Comforts of Home

What comes to mind when you think of the comforts of home? 

For some, it may be memories from childhood that they think of first.  For others, it may be what they most look forward to when they walk in their front door after a long day of work. 

For me, the comforts of home are a meal made from scratch (and the scent that floods from the kitchen), old music playing, fuzzy socks, a fireplace roaring, and sometimes a glass of wine or a mug of something warm to drink.  A candle burning.  Family photos on the wall.  A game of monopoly.  Opening a jar of home canned cherries from summer.  That big blanket I’ve had for decades. 

But even more, the comforts of home are not things.  They're the people we share that home with.  Laughing, dancing, playing, talking.  What defines “home” for you may be less about the four walls that surround you or the stuff you fill them with.  It doesn’t have to be about the money in your bank account or the newest and best of everything.  These comforts are not complicated, but rather, they tend to be the simplest things.

When I think of the home I want, I picture the atmosphere I hope to have.  One of functionality, yes, but more so of contentment.  A home that is inviting and cozy.  One that is always a pleasure to visit…not because of what is in it, but who is in it and how it makes you feel.  A home filled with laughter, love, and simple comforts that cannot be purchased from a store.  Comforts that take time to build and nourish, but that build you up and nourish you in return, right down in your soul.

On that note, I am announcing that we are moving!  We have been blessed in so many ways to be able to buy a home of our own.  It will be a bit of a downsize from our current 1200 square foot rental that we have loved so much over the past two and a half years, and we are so excited for that challenge.  So many memories built in this lovely space, and so many more to build in the next lovely space.  I am very grateful for these upcoming changes, and even more grateful for who I get to share them with.  

I will be sharing more details in the near future, but as for now, I will be taking a couple weeks off to focus on moving and unpacking our new house.  Thank you for reading.

            

Stale Bread

Do you ever wonder what to do with stale bread?  Or bread that comes out of the freezer and sounds like a brick when it hits the counter, even after it thaws?  If you are like me and prefer to make your own bread, you know that it is really only great that first night and maybe the second day.  But who eats a whole loaf in twelve hours?  Ok, maybe we have done that once or twice, but certainly not every time.  Here are my suggestions for bread that is less-than-fresh:

Egg in a basket.  This is my favorite (and my daughter’s favorite) thing to make with day old homemade bread.  Cut thick slices, butter each side (Earth Balance for dairy-free peeps), and use a round (or other fun-shaped) cookie cutter to cut out the center of the bread.  Place the bread, both pieces, into a frying pan on medium heat.  Crack an egg into the cut-out part (the one with the crust) and cook the egg, flipping once, to your preferred texture.  By the time the egg is cooked, your surrounding bread and the cutout piece should be a nice golden brown.  

The second thing to do with stale bread is to tear it all up into crouton-sized pieces and fry it in a pan over medium heat in a generous amount of olive oil and salt until golden brown.  Best.  Croutons.  Ever.  And so simple!  Top salads, soups, or just eat as a snack- these babies will last a week in an airtight container, unless you eat them all first. I particularly like making them in a scallion infused olive oil, but plain or other infusions would be great too. 

If you don't want to make croutons before your bread seems unusable, toss it into a blender or food processor and make homemade breadcrumbs.  Store these in the freezer until needed in your recipe.  

And if the bread has no hope in transforming to something edible in your kitchen, you can always take a trip to a park and feed the birds.  Just make sure it isn’t moldy.  

I hope these ideas are helpful the next time you think your bread has seen its day.  Thanks for reading!

Overhaul

Whew- Friday blew by me this week and it wasn’t until this morning that I realized I forgot to post a blog entry.  However, it may have actually been good timing since I spent this evening working on something a little unconventional for the capsule wardrobe world: a mid-season overhaul.  I decided that the Spring capsule that I have been wearing since March 20th was much too scattered.  In trying to plan for the unpredictable weather we have throughout the season, I ended up with a few of each type of clothing (pants, tees, sweaters, etc) and no real depth or personal style in my outfits.  Having too few of each item made for wearing the same few outfits over and over again in a week if the weather stayed at a constant temperature. For example, I had one pair of jeans and a few tees.  If it was cool weather, I would end up wearing the same jeans and tees over and over again, while the other thirty pieces in my closet sat untouched. 

One of my favorite capsule wardrobe bloggers suggests that when you get in a bit of a wardrobe rut, sometimes it is better to take things away rather than to add things.  So that’s what I did- I switched out some of the tops and skirts for dresses, and removed items that I had not touched in the past 6 weeks.  I ended up going from 40 items down to 32 items- a 20% decrease that I am happy about.   

You may be wondering why I chose to swap out some items for dresses, and my reasoning is that I believe dresses to be very versatile.  A little bit of layering, like leggings and a sweater or jacket, and they are a great cool-weather option.  But by themselves, they are also a complete outfit.  A complete outfit, and it only occupies one of my 32 spaces?  Awesome.  When I think about my long term goals for my capsule wardrobes, I really see a handful of nice quality dresses, a few layering pieces like cardigans, leggings, and a jacket, and a pair of jeans with a few tops, all of which I hope will total under 16-18 pieces per season.  I feel like this little revamp will allow me to experiment to see if that is a feasible goal for my current lifestyle.  I really love how Jennifer over at the Daily Connoisseur Blog structured her 10-item Spring wardrobe; eight out of her ten core pieces were dresses.  I would LOVE to have a ten item wardrobe…I hope to get there someday.  

Have any of you started your capsule for a season and had to give it a makeover before the season was over?  I’d would love to hear what you did.  I hope you all have a great week, and thank you for reading!