Ann Arbor Art Fair

The Original Ann Arbor Art Fair 2012 poster by Julie Beyer

I'm very excited to be dipping my toe into the Ann Arbor Art Fair world this year and will be set up for two days of the fair. On Wednesday and Thursday, July 18 and 19, I'll be sharing a booth at the sidewalk sale of the 322 Liberty Lofts on Liberty Street between Division and Fifth Ave. (Click link for map.) We'll be there from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day right next door to Seva and the Comedy Showcase.  

I've been updating my shop like crazy with a slew of new prints and will have them all with me at Art Fair. This is my only show this summer until September, so come by, say hello and see what's new! 

My boothmate is the super fun and talented jewelry designer, Elana Levine with Little Sisters Designs. I'm looking forward to spending some laughter-filled days with her and can't wait to see her latest creations! 

Dreamy, lazy, idle

via SF Girl by Bay

Dreamy lazy, idle summer. That's how it should be. Fireflies, starry nights, cooling waters. You have been—and most likely will be—seeing a little bit less of me around these parts for the summer. Is it because I am just soooo busy and scurrying? Sometimes it feels that way, but I am trying to feel less so because that's more about a state of mind and an environment you create and perpetuate. Instead, I want to truly enjoy summer and take time to be idle. Am I thinking about you? Yes. But I may be doing so while swinging my feet over the edge of a dock or rocking lazily in a hammock. I hope you find time to do some of that, too. 

This article in the New York Times is permanently locked into my open tabs, so I can skim and be reminded to escape the busy trap. And now I'm off to the hammock with this book under my arm.

Roast Pork and Summer Vegetables

This is one of those recipes that is deceptively long, but you shouldn't be intimidated. It's really  straightforward: make a dry rub - make a little sauce - roast some veggies - cook the pork. That's it. It makes a mountain of food that tastes just as good at room temperature, and certainly the next day. In other words, the perfect summer recipe. Make it on Saturday and feed a crowd, or nibble on it in various ways for days and days. 

The roasted vegetable combination is amazing and would taste great in a burrito or just all mixed together as a salad, maybe with a grain thrown in for a complete meal. I skipped the broccoli rabe just because and you could throw in any other veggies you happen to have. And I'm not sure why the shallots are unpeeled, but I did this and they look so pretty, I would do it again. Make extra because you'll find yourself reaching into the fridge for them just on their own. AND… you can make a mean Cuban sandwich with the leftover pork!!

Roast Pork with Summer Vegetables
via Saveur
Serves 6 to 8.

FOR THE PORK:
1 tbsp. coriander seeds
1 1⁄2 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2 tbsp. smoked paprika
2 tbsp. turbinado or light brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 3–4-lb. piece trimmed, boneless pork shoulder
Kosher salt, to taste
4 shallots, unpeeled and halved lengthwise
2 tbsp. canola oil

FOR THE HERB SAUCE:
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1⁄2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 green cardamom pod
1⁄2 cup minced cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1/4-1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste

FOR THE VEGETABLES:
2 large sweet potatoes
4 tomatillos, peeled
2 poblano peppers
6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1⁄2 bunch broccoli rabe, trimmed and blanched until crisp-tender

1. Prepare the pork: Put coriander, fennel, and cumin in an 8" skillet over medium heat and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until seeds are toasted, about 5 minutes. Coarsely grind seeds in a spice grinder and transfer to a small bowl. Add paprika, sugar, and garlic and stir to combine. Put pork on a plate and season generously with salt. Rub pork with coriander mixture and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour or refrigerate overnight.

2. Make the herb sauce: Put coriander, cumin, and cardamom in an 8" skillet over medium heat and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until seeds are toasted, about 5 minutes. Finely grind seeds in a spice grinder and transfer to a medium bowl along with cilantro, garlic, and jalapeños. Using a fork, whisk in olive oil and season sauce with salt; cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

3. Roast the vegetables: Heat oven to 475°. Put sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake, turning once, until tender, 40–50 minutes. Transfer to a plate; set aside. Increase heat to broil and arrange a rack 4" from heating element. Put tomatillos and poblanos on baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Broil, turning once, until charred and tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer tomatillos to plate with sweet potatoes and transfer poblanos to a bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 15 minutes. Peel poblanos, discarding seeds and stems, and tear poblanos into 1⁄2"-wide strips; set aside.

4. Cook the broccoli rabe: Heat remaining olive oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add broccoli rabe; cook, stirring occasionally, until hot, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and remove pan from heat; set aside.

5. Cook the pork: Reduce oven to 350°. Heat canola oil in a 12" cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook, turning, until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Place shallots cut side down under pork. Transfer skillet to oven and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of pork reads 125°, 30–50 minutes. Transfer pork and shallots to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. To serve, slice pork thinly and transfer to a platter along with shallots.

6. Serve: Cut sweet potatoes into small pieces and halve tomatillos. Transfer potatoes, tomatillos, poblanos, and broccoli rabe to platter. Spoon sauce over pork.

The bonus! A Cuban sandwich: dijon mustard, swiss cheese, thinly sliced leftover pork, ham, dill pickles, more swiss cheese. Cook in a large cast iron skillet with smaller heavy cast iron skillet (lean into it!) on top of the sandwich to press it. 

Flowers on Friday

 Happy Friday, everyone! Some flowers for your to start the weekend right. Enjoy!

Animal Behavior Opening Reception

You're all invited to join me this Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. for the opening reception for Animal Behavior at Little Monsters in Lake Orion! You can find details and directions over on the Facebook event page. This is a small show with new paintings and drawings. I do hope you'll come out for a sunny afternoon of art and monsters. 

If you need added enticement, there are two restaurants nearby that are rave-worthy and have been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: Clarkston Union and the Union Woodshop. Make a day of it! 

And if you don't live in the area, fear not! I have been updating my Etsy shop with new prints from the show, like this, this and this. Yay! 

Flowers on Friday

Happy Friday! Enjoy everyone… see you back here next week.

Lemon Ricotta Blackberry Muffins

It's been a while since I've done much baking around these parts, hasn't it? Well, that is all over my friends. These blackberries called my name in a way that had to be answered with muffins. This recipe calls for a ton of lemon for brightness and the ricotta makes it such a light almost cake-like muffin. Hot out of the oven? Yes, please.

The batter is quite thick, so an ice cream scoop with one of those scraper bar thingys is very useful. As I added the blackberries, I used them to mush down the batter a bit so it was more even. Also, if the blackberries are quite huge, like these, don't worry too much about fully covering them. The batter will unfold around them nicely. I think next time, I might try adding a bit of thyme into the mix. Waddya think?  

Lemon Ricotta Blackberry Muffins

via Two Peas and their Pod
Makes 12 muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup ricotta cheese (whole or low-fat is fine)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blackberries
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350º F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest with your fingers, rubbing them together until fully incorporated. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar and lemon zest mixture together until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add the ricotta cheese and beat until smooth. Beat in the egg, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, fill each muffin cup half way with batter. Add two to three blackberries to each muffin cup. Top the muffins with remaining batter so blackberries are covered. Generously sprinkle turbinado sugar over each muffin top.

Bake muffins for about 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown. Let muffins cool for five minutes and serve.

 

Shop update

Shop update in progress now! Stay tuned for loads of new items and some not so new that you might have seen in person, but hadn't yet made it into the shop. I'll be posting them on my Facebook page as I go, as well as on Twitter, if you'd care to follow along.

And don't forget if you're in Nashville Saturday, come on down and say hello at the Porter Flea! And if you're not in Nashville, don't you have a friend who is? Tell them to come on out!

Drawing in the kitchen

I love it when I get to combine two of my favorite things: cooking and drawing, or at least kitchen stuff! I was asked to draw this cheerful yellow Kitchen Aid mixer by Kelsey for her new blog, Little bits of … . The site just launched, but is already filling up with recipes, DIY projects (she repainted her mom's 30 year-old mixer!) and more.

Animal Behavior: Fox in Sox

Here's another new piece from Animal Behavior, my show opening at Little Monsters in Lake Orion. After a few scheduling mishaps, I am finally dropping everything off today and hope it will be open soon soon. Will keep you posted!

Book Business Tuesday: Kent Rogowski

Kent Rogowski's Everything I Wish I Could Be is a wonderful study of self-help books. Compiled in various photographic combinations exploring a variety of themes, they are fun, humorous, touching. (Click for larger images.) As he says in his artist statement, "Together, the titles create larger narratives, which become portraits of emotions, people and events in life." Erin over at Design for Mankind posted about this and I don't need a self-help book to know how I feel about it.

I also love his crazy fun puzzle project: Love = Love. Check it out! Hint: puzzle pieces are interchangeable across the same brand. Hmmmm…

Memorial Day hot air balloon

We had this amazing surprise pass on through our back yard last week. I heard its torches before I saw it and nearly fell out of my chair with surprise. It was so close and wonderous. As it passed to the west toward the sunset, the entire balloon became translucent and its designs glowed. I saved it for you as a Memorial Day special. Enjoy!

Flowers on Friday

This lovely white flowering shrub (flowers below with pale orangey centers) bloomed this week in our yard — I have no idea what it is, but it is beautiful and smells heavenly. Any ideas? 

Have a wonderful holiday weekend! 

Book Business Tuesday: The Type Rider

The Type Rider is coming to town! Maya Stein is a poet and cyclist who on her fortieth birthday set off on a forty-day bike ride from Amherst, Mass to Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a shiny blue typewriter in tow. She rides forty miles a day, stopping in various communities along the way to set up her typewriter and invite people to write a few words. Stein writes extensively each day on her blog, spoke-n-word, (great puns abound on this project!) and posts a slew of gorgeous photos, too.

The Type Rider will be hosting two type-ins in Ann Arbor on Sunday, June 3. This first, from 3 to 5 p.m., will be at Nicola's Books and the second, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Crazy Wisdom Bookstore. You can see the itinerary for the entire trip here. Come share what you have to say!

Green Goddess Chicken Salad

Happy Monday, everyone! I was a bit scarce last week because my parents were visiting from North Carolina. The good news is that we did plenty of cooking, so I have some fun new recipes to share. This Green Goddess Chicken salad is one of them and is a decadent, but quick to come together, main-course salad. 

A rotisserie chicken makes it a snap, but you could certainly use any leftover chicken, or simply poach a couple of chicken breasts. Don't shy away from the anchovies — they won't jump out at you, but add a nice little zip. And if you don't have or can't find, piquillo peppers, feel free to substitute regular roasted red peppers. The dressing could be used all on its own with a green salad, but this combo is particularly great. Happy summertime salads!  

Green Goddess Chicken Salad

via Food & Wine

2 oil-packed anchovies, drained
1 small garlic clove
1/2 cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 cup packed basil leaves
1/4 cup coarsely chopped dill
1 tablespoon oregano leaves
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons snipped chives
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
One 1-pound loaf of ciabatta—bottom crust reserved for another use, bread cut into 1-inch cubes
One 2-pound rotisserie chicken—skin and bones discarded, meat pulled into large bite-size pieces
8 piquillo peppers (from a 9.8-ounce jar), drained and quartered lengthwise
3 inner celery ribs with leaves, thinly sliced
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved

In a food processor, pulse the anchovies, garlic, parsley, basil, dill and oregano until coarsely chopped. Add the mayonnaise and lemon juice and process until smooth. Fold in the chives; season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, toss the ciabatta with the chicken, piquillo peppers, celery and olives. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and serve.