tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321939152011-06-07T23:41:10.927-07:00Bloom used to be about houses, moving, and gardening. Time passed, more moving ensued, and Bloom lost its purpose. <br> <br> The focus has turned to food, cooking, and what's blossoming in our kitchens.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00286018412536184928noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-2372786306503269012008-10-27T18:55:00.001-07:002008-10-27T19:07:37.422-07:00

So I developed this recipe from one that I made ages ago from the Simply Recipes site. Hers is a Chive and Goat Cheese scone, mine is more of a amalgamation of what I had in my house, but it was even better this time than the first time! There's a discussion on her site as to whether they are scones or biscuits, but I choose to label mine biscuits.These would be fantastic with a roasted red

A.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-10443195332922924132008-10-27T18:23:00.000-07:002008-10-27T18:53:43.399-07:00

So I've promised this recipe to about a zillion people.It's the best, best, best tortilla soup recipe ever. When I make it, Charlie and I slurp it up until our bellies bulge out and start to ache. And then we eat some more. I NEVER halve this recipe, because it will ALL disappear. It's even BETTER (if possible) as leftovers. I should note that this recipe is adapted from the Cook's Illustrated

A.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-81920778526595727002008-10-13T16:36:00.000-07:002008-10-13T16:43:45.067-07:00

Here are a couple favorite vegetable sides that Charlie and I love. Can't say I acquired them anywhere, these are of my own trial-and-error creation more than anything. These mushrooms are perennial fall favorites. SO flavorful. Just make sure everyone eats them, because they are garlic-riffic! Tasty mushrooms with garlic, thyme, and sherry 2-3 cups crimini mushrooms (the little brown

A.noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-58938711829134993632008-10-08T12:26:00.000-07:002008-10-08T12:37:25.547-07:00

I’ve had 6 lovely lamb chops living in my freezer for over 3 months now. They were a beautiful deep red with minimal fat. I’ve never cooked lamb before, so was thrilled when Ariel sent me this recipe from the New York Times food blog by Mark Bittman. Despite my inexperience with lamb, this was fast and easy. In the future, I would consider marinating the lamb night before so I could just come

D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00286018412536184928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-73899103411626409982008-10-06T11:20:00.000-07:002008-10-06T18:13:10.736-07:00

Since Ms. A mentioned this recipe below, I figured what better concoction to include for my first post!Hungarian Mushroom Soup4 cups crimini mushrooms (you can use whatever variety you would like, but I recommend mostly crimini. I've also wondered what throwing a few morels in would do...)1 large onion, chopped (enough for approx. 1-1.5 cups chopped)4 tsp paprika (I use more!)4 tsp dill (ditto)

Celeste &amp; Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17840678180240830980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-6286342001411958932008-10-02T16:39:00.000-07:002008-10-02T16:50:10.936-07:00

Here are a few that we've made recently and have been stunning.First, the infamous Chipotle brownies. Oh holy yum. They have heat, and kick, and lots of tasty.Thank you Smittenkitchen.http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/the-baked-brownie-spiced-up/Also from Smittenkitchen, a really knock-out recipe for Kefta Kebabs.These knocked my socks off. I know all of you don't eat meat, but you really should.

A.noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-70501701905557799522008-10-02T16:30:00.000-07:002008-10-02T16:38:59.930-07:00

I originally posted this over on portlandiaquill, and I'm pretty excited about it. It's the first recipe that I've wholly created on my own that I've put down into firm, scary type.We've made it twice now, and Charlie and I are so excited about it. After it's first spin as a main course one night for dinner, we tested it out on Devon when she came to visit last weekend, and it was fantastic then

A.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-11216410071480950202008-10-01T17:18:00.000-07:002008-10-01T17:26:07.162-07:00

I doubt anyone from the "outside world" is still reading along on this site, but, in case you are I suppose a little explanation is in order.As is referenced in the description bar, Bloom is undergoing a little bit of a tectonic shift. Don't let the earthquake fool you, though, it's going to be better than ever.I was recently talking with my lady friends Devon and Celeste, and we realize that we

A.noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-60199315442120076082007-05-25T13:15:00.000-07:002007-05-25T13:33:12.981-07:00

Until about 2 years ago, I viewed the beets as an artificially colored vegetable that comes out of a can and is usually cut with funny ridges to resemble a potato chip. Beets always looked appaulingly bright, like sweet and sour chicken. It wasn’t until eating the beet salad at Lucy’s Table, that I discovered how amazing beets really are. Inspired by this eye-opening eating experience, I

D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00286018412536184928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-62364247165891559772007-05-11T08:47:00.000-07:002007-05-11T08:56:04.490-07:00

Fridays, as a general rule, tend not to bite. I, however, like to bite things on Fridays. And those things include cookies. Allow me to take a moment away from Yardiness, to talk about something that has really blossomed in this house: our cooking. It seems that both D and I have greatly improved our skills in the last 8-9 months. It’s not that we needed a compass to negotiate the wilds

A.noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-26760476624265608762007-05-10T08:59:00.000-07:002007-05-10T15:11:42.789-07:00

Our house becomes welcoming as spring arrives. Sun lingers on the front porch and flowers appear from the dark corners of the yard. Pictured: the first rose growing along the perimeter of the yard, and iris growing near the car park. Also, beautiful columbine in a deep purple that Ariel planted near the front of the house. I feel like even the soil is more receptive to my ideas! (I do

D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00286018412536184928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-53832917343509113252007-05-09T13:49:00.001-07:002007-05-10T15:13:43.061-07:00

Dear bloomers, What a lovely thing warm temperatures and sunshine are after a winter of rain, coldness, and drear. This weekend the sun came out a little and it was warm. I basked on the slab in my jogging clothes for about an hour on Saturday. It was just lovely. There is nothing quite like the warming sensation of the sun radiating down on your legs and face. Our house’s radiant heating

A.noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-43573280030772506342007-05-03T11:32:00.000-07:002007-05-10T15:13:43.064-07:00

As some of you may know, I am a plant killer with a brown/desiccation thumb. This spring, I am attempting to change my nature and grow things instead of kill them. I’ve tried to overcome my deficiency by using intuition when dealing with plants, and apparently, my instincts are all wrong. For instance, I once had a woman for whom I was house sitting show me around her house and try to gently

D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00286018412536184928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-81716722655986920652007-05-01T11:09:00.000-07:002007-05-10T15:13:56.730-07:00

It’s amazing to me how much more I enjoy little Casa Bloom when the weather is nice. Obviously, we’ve been absent from this blog all winter, stewing and whining about our muddy, funny little house. In front of the house, the yard was a pit of mud, rotting walnut detritus, and the garbage that sketchy people threw over our fence when they were passing by. The back was a cold, slippery wet slab of

A.noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-1160083827900128532006-10-05T13:57:00.000-07:002007-05-10T15:13:43.066-07:00

Since D's schedule is too busy to accommodate things like the internet blog-o-sphere, she's e-mailed the pictures she took of the garden to me and I am going to write about them here instead. That way your gratification is a little closer to instant than it would be otherwise.I promise more recent pictures will follow soon. I'm working on getting my camera back from its vacation in Seattle, and

A.noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-1159574555744779702006-09-29T16:53:00.000-07:002007-05-10T15:13:43.066-07:00

New things are taking shape at the little house. I have to catch a bus in 10 minutes, so this will be short.An unexpected free Saturday allowed D and I to complete a significant amount of work. It was a most productive weekend.Things accomplished:-The previous renters arrived and cleaned their things out of the shed. The sketchy Whoopin' Shed is now 100% ours.-We made serious progress on the

A.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-1158966172937697992006-09-22T15:48:00.000-07:002007-05-10T15:13:56.731-07:00

Last weekend both D and I had our cars broken into at the new house. In the driveway. Within two days of one another. That stinks. As if the walnuts clattering down on the roof weren't enough to make a person a little jumpy, now we find that our driveway is no deterrant to a persistant member of Portland's thriving car break-in community. Loovely.Luckily, for each of us, nothing was stolen except

A.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-1156199971488135582006-08-21T15:36:00.000-07:002006-09-26T10:32:56.440-07:00

A. and I are slowly unpacking our new house. With each piece of cardboard that is cleared and each space crisis averted (how do we own so many books/shoes/blankets and other sentimental and not particularly valuable items?), the house begins to feel more familiar and comfortable.I read recently that moving out of your apartment is like breaking up with a significant other. Given the emotional

D.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-1155152596242931242006-08-09T12:24:00.000-07:002006-08-09T12:44:26.470-07:00

Well, tomorrow we start moving into the new place. Over the past week our lives have been a flurry of boxes, rags, and dusty sneezes. Our old place is (I'd say) 90% packed, and most of the remaining things are either necessities (forks, underwear) or the scurfy dandruff of doo-dads that life tends to accumulate. Mysterious kitchen implements. Take-out menus. Piles of ancient pens. Bottle caps

A.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-1154718583839373262006-08-04T12:02:00.000-07:002006-08-04T12:12:19.743-07:00

Move-in day is rapidly approaching on the 10th. We are frantically packing up our present dwelling, and brainstorming ideas for what to do with the new place. We've cajoled some strong friends into helping (with the offer of free pizza), and we've put down that darn deposit.So as far as the new place goes... first of all, we want to paint. We'll get some good before pictures up later, and some

A.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32193915.post-1154716080166469212006-08-04T11:23:00.000-07:002006-08-04T11:58:09.176-07:00

This is the first post of a new endeavor.As mentioned in the description, we were asked to move out of our lovely apartment in a fine part of town with short notice, and had to make the best of what we had available. The result? A funny old clap-trap house built in 1969. It's green, brown, and rather hideous.Spoiled by posh living, but broke and eager for a change (and a project) D and I (A),

A.noreply@blogger.com0