Friday, August 14, 2009

Invaluable Advice for the College-Student-New-Age-Nester

EAT! Do it often, heathily and in sensible portions. As young women, we are busy with school, work and maintaining realtionships, and often either shun food all together or indulge because of stress, anger or plain boredom. This is not a kind thing to do to the most important person in your life:YOU! Because without your body, how else would you be able to study for those exams, work overtime, or pretzelize yourself during a yoga session? Food is the fuel that enables us to do amazing things.

The female population is so often bombarded with how to look and feel by the media that our diets start to spiral out of control. Do we eat? Do we not eat? Do we eat every two hours? Do we eat only bread? Do we eat only veggies, meat? What is going on?! The answer is simple: Don't buy into the hype! Who cares if you don't have a 6-pack or a booty like Beyonce! What matters is that you are at a healthy weight for your height and age. A great site to find out both healthy weight and body fat is:http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm. New Age Nesting also recommends Anthea Paul's Real Girls Eat from her Girlosophy series and Nigella Lawson's Nigella Bites. Real Girls Eat is a great book for body image and has really great recipes that Anthea Paul stresses should be made with locally grown and if possible, organic veggies, fruit and meat. In Nigella Bites, Lawson has a great range of recipes including a section called "Temple Food," which she says is a term "for the soothing, pure, would-be restorative food I make for myself after one binge or late night too many"(223). The term, Temple Food, is so appropriate for those foods that make us glow and cleanse not only our physical well-being, but also our mental and spiritual.

In the spirit of revaluating our eating habits, New Age Nesting has borrowed a superb recipe from Fitness magazine that this Domestic Daisy tested out last night. Not only was it delicious, but also incredibly nutritious! Try out this "Temple Food" recipe and give New Age Nesting some input!


Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onion and Spinach Quesadilla

Ingredients:




















1 tablespoon of olive oil














2 cups of thinly sliced onion (or shallots; as pictured)













1 teaspoon of sugar



















1/4 teaspoon of salt

















9 ounces baby spinach















4 ounces semisoft goat cheese

















4 8-inch whole-wheat flour tortillas















2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced







Make it: Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, sugar and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is a dark golden brown. Remove from pan. Add the spinach and 1 tablespoon water to the skillet; cook 2 minutes, or until spinach is just wilted. Remove from skillet and turn off heat. Spread a quarter of the goat cheese on each tortilla and top with tomato, onion and spinach; fold closed and press lightly. Heat the skillet and place two folded quesadillas in it; cook two minutes per side, or until golden brown and lightly crisp. Repeat. And then enjoy!


Recipe found in Fitness magazine (February 2009 issue, page 118)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

What Can be More Domestic Than a Hope Chest?

Whether it be for yourself or a gift for a loved one, a hope chest is a very good investment for the future. It is an enduring symbol of the home, a box of wishes. The idea of a hope chest has been around for centuries and is also referred to as a "dowry," "cedar chest," or "glory box." It was created for young women approaching the age to marry, a box for her trousseau. Originally, mothers would pass on family hope chests or fathers would construct them from wood, but soon many people were buying the notorious cedar chests that were durable and smelled quite good. Typically, a hope chest consisted of home-sewn linens, clothing, dishes, silverware, quilts and sometimes even jewelry. Unfortunatley, the tradition has been endangered since the 1950s and is in desperate need of a rescue! Help revive this time-honored tradition and give the gift that keeps on giving! You don't need to be getting married any time soon in order to start a hope chest of your own; all you need is a dream of a comfortable and happy future! Below, I have provided a check list for the basic hope chest. Enjoy!
The Hope Chest Check List
1. Gadgets Galore!
a. measuring cups
b. spatula
c. rolling pin
d. grater
e. garlic press
f. pizza cutter
2. Whisk and bowl
3. An apron
4. Wooden Spoon
5. Cups
6. A colander
7. Cutting Board
8. Top 3 Fav cookbooks
Pictured here:
a. Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Italy
b. Tessa Kiros' Apples for Jam
c. Susan Branch's Heart of the Home and Vineyard Seasons
9.The Essentials
a. Potholders
b. Napkins
c. Towel
10. Plates(dinner and desssert)












































































































































































Monday, August 10, 2009

18 and Apron-clad


So many young women today think of being domestic as a stereotype they would rather avoid. However, there is a resurgence in the domestic arts; knitting, baking, gardening, sewing, and other home-ec activities have made a comeback in recent years. There is no doubt that the eco-friendly movement has spurred this handmade revolution, this craving for simplicity. In this day and age where there are three remotes for the television, a phone in every room, every pocket for that matter, the bare necessities have become a thing of the past. Whatever happened to home-made cookies? Freshly made bread? A hand-knit scarf? A home-grown tomato? These images conjure times of the past, but they can be the future.

Young women, ages 18-25, are often very busy at work, in college or starting families of their own. Ladies, do NOT forget your roots! In the hub-bub of the day, do not turn your back on freshly made cookies(not Pillsbury!) or gathering flowers from your garden. Become a Domestic Daisy and create your New Age Nest. New Age, because we are not living in the 50's, New Age because we have reached the age of adulthood and it is time to begin our apprenticeship into the forgotten domestic arts. "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."-Arundhati Roy

Welcome to the Domestic World.