Smashed Chickpea Salad
One choice D and I have made this year is to try and cut back on our meat consumption. This means more mushrooms, more whole grains and hopefully, more beans and bean-like objects. I have a great aversion to the slightly gritty texture of beans though, so I'm searching hard to find ways to enjoy them. I like hummus, so that's one. And now I like this lemon-y, onion-y, olive-y salad. It's a great balance of crisp and soft and tangy and salty. I highly recommend it, especially on a piece of seeded whole grain toast. My next recipe to try? Crispy roasted chickpeas. Then maybe I'll move on to another member of the bean family!
Noro Clapotis Scarf
In November I ordered this single skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn in color s269 from WEBS. Inspired directly by this clapotis scarf. I don't normally go for pale neutrals like this but there is such amazing depth of color in this yarn. It's Noro, so it's a little "rustic" and there were two knots in the skein which didn't bother me. I managed to use all but 4" of this skein of yarn, something about which I am truly thrilled. And now, for a close up:
A wee yarn review. Yarn is thick and thin. I doubt I would use it for socks, but I love it for this scarf. I find it very soft to the touch, even around my face, but mileage will vary on that one! Like I said, there were 2 knots, 3 is acceptable per manufacturing standards and because of the neutral color palette there weren't any harsh jumps in the color sequence. Not very much vegetable matter in the skein either, although I've heard that can be an issue with Noro's yarns. All-in-all, I really enjoyed working with it, I would use it again for similar projects and I think it's worth the cost (MSRP $19.95)
Settling In
We're settling in here at the new house (In all my nerddom I've dubbed it Casa de Baya or "Berry House" for it's pale pink color on the outside.) Our move was both spur-of-the-moment and long-coming all in one. We tend to spend quite awhile debating big decisions and then move on them in one fell swoop. So far it's worked out pretty well for us.
The benefits of Casa de Baya are many. We're only attached to one neighbor and separated by a garage. We have a garage. And a washing machine and dryer. The kitchen is a huge upgrade. We can have a dining room table. We were able to pick paint colors. I have room for container gardening. The neighborhood is awesome. Mostly, we feel at home here. And that's the most important thing for us right now.
Eight Down
Twenty-three to go. Days that is. We had decided that we were aiming to move out of this apartment by February 28th. Except then we found the perfect place for us but we needed to snap it up immediately or risk losing it. So we're paying rent both places this month, giving us thirty-one days to get the new place ready and out of this one. We're both pretty exhausted right now but know it'll be worth it in the end. Especially when we can step outside our front door and see such lovely things as this:
Those are frost covered leaves of the sweet jasmine plant that grows on one of the two arches in the front yard. I cannot wait to see them blooming and lovely, even if it means a lot of painting and yardwork between now and then. (Speaking of which, painting an entire house in two weekends is quite possibly one of the least fun things I have ever signed on to do. Worth it in the end, but less than ideal during the process.)
Also, I've decided to document every day this year with a photo. You can see all of my photos here, at flickr.