Empty Bowls

Is your bowl full?

I am always so grateful that my bowl is usually full...or at least never empty.

An "Empty Bowls" event was held today in our community of Tecumseh, Michigan.  Empty Bowls is an International grassroots movement to fight hunger.  Many artists, students and craftspeople created bowls (mainly pottery) and donated them to be sold for $10, $20 or $30 each.  Our local fine dining establishment, and bakery donated soup to fill these bowls once you have purchased said bowls and also donated use of their facility and staff.

You end up going home with a bowl (or 3) a lovely lunch under your belt, a sense of amazement and pride at all of the community that has participated in this event and a warmth that your community raised over $3500 to fight hunger.  What more could you possibly want out of a Monday?  

Since John and I didn't get there until nearly 2pm, I kept my soup until suppertime, washed my new bowl and Taa-daa!  Beautiful!

 

If you'd like more info about the "Empty Bowls" movement or to start your own event, you can find it here:
www.emptybowls.net

Here we go AGAIN!

In the Midwest, it's customary to host a high school graduation party for your children.  Most are done in an open house fashion and the June Saturdays are usually fully booked!  We are not an exception, and it's a really nice time to get to see family and friends!

Our "baby" is graduating this year and the plans are already in motion.  The date is set, tent is booked, the menu tentatively a go and invitations will be ordered shortly.

Each previous "Graduation Party" has been a learning experience.  Lessons in order of importance;
1) Start painting the house earlier than April
2) Do not leave vacuuming until the last minute as the power might go out
3)30 lbs. of pulled pork is just enough for 250 people at an open house.  37 lbs. is too much.
4)Glittery table confetti takes a minimum of 2 years to clean up out of your driveway/yard
5)Do not get black frosting on your cake even if it's the school colors-it makes people's teeth scary; ditto on the edible photo transfer...no one wants to eat your kid's eye, so you have to.  Creepy.

John didn't blink an eye when I started discussing changing my kitchen cabinet hardware, painting the hallway, having a few minor drywall repairs done, installing a couple new light fixtures, changing the living room curtains and more.  In fact, he even went through the house and made a few suggestions of areas that need to be freshened up, helped me drill new holes for the cabinet hardware and choose paint for the hallway.  (Can you read my shock and awe?) 

The project list is long, but do-able.  My goal is to have the majority of the interior work accomplished before March when we will begin on the exterior/yard/gardens/shed...

 Fun new lampshade for "project room" to hang above work table!

I purchased Behr paint in "Tea Cookie" for the hallway, a very light and creamy yellow.  (Why I can't find a photo online is beyond me)  I needed a neutral since all of our bedrooms, baths and laundry room open to the hallway.  You've already seen my project room with it's brown paint, my bedroom in plum, another bedroom is painted a peacock blue and Jamie is working on "Couture"  paint;

It looks muted/darker than the picture (thank goodness) and I think we may do a silvery grey glaze over it to tone it down a bit.  We have some funky galvanized metal shelving and baskets along with white trim, sheers and blinds and a soft black paint on the furniture.  Cross your fingers! 

The girls bath needs a bit of drywall repair and a paint job, which I may use the "Tea Cookie" in here as well.  I also picked up some great towels in Jade:

Looks exhausting when I see it all in print.....

Fabulous Bar of Soap

I have been a Nesti Dante soap girl for at least 5 years.  I NEVER thought I'd change bar soaps....until I received a bar of Michel Design Works soap for Christmas.

An incredibly beautiful wrapper of stiff, elaborately designed paper, with a small silver medallion on the front leads the way to "Hyacinth Iris" scented shea butter soap, that is made in England.  This bar is made of palm oil and enriched with shea butter, so it never dries out my skin, which is lovely for a Michigan winters.  While it's a floral scent, it's not overwhelming or cloying and the scent stays with me for hours!

I'm looking forward to sampling a new scent, yet these bars are HUGE, so I think it will be spring before I'll be purchasing again!  After looking at the company's website, I'm thinking some of their entertaining items might be PERFECT to carry at The Market!  It's always fun shopping for the store!

Cheesy Quinoa Cakes

I don't love quinoa.  There, I've said it and it's public.  I guess there isn't much to like or dislike about in my opinion.  It's just so blah and a bit funky in texture and not my thing.  I've tried the red and black varieties as well...same thoughts. 

I originally happened upon a recipe on Pinterest for Cheesy Quinoa Cakes.  After making a few batches, we decided we have fallen in love with fried quinoa!  Does this reduce the health benefits?  I used olive oil for frying, so my personal thought is "NO WAY!"  I did do some major adjusting to the recipe to fit my family's preferences and also make the cakes easier to fry and the aioli a bit tastier!  I hope this makes YOU fall in love with quinoa or suffer it gladly!  

CHEESY QUINOA CAKES

1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
1 large egg
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup grated Cotswold cheese or Raclette cheese
3 Tablespoons sliced scallions, white and green parts
1/2 teaspoon each salt & freshly ground pepper


(NOTE; if using the Cotswold cheese, you may want too omit the scallions, since the cheese is flavored with chives and onions)

Gently mix quinoa and flour until combined, add egg and stir until totally combined.  Stir in cheese, seasonings and scallions if using.

In a saute pan over medium high heat, pour in about 4 tablespoons olive oil.  When hot, use a small ice cream scoop and drop scoops of quinoa mixture carefully into hot oil.  Flatten gently with a spatula until desired thinness.  Brown on each side and serve immediately!


AIOLI
1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, mashed
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Sriacha Sauce (feel free to add more if you like it spicy!)


Stir until combined and allow to sit about 15 minutes for flavors to meld well!

Brioche; Step 2

Sorry for a bit of delay in the Brioche Saga.  I was very busy eating Brioche! 

( I also shared the recipe and samples with my cooking class on Wednesday, but I baked their loaves in the commercial convection oven at The Market and it really browned up way too quickly!  I didn't adjust the timing enough!  SO irritating!)

My final step was to rise and bake and it went beautifully!  I used the entire batch of dough in this loaf.  Hope you've had time to bake along with me!  I will be posting this incredible cake recipe that uses stale brioche in it in just a couple days!  I think it's really interesting and delicious!    

Accent lighting

If you've seen my blog through the months, you'll remember ceramic tiling the backsplash in the kitchen.  I still love it!  Last week I happened upon some really nifty lights I think you might like too!

Since our house is from the 50's, the kitchen cabinets were all custom made, but not how it sounds.  They are all wood, but not that great.  When I wanted some accent lighting under the cabinets, John just looked at, as if my request did not even deserve a response.

Last week I had to run to the local hardware for something or other and found some sweet LED lights that are battery operated and push button! YAY!  Accent lighting coming right up!  $5.99 for 3 lights and $11 for a jillion triple A batteries.  A slightly cheap sticky backing, but whatever, they are not visible unless you are Pierre's height...1 foot 3 inches tall.

Decent accent lighting for $2.  Really great wine too (Slightly more than $2)! 

Brioche; Step 1

I mixed up my Brioche dough according to directions and her is my dough in action:

The dough is now wrapped snug in the refrigerator in it's buttered bowl with a tight wrap of plastic!  looking forward to letting it rise in the morning and baking!  Looking forward to seeing your brioche too!