Have a great weekend!

We're off to the woods for the long weekend — be back Tuesday with photos, tales and more. Enjoy!

Computer break…

With the weather turning so nice and warm and sunny this week, I've abandoned the computer for a couple of days — sorry for the silence! This trend is carrying over into my art, too. I've been feeling like it's missing more of my own hand in it — too much reliance on the computer. So I have a few projects planned that will be done by hand start to finish, but they will have to wait a little bit longer… I am busy planning for my first craft show — the Ann Arbor Artisan Market on Sunday, June 7. I was incredibly inspired by Danielle's Storque post over at Etsy on prepping for a show — especially the opening photo from Something's Hiding in Here — gorgeous! I want that display!

In other news, we've got about half of the garden boxes planted and installed along the balcony for our grand apartment garden experiment. I hope I have enough room for some flowers! The plants we already had took up more space than expected. But I am so pleased!

Yes, you CAN grow corn here

The boy and I are about to embark on the Grand Apartment Garden experiment. We both dream of a large garden (i.e. farm) on our multi-acre property of woods and fields and streams and dappled sunlight… aaahhh… but alas, we currently live in a second-floor apartment with a large balcony-type area (it runs along the front of the building motel-style).

Our experiment involves no less than eight three-foot long planters to be dangled from our railings. We started a few things from seed, including jalapeno peppers, chives, parsley, basil and a couple of other herbs that didn't do so well. We then went to the Ann Arbor Farmers' market last weekend and picked up a full range of other little plantlings: cilantro, mint, two kinds of thyme, rosemary, dill, snap peas, bibb lettuce, lavender, strawberries. And some corn. That's right, we will be attempting to grow corn right here on our little balcony with a big old overhang. Or at least somewhere on the property. I also have some carrot and radish and zinnia seeds to get going. The boy is on a sunflower mission. That said, with eight boxes to fill, as well as a few miscellaneous planters here and there, we've got some more planting and planning to do.

Flower water

The beautiful Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons cookbook by Diana Henry features several recipes that use rose water. When I first was reading through the book, I thought — wherever does one find rose water? Well, now I know: Foods of India at 1143 Broadway St in Ann Arbor. I discovered this little gem while shopping for our Korean feast last weekend and bought this bottle of rose water and some paneer. The glass of the bottle itself is so pretty, too — I can't wait to use it as a little bud vase.

I would love to make Henry's recipe for what is called "Ice in Heaven," seen above. Who wouldn't want to eat that?!?

Work in progress…t-shirt!

I've been working on a fun new project today. It is a t-shirt design for RIPT Apparel—a new online t-shirt retailer based out of Chicago. They will be launching in early June with limited edition t-shirts designed by a variety of artists. Each design will be available for a 24-hour period and then — no more! So I'm trying to get the word out early. I will be sure to give you a heads-up as to when the tee I design will be available. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of notice! And they will be very affordable: $10. Can't beat that!

I'm at the point where I'm trying to figure out placement on the tee — my initial design layout won't exactly work right because it's too wide. Once I get that figured out, I'd like to add a few more design elements. I'll keep you posted on progress.

NEW! Photo prints in shop

Well folks, I've been debating with myself for quite some time now about adding photos to my Etsy shop. And now I've done it. I posted this one just a few minutes ago, with more to follow in the next few days. We'll see how it goes… at the very least it makes me happy to put some of my favorite images out in the world that have just been shoved in the back of my virtual junk drawer — enjoy!

Made it to the front page!

Yippee! Saw a spike in my Google Analytics and realized I made it to the front page yesterday. That makes me smile. Thanks, Alibi!

Sunday night Korean feast

Well, I did it! As promised, I went ahead and made the Korean feast from Gourmet this weekend. I think I was a sucker for the glamor shots they included in the magazine of sexy models in dimly lit rooms looking all moody. I spent some time Saturday doing prep because a lot of the items needed to sit and pickle overnight. Honestly, it didn't take as much work as I expected. Many of the banchan — or small dishes, almost like condiments — are quick and easy to put together, and then can chill in the refrigerator for as long as you need or they are served at room temperature. So I was ticking through the list quite easily and didn't have to worry about timing everything to be finished at the same time. Here is what I ended up including:

Cucumber Apple Pickle

This was very tasty and easy. I couldn't stop nibbling on it.

Quick Kimchi

A requisite Korean dish, and I wanted to like it, but really, I just don't. This version uses fish sauce to get that deep musky flavor that comes in other recipes from many days of pickling.

Korean-Style romaine

One of my favorite parts of the meal, really. So easy, just chopped romaine with a hot dressing poured over it, then chilled to marinate for a few hours (or overnight in my case). Addictive!

Sauteed oyster mushrooms

Again, really simple. Just sauteed mushrooms with a little salt and cider vinegar, served at room temperature.

Shrimp and scallion pancakes

The batter for these is very thin when it comes together, so I was worried they would be trouble in the pan. But they set up really nicely and are easy to flip. Quite tasty!

Short rib and vegetable stew with brown rice and barley

This photo looks straight out of some 1970s magazine, doesn't it? By the time we had eaten the little scallion and shrimp pancakes and I had been nibbling at the banchan here and there, neither the boy or I were very hungry! I had a little taste of the stew and kept picking at the little dishes, but we are going to dig into it tonight with vigor. It should taste even better with a day of stewing! I also made the soy-pickled jalapenos (you can see them in the first photo above) and the spicy garlic sauce without the warm tofu to serve it on — they are both delicious on everything!

Friday fritatta

I just can't get enough of the fresh asparagus. I decided to make a fritatta with it for lunch today. We are in need of an eight-inch skillet — it's just such a handy size. But, without one, I opted for the 10-inch cast iron and it worked swimmingly.

With the oven preheating to 400 degrees, I poured a little bit of olive oil in the bottom of the skillet and tossed the asparagus around in it to coat with a little salt and pepper. Then I tried to organize the asparagus into a lovely design with a few spears placed around in a spoke pattern and smaller chopped pieces scattered throughout — one spear obviously made a break for it at some point in the process as seen above. I roasted these for several minutes until they were sizzly and starting to soften. Then I poured in a couple of eggs scrambled up with some scallions and a little more salt and pepper stirred into them. Back into the oven for four or five minutes. For the last minute or so I turned on the broiler to brown it up a bit. Scrumptious!

I'm definitely feeling my kitchen inspiration seeping back in. I'm contemplating going all out over the weekend with the full-on Korean menu from March's Gourmet. It's a feast for ten, so I don't think I'll be going dish-for-dish, but I do want a spread with all the little bowls of condiment type sides.

Here is my abridged version of the menu:
• Grapefruit Soiju cocktails (my sweet mom sent a box of oranges and grapefruits for Easter — this is just the thing for them. Too bad she can't be here for a Korean Mother's Day fiesta.)
• Cucumber Apple Pickle
• Quick Kimchi
• Soy-pickled jalapenos
• Korean-Style romaine
• Short rib and vegetable stew
• Brown rice and barley

I may or may not include the following, depending on my commitment level and stamina!
• Warm tofu with spicy garlic sauce
• Sauteed oyster mushrooms
• Shrimp and scallion pancakes

It's a long list, but much of the prep is done on day one to allow for pickling time, etc. So my plan is to hit the Asian market tonight, do a whole lot of prep and cooking tomorrow and then a little bit more on Sunday for a super celebration Sunday night dinner. What do you think? (Option 2 is to finally pick up a much-coveted grill and have some steaks! Which reminds me to look at the Asian market for a tao: a clay-lined bucket used as a grill. It was mentioned in a story about the Portland Thai restaurant Pok Pok.)

Oh my goodness, so many good things to try! I'll fill you in on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Finding spring's first asparagus and farro

It's funny how when you're cooking every night, it just happens and comes together easily. You have an easy sense of what should be on the menu, or how much effort you might be willing to put in. But then, just as easily, you get out of the routine and — poof — it's gone. Or at least, that's how it's been with me. Maybe it's inspiration, maybe it's habit… I'm not sure. But anyway, I haven't cooked a whole lot in the last two weeks because of my schedule and am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things.

I did find a wee bit of inspiration last night at Arbor Farms Market — fresh asparagus picked yesterday morning from Palmyra, Michigan. You can see how fresh it is looking at the tightly closed tips and fresh, roughly picked ends — none of those dried out clean cut ends you usually find in grocery store asparagus. As I was making dinner, I kept nibbling bits of it raw — so good! I had forgotten how good real spring asparagus is.

I decided to make a recipe from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking: Farro with Green Onion Sauce, Toasted Walnuts and Asparagus. I've been wanting to try this recipe for ages since I had never tasted farro. I was just over at Heidi's terrifically healthy and yummy blog, 101 Cookbooks, and am certainly starting to feel more inspired (top of my list: Yogurt Tartlets and Monica Bhide's Chile Pea Puffs. Who needs dinner when you can have an appetizer and dessert, right?!).

Farro with Green Onion Sauce, Toasted Walnuts and Asparagus
from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking
The recipe serves four and since we were having it as a side dish with chicken, I halved the recipe. I'm including Heidi's version for four here.

Ingredients:
2 cups farro, picked over and rinsed
5 cups vegetable stock or water
1 Tb olive oil
12 green onions, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp fine-grain sea salt, plus more as needed
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut on a sharp diagonal into 1-inch pieces
Grated zest of one lemon
1 cup toasted walnuts
Creme fraiche, for garnish (optional)
Freshly grated Parm cheese, for garnish
Thinly sliced green onions, for garnish

Combine farro and stock in large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until farro is tender, 45 minutes to an hour. (Note: I used semi-pearled farro which, as Heidi notes, cooks in about half that time.)

Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over med-high heat, add chopped green onions and saute for 5 minutes, or until they start to soften. Stir in couple pinches of salt. Puree briefly in food processor, but don't go overboard — you want chunky bits of greenery in there. (This part was so easy and yummy, I could have done full recipe and eaten it all!)

When the farro is nearly cooked, stir in asparagus. Let pot simmer for another couple of minutes, until the asparagus is bright green. Some stock will still be visible in pot. It will continue to be absorbed when you take it off the heat. Stir in lemon zest, walnuts and 1/ tsp salt. (I toasted the walnuts whole in a skillet. Next time, I think I would chop first and get them nice and toasty in the oven for a fuller, toastier taste.)

Ladle into bowls and garnish. (I skipped the creme fraiche. But I love adding all the garnishes — it's like composing a painting on the plate, or in the bowl as the case may be.)

The lighting in our kitchen makes for some interesting color shifts, but here is an idea of what it looked like! Delicious!

This little fizzy went to market

I've decided to bite the bullet and participate in my first craft show. I recently joined M.I.C.E. — Michigan Indie Crafters of Etsy — and through them was invited by Kate of chicalookate to join a group of Etsy sellers at the Ann Arbor Sunday Artisans Market. Yikes! The lovely image above was created by Marcy of All Things Grow (just found this on chicalookate's blog and had to add it to the post because I love it!) and the ad below was designed by another MICE member — BarrelOfMonkeys. I've been wanting to start doing shows for a while now, but have always worried about how to display everything, having enough inventory, putting myself out there… etc. But I figured, when an opportunity presents itself so handily, I better just dive right in, commit to it and worry about the details later… well, later is now and the show is June 7th. If you're in the area, come on down and say hi! I'll be the one cowering under my table (do I even have a table?!)!

Morning of rest and indulgence

Good afternoon, everyone. A few months back I took a part-time job at an outdoor clothing/gear shop downtown to get myself out and about a bit and bring in a little extra money. Being a college town, many of the employees are students and last week was finals. I offered to work some extra hours to cover and so today was the first day in many that I didn't have to go to work. Instead, I indulged myself fully, lying in bed reading and drinking coffee all morning. Looking out the window I couldn't believe how quickly the leaves are filling in on the trees. I'm in the midst of Watership Down and would highly recommend it to anyone interested. It's one of those books that I always meant to read, but never did. I rediscovered it on Goodreads. I've also got a loaf of bread in the oven, having finally found a bit of time to try out the new locally grown and milled flour from Westwind Milling in Linden. It smells heavenly. The seed trays and pots have been brought out for a day of sunshine on the balcony and, as you can see above, the basil is thriving and ready to move up in the world. The other seeds are not doing quite as well though the jalapenos and chives seem pretty healthy.

Anyway, while having an extra long soak in the shower, I took some time to contemplate the state of our bathroom. The boy and I decided yesterday that we would renew our lease for the coming year and so, once again, home projects have jumped to the head of the line in my mind. We'd like to paint the entire apartment some fun colors — all picked out and just waiting for us to jump in. But the bathroom is in need of a bit more than that, I'm afraid. It has no windows and is so horribly, terribly dark. The lighting is all wrong and colors pretty dismal — and I'm just not sure what to do about it. The white on the upper walls is that super cheap kind that has more of a washed out grey feel to it. Definitely in need of a fresh coat of paint, something to brighten it up. For the walls, I've been thinking about those shimmery, luminescent paints by Ralph Lauren, but am trying to find a non-Ralph option that might be cheaper and found closer to home.

There is definitely some potential in the room, it's just a matter of finding it. It has cute black and white tiles on the floor, but the wall tiles are grey — a nice purple-y grey, but still — contributing to the dim dankness. You can see the corner of a little stool we picked up at Ikea in the fall that I painted red. I wanted to add a sharp little contrasting design to it, but the red is as far as I got. That's what spring is all about, I suppose. Any thoughts, anyone? Gold foil on the ceiling? Disco ball with spotlight? Paint it black? Anyone? I may have to make a post over at Apartment Therapy. It's nice to have a wee little bit of time to ponder such things, yes? Thanks for reading the world's longest post and have a wonderful afternoon, all!

Beads of seeds

I wanted to start the week by sharing another great find I made at the Lansing City Market last week. Debra Groat of Saverine Creek Heirlooms handcrafts beautiful pieces of jewelry made from heirloom and rare varieties of beans and corn grown on her family's farm in northern Michigan. Each seed is organically grown, planted and harvested by hand. When Kathie Kuhn — who tends to Debra's table at times — pointed them out to me, it took a minute or two for it to sink in that they were made from seeds. But when it did, I couldn't take my eyes off of them. They are so unique and gorgeous! I encourage you to out her web site to see more: saverinecreek.com.

And on another note, I received a most-welcome seed of a different sort from Pam of Yoborobo yesterday. She was kind enough to award this blog, along with eight others a Renee award. And so I have been introduced to a truly inspirational woman and her story — and to the award created by friends in her honor. I will write about it more in the coming week and pass on the award to eight others — but wanted to say a quick thank you here and now!

Say cheese!

Wedding Cake made of Cheese
Originally uploaded by Burrells of Gressenhall

I spent yesterday wandering the Lansing City Farmers' Market talking to some of its vendors. They are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and I had a nice long chat with Glen Hill of Hills Home Cured Cheese. His family has been at the market since 1916 - wow! You'll be able to read more about the market and Glen in the next issue of edible WOW.

In the meantime, I wanted to share what I think is a phenomenal idea with so much potential. While Glen and I were talking, he had a customer come by to make selections for a wedding cake made from cheese wheels for one of her clients. I had never heard of this before, but apparently it is a growing trend. How fun and different, and how great is the mouse couple topper in this photo found on Flickr from Burrells of Gressenhall!

The giving tree

This is the tree I alluded to in an earlier post. They are blooming all around town right now and I am 99.9% sure it is a variety of magnolia. But where are the big, shiny, leathery evergreen leaves? Does anyone know what this variety is? Or do the leaves come out later? Either way, I know that I absolutely love them. I ride my bike down the streets in our neighborhood and the air is filled with their musky sweet smell!

Spring cards in the shop now!

I didn't quite get them into the shop yesterday afternoon, but they are there now. A set of five floral designs to choose from — or choose the whole set!

Spring energy

Hello strangers! It's been a while since my last post. I've just had way too many pokers in the fire. But I'm catching up this Monday morning and it is glorious here in Ann Arbor: warm, breezy and sunny. I am itching for some major spring cleaning and house-freshening. I moved our tray of seedlings out into the sun for the day and picked some of the daffodils and tulips that finally popped over the weekend. And while I do hope to get to some household projects today, I also plan to post a new series of cards in the shop later this afternoon. I may also have a tree identification quiz for you. There are a number of trees that bloomed here over the weekend with what look like huge magnolia blossoms, but sans the big shiny leaves… stay tuned for a busy week!

Vice squad

I know. It's very uncouth these days to show smoking of all things. But one of my favorite belongings is this ashtray that I stole (yes, that's right, smoking and thievery!) from a hotel in India (below). I don't smoke, but I just loved it and had to have it. It now gathers my jewelry on my night table at the end of the day. I decided I would do my own lady version of it. I'm not sure what I will do with her: perhaps write a little book called the Girls Guide to Vice and put her on the cover. Or something like that. Do you think her forehead is too big? That's what she gets for smoking.

Treasury time!

Yippee! Been craving a treasury on Etsy as of late and snagged one today after being booted the other night because of a weird site glitch.

Connecting through books

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~Chinese Proverb

There are few things I enjoy more than being completely absorbed into a book with complete disregard for time and beckoning responsibilities. Unfortunately my recent attempts at escape found me stumbling through a series of severely mediocre books. I seem to be coming out of this pattern, but slowly. The last book I read was quite good — Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon. But I am still craving a really good, fun, all-absorbing novel. This weekend, via the blog BleedingEspresso, I came across a site that may just help me find one: GoodReads.com.

GoodReads allows you to rate books, write reviews, find books you'd like to read, show what your currently reading and more. You can invite friends to do the same, see how their tastes compare with yours, peruse their lists for books you might like, recommend books to each other.

I immediately followed the steps —late last night — to invite friends and family to join. Within mere minutes, my book-devouring brother, Michael, had joined and rated almost 200 books. His tastes range from Dune to Don Quixote to Harry Potter, so it was great fun going through his list and seeing where our book tastes overlapped and how our ratings compared. I found several books I'd like to read and picked out a couple I thought he would enjoy. Michael and I have always shared a love of books and an equal lack of affinity for the phone, so I look forward to being able to continue our connection through books on GoodReads.

I'd love to hear about your favorite books. Feel free to comment below or join me on GoodReads. You can find me there as Nicole Ray. Happy reading!