on thinking, then acting

After plenty of prodding from plenty of people, I ordered the Desert Island Sampler from Rancho Gordo. My heirloom beans arrived in all their glory this week, and even I was shocked at my level of excitement for cooking dry beans when I got home Tuesday night.First up? The Rio Zape beans, which (according to their package) had hints of coffee and chocolate. While mulling over what to cook them with, I perused Rancho Gordo's bean-cooking instructions. "Cover with water, broth, or beer..." Wait—notes of coffee in the beans? Wouldn't you know, I had two Real Ale Coffee Porters in the fridge! (Best....

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a new lease on life

January started with so much promise. We began the year with a joyful evening spent with close friends; we made promises to ourselves and to each other to start fresh, eat right, exercise, and do the Earth a favor or two. And I'm pleased to say that January is delivering. My husband came home with great news yesterday, news that means his unbelievably strong willpower and unwavering efforts in all aspects of health are paying off. I couldn't be prouder of him! I have found a new passion—one that makes me feel alive and vibrant and want to share it with the world—in yoga. Together, we're making...

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and in this new decade....

Like most of the rest of the world, we sat with our friends just before the clock struck midnight to ring in the new year, and talked about what a year it had been.What a year, indeed. We started it engaged. We bought a house. We painted a wall for the first time in our lives. We planned a wedding. Then we had a wedding. We went to Mexico and swam in the ocean. I stuck with the vegetarian thing (it's been a whole year, can anyone believe it?!). We built a vegetable garden and planted our first seeds. We tried some new things, we had successes and failures. We shared our first holidays together...

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