Progressive Pioneer

The Friday Make and Do

Would somebody please make a healthier version of these cookies and share the recipe with me?  Chocolate + black sesame seeds + soy sauce(!)  It sounds amazing!

New Life for Old Frames

What did you think of the family portraits all in mismatched frames, painted the same color?  I thought it turned out pretty rad and I kind of want to do it all over my house now...  The kids and I picked out a bunch of random 5x7 frames at the thrift store for super cheap and gave them a second chance.  Here's how we did it:

Plant a Healing Children's Garden

Just saw the spring issue of Edible Wasatch at Whole Foods!  How gorgeous is this cover?!  I think I might need to make some hollandaise sauce for the asparagus in my fridge...  I've got an article in it about planting a healing children's garden and a nice recipe for a calming herbal tea.  Click through to see Clay's illustration; it's one of my favorites yet!

{3.27.12} In Our Home

These beauties seemed to have emerged overnight!  Sam and Clay planted them for me two years ago and we love watching for their bright faces each spring.

Family Portrait

Clay did a family portrait for some good friends of ours.  Instead of the regular portraits he usually does, this was an individual portrait of each family member.  Hung on the wall together it makes one cohesive family portrait with room to grow!  Click through to see some of the individual portraits up close.

The Friday Make and Do

Clay loves those hard little sesame candies.  These look even tastier and easy to make.  I might whip some up this weekend.  Apparently they're a Greek Easter treat, so if not this weekend, definitely for Easter!

A Beanie for Bean

We used to call Sam the Bambino, before he was even born.  Then Sam and Bambino became Sambino, which got shorted to Bino, and now just Bean.  And there are all sorts of fun variations of Bean: bean sprout, beanie boy, string bean...  Back when Sam was just a tiny bean sprout and newly born, he had to spend quite a lot of time in the NICU.  At some point one of the nurses put this little beanie on him.

{3.19.12} In Our Home

Why does it seem like the days are flying by like greased lighting?  Seriously, I feel like I could blink and tomorrow would be Friday!  So, before too much more time slips by, here are a few snapshots of our days, of what's happening in this home of ours.

Mock Salmon Pate Appetizers

You may have seen this picture from a Thanksgiving a year or two ago, but I haven't shared the recipe until now.  I love this pate (it's just veggies and nuts!).  Something savory, and light sounds SO good right about now...

The Friday Make and Do

When I was a kid we had a bird feed that fit right in the window (just like this one!).  It had one-way glass with a mirror on the bird side.  We would sit and eat our breakfast while the birds sat only a foot away eating theirs.  We never got tired of it.  Here's a tutorial for building something similar. 

I get so excited when the seasons change and new fruits and veggies start appearing in the markets.  One of my favorites is asparagus, as much for the taste as for the fact that it's a herald of spring.  This recipe looks delicious!

Are you itching to get in the garden?  Clay just planted some peas and greens last weekend; I can't wait for them to come up!  And I love these little seed pots.

We're kind of addicted to roasted seaweed around here, but I feel so bad about all the packaging.  I thought I might try to make it myself...

I expect we'll spend a large part of the weekend out of doors (maybe with a little inspiration from this book!); how about you?  Here's to a peaceful and leisurely weekend enjoying this blissful weather!

Three Warm Weather Books Reviewed

These sunny days have gotten me SO excited to be outside on a regular basis.  Isn't it amazing how a little sunlight and fresh air can lift your spirits?  I love the way the kids' hair smells after they've been playing outside, like sunshine and grass and leaves.  I checked out a few books at the library about things to do with your kids outside.  Of course, just being outside is usually enough.  Kids will find plenty to do.  But, I thought it would be nice for me to have some activities in mind to inspire ME to get out the door and into the green.  Particularly because we live in an urban area I sometimes feel less than inspired to get outside, but after perusing these books I've got a whole list of fun ideas.  The last book is my favorite:)

The Friday Make and Do

This coconut crust, chocolate cream pie sounds awesome, and it only has four ingredients!  If I make it I think I'll swap the sweetened coconut out for regular coconut and just sweeten it myself with a little honey or maple syrup.  The sweetened stuff has freaky ingredients. 

Art and Memories

I love photographs.  But there's something about an artist's rendering of a person or place that elevates it, that embues the memory with more meaning.  You may have read on my blog about my biological mom who passed away when I was small, I've written about her a couple times.  I feel lucky that she was an artist and a copious letter and journal writer.  I have a box full of her words and pictures that have helped me get to know her, even after she was gone. 

Because she had quite a few artist friends I even have pictures drawn and painted of her.  I love seeing how other people saw her; it gives me a more complete picture of who she was.  My favorites are the pictures she drew of me when I was small. 

House Party

When I was young, maybe 13 or so, my parents hired a Russian folk group to come perform at our Christmas party.  It is such a bright, vivid memory for me.  The music was wonderful, there was delicious food, the house was filled with dancing and laughing.  I thought it was the coolest, most magical night.  And, of course, while in college I attended plenty of house concerts.  There's just something great about being right there in the same room with a musician.  It's intimate, personal, you get a different feel for them and their music than you do when you go to a concert.  For our women's group at church, I'm in charge of organizing activities.  So, despite the fact that some of our members are pushing 90, I decided that a house concert was in order...

Blogging Connections

Sometimes I like scrolling through the list of traffic that come to my blog to see where it's coming from.  Often I visit blogs that link to mine and enjoy "meeting" new people and learning new things.  One of my favorite blogs I've come across is called Itto's Living Faith.  I find her life beautiful and fascinating and even though we live more than 5,000 miles away from each other I'm sure that if the distance were shorter we'd be friends!  Isn't that one of the wonderful things about blogs, feeling connected to people who think like you, despite distances?  Feeling more alike than different?  If I ever get the chance to visit Morrocco, I hope we'll meet up for tea and become friends in real life!

You should check out her blog; I think you'll love it too:)  Do you have any friends you've met through blogging?  Or blogger friends you wish you could meet in person?

PS Abi is another blogging friend I wish lived right next door:) Oh, and Megan!  Don't get me started, this list could get long...

Fig Cake

This is a yummy recipe for when you want something satisfying, sweet, but healthy enough that you can say yes when the kids ask if they can have it for breakfast.  I totally hijacked a Williams Sonoma recipe; do you do this too?  I see so many recipes that look so delicious if only...  and then there's a whole list of things I want to change and by the time I'm done it's a totally different beast.  Granted, a much more delicious one, in my opinion.  

The Friday Make and Do

I'm currently in a no shampoo phase, but when I am using some sort of soap on my hair, I love this old-fashioned shampoo bar.  This recipe for a homemade shampoo bar looks fantastic and I'm almost tempted to switch back to shampoo just so I can try it...