readers. i promise i haven’t neglected this blog for eternity. i was completely incapacitated this week, trying to balance my work here and here. unfortunately, my personal life hasn’t given me much of break either. i hope to be back next monday with the energy to share some inspiring things… until then, have a lovely weekend.

image via the lovely erin

My wish list goes something like this:…Great British Food for its delightfully witty writing and quirky design …Olives and Oranges for delicious vegetarian meals…Coco for the star-studded line up of chefs and outrageously trendy recipes…i love macarons so i can learn how to make my own. i’m afraid i will be a little crabby once Lucia’s doesn’t offer them daily!

i’m a little embarrassed to say that i haven’t cooked much from my newest cookbook; a beautiful copy of i know how to cook that i received from my little sister for christmas. i did however piece together my very own mac & cheese recipe using their bechamel sauce! i am sure i will get more use out of it once our csa deliveries start in a month. we’re also courting with the idea of using this butcher after we get two incomes rolling through the door. it’s a possibility that we could be eating 99% local this summer! if anyone has a favorite recipe from i know how to cook let me know. i think the sheer size of the book is intimidating to me.

(some extra spreads from Great British Food below)

i’ve got *a lot* on my plate these next few days, so i’ll be taking a bit of a break from blogging for the rest of the week. i’ll be back on monday refreshed, organized and full of exciting new things! see you on the flip side… K

(lanvin flats. love.)

i am living with a man who is finishing his last few months of graduate school. many of you know what this means: odd hours-late nights-papers-conferences-thesis-anxiety-driven months. nick has always coped remarkably well. but as level-headed and calm as he is, the words “there’s just not enough time in the day…” have been uttered in a slight panic more than once. so i’m doing my best to bring some bright spots to his long days. i baked these triple ginger cookies yesterday, because let me tell you, the man loves cookies. last time i baked cookies, he put them in his morning cereal…which i’d highly recommend. anyway, i’ve been meaning to make these triple ginger cookies for the past year and boy were they worth the wait! these bite-sized babies explode into a sweet, spicy dance party in your mouth. you must try them.

then i went a little over board. it may have been the intense 365 day cooking marathon Julie Powell accomplished (I finally saw Julie & Julie last week!) but i was in the mood to cook (alotta food) this weekend.  saturday was spent on a velvety leek and potato soup by nigel slater*, that we devoured for dinner along side grilled cheese sandwiches. save your parmesan rinds people, they work their magic in soups.  sunday morning i made  roasted tomato basil soup that we will eat for lunch this week. Later that afternoon was spent working on dinner, meatballs with peas, served over fluffy mashed potatoes. best. idea. ever.  it may not be the most attractive dish you’ve pulled out the oven, but it’s full of quirky fun surprises. if you’ve never tried putting golden raisins in your meatballs before, you must. unexpected, bright and juicy.

we’ve got a fridge filled with homemade ready-to-eat meals this week, which makes my busy man very very happy. tonight, i tackle a big patch of giant chipotle bean casserole, an old favorite which will freeze nicely for the next few (crazy) months.

photo (1) by yours truly, photo (2) here.

*i’m loving niegl’s book the kitchen diaries, practical and thoughtful recipes.

nick introduced me to an iphone app called GoodGuide a few months ago. it provides information on the health, environmental and social impacts of the products you buy on a regular basis. we use this app fairly often, mostly to compare our normal purchases with alternatives that would be better for ourselves and the environment. nick recently caught an interview with the co-founder on Minnesota Public Radio that gave an interesting look at the company.

one of the reasons he started the GoodGuide was because he discovered a main active ingredient in his daughter’s sunscreen is a suspected photo-catalytic carcinogen.  basically, when the product is exposed to sunlight it becomes carcinogenic.  he was shocked to find this, especially because it is a banned substance in many countries but not in the U.S.

he hopes that GoodGuide will give consumers the power to know, as transparently as possible, what is in the products they consume.

Listen to the MPR article here. Check out the website here and the iPhone app here.