The Perfect Life

Hello friends and strangers,
I must apologize for my extended absence. Life has been complicated lately. I know, when is it not. Battling burnout at my job, taking a wonderful trip from which I had to return, exhaustion and getting sick, focusing on my immediate space instead of the cerebral, and quite frankly, lack of wonder and inspiration in my everyday life; these are the things I blame for my lack of posting.

My eating and sleeping have been most impacted. Vivid dreams leave me tired and confused when I wake up. Interest in food or the energy to make it are in short supply.

This morning though, staying home to stream church instead of exposing people to whatever my body is fighting, I found that pocket of contentment. Nothing is perfect. I dropped my beautiful cheese toast face down on the rabbit-fur-covered rug. My stomach is still upset, but I was able to enjoy sitting on the ground by the windows, soaking up the sun indoors, since the smoke from Canada has impacted air quality. The black berries and crisp pickle slices, that escaped the fall, were refreshing and Clove convinced me to hand over some of the fur-covered toast, allowing me to fit in a few smoothings of her velvety soft fluff. No, things are far from perfect but, life can still be good.

Toasted sourdough, dill havarti, prosciutto, with blackberries, dill pickle slices and coffee.

Soup Season

Our negative degree weather has finally caught up to us here in the Midwest. As I am striving to eat out less, make healthy options the only ones available at home, and enjoy the process, soup is a main staple! My great grandma used to make this amazingly cozy, ground beef and vegetable soup. While, unfortunately, we don’t have the recipe in our possession, my mother found a similar one on Pinterest and we modify it. I recently made a couple large batches and brought some to share with my coworkers. There’s just something about a warming, homemade soup and validation from non-family that it is, in fact, delicious. Chopping vegetables can be oddly therapeutic, not including the onions of course, and pretending that I live in a cozy cottage in the woods doesn’t hurt either.

Let me know if you want the recipe and modifications! Otherwise, here is a little video of happy soup-making time.

Stay warm, friends!