Breakfast Sandwiches

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Hannah

breakfastsandwiches-19On our honeymoon we ate a lot of bagel sandwiches. There was no shortage of elegant dining options in Banff, no deficit of fine grocers, nothing lacking in the kitchen of our resort apartment.  There was no reason at all for us to choose a little bagel shop beside the highway for our first meal in the Canadian Rockies, but choose it we did. And then we chose it again, and again, once a day, every day that we were there. I can’t even begin to describe how good these sandwiches were, how perfectly sublime their cream cheese ratios, and how diverse the options before us.  As we drove out through the mountains and began the sad trek away from honeymooning, we waxed poetic about many things — those bagel sandwiches high on the list.breakfastsandwiches-1 So began our love affair with breakfast sandwiches.  We love getting them in Union Market, where Bergen Bagels serves up an admirable sandwich. We love getting them from McDonalds or Burger King, licking greasy cheese off the wrapper when we are done. We love getting them at Batter Bowl Bakery, where the simple croissant sandwich is my favorite in this city. We love breakfast sandwiches.breakfastsandwiches-2breakfastsandwiches-3And on one snow delay day right before Christmas break, it occurred to me that I could make them, that these simple goodies were not only for fast food joints and bagel shops. We started making them and haven’t looked back. They are the perfect Saturday morning brunch, the excellent Sunday night dinner, two meals that eerily resemble each other. We got a little bit out of control last month, making January our home around a tribute to breakfast sandwiches.
breakfastsandwiches-6breakfastsandwiches-9I recently Instagrammed a picture of some breakfast sandwiches (sorry all you followers… they have been a slightly overwhelming theme lately) with the observation that whatever the question or problem, breakfast sandwiches are the answer. I am only partially joking. Had a bad day at work? Eat a breakfast sandwich and try not to smile. Trying to make new friends? Invite them over for breakfast sandwiches and they will come back.  Worried about the future? Chomp away on these and feel like everything might just be a little brighter. Cooking boredom, tight budgets, laziness, time crunch — all of these can be resolved with these simple sandwiches. They are the perfect thing to serve to both satisfy hunger, impress your guests, make them feel at home, and do almost no work. They are comfort food at both its finest and easiest.
breakfastsandwiches-10 breakfastsandwiches-12In fact, I’m kind of a little ashamed that I am even sharing instructions on how to make these.  Please don’t be insulted — I fully assume that you are intelligent enough to figure this out on your own. But then again, it took me, an avowed breakfast sandwich lover, forever to actually make them and maybe you are the same. I want the gratuitous number of breakfast sandwich making closeups in this post to inspire you to add these into your weekend. Or your today- no judgement here.
breakfastsandwiches-13Seriously though, why are you still reading this? Why didn’t you stop four pointless food close-ups ago and go make one? You will not regret it. breakfastsandwichstackBreakfast Sandwiches with Bacon, Avocado, and Tomato

  • 2 Bagels (we like the bagel thins because the sandwich is pretty tall and messy to eat as it is)
  • 3 Eggs
  • 2 slices cheese
  • 4 strips bacon (I separate packets of bacon into rolled up bundles of 3-4 strips and freeze them all in a ziplock bag so that I can easily pull out just enough for one or two servings of bacon.)
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 avocado
  • Cream cheese
  • Dash milk
  • Dash each of salt and pepper
  1. Cook bacon. Set aside on paper towel and drain almost all of grease from skillet.
  2. While bacon is cooking, turn on broiler. Arrange bagels on cookie tray with cut side up. Place a piece of cheese on one side. Broil until cheese is melted and bagel is toasted.
  3. Whisk eggs, dash of milk, and salt and pepper. Cook in remaining bacon grease until set Use spatula to flip egg and cook until puffed, golden, and no longer runny.
  4. Spread cream cheese on side of bagel without cheese. Top with sliced avocado, tomato, and 2 slices bacon cut in half. Cut egg in half so that it resembles a half circle. Place on bagel, folding edges over so that egg fits more or less on bagel. Put sandwich together.
  5. Eat, deciding in advance not to care when you have to gobble it face as it falls deliciously apart all over your fingers. Just lick them clean at the end.

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Craig, Christine, and one to come.

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Hannah

One of my friends is currently the most beautiful pregnant women. ChristineSee? I wasn’t exaggerating. If you have been reading here for awhile, you have probably already seen Craig and Christine get engaged, get married, and now they are expecting their first child. Last week we met up for some photos of this beautiful, happy, expectant time. 
KreinbihlBabyk-14 Kreinbihl2Babyk-29 Babyk-47Kreinbihl3^^We took one almost like this the day they got married, only minus the snow and the baby bump!Kreinbihl4 Kreinbihl5Congratulations Craig and Christine – can’t wait to meet that little babe!

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To all the Mommygrammers.

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Hannah

First, a disclaimer: This topic is something about which I have no first-hand performance knowledge. I am not a mom, and thus I don’t stay home with kids and feel inspired to take pictures of them and share. Also, is mommygrammer a word? If not, but it I mean all the moms who share steady snippets of their life at home with kids on social media.

While not qualified to participate, I do have a lot of friends who have the privilege of being stay-at-home moms and I follow them on Instagram, am friends with them on Facebook, and receive a steady stream of pictures that show sleeping babes, park dates, craft time, and a plethora of cute outfits. Thus, I speak today not as a fellow mommygrammer, but as someone whose social media feeds overflow with them.

I have very mixed feelings about children on social media.  I share this now partially to keep me in check if we are blessed enough to have kids of our own sometime. As a generation, we are eradicating any possibly of our children having ownership of their own cyber-presence someday. Yes, someday everyone will have that embarrassing childhood photo that their parents shared early on and they may just all cancel each other out in terms of being a liability. But they will still be there, robbing our children of some element of their privacy. I also have some qualms about the ethics of blogs that make a profit largely off of sharing the intimate private life of their family and children. Should our children’s first steps make us money? Should they be celebrities that benefit us before they can even speak? But then again, I’m not in that situation so I really have no place to judge. Parenting is hard enough without random Internet strangers calling down judgment.

But what I am talking about here isn’t the big-time mommy bloggers far removed from me. I’m also not talking about the obvious abuses of social media where you share overly personal moments or painful moments that should be kept private. I’m talking about the routine and respectful daily pictures of my friends’ kids, or the children of the very few bloggers and Instagrammers that I follow that I don’t actually know. I’m talking about the almost familiar faces that make me smile during the day because I recognize miniature versions of my friends’ features. I’m talking about the laughter that some of their captions bring me, words that point out the humorous moments of parenthood. I’m talking about the reality that they share, the honesty and candor that they bring to parenting. I’m talking about the joy that social media can give in letting us watch our peers learn to be parents.

Don’t get me wrong – there are times when I scroll through my phone and roll my eyes at all the babies that are filling it up. I groan and swear that when I am a parent, I will limit the images of my offspring to a respectable number, or at least to varied poses. But really, if the rest of us are taking pictures of our shoes and brunch, why shouldn’t people who have CREATED NEW LIFE document it? (Plus, let’s be real: we all have the power to instantly and anonymously stop seeing something or someone on social media that bothers us, so we really can’t complain. )

But what I really love most of all is how social media has, in my opinion, given us a window into what mothers do all day. If mainstream culture and media is to be trusted, being a mother is a burden, one that limits women from achieving our potential or significantly compromises our professionalism. I am all about women going after what they want, but that means recognizing that society functions best when people have diverse desires. May those who want to be lawyers and doctors and professors do so.  And may those who want to pack lunches and plan outings do so too. And may all of us stand in support of each other.

Furthermore, I cannot reconcile the negative and empty view of motherhood with what I see on social media, especially Instagram. I see mothers (and fathers!) who take their children to libraries, plan crafts, get down on the floor to play games, and explore. I see mothers intent on their task of teaching the world to their children, of helping them learn how to approach and love it, how to live in it and how to live among others bent on the same task. I see mothers whose days are full, not just of laundry, diapers and tasks, but of joy, play, instruction, and love. I see mothers proud of what they are doing and able to share it in a unique way in this modern world.

So Mommygrammers, keep it up. You are re-instilling value and beauty in something that our culture sometimes marginalizes.   Someday, I hope to join you. Until then, I will just content myself with pictures of my feet or the occasional brunch and leave you lots of love.vscocam1962 Oh, and you better believe that whenever I get to babysit one of your littles, they risk being neglected because I am so obsessed with taking photos of them. Seriously, how do you get anything done when they are so darn cute all the time?

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Ellie

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Hannah

Though it is back to frigid temperatures this week, merely a week ago we had that ridiculously warm and sunny weekend. Conveniently, that was the day that I met up with this pretty lady for some senior pictures around Capitol Hill. Below are a couple of my favorite shots, taken around the Library of Congress and the Botanic Gardens. May they bring a little sunshine to this very cold day!EllieEllie2Ellie-33 Ellie-34 Ellie3Ellie-39Ellie4

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Finding quiet.

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Hannah

teaset-1After a ridiculously long vacation, I am back on campus this week to a full schedule, no longer master of my days. Back to the mines, as James yelled after me when I dramatically trudged off to two days of meetings last week.

Being back at school has me seeking out a new morning routine. I hate when the busyness of the semester crushes in, driving out all the quiet spaces in life, prompting me to roll over in bed until the last possible minute and then rushing around frantically to make it out the door in time. In theory, I like mornings. I can go from asleep to chatty in a remarkably short time and I dragged myself out of bed to go running before sunrise almost every morning of college. But in reality, this just testifies to being able to be good at mornings if forced, not liking them. In reality, I love those cozy flannel sheets and down comforter with the fire of a thousand suns and I will do anything to stay in them longer. My morning routine usually involves lots of wasting time on Facebook, watching pathetic TV while I curl my hair, and scrambling out the door just in time.

As I look forward to this semester, inwardly groaning at the work and stress, I realize that I need to start carving out some quiet in the everyday. I need to discipline myself to start each day a little earlier, fritter a little less time away on the Internet as I get ready, and have a soothing morning ritual. Ritual grounds us, roots us, calms us. This morning I made my tea, sat in the pool of sun at the table, and spent some time in quiet reading.* Scripture, Oswald Chambers, C.S. Lewis, those words bring quiet back to my soul.

And then it’s out the door and back to rushing.

But a little of the quiet will hopefully stay.

Note: That picture was taken by my dad when he lived in Kenya close to 40 years ago. It almost makes me want to learn film photography because I love it so much. It also reminds me, just like all those awesome Dutch still lives, how perfectly beautiful a messy table is.

* Full disclosure for the sake of reality: I was still running late this morning, so I had to rush to get my quiet, but we are taking baby steps towards zen mornings around here.

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Mollie Elisabeth

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Hannah

Meet Mollie Elisabeth.Dunhams-15 She is the daughter of our friends Will and Anna, and this baby’s entrance into this world less than two weeks ago was exciting not only because new babies are always exciting, but because Anna was on bed-rest over half her pregnancy (you can read more about that over on her blog). Holding her baby also meant finally standing up and walking with her, moving around with her, and going back out into this wide wonderful world with her. James and I went down to visit this new little family last weekend and I am so happy to share a couple of the pictures today. Dunhams-25 AnnaandMollieDunhams-32 Dunhams-35 Dunhams-40Dunhams-73 Dunhams-77 Dunhams-81 MollieandDarcyDunhams-113Dunhams-116Dunhams-117Mollie2Dunhams-128 Dunhams-130 Mollie3Dunhams-136 Dunhams-100Dunhams-156

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How the weekend looked.

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Hannah

Dunhams-44Dunhams-71//We met our friends’ new baby on Saturday and she is perfect. How can babies even be that soft? We also finally met their [now rather large] pup and now I go back and forth between wanting a baby and a puppy. As I can’t even keep a houseplant alive, I should probably start with the latter. //
unionmarket// With my friend Rachel visiting, we headed up to Union Market after church. I broke tradition from my normal French toast bagel and hit up the Korean tacos… followed by the empanada place… topped off with gelato. All glorious decisions.//unionmarket2winter2014-64// Espresso art is just one of those things that makes me inexplicably happy. Another thing is glitter polish that changes colors in the sun (see below), both of which are featured in this picture.//mlkday//Despite the fact that it is snowing today and back to cold, yesterday was sunny and almost warm. I had some work that took me into the Library of Congress in the morning (why have I never gone in  before??? Colors! Tiles! Yes!), and then spent a little time loving the Capitol. And yes, we wore matching outfits, and yes, James judged us for it. //skating// It’s been years since I went skating, but on Monday afternoon we hit the rink out at Georgetown. James is basically a skating champ, but I just tried to avoid being taking out by those kids with the penguin pushing cart things. Also, that’s James’ scarf I’m wearing and I had a pretty hard time giving it back. It’s like a cozy blanket that went perfectly with that middle aged mom sweater I’m rocking.//winter2014-91

So long, long weekend.

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The beauty of ordinariness.

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Hannah

Over Christmas break I read some books.

You have no idea how exciting it was to type that sentence. Yes, I technically read books all the time, I am technically employed to read books. But so often they are not the books I would choose to read, or I am forced to not only read them, but to tear through them quickly and then produce some profound something on them. I’m not complaining because seriously, grad school is a pretty sweet setup. But sometimes, I miss reading books just for the joy of reading them.

Over the past month I finished Gopnik’s Paris to the Moon that I started last Christmas, charged through Wilson’s Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl, started Helprin’s In Sunlight and Shadow, and finally sat down and read John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Everyone has been talking about that last one for over a year, but as it was checked out at every single library all of the time, I finally just begged for it for Christmas and have book-loving in-laws that came through. To my surprise, the book was just good. I think that a childhood of reading Lurlene McDaniel books where adolescents are always finding love in the midst of terminal illness made me think it slightly less original than some(are those books still around by the way?), but it was still good. A couple awesome standout lines, some tender moments, and a nice, slightly unpredictable ending. Not the book that everyone hyped it up to be, but good.

But then I read the thirty pages of interview with the author in the back of my edition and it totally changed everything and then I had the sensation that the main character describes as being “convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together again unless and until all living humans read this book.” What I loved was his philosophy of fiction that so perfectly manifested itself in the book. He emphasizes over and over that what he wanted to do was reclaim the power of ordinary existence and show that ordinary, unheroic life is the meaningful and beautiful. And he succeeded, elevating my view of the whole book from “good” to “perfect,” in that it fully fulfilled what he set out to do.

I’ve been thinking lately, as I do every so often, about what purpose I want this blog to fulfill. It used to be just for my family to see random things in my life that they miss because they are far away. As it has grown a little, it still does that, but I also want the words to matter in a more general way. I don’t want to just spout dribble into cyberspace. That seems such a waste of energy and a shameful misuse of language.

There are lots of blogs across the Internet that serve to inspire you. They share so much inspiration of what to buy, do, eat, etc. that sometimes I feel exhausted reading them because it seems that so much money and work must be exerted to re-craft my ordinary life into an inspired one. There are also blogs out there that teach you to do something worthwhile, but I have so few skills that can be translated into text. (Conversely, if you are ever in DC and want to learn how to plunge a toilet, I tell you – I can plunge anything.) There are blogs that challenge you, judge you, guide you, but that just seems like a tall order. There are political blogs, fashion blogs, cultural blogs, but I get bored with one niche. I’m not attacking any of these bloggers – all of these things serve a very real purpose and I’m glad they are there. I’m just saying that I can’t be one of them.

Instead, I’ve decided that what I want is for this blog to encourage you. Where you are. In the life you are living. With whatever you have. I want it to applaud the absolutely ordinary parts of everyday life and show that they can be extraordinary, be worthwhile, and be beautiful, by very nature of being ordinary. I want it to be a little corner of the Internet that makes you feel a little better about whatever little corner of this world you are in. littlebitsoflifeSome beautifully ordinary moments from the past couple weeks. 

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Around this home… there are primary colors.

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Hannah

Over Christmas break, we went rug shopping with my mom and it was just about the undoing of James, who pulled me aside at one point to let me know that he had an hour left in him before he was going to start arbitrarily making snap judgements.  But it’s HARD to pick a rug! As I expressed to James in a moment of total rug anxiety: 

“I’m just having to grapple with the tough issues of the ambiance of our home.”

apartmentThe rug prompted a full living room makeover… as much of a makeover as you can do on a budget, in a small space, and without the ability to paint the walls. It was basically a trip to Ikea, wherein I gave over to my total love of the primary colors, proving once and for all that they are not just for elementary school building blocks. I also found those cool sticks that someone was throwing out and I love them. James, on the other hand, is not so sure.

“Sticks are for outside.”

“No, it’s like a decorative thing now.”

“But we are inside. ”

“I know, but they are curly and cool!”

“I repeat: why are there sticks behind our chair?”

“Because I love them.”

“How long are they going to stay?”

“Until I’m ready to get rid of them.”

“Ok, well, I’m ready when you are.”

apartment2James’ response, when we moved the TV to a less prominent position and started playing the Netflix fireplace all the time:

“It’s like we’re old people… and I think I’m ok with that.”

Me too, Husband, me too. 

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The something of nothing.

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Hannah

winter2014-12 winter2014-13 winter2014-15 winter2014-16 winter2014-17 winter2014-18 winter2014-19 winter2014-20 winter2014-21 winter2014-27winter2014-22winter2014-28 winter34

I think I come across at least an article a week about how horrible academia is, how everyone in grad school is delusional, foolish, and doomed to professional failure and misery. I obviously have time to read these articles because despite the aforementioned misery (of which I am skeptical), I enjoy the greatest luxury of academia: vacation. I don’t go back till the end of January, and though these weeks have been full of things like purging our home of clutter, they still allow me so much deliciously wonderful time. Usually, James helps out with a surprising amount of the stuff that keeps our house running. But for this month, I am sharing my vacation and giving him a break from all that. This means that we get weekends like the last one, weekends where we have nothing at all to do. During the school year, I spend most of every Saturday studying or grading. During the summer, we spend every weekend busily going from one activity to the next, one wedding or party to another.

But on this drizzly cold weekend, we let nothing sway us from the enjoyment of nothingness. Friday night we spent the evening with friends, playing cards and drinking cocoa, our favorite wintertime pursuits. On Saturday, my older brother was passing through from Charlottesville, and he brought with him my favorite donuts. When we were in New York last spring, I tried some of the fancy donuts from those specialty places and was sorely disappointed. Conversely, in Charlottesville there is a dingy looking bakery run by grouchy old people that makes the best donuts ever. James and I had resolved to be eating healthier… but then donuts. My little brother came over and we made brunch, letting the gray cold day outside hold us inside. I cooked with the door open, not to enjoy the weather, but to prevent our hyper sensitive smoke detector from going off. Icy raindrops splashed on the kitchen floor as bacon popped – perfect Saturday music.

We didn’t really change position much after breakfast, just drifted from table to couch. I redid our living room this past week (more on that soon!) and now all I want to do is sit in it and enjoy the Netflix digital fire. (Don’t judge it till you try it. I recommend Episode 2 “Crackling Fire.”) We read books and magazines all afternoon, refilling coffee and tea and soaking in the stillness.  The dryer whirred in the background – after being broken for several months – and reminded me of the everyday miracle of dry clothes.

That evening we braved the rain, heading to Georgetown to use a Christmas gift card at a fancy French place… before finishing across the street and getting ice cream for dessert. I wore the primary color outfit that James gave me for Christmas. He knows me well. We considered hitting a movie afterwards, but the call of the (fake) fireplace and cozy home was too strong and we ended the day like we started it, in slippers and flannels, reading away. When Sunday rolled around bright and clear, we napped in the sun and took an evening walk before ending the weekend the way it began: hot cocoa, cards, and friends.

There are so many blessings in getting out, in exploring and learning, in discovering and experiencing. There are so many blessings in adventure and excitement.  But let’s not forget the blessings of staying in, of quiet and comfort, of cozy days and warm socks. This was a weekend of quiet blessings. It was a weekend of comfort food and good books, of working though the stacks of magazines that piled up over Christmas and ignoring the to-do lists that pile up every day. It was a weekend of real rain and fake fires, Sunday sun and late night walks. It was a weekend of the type of nothing that is its own wonderful something.

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