happy new year!

Wishing you and yours a joyful, peaceful new year!

Here’s a look back on some of my favorite memories from ’12… New Year’s always makes me feel like drinking champagne and being a little nostalgic.

cheers, m

January’s snowstorm

Our old neighborhood, Capitol Hill

Our street before we moved and bought a house this summer

Christian playing putt putt golf last New Year’s

Trip to San Francisco in February ’12

China Town, San Francisco

S.F.

View of San Francisco from Alcatraz

Champagne on a roof in San Francisco

Still S.F…

Tulip/ Daffodil fields with Janna

Trip to Michigan in July: visiting the Detroit Institute of Art

Detroit Institute of Art

Michigan in July (why am I so pale?!)

After we got engaged! Champagne courtesy of my mom

Being a cheesy engaged couple… (sorry)

Fall, near Alki Beach, Seattle

Holiday party, making hot buttered rum with Gavin

Holiday party

Me and Joline, so presh

Another one….

We got a cat! Her name’s Ellis. Look how happy she is when I hold her!!

Christian with his mini “Christmas Story” lamp…

i’m back!

Hello!

It’s been… 5 months (if I were a stickler for accuracy, I’d say 6, but I’m going to choose 5 because that sounds better).

Thank you for the kind messages inquiring about my whereabouts/ whether or not I was still alive. I am, in fact, very much alive, as evidenced by this post! My last post was entitled “engagement raspberry crisp,” which, for those of you who are adept at making inferences, is a good clue as to where I’ve been. In more detail, for those of you who care, here’s what’s been up:

1. Wedding planning/ pretending that Pinterest is a legit wedding planning tool
2. We bought a house! (I wanted to write “We bought a zoo!,” a sad allusion to that Matt Damon movie, but we didn’t buy a zoo… it’s a normal– but very cute– single family home)
3. Teaching American Literature, which I’ve never taught before, to 11th graders, whom I’ve never taught before
4. Decorating said house/ doing home-improvement projects with Christian
5. Feeling guilty about how long it’s been since I’ve posted on here/ brushing off Christian’s suggestions that I should post on here

And now I am here! I felt a tinge of joy as I opened the “add new post” page. This space has always been a nice refuge for me, a place to share good recipes with each other, a place where I can indulge my passion for health and cooking, a space where I don’t have to play teacher/ social worker for the few minutes that I log on.

I truly hope you had a wonderful holiday season. In the next post (in, say, 15 minutes) I’m going to share what I made for Christmas dinner. Lots of love to you and yours!

Cheers!!

Molly

we’re engaged!

The reason I’ve been M.I.A. lately is because I got engaged to the man who makes me the happiest lady ever, and I wanted to non-stop celebrate for 3 days. It continues to be wonderful, and I am simply over the moon. (Also, I keep staring at my hand, and I want to insert the word “fiance” into as many sentences as possible, like a 15-year-old girl who has her first boyfriend.)

Christian proposed during an impromptu picnic on Thursday. He memorized a sonnet. He got down on one knee. I cried. These simple declarative sentences don’t do the moment justice, but I don’t know that I can describe the overwhelming happiness and beauty of that afternoon. It’s taken me years to get to a place where I can love myself and another so deeply, and I feel grateful to have arrived at this juncture with a man who is so genuinely good and who makes me laugh daily, if not hourly. I am at a loss for how to describe our happiness and our excitement for the future.

I hope this finds you well, dear reader! Now that I have stopped calling everyone I know and drinking copious amounts of champagne, I will start posting more recipes: salmon cooked with vegetables and a wonderful sauce in parchment (it all steams together!), baked tofu, roasted vegetables. I just cleaned the kitchen and can’t wait to get back in there and create some yummy new dishes to share with you.

Thanks for all of your love and support over the years. I am truly a lucky lady with a whole lot of joy in my heart. :)

lv, molly

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happy friday!

I hope you have a wonderful summery weekend and that Friday the 13th brings only good luck! Here’s a CBS story about how the superstitions began…

I’m off to do some pilates and hang out on an island outside of Seattle. But before I go, I have to leave you with the cutest thing I’ve heard lately: an NPR reporter interviewing his 2 daughters after one gives the other “the worst haircut ever.” Kids are hilarious and weird and wonderful.

lv, molly

tulips!

“Earth laughs in flowers.”

{Ralph Waldo Emerson}

When my students asked what I was going to do over Spring Break, I mused that I’d like to stand in a large field of tulips and frolic through it.

It was an earnest answer.

So instead of getting margaritas made in my mouth and being adorned with beads (and any other stereotypical Spring Break activities for people younger than me), I ventured North to Skagit Valley, the land of tulips. On the way, we got lost and stopped at the Senior Center, ate a surprisingly amazing veggie burger, listened to my ’90s CD collection,  bought bar accoutrements that have pistols on them (yes!), and frolicked through fields of flowers.

The song below embodies how much I love Washington, and this trip confirmed it. This state is my home, and I love it here.

lv, molly

And a beautiful song about Washington because that simply seems fitting.

irish celebration.

Irish recipes to come the morning of St. Patrick’s day!

Until then, a song that embodies my love of my Irish heritage. lv, molly

happy almost weekend!

This song brings me a lot of joy. I’m feeling under the weather, and it when it came on, it still managed to put a smile on my face and a spring in my step.

As some of you know, I studied at Trinity College in Dublin and then moved there after college for a job. My grandparents were also Irish, which is probably why I love fiddles and have dark hair, bright blue eyes, and freckles in the summer. As such, I’ve got quite an affinity for Irish culture and food, and I’ll post some of my favorite recipes for St. Patrick’s Day.

Check back tomorrow for lots o’ Irish recipes and festivities. In the mean time, enjoy this happy song.

lv, molly

i love SF!

Christian and I just got back from San Francisco! It was awesome, and I not so secretly want to set up shop in Berkeley. Lots of bookshops, good coffee, near the water– what’s not to love?

Some highlights of our trip include touching a tiny shark at the aquarium (squee!), going to an unexpectedly awesome Czech bar that served soup in bowls with lions on them (this made us feel regal!), quoting lines from The Rock while walking around Alcatraz (which was an otherwise disappointing excursion), and getting threatened by an ex-hippie in a poncho (this was all Christian’s experience).

Have you been to San Francisco? My favorite part was getting lost, wandering the pretty streets, and basking in the sunshine. The whole trip was a wonderful departure from our normal day-to-day lives, and I am happy I got to turn 27 in the company of a wonderful man in a beautiful city!

lv, molly

PS- Want to see some pictures from our trip? Of course you do! Or something. Well, here they are in slideshow form!

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happy weekend!

I hope it’s a good one for you! We went to Smash Putt last night and drank whiskey gingers, and tonight I’m going to a close friend’s for dinner. Tomorrow: the superbowl? I don’t even know who’s playing…

lts of lv and weekend cheer,

molly

PS- I got dressed up last night; this feels like a big deal!

PPS- Weather’s beautiful here in Seattle– feels like spring!

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have you pinned?

Someone described Pinterest as fantasy football for girls, and I think that’s spot on (not that all guys like football or all girls like fashion, blah blah blah). It’s like choosing all the best ideas from the internet and categorizing them on a nice-looking cork board. Only it’s fun, not laborious, and you can discover beautiful, whimsical things by seeing other people’s pinboards.

I’ve found so many more recipes that I’d like to try and some cute looks I think I can pull off (green jeans?). My pinboard is here, and I can’t wait to see some of the things you guys are posting too!

lv, molly

favorite recipes of 2011.

How was your new years? We rang it in with a delicious dinner at Dinette, filled with little toasts with delectable toppings (frittata and truffle oil! Christian had prosciutto) and a vegetarian main course that surpassed any I’ve had in years. Potato and parsnip latkes atop french lentils with caramelized onions. Simple and wholesome but insanely and surprisingly delicious.

Image via Matt Bites

The small dining room is decorated with tea trays, and it’s the most charming restaurant; I smiled the whole time. A very romantic new years eve, which was a nice change from my past new years eves, which consisted of going to see an Austrian DJ at a venue that’s too hip for me, eating a veggie dog in the pouring rain, and accidentally going to a bar filled with toasted middle aged women.

Quite a nice change. And I wore sequins! See how dapper we were?

And now for some recipes…

I paged through this past year’s posts in search of my favorite recipes from the past year. The recipes that I’ll continue to make this year– the things that stood out, that other people continue to ask for– and here they are! The top 15 of 2011 (I couldn’t limit it to just 10!).

What were your favorite things to make this past year?

lv, molly

In no particular order… the top 15. :)

1. Vegetarian Spaghetti and Meatballs 

2. Oven Omelet with Fresh Herbs

3. Tofu Piccata with Roasted Cauliflower

4. Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Grapes & Walnuts

5. Nutmeg & Cinnamon Spiced Oatmeal Pancakes

6. Pumpkin Olive Oil Bread

7. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Almond Flour

8. State Fair Blackberry Pie

9. Poor Man’s Pasta

10. Spinach & Cheese Strata

11. Black Bean & Sweet Potato Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

12. Dill Butter

13. Moroccan Stuffed Tomatoes

14. Cheddar Dill Scones

15. Black Pepper Tofu

happy 2012!

Hello, all! I hope this weekend brings you champagne, laughter, and hope.

I’ve got a gold sequin skirt on paired with mile high black heels. I’m excited for a dinner out with Christian at a cute local spot.

This pretty song makes me feel really hopeful for the next year, so I thought I’d share it with you too! Despite my love for the holidays, I’m feeling a little down this time of year. On NYE I like to remind myself of all the hope I harbor for the future.

A very happy, hopeful new year to you. :)

lv, molly

holiday up-do!

I don’t “do” my hair.

Rather, I haven’t for years because it’s always been short. Always. I don’t recall ever having hair past my shoulders, but I’ve been inspired as of late to let it grow. A desire to save money (no more expensive haircuts!) and a boyfriend who thinks longer hair would look nice were the sole inspirational factors.

Now that I have “long” hair, I’ve been super excited about doing things with it– twisting it, pinning it, curling it, etc. Doing things that the so-called girly girls do that I’ve never done. That’s where Joanna Goddard’s hair tutorials come in. She posts great, easy to follow directions for various hair styles, and today I tried my first one: three twisted buns. Click the link for directions!

It took a total of 5 minutes, and it’s the fanciest hairdo I’ve worn in years. Exciting! What are your favorite ways to do your hair? I can’t wait ’til mine’s a little longer– so many other things to try!

lv, molly

And one of my favorite holiday songs for good measure… :)

holiday spirit.

I tend to go a little overboard with the holidays. And other things.

The holidays bring me a lot of joy; I love the the scents, the cookies, the happiness, the cocktails, the traditions. So it’s no surprise that I’ve already wrapped the presents, baked cookies, and cycled through my holiday music collection at least once. Here’s a sampling of some of my favorite holiday related things.

lv, molly

no. 1: mittens (I got these from Madewell for my little brother's girlfriend!)

no. 1: keeping warm (with a fake fur hooded coat)

no. 3: pretty party up-dos (click the photo to get to the tutorial!)

no. 4: sparkling cider- my grandpa used to serve me this in a champagne flute when I was too young to drink

no. 5: obligatory holiday mixtapes (click the photo!)

no. 6: cheese plates at parties (I won't lie-- I skip the fancy cheeses and go straight for the sharp cheddar!)

no. 7: santa gift tags by Rifle Paper Co.

smile!