Domesticity

Home stuff makes us happy. Some recent acquisitions have put some big smiles on our faces. See?

Mãe got these for us on her trip with Aunt Cila to Portugal. Obrigada!

My grandmother knows us well. We are pretty messy in the kitchen. For those of you who don't know, roosters are prevalent in Portuguese art, so I was pretty excited to see them on my apron, and Porto is the city where my dad was born.

We picked this up on sale at our favorite supermarket. Gorgeous.

 We also now have a kitchen scale. For accurate measurements!

We made chicken tagine, a Moroccan dish, with our preserved lemons. Surprisingly, lemons that you leave in pickling salt for months are really salty. Who knew?

Toby has become a master of Asian food, as seen in this beautifully plated pad thai.

 Here I am devouring one of the best Italian meals we've ever made. We finally found a ratio of all-purpose flour and semolina that suits our tastes. This spaghetti came out heavenly. Also pictured is a focaccia that Toby made and chicken breasts stuffed with baby Swiss cheese, arugula and prosciutto.

 Newsflash: Seattle gets sunny sometimes. I got excited and wore a sundress that ties at my neck and proceeded to stay out in the sun so long that I got a sunburn. Tan lines in Seattle. It's possible!

Our garden loves the sun. We've added a cherry tomato plant and a pepper plant.

This little guy is going to be a tomato someday.

Another future tomato.

The dill plant has a ton of new blossoms.

Not the greatest photo, but you can see that the dill is almost as tall as the porch railing.