The Empty Shelf Challenge

Earlier this week Jon Acuff issued a challenge to empty a shelf in your house and to fill it with the books you read from now until December 31st, 2014. Now, I love this for several reasons. One, I love the idea of not waiting for the new year. I get so caught up in setting arbitrary regulations on myself that I often forget that any given moment can be the start of a new adventure. Also, as someone with a penchant for purchasing (and checking out) new books faster than I can read them I'm hoping that the visual reminder of the empty shelf will encourage me to catch up.

That said, I didn't realize quite how much my bookshelf needed reorganizing until I knuckled down and went to clear off the top shelf this afternoon. I repainted my room earlier this year and my books never did get put away properly. There is still work to be done, but at least now they're in neat stacks. Being that one of my life list goals is to curate my book collection my fingers are crossed that this challenge is a solid jumping off point.

I've been wanting to start incorporating books into my posts here so you can definitely expect to hear more about this challenge throughout the year. Will you be participating? Link me below, I would love to follow along with your progress!

Easy Hazelnut Bread Pudding

It's funny how freeing yourself from the pressure to create actually frees up more time to be creative. Writing last night's post was therapeutic. To admit that I barely know where I'm going day-by-day, and that it's okay to still be figuring things out. After resolving to be more gentle with myself today I've already seen a turn around. After months of wrestling with an idea I've had for my soon to be opening web store I finally had the breakthrough I needed. I've had to keep a notepad document open to keep up with the ideas that have been flowing since this morning. What's that saying about needing to empty your cup in order to fill it again? It turns out I was holding on to more stress than I'd realized.

To capitalize on my ambitions I turned to the kitchen. In the aftermath of Christmas I had a leftover loaf of once glorious French bread from my favorite bakery sitting on my counter as hard as a rock. I couldn't bear to part with it, so I took to the internet. My cupboards in need of some serious restocking I was at a loss. I have a recipe for my all time favorite bread pudding, but that calls for some heavy duty amounts of cream and eggs. In a pinch, I stumbled on this recipe from Paula Deen. After some mild adapting I gave it a shot and it was just the thing for a chilly afternoon. While not as decadent as a typical bread pudding, this recipe is significantly faster to pull together and is a lot more flexible for what you may have on hand.

Easy Hazelnut Bread Pudding
(Adapted from this recipe from Paula Deen.)

2 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 loaf leftover crusty bread; cubed
1/2 cup brown sugar; lightly packed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter; softened
1 cup hazelnuts; coarsely chopped

Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9x13" baking dish.

In a large bowl combine granulated sugar, beaten eggs, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Add bread cubes and mix until evenly coated. Set aside to soak for 15 minutes. While the bread is soaking combine brown sugar, butter, and hazelnuts in a small bowl. This will be your crumble topping.

With the bread soaked, pour into your prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle crumble topping over the bread and place in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the custard has set and the top is a lovely golden brown. Serve either warm or chilled as desired and store covered leftovers in the fridge.

When gathering ingredients for this recipe substitute what you have on hand! The only milk I had left was 2% and that worked beautifully. Don't have any hazelnuts? Pecans, walnuts, or sliced almonds would also be delicious. I served this with some spiced whipped cream, but you could also add half a teaspoon of cinnamon to the crumble topping.

Merry Christmas!

Despite the relative silence over the past month I wanted to pop in to wish you all a very Merry Christmas before the day has slipped away entirely. It's been a low-key holiday, which suits me perfectly. A languid morning spent opening gifts and making chocolate chip bacon pancakes. Afternoon naps. A whirlwind cleaning marathon that has left me with a much more organized media cabinet. Bliss.

This has been a hard year, hard like nothing I have ever faced before. So much of that has hit home over the past month that I have been left reeling into survival mode. Getting through each day has become the sought victory. I'm trying. And it's by the grace of God that I am still so very blessed despite feeling so very broken. I didn't intend to be vulnerable tonight, but then it hit me that I not alone in my struggle. To put a shiny wrapped bow on things tonight would do a disservice to those of you that need to be reminded that even in hurt there is hope.

As I pray and ponder over what the future holds for 2014 I am struck with a simple word. Gentleness. The past few years I've enjoyed choosing a word to embody the coming year. It helps me to find my focus. What does gentleness mean for 2014? Being kinder to myself. Being more mindful of those dear to me. More letters and spontaneous gifts. More words of affirmation. Taking better care of myself and taking the time I need to recharge. As with each of the years passed, I'm looking forward to seeing how this word comes to evolve and sharing that with you. Because we could all use a little gentleness, I think.

I hope that your holiday has been filled with joy and merriment. I know this has been a tough year for many, and I pray that the light of hope pierces through even the darkest of your circumstances. Merry Christmas and here's to a brighter 2014!

Simple Autumn Favorites

Pumpkin spice oatmeal.
I'm particularly smitten with the one from Archer Farms. It was an impulse purchase made while wandering through the newly renovated Target by my condo, but it's quickly become one of my favorite breakfasts. I serve mine with sliced bananas, a dollop of cream, and a light drizzle of maple syrup.

Languid afternoons at my favorite cafe with a stack of magazines.
This speaks for itself. I've been trying to sort my way through my magazine backlog and what better place to do it than at a cafe? My personal favorite has a penchant for French jazz and is blissfully quiet in the afternoons.

Slow mornings curled up on the sofa.
Particularly with a cup of coffee and light filtering in through the window. These moments are a rarity and are something to be savored.

Early evening sunsets.
There's something decidedly cozy about evenings. Once the sun has set, there is no lingering guilt to be productive so evenings are spent with good books and even better company.

Warm scarves and my favorite cap.
If you follow me on Instagram you probably have an idea which hat is my favorite. Thankfully the crisp weather has been giving it a workout lately. Las Vegas can be so unpredictable in the fall, but this year has been perfect sweater weather. Bliss.

What are your simple autumn favorites right now?

On Community

As I wrap up this two week series on Palm Springs and Camp Mighty I am left with a thought from Jon Acuff, "Fear hates community." That, I think, is the lasting takeaway from the weekend. That community is everywhere, sometimes you just need to take a step out of your comfort zone to find it. Not only is it wonderful to cultivate a community of your own, but it's even more amazing to be a part of someone else's. To cheer them on, to be a sounding board, to realize that you do have something to offer.

Goals change. People change. Your community is going to grow and shift. You are going to grow and shift. I say that to remind myself that inevitable change is not a reason to isolate or to stagnate. Change is the fuel, not the enemy. If I come away from Camp Mighty with nothing else, I want to never stop reaching out. Or reaching out to others. That's the reason we do this blogging thing, isn't it? Community is necessary, we aren't islands as much as we sometimes pretend to be (or wish we were).

Palm Springs: Foodie Favorites

I don't think it's possible for me to visit a new city and not check out the local restaurant scene. Palm Springs certainly did not disappoint. On the way to the hotel we had some time to kill before hotel check-in and after seeing some positive reviews of Billy Reed's online we decided to stop in for a late lunch. Instead, the shining star of the meal was their pumpkin pie. A huge slice of house-made pie with perfectly tender pumpkin filling and a generous scoop of fresh whipped cream? Amazing. Definitely the right way to start a vacation.

Next up is the product of a late afternoon food run on the second day. My mom came with me to Palm Springs to hang out and make it a girl's weekend and while I was in the conference she was exploring the city. On one of her runs she stopped by Upper Crust Pizza and decided to share her spoils with me. The pizza was fine, but the real gem was the garlic cheese bread. So ridiculously delicious with just the right amount of cheese. Also a must? The ranch dressing.

Easily my favorite stop of the weekend was Miro's Restaurant. Tucked in a shopping and business complex it's easy to miss as you're driving by. We saw the ivy from the road and decided to check it out. An upscale restaurant with a European flair Miro's is worth the stop for the atmosphere alone. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable, which lead to trying the beef stroganoff with spaetzle. I am rarely left speechless by a meal, but this did the trick. Warm and filling there was something addictive about that cream sauce. You can get the dish over noodles instead, but you don't want to miss out on their spaetzle. Sautéed after cooking it gave the meal some added texture in addition to being the perfect vessel for that sauce. A stop at Miro's is a must.

On the way back to the highway, downtown warranted one last stop before hitting the road. Ruby's Diner beckoned with both its convenience and cute, vintage-themed interior. The food didn't disappoint. Mom had their french toast which tasted as yummy as it looks. I was drawn to their specials. A corned beef hash stack layered with potatoes, fried eggs, and cheese? What could be better? This was comfort food at it's finest. I wouldn't have thought to mix corned beef for guacamole and fresh salsa, but it was a surprisingly refreshing combination that lightened up the meal. This is something I'm going to figure out how to make at home.

Visiting Palm Springs is worth it for the food alone. I'm looking forward to my next trip, both to revisit these new favorites and to check out a few more places that I just ran out of time for.

Ace Hotel: Palm Springs

It is impossible to talk about Camp Mighty without giving at least a passing mention to the Ace Hotel. I believe the phrase "glamping" was thrown around at least once. Low, gloriously soft beds with fluffy down comforters. A large pool area boasting not only a lovely pool, but also a delicious menu and plenty of chairs for afternoon (or late night) lounging. Perhaps my favorite feature were the outdoor fireplace nooks complete with comfy chairs and trellises covered in vines and bistro lights. Now that I've fallen in love with Palm Springs, the Ace will certainly be staying on my list.