AfricanKelli

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Finny,

Well, November came and left in a flash and I didn’t get a single project on our craft-along list completed. In all fairness… Nope. I don’t even have an excuse. You were busy writing more than 50,000 words with NaNoWriMo and smoking a turkey and what was I doing? I don’t really remember, but nothing that incredible.

So, let’s extend those three great projects through the month of December and promise to finish off the year with a bang of prizes, announcements for the new year and kudos to participants.

Sound good?

Love,

Donk

What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters to what lies within us.~~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The bags are packed,  car fueled, maps printed, mixed CDs burned,  snacks baked and July birthday cards posted. I’m heading off on a solo road trip for the next couple weeks. I plan to see family and friends, sleep under the stars, fly fish, take long hikes through the Rockies and Tetons, ride a horse or two, maybe kiss a cowboy or two and document each spirit-refreshing step with an adventurer’s wanderlust.

Be well, friends.

xoxo,

Kelli

In lieu of visiting Oregano’s this week for one of my very favorite thin crust pizzas and a glass of chianti, I played around with that pizza dough recipe one more time and came up with something worthy of repeating:

I figure I saved at least $40 by searching the pantry for ingredients instead of grabbing my car keys and the roommate for dinner. Plus, this is far from thin crust and therefore made dinner and lunch for two. It was considerably better than the crust I made Saturday. The only difference was the temperature of water I added to the dough. It calls for warm; the first batch’s water was too hot I’d guess. It was much harder to roll out and didn’t rise. This batch, on the other hand, was Goldilocks right. Then again, the roommate isn’t much of a food critic. He likes just about everything.

Sweet heavens, I never thought I’d be able to whip up a yummy pizza crust after work in time for dinner and make it something people would actually want to eat. Thank you again, Finny and my mama, for once upon a time being my domestic inspirations. Plus, there was that completely fulfilling feeling of using tomatoes, basil and rosemary we grew for our own dinner.

Earlier in the week, I made hummus that received a “This is better than that Pita Palace place!” review. It’s Pita Jungle, but who am I to correct with that kind of praise? Thank you kindly. I made my standard garlic hummus and then went a little sassy with black beans and a handful of cilantro for the other. This was like hummus salsa and was so, so good. With a bit of grilled chicken, whole wheat pita, spinach and a splash of Sriracha — dinner is served.

{Btw — Mark Bittman says Sriracha is one of his kitchen staples and I couldn’t agree more. If you like spicy, pick up a bottle. They carry it in the normal, generic grocery stores in Phoenix. Plus, it is so hot all you need is a drop or two.}

This was a good week to stay in and cook from what we had in the pantry. Why? Because I’d much rather spend the dough (dough! ha!) at the beach, where I am escaping this weekend to visit some of my most favorite friends in the world. And now, thanks to a bit of frugal domesticity, I’ve got the cash for wineries in Ojai, pedicures in LA and lots of fun spoiling sweet Roscoe in between.

Happy weekend, friends!

~K

Bowling wrapped this weekend, with our team some how taking the league championships. That’s right — I’ve got a bowling trophy on my desk. While the sheer joy of winning was worth attending, watching Rebecca bowl 9 months pregnant was truly oh-my-God entertaining. (Adam’s Big Lebowsky impersonation was a close second.)

~K

My mom used to tell my brother, “It’s time to get crackin’!” when we were dragging. I thought of her this weekend when making the breakfast for the masses.

Thankfully, Rebecca added several great suggestions, including bacon and fruit. She sent her husband over with two large bags of oranges and grapefruit and encouraged me to fry up some piggie to go along with the eggs.

Thankfully, I don’t have photos cooking the bacon. So, let me just paint you a brief, gruesome picture. Me, leaning over a skillet, watching these strips start to crackle and pop, telling the woman next to me, “I’ve never cooked this before!” when BAM! Bacon grease starts going bananas and I really regret wearing a v-neck t-shirt. The burns weren’t bad, but stung enough to strengthen my resolve that pork is disgusting. Ew.

That said, guess what they loved most? The bacon.

Breakfast for the masses:

48 eggs

2 packages of phyllo dough

1 container of half & half

2 cups grated cheese

2 bags of fruit

2 pounds of bacon

{Another woman from the church brought coffee, juice and toast.}

Total cost to feed 45? $32.  Giddyup.

~K