22 thoughts for 22

from august 2013

the one picture that somewhat survived was this birthday, a silhouette of my dining neighbors at a sushi bar in scranton my partner and I visited at 9am on the 21st. a nice quiet start to a day of driving, exploring scranton, and small bottles of wine in smaller bedrooms of good friends.

these are some of the things I've learned recently and will be carrying close to my heart for my 22nd year

twenty two thoughts for my twenty second year

1. get up as early as possible. do as much as you can first thing in the morning.
2. friendships shouldn't be perpetually full of apologies and lies and hurt feelings. or else they may not really be friendships
3. it's not selling out if it's buying into the system
4. coffee deserves to be black
5. western beauty ideals are absolute shit, don't listen to them
6. western gender rolls are absolute shit, don't listen to them
7. always apologize if someone tells you you hurt them. if you care about a person, they deserve the effort not to hurt them again.
8. using slurs doesn't show you're tougher. it makes you look uncreative, incredible, and probably really really mean.
9. dogs are important. animal companions are important
10. it's okay to want the best everything
11. there is nothing wrong with self promotion, especially when promoting your work
12. starting now is better than starting later(or never)
13. always practice your craft, always refine
14. how much this ira glass quote rings true. to summarize, you only get good at something by sucking at it for a long time.
15. re: american healthcare. if you're not getting the service you want, complain complain complain(they do not care otherwise)
16. say what you mean, don't be vague
17. being strong is okay
18. being not strong is okay too
19. drinking is fun until it's not fun anymore
20. good company is better than bad company which is better than no company(maybe not good)
21. I don't really care what I'm making, as long as I'm making something forever
22. still don't think I'm fond of sushi

crv appreciation post

in may I purchased a 1998 honda crv. I quickly became enamored with this little vehicle. it's small, great on gas, cute as heck, and can drive literally anywhere. this is a collection of pictures over the past few months with her, i hope for many more to come.

1. crv at home
2. over the blue ridge
3. relaxing in the back on the obx
4. dune driving
5. over the blue ridge again
6. selfie in side mirror

pepper preservation: freezing

this past summer I was luck enough to grow sweet and hot peppers for the first time in my own garden! my partner and I had a blast planning, selecting young plants, and caring for our pepper gardens over the summer. although our yield(particularly the sweet pepper yield) was a bit smaller than expected, we were excited to preserve our goods for the months to come.

most of the hot peppers were either diced and dried for the spice rack, or pickled for later. besides the handful used to bulk up my canned tomato sauce, I was left with only a few pounds of sweet peppers. so in lieu of the salsa I anticipated making(next year!) I opted for the easiest option I know, dicing and freezing. freezing veggies is one of the easiest and fastest way to store your garden bounty! and even better, this same method can be used for tomato, greens, peas, corn, carrots, berries, and more! just be sure to look up the blanching time for your veggies of choice.

freezing fresh peppers

• fill large pot with water and bring to boil
• fill large bowl with ample ice water
• after water boils, drop peppers in a few at a time and allow to boil(blanch) for 2 minutes
• immediately transfer to ice water to stop from cooking
• pat dry, core, deseed, and destem peppers
• cut peppers into pieces as desired(I cut half into pepper rings and the other half into thin spears)
• lay flat on cookie sheet with a small space between every piece
• freeze flat for at least 20min, up to 45min, or until peppers no longer feel moist and begin to harden(it helps to have your freezer on the lowest setting or closest to 0°F)
• bag peppers in airtight freezer bags and keep for 18mos or longer

sun brewed calming tea

summer is in full swing: heat, swimming, gardening, grilling. although I love it all, sometimes I need a respite. a little danielle time to bring it all back home. over this past winter I fell in love with calming teas. they're perfect for the morning to ground myself, at night to rest my mind, and even during the day to take a moment to be able to analyze priorities. I never considered myself a "tea drinker" but calming tea is making me into a liar.

once the warm weather came around again I was desperate to try out a family classic with my new favorite drink: sun brewed tea

sun brewed calming tea

• 2 liters cold water
• 6-8 tea bags of calming tea, depending on strength (if you can't find calming tea a great mixture is lemon balm, chamomile, passion flower, and rose)
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1/4 C honey
• 1 sprig fresh mint

in a clear container, fill with cold water and mix in honey or desired sweetener. if you have a tea ball you can just drop it in, if you're using bags, tie the bags together and attach to container with the assistance of a wooden spoon laying across the top or a lid on the pitcher. add lemon slices and mint sprig.

let the container sit in a sunny window or outside for 2-4 hours, depending on how strong you want the tea to be. serve at room temperature over ice.

morning beekeeping

happy solstice! summer is finally here and I'm humming with joy and warmth. between developing and prepping film prints for a show, shooting for work, and editing old work, it's been a boring summer so far for personal work. but! about two months back I stumbled upon a local beekeeper's website where he mentioned he was interested in some photographic services from anyone "brave enough to suit up." hey! I'm brave as heck! and I love bees! two weeks back we teamed up and made some killer bee shots together(I look like a 5 year old in the ridiculously oversized bee suit, sorry no pics). I didn't even wear gloves and I got right up in those little bee faces without any issues! how cool! hopefully this will be a continuing relationship, so look for more bees here in the future and give my pal Andy some facebook love if you like that kind of stuff.

andy's been keeping bees as a serious hobby for about six years, picked up from his father

 little male bee, a drone. stinger-less and able to be held

andy tries to keep his operation as natural as possible! he smokes out his bees with recycled burlap

right: queen bee

memorial day garden stocking

on memorial day I had a portrait session at a local greenhouse with a veteran who wanted recent shots in uniform. being only a short drive from my house, and me being a plant enthusiast, I'm surprised I've never visited this place. although pork and I tried to start as much as possible from organic seed this year, we had a few holes to fill.

this greenhouse was beautiful and expansive and full of so many plants I badly needed. rows upon rows or hanging plants, growing flats, and encouraging little pots-- a place I literally got lost in. the portraits took less than thirty minutes, but I spent another two hours browsing and buying and barely scratching the surface of what they had to offer

we walked out with an abundance of kale, a curly curry plant, a few peppers, rosemary, thyme, a discounted struggling aloe(which looked twenty times better after I put it in proper dirt), and a little mint bush of the kentucky variety. a fruitful day, for certain

gluten free blueberry muffins

the reality of summer business and the rest of spring is starting to hit me square in the face.

between gardens to plant and tend, farms to assist, dg training, art festivals and all my regular work, I just hope this warm season doesn't take my life for good.

But on to more positive things!

I've recently cut gluten out of my diet and the inner foodie in me has been going crazy! So many of my staples are full of this grainy goodness. My pastas, dumplings, pizzas, tacos, brownies! So far I have been attacking my regular cravings fairly well. I've made meatloaf, taco salad, and cookies successfully and am now pretty confident in my abilities to cut out the wheat flour.

however, breakfast has become a bit of a roadblock.

I'm already picky when it comes to breakfast foods. I usually go for an easy bagel, english muffin, maybe eggs and toast. I got sick of eating eggs and only eggs every day, quickly. I decided to mess around with what I had and figure out SOMETHING else. And success I found:

Blueberry Pecan Gluten Free Muffins

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 C sour cream
• 1 1/4 C brown sugar
• 2/3 C potato flour
• 2/3 C brown rice flour
• 2/3 C arrowroot starch
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 C chopped pecans(or nuts of choice)
• 1 C blueberries

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, sour cream, and brown sugar until they form a smooth mixture. You can use plain yogurt in place of the sour cream, if you desire.

Gradually sift and mix in your three flours and baking soda/powder. If you have an all purpose gluten free baking flour, you can use that in place of this mixture. You should only need about 2 cups of any standard baking flour.

Gently mixed in still frozen or fresh blueberries and the pecans, mix until just combined.

The batter should be thick and chunky once you get the fruit and nuts mixed in. Line a 12-muffin pan with baking cups and spoon the mixture into them. You can probably get more than 12 muffins out of this recipe, but they will be on the smaller side as they don't rise as much as standard muffins.

Bake for about 25 minutes in the center of the oven until they are golden and spring beck when pressed on top. Take about 5 minutes off of your baking time if you are using fresh vs frozen blueberries.

Make sure to remove muffins from the baking pan shortly after they are out of the oven! They may get too soggy if you leave them

good luck and happy baking!

saturday in williamsport

we didn't know at the time, or even when I originally wrote this, but we lost someone very dear on this day. A lot of hard feelings arose from it: feeling selfish we took times, guilt we didn't reach or visit when we could, deep regret we spent their last moments enjoying ourselves as best we could. but this person knew we loved them, and they loved that we loved each other. they wouldn't have wanted us to mourn with their living form any longer than we had, I'm sure. He was a vibrant individual, overflowing energy and pride. the last thing he would have wanted was for us to regret not being with his frail, failing state self when we were enjoying things in which he also found life. these memories are about finding small joys in life, even when it all feels like it's falling apart: and also for heber.

a lovely saturday from last week. we try our best to savor these moments-- of adventure, with each other. we're so young and already in our monotonous grind. it's a grind made to be unrefined and sometimes broken. 

we decided on a trip to williamsport, pa for the day. This small, quaint city sits about forty-five minutes northwest of us. It offers a little tease of city life for us backwood folk. It only houses 30,000, but that's sixty times the five hundred souls in my town.

a good of start as any, with coffee! weak for adorable mugs, overt positivity, and floral patterns, I'm more than certain this mug was made for me. The current favorite in my collection, and the words echo volumes on days like these. The weather was cloudy and quite down the short ride ride, a physical and emotional fog that lingered all day. only brightened with bursts of energetic sing-a-longs and reading of nat geo world cup coverage.

all the activities that make a small city trip great: soft paint jobs, harsh architecture, everything's a dollar rummage stores, tiny but seemingly endless book stores(seriously, my town doesn't even have one anymore!), and highly underrated east asian food

like any couple with sometimes varrying interests, I left pork in an antique store and I found alabaster coffee roaster & tea company on pine. And I'm so glad I did! This place had the best touches: fresh flowers in winter, a large chalkboard wall, exposed brick, and fantastic french press. I popped in right as they were closing, so more shots of their interior were missed-- But more reason to go again, eh? coffee selection was impressive, with engaging descriptions of each roast and its origins. I went with colombian los naranjos through a french press, which is a roast of their own! excitedly, I received my french press with timer and a mug. my nine minutes were up, and I thoroughly enjoyed the hearty, dark flavor with a soft and almost sweet follow. And of course after lingering in the cold most of the day, I felt the caffeine instantly. A wonderfully warm end to my day.

slow cooked roast stew

local veal roast, hungry cold bellies, and a crock pot that needs broken in means roast stew for ages. 

ingredients:

• 3-4lb lean, beef roast(chuck, bottom, round, etc)
• 4 med potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces and peeled if desired
• 2 celerey stalks, chopped
• 1 med-large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 5oz Can Tomato Paste
• 2 C of fresh or frozen Peas, Carrots, and/or Green Beans
• 2 TBSP gluten free flour
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp cilantro
• 2-3 fresh basil leaves
• Salt, Pepper to taste

Throw that big ol' roast in the bottom of the pot and dump your vegetables, tomato paste, garlic, and spices(minus the flour!) on top. Cover and set to the low 300s, or a low crock setting, and let it sit for the next 10-12 hours. About 30 minutes before you serve, whisk together about two tablespoons of your flour of choice and a bit of water to make a paste-like substance. Throw that into your stew and mix it around to a get a fuller stew broth.

You can continue cooking long enough for the roast to fall apart naturally along the fat lines, or you can remove 1-2 hours from the end of your cook time, chop, and return to the crock to finish stewing.

The best part about slow cooking these stews and soups is the luxury of using frozen meats and veggies. Frozen goods can often go straight into the crock from the ice box. After half a day soaking in your veggie broth goodness, those frozen pieces will be thick, juicy and full of a flavor rarely achieved when fast cooking meats. And frozen vegetables are a great alternative to fresh produce in these barren, winter months. But don't you worry. Warm weather and a plethora of fresh, local produce is just around the corner.