My favorite things, late February 2023

Sometimes I enjoy "jotting down" my current favorite things – music or shows, recipes, small purchases worth spending money on, or other little bits and bobs. For me personally, it's a fun snapshot of my life at this very moment, and it might be fun for someone else too.

So here they are – the favorites of the moment:

• watching All Creatures Great and Small. The storyline is endearing, I love seeing the food the characters eat, and I could talk for a long time about all the beautiful knitwear.
• finishing Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. This was my first Berry book that I've read. I loved the writing about community – at times melancholy, but hopeful too? And about how the definition of "community" has changed immensely over the decades.
• using TOUPS tallow balm on my face at night
• and this foot cream on my feet after a shower
• a new cut and color for some much-needed brightness for my hair. It had been over a year (yikes). It feels so much lighter in every meaning of the word!

• receiving kisses(!) and hugs from Finn. He does a very loud muah, followed by a huge smile (he must know he's adorable). And he started walking! More and more confident every day. I can't believe he will be one next month.
• Nicholas bought me flowers for Valentine's Day. We don't really make a fuss about it normally, so this felt extra special to me.
• loving my two knitting projects (a Kerti sweater and broken rib socks). The sweater yoke is perfect for when my lap isn't holding a baby, or sometimes in the evenings. And a sock project is perfect for knitting in the car, during a contact nap with Finn, knitting at the hairstylist, etc.

• baking this quiche lorraine. I use local, raw cream and cheese, and a sourdough pie crust that's long-fermented. I typically halve the recipe to make only one quiche (it uses half the pie crust, and I freeze the other half for next time). One of our favorite meals right now.
• adding sauerkraut to as many meals as I can. I'm not always in the mood for it, but lately, I've been craving the extra tangy crunch it adds – especially to eggs. I've made a beef sausage/egg/onion/sweet potato hash and topped it with kraut, and it's delicious. I love the Bubbies brand for the probiotic goodness, since it's not pasteurized.
• delighting in Cooper's love of sticks, trees, rocks, mud, etc. There's a tree at a local park that he loves to play in, and he told me, "This is a cozy house." He loves to "gather sticks for a fire." Everything is a toy when you're three.

• listening to Noah Kahan's album Stick Season, the new album Flourish by The Worship Collective, some Michigander, and Paul Zach's Sorrow's Got a Hold on Me album. And I love some mellow, instrumental jazz in the morning, or when I'm making dinner.
• taking advantage of any sunny days for family walks. Today we went for a long hike at a park Nicholas played a lot of disc golf at, back in high school. Cooper carried around rocks and sticks and he hiked the whole way without needing to be carried! I wore Finn in the carrier. The sun and fresh air and exertion made all of us the good kind of tired, and then we came home and made stovetop hot cocoa with raw milk.

And that's it for today! Soon it will be March (and then spring!) and there will be more favorite things to behold.