I woke up this morning to grey skies and drizzling rain, with wisps of a dream still tangled in my hair. In my sleep, I was back in Portland, during my high school years. It was a tour of my old patterns around Northwest, the neighborhood frozen as I knew it back in the mid-ninties. Off the freeway, down Vaughn Street, left on 25th. Around the green-planted traffic circles and right on Pettygrove Street. A dip into our driveway to turn around before coming to a stop along the stretch of curb that could only comfortably hold two cars if you parked consciously.

On Sunday, I attended a bridal shower brunch for a friend. Though I only knew a few of the attendees initially, there was something about the women that this friend had collected over the years that made us all instantly comfortable with one another. As we talked about marriage and the development of family life that comes when you partner up, I shared my struggles with Philadelphia.

I love this city passionately and have always felt deeply at home here. However, as I think towards the future and imagine a time where I might have babies, I long for something that looks like what I knew as a child. I don’t mean so much the green lushness of the Pacific Northwest, but more the many easy, close-in neighborhoods that Portland boasts. In Philly, you either live in the city, or the suburbs and there are miles to travel between the two.

I feel like last night’s dream was born out of this internal search I continue to tend. It reminded me of what I knew. Now I need to start dreaming of what will come next.

It was 4 pm and I was still trying to find a few moments to finish my lunch.

My mother has a habit of making slightly quirky birthday gifts. My package from her this year included an old wooden spoon with the Kellogg’s logo impressed into the handle, two books and three magnets, made out of flattened cutlery.

I arrived at Indy Hall at 10 am to teach my first canning class in that space and the street was all torn up and I couldn’t get into the building. Instead of freaking out, I enjoyed standing in the sun, watching the people walk by.

My parents got me my first digital camera for Christmas in 2002, so that I could take pictures of my life in Philadelphia and share them via email. That was the camera I used when I started this blog in 2005 (although, in those days, the photos were primarily afterthoughts). Later that year, my parents helped me upgrade to a better camera (a Panasonic with Leica lens and a 12x optical zoom).

That camera kept me happy for another year, although I would often look at the images on the food blogs I was coming to love and long to achieve the crispness and background blur that they featured. In the spring of 2007, Scott got himself a Canon DSLR. He let me borrow it for a day to take pictures for my short-lived Reading Terminal Market blog. I fell hard and fast for the images it made.

I was still in grad school then and my funds were limited, but somehow I conjured enough money from the ether to get myself a Nikon D50 and a 50mm lens (had I known that Scott and I would end up together, I might have gone with a Canon. Maybe). I loved that camera and used it until last June, when Scott upgraded me to a D90. It makes luscious photos and is nearly always with me.

I turned 31 last Friday (the day the above photo was taken) and have decided to do a yearlong photo project from that birthday to the next. My goal is to create a set of 365 images, each somehow representative of the day on which it was taken. They’ll live here and on Flickr.

Goodness. I’ve managed to ignore this site for more than a month now. Some might think that that would be good enough reason to close up shop, but I just can’t fathom doing that. This blog was where so much of my current reality was conceived and born, and for that, I will continue to keep it alive, albeit barely. In my latest attempt to pump some life back into this website, here’s some of happened in April 2010 in my life.

I got to go to the zoo, on a work day (in fact, for work), and take pictures of the Creatures of Habitat display, which consists of animals sculpted out of Legos. It was pretty cool (and there were cookies).

A few days after that, I got a package in the mail from the Nintendo Enthusiast folks that contained the America’s Test Kitchen game and a bunch of cool kitchen stuff. I’ve already used the stock pot as a canning pot, and I must report, it performs admirably.

The second Friday of April, I went home for lunch and made myself the meal you see above. It was quite delicious and I felt so relaxed as I sat there eating, in complete denial that I had to go back to work for the rest of the afternoon (although, I’m sure the afternoon turned out to be quite painless).

On April 10, Scott and I attended my friend Jen’s wedding. I’ve known Jen since my first year in Philadelphia, and it was such a delight to have an opportunity to witness her so joyful. The ceremony was at the Unitarian Church, and the reception was at a hotel five blocks away. All the wedding attendees walked there, following the bride, groom and a bag piper. It was one of the best spectacles in which I’ve had the pleasure of participating.

The next morning, Shay, Val, Scott and I had brunch at Noble American Cookery. It was an outrageously good meal, made even better by the total absence of a wait. Sadly, word of their many virtues is already getting out, so if we go again, I’m afraid it won’t be possible to roll in at 11 a.m. on a Sunday morning and expect to be seated right away.

I made my first batch of cold brew coffee of the season. Mmm.

One of my blog (Food in Jars) readers sent me a hand-crocheted jar cozy!

The bookshelf we ordered back in February arrived. I am now totally smitten with Stickley Furniture. It is beautiful and so well-built (it also costs as much as my [albeit, cheap] car, so we won’t be buying more of it any time soon).

I had another delicious workday lunch at home. I am so looking forward to local strawberries and tomatoes.

I made macaroni and cheese and banana bread to take to my favorite new parents, Thad and Angie. After what seemed like the most uncomfortable pregnancy I’ve ever witnessed, our dear friends had their twin daughters on April 7th. They are precious and have turned on my own baby cravings in the worst way.

As much joy as the new babies brought, there was also some sadness. On April 17, my family gathered to celebrate the life of Greg Kannerstein. He was the oldest of the 8 cousins and siblings that my mom grew up with and is so, so missed.

There was a batch of Rosemary Rhubarb Jam.

Last Sunday, I made pancakes. I was out of mix, but easily threw a batch together using my version of Mo’s Famous Pancakes. Scott doesn’t even complain anymore that I only make whole grain baked goods. I’m breaking him down with my hippie ways.

This week, I came down with a swift and unforgiving flu. I am grateful to report that it only stuck around for a day and a half, leaving me healthy enough to walk through Rittenhouse Square last night. It was a vibrantly beautiful evening. This is the weather for which we survive winter.

These days, when it comes to keeping my life in order, my slogan is “moving things forward.” What that means is that I try to choose and accomplish a handful of little things every day, in the hopes that eventually they will keep things rolling along. And for the most part, it’s working out.

I used to function under a mental regime that felt the need to get it all done at once. I had rules for myself that included making my bed every day, ensuring that the kitchen was clean before going to bed and always (always!) picking out my clothes the night before I was to wear them. If I was going to clean the bathroom, I had to do it all at once and if I was going to run the vaccum, well, I had better have the time to do the entire apartment, baseboards included.

One good days, I still strive to accomplish these goals. However, life has gotten busier. On an average day, I’m trying to manage work (thank god my commute time is negligible), making dinner (most days, I cook myself breakfast and lunch as well), running Food in Jars (and this blog, when I can find a few minutes to type) and the occasional freelance gig (which should be coming more regularly now that I’ve started writing for Grid Philly).

So instead of trying to do the best job imaginable, I move things forward. Too tired to do the dishes before bed? I try to at least empty the dish drainer, so that there’s space for five minutes of pot washing and dish washer loading before heading off to work. Home for lunch with five minutes to go? I start a load of laundry, all the while thanking the appliance gods for creating my washer/dryer combo. No time to mop the whole kitchen floor? Two minutes with a sponge will at least help a little (admittedly, my kitchen is tiny).

What I’m trying to do with this “move it forward” principle is just never let any one area of my life get to the explosion range. I try to put little dabs of energy into a variety of spots throughout the day, instead of feeling like I need a 90 minute chunk to do a really damn good job. And so far, it’s working. When I clear off the bar of mail in the evening, instead of letting it accumulate all week, I’ve prevented an explosion of mess and continued to move things forward.

Sometimes it feels a little bit like being on a treadmill, since the scenery doesn’t change and the tasks essentially remain the same. But keeping the messes and tasks of life under control in this way makes me feel generally saner and calmer. So I go with it.

In the past, I’ve looked at bread baking as something that was optional, recreational. I’ve played with the much-lauded No-Knead Bread technique. I’ve baking (and eaten) more loaves of quick, sweetened breads than I care to count. And yet, I’ve never really considered the fact that I could bake the type of bread I like to eat regularly with my own hands and oven.

It’s sort of a strange disconnect, but truly, I had it in my head that baking bread that required kneading and making it at all healthy was impossible. So I played with frivolous breads, all the while, buying my favorite whole wheat sandwich and toasting bread at Trader Joe’s.

Yesterday, I woke up to a snowstorm and a work voicemail saying that the office was closed. With an unexcepted free day and kitchen almost entirely devoid of bread, I decided to see if I could make something similar to my favorite toasting bread. Looking around for a recipe, I settled on this one from The Frugal Girl, which she has adapted from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe.

And now, I have no idea what was preventing me from doing this. It was incredibly easy (granted, I’m pretty comfortable with yeast, so take this “incredibly easy” rating with a grain of experiential salt). I mixed the dough in my Kitchen-Aid and hand-kneaded for about ten minutes. The dough was pretty sticky, but with the help of the bench scrapper and some extra flour for dusting, it kneaded into a supple, stretchy ball quickly.

In recent days, I’ve been trying to buy less and make more through canning, making my own yogurt and generally cooking more from scratch (I’ve gotten pretty adept at pizza in recent days). I do this in part because I want to have more control what’s in my food and also because I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of packaging I consume. Scott thinks that I sometimes take this to an extreme (like when I take a plastic container to a restaurant when I know we’re going to have leftovers), but mostly, he goes along with it.

I’m hoping to make this utilitarian bread part of my homemade, no packaging effort!

I’m about ten days later than I intended to be in posting this video, but better late than never, right? This is the episode that we shot during our Berks County Wine Trail visit back in January. It was a really great trip and one I highly recommend to anyone in the Philadelphia region who’s looking for an easy weekend getaway. And you never know, you might find a giant stash of second-hand jars (as we all know, that never fails to make my day).

If you’re interested in a getaway this weekend (February 13th and 14th), all the wineries on the Berks County Wine Trail are offering special chocolate and wine tastings. The Reading Crowne Plaza is also offering special deals on accommodations.

Last weekend (not this very snowy one just past, but the one before that), Scott and I piled into our 18 year old Subaru and took off for Reading, PA, and spent a couple of days exploring several of the stops along the Berks County Wine Trail (and in the process, filming an episode of Fork You). Up until recently, I’d not been particularly familiar with the concept of wine trails, but having spent a little time on one, I’m a fan. It’s a fun and visitor-friendly way to explore a region of the state and sip a very broad spectrum of wine.

Neither Scott nor I are huge wine drinkers. I like a glass now and then, and when around the right people, (I’m looking at you, David Snyder) I can really get into the ceremony of swirling, sniffing and thinking about the diversity of flavors in each sip. While he does appreciate a glass of bubbly, Scott is even less interested in wine than I am. And yet, we had a really great time on this trip, visiting the wineries and trying a tons of different wines. It’s nice to know that one doesn’t have to be an established vinophile to enjoy a wine trail weekend.

Our first stop was the Clover Hill Winery shop at the Boscov’s Fairground Farmers’ Market in Reading (what a great indoor farmers’ market it was too! It reminded me a lot of Lancaster’s Central Market). A very sweet and engaging woman named Deb poured us tastes of six different wines and generally made the experience a complete delight (and made us feel completely comfortable with the fact that we were drinking wine before 11 a.m.). My favorite was the Chambourcin (I’m a sucker for a dry red), while Scott (and his sweet tooth) found their Strawberry and Pear wine to be right up his alley.

Oh, and the picture you see up there of those smokey cheesers? Those little guys are delicious (and deadly, as they’re all butter, cheese and sausage, bound together with a bit of dough).

Soon enough, it was time to say good-bye to our new friend Deb and head to Manatawny Creek Winery in Douglassville. There, we were greeted by Darvin Levengood, who spent more than an hour with us, teaching me how to say Gewurztraminer, sharing some of his favorite wines (all made by his daughter Joanne, an accomplished winemaker who studied at the UC Davis wine program) and giving us a tour of their fermentation and bottling area.

It was here that we learned the basics of wine sales, as well as the fact that the state of Pennsylvania taxes alcohol differently from the Federal government, making for complex bookkeeping for winemakers (sounds like a line of work I’ll be staying far, far away from). We also got a brief tutorial on the process of removing the yeast particles from sparkling wine after it has done it’s bubble-making work. It was fascinating.

When we left Manatawny with plans to visit a third winery on Saturday afternoon. However, when we started the car back up after lunch (really good burgers at Union Jack’s Inn), something was wrong. It had developed a throaty rumble, akin to a souped up hot rod. We called Blair Winery (our third stop of the day) and told them we weren’t going to be able to make it. Missy Blair, our contact there, was really flexible about the whole thing and told us not to worry.

Sunday morning, we checked out of our room at the Reading Crowne Plaza (a terrific hotel with an indoor pool, comedy club and jazz nightspot), climbed back into the car (patched and road-ready thanks to Perry at the Reading Pep Boys) and headed off to Long Trout Winery in Auburn, PA. Long Trout is a hoot. As you can see from the picture above, their tasting room is totally wacky, every corner bedazzled by sixties rock and pop culture ephemera.

The wines are also different from anything I’ve ever tried before. We came home with a bottle of strawberry and milk chocolate wine, called Instant “O.” Other really intriguing ones included a vegetal Old One Eye and the Sour Cherriola. If you are in the Auburn area and appreciate a hippie culture and the work of a highly creative winemaker, I recommend stopping here.

Next was Pinnacle Ridge Winery, in Kutztown (we did take a brief detour in order to visit the Hamburg, PA Cabela’s. That place is a circus). This light-filled tasting room was a welcome relief from the chilly day and we were particularly delighted by the friendly grey cat who trotted up to greet us.

Of all the wineries we visited on this trip, Pinnacle Ridge was my favorite. I think that’s mostly because it was the most familiar. It had a look and feel of some of the wineries I used to visit when I was in college in Walla Walla. Additionally, their wine was amazing. We were particularly blown away by their ice wine. Amazing stuff!

Our last stop was Blair Vineyards. We were originally scheduled to visit them on Saturday, but postponed after our car trouble. Happily, they were incredibly flexible and made room for us to stop by late Sunday afternoon. It’s a long, curvy drive up to their tasting room and production facility, but totally worth it. This family-owned and operated winery is one to watch (and I’m saving the bottle of Pinot Gris we bought from them for something special).

And that was our weekend. I was really delighted to discover so many terrific wines being produced within an hour and a half from home. I’m really looking forward to finding out more about Pennsylvania wines!

To see more photos from the weekend, click here.