This summer I seem to have lost my creative mojo. Is it too dorky to say mojo? Is there a better word for it? Anyway, whatever you call it, beyond cooking on the weekends and living on the leftovers and peanut butter and jam sandwiches during the week, I haven't done much of anything lately. In an attempt to remedy that, I decided to spend a little time in my little house studio this weekend. First of all, it needed a good tidying up. I cleaned up all around my sewing machine and ironing board, although I didn't quite have it in me to tackle the work table and closet just yet. Still, that little bit made all the difference.

I made a little garland from vintage book pages. There was nothing too it, I just used a big circle punch and sewed a long chain. I stacked three circles at a time and by folding the top and bottom circles, ended up with these flower-like shapes. I thought of doing something like this for Christmas cards last year but realized that there was no way I would have time to make enough. I think I'll do it this year and just start now, it's easy enough to make two or three at a time. I think they'll be fun wrapped flat around a postcard, and then the recipients can fold them open. See, already I have another creative project to think about. 

Another thing about this project that makes me happy is that I don't have to buy a thing. I have way too much junk, and I need to start using it or getting rid of it. I worked on two more projects this weekend that I started long ago. I think this will be the focus of my autumn cleaning-using stuff up and finishing what I started. So hopefully, I'll have lots to show in the coming weeks as I do this. The more I think about it, the more motivated I'm getting. Yay! 

As I was cleaning, I remembered that I had my grandma's thimble collection stashed away in a box, and decided to pull them out so I could enjoy them. As I was tidying up in the little house studio, I realized that many of them were tiny enough to fit on the ledge above the window. 

 

I love  being able to see them. She collected them when she traveled, and I know I gave her a couple as gifts when I was little, and I also have a bunch of just plain, utilitarian ones that she used when she quilted. 

 

Read More

I've realized recently that I really, really like pickled things. Maybe not pigs feet, or eggs (but to be fair, I've tried neither, so who knows, maybe I would even like them), but most vegetables are quite tasty when plunged into a vinegar-y, sweet, salty, and/or spicy bath. When a co-worker was giving away his surplus, home-grown cucumbers, I first tried my hand at some bread and butter pickles (delicious!), and then moved on to dills. The first batch, using a pre-made blend of pickling spices wasn't all that great. The second batch, using my own combination (dill seed, mustard seed, and some other things I don't remember) was much better, but I'm not quite there yet. In the meantime, I deviated from the traditional cucumbers using a couple recipes from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, which I recently borrowed from the library (and which I really need to just purchase, because Oh My Goodness, the Zuni roast chicken and bread salad is so good!).

I started with the red onion pickles, which include the rather laborious process of submerging the fat, sliced rings in batches into the spicy sweet brine just until it started simmering, a total of three times. It wasn't difficult, however, and well worth the trouble, since doing it this way means the onions soak up all the wonderful flavors without cooking and becoming soggy. They have the nicest bit of crunch, yet are completely infused with cinnamon, star anise, pepper, bay and cloves. Not to mention the brilliant pink color of the finished pickles. 

The weekend I made these, I served them along with a pile of pulled pork I made by cooking a pork shoulder in the crockpot until it was falling-apart tender. So good! Of course, when I searched for this recipe online, after having made it, it seems I'm a little late to the party, and others have written about them much more eloquently than I. So go here or here to read more and for the recipe, and make them soon. 

Next up were the zucchini pickles. My mom used to make these with the zucchini that was growing out our ears each summer (not literally, of course, I just like that funny saying). I again followed the recipe in the Zuni cookbook, which I think is pretty close to what my mom used to make. They are a mustard-y sweet bread and butter type pickle, and so easy. You just cook the brine for a minute, let it cool, and pour it over the sliced zucchini. Mr. Heylucy, who is no fan of sweet pickles, can't seem to stop eating these. I think they're just right too. Here's the zucchini pickle recipe, courtesy of the L.A. Times. 

Read More

I don't think I mentioned this book yet. See that little pink bunny in the middle? That's one of two contributions I made to this sweet little book of softies for kids (and everyone else, too!) to make. There's also a peeper pattern in there. It's only available in Australia, so I hope all you lucky Australians pick up a copy! As you can tell from the cover, there are some super cute things to make. I think I might need a pink stuffed submarine.

Read More

It happens every summer, I just have to take a break from the computer, and so the blog suffers. Mostly I've been cooking and reading, and trying to stay cool up here in the mountains. Sadly, I haven't been taking many pictures, so  you will just have to imagine the following: fresh pea risotto with lemon zest (this would also work well with frozen peas. My secret ingrediant? Just add a couple tablespoons of cream at the very end); apricot yogurt popsicles (apricot nectar make surprisingly delicious popsicles, I highly recommend it!), white chocolate layer cake with apricot filling (there will be more on this at a later time, I am attempting to learn to make Italian buttercream, and my first go-round was a 
complete failure), and pasta salads (one with fresh tomatoes, fresh corn, fresh basil, and a lime-cumin dressing. Another, using orzo, with pesto, pistachios, golden raisins and green olives). I'm pretty 
sure I'll be making all of these things again soon, so there may be pictures and official recipes someday. Oh yes, I did manage a pizza photo:

But it seems that my photography mojo is temporarily lacking. I'm hoping it will be back soon.

So, the pizza. It's a summer favorite I like to call bruschetta pizza. Roll out some dough, drizzle with olive oil, rub with a cut clove of garlic and bake just until it starts browning and is cooked through. As soon as you take it out of the oven, top with a mixture of diced tomatoes, fresh basil, salt & pepper and olive oil & vinegar to taste. I used some lovely heirloom tomatoes, and a little balsamic vinegar. Then you can top that with a salad lightly dressed with more oil & vinegar. I even added some crumbled feta to this one. I especially like an arugula salad, but this spring mix was delicious too. 

I've been doing lots of reading this summer, so just in case you're looking for something good to read, here are a few suggestions for you: 

• Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sara Kate Lynch (Artisan cheesemakers in Ireland, a long, lost granddaughter, a Wall Street trader, down on his luck, and lots of other quirky characters, very cute!)
• The Kill Artist (Gabriel Allon Novels) and The English Assassin  by Daniel Silva (The beginnings of a series featuring Gabriel Allon, art restorer and former Israeli super-spy. They're pretty decent thrillers. I'll continue the series when I'm in the mood for a satisfying thriller, but I'm not so invested in the characters that I have to finish one and immediately pick up the next)
• Bruno, Chief of Police (Vintage) by Martin Walker (A small town in Provence, a police officer who avoids making arrests, villagers avoiding EU health inspections of their cheeses, sausages and patés, lovely descriptions of food, oh, and a grisly, mysterious, murder. What could be better? First in a series, and I'm eagerly awaiting the second installment from the library)
• The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia De Luce Mystery 2) by Alan Bradley (I love 11-year-old sleuth, Flavia.)
• The Spellman Files: A Novel (Izzy Spellman Mysteries) , Revenge of the Spellmans: A Novel , and Curse of the Spellmans: A Novel by Lisa Lutz (I actually listened to all these while driving to and from work, I love the narrator, Christina Moore, and the books are so fun. I was laughing out loud while stuck in traffic, and didn't want to get out of the car. They're just a fun, light read. If you're a Stephanie Plum fan, you'll probably enjoy these as well)
• This Body of Death: An Inspector Lynley Novel by Elizabeth George (I've been reading the Inspector Lynley series for quite awhile. The last few books have not been as good, so it was nice to see the series improving a bit with this latest novel. There was a character I didn't really like, and hated seeing them hooking up with one of the regulars. I also listened to this one, and it was all I could do to not yell at them to knock it off. But that's only a small portion of the book, the mystery itself is quite good, lots of little twists at the end)
• Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy Bundle: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (So suspenseful! Very dark, but also compelling! Who hasn't read these yet?)
• Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel by Helen Simonson (So charming! But it also deals with issues like racism in a small English village, so it's not just fluff. There's also some lovely romance which I enjoyed, and I really liked the characters)
• The Hunger Games , Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) , and Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins (thankfully, I only heard about this trilogy shortly before the final book came out last month. I would have hated to wait! These are so, so good. Don't let the fact that they are being marketed as Young Adult books deter you, or the fact that they are sort of sci-fi/fantasy. These are the sort of books that will stay with you for a long, long time. They are brutal, but there is so much depth to them. I'm still thinking about Katniss and all the other competitors in The Hunger Games, and the world they live in. There's just so much to consider)

There's more, but that will do for now. I added that little amazon widget to the sidebar, over there to your right, and I've put some of my favorites there, so if you did happen to want to get them (or anything else from amazon, for that matter) it would be ever so lovely to shop from here. I'll earn a tiny bit of cash, and you'll get a good book. Win-win! I like this better than the Blogher ads I had there before. They got on my nerves, so I finally took them down. 

Read More

I bought a giant cantaloupe this past weekend. It was one of the sweetest I have ever had, and it was only 50 cents. So I made some parfaits. One melon ball in the blender and one for me is about how it went while I was making them.  

 If you find yourself with a super sweet cantaloupe, I suggest you do the same.

In addition to my dessert of the week, I should probably also do a pizza of the week. For this week: drizzle the crust with olive oil, layer thinly sliced potatoes in concentric circles, top with gorgonzola crumbles, pile on some baby spinach, and crack an egg right in the middle. Drizzle with a little more olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until egg is set. I don't have a picture, I pulled it out of the oven and ate it straightaway.

Speaking of no pictures, Winston spent six hours at the groomer yesterday, getting his summer haircut and clean up. He was exhausted last night, and Bear didn't recognize him at first. He kept growling at him. Winston slept like a log last night, and is back to his chipper self this morning. I think he feels much better now. I'll try to take photos soon. 

Read More

I made up a cake recipe. Well, I started with a recipe and tweaked it so that it now bears little resemblance to the original. I have a fruit dessert thing going on this summer, I think I'm on dessert four for four consecutive weekends. 

This week at the grocery store the plums looked especially nice. I love upside-down cakes. You don't have to frost them, and I love the caramel-ly, fruity goodness on top. I had some almond meal that needed using, and I figured that this is the kind of cake that could benefit from the dense, moist texture. I made two cakes, one for Independence Day and the second for a potluck at work. The first one (above) I made in a springform pan, which resulted in a big, sticky mess on the bottom of my oven despite the fact that I wrapped foil around the bottom and outside. Oops. The second time I made it in my cast iron skillet, and it was a tight fit, there was still a little bit of overflow. Luckily, I put a big roasting pan underneath to catch any drips. 

Plum Upside-down Cake

12 T. Butter (a stick and a half)

1 c. packed brown sugar

5 plums, cut in half, pit removed, and each half cut into wedges

1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. white whole wheat flour

1/2 c. almond flour

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

1 c. sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1/2 c. cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a 9" cast iron skillet. Add the brown sugar, and stir until sugar is melted and syrupy. Arrange the plum wedges in concentric circles in the bottom of the pan (or transfer the butter/sugar mixture to a 9" cake pan). Set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, beat the remaining 6 tablespoon butter with the sugar, until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until smooth and fluffy. In a smaller bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Whisk to combine. 

Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, alternating with the cream. Stir just to combine after each addition. Spread batter over plums, and bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes or so, then place an inverted plate on top and quickly flip it over. It should come out nice and cleanly. It's good slightly warm or at room temperature. Top with dollop of whipped cream, if you like, although we had it plain, and it was delicious!

Let me know if you try it, and what you think! 

Read More

Hello to everyone visiting as they make the pin it forward rounds! I'm so glad I got to be near the end, so I could see and be inspired by everyone else. 

Now that summer is finally, really here, my thoughts of home turn to the outside, more than the inside. I live in a rather tiny house, in a little mountain town east of San Diego. We are lucky enough to have a wrap-around porch, something pretty unusual for Southern California. Over the years I've furnished it with a little of this and a little of that, I've let the clutter pile up until it was a total embarrassment, and I've not really taken full advantage of what was one of the main reasons I wanted to live in this home in the first place. I'm determined to remedy that this summer. 

I love to be outside, watching the chickens and ducks and spending time with Winston and Bear. I have big dreams for an enormous vegetable garden one day, but this year I'm concentrating on the porch. Our porch is really another room in our home. It's covered, and gets the early morning sun, but is pleasantly shady and cool on hot summer afternoons. I want it to be a colorful, comfortable, relaxing space. I want to be able to lounge and read a book and share a meal with friends. 

I'm dreaming big here, but I'm off to a good start with a corner rocking chair and foot stool (I posted this here just the other day, but I'm going to share it again anyway). The next project, which is well underway, is a table and set of four chairs. Painting and seat recovering/re-making are involved, but I'm quite pleased with the color combination.

A daybed will make the porch a place to really feel at home. And then of course I will want to fill it in with lots of plants. Climbing vines, window boxes, and maybe even a vertical succulent garden, don't you think?

To see more porch and garden inspiration, view my whole pinboard, and be sure to visit the source links there!And be sure to check out yesterday's pin-it-forward blog, rouge blanc noir, and then go visit tomorrow's blog, Cyder with Eloise for some delicious looking recipes.   

Read More