by Krista | Jun 7, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
Hello, dear ones. 🙂 It’s been a dark and rainy day, but as I sat in my armchair suddenly the room brightened and I rushed outside to see this sky.
Hooray for even a few rays of sunshine!
How was your weekend? Were you able to rest, do something fun, accomplish a project you’d planned?
Mine didn’t quite go according to plan, but was splendid nonetheless. I missed the Scottish festival but I got to have a looooong, wonderful talk with my brother stationed in Afghanistan. That was well worth missing a festival. 🙂
I got to have a Girl’s Day Out with my Mums and we had such fun shopping, visiting, going out for lunch, and perusing our favorite market. I found all sorts of lovelies: fresh cherries, purple-tinged asparagus and this gorgeous rainbow chard. Aren’t those colors amazing?!
I also found this deep, purple kale and am looking for just the right recipes for all this scrumptious veg.
I’ve been itching to travel again, but that won’t be happening for a while. So I popped over to the library and borrowed a stack of fabulous travelogue books by such authors as the intrepid British travel writer Norman Lewis. Through their pages I will travel to Naples in 1944, Seville in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, and Ujae in the Marshall Islands. I can’t wait!!
In the meantime I’m celebrating summer with one of my favorite meals: Gazpacho Salad. Inspired by my favorite “Once Upon A Tart” cookbook, it is a wondrously fresh combination of tomatoes, English cucumber, red or yellow bell peppers, sweet corn and dill. Mmm. I made it for my lunches this week, but couldn’t stop myself from digging in early. Delicious. 🙂
If you could travel anywhere this summer, where would you go?
This is my contribution to Chaya’s Meatless Mondays.
Gazpacho Salad
Ingredients for salad:
1 English cucumber, quartered and sliced
1/2 medium sweet onion, diced fine
1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced fine
2-3 ears corn, shucked and kernels cut off the cob
8-10 Campari tomatoes, diced
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
Ingredients for vinaigrette:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/4 cup olive oil
Directions:
- As you cut veggies, toss into big bowl large enough to hold everything.
- In small bowl combine ingredients for vinaigrette and whisk until emulsified.
- Pour vinaigrette over vegetables and toss gently. Salad is best served right away since vegetables will get soggy.
by Krista | May 31, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
Happy Memorial Day, dear ones. 🙂
Today I am honoring my military heroes, four dear family members who have served or are serving.
My Grandpa, Alfred Bjorn, Danish Armed Forces, Retired
My cousin, Darren Swetlishoff, Canadian Armed Forces, Retired
My brother, Dana Bjorn, United States Armed Forces, Retired
My brother, Evan Bjorn, United States Armed Forces, Active
Thank you for enduring loneliness, loss, privation, fear, and pain so we can be safe and free.
I love you all and you mean the world to me.
by Krista | May 24, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
Good morning, dear ones! How was your weekend? I hope you were able to find time for at least one thing that made you smile really big. 🙂
(Oh! Before I forget, please remember to update your blog readers and email subscriptions to https://www.ramblingtart.com/since the old links no longer work. I’d also love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter. )
My weekend was quiet and peaceful, recovering after being dreadfully sick all week. I’m getting better each day and hope to be right as rain soon. 🙂
In the meantime, I’m focusing on happy little things, like a cozy dinner and movie night with some of my cooking group buddies, a great old book to read, and these beautiful apricots from my friends, Don and Jen.
I love these perky little chive blossoms from my Mum’s garden, and am so excited to see my own herb garden flourishing. I’ve been able to use thyme, basil and spearmint this week. 🙂
I’m ridiculously pleased with this creamy berry confection I made. My Russian friend Nat is a berry fanatic, and when she was here visiting from Thailand two summers ago, we simply had to go berry picking and came home with baskets piled high with plump raspberries and marionberries. I froze most of them, using them for various sauces and desserts, and was finally down to my last bag. I knew I had to make something special with it, something unique, and this weekend I finally made something up: Marionberry Crème Fraîche Gelatin. Isn’t the color splendid?! The flavor is lovely too, bright with strong berries mellowed by the rich Crème Fraîche. Accompanied by fresh spearmint tea, it was a splendid cool and creamy dessert for a sunny Sunday evening.
Marionberry Crème Fraîche Gelatin
Ingredients:
1 pounds marionberries fresh or frozen (thawed, if frozen)
2-3 Tbsp honey or maple syrup or agave syrup
1 tub Crème Fraîche
2 cups milk
2 packages unflavored gelatin
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
- Place berries and honey in saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn to low and simmer, stirring often until juices are reduced and mixture resembles applesauce. Cool.
- Place one cup of milk in glass bowl, sprinkle gelatin over top and let sit until permeated with milk. Stir slightly and let sit.
- Heat remaining cup of milk until just boiling, remove from heat and pour over gelatin mixture. Stir constantly until gelatin has dissolved.
- In separate bowl combine cooled berries, Crème Fraîche and vanilla. Stir until well mixed. Add gelatin/milk and stir until well mixed.
- Pour into gelatin mold and chill for 2-3 hours until firm.
- To unmold, dip mold into bath of hot water for 2-5 seconds. Invert onto plate and keep chilled until ready to serve.
by Krista | May 17, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
Happy Monday, dear ones! How was your weekend? You inspired me with your “simple pleasures” on Friday, and I hope you each found time to indulge in at least one thing that made you happy.
My weekend was a lovely hodgepodge of solitude and company, sunshine and gray skies, rest and hustle.
Friday night was grand fun with a jolly Classic Movie Night with a gang of dear friends. We popped corn and settled in to watch that hilarious John Wayne classic, “The Quiet Man.” I grinned all over again when I found this collection of Memorable Quotes from the movie.
Saturday dawned gloriously sunny and I slept in luxuriously. The rest of the day was spent with beloved rellies. We had such fun exploring our favorite discount stores and emerging with all sorts of treasures. I was especially excited about all the new herbs, soil, and containers I found, and had such fun expanding my little garden with English thyme, variegated sage, spearmint and all sorts of lettuces.
I kept my food simple but delicious this weekend, drawing from my herb garden for inspiration. With fresh basil and gorgeous tomatoes at hand, I could think of nothing better than grainy bread spread with pesto and topped with diced tomatoes tossed with garlic, olive oil, and sea salt. Mmm. 🙂
I was tempted to be overwhelmed today, my mind racing with all the things on my to-do list, but decided that stressing out was not a good option. So I thought through everything and reckoned that papers could be sorted another day, vacuuming could wait, and learning how to use Adobe Elements could definitely be bumped down the list. Instead I had a beautiful day of puttering: cooking interesting things for my lunches, reading a good book in a puddle of sunshine on my bed, taking a nap on the creek bank. It was just what I needed and I feel ready to face a new week with a rested, happy me.
What is one thing you’re looking forward to this week, luvs?
by Krista | May 10, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
A Washington summer is so beautiful, so exquisitely clear and sunny and green, that we happily (cough, cough) endure months of dreary winter rains and the random hail storms of spring. This weekend brought those glorious sunshiny days at long last. I unpacked my sundresses and wore sandals for the very first time this year, my nose and shoulders are sunburned and I feel absolutely wonderful. 🙂
It was so good to have my friends here for a couple of days. We spent many a happy hour on a blanket by the creek, the sun beaming down upon us as the water gurgled by and the wind shushed through the trees. We sipped water and ate strawberries and talked of writing and cooking, travel and good books, drawing and treasure hunting in junk stores. It’s so fun dreaming and scheming with kindred spirits. 🙂
This morning we had brunch as we waited for the sun to rise over the trees and flood the meadow with sunny warmth. We had French toast made with fresh French bread from the Dutch bakery in town, slathered with extra thick sour cream, topped with super ripe strawberries, and drizzled with Dutch syrup I brought back from Amsterdam.
Mmmm, SO good, especially accompanied by salty slices of toasted prosciutto.
After they left, I sat down with some Cheetos and dark chocolate and stared out the window for a while, processing our talks. These friends inspire me, challenge me, empathize with my freak out moments, laugh at my EUREKA! ones, and draw out talents and dreams I didn’t even know were there. I’m so grateful for good friends today. 🙂
What are you grateful for, dear folks?
French Toast Krista Style
1 loaf French bread, sliced thickly
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups fresh strawberries, washed and sliced
1 bottle real maple syrup or Dutch syrup
Directions:
- In shallow, wide bowl mix eggs, milk and cinnamon until egg is well incorporated.
- Quickly dip both sides of one slice of bread in mixture and place in well-buttered skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook 1-2 minutes each side until nicely browned. Repeat until all slices are cooked.
- Spread French toast generously with sour cream, top with strawberries, drizzle with syrup and eat heartily.
Toasted Prosciutto
Ingredients:
Prosciutto, sliced thinly
Directions:
- Turn on broiler.
- Place prosciutto slices on cookie sheet. Place under broiler for 2-3 minutes until edges begin to curl. WATCH CAREFULLY.
- Remove from oven and flip prosciutto slices.
- Broil another 2-3 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove immediately and serve.
by Krista | Apr 26, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
How was your weekend, dear ones? 🙂
Mine was quiet and relaxing, a lovely retreat all by myself so I could get better. I thoroughly enjoyed short walks to the creek, naps in the sunshine, and…
…I even started sketching again! Something I haven’t done in ages. 🙂 My perspective is wonky and I couldn’t draw a decent face to save my life, but I had such fun anyways, especially with a fresh package of new markers to experiment with. 🙂
I decided a retreat wasn’t a proper retreat without something desserty, so I pondered my options. I remembered reading an article in an old Victoria magazine about a young girl who loved staying home sick from school because her grandmother always made her homemade pudding. I do not love being sick but I do love pudding, so I dug out my Betty Crocker cookbook and settled on little bowls of creamy butterscotch. I added my own flair by using almond milk and finishing it off with a sprinkling of black salt. 🙂
I’m not sure why they call it black salt since it is decidedly pink.
Regardless of the name, it tastes marvelous atop sweet pudding, and I felt thoroughly spoiled. 🙂 I also felt spoiled because my cute-as-a-bug, elderly neighbor lady stopped me the other day and asked if I would mind if she planted flowers all around my apartment. Would I mind?? I was tickled pink! 🙂 So today I grinned from my armchair as I watched her marching about in a turban and leopard-print wellies making everything beautiful. I’m a lucky, lucky girl. 🙂
Butterscotch Pudding with Black Salt
(Adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp black salt, more for garnish
2 cups milk or almond milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
- Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute.
- Gradually stir at least half of the hot mixture into egg yolks. Stir into remaining hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir one minute.
- Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla.
- Pour into dessert dishes. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.
- Sprinkle with black salt and serve.
