quiet time in the blaze

having time and not knowing where to focus the energy ='s reflecting on past learned skills and figuring out how to do things again. Cheers to knowing how to set a stone after 4 years. alexandrite & 14 k white

dangh-le

Reticulated silver, quartz beads, silver wire. Enough time on my hands to be productive and waste it.

luger

I found this bullet casing, not sure where...it's been a long time. I had a piece of rough cut copper somewhat in the shape of VA that was just calling out to be made into a pendant. The large shard of blue & white porcelain I found while on a walk in Shockoe. The beads are vintage and the passion to create such a fantastic piece was brought on by a random inspirational, creative and loving evening, with such a banal title as dinner and a movie, more Black Sheep and Moonrise Kingdom. It was beautiful, simple and sweet. Pounding away on the copper for about an hour with all this passion produced this lovely little pendant. I feel like the more I concentrate on my self, the more I find my self, my confidence and my path. Cheers to well laid plans and a project that actually brings to fruition it's original intent.  

Shells

Simple shell earrings, copper wire, shell cut beads, found brass beads. I had a quick moment in the studio while Spencer was unpacking. He's home!

Dinner for Croft

Dinner with friends is really an amazing inspirational time . I got to enjoy my fridge challenge tonight as I didn't really have any plans to cook, a dinner partyI was invited to got postponed after the massive storms took most of our area's power lines down.

So Ali joined me for dinner tonight and it was all I had on hand.

Fried Beets:
simplest form. Sliced beets. Butter. Salt. Magic.

Cherry cobbler:
2 c ripe pitted cherries
2 tbs lingonberry jam
topping:
1/2 c oats
1/2 c almond flour
2 tbs coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp orange zest
1/4 c crumbled banana chips
2 tbs raw sugar
1 tbs water
dash salt
combine the fruits and cover the bottom of a bake safe dish. Top with the remaining ingredients all mixed together.
 bake at 375 for 30 min

Kale with Caramelized Sour Onions:

Blanched Kale 1 bunch de vaned and torn into 2 in pieces.

1 sweet Vidalia onion sliced thin and sauteed in
 2 tbs butter
2 tbs black strap molasses
2 tbs cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp salt
let all the flavors combine and toss over the kale, serve room temp.

Quinoa, Pepita & Barley Pilaf:

1 c quinoa
1 c pearled barley
steam off in rice cooker

in separate pan
1 onion diced
2 tbs coconut oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup pumpkin seeds, hulled
toss together on low heat until onions are translucent and then toss while still warm with the grains when the grains are finished cooking.

Enjoy with good company and a nice cheap bottle of vino.

Solid Gems

Found these beautiful beads amongst the things I was cleaning out of the studio. Antique green glass beads, silver wire.

Brunch with muh Besties

Today was amazing! I got to have brunch with some of the most amazing women I know, then go shopping and it was awesome. Having a very southern Sunday indeed. Tere's vegan ( also gluten free ) birfday brunch consisted of:

Carra's Garden Roasted Salad:
1 1/2 lbs Purple Potatoes
1/2 c green beans chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 c baby carrots
salt
pepper
olive oil

wash all ingredients fresh out of the garden throughly as it will be covered in dirt. I am throughly surprised at the amount that came out of my garden as I haven't watered the damn thing since, oh, April. My take on gardening is much like Darwins on life, if you can't hack it on your own, then your out of the selection, naturally. I don't feed, I don't water, and whatever nature provides is it. It's a rough life. Deal with it. (Next year, I think I may be a bit more motherly about this, more water perhaps.)

I roasted all of my veggies above in a pan on 350 for about 40 min after a quick toss in the olive oil and S&P.

Oyster Mushrooms & Onions:
Morning Fog Oyster Mushrooms
1 small sweet onion, vidalia is good
1 tbs oilve oil 
1 tsp herbs de provance 
1/2 tsp salt
quick pass through a hot pan with all ingredients involved. KISS


Almond Banana Bread:
(this lovely little loaf was adapted from the Little Banana Maple Pecan Cornbread Muffins in the Vegan Soul Kitchen cook book by Bryant Terry, and thanks to Tiffany & Matthew for turning me onto this book!)

1 c cornmeal
1 c almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbs corn oil & 2 for greasing the pan
2 tbs organic raw cane sugar
1 large ripe banana
1 c almond milk plain
2 tbs pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c banana chips for show

blend wet ingredients & dry ingredients in separate bowls, combine wet into dry, mix until well combined but don't beat the damn thing to death, I do this all to often so am hesitant to bake for guests but this turned out well.

pour in a well greased 8 x 11 glass baking dish and bake at 350 for roughly 25-30 min.

sprinkle with the banana chips.

Hazle-Mango Mimosas:
1 bottle brut champagne
1/2 bottle mango lemonade - Santa Cruz Organic was great!
1/4 c hazelnut liquor
1/2 c seltzer

stir and enjoy with the above brunch with FRIENDS!

Crystal Clear

As I am going through my life, space by space, and finding crap to clear out of my life, I am also uncovering treasures and lost artifacts of my life. I found these crystal beads and antique ear findings in a couple of boxes in my attic. Who knew?! Mental note to besties, go through everything when I die, there is treasure everywhere.

Hmmmm

Call it what you like, I'm calling it lunch, well for this week at least. Juice of ginger, carrot, beet, kale, basil, apple. Pretty tasty. Even if it does look god awful. Cleanse week = lots of green juice. Hopefully a better apetite for good for me foods.

leaves

simple, one found silver earring run over by many cars, one made, paper and laquer with cotton string. Silk cord and olive wood bead. Light and airy for this very southern summer evening.

Inspiration on the Solstice

This found object dream came from many different finds and walks. Washer, nail, bead, wire, all come together nicely for an inspiring rusted out pin. Love when things all find their way.

Teeing off for a little Gabby time.

Here's a quick piece since I spent the evening with my BFF in NOVA. I gota get it where I can. I found this golf tee in downtown Shockoe nowhere near a course, while on a walk with Spence. Life has interesting ways of telling us stuff.

to you

"The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning."

--  George Baker

Happy Birthday

to my dear friend Tere, who, every day, inspires me to be a better person, better artist, better kitty mom and better friend. You are an amazing human being and my personal big sis and hero. I love you. I hope you like these. <3 C

huevos

No one really pays too much attention to the lone egg. Simple, pure, amazing little powerhouse of energy and literally the key to life as we know it. Well, if you look at it in a more anatomically correct sense, gatekeeper over key master, but you know what I mean. We were given the most amazing palette  of eggs from a friend who has chickens, free range in all their beauty, read ugliest birds ever, but really beautiful in what they do for us. Blues, greens, pinks, browns, creams. The yolks the color of the morning sun rising over the atlantic with all of it's glorious potential, bringing with it life, hope and a sense of comfort. Breakfast, in it's most pure form. A little beurre, toast, perhaps some browned bits of cheese. All these things coming together to create a masterful cacophony for the senses on this beautiful  Saturday morning in June. All thanks, to the incredible, edible, egg.

Barbecue Beats

Now, this is a play on words, and as we all know, I love a good pun.
Explanation: The long day/week ended and the evening began with a soundtrack, which inspired a beer run, which inspired an itch that needed scratching, which inspired grill time, another favorite past time, barbecue or BBQ, but sans meet. In it's stead, grilled beets ( hence the pun). All personal faves. But I brought the soundtrack, usually a car jam, into the kitchen and created a whole new vibe and a wicked good BBQ sauce and slew of sides.

I think the creative energy was perfect for the evening and helped my fridge challenge evening events. The liquid libations I am sure had a small hand in  the cretive juices flowing on full. Too bad the grill did not get the message, as it was tapped and out of gas upon masterful ignition. c'est la vie. Kivi was not impressed with the situation either. Sad face. I did make the best of it and got to impart a whole 'nother flavor stream into the beets by FRYING them. It was going to be a vegetarian meal, I promise, but frying requires duck fat. Well, not always, but it does help things along.

BBQ Sauce ( upon reading this, you will be put on a list by ip address and require a memory wipe since this is a pretty bad ass BBQ sauce recipe.):

Will yield total 1 cup enough for 4 slathered sandwiches. and a couple of spoons full, testing purposes.

1 bottle classic root beer, made with sugar and real herbs. If I catch you using that corn syrup no flavor shit, I am not responsible for my actions.
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tbs worchestire sauce (like my mayo, I really do care about the brand of few things, this is one.)
2 tbs butter
1/2 c fine dice red onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp penzey's secret spice mix ( really, it's that good and no I am not sharing what the true origin of spices is.)
1 tbs red onion marmalade - orange marmalade and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar will do here as well.
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes
1/2 c catsup
1 tsp sun dried tomato paste
10 grains ghost pepper sea salt
1 twist black pepper
1/2 tsp black molasses

large frying pan / sauce pan - butter, onions, garlic in the pan first, stir, cook til clear-ish.
Add the bottle, yes the whole damn bottle, of root beer. Let that hang out on medium low heat for a while while you busy yourself with prepping other things. Let it reduce by more than half.
After it's reduced and the onions are starting to become one with the goo, and it looks like the stuff on Prometheus, add the rest of the crap listed and stir a lot. Whisk is preferable here. Turn the heat off and just let it all get to know each other.


Farro, tomato, green onion salad:
3 c cooked farro ( I had this for dinner earlier in the week, so it was technically a leftover, and pre cooked / cooled)
1 c sliced grape tomatos
1/3 c sliced green onion
I am cheating on the flavor here, but it's for the greater good, my sanity. 1 1/2 tsp Penzey's Greek Seasoning.
black pepper
2 tbs olive oil.
toss about, distribute flavor and wealth.

Cole Slaw:
1/2 head cabbage
1/2 c fine dice red onion
1/2 c (mmhmm) Dukes Mayo
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt, pepper, chili pepper flakes all for flava'
pinch o sugar, this is the south after all

Beets:
pure and simple, cleaned and sliced
grilled - hem - fried in 2 tbs duck fat

Serve with BBQ awesomesauce over 1/2 french baguette

enjoy all of the above and beers with husband, yes, I have one of those, I remember now, and catching up convo. Complete meal with long bike ride, seasonally accurite, to ice cream shop.

love.

It was all too much for Kivi.