napa valley – Page 2 – sharolyntownsend

Keep It Simple Genius: Pearl Barley, Quinoa and Veggie Salad

Folks, you know how I don’t like to spend loads of time doing domestic chores. Cooking falls somewhere in the middle. I groan about having to do it at times when I’m just off work and would rather be vegging or doing something creative. But as it turns out, cooking can also be an amazing creative outlet as well and I try to look at it that way. Recently (actually, in April) one of my fellow bloggers sent out a challenge to the blogosphere to create something out of left-overs, the “Great Leftover Challenge” at http://dannyskitchen.me/. Well, I didn’t answer the call but now I’ve come around so I’ll post this in honour of the competition I did not participate in. My absolute favourite thing to do in the kitchen is work with what I have left over in the fridge and try to come up with something that completely reinvents it. That to me is the most creative and seems to come to me rather more naturally than a brand new dish. Also, if I don’t have to nip off to the grocery store for any filler ingredients, I consider that the biggest success and triumph. Let me share with you my triumph:

This is what I had in the fridge: Pearl Barley from the previous night’s BBQ, a half tomato and 1/3 of a box of quinoa.

So I rummaged through the fridge, mind working through possibilities, and this is what I dragged out:

I set the quinoa to cooking. I’ve seen it prepared other ways, but my way is to rinse the quinoa several times to make sure of no gritty chunks ( I lose some grains in the process since they are so dang tiny), then bring water to a boil and put the quinoa in. When it comes to a second boil, stir and then leave it on low until all the water has evaporated. Pretty much exactly as one would prepare rice (though I’ve seen other methods of rice making as well that go against all my asian roots and makes me cringe).

Then comes the chopping and the grating. I happened to have the veggies that I had, but that in no way should limit you. As long as you have crunchy veggies, this dish will be a success. I happen to like the texture of cucumber and cauliflower in salads and was lucky enough to have them in my fridge at the time.

So here’s the ingredients list, just keep in mind it is infinitely changeable:

pearl barley

quinoa

1/2 tomato

1/3 cauliflower

1/2 cucumber

2 celery sticks

2 carrots medium-sized

1 bell pepper

Sorry folks, I’m kind of a pinch of this and that cook. As you will see later, I’m not much for measuring and I rarely follow recipes. I’d say I had approximately a cup of barley and a cup of quinoa.

My personal preference is to grate the carrot into the salad. Easier to chew and it seems to absorb more of the yummy dressing in this state.

Oh yes! And a wee bit of red onion finely sliced or diced. I took a pic to illustrate how little I use. Too much and it overwhelms the salad and also makes for dragon breath that will haunt you for the rest of the night and maybe into the morning!

Don’t forget that this is a wonderful time to fill your compost. If you do not yet have a compost, get on it! It’s absolutely brilliant. It took me a while to convince my hubby that we needed one. He thought it would just attract wildlife i.e. rats and our yard was too small. But I worked on him and we ended up building a small one. He is now a convert. It makes fabulous soil for our little garden, and it feels lovely not tossing all this organic matter into the landfill.

*Side note, the best compost bucket in the world is not the ones they sell specifically for compost but this plastic OXO brand container. It is marketed as a container for pantry items like cereal, etc. because the lid has a top button that you depress and it seals the container. Well, it absolutely works as a compost bucket for exactly that reason: it seals. No smelly fumes emerging into the kitchen AND it’s easy to clean unlike traditional buckets that have all sorts of inconvenient grooves for stink to settle into.

Okay, back to the salad.

As I mentioned earlier I’m not a measurer and as a result I invariably realize mid-way that I have chosen a vessel too small for what I am creating. Since I am a salad monster, I should have known better and just gone for the largest bowl possible. But for me, starting smaller helps to reign me back a bit. It is always helpful to have a bowl that is slightly too large so that when you get to the dressing it part of the process, you can easily mix without all the ingredients falling out.

Bowl transfer

Last but not least, when all fresh veg are happily sitting in the bowl, toss the cooked quinoa and some raw sunflower seeds (optional) on top. The quinoa is still warm from cooking, but as it mixes in quickly gets cooled by the veg.

And now for the dressing. Remember, keep it simple my geniuses. If you have a favourite salad dressing in the fridge, good for you! Toss it in.

If you like making your own dressing, do so and toss it in.

I am a sour/vinegar fan and so I favour this totally made up recipe of mine, which I will now attempt to share but keep in mind the measurements are approximations. Keep the phrase “to taste” in mind and make adjustments accordingly. My salad was rather large so measurements are also large.

Asian dressing:

1 lemon or lime (I actually prefer lime but had none on hand and dang it I was not going to the store!)

3 tbsp virgin olive oil

1 dash kosher (or any) salt. Celtic sea salt would be awesome!

2 tbsp light soy sauce (all soy sauce is not created equal and come in many flavours. I recommend Pearl River Bridge Superior Light Soy Sauce)

Rice vinegar (to taste) approx 2 tbsp

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp agave

1 tsp sesame oil

It wouldn’t hurt to sprinkle liberally with sesame seeds as well. I know my Auntie R would approve.

Then mix this whole shebang together and…

voila!

A salad even my hubby can enjoy. For me, the essential ingredients are those that give it a variety of texture: the cauliflower, sunflower seeds and grain. I’ve never used pearl barley before, but it was very nice. In lieu of that, brown rice or spelt would do…any grain you enjoy.

So, I hope you give this a try. It’s super simple (any and all ingredients can be substituted with something similar) and pretty quick so long as you don’t mind a little chopping.

Cheers!

On Roughing It, Fluffing It and Oh Stuff It-ing It

A few days ago I bit the bullet and cleaned up the house. Yes, even used the vacuum. I was, of course, spurred on to this for a reason: guests were coming. That’s why I need a steady stream of guests if I want my house to be spa like at all times.

But now look at it!

My hubby, his sister and her husband and two of their friends and I, are all going on a three-day hiking and camping trip at Big Basin National Park. We’re pretty excited to be camping – even more so because I’m taking time off of work for this adventure!

Well, we both went shopping yesterday with a list of things for our camping trip, and wouldn’t you know, more came home than expected. Not only has this turned out to be expensive, it’s also ridiculous. You would think we were heading into this trip expecting to die of starvation, and the result is an extreme overcompensation. At this rate, the only things we’ll be able to carry is food, forget about a tent or sleeping bag, let alone clothes!

One thing I’m kind of looking forward to is trying out the dehydrated food I got at REI. We are only bringing the beer-can stove so whatever we eat has to be edible with only boiled water added, no simmering or cooking time required. We’ll either be impressed or really disgusted :

On to the “fluffing”. I’m still working on gathering together a bunch of art stuff for this art fair I’m going to be a part of in two weeks. I’ve already dragged out all available work and have been assessing what I’m going to take in terms of originals:

Then there’s the additional fluff required to fill it all out. I’m pretty happy with this:

It happens to be a frame I found at a thrift store (really good quality) which already had a mat board in it with pink trim I thought I’d have to toss, but turns out it goes perfectly with my “Alfred Yawn” print.

I’ve already designed 4 octopus cards that are currently at the printers – I’ll update you on that later. I’m pretty excited about them. And now I’m working on another idea: mini originals magnets:

It’s still in the experimental stage. I’ll draw little pictures and mod podge it to glass stones with a magnet also secured to the back. That way, folks who can’t buy the pricier stuff can still go home with something. What do you think?

And now for the “Oh stuff it!” part of my blog.

Our garden this year has been half-hearted. Not because we don’t care, but because we are in the process of looking for a house to buy and don’t know when we’ll be moving out. As a result, we’ve half planted and half let things go back to nature. One thing we did do was plant Bok Choi, and wouldn’t you know it, the pests are out and loving it! It makes me mad because in the past we’ve had no luck with Bok Choi and I really hoped that this would be the year. Oh stuff it.

But, on the bright side ( literally, on the bright side of the photo ) the romaine lettuce is doing just fine.

For that matter, our accidental garden is doing great as well. Check out my elephant garlic sprouting its flower:

And something unidentified ( in his half hearted haste, he neglected to mark any of the plantings) – we think peas, is growing quite happily:

And that’s the latest on roughing, fluffing and stuffing it!

A Cranky Creative’s Cogitations

I’m feeling cranky. You know, the kind of cranky that makes you want to do crazy stuff…like shave off your hair or something. The crankiness is coming from a feeling of lack of moving forward, a lack of creative outlet. Shaving my head would probably be the result of misplaced action and something I’d deeply regret…or maybe not…

Instead, I’m going to channel that frizzy energy into being pro-active. Part of being a creative person is the struggle with not only self-doubt but also with how to get your stuff out there in the world. That is where I’m perched. Ready to show my work and ready to sell some stuff but not sure how.

Today I’m filling out a form for the Angwin “Art in the Clouds” outdoor art show. It doesn’t cost much to enter, it’s only their second year, and the turn out will most likely be small, but I need to exercise some marketing muscle. I need to put myself out there just to see how it feels and get the ball rolling.

It’s coming up fast. That means I need to have stuff to show and small salable items that I stand a chance in hell of moving. The chances of originals being purchased are slim, so I need to head into the world of reprints…without breaking the budget to do so.

Can I do this? It’s coming up really soon : May 20th.

Pawing through the stuff I’ve already done, I found cards I’d had printed last year for Christmas. I have lots of extra I can package into card sets:

Would you buy a set of those? I’m also working on some octopus themed cards for thank yous and birthdays.

But therein lies a slippery slope. Do you make art for art’s sake, or do you make it to sell? Once you worry about your audience, the joy and the freedom of creating can quickly slip away.

I shall be navigating these waters in the next couple of weeks. Wish me well. I will keep you updated.

Update on Succulents and a Few Other Things

So last time I wrote about succulents I’d just been to the garden center and picked up a few new wonders of the succulent variety as well as a handful of loose succulent leaves. Well, I laid them out on a bed of perlite and left it outside under filtered light (my covered porch) and waited. It’s been what…two weeks now? Well, I am happy to report that they are now pushing out roots. Check them out!

I’m going to wait a bit longer until it starts to form a new plant, so I will get back to you on that. They still have a lot of juice in them. No watering is required. You know it’s ready to put into the ground when the leaves are desiccated and a new mini plant is formed at the end where the roots are.

I also showed you how you can propagate by just cutting off succulent heads, scabbing them over and putting them directly in soil. Well, I cut too many heads and didn’t have enough planters, so some of the heads I left sitting on the perlite. Well, wouldn’t you know it, they also started to push out roots. These should be placed in soil pronto as the leaves are getting really thin, indicating that it’s using all it’s juice to make those roots and needs water soon.

So that’s the most recent skinny on succulents.

The end of April brought the first BBQ of the year for us. Very exciting. Nice to have the longer days and the warmer evenings.

For our inaugural BBQ we grilled burgers. Not to be forgotten, sweet red onions drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt.

Look at its transition to absolute tastiness heaven:

Add to that my mother in-law’s home-made pizza…and we were so very good to go!

The accidental garden is doing well. Those petunias just keep on flowering!

And my hubby planted a lot of seeds that have been happily germinating on the window sills in our apartment. Look at this happy sprout greeting the vegetation outside our window:

Soon they’ll be ready for the outdoors.

Unfortunately pests have discovered my Bok Choi that was so happily flourishing in our planter boxes. I haven’t the heart to upload a photo. Have been experimenting with sprinkling cayenne pepper on and around them. So far no evidence that this has helped in any way. Does someone out there have advice for me? We think it might be earwigs getting to them. Booooo! Hisss!

That’s the latest. Will upload photos of recent artwork soon.

Spring Garden

I just wanted to share with you what I found in the garden this morning. Usually it’s under my husband’s purview to water the garden before work, but he was running late so I stepped in as pinch hitter. I wasn’t entirely sure why watering was necessary as a little bit of rain had fallen, but he insisted that I do it anyway. I was a bit grudging, but as soon as I got out there, I was loving it. One of my most favorite things is water droplets on leaves, and there was plenty of that, so I headed back in to grab my camera. Photos first, then watering. I didn’t want to disturb the perfect droplets :

This is my lambs ear patch growing in abundance and practically choking everything else in the bed out. But my hens and chicks are putting up a good fight. Check out the flowers it’s pushing out!

Just a side note..more like a note to self: next time I plan on taking close-up shots, refrain from coffee. These shots aren’t as sharp as I’d like, but you get the idea anyway.

I’d mentioned accidental gardening in one of my previous posts. Well, last year we had one mysterious petunia show up in our veggie bed. Check it out now!

They’re a little bit pale, but such fighters! In our three years here, we never actually bought a petunia, so this one sprang up from a random seed and keeps getting bigger. We don’t have the heart to take it out. We’ll enjoy it for a little bit longer and then see about transplanting it when we need the bed for more veggie plantings.

I’m happy to report that the bok choy is happily growing. Last year I put them in way too late and they bolted like crazy in the summer heat. These one’s are liking our spring weather. I am crossing my fingers that we’ll get a good harvest of bok choy. Last week the weather suddenly heated up for two days, so as long as there’s no more of that, the bok choy stand a chance. Looks like some thinning is in order!

Last but not least, my lovely little flowers…like mini carnations. Not sure what they’re called:

It turned out to be quite satisfying watering the garden, feeling needed by all of this lovely nature. The mother bird in our bird house was only slightly alarmed, calling out and flying by me several times to check out the threat. Pretty soon she’ll be used to us, just like last year, we’ll become permanent fixtures of the garden.

My heart skipped a beat as I went to open my front door. Locked? Phew. Not this time; and besides, I know where the spare key is kept now.

Happy Day everyone!

The Only Vacuum I Want to Use is the Zen No-Mind Kind

I am no domestic diva. As I sit here and type a sink full of dishes lie waiting. I think about two days ago I broke down and used the vacuum, but only because the carpet was such a mess even I could no longer over-look it. Often my hubby cracks first and goes through a furious whirlwind of a cleaning frenzy. Other times I finally wake up to the grotesqueness around me (usually when I realize I’m going to have visitors) and start cleaning.

Why is it so hard to keep a decent household?

I know plenty of folks who keep a regular schedule of cleaning, so that never is there a time when they look up to discover mounds of clothes on the bedroom floor, crumbs and detritus collecting around kitchen floor crevices, dishes in the sink, hair and splash stains around bathroom sinks and mirrors. No, they never let it get to that point. I do, however. It upsets me, but I guess not enough to reform me into a domestic do-gooder. I’m sorry honey, but I’m never going to be that kind of wifey.

Everything takes time. To divide that time between all my interests and then also slice off a bit for those nasty chores, leaves very little.

How to be a dreamy creative AND a conscientious house keeper? I don’t even have kids! What kind of wreck will I be then? What will I have to sacrifice?!! Not my art, SURELY NOT!!!

Okay, I’ve worked myself into a frenzy. One thing at a time.

Home is where the heart is. Home is where the art is. …

This is my little corner of creativity. Can you tell I’m either outgrowing the space…OR…heaven forbid I am just not that good at keeping it organized?! In the moment of inspiration, I’m just not that focused on where things should be placed neatly.

I’m a work in progress. In an ideal world, all rooms in my house would be a minimalist, zen-like space, brightly illuminated and clean. But first, I need to train myself.

Anyone have any suggestions? I’m looking for motivation here. I know how good it feels when everything is in order and clean.

I think I’m going to start with that sink full of dishes. Wish me luck!

Never Go Near A Garden Center a.k.a. Human Magnet

I did it folks, I was led into temptation. I knew well in advance, as my legs took on a life of their own and carried me towards the alluring gates, that I should not enter the garden of Eden, because I would partake of the fruit. For a few moments I put on a convincing act of ‘just looking’.

These were my finds:

Graptoveria Amethorum

Bear’s Paws

I couldn’t resist. They were $1.98 at Home Depot. I could say that it was out of the goodness of my heart – because though they look great on their abundant flats of succulents, they are not in the proper soil. Large stores like HD are all about the easy and express, so they just put these little guys in potting soil which is not prime for a succulent.

These two succulents are the juicy type, so they will not survive frost ( I learned that with last seasons juicy succulents, may they rest in peace. Juicy= high water content=freezes like water in an ice cube tray). These are definitely indoor guys.

As exciting as these acquisitions were, the most exciting were the freebies:

I did not unscrupulously take them off a plant, I happened to find them at the bottom of the flat between the potted plants where they had naturally fallen on their own. This is a fantastic development as I now have the subjects for my experiments with this method of propagation:

1. Take leaves from succulent and lay them on a bed of perlite or gritty soil

2. Leave in area of filtered light indoors or out. Do not water

3.Wait for new growth to form at base along with tiny roots

4.Place in gritty soil and water lightly

Now I’m at step 3: the waiting. I will let you know how things develop.

In the meantime, here are a few shots of me transplanting my lovely succulents to a good-sized pot full of 1:1:1 potting soil/ Perlite / Gritty soil ( lava rock is apparently best but hard to find. Sand is too fine)

You must not be afraid to manhandle the succulent to open up the root ball – often they’ve been confined to a pot for too long and they are quite dense. Remember you are showing them tough love and they will appreciate it in the end.

Lightly spritz them with water and place in the sun.

Cheers!

the Skinny on Succulents

I’m not an authority figure on this, so let me just get that out of the way.

If you read my previous blog about gardening, you’d know that I struggle with certain flora and fauna, often send them to plant heaven and on occasion succeed in sustaining life.

Succulents are by far the most forgiving and thus my best friends in the plant department.

About a year ago I was fortunate to be able to attend a free seminar on propagating succulents. Since then it’s been a grand experiment with varying success, but I’d love to share what I do know. When you are successful with propagation, it is the most satisfying thing in the world.

Alright, say you have just purchased a beautiful succulent in a pot, it’s geometrically perfect, fits the vessel just right, requires little attention. 6 months later, you’ve got this on your hands:

Congratulations, your succulents have outgrown their pot. Now what.

When succulents are under stress (too much sun, too much cold, not enough water, too little space) they start turning lovely colors, so you might like to enjoy it in this state for a while. But there will come a time when it starts to look mangy and you take pity. You’re going to have to do something with that puppy. It is helpful if you have a plethora of small pots – trust me, pretty soon you can open your own succulent nursery.

At all times, remind yourself that succulents can take a lot. Don’t be too gentle, you’re going to need to do some tugging and cutting and really get your fingers around each head.

Find some of the babies that the plant is putting out:

Pull out and up from the rest of the plant

With clean, sterilized sheers, cut the stem, don’t be queasy it’s actually really neat once you realize how much they can take. You can also do this to the larger heads, but will need to scab them over (more on that later).

Trim really close to the bud, peel away any dead leaves.

Then simply push the stem in to gritty soil (needs to have good drainage). Over the course of a week or so, the succulent will push out new roots and grip the soil on its own. It does not need a lot of water. In fact, for the first little while, to spur on the root development, hold back on any water. When you do water, use a spray bottle and gently mist them, they don’t need much!

If you are cutting the head of a larger succulent like that of my Hens and Chicks, do not immediately place in soil. Instead, leave it out to scab over (approximately a week) then place in soil. Plants, like all living things, are susceptible to bacteria. By allowing the stem to scab over the succulent is protected from whatever organisms it might encounter in the soil.

You know it’s scabbed over because it’s not wet and juicy looking but dry and shriveled at the stem. Then you can press it into soil. Hens and Chicks are very forgiving and can thrive in regular soil or gritty soil.

Another neato way to propagate some types of succulents is to take just a few of their leaves (pull from the plant rather than cutting as the DNA required for its propagation is in the thin membrane where the leaf separates from the stem – or so I’ve been told!), place them on gritty soil or perlite and leave them (no water!) until they push out roots. They use the moisture up in their own leaf, shriveling as the roots take all the life force. Once roots are visible, push into gritty soil and watch to see how it roots in a few days and starts growing a full plant. I haven’t been as successful with this method. All succulents have their propagation season, some like cool weather, others warmer. When I’m better at this I’ll let you know.

The artistry comes in how you arrange your succulents. At the moment, I’m focused on learning how to propagate and keep plants happy. Eventually the artistry will sneak in.

Hope you give succulents a try, I think you’ll really enjoy them.

When Inspiration is Hard to Find

I was just called by a dear friend who asked me the question “where do you get your inspiration?”

Good question. Damn good question.

The interesting thing is that the question arose from her observations of me as being full of the stuff. I write, I draw, I paint and photograph, cook and knit. But from my perspective, it is a daily struggle to stay inspired and to feel like I can truly call myself an artist.

The problem is comparison. It was an eye opener to realize that people viewing what I do might think that I have no problem in the creativity department. I constantly look around me and see OTHER PEOPLE doing AMAZING things that I NEVER THOUGHT OF.

Between the painting sessions and the knit fests, there seems to be eons of time wherein I am a creative void. Somehow the act of creating when it does occur is never enough. If I don’t eat and sleep art-making, then I am a fraud, not a true artist.

I’ve been working really hard on this, through the “Artist’s Way” and other avenues of my own creation.

Folks, it really comes down to this: What brings YOU joy?

Staying up all hours of the night forcing myself to paint does not bring me joy. Sleep does. And ideas come to me in the space between sleep and waking. That’s the truth and I need to remind myself of that.

Joy is dabbling in all sorts of different mediums, when I feel like it. I know I feel like it when I am compelled from my seat to start that project. And when I am done, and feel the urge to step back, I need to do that. Joy is in loving the process, not forcing it.

And joy is in finding inspiration in other people’s artwork – not comparing and wondering if they have more mastery that I do. Simply look, absorb and allow yourself the freedom to consider trying a few ideas that the work inspires in you.

Here are some people who inspire me:

www.genevievetownsend.com

http://www.aislinncaron.ca

http://www.karenlynningalls.com/

http://patrickamiot.com

http://www.markmattioli.com/

So I thank my buddy for the inspiration for this post and hope that she finds a pathway into her own creative energies.

Stay creative and find your joy!

Get Outside!…but check for keys first

Well folks, as is often the case, we intend to take the bull by the horns but in the end we discover it’s the bull who’s in control.

I sat down at my keyboard with the intention of writing a new post, sat with fingers poised… and then found nothing but static. I’ve been feeling a little bit stressed of late and when that happens it’s really hard to stay in a relaxed and creative zone.

I decided that what I needed was a dose of fresh air. It’s been raining pretty steadily, so whilst there was a break in the rain I thought I’d take some pictures of the wonderful spring growth occurring in our back yard. I grabbed my Nikon D300, slipped on my faithful flats, zipped up my hoody (rather chilly in the mornings), let the door swing shut and stepped into a rain drenched, glowing garden:

Happy with my shots I gleefully headed in to upload them. Surely this would make a great post!

Imagine my surprise when the door knob failed to turn so that with my forward momentum my body continued to travel until it met with the door.

Okay. Somewhat fazed.

I guess I must have failed to notice the doorknob set to the locked position when I exited. That’s fine, we’re prepared for this contingency: a spare in the shed.

Go to the shed. I remember the lock combo, good for me.

Can’t find the extra key. He must have moved it to a better hiding spot in the shed.

A thorough scouring of the shed in all its cobwebbed glory does not reveal a key. Think, think, think.

At this point, staring at the unforgiving door, I am just grateful that I am not in my pajamas. This could have been worse. I have no keys, I also can’t use the car, I neglected to bring my cell phone along with me, but I am wearing clothes! I know what I have to do: walk to my mother-in-law’s where I know there is a spare. Half way down the walkway I remember my trusty Schwinn ( this is an indicator of how infrequently I frequent the outdoors!). Miraculously the tires are not flat, the universe must be on my side!

To keep this brief, I got to my mother-in-law’s and we got a good laugh from my self-inflicted adventure; but most importantly, I got outside – really outside! Spring was not only in my garden, but throughout the neighbourhood. Check out the flowers growing in my mother-in-law’s driveway!

It’s so easy for me to stay locked inside, doing my blogging, painting and knitting etc. But true inspiration is out in the world, in the fresh air. I am so lucky that I live in such a beautiful part of the world. Today I was reminded of that.

To carry my metaphor through, the bull was a gentle but insistent bull that pinned me between it’s horns and took me on a tour of my neighbourhood. Something I would not have done on my own unless properly motivated. I am grateful for today’s removal from the ordinary and predictable.

Biking in the crisp air, the wind cooling the tips of my ears, vineyards in my peripheral view, I felt inspired!

My key slipped into the lock and turned just as fresh rain began to fall.