Bread

The Joy of Cooking :) I really do love to cook. It's like chemistry or wood-shop, putting things together, using heat, and hoping everything comes out alright.

I think the kitchen is quite possibly the most important room and heart of the home. We gather around it, chat, eat and live from the kitchen. I have very fond memories of hanging out with family around the kitchen island, chatting, cooking and being fascinated with how things are made. My mother never cooked, so this only happened at big family gatherings like Christmas or Thanksgiving, so we celebrated food along with time together.

I didn't actually start cooking myself until a friend of mine started showing me how to cook things from scratch. I'd watch in wonder how easy she made everything look and how awesome delicious her food was. She gave me The Joy of Cooking cookbook as a gift, and it's one of the best gifts I've ever had.

One of my favorite things to make is bread. It's not that hard, but it takes a long time to wait for the bread to rise before you bake it. I love the smell of baking bread and the work your hands do kneading it. Yes I knead with my hands and without a machine. It's actually rather therapeutic. Anyway it's been years since I've made bread from scratch, and I did so last weekend and it was a lot of fun.

There are a few kinks to work out in the recipe and the process, before I start making it for other people. My brain and hands are a bit rusty for cooking, and I'm still getting used to the gas burners and oven in our kitchen. But overall basically a success. I'd give my bread a passing C or B.

With my cooking, this is one of those things where the journey is much more important and interesting than the destination. I love to eat, of course, but making bread is just way more fun than just eating it. I hope one day I'll perfect some recipes, and possibly inspire someone to start cooking from scratch too.

Mis-Matched

Our condo has a few quirks that are worth sharing. Mainly mismatching that I find charming. I actually hate anything that matches too much. If husband and I accidentally wear the same colors, we will joke about it and then promptly change if possible. For the most part, I believe there's good in variety and it adds spice to life.

After we moved in, we noticed that with some doors, one doorknob is silver and the other one is gold. It's kinda cool and bizarre actually. Our kitchen cabinet knobs are also a variation of gold and silver. Reminds me of the Girl Scout rhyme "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold".



Not so cute mismatches - some of our bathroom tiles are old and some are new. The old ones are hidden behind the master bathroom, so we didn't notice it til we started cleaning.

We bought a lot of black furniture - barstools, bookcases and couch. A lot of our old furniture is brown. We have a brown dining table, and we got cheap black Ikea chairs with red cushions. We also have a black couch and brown coffee table. I actually love the mismatched look of it.

So overall, just a commentary on matching. Just because things are different, doesn't mean they don't match up :)

Unicorns

Candles

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha

Home

Home is a place we all must find, child. It's not just a place where you eat or sleep. Home is knowing. Knowing your mind, knowing your heart, knowing your courage. If we know ourselves, we're always home, anywhere.

Glinda the Good - The Wiz

Judy Garland Quote

Always be a first rate version of yourself, instead of second rate version of someone else.
- Judy Garland

Introduce Yourself

"Pick one room and make it yours. Go slowly through the house. Be polite, introduce yourself, so it can introduce itself to you." This is one of my favorite quotes from "Under the Tuscan Sun".

Lately, that's what it's been like with the condo. Been feeling overwhelmed with fixing up the entire place, even though it's such a small area. So take baby steps, small moves and slowly but surely the place will start to feel more like home.

Unfortunately, it's bringing me more stress than relaxation. I find it's not feeling homey or comforting, but rather, everything is not clean and nothing is in place. The walls are still bare white. The furniture is in but there are very few personal touches. We've been living under someone else's roof for so long, I think I've forgotten how to decorate a room or a place to make it your own.

The master bedroom, master bathroom and kitchen are the most settled in. Functionally it was very necessary to get these in shape very quickly. Spiritually, the place does not feel like home. I think this is the most disturbing. I'm still getting used to the noises, the quirks and they're not all cute or adorable. It's only been 2 weeks, but I've never taken this long to settle into a place. Perhaps it's time to really decorate, because it's the personal touches that make a place yours. Currently I feel like we're living in a model living room in Ikea.

So, it's not quite home yet, something's missing. I don't know what it is, but I hope it starts to feel more like home soon.