Enchantment Learning & Living Blog

Welcome to Enchantment Learning & Living, the inspirational space where I write about the simple pleasures, radical self-care, and everyday magic that make life delicious.

On Pulp Fiction Books

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In these, you give yourself permission to judge a book by its cover.  The verdict?  Sizzling hot!  Full of searing scandal and lusty dames, shameless rogues and sinister villains.  Buy them you must, just as you must run your hands over their worn covers and imagine all the sordid deeds seeping through each page--almost soiling you as if you are guilty by association...and rather enjoying it.

These books throw virtue out the window, just as they reject any pretense at literary grandeur in favor of grit and sin and a yarn spun so well you're dizzy after reading it.  Their covers are a cold hard promise of people behaving badly--and liking it as much as you love reading about it.  It's all about base instincts and tawdry actions.

They are the books no one wants to admit to reading, to wanting; the ones that kindle your imagination the most just by their covers alone.  This is why you love them, why you give them a prized place on your bookshelves and writing desk and nightstand.  These books, out of all the others, remind you that you are human, made of bone and skin and blood, of heat and heart, of wisdom far deeper than the thin veneer of respectability you are tempted to commit to with a quick purchase of some old classic or other.

So you surround yourself with these pulp pops of humanity, theses thin slivers of juicy life full to bursting with bright flashes of human experience, these over-the-top exaggerations of what it means to bite into life and savor every moment, the good, the bad, the pulp.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on InstagramFacebookPinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

On an Unexpected Feast of Books

You hadn't planned on visiting a used bookstore (your favorite kind) today, but you should have known better; an OPEN sign and a window full of books are always more than enough to lure you into the waiting embrace of any bookstore, if only for a moment.  You should have also remembered that you find exactly the books you are looking for on these unplanned bookstore visits, never on the ones you deliberately pencil in.  It's some cosmic rule that when you forget to think too hard about your list of desired books that the ones you've been waiting for--and the ones you didn't know you needed--will fall right in your lap.

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So there you were, running your fingers along the spines of worn and well-used books, pouring over each section of this house-turned-store.  There in the old kitchen sat philosophy, over there in a would-be pantry, old classics a buck a piece.  You spent more time in a closet turned sword and sorcery den, but didn't get swept away until you found a rack of vintage pulp books, the kind with lusty dames and robust fellas on them, each with their own provocative taglines.  You're a sucker for those splashy covers and tawdry tales, always have been even before school officially ended your love affair with Serious Reading.

So you find one of those pulp beauties to add to your collection--the history of an audacious young seaman...who dueled and prayed and sinned his way to magnificent adventure!  Or so the back of the book tells you.  The cover, well, you know the kind of picture it likes to paint.

But it isn't until you are almost out the door with this find that you stumble upon a shelf in the cookbook section and find yourself face to face with a row of books you have been searching for some time and a few you didn't know existed.  There, stacked together like old cronies were a long-searched-for Nero Wolf Cookbook, a must have for any fan of food or this classic mystery series, and a collection of M.F.K. Fisher and Julia Child books you simply must own.  These women of food and words (much like yourself) feed your soul and your mind as they titillate your palate. 

Yes, you must have these.  And the Gone with the Wild Cookbook too, for much the same reasons as you need your swashbuckling pirate pulp adventure, for the cover and the idea more that the story or a recipe for classic Southern grits.  And then there is the novel about cheese and something whimsical; you don't know much more about it but that you must read it.  It has all the makings of a perfect bubble bath read.  These you sweep into your arms, unable to curb your hunger for such tasty reads.

You can already picture your afternoon with your new books spread out on your bed, a tea tray sitting next to you as you flip through one and then another book, lost in a myriad of worlds, feasting on new ideas and images and experiences.  These books, this feast of pulp and culinary musings and tributes to perfectly imaged worlds are a reflection of you.  You are a creature made up of good books and good meals, food experiments and word experiments, usually with a side of wine and cheese.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

My Home, Myself After Cleaning Out My Closets

There is nothing but space and light where once old lives and whispers of the past used to live. It is a delicious feeling of wholeness in the empty spaces carved out of your closets and cabinets, a sweet fullness in yourself as you acknowledge that to move forward you must let go of the remnants of other selves haunting your home.

Your bedroom closet now resembles those spacious, clutter-free works of art you see in home magazines: everything in its place, easy to see and flip through as you prepare for your day one piece of your ensemble at a time.  It is now your collection of things that make you who you are, plates of armor that protect you as you make your way in the world, bits of art that you proudly display on your body, visual expressions of your inner essence.  Gone are the things that you once tried to fit into.  You said farewell to the too tame traditional wardrobe staples that will never be your style.  And another to the outlier impulse purchases that gave only a brief flash of confidence as you swiped your credit card to purchase them, only to get home and realize you are not, in fact, a woman who will ever wear this or that.

Your hallway closet--your storage closet--too is blissfully organized with seldom used but necessary things: the bin of winter holiday decorations, the file box of important papers (whittled down after shredding several years' worth of unnecessary ephemera), the stack of boxes, reserved for future moves.  And yet it breathes free and easy from the one hundred other things you stuffed in there--Very Important Documents that, you realize, you have not touched for over a year and, in fact, had forgotten about, and so must not be so Very Important after all.

Your home feels this lightening up as if each piece of clothing or old household item you donated has liberated it in the same way it has liberated you.  It can breathe again, no longer weighed down by things that don't belong there.  You love this lightness and want to nourish it as it nourishes you.  You don't want to weigh it down with anything else or fill up those spaces with something new.  You simply want to enjoy the new space you've created, both in your home and in you, new space, new life that you can grow into.  For now, it is enough to know it is there, a bubble of potential.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Orange You Glad You Can Have Earrings Like This?

I know what you are thinking: what ARE these things?  Are they oranges?  Or are they leather? Are they earrings?  Are they magical?  The answer to all these questions is YES!

These earrings are one of a kind wonders made by my sister, Victoria, a Fulbright Scholar and artists living in Florence, Italy with her writer husband (talk about livin' the good life!).  Her earrings are inspired by her orange peel art in which she cures and sews orange peels into tapestries, installations, and other living pieces of art.  Her Fulbright work in Florence took her to the world-famous tanneries in Italy where she learned how to turn orange peels into fruit leather using the ancient methods of leather tanning there. 

Some of her original orange peel art includes this house she built from wood and oranges peels she stitched together called Accumulated Matter.  Here's the exterior of that project...

...and the interior.  It smelled heavenly in there, like sweet oranges!  And the thin, cured strips of orange peels shine like stained glass along this small building, making it feel like a sacred citrus sanctuary.

Her more recent work included a solo exhibition in Florence where she got to showcase her orange peel work with her new tanning methods which made her peels more flexible than her previous curing procedures. This image below features her orange peel scroll, called Cascade, which was a prominent piece in her Alchemical Orange Project:

So how did that larger than life art become epic teeny tiny orange peel earrings? Victoria explains it perfectly when she says, "I wanted to play with the notion of how art can be displayed, as there are many critical dialogues that challenge exhibiting art in the normal context of a gallery."

She goes on to explain, "I think of my earrings as wearable sculptures...In this way, the relationship between art and daily life is fluid and effortless."

Wearable art? Heck yes! 

Victoria also likes to play with the idea of refuse and discarded material--here the orange peel and arguably the least desirable part of the orange (we all typically go for the sweet fruit in the middle, rather than the bitter skin). 

She says, "I want to encourage people to question the way that we use materials and what we consider valuable or useless in order to encourage new perspectives about seeing the beauty and potential in something that is normally overlooked."

So if you want some one-of-a-kind wildly inventive citrusy wearable art made from a top secret tanning process known only to Victoria, you really should check out her earrings on Etsy.  Each pair is unique and handmade, so you won't ever find someone with a pair quite like yours.  I already have a pair and can't wait to get more!  Which brings me to my last question: Orange you glad there are artists out there who see the world through orange-peel-shaped lenses? I sure am, for it reminds us to enjoy the whimsy and playfulness of life and to look for enchantment in the often overlooked thing, like peels, in our day-to-day living.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

On the Woman I Will Always Be, the Clothes I Will Always Wear

To the older than sin peasant skirt, twice altered and infinitely-mended: I love you.  You are my Laura Ingalls Wilder skirt, always worn while making tortillas on cozy fall afternoons or during early mornings weeding the garden.  Lace fringed and speckled with brown and pink flowers like freckles of a farm fresh egg: you remind me that peace is always found by getting lost in a good book or a corner of my plot of land.  You are the Pioneer Woman in me that feeds my trailblazing soul, allergic to being fenced in, lover of horizon-to-horizon space, mountains and sky my ever present companions. 

To my mother's brown cashmere coat: I love you.  I suppose people would call you vintage now, with your A-line silhouette and the elegance that speaks of a night at the theater.  Worn only for special occasions, you bring me the grace and the poise of my mother, a valuable asset in this rough and tumble world.  You remind me that every outing is a special occasion, every event worthy of a stylish ensemble.  You are the Sophisticated Lady to which I aspire, the timeless icon of the self-assured womanhood.

To my polka dot dresses, all of them: I especially love you.  You bring a bounce to my step and remind me that it is always a good idea to flirt with life--because life always flirts back.  You lift heaviness from my heart and fill it with song.  You make me want to twirl and giggle and go off adventuring.  You bring out the Hedonist in me.

To all the scarves I've knitted: love, love, love.  You are stitched from the Nourisher in me. Life, you say, is a symphony for the senses--color, texture, memory, all woven into your warming embrace.  As are the scarves gifted to me--you are hugs from my loved ones, each stitch a token of the history and love between us. 

And to my leggings and tunics: come Saturday, I love you most of all because you make me feel like I am not wearing any clothes at all.  Yes, you reflect the Happy Nudist in me who gladly gives up my weekday costumes for comfort and stretch, just as I tuck away my vibrant weekday persona for the quiet creature in love with large mugs of tea and naps and homey tasks.

Yes.  That is the woman I will always be: the Hedonistic-Happy-Nudist-Sophisticated-Lady-Pioneer.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Tomato & Mozzarella Salad

Earlier in the week, I posted my Cherry Tomato Summer Salad, an easy, refreshing dish that highlights that flavors of this perfect summer fruit.  Since you know my love for a good tomato borders on the pornographic (remember my effusions on the first tomatoes from my own garden?), I thought I'd offer you another tomato salad recipe, this one just as simple and delicious as the last. 

It makes a perfect light meal or a great side dish for an Italian dinner.  I love making this salad for Sunday pasta night with my family!  It has a big wow factor, both in taste and presentation, but takes only five minutes to prepare.  Unlike traditional tomato and mozzarella salads, I go easy on the cheese, using it more as an accent to the tomatoes rather than as a competing flavor.  Feel free to play with the types of tomatoes you use too.  I used more yellow pear, chocolate rose, and sun gold cherry tomatoes here, but the recipe can easily be tweaked to accommodate what you have on hand.

Ingredients:

4 cups cherry tomatoes

8oz small mozzarella balls (one container)

1/2 cup basil

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Place washed cherry tomatoes in salad bowl.  Slice mozzarella balls (roughly the size of your cherry tomatoes) in half and add to your bowl.  Shred basil and add to salad, then stir until ingredients are combined.  Drizzle olive oil and vinegar over ingredients and stir until thoroughly mixed.  Add salt and pepper to taste and stir.  Serves 4 as a light meal or 6 as a side dish.  Enjoy!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

On Women I Will Never Be, Clothes I Will Never Wear

To the awkward Barbie high heels, I've only ever worn once: goodbye.  You never fit quite right.  You were the bright spectacles on my feet that I wore to give myself wings the day I defended my dissertation. I hobbled to my defense, your heels clack-clack-clacking in an undignified manner, reminding me that my former career path--a nun given herself over to scholarship, a Hardcore Intellectual--like you, did not fit me right. So goodbye.  I will never be that woman, tired and driven and ready to sacrifice everything, including her feet firmly planted on the ground, for a few scraps of old paper and old lives that no one cares to remember.  I am an intellectual, yes, but made of heart and blood as well.

To the white dress: goodbye.  I don't like white clothes.  And I am forced to press all the air out of my lungs to hoist your zipper over my ribcage and even then not without help.  All white doesn't suit me.  I am a woman of colors, of rich desert browns and turquoises and yellows and greens.  So goodbye at my vague attempt to be a Demure Girl.  I will not be silenced.

To the shoes I've never worn: goodbye.  You were bought on impulse as if to prove I could be anyone I wanted to be now that I was done with school.  You were tall, coated in thick black and purple stripes, looking like nothing if not bulbous spiders on my feet.  There was a faint dream that you would be worn for Girls Night Out or to clubs or to wherever women my age seemed to go on weekend nights.  But the only thing you ever did for me was take up space in my closet for this one simple reason: I will never be the Girls Night Out woman; there will be no loud bars or silly drunkenness, because I am not a girl or fond of crowds or having to miss the early morning hush because I've been out too late.  I am of the earth and the sky and the quiet of simple living.

To the fancy jacket lined with sequence and the purple polka dot dress: goodbye too.  I cannot wear you without feeling sad.  You are the Dashed Hope, the outfit worn to give me grace as I transitioned out of my old life, the outfit I wore in a desperate attempt to distance myself from the gray surrounding me.  It only partially worked.  You too must go, though it hurts a little.  I am always Sad Birthday Girl when I attempt to wear you as if the gray has stuck to your shine and began to absorb into my skin.  I cannot hold onto that sadness.  So I will give you away with the hopes that it will cleanse you of the burden of my past and you can be reborn into healing garments for someone else.

To the too-tight work pants I stuff myself into: most definitely goodbye.  I am not a Straight-laced Anything.  I am a teacher, plain and simple.  And one who likes bold dresses and A-line skirts.  I have learned to breathe in my profession, to honor my nature even as I make my way in the world, so you must go.  And to those stiff jeans--yes, goodbye to you too, for much the same reasons.  I have no room in my life for conventional restrictions.  My limbs are carved from yoga; my body caught up in a fluid daily dance of self-expression.  It will not take to the constraints of stiff fabric or conventional thoughts.  I am a woman of nature and breath, air, and light.

Goodbye to you all and many others.  I unburden my closet from your presence as I unburden myself from these women I never was and never will be. I will think twice about taking on robes and roles that are not my own, of cluttering my life with things I am not meant to have or be.

It is a sweet relief to create more room for the woman that I am.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Cherry Tomato Summer Salad

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What is summer without the delight of tomatoes fresh from the vine?  They taste like distilled sunshine and sweet, sweet earth...I could go on forever about these perfect summer jewels which is probably why I end up with piles of these delicious fruits in forms and varieties sitting on my kitchen counter ready to be devoured.  This especially true for cherry tomatoes that are like individually wrapped treats I can pop in my mouth like candy (only better because I don't really like candy, just clean, healthy food). 

One of my favorite ways to enjoy cherry tomatoes is to use them in this easy salad.  It celebrates the perfection of the heirloom cherry tomato with minimal ingredients to weight them down.  Think of it as a bread-less bruschetta.  The only real difference between my salad and a tomato bruschetta topping is the bitter dandelion greens I add to balance out the sweetness of the tomatoes.  Or you can almost think of it as a variation of my spicy cherry salad, minus the spice.

I like to use a variety of cherry tomatoes, here being yellow pear, chocolate rose, and sun gold (pictured below).  It doesn't matter what type of tomatoes--including larger varieties--you use as long as they are super fresh, either from your garden or the farmers market.  Store bought just won't give you the same taste.  Lastly, I keep the dressing light, just enough to coat the ingredients without overshadowing the tomatoes, and rarely use salt in my recipe since these fresh ingredients hardly need to coax out their flavor.  This dish makes a light summer dinner or a perfect side salad.

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Ingredients:

2 cups heirloom cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup dandelion greens

1/4 cup basil

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

salt to taste (optional)

Slice the heirloom tomatoes in half and place in a salad bowl.  Shred dandelion greens and basil and add to bowl, stirring until combined.  Mince garlic and add to bowl, stirring until combined.  Drizzle olive oil and vinegar to bowl and mix again.  Add salt of desired. Serves 2. Enjoy!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

On Farmers' Markets

You are a sucker for a good farmers' market, just as you can't resist the temptations of any grocery store.  You go there wanting to be seduced--by ripe heirloom tomatoes,  heaps of ruby radishes, and, if you're really luck, tangled nests of garlic scapes in the spring or juicy peaches near summer's end. 

It is best to go early, before the heat and the crowds bear down on you, before the tender greens and over-ripe fruits begin to wilt and soften under the sun's gaze.  For now, you enjoy the early morning coolness, made all the cooler today from the previous evening's monsoons that raged through the city; the sky is still coated in a blanket of clouds promising more rain.  The city is quiet, subdued.

It is good coffee you must have first in order to browse through the produce stands; it will hold you over until you decide what goods you truly want to commit to.  Its taste is dark and bitter on your tongue--tempting you to balance it out with one of the pastries piled high in several booths like edible artwork topped off with powdered sugar.  But no, you aren't ready to commit yet, not ready to give up the little thrill that blossoms in your belly with each temptation, each possibility.

As you wind your way through the stalls, you marvel at the jewel-like produce: amber carrots, emerald greens, butter yellow corn heads poking through pale green wisps of silk and husk.  You keep your eye out for pickling cucumbers (what is summer without homemade pickles?) and another for those culinary miracles of homegrown tomatoes--gone too soon from the stands--that needs only your teeth sinking into their flesh to make a perfect meal. 

When your coffee has dwindled in its cup and you have made a full circuit around the market, it is time to let yourself be fully seduced by the few items you can't stop thinking about, time to give into the temptation of peppery radishes, red and green okra spears, and tiny heirloom cherry tomatoes.  You return for your treats, already planning the week's meals which all somehow revolve around just washing and eat these earthly treasures raw.  At the last minute, you throw in a bouquet of wildflowers because farmers market flowers always make your nightstand look so lovely, make your mornings so much more delicious when you roll out of bed.

With a full heart and an even fuller canvas bag, you head home, content in your treats, excited to spread them out on your counter in a cornucopia of summer pleasure.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

A Love Letter to Summer Monsoons

You quiet my mind as you feed the earth.  The strength of your thunder, the flash of your lightening all serving to soothe the storm inside me.  Your wet rain kisses my skin, filling the cracks and crinkles of my parched mind as it soaks into the dark soil grounding my plants, burrowing deep into their roots even as it brushes their upturned faces.

You send a hush over the city, making the land, the traffic, the day-to-day bustle slow down whether it wants to or not.  You wind your way to your fullest expression, clouds gathering in force behind you, a welcome promise of a calm, settled evening.  I watch those dark clouds race across the horizon punctuated by your low grumble that warns the city of your strength, inviting the day to bow before your might.  There will be no late night frolicking or even an afternoon reading on the porch; windows are securely fastened shut, door tightly closed.  Inward I must go. 

Your crackle and light sooth me to sleep late at night, the downpour of rain finding me in my dreams.  I would run out and dance in you, if I could, if it weren't for the thunder and lightning.  I content myself with listening to your wild symphony--the only noise that can draw me away from my book and my place on the couch to simply stare out my window and listen and drift on the song that is my summer monsoons, my healing balm that washes over my soul.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Lavender Foot Scrub

So yesterday I talked about the importance of giving your feet a little extra TLC, especially after moving or doing other activities that keep you on your feet all day (teachers, I'm talking to you!).  In that blog, I extolled the virtues of my Honey Eucalyptus Foot Soak, a perfect way to sooth and refresh your tootsies.  Today I offer you another such treat in the form of a foot scrub.  Like my foot soak that can be turned into a full-on bath, this foot scrub can also be used as a regular body scrub, but it is especially nice on the soles of your feet.  The rough texture of the sea salt smooths away dead skin while the lavender is a natural relaxant and anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial. 

I use less olive oil in this recipe than I would in a body scrub because you want more grit than moisture for a foot scrub.  Since the soles of your feet are tougher than the rest of your skin, the extra grit offers more exfoliation.  If you want to use this as a body scrub, just add another 1/4 cup olive oil to soften it.  Ready for the big kicker?  You can also use this as a foot soak!  So why not double the recipe and use half to soak your feet and the other to scrub them clean?

Ingredients:

1 cup sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil

10 drops lavender essential oil

2 tablespoons dried lavender buds (optional)

Combine ingredients in a bowl and transfer to a mason jar to store.  To use, wash feet thoroughly.  Generously apply the scrub to feet and work it across your skin with your hands, spending more time on rougher areas.  Rinse when complete and moisturize feet.  Makes about 1 cup.  Enjoy!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Honey Eucalyptus Foot Soak

The only thing better than a long hot bath after moving and unpacking (or helping someone else do it) is a long hot foot soak!  After all, you've been on your feet all day (and night) and sometimes it's nice to slip into jammies, chill on the newly moved-in couch, and dip your feet into a basin filled with Epsom salts and other restorative ingredients.  Your only task then is to not move for a little while, which should be no problem after a day of running around. 

For this recipe, I use Epsom salts which help sooth tired muscles thanks to all the magnesium and other minerals in it.  I also add honey which smooths and softens skin while reducing any inflammation.  The little bit of olive oil moisturizes your feet while the eucalyptus oil energizes them and relieves sore muscles.  Its crisp scent also soothes the spirit.  The only special equipment you need is a big tub or basin to soak your feet.  The best time to use this is at the end of the day after you've unpacked your last box.  Get cleaned up, slip into your favorite PJs, brew a cup of tea, and sit back to enjoy your foot bath!  Of course, it goes without saying that you can easily turn this into a for-real bath--simply pour these ingredients into your bath tub and enjoy. 

Ingredients:

1 cup organic honey

1 cup Epsom salts

10 drops eucalyptus essential oils

1 tablespoon olive oil

4-8 cups hot water (depending on how big your basin is)

Combine all ingredients into your tub except the water.  Then fill your container with hot water from your bathtub.  Make sure to test the water first for desired temperature first.  Do not to overfill the tub--the water level will rise once you put your feet in it.  Soak for at least 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

On the World's Longest Bubble Bath

It is late--far later than you realized, the clock's hands rapidly making their way towards midnight.  It is no time for a bubble bath, really, but you simply can't shake your need to get lost in hot water and a thicket of frothy bubbles. 

The past few days were a flurry of moving boxes and running errands and whipping up dinner for family as you all worked to help your sister and her husband move into their new home.  You are dizzy from the movement and the inevitable chaos that is moving a person's home box by box into a new space, to be reassembled into relative orderliness.  Happy to help, yes, but now your body craves a hot soak and your mind the quiet of the late night.

As you draw the bath, you relish the hush of your home, the comfort of being surrounded by your things from books you've read or mean to read, and the ones you toy with bringing to your bubble bath only to be discarded on your nightstand--words are too much for you right now.  You enjoy your candles which you light to perfume your home with the scent of lemongrass and the ever-comforting collection of stones and crystals lining your nightstands and desk and shelves--they calm and ground you, centering you back to you.  You even relish putting on your bathrobe speckled with stars on a midnight sky.  It is yours as is this night.

When your bath is ready and piled high with those bubbles you so love, you forsake the robe and sink deeply into your watery haven.  You will not move for some time.  You will listen to the gentle popping of the bubbles and your quiet breathing.  You will savor the heat soaking into your limbs and the bright tang of lemongrass tickling your nose.  You will let the days of moving wash off you like dead skin.  You will make this the world's longest bubble bath, lazily letting the clock's hands circle past midnight and tick-tock towards one, maybe even two.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Post-Helping-Sister-Move-Bubble-Bath...more tomorrow!

Yup.  The title pretty much says it all.  I helped my sister and her husband move into their new home this weekend to prepare for the baby on the way.  It went well and fairly smoothly...as far as moving goes.  We had lots of help from his family and ours so we were able to get a lot done.  That said, there were the inevitable unexpected complications and long hours and takeout food and all the things that come with moving.  It is picking up the entire contents of your home and setting it up somewhere else, after all.  How could it not be just a little chaotic? There were, of course, lots of giggles and bubbly drinks and celebrations too!

That said, I've just finished helping them for now and all I can think about is the longest, hottest, bubbliest bubble bath in the world.  And a dirty gin martini.  Possibly at the same time I take my bath.  So what if it's only noon?

But I promise to bring you more tomorrow once I've had the world's longest bubble bath followed by the world's longest nap!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Limoncello Spritz Cocktail

Most of last week was spent waxing poetic about the glories of limoncello--making it, drinking it, allowing it to flood me with the golden memories of my trip to Italy.  I also promised you a recipe for the alluring elixir, assuming you don't always want to drinking it as is, perfectly chilled in a small sipping cup.  This cocktail is a variation of the Italian spritz, which uses a bitter orange liquor, Aperol, as a sparkling wine enhancer.  Here I swap out the Aperol with my limoncello for a light lemony bubbly drink perfect for your next celebration.  As a bonus, this drink tastes marvelous in any cup, including this plastic cup pictured here used when toasting to my sister and her husband's new house.  There was no furniture or even proper dishes in yet, only some takeout lunch, a few blankets for a makeshift indoor picnic on the wood floors of their living room, and of course, this bubbly drink to welcome them to their new home.

 

Ingredients:

1.5 oz (1 shot glass full) limoncello

5 oz (about 3-4 shots) of a dry sparking white wine

1.5 oz (1 shot) sparkling water

Ice (optional)

Pour limoncello into the bottom of a glass.  Add sparkling wine and sparkling water.  Add ice if desired--sometimes I put it in, sometimes I don't.  Serves one (so double the recipe and invite another limoncello lovin' friend to join you!).  Pairs well with a sunny Capri state of mind and a lovely patio garden.  Enjoy!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Best Hits: Top 5 Most Popular Recipes to Date

Yesterday we looked at the Top 5 Most Popular Blog Posts to Date, but we all know that besides my musing on everyday magic and simple pleasures, I also offer recipes on everything from DIY beauty products, healthy meals and snacks, to cocktails and even tea blends to help you conjure everyday bliss in your own life.  In honor of that equally important facet of Enchantment Learning & Living, today I am sharing the Top 5 Most Popular Recipes to Date.  I compiled the data, and the revelations are as varied and surprising as the most popular posts! Check it out below, in no particular order:

1. Keepin' It Fresh Homemade Deodorant

2. Lavender Gimlet

3. Easy Homemade Pickles

4. Chickpea & Mushroom Salad

5. Sleepy Time Tea Blend

What favorites of yours made this list?  Which didn't?  ...and don't fret, there are plenty more recipes to come!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Best Hits: Top 5 Most Popular Blog Posts to Date

I got to thinking the other day--now that I am a little more than halfway through my year of daily blogging--about what my most popular blog posts are as of now.  So I did some investigating, perused my blog activity, hits, comments, likes, favorites, and retweets...you name it!  Once I compiled my data, I found there were a handful of standouts that people just couldn't seem to get enough of.  This biggest surprise to me was that these "best hits" were from a pretty wide range of topics and tones, from the playful On Maximalist Fashion to the more somber On Healing as Art.  Wow! 

So here, in a nutshell, are my most popular blog posts (chosen by your engagement), not including recipes--those come later.  Enjoy rereading the ones you helped make the most popular or reading for the first time the ones that slipped past you the first time around!

1. On Healing as Art

2. On Returning Home After Work

3. On Tasting the First Tomatoes from Your Garden

4. On Maximalist Fashion

5. On the Necessity of Good Coffee

What were your favorites that didn't make it on the list?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Mama Love Pregnancy Tea Blend

I am happy to announce that in just a few short months, I will be the proud auntie to a little baby niece!  I can't wait to do all the things good aunties do, like fuss over her as a baby, take her to high tea when she is old enough, and teach her the value of good books and polka dot dresses.  Even as I write this, I am in the process of knitting a hot pink blanket for her so that she knows how loved she is--loved even before she came into this world!

Of course, it's not all about the cute baby.  In fact, my mom and I have been doing quite a lot of girl bonding things to enjoy this pregnancy process with my sister and the whole family is helping her and her husband move into their new home this weekend.  So it has been lots of love and excitement all around! 

And yet we mustn't forget the needs of the mother.  Her body is changing rapidly as it adjusts to the new life it carries and it is important to make sure she gets plenty of nutrients in her system--just as important as plenty of rest, exercise, and a healthy diet.  So in honor of my sister's pregnancy, I came up with this herbal pregnancy tea blend meant to give this new mama a little TLC. 

One thing to keep in mind is that when using herbs, it is always wise to consult your doctor and local herbalist about what herbs are safe for pregnant women.  Make sure to stay away from stimulating herbs like ginger because it can make the uterus overactive.  With this in mind (and a trip to my local herb store to consult with the experts), I stuck with nutrient dense herbs like alfalfa, rose hips, and raspberry leaf for this recipe to give my sister the extra energy and vitamin boost she needs. The mint leaves balance the grassy taste of the alfalfa while soothing the nerves and easing morning sickness. 

This is also a great tea for non-pregnant ladies who need a little nutrient boost.  The raspberry leaf on its own, especially, has long be considered a woman's herb, as it is good overall uterus health and contains a significant amount of magnesium which most women are deficient in (and which can be one of the causes of cramping).  My sister has been enjoying this blend all throughout her pregnancy; she likes the taste and loves that it nourishes both mother and child!

Ingredients:

1 cup Alfalfa Leaf

1/2 cup Peppermint leaf

1 cup Raspberry Leaf

1/2 cup Rose hips

1/2 cup Spearmint leaf

Blend all ingredients in a bowl and transfer to an airtight container.  Keep away from direct sunlight and heat.  To brew, use a heaping tablespoon per cup of hot water.  Add more tea per cup of water for a stronger brew.  Makes approximately 3 1/2 cups of tea.  Enjoy!

Health Properties of Herbs:

Alfalfa leaves: natural diuretic, improves digestion, rich in vitamins A, E, K, B, D, iron, magnesium, potassium, and sodium.

Peppermint: a cure-all herb for headaches, cramps, sore throat, and stomach aches.  

Raspberry leaf: rich in vitamins A, B, C, E, magnesium; tones uterus; relieves tension.

Rosehips: anti-aging; contains vitamins A, D, B, C, E, and K, iron, calcium, zinc, and other vital nutrients; promotes healing and boosts energy; antibacterial.

Spearmint: soothes nerves, motion sickness, along with the properties associated with peppermint; stronger flavor than peppermint.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

On Attitude

Attitude (n):  1. A settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior. 2.  A position of the body proper to or implying an action or mental state. 3. Individuality and self-confidence as manifested by behavior or appearance; style. -- oxforddictionaries.com

Your body is your mind, a reflection of all you hold dear, all you would reject. It carries your thoughts in your veins and maps your feelings in your body's tissues and sinewy muscles.  The grace of your actions, a mirror to what you allow into your mind, but deeper still, your soul and the very fabric that it is woven from.

You must be careful with this connection, the braided threads of mind, body, soul.  It is a gift, this power of reflection and magnification, your body absorbing what your deepest you conjures through thoughts, feelings, nourishing your whole self.  But this mirroring goes both ways.  It lets in light and hope, nurtured through your thoughts of growth and wholeness, of forward movement and healing. 

And yet, it too can feed off of the weeds in your mind, the doubts and old selves that grow through the cracks in your self-confidence.  It can leak out in bad posture or long-healed injuries flaring up, or nasty thoughts that encourage those weeds to grow deeper, thicker--until your mind would be a dark bramble seeping through your mirror, your body in the form of heaviness, a disconnection that wraps itself around you like a fog.

The only way to dispel the fog swirling in the mirror, to make those brambles fade back into the cracks they grew out of and seal off those openings is to let in light; feed your individual attitude mapped in your veins and bones.  Awaken the core you sleeping inside your ribcage, and reminding it that it is a force of sun and earth, blood and bones, strong roots and open wings. 

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Zucchini Fritters

This recipe is the perfect solution to an overabundance of zucchini--it's easy, light, and sooooo addictive!  It makes a healthy, quick weeknight meal or a perfect side to a fancier feast come the weekends.  The term "fritter" might be a little misleading, conjuring up images of deep-fried excess.  In reality, these fritters are really more like golden brown cakes or latkes cooked in a little olive oil.

The trick to getting perfectly crisp fritters is to make sure you drain the moisture from the shredded zucchini otherwise you end up with mushy fritters.  To do this, you'll need some cheese cloth which will help you wring the excess moisture out of your zucchini.  You can save the juice for green smoothies.  The second trick to a perfect fritter is in making sure that it is super flat, which in this case means less "batter" to fry up for each cake.  This way you get a crispy outside and moist inside without any mush.

You can serve them over a bed of lettuce and top them with a little Greek yogurt and fresh chives for a dinner that is pure bliss!  They also freeze well, so I like to make a big batch and freeze some of it for a rainy day.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds zucchini (about 2-3 medium zucchinis or 2 1/2 cups), shredded

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 egg, beaten

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon red chile flakes

1 teaspoon sea salt

Place shredded zucchini in a cheesecloth and squeeze out any excess liquid. 

Then place shredded zucchini in a bowl and stir in garlic, chile flakes and salt.  Incorporate nutritional yeast and cornmeal next.  Lastly, add the egg and stir until fully combined.

Heat olive oil on medium heat in a pan. Using your hands, take about 3 tablespoons worth of batter and flatten it into a thin cake.  Place on a skillet and repeat until pan is full.  Let each cake cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until each side is golden brown. 

Serve warm.  Makes about 10 fritters.  Enjoy!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!