I pretended to be a pioneer this weekend, except for the electricity and indoor plumbing, oh, and the washer and dryer and gas stove, but other than those little conveniences, it was just like being a pioneer.

I haven't been cooking much more than dinner lately, so I decided to spend a little more time in the kitchen this weekend. When the Angry Chicken mentioned making butter, and 70-some comment-ors shared their enthusiasm, I had to jump on the bandwagon and try it too. I did it in a more pioneer-like way, and shook a pint of cream in a quart-sized mason jar. It was fascinating how the texture changed. First it just got all thick and frothy, and I was worried my jar was too small. Then I could hear it sort of thunk-ing around, and then suddenly it was a solid mass and finally, it turned pale yellow and there was a chunk of butter sitting in a pool of milk. This would be a great home-school science lesson! I recently scored a bunch of mini jello molds, which will soon be turned into pincushions, so I pressed the butter into one of them and let it harden in the fridge for a while and then turned it out on a plate.

The pint of cream made that-which I would estimate is 3/4 to 1 cup, plus another half a stick. I salted it very lightly, really just a couple shakes of kosher salt, and when I tasted it right after it was finished I was worried that I put way too much in, but today it's much better. And I have been eating a lot of slices of bread and butter.

So that was my weekend to-do list up there, and I didn't get it completely finished, but I did make quite a lot of progress. Make Butter: check!

Next up was Make Pickles. I will not be able to tell you how successful that venture was for two or three months, however. Here's a little more pickle backstory: Mr. HeyLucy loves a good antipasto salad, and the last time we had pizza the salad was a little disappointing. We are also trying to be more thrifty and not eating out, so this will be a good thing to try and make ourselves at home. Summer garden plans are in the works, so if the homemade pickling thing works out, we'll plant lots of pickle-friendly vegetables. Also, I was talking to a couple Persian friends at work who told me all about torshi, Persian pickles. One of found this recipe and sent it to me. I modified it a little, and made it a bit more Italian style (because I'm such an Italian cuisine expert). Here are all my vegetables, ready to be mixed and put in jars. The bowl is full of herbs and vinegar, and it smelled delicious, although now I need a break from the smell of vinegar for at least a couple days.

 

Vegetables are pretty! Clockwise, from the top left we have green pepper, cucumbers (the little persian ones), herb-y vinegar, cauliflower, carrots, cooked eggplant (not too much of that, I wasn't sure if we would like it), whole garlic cloves, and celery. I ended up with five quarts and one pint. Now it has to sit for a couple months and then we can enjoy it! Make Pickles: check!

Next up, Sew Skirt. Didn't happen. I have some pretty grey linen for a Summer skirt, and I want to sew lots of rick-rack around the bottom, but the fabric store I went to on Friday only had purple, so I will have to go on a rick-rack hunt next week. Sew Skirt will move to the top of the list for next weekend.

Gather Moss. I don't think I'm ready to take the dogs out again, my hand should be healed by next weekend, however, so that stays on the list. The dogs each got a little brushing, and therefore quality one-on-one time with me instead, and it's not like there was a moss emergency. My terrarium in the little house studio is doing quite well, I will have to take a progress picture so you can see how pretty and green it is.

Sew Blouse. Well, it's cut out, so that one gets a partial check. I hope to work on it this week, so expect to hear more about this later.

Sweep Driveway. We have a big driveway. Between dogs digging and chickens scratching, and wind blowing, it gets messy. I got a lot swept, so I'm giving myself a check mark, but there is one more corner to do, so it will be back on the list next week too.

Do laundry. Done! Although not yet put away, at least it's all folded. Maybe tomorrow I will finish putting it away, and then I will get my check mark.

Make Pincushions. Well, I tried, but more experimenting is needed. I did make a strawberry with emory sand, so I'm kind of excited about that. I made one attempt with the aforementioned mini jello molds, but I have to try again. No check mark, back on the list.

 

I'm excited to make some new little sets, with wool-stuffed pincushions and emory-filled strawberries, and maybe even matching needlebooks.

Bake a Cake. Specifically, Nigella's Clementine Cake. I've been wanting to make this forever, or at least for the last three months. So forever might be an exageration, but I finally did it today. And it's good, but not quite as outstanding as I was expecting. She does say that she prefers it the next day, so maybe my opinion will change tomorrow. I think I might like it more with a simple orange glaze. It's flourless, so it might be a good recipe to add to your reportoire if you need a gluten-free cake. Also, it's not all that exciting to look at:

 

So that was my weekend to-do list. I should have included Pick Flowers, because that would have earned me another check mark.

 

I hope you won't mind just a few more pictures of daffodils and grape hyacinth, but we have to enjoy them while we can!

 

I love that bright orange center, and how about that extreme bokeh, eh? 

 

I just love these tiny things. That photo is worth looking at full-sized. This version is straight out of the camera, but I played with some Photoshop actions and added those versions to flickr.

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I'm tired of that apple pie post, so it's time for something new. Unfortunately it's almost 10 p.m. and I'm tired, so I'm going to write a short post about fungi. I like mushrooms, but I don't know much about them. Interestingly, we have quite a unique specimen growing on one of our oak trees. We know it is interesting because one day we found a note on our front gate from a gentleman who was making a documentary about mushrooms and he asked if he could return to film our Chicken of the Woods mushroom for his movie. We called him to let him know we were happy for our fungi to have it's 15 minutes of fame, but sadly, his funding fell through and the compelling drama of the world of fungi has yet to be made.

Our tree has since died, but we left the massive trunk standing, and the Chicken of the Woods are still growing.

Last week, Jamie Oliver made Wild Mushroom and Venison Stroganoff and he used a chicken of the woods mushroom. I'm not sure if my culinary skills are up to something so exotic. I've never cooked venison and don't know any hunters, but it did look pretty good.

I also got some macro filters for my camera last week and took some extreme closeups.

For those of you not fond of fungi, I'll leave you with a little Winston shmoopie love.

How can you not love that little furry face?

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Do you recognize this face?


It’s been in the 90s and Winston just looks so hot, poor little guy. He was constantly jumping in Sally’s wading pool to cool his tootsies. Mr. Heylucy, who is easily over-heated himself, couldn’t take it anymore and decided Winston needed a haircut. I had given it a half-hearted attempt a few weeks ago, but when Winston ran off at the sound of the clippers, I gave up. Mr. Heylucy was not so easily deterred, and locked the two of them in the bathroom for well over an hour. When they emerged I barely recognized my dog.


We have also determined that we can cross "Professional Dog Grooming" off our list of possible career paths.

Once Winston recovered from the trauma of the experience, I think he was quite happy with his cooler coiffure. I like to think that he posed for the above photo as a tribute to Nell. Please come home Nell!

One last look at the hack job:


This one is mostly just to show off that he’s shaking my hand. It might also be to show off my cute sandals. He looks so funny, I keep doing double-takes. It feels like we have a whole different dog. But he seems to be cooler and more comfortable, so that’s the important thing. Oh, and I cleaned up all the fur from the bathroom floor-it filled, to the top, a big paper grocery bag. That’s a lot of fur.

Other than cleaning up dog fur I was really lazy this weekend. I think it was just one of those times when you need to do nothing. It was a rough week. We’ve been invaded by ants, the cats managed to pull one of my curtain brackets out of the wall with their craziness, I took some Advil liquigels on an empty stomach and ended up doubled over in pain for an entire day, I had to spend a day last weekend with my mother-in-law, and I spattered mud all over my white jeans while filling the chicken waterer as I rushed off for work one morning. Life is hard sometimes. So I stayed in my pajamas until Saturday afternoon. Then I was so worn out from showering and getting dressed that I had to take a nap. We did have to eat, however, so I made some good food.

This is my luxurious fruit salad:

I’ve been making my standard fruit salad several times a week, but I decided to treat myself this weekend, and added a dollop of creme fraiche and a sprinkling of brown sugar, instead of my usual orange juice and mint. So delicious! I could practically eat creme fraiche right out of the tub. I’m going to miss all that summer fruit when it’s gone.

Then I made the best caesar salad ever, thanks to Jamie:

Several of you suggested Caesar salad when I asked for anchovy ideas, and the very next week, what did Jamie make on Jamie at Home? His proper Caesar salad. There’s nothing healthy about this one, but it’s so very delicious, and I think the anchovies are essential this time around, so don’t leave them out! Trust me.

I didn’t use my whole loaf of ciabatta for the salad, so I enjoyed it as a snack:

I love olive oil with fresh ground pepper, sea salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes for dipping bread.

I think I really like taking pictures of food.

I hope to get over my laziness this week, and do some sewing and other things. The requested t-shirt tutorial is on my to-do list, and I hope to catch up on e-mail. Don’t forget to join in the Project Runway discussion, if you are so inclined. I’m hoping this season will start to get more interesting this week, or at least that I’ll be able to tell all the designers apart by the end of the show.

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I’m sorry about leaving pictures of myself at the top for so long! Let’s replace them with a picture of Lucy, shall we? Is it just me, or is she just one photogenic cat? I think she likes having her picture taken. As soon as I get the camera out, she’s right there, sticking her face in it. Note to self: clean the cat nose prints off the lens before taking any more pictures.

Recently my Tivo recorded an episode of Jamie Oliver, and darn it if I don’t have a new cooking crush. That particular episode was all about strawberries, and I definitely want to make rice pudding with fresh strawberry jam and meringues, but when I was browsing through his latest cookbook, this recipe caught my eye:

Potatoes, stuffed with bacon, sage and garlic. Genius! Doesn’t it look delicious? I thought the picture of the raw potatoes was so pretty, but wondered why they chose to show the uncooked version, rather than the finished version. Well, duh. Because as delicious as it was, I don’t know that you could possibly take an attractive picture. This is the best I could do:

Not exactly appetizing, but I promise, these little gems were tasty. The only criticism I have is that each potato includes an anchovy filet in each little bacon bundle. Jamie says not to let it worry you, it’s just to add a nice richness. Honestly, they tasted a little too fishy for me, and I’m leaving them out next time. Also, what can I do with half a can of anchovies? Suggestions are welcome. I might just give them to the chickens, though.

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Well, it is now confirmed. I have some very smart blog readers. Thanks to everyone for telling me about the swallows. Since they eat flying insects, I’m going to let them stay. Eggs have most likely already been laid, and I don’t want to disturb them. Once they leave, I’ll probably knock down the nests, because they are right above the door to our shed, and stuff is dropping, and by stuff, I think you know what I mean. That wouldn’t be a huge problem, after all, I dodge chicken poop all day long since our chickens are spoiled and get to free range around the entire yard, but this is over a door I walk through several times a day, and I don’t want to be pooped on. Also, it’s still kind of creepy when they come pouring out of their nests and circle around and around above me. Silly birds, I was here first, and if I bug you so much, maybe you shouldn’t have built you little swallow colony above a door I go through several times a day. Doh! Also, there is a lot more bird poop on my car, and I think we all know who to blame that on as well.

Let’s change the subject, shall we? Sheesh, it was hot this weekend, well over a hundred on Saturday, and today a much cooler 98 or so. One good thing about summer, at least, is all the delicious fruit. So I made a lovely, cool fruit salad. This is a great recipe, because it works with whatever fruit you have on hand. I’ve made it with all sorts of different combinations and it’s always delicious. The only things you really have to have are oranges and fresh mint.

Today’s version had strawberries, red grapes, nectarines, and a french-kiss melon that I got at Trader Joe’s. It looks like a small cantaloupe, and it was so sweet and delicious. So here’s my fruit salad secret: cut the peel off an orange, so there’s no white pith-y stuff left, and hold it over your fruit salad bowl while slicing out each section, again, leaving the white membrane in between the sections behind. Once all the sections are cut, squeeze all the juice out of what’s left of your orange. Then chop up some fresh mint and toss everything gently. It’s just perfect. I’ll be eating lot’s of variations on this theme all summer long.

I managed to get a couple more curtains done, but my sewing room is our little guest house, which has no air conditioning, so I didn’t make as much progress as I had hoped. Instead, I decided to start on something cool and cute to wear.

Inspired by this smock/dress from Noa Noa (and really everything on their site is so pretty and inspiring), I got some white cotton/linen on sale at JoAnn and this pattern (view D), and thought I’d add a little embroidery to the front band, and make it wider. So I sat in the cool, air conditioned house, and did a little stitching with red perle cotton.

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