Thanksgiving place cards

Looking for a fast and easy addition to your Thanksgiving table? These wine cork place cards are just that. Quick, easy and super cute.

I got the idea last year from the amazing site, Almost Makes Perfect. Check out the great project here: 

http://www.almostmakesperfect.com/2012/11/13/diy-turkey-feather-place-cards/.

I followed her steps almost exactly except I used colored paper that I already had to skip the step of coloring them in, although I love the kind of watercolor effect she has with hers.

Happy early Thanksgiving everyone!

favorite falafels with tahini dressing

Let’s see if we can breathe some life back into this old blog! Why not start with one of my all-time favorite recipes: Falafel. I have a pile of these in my freezer at all times. Two pan-fried falafels over a hefty bed of lettuce make for a filling, protein-filled vegetarian meal.

There are a million falafel recipes out there, but what I wanted out of mine was a very fresh, green interior to mirror some miniature falafels I had in NYC many years ago. After playing around with a few recipes, I landed on these. Fresh green herby interiors, a punch of salt, with a hint of cumin and kick of red pepper.

"Postscript" by Seamus Heaney

You are neither here nor there,
A hurry through which known and strange things pass
As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways
And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.


excerpt from "Postscript" by Seamus Heaney


[In honor of the recent passing of Seamus Heaney, a poet I closely studied in college, whose words still leave the same wake. A great friend passed this particular poem on to me, explaining that it was written about a place close to Kinvara, where I visited last summer.]

Seamus Heaney, 1939-2013

[photo - Kinvara, Ireland as seen from the top of Dunguaire Castle]

A birthday cake for 90 years (and a kitchen full of old and new)

My grandfather turned 90. A feat more incredible because of everything he has gone through--both mentally and physically. He lived during the depression years and worked hard as a young boy. He was drafted into the army during WWII with reconnaissance forces, regularly crossing into enemy territory. He was captured by the Germans on Christmas day in 1944 and remained there for four months until the camp was liberated by the Russians, just in time to save his frozen and starving body. In spite of all this, he's never lost his smile or his joy. And he passes that on to everyone he meets.