MyLivingDays

Many of you wonder what I do with my time besides bake. Funny thing is, I actually do quite a lot that doesn't involve an oven and a taste tester. One of my most recent endeavors has been exploring other areas of writing beyond the foodie realm, specifically submitting work to share on MyLivingDays. A brilliant forum for sharing news, stories, lifestyle tips, foodie exploration, and just about anything else you can dream of, MyLivingDays has become a creative outlet of sorts for me. Easy to use, share, and comment, MyLivingDays coins itself a midlife magazine for those seeking to take a departure from other busy, confusing social media platforms. A close friend is one of the co-founders and has done me the wonderful service of reminding me that there is an entire world of stuff to write about, if I would simply put down the measuring cup for a while. We all have our vices, right?

Here are a couple pieces I recently contributed. Check their website frequently for updates as they are soon to launch a small suite of social tools. Feel free to join and contribute to the voice of the masses!

Family Trumps Oktoberfest
Fall Into Great Food
The Elephant Called Grief
Tips: Navigate Airports Like A Pro

Enjoy!!

Farmer's Market

When all else fails and life seems too complicated to face, head to the Farmer's Market. Or at least that is one of my life mottos. Honestly, it works. So far it hasn't let me down.

So why the Farmer's Market for a pick-me-up? Well, a lot of it has to do with the ebb and flow of the place. I enjoy people watching, local produce, and any reason to snap off a few shots. These reasons combined with the fresh aromas of whatever is freshly roasting/baking/being assembled are plenty enough for me to spend a few lazy hours wandering around the stalls. 

The last time I was at my local Farmer's Market I discovered these beautiful pink pearl mushrooms. Delicious! 

Prices are reasonable, if not cheaper than the local grocery store, plus the produce is typically straight from field to table (win!). 

My goal is to stock up on everything while I can as our Farmer's Market only runs on a seasonal basis, harvest already upon us. For instance, these lovely melons. 

If I'm lucky, I'll have a few moments to put in some fall starts to keep the garden going as long as possible. If nothing else, it'll give my feathered ladies another treat, little spoiled fatties! 

Lazy Garden Days

Finally, we have produce! With the strange Oregon summer this year, it was nearly the end of July before our garden started popping off. Thankfully, the sunshine finally arrived and the rains are staying away (most of the time) which has left the garden with lots of warmth and room to do some growing. Above is a shot of one of the five varieties of tomatoes we have growing this year, a few are Oregon heirloom varieties.

One of my favorite plants this year - my sunflowers! The fastest way to win my favor (besides baked goods) is by gifting me flowers.

I have no idea how I ended up so lucky as my neighbors on both sides of me have had a terrible time with sunflower gardens this year, yet here they are! Gorgeous, soft yellow sunflowers. I swoon every time I walk by them.

As most of you may have guessed, our garden is strictly organic. No pesticides allowed in here, baby. I have a few homemade recipes in my arsenal to keep pests at bay, but for the most part I try to do companion planting. The blue cabbage head above is a good example of my gardening mantra - the pests can have their small share as long as I get the heart of the plant.

While our cucumbers aren't the happiest of the garden lot, the squash and zucchini are doing fabulously. We already have a few sugar pumpkins, black beauty zucchini, acorn squash, and are waiting on a Japanese hard squash to fruit any day now.

And of course, the feathered ladies are enjoying the extra sunshine! Nosy and inquisitive as ever. The pullets are just about to start laying soon...

Finally, for those of you who haven't met him yet...Tubbers the special needs kitty. I say special needs because the cat has a serious issue with abandonment, as well as with overeating. We are still trying hard to integrate him into our little urban farm, however if he keeps up his late night meowing when he is lonely he may soon find himself sleeping with the chickens!

Big Girls & Flock Integration

My little feathered ladies aren't so little anymore. And my gosh, are they gorgeous birds! Doesn't Athena look very regal?

In this shot, LeLu is up front and inquisitive as ever, followed by the ever standoffish Barney, and a few tail feathers of the the blonde one of the bunch, Athena. They are definitely in their teens as pullets, but are showing some signs of calming down and leading normal chicken lives.

Over the last few weeks, I've slowly tried to integrate the two flocks (Starbuck seen above from the mature flock). For any chicken owners out there, you know how tricky this can be. Funny as it sounds, there truly is a pecking order within the lives of chickens. At the moment, Starbuck's near-twin Ramona is at the top chicken in the older flock. I don't think the younger ladies quite know much about this chicken hierarchy yet, but they are sure curious!

I admit, I have a sweet spot for this little lady. LeLu (one of the sci-fi named birds) is the sweetest little thing. She let's me carry her around, coo to her, and is the most calm of the pullets. Notice her tiny little crow developing? Yes, I'm becoming that crazy chicken lady (if I wasn't before).

Barney is definitely a wild bird in spirit. She never wants to be held, touched, petted, or have someone come too close to her. Her feathers are finally all coming in, and becoming so dark she is taking on a greenish-hue in the blackest areas (very pretty).

As of now, I have the newer flock's chicken tractor parked in the fenced in area where the older ladies roam. This has allowed the two flocks to observe each other through the safety of the chicken wire that keeps the pullets in their tractor.

Every few days, I let the two groups out together to graze, positioning myself in between the flocks to diffuse any tension. Ramona, being on the top rung, inevitably goes after one of the pullets to show her dominance, however every time we do this exercise it takes her a little longer to show aggression (a good sign). Once the pullets grow a wee bit more, likely another week or two, I will attempt the full on integration. Stay tuned because it will likely involve a few ruffled feathers!

Local Eats: Red Agave

Back in the day when I used to reside in Las Vegas, I had a habit of having nights out on the town where with the assistance of kind friends we would seriously indulge in our love of food. Quality was top priority, including the vino, and we had the most deliciously sinful and exquisite dinners. Even though I no longer have the restaurant mecca that is Las Vegas as my foodie ground, getting to know Eugene's local fine dining has been a pleasure and recently with the great company of the Dude. Last night's foodie adventure: Red Agave Restaurant & Cantina. Always a show stopper, in my book. And one of the very few places in town where you can order a Roma (if I'm not mistaken, they invented it!) or a Log Cabin, complete with hunks of bacon as garnish. 

We started off our foodie adventure with a few tapas: Ahi Ceviche and Seared Scallops with Dungeoness Crab Hash. If you hadn't picked up on it yet, I fell off of my vegetarian band wagon for this one. I can't tell you the last time I had a scallop, let alone a buttery, heavenly one. It was decadent! On a funny side note, if you look really hard you can see my dinner mate in the spoon's surface (kind of Escher-esque).

And the Ahi Ceviche tasted fresh, complex with the avocado sauce, and definitely is a new favorite of mine.

For dinner the Dude went with the Anderson Ranch Lamb Birria while I jumped into a plate of Poblano Chile Relleno. Both were astoundingly good, although the mole sauce that came with my dish was extra amazing. We paired up the meal with a bottle of tempranillo and had a grand old time of things. My advice: don't miss the opportunity to dine here. Whether it be an early dinner, a birthday celebration, or a late night snack over drinks, Red Agave will delight your taste buds. Enjoy!