Fried Green Olives

{...plus where I get my cooking motivation}

Rather often, after eating a good hearty Saturday morning breakfast (or sometimes just cereal), Hub and I find ourselves with a cup of coffee in hand watching 1 or 2 cooking shows on PBS. Lately its been a show called Made in Spain with a host who’s accent is so thick at times that I’ve only just recently deciphered his way of saying “delicacy”…he says it often and always emphasizes the wrong syllables so it comes out sounding more like dell-ICK-cassey…or something like that. But for some reason we just love to watch others prepare food, even if most of the time it is nothing that appeals to me. And I seem to enjoy it even more so when the show takes place in another country. One of my favorite shows (that hasn’t been on in a while) is the New Scandinavian Cooking one where the hosts set up their cooking area, stovetop and all, right out in the elements…I suppose I’m particularly drawn to this show because of my own Scandinavian roots, and for the lush, woodsy scenery, as well as the old traditions they often highlight…because again, usually most of the food is nothing I myself would like to eat.

After watching a cooking show or two, I always come away feeling one of two things: Either I have a very strong desire to work on a farm that specializes in making fantastic cheese…the kind that is formed in big round wheel shapes with unique, wax-like exteriors or edible coatings of strange seasonings…since invariably these cooking shows often visit places where really good cheese is made. Or, I feel compelled to cook something really great that evening for dinner, or at least make something a little bit out of the ordinary. And we usually don’t make anything we saw on a particular cooking show…that just serves as our inspiration to feel a little more chef-like in our own kitchen.

This past Saturday I had the random idea to attempt to make something that we’ve had once or twice at this little Italian restaurant we like to go to in St. Paul…Fried Green Olives stuffed with Blue Cheese. They turned out oh so good and were pretty easy to make too (if you have a hub like mine who will gladly pit the green olives and stuff them with blue cheese for you)! It was a great little tapa that I cannot wait to “wow” our next guests with.

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Fried Green Olives (how we made them):

Green Olives (pit them or pull out the pimentos)

Crumbled Blue Cheese

Breading (finely processed with a bit of sea salt & freshly ground pepper)

Flour

Egg

Olive Oil

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Stuff olives with blue cheese. Coat with flour, then egg, then breading. Fry in a pan coated well with olive oil over medium heat until all sides are golden brown...this takes just a few minutes. Drain on a plate covered with a paper towel. Then move to a cute little serving dish. Enjoy!

A Snowboard for a Rack

A conversation piece? Maybe, were it not for it's placement in our garage, a place guests don’t typically go. Hub has long been contemplating the best way to hang our snowboards (he so loves an orderly garage...which I love) since we moved into this house. Recently, he was looking online and came upon a snowboard rack made out of a snowboard itself. Liking what he saw and having at least one old snowboard to spare, he decided to build his rack modeled after that concept. He finished it up last weekend and I think he did a pretty neat job on it. It even has a knob on each end to hang our snowy jackets on after a day out on the hill. We’ve purchased our season passes, the rack is ready, now all we need is snow…but I’m certainly not rushing it or anything...as I know it will be along soon enough!

Purely Ornamental {Japanese-Inspired}

Inspired by my small collection of “made in Japan” stamped vintage-aged tiny paper mache houses, painted in wintry pastel colors (of course there are brightly colored houses too, but I search out those in colors of a softer palette) with glittery, flocked roofs, I was inspired to make these Woodland Sparkle Ornaments: tiny paper mache mushrooms in the palest of colors, reminiscent of an early winter sunrise across a wide open field of sparkling snow. The sparkly topping is real silver glass glitter from Germany, which over time will tarnish and age into a beautiful vintage look. I considered using some pretty ribbon or twine to hang them by but decided a simple, hand-twisted wire hanger was best, thereby giving all attention due to the sparkly little ornament itself.

I may have to do another post sometime on my little houses once I dig them all out for the Christmas season, which thankfully is still several weeks away. They delight me so much and I hope that delight carries over into these paper mache ornaments as well, to be enjoyed for many years to come, growing sweeter with age at each Christmas season. In the next week, I plan to list some in the shop, in sets of 3, boxed ever so sweetly and bound with twine to keep them cozy safe and to store them in year after year.

A Bird in the Hand...

We had our first snow today…not very much…just a pretty, snow globe-ish sight to awaken to, gently coating the grass with flecks of sparkly white. Just recently, we’ve also been able to feed the Chickadees by hand again…something we first tried last winter here. All summer they want nothing to do with us really. Just make sure the feeder is kept full. But come cooler days, they are more apt to come and sit upon our hand, ever so briefly. Perhaps they prefer the warmth of our hand to the chill of the metal feeder. In any event it is a fragile, sweet connection to nature. I still remember the day my friend was visiting last winter and I was telling her about this...and she immediately proclaimed "I HAVE to have that experience!!!" It truly is a special experience, although it didn't work for her that day.

Hub went out this morning and he said the Chickadees came to his hand without much hesitation. Too bad I was wrapped up snuggly in bed under layers of down and missed out. But there’ll be plenty of opportunities in the cold, dark wintry days ahead.

I’m looking forward to snowy wintertime just slightly on this day…and the other changes that take place in nature. Like the Snowshoe Hare that puts on a pretty winter coat of white fur and blends into the landscape…only the slight brown-gray of it’s ears giving it away when it moves or stands upright to nibble on some tall twigs. And the plump Ruffed Grouse that perch precariously upon our tiny willow tree branches looking as though they're struggling not to fall off. Or the mysterious, lone Northern Shrike, a larger songbird with a curved beak that comes to visit here just in the wintertime. Last winter I witnessed one impale and then fly off with a mouse underneath our birdfeeder. The ever-present Deer change with winter too, growing a thick, furry coat and at times seeking solace in our woods, laying down to slumber and getting buried by a deep snow. Just last night we had a buck in our yard with big antlers…perhaps looking for a safe haven from the hunting season which begins today. I'm with them...staying OUT of the woods!

So I think I’m almost ready for winter and excited about the changes that take place. Just don't ask me how I’m feeling about winter come January though. ;)

(Note: Photos above taken last winter - 2007.)

Keeping Cozy

I always like to try to keep warm, since I’m usually chilly. I whole-heartedly ascribe to the saying “cold hands, warm heart.” I think (hope) that describes me. I have a few methods for keeping cozy. Recently I mentioned my whole hat-leaving-on-obsession after coming in from the cold. Now my latest method I find myself doing is this:

1. Grab warm, fuzzy, oddly-knit scarf and sling over my neck.

(I say "oddly-knit" because this pink one below was my first ever knitting project & I mysteriously kept adding stitches to each row somehow and didn’t have the sense to fix it...I didn't think it would matter all that much…well, it does…one end of my scarf has a big bulge where I was having this issue at first, until I got things under control!)

2. Layer my old J.Crew grandpa-style sweater on top of scarf, snuggly tucking scarf underneath.
3. Button up sweater to contain big, oddly-shaped scarf.
4. Enjoy the warmth around my neck and mid-section!

I know it’s a far cry from a fashion statement, but when warmth matters (and you're not leaving the house)…this works. Although the past couple days here have been slightly unseasonably warm, the date on the calendar keeps telling me that I need to keep cozy warm…so I do. What’s your method for keeping cozy?

I’ve knit a few other scarves since that first funny one and I’m currently working on another one (see top photo) that has a pretty, very textural pattern called “double moss stitch” created merely with a combination of knit & purl stitches. This pattern and so many other neat ones can be found in a book called Knit & Purl: 250 stitches to knit...a book I received for Christmas last year and absolutely love!

P.S. If you're a novice knitter like me, here's a good little site that has basic knitting instructions (and helpful illustrations) that I've found very useful...especially this page that describes some special knitting stitches.

Trimming the Pork: An Election Day Dinner

Early this morning, getting started on our day, I mentioned to Hub I was thinking I’d make my “Pork Chops with Stuffing” recipe (a favorite family recipe my Grandma concocted, I think…) for dinner tonight. Now why I was thinking about dinner before I’d even had breakfast today I’m not sure. And I don’t typically run these things by Hub. He’s usually surprised to come home from work and smell whatever scents may be wafting from the kitchen. So it was a little unusual for me to even be talking about this. I also told him that perhaps I’d make some popovers and salads too. Then Hub, barely missing a beat, and surprising me with his early morning wit said “So we’ll be having an election day dinner then…trimming the pork pork chops, full of hot air [politician] popovers, and bipartisan salads.” Sure Hub. Sounds good.

It’s a beautiful day here and we’re planning on riding our bikes to our nearby voting place later this afternoon. Although this is an important election, no matter the outcome, it brings me peace to know that ultimately my hope and faith does not rest in who holds the powerful position of President of the United States, but rather with the all-powerful One who created me. Happy Voting!

Disclaimer: This picture was taken last year when I made this dinner for Hub’s birthday. And really it's not pork in this photo…it's chicken, for me. Of course, right? But the recipe works great on both.

At The Front Door: Wildflowers & Jack O' Lantern

I’m not really into Halloween. I particularly dislike haunted houses (or a haunted “ship” as my city is known for promoting each & every fall). I don't enjoy scary movies. I run from spiders great and small. And while we're at it, roller coasters are really not my favorite thing either.

Although I do have the fondest memories of dressing up and trick-or-treating with my siblings early on and later on with friends too...the sweet, carefree innocence of that time was likely the part of Halloween I enjoyed most. I also have sweet memories of pumpkin-carving on the floor of my parent’s three-season porch, next to a roaring fire in the wood burning stove. So even though I don’t buy into the whole notion of the Halloween holiday and the darker, more sinister side of things, I do love to carry on the traditional pumpkin-carving, seed-roasting, and just generally enjoying the autumn season altogether.

Yesterday, getting into the autumn spirit on such a sunshiny-warm day, I drew upon my inner “florist” and gathered up the prettiest, dried up wildflowers from around my yard. Some wildflowers had gone to seed and were soft bursts of creamy fluff. Others were sprigs of chocolate-y brown buttons, formerly colorful flowers suddenly bitten by frost. I also spied some gorgeous red berries, perfect for adding a pop of color. I tucked them all into this old watering can along with birch logs from a previously chopped up tree.

I noticed while outside making my humble “autumn arrangement” yesterday that due (most likely) to the unusually warm weather, there seemed to be an abnormal amount of black flies and lady bugs buzzing about. And their overabundance (an overabundance of anything really, like Birds ala Alfred Hitchcock) is just plain creepy enough for me!

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P.S. Hub & I jointly carved a pumpkin together last night...he designed it and cut out the "lid" and I ended up doing the rest of the work...scooping out goop and cutting the design...we ended up doing an owl's head but it really isn't all that photo-worthy...so now I'm off to roast the pumpkin seeds that were drying overnight!

(Tips for roasting your own pumpkin seeds can be found at the very bottom of this previous post.)

Crafting by Day, Enjoying that Night

Craftista. That is my little xbox screen name I came up with for the few times I’ve played with Hub (remember this post?)... Well, I haven’t been feeling very much like a "craftista" lately…whatever that is exactly. I have some well-intentioned projects lying around, but I just don’t have the spunk in me lately to finish them. I also have some new ideas up my sleeves…yet again, no motivation to get started on them.
This is where A Field Journal comes in. Since my creative juices are not quite flowing very smoothly, how timely it was for me to follow someone else’s craftiness…especially that which is such a simple yet lovely craft tutorial as found on Livy’s blog. Simple enough to whip up in the afternoon and hang for enjoyment later that night. Have you visited A Field Journal yet? It’s definitely one of my favorite online places to visit. In a sea of so many crafty/artsy/design blogs, where I often get overwhelmed & overloaded with new things to love, to admire, to inspire…this blog is a true gem and particularly refreshing to me. Each post seems so thoughtful and the presentation is beautiful. It is a pure delight to the eyes and the simple, beautiful photos and words really resonate with me.
So I gave Livy’s latest tutorial “Paper Leaf Garland” a try and as her post claims “the simplest craft. ever”…I think she just may be right. Since this project was all about paper cutting, something I’m totally for, I was easily hooked.
While cutting around the folded leaves, the faintest memories surfaced of making paper doll chains as a little girl using basic white paper in this same fashion. This was long before the existence of craft stores like Archiver’s and others that are filled to the brim with pretty patterned papers and every other little embellishment under the sun. So while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with craft stores filled to the brim with fun things and other lovely blogs filled to the brim with wonderful things, it’s sometimes just nice to keep things simple, to de-clutter your mind, and to complete a project that only calls for white paper (check, I have that), scissors (yep), and glue (definitely). So here are a few snapshots of the one project that I have completed lately.
Thanks for sharing, Livy!