soulflower

today

2012-02-08T14:42:00.001-08:00

a new linocut im working on. so what have you been up to lately?

sketchbook

2012-02-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

here is my other flower. its almost done. i have been lining it with a dip pen.

pagoda and flowers

2012-02-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

here are my latest carvings. i also printed them on watercolor paper and painted them. what do you think?

breakfast

2012-02-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

blackberries and flax seed on yogurt with honey

thank goodness for mexico

lunch

2012-02-08T14:16:00.000-08:00

my own brand of fast food lunch...

black bean and corn quesadillas with salsa and sourcream

sliced blood oranges and bell peppers

yum!

Dicken feat. Milah & Korben: "Everything Counts"

2012-02-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

i couldnt stop watching this is an insane cacophony of madness.....

more sketches

2012-01-29T11:59:00.000-08:00

i recently went through and found old sketches ideas and photos. these are the ones i kept. i mostly throw a lot of stuff away. what do you do with your doodles?

Faces

2012-01-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

this is one of sophies christmas gifts. we are having so much fun drawing faces. ed emberley has a whole series of these so pick one up and have some fun!

Rachael Yamagata- Be Be Your Love

2012-01-24T22:23:00.000-08:00

i love this song. i love her.

carnations

2012-01-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

i bought a bunch of little magenta carnations from the market yesterday. arent they pretty? they are making my desk smile. if only the cat would stay away from them.

todays menu

2012-01-24T22:05:00.000-08:00

so kim let me raid her citrus this weekend during her husbands birthday

so i made pan roasted chicken breast with garlic cloves and cut up kumquats

i seared everything in the pan and then finished it off in the oven

i served the chicken on a bed of couscous and chopped spinach with feta cheese. i aslo deglazed the pan with some wine and pour that little bit of sauce over the whole thing. it was delicious.

sketchbook

2012-01-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

another little watercolour painting from my sketchbook. i also recently bought dip pens and inks and have been using those to line my little works.

yesterday morning

2012-01-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

it was raining and cold

so what to do?

i made baked potato and yam fries with a honey dijon garlic mayo and baked eggs to warm us up. it was delicious. you should have been here! basically i peeled the yam and left the potatoes with skin and cut them up match stick style. i tossed them in olive oil with salt and pepper and placed them on a cookie sheet with parchment in a 400 degree oven until they were soft when pierced with a fork. i also stirred up an egg with cheese and spinach with salt and pepper and put them in little ramekins for about 18 minutes and voila. the fries werent crisp but they fed the need and also the sauce was just what i said. i threw it together in a bowl. yum!

spicy nuts

2012-01-24T21:35:00.000-08:00

i made these spicy baked nuts. you basically toss them in spices, sugar, and egg whites. then bake them to give them a bit of a crisp texture without deep frying them. i would also use a slotted spoon to let some of the mixture drip off before spreading on the baking sheet. also i used garam masala the indian spices for mine. these would make a great hors d'oeuvre at a cocktail party too. here is the recipe if you want to give it a whirl.

disaster averted

2012-01-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

my blog is back up.whew!

full moon rising

2012-01-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

i watched the moon rise over the mountains sunday evening. it was truly spectacular. i need a telephoto lens. this is the closest shot my extra fancy camera gets me.

still beautiful

2012-01-10T22:50:00.000-08:00

its my peony from the pictures of the vase. doesnt it look equally fabulous almost all dried up?

stars

2012-01-10T22:41:00.000-08:00

i painted the night sky a little over a week ago. i wish thats how it really looked.

Today

2012-01-10T21:10:00.001-08:00

familiar? kinda.

todays lunch consisted of roasted butternut squash,brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper. i added some grated parmesan, pumpkin seeds, and a sprinkling of nutmeg. no pasta this time. it was very good though.

Lunch

2012-01-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

yesterday i made baked chicken and quinoa. it turned out pretty well. i baked two chicken breasts with cumin,salt,pepper, garlic cloves, thinly sliced lemons, and olive oil. I baked them at 400 degrees f for about 40 minutes. the quinoa was made with pecans,dried cherries, chopped garlic and onion, and spiced with a teaspon of each: salt,pepper,garam masala and cumin. it was delicious.

spiced quinoa with dried cherries and pecans

1 cup quinoa rinsed

half of cup

cherries

pecans

1 small chopped onion and a few chopped garlic cloves

1 tsp

salt

pepper

garam masala

cumin

heat pan on medium high with one tbs of olive oil and add onion and garlic when translucent add your spices and stir around. they will dry up the fat pretty quickly. when the pan seems a little too dry i add a tbs of butter and throw in the the cherries and pecans and quinoa and stir around for a few minutes making sure everything is coated in fat and spices. then i add two cups of water and turn the fire up to high until it comes to a boil and then i lower the heat to low and cover for twenty minutes. when twenty minutes is over i turn off the heat and let it sit for about a good five to ten minutes and then uncover and stir.yummy.

citrus

2012-01-10T09:27:00.000-08:00

oranges in the morning. i love oranges. actually these are mineolas. also someone came in the middle of the night or early morning last saturday and picked every lemon off my trees ripe and and unripe. awesome,huh?

edit
no not mineola
cara cara
pink navel oranges

sketchbook

2012-01-05T16:08:00.001-08:00

here are some little

wonky

paintings

from my sketch book this week.

me

2012-01-05T16:04:00.000-08:00

in case you have missed my mug.

my furrow makes me look like i have a butt in my forehead. awesome. no i dont always look this crabby.

kitchen counter

2012-01-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

pretty little violet flower

clusters of little yellow aeonium arboreum flowers. yes i know you know i love flowers.

New Years Breakfast

2012-01-05T15:53:00.000-08:00

mnmmmm.......

cream yummmmy!

so what do you do when you are butt tired new years morning because you went to bed at two am? you get up and make raspberry buckwheat waffles with syrup and hand whipped cream. dont forget to drink the leftover champagne either. we also ate the bacon right off of the pan we baked it on in the oven. yeah it was good.

Happy New Year

2012-01-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

five days late....ooops. so we made sparkly new years hats to ring in the new year at midmight while we banged pots and pans.

guess what? i havent taken the decorations down yet. im lazy.

my neighbor who is a widow came over. we drank three bottles of wine and some champagne with cheese and ham and cheese gougeres.

we also received a jar of syrupy hibiscus flowers to put in our drinks for christmas. arent they pretty? i also saved fireworks from the fourth of july that i lit up at midnight. there are new neighbors dowm the street with children so we took a walk a couple of house down so all the children could shout "Happy New" it was a happy time indeed.

Flowers

2011-12-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

flowers for my new vase

peonies

graptopetalums
my new vase

Christmas Morning

2011-12-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

a happy Jack

a happy sophie

a very dramatic mommy after trying to get photos from the previous post

daddy and sophie.....

it was great until i tried to take photos with them in their christmas outfits....

oh the madness.

christmas photos

2011-12-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

this is classic

moon dough

2011-12-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

my kids got some crazy swedish moon dough and my husband gave it all to them unsupervised. i would have had a shit fit if i had carpet.

Dreams

2011-12-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

the other night i had a dream about being in a pasta shop. so of course i have been craving pasta. so i made pappardelle egg noodles in a sauce of onions garlic capers lemon juice and zest in olive oil and butter with grated parmesan. i wish i had so now.

cookie boxes

2011-12-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

these are the tags sophie and i make a few weeks ago for packing up our gift and cookie boxes. these were also the first of the cookie boxes to go out to the girls at the post office. they are always so helpful and nice when i show up with a million packages and my two wild kids.

cayenne shortbread

2011-12-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

here is another one of the holiday cookies i make. they are delicious. they are cayenne shortbreads made with cheddar cheese pecans flour and butter. they have a sandy texture and melt in your mouth. they are nice because you can make a log and bake them off as you need them. a box of these with a nice bottle of wine makes an excellent gift or hor d'oeuvres before your dinner party.

Last Night

2011-12-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

I had a little holiday party with some of my blogger friends which are now real life friends. How awesome is that? Who is that lady in the window?

Nothing was heart healthy last night. I made these bacon things. they are a water chestnut soaked in soy sauce dipped in sugar and wrapped up in a half a piece of bacon and then baked on parchment paper. Christina and i even ate some of the hardened sugar and bacon fat from the pan. It was like bacon candy....wrong so so so so wrong. The good news is i didnt really eat that many or too much last night.

Here is my pork loin roast. I cut it open flat and then stuffed it with sauteed onion garlic chopped dried cherries and bread crumbs. yum!

Say hello to steve....kims husband. He made an awesome guacamole with avocados from their tree or rather the neighbors tree. i guess a huge branch broke off in the crazy wind and they collected like fifty avocados. I am so jealous. Steve also made an awesome key lime pie in the summer for our pie contest. That seems like a million years ago. We also drank dos eqius dark....you know because we are the most interesting people in the world.

Favorite picture of the night of christina. Dont worry no one will recognise you on the street. She brought cider and chocolate and cheesecake. Thats why we love her...you know for the food.

Here is the pork again. this time you can see its inner swirl of goodness. We were all talking so much i forgot to cook the green beans. What a nerd, right? So we had pork and mashed potatoes and wine.

Here is kim and sid. Arent they cute? Kim is the awesome owner of the etsy shop and blog jikits. She brought me a fabulous gift that i opened this morning. i have to photograph it so i can share. Thanks kim!!!!

The kids painted and glittered pinecones last night too. Kims kids also collected some extra sticks and rocks for everyone to paint. They were a hot a mess but they had a great time and thats all that counts right.

Here they are all cleaned up and eating their dinner with little tiny glass bottled coca colas. Such a a joyous time last night...it makes up for everything else that has gone wrong. Hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far!

Last Friday Night

2011-12-12T10:45:00.000-08:00

This was my view out my kitchen window as i was finishing up my doughs for baking saturday morining. look at that moon! there will be more posts tomorrow i just have a million plant orders to pack up right now.

meyer lemon meltaways

2011-12-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

i used lemons instead of limes because its what i have. they turned out delicious. i love these ice box rolled types because you can freeze the logs or if you are going to be baking over a few days just cut off what you need. there is a link to the recipe here.

peppermint twists

2011-12-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

so here are my favorite holiday cookies....they are flavored with peppermint extract....

they are candy cane cookies but i make them into twists so they dont break as easily....

this weekend was our first batch of homemade cookies to go out to those we love at the post office and supermarket. the recipe is from my martha stewart cook book. if anyone wants the recipe email me and i will give. im too lazy to type it. sorry.i thought maybe it was online somewhere but no.

Hope Your Holidays Are Going Well....

2011-12-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

This weekend we did our decorating for the holidays. Sophie and I made a paper star garland for the ceiling. Her and daniel also decorated the tree together while jack ran around in circles to the christmas music and we all drank some hot chocolate. We get an itty bitty tree every year. I dont know maybe when jack is older we will get a bigger one because he is worse than the cat to it. I think when we are doing stuff together as a family that is my favorite gift of all. Tomorrow night we are taking a walk around the neighborhood to check out all the lights children in tow in the wagon. My sincerest hope is that my children will remember and cherish the simple things we did together as they are the are things I hold so closely to my own heart. Do you know what sophie wants for christmas? a heart as big as her grandfather, which is why she is my darling wild girl. So I need to get to my annual holiday baking soon in between packing orders from the nursery. Hopefully we will get together with some friends soon for drinks and some good food! Any takers? Let me know when you are available? Kim? Christina? I have a rolled pork loin roast with shallots and dried cherries in our future and need help eating it! I also read some great blog posts today...very thoughtful stuff.... Up a desert backroad and SkySkinEarth Go read and enjoy! What have you all been up too?

Rosemary Lemon Chicken

2011-12-01T15:07:00.000-08:00

i thought about dinner with christina when i made this yesterday...

here is the chicken and roasted lemons onions and garlic on top of mashed potatoes with butter and cream....so wrong but so right.

this is a mixture of chopped garlic rosemary lemon zest butter salt and pepper. i put it under the skin of the chicken. there is a a bit left over which i used some to saute left over chicken with onion and tomato for pasta....

the juices....yum i spooned this over the chicken and potatoes....

getting ready to put the bird in. i have a chicken pan that you put wine in so i cracked open that rose yesterday....

me sampling the goods....

Roasted Beet and Onion Salad

2011-12-01T14:51:00.000-08:00

so basically i took 3 beets and cut them up pretty thin and two red onions and cut them into wedges. i tossed them in two tablespoons of olive oil and salt and peppered them.

they were roasted for about an hour in a 400 degree oven but i was stirred them several times to keep an eye on everything. when they came out of the over i poured balsamic vinegar in the pan to deglaze it. I then poured the whole thing over a bag of spinach in a bowl and tossed to help wilt the spinach a little bit and finally added goat cheese crumbles and toasted pecans.

my father and stepmother gave this bottle of rose as a gift this weekend. this is what i wanted to drink but had to drive with the kiddies so no drinks. oh well. i did have some yesterday though.

Lemons....

2011-11-27T12:10:00.000-08:00

you know the wheels of cookery in my head are turning,right?

Harvest Moon

2011-11-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

Have you visited tigerstolilies? well you should! go here to see the most wonderful little movie ever.

Friday

2011-11-21T10:27:00.001-08:00

so i made a spirally ham last week.....

so you know it was ham city....

so friday i decided to make cheddar ham gougeres.....

i dont know if they are technically gougeres because there was no parmesan only cheddar....

but they were pretty freaking delicious. they are made with pate a choux dough. which is basically flour butter water eggs to which i added salt pepper ham and cheddar and then baked(you can deep fry them but i decided to give our hearts and arteries a break). Here is the basic recipe i used here. So i added about a cup and a half of of chopped ham and a cup and half of cheddar to the dough just in case you wanted to know.

Cupcakes....

2011-11-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

these are the cupcakes i make if i want you to love me and i can guarantee you will....devils food with brown sugar buttercream frosting....i got this recipe out of gourmet magazine over a decade ago and its also in my cookbook of theirs. they are actually even better the next day as the butter starts to seep out a little bit. i made these just for the heck of it recently. you can get the recipe here.

Crazy Nudes

2011-11-21T10:09:00.000-08:00

so i am still practicing wet on wet.....

i want to print of set of cards called love letters....

with nude watercolors....i like naked things....my step mother asked why the nipples looked like pomegranates....i busted out laughing.

Cards

2011-11-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

so i have put some of my watercolor butterflies on cards...

the purple and pink one needs to be bigger...what do you think?

here is the yarn they will come wrapped up in. little projects not much but i need to get back on the horse.

Young The Giant - Cough Syrup

2011-11-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

oh kim.....its like they wrote this just for me.....so so so lovely and melancholy

From the Garden This Week

2011-11-12T10:47:00.001-08:00

so its raining now and im so glad i made myself an arrangement. i know its the same old same old but they are still pretty. i also have devils food cupcakes to share later and some paintings and cards. i am also making caramel today. its wrong oh so wrong. i told my husband my plans and he said should i go buy some ice cream.

Happy Halloween(a week late)

2011-11-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

oh the madness....

Loaves

2011-11-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

recently

made

bread

was

delicious....

recipe here

Practicing

2011-11-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

i think i want to do a series of nudes...

so i have been doing some sketches....

and wet in wet runs....

look cupcake sprinkle nipples....

have you missed me? i have missed you!

Fast Food

2011-10-24T09:16:00.001-07:00

This is so easy to make if you want it to be....

one 8 oz can chopped tomatoes
one 8 oz can of tomato sauce
one teaspoon cayenne
two teaspoons of cumin
a couple of shakes of paprika
salt pepper
one can of black beans and kidney beans drained
corn from one ear
three sliced up zucchini
one large onion chopped
three cloves of garlic chopped

saute onion and garlic with spices and some olive oil. i usually add about a tablespoon but you could add more or less i supposed. also i dont usually measure for things i throw together i just taste as i go so i suggest you do the same so you know how spicy you want it.
when the onions are translucent i add the the fresh vegetables for about five minutes stirring occasionally. then i add all the canned stuff turn up the heat to medium high and when it starts to bubble i put a lid on it and and lower the heat to medium low for about 20 minutes or until the vegetable are soft. be sure to taste everything to make sure its spiced right in case you need to add more them. you can also add meat but Daniel's a veg so you know that is not happening for this meal. cheddar and sour cream would also be a great addition.

if i was trying to woo you i would cook my own beans and make my own tomato sauce. so keep that in mind if you are trying to woo someone yourself.

you know how to cook beans, right????

edit
oh and this is great with a beer....
try dos equis dark
because you know i am the most interesting woman in the world, really!

Birthday Cookies

2011-10-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

i was out voted by the children's chant of chocolate.

i wanted regular shortbread but that's not what happened.

so daniel got dark chocolate shortbread cookies on wednesday. he is now an old man of double threes. i know i know i am a cradle robber but you cant go wrong with a younger man. he also saw ai's caramel banana cake and gave me the sad blue eye treatment so you know what i will be cooking up this weekend or next week.home made caramel with sea salt is bad bad bad so sick good delicious your mouth is in ecstasy. remember when i made it earlier in the year? im still trying to forget.

sunday lunch

2011-10-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

i made trottole with beans garlic onions and spinach and my own doctored sauce. oh yeah there was sausage too. i wish i had some parmesan to go with it too. that would have made it even better. feeling sick and a little blue today but i will get over it. so please have a dazzling day for me,okay?

This Morning

2011-10-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

so there was supposed to be a casual early dinner party for the family

however the children are still hacking it up

so i thought it was best to cancel it but i still collected flowers from the garden. look the arrangement matches my top. im a dork.

The Saturday Morning French Press Event of 2011

2011-10-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

there was the crashing of glass and swear words and hot coffee down the front of someones boxers shorts.

i wasnt even involved. i was still in bed as i listened to the horror coming from the kitchen but somehow i ended up cut. now i have no french press. which makes me sad. this month one of our dining chairs broke, sophie broke one of the doors to the media cabinet, the kitchen lighting fixture broke, and the wireless mouse did as well. i also found jack slamming the face of our flat screen with the top of a decorative teapot(disaster was averted thankfully). i swear i am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. so here i sit for now waiting patiently for this month to end hoping nothing else will break.

Yesterday

2011-10-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

there were sick children....

croupy ones at that and they still are alittle....

so when a little girl with a sweet pair of brown eyes asked me ever so softly to make some chocolate cookies....

how could i not?

I AM NOT MOVING - Short Film - Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

so once in awhile i get political. so here i go today.

A New Lino....Could It Be True?

2011-10-13T15:57:00.001-07:00

so very true....

its a miracle really....

now i need to finish the other ones i started in january....

so they should be in my shop soon. I filled them in with watercolor pencil. sometimes one must pimp themselves or self or whatever.

Dinner

2011-10-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

endive with chevre toasted pecans pomegranate seeds honey and fleur de sel....all by myself(she says quite unhappily) someone missed the train again.

Did Anyone Notice....

2011-10-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

i typed casserole wrong. i really should spell check my typing. i really should.

Enchilada Casserole

2011-10-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

leftovers for breakfast.....

this is oh so wrong which is why i only make it once a year.

Jack's Birthday

2011-10-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

spider and eyeball cupcakes.... i finally had one this morning. there were only two left.

the kids carved jack o lanterns and then we lit them up when it turned dark.

my step father taking the children for rides in the wagon and there was lots of girly screaming going on with that activity.

sophie and jack....

a very blurry little jack devil....

a ghost in a bottle....

scary beverages....

my stepfather and sophie at the craft table. they were painting monster rocks and glueing on googly eyes.my favorite thing about this is the unlit cigarette that is hanging out of his mouth. my step father is the best and so is my dad. i have been a very lucky in the fact that i had two amazing men in my life growing up. i never have to do things separately because of my parents divorce and my stepmother and my mother get along so well its kind of scary.

the tables and ghosts blowing in the afternoon wind.

ms.aurora carving a pumpkin....

me doing it dia de los muertos style.

More Watercolors....

2011-10-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

there was more painting this week.

have you noticed how much i dig flowers?

yes i love them a lot and yet i rarely receive any unless i do it myself. how sad.

painting messes....

i love the children's free form painting. i really need to start framing them.

Hummus

2011-10-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

hummus is best when you make your garbanzo beans....

the quick way to make beans is to bring dried beans up to a boil,turn off, and then wait for an hour. then you boil and simmer away for your alloted time. i make my garbanzos with salt and whole garlic cloves.

yum. we eat a lot of hummus here. A LOT.

Brownies

2011-10-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

i made my favorite brownie recipe from my gourmet magazine cook book.

it was this little guy's second birthday this past thursday. my gentle little little libra.

i love brownies because it only requires one pot to whip everything up in. the last time i made these it was january.

the buttered and floured baking dish and some toes.

the finished product. it took exactly two days for this to be gone.it actually kinda hurt because i ate very little of it. i wanted more but i held back.

Cleaning Out Drawers

2011-10-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

yesterday morning i was cleaning out drawers.

i found a whole bunch of crayola watercolor boxes and these.

little itty bitty page of london watercolor boxes.

this find led to free form water coloring with the children during breakfast. the one above is sophie's.

jack's painting and he used my favorite color.

a collection of masterpieces....

Dishes

2011-10-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

when i registered for my wedding oh so long ago i registered for three sets of dishes.

dont get me wrong. i love nice clothes cosmetics shoes etc etc etc but really i love dishes more than those things.

i remember spending much time staring at my grandmothers china cabinet which was filled with various types of dishes and wine glasses. she would serve me an iced coke in a champagne flute. i also started reading house and gardens at a very young age(around 6/7) and fantasizing about what my home would look like and dinner parties. i was a weird kid

Drinking Glass flowers

2011-09-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

yeah sometimes they take the places of vases but thats okay right?

i also used a floral frog here.

when you go to the flower market you have to bring some flowers home just for yourself,right?

i bought myself lisanthus pink winterberry and black beauty roses. the basil is from my garden.

Its Okay

2011-09-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

its okay that i am not organised. its okay that my desk will always be such that i actually have to work somewhere else. i am an imperfectly perfect mess.

so i am going to stop getting mad at myself for this. i cant take the torture of my inner dialogue. so i put some pretty roses in the midst. i think that makes everything better.

Yesterday

2011-09-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

the kiddies and i painted rocks.

sophie asked me what they are for and i told her it was just for fun. she seemed pretty satisfied with my answer and she me told that it was a good time.

today we are going to get more colors so we can paint more rocks. they both had so much fun, me too!

Sophie

2011-09-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

so sophie begged for a bunch of chrysanthemums when we were at the market. so when we got home i cut the stems and showed her how to swirl the stems in a vase or rather in this small glass. when i finished showing her how she did it all by herself. she did a great job.

then we made a small hand tied bunch. that was a little hard for here so i had to help her out more but it turned out well. it even stood on its own.

here is my latest elle decor i havent had a chance to go through maybe today.

Desert Wedding

2011-09-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

arent those glasses huge???? too bad! the bride chose the smaller bubble bowls but they still were pretty.

so shiny and reflective

it was a red and black colored themed wedding. we sprayed the aeoniums black. the bowls were filled with succulent cuttings and a red rose.

here is the sweet heart table arrangement

decorated pillars at the entrance of the dance floor

the wall had these little ledges so we put the extra flowers on them around the candles

this wedding took place at a yacht club in the desert. i thought that was funny. it was like a little oasis except it was flaming ass hot.

the arch

more arch

here is the seating in the sun but everyone got a fan which im sure would come in handy. this place was really pretty and im sure when the sun set it was was even more pretty with all the little twinkle lights and the reception area and bar sat right on a man made lake. can you believe i forgot to take pictures of the bouquets corsages and boutonnieres? i swear if my head wasnt on my head i would definitely leave it somewhere.

California Desert

2011-09-25T12:33:00.001-07:00

the long drive home from coachella valley yesterday evening. coachella valley is a little bit past palm springs about a good hour and twenty minute drive from my home. coachella is also home to a music and art festival every april maybe you have heard of it or maybe not. PJ Harvey played this year but its too hot for me to go and be with thousands of sweaty kids. i am too old and cranky now to enjoy that kind of stuff.

the desert is a very hot place to have a wedding in september but thankfully it wasnt the 110 degrees it was originally forecasted

here are the fields of wind turbines when you drive through palm springs
look there are dinosaurs too! i was so happy when we finally arrived home.

Last Night's Dinner

2011-09-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

have i told you how much i love to barbecue???? ponzu marinated skinless boneless chicken thighs.

eggplants....

green bell peppers and onions all served up with some teriyaki rice. i wish it was last night because im hungry.

Finished But Not Set Up

2011-09-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

you may remember my little drawing from earlier this summer. this one here is printed on photographic glossy paper.

this here is the original watercolor.

here are all three. i think my favorite is the one printed on kraft paper in your lower left hand. did i mention my friend anna is writing a series of semi erotic one shots for each illustration too? we have two done because i work at the pace of extra friggin slow. if you click annaromer you will see the story however i warn you if you go further and happen to find my tumblr there will be things of an adult nature...ahem.... some material some may consider pornographic as well as other things so if that kind of thing offends dont go dont look up my tumblr. i just thought i would warn you okay???

here are the colored linocut and watercolor prints still not in my shop. surprise surprise.

oh i have had these hanging around for a few months now. i finally relisted them.

Completed

2011-09-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

i dont know if you remember but i started this either in december or january

well i finally finished

really its a miracle

Progression

2011-09-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

hopefully it will be completed soon hopefully.....

Dahlias

2011-09-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

I am doing a wedding the weekend of the 24th in coachella

So I went downtown to order my flowers at mayesh from my favorite flower guy abel

I also picked up some flowers for me. These beautiful dahlias ate it in one day. I hate when that happens.

Prince - Kiss - Fair Use

2011-09-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

this is the only video i could find with this song. hmmmm well just so you know i love prince's music so i thought i would share a lazy post with you all today.

Beach Cottage

2011-09-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

the view from the house. the beach was a hop skip and a jump away. it was nice to watch wave and surfers in the morning with my coffee.

it had a nice lawn for the kids to run around and act like fools.

the best part was the private outdoor shower in the back. i used that many times.

Sea and Sand

2011-09-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

a really cool plant i grabbed that was sticking out of the shore

jack with a wad of seaweed

my stepdad the kids and my mom

hello toes

hello from me. my four days were lovely in carlsbad. we went to the beach everyday which was really nice. the surf was intense although i didnt capture it that way.the was a storm in new zealand which created huge waves which meant lots of surfers.when i was young i would not hesitate to put my fins on and grab my body board. my mom kept telling me you better not go out there its dangerous. its a good thing she never saw some of the surf i rode. i may have said this before but i actually have had a concussion from body boarding. oh but that was a long time ago in my mid twenties when there was nothing to lose. there was also a great white shark sighting and two nearby beaches were closed down too. how exciting? there was also a trip to seaworld where at some points i wanted to sell my children. anyway it was nice to get away.

Mango Massacre

2011-08-30T16:22:00.001-07:00

this is all i can bare to do for food when the weather is horrible.it wasnt quite so bad today but its been over 100 degrees and humid. i took a risk on sunday and ate out. i had a spicy tuna roll at local sushi place. i wish i had some now. also i think this juicy deliciousness would be called food porn,right? im heading to carlsbad tonight. its a beach town in san deigo. cant wait to dip the toes in the pacific. hope all is well everyone.

Noc Kupały 2011 - Poznań

2011-08-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

have you seen this. breath taking. thanks anna!

【公式】 Rigaos リガオス - 消臭効果編（未放送Ver） -　1min

2011-08-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

WTF? i have no idea what they are saying but i think i just went to heaven and died.

More Garden Pictures....

2011-08-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

look i painted some old chairs that were here when we moved in 8 years ago turquoise finally....

The last of the naked ladies....

Lovely lantana with a little orange moth....

Look its orange jubilee and its so jubilant....

Its me...HELLO.... from the other day after a horrible bout of food poisoning from a restaurant

lemon trees

2011-08-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

under lemon trees

your sweet soft lips touch mine there

making my heart bleed

dinner last night

2011-08-19T19:44:00.001-07:00

rolling out the dough....

jalapenos and pineapple....

a blend of mexican cheeses....

can you say spicy sweet? too bad you were not here to share. maybe next time?

watercolors

2011-08-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

just a little peak at a new watercolor painting i am working on. im trying to practice some wet in wet which absolutely scares the crap out of me

fabulous hostess gifts

2011-08-17T11:39:00.001-07:00

oh yeah and the figs and fruit i mentioned in the last post were gifts too. thanks so much. i am so lucky to have such wonderful people around me!!

lunch

2011-08-14T14:40:00.001-07:00

i really cant complain, can i? thanks again kim!!

The Night of the Full Moon

2011-08-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

last night was our second annual summer potluck and pie contest.

it was a full moon in aquarius which is perfect because thats what i am.

candle lit cocktail table under the locust tree

in the dark

in the light

my 83 year old grandma getting down with some food and wine

my friend valerie i just love her hair. i want cool hair. she is also my partner in linocutting

blurry night time photo of steve the griller of eggplants. thanks steve you rule! he is belongs to my friend kim of jikits. she is the fantastic maker of mobiles and origami and such!

donovan and sophie playing with bionicles

pies pies and more pies....this first one was a banana cream pie with coconut.

here is my moms apple pie. it actually won this year.

here is the pie kim brought. it was a lime pie and it was friggin delicious. it came in second. i ate that and my moms. i wasnt a judge i was the organiser of the tastings for the judges.

it was a great night but my feet hurt now!

Jack

2011-08-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

wearing the hottest look of the season. sophies hat and nutella.

Rose Mountain

2011-08-06T08:38:00.001-07:00

i thought about how you are doing this morning. you see i started to run...well jog again. they repaved my street so its as smooth as a babies bottom and i think my ankle will be okay. so looking out at the vast fields and mountain still misty in the early haze you popped in my mind and how i miss your insightful posts and your posts about running because im pretty sure you run not jog. so i kid you not it was like a psychedelic dream the road literally stretched out before my eyes as i was thinking about all of the things and whats going right and wrong in my life. it seemed so long and the sun made it almost gleam silver and then i started to weep and a weep that would of surely turned heads if people had been out and thats when i thought of you. i hope all is well if you are still reading this.

Naked Ladies 2011

2011-08-04T18:44:00.001-07:00

They used to come up in september but the last few years they have been coming up in august.

thats alright with me. so i made an arrangement of aeoniums pyracanthus foliage and berries and flowering cinnamon basil and purple basil. it smells lovely.

Monsoon Sunday

2011-08-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

So there was lightning thunder and lots and lots of rain. Monsoonal weather is kind of sexy at least I think so. So what to do? Not what you are thinking you naughty little kittens. I made strawberry nectarine crumble with clove and cinnamon.

There was also almond clove whipped cream....can you say yum?

one pint of whipping cream

one tablespoon of powdered sugar

a dash of almond extract

a dash of powdered clove

whip it up in your blender until it well looks like whipping cream.

I just kind of made up the recipe.

As you can tell it was a hit.

The crumble was made with

one stick of cubed butter

one cup rice flour

one teaspoon salt

one half teaspoon of cinnamon and clove

half a cup of oats

half a cup of slice almonds

one third cup brown sugar

i mixed it with my fingers until it was clumpy. spread on your filling before putting into oven.

The filling was easy

one pound hulled strawberries

two pound sliced nectarines

quarter cup of cornstarch

one teaspoon sugar

half teaspoon of cinnamon and clove

one teaspoon of almond extract.

mix it together and fill your over proof dish or dishes. I also preheated my oven to 350 f and cooked them for about 40 minutes until they were bubbly. I got my small ceramic tart pans from ikea.I didnt add a lot of sugar because i hate really sweet fruit filling. I thought the crumble topping and whipping cream made up for that.you could also use more or less of the spice but since my chlidren havent really experienced clove i didnt want to overwhelm there palate so they hate clove later.

What to do with the pits and skins???? Throw them in a pan with a half a cup of brown sugar a few strawberries and some powdered clove. Fill pan with water until everything is just covered. Boil away stirring so it doesnt stick to bottom of pan. you may have to lower the heat to medium. When its thick and syrupy it should be done. Be sure to chop up the skins as well. The skins should start to break down and the meat of the fruit should start to come off of the pits you can help out with a wooden spoon by scraping them. It makes about a half of cup of pure deliciousnessEnjoy!

Lucky Shot

2011-07-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

Guess who i caught kissing himself in the mirror several times? oh my! apparently he is going to be some sort of lover boy when he grows up!

Marcy Playground - Sex And Candy

2011-07-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

I havent played any music for awhile here. So my husband and I were talking about this song and well now I am sharing it with you. Its kind of old now but its still so cool.

cafe lumiere

2011-07-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

I watched this movie recently and well I actually had to look it up because at the end I was like"HUH?" Dont get me wrong I got the lumiere reference which I had to explain to my husband. I am not familiar with ozu or the director hsiao hsien. IT wasnt a bad film I just didnt get it. My husband actually rented it and i think its because he knows I enjoy watching the Tadanobu Asano very much....he's so pretty except when he played in ichi the the killer but i loved the fact his character was so flamboyantly dressed and wielding a knife. So has anyone watched a film lately that made them feel like a dummy?

Dinner

2011-07-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

I love vegetable salads and we definitely eat a lot of them.

Tonight I made a salad with chick peas, corn, red onion, cucumber, tomato, and green and purple basil from the garden. Can you say yum!

1 can of drained garbanzo beans

1 chopped up red onion

I put these two ingredients in a bowl first to soak up about 1/4 cup of seasoned rice vinegar.

Then I added

1 quartered and chopped cucumber

1 pint of grape tomatoes cut in half

the raw kernels of one corn on the cob

lots of basil chopped

3 tablespoons of olive oil

toss everything together a little salt and pepper to taste and oila!

A little arrangements of flowering basil stalks

Chopped basil

daniel and I took pictures of each other eating dinner and drinking our wine.

Here is a ridiculous one for luuworld.

Here is the husbandito. He didnt like any of his photos.