About Poppy
Former life: Ice cream scooper, Montessori teacher, student of psychology, weaver, spinner & natural dyer, clothing designer, entrepreneur, color consultant.
Inspiration: All forms of natural beauty, anything handmade, the way light changes, wild places, magazines with lots of photos, colors and their combinations.
Pleasures: Time with friends and family, cocktails on Friday night, snorkeling in the tropics, danceable music, gardening all day, yoga class, sitting by the woodstove.
Obsessions: Eating organic local food, being healthy, shopping at the farmers market, national politics, preserving our environment, making plans, being creative.
Struggles: Writing the way I see, worrying, being too impatient, reading and following directions, getting enough exercise.
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A Breakfast Ritual Worth Repeating
Many families have a ritual around at least one special meal a week. For us it’s our Saturday morning trip to the farmers market followed by breakfast at home, made with everything farm-fresh. It’s the same every week. We wake up, roll out of bed, get dressed and set off to the market. We usually [...]
Brine It: Homemade Corned Beef
I’m not Irish but St. Patrick’s Day gives me an unnecessary excuse to wear green and to eat corned beef. I decided to try “corning” my own beef this year and in the process learned that I have more of a connection to this dish than I realized. As it turns out, corned beef didn’t [...]
Ready, Set, Plant Peas
Some say President’s Day, others say St. Patrick’s Day. Any way you look at it, prime pea planting time is upon us. There’s no better way to give your gardening muscles a wake-up call before spring has fully sprung than to plant a couple rows of peas. It’s a springtime ritual here in the Northwest [...]
Shop Your Pantry & Freezer
Last week while my car was being repaired, I was forced to think about my all-too-often impulse to “run to the grocery store” to pick up something for dinner. Run meaning, of course, drive. I’m sorry to say that it took me not having my car to look at the food I already had and [...]
So Fines Herbes
Tender herbs are popping up all over my garden and it’s making me positively giddy with excitement about spring even though it doesn’t officially arrive until March 20. Our mild El Nino-influenced winter has given the garden a jump-start and it’s gotten me out earlier than ever in anticipation of a long growing season. At [...]
The Darker Side of Chocolate
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we’re all thinking about the sweetness of relationships but it takes a little more effort to delve into the deeper, more complex aspects of love. Similarly, chocolate’s savory side isn’t usually sought after or easily understood. Just try adding a little unsweetened cocoa powder to a dish for [...]
Duck Confit for a Party
Having a few friends over for a cozy dinner is a welcome break from the seriously isolating behavior I tend to adopt over the winter. Maybe I don’t speak for you, but it takes some prodding to get me out the door on a winter night even in the warmest January we’ve had in 60 [...]
The Best Broth Ever
I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. I’ve been making broth in my slow cooker all winter long — chicken, turkey & beef. It never really occurred to me to mix my meats until I saw a recipe in Volume 2 of Canal House Cooking using chicken and a ham hock (plus [...]
Mixed Greens 2010 Calendar Giveaway
It’s time for our first giveaway of 2010. All you have to do to enter to win a Mixed Greens 2010 Calendar is comment on this post by January 24th. In your comment we’d like you to mention at least one sustainable practice you hope to incorporate into your daily life during 2010. It can [...]
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