to italia

tomorrow one of my best friends embarks on his italian journey. he is attending one of the most prestigious grad schools in the US and will spend his first year in italy. here's a blog post toast to one of the better people in my world.

toast to good food, amazing friends, language and learning, new adventures, the romans, amazing wine, and i shall revisit good food...

and also a toast to skype and google voice thingy dingy that is coming out soon.

we will miss you stateside, but wish you all things magical and wonderful.

in the coming years

get a tattoo (and i did...this is it!)
i hope to:



visit greece,aka the motherland...



move closer to my workplace so i can use my cruiser bike to go to work daily...



start my graduate education...



become a swimmer again...



more fully establish becca's bitchin stitchen...

photocredits:{cupofjo, brittany'sspainblog, midwifery}

swimming pool

my friend shared this video with me. it is a pool scene from the simple and truthful show Parenthood. it's a show about how bizarre and dysfunction and important families really are whether it is the family we're born into or the family we make. water is important in my family and so this resonated. sit back and delight in this slippery snippet.

there is just something really profound about swimming.

jacaranda

the rain is pouring down on the frontrange this evening. i am eating rosemary bread and feta watching the rain fall. as you might have noticed i've been feeling nostalgic. today i'm reflecting on the jacaranda tree.

they were the first tree that i ever loved. they are a bright beauty beacon on the streets of los angeles. every year i waited for their two blooming seasons. it was my own version of autumn. jacaranda trees= becca's seasonal magic.



many a childhood daydream involved building a house in the branches of a jacaranda. as i grew older i found out that the jacaranda tree also represents international maternal health. in countries like brazil, australia, kenya, and new zealand small clinics plant jacaranda trees to celebrate women's health and successful births.

it's really a lovely tree. here's wishing you a breezy afternoon picnic under a violently violet blooming jacaranda.

buffalo by the sea

i'm stuffed full of bruschetta and laying on my couch thinking about my coming week. tomorrow morning i will wake up and get ready for work. i will make coffee and hopefully motivate enough to go visit my local florist and pick up some flowers for a co-worker. although i'm looking forward to my morning routine i can't help but wish i was waking up on catalina island, specifically on a cove called campus by the sea.


it is a magical place where my parents worked when i was a child. we spent most of our time living in inner-city los angeles, but every year i spent around two months on the desert island of catalina frolicking among the jacaranda trees. it's a place where after a day your skin tastes like salt and your hair is full of eucalyptus residue. it's an island where buffalo (yes buffalo) live and come down to the shore around dawn.


the cove is a faith based conference center. there was not much quiet time in my los angeles life since my home also served as a community center. at cbs i learned to be still. i was an explorer, a pirate, an artist...it was my magical place where all the noise, crime, and injustice my child eyes witnessed daily could be processed and released. it is the place i learned the meaning of micah 6:8. it is where i learned to meditate and pray and it is where i have come after great disappointments to practice release and forgiveness.


i have a vivid memory of waking up and looking outside my cabin to see a buffalo down by the water. it was dawn and i was in love with the sea, with the buffalo, with the island...

although i am grateful to have a job to go to tomorrow i can't help but wish that i was waking up to a buffalo by the sea.

garden bruschetta

Tonight i made a recipe for dinner very similar to the one posted last week. My garden is producing with shocking efficiency and I'm hard pressed to eat all these vegetables. If you are equally fortunate and find yourself with a silly amount of squash make this...it's worth eating. Feel free to vary the recipe. I'm a messy cook and encourage creativity when it comes to bruschetta. Bruschetta is not boring.

garden bruschetta
2 zucchini
1 yellow summer squash (or three yellow squash and no zucchini)
5 tomatoes (any color...the more varied the better)
3 small eggplants or 1 large eggplant
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese grated
1 whole sweet onion
Coat the bottom of the pan in an inch of olive oil
Half a loaf of french bread (I like to use rosemary french bread)
2 garlic cloves

Instructions:
Chop the onion into crescent moon slices
Slice the eggplant into skinny slices, sprinkle salt on them and set them aside
Slice the squash into thin quarter circles and set them aside
Heat up the olive oil in a cast iron skillet
Put the onions into the skillet and brown them at a high temperature
Turn the heat down and keep caramelizing the onions
Wipe the "sweat" off the eggplant slices
Turn the heat up and throw the eggplant slices into the skillet
Let them brown for a minute then turn the heat to a medium temperature
Add half a cup of water and cover the skillet with a lid (watch the eggplants and onions to make sure they don't burn)
While this is cooking, slice the tomatoes into small bits
Uncover the skillet and make sure the eggplant slices are cooked through. Add salt to taste and black pepper.
Add the squash to the mixture and cover it back up.
Chop up the fresh oregano and basil into small bits.
After letting the whole mess cook for about 5 minutes add the tomatoes and cook for 3-6 minutes.
Add some more salt. Add the herbs. Add the cheese. Put the stove on warm and let the veggies stew.
Take it off the oven and put it all in the fridge until it cools down.

Bread Instructions

When the veggies are chilled...
Slice the bread into thin slices
Dice the garlic and brown it in olive oil
Turn on the oven to 450 degrees
Once the garlic is browned use a cooking brush or spatula to spread the oil and garlic onto the bread.
Sprinkle some Parmesan on the bread.
Put her in the oven for 4-5 minutes until golden brown and delectable.

Put the cold veggies on the warm garlic toast and savor. Tastes great with red wine...

love you, hate you pancakes

tonight i'm having breakfast for dinner. it's one of my self comfort rituals. as i stand here in my kitchen brewing coffee, listening to bacon sizzle and thunder crash, and stirring pancake dough i am reflecting on my dysfunctional relationship with pancakes.

with me and pancakes it's a love/hate thing.

i love the way that pancake dough bubbles and sizzles as it hits the greased pan.

i hate the way that sometimes pancakes taste like the love child of stale sourdough bread and cardboard.

i love the way an amazing pancake doused in syrup can cure any bad mood.

i hate that 1 plate of pancakes = 1 new lovely lady lump on my rump

i love that pancakes seem to be like pie in their ability to unite a room of people no matter what the differences or conflicts within a group. if i ever become i diplomat i shall use pancakes...griddle and butter treaty of 2010.

i love that when i make pancakes my desire to own a small breakfast place is quenched enough so that i don't do something rash like quitting my job and attempting to open up a restaurant in my living room.

pancakes, i love you more than i hate you. what more could i ask for really?

*best pancakes in denver: here and here

Awesome Pancake Recipe:
* 3 cups Plus 2 Tablespoons Cake Flour
* ½ teaspoons Salt
* 3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
* 2 Tablespoons Sugar (brown or white, I prefer brown)
* 2 cups Milk
* 2 Eggs
* 3 teaspoons Vanilla
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/2 cup of walnuts
* 3-5 Tablespoons Butter
* More Butter
* Syrup


Mix together dry ingredients in large bowl.

Mix together milk, eggs, and vanilla in a separate bowl.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.

Melt butter and add it to the batter.

Cook on a greased skillet until golden brown.

Apply syrup. I will not judge you if you pour it on.

pancakes inspired by ree drummond's recipe...thank you lovely cook!