Happy Halloween and Harvest Table

So many of you have been dressing up, going to parties, and/or taking the kids trick or treating. I love seeing all the photos and videos. Keep them coming!  I especially love seeing what each of the kids chose for a costume - it's such a hilarious and insightful glimpse into their little souls.

I came home feeling so inspired after the Manger workshop that I promptly went out and bought too much squash for one person and piled it all on the dining table. And then I moved the veggies from the back counter to the dining table as well, and it's a big ol' food party all the time.   

Seeing this produce bounty brings me joy in such a simple and visceral way.  Perhaps it's because I'm so drawn to well-sourced whole food, or because I feel so strongly about it, or that it reminds me of the cooking possibilities that lie ahead, or just because it's kinda pretty in a rustic way.  Whatever the combinations of reasons, I freaking love it.

Over the last week and a half, I've been making my way through the pile in the most delicious ways I can imagine: garlicky breakfast potatoes using homegrown rose fingerlings and duck fat that I rendered a few days prior, Kuri gnocchi with a brown butter and sage sauce, a variety of roasted root vegetables (some from my own garden) drizzled with homemade vinaigrette, chicken puttanesca using the last of my summer tomatoes, and of course lots of pumpkin soup.

This is what makes me happy.  So this is what I'm filling my dining table and time with this Autumn.

What about you?

illustration by Keith Ward for MotherEarthNews

Lately: Working after vacation

Coming back to work after my 2 week break was a bit of a mixed bag.  The trip allowed me to clear my head as I disconnected from the stressors of my daily life (about 90% work).  It took about a week(ish) for the fog of work to really fade away but afterwards I felt like I could see myself, Steven, and our life together with such clarity and appreciation.

Fog/shower steam, same diff

And simultaneously, the togetherness and the vacation itself filled me with all the things I adore.  It felt like my head and my heart were emptied of everything that weighed on me, and filled it with everything that lifts me up.  It was incredible.  

And then I came back full of optimism and at peace with my new-found clarity.  I went to work curious about the changes to the work itself, but still feeling the soothe of vacation.  

Monday morning

But when I said I cleared my mind, apparently I *really* did it.  I put all the details about my job on a rusty shelf in a back corner of my brain and then locked it a windowless room...and then ditched the keys in some other, known part of my brain.  

And as I reacquainted myself the old stressors showed up again, too.  But I tried to hold on to every last ounce of vacation sanity and I kept reminding myself of what's really important.  

"This is not important.  This is not important."

But that's a funny process because it involves some weird combination of me trying to stay Zen while trying to relearn everything at a dizzying pace.  And of course, my familiar malady of trying too hard to be good at things (even the ones I don't want) haunts me still.  So depending on exactly where I am in that journey, my inner dialogue is pretty varied.

When my people-pleasing, goody-two-shoes, habitual self clouds my judgment:

When I realize it:

And also realize this is the pace of my work-life:

But try to remember "This is not important"

When I achieve mental clarity mid-workday and see through all the shenanigans (and my complicit role in them)

For this weekend, my Sunday mantra:

Travel: France in Fall - sneak peek

I'm savoring every last memory, new friend, and photo from this trip. When I came back my heart was so full and my head so grounded and I really want to hold on to that for as long as possible. So I've been reminding myself of the goodness I felt every day since coming back.

One of those good things was being forced - partly by the lack of cellular, partly/gently by Sven - to unplug entirely from work and random web distractions. I still took a few snaps and shared a couple things online during the trip, but it was fairly sporadic. If you follow my Snap (heathmo.grizz) or IG (@oohheather) you may have noticed the sound of crickets. In the moments it was a combination of being too interested in the activity or company to bother, and during the lulls I was intentionally trying to break my habitual and half-hearted phone patterns. I'm trying to be more fully present in my real life by doing more outside of work, giving people and pursuits my full attention, and taking fewer meaningless photos (it just becomes mind clutter). Sometimes that means I end up not sharing anything at all (ahem, silent blog), and sometimes it means I'm sharing long after the time has passed. But in the constant struggle to re-prioritize and re-time my life, it's helping me.

But anyway, here's a smattering of photos for a sneak peek.  They're not the best photos - some are blurry and I haven't really edited them.  But I'm less concerned about that than I used to be.  The moment is shared because it was lovely and I cherished it.  And that can be enough.

Our Airbnb for the first week - a charming house in the middle of all the vineyards (and fog).

So much goodness.  And blurry, but whatev.

In Paris I couldn't resist getting a variety from the markets.  We ate it just like this - picking at it with our fingers from a towel spread on our hotel bed.  It was marvelous.  Clockwise from top - figs, semi-dried tomatoes, butter (is life), tinned octopus, bresaola (air-dried, salted beef), baguette, magret de canard (smoked Moulard duck), grapes.

Our last dinner of the trip.  Clockwise from top - foie gras, roasted peppers, chorizo, herbed goat cheese, roasted & herbed mushrooms, large shrimp (eaten peeled), small brown shrimp (eaten whole), whelks (boiled in broth and eaten by plucking meat out of the shell). Not pictured - baguette and wine!

Photo taken by our new friend Liz.  Check her out on IG @lizzylinder

Booked: Southern France

Tonight is Sven's last night in Seattle(ish) after spending 2 weeks here with Phoebe and I.  Needless to say, we've all got the feels.

But it's a little easier knowing we'll be together again next month -- in France!

We booked a 3-day cooking class/wine trip near Bordeaux last summer (which feels like a lifetime ago) and I've been anxiously awaiting its arrival.  We had no idea when we booked that we'd be living oceans apart, and the timing is kind of horrendous for work, but whatever.  I'm excited and I can't wait to cook and eat all the delicious food, drink all the wine, see the chateaus, and stumble through French words with hopeless pronunciation -- all with Steven.

Travel: Croatia - Plitvice Lakes

I've been dreaming about visiting Plitvice Lakes for 20+ years and when we went to Croatia in May I basically designed our entire trip so we could start there.  Aaaaand then I came down with a stomach bug for the first 3 days of our trip.  So we skipped about half of the park because I just couldn't deal (which turned out to be fine since half of it was closed due to flooding anyway).

Brought a packed lunch (bread, meats, and cheese) and enjoyed it on these big elevated platforms

The walkways were built to preserve the park - you can see everything without actually touching it

One of the hundreds of mini falls.

Even though we didn't see everything, it was still beautiful and I'm really pleased that we went.  Looking through my photos, I realize I was so busy ohhh-ing and ahhhh-ing that most of my memories are mental snapshots instead of digital ones.  And while that may not be very exciting for the blog, I think it's a good thing for me. ;)

Maybe one day we'll go back to see (and maybe even photograph) the rest of it...

Travel: A Day in Belgrade, Serbia

Last month, we had a long (enough) layover on in Belgrade, Serbia to venture out into the city.  We only had 6-7 hours, but it was just enough time to walk around and eat a bunch of stuff.  So it was great.

First, we started by walking around and grabbing a lite bite:

Yep.  Looks a lot like a bunch of other European cities.

The lighting was weird on patio but this Serbian sampler was just right.  There were 3 different kinds of smoked pork, local cheeses, a scoop of sour cream (SO GOOD), baked beans, and cornbread muffins (also delicious), and beeeeeer.

Then, we wandered around the Kalemegdan Citadel where they had a bunch of weapons on display (cannons, large guns, missiles, etc.)  But of course, the only photo I took was a wonky pano of the front lawn.

You can just barely see the dinosaur exhibit in the front - a worthy addition to any medieval fortress. 

Then back to another cafe for some more nibbles while we tried the local drink - quince brandy. It was served in tiny little bottles laying in a bundt(ish) pan full of ice chunks.  If you ever have the opportunity to try it - it's much stronger than it looks!

Tired but pleased.  The umbrellas were fun.

Quince brandy and more smoked meats

Aaaand that was it.  It was just enough to make us want to go back (me for the Danube, Steven for the smoked prosciutto).

Open Water Here I Come

You guyyyyyys - I am officially an Open Water Diver!

I did my certification while I was in the UAE in May.  I was a little nervous before we started, but it turned out really great!  I had such an awesome time and can't wait to go on more dives!