Here's what we had for dinner tonight. You should definitely make them. Trust me.

Vegetable Enchiladas
from Martha Stewart

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 can (14.5 ounces) reduced-sodium vegetable broth
Kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste
3 cups (12 ounces) grated pepper jack cheese
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 box (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels, thawed or 1 can corn kernels, drained
6 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
16 small corn tortillas (6-inch) or 8-10 (depending on how big you roll them) flour tortillas

1. First, make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 cup flour, and 1/4 cup tomato paste and cook, whisking continuously, for about 1 minute.
2. Whisk in the vegetable broth and 3/4 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and set aside.
3. Next, make the filling: In a large bowl, combine 2 cups pepper jack cheese, the beans, spinach, corn, scallion whites, and remaining 1 teaspoon cumin. Season the mixture lightly with salt and pepper.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil two 8-inch square baking dishes, or, as I did, one 9×13 baking dish, and set aside. Stack the tortillas, and wrap in damp paper towels; microwave on high for 1 minute, or stack and wrap in aluminum foil and heat them in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Top each tortilla with a heaping 1/3 cup (seriously - heaping) of filling and roll them up tightly and arrange, seam side down, in prepared baking dishes.
6. Dividing evenly, sprinkle the enchiladas with remaining 1 cup pepper jack cheese and top with the sauce. Bake the enchiladas uncovered until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve garnished with scallion greens.

I was just poking around the unschooling.info site (which Sandra kindly took off our hands when our hands were full of all sorts of other things) looking to see what I might wish I had saved if it disappeared, and I came across this video.

Somewhere on the site the singer talks about how he wrote it because his dad used to let him play hooky so they could spend the day together and that feeling of freedom stayed with him. Having lots of memories of playing hooky myself, both dad-authorized and, um, Rue-authorized (I love you mommy!), I can understand being inspired to write a song about that heart-lightening, chest opening up, full of possibilities, walking on air sensation. I don't write songs, but I'm writing a life about it.

Last summer Rowan found this recipe for mac and cheese you can make while you're camping. Those little individual servings are perfect for camping, but to make a whole lot of it at home here's how it translates:

1 box elbow noodles
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1 cup parmesan, grated
1 cup milk
1 stick of butter, cut into small pieces

Cook noodles.
Mix all ingredients.
Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.

I'm reading Dragon Spear, by Jessica Day George. It's the third in a series about a girl named Creel. Creel is a dressmaker, and (when not battling alongside dragons) designs elaborate embroidery patterns inspired by things she sees around her. Just reading about these designs makes me want to get myself a load of fabric and some floss, a notion that fades after I close the book and remember a needle in my hand usually winds up a needle in my hand.

I do like to imagine what Creel could do with these layers and colors and textures and lines, though.

This was written by Rudy Rucker. He was talking about writing a novel, but I think it applies nicely to learning and life.

"How precise, after all, is an outline? If, as William Burroughs used to say, a novel is but a map of a territory, an outline is but a map of a map. In the end, only the novel itself is the perfect outline of the novel. Only the territory itself can be the perfect map."

My kids are a perfect outline of themselves. Gnarly.

When you're really old you need a lot of naps. That's what I hear anyway.

There's color popping up everywhere, which for me is on the same level of importance as my ever-present big old glass of ice water. Just what I need to keep me happily alive. I'm drinking it in.





(Did you see the tiny little bug on the yellow flower?)

The Wisteria is just starting to wake up.



And so are these berries. Anyone besides my mom and sister know what these are?


For me, they're childhood in tree form.

Our kitty is always looking for trouble. He usually finds it.

Let's not have a sniffle,
Let's have a bloody good cry
And always remember the longer you live,
The sooner you'll bloody well die

Who could pull a dandelion after seeing this picture?


(photo stolen from Amy)

Tables done, blueberry bushes moved, Rue and Jon pooped.

An interview.

I made my first treasury. Lots of talented felters on etsy.

We have been so busy and getting so much done and I haven't taken any pictures to prove it. I keep thinking about it, but never at the right moment.

My mom and I are almost done refinishing the two tables for the studio/office/gunroom/atelier. We stripped them, a messy, sting-y project, and we've done two coats of poly. We'll do the final coat tomorrow. Today she gave us some very pretty illustrations to hang in that room, which I'm excited about.

We've got the new garden ready for transplanting our 17 blueberry bushes. I think I'll end up planting in the rain, based on the forecast for the next week. I'll get wet, but the happiest plants I have are the ones I've planted in the rain, so that's good.

Jon and I have been banished to our bedroom because Dagny and Andrew are filming some top-secret footage in the rest of the house. Jon is snoring loudly beside me. I'm going to read The Sisters Grimm, but forgive me, Rowan, if I inadvertently end up taking a nap instead.

What do you do when you get tagged by Kelli (who, by the way, knows just how much I love to have my picture taken under the best of circumstances) and you're already in bed for the night, reading a book assigned by Rowan? (The latest Sisters Grimm book came out yesterday and Rowan was done with it by last night. I'm under strict instructions to read it asap.)



Aren't I an obedient little thing?