creme fraiche

A spring in my step these days. The weather is cooperating and creating blissful mornings and evenings.
The list of things that need to be done seem endless, like a race with no end. Therefore, I adore it when I find something that is simple and quick to do, it adds skip to my step too.

A very simple and quick creme fraiche recipe:

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons of buttermilk

Shake in jar and set it on the kitchen counter for at least 8 hours, until thickened. Stir. May be kept in the refrigerator for about 10 days. Use in sauces, soups, over fruit, etc. But for me...

... it is ready for a new recipe I have been wanting to try using canned tuna. Let me say here, I enjoy canned tuna in a salad for a sandwich, but casseroles made with canned tuna, frankly, gag me! Yet, I am always seeking for a possible tasty dish that will utilize a can of tuna fish.

I found one here. (Molly Wizenberg's, A Homemade Life). These are quite tasty, certainly good picnic fare since I preferred them cold the next day. I husband did not like the color of them (orange), possibly due to the tomato paste, so I am considering leaving that ingredient out and adding fresh chopped tomato and a dab of mayonnaise next time.

silk wrapping

A Saturday afternoon wedding to attend. Desiring a gift wrap that was extraordinary for what I considered just an ordinary gift...but it was on her gift registry after all. All those yards of silk in my stash upstairs gave me an idea to create a lovely package, soft teal-blue moire silk tied with a champagne-colored satin ribbon.

Will she sigh when she sees it?

  I can not imagine the coffee grinder inside causing any sort of  great emotion unless she is in a dire need of a freshly ground cup of coffee at the moment. 

unrolled color

Last year I made Charlotte a pencil case. I still remember the pleasure of simple stitching on felt. Almost every school day this year Charlotte has unrolled this case and displayed her assortment of colored pencils, just like a palette of life savers. She has colored a variety of world geography maps, history sheets, science papers or whatever needed a touch of color. One dear little friend received her own pencil case for her eighth birthday this year.

Charlotte, blanket stitched the berry-red bird and added the snazzy song notes from his bright yellow beak. After it was completed she filled every linear pocket with the assorted colors of new pencils. Now her friend will be able to pull out and unroll her very own pencil case out too. Fun.

yarn basket show off

Another basket, this one is called the "lots of yarn" basket. I see why; a basket any knitter might like to own. I have already filled it with my knitting projects and set it by a chair in the sun room.

I make baskets simply because I like baskets, after all, they are extremely functional.  Enjoying the actual basket making process is low on the list on crafts I like to do, however. But an evening with ladies to chat and laugh with and then going home with a finished basket makes for a warmly wonderful evening.

for whom the cake was baked

 It was a warm spring day twenty-three years ago. In my mind's eye I see an image of Witt wearing shorts and a tee shirt while watching his bare feet run through the green grass. It was the early evening of Maundy Thursday. The redbuds were gloriously in bloom and it was time for my second child to be born.

After his birth just shortly after midnight, (making his arrival on Good Friday), I remember being extremely hungry. The nurse brought me some Rice Krisipies. That was the best bowl of Rice Krispies I have ever eaten. Through the snap, crackle and pop, I smiled all under.

I am still smiling today.  So mature is this young man.

Alan is my child that is satisfied with excursions in the pursuit of new cake recipes. Every year I enjoy baking his birthday cake; of course, we do have our favorites. This year I baked a Hummingbird Cake,  bananas and pineapple, with lemon cream cheese frosting.

frost and turn

One day I shall take a cake decorating class. I will go to the store with my list to buy the needed supplies to decorate cakes. Then I will bake cakes, lots of them I hope, wrap them in saran wrap, place them in a basket and tote them to my specially selected class to decorate with flowers, curlicues, ribbons and such.

Maybe, just maybe, one of the items I will purchase will be a turntable.

But I find my Lazy Susan works remarkably well for frosting cakes, especially cakes with fluffy cream cheese frosting.

pretty contrasts

  There have been times these past few days that the thoughts of stoking a woodstove seemed desirable, but today Spring burst forth and decided to warm us up once again. On my afternoon walk, under cloudless skies of blue, the redbud blossoms were dazzlingly enchanting.

The blue and pink theme reminded me of babies and their cuddly soft blankets. Yet no baby announcements are presently coming across my desk. Instead I am seeing creamy invitations from brides-to-be with approaching wedding dates.

Then as part of our afternoon, we have the matter of girls in pink boots building forts by the creek.

And maidens fair that walked amongst the woody lushness.

I melted under such warmth.

the peepers

The peepers sing,

in the dusk.

      Out of the mud,

       Their song drifts

        Sweet and green.

                                       -Kathleen Tenepas-

Actually, the month-long, haunting song of the peepers has ended, and I am missing it. But the girls find them skitting across the shallow creeks beds, ready to make acquaintance.

a moment in time

While I was sitting, and sewing on white linen,

Rose stopped by with my camera and caught me at that particular moment in time. She likes to pick up my camera every once in a while to practice manual focus.

 I love the gentle blurring and glaring sunlight.

pay it forward

I know I mentioned before that so many blessed me with providing meals when my father died. It was  appreciated, beyond measure.

So today when I found out someone in my church had lost her father just this week, I was able to help by providing a meal for her family.

The girls helped me prepare lasagna, green salad, french baguette, and chocolate cake.

Then we placed the food in baskets and carried it in our arms to their table.

We know how it feels, blessings extended.

risotto

There was a time that cooking risotto seemed out of reach. For the life of me I can not imagine why I let it take on such a daunting air. Now I cook risotto quite regularly, especially since my husband gets big smile on his face when he knows it will be on the table.

The only thing to remember is that it is not a crock pot sort of dish. You must stay nearby at all times, stirring and adding broth. (Now that I think of it that was the daunting part.) Anyway, I've matured now and staying nearby is good.

And today I snipped some parsley from my herb garden and tossed it in for good measure.