little red fox

girl crush: edith holden

 

During one of my last trips to Virginia, I came across my mother-in-law's stash of books related to gardening. She was a landscaper for a time, and more importantly, was president of the Garden Club of Virginia for many years. A few of the books looked really interesting and beautiful, but this one in particular caught my eye. As you can see, it's called 'The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady' and it...its just remarkable, is what it is. Aside from the description on the book flap, nothing--not a word--has been changed. 

On January 1st, 1906, Edith Holden started a journal to carefully record the countryside of Olton, Warwickshire throughout the year... 

Every word was carefully written by hand, and every single picture she painted into the book herself. This was a woman who loved nature...

...and also had the sensitivity of an artist...

I looked up the entry for this time of the year: for August 17th (close enough) she went cycling to Aberfoil. "Very bright, clear day, with wonderfully fine distant views. On the high ridge of hills between Aberfoil and the Trossachs I found the bright scarlet berries of the Bear-berry growing among the heather, and sundew in flower. Found some Gentian beside Loch Vennachar."

 

I can only guess how much time she spent on this and how much this object must have meant to her...and yet she never showed it to anyone. It was found 70 years later in an English country house. Isn't that both sad and amazing? I can't help but think at a time like that--when women weren't expected to work or have careers but keep a home and tend to the needs of others, she quietly and privately poured her heart into something she loved--and was quite good at--and never thought it important or interesting enough to show anyone. Ever.

And yet--over 100 years later a woman who was president of a garden club would be given the gift of her book and then years later her daughter-in-law would find it and obsess over it and stare at it and be filled with such admiration for her talent, and attention to detail and devotion to a project and be so moved by what seems like such a sweet shyness and feel so compelled to write about her on this thing called 'a blog' which happens on a 'computer'...wouldn't she be tickled to know? :)

 

 

More about her here. 

 

this chicken was a long time coming

  

 

As I mentioned last post--no camera. Sad face. So until we replace it, pics here will be done with my trusty *new* iPhone. Patience, please. I'm hoping Santa will bring me a fancy new camera this year...but I'm thinking these look pretty good for a camera phone, no? 

So this summer--Mr. Wood had been gone for 10 weeks all told and me and the kitty boys missed him terribly. But as of just the other night, all have been reunited! We finally arrived back home here together, and it was such a relief. One big, happy, 3/4 furry family! (Mr. Wood is half Italian :)

What you see here was our (quickly thrown together) celebratory dinner. During which Mr. Wood announced to me that it was a new staple. And indeed, it was an easy thing to throw together: relatively healthy and super-duper yummy. There's a crunch from the flour-dredged, sauteed chicken, and the peppery, grassy pile of arugula on top is dressed with a bright and tangy lemon-dijon dressing that soaks the chicken underneath. Wonderful. And took about 15 minutes beginning to end. 

What is it, you ask? Well, I don't know exactly. It's a combination of two different recipes: one is based on a fried version of this I used to get at the french bistro around the corner from our apartment in Brooklyn, combined with this one from Ina. So it's essentially a healthier version of a combination of the two. Make sense? 

Let's call it "Bright and Healthy Lemon Dijon Chicken"

Here's what you do: 

 

BRIGHT AND HEALTHY LEMON DIJON CHICKEN
(serves 2, with extra dressing left over)

Chicken:
two boneless chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/4" thickness*
2 cups (or 2 handfuls) fresh arugula
1/4 cup spelt flour (regular white flour can be substituted if necessary)
1/4 cup almond or pecan flour* 
3-4 TBS olive oil for sauteeing 
3/4 TBS garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne (or less, to taste)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Lemon Dijon Dressing:
juice of two lemons
2 tsp dijon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil 

1. Pound the chicken: place the chicken breasts in a large ziploc bag one at a time and, using a meat tenderizer or a mallet or hammer, pound the chicken until they are a uniform thickness, around 1/4". Doing this not only tenderizes them, but also means they require much less cooking time, making this a quick meal!

2. Make the dressing: in a bowl, mix the lemon juice and dijon together. Then in a very slow stream, whisk the olive oil into the lemon mixture. This will emulsify the oil into the dressing so that they don't separate. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Make the flour mixture and cook the chicken: we used a pyrex baking dish, so using something comparable shape-wise, mix the flours and spices together with a fork until blended well. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. As the oil heats up, dredge the chicken through the flour mixture on both sides. Once the skillet is hot, pop the chicken in and cook, about 3 minutes each side, or until golden brown, turning and rearranging if necessary. 

4. Arrange the plates: on each plate, layer a chicken breast, a cup (or handful) of arugula, then drizzle as much of the dressing over the top as desired. Commece face-burial. 

 

Plus! A side dish of fresh garden tomatoes and basil, drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper! So wonderful to have Mr. Wood home...

 
 

 

 

back from the dead!

Hello, friends!

A more responsible blogger would have written an explanatory note before the hiatus but...ahem. By way of an apology, I am offering up one of the most exciting, gorgeous images I've seen in forever. (Thank you to Ernestine for pointing me to it here!)

By way of an explanation, I will just say my multiple trips down South to Virginia to visit Mr. Wood, then back here, then back down to Nashville to see my sister, then back to Virginia, then...you get the picture. Or maybe you don't--because somewhere in there I lost my camera AND my iPhone stopped taking pictures. And so now you get the picture. I miss my camera. It was old, but I knew it and it worked. 

So that's my story. I was very touched by the sweet emails and messages I got from some of you inquiring into my well-being. I'm alive and well! Very well, in fact. As per ususal, I'm amidst another reevaluation of priorities and goals and who am I and what do I want...all that good stuff that makes you more who you are and ever-so-slightly more clear-eyed. I'm excited to share some of it--some of it is art-related, some shifting in my creative aesthetic, some related to our location...lots of changes in store! And I love me some change! And I very much look forward to hearing more from you. 

On a more pedestrian note: I have a great french-bistro-based chicken recipe we kinda made up the other night--delicious. That'll be here tomorrow :)

As always, thank you for checking in and reading...