mom's ranch dressing

When your cookbook opens itself to the same page every time, you know it's a good recipe. My mom revised Simply Vegetarian in 1989, and this recipe comes from her book. This quick Ranch Dressing is delicious. Follow the recipe for dressing salads, or cut the buttermilk a bit for thicker dip.
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/2 c sour cream
1 c buttermilk
1 T chopped chives or scallions
1 T parsley
1/4 t cumin power
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
pinch cayenne
generous pinch each salt and pepper

Blend all ingredients in the blender. I suggest making this in advance to allow the flavors to develop. Keeps for days in the fridge.

granola

Teaching kids to cook is of the utmost importance to me, but it can be hard to let them help when you know it'll end up doubling to clean-up. Granola is a great project for little helpers. You can let them pour all measured ingredients into a large bowl, and stir. Alli and I made a batch this morning while the twins napped.


I like it best with yogurt and a little fruit.


Oh, that was good.

traffic jam

On our way to do laundry (again) and saw these 6 F Market trams all in a row. They take forever, but I absolutely love taking them when I go downtown.

drop everything

I could have cleaned the bathroom, paid some bills, dealt with the laundry, and run a couple of errands. But instead, Cristina suggested a picnic and I had to agree. We'd never been to Grand View Park (Moraga and 14th Ave) so we headed there. A few stairs later, we could fully appreciate the scene. It takes about 5 minutes to walk around the tip of the hill, and you get almost a 360 view. It was glorious!

errands

I'm used to getting looked at while I have the kids. But yesterday running errands on West Portal, we were gawked at more than usual. I guess it's because I had Grace in the Bjorn, and Emilie on my hip.

etsy finds

I started looking through my list of favorites to introduce you to some new shops and I realized that a certain side of me perhaps hasn't been highlighted on the blog yet. I can have an odd sense of humor, but I'm luckily not the only one. Here are a few kindred spirits.


Circus Bella premiers this weekend, and having lived with the trapeze artist for many years this is exciting news. So, Abigail, this one's for you. Letterpress card by papered together.


I can think of three people off the top of my head who would wear this shirt. No wait, make that four. Would you?

What's up?


I know this lady who starting raising chickens for her daughter's 4H, and in the last few years has started to become one of those weird chicken people. She swore it would never happen, and then one day while searching around in her chicken chat room, she realized it was too late.


These are the coolest things. Sculptures made from pencils. Jewelry is also available and conversation pieces for sure.


Armadillo. Enough said.


A little bit creepy, but nice too. Ivan and Lucy has a slew of oddities so if you're in the market, look no further.

the first 72

We've been talking about it for years, and on Saturday it finally happened. That's right, we finally put together our Emergency Preparedness Kit. And I suggest you do the same. For San Franciscans, a full list for the kit can be found at http://www.72hours.org/
A few additions that we made include boxed wine, a deck of cards and glow sticks. The project took a few hours, and cost a few hundred dollars, but if we ever need it, it'll be worth it. Stop procrastinating and get on it!

florist for a day

Natalie Bowen and I worked together years ago at Rose and Radish. She now owns her own company and occasionally calls me in for help with events. We catch up on news during the drive, and I get to be glad I'm not in charge of the events anymore. All in all it's a good time.


There's an art to packing the car. It looks haphazard, but everything has to be able to survive a sudden stop, and San Francisco hills.


The ferns were filled in later with orchids and delphinium.



Perhaps the best part is coming home with wastage.

etsy finds

Today's list is all about chairs. If you haven't put much thought into where you put your tush, it's time to really ponder it. And if you're like me and so many other etsy sellers, you've spent hours and dollars on this very important part of designing your home.



The Modern Design Deck Poster is actually what inspired this list. Illustrated by pleasebestill. I'd like to have several of the individuals prints and the poster hanging together somewhere.



Send a chair in the mail. Two lovely notesets by cricicis. $8.50 ea



Maria Janosko is an admitted chair freak, and her paintings clearly show that she has spent some serious time thinking about chairs. Both of these make me smile.



Jill Dryer was one of the first etsy shops that I clicked as a favorite. I love the juxtaposition of modern design and nature and her bold color choices.


Home is where the chair is. A lovely print by JennSki.


The title of this piece caught my eye. "Somewhere a desk is lonely" by ottok. It's strangely easy to imagine a desk and chair really missing one another.



It's never to early to introduce good style. The illustrations by Sarah Jane Studios are lovely for a nursery or playroom. And I love the idea of these famous chairs finally getting some recognition. $24 ea

full bloom

I sat under this tree for awhile today watching the petals fall like snow. I love trees in full bloom.

up to no good

Emilie got a hold of one of Alli's pictures today and apparently likes the taste of ink with crackers.

little city garden

We potted a few herbs and like it so much we put in a little garden. It's really little, but Alli can't wait to pick green beans and maybe even a cucumber.

Wildflowers from seed.


The garden.


Strawberries.


Sweet peas.

etsy finds

It was 80 degrees in San Francisco, which is unusually warm, and perfect as far as I am concerned. We took the babies for a stroll along Cortland, and ended up at Maggie Muds for ice cream. It's supposed to drop down to 63 by Tuesday, classic. And so here is part II of my ode to SF etsy list. If you haven't given it a try already, I highly suggest clicking "local" on etsy's homepage. It's how I found several of these artists, and fun to see what your neighbors are up to.



I'd love this letterpress print even if I didn't live here. Sarah and Ryan, the creative folks behind Lab Partners, have designed it to look vintage using pink, blue and coal. It'd look nice in our kitchen.



It's the color choices that really stand out to me on all of these cards by onemore. The yellow magnolias on grey, the intense red contrasting with white, and the just right shades of red, orange, green, blue and brown in the Thank You above. Matching envelopes is a nice touch as well.



I have actually featured lizardpress in the past, but I'm still loving so many of her letterpress prints. This one in a lovely shade of blue is a sign here in San Francisco, so of course it made the list. The envelopes above are an illustration from a photograph of a 1695 explorer's map taken from the San Francisco History Center in the Public Library. Printed onto recycled envelopes. I really love them.


The simplicity of these little necklaces by modflo is what gives them charm. Each one is unique, and darling.



Even though I'm a city girl now, there is a part of me that dreams about living in the middle of nowhere and growing all my own food, and making cheese to sell at the local market. Making yarn such as Serendip does temps me too. The process is beautifully described in each listing. Take a look before your next knitting project, there are lovely choices.


For those of you who are engaged, or thinking about getting engaged, please take a look at the gorgeous invitations by inkylivie. I like the contrast and repetition of this calla invitation a lot.