6 eggs
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons of honey (more or less to taste)
2 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder (I used green & [...]

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pancetta and leek frittata; I <3 the allium family

 

frittata, originally uploaded by –Barbara–.
I love frittatas. like a crustless quiche– but even quicker to throw together.
This one is just fried pancetta, leeks, garlic and spring green onions. 6 organic eggs, scrambled, mixed with the goods, s+p and baked in a hot oven for a half hour. If you can tolerate dairy, top with parmesean [...]

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shrove tuesday – pancake day

“Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it’s the last day before Lent. Throughout the United Kingdom, and in other countries too, people indulge themselves on foods that traditionally aren’t allowed during Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during [...]

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the amazing adventures of an unkown artist

My brother is an awesome artist and photographer.  An all-around clever guy.  Really funny too…. trust me.   He just e-mailed me this book he made on Blurb, and it is also very awesome. 

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A busy Halloween weekend.

a play – by – play:
We kicked off friday with a rush to make a costume for spooky storytime at Waterstone’s bookstore in Greenwich. We had one hour to cut up Noah’s socks, sew em’ into ears, and attach them to a hoodie. This became a cat costume with with the addition of [...]

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And…………we’re here.

Finally!  After all the paper work, all the phone calls, farewells… and the blood, sweat and tears… we made it!  We arrived in England Monday morning, all in one piece.  Getting all of our stuff in two 3 suitcases and one guitar bag was certainly a test of wills and a challenge to see how minimalist we [...]

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St. George’s Day

Well, today is a holiday that doesn’t get celebrated very often.  And apparently, St. George has been fictionalized a bit.  (you mean he didn’t really slay dragons??) But, I like excuses to celebrate, and so we did. Fresh bread with goat cheese and fig, radishes and strawberries (in honor of the flag with the same [...]

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Valentines from Grandma

 

 Sweet goods all the way from Portland. I wish I had been well enough to make her something… I barely had enough time and energy to finish my free people swap (will post pics later this week). This illness business is seriously getting old! Anyway, my mother is such a talented artist, I love [...]

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my guide to crazy, new-age, minimalist parenting for a newborn.

all you need….

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Fall in Rockford

Auntie Mya, originally uploaded by Barbara Lee.

Had a lovely walk with Maggie and her Auntie Mya last week around the neighborhood where Noah grew up. The autumn colors were gorgeous, and Maggie enjoyed trying to eat the leaves.

More photos here

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samsara

Beauitiful music by Noah, here.

boston, originally uploaded by Barbara Lee.

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picking up where i left off…

Well, it’s definitely fall out. Thank god.  It took long enough though, that’s for sure. 85 degrees in October? Not used to that.  But now the weather has settled into a comfortable, but somewhat dreary, rainy-and-in-the-sixties/fifties pattern. 

So, when I last wrote here, it was summer.  It was a nice summer, but very different than others [...]

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rock n’ roll

, originally uploaded by Barbara Lee.
Maggie has become such a curious baby… she tries to get her hands on (and her mouth around) just about anything in sight. She has started the early steps of crawling, but has found that rolling and reaching can work just fine as well. She loooves to “play” Daddy’s guitar, [...]

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