by Krista | May 16, 2011 | Gulliver Tuesday
There is something so magical about tramping through the snow in Germany at twilight.
The world seems quieter and everything takes on an ethereal glow.
My family had just met at a local shopping mall in Boblingen for coffee, cookies and a visit, happy to be out of the house after being snowed in for several days. Not eager to drive home through slushy streets filled with Christmas shoppers, my brother Ryan, his girlfriend Melissa and me decided to walk.
We had such a jolly time laughing and talking as we trudged and slid our way through deep drifts and uncleared roads. We linked arms on the slippery parts and waved cheerily at Germans staring at us as we skidded our way through their neighborhood.
Somehow we managed to get good and lost and decided to sneakily follow a random German through a maze of alleys and neighborhoods to see if they could lead us to familiar surroundings. Much to our delight – they did!! The lights of my brother Evan’s house glowed warmly as we stamped up the steps and entered blessed warmth.
The house smelled perfectly heavenly for Mums had been hard at work making us a Danish feast. We sat down to plates laden with frikkadeller (meatballs made with pork and beef), egurkesalat (tangy cucumber salad), red cabbage stewed with brown sugar and currant jelly, and boiled potatoes slathered with rich gravy.
It was delicious!! The perfect hearty fare to warm a body up after a cold, snowy trek. I promise to share all the recipes with you in my cookbook. (Click here to read about this exciting new project!)
After dinner was eaten and dishes done, we sat down for rousing games of Spades, groaning with disgust and cheering wildly as the situation warranted. 🙂
What is your favorite warming dinner on a cold winter night?
PS — If you signed for the Rambling Tart newsletter and did not receive a confirmation email, be sure to check your spam or junk folder. 🙂
by Krista | May 15, 2011 | Bootstrap Monday
Good morning, dear ones! How was your weekend?
I stuck close to home, taking time to tidy and clean and organize – those things that got set aside while I was so sick. It feels wonderful to look around me now and see clear counters and laundry folded and put away. It does my heart good.
As I continue getting better, I’m eager to tackle various projects that I’ve been quietly mulling over the last while.
This month was the beginning of one such project that I am SO excited about! My dear friend and brilliant photographer Rebekah Chapman asked me if I would collaborate on a cookbook with her. Would I??? Yes, yes, and YES!! Click here to see her beautiful portfolio and blog.
I am developing/cooking the recipes and writing the book, and Rebekah is photographing and editing it. I cannot wait to tell you more about it!
We’ve already done our first photo shoot and are having such a marvelous time tasting, experimenting, and making my house a complete and utter mess. One of the perks of doing all the cooking is getting to keep the leftovers such as these scrumptious Raspberry Tarts with Vanilla Cream.
Another project is the start of my Rambling Tart Newsletter: Ideas and Inspiration for a Beautiful Life.
It will be a monthly collection of great tips, inspiring stories, and gorgeous images to encourage each of us as we build our own version of a beautiful life. I’d love to share them with you!
If you’d like to receive these monthly newsletters, please click on the banner below or go to www.ramblingtart.com and click on the banner on the right side of the page. Simply enter your name and email address and you will be added to the newsletter list. You will receive your first Rambling Tart Newsletter in June!
I would love to hear what things are inspiring you this spring. What projects are you working on that make you happy?
xo
by Krista | May 12, 2011 | Fabulous Friday
When this week started I felt exhausted, emotionally wrung out, gutted by pain and grief in my life and the lives of so many I love and those I don’t even know.
It was one of those moments when I wanted all the hurt in the world to please just stop, for a day, a few hours even, just to let us all catch our breath before we have to go back to dealing with tsunamis and job loss and death of people we love and illnesses that don’t heal and stillborn babies and broken relationships and abuse and war.
I just wanted a break for my friend who suffers the agonies of scoliosis every day, for my Mum and aunts shuttling back and forth between my grandfather dying in one hospital and my uncle desperately ill in another, for my friend grieving the loss of her father and her twin babies, for the families waiting for soldiers who will never come home.
I wanted to fix it, ease all the burdens, take away all the pain. But there’s too much and I’m not big enough.
So I cried. And slept. And woke Monday morning. And went to work. And turned on my computer. And there I read these words:
Do one small thing.
One. Small. Thing.
And I smiled and took a deep breath and felt the peace that comes when you remember you don’t have to carry it all.
I’m not built to shoulder the burdens of the world, but I can do one small thing.
Write a letter.
Give a hug.
Send a text.
Say I love you.
Make a meal.
Cry with her.
Thank him.
Just sit quietly and hold their hand.
And as I thought of all the small things I could do, I remembered the many small things others have done for me: a book in the mail, a bowl of strawberries, texted pictures of their kissable babies, those lovely little things that comfort and cheer and remind you that you matter.
I smiled again as I remembered another little thing: a balloon.
My friend Marie gave it to me.
A beautiful shiny turquoise balloon to remind me I was loved when I was deathly sick from Ecoli.
She gave it to me in February and it is STILL FLOATING.
I call it my Wonder Balloon.
I wake up every morning, open my bedroom door and there it is, bobbing along to the gusts of air from my heater. And it makes me smile.
It’s such a plucky balloon. The best balloon I ever had.
It’s withered and rumpled and half deflated, but it still keeps floating, still keeps dancing on the breeze.
It was just one small thing, but every day it gives me courage.
What is one small thing someone did for you when you were going through a rough time?
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, dear ones. Much love to you. xo
by Krista | May 11, 2011 | Plucky Thursday
“It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts,
as for that subtle something,
that quality of air, that emanation from old trees,
that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.”
-Robert Louis Stevenson-
I hadn’t planned to go to the park that crisp spring morning last week, but my appointment ended sooner than I expected and I had full twenty minutes to spare, so off I went.
I love moments like that. Those unexpected gifts of time that are so precious in the midst of a busy day.
There was hardly anyone at the park so early in the morning, and I had the whole forest to myself save for birds twittering in the tree tops and the occasional squirrel bounding through the underbrush.
It was that delicious sort of early morning cold that makes you take deep cleansing breaths and feel heartily glad to be alive.
It also made me want to play hooky and fritter away an entire day picking berries, lolling by the stream reading, or ambling along squishy, pine-needled pathways.
But I was a good girl and stuck with a 20-minute amble, stopping often to bend down and inspect sturdy mushrooms, delightfully curly ferns, and a carpet of cheery yellow blossoms.
As excited as I am about moving to Australia, I do so love Washington State with her dense forests, rugged coastline, and achingly fresh, rain-washed air.
And until I move, I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.
What is your favorite part about where you live?
by Krista | May 10, 2011 | Compatriot Wednesday
