New Schwinn bicycle art in the shop!

At last! I've been wanting to draw my bicycle for quite some time. It is near and dear to me and comes with a bit of back story. It took a little nudge on Twitter to send me in the right direction… and now I have a fun new print in the shop!

The story: I fell in love with this lovely red Schwinn bicycle on a road trip many years ago. I was in Seattle for an amazing stop that included Bumbershoot, thrifting and lots of coffee drinking. This red beauty was leaning against a chain-link fence at a Seattle flea market and I knew it had to be mine. I bought a cheap, rickety bicycle rack and hauled the dreamy Schwinn all over the U.S. on the back of my little Saturn — unloading it every time I had to get into the trunk.

This included a flat tire in the swamps of Louisiana that I was sure would end with me inside the belly of a large gator. Thankfully, it did not, though it did deter my plans to visit the Tabasco factory. The photo above is the only one I could find with the car and bike — it's a little hard to make out, but I know it's there. I stopped to take this picture because I couldn't believe it was snowing in Texas—or how desolate and depressed it seemed.

So I happily made it back to New York with the Schwinn. When I brought it in for a tune-up, the local shop was super excited about it and told me that the Magic Hat symbol on it meant it was made pre-1964 (I think that's the year?) because Schwinn stopped using that symbol after that.

I cane very close to selling my sweet bike before moving here to Michigan—a dear friend in New York I knew would truly appreciate it and really wanted it — but at the last minute, I couldn't go through with it. And so the Schwinn is still here with me and long overdue for a drawing dedicated to her.

Updates and Lemongrass chicken recipe

Holy cow! I'm becoming a once a week blogger. Sincere apologies, lovelies. I've been missing you and hyper busy, but wanted to stop in for a quick hello. Oh, and tell you about this tasty chicken recipe. But first a few itty-bitty updates.

1. I had super-fun at the Saline Harvest of the Arts last weekend and met some amazing people from the Two Twelve Arts Center. I can't wait to check out more of their activities and offerings!  You might wanna do the same.

2. I'll be at one more craft show this fall: Liberty Local at the Ann Arbor Arts Center, Saturday October 7 and Sunday, October 8. There is an awesome line up of vendors—this promises to be a great show! Check it out here.

3. The Detroit Free Press gave a nice little shout out to my Wellie boot prints here. In honor of this little mention, I've made it super easy (and with a wee discount) to purchase three prints at once in my Etsy shop here.

Okay, okay. You've made it this far. Thanks for playing along. Back to that chicken recipe. Epicurious calls this, "Grilled Lemongrass Chicken with Red Quinoa and Vegetables," but it's really all about the chicken marinade. So we're going to go with that bit—you can find the whole recipe here, but this chicken is SO amazing, you won't even notice what's being served with it as long as it can be slathered with the sauce. Gawd, it's good.

Lemongrass Chicken

Serves 2.

3 medium shallots, roughly chopped
2 stalks fresh lemongrass (tough outer leaves removed)
1 piece ginger (about 1 1/2 inches), peeled
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts (about 5 ounces each)

Puree shallots, lemongrass, ginger, 1/4 cup oil, lime juice, tamari, sugar, sea salt, pepper, and coriander in a blender until smooth. Place chicken in a baking dish and spoon on marinade, rubbing it on all sides. Cover; chill 1/2 to 2 hours. 

Heat a grill pan or skillet over high heat; coat with cooking spray. Cook chicken, (reserving the marinade) turning once, for 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, turning once, until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove chicken; let rest two minutes. 

Meanwhile, bring marinade to a low boil over medium heat. Boil for 4 to 5 minutes.  

Slice each breast on the diagonal into 1/2-inch pieces and spoon sauce over.  

*Alternately, you can marinade chicken in half the sauce and reserve the remainder to serve with the chicken at room temperature. 

Enjoy!