A Few Good Gems
/Happy Friday! It’s Memorial Day weekend, so yay to a work holiday! And boo to quarantine conditions (will this ever end and don’t answer that).
How’s the COVID life going for you? Houston is slowly coming back to life, but the dire predictions that hit me like a fire hose every time I open my browser have me feeling more uncertain than ever. We will be cooking at home, doing home church and playing it safe for quite some time.
The good news is that I’m finally getting into this whole work-from-home thing. While I still miss the free-wheeling banter of office life, I’m now enjoying slower mornings, Netflix at lunchtime and lots of quiet time. I’m making buckets of lemonade over here . . . from all of those 2020 lemons. Yikes.
In fact, I’m about to pour you a tall glass of lemonade in the form of a few good gems — little Internet notes of interest to fill your long quarantine days.
I love this painting titled “Dakota Woman” by Harvey Dunn. Quaranting makes thinking of homesteading (from my very-urban loft, I know). I’ve been baking bread, saving out ingredients for “special” dinners and generally making due. Honestly, I’ve never really gotten past Little House on the Prairie.
I just want to put this out into the universe: I acquired my sourdough starter pre-COVID. It was only like three weeks pre-COVID, BUT STILL. I gotta tell you — I love the process of making the bread just as much as I love the product. If you have any inclination to give sourdough a try, this is the recipe to start with. Don’t get scared off by the long list of steps. Each step takes less than five minutes. This video is super helpful to guide you through your first attempt. Not interested in so many steps? Make pancakes! Or crackers!
My sister gave me a subscription the The Atlantic for my birthday, and now I know absolutely for certain I want to write for The Atlantic when I grow up. It’s actually very difficult to pick just one article to share with you, but this one — about the patchwork way America is experiencing the pandemic is worth a thorough read. {Pro tip: The Atlantic has an awesome crossword puzzle that starts out super easy on Monday and increases in difficulty throughout the week. On Mondays? I’m a rockstar. On Fridays I’m barely literate.}
The New York Times is sharing their journalists’ personal lists of what they are doing to keep themselves engaged and entertained while quarantining. I’ts called Notes From Our Homes to Yours, and I’m here for it.
Do you guys remember the golden days of blogging? If so, you might also remember Door Sixteen. Anna Dorfman shared her renovations of a number of her homes in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Well, SHE’S BACK! She has moved to Santa Fe and is chronicling her new southwestern design adventures. Several parts of her kitchen redo are on my vision board. I adore her minimalist aesthetic.
I made these! online cookie class given by @arloscookies.
Many months ago I fell down the rabbit hole of cookie decorating via Instagram. Here are some of my favorite accounts:
Gosh, this got long. Kudos if you made it to the end! I’m gonna head out and gear up for a big weekend of organizing my closet and searching for a new Netflix binge — and I might throw in a few bike rides for good measure. Have a great weekend!
. . .
Watching: Survivor (There are 37 seasons on Hulu. Maybe we will have a vaccine before I finish them?)
Listening (Audible): Stephen King’s The Institute, Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur
Cooking: Bon Appetit’s One-Pot Gingery Chicken and Rice with Peanut Sauce
