Busy. We’re all so busy. When I run into a friend I haven’t seen in some time I ask, “How are you?” the answer is usually something like “Good. Good. Busy, but good.”
How many times have you heard this? How many times have you said it? How do we work, have time for family, friends, exercise, putting dinner on the table? The “Busy, but good” you share with old friends can be “I’m overwhelmed, burnt out, tired… “ in conversations with your partner/therapist/sibling/confidant/mom/.
Meeting the demands of day to day responsibilities can be difficult. I’ve been at the burnout stage. Though I don’t have a magic cure, I will say that giving yourself a little break is so important. Here are my top five tips for getting over burnout and getting on with life.
1. Get Up
By that I mean, get up from what you’re working on and take a walk for at least 15 minutes, or stretch for 10 (preferably outside), or meditate (away from your desk), or dance your butt off to 3 killer songs. Just get up and give yourself a break. Do this twice a day, and you will soon notice that things get just a little bit better.
2. Get Out
Into nature. When I was having a hard time writing for this blog, I turned to the things that inspired me. I started getting out of town with the guy I love. Since we’re not rich, we usually just get out of … get the recipe
There are times when life seems to wind along at a Sunday driver’s pace and then there is now. It seems I was just pondering how on earth I could find yet one more way to cook a beet and now, I’m harvesting spring peas from my own little garden.
When things are moving quickly, I try to remember to savor the sweet little things. A meal at home with my husband (on the rare weekend we’re in town), a flower popping up in a field of urban fennel, a snuggle with my pup, days warm like summer, fits of giggles, and fresh fava beans, shelling peas, and garbanzos whose seasons are so short.
Last week when I returned home from an amazing trip to Healdsburg in California’s Wine Country (can’t wait to tell you all about it), and the first thing I did when I got home was head straight for my garden. Joshua had taken great care of it, and the mini-heatwave we’d had didn’t hurt either.
I was excited to see my purple kale bursting from its pot, and my newly planted spring wildflower seeds growing like… well wildflowers. I also saw a few little pea pods on my vines- one was even fat with peas. Thrilled as I was, I realized then, that I did not plant enough peas to do anything other than eat them straight out of the garden. A trip to my local co-op helped my “harvest” along beautifully and I returned … get the recipe
Swirling the tawny-colored, hazlenut-scented, 150 year old port in my glass, I looked at my friend Irvin and thought “This cannot be my life.” One long slow sip of the honeyed elixir, poured from one only six remaining bottles on earth, confirmed that I was indeed awake. I couldn’t have dreamed anything that fantastic. My next thought was that I’d better remember every second of my weekend at Pebble Beach Food and Wine, because it was surely a once in a lifetime experience.
Fast forward to April 2012 and I’m waking at a truly obscene hour for a Saturday. I don’t mind though, I’m off to hang out with some of my favorite bloggers and head to (you guessed it) Pebble Beach- courtesy of my friends at Driscoll’s Berries. This recipe, for simple baked goat cheese with raspberries, thyme, and walnuts is, in fact, inspired by our first stop on the trip: Driscoll’s organic raspberry farms, but more on that in a minute.
Those who know me, know I’m always up for an adventure. Almost any kind- except the kind where I’m going to get carsick. I adore road trips, but our bus driver was on some sort of trip himself. It’s true, I should have known better than to skip breakfast, and facing backwards to chat nonstop with Kamran, my East Coast Boy Blogger BFF (ECBBBFFF for those in the know) may not have been so wise. But about an hour into the trip I … get the recipe
This week of blogging about Cinco De Mayo recipes has been a blast – the writing is almost as fun as the cooking and eating. Almost. In case you’re still wondering what to cook, I’ve collected a list of 39 recipes from some of my favorite bloggers. You won’t find your average enchilada on this list. This is a collection of some of the most unusual and beautiful recipes I’ve found for Latin-influenced foods. Happy Cinco De Mayo.
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Sabrina
Last weekend, was one of the most joy-filled, sweet, beautiful, energetic, weekends I’ve had in a good long while. Thanks in no small part to Miss Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks who organized a trip to Redwood Hill Farm with friends old and new. I’m feeling full of life (and goat cheese). I won’t talk too much, just yet, about my trip to the farm or the ADORABLE baby goats because, well, it’s day three of Cinco De Mayo Week and we have recipes to get to, right?
So far, we’ve had Strawberry Rhubarb Salsa which was (of course) gluten free, vegan, and lactose free. Yesterday, we did DIY homemade lox with a Latin kick. I’m not exaggerating when I say they are the best lox ever and I’m never buying lox again unless it’s a lox emergency. I’ve been known to have those.
Today’s recipe is inspired by my weekend; it’s a smoked goat cheddar quesadilla with shitake mushrooms and wilted spinach with green garlic and cilantro crema. Here’s where the inspiration comes in: I fell in love with Redwood Hill Farm’s smoked goat cheddar. I have rarely loved a smoked cheese this much- I often find them unpleasantly chewy. Also I was inspired by my people, this is a dish that is vegetarian, gluten free, and lactose free, I also didn’t add any salt after a conversation with my new friend Jess of Sodium Girl (the cutest ever) about how spinach can be salty. Shauna of … get the recipe
It’s day two of Cinco De Mayo Week at The Tomato Tart and I’m really excited to share this recipe with you. In the words of my husband it is “SOOOO GOOD” and then when he took some to work, it was “extremely popular” and then just “gone”. I’m talking about Latin-spiced smoked salmon. It’s kind of like spicy fish candy- unless that sounds gross to you. Then it’s not like that at all.
Being a nice Jewish girl (eh, half), lox has been ubiquitous in my life, but I have never made my own. I’ve read, bookmarked, ogled, and pinned, countless recipes, but it wasn’t until a week ago that I finally decided to make it. When I got home, I realized I’d forgotten the dill. Unwilling to go back out, I looked at the giant bunch of cilantro sitting in the glass on my butcher block, and the wheels began to turn.
What if I made a Latin-Spiced Lox? Could it be delicious? Would my grandmother turn in her grave? Is that the silliest expression of all time? In true rebel fashion, I bucked tradition & reached for the cumin seeds, hot smoked paprika, paper lantern chilies (aye papi those are hot), sea salt, brown sugar, white sugar, and cilantro. Two days later Latin Spiced Homemade Lox were born. Thank goodness.
I cut some of the lox into chunks, put them on homemade chips with avocado and ate them like cured salmon tartar. This is a new … get the recipe
It’s Cinco De Mayo Week at The Tomato Tart, and I’m so excited to celebrate with friends and family and fantastic food like this strawberry rhubarb salsa. Cinco De Mayo or May 5th , is one of my favorite culinary holidays. Celebrated as Mexican Independence Day in the US, Cinco De Mayo is actually the date that the Mexicans beat the French in the battle of Puebla in 1882. If you’re questioning why a French girl loves this holiday so much, no need. Never question a French person’s passion for excellent food and a good party.
I’m also from California, so I’ve always been surrounded by friends and extended family of Mexican ethnicity. Which also means, I’ve been lucky enough to eat the food in authentic eateries and in the kitchens of talented home cooks for most of my life. Tacos, ceviche, sopa de tortilla, salsas, quesadillas, mariscos of every shape and size, soft and fluffy arroz, flan, cajeta, sopapillas, and pozole. I love Mexican and Latin food of every origin.
Another aspect of being from California means that I’m sensitive to my friends’ dietary restrictions and preferences. This week, I’ll be offering a menu of foods that you can prepare for Cinco de Mayo for everyone- whether gluten free, vegan, lactose-intolerant, pescatarian, or omni. We’ll start off with this vegan, gluten-free, strawberry-rhubarb salsa.
I love this fresh and perfectly seasonal spring salsa for a few reasons- not the least of which is … get the recipe
