by jillian
Hello! It’s been awhile. Eighteen days, to be exact. Oh yeah, did I mention I got a job? Yep. And It’s working with food. No, it is not making food. I have to be there for a few months before I begin training to be a baker’s assistant. I’m too tired to go much further into how fucking crazy it is working there. No rest for the wicked, I suppose. I like rituals. So when I start something new, it […]
by jillian
I have strawberries and rhubarb, sprinkled with sugar, macerating in a ceramic bowl on the counter. I just finished canning a batch of strawberry rhubarb jam. Saturday afternoon the neighbor fellow brought me a small armful of rhubarb from his garden. I was delighted for this gift. Rhubarb brings back memories from childhood. Along the south wall of my mom’s barn, a row of rhubarb bushes grow(are they called bushes?). In the summer time we would pick the stalks and dip the […]
by jillian
I finished my 12 week cut yesterday. All in all I lost 24.8 pounds. I managed to exceed my goal. Two weeks until I start the next cut. I’m still not eating sugar. Oh, but that will change soon. I have a date with a black cup of coffee and an old fashioned donut Saturday morning. It will mark 89 days without sugar. I’ll probably get high and jittery. I’m looking forward to the buzz. I went for a run […]
by jillian
Another chocolate chip cookie recipe?! Yes siree. I mailed a couple of these to a friend today. He says his favorite cookie is a chocolate chip cookie with lots of @#$%ing chocolate. I don’t know why I censored that word. Y’all know what word I’m saying. Sometimes I wonder if I should make my blog rated PG and start cursing like a sailor. A word is a word is a word. It’s decided. I’ll curse when I want to. Just […]
by jillian
Oh sun, glorious sun. Today I will pay homage to the abundance of warmth and sunshine by planting my garden. It’s perfect seed sowing weather today. Guess what?! No, not chicken butt. I still have two weeks left on my cut and this morning I weighed in at .4# LESS than my current goal weight. So anything over the next two weeks are bonus points. Just because I exceeded my goal doesn’t mean I’m ending the cut ahead of time. […]
by jillian
It is 57˚F. Here. Right now. In Seattle. And the sun is just barely masked by wispy clouds. As I was walking to Moira’s school this afternoon, the floral scent of trees in bloom waved to me. My mind was quickly brought to the moment in a rush of excitement. I’m a hopeful(sometimes hopeless) romantic. Enthralled by my own senses. Let me talk to you about the pair of overalls I purchased. Many months ago, a lovely Eggton(visit her blog, […]
by jillian
A cold, rainy, and windy welcome for the Vernal Equinox. At least in this neck of the woods. It is fitting for the Pacific Northwest. We had an unusual amount of sun these past few days. The sun brings hope. And the overcast skies are quick to take it away. That’s okay. We are officially out of winter. I’m happy. My garden is ready to be planted. When hoeing and shoveling in the beds, I came across dozens of fat, […]
Categories: Cannin', Gluten Free, Homemade, Preserves, Recipes, Ruminants, Sidekicks, Spice Mixtures, Vegan
by jillian
I’ve been busy creating this week. I made my first pot holder! That sentence did not require an exclamation point. It’s a sad looking pot holder. Thankfully it is functional and I now know how to make a better pot holder next time. I have a decent assortment of odd themed fabrics. I’m going to mail pot holders to people, maybe even to people I know. And they’ll say things like, “Oh look. Jillian sent me a pot holder.” I’ve been […]
by jillian
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Moira made sure that we all had something green to wear. I’m wearing a green sweater, borrowed from a friend. She tried to find something for Pepperjack(our cat) to wear but in the end he got a little pinch. (Not an animal abuse sized pinch, it was a cutie puh tooty pinch.) ************************** I was trying to think of what my favorite candy was. I have never really been a candy person. I love sweets but […]
by jillian
There are flowers blooming. There are unpredictable rains and equally surprising moments of sun. The birds have a fervent song. They are hungry for the worms and bugs coming up from the ground. We are closing in on Spring here in the Pacific Northwest. And my hands are wreathing in delight that I will soon be breaking ground for this year’s garden. My back, on the other hand, is none too excited to take the brunt of what I’m about to give […]
by jillian
I’ve been busy in the kitchen this past week trying out various recipes. I had these lemons in the crisper drawer for an undisclosed amount of time. Probably no more than two weeks. I had started a batch of limoncello and had these four lone lemons left. Lone lemons left. Lone lemons left looking lovely, longing light. Okay. I’m done. An update on the fitness/cut process. I’ve decided to move on to a new lifting program. Starting Strength. I had […]
by jillian
I slept for eleven hours last night. My body needed that. I have stopped getting up at four in the morning to go swimming. My fear got the better of me. As well as the need for sleep. People often pay little attention to the rest their bodies require. When you’re pursuing physical fitness, it is as equally important to your health that you indulge in slumber, as it is to the foods you eat and the exercises you perform. […]
by jillian
We have a visitor coming in April and they will arrive right at the end of my twelve week cut. Perfect timing. I’ve already begun to daydream about the foods I will make during that week. I would like to make beef bourguignon. I’ll use the leftovers for pot pies. There are few foods as soul comforting as the two of those. I like to make individual sized pot pies. When you break through the buttery pie crust into the […]
by jillian
The addition of vanilla pulp to almost any recipe that calls for a heady dose of vanilla will not be a disappointment. I use these in just about every place that I want the true flavor of vanilla to shine through. I love seeing the little specks of seed in frostings and cakes. Plumped Vanilla Beans from Sarabeth’s Bakery 12 madagascar vanilla beans(I do this with 1/2 pound of vanilla beans) good quality rum Snip about 1/8th inch of one […]
Categories: Homemade, Recipes, Spice Mixtures, Vanilla, Vegan
by jillian
My swimming has become faster and I find myself really looking forward to the mornings I get up to run to the athletic club. Me. The person who is afraid of their own shadow goes running at four in the morning where shadows are their scariest. And there are times that I jump at a leaf blowing in front of me. There is a big reward for all of this and it’s the birds that I hear singing. It’s beautiful. […]
by jillian
Oh boy. I am worn out. I woke up at four o’clock this morning. Ran to the athletic club, swam for half an hour, and then ran home. A good wholesome hour of exercise. It was tough. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t over until I got home. My face is flushed from the exertion. BUT…I was far more efficient with my swimming than I was last week. I kept thinking how easy it was to run there. Well […]
by jillian
I want to visit Europe. I don’t know if that will happen in the next decade but I hope that it will in the decade following. That’s all I have to say about that. My mind is preoccupied with a job interview I had yesterday. I want this job. It would be a great opportunity for me. Fingers crossed. It’s a dark and wet morning here in Seattle. I rather like it when it’s dreary. It feels like the world is all […]
by jillian
I’m thinking about trading in running for swimming. At least until the weather is warmer and the daylight lasts longer. I haven’t been lap swimming in quite a few years. My friend Tara was visiting this past summer and convinced me to purchase a swimsuit. I hadn’t owned a swimsuit since I was a kid. Teenager, maybe? Back home I would just wear a tshirt and underwear. Or a spring dress. And if it was the middle of the night, […]
by jillian
Thank you to Kristina and Jon. You were head to head. I decided that you both are winners. Not of the book. But of life. Back to the book. Kristina is the lucky gal who will receive Vintage Cakes. And I have a participation present for Jon. See? Everyone IS a winner. The sun is shining right now. I wish I were out in it but there are pesky houses in the way of it’s warm rays. I will be […]
by jillian
I’ve been slowly, slowly, slowly acclimating to riding on my skateboard. Unfortunately it’s been mostly uphill(literally) and the sidewalks here were not laid with the skater in mind, fancy that. I will be taking it to the trail down the way and practicing there. Fearlessness recedes with age. Thankfully so. Well, I am a week into the health challenge. So far so good. I lost motivation the second day. It just vanished. So now I am relying on sheer discipline. […]
Categories: Cakes, Chocolate, Recipes • Tags: cake, chocolate, ganache, peanut butter, peanut butter frosting
by jillian
I bought a skateboard yesterday. Now I need to learn how to skateboard. Maybe it’s the abundant sunshine that we’ve been having, maybe it’s the insane amount of tea I’ve been drinking…either way, I have been a ball of energy the past couple of days. I’ve been creating new outlets for artistic endeavors. I have to tell ya, it’s like hitting the refresh button of life to try new things. I guess there’s already a saying for that. Spice and […]
Categories: Cookies, Recipes • Tags: bulk, cookies, cut, peanut butter, skateboard
