May 22, 2012

We just had a long weekend, and I think it was one of the best ever.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we managed to get equal amounts of chores, rest, and fun in.
Saturday morning I headed off to the hardware store in search of ferns and spray paint.

This year I decided to re-paint my patio pots bright yellow.  I loved the aqua from last year, but this year I needed yellow!

Next up was to divide the ferns I bought: one into four; the other into two.  I had forgotten how difficult this is, and am now crossing my fingers that they will all survive.  I put the two halves in the planters under our long garage windows.  The four quarters go into the four smaller yellow pots, which sit in the corners of our 'urban gazebo' on the deck.  

The other pot I painted holds the violas that used to be in the garage window planters.  It now sits on the patio table under the gazebo.

I really wanted bright colours for outside this year, so only the yellow and orange flowers made it to the back.  The purples and pinks are staying out front.  I got the yellow straw mat from the dollar store, and the mosaic candle holders are the ones the kids made last year at my 'summer camp'.  I realize now that the yellow spray paint I picked is the same colour my bedroom furniture was painted when I was a kid.  No wonder I love it!

This is a picture of our back deck from the kitchen.  I hope the ferns live because they are a nice low-maintenance plant that will last the whole summer.  I think the yellow pots will make up for the colour usually supplied by the flowers I normally put there.  

Once all the work was done I told everyone I was just going to cross stitch all weekend, and that's pretty much what I did.  I wanted to try my new dyed floss and thought this design of fall leaves would showcase them well. 

 I used 8 different shades of green, yellow and orange in this free design I found here: Le Blog de vava.  This design is on page 6 of the Grilles gratuites/Freebies link on the right hand column.  This talented stitcher has 36 pages of free designs so get a coffee if you plan on perusing it!  I think I may have exceeded my download limit here alone:)

Oh, and what's cross stitching outside without a little summery drink at hand?

The kids got to crafting as well: I bought two unfinished birdhouses at the dollar store and now we have two more colourful decorations for our yard:

We also had two very interesting comments from our kids: 

 We had to go to a funeral home for a viewing on Saturday.  We didn't know if it was going to be an open or closed casket, so thought we would prepare the kids just in case it was open.  It turned out to be a closed casket, and as we were speaking with one of the family members My Favourite Boy came up and asked:  "What's in the box?"  It was just a little awkward!

On Saturday at dinner My Favourite Girl told us she was going to become a vegetarian once she finished her meal.  Mr. Crafty World asked her why and she replied that it was cruel to eat animals.  I said, "You know you are telling us this as you're eating about three kinds of meat in those meatballs".

"I know", she replied, "that's why I said I was going to become a vegetarian after I eat my supper!" 

Those two make life so much more interesting!

Fathers Day

I made two good recipes yesterday I want to share with you. We had a French inspired dinner for Mr. Crafty World, consisting of a smoked Gouda and asparagus soup; bistro salad with dijon vinaigrette and breaded goat cheese; chicken breasts with rosemary/dijon cream sauce and cherry chocolate clafoutis (cla-foo-tee). It was all really good; a bit too much work for such a sunny day, but it was worth it. The recipes I want to pass on are for the soup and dessert.

I only made half a batch of this soup, but this is the full recipe. Due to the high cost of the cheese, I didn't want to make a full batch and not like it. Next time I would make a full batch though: it's really good.

Asparagus and Smoked Gouda Soup

2 Tbsp butter

1 leek, white and tender green parts only, sliced*

6 large shallots, chopped*

2 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup milk

2 cups chicken broth (I used homemade)

2 lbs asparagus; trimmed of woody ends and chopped

1 cup grated smoked gouda

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup whipping cream

*I didn't have a leek or shallots, so I substituted a bundle of green onions (white and tender green parts) and half a of a mild onion

Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until softened.

Add flour adn cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Gradually stir in wine, milk and broth. Bring to a simmer and add the aspargus and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or until aspargus is softened. Add cheese and cream.

Put mixture in a blender in batches and blend until smooth and frothy. Return mixture to same pan over medium heat until hot. Serve hot.

This recipe came from here. There are some really yummy looking salads over there I want to try this week too.

Now for the clafoutis. I have never made one before, nor have I ever had a fresh one. My only experience with clafoutis is with the kind that comes in a tin I have eaten in France. It's my go-to when I'm up in the middle of the night and don't want to wake everyone up getting something to eat. Mmmmmm....canned clafoutis and chocolate pudding in the middle of the night. That's a good memory for me.

Anyway, I found this recipe in one of those glossy, supermarket foodie-type magazines they put out. I usually don't try those recipes out because they just seem too complicated and/or expensive to execute. I do like this one, and plan on making it again.

Cherry-chocolate Clafoutis

1 pound sweet fresh cherries

3 Tbsp butter, divided

1 cup all purpose flour

1 package (100 grams) ground almonds. Or grind your own like I did.

1 cup milk

1/2 cup half and half cream

4 large eggs

1/3 cup, plus 2Tbsp sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup chopped, dark chocolate. I used milk chocolate because that's all I had. Next time I'll try the dark.

2 Tbsp icing sugar.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash cherries and remove stems and stones.

Melt 2Tbsp butter.

In a food processor, combine flour, almonds, milk, cream, eggs, 1/3 cup sugar, melted butter, vanilla and salt. Mix until batter is completely smooth, about 1 minute. Let batter rest.

Butter a 10 inch quiche/pie pan with remaining 1 Tbsp butter. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the dish and bake until very lightly set, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and scatter cherries, remaining 2Tbsp sugar and chocolate over batter. Pour remaining batter evenly over all.

Bake until puffed, set and golden brown around the edges, 45-50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes; dust with icing sugar and serve.

It says this is best eaten warm on the day it's made. I'll leave that up to you. I actually prefer it cold....

We did a lot of planting this weekend. Mr. Crafty World and I put some new shrubs out front and the kids planted their own little flower gardens:

Notice the cute gardening gloves?

This week is the last for the kids to go to school, so I'm trying to cram lots of stuff in. I have painted the garage door and all the exterior doors, and have gotten most of my flowers planted. I just want to go back and get one more David Austen rose I saw the other day. Talk about gorgeous! I'm also making up little pots for the kids to give to their teachers and bus driver. Then I'm done - I think.

Have a great week!