The Cottage Revolution

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • My Style, or Lack Thereof

    I have never been what one might consider fashionable. Nor have I ever really committed to my own style. Being born in ’81 certainly didn’t pave the way for my fashion-forwardness. During my first eight or nine years of life I pretty much looked just as bad as anyone else born into our decade. By…

  • Aztec Print Raglan

    Last month I headed to Chicago to visit one of my best friends. The focus of our weekend was a bread making class, but we managed  to fit in lots of other adventures, including a trip to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. We perused bolt after bolt of apparel fabrics and knits, and by the end…

  • Kitchen Staples

    Being home from vacation is nice for a multitude of reasons, but mostly it has been a pleasure to resume our normal diet. I love food, too much sometimes. But as I get older I have become painfully aware that food doesn’t always love me back. I have realized that most dairy, cheeses and milk…

  • New Mexico

    Last week we headed to Santa Fe, NM and it was glorious, but just for a week. The beautiful, foreign terrain was amazing for hikes, but every now and then I’d feel panic rising in my chest with a fear that was the opposite of claustrophobia. In the middle of the dusty landscape, all I…

  • DIY Shampoo

    Yes. That’s a bottle of homemade shampoo shining like a beacon in my windowsill. It’s only special because it took me so long to find the right recipe. Little by little I’m trying to replace all of my health, beauty and cleaning products with things I make using only natural ingredients. After I successfully made…

  • Metalsmithing: Part 2

    These past few weeks have been busy so I’ve been quiet. But behind the scenes I’ve been breaking finger nails, slicing open fingertips and experiencing all those little wounds that make me feel as though I’ve truly worked. There have been lots of little commissioned sewing and knitting projects. Lots of clothing production in the…

  • Metalsmithing

    The summer of 2000 I had my first office job. Just out of my freshman year of college I thought I needed to join the real workforce. And upon enlisting I immediately regretted it. All I took away from that summer were hours in the copy room, data entry and the fear of making blind…

  • The Art of Bread Making

    This weekend one of my best friends, Patti (the Carbivore), took me to a bread making class. We went to Cook-au-vin in Chicago for a five-hour tour of scaling, kneading, cutting, shaping and scoring. We turned flour, water, yeast and salt into beautiful loaves and baguettes. With razor blades we scored the tops of each…

  • Irish Soda Bread

    Growing up at a summer camp I had access to the camp kitchen, and from the first moment I stepped foot in it I was fascinated. More than the stainless steel counters and over-sized equipment and canisters, I was fascinated by the cooks. All were women I could spend a day beside, watching their every…

  • Guinness and Irish Cream Cupcakes

    I wore no green, drank no beer and attended no parades in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. But our friend made corned beef and invited us to dinner Saturday evening and I got a little carried away making some Irish-themed treats to accompany the meal. After avoiding sugars, grains and dairy for a few weeks,…

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