Look who is in my kitchen this morning?!!?

3191 miles … nah. How about 0 miles. Hip hip!

Stephanie came out to my Portland for our big launch weekend. Yes! The time has come. We are so happy to bring to you the re-release of our beloved 3191 Quarterly. Let me walk you through just a few of our features. Let’s go!

Above: A corner of Stephanie’s house from our piece entitled: At Home.
We both photographed our houses for this first issue of our 2011/2012 season of Q. I only moved into my flat in early May so it is a real pleasure to share with you some of the first photographs I have taken in my space. I love the quiet moments in Stephanie’s images and how you can almost see the action that is usually in her spaces. It is like someone pressed the “pause” button.

Above: A stunning rose from my piece entitled: I Dream of Roses.
Those of you who have read this blog for some time may know how much roses mean to me. I even have a rose tattoo on my foot. In this first issue I’ll share with you a collection of my favorite rose photographs, all shot on film, from the last several months. These images won’t be seen anywhere else!

Above: A little snack from Stephanie’s piece entitled: Pickling With Melissa.
I LOVE pickles. Stephanie shares a pickling method and a wonderful collection of photographs from an afternoon of pickling with one of her friends. I think “more pickling” is going to be one of my new years resolutions so I am eager to dogear this piece and reference it quite a bit in 2012.

Above: A sunset photograph of mine from a special surprise section.
Can’t tell you about this section (what fun would life be without surprises?) but what I can tell you is that this photograph is part of a new section that will be in each of the four issues in the 2011/2012 season of Q.

Above: Stephanie’s leather/wool pine cone from a piece entitled: Indigo Forest.
I am lucky enough to now have this pine cone in my home! Stephanie created a small collection which she photographed for this first issue of Q. It’s amazing! Leather, friends. I sort of gasped when I first saw these photographs. So inspiring!

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Other pieces in 3191 Quarterly: Issue No. 5 include Autumn Essentials + Blackberry Picking + San Juan Islands + My Days in Cushing, Maine + A Cat Life + 0 Miles Apart: A Gathering in Maine and more. The issues in the 2011/2012 season are twice the page count of last years Quarterlies. We just needed more space! And wait until you see how gorgeous the printed images are this time around … I could go on and on. I’ll stop here and let you know that you can subscribe or pre-order a single copy of Issue No. 5 right here. Both of the offers on our shop page are limited so if you love 3191 Quarterly now is the time to sign up!

And now is the time for me to go back to hanging out with my friend. There’s so much left to do before Stephanie gets back on a plane on Monday. I hope these hours go by as slowly as possible. This truly is a time to celebrate.

Welcome to a very special 0 Miles Apart edition of our blog!

I have traveled to Maine to spend time with MAV and work on our new issue of 3191 Quarterly, and we are having a blast. Over the years, we have cultivated a great working relationship over phone and email, but nothing compares to bouncing ideas back and forth in real time across a table from each other (with some breaks for sweet treats, cat petting and wine). I have loved getting greater insight into all the work that MAV and More & Co. put into our publications and am so excited for the year ahead. We hope that you will be excited too.

(Had to take my coffee over to that blue table this morning and sit for a second).

We have had many long chats about what we love about 3191Q and the ways that we could make it an even better experience. It will continue to be a very intimate look at our lives, our communities, our travels, and our dinner tables, but issues will be longer, of better print quality and with added design features we think you’ll love.

The 2011-2012 season of 3191 Quarterly will feature:

• Four issues of all original content exclusive to 3191 Quarterly and not found on our blog or elsewhere.
• The same great storytelling, photos, recipes, projects and style, but with double the page count of last year’s 3191Q.
• Issues will be offset printed for beautiful photo quality and perfect bound for shelf display.
• Every issue will feature a special surprise commemorative section.

We have a few limited time offers that we want to share with you today:

• Subscribe to the 2011-2012 season and receive four issues for the price of three along with discounted shipping. Subscribers receive their issues a week before general release. Subscriptions are only available for a limited time only, so act quickly. If you think you will be buying more than one issue, this is a great deal.
• Re-subscribers will receive a special gift with their first issue.
• Pre-order a single Issue No. 5 through October 7th and receive a $2 discount.

 

We are off on a few more Maine adventures! I’ll have more to share with you next week.

Letting go of summer is always hard for me. Actually, letting go of anything is hard for me. I can be very nostalgic. I have been known to sit and stare off into space for hours thinking of “those good old college days” or “that one moment at 24 when I felt completely free and easy.” I am a sappy soul. So when I looked at the calendar and realized that it was indeed turning into autumn this week I felt like it might be nice to take a trip down memory lane. Bear with me?

Above: I remember this as the first bottle of summer rosé in late June. I think I have told you before that I was introduced to rosé by some dear french friends back when I was nearly 21. I only drink it in the summer. I like having little rules like that. It makes each season have its own special sparkle. I will miss you rosé … until we meet again next summer … xo!

Above: I remember this as the first swim of the season. I loved sitting in the backseat, windows open, driving through the tall trees on the way to our favorite pond. There is such anticipation for that first dip … for that first moment when you dive under … for the first time you come up from being under and see the sun glistening on the water. I will miss you swimming hole … until next summer when we meet again … xo!

Above: I remember this as one of the first times we really hung out on our porch. Long evenings with friends and family, painted toes and chalk everywhere (and I do mean everywhere). Now the chalk marks are washed away and we will soon be putting away our porch furniture to prepare for winter. I will miss you dear little porch … until next summer when we meet again … xo!

Above: I remember this as the first ripe Maine peach. Oh goodness did I overdo it on fruit this summer. Come on! Just look at this gorgeousness. How could I not just keep eating fruit all day long?! I love you, I love you, I love you. I will miss you dear Maine ripe fruit … until next summer when we meet again … xo!

Above: I remember this as a mid-August dinner outdoors. The bugs were biting but we used our deet spray (sometimes you just have to do it) and enjoyed a bottle of real champagne. Then there were two more bottles of wine and fruit with farm fresh cream for dessert. Beyond all of the food and great company I loved how the evening light came in so calmly and slowly and by the end we were sitting outside in the dark among the twinkling lights and torches with the sounds of summer buzzing in our ears. I will miss you dear, dear summer … until next year when we meet again … xo!

To see more of my summer please visit This Summer, a joint blog project curated by our summer assistant, Chloe. This Summer came to an end on Labor Day.

I love fresh cooked meals, and I love to improvise with ingredients I have on hand, but I don’t always have time for chopping and fussing. Or rather, most nights I am feeling too lazy for much chopping or fussing. I’d rather throw a bunch of stuff in a pan and go sit down with a glass of wine. Enter frozen mirepoix.

Mirepoix is the holy trinity of French cooking—celery, carrot and onion—used to flavor stocks, sauces or soups. I wanted to share a mirepoix short cut with you. I cook it up in large batches and freeze it in ice cube trays. Just plop a few cubes in a pan to defrost and you have a head start on your meal.

Making mirepoix is simple. It is one part carrots, one part celery and two parts onions or leeks (or a combination of the two). If you are going to freeze mirepoix, it makes sense to make a big batch. A bunch of carrots, a head of celery, and a few fat leeks went into the batch I made.

Rinse or scrub your vegetables clean, trim, and dice small. If you have a food processor, use it. You want the veggies to be relatively small and uniform in size. Place the vegetables in a large pan with some olive oil (traditionally mirepoix is made with butter). Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes.

Once cooled, press mixture into ice cube trays and place in the freezer. Once frozen, pop out of the trays and place mirepoix cubes in a glass jar or freezer bag. Store in freezer. To use, defrost in cooking pan, adding broth or wine to speed the process.

Quick-meal uses for mirepoix:

Risotto: saute rice in the mirepoix before you begin to add the broth.

Soups: throw mirepoix cubes in with broth, seasoning and split peas or lentils. Or simmer mirepoix and broth with potatoes, celeriac, or parsnip, then puree with cream.

Frittata: warm mirepoix in a cast iron skillet, add greens or leftover roast vegetables, cover vegetables with eggs, allow to begin to set on the stove, sprinkle with cheese and finish off under the broiler.

Grains: heat grains and mirepoix together and then simmer in broth for pilafs.

Pasta: Heat canned or frozen white beans and fresh greens with the mirepoix, toss with pasta and a squeeze of lemon.

Hash: Toss defrosted mirepoix with diced potatoes and other root vegetables, adding a touch more olive oil if necessary. Roast in the oven until browned and serve topped with an egg.

 

I’ve been spending a lot of time this week thinking about connection (for a work-related project).

I’ve been thinking about how we all have our own busy lives and our own full schedules.

About how we, each of us, have an orbit of support in our families and friends; we have people we can call on when we are in need.

I’ve been thinking about how complicated life can be.

And how simple.

I’ve been wondering what every single person has in common…

I think I found it.

My summer sky film photographs were taken from late June through mid-August here in Maine.

I had a day this week where everything was coming up rosy.

Well, truth be told, I was stuck at home caring for my daughter who ended her first week of middle school with walking pneumonia, but I couldn’t help noticing all the rosy pink bits around me.

I think our hydrangeas are at their most beautiful as their color begins to fade.

I don’t have much color or pattern in my wardrobe, but I make an exception for my socks. (My husband and I call this being “a closet clown”.)

A kefir smoothie for the kid on antibiotics (how to make the mason jar to-go cup here, similar stainless steel straws here).

And an Interwoven Tern necklace in the beautiful shade of columbine.

We are so excited today to announce our newest publication — Interwoven. It’s a book which includes two handmade projects as well as inspiring imagery all created by Stephanie and myself. This is a limited edition book available through Quince & Co. There are only 300 copies of this special book. We are very proud to share it with you.

Let me walk you through some of the imagery from the book.

Up top: An image from the Color Stories section of the book. I love that this book is more than just the projects themselves. We take you through our process. Our Color Stories are Fog, Sunlight and Seacoast. I bet you can guess where this image fit in.

Above: An image from Stephanie’s Sketchbook portion of the book. We did a lot of creative concepting for this book via email sending each other images back and forth. Braiding was something on both of our minds from the beginning. Such a gorgeous old fashioned styling.

Above: My images of The Puffin in work and on my neck! I am so in love with The Puffin. I made a few of mine shorter than Stephanie instructed so that I could layer them up like a scarf. I also loved putting in a few strands of different colors into The Puffin braids. So much fun and the yarn is so very soft and cozy!

Above: An image from Stephanie’s instructions for The Tern. Did I tell you there are two projects in this little book? One is called The Puffin and one is called The Tern. I found this necklace (and we made bracelets too) to be a bit more dressy. It’s so lovely. You’ll see. I’ll show you some of my bracelets in the coming weeks.

Above: One of Stephanie’s Puffin images. I just love this image. To me it’s exactly what our book is all about. Collaboration. Two creative teams coming together to create something wonderful. The yarn and the project sitting side by side.

Get your copy of Interwoven right here. You can also pick up one or two skeins of yarn so that you’re ready to go (note: my favorite Puffin is Clay and my favorite Tern is Driftwood). Enjoy, friends! Let us know what you make; we’d love to see {email: hello (at) 3191milesapart (dot) com}.

I am really thrilled to finally share our newest book, Interwoven, with you today. It is a collaboration between 3191 Miles Apart and Quince & Co., and we had an amazing time creating it.

As soon as I got my hands on the Quince & Co. yarn, I knew I knew I wanted to create a non-knitting project, something that would introduce more folks to this beautiful yarn. I was particularly drawn to the plump, super soft Puffin wool and the drapey, lustrous silk/wool Tern. MAV and I spent a great deal of time just admiring and playing with the yarn, noticing textures and patterns in our surroundings, thinking up color stories and tossing items of inspiration back and forth before I developed the idea for the necklaces. Much of this inspiration is included in Interwoven; we hope it will inspire you to create your own color story with Quince & Co. yarn.

I ended up designing two styles of necklaces featuring my favorite yarns and utilizing a simple braiding and wrapping technique. You will find complete instructions for both The Tern and The Puffin necklaces in Interwoven. They are suited to even the novice crafter. If you can braid and tie a knot, you can make these necklaces. You will also find suggestions for how to customize the designs with beads and decoration or alter them to make bracelets or headbands.

To make one necklace you will need two skeins of either Puffin or Tern Quince & Co. yarn in complimentary colors. To make The Puffin, choose a main color of Puffin yarn and then a skein of either Tern or Puffin for the contrasting binding (Puffin creates a slightly more bulky binding, Tern is more refined). For The Tern, choose one main color of Tern yarn (this design can also be made with multiple colors of Tern) and one for the binding. Depending on the heft and size of your finished products, the skeins will be enough to make several necklaces. Make one for yourself and more for holiday gifts!

You can find Interwoven only at Quince & Co.. I hope you have just as much fun making necklaces as MAV and I did. Don’t forget to share with us what you create. Enjoy!

When I started reading Stephanie’s blog, Little Birds, back in early 2005 I remember wishing that I could make things. She wrote about and showed us the most inspiring little projects and soft sculptures. I was enchanted! The dedicated skill of working with her hands seemed to come so naturally to Stephanie and I wanted to feel that myself.

This summer I had the chance to do just that. Stephanie designed a handmade yarn project (that I am crazy about) and Chloe, our assistant, and I put ourselves to work. We even got RTS, one of my creative partners, to help. It was really pretty funny to see him braiding but he sort of got into it as well!

We had everyone helping. We sort of got addicted!

And in the end …

… we had a whole lot of gorgeous pieces to wear in our own brand new Quince & Co. Interwoven collection.

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Next week you can start making your own Quince & Co. Interwoven collection. I just know you’re going to love the project and the book. It’s perfect for the coming autumn season. I can’t show you more today but next week I will talk more about how this project came about with the lovely ladies at Quince & Co. Stay tuned!

I love to make things.

As my life has changed, my children have grown, and new opportunities have weaved in and out if my life, somehow the making, the tinkering and playing, has taken a back seat. So it was with great excitement when the folks at Quince & Co. put a pile of the softest, most lovely yarn in my hands and gave me the opportunity to make again.

For weeks, I knotted and wove and twisted and tied, looking for something I could share with MAV and, eventually, you. I think I found just the right thing. You’ll find it in our Interwoven collaboration, ready for release next week.

More than just a how-to, Interwoven is a true collaboration between MAV and me. We share all the things that brought this project together—a love of craft, but also a love of home, color, comfort and the natural world.

I am really excited to be able to share this whole project with you and get this Quince & Co. yarn into your hands. You are going to love it. I hope you’ll make something.