Garden Arty

My friend Sally might be the most adorable person of all time. She's a newly minted art teacher, the kind that her students will someday refer to as "the one who determined my noble path in life" or "the teacher who inspired me to become the world class still-life painter I am today." She's one of those people.

A couple of weeks ago she gushed to me about my garden-in-a-drawer project, and said that it was inspiring her to create some art. Yes, this is how precious she is. I tried to warn you.

Her illustration is above, and it's so cute I want to squeeze something until I turn blue. My bearded companion suggested that I the little dresser tattooed on my body somewhere. I'm going to hold off on that. For now.

It's so good to know that there are people like Sally around, and even better to know that she's one of my buddies. I can't help but wonder how much better off I'd be, or we all would be, if we let ourselves be a bit more inspired all the time.

Also, I should probably note that I've gotten into the habit of watching Full House reruns at the gym, and just cued the "let's learn a valuable lesson" music in my head when I wrote that last paragraph. And I'm ok with it.

Road Report

9 days. 3000 miles. 5 national parks. Schplow.
More details to come once I get my bearings. In the meantime, take a peek at some photo highlights.

Epic Desert Camping Journey

This week Beard and I are embarking on a good old fashioned road trip to do some desert camping at Zion National Park in southern Utah. We're packing up the 93 Subaru wagon with bug spray and trail mix and will hopefully also be visiting the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite as we make our way back to Oregon through California.

I've been itching to spend some wilderness time in the southwest, and could really use a change of scenery. So I'll be off the grid for a week or so, but don't worry, when I return, you'll be powerless against the barrage of photos that I am going to force upon you. Hopefully I'll have a scorpion bite or two to show off as well.

Wild Man Apron

I made this for Beard, and decided to give it to him before his birthday in honor of the first barbecue of the season. And because I couldn't keep it to myself any longer. In case you're wondering, those are the beady eyes of bears, raccoons, moose, elk, wolves, and maybe even a buffalo or two staring out at you. When I bought this stuff from JoAnn's, the woman who cut it said, "They just look so... lifelike." And she didn't mean it in a positive way.

Why creepy forest friends, you ask? Because apparently fabric with raw meat printed on it is not readily available. Someone is missing out on the business of an important seamstress demographic.

Thanks to Benton for modeling the garment, and for swilling wine with me during its creation.

I've harvested!

Wow, that was quick. It's only been a couple of weeks, but the lettuce in my drawer is busting out of its britches.

I was a bit concerned that I'd left it to fend for itself in the fickle Pacific Northwest "spring" a bit prematurely, but 50 degrees and drizzle seemed to be just what this greenery needed to grow like gangbusters.

So far I've made a couple of salads, trimming off the outer leaves with a scissors, like the internet told me to. But my favorite ruffage moment so far was when I made a tuna sandwich the other day, and a little light bulb went off in my head, and I just stepped outside, snipped off a crisp leaf and inserted it between my wheat. Perfect.

And as if this was exciting enough, my potatoes have sprouted! I took the photo a few days ago, and they've morphed substantially since then. It's taking all of my self-control to not poke around in there to try to locate tiny potato babies. Creepy? Sure. Whatever.

Can't. Stop. Buying. Fabric.

It's like a sickness, really. I currently have enough in my arsenal to provide aprons for a small army of cake decorators, but knowing this does nothing to stop the urges. And I'm just getting started.

I've actually been sewing up a storm lately, but I can't reveal my creations to the blogosphere because they're gifts. But sooner or later certain people will have birthdays, and the sharing will commence.

In the meantime, check out these darling fabrics from Joel Dewberry. I found his work in a cute little sewing magazine that my mom mailed me. (Thanks, Mom. You're an enabler.) It doesn't appear that any of my local dealers currently carry it, but when they do I will find the fabric, and I will fondle it.

Tuna noodle casserole, minus the gag reflex.

The mere mention of the word "hotdish" a couple weeks ago planted the seed, and I finally succumbed to the urges the other day and whipped up some casserole of the tuna-noodle variety.

Those crazy geniuses at Cook's Illustrated just came out with a skillet recipes cookbook that not surprisingly, is pretty impressive. The seemingly simple recipes that I've tried so far have have turned out to be quite tasty. This fancier-than-average tuna dish brought back good memories. And magically blocked out the bad ones. (I'm talking about you, Lutheran school mystery lunch.)

Tuna Noodle Casserole

2 slices high-quality white bread
3 TB unsalted butter
10 oz white mushrooms, sliced thin (I omitted these, I don't dig the shrooms.)
1 medium onion, minced
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz wide egg noodles
2 cans water-packed solid white tuna
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 TB minced fresh parsley leaves
ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Pulse the bread in a food processor to coarse crumbs. Melt 1 TB butter in an ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the bread crumbs and toast until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, set aside. Or buy some breadcrumbs. Not a bad option.

Wipe down the skillet and melt remaining 2 TB butter on medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms have released their moisture, about 8 minutes.

Stir in the broth and cream, then add the noodles. Increase the heat to high and cook at a vigorous simmer, stirring often, until the noodles are nearly tender and the sauce is slightly thickened.

Take off the heat and stir in the tuna, peas, Parmesan and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the crumbs over the top, and transfer that baby into the oven. Bake until the topping is crisp and the casserole is bubbling lightly around the edges. Mmm. Bubbling.