Gatsby, Old Sport

I threw a 'Gatsby Lawn Party' this weekend. With a month of unemployment, I was able to immerse myself in the preparations, and I spared nothing! It was the best event I have thrown and it was the most fun and creative I think I have been in ages. 

I tried to get as many details of the period as I could to give the atmosphere of a 1922 lawn party. 

First the invitations. I used quotes from the movie...

'And so with the sunshine and great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.'

And then, below the details, 

' I like large parties, they are so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy'.

After I made the flower garland I used more flower cut outs as confetti and sprinkled them in the envelopes. 

I printed old magazine covers and covered my magazines with them.

I framed old photos of my family and laid them out among the ferns by the buffet.

I decoupaged old tv trays for lawn tables.

Signs for the beverage stations.

 Set up the patio.

 Hung bunting and lanterns through out the yard and put up badminton and croquet.

Set up the bars.

Used Chalk board paint on clip boards and picture frames to write out buffet selections and drink recipes.

The buffet served, smoked chicken and brie sandwiches, deviled eggs, gazpacho and smoked salmon. 

I served french macarons and shortbread in 'Sweet Lulu' polka dot cups.

I made a kick ass photo prop and invited some amazing people. 

 As look look back at the photos, (which I touched up for antique effect) I feel for a brief moment, I could actually hear Zelda Fitzgerald laughing and making drinks!

What Im Eating

This week my husband has been out town. I have been experimenting with new recipes while Im on my own, basically things he wouldn't eat. He's come along way in expanding the things he enjoys, but there are still a lot of vegetarian selections he has no interest in.
Often times I will fix a him something for dinner and fix myself veggies, but I wanted to try a bit more this week. Im not a vegetarian, but I could probably go a long time without eating meat.
I had some shrimp this week, and some fish, otherwise, veggies.
On to the menu:
Monday I made the shrimp, it was a Shrimp and Soba Buckwheat noodles with cilantro. It was very good. Lots of tasty soy sauce. I love soy and cilantro and lime and garlic. Such a tremendous combo. Which reminds me I need to restock my ponzu sauce. If you haven't had it, its a citrusy soy and its yummy!
Tuesday was the major highlight....I made Sesame Ginger Chick Pea Patties, with a cilantro yogurt sauce. Holy Cow! These were so amazing, so delish, I ate the entire recipe myself. I had intended to to save some for lunch the next day and I couldn't. I have to make these again soon.
Wednesday, I decided on a Swiss Chard, with Poblano and Hominy. If you have not heard me wax on about the virtues of hominy, let me recap. Hominy is creamy little nuggets of corn that they do something to, (this isn't science class, GFGI). Basically it is the whole form of polenta. It tastes of corn, but it has a creamy smooth texture that you just wouldn't expect. Along with the greens and the poblanos, it was a terrific mash up.
Thursday, still craving greens. Well, Im really craving fresh spring peas, but I haven't found them at the produce stand yet, so Im sticking with greens. I got some Kale and then a little surprise... Turmeric root.
Fresh turmeric root. I got it on a whim, because Im a big fan of the powder form. I did a little google, and didn't find too much, so I just started winging it. I peeled it and sliced it into thin coins.

The root has a nice earthy taste. I feel like there was a slight parsley taste to it, but not as floral as parsley. It was nice, not sweet or nutty. 

I decided to toss a bit onto my lavash along with some bulgarian feta...

It was so good I had to peel and cut more for the Kale!

Here is how I used it; after I softened some spring onions in coconut oil (Thats my new thing too, more later) I added the turmeric and some chopped garlic. Let that cook a minute then threw in the kale.

It was good, really good. 

I didn't expect the orange fingers. 

Oh and I roasted some brussels sprouts. I tossed them with some garlic and splashed on some liquid smoke, that was a great idea. 

I have been eating really well, and feeling good about what Im eating. Im trying to eat as clean as possible these days. I don't eat hardly any processed foods, but I have been relying on spray oil and spray butter. Im weaning, takes time. 

The coconut oil is a healthy addition. Ive read that veg oil actually becomes a transfat when you cook it. Not taking any chances. 

So go buy something new at the produce stand, experiment, besides orange fingers, you might find a new favorite. 

For the Birds

I love birds. Not in a dedicated bird watching way, but I do love bird imagery and seeing the beauties fly by. I love them in my yard, so I keep a feeder full. I also enjoy helping out the little creatures.
Today, as I hope birds have begun their nesting for spring births, I have done something Ive been thinking about awhile. I put out some scraps to help with nest building.

I got a suet holder at Home Depot for $2.99. I grabbed a bunch of scrap fabric, embroidery thread, and yarn and packed it in. Im really hoping to catch glimpses of the brightly colored scraps among the tree branches as they come along and take some away. I would be happy to see it woven in among a squirrel's nest as well, either way. My sister lives about a mile from me, she is going to hang one also. It should be interesting if we see any of it, to see if its hers or mine and how far it is.
Im really excited. I sure hope the birds like my selection!

Above: this was a caftan that was my mothers. I think she would enjoy this re-purposing.

And here it is near the bird feeder.  Free dinner and free shopping, what more could you want? 

Crowning Glory

What a creative Sunday I had. Sun up to Sun down. I considered breaking all this up into multiple blogs, but I want you to get the feel of how amazing it is to spend the day trying new things and getting so much out of one 12 hr period.
 For me, a great day has to start with a great breakfast. I needed to poach an egg and watch that yolk ooze over something. I had a burger saturday with a fried egg, the yolk was nice, but it didn't ooze, I was fixated on that.
I was thinking greens, but the only thing I had was baby romaine. Now I love a grilled romaine salad, so it was worth a try. I broke the egg into the water, and realized immediatly the yolk was frozen, due to having put the carton on the freezer side of the fridge. But I was committed now, and  actually assumed it would thaw as it cooked. I was right, the egg was perfect. The greens, eh. But the egg, a sprinkle of shaved parm and some sourdough toast was worth it.

After sitting by the fire and finishing up some chores, it was time to move on to creativity round 2, the Crafternoon Event Id been waiting for. A Crowns and Tiaras crafting event in the Gypsy Craft Camp at Roadside Attraction.

It looks somewhat unimposing, but inside these doors I found a soul sister. AND the Gypsy Craft Camp....



Once the rest of the crew arrived we proceeded to construct Crowns. Beautiful, personal, self-aggrandizing crowns! What a joy! There was every conceivable tool, texture, glimmer, sparkle, paper, paint, ribbon and bauble one could dream of. Carol really set up a wonderful camp of enchantment and the 4 of us were not only in our element, but in our glory.



Carol provided a secret recipe Sangria, and Frankie provided some amazing baked goods for our snacking pleasure.

Each and every one of us was delighted with our take aways.



This is a wonderful book. There was so much fun to be had, we could have stayed for days, not just a few hours.
And Im really happy to add, there was still more creating to come....
Round 3...
Once I got home I was ready to try a cooking technique I had seen in Food & Wine Magazine.
'Tea Smoked Shrimp' uses uncooked rice, loose leaf tea and brown sugar cooked up in the bottom of a wok. This concoction will get all smoky and cook your shrimp lickety split, infusing them with flavor that is subtle and a smokiness that for me was divine! I LOVE a smokey flavor and this recipe really brings it. At the same time it really offers an amazing array of varibles for changing the flavor profile.

The recipe recommends covering the wok in foil, and it requires a lid. My wok has never had a lid, so I just used more foil.

I started with plain long grain white rice. Super inexpensive. I added the brown sugar and selected one of my favorite teas, Earl Grey. After stirring the mixture up I put it in the bottom of the wok. Over a moderate heat I watched and waiting until I saw smoke tendrils wafting up.

There is smoke in this picture, trust me.  Once the smoking started, I put the rack in  and placed the shrimp in a single layer. I want to add at this point, you could use any type of baking rack or steamer basket that will fit, but bear in mind a bamboo steamer basket will probably retain that smokey flavor and could certainly impart it on your next steamer meal, so be careful. Then I covered it tightly with foil.

The magic only took about 5 minutes. And these were colossal shrimp. Smaller guys I would check on within two minutes to be sure they dont get to tough. But wow! It was amazing!!

(My food photography is improving, believe it or not.)
I made a quick rustic ponzu with soy and lemon juice to add some tang. But there are so many things I want to try next... hot thai peppers in the rice mix. Maybe a Jasmine Tea, or Ceylon or Pekoe. Maybe some citrus zest and fresh herbs! What about Scallops instead of shrimp?!?! Im thinking that wok is actually going to stop gathering dust.
I will just close by saying the perfect topper to my awesome day was a roaring fire with my super fantastic husband and a movie. MMMMMmmmm. I wish you all days like this as often as you can make them.





Sweetie Pie

David and I have been on Weight Watchers for over a year now. The best thing that has come from that is we turn to fruit for our sweet tooth now, instead of the cookies and ice cream that used to be our go to. Now, that isn't to say, it's just a banana or a slice of apple. I have to take it a few steps further. I'm very mindful of added sweeteners but there are a lot of directions you can go.
A Fuji apple, chopped into a small dice, sautéed with granulated dates and cinnamon then placed in a pie pan and topped with rolled oats, sprayed with spray butter then baked. Healthy natural delicious.
Or how about some roasted figs! Drizzled with balsamic reduction? Ooh and goat cheese! I like to cook some fruit for sure.
Tonight, thanks to my usual Pinterest trolling, I came across an idea for cooked bananas. Grilled bananas to be precise. I didn't feel up to getting the grill going at 8:30pm. (Not even the Cobb grill)
So I decided on sautéed bananas. A teaspoon of brown sugar and a spray of butter. Banana quartered and laid lovingly in the soft comfort of brown sugar. Sautéed a few minutes. Meanwhile, Hershey's syrup lite, mixed with instant espresso for a little mocha drizzle. How about a dollop of fat free cool whip? Don't mind if a do!
I didn't take a picture, I was too excited to try it. But it was delightful. Warm and soft and sweet and a touch of chocolate and a bit of coffee and of course some fruit. I have to get back in the habit of photographing my food. :)
If anyone out there is counting, 1 points plus point.

Just catching up

I have not been blogging in ages! So many meals, so much delicious food, so many wonderful projects and such great Net Results.
I promise not to go so long ever again.
Thanksgiving and Christmas, the best holidays for crafty, foodies. Was busy from Sept to December.
January was more relaxed, cleaning up and catching some relaxation. February proved interesting as the job front changed dramatically. Which could be an amazing thing, no details yet.
10th anniversary, (best hubs ever) burlesque shows and Nolets gin. Things are going in the right direction!
My latest muse has been mini canvases. 3" squares. So great for mod podge and small trinkets.
I'm working on a batch for Easter, I'll plan a super full post for that and for the big Hoe Down planned for Frankie. Yes, March should be fun.
Stay tuned....

Happy Healthy New Year

For quite a few years now, I had thought I was a fairly healthy eater. Compared to some people I know, I guess I could say its so, but compared to actual healthful eating, I was off the mark. I certainly prepared my share of veggies, but butter doesn't have to be the star of the show! So now, here we are in 2012, I started weight watchers the first of december. I debated the whole..."its the holidays, why start a weight loss program right at the holidays??" But you know, comes a point, where it would have been super ugly had I gone through the holidays thinking the whole time that I was 'blowing it out' before the diet. 

Instead, I did start it when I did, and I was conscious of my intake throughout the holiday, and it wasn't a big deal! In fact it was so much better! And now, I am so much closer to my goal, and I feel great! 

And I am cooking much better. A LOT less fat and dairy. I miss it, no lie, but I realize it has not been my bf. I now spend a lot of time on a couple of websites with Weight Watchers recipe. One of them is skinnytaste.comn(Thank you Mindy) and I have yet to have a bad recipe. And I have cooked about a dozen things already. 

Tonight I cooked some Asian Spice Turkey meatballs (baked) and some Quinoa prepared like fried rice. I LOVE FRIED RICE. This recipe is so healthful, I am blown away. I was full and completely satisfied. So I shall share it with you. Maybe you would like to feel better after dinner? 

First, though, as a preamble, my sis was having trouble mincing ginger root. I documented the stages for her, and I thought maybe someone else out there may not be to comfy with this odd shaped root. 

Start by cutting as straight a piece as possible. Then peel the rough outer layer. Then slicing planks is easy. Once you have planks, cut them into matchsticks and then a fine dice. There you have it. 

 Now the recipe!! (adapted from skinnytaste.com)
Meatballs
1/4 C Panko bread crumbs
1 1/4lb lean ground turkey
1 egg
1T ginger minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t salt
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions, chopped
1T low sodium soy sauce
2t sesame oil

Dipping Sauce
4T low sodium soy
2t sesame oil
2T fresh Lime juice
2T water
1 chopped scallion

Preheat oven to 500.

Mix the turkey, panko, eggs, salt, scallions, ginger, cilantro, 1T soy sauce, and 2 t oil and mix it up well with your hands. Take 1/4 C *of mix and form balls. Bake 15 mins, or until done. 

 For dipping sauce, mix all and remianing 2 t of oil. Add scallions.
Transfer meatballs to dish and drizzle with table spoon of oil.

Quinoa:
4C cooked Quinoa
8 scallions
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 red peppers, diced small*
1 tomato diced small*
4t soy
2t fish sauce
2t vegetable oil
spray oil
3 egg whites scrambled
1 whole egg, scrambled
salt

Spray oil in wok and cook eggs with salt, about 1 minute.  Add remaining oil to wok and add scallions, peppers and garlic. Saute about 1 minute add tomato and stir in all quinoa. Add soy and fish sauce stir to mix. Keep stirring a few minutes then add cooked egg and stir another 30 seconds. Adjust soy to taste.

Disclaimers: I made three meatballs out of the 1/4 C, I prefer them small.
I did not add pepper and tomato to the fried rice, didn't feel right to me, make your own decision.
But I will tell you this meal was delish!!