Found: Vintage patterned bread pan.
Too rusty to use but pretty on the eyes.
My idea: to plant it with assorted thyme and sit it on my counter top.
I love the look and fragrance of thyme.
I chose three varieties: lime, lemon and oregano.
First I put down some small stones for drainage.
Then I planted the three plants and covered the soil with a little moss.
Perfect in my kitchen until the spring when I will transfer them to the herb pot on my porch.
Found: One children’s cook book from 1951. A picture cook book!
I had to try something out of it right away. Something easy. I didn’t want to get in over my head. heehee.
So I chose…
It sounds like one of those recipes you would invent when you were little.
Before the oven.
Here it is. Peter’s Peanut -Butter Pixie. It even looks retro!
How was it?
Well, kind of like a bite size fluffernutter s’more and instead of chocolate (which would have made this oh so delish) is a cinnamon ‘cherry’ on top. Totally weird. But I like it.
I have a love for pomegranate seeds so this recipe called out to me from the pages of the December Bon Appetit. I made some changes. Since it was just the two of us I halved the sauce recipe and used two boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of 8 duck breasts. I had no coriander in my spice drawer; it turned out lovely anyway.
For the original recipe click here. This is what I did…
half of a 1/3 measuring cup of sugar
1/4 cup of water
1 cup of refrigerated pomegranate juice (I used Pom)
1 cup of low-salt chicken broth
2 large dried California Chiles, stemmed, seeded, torn into 1-inch pieces.
3/4 teaspoon adobo sauce from cannned chipotle chiles in adobo
3/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/16 teaspoon of ground cumin
coarse kosher salt
Pomegranate seeds
Stir sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase the heat; boil until syrup is a deep amber color, swirling pan occasionally. Add juice, broth, and California chiles. Boil until sauce is reduced to about half; cool. Puree in tightly covered blender until smooth. Whisk in adobo sauce, vinegar, and cumin. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
For the chicken breasts…
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in an oven proof skillet. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Place chicken in hot skillet. Cook chicken about 5 minutes on each side and then place in the oven to cook the rest of the way.
Slice up chicken and top with pomegranite-chile sauce and pomegranate seeds.
The sauce is smoky with a little heat and contrasts nicely with the tangy sweetness of the pomegranate seeds bursting with each biteful.
Great accompanied by Green Beans with Pepitas. In my version of the green beans the rosemary was left out. Olive oil, a little garlic, and toasted pepitas (shelled raw pumpkin seeds) are a simple yummy way to dress up those beans.
We will definitely make this again!
What should you do with that opened can of chipotles in adobo? How about making the cod with chipotle butter and black beans baked in parchment!
Hurray for trumpette’s new line now available at Target! I was so pleasantly surprised when I came across a shiny new display of socks, tights, and baby moccasins all with that trumpette sass but at a much more affordable price!
Tulle, ribbon and pompoms, a little girl’s dream.
Make a tutu from your favorite color tulle.
Hand sew on some pom poms, maybe add a ribbon…
Wear with a onesie and
top off the whole outfit with some crazy tights…
Yay!
My husband made us dinner last night from the Anthony Bourdain Les Halles cookbook he received as a Christmas present. He went to the market to get all of his ingredients and enthusiastically pursued his ‘in another life’ dream of being a chef. I glanced at the recipe and saw that it called for one sprig of flat parsley yet there was a bunch of curly parsley sitting on the counter. When I asked him about it he pointed to the pie serving knife and said, in all seriousness, “I know. I tried flattening it out the best I could.”
He realized after I burst out laughing that maybe there was really such a thing as flat parsley. The kind that came already flattened straight from the fields. Why a pie server as a flattening tool? He said he looked, but couldn’t find a mallet.
Real life in the kitchen makes me smile. And dinner was delicious.
Lying in bed this morning I was brainstorming ideas of things to make. I happened to check my phone and saw these unbelievable photos that my friend had posted on facebook of his friend Lukka Sigurdardottir who made this seriously unbelievable cake. All of my ideas seem so small in comparison! Not only has Lukka mastered the checkered cake, but she has taken it to a whole new level. I am in awe and inspired. I had to share these with you.
Oh the joy of a grandma that sews! I find myself with so many great ideas and not enough time to do them. My free time comes in 20 minute slots every three hours or so in between our singing, dancing, playing, eating, reading, sometimes crying mostly smiling day. Enter crafty grandma. I send her a pattern, some fabric and trims and like magic she sends us back the dresses! Love these funky birds with lime green ric rac trim.
I found this great clock while rummaging through an antique store upstate. It still has the tag marked with it’s original price of $5.98! I love stuff in this bright palette and the name Wee Winkie made me smile. It will look so cute hanging in Clementine’s room.