Big Salad, Bigger Dreams

Today has been all about the produce!

Maggie and I were totally crashed out last night/this morning. Normally, Maggie wakes us up when she’s ready for a bathroom break (around 6 am), but she wore herself out at Glen Alton yesterday, and Nick had to wake her up! And it’s a good thing he woke up on time because I didn’t set an alarm, and he said he was shaking me and it still took me a few minutes to wake up. Guess I was tired!

Nick and I enjoyed a syphon full of coffee that my sister and her husband brought us from Italy! It’s wood-roasted and delicious.

I had my coffee along side an oatmeal pancake topped with yogurt and berries.

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It kept me full until just now when I put together a huge salad.

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This is my huge measuring bowl that I use to mix dough and baked goods – 8 cups of produce sounded like the perfect lunch today.

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I had all kinds of good things in here today!

  • romaine
  • spinach
  • broccoli
  • carrots
  • scallion
  • berries
  • tomatoes
  • avocado
  • hard boiled egg
  • a little homemade raspberry vinaigrette

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Fruit in salads is one of the best things about summer. I love the sweetness they bring to otherwise savory salads.

 

My Dream Home

So, if you read this blog often, you know Nick and I take Maggie out to Glen Alton quite a bit.

I’m pretty sure she thinks it’s her home away from home because we go almost every weekend that we’re home.

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It was the first place we took her as a puppy to run around and get dirty, and she’s seen it through 3 seasons already.

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Look how little she was!!!

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She runs, hunts, jumps, skips, and explores.

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She learned how to swim in the pond in front of my dream home.

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And yesterday, she saw her first deer while we were taking an hour and a half hike around the property. The only sounds were our feet crunching down the path, Maggie’s breath when she ran past, the deer scurrying away, and a few bugs.

Every time we drive out to Glen Alton, I think about just packing up our house in the truck, moving right into the house and not looking back.

They’re currently fixing up the houses on the property and they’ll eventually be open to the public. But Nick and I really want to just live here and be the caretakers :)

Maggie would be in heaven.

And so would we. There’s tons of room to walk and run, a pond for swimming, and plenty of room to garden.

I think I would really have to up my sourdough production – it just feels like this a place that I would need to have fresh bread, all the time. And, it’s about 30 minutes from any type of store, so we would be making just about everything from scratch.

So, needless to say, I dreamt about the house last night and have a bunch of new sourdough recipe ideas swimming around in my head. I’m sure you’ll see them soon :)

 

What is your dream home?

A loft in the city?

An old farmhouse with land and animals?

A victorian in an old downtown?

I want the details!

 

20 comments

  1. I would love a big house with tons of land away from everything- but a big city with lots of things going on right down the street. Is that too much to ask for? ;)

    • Nope :) I’d love the same thing! Lots of space for myself, but close enough to enjoy restaurants and stores. Sounds perfect to me!

  2. Such a great idea for multi-purposing your measuring cup. :)

    I’m not sure what my dream home is…but I think it’s in the mountains, with a lake or river nearby.

  3. I have no idea what my dream home is at this point in my life. I don’t even know where I’m living/who with in a month and that alone freaks me out.

  4. It’s beautiful!

    My dream is to live in New York City. I want to live there so bad that at this point I wouldn’t care if it was a studio the size of a closet….it’d still be a dream come true!

  5. That place is so pretty!

    I’m not sure I have a dream home because I can’t exactly picture my future yet. I do have an odd obsession with really old houses and buildings though (with secret passageways and such) so an super old, renovated house would be amazing. Or a great loft apartment in an old building. If I don’t marry before I buy my first place I’ll definitely buy an apartment or condo to decrease the maintenance a bit.

  6. Salad looks so pretty!

    It may sound dumb but anyplace with my family is my dream home. I am perfectly fine in my simple home with them. The only think that would be nice I suppose is a huge yard but I am not complaining. What we have is good. :-)

  7. Wow, that place is fantastic. I would really love to see a deer, but here I often see foxes, hendgehogs and badgers.
    I already live in a wonderful place, in the italian mountains, surrounded by nature, but I would love to live with my boyfriend in a place where I can garden, where we can keep animals (chicken, cats, dog, and who knows, a horse). I think that my dream house is your house actually, ahah. But I would really love to stay in Italy, even if the possibility that are given to young people are in short supply.

    PS: that pancake made my mouth water!

    Juliette

  8. My dream is to live in a nice house in a suburb of a city.. city still unknown! I want a commute that isn’t too bad for work, yet manageable for enjoying city life. I want there to be lots of parks and outdoorsy areas to enjoy as a family and for when we have kids and dogs!

  9. That’s a gorgeous place :) My dream home would be a big country house with a wrap around porch, lots of land for horses, a huge kitchen, and somewhere where there will be white Christmases and beautiful Falls!

  10. I want a nice big house that’s just far enough away from the city without being too far, with room for our dogs and a huge garden. Some day maybe…

  11. Our dream home would be the same as yours! We want lots of land and not to be able to see any neighbors. I want to grow a lot my own food and have my own chickens. I want to be close enough to a city so that I can get things I need and we can still have internet for work purposes. :D *sigh* Someday!

  12. I would combine a Victorian and Farmhouse and Beach house. :) :)

  13. You’ve reminded me that I need to try hard boiled eggs in my salads again. I always enjoy hard boiled egg in cobb salads but never make it for myself at home!

    I can definitely see why that is your dream home!

    My dream home? I should post about it!

  14. I want an old, historic home with a warp around porch and swing! Then I’ll drink lemonade on the porch while my son plays in the front yard with the dog and his friends…….. :)

  15. I would love to live in an Earthship – all salvaged, recycled materials, natural building, in the middle of the desert – there are some beautiful ones in New Mexico, and they’re truly works of art that are functional, comfortable and ecologically sound!
    I’ve also toyed around with living in a cave (great insulation- saw a cave house in Switzerland), digging a hobbit hole out of an earthen mound, jazzing up a barn or living in a treehouse. The latter is pretty appealing too, and I have friends in Washington that have an amazing Swiss Family Robinson style tree house. ..I’m secretly 28 going on 5.

  16. I’d love a colonial farmhouse in the suburbs but with enough land and space that any future child I have can play without fear of cars, etc. Plus a local farmer’s market with tons of fresh produce to enjoy all year round. But I want to be close enough to a city for easy access to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods :) And different restaurants to sample new cuisines.

    I want the best of both worlds!! I know-I’m greedy!

  17. i want a craftsman home with lots of light, a gorgeous kitchen and bathrooms, and hardwood floors – in the hollywood hills would be nice…

  18. Dream home? A loft in Brooklyn, overlooking the NY skyline. Preferably in Brooklyn Heights. Preferably the penthouse. I would also own apartments in Prague, Rome, etc…. ahhh such is the life.

    My dorm apartment the sophomore year of college at NYU was humongous and the had huge windows with views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. It was utterly beautiful *le sigh*

    The thought of living in the burbs gives me the heebie-jeebies.

    I’d like a country home for “getaway” time but NEVER to live in FT.

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