Inspiration: Marc Boutavant

I fell down the interweb rabbit hole today and just had to share one of my finds. It is illustrator Marc Boutavant. His images make my heart sing, which is appropriate as he is represented by the Heart Agency. Boutavant's illustrations are bold and bright and brimming with energy. I am particularly drawn to the contrast between the bold singular images on a white background and the complex, dense jam-packed compositions I can not even imagine creating. Where does one start? I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

Nautical toilet paper holder

Last fall I was in a home that had nautical cleats as drawer pulls in the kitchen. It was so simple and clean, I fell in love. Some day we may do a kitchen remodel that includes this clever idea, but in the meantime, I stumbled on this idea on Pinterest: a nautical cleat as toilet paper holder. Brilliant!

The Pinterest photo was a good starting place and we did some improvising with a dowel, red and white line and mini clamps. Kinda cute, right? There seems to be more and more red creeping into our home, which is funny because I think of myself as a blues and greens kinda gal … but I like this change!

Above is a (dark) peak at some of the art in our bathroom: The elephant was bought by my mom on the street in New York in the 1960s for $1 and the awesome cross-stitches are by Jenni of From J. Loo to You.

Summer squash carpaccio

What's cooking? Not much around here you might say, but here's a little recipe that continues the non-cooking, while letting you eat in a flash. It's a beautiful and simple summer squash carpaccio. I've tried several variations of this in the last few weeks and so far, this recipe from Tyler Florence is my favorite. But it also lends itself to countless variations: tried it with some toasted pine nuts or walnuts, throw in some dill or chives, cut the squash lengthwise, rather than in disk, add tomatoes. You name it.

Summer Squash Carpaccio

Adapted from Food Network

2 medium zucchini or yellow squash
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 leek, white part only, sliced thinly
1/4 pound piece Parmesan
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish
Directions

Using a mandolin, vegetable peeler or a very sharp knife, slice zucchini into very thin rounds. I used a vegetable peeler for slicing: zucchini and squash are quite tender, so it works like a charm. I chose one zucchini and one yellow squash since it makes a pretty presentation.

Arrange zucchini disks slightly overlapping in a single layer on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice and scatter with leeks. Shave very thin slices of Parmesan over the plate with a peeler. Scatter mint leaves over top and serve immediately.