Designing in Life

Lemon Drop

Late in the afternoon on Mother's Day, we decided to sit out back on the deck, enjoy the green of spring and sip a lemon drop martini.
You'll find many recipes for this, but the following is how I made it.

1 1/2 ounces Absolut Citron
1/2 ounce lemoncello (but you can use grand marnier if that's what you have!)
1/2 teaspoon Agave nectar
3/4 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice and some grated lemon zest (preferably with some sort of microplane zester)
Ice cubes
Organic sugar for dipping

Mix and shake the first four ingredients, wet rim of glass and dip in the sugar, put ice cubes in glass and pour vodka mix into your glass.

A perfect late afternoon cocktail on a perfect spring day!

 

A Little Bit of Spring

I have a hard time not picking little flowers that I find.  I have the smallest little vintage glass that sits on
my windowsill in back of the kitchen sink, that I love to put flowers in.  Sometimes it sits empty for weeks on end during the winter, until I make myself buy something to put into it.  Starting in the spring, however, it is filled with something all the time.

Little violets are blooming everywhere outside.  I wanted to pick a few white ones, but they were just too teeny-tiny.  Two clumps of grape hyacinths were certainly calling my name, although they are almost on their way out.  Not to worry though, I see all kinds of things starting to poke their sleepy heads up out of the ground these days.

Cinco de Mayo

Admittedly, when I was young, I thought Cinco de Mayo was the person who freed Mexico.  Every May 5, I think about that, and have a good laugh at myself.

I saw instructions on how to make Pull-Open Pinatas in Family Fun magazine, and think they're a great little Cinco de Mayo treat, not to mention something kids would love at a birthday party.

So get those tacos cooking, margaritas chilling and whip up some of these for your party guests.

A Good use for Your Old Shop Vac

With spring here, everything seems to be growing – especially the grass.

When there is a lot of snow in the winter, our neighbor comes over and uses his snow blower on our driveway.  That means in the spring there is quite a bit of stone overthrow in the grass.  Mowing over the stone is tricky, because it's possible to throw one at a car or house window.  Raking all that stone back into the driveway is no fun.  So I came up with a solution.

Using this old shop vac to collect the stone has been a time-saver.  Just plug it in and start to vac.

Every once-in-a-while open it up, and dump the stone back into the driveway.

Now I'm not sure what people thought, who were driving by watching me vacuum my lawn, but it saved me hours of raking.  Lazy?  Maybe. I'd like to think of it as innovative, because let's face it, we always need to give credit where credit is due, even if it means patting ourselves on the back a bit!

Sandwiches

You know, a sandwich shouldn't just be a slab of ham and cheese between two pieces of bread.  A sandwich should be something that excites your taste buds from the first bite to the last. 

This sandwich did exactly that, and comes by way of Vegetarian Times.  I saw it on the cover of the April/May issue, and knew I had to try it.  All I can say is DELICIOUS!

Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches with Zesty White Bean Spread

Roasted Vegetables

• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt
• ½ tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 large zucchini, cut diagonally into ½-inch-thick slices (1 ½ lb.)
• 2 medium red and/or yellow bell peppers, seeded, cored, and cut into eighths
• 3 small onions, cut into eighths
• 2 Tbs. olive oil

Bean Spread

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 1 ½ cups cooked or 15-oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 Tbs. lemon or lime juice

1. To make Roasted Vegetables: Preheat oven to 375°F. Stir together cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper in small bowl. Set aside.

2. Toss together zucchini, bell peppers, onions, and oil in large bowl. Add cumin mixture, and toss to coat.

3. Divide vegetables between 2 baking sheets, and roast 30 to 45 minutes, or until tender and golden brown, turning vegetables once or twice and rotating baking sheets from top to bottom. Cool.

4. To make Bean Spread: Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook 30 seconds to 2 minutes, or until translucent and fragrant. Add beans, and coarsely mash. Stir in 3/4 cup water, and cook 10 minutes, or until mixture is consistency of refried beans, stirring occasionally. Stir in lemon juice, and cool.

5. To assemble Sandwiches: Spread 2 Tbs. Bean Spread on each bread slice. Top 4 bread slices with 1 cup Roasted Vegetables, 2 or 3 tomato slices, and 1/2 cup arugula. Place remaining 4 bread slices on top. Cut in half to serve.

Serves 4

And about that ham and cheese – if that's what you love, how about adding a few of the items from the above recipe just to rev up your tastebuds!

Fabric Design

Often times you'll see fabric designs in the same pattern, but different colors.  This gives the buyer a chance to purchase an item in the color of his/her choice, that coordinates with their surroundings.

Sometimes the same pattern can look remarkebly different depending on the color scheme.

I am happy that more and more designs are created this way.  I have (in the past) found fabric in a design that I loved, but the colors just wouldn't work in the room I wanted to use it in.  Maybe this has happened to you, too.

I'm off to the drawing board to create similar designs in different color ways, which will be a fun project for the day.  I promise I'll share!

Las Vegas

We have been in Las Vegas for two weeks.  Much of that time was without internet, but we're now connected and up to speed.

I can't say that I would want to live here, or in this part of the country, but it's a fine place to visit, and consider it a "gateway" to a world of adventure.

The other day we drove through a Joshua Tree reserve.  I was startled at how delicately beautiful the blossoms are.  I've seen Joshua Trees before, but never in bloom.  Their out stretched branches have always eeirly appeared to be people reaching out of nowhere. Not something you would ever imagine having a blossom like this.

I couldn't get close enough to find if there was a scent, but thought they look so much like a hyacinth that maybe, they too, smell a little like our springtime garden bulb back home.

Isn't it nice to know that the desert celebrates the change of seasons too!

Curried Chicken Salad

Being unemployed has meant that I can make, take and have lunch with Nick when he's working.  Winter months are slow in a pool store here in Vermont, so taking a half hour lunch is possible.  All that will change very soon, so I'm going to enjoy it (believe me – he enjoys it more) while it lasts.

Yesterday we had a curried chicken salad on greens.  No recipe needed.  Just make chicken salad however you like it (mine has diced chicken, craisins, walnuts, celery and onion), and add the dressing you like (I mix dijon mustard and a little mayo together), then add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of powdered curry.  This works great on tuna and egg salad as well.

Today's lunch?  Well, I've scouted the kitchen and see that there are some ripe avocados and tomatoes, so I guess I better put my culinary imagination in gear!

What are you having for lunch?

Grow Food, Not Lawns

Sometimes you find something posted on Facebook that just has to be passed on.  This comes to you by way of Patty P. from GrowFoodNotLawns

It's not just clever, it's just plain wonderful, and I just had to share.  Now I'm wondering where I can get seeds for one of those!

Monday's Design

Here is my Monday design.  I'm working on some complementing designs for quilting, and it's been a fun  project.  This is just one of a series I've done.  I've researched what quilter's look for in designs, in an effort to pull together groups of about 6 or 8 that would look good together.  What do you think?  I'd love to hear your feedback.