Curious Bird

from start to finish

Hello there,

Hope your weekend was nice. I did a bit of baking, with D's help, of course. I made fruit galettes from a recipe in the lovely Tartine cookbook, which in my opinion is a must-have if you like to bake.  They turned out quite delicious, pretty much justifying all the drama that took place to make them happen. The short version of the story goes like this: We couldn't find our rolling pin {tried to borrow one, but friends weren't home}. After going to three places to purchase a new one, still no rolling pin and close to giving up. Then, I discovered I had left my credit card at store number two. I had to go all the back to retrieve it and by then I was really close to giving up. But finally I found and purchased a rolling pin at store number four, and a bit of work later {thank goodness for store number four) we had twelve flaky, blackberry and pear galettes...and a spiffy new rolling pin. Told you there was a lot of drama. 

It's going to be a little quiet around here this week.  We have visitors arriving very soon.

So long,
Leya

p.s. Thanks to each of you for all the kindness about my new quilt. Your words mean a lot to me.

 

happy first day of spring

and Happy Easter weekend.
I have fully recovered (thanks for all the sweet healing comments) and today was spent catching up on all the things I needed/wanted to do.

Work was done
Lemon bars were baked
Photos were taken
Hair was cut
House was cleaned (a bit of an exaggeration)
and now I'm off to a little dinner party.

Have a lovely weekend, friends
L.

a day late, but I've got greens

I've been meaning to post some greens after reading about Emily's green week. Better late than never.

First, some nori cut up just in time to be added to my favorite udon noodle soup. I'm going to share the recipe as soon as I can (today has been a bit hectic).

And...my Wing-Stretcher shadowbox happens to be full of the color green. It's a piece I created about a year ago, right before my Imago series. Having just returned from a little adventure, it, along with a few more mixed media pieces are now available in my shop.

Happy Tuesday,

Leya

Update
**Here's the udon soup recipe I promised. It's definitely one of my favorites.

Place 1/4 c. soy sauce, 1 tablespoon each of brown sugar, chopped ginger and chopped garlic, plus 1 c. of water, in a pot over high heat.
Divide 20 shiitake mushrooms into stems and caps. When the mixture boils, add caps and reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove caps and reserve.
Add stems, plus 5 c. water to your pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Discard stems.

Cook the udon in a pot of salted water for about 3 to 6 minutes. When al dente, drain and rinse with cold water to halt cooking.
Divide the noodles into four bowls.

Drain a 1-pound container of silken tofu, scoop out with a tablespoon, dividing among bowls, to form off-center piles. Add the mushroom caps on top of the tofu.  **this recipe says to heat tofu in a microwave before opening and scooping out. I don't have a microwave, so I just use a bowl filled with hot water, which works just fine.

Cut a half sheet of nori (seaweed) into matchstick-sized strips with scissors. Sprinkle over tofu. Slice two green onions, divide among bowls.

Ladle in the broth. Maker sure the broth is still extremely hot and slowly ladle it down the side of each bowl. Serve Immediately. Enjoy.

Hello and happy monday to you.  Hope you had a good weekend.  Mine was full of tasty comfort food (beets, pasta dinners, and creamed brussel sprouts ), a bit of socializing, as well as a few episodes of Big Love thrown in for good measure. Now for a new week....I hope it's a good one. D and I are doing a weekly yoga challenge -- yoga every morning this week. Wish us luck...we can use it.

I'll be back soon with some new sewing projects I'm excited to show off -- I think my motivation to sew might be returning.  I've been in a sewing slump for a while now. Maybe my desire to sew this weekend had to do with sewing while listening to good music? This and this have been on heavy rotation around here.

Until tomorrow...
Leya

lovely lemon and a week of simple questions

Hi there. Hope your weekend was nice. Mine was.  It was busy, but we had a great dinner out with friends on Saturday, which reminded me how much I enjoy spending a weekend evening dining at a little place with good food, a nice bottle of wine, and lots of conversation. It's selection of good BYOs is one of my favorite things about Philadelphia. Indeed.
As you can see, I also got around to making a recipe from the lovely Tartine cookbook. Being in the mood for lemon, I decided to bake Lemon Pudding Cake(s). It was a very simple recipe calling for only a handful of ingredients and it turned out great, having just the right amount of lemon (overly lemony isn't my thing). Very light and fluffy with the cake rising to the top and the pudding settling on the bottom --quite a tasty little dessert, and would be good for breakfast or brunch, too.

Before I go, being the curious bird that I am, I wanted to begin a week of simple questions. Basically, I'm going to ask a very simple question and if you feel like it, you can give a simple answer. Easy, right?

While baking yesterday, I begin thinking about all of my kitchen gadgets and tools and was trying to decide on one that I use often and really didn't expect to in the beginning. For me, it's definitely my microplane.
How about you? What kitchen gadget do you often use that is a surprise to you?

Have a good Monday,
Leya

good things. happy things.

Homemade chocolate chip muffins and the fact that substituting yogurt for sour cream really does work.

Dustin's new brain model. He's brainy like that.

A new gocco project I'm having fun working on.

Stay warm,
L.

developing a game plan

I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy Thanksgiving to you! May it be full of good food and good times.

More soon,
Leya

the things we do

Lately, Dustin and I have been doing this cooking challenge where once a week one of us is completely responsible for preparing dinner  {the other is hands off} and the recipe has to be: 1. something the person cooking has never made before, and 2. it has to come from one of our many cookbooks. It was my idea as a nice way to get to know our cookbooks better, especially the great ones we received as wedding gifts. D was into the idea and the rest is history. For the last two weeks, each of us has accepted the "challenge". It's been quite a treat.

This week I made a wild mushroom tart that turned out pretty nice. D served up some Tom Yum soup and spring rolls. Two very different and very tasty dinners.

Speaking of dinner, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and keeping with tradition, we're hosting friends at our place.  Our kitchen is certainly nothing to write home about so as usual we're going to have to be very creative. 
Just curious, pecan or pumpkin pie?  Which one is your favorite?

Stay warm,
Leya

a soup recipe so good, I made it twice in one week

I was sick last week. It was bad and I'm so happy I have emerged healthy again. One thing I should mention that I find pretty interesting is the fact that I made a big pot of soup the morning (Yep. I like to make soup in the morning sometimes) before I came down with the funk. It's like I was intuiting my impending sickness and wanted to be ready for it. I'm feeling proud of myself, can you tell?
I've heard that some people clean their entire house just before coming down with the flu. I suppose I'm someone who prepares by cooking. I happen to find cooking a lot more enjoyable than cleaning, but that's just me.

Taken from The Culinary Institute of America: Book of Soups

potato soup with mushrooms and marjoram

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 yellow or white potato, diced (about 1 cup)
1 med. onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
3 cups white mushrooms, sliced
1 leek, white part only, sliced (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil
1 quart Broth
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt, to taste
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the potato and onion, saute until onion is golden. Add mushrooms and leek and cook, 2-3 more minutes. Add half of each of the chopped marjoram and chervil.
Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Strain the soup through a sieve, reserving the liquid. Puree the solids and return them to the pot. Add enough of the reserved liquid to achieve a soup consistency. Blend well and return to a simmer.
Stir in the sour cream and butter. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Sprinkle with the remaining marjoram and chervil upon serving.

This soup is so wonderful (and easy). The mushrooms and marjoram are a perfect combination.

Happy Halloween!
Leya

red

hello there,
wow, what a beautiful weekend we had. it was filled with long bike rides by the river, sudoku, and two very fun thai dinners with friends {yep, both nights ended up being centered around thai food -- no complaints about that}. We made Som Tam on Friday night...talk about some spicy goodness.


grating green papaya can be hard work though...


that's why some lazy sudoku {with even lazier kitties} comes in handy the next day.

so this week is going to be beautiful {82 degrees in Philly today!} and I am going to be a busy bee, which is why there's no better time than now for a week of photo-only posts.
have yourself a good week. I'll be back soon.