Jumbalaya with Black Rice and Bass
Last night Liz made the trek through the ice and sleet from around the corner to enjoy dinner, drinks and 30 Rock with us. I was imagining that we were just going to heat up some leftover lasagna from the night before but decided to evaluate the ingredients I had on hand to see what I could throw together.
So here's what I had:
2 c. of black japonica rice
2 red peppers
1 onion
2 large tomatoes (local)
1 zucchini
1 bunch of green onions (local)
3-4 cloves of garlic
3 filets of frozen large-mouth bass (caught by my dad)
Spices:
2 teaspoon creole seasoning
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 bay leaves
Salt
Pepper
I sauteed the onion, red peppers and garlic in a large pot with olive oil for about 5 minutes. Then I dumped in the chopped up zucchini and tomato for another 5 minutes. I added seasoning and dumped in the black rice. I let all of that simmer for another 5 minutes. Then I added 4 cups of water - I would've used veggie stock had I had some on hand. At that time I also added the cubed bass filets. I put the lid on it all and didn't even look at it for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, I was trying to figure out what kind of bread to make with it. Again, I don't have eggs so cornbread was out.I used this biscuit recipe from Whole Family Fare. Now, I know it's just sitting there quietly in that bowl but these biscuits were AMAZING. I think Liz, Jeremy and I had about 4 each. Oh, and I made my own buttermilk the recipe called for by using 1/2c rice milk, 1/2c half and half (for my coffee, usually) and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Again, I was scraping by on what I had - but it worked perfectly!
Yummy Bastards - Peanut Butter, Banana & Oatmeal Cookies
My ice day fantasy involves lots of baking - so imagine my disappointment when the grocery store, this morning, had not a single egg in sight.
I began an online hunt for eggless cookies and stopped my search here. There were a few things I didn't have (like maple syrup) and a few things I wanted to add (like oatmeal and banana) - this is the first time I've experimented with a baking recipe. 
We're enjoying these with coffee right now. Oh, and Jeremy dubbed them Yummy Bastards.
Yummy Bastards - Peanut Butter, Banana & Oatmeal Cookies
Note: This recipe is vegan.
Dry ingredients:
1 c. local stone ground whole wheat flour
1 c. organic unbleached all purpose flour
1 c. oatmeal
1 teaspoon aluminum free baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
Not-so-dry ingredients:
1 c. local chunky peanut butter
1/3 c. olive oil
1/2 c. agave nectar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 mashed up banana (this acts as an egg substitute - Jeremy thinks you could probably even use 2 for more moisture and stickiness)
Preheat your oven to 350F. Mix up your dry ingredients in one bowl and your not-so-dry ingredients in another. Dump the dry ingredients on top of the not-so-dry ones and mix until just dusty with the flour mix. Scoop spoonfuls onto a cookie pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 10 minutes - you don't want to go too long or they'll get too dry.
Ice and Cuddles
a.
b.
a.
The view from our breakfast nook around 9:15 am. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the weather in Oklahoma it is extreme. Yesterday was beautiful - 60F and it almost smelled like Spring. Today we're supposed to get an inch of ice - forget snow. Snow is reserved for beautiful places like Connecticut and Colorado. We get ice. It compliments the concrete nicely. On a positive note - we both have the day off!
b.
Scooty Boots on left, Dinahsaur on right. We should take a cue from the cats and spend the day cuddling. Something about an ice day makes me feel optimistic about time. As if there is going to be an extra 8 hours in the day in which I can do things like paint the trim in the office, bake a few loaves of bread, redesign the blog, and start a family tree project - when the reality is I'm probably going to spend most of my day napping and watching movies.
Homemade Ravioli & Whole Family Fare
An unexpected, yet very welcome, side-effect of having this blog has been all the blog friends I've made. Megan-Joy is one of those friends - so when she commissioned me to create a new header for her food-centric blog I was happy to oblige. After all, she has walked me through (step-by-little-step) making tortillas and ravioli. Visit her blog for delicious recipes!
And that segues perfectly into my next topic. I spent 3 hours last night making ravioli.
Homemade ravioli stuffed with roasted butternut squash, garlic, nutmeg and goat cheese (hi, Dad!) - topped with sauteed apples, brown sugar and butter sauce.
I was proud of myself for going for it - but probably not worth the effort. I'm definitely deserving of a pasta attachment for my kitchen aid mixer now.
Liz's First Home: Toilets and Tulips
a.
b.
c.
d.
a.
Liz is planning on doing major overhauls in both the kitchen and bathroom that involve a little demolition and a lot tiling. But, in the meantime she decided to make her bathroom a little more aesthetically pleasing by painting the trim white and the walls grey (previously blue).
b.
I bet you $5 Liz was pooping when she took this picture.
c.
And on that note... Tulips! Liz's mom gave her some tulip bulbs and apparently you can just stick them in water and they begin to bloom!
d.
Just as I was calling my own Mom and asking why she doesn't give me tulip bulbs to sprout indoors in creative ways I came across this image on sfgirlbybay - look at those sweet containers!
Tools for Cooking and When Did This Become Such a Food Blog?
a.
b. 
a.
I picked up this rolling pin at the farmer's market this weekend - it's hand-made by a 93 year old man whose wife insists he keep busy by making wooden rolling pins. I love it.
I am slowly building a collection of tools needed for cooking. My cast iron pan has changed my life. I recently picked up some spring form cake pans in various sizes.
Some other tools on my list:
• measuring scale (for those European recipes)
• grater (for cheese, rinds, whatnot)
• a really nice knife
• a large wood cutting board
• porcelain / ceramic bread pan
• pasta attachment for the mixer
• copper (and/or stainless steel) pots and pans (slowly but surely I want to replace our nonstick pots and pans)
Any other tools that I shouldn't live without that I don't know about yet?
b.
Homemade pizza (using this dough recipe) with olive oil and garlic sauce, local mushrooms, local spinach, apples, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, and topped with Parmesan.
Reading this book coupled with an evolving outlook on the food I eat has led me to spending more time with the food I make. I've never been much of a cook but it is now a hobby I've taken on full-force. There are times when I prefer the food I make over some of my favorite restaurants. Life is happening between eating and I'm really, truly enjoying it.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
We had a hankering for some chocolate chip cookies last night - sprinkled with sea salt on top, of course. I'm not even going to act like we just ate two of these, either.
We chowed down on these cookies while watching Return to the Blue Lagoon - this movie was a lot more fascinating to me as a 9-year-old in 1991. But speaking of girl crushes - add Milla Jovovich to the list.
Girl Crush
I love Chloe Sevigny - and I especially love this photo of her. I must find some pink lipstick this weekend. Whenever asked who would I have play me in a movie I answer with Chloe Sevigny.
And in related news, we just started catching up on the new season of Big Love. Is anyone else watching? Who is your girl crush?
source: unknown. it's been sitting in my inspiration folder on my desktop for months with no intentions of posting. sorry!
Calendar and Food
a.
b.
a.
I got my brother this calendar for Christmas and was finally able to give it to him when he came home this past weekend. He accidentally left it behind so I get to enjoy it for a while until I meet up with him on his upcoming tour.
b.
I was feeling a little blah about cooking dinner last night and just combined the pasta, cheese and veggies we had at home. It is Kamut and Quinoa pasta - squash, zucchini, garlic and spinach sauteed in olive oil, butter, turmeric and coriander - all mixed together and broiled in the oven with Parmesan and goat cheese for about 10 minutes. It turned out delish and was super easy to make. Next time I might try it with less cheese and get some lemon into the mix.
Blog Format
Today I read this in my tweet feed:
I hate when some of my favorite bloggers try out a different formula on their blogs and I suddenly don't like them as much. Boo.
And immediately, in typical social-media paranoia (or presumption), I started thinking it was directed at this new lettering format I'm trying out (see previous two entries for examples).
Pros to lettering:
+ I think the images look nice all grouped together. I love the way image-only blogs look but I'm too talky-talky for that.
+ I feel more liberty to post about more than just one subject (for whatever reason)
Cons to the lettering:
- You have to scroll back and forth - readability issue?
- You lose some of that instant gratification of picture/description and so on...
I want my blog to be easily digestible and readable to you all - so let me know - do you love or hate the new format? Which is easier for you to read?
In other house-cleaning, bloggy news - I am going to work with Jeremy on redesigning the blog soon. There's something I love about classic formats (I only buy white in Apple products) but I want to clean it up and air it out.
Food and Hail
a.
b.
c. 
a. Every Wednesday night our nearest and dearest come over for dinner, wine and good conversation. Last night Jeremy made the most delicious batch of veggie chili chock full of onion, squash, zucchini, a variety of beans, red pepper and apple - topped with goat cheese. I whipped up a batch of homemade cornbread using this recipe.
b. I made another salad based off of this recipe. I roasted a winter squash and topped it with parmesan which created perfect parmesan crispies in the oven. We also used some Amy's Organic Goddess dressing - delish. However, I like my original attempt at this using butternut squash.
c. The sky dropped unexpected buckets of hail on us last night! They were perfectly formed little balls of ice. Crazy!
P.S. My dad thinks it's hilarious that we top EVERYTHING with goat cheese.
Light Test and Why I'm Baby Crazy
a. 
b.
c.
d.
a. One of the perks of being an art director is free head-shots from light tests on photo shoots.
b. This is where I pretend to be a model.
c. And this is where I get all baby crazy.
d. Because I have the cutest nephew (turned model) in the whole world.
Photos by Simon Hurst Photography.
Coffee and Bagels
Since my brother didn't get to come home for Christmas he came to Oklahoma with a ton of gifts for the whole family.
He (and his lovely girlfriend, Anna) brought Jeremy and me coffee and bagels from Brooklyn!
Gorilla Coffee from Brooklyn and amazing everything, egg and plain bagels with tofu lox and chive cream cheese. Yes - he flew with a huge box of coffee, 14 bagels and cream cheese.
Our weekend.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a. The weekend started Thursday evening. My brother and his girlfriend were scheduled to fly into OKC from Brooklyn at 10PM. I was dying with anticipation and put my nervous energy into baking banana oatmeal muffins.
b. We took a long drive to the airport and minutes were feeling like hours.
c. From this point on we were too busy living life to document it.
d. Except dinner. Donny helped his girlfriend, Anna, make us a delicious dinner - Courgette and Chick Pea Filo Pie, courtesy of Nigella.
e. And to-die-for cupcakes.
The weekend flew by entirely too fast. Donny flies home the day after tomorrow and I'm already missing him. I have a feeling we're going to have to fit a long weekend in Brooklyn this year.
Studio Tour: Lucky Dog Audio Post
Part of my job includes recording audio for radio and TV commercials. I work with Lucky Dog Audio Post out of Little Rock, Arkansas. This all happens over the phone but dang, I wish I could step into their studio (and play chopsticks over and over again on their piano).
Cool, right? And one of the sound engineers I work with reminds me enough of Michael Feldman from NPR's Whad'Ya Know - which either makes listening to that show more enjoyable or recording commercials feel more glamorous... I'm not sure which.
Liz is Famous, Y'all!
Today Liz and her beautiful midcentury-modern-minimal-yet-cozy home were featured on SFGirlByBay! 
Congrats, Liz!
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J & K started this blog project to document the remodel of their 1929 historical home in the heart of Oklahoma City. It has now turned into a documentation of life, food, fashion, freelance, inspiration, design, adventures and details around the J & K house.
Kathleen works as an award-winning brand consultant and designer specializing in small business branding at Braid Creative & Consulting. Jeremy is a software engineer and is the left-brain to Kathleen’s right.
You can contact Kathleen at
jeremyandkathleen (at) gmail (dot) com.
All photos and graphics by Kathleen unless otherwise stated. Feel free to use them with permission or credit.
Anatomy of an Outfit
Freelance Matters
Freelance Matters: A series about how I tackle freelance issues such as estimating, billing, to-do lists and how to fire a client.
Trekking to Everest
In October 2010 Jeremy and I trekked through the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. It completely changed my life. Read about the entire adventure, day-by-day, here.
My Business
Braid is a creative & consulting business I own with my sister. We do branding and business visioning for creative entrepreneurs. On the Braid blog I share branding adventures, how-to articles and advice on the creative process. If you need a little brand therapy of your own visit Braid or subscribe to the Braid blog RSS feed here.
What We Eat
We like to eat really good food - at least 3 times a day. Sometimes I blog about it - click here for recipes and yummy ideas.
Inspired By:
ME ELSEWHERE:
- Eva Black | Spaces
- Emma Dime
- Life as an Artistpreneur
- Jane Reaction
- Ink & Letters
- Meg Biram | The Edit
- Sarah Von Bargen's Small Biz Blog
- Design Crush
- The Equals Record
- Emmarie Designs
- Rory Gordon
- Yellow Brick Home
- The Creatives Project
- Silly Grrl
- Photographers Skeen
- The Clothes Make the Girl
- Bringing Design Home
- Pip & Estella
- A Practical Wedding
- Kind of a Sideshow
- Sandra Juto
- Old Sweet Song
- Rambling Renovators
- Brooklyn Bride
- Design Crush
- Experiment in Poverty
- The Jealous Curator
- Making it Lovely
- Dressing on the Side
- Kaboodle
- The Oklahoman
- Young House Love
- Oh So Beautiful Paper
- A Cup of Jo
- Brooklyn Limestone
- Glamour Weddings
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