January Mishmash

Monthly round up for your enjoyment!

Hello!

Since this is my first Mishmash, I thought I’d give a sampling of some things I intend to use this space for. I envision this as a centralized location for things that I have been enjoying lately, or that make me smile, or that I have been working on, or likely all of the above. I will include links as often as possible. Thank you for reading my ramblings, it’s fun to put this together. This is rather long, but I hope you enjoy! Here goes nothing!

Food!

• Marcella Hazan's Minestrone was the most delicious soup I made in January. This soup is amazing because it has NO SEASONING besides salt and pepper (not even garlic!) and it tastes insanely delicious from just the flavor of VEGETABLES! Though the recipe says to simmer it for 2 1/2 hours, I only simmered it for about an hour and then added double the beans (red beans from Rancho Gordo) to heat through, and it was perfect. I used veggie broth I had made in the instant pot, and added some mushroom powder that I use in all brothy things just for extra oomph, since the recipe calls for beef broth. I think any flavorful broth would be amazing. This recipe has potatoes, and I also made focaccia to have with it, so there is no pasta added, but of course you could add some pasta if you wish! Highly recommend making a big pot of Minestrone, and share it with people you love!

• Shout out to a very quick meal I love to make because it is so darn good but also so darn easy that I can throw it together without even thinking: Hummus with Summer Squash and Lamb (we make it with Impossible meat)! We use store bought hummus and sometimes I make a little tomato & cucumber salad on the side, but we always have it with some pita or naan bread. Few ingredients, minimal effort, and maximum flavor! I make this at least once a month. Please share with me your favorite low effort/maximum reward meals!!

• Highly recommend using a packet of taco seasoning for things other than ground meat tacos. For example, I roasted some cauliflower with a pack of taco seasoning because those seasoning packets are just nostalgic and delicious, and that cauliflower in a tortilla with some freshly cooked pintos was AMAZING. No shame in the kitchen shortcuts that make you happy, like premade sauces/spice blends/pie crust/etc.

• Squeaking in under the wire, this absolutely delightful bowl of comfort food that I made last night: Cheesy Potato Soup with Peppered Scallions. I added some chard to the scallions for some extra veg, and halfed it which made 3 generous bowlfuls.

• I also want to share about the delicious coffee I drink every morning from Reforma Roasters. I am not partial to any particular roast, they are all so good, and the coffee bags themselves are so gorgeous, I am hoarding them so I can frame some of them. I get a subscription of mixed roasts each month! I do know the owner, but I promise you this coffee is great and you should pick some up or sign up for a subscription!

Books!

Besides food, my second favorite thing is books. I loved these books and book-related things in January:

• https://bookshop.org/shop/michelleflook Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

  • Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a really fun read, and would be great to take on vacation near the ocean, since the characters in this book are all into surfing, and the water is just a big part of their lives. The story is not all fluffy though, there are a lot of issues and trauma flowing through these flawed and lovable characters, and the book had a very satisfying ending! I can’t wait to see this turned into a show for Hulu! (side note: I have read three of her books and loved them all!)

  • Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder was recommended by my sister-in-law, and it is one of the strangest books I have read in a while, but also so good and relatable and philosophical and I really enjoyed it.

• Book-related, as I did read the book years ago and loved it, if you haven’t watched Station Eleven on HBOmax yet, you really should! It’s so well done, I laughed, I cried, I was charmed and fully entranced, and I am so sad that it is over. The whole show is streaming now, and it won’t (and shouldn’t) come back for a second season.

Projects!

In January I finished sewing two quilts and started on a new one. I intend to do a lot more sewing in 2022!

• First up, I made this quilt for a friend who is pregnant with twins! Another friend is also making her a quilt, so two babies, and two very special quilts. I really love how this turned out. The pattern is from Plains and Pine. I see a lot of flaws, and learned a lot in making this quilt, as this is one of the more complex patterns I have attempted. Regardless, I love it, and want nothing more than for it to be well-loved for years to come.

  

• I also finished up this quilt that I am really obsessed with. I bought up a bunch of this fabric from an artist I love, Jenny K of Living Pattern, with no real plan in mind. I really wanted to showcase the prints, so I made large half-square triangles (HSTs for quilty folks) and arranged them in a way that looked good to me. Then I played around with my new sewing machine’s free motion quilting function on some of the white triangles, which was really a fun way to learn how to use that function! I love how it turned out, and it will live in Matthew’s office/studio, since the entire room is basically white, green, and black.

  

• I started cutting fabric to make a Puff Quilt, which is a quilt I have been wanting to make since I first saw this floating around Instagram. It’s going to take me a while but cutting fabric is the first step!

  

Miscellaneous!

• Went to see West Side Story and loved it! See it in the theater if you can! The actress who plays Maria is just perfection. My first thought was where did they find this Disney princess perfect girl!??! Turns out she is also cast in an upcoming live action Snow White! She’s really, really great, and the movie was wonderful.

• My birthday happened a few days ago! I am now 41, which is just crazy sounding to me, but age is basically meaningless in this time we are living in which time is also meaningless, right? I feel pretty good about myself these days, which I consider a win, regardless of the number. We celebrated with a few friends, and it was lovely.

• Wordle! This little daily game is so fun and clever. I love the little chart it creates each day to show your guesses without giving away the answer. I did so well the first week or so and now I get mad almost every day when I don’t get it right in the first few guesses. I have only failed once so far. Here are my stats for January!

  

Remi!

In closing, here is a photo of my best gal, Remi. She’s very cute, a bit anxious, super sweet, and sleeps a lot. I will close each missive with my favorite photo of her from the month.

Goodbye, until next month!

xoM