Bluberries are the Bomb

 

   We love blueberries. How fortunate we have a you pick establishment up the road.                         Last summer I picked 4 times. 18 Lbs of "blubes" put in the freezer.  

                                        

                                                Had to try a water color of one berry in my journal.

 

 

Anything that is tasty, especially a new recipe, sparks joy for me. Found this yumm smoothie recipe in Bon Appetite magazine. Oh my, is it good!  

                                          

                                                 If you give it a try let me know what you think!

Voting Opens Today for Oryana Board

 

Wanted to get the word out to all you Oryana members that voting online will begin later today for the 2021 Board positions.

I am pleased to be one of the candidates this year. There are 13 of us vying for 3 open spots. Pretty impressive!  Follow this link to see the written bios & a short video from each of us on the ballot. 

 

Such a great resource for this community. There are so many great local producers of food they are able to pull from for their product line up.

 

 

 

On another note I am once again participating in the April A to Z challenge on this blog.Should be interesting to see what has kept everyone going this past year. The post previous to this is my theme reveal for this round. Hope you will follow along.

What's In Your Recipe Box?

Do you have a recipe box? Are you digital or analog or both?

I am both, but I turn to my paper recipes the vast majority of the time. 

 I recently made this canvas box using some Dard Hunter 

craftsman style stencils. Since they are all food items it fits. 

Everything else in my house has a canvas bin it seemed time for one in the kitchen.

Look closer & you see my strange categories. Brussel sprouts, 

Eggplant, Polenta, Asian, Quinoa. It works for me however at times I can't 

remember which category a certain recipe was filed  under. 

Do I need to cross reference? I think not. 

 

Oatmeal

Baked Oatmeal. Before.

In this household we have adopted a heavily plant based diet.

 More on that later in the month.

The recipe doesn't call for a lid, but I like mine creamy and smooth.

 This baked oatmeal recipe has been on the rotation for years. Just more often now.

As you can see it is well used & loved. I can do it by heart

but sometimes refer back to the original for amounts if scaling up or down.

 A batch lasts 2 of us 5 or 6 days, not eating it every day.

This batch has blueberries and apple. I mix it up every time. 

Water, almond milk, and coconut water are the liquids I use in different amounts 

depending on my mood & supply.  Yum.

The reason oatmeal came up for today was because of this guy.

Meet Matt Inman, creator of The Oatmeal.

 I love this guys cartoons & humor!

 

The post above seemed appropriate for now. 

The picture will lead you to the entire comic. 

I hope you are finding things that tickle your funny bone

& are filling your stomach with good things.

Grolsch Bottles

I'm a sucker for glass bottles of all kinds. I have to force myself to recycle 

when the collection gets a bit out of control. I posted about them here. 

These however are special.

Have you ever owned any Grolsch bottles?  I have had several for YEARS, probably 30 plus. 

I love the look & functionality. They sat in my pantry brought out 

for decoration & photo props. I recently started to use them for home made Shrubs  

& salad dressing. It's important to label them!  had to buy new gaskets for the ceramic closure.
The originals had disintegrated. New ones are silicone.

A friend made some great home brew and bought Grolsch bottles. His are green.

This little video shows the two colors fraternizing. Titled "You Can Come Along"
More on this current obsession helping fill time with creative pursuits in a later post. 

 

Taking some time today to take a look at several A to Z Challengers. 

Hope everyone is having fun and enjoying something good to focus on. 

Breakfast & Beyond

Today is a hodgepodge of items.

Been making large batches of baked oatmeal every few days for our breakfast.
Lots of the local blueberries I picked, almond milk, vanilla, brown sugar,
cinnamon, apple & or raisins. Banana is a great addition as well. Yum!

This was an Artist Trading Card month. I pulled together some fabric scraps I 

doctored up with white pen & a metallic stamp, added pieces of fall leaves 

I had soaked in glycerin then used the white pen again. All that glued to tar paper
(roofing material) background. 

Wanted to share this beauty of a find with you. On one of our kayaking days on North Fox Island
hubby spotted this deer skull in the tall grass on the shore. It's in pristine condition! Great teeth.
A search for how to clean & preserve it ensued. It soaked in a peroxide solution for a
long time then left to dry. It still needs a coat of poly sealer.
 I envision it hanging on my studio wall with a flower in the eye socket a la Georgie O'Keeffe

Some news about classes I'm teaching this winter next time. 
 

Zester A to Z Challenge

 Z is for Zest

My entire A to Z challenge could be about food. Maybe a year in the future. 

In the meantime, I see food & cooking as a big part of my creative life.

 Not a bad way to end the challenge.

The aroma in the kitchen when zest hits the heat in a pan, heaven.

 Current favorite recipes with lemon zest:

 Shrimp with Pesto & Lemon Zest

Tuna casserole

 

I made it! A to Z  2017. Can I have my survivor badge now? 

See you next year. Hope you visit before then as well. 

It's been a pleasure cruising around to see what others are up to. 

There Are So Many Blues Here

 

All the different blues in the water here are astonishing. True ultra marine blue exists here. 

The wild life we see when we snorkel has been wonderful. 

A group of 4 eagle rays swam right under us today. The link is exactly what we saw. 

I have never been so close to them before to see their gorgeous markings so clearly. 

  

After a whale watching excursion to Salt Cay a couple days ago we walked the beach in search of treasures. 

This perfectly preserved crab was a great find. I see a sketch of him in my journal in the future. 

 

We did get in the water to snorkel with these two hump back whales! They didn't let us get too close, but what a thrill. What you see are them on their sides with a pectoral fin in the air. They hung out around us for about a 1/2 hour. We saw others as well.

 

When I saw this abandoned building on Salt Cay I thought Georgia O'Keeffe would have loved the Caribbean. 

The history of this small island is worth a look. Click the link above. 

We tend to stay on the go when we visit a new destination so time for my journal is limited. Did this sketch on our patio in some free moments. 

My skills are meager, but I have designs on doing more & improving.