Lemon Curd

I have finally made lemon curd!

It is something I have collected recipes for and never followed through with making it.

It turned out all lovely and curded. :-)

It has the freshest of lemon tastes. 

Some of my family doesn't care for the tartness of lemon

--I don't understand this--:-)

but Em helped me make a few strawberry jam tarts as well.

The lemon curd recipe I used is from the Glorious Treats Blog-HERE.

The teeny tiny tart shells are made in France for Clearbrook Farms-HERE.

The shells are a bit pricey on the website--yikes.

I bought them locally and not such a high price.

l' Escargot

A very special delivery from some very lovely neighbors.

We shared a duplex in Germany back when all our kids were much younger.

They are still in Germany--oh I wish we could visit. 

This is the only way to eat those little snails--a chocolate version. :-)

Sushi, Anyone?

A felt rice warmer for an ill special someone who adores sushi. 

A new twist on a penny rug, eh?

I filled the felt pouch with rice so that once heated in a microwave for 30 seconds it becomes a cozy warm heating pad.

Pea Pods

Yummy addition to our Chinese Chicken last night.

These snow peas have loved our weather recently.

Hey, just so you know--I will be out of town for awhile

so things will be quiet around the cottage.

Ronald McDonald House

Making taco salad kits to take to Ronald McDonald House today.

Also bringing lots of brownies.

RMH--truly a home away from home when you most need it.

Lots of people volunteer to bring meals in

for those parents and siblings of very sick kids in the hospital.

We stayed in Cleveland, Ohio's RMH in 2000

 when Em needed open heart surgery right after she was born.

Eat Your Carrots!

A yummy carrot cake.

Thanks to Amy of Angry Chicken who led me to a Martha Stewart recipe for carrot cake with a light icing.

I am not a huge fan of heavy cream cheese icing so this was perfect.

I made the glaze with a touch of lemon extract (from Williams and Sonoma) and it was delish!

Ahhh....

Sunday Morning!!!

Do you like the red polka dot plate?

It's a Target find from the other day. I got a red tin bin for art supplies

from the bargain area near the front of the store as well. Lots of red

to cheer the dim colors of this month. :-)

I am trying to get geared up to clean up my art area.

Maybe new organizing supplies will help inspire....maybe. :-)

Little Pies

Crisscross appley goodness.

Not nearly as pretty as those seen on Martha Stewart but yummy anyway. :-)

Brightens up another cold day around here.

One More Card

Here is another Pennslyvania Dutch greeting card. I love the little girl with her doll.

Now this is more like it! Sticky Buns, what's not to like?? :-)

Easy Peasy

All pitted and packaged. These cherries are all ready for the freezer

 awaiting a cold, frosty day when turning on the oven sounds like a good idea. :-)

This is the whiz-bang gadget that made the pitting so easy. I love it!

Find it here if you are interested. It worked fine on sweet cherries too.

Blue Ribbon Pie

I got some rhubarb at our local farmer's market, Saturday and wanted to make a pie. I had made a rhubarb/strawberry pie earlier this month and wasn't quite happy with it. Perfectly good pie but I didn't like the strawberry in it as much as I thought I would.

So, I looked for recipes online and found a wonderful, super-dooper recipe. It is located here. It has a special secret, the sugar/flour part of the recipe is placed, half on the bottom crust and half on top of the rhubarb right before the crust goes on. This makes the bottom crust kind of sugary crisp. The juice from the rhubarb gets to the bottom a bit later in the cooking process so it doesn't get soggy.

The crust I use is oil-based and very easy to make and roll out. The recipe comes from my mom. :-)

Two-crust pie crust

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup salad oil

1/4 cup milk

Mix gently with a fork and roll out one half at a time between two sheets of wax paper. Peel one side of wax paper at a time, flipping gently to the second side before placing on the pie pan. 

Yum!

Chinatown, Chicago

Last week when we visited Chicago for a couple of lovely sunny days we stopped at Chinatown just south of the main downtown and here are a couple of photos taken there. The Nine Dragon Wall is like one in Bejing and the ceramic tile were very cool.

We went into a bakery, while in Chinatown and bought a couple of cookies, some juice and a cake--which I forget the name of. I kinda knew I wasn't going to dig the cake---I am downright picky--but I love the impressed top and had to get it just for that reason alone. It looks like a coin on top doesn't it? Well.....guess what we found when we opened it?

A beancurd, seafood mixture--which to some would be a delightful yummy thing. Not my thing however so, I threw it away....sorry. We did all have a very good time---even if I didn't like the food. The street was busy with shoppers going into the local groceries, bakeries :-), and seafood markets. We went into a little store fairly busting with paper lanterns and umbrellas, silk slippers, and all kinds of nic-nacs from China. (no photos please) The small woman running the store spent the whole time convincing my husband that everything would bring him prosperity and good luck. She was just right and it makes me smile to remember her--a good memory. :-)

Making labels.........

I've decided to make a move over to glass storage and microwave containers versus plastic "tupperware". I'm not too fanatic yet--well, I did get a couple of strange looks from the kids at all the plastic containers in the trash--what's going on Mommy?

I think it was a TV program on Sunday morning that was talking about "safe" vs "unsafe" food plastics. Yikes, all those numbers on the bottoms of plastics. The "unsafe" ones are 3, 6, & 7. I frankly didn't find any of those numbers in my cupboards--no baby bottles left--but they were also saying that it is not safe to microwave in plastics--chemicals may leach out and into food--and old plastics--used many times--might not be safe because the surfaces get etched in the washing process and thus might be harboring bacteria. Uggh! So we are mostly switching back to glass and ceramic.

That said, I will hop off the soapbox now and continue making some labels for my pretty new glass jars--no picture yet. :-)

Check out this Dictionary of Dolls published by Woman's Day in January 1965. My two favorite pages show dolls of the world and wooden dolls. The rest of the pages are on a flickr set here.

Like a Hole in the Head.....

Not that I needed to find such a delicious pecan roll only three miles from home but ummm it was good!! :-) I love the color the sun is showing today, everything looks so clean and fresh and in sharp focus.

Petite Patisseries

A lemon tart is my very favorite treat from a French patisserie. So much of the pucker left to the lemon taste, and the buttery crisp of the crust, umm umm good. I love all the attention to detail in each dessert, each little treat is so elaborately decorated. Here is a picture of a patisserie in the Alsace region of France, in Colmar, which is a gorgeous town of half-timbered houses and small, twisting, cobbled streets. Also here is picture of the small wall hanging that I just finished and have hung in Em's room. The design is from Sew Pretty Homestyle/Tilda's Hus.

Candy Packaging

Refreshing little designs onthe boxes of some Japanese candy that I bought at a grocery in Chicago. The candies were good, too, especially the coffee bean and cone-shaped ones with strawberry and chocolate. It is a beautiful day here and a long weekend to look forward to. Yippee!