Happy Caturday!

One of my guilty pleasures is Animal Planet's Too Cute! The show chronicles baby animals (usually kittens and puppies) for the first eight weeks or so of their lives; it really is too cute! I think the show airs Saturday nights, but I usually catch the reruns on Sunday morning or watch them on demand. It's the perfect show to wake up to and kind of reminds me of being a kid and watching Saturday morning cartoons. Hope you enjoy the clip!

Ribollita

The other day I got the urge to make a light, but tasty vegetable soup. I was thinking along the lines of minestrone, but wanted to try something new. Searching for inspiration I visited The Wednesday Chef's recipe index and sure enough, I found what I was looking for: Ribollita. I liked that the recipe (included at the end of this post) called for cabbage and fennel, which are veggies that I enjoy but for some reason don't cook with very often. Ribollita is a Tuscan soup that traditionally uses day old bread although this recipe omits it. I ended up adding quite a bit more liquid (a 32 oz carton of chicken broth) than the 2 cups of water that recipe calls for. I also added the spinach at the last minute rather than allowing it to simmer for 30 minutes. I'm don't sure if my soup still qualifies as a Ribollita, but it was good! Buon Appetito!

Here's the recipe from the Wednesday Chef:

Ribollita di Luana
Serves 6 to 8 1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, cut intо 1/3 -inch-thick slices
4 carrots, peeled and sliced intо 1/3 -inch-thick rounds
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut intо 1/3 -inch-thick slices
2 yellow squаsh, halved lengthwise and cut intо 1/3 -inch-thick slices
1/2 fennel bulb, cut intо 1/2 -inch-thick pieces
1/4 savoy cabbage, roughly chopped
2 15-ounce cans cannellini bеans, drained and rinsed
1 14-ounce can peeled whole tоmatоes, drained and divided intо pieces
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon finely chopped sage
1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
1 bunch spinach (about 6 cups), rinsed and roughly chopped
Red-pepper flakes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese, grated
Crusty bread, optional

1. Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add thе oil. When hot, stir in thе onion, garlic, celery, carrots, zucchini, squash, fennel and cabbage. Season with salt. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add thе beans, tomatoes, herbs and 2 cups water. Seаson with more salt, thеn gently fold togethеr until combined. Press on thе solids so thеy are submerged in the water. Bring to a boil, then lower thе heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour. Stir gently only once or twice.

3. Fold in the spinach and simmer 30 minutes more. Remove thе bay leaf. Stir in more salt and red-pepper flakes tо tаste.

4. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls. Drizzle each with olive oil and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. If you choose, serve with bread.

Art Everyday

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John Singer Sargent, Ena and Betty, Daughters of Asher and Mrs. Wertheimer, 1901, oil on canvas

Detail:

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Happy Birthday Mies/Because I'm a Nerd

I'm a huge fan of modernist architecture and when I stumbled across this YouTube video a few years ago I thought it was basically the best thing ever. It's Mies van der Rohe's birthday today, so I finally have a good excuse to share it! Happy Birthday Mies!

Warning: It's very likely that you'll have this song stuck in your head for weeks.

Patrick Brennan and Apartment Therapy

It was so fun to be a part of this Apartment Therapy project! Lute especially enjoyed being able to ham it up for the camera. Click here to view the entire feature.

I'm Going Back Home to the West Coast

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As many of you already know, Ian and I are moving back to Oregon! Ian accepted an assistant professorship at the University of Portland, his dream job! In addition to landing a great job, we are looking forward to being closer to family and reconnecting with all of the great friends we have in the area. Portland is one of our favorite cities and we can't wait to put down roots there and make it our home.

While we are thrilled to be heading back to the West Coast, moving is bittersweet. We've truly enjoyed living in DC and I'm crushed to be leaving my job at the gallery. Ian and I moved east just a few weeks after we were married and we've started our lives together out here. Although we've missed Oregon, we are so grateful we had the opportunity to experience East Coast living.  I know we will look back on our stay out here as a very happy and precious time in our lives.

Since we learned we'd be moving I've had this song by Coconut Records floating around on repeat in my brain. Happily, I really like the song.

An interesting side note about Coconut Records is that it is a solo project by the actor Jason Schwartzman. Who knew?

For Your Monday

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This is such a great idea and looks like so much fun! I see a date night for Ian and I in our future.

Why we love beautiful things.

What could be cuter than a minute and a half of Bernese Mountain Dog puppies?

A portrait of a family in human ash and meth.

We're one step closer to bringing extinct animals back to life.

Um, yum.