Mersydotes

A few nights ago, Mr. Mersy and I had a great, long talk.  We haven't been thriving here in NYC, but we really, truly want to thrive.  We've been hiding inside our house, our heads, and our hearts, but we don't want to be recluses.  We've come to think that we need to be bent and molded by this city rather than allowing ourselves to be exactly who we are- something the rest of the nutty population of New York seems to have no trouble with!  Perhaps we've been stuck in a stage of culture shock for months and months. So we sat down and created a manifesto.  A revolution just for us, beginning on a Thursday evening, sometime around 8 p.m., in a tiny kitchen in Queens.  And here's what we've come up with- a whole bunch of tiny things that, put together, are going to let us be outrageously ourselves: We're going to start waking up much earlier. We're going to drink green smoothies. We're going to exercise. We're going to talk to

I love crocheting- I really do, but the knitting bug has bitten me and I have become seriously infected with knitting fever.  Knitting, knitting, knitting- it's all I've wanted to do.   There's a simplicity to the stitches and to the fabric.  If crocheting is sculpting in yarn, then knitting is a gentle snow fall, blanketing the world one stitch at a time.  In fact, I just finished a trio of cotton washcloths that I knitted for my sister-in-law.  A little something colorful and useful and soft.  And, stitch by stitch, a chance for me to slowly blanket the world in pink cotton! My pattern is simple: Cast on 40, knit 4 rows, on subsequent rows, begin with knit 4 and then either knit or purl depending on the side of the fabric your working on, ending with a knit 4 in the last four stitches.  Once the cloth is long enough, end with four knitted rows before binding off.  A little something sweet and quick to knit, with lots bright, candy colors- I've decid

It's time for Mr. Mersy and I to put a bit of greenery around the house.  Even though there's no snow on the ground yet (we've only reached freezing once or twice so far this year), we're missing our escapes to the coast and the mountains.  There's that smell of fallen pine needles and wet soil and grass that's gone to seed and still, marshy water that makes everything right in the world. My sister-in-law told me about an amazing house plant called a Christmas Cactus that lives quite contentedly indoors for up to a century or more if treated properly.  There's a good chance that it could outlive me and my not-so-green thumb!  Turns out, though, that it's neither a cactus nor of the Christmas variety.  It's a rainforest plant that is actually a Thanksgiving Cactus, although unscrupulous plant purveyors in Queens change it's name around the holidays.  (You can differentiate the Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas cacti by the shape of their

I thought I'd share some photos of two of our favorite, tasty gluten-free dinners that look like absolute messes!  They taste so good that I was  determined to take nice photos of our meals this week, but I realized that the messiness is part of the charm for these recipes.   Here's our new favorite: Baked Nachos (layers of tortilla chips, cheese, tomatoes, scallions, and black beans) An a tried and true standby: Shakshuka (sautéed onions, jalapeños, chick peas and tomato sauce with feta and eggs) Honestly, I could eat either of these any day of the week, and I promise that they are both delish, but they really do look like a train wreck once they get onto the plate! Have any tasty but messy recipes you love?  Feel free to share! ~Love, Mersydotes

In the air there's a feeling of Christmas... Macy's Lord & Taylor Saks Fifth Avenue Barney's  Bergdorf Goodman Bloomingdales It's 64 degrees and balmy, and Christmas is only a week away!   We started our trek down south while it was still light out and the crowds weren't too overwhelming.  With a coffee stop in the middle of Fifth Avenue, we made our way north and came upon the truly spell-binding windows just as dusk fell and the jewel tones sparkled.  I hope you've seen some lovely lights and merry sights! Love, Mersydotes