joe and jen's place

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2010-04-22T22:27:00.001-07:00

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joe makes pizza jamie's way

2010-04-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

farm table

2010-04-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

sorry. you'll have to bear with me. i'm in love with this table that joe built me. in love. here it is at every angle. sickening, i know, but i can't help it. and dinnertime is no longer about avoiding rocking the table too hard while cutting your meat.

this is before joe distressed the legs

easter at the table

2010-04-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

the Lord is risen, and so we celebrate like it! the menu is based on spring-ripe delectables: leeks, rhubarb, strawberries, lamb, asparagus, and fennel.

late Easter eve

2010-04-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

the next morning, we re-set for 8. a glorious adjustment.

peanut butter planet

2010-04-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

a non-saleable item. darn. ;o)

it begins

2010-04-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

i can't believe i really did it, but i did. i started my own gluten-free baking business. for real. business license and everything. i am, in this moment, feeling the reality of that profound m.c. hammer (?) song, "too legit...too legit to quit." no, but seriously, i am thanking the Lord for the doors He has opened for this begin, and i'm walking through them quite cheerfully. i'm pretty much jumping out of my skin, i'm so thrilled. and joe is a CRAZY saleman! he's amazing. God knew i needed a husband with no fear. :)

if you live in town, stop by Coffee Cat, or Lulu Carpenters, or one of their tents at the farmer's markets and grab a goodie! if you don't live around here, perhaps we can arrange something with the mailman. ;)

oops...gluten free francese

2010-04-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

i tried to make sourdough and got francese. happy mistake. :O)

fab fish dish

2010-04-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

compliments of this guy. who else?

first of the season

2010-04-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

now what?

2010-04-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

the dragons celebrate their happy place no more

2010-04-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

babaganoush

2010-04-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

babaganoush is an eggplant something-or-other that...well...just is. i don't know much about it, except that we had it at this bitty restaraunt in carmel called la bicyclette and it was truly tasty. they served it with roasted garlic, garbanzo hummus, and homemade pita.

this restaraunt, by the way, is a new fav. their menu changes every 3-4 days, with the appetizer and soup being set (that is, no choices...you get what the chef dreams up in his kitchen). the appetizer, on this occasion, was the babaganoush (which, incidently, i really enjoy saying). copper pots hang from the ceiling, and there's a coveted table, inside a little house...inside the restaraunt. the water glasses are tiny, rustic things, the napkins are kitchen towels, and the tables are snug. they call it "rustic french" cuisine, but what comes out of that closet of a kitchen is amazing. if quail is rustic, then i must redefine my terms.

i took a picture of the asparagus soup, not because it looks all that impressive, but because i want to remember how amazingly smooth and creamy and fresh it was. i could have eaten just that and left happier than a family of clams.

the reason why i painted the dining room chairs white

2010-04-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

this tablecloth was made for me by ma mere. (she's acquainted with my fondness for amy butler). but since Christmas, it has clashed terribly with the old red chairs...so i altered them. and here's the cloth now, happy that its glory is not shared with another.

thai fish cakes

2010-03-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

this kind of doesn't look appetizing here, but it was all kinds of yummy! recipe is courtesy of elana amsterdam from this book. i invented my own peanut sauce, which went something like this: peanut butter, coconut milk, apple cider vinegar, salt, cayenne, green curry paste, fish sauce, agave nectar. i think that's it. don't ask me proportions...i didn't use measurements. just start throwing stuff in a sauce pan and cook it down while your cakes are sizzling.

bad cake

2010-03-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

this was a carrot cake. i'm not posting the recipe because the cake part was gross. a sad gluten-free experiment. but, the lime marscapone frosting was worth the whole mess (and why i made the recipe in the first place)! it's a jamie oliver concoction, and very simple. whip together 8 oz cream cheese, marscapone cheese (however much comes in the carton), powdered sugar (or sugar sub)to your liking, and the juice and zest of one lime.

welcome, femina readers!

2010-03-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

come on in! it's raining, but not in here. are you hungry? we'll whip something up in a jiffy. are you tired? put your feet up in our best leather chair. tell us your tale. we're good listeners.

and while you spin and weave, let me pour you something hot. a pot of tea? coming right up. i highly recommend the apricot. coffee? we'll pour you the best. joe will tell you what ethiopian farm it came from, how many minutes it was roasted, and whether to expect notes of blueberry or chocolate.

things are looking up

2010-02-22T10:13:00.000-08:00

yes, joe had giardia for almost four months before we found out. i know, looks like pure irresponsibility. but it's because his symptoms would improve a bit and we would be hopeful. and it's because we lean toward natural medicine, and usually we can cure many things. but at last he regressed just too far, and we thought it best to consult the doc. he didn't really have one, and that was part of why i think we held off so long. not having a good doc you love kinda makes you not want to go (any of you feel that way besides me?). but anyhoo, after bloodwork and stool and urine samples, all was ruled out except a blaring case of giardia. where in the world did he get that?, we asked ourselves. we got questions like, "have you gone hiking in the amazon recently?" and so forth. um, nope. but, we truly rejoice in the Lord, who gave us a diagnosis and has healed joe! his energy has returned and he's eating like a champ again, even back on some yummy glutenous things like BREAD (which he's loving and i'm totally jealous of). i'm hoping to see our scale report the prodigal return of some of his missing 30 pounds.

my health seems to be directly tied to how much i stress over joe. :) during these four months, my candida has returned in all it's unwelcome glory (as well as a few pounds). this is a bummer indeed, but i know what i need to do to get rid of it. it just means doing it. it means a diet of veggies and protein. i feel so, so well when i am on it, but it's not fun when things like rice and potatoes and crackers and peanut butter and bananas and chocolate chip cookies and whipped cream start popping up in my imagination...or appearing on dining tables. oh well. the truth of "running the race with endurance" in this life of spiritual warfare is nicely microcosmed here.

but, things are looking up. i don't want to say that my happiness is dependent on my circumstances (though i we as adam's progeny are severely prone to it, but thanks be to God!), but what IS dependent on my circumstances is my stress level. :) a chronically sick husband did not help. but right now, though i sit here with a head cold and ear infection, my spirits are lifted. stress has been greatly dissipated. my husband (having recovered so beautifully) has loaded the dishwasher, started the laundry, made the bed, swept the house, cleaned the yard, scrubbed the stovetop, and lovingly attended to my every passing fancy (including tincturing drops into my ears). and it's only 10:30 am. :) not only that, all my shades are open and the sun is pouring in. and to top it off (and this is what REALLY put me over the happiness edge), my lemon tree has lemons on it! little teeny baby ones. this lemon tree was, i thought, a lemon. but, it can't fool me anymore - it's fruit is showing. i am happy. :)

as i couldn't drag myself to church yesterday, i did some deep study in the Word (on, you'll never guess...fear. ha!) and what a deeply-needed feeding it was. afterward, i listened to a sermon by our former pastor, and this, let me tell you was SO encouraging. he was proclaiming that, the God who numbers the stars and gives the galaxies pet names is the same one Who leads you like a tender shepherd, gives you good gifts like a loving father, and knows every hair on your head. oh, not to mention that He also gave Himself to keep you. so, for those who, like me, struggle with remembering God's intentions of love and goodness toward you even in His sovereign ability to give you hard providences, listen to it. it's found here. it's called "Theology and Doxology".

2009: the highlights

2010-01-01T00:18:00.000-08:00

january: joe got macdaddy

february: kat visited (last one to visit our old apt)

valentines day

march: our first house!

april: hofmans and family reunion TX!

may: joe's bday

june: peterson summer train ride

house warming!

july: our first garden

summer feast

the atwoods visit

august: our 6th anniversary

september: Coffee Cat farmer's market debut

we discover figs and brussel sprouts (put together!)

october: reformation feast

joe gets in the paper

november: first thanksgiving at our house

december: last shot of the year

what a year!! and what an amazing one. Lord, thank you.

incidentally, i just realized that my first post of 2010 was my 300th. fun!

on happy new year and boxes of metal

2009-12-31T22:38:00.000-08:00

it's 12:05 am, and joe's been alseep since 9pm. i've made my bed on the couch. year 2010 for us begins with the stomach flu: seperate sleeping quarters, two highly disinfected toilets, and a pot of chicken broth. it's been quite a sicky holiday for us this year (3 stomach virae for joe and a mean bronchial thing for me), but we have seen the Lord's lovingkindness to us throughout, and we rely on His healing hand on us as we enter the new year.

between washing and re-washing bedsheets and administering ice chips, we have managed to celebrate the Lord's advent and birth in great joy. we are so grateful for the majestic, brilliant, paradoxical, weighty story that Christ has written for us and this world - He has created, loved, and saved us. we are His, only. thank you, Lord Christ. we love you.

tonight, as i was tending to my weary husband, i was all of a sudden incredibly grateful for our home - namely, the machines in it. i had to do several loads of laundry tonight. a year ago, i was trudging up a hill through the rain to launder our clothes in a set of metal boxes that weren't mine. this evening, i stepped into my hallway to be greeted by two bright merry maids winking at me. they are efficient, indeed. they're quiet. they're big. but, the best part of all, they sing. it's a seriously well-written melodic line too! upon finishing their work, it comes dancing down the hallway, soudning all chipper that it just did your laundry for you. i wish i had that attitude whenever i wash stuff. joe and i've subconsciously committed the jingle to memory already...we found ourselves whistling it polyphonically in the car the other night.

the other machine i am thankful for is my dishwasher. i had so many dirty dishes tonight, many of them nasty. and there i was, stuffing nastiness into a box and closing the door. and miraculously, when i open the door again, i will have loveliness.

and then i stuffed a pot into the oven, a panini onto the grill, and a DVD into a blu-ray player - all metal boxes doing crazy amazing stuff. i mean, what in the world?? after a few trialsome weeks for the Carlson household, i was overcome. i leant, in tears, over our dinner (well, broth for joe) and thanked our gracious Father for these new, eager machines. sometimes, i have felt overhelmed with the hedonism of our culture, and i worry that our home is an extention of it. but tonight, i was grateful. and then i remembered that's why the Lord delights to give - because we delight in Him.

on that thought, happy new year, everyone!

the joy of the Lord is our strength: a Merry Christmas

2009-12-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

in our new house for Christmas, with a prime rib dinner from our awesome oven.

i surprised mom with framing her baby pics, and joe suprised me with grandma.

argileness

spiffy boys

my nephews!

Christmas at mom and dad's - thank you for such a lovely time!

rare family pic!

daisy and dad. this looks like something that will become a tradition. dog and red suspenders.

Christmas night (joe's fighting a persistent stomach flu here and doesn't realize it, poor guy)

getting ready

2009-12-23T11:54:00.001-08:00

(that's my toothbrush, if anyone wonders)

platoon

2009-12-17T13:18:00.001-08:00

great aunt cici

2009-12-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

cici was cheerful and spry. we brought presents. she had fun.

love this one. cici's eye are closed, mine are closed, and mom's (whose normally are closed) managed to stay open. go figure.

3 generations

new stove!

2009-12-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

five burners. convection. dishwasher-friendly grates. stainless steel. temp-controlled warmer. cool-to-the-touch weighted door. oh yes.

oh, and can i just say that the knobs weigh, like, a pound each? this is a good stove, folks.

compliments of mil and fil. they heard that the oven guy recommended we bury the old one. and then they saw how adventurous it was making thanksgiving dinner. so, on black friday, they bought us this pretty thing. we had to make a celebratory batch of cookies.

mil and fil: merci, encore! we are so grateful.