by Krista | May 28, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
Hello dear ones! I’m so glad we made it through another week, and hope you have beautiful things to look forward to this weekend. 🙂
The last week has been a rough one for me. The horrible pains and illness I experienced from mold in my last apartment returned with a vengeance, and after a week of agony I finally found the culprit: mold in my new apartment too. Arrrgh. I couldn’t believe it, and had awful visions of having to move again. Thankfully this time around it was easily dealt with and removed and I’m feeling heaps better every day. 🙂
I’ve been looking for ways to make everyday life just a bit more beautiful, and this week I:
Made myself a Narnian Tea.
Started reading a good story.
Used fresh herbs from my little garden and made a bouquet of chive blossoms.
Listened to books on cd while I did housework.
Made another Narnian Tea because the first one was so lovely. 🙂
And made Asparagus Pesto Quiche with Goat Cheese.
I also started a list of beautiful things I want to do this weekend, and I’m so excited to tackle it: cleaning up some old outdoor lanterns and putting them on my patio, making a new cd of favorite music, and finding pretty flowers to put in a glass jar.
I’m also excited because I won TWO giveaways in the past week! I hardly ever win anything, so this is fun!! The lovely Mia at Bright Morning Star gave me a $40 gift certificate to CSN, and I was able to get the tongs and microplane I’ve been needing. Yay! She has two more giveaways going on right now, so scoot over for a chance to win! My second one came just this morning from Mischa at Itinerant Tidewad for a selection of Kusmi Tea. It feels like Christmas at my house!! 🙂
What are things that you are doing to make life a bit more beautiful? I’d really love to hear your ideas. 🙂
Happy Weekending!!!
Asparagus Pesto Quiche with Goat Cheese
Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus, woody ends trimmed, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup cottage cheese
4 large eggs
2 scallions, sliced
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
2 Tbsp pesto
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F
- Place asparagus in saucepan, cover with water, bring to boil and simmer 3-4 minutes. Drain.
- Combine asparagus with remaining ingredients except for goat cheese.
- Pour into greased pie plate, sprinkle with goat cheese and bake for 30-40 minutes until edges brown.
- Serve warm or chilled.
by Krista | May 21, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
Good morning, dear ones! 🙂
Over the past several months I’ve had numerous requests to share what camera I use, what photographic equipment I employ, and what editing program I utilize for the photos I post here five days a week. So – drum roll please! – today is Camera Confession Day!
Camera: Nikon Coolpix L20 – though mine is rather the worse for wear since the battery hatch no longer closes and I can’t take a photo without holding down the spring-loaded hatch with one hand while I press the button with the other. Those batteries like to fall out at the most inopportune moments!
Photographic equipment: non-existent. Unless you count my knees, which allow me to kneel in mud, grass and water, and also work beautifully as a tripod when necessary.
Photo editing program: Picasa – used to turn photos right side up and crop. Alas, that’s all I know how to do.
The End. 🙂
Moral of the story: don’t let anyone tell you you have to wait for expensive equipment or have mad skills at editing before you can capture beautiful moments.
A friend of mine tells me regularly: “Start where you are.” I love that!! We may be poor-ish (check), sick (check), and have responsibilities that overwhelm (check), but we can all do something to make our lives a bit more beautiful each day, and, if we’re lucky, share them with others so they can be cheered too.
I just finished reading “The Martha Rules” by Martha Stewart, and while I gleaned much from it, one thing in particular stood out to me. She said that at the top of her to-do list every day she writes three words: Make it beautiful. As she organizes her day she plans ways to make life more beautiful for herself, her family, friends, co-workers and customers. What a gorgeous way to live!
So, my beloved readers, I can’t send you beautiful magazines or fancy chocolates or whisk you away on fancy vacations to exotic climes, but I can share the little things that make my life beautiful each day. I hope that they might brighten your day a little too, wherever you are.
Speaking of beautiful things, here are a few that delighted me this week.
Almond Hot Chocolate on a rainy afternoon.
A blue sky reflected in a placid stream.
A very mossy tree.
Sunshine streaming through my windows onto my bedspread after a terrific rainstorm.
And, last but not least, delicious Baked Asparagus with Browned Butter and Parmesan.
What is making your day beautiful today?
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, dear ones, and I’ll see you on Monday. 🙂
Baked Asparagus with Browned Butter and Parmesan
Ingredients:
one bunch asparagus, rinsed and trimmed
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Arrange asparagus in a skillet and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer until just tender 4-6 minutes. Remove and drain.
- Put butter in saucepan over medium heat and melt. Continue cooking until butter begins to brown, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 more minute, watching carefully so it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat.
- Arrange asparagus in casserole dish, drizzle with browned butter, dust with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with Parmesan.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes until asparagus is cooked through and Parmesan begins to toast.
by Krista | May 14, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
Hello dear ones! I’ve truly missed you these last few days as I’ve scrambled to put together a semblance of a blog after much fuss and bother with my last one. There is still work to be done, but I’m so happy to have a place to put down my blog roots for a good, long while.
How have you been? How was your week? Are you so excited for the weekend?
With so much craziness in my life this week, I’ve been delighting in very simple pleasures: reading on the creek bank, one foil-wrapped Dove dark chocolate each evening, and, on a particularly beautiful day, a stroll in the woods.
I love the above trail so much. 🙂 I felt sure that it would lead somewhere quite delightful if only I had time to follow it.
I think this branch got blown down in one of our recent windstorms, but isn’t it lovely against the green?
Wildflowers were everywhere! Teensy tiny ones carpeting the forest floor and clinging to the banks of the stream. These little ones are so perky, aren’t they?
My happiness with simple things has extended to my food as well. I was too tired to muster up anything exotic, so I took a cue from Tracy at
Amuse-Bouche for Two, and turned to wine and pasta. Tracy waxes poetic about pasta, rendering it so dreamy and wonderful that I simply had to see what all the fuss was about. A glass of chilled Aussie white was the perfect accompaniment…
…to simple whole wheat thin spaghetti dressed with pesto, fresh tomatoes, and basil from my garden.
What simple things are delighting you this week, my friends?
by Krista | May 7, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
Happy Friday, dear ones! Aren’t you SO glad that the weekend is almost here? 🙂
It’s been a decidedly wild but good week for me, and I’m feeling quite brave and feisty this evening after battling fears, squashing false guilt, and facing obstacles with my chin up. 🙂 There have been a few weepy moments along the way – isn’t anything worth doing sprinkled with those? – but I feel strong in spirit because I soldiered on, pressed through, and am the better for it. 🙂
Last night I was so happy to have friends, my parents, and my goddaughters over for dinner to celebrate Mother’s Day a bit early. 🙂 I had such fun treating them, but Mums, Johanna and the girls also treated me with big squeezy hugs and these gorgeous things that now adorn my kitchen counter and remind me I am loved. 🙂
The little girls arrived with these clenched in their fists. 🙂
Mums brought me these lovelies from her garden. 🙂
We had a great visit, strolled out to watch the sun set over the creek, and the little girls had a grand time plastering me with make-up and jewelry and making me “so beautiful!”. 🙂
For dinner we had Clementine Ceviche, a lovely soup that I’ll tell you about another day, and warm Blueberry Pudding Cake with Crème Fraîche. Mmm, mmm, it was so good! 🙂 Mounds of blueberries atop buttery cake moist with blueberry juice. Delish! 🙂
Now I must be off to put away laundry, vacuum, tidy up the last of the dishes and come up with a menu plan for this weekend. I have friends coming to visit –
Rebekah and
Trish and
Todd and
Deb – and I’m so excited! 🙂 A whole weekend of exploring and eating and talking our heads off and sleeping in and being crazily creative. 🙂 I just love kindred spirits. 🙂 They make life so beautiful!!
What beautiful thing do you have to look forward to this weekend? 🙂
Blueberry Pudding Cake
(From Epicurious)
Ingredients:
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
10 oz blueberries (2 cups)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
- Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.
- Stir together 1/3 cup sugar with water, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a small saucepan, then stir in blueberries. Bring to a simmer, then simmer, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a medium bowl.
- Whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl, then add flour mixture, whisking until just combined.
- Spoon batter into baking pan, spreading evenly, then pour blueberry mixture evenly over batter (berries will sink). Bake until a knife inserted into center of cake portion comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.
by Krista | Apr 30, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
This afternoon thick clouds scudded across the skies, letting random splashes of sunlight warm my perch in the doorway. Those fickle bits of warmth felt so good and I loved looking up between the trees, waiting in anticipation for the next one. 🙂
Today was a good day, a peaceful day, all the stress and anxiety of the last week melting away in a delicious sense of well-being. My dear friend Kat braved the early morning hours to drive out and have breakfast and a jolly visit with me before work. 🙂 I toasted prosciutto until it was nice and crispy, and made a stack of buckwheat pancakes while the tea water came to a boil. Kat whipped up crème fraîche and diced fresh mangoes and glistening wedges of ruby red grapefruit, and soon we were sitting down to a scrumptious breakfast and comfy chat. 🙂
Tonight I got to meet my folks and dear family friends for a fabulous Indian feast at a new restaurant. Our waitress was a kick in the pants, ordering us about and telling us what dishes we should choose. 🙂 Her recommendations were excellent and we had a grand time attempting to eat even a smidgen of all the food heaped on our plates. I brought home my leftovers and won’t have to cook until Saturday! Hooray! 🙂
I’m really looking forward to this weekend. In addition to the usual things: sleeping in, indulging in some sort of dessert, and snoozing in the sunshine under a handmade quilt…
…I also get to go to the Leonardo Da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery with my pals from cooking club. If we have time we’re going to explore oh-so-beautiful Stanley Park a bit too. 🙂 I’m really looking forward to it. 🙂
What lovely things are you looking forward to this weekend? 🙂
by Krista | Apr 23, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
Good morning, dear folks! 🙂 I am grinning so big because my gimpy knee is finally healing up after the car accident and I’m able to start taking real walks again. HOORAY! 🙂 Earlier this week I headed out on a particularly blustery day and to my delight found a whole sprig of lilac laying in the street in danger of being run over. I happily rescued it and it’s now adorning my coffee table in a particularly fetching styrofoam cup. 😉
After work yesterday I went out to explore my new neighborhood, strolling past farms and meadows and through the woods.
It did my heart and body much good to be out in nature again. 🙂
On Wednesday my dear friend Deb came over for dinner, and while the rice finished cooking we took an evening ramble out to my creek. Mmm, it was gorgeous! The creek babbled gently as the sun set through the trees and brisk breezes brought gusts of fresh air from the woods. Everything is so lush and green along the banks now. I just love it. 🙂
The fresh air made us hungry and we headed back to the house for dinner. Deb is one of those lovely folks who is actually pleased when you experiment on them with new foods (love that!!) so I tried out a vegetable curry from Madhur Jaffrey’s “
From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail“, and served it over brown basmati rice.
Jaffrey says that this curry is a great favorite at wedding banquets in Guyana, while in India they serve it without cabbage.
The curry features chickpeas, potatoes and cabbage simmered with fried onions, garlic, peppers, curry powder and roasted cumin. It turned out even better than I’d hoped! Somehow the textures and flavors are perfectly suited to each other, resulting in an almost creamy curry that satisfies without feeling heavy.
What lovely thing are you looking forward to this weekend? 🙂
Chickpea, Potato and Cabbage Curry
Ingredients:
1 cup dried chickpeas
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 wiri-wiri peppers or 3 bird’s eye chilies, chopped (I didn’t have either so I added a pinch of cayenne)
4 Tbsp corn, peanut, or olive oil
1 Tbsp hot curry powder (I used mild)
1 tsp roasted and ground cumin seeds (I only had powder)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4″ squares (I didn’t peel mine)
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups green cabbage, cut into 1/2 inch squares
Directions:
- Soak chickpeas overnight in 5 cups of water. Drain the next day, put in a pan, add 5 cups fresh water and bring to a boil. Cover. reduce heat to low, and cook very gently for 1-3 hours, or until chickpeas are very tender. Add boiling water if necessary.
- Drain chickpeas, reserving broth. Pour liquid into measuring cup and add water to make 2 1/2 cups.
- Put onion, garlic, peppers and 4 Tbsp water into blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour oil into soup pot over medium high heat. Put in paste from blender. Stir and fry for 2-3 minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook another 2-3 minutes, removing lid to stir frequently.
- Add curry powder and roasted cumin. Stir ones and put in chickpeas, potatoes, salt, and the reserved liquid. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Add cabbage and a further 1 cup of water (I used chicken broth). Stir and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, or until cabbage has just softened.
- Taste for salt before serving.
