the march list

It may be that January and February don't really register with me entirely – the darkness, the rain, the exhaustion that comes after the holiday rush, the illnesses one after the next – but it seems like March is when I really begin to think about the (not-so-new) year ahead. Because today is February 26th and we've only got two days left in this second month of the year, and I'm just now making The Big List. I know some people make lists for New Year's (you know, around the first of January, give or take just a few days), some people make birthday lists (like 34 things to do before I turn 35, which is what I'll be in October), but I am making The March List. I won't be posting everything on that list, but here are two little ones.




Take more photos, all the time. This comes partly from some measure of guilt ... I have two really nice cameras, so I ought to be using them more. But it also comes from the idea that by taking more photos, I'll begin to notice more. Everyday beauty, patterns, light ... All of this filters its way into my work, eventually.



Ruthlessly sort Liam's school and art work. There is a lot of it and it piles up. Recycle what's not so important and save the best. I love the idea of Liam being able to look back at the things he made and the work he did when he was five. My mom recently sent me a box of my things, mostly because Liam requested my old Mon Chi Chi monkey doll – does anyone else remember these? They were strange little thumb-sucking monkeys. I had two, a big one and a small one, and oddly enough they were in a box at my mom's. Liam wanted them so one could be Mr Nielsen from Pippi Longstocking. This was a brief fascination, though we did blaze through three Pippi books in about as many weeks. I read these same stories as a child so it was fun to revisit them with Liam.

Anyway, also in the box was the All About Me book I made when I was in second grade, at Lincoln School in Kathmandu, Nepal. I really love seeing it now.

That's me in the first row, third from the left, looking super happy (and missing a few teeth)!

Some of my favorite things that I wrote in the All About Me book. I had pretty good handwriting, don't you think?

My Size

I am taller than a mouse.
I am shorter than the ceiling.
I can fit inside a building.
I can jump over a stone.
I can hold a piece of paper.
I am bigger than a book.
I am smaller than a tall shelf.
I am the size I want to be.

(True at seven, mostly true at thirty-four! I guess I didn't really realize, at the age of seven, that these might well last a lifetime. That last one, well, it leads to another list item – exercise, every day. Or at least five days a week. For the last month, I'm right on track.)

Adjectives That Describe Me (abridged version)

Brown
Short
Book-lover
Swing-lover
Singing-lover
Poetry-lover
Dream-lover
Party-lover
Birthday-lover
Color-liker.

(What? Only a color LIKER?)

Things That Make Me Sad

When it's library day and I don't get to finish a good book.

(So true, still.)

Things I Wonder About

I wonder what will happen on exciting days. I wonder what a planet is. I wonder what the moon is made of. I wonder what the sun is. I wonder who invented day and night. I wonder why Nepal doesn't have T.V. I wonder who made up years. I wonder if any kind of bird can fly to the moon.

(Serious questions – the galaxy, day and night, WHY DIDN'T I HAVE T.V. GROWING UP?! Ha.)

Time Is Important, Too

1. It takes me 6 minutes to eat breakfast.
2. It takes me 4 minutes to brush my teeth.
3. It takes me 19 minutes to get home from school.
4. It takes me 4 minutes to get dressed.
5. It takes me 37 seconds to sing a Christmas song.

(That's a really quick Christmas song. I don't actually remember singing any Christmas songs as a kid, but that's because it only took 37 seconds, obviously. And 4 minutes to get dressed is probably only because my mom made me pick out my clothes the night before and I wasn't allowed to change my mind!)

Time Goes By Quickly When ...

I'm racing in a relay race or when I am in a running race. Or when I'm reading a good book or when I'm going to go to America to watch a T.V. program. Time goes quickly when I am going to a place that I really like a lot. Time goes quickly when I'm having a birthday party and when I am opening presents or when I am doing cursive.

(America = T.V. The single-minded obsession of a kid who didn't have TV until I moved here in the sixth grade. We don't have a T.V. now either.)

Anyway, sort of a long post but these are gems. Hope you enjoyed the glimpse of my seven-year-old self.

slow going

Oh boy. These photos were taken a week ago, but I haven't had a chance to post them til now. Liam finally headed back to school last Tuesday, after being home for almost a week with a nasty cough. This adorable hat is one he made – you know, for President's Day, of course. I love the stuff he brings home from kindergarten. Anyway, no one could ever rightly say my boy is shy. At all. He sure does like to ham it up for the camera.


Also on Tuesday, though, Liam had a horrific accident at school. It was one of those total freak things, very cringe-worthy. He was pulling up to his classroom table in his Snappie when the ring finger of his right hand (which he uses to drive) pushed just-so against the table ... causing pretty much the entire nail to come off. Like I said, VERY cringe-worthy! In Liam's own words, he let out a 'bloody murder yell!' This happened near the end of the school day, so Ben and I went to pick Liam up to take him to the doctor. All is well, he hasn't even really complained about it at all. He's a tough cookie, seriously. It even looks, actually, like the nail might be miraculously re-attaching itself. If not, we told him that it'll most likely grow back around his 6th birthday at the end of April.



Accident aside, we've just been pretty slow moving around here. We all seem tired, though the past week of sunshine was lovely.

I've been cooking a lot lately. I should clarify, because I pretty much cook all the time, and mostly love to do so. A few weeks ago I made a terrific new recipe, loosely based on one from Asian Dumplings by Andrea Nguyen. (I almost never follow recipes, but rather read them through for ideas.) I made steamed sticky rice with coconut milk, wrapped around a filling of shredded dark meat chicken simmered with garlic, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, cilantro and coconut milk. These were individually wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. We ate (many of them) with home-made tom kha soup.

in the kitchen

I'll be the first to say that I'm pretty picky about desserts. For a while now, my favorite cookie has been the buckwheat cocoa nib ones from Alice Medrich's book, Pure Dessert (first discovered via here). But then last night I made a version of another cookie, a shortbread, from that same cookbook. And I love them. I may even love them more than the buckwheat ones. Better yet, don't make me choose – I made the buckwheat ones last night, too, only I baked them in a tart pan and cut them like shortbread. Most of these are heading out the door this afternoon for Liam's teachers ...


This cookbook is a gem, full of simple desserts with a minimum of fuss and pure, clean flavors. Anyway, the recipe ... So, so easy and delicious there is no reason in the world to delay making these. I should note that the co-op did not have kamut flour (though you can buy it online here, and I plan to do so soon), so I substituted a blend of spelt and farro flours, plus the all-purpose. It should also be said that I don't follow recipes to the letter, so I also skipped the black pepper in this round and ended up adding a bit more flour overall than the recipe calls for.

12 tbsp unsalted butter, melter and still warm
5 tbsp sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup kamut flour (or do as I did and use a combination of spelt and farro)
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Flaky sea salt and black pepper for sprinkling

Grease a 9 1/2-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom.

In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter with the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the flours and mix until incorporated. Pat and spread the dough evenly in the pan. Let rest for at least 2 hours, or overnight. (Do not refrigerate.)

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 300° F.

Bake the shortbread for 40 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven, leaving oven on. Lightly sprinkle the surface of the shortbread with sugar, sea salt and black pepper. Do this carefully, a little salt and pepper go a long way. Let the shortbread cool for 10 minutes.

Carefully remove the shortbread from the pan. Using a thin sharp knife, cut the shortbread into wedges. Place the wedges slightly apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and put into the oven for 15 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Shortbread can keep in an airtight container for a couple of weeks, though I can't imagine it would ever stay around that long here.

I've also been making granola after finally getting so sick of paying an arm and a leg for the kind I like, especially since that one has only 3 ingredients – oats, honey and canola oil. A recipe may come soon, but basically I mix together 4 cups of extra thick cut organic oats with honey or maple syrup, unsalted butter, extra virgin olive oil, pistachios, raw almonds and sea salt and bake it in a 300 degree oven for an hour or so, til it's golden brown and crunchy. It's simple and delicious and cheap to make.

taking it easy

First I was sick with a terrible cough for two full weeks, and now Liam is sick with the same thing. No school for him all week long = very little studio time for me all week. Oh well. Poor kiddo, this cough is pretty awful and it's been rough. I'm hoping he will be well enough by Friday to at least go in to school for the Valentine's Day card exchange. He already got one in his cubby that Ben brought home when he stopped by to pick up some worksheets for Liam to do at home. It was so cute:

HPE VLNTN LEAM

from his friend, Vivi. Turns out Liam is not the only kindergartener who likes to leave out most vowels.

Alright, more soon, I promise. February is a short month, but HPE VLNTN DY everyone.

february // love

February, already! I think we ought to celebrate the second month of the year ... I am offering 20% off all Satsuma Press Wedding Line orders placed this month (after all, this month includes Valentine's Day). There is some fine print involved in this: a contract must be signed and a 25% non-refundable deposit paid in order to receive your discount. Also, this doesn't include bespoke designs, but I offer eleven beautiful ready-made illustrations (with maybe a few more coming soon) ... We don't need to finalize your text or even design choice; just reserve a spot in my schedule this month, even if your wedding isn't for a while. Because Satsuma Press is just one person, it's important for me to schedule my press time carefully.

Please be in touch with me directly to hear more; I would love to hear from you! Just mention that you read about the February special on my blog ... You can email me at lynn@satsumapress.com

P.S. Super lovely photos by the oh-so-talented Max Wanger.