Mulled Wine

I've been making mulled wine for several years now. It gets a bad rap, but it's pretty tasty IMO (and it's always a hit when I make it for a crowd). As soon as it starts getting chilly, I buy a box of wine and make this as much as possible - such a festive, cozy drink. I normally don't drink box wine, but there's enough other stuff in this that it's not worth splurging on a fancier bottle - plus the box lasts for weeks after opening it, so you can make as much or as little as you want.

This is totally a recipe that I eyeball and tweak a little every time, so take this as a rough guideline and don't be afraid to change it based on what you like or have on hand. It also scales up or down super easily - if you want a larger batch, make it in a crock pot early in the day and let it steep on low heat for 3-5 hours.

A note about spices: I keep whole spices on hand - they stay flavorful for longer than pre-ground and keep the drink from getting grainy. You can leave out any you don't have or use ground versions if you don't mind the texture. But, if you're going to make this more than once, I recommend investing in the whole versions - they'll last for ages.

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of red wine, or a quarter of a box of wine
• 1 small orange, strips of zest peeled off, then sliced
• 2 whole cinnamon sticks
• 2 whole star anise
• 6-8 cardamom pods
• 10-12 whole allspice berries
• 10-15 whole cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated on a microplane
• 1/4-1/2 cup white sugar

Add the wine, orange zest and slices, and spices to a pot. Add sugar - start on the lower end, and once the wine heats and sugar dissolves, taste and add more if you want it sweeter. Cover and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, until steaming but not bubbling - about 20 minutes.

To serve, place a small mesh strainer over mugs and ladle through, dumping the spices and orange back into the pot.

Tumbles

After my declaration that I wanted to blog more, Tumbles came home, and ... well, a pup is a lot of work, it turns out. I knew that but didn't quite realize how much (which was pretty silly of me). She has been such a joy, and I am so in love with her. But I am also exhausted and savor the little bits of free time I have to do things like clean up the house or take a walk to get groceries alone.

Meanwhile, work has been busy, and I only actually took one day off. I worked from home for the first 2 weeks I had her, and I've spent the last two weeks going in to work with Tumbles in tow - also a lot of work, but she's doing a fantastic job, considering she's still a little puppy, and it's wonderful that she gets to play with other dogs (and my coworkers) during the day and get tired out a bit.

This is called a sploot. Corgis do it a lot.

Somehow I've still been doing ballet 3(!) times a week, mostly because if I take time off, I'll likely have to drop out of pointe class and wait months or years for the next one to start up from the basics. It's also good for me to leave Tumbles alone some nights, since we spend *all* of our time together. There have been days where I am aching all over from walking (and carrying) Tumbles all over the city, exhausted from not nearly enough sleep, and then I still push myself to dance, and needless to say it does not go well. But sometimes it's exactly the thing I need to get out of my puppypuppypuppy headspace and do something just for me, and on those nights it's worth it.

Her first Boo meeting (hopefully of many, many).

I can tell that Tumbles is maturing so much in the month I've had her, and while I'll miss things about her being a tiny baby pup, I'm definitely looking forward to her being a bit more self sufficient, more of a companion than a baby.

Just a week or two after coming home, already starting to grow up.

Also: I've been channeling a lot of my Tumbles obsession into a dedicated instagram (as well as using it as a pick-me-up when things get exhausting and overwhelming). All the pics in this post are from her first couple of weeks (just because I don't want to flood this with all of September, too), but the instagram is updated almost daily. Just a few more:

Tiny, sleepy baby on the way home from Colfax, CA.

Brand new pup selfie.

These two snuggling on her first afternoon home.

Baby face

Lately.

Keeping with my recent resolution to blog more, but in lieu of any exciting content, here are a few photos I managed to take with my fancy camera this past week, along with one of those lists people do on occasion. Is this ridiculously boring? Regardless, I'm not sure that anyone reads this right now, so here we go.

Making: Cakes. Funfetti on Thursday and Earl Grey with rose buttercream (pictured) on Friday. I've missed baking fun things, and I feel like I've sort of lost my touch,. I'm excited to make it more of a habit again.
Cooking: Not a whole lot these days! I made a ton of tacos/fajitas/quesadillas in June and July, but lately I've gotten a bit lazier and have been doing more takeout - blah.
Drinking: Right now, a Dogfish 90 IPA (the one beer I always come back to). I gave up drinking alcohol for 2 weeks due to bronchitis, and I'm excited to be able to enjoy a Sunday night beer finally!
Reading: Puppy books. Trying to be as prepared as possible, since I haven't had a pup since I was a kid. Also, corgis are apparently a tough-but-worth-it breed, so I want to get good habits in ASAP.
Wanting: To get in the habit of taking more photos - especially with my real camera (ie. my DSLR). I'm trying to get more comfortable with manual mode, too, but boy does it take me awhile to take a picture.



Looking: forward to some time at home when I get Tumbles next week. It's looking like I'm still going to have to work, but having a week of working from home (and puppy snuggles) will be a nice change of pace.
Enjoying: Ballet en pointe. I've been taking adult ballet classes off and on for the last 5 years (from the ground up - you're never too old to start!). This summer I got to do a limited time pointe workshop, 10 classes total, and I adore it. I just found out I'll have the option to continue through December, and I'm so excited!
Waiting: For Tumbles to come home - 9 days to go! She's really been the only thing on my mind lately, and I'm so excited to have her home and getting out of the waiting game and into new routines. Honestly, I've been looking forward to getting a dog for years - it's going to be weird (in the best way) having that yearning turn into a reality soon.
Liking: Morning Chemex coffee with Tim, almost every day now. I got the Chemex for him for his birthday in June (previously we only had single-cup coffee options), and it's been so nice to be able to make coffee and share it every morning.

Considering: Taking a break from facebook and twitter for a bit. It's so easy to kill time there, look to them when I'm bored at work, avoid being with my thoughts. It feels like it gets in the way of real life, in a way. Sometimes it's nice (but hard) to step back and make myself log out for a few days.
Watching: The X-Files... but I'm up to season 6 and I'm not super into it anymore. I recently marathoned Dexter (I did not enjoy the last couple of seasons, but wanted to finish) and I'm kind of lost on what show to get into next. Any Netflix/Hulu recommendations?
Hoping: This week doesn't kick my ass too hard. Work is busy, I have three ballet classes in the evenings (as usual), and still need to buy and research a few things before Tumbles comes home a week from Tuesday. But hopefully it means it will pass quickly!



Smelling: On Friday night, the ocean. Every once in awhile we hop in the car and drive the whole ~4 miles to the ocean just to remember it's there. It's usually after dark (and freezing) but I'm always in awe of the waves, and I love the smell! It's easy to forget how close I am to the Pacific, but I kind of hope I never get used to it.
Wearing: Lots of maxi dresses and fitted t-shirts. My style has gone through shifts in the last year, and I'm trying to figure out where it's going to settle.
Noticing: Fall styles popping up in stores. I've never been a summer person, and I always get so excited when there are signs of fall sneaking in, even though that doesn't mean a ton weather-wise in the bay area.
Feeling: More content than I have in a long time. Life is good, and for the most part, I'm doing an ok job of remembering that.
Buying: Puppy supplies, mostly. I'm trying not to overdo it and get a ton of toys I don't need, but I want to make sure I have everything I'll need for the first week or two. It's so exciting getting to stock up on dog things!

I miss this.

I've started to miss blogging again lately. I stopped because I felt like I didn't have much to share (and I think things like twitter and instagram took the place of some of it). Lately, though, I've been feeling the urge to get back on here. I think because this blog represents my feminine, creative side in some ways. My job is great, but it is very analytical and involves writing code all day, and I've always needed pretty, tangible, right-brain sorts of things to balance that out.

I'm not really sure how to get back into this. I really miss cooking and baking more interesting things (ie. not the same things I cook every single week), but it's hard to find the time and creativity now that I'm out of the habit. Life always feels so busy and overwhelming, and I keep hoping it'll settle. But maybe this year really has been a busy one.

Since my last post in September 2013: I got a new job at a statup - less "cute" than working at ModCloth, and there is pressure to work a bit harder, but the work itself feels more natural to me. I feel so respected and trusted by all of my coworkers, from the very beginning, and that means so much. In February, I took a two week trip to London and Paris, then got back and finally found a home to move to after over a year of searching. Post-move, work got really busy for a couple of months - incredibly tiring, but also awesome in terms of my career and self confidence, and I needed that little career boost so badly! The move meant that I could finally get a puppy, and that took lots of research and waiting and impatience... But finally, as work settled down to a more normal pace, I found a corgi pup who is coming home to me on August 19!

While I'm sure life won't be calm after that, I'm hoping I can get back into a routine, and maybe my time at home can be spent with Tumbles the pup and exploring my creative side a bit more: decorating our relatively new home (although it already feels more homey than our previous one of 2+ years), cooking and baking and creating recipes, perhaps dabbling in more crafts and art and maybe even web design - this blog could sure use a facelift.

I'll never have the time to explore everything I want to, but here's hoping I can prioritize just a bit better and feed that longing to create.

In the meantime, here are pictures from my one visit to Tumbles, when she was four and a half weeks old. I can't believe the next time I see her she'll be twice as old and coming home with me forever!!