a rare sight

i've missed you rain.....

Winter Goodness

we have one orange, one avocado, one tangerine and two meyer lemon trees.  they are LOADED with fruit right now.  i'm not complaining in any way shape or form but i need recipes to use all this fruit!  we've been giving it away to our friends and family and eating/drinking it almost every day at our own house.  so as you can imagine, i'm always on the hunt for new orange/lemon recipes to try.

coincidently, my friend erin emailed me the other day from the bay area, sharing a WONDERFUL recipe she tweaked from Gourmet magazine.  it's too good, easy, cheap and healthy to keep to ourselves. it also has lentils which i love....so here it is:



Rice and Lentil Spinach Salad with Oranges and Dried Cherries

yield: Makes 6 servings

active time: 20 min

total time: 35 min

1 package Trader Joe's Ready to Eat Lentils

1 package Trader Joe's Frozen Rice Medley (Brown Rice, Red Rice, Black Barley)

1/4 cup finely chopped shallot (about 1 large shallot)

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar (i used apple cider vinegar since it's what i had on hand)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 oranges

1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped (i left mine whole.  i also used golden raisins the first time i made it since that's all i had)

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 large handfuls organic spinach 

put one package of rice (three come in a box) in a pan and heat over medium heat until totally defrosted.  you can also put a package in the refrigerator earlier in the day to defrost and skip this step.  

when the lentils come out of the packaging, they need some breaking up.  do this in a large bowl.  add rice.  

Stir together shallot, vinegar, and lemon juice and let stand. Finely grate zest from 1 orange and cut away remaining peel and pith of both. Cut sections free from membranes and cut sections into 1/2-inch pieces. Toss warm rice with lentils, shallot mixture, orange, zest, cherries, oil, and spinach and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

see how easy that was?  and just wait until you taste it.  DELICIOUS!

desert dreaming

our "room" @ hicksville, Joshua Tree

the weight

❤❤❤

today's craigslist scores:

getting my sand on today to bring this baby back to life. (big round, white marble slab-top not pictured)

and THIS just makes my heart flutter.  hot, hot barcelona day bed in PERFECT condition with the softest leather ever....i don't want to tell you how much i paid.  it's illegal it was so cheap.  more photos to come on both

day at the museum

my husband had the day off from teaching for the MLK holiday.  we've been wanting to go to the California Design, 1930-1965: "Living a Modern Way" exhibit ever since it arrived at the LACMA.  we discovered last night, every holiday, target pays for the general public to go to the museum for FREE...all day.  so cool! ta-dao, we had a sweet date planned.

my mom also knew we wanted to go to this exhibit, so for christmas, she gave us $$ for tickets and lunch/dinner.  the gift of an experience is far superior to a "thing" you soon forget about.  i highly recommend this route for anyone.

here are my highlights from our day and what i savored most, enjoy!

spine chair

mini shell chair

milo b. coffe table/planter

rattan seat for 2

doggie bag

dreamy avanti by studebaker 

another weekend

:::make it a good one:::

lb swapmeet

my swapmeet score: turkish kilim pillow

post swapmeet victory meal @ don chentes, best carnitas burrito in our hood

MIA for a bit...

so much has gone on lately....
we lost our baby almost 7 months in utero.
we moved out of our old apartment, and into a lovely new house.
we ended a year full of very high highs and very low lows.
2012.
we are so optimistic about this new chapter in our lives.  lots of change on the horizon and i can't wait to see what's in store for the year ahead.

starting to put the living room together...with the help of lola of course

backyard avocado tree

backyard tangerine/meyer lemon trees

coconut curry red lentil soup. YUM

nye 2012 @ our new house

i hope this year brings us all health, wealth and happiness....and lots of good food and friends in between. 

xo

:::RIP Felix:::

nature's modern art

i think these pyrite cubes are so visually interesting and beautiful.  it makes sense why we gain inspiration in design from our natural surroundings.