Trick For Creamier Vinaigrette

I make my own salad dressing by adding a pinch of salt and a dollop of dijon mustard to some vinegar (usually balsamic or champagne) and shaking it all up in a jar with good olive oil. I always add freshly cracked pepper to the greens and often a big squeeze of lemon. Easy, delicious vinaigrette.

Sometimes, though, I crave a creamier, thicker dressing. Last night we had a big kale salad for dinner with cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, walnuts, freshly grated parmesan, mandarin oranges, and spicy crisped chickpeas. (We had fried chicken for lunch, hence, the abundance of superfoods for dinner.) I was thinking about the dressing I wanted to make and the chickpeas lent me a flash of inspiration. Why not add a spoonful of hummus to my salad dressing to give it that creamy texture?!

So I did and it was divine. The subtle chickpea flavor played off the chickpeas in the salad very nicely. The taste of garlic and tahini were welcome additions to the vinegar and mustard and most importantly, it was rich and creamy without being heavy or unwholesome.

p.s. We buy this hummus. I've made my own hummus before but I can never get it to taste as silky and perfect as this store-bought variety, so I've surrendered to it.

Packing For Japan: The Plan

I started thinking about packing for Japan just after booking our tickets and checking our safe to make sure our passports were still where I thought they were. With that important business out of the way my mind turned to more exciting things. How many Japanese words can I learn before May 21? What activities will we plan and which ones will we daringly improvise as we go? And of course, what should I wear that will make me both comfortable and cute?

Packing intentionally for big trips--i.e. packing lightly--has never been a strength of mine but I'm determined to turn over a new leaf. Partly because we are traveling internationally and hopping between two cities and I want to be mobile and not bogged down with stuff. Partly because the friends we're traveling with are super low-key and the opposite of high maintenance, and I'll be darned if I slow down the group because I was the pathetic one who over-packed. Partly because it seems like a fun challenge. Partly because I need room to bring home at least one kimono.

I've slowly been coming up with a plan. The first challenge is to mostly bring clothes and shoes I already have and buy only a few select things in preparation. The second challenge is figuring out the vessels I will use to transport everything and use daily while we're there. And overall my goal is to bring a small amount of carefully selected neutral basics, which can be mixed and matched and re-worn in different ways and sneakily modified depending on our circumstances. Comfort is high on my list of requirements for each piece of clothing, but I also want to look nice and put together and be able to dress up any of the outfits I bring.

In essence I'm creating a wardrobe for this trip--one that is simple, flexible, stylish, comfortable, and very much me--and I'm having a terrific time with it.

Stay tuned for more soon!

Natural Breath Mints

This is a recent discovery of mine that I've been loving--whole cloves as all natural breath mints! Apparently, the oil in cloves kills bad bacteria in your mouth and actually freshens your breath whereas standard sugar-free mints do no more than mask odor. You wouldn't want to actually eat the clove, just pop it in your mouth for a few minutes and maybe nibble it a bit to release the clove oil. The taste is strong but warm and earthy and nice, and there's a bit of a menthol-like kick too. It's noticeably refreshing.

Would you try it? (I filled an empty mint container with cloves to put in my purse so I'll always have some when I'm out and about!)

Eucalyptus-Scented Shower

A few years ago I discovered lavender essential oil, and since then I've become obsessed with all-natural ways of making my home/clothes/towels/pillowcases/you-name-it smell divine.

I mix up my own lavender linen spray for our sheets and pillowcases. I make lemon-scented room spray and keep it in our living room for last-minute air freshening when we have guests. I'm addicted to the Trader Joe's lavender dryer bags (and not just for the dryer--you'll find them tucked in just about every sock, underwear, linen, and towel drawer in our house). 

But my latest aromatherapy experiment is possibly my favorite yet--I tied some eucalyptus branches to our shower curtain rod! I got the idea from this post and while it sounds a little strange, it's actually amazing. The steam from the shower causes the earthy, fresh eucalyptus aroma to surround you and it's so refreshing and awakening first thing in the morning. 

An added bonus is that eucalyptus is pretty beautiful. I arranged the stems in a bouquet and hung it upside down with a little bit of kitchen twine and I'm loving the way it looks.

What do you think? Will you try it? (FYI, for all of you who have a Trader Joe's near you, a bundle of fresh eucalyptus is only $2.99!)

Refresher For Wooden Kitchen Tools

I love my collection of wooden cooking tools. I'll reach for wood over metal or plastic just about every time. It just feels good to stir with a wooden spoon, don't you think? They don't scratch pans, they don't melt, they're a natural material, they are easy to manipulate and the perfect shape for everything from scrambled eggs to soups to sauteéd spinach. Since my wooden kitchen tools get such hard use they are in need of a refresher every so often--especially my cutting board, which I get out at least twice a day. Obviously soap and water is great for regular cleaning, but wood needs a bit of extra maintenance to keep it in good, clean shape. 

So, I did some research on a food-safe cleaning method. Did you know that lemon essential oil is an excellent natural sanitizer? I've recently been using a drop or two on bathroom countertops to disinfect them, and was thrilled to discover lemon oil is food-safe! I grabbed my salad tongs and my trusty cutting board to start, and using a paper towel I rubbed some lemon oil into the wood for a minute or two. I thought about rinsing it afterward but the smell was too delicious, and the wood completely absorbed the oil. No need to rinse!

You could stop there--the lemon oil alone will renew and thoroughly sanitize your wooden tools--but if you want to really pamper and refresh the wood you can apply a food-safe beeswax furniture polish. I recently bought this polish to moisturize a very dry wicker chair but it can be used on all kinds of wood. After applying with a cotton towel and then buffing the wood to a shine, I noticed the most difference on my salad tongs. These were a gift from my husband and I love them, but they've always been a little on the dry side. You'd think that all the olive oil they encounter would have fixed that by now! The beeswax polish instantly revived the wood and now they feel silky smooth to the touch. The extra moisture has brought out the grain pattern in a rich and beautiful way, too.

In addition to being effective I found this little ritual highly satisfying and enjoyable. Over the past few months I've been gravitating toward natural and simple cleaning products--baking soda, vinegar, good old boiling water--and something about rubbing that lovely lemon oil into my cutting board was really gratifying. It's kind of magical that something so delightfully fragrant is also good at killing germs! Also very neat to see the way the wooden tongs absolutely drank up the beeswax. I can't wait to get to the rest of my wooden tools later today.

Thanks for letting me wax-poetic for a minute. (Pun intended!) But really, grab some lemon oil and beeswax polish and try this for yourself. Your wooden tools will thank you and I bet you'll enjoy yourself in the process.