One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato Leek Soup

Winter vegetable soups are a cozy essential for these months of hibernation. Leeks, part of the onion family, add an elegant and mild flavor when paired with potatoes for this simple to make soup. If you've never tried to make homemade soup before, I recommend this one as a starting point, you'll surely impress anyone you share it with!

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking, here's my take on the classic:

• 3 Tablespoons of Butter
• 8 Leeks (the lower white/light green part only - peel away outer layer and wash thoroughly)
• 3 medium potatoes (peeled and sliced)
• 5 Cups of Chicken or Vegetable Stock
• Salt + Pepper
• 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream or 1/2 + 1/2 (optional, but recommended)
• Chives (optional, but recommended)

{rinsing the chopped leeks thoroughly is essential for removing sand and grit that may have grown into the layers}

Equipment needed: 

• Vegetable Peelers (these are the #1 best peelers - Kuhn Rikon from Switzerland - found in specialty food shops or available here they are worth it and would make an excellent gift for the cook on your holiday list.)
• Soup Pot
• Blender or Food Processor

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a soup pot, add the chopped + rinsed leeks, cook about 20 minutes over medium heat until tender.

2. Add the sliced potatoes and stock, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for approx 30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. 

3. Transfer everything to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth, adding salt and pepper to taste. 

{adding cream into the blended soup}

4. Add about 1/2 Cup of cream to the blender/food processor at the end, if desired. This technically changes the soup from Potato Leek to "Vichyssoise" - the French version. It's delicious. (Note: I would leave the cream out of any portions that you may be freezing.)

5. Serve immediately and top with snipped chives, because you're now an accomplished chef, that's why.

Stay warm out there! xoR

{be a master chef and add snipped chives}

seasonal swap

After spending a few gluttonous days with family and friends in Upstate New York for Thanksgiving, my husband and I returned to the city for a quiet weekend at the apartment. While some may be spending their Black Friday and subsequent weekend shopping, I decided to take inventory of what I already own - and can barely fit - in my tiny closet by swapping my seasonal wardrobes. 

After living in NYC for 8 years, I'm no longer a novice at "the swap" and decided to add one more layer of OCD to my routine: p-touch labels to the outside of the stowaway boxes. This will help in the ensuing months when I've forgotten what box has what in it and need to dig into them for lighter weight pants or sandals, but am not yet ready for the next full-on swap. 

It took me about 2 hours in total, which is a time commitment considering I wasn't swapping for a family of five, but the payoffs are worth it. I like having some wiggle room in my drawers and enough hangers for all my clothes. Not to mention the clarity it brings in these dark, cold, wee winter hours of the morning, when a turquoise and lime green tunic is just not going to fly come 9am at the office.

Here are the supplies I found that helped me:

- Clear Storage Boxes by Container Store // I measured the bottom of my closet, checked the sizes online, and requested them to be ready at the store for me when I arrived. I used (2) of the "Our Jumbo Box" size. These are reasonably priced but note that they aren't air-tight.

- P-Touch Label Maker by Brother // I have nice handwriting, so this was an appliance I thought was completely useless until I caved and bought one for labeling my file folders. Now I prefer how easy these labels are to read compared to my handwriting, although I still like handwriting notes.

Now that I've said goodbye to my summer palette for real, I'm welcoming my cozy winter bolds and will be taking a trip to Good Will with those items I know I didn't wear last year, or the year before, or the year before that... I'm sure you all feel warm and fuzzy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Six Month Review

I began this journey a little over six months ago with both trepidation and high expectations. It was something I visualized creating while going about my everyday designer-licious life... Needless to say, in these past short months there have been many take aways - some more positive than others. Below I share with you a few of my behind the scenes pitfalls and pats-on-the-backs...

{seen in NYC - one of my favorite instagram photos}

Pitfalls: 

- I thought I could easily post once a week if not twice a week. // Creating quality content takes more time than I expected. If I plan on giving DIY directions for a project I'm whipping up, then I have to take extra time out to make sure I'm capturing images that can explain the steps for a post. 

- Real time posts that coordinate with real time social media. // I'm always working on something creative that gives me an "aha!" moment of wanting to share, the hard part is documenting, drafting, editing and organizing it into a story. I've found that I tend to have a two to three week real time delay. Professional bloggers have production schedules so they can put forth a seamless narration. I'd like to get better at coordinating these, for example when I post a video of sewing on instagram then the associated tutorial on my blog should be posted soon after (they're especially difficult to explain...)

 - Selfies in Mermaid Costumes are hard. // I may or may not have fallen off the posting wagon soon after a failed attempt at a post I had my heart set on - my mermaid halloween costume. It was impossible to capture myself in costume in any (dare I say) natural way that may have been tempting to the neediest of pinterest users. We'll see about next year... 

Pats-on-the-back: 

- I can now begin to see my posting patterns. // Although I don't have a large quantity of posts and my topics have varied (widely) since I started, I can now see what I'm better at, what I should exercise more of, and how to mix it up.

- Styling and finding creative places to photograph still-lives in my tiny apartment. // This has been what I've enjoyed the most - although it may be my biggest challenge. As with any photography, lighting is key, so I have to use my weekends carefully.

- Creative outlet that pushes my writing skills. // Finding a voice through writing is not something I have had much experience with, in fact writing has never been my strong suit. My content may not be world changing, but it's been a great exercise to practice writing to a great unknown audience. If you haven't tried writing anything in awhile, I highly recommend it - a funny story, a recipe, a diary entry, it can be very satisfying!

Since this is a work in progress, I'm especially grateful for everyone that has encouraged, given feedback or simply put up with my shameless self promoting of images and posts - thank you! And please, feel free to weigh in on my review - let me know what you think I may be doing right or wrong, I'd love to see comments! xoR